At the end of their date it was around 6pm, and Sachiko was preparing dinner. Matsuda had taken Sayu home, and he was about to leave before Sachiko stopped him.
"Feel free to stay for dinner if you'd like to, we have more than enough." She offered as she began serving up the food. Sayu, who was getting the drinks and cutlery, smiled hopefully at him, not wanting their time together to end.
"Sure! I'd love to!" Matsuda said, and went over to help Sayu set the table.
The three of them sat down to their meal, and Sachiko was the first to speak. "So, did you two have a good time?" She asked as she began eating. Sayu looked at Matsuda and he looked back at her, then as if on purpose the two replied in perfect sync.
"It was good!" They echoed together, before both giving a nervous chuckle. Sachiko giggled at the two of them and how adorably awkward they were around each other. It was refreshing for her, having happy energy once again flowing through the house.
"Matsuda treated me to a milkshake, then we went for a walk through the park." Sayu continued, a smile on her face as she talked about their day.
Sachiko listened as she ate. "I'm really glad you both had a good time!" She said, then added on, just to create more embarrassment for the two of them; "It's been a while since I've seen two little lovebirds like this. It reminds me of when me and your father first met." This left Matsuda and Sayu equally as flustered and pink faced as one another, as they both continued eating.
Once they had finished their food, Sayu offered to do the dishes, and Sachiko nodded. "Thank you Sayu, that'd be a great help."
"It's no hassle, really," Sayu said, before adding on; "But, do you think it'd be okay if Matsuda stayed over one more night…? I was thinking we could watch a movie or something together, and I don't want him to have to walk home in the dark…"
Sachiko pretended to be apprehensive about it, but in truth she had no issue with it. "I don't know… Doesn't Matsuda have work first thing in the morning?" She asked, and it was Matsuda's turn to answer.
"Th-that's okay, I can just leave in the morning and go straight to work from here." Matsuda offered. Sachiko seemed happy with that, and nodded.
"Well then, it's alright by me. But no funny business." Sachiko stated firmly, causing Matsuda to blush yet again.
"Mum!" Sayu whined. "Nothing like that would happen!" She insisted, folding her arms across her chest and rolling her eyes in protest.
Matsuda nodded in agreement with Sayu's statement. "Y-Yeah exactly, besides, I promise Mrs Yagami, I would never do anything like that to Sayu before Marriage…"
Sachiko raised her eyebrows at Matsuda's statement, and Sayu's face turned red as she nudged him with her elbow, prompting him to shut up.
Sachiko chose to ignore what he had said and continued. "Well anyway, I'll leave you two alone. Enjoy your movie." She declared, before making her way upstairs and into her room so that she could give the two of them some alone time.
Sayu sighed, and reached over to grab a collection of DVDs. She had quite a varying collection. There was some from each genre; she had romance movies, many of which starring her childhood celebrity crush Hideki Ryuga in them, a few action movies, a couple of comedies and the occasional sci-fi.
"What would you like to watch Matsuda?" Sayu offered. Matsuda truthfully wouldn't have minded a romance, as he was a sucker for a cheesy love drama or rom-com, but in order to make himself appear less soft, he chose one of the sci-fi superhero movies and handed it to Sayu. She smiled. "I didn't know you liked Marvel." She announced as she put the Guardians of the Galaxy DVD into the disk drive.
"Oh, yeah! I'm a big fan of Marvel, he's awesome!" Matsuda stated confidently, and Sayu burst out laughing. He gave her a confused look.
"Matsuda… Marvel is the company that makes the movies." She informed him.
He gave a bashful smile. "O-Oh, of course… I knew that…"
Sayu giggled and sat back down beside him. "Of course you did, I believe you." She teased playfully.
"Hey, I did, I was just messing with you!" He defended, turning redder.
Sayu laughed again and pressed the play button on the remote, starting the movie.
The two of them watched the screen as the movie started, and they because more absorbed into it the more it progressed. They were captivated by the action sequences in front of them whilst also simply enjoying each other's company. Sayu gradually sunk into Matsuda's side as the movie went on, and he brought up the courage to put his arm around her. She settled in happily and they didn't notice the time go by until the end credit scene appeared, and Sayu let out another yawn.
