Here's the third chapter. I'm so sorry it took so long, I had to finish a few friends birthday fics and my Yuna/Togo fic before I did this, time constraints and all. The next chapter should be out in less than a month to make up for it though. Thank you for all of the reviews.

Having learnt from the previous disaster, this time the two of them had decided to keep things low key. Today's plan was to hang out at Karin's house for a few hours, anything else could be improvised. At least this was cheaper than going out again, Karin's wallet still hadn't recovered from the last date.

Itsuki arrived exactly on time and knocked on the door, hoping that Karin was wearing less deodorant today. It was bad enough when she could get some distance between them after all, she might well suffocate in close quarters. After a surprisingly long time Karin opened the door. It seemed that she hadn't over dressed like she had last time, opting for one of her usual brown shirt and grey jeans combinations instead, although Itsuki had actually found her over formal clothing quite cute.

"Oh, hi Itsuki. You want to come in?" Karin asked in an overly casual sounding voice. Apparently she was still nervous, which Itsuki still couldn't help but find endearing, even after the unfortunate events of two days ago.

'I hope she doesn't spit food into my face again,' she found herself thinking idly.

"That's what I came here for," she replied teasingly. Karin flushed a little and mumbled something incoherent, then held the door open for her.

'Maybe I shouldn't tease her for a while. She's nervous enough without any help,' the blonde thought as she entered. 'At least she not wearing so much deodorant this time.'

"Do you want something to eat, or drink, or…?" the older girl asked.

"Sure. You have tea right?"

"Yeah. I'll, um, get some." Karin hurried off to the kitchen, then walked back and said, "U-Um, you should probably sit down in here, I mean if you want to…"

"Okay Karin-san. So what are we going to do while I'm here?"

'She must have come up with a plan after what happened last time, right?'

"Oh yeah, I thought we could watch a movie and then maybe play video games for a bit. That's okay by you right?"

"Of course. It sounds fun."

"G-Good."

"…"

"…"

"Oh, uh, I'll go and get the…" Karin trailed off and headed for the kitchen again.

Itsuki hung up her jacket, then went and sat down on the sofa, hands clenched lightly on her knees. Now that she was here she was starting to feel nervous herself. She wanted this to work out, but the way things were going wasn't good by any stretch of the imagination. She didn't understand though, they'd never had any problems talking to each other before, but now that they were allegedly dating it was hard to make even the kind of small talk you'd make with a stranger at a bus stop. It was so awkward…

Karin came and placed the drinks down on the table then sat down on the sofa, a noticeable distance further away than necessary to Itsuki's chagrin. "So, uh, what do you want to watch?"

"Um, how about a romantic comedy? Seeing as this is a date and all…"

"H-Huh? Oh, yeah…" Karin mumbled, looking down. She headed to the movie section and selected the genre. "You like the look of any of these?"

"Ah, after what happened last time I think you should choose. No matter what you choose it can't be any worse than what I ended up picking," Itsuki said, grimacing at the memory of the horrifying movie she'd ended up subjecting them both to.

"I guess," Karin said noncommittally.

She ended up selecting a movie about a man who asked his female friend to pose as his girlfriend for two weeks for some convoluted reason. Itsuki scooted over closer to Karin as the opening credits started to play, feeling slightly relieved that the other girl didn't move further away in response (which was a sign of just how badly things were going she supposed, but still).

As the characters were introduced, in a particularly cliché and overdone manner from what Itsuki saw (although she wasn't really paying attention), she glanced at Karin out of the corner of her eye. At first she thought she was actually watching the movie, but upon closer inspection Itsuki saw that she wasn't paying attention at all. Her eyes kept drifting in Itsuki's direction and the hand closest to her kept almost imperceptibly half lifting off of the sofa, before dropping back down just as quickly.

'She wants to hold hands,' Itsuki realised with a start. 'Wow, she really is shy.' This was a good sign though right? It meant that she still wanted things to work out and hadn't given up hope yet. She waited eagerly for the touch of a hand to arrive, for five minutes, then ten…

'She chickened out…' Looking straight at her this time, the blonde could see that Karin had a dejected air about her. Her hands were folded in her lap and didn't look like they were moving any time soon. 'This is no good at all.'

As the younger of the two Itsuki had been happy to let Karin take the lead, that was how things were supposed to work after all, but it was clear at this point that if she let this continue there wouldn't be a relationship to lead in. Enough was enough. "Karin-san, give me your hand."

"W-What?"

"Give me your hand."

Karin shrank back a little at the intense stare Itsuki was giving her. "Um…"

"Your hand," Itsuki repeated, making a 'give it here' motion with her own hand.

