Chapter 10: A Date To Remember (Part 1/4)
"We're here," I say, having just parked.
"Thanks," Yuka says, slowly moving her face from my chest.
"Don't mention it. Do you feel better?" I ask.
"Yeah… so no more moping!" She energetically exclaims, startling me.
"G-Good to hear that but don't yell so abruptly!" I say as she gets out of the car and quickly makes her way to my side while I'm getting out.
"C'mon, slowpoke! Hurry up so we can go!" She tugs on my right arm, almost making me fall over.
"We can't just rush off! I have to pay the parking meter first!" I remind her.
"Oh, right," she chuckles. At least she's back to normal.
"Alright so we have an hour until our parking expires," I say.
"Then let's make the most of it," she smiles and grabs my hand.
"Y-Yuka, w-we shouldn't hold hands. People will get the wrong idea," I stammer, blushing.
"Let them think that. I don't mind. Do you?" She questions.
"I.… don't," I respond.
"Look at me when you say that, Sato," she says with that deeper tone of voice. Looking at her, I notice she's blushing too. Damn it! I'm gonna slip up if she pushes any further.
"I… I… I don't," I manage to say.
"Good because I wasn't gonna let go," she squeezes my hand. I clear my throat to break the tension.
"Anyway, are we gonna keep standing here and waste our precious time or go in?"
"Go in, of course!" She answers excitedly, running without warning and pulling me along in the process.
"You're gonna tear my arm off one of these days, y'know?!" I shout, my feet stumbling to keep up.
"This place is really nice, Sato," she says after a couple minutes of taking in the peaceful scenery. Around us are big trees, happy kids at the playgrounds, groups of friends hanging out, and couples sitting on benches. I'm sure this place is probably vacant by the evening though with the threat of ghouls and such.
"Hikarigaoka Park. Seventh largest park in all of Japan if I'm remembering correctly," I say.
"Ooh, whipping out trivia I see. Got another fact in that noggin of yours?" She asks.
"Sadly, no," I answer.
"Really? Some kinda tour guide you are," she playfully remarks.
"I don't recall saying I was your tour guide," I point out.
"Like it or not, you basically are since I'm still new in this ward," she reminds me.
"I'm not really knowledgeable about places. The most I ever did at a park was sit around and watch others have fun since I just like the atmosphere. Well, that and—,"
"Ritsu would take you to the park to hang out, wouldn't she?" She questions, cutting me off and looking super smug about it.
"T-That's neither here nor there?!" I stammer, blushing heavily. Whipping out her phone quickly, she takes a picture of me.
"Gotcha!" She grins.
"H-Hey! Why did you snap a picture so suddenly? I wasn't ready!" I inquire.
"That's the point. It's about time I got some photos of those cute faces you make when you're embarrassed," she giggles.
"No way! Delete it! We need only good pictures!" I try to grab her phone but she moves it out of my reach.
"No can do since it is a good picture," she stuffs her phone back into her left pocket.
"Fine. Just don't share that one or the rest you decide to take then," I concede.
"C'mon, Sato. I know better than to do that. That would defeat the purpose of me laying low," she says. "Anyway, we've been walking for a bit. Let's sit down on that bench coming up," she points to a vacant bench that's only a few feet away from us.
"Now that you mentioned it, I've been meaning to ask this for a minute now," I take the moment to sit down with her. "Why are you laying low to begin with?" I question, lowering my voice.
"That's a secret," she replies.
"Don't pull that mess. I told you my predicament so tell me yours," I say.
"It's… It's better if I don't tell you," her voice becomes reluctant.
"Yukari please!" I raise my voice slightly albeit still whispering. She looks into my concerned eyes. Damn it! Keep it calm, Sato. Can't risk her clamming up or ruining her mood but I do need to know, especially if I can help her or even Anteiku out in some way.
"Sato…," she says softly.
"I'm sorry that I chose now to bring it up but I swear on everything it's important, Yuka," I squeeze her hand tightly. "I really wanna help you more in any way I can but you've gotta confide in me."
"… That isn't fair. You say that and yet you're hiding things from me too, aren't you?" She asks.
"I… am," I respond hesitantly.
"Then if I tell you, you need to eventually tell me what you're holding onto. Promise?" She says.
"I promise. I don't want any secrets between us so we can work this out," I reply.
"Work what out?" She inquires, pretending to be clueless. Crap! I didn't catch myself! Without fail, she teases me every time she sees a crack in the armor.
"T-This arrangement we have," I stutter, trying to cover my ass.
"Is that so? Sounds like you want more than our little deal," she conjures up that deep tone again.
"Y-You're imagining things," I say.
"Yet you haven't stopped holding my hand so tightly," she smirks.
"Yuka, stop trying to undermine this serious talk. You're making me think that you don't actually ca—," her lips cut me off. Caught by surprise, I pull away almost immediately.
"Yuka…," I mutter.
"I do care, Sato baby," she says in a tender tone, lightly caressing my right cheek with her left hand. "I'll tell you what's up when we get home." Damn her! She's got no right being so lovey dovey and sexy! It's just as hard to not fall for it in public as it is at home!
"Yukari!" I lunge my lips against hers, leaning against her body with my right hand on the part of the seat space between her legs. Making out, she lets me ravenously french kiss, knowing she's succeeded in pushing the right buttons once again.
"Too much PDA, Sato," she giggles, muffled by my tongue in her mouth. Hearing the sound of her phone snapping a picture, I manage to break the kiss, a string of saliva stretching before splitting apart.
"Like you actually give a shit," I pant.
"You're right. I don't. Go all the way right now. I dare you," she bites her bottom lip. At the edges of my vision, I can see a few people looking our way.
"Later on. I'm not gonna fall for that," I lean away from her and untighten my grip on her hand.
"I almost had you and you know it," she says.
"You can keep thinking that. Unless we wanna waste all of our time sitting, we need to keep walking on," I stand up.
"You make a good point. Let's continue our date then," she yawns as she gets up. I take a deep breath.
"Let's go take a look at the Arch of Light, shall we?" I ask as we resume walking together, managing to not react to her comment.
"Nothing that time? I guess I need to crank it up," she sighs.
"You've been cranking it up enough already," I remark.