CHAPTER EIGHTEEN – GETTING SOMEWHERE (NatSuke)

It was a glorious Sunday morning, with the sun warding off the chill of the day without making the atmosphere too warm. Downtown was relatively quiet as people opted to stay indoors instead of eating out or going about for the weekend. Everything there, from the buildings to the trees, seemed to be magnified in both appearance and feel as the sun shone merrily down. In spite of all this, Natsuki couldn't help but feel more nervous than excited as she waited outside the convenience store where Daisuke would meet her. Her right hand curled into a tight fist on the strap of the paper bag she was carrying.

For one thing, she was slightly conscious about what she was wearing: a short-sleeved white shirt edged with pink, a frilly pink skirt that was around the same length as her school uniform's skirt, and a pair of pink-and-white shoes. While she knew that no one—not even Daisuke—could tell her off for wearing a combination of attire that had so much pink, she was somehow unsure whether she had dressed that way for Daisuke without her realizing it back at home. She smothered the thought vehemently in her head before it could make her blush.

As she waited, Natsuki wondered what made her agree to meeting Daisuke apart from the fact that she needed to buy the required things needed for two upcoming school projects. Daisuke had told her last Friday that he would be buying the stuff he would need today, and he had asked her if she wanted to go along with him to do the same. Somehow, Natsuki knew that she had no other alternatives; she had spent yesterday finishing an essay for Social Studies as well as a special project, so Sunday seemed to be the only time she'd be able to go out and buy what else she needed.

Yes, that's all it is. I just didn't have any other day to buy all the stuff I need alone. She clung onto the thought determinedly even as her head told her that she just wanted to spend more time with Daisuke outside of school. Try as she might, Natsuki couldn't help but blush now. Daisuke had only grown even kinder towards her ever since he began bringing her lunch from his family's eatery, and while Natsuki found the gestures as immensely helpful as she found their manga-reading sessions enjoyable, she also felt incredibly mortified at them. This was the second time they would meet outside of school; the first had been two weeks ago, though it had also been trivial at best—a small meeting for a group presentation they had for Social Studies after school with their other classmates. Obviously, their second and current meet-up was starkly different, mainly because it would just be the two of them together.

At last, Daisuke showed up; he called out to her from a distance, arriving around five minutes after she did. He was wearing a green hoodie, a white shirt, a pair of black pants and some matching sneakers, and yet he looked nothing short of handsome. He looked as if he was about to say something in greeting, but his voice faltered a little as he stared at her, his mouth hanging slightly open in surprise. Natsuki's blush deepened; she knew it was because of her outfit.

She stood up straighter and looked him in the eye. "Well?" she said defensively.

Daisuke blinked. "Oh! Sorry about that," he said apologetically. "Um, did you wait too long?"

"Not really," Natsuki admitted, trying to keep her voice firm. "Shall we go?"

Daisuke grinned. "Sure! Good thing we don't have to go far for the stuff we need, hmm? We'll find what we need for both History and English at Gallagher's. That's where Naoki bought his own stuff last Friday, I think."

Natsuki nodded. Their History professor had required them to create a detailed visual representation of any historical timeline of their choosing, while their English professor had asked them to read and analyze any novelette or short story collection that they fancied. "What do w-we need for History again?" asked Natsuki.

Daisuke tapped at his fingers, numbering out the things needed as he narrated them. "Illustration boards, construction paper, glue, some bond paper to print everything on."

With that, the two of them began walking to Gallagher's, a bookstore that sat near the mall. Natsuki went there sometimes to look for a few manga books during her free days, so she felt like she could at least browse for a couple of them for her leisure after they had bought the materials they needed. Daisuke walked alongside her, casually remarking about how pretty the city looked today as they went. Natsuki nodded and agreed alongside him, careful not to cast any glance towards him.

"What's that for?" asked Daisuke as they walked, nodding his head towards the paper bag she was carrying.

Natsuki waved her hand dismissively. "Just some stuff I already bought earlier when I was waiting for you. Anyway, what are you gonna be doing for English? Short story collection or a novelette?"

"Well, if you ask me, I'd prefer to write a ten-page essay on manga," said Daisuke with a chuckle. "Then again, old Kobayashi might not appreciate that."

"Hey, manga is literature too, you know!" Natsuki told him fervently. "Just because it's a whole new genre doesn't mean it can't be interpreted like literature! Besides, certain types of manga can be just as serious as any novel can be!"

"I agree," Daisuke remarked. "Sadly, not many people think the same."

"Ugh, I know, right?" Natsuki grumbled.

Gallagher's was almost devoid of people when they arrived. Then again, it was only eleven o'clock in the morning, so any customers that needed school supplies or books would only come by later. Natsuki almost went for the manga section immediately as she entered the store, but she slowed down when she remembered what they were here for and who she was with. Daisuke took one look around the bookstore and turned to her with a grin. As if he had read her mind, he said, "Let's look for some manga afterwards, eh?"

Natsuki looked at him for a moment. Observant, as always. She gave him a grudging smile. "Alright."

It took only five minutes for them to buy most of that they needed. Natsuki had taken longer in looking for materials as she browsed the shelves for good quality coloring markers, some decorative paper, and some coloring pencils. Daisuke, who had bought only the required materials, looked at her curiously as she chose between two different brands of markers.

Natsuki caught him staring. "W-What?" she asked sheepishly.

"What are you gonna use those for?" he asked.

She grimaced. "For the History project, of course!"

"But we don't need all that," said Daisuke.

"Doesn't mean we can't use them, right?" she told him defensively. "Besides, I want to make my project a bit more colorful and pleasant to look at. I don't want it looking like an old bulletin board or something like that. Visual presentation's always a plus in projects like this!"

"I see." Daisuke gave her a small smile. "What are you gonna do to decorate it?"

"Just wait and see!" Natsuki replied proudly. "It's gonna blow everyone's socks off!"

Once Natsuki had managed to choose what else she needed to buy, the two of them moved to the book section in the store to choose what novelette or short story collection they would be using for their English project. Daisuke had taken the initiative of carrying their things in separate shopping baskets, leaving their hands free to browse through books as he set the baskets down next to the bookshelves. Grateful for this, Natsuki placed the extra paper bag she was carrying with the rest of her History project materials, setting it carefully atop everything else.

There were plenty of both new and used books on display, and Natsuki mused that this would take longer than they had initially anticipated. Daisuke, however, was quick to remind her of what they were looking for. "As long as it's not a journal or an essay book, and as long as it exceeds a hundred and fifty pages, it's gonna be good enough for the project," Daisuke told her. "Then again, if we're talking about manga, I wouldn't mind reading three hundred pages for it."

"You've got that right," said Natsuki with a sigh.

"I'll let you know if I find something nice," Daisuke went on. "I'll take this side, and you take that one, okay?"

"Sure thing."

It did not take long before Natsuki had cleared most of the books in front of her without really finding one that both appealed to her and had just the right number of pages to make the project easier to do. The rest of the novels on her shelf, however, sat higher up, and she saw that there was no way for her to reach them. She looked at Daisuke, who looked busy browsing through another shelf. Though she knew that she could ask him for help in reaching up there since he practically towered over her, she quickly resented the thought as it made her conscious of how short she was. Sighing in exasperation, she decided to just stand on the tips of her toes and see if she could at least pull down one book from the top shelves. In spite of her efforts, she could only touch the books with her fingertips.

Natsuki grunted angrily, cursing her height for being too short and the bookshelf for being too tall. Though she could always move on to another bookshelf, the thought of her conquering this particular obstacle instead of the other way around was starting to get on her nerves.

She stopped thinking about what to do, however, when a hand reached upwards onto the shelf. Natsuki turned her head and saw Daisuke looking up at the shelf as he wordlessly took down one book after another, stacking them on top of each other on a lower shelf. When he had finished taking down around fifteen of them, he stepped back and grinned.

"You looked like you needed some help," he said brightly.

Natsuki stared for a moment, shifting her glance from Daisuke to the books he had taken for her. Slowly, frustration welled up inside her.

"Why did you have to do that?!" she snapped.

Daisuke's grin vanished abruptly. "Huh?"

"I was supposed to get them myself! What, you think I'm too short or something?!"

"Ah, I . . . d-didn't say that, Natsuki!" said Daisuke with some mounting nervousness.

"You were thinking it!" she said crossly. "You didn't have to do that, alright?! I can do things perfectly f-fine on my own!"

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry," said Daisuke quickly and quietly, looking around to see if Natsuki's angry tones were causing any disturbance in the bookstore. "I just wanted to help you, alright? Besides, h-how were you gonna get those books if I didn't lend you a hand?"

"W-Well, um . . ." Now it was Natsuki's turn to look around; she cast her eyes over anything that could have helped her reach up the bookshelf, like a box or a stepladder, but she found no such objects in sight. She looked back at the bookshelf and saw as well that she couldn't have reached the higher sections even if she tried jumping. Defeated, she glanced at Daisuke sullenly, moved towards the books he had set down for her, and began looking at them one by one in silence. Only then did Daisuke return to his bookshelf.

