Chereads / Valentine's Day Is In Full Effect / Chapter 12 - [Kazuya/Lisa - 2] The Real You?

Chapter 12 - [Kazuya/Lisa - 2] The Real You?

"Miss Lisa?" Kazuya called out, now realizing that his date had disappeared. The woman had gotten away from him, "where" was the problem he was trying to solve. Despite her having such an eye-catching appearance, she was still pretty hard to spot due to the crowds of people just walking around the district. He didn't want to make a scene either by screaming out for her. Trying to act as casual as possible, he sat on the edges of a bed of flowers that were slightly elevated. From there, he saw that a group of people seemed to be gathering around something.

He quickly dropped from his spot, sprinting towards the middle of the circle. With a bit of struggling, he managed to squeeze his way through the rather large crowd. In the center of it all was a man holding on to his shoe as if he were in pain, and beside him was a tall redhead who looked down on him with an expression of superiority.

(What the hell happened here?) he questioned as he took in the sight. Lisa seemed to have stepped on the man's shoe with her heel and it evidently hurt. The question was why? Why would she do such a thing? She was such a proper-looking lady, the type that wouldn't even hold anything heavier than a teacup.

As he got closer to try and ask the man if he was okay, his arm was suddenly tugged. For a few moments, he thought he was about to get into a fight with how much force there was on the grab, but it turned out to just be his date. The woman's expression now a lot softer and proper like before. It only took another tug on his arm for him to get that she was gesturing for them to leave. He looked back on the man and gave him an apologetic nod before they walked—or rather, power-walked—away from the group.

Kazuya had a few questions on his mind but he dismissed them. The top priority was to make her feel more comfortable. But that thought seemed to be pointless as after they got further away, she seemed completely fine. In fact, she seemed to be smiling even more.

"Did you enjoy the tea from earlier?" The question was out of nowhere. Though he didn't find it too weird as they did go inside a cafe earlier where nothing much of note happened. Just ordered some coffee and went on their merry way.

"I didn't really like the tea, considering I didn't even order it," he answered in a joking manner.

"And where did you learn how to be so rude, hm?" It was also clearly a joke from the way she said it. Though really, most of the things she said would always come off a bit sexual. And judging by her expression, she probably knew that fact.

"Why'd you do that anyway?"

He felt her scowl at him but was instantly replaced with her usual expression.

"Whatever do you mean?" she asked with a rather bitter tone.

Without backing down, he continued, "I just didn't think you were the type to do that. There must've been a reason, right?"

She took in a deep breath before letting it out. Lisa didn't seem to want to answer the question, instead opting to keep walking. The two kept strolling around with a heavy atmosphere surrounding them, as if someone spoke up the two would shatter. He raised an eyebrow to where they ended up. It was a park. It was a very typical one at that. Not too small, not too large. A field of grass that spanned across the entirety of it, only being broken as patches of what seemed like dirt to act as walkways. There were trees in the corners of it as well. It was small but had a quite quaint feel to it.

Looking back at his date, she had already sat down on the grass with her hand gesturing him to sit beside her. He didn't really detest the idea, they were on a date after all. Well, a "date".

Having sat down next to her, only then did he realize just how tall she really was. She was only slightly smaller than him and he was about 5"10. The previously awkward atmosphere had all but disappeared as the two relaxed next to each other, his date locking her arms around his.

The woman's breasts were squishing up to his elbow, and it took damn near all of his self-restraint just to not react too strongly to it. But the redness in his cheeks told Lisa all there was to know. He couldn't deny it, of course. She was a very attractive woman, after all. And her clinging onto anybody would probably elicit some sort of response, even towards women.

"My, my, Kazuya. What are you thinking about right now, exactly?" she asked as she drew her mouth closer to his ear. "I do wonder..." He couldn't tell if this was how she normally spoke or if she just wanted to taunt him. If it was the latter, it was definitely going to work if she kept going.

Honestly, at this point, his face was melting from how nervous he felt. The reaction he was giving was genuinely how he would react normally when confronted by such a desirable femme fatale. His heartbeat was uneven, his eyes were darting around all over the place, and his mind was filling up with rather lewd thoughts.

But his train of thought was suddenly cut off as she asked a question. One that he's been asked multiple times by the women he's gone on "dates" with.

"Tell me, Kazuya," she requested, "is this the real you?"

"...And what if it is?"

Flipping her hair with her spare hand, she replied, "I don't dislike men like you." She had a rather innocent smile on her face as she said it too. Whether that was fake or not, he couldn't tell.

"Would you rather me be myself then?" Not that he was acting. The way he would conduct himself was with very little adjustments to his personality, which he deemed normal. People always changed how they act towards certain people, anyway.

But nevertheless, the question seemed to have caught her off guard because she let go of his arm.

"Let's go on a normal date," he suggested, extending his open palm towards her. It only took a split second before she accepted his invitation and snuggled up to him. Very explicitly.

"Public...!" he silently screamed towards her, if that was even possible.

After a quick giggle, she replied, "I know." It seemed she was already way too into it. "Hm, I wanna get changed now," she stated as she looked at her dress.

"What for? I think you're pretty good already."

"Yes, but this is a bit too formal, no?"

(The way you speak is already a bit too formal.)

Kazuya slowly nodded in response. He didn't question it at first but yes, she was wearing something rather formal. I mean, a fancy dress and a park aren't exactly synonymous with each other. Having agreed, she took this as an opportunity to drag him towards a mall. It wasn't too far away, but the mall she dragged him to wasn't the one that he usually visited. He hadn't been to this mall at all, actually.

Entering it, he noticed that it was smaller than the one he usually visited, but its size was still nothing to scoff at. At the side of one of the corners, he saw a woman waving at him...no, she was waving at Lisa who was waving back.

As the two women entered the shop, Kazuya was told to go off on his own for a bit and that they'll just meet up in 20 minutes. How long do women have to get dressed? He thought. But he just shrugged to himself and started walking in a random direction.

The mall actually took advantage of its smaller size as there were shops and stalls scattered all throughout, even in the weirdest of corners they were able to fit a shop. How they managed to get patrons, he didn't know.

As he passed by what looked like a laser tag booth, he saw a pair of what seemed to be brothers coming out. One of them was significantly older than the other and they seemed to have had fun. The smiles on their faces were anything but fake. They were genuine.

(I wonder...)

He went to wander off again shortly after.

He still had about 5 minutes left before he would return to the shop. Sitting down on the floor in one of the corners, he took in all the things that happened that day. His face was clearly downcast, not because he was tired or anything. The siblings earlier just reminded him of his own little brother whom he hasn't seen in months.

His thoughts kept nagging at him. If you asked him, even he wouldn't know why he kept mentally berating himself. His love for his brother wasn't fake, it wasn't. That's what he kept telling himself, at least.

Mentally resetting himself, he slapped both of his cheeks with his palm. It was an odd sight to the people passing by him, but he knew that he needed it. This wasn't the time to be wallowing in self-pity, this was a time to be having fun! That said, he didn't really have anything to do at the time so he just half-mindedly pulled out his phone.

The screen flickered open and he was greeted by a text message from his neighbor and friend, Maiko Kawakami.

(Thanks for the food... Huh?) To his surprise, she actually thanked him for the food. Oh god, was the world ending? Was the fabric of space and time tearing at this exact moment? Of course not. But maybe that's what the world wanted him to think!

Quickly typing, he messaged her back—though it was about an hour late. The message was just him telling her how weird it is that she actually thanked him for once and that he was elated at the message.

To which she replied with a simple "fuