"So I am confused, are you and Murasakibara-Kun going out or not?"
Shiori had made Chieko come over to her house to get ready for her dinner date with Himuro, when asking him where they were going for this date he wouldn't tell her so she asked what she should wear and well….his reply did not help her in the least bit.
Anything you wear will make you look beautiful.

How is she supposed to decide between jeans and a skirt now!? Well, she'd still have to wear pants underneath from the cold but that could still work out cutely if done properly.
And well, of course they talked about the men in their life….They tend to drive them insane.
"I would say yes if it wasn't for the fact he may not even know what going out means." Chieko growled quietly, dropping her head into her arms from her spot lounging on Shiori's bed in her dorm. "I am sure he's not that bad….Well, maybe he is…ugh does this even go with my hair?" Shiori groaned as she pulled out a blue blouse and examined herself in the mirror hooked onto the inside of her closet door. "He's good in certain ways….Blue looks pretty good with black and the silver in my opinion works." Chieko shrugged before standing up to help-but stopped when her shorter friend stared at her with wide eyes. "Why are you….FUCK NO NOT THAT!" She quickly defended herself against that possible innuendo that Shiori had picked up on. She was just too sharp sometimes. "H-He just….kisses pretty well…" Shiori almost laughed when she saw that blush and not-so casual look-away from her friend. "Never would have thought you'd fall for someone this hard before." Shiori mused and noticed Chieko's ears had turned red. "S-Shut up, I have not fallen for him…." Though she said this, it was more like she was in denial than anything.

"Give me that." She took the blouse and threw it away. "You don't wear crap like this, I do-""How can you call something you like crap-""So stop dressing like anyone but yourself, if he doesn't like that then I'll kick his ass." Shiori sighed at her best friends violent tendencies, but knew she wouldn't do it. Despite her nature, she really wasn't much of a fighter unlike Shiori herself. They really were opposites in terms of….everything, but got along splendidly.
"Now wear these." Next thing she knew she had some jeans and print T-shirt shoved in her arms and she was pushed toward the bathroom. "Chie but what if it's a formal place-"Of course the door was slammed in her face and she was left to change on her own.

Damn.

Shiori came out in blue skinny jeans and a white shirt with the picture of an ink painting; it was of a bamboo grove and many, many adorable panda bears and was quite well done but looked like the ink was trailing down the shirt. Shiori loved that style. "And now put these on." Shiori yelped as she was pulled to the bed and made to sit down on it and given a pair of heeled black boots. "T-these aren't even mine!"
"No, but they're just a size bigger than yours so they should fit." Chieko said plainly, staring at her intently until the girl gave in and she pulled them on. Zipping up the back, she found they came up to the back of her upper calve and were quite comfortable actually. "Now this." Shiori squeaked as a slimming black pea coat was thrown on top of her. "Maybe when I actually leave…." Shiori trailed off, and she was sure Chieko was slightly embarrassed. "Take your hair down." Shiori did as asked with a small teasing smile, not saying anything but saying plenty at the same time.
Chieko sat behind her and gently brushed out her hair and Shiori closed her eyes in bliss, just….enjoying this peaceful moment for the time being.

"Hey, does he know about your family?" Of course Chieko ruined it with that, but she didn't open her eyes as she felt the bed dip showing that she was moving around to the front with her hair joining her. It felt like she was braiding it over her shoulder. "No….I think it's too soon for that…." Shiori whispered and got silence in return, and she took that as Chieko agreeing with her decision.

"Done."

They had agreed to meet in town by the sports shop and Himuro was a little more than nervous, not that anyone could tell, because this was really his first official date with Shiori.
It had been a long time since he fussed over himself, but in the end he decided to dress more functionally in the weather than fashionably. Simple warm jeans and a black sweater with a white undershirt, he wore a knitted beanie over his head to keep warm along with his black coat. His hair kept some of his ears warm on its own the hat helped it keep them in place enough and the scarf he wore kept the rest warm.
When he arrived, he found himself beaten by that beautiful girl. Damn why does she do this to him?
Shiori was resting against the window underneath an awning and the snow fell around her in a picture perfect moment.
Her hair had been braided over her shoulder and laid over a form fitting pea coat and her bangs were brushed out of her eyes for once and kept out of the way from the black beanie she wore to keep warm. Her scarf was dark blue though, and was tossed over her shoulder. And those boots….Wow, those were impressive heels.
"Shiori." He breathed out and she seemed to hear him as those silvery-blue hues locked on him and he saw her smile. "Hey…Tatsuya-Kun…." He couldn't help it, when he got over to her he kissed her cheek softly. "You look beautiful." He said softly and she pouted a bit in retaliation-but she was flushing cutely. "You look good too…." She mumbled, not able to match his bold words and her eyes diverted to his chest. He chuckled before threading their gloved fingers together. "Come on, let's go." At least she'd finally figure out where the hell they were going…..

So the café he took her too was nice, but not so nice she felt awkward wearing jeans and a T-Shirt of all things, but still it was a bit nicer than the average café she'd get morning coffee with Chieko on a rough morning. "Honestly I wasn't sure where you'd like to go, but I was hoping to use this as a chance to get to know you a little better." Himuro said with a polite smile that made her heart race some. "I am all for a nice steak dinner but I am personally happy with a hamburger just as much." She couldn't help the light chuckle that slipped from her lips before she looked down at the menu. "But I think a chicken sandwich and a smoothie would be good right now." Shiori chirped and laid the menu down. "What flavor?" He rose a brow, and she hummed in thought before deciding. "Strawberry," she nodded softly and smiled slightly in amusement at his chuckle. "Waiter?" He waved one over and smiled up at him. "Two Strawberry Smoothies', one chicken sandwich and a BLT please." Nodding the waiter left them alone and she looked at him with a slightly nervous smile.