As expected, looking through the books took longer than buying the materials needed for their History project. Daisuke chose a nonfiction book entitled Sinners of Time, while Natsuki settled for Breath of the Sea, a romance book. All throughout their choosing session, she didn't utter a word to Daisuke, fuming as she was from his help, and she opted instead to shoot irate glances at him every time he would look towards her.

Their manga-browsing session was also affected, though to be fair, there weren't a lot of new manga books that caught their eyes—most of them were either series that Natsuki had already read or genres that she didn't dig, and the same case was true for Daisuke as well. Because of this, the two of them decided to just get on with the rest of the day. Even after they had paid for everything and exited Gallagher's around ten minutes later, however, Natsuki didn't let up on her frustration, prompting Daisuke to speak as they walked down the street.

"Natsuki, if I offended you or anything when I helped you earlier, I apologize," he told her in an earnest tone. "It's really unintentional, okay? I was only trying to help you."

"You're always helping me," Natsuki told him grumpily, tightening her grip on her things. "It's n-not that I'm not grateful for it or a-anything, but it's not always fun to feel."

"Like I said, I never intended to make you feel like that, alright?" he said kindly. "Again, I'm really sorry."

She let out a sigh. Try as she might, she could never stay angry at Daisuke for such a thing. She decided to mellow a bit. "Okay, I get it," she huffed. "It's just that . . . I don't like it when people make me feel small or weak. Just because I'm short doesn't mean I should always be helped by people."

"I see," said Daisuke. "Well, I'll try to keep that in mind in the future. But I just want you to know that it's never bad to ask for help when you need it, okay?"

"I know, I know," muttered Natsuki.

"And besides, you're anything but feeble, Natsuki," Daisuke went on. "People who think you are just because you're short or small are seriously underestimating how smart and sharp you can be."

It took a large amount of effort for Natsuki to not stop in her tracks as Daisuke said those words. She did slow down her pace, however, and her efforts could not stop her cheeks from turning a bit pink. "What made you s-say that, dummy?"

"Well, you are smart and alert," replied Daisuke sincerely. "You pick up quickly on the little things that people tend to miss, and you remember a lot of things especially during our manga-reading sessions. Just because you're lacking in terms of height doesn't mean the rest of you is lacking as well!"

"Oh, so you do admit that I'm short, then? Jerk." Natsuki punched him both peevishly and playfully on the arm.

"Ow!" Daisuke rubbed the spot where her fist landed. "Hey, that hurt, you know?"

"What can I say? I can be pretty strong as well!" she said proudly.

"Exactly my point," said Daisuke. "You shouldn't hate being considered small or weak, because you're not. See, you're smart, alert, and strong—I mean, holy crap, my arm really felt that."

"W-Well, I don't totally hate being small," Natsuki admitted. "Sometimes, I like it w-when people tend to underestimate me because they think I'm only w-worth my size. It makes it so much better when I prove that I can be both small a-and better than them, you know?"

Indeed, Natsuki prided herself often on the fact that she was smarter than most people would give her credit for, and while she never answered much during oral recitations, she got good grades on a number of assignments and quizzes. Even in Physical Education, where a girl with a smaller build like her would often struggle catching up to fitter and more athletic students, she had proven her prowess more often than not when they played softball and handball.

"But it gets tiring sometimes when I can't be g-good at something, no matter how hard I try," she went on. "It just makes me feel like I'm a failure, that I can't always be good at everything. That's w-why I got angry when you helped me, a-and . . ."

Her voice trailed off for a moment, wondering if she was starting to say too much. The thought made her suddenly feel conscious, so she snapped back into defense mode. "Alright, that's enough! You're starting to make me say weird things!" she hissed, punching him again on the arm.

"Ow! Hey, to be fair, you're the one who kept speaking! I didn't even say anything else yet," Daisuke told her jokingly even as he winced from the blow.

Natsuki glared at him. She raised her fist to hit him again, prompting him to shield himself with his things. "Ah, no! You're gonna break my arm if you keep doing that!"

She grinned and lowered her fist. "Serves you right," she said with a giggle. "Anyway, where else are we going? You said you'd go somewhere after we buy all the stuff we need, right?"

"Oh, right!" said Daisuke, checking his wristwatch. "It's almost eleven-thirty. I was thinking of eating lunch somewhere with you."

Again, Natsuki almost stopped in her tracks as she heard his reply. Though she knew that she should have grown used to eating lunch with Daisuke by now, eating outside of school was something she had never done before with anyone in her life. It made her conscious of how such a thing can be easily perceived as a date by both strangers and friends alike. Then again, the same could be said of their lunch meetings at the school grounds, which also gave off an impression of how close the two of them seemed to be.

