Chereads / Valentine's Day Is In Full Effect / Chapter 8 - [Tomoya/Sara - 1] – Are You Sure About This?

Chapter 8 - [Tomoya/Sara - 1] – Are You Sure About This?

For the entirety of his life, there's been one thing that has always described Tomoya, and that is being stereotypically nerdy. He watched anime, read books, and other things that were typically associated with the term. He was also not very socially active, as in he doesn't try to actively engage in conversations. More or less, he just answered whenever he's needed and or called. Even his clothes always screamed that he was nerdy: he wore the school's white uniform which he buttoned underneath his beige sweater vest. He also sported thin, rectangular glasses with no frames on the top.

His class had already pegged him as the quiet and shy type, so they generally left him alone to his own devices. He had made friends, of course. Well, it was probably more accurate to say acquaintances more than friends but still, he knew how to talk to people, at least.

Although most had frankly given up on ever trying to make him more social, there was always this one girl that would keep insisting.

"Tomoya, wanna go to a coffee shop with one of my friends?" A girl from his class asked with a very hyperactive tone.

He closed the book he was reading and turned to face the girl inviting him. The girl's skin color was noticeably dark, her eyes were brown, and her hair was dark purple-ish. Her hair was pretty unkempt and could reach all the way to her thighs. She wore a white-collar shirt along with a black necktie and a short, green skirt. She had a pretty thin figure but was actually a bit taller than him. The girl's name was Sara. Despite her name being extremely feminine, her personality was anything but.

"Um...maybe some other time?"

She then pointed a finger at him, it looked like she was going to arrest him with how much energy she put into it. "Excuse me! You've said that about three times now!" she practically yelled out to the entire class.

"Well," he replied as he scratched the back of his head, "I just, I just wanna be alone for now."

He tried sounding as genuine as he could but for whatever reason, a mischievous smile formed on her face. Putting her hand near her mouth in a joking fashion, she spouted, "Is it cause you think you won't be getting anything from girls today?"

A questioning hum was the only response she got, followed by him craning his head to the side.

It took a few seconds for the class—who was now entirely focusing on the two—to get what that reaction implied.

Evidently, it seemed that he had forgotten today was Valentine's Day. How he couldn't tell that it was with the overly lovey-dovey atmosphere in the classroom, nobody knew. He even noticed a few girls give chocolates to guys in the middle of the hallway yet he didn't get the hint.

She just looked at him with a dumbfounded face. After a few seconds, she let out a sigh and grabbed him on the arm, and proceeded to practically drag him out of the classroom. Confused by the entire situation, he tried to fight back, but her grip was far stronger than his, no thanks to his lack of exercise.

After a few seconds of dragging him around, she found a secluded corner on the top floor of the school. She rested her back on the wall as she let go of his arm.

After letting out another sigh, she crossed her arms and asked, "You do know it's Valentine's Day, right?"

"Eh...? No, not really," he replied. "I never had a reason to remember it."

Her serious face changed into more of a dejected expression. His sentence didn't really indicate that he was hurt or anything, he said it very matter-of-factly, not even a hint of sadness could be heard from his voice but it just rubbed her the wrong way.

To her, this day had always been a day where girls could express their love to the boys they liked with confidence. Her experience with Valentine's Day was something special, a date that she never really wanted to forget. Meanwhile, Tomoya's experience with it was basically non-existent. He didn't have a connection to it. He didn't care for it.

She may have jumped to a few conclusions in her head but that's what she thought he implied when he replied.

"Is that so?" she asked. "Well, have about we change that?"

"Change it...? Change it how?" His curiosity seemed to have been piqued at her random and rather vague suggestion.

"Let's go on a date, the two of us," she suggested, "none of my friends'll be there."

He craned his head to the side again as he thought it over. And after a few seconds, he just shrugged in response.

Initially, she was a bit confused by his response. Was that a yes? Was that a no? Which one was it?! She didn't know, but his action afterward basically answered her question.

After a few seconds of her just observing him, he just started walking towards the stairs, presumably to go back to class. Not even thinking about it, she ran over and grabbed him by the shoulder.

"What's that shrug supposed to mean?!"

Turning around, he looked at her with an extremely innocent smile. "I'm just teasing you," he replied, chuckling a bit as he saw her face. Her face was somewhere in between bewildered, embarrassed, and mad.

Not really knowing how to respond, she let go of her grip and crossed her arms once again, she looked like a child who was protesting against her parents.

"Now, now, Sara. Calm down," he said with another chuckle as he reached for the back of his neck.

"Eh?"

He didn't really know what that sound was for so he just stood there motionless, just staring at her with a face that practically said "what?".

"It's just that," her face then morphed into that of shy nervousness, "you finally called me by my name."

"Well, yeah. I never did know your last name, and I always thought it'd be informal to call you by your first name," he replied, "but I think going on a date with someone means that we're pretty close."

In response, she puffed out her cheeks, "If you didn't know my last name, then you shoulda asked!"

He then walked up right next to her face, there were only a few meters away from each other's faces and because of that, she could really see every bit of Tomoya's facial features. His beautiful brown hair and eyes matched perfectly. His hair was styled a bit like an undercut curtain so his eyes were very visible. The sun's light perfectly complimented his now serious expression as he looked at her straight in the eyes.

"Let's hear it then. Your last name, I mean," he stated.

She took a few seconds to get her thoughts straight before speaking. "...Kumiko. My last name's Kumiko," she replied, all the while trying to hide the blush on her face with her hands. It wasn't really helping much considering how little distance they had from each other.

"Sara Kumiko, huh? That's a very pretty name," he continued, "Mine is Hisao. Tomoya Hisao," he stated as he pulled away and started making his way back to the classroom. "We can go on the date after school then, okay?" The parting words left her in a very messy and embarrassed state.

Sara skipped the rest of her classes that day due to the embarrassment that she felt. Well, that and she was overthinking all the things they would do on their date after school.