Act: 35
*Yawn*
"I managed to fall asleep...? That's nice..."
Hopping out of bed and moving over towards the window, sliding the curtains on the opposite ends letting the sun shine brightly in his room.
Following through with his daily routines, using the bathroom, washing his face, and brushing his teeth. Once finished, he headed to the kitchen to make himself breakfast. The thought of his date today made his stomach turn, in a good way, nervous to say the least. Stuffing his face with toast and rice seemed to calm his nerves at the time being.
Going back to his room thinking about what clothes he should wear, not something too flashy but also, he didn't want to wear something bland. He glanced for a bit and decided gray sweatpants and a black hoodie with white sleeves were what he decided to wear.
"I don't look too bad?"
He moved around checking himself out, nodding with joy.
"So, it wouldn't hurt to be early, would it? Nah if anything I should be early."
"Ah, now where did I put my phone...?"
"!!!"
"I keep forgetting I don't have a phone… I'll remind her when we meet up. First thing is first, time for our date!"
Closing the door behind him, he rushed over to the main plaza they were said to meet at. Behind him was a clock that said 12:16. A decent amount of people casually walked past, along with quite a bit of people who already were in relationships. Which made sense, it happened to be a beautiful day outside bright and warm with a soft breeze.
'I wonder. Would she even want to go out with me at some point?'
"Ah enough sorrowful thoughts, it's my first date and I should be happy! I've got this. Calm, calm thoughts."
44 minutes passed.
"I may have come too early...? Having a phone does make life easier..."
*Sigh*
30 minutes passed and Shizu began to get nervous again. Looking back at the clock and around hoping that he would spot her soon.
"Calm down, calm down. We can't get worked up yet. She'll be here anytime now. Play it cool..."
10 minutes passed.
"The nerves are killing me. When I see her any minute now, I don't think I'll know how to react, what if she's wearing something beautiful and looks at me, do I look good. Do I smell…?! No, I put on deodorant. I'm good."
Another 10 minutes passed.
"Yep. No longer nervous."
*Tap*
"No longer nervous for what?"
Shizu's eyes shot open. Turning around immediately, surprised, he saw that her face was extremely close to his.
"Ugh- uh. Um… Hi! You're here!"
"Heh? Yeah. I'm sorry for being late, I hope I didn't make you wait…!"
Shizu rubbed his hands through his hair.
"No, not at all. I actually got here not too long ago myself, so don't worry about it."
'I lied.'
Hinako wore a long white skirt reaching up to her knees and a sleeveless top that had a light pink floral pattern alongside her expensive-looking silver bracelet.
"Wow, I have to say you look beautiful and the dress suits you really well.
"Thank you. I made sure to look this good for you. Heh."
The two of them blushed at each other. Without them knowing both were embarrassed.
"Well, shall we begin our date...? The first thing I should say is: I'm so sorry for not responding. The thing is my phone is broken and I need to get a new one...? Can we head over to a phone shop first before we go anywhere?"
"Yeah, totally."
Entering the phone shop, Shizu casually browsed around for what phone he would want. He glanced over at some of the cheaper phones but also saw Hinako looking at one of the most expensive phones and from the looks, it was most likely the newest model that came out.
"I'll take this one sir."
"The latest model and our limited purple color too. Is this for your fancy girlfriend, why not pick out the pink color that would fit her I think?"
"Hehe… Well, you see it's actually for me..."
"Oh well, my bad. We can continue the purchase then. That'll be ¥134,680."
'Ach!'
"Hehe..."
Shizu's hand shook while giving the man his card. Once the process of his phone being completely set up was done, they were able to leave.
"Thank you. Come again!"
The cashier said with a big smile on his face. Shizu had let out a sigh walking out with his brand-new activated phone.
"Shizu. Shizu. Shizu, now that you have your new phone, allow me to be the first one to give you my number on it!"
"Ok?!"
They exchanged numbers and continued with the date, first heading over to a somewhat big mall with three floors to it. They shopped around, he also had offered to pay for whatever she had asked to buy. She went and bought some new clothes along with two matching phone keychains that she put in her pocket.
"These are for later."
She said while sticking her tongue out.
They hung out for a while longer at the mall laughing and enjoying themselves, they even went to a photo booth to take a cute couple-themed photo.
"You can keep it Shizu, think of it as a memory of us."
"Would you want one for yourself?"
"I don't need one. I have you in my mind at all times."
His face lit up a bright red.
"L-let's continue. Anywhere else you would like to go?"
"How about something to eat for now? I'm getting a little hungry, hehe."
After leaving the mall they walked around for some time finding a place to sit, which happened to be close to a burger chain. Sitting at the open table, that isolated them from people, but a few sat at other tables close by.
"Why don't we have burgers? I wouldn't mind eating that and going for sweets later?"
"Ok! Wait here Hinako, I'll be back with the food!"
Shizu remembered what she wanted and left to grab the food for them.
'So far, this date is going amazing! This is the best day ever; I can't wait to tell Taku about this! There's no way he's going to believe me! Excluding the spending...'
"I'd like two original burgers, a green tea, and Sakura blossom tea, please! Thank you."
He walked out of the restaurant with a tray holding the two burgers and the two small drinks.
"I wonder…"
"Will I get a kiss…! Should I go for a kiss!?"
Shizu shook his head, embarrassing himself from his own thoughts.
"I mean… Maybe?! It's a possibility. You know what! I'll be bold enough to ask her out!"
Some couple who walked past responded to what he said out loud.
*Good luck little kid! *
Shizu is stiff, smiling at the couple.
'Easier said than done… You already have a girlfriend.'
He felt different, from the time he spent in the forest and now being able to have fun again. The joyous smile was bright, it gave life to the dull face he had to hold onto for the entire month and some. Turning the corner and back to where their table was. He saw that the same girl from yesterday was there along with two boys and a girl with green hair holding two cups in her hand, but what stuck out the most was Hinako who was being hugged tightly by Hano. Hano had returned the favor by hugging her out of her chair, spinning her around, and lifting her up in the air.
"Why the hell is so close to her!"
"Hinako..."
"…"
"Why... Would you... What did I do that was wrong?"