And so the awkward silence began, where she was feeling too nervous to be able to come up with something to talk about. Well, she could give him a warning.
"So the Coach and I came up with a new idea for training." Himuro had a feeling she came up with the idea that the Coach approved of but Shiori was just too modest to say it was her idea. "So tomorrow the team is going to be practicing with the Gymnastics team," at his rather confused expression she let out a soft chuckle. "I know the Captain, Eri Chinatsu, from middle school. I was talking to her the other day and she said the Basketball Team looked a little stiff during their games and they needed to…loosen up. I thought it would be a good idea to let the Gymnastic team girl's help fix that so your next game would-""Shiori." Just hearing her name from his lips made her stop and a light blush tint her cheeks. "Was I rambling? I am sorry." She mumbled shyly, rubbing her face.
"No, I like hearing you ramble, just I'd rather you ramble about something else. Tell me about yourself, your family, you have to have another passion besides basketball?" He asked with a sweet smile and a kind tone, and Shiori felt horrible because she didn't want to talk about her family and didn't have a whole lot to avoid that topic.
"W-Well, if you haven't noticed I quite like sweets…." She trailed off and earned a chuckle from Himuro, but he could also sense her apprehension in the matter. "Do you like to read?" He asked softly, and she was grateful for the help. "Oh yes, I don't read much in Japanese usually though it's mostly American novels and stuff like that. I kind of got into them when I went to America to visit my uncle; he gave them to me from his personal library." Ah her uncle again, she mentioned him before, having gone to visit him in the summer time. That was how she explained her excellent English skills to him before. "You're quite close to your uncle." Himuro mused and she nodded softly. "Mhm, I try and go see him as much as I can." Shiori explained before sitting back as the waiter returned with their drinks. "Thank you." Shiori smiled at him before taking a sip. Yup, strawberry was one of the best.

Before Himuro could request her to tell him more, she asked for the same in return. "Myself….? Hmm, well you already know of my odd likes and hobbies. When I was a kid living in America though I had a very close friend, so much so we considered each other brothers…." Shiori saw him unconsciously finger that ring hanging from that chain she always saw him wearing. "What was his name?" She asked softly, tearing her eyes away to look into his eyes. "Taiga Kagami." Shiori looked almost thoughtful at the name, but then smiled. "A Dragon and a Tiger." Himuro looked almost confused before laughing, realizing how ironic what their names meant. "Did you both play basketball?" Shiori tilted her head as she mixed the shake up unconsciously. "Oh yes, we played hundreds of times…." Himuro got a faraway look suddenly, perhaps reliving those games? She wasn't so sure, but when he finally snapped out of it when the server came and delivered their food he smiled gratefully. "Thank you." And the two began eating in a peaceful silence, not broken until it was time to go. Himuro helped her pull on her coat and the two walked out and Himuro finally asked his last question.
"So, what is Chinatsu-San going to have us do?" He asked curiously and Shiori smiled. "You will have to find out tomorrow, Tatsuya-Kun."

Shiori thought the date was over but apparently the second half was on the way to the train station. "You know if we stay out too late we'll get in trouble from the Dean…" Shiori mumbled as she gazed up at the club in front of her labeled in neon colors, "The Dancing Dragon" and had to wonder what he could want to do here?
"I want to dance with you; of course I'll make sure we get back in time." Himuro chirped and the girl flushed. "I've not quite…ever gone dancing before….or danced much in general." Clearly he did not give a damn, for he began dragging the girl into the club against every protest she gave. "It will be fun~"

Shiori actually kind of liked it, the loud music, the bright lights, it was strange but she found herself smiling at the sounds and sights of people dancing together without a care in the world. She looked at Himuro and saw him grin at her before tugging her into the crowd. Shiori squeaked before being pulled into his arms and that rather toned body of his, blushing hard she looked up into his eye and he pecked her cheek lightly. "Don't think, just move your body."
It took her an awkward minute before Shiori started swaying her hips to the music, mostly thanks to Himuro's discrete help. But then a small smile slipped onto her face as she started to get into it. She didn't hear Himuro chuckle over the music before he spun her around to face him and held her close as they swayed together slowly, probably slower than the music really called for considering all the bodies around them were moving a lot faster than they were out of the corner of Shiori's eyes. But she found staring into Himuro's pale amber eye was far more….interesting.
Fascinating, even.
"That's good." She heard hum murmur over the music, just barely, before leaning down and capturing her lips into a soft, sweet kiss that made her knees feel a little weak. God, only he could get her this mushy without even trying that hard. Really though, he was trying harder than she thought he was just much better at pretending to be calm about it all than she was.
She didn't want the moment to end, but they had to breathe at some point and when they parted she noticed the clock over his shoulder.
"….T-Tatsuya curfew is in 10 minutes…."
"….Oh, shit."

(I AM NOT DEAD I SWEAR I AM JUST IN AND OUT OF HELL (WORK) QUITE OFTEN AND THUS AM QUITE BUSY AND CAN BE FORGETFUL BUT I HAVE NOT ABANDONED THIS STORY.

PLEASE FEEL FREE TO VERBALLY ABUSE ME IN YOUR REVIEW JUST HAVING REVIEWS MAKES ME HAPPY.
I PROMISE THE NEXT CHAPTER WILL BE MUCH BETTER.)