"W-Well . . . um, if you want, then let's g-go," she stammered.

"Great!" said Daisuke.

Daisuke decided to take Natsuki to one of the many fast food places that he, Kenta and Naoki usually went to—Big Tom's. It was a small brick building, smaller than most cafés, with not much design on the outside to distinguish it from other flashier eateries other than an unlit neon sign displaying the joint's name. The interior was nearly as minimalistic as the exterior was—simple wooden tables and chairs were laid out at varying spaces for customers to sit on, while the whitewashed walls had little to no decoration adorning them. Despite this, the place was a popular pick for both students and nine-to-five workers, as evidenced by the customers who had occupied more than half of the tables already. Daisuke sensed that even if Natsuki may not dig the place's crowdedness, the food will make up for it.

It was already close to noon by the time their orders arrived: Daisuke with a jumbo cheeseburger and fries, Natsuki with a smaller version of his chosen dish. Their discussion soon shifted to the topic of which historical timeline they would be choosing for their respective History projects. Daisuke had decided to go with the Industrial Revolution for its veritable gold mine of facts and events. Natsuki, on the other hand, expressed her distaste for his choice, citing how it would be too bland because it would be difficult to color and design such a presentation.

"I think I'm gonna go with the Renaissance," said Natsuki as she ate. "The arts, the classics, music and paintings and literature . . . that's a really colorful timeline." She chewed thoughtfully and looked directly at Daisuke. "This cheeseburger's really good, by the way."

"I'm glad you think so," said Daisuke with a grin. "My friends and I go here when we can for the food. How about you? Where do you often hang out at?"

Natsuki shifted anxiously in her seat. She mumbled something under her breath, avoiding Daisuke's eyes. "Uh, what? I'm sorry, I can't hear you," asked Daisuke.

Natsuki mumbled again. Daisuke heard her this time, but only barely. "Nowhere. . ."

Daisuke raised his eyebrows. "Wait, so you don't go out often?"

"Could you not rub it in?" hissed Natsuki, a pink flush creeping up her neck.

". . . Oh, I see," said Daisuke. "It's just that . . ."

He fell silent, opting instead to finish his cheeseburger and allowing Natsuki to do the same. Though he knew that Natsuki never had that many friends because of her experiences, he was still surprised at the idea that she never hung out for the sake of having fun outside of school. When he had texted her the day before about going out to buy the materials they needed, she had been both unsure and excited, something Daisuke could see even through all the cute words and emojis she used whenever she texted. He did manage to coax her, however, and here she was. Perhaps that was why she had been a bit defensive again at Gallagher's, and especially conscious about him noticing what she was wearing when he arrived.

"Well, this doesn't have to be the first and last time we see each other outside of school, you know?" he said, smiling. "I mean, I'm not saying that hanging out with you at school is starting to bore me. I'm just saying that we don't have to wait for weekends to be able to have fun and eat out and . . . and see each other like this, you know?"

Natsuki's eyes widened a little, and the pinkness on her face deepened into red now. She set down her last bite of cheeseburger and turned away, fidgeting. "You're starting to make it s-sound weird," she huffed.

"I'm sorry." Daisuke laughed, and he could somehow feel himself turning pink from his own words. "I mean, it's true, isn't it? We can always see each other and hang out even outside of school. But only if you want to!"

Natsuki didn't move. Daisuke watched as she balled her hands into fists. After a brief moment, she spoke up.

". . . Of course I want to . . . dummy."

Her firm reply startled Daisuke. Natsuki eased her glance back slowly towards him. The determination in her pink eyes, which contrasted with the flush on her face, made Daisuke unable to look away. Her lips were pursed, as if she wanted to say more, but couldn't—and somehow, Daisuke was struck dumb as well the longer he stared into her eyes. He took in her entire appearance, from her vivid pink hair to her fiercely beautiful face to the clothes she was wearing, and his mind was once again suffused with the thoughts he had earlier when he arrived at the convenience store where she had been waiting.

Natsuki had never looked so . . . cute.

As a last-minute addition to their day downtown, the two of them decided to go to another bookstore—Booksmith—to browse again for some manga. Daisuke knew that this would brighten up Natsuki further and relieve the tension the two of them felt earlier at lunchtime. Though he was happy that manga-browsing did lighten up Natsuki's mood, Daisuke couldn't shake from his brain the image of her staring so intently at him.