"I take it you're ready to go to bed now?" Matsuda asked her, and Sayu nodded.
"Yeah… Today has been amazing, but it's really tired me out big time." She confessed and stretched her arms. He nodded once in agreement.
"You're not wrong, I'm pretty tired too." He agreed as he got up, and Sayu turned off the television. Sayu remembered that she had promised to do the dishes for her mum, and went over to the sink. Matsuda followed close behind. "Would you like some help?" He offered, and she smiled at him.
"Yes please, how about if I wash and you dry?" She suggested and he nodded, grabbing the kitchen towel and taking up position next to her, beside the sink.
They finished putting away the dishes and then headed upstairs. They began parting ways towards their separate sleeping areas before Sayu turned to Matsuda.
"Thank you, for everything." There was a look on Sayu's face, one that was difficult to decipher because it was made up of a combination of so many different emotions.
Matsuda looked at her and gently wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her to his chest. "You don't have to thank me for anything. I've enjoyed being with you and if I could do it every day, I would. You are amazing Sayu, you really are."
Sayu held onto him. "I'm not the amazing one here… You are. You're different from everyone else." She admitted, then moved away, but held onto his arm so that the two were still maintaining physical contact. "Good night Matsuda…" She said, and just before she turned to leave, she leaned up and kissed him on the cheek.
Matsuda almost collapsed then and there on the spot. He couldn't believe that just happened. "G-Good night Sayu!" He replied giddily, and she smiled before disappearing into her room. Matsuda sighed happily, placing his hand on his cheek. Sayu had kissed him.
He made his way to light's old room and loosened his shirt, getting into the bed. He lay there for a little while but he couldn't sleep; his mind was racing. He had been on his first date with Sayu today. It felt surreal. She had kissed his cheek before they had parted just a few minutes ago. It was like a dream come true for him. He never thought Sayu would feel the same way he felt about her, and he never thought she would accept his offer of a date, especially after their last meeting more than a year ago, when he had asked her out but was turned down because Sayu thought he was too old for her. She wasn't wrong, Matsuda had worried about their age difference too. With him being thirty-two, there was an eleven-year age gap between the two of them – something he had been scared to just dismiss as the whole 'age is but a number' thing. But he couldn't deny he felt a romantic love for her that he had never felt before towards anyone else before.
Just as he began to drift off he heard a muffled whimper. It was so quiet and brief that he probably wouldn't have even heard it if he hadn't been as aware as he was at that moment, but he had heard it, and his immediate thought was of Sayu. 'The nightmares…' He thought to himself. It was the most logical explanation.
He got up out of the bed and made his way out of the room, trying to be as quiet as he could. Once he'd made his way to Sayu's room he gently edged open her door and looked inside. He was right.
Sayu was clutching at her pillow, breathing heavily with a scared expression on her face. Even in the dim light he could tell that she was suffering from the nightmares that were inside of her head. He walked over and gently crouched beside her bed, placing a hand on her shoulder. He knew not to wake someone when they were having a nightmare, but he quietly called her name to see if he could get some form of reaction out of her.
"Sayu…? I'm here… It's all going to be alright. I will never let anyone harm you." He whispered to her in a soothing voice. Her heavy breathing slowed a little, but she was still nowhere near calm. Her grasp on the pillow hadn't loosened much, and she was tense. Matsuda hesitated, panicking over what to do. He wanted to calm her down in any way he could, but he just couldn't think of what to do. He felt so helpless.
While he was mulling over options in his head, he eventually thought of something, but he was unsure whether it would be crossing a line or not. But at that point in time he didn't care. He wanted Sayu to feel safe, and it was the only thing he could think of that would do just that.
Matsuda climbed into her bed beside her, and gently wrapped his arm around her. She was laying on her side, so he positioned himself behind her, holding onto her caringly with his head nuzzled into the back of her neck. Sayu slowly stopped all signs of her panic then, and slowly relaxed into his arms. She hadn't completely woken up, but she was in that state of half-sleep, where she felt like she was floating. She muttered his name and he gave her a gentle, reassuring squeeze to let her know he was right there.
She was still scared, but his presence made her feel like she wasn't alone anymore, and she was able to fall asleep in his arms.