"Okay…"

Karin held her hand out in trepidation, then jumped when Itsuki clasped it in her own and pulled their hands into her lap. 'That's more like it.'

Just for good measure, Itsuki moved further along the sofa and leaned in against the older girl. It was embarrassing-really, really embarrassing-but it was better than sitting in almost total silence on opposite sides of the sofa for the next two hours.

"You have pretty rough skin on your hands Karin-san. It's because of all the training you do, right?" she asked, running her thumb curiously over the skin on the other girl's palm.

Karin looked shell shocked by the situation, but after a few moments managed to collect herself and mumbled out, "Yeah, it's, uh, training. And stuff…your skins really soft. It's n-nice, I guess."

"Thanks. It's a little embarrassing though when I compare mine to yours, since we were both Hero's and all. I feel like I slacked off a little."

"Uh, well, it's not like you didn't pull your weight when we were fighting so I guess I can let you off. Be grateful though, I don't go easy on just anyone! …Besides, I think you're fine the way you are. It's not like everybody needs to be an athlete."

"That's sweet of you to say."

"N-Not really."

They drifted into a semi-comfortable silence, hands still intertwined. After a little while Itsuki felt Karin's muscles relax and smiled to herself. Finally they were getting somewhere. Unlike the movie. "…This movie is pretty bad huh?" Itsuki said, wincing at a particularly forced joke.

"Yeah…at least it's a different kind of bad than the last one though. You want to watch something else or what?"

"Mmm…why don't we look at some animal shows? We can't go wrong looking at cute puppies and kittens right?" Itsuki suggested.

"Yeah you're right. There's no way that that could end badly," Karin said with a wry smile.

Surprisingly enough, nothing did go wrong.

"Haha, what a stupid dog. I can't believe it spent fifteen minutes barking at it's own reflection," Karin snorted.

"I almost wish that I could have a dog of my own now though, or a cat. They're all so cute!" Itsuki giggled.

"Apartment rules are a pain huh? I wouldn't mind an athletic dog to go running with, but there's a strict no pets policy here. Your place is the same right?"

"Yeah…it's really sad. I want to move somewhere that takes animals when I move out," Itsuki said, thinking of all the cute dog breeds that she could choose from.

"Yeah."

"…"

"…"

'Oh no, not another awkward silence…I need to think of something else to talk about…' Itsuki thought worriedly.

To her surprise however, Karin stepped up to the bat. "So you want to play those video games?"

"Sure. What have you got?"

"Only a couple of survival horror games and first person shooters, I'm not really a big player. I haven't got many but there should be something decent. You choose one you like the look of, they're over there."

"Okay." Itsuki crouched down and browsed the selection.

'These look very gruesome,' she thought while looking at the front of a box depicting a man being bitten by a bloody rotting zombie, 'And some of these are 18+ as well…how did she get hold of them?'

She settled on a relatively less graphic looking shooting game in the end and they decided to play against one another.

"You played this before Itsuki?" Karin asked.

"No, I don't play many video games," Itsuki replied.

"Hmph! Don't expect me to go easy on you just because you're a beginner!"

"…what the hell…"

"That was fun, do you want to play another round?"

"Ugh…sure, why not."

To Karin's disconcertion, Itsuki turned out to be a natural at video games. After being trounced in three out of five games by the novice player her ego was thoroughly bruised.

'I can't believe this…' She glanced at Itsuki out of the corner of her eye. The smaller girl looked as innocent as usual, which somehow made her feel even worse. After another round in which she spent her time trying to stay alive rather than making any progress, she fell into a state of despair.

'Am I actually just really bad at video games or something?' she wondered. 'Whatever.'

Looking at Itsuki however, she felt her bad mood dissipate. Her date looked like she was really enjoying herself, which was what she'd wanted all along. 'Guess I can't rage quit now,' she thought with a smile.

"You look like you're having fun," she commented, "Looks like you're a natural huh? At this rate you could end up being one of the competitive players."

"Ehehe, no way, it's just beginners luck. It is fun though. Maybe I should start playing by myself… although Onee-chan probably wouldn't approve come to think of it," she said, wincing at the thought of Fuu catching her playing anything even mildly graphic. She'd probably take to her room in a bout of hysteria.

"Seriously? She's that protective?"

"Yes…although she means well, so I don't really mind. Ever since my voice came back she's been checking up on my health nonstop. She never lets me check up on her though."

"Sounds about right for her. Don't worry about it, she'll calm down soon. Probably." Karin actually kind of doubted that, but still.

"I guess…" Itsuki glanced at the clock, then did a double take and winced. "Ah…I lost track of time. I should really head back now."

"Huh? Oh damn, I didn't realise. Sorry Itsuki."

"Ehehe, it's not your fault. I got carried away having fun beating you."

"Wha-hmph. If you say so." She walked the blonde to the door. "You okay getting back by yourself? I can walk with you if you want."

"I'll be fine. Thanks for offering though."

They both stood there uncertainly for a moment, not entirely sure what to say.

"Um, I had fun today. Thanks for inviting me."

"S-Sure. I'm glad you came, especially after last time," Karin said, cheeks reddening.

"Ehe, let's just pretend that never happened. I think we'll both be better off for it," Itsuki said, brushing her hair behind her ears

"I guess. …So, do you want to, uh, do this again sometime?"

Itsuki smiled. "I'd like that. Um, how about on Sunday? I wouldn't have to worry about the time so much then."

"Sure. I'll find some more games and we can see if your beginners lucks worn off by then!"

"We'll see. Good night Karin-san."

"Night Itsuki." Karin waved at the girls retreating form, then shut the door. Now that she didn't have to keep up appearances anymore her nerves overtook her at last and she leaned against the door heavily, breathing a sigh of relief. That had gone better than she'd been expecting. Hell, she'd even got a third date out of it. Her face split into a wide grin. Finally, things were going her way! At this rate they might even end up going steady. She reddened at the thought and shook her head. Best not to get ahead of herself.

At any rate, she had things to do, she shouldn't be standing around blushing like some lovesick idiot. She slapped her face lightly and went to do her homework and physio…although she couldn't help but be distracted when her face found itself smiling for no particular reason the rest of the night.

Itsuki shut the door behind her and slipped her shoes and coat off. That had gone reasonably well. Maybe things between them would work out after all

"Itsukiiiii, you're fifteen minutes late! Text me if you're running behind schedule, okay!?"

"Ah, sorry Onee-chan. I'll remember next time," Itsuki said, walking into the kitchen and getting a juice from the fridge.

Fuu looked over at her from her position at the sink. "So…did you have fun with Karin?"

"Oh yes, it was fun. We watched these really cute animals on TV for a while then played some games," Itsuki said, a smile coming to her face.

"Not violent games right?"

"No…" It wasn't like there were organs flying all over the screen or anything at any rate.

"Good. …So was anyone else there?" Fuu asked, trying and failing to sound casual.

'…Is she really still worried about 'That Boy'? Goodness.' Itsuki thought, wondering just how long this was going to go on for.

"No Onee-chan, we were the only ones there."

"I see…well, I'm glad you had fun with her."

"Um, I said I'd go over again on Sunday. That's okay right?"

"Oh, so soon? You two are getting pretty close huh?"

"Mm, we get along pretty well even if we don't have all that much in common. I was a little surprised at first, but I'm glad." Another smile rose to her face and she tucked her hair behind her ear, without even noticing she was doing it.

"Hmm…well that's good then. She's not trying to make you lift weights or anything though, right? If I walk in one day and find you bench pressing the fridge I'm not going to be happy about it!" Fuu said.

"Don't worry, we didn't lift any weights. It's not really my thing. Maybe I should ask her to teach me how to fight a little though…it'd be good if I knew how to defend myself without the Hero System after all…"

"What!? No way, what if you get hit in the throat or mouth and hurt your voice!? I absolutely forbid it! I'll get you a taser or something," Fuu shouted, frantically waving her arms around.

"…Okay Onee-chan." There was no point in arguing, Itsuki knew this from experience.

'Oh well…it's not like I was really looking forward to it. I hope she calms down soon though.'

After helping clean up the living room she took a bath and headed to bed. Pulling out her mobile terminal, she saw that there was a text from Karin waiting for her.

"You get back okay Itsuki?"

She sent a reply off. "I got home fine. Thanks again for today, I really did enjoy it. What are you up to now?"

Only half a minute ticked by before she got a response.

"Training of course. I just lifted 15kg for 30 reps with my bad arm. Pretty impressive right? I've still gotta do my distance running tonight though so I guess I'll have to leave the heavy lifting for tomorrow."

The blonde giggled softly. "Is this what they call 'peacocking'? How sweet…I guess I should play along."

"That's so impressive Karin-san. I bet it won't be long before you can lift even more than you could before. Don't go overboard though."

Another text, this time almost instantaneous.

"Don't worry about it, I've pushed myself way harder than this before. For me this is child's play. I'll show you just how much I can do next time you come around."

Itsuki winced. She hoped she wouldn't have to sit and watch the other girl do bench presses all Sunday afternoon.

"I'm heading to bed now, but I'll see you at school tomorrow. Good night!"

"Night Itsuki."

Itsuki slid into bed and drifted off to sleep, looking forward to school a little more than she usually did.