Erina was nervous. Undeniably, overwhelmingly nervous. Was she starting to sweat or was the room already warm? Maybe it was the warm air that still hung around from her hair dryer... She kept fiddling with her fringe, trying to make it neater than it already was, but no matter how much she rearranged the short locks, she just wasn't satisfied. Should they be swept to one side, or parted down the middle? Or maybe she should forgo the fringe all together?

The longer she fidgeted in front of the mirror, the more restless she became. Her unease was enough to affect even Alice, who was idly paging through a magazine on Erina's bed. The more experienced of the two cousins originally left the other to her own devices on her request, but she was beginning to see that it was a mistake. Her frustration boiled hotter by the second, and she mentally chastised the blonde for not accepting her help in the first place. That was the whole point of her coming over; she would have been finished a long time ago if she hadn't let her pride get in the way! But no- Erina just had to get mad and reject her kind advice.

In any case, she still had about an hour left until she had to leave. It would be more than plenty of time for some helpful intervention. Calming herself down, Alice set the magazine aside and stretched herself out of bed. She had quite enough of seeing Erina struggle (as funny as it would have been in any other occasion). She approached from behind with a hairbrush, knowing she would be seen on the mirror's reflection.

Alice took Erina's arms and forced her to put them at her sides. "You really are hopeless, you know that?" She told her, gently brushing the blonde's long locks.

"I didn't ask for-"

"Yes, yes, I know! But at this rate, you'll never show up to your date on time. Besides, just looking at you mess around is making me anxious, and I'm not even the one going out!"

Erina looked straight ahead at the mirror. She had to admit that she was acting out of the ordinary, but she really couldn't help it. The guy waiting for her wasn't exactly the first person that would come to mind on her list of "Suitable Bachelors." The list itself wasn't even enough to fill a sheet of paper (in fact, it was practically blank), seeing as she worked alongside people double-even triple- her age. It just didn't sit well that she had next to zero experience with men, and yet here she was getting ready to spend a night out with one.

She flinched as the brush accidentally caught onto a knot, bringing her back to the present.

"You need to relax, Erina! Souma won't like it if you go in there tense like a set of violin strings."

"You don't need to pull on my hair to tell me that." Erina sighed and fell silent. Alice noticed this and lightly bumped her head with the head of the brush.

"Hey now, no need to start having second thoughts. It's too late to back out now. You look fine, and that's all that matters!"

She's right, Erina thought as Alice resumed with the brushing. It was just one evening, after all.

She had only been waiting for a few minutes when she spotted Souma waving at her just down the street. He broke into a jog, stopping just a few feet away to admire her outfit: A white, collared chiffon blouse with cuffs, tucked into a slim wine-colored skirt that reached up to her knees, topped off with a pair of low heels. It was a refreshing change from the stiff-looking blazer and pants combination she tended to wear during work. He on the other hand, opted for a simple navy blue and white raglan tee, jeans and canvas shoes.

Erina clutched her bag tighter when she saw him staring. Honestly, she didn't mind this as much. It made her feel nice that he wasn't just dumbly ogling at her, and it made the extra nerve-wracking time she spent getting ready all worth the effort. She was just glad that he had planned for them to spend time together in a relaxed, casual setting.

Souma pulled his eyes away from her form. "I hope I didn't leave you standing here for long! I had to double-check if I had everything on me before locking up my car."

This brought a smirk on Erina's face, helping to dissolve some of her nervousness. "Let me guess... Wallet?"

"Among other things, sure." He easily admitted. He beckoned her to follow him as he began walking with her in the opposite direction he came from. "But I'll let you know right now that the other time was an honest mistake. I'm actually a pretty dependable guy."

"I'd hope so since your job is to keep and entire building safe." She said, shuffling closer as they approached a busier section of shops and restaurants. Souma noticed her gradually lagging behind the further they walked, so he offered his arm to guide her along easier. She wrapped her arm around his, but her mind was more distracted with the infectious energy of the streets they were walking through. The amount of people in the streets grew denser the closer they got to the main street. The night life crowd was just arriving, it seemed.

"Where exactly are we going? I haven't been around this area much."

"I thought we could start off with a good movie," He shrugged. "Unless you had something else in mind?" Shaking her head, she let herself be escorted through the lively street. She would find herself feeling a bit off when he let go of her arm to pay for their tickets.

It wasn't too hard for Erina to sit through two hours of relative darkness next to Souma. The thriller-mystery they chose to watch kept her distracted enough from his calm presence. In fact he seemed too calm, as if she was just spending time with any other friend. As the crime began to develop further on the big screen, she discreetly took a look at him from the corner of her eyes. Messy red hair, striking golden eyes and a grin that could put anyone at ease, but in her case it only made her more flustered. She watched the different colors and lights from the screen pour onto his face for a while longer before embarrassingly resuming the movie. She didn't notice the momentary glance he sent her way.

Although they couldn't talk for obvious reasons, the redhead found himself enjoying Erina's company. She seemed to have let herself relax, unlike how she acted out during their first meeting. He summed it up to her being away from the stressful work environment. He had the luxury of walking around and not have to be stationed inside an office staring at a computer all day, but he could relate somewhat to her aggravation and weariness. This was a different side of Erina he was with, and he decided he was perfectly content with spending a whole evening with her if it meant they could unwind and have some fun.

He jumped in his seat when the speakers exploded with a sudden, piercing crescendo, followed by an ear-splitting shriek. It seemed that the killer had taken yet another victim. Souma took this chance to tear his eyes away from Erina, as if he totally hadn't been staring for long.

"That sure got me..." he whispered to himself. He could feel his heart pounding, caused only by the movie, thankfully. He turned to Erina to see how she was faring, but her pale expression told him all he needed to know. He nudged her to get her attention and silently mouthed if she was alright.

She composed herself to convince him that she wasn't fazed one bit, but Souma wasn't buying it; not with the way she was sinking back into her seat and her fingers clenching at the armrest. It was too hard to resist letting out a muffled chuckle or two, but he tried his best by covering it up with a cough. She frowned at the sight of his shaking shoulders and chucked some of her leftover popcorn at him. This only made Souma laugh even harder, earning some bothered glares from some of the other watchers.

When the movie was over, Souma was busy flicking away bits of the buttery snack off his shirt as Erina waited for him with a badly hidden smile.

A ticket stub and a weird mix of content and disappointment was all that remained of their date later that night. Although they only went to watch a movie, Erina felt like it came and went too quickly. At her doorstep, Souma had promised to take her somewhere much more interesting the next time she was free.

Next time, she thought. She lay sprawled on her back and started to feel all her pent-up nervousness ebb away into the comfort of her bed. She had a feeling it would come back to her anyways whenever this next time was going to happen. For the time being, she could let her thoughts wander and think about what the next date would hopefully lead to.

A/N: So much for "less than week," huh? I couldn't sit still while writing this, so I could only make so little progress each day I tried working on it. Worst experience ever! I had originally started a totally different one-shot, but after having such a hard time I figured I would just continue last chapter's office!AU.

Thanks to everyone who has reviewed, followed, favorited and all that! I just notice a couple days ago that this series reached over 15,000 hits and 100 followers! It definitely makes writing through my block worth the suffering (hahaa).

I'll be seeing you all in the next one!