Thankfully, their impromptu manga-browsing paid dividends, as Natsuki managed to buy the first book of Neko Love Calamity, a new shoujo series that she wanted to start reading into. Daisuke, on the other hand, bought a curious new sci-fi release named Future Sigma, created by the same team that wrote Gun Breakers. He voiced his excitement to Natsuki about being able to discuss the new books they had bought in the future, though Natsuki was quick to remind him that he still had a long way to go with Parfait Girls—eleven more acts, to be precise—while she still needed to finish the last eight books of Band Fist Revolution. When everything was done and paid for, the two of them stepped out of Booksmith and looked at one another.

"I'm gonna be going home," said Daisuke. "Naoki's busy with some schoolwork, and Kenta's not the kind of guy who'd go out on Sundays, so there's nothing else for me to do. Might be a good time to start working on the projects, right? How about you?"

"I might just end up doing the same," said Natsuki. "Unless you . . . have somewhere else we can go to. . . I mean, it's not like I can't start working on the projects p-properly if we spend more time around here, of c-course!"

Her words shook Daisuke again, but the stern defense she put up almost immediately made him smile as well. "Well, to be honest, if we didn't have these projects to take care of, we'd go to the mall. But there's always next time!"

"Uh, y-yeah, next time . . ." Natsuki mumbled. She looked both relieved and disappointed.

Daisuke gave her a thumbs-up. "I'm gonna be walking home. How about you?"

"Same," replied Natsuki. "It's not that far. I can walk from here."

"Alright, then," said Daisuke, clapping his hand gently on Natsuki's shoulder. "Take care, okay? If things get boring while you're working on your project, don't hesitate to text me up. See you tomorrow!"

With that, he turned and began to walk home, feeling good at how the day turned out overall even as he privately wished it could have gone on longer. He had not gone beyond five paces, however, when he felt a small but strong hand take hold of his arm. Startled, Daisuke looked around to see Natsuki holding onto him, her eyes shut tight and her mouth contorted tightly, as if she wanted to scream. Again, her face had turned pink, almost matching the shade of her hair.

"W-Wait a second, okay?" she stammered fiercely. "There's . . . um . . ."

Daisuke raised his eyebrows at her. "What is it, Natsuki?" he asked as he turned around to face her. "Is . . . Is something wrong?"

"No!" Natsuki cried out, shaking her head insistently as she let go of his arm. "It's just . . . j-just, ugh . . ."

Suddenly, in one swift movement, she set down her bag of project materials and books and held out the paper bag that she had been carrying with her all day. Her eyes were still closed, as if anticipating an explosion to go off around her at any second. The paper bag trembled and swayed gently along with her hand.

"Take it. I know that I told you it's something I bought earlier, but . . . it's not exactly that," she spluttered, her breathing rising with every exhalation she made. "It's a gift I made . . . for you."

Daisuke's eyes widened now. As the gravity of Natsuki's words sunk into his mind, he felt heat creep up to his ears and face. He stared closely, shifting his eyes from Natsuki to the paper bag, a number of questions running wildly in his head. Still, he knew that he should at least stop being rude and accept . . . whatever this gift was from her. Without a word, he took the paper bag with his free hand and was about to peek into it when Natsuki shouted again.

"Don't!" Some people who were passing by on the sidewalk turned their heads at her exclamation, causing her to blush further. She exhaled resignedly, clutching her hands together in a painful way. "I mean, don't open it yet, okay?" she went on in a quieter tone. "I d-don't . . . want you to see my face when you t-take a look at it. I'm gonna g-go home now, so just open it w-when you don't see me around the street anymore!"

"Um . . . Okay, if you s-say so," said Daisuke. He grinned nervously. "Thank you, Natsuki."

Natsuki smiled a little back at him—though emotions were still warring on her face, the expression warmed Daisuke's heart considerably. The smile didn't linger for long, however; Natsuki swiftly picked up her project materials, turned around and started running off into the distance, vanishing from sight as she rounded a street corner before he could call out to her. Daisuke stared after her for a few more moments, his heart beating excitedly in his chest from what had just transpired. He shifted his gaze back to the paper bag, musing that it would be safe to open now that Natsuki was definitely out of sight.

Taking a deep breath, he set down his things, opened the paper bag and looked at what was in it: a rectangular Tupperware box, its lid a vivid pink plastic one. Frowning thoughtfully, Daisuke took it out of the paper bag carefully and noticed that it had something inside. He took off the lid.

Inside were four cupcakes, arranged in a row to fit neatly into the box. They were laden with fluffy white icing and designed to look like cats, with chocolate icing for whiskers and chocolate pieces for the ears and eyes.

Enraptured with an emotion that he could not quite fathom, Daisuke put the lid back on the box and looked towards where Natsuki had run off to. As Natsuki had already gone, he knew there was no point in looking there or even going after her. Smiling, he returned the box carefully inside the paper bag, picked up his other things and began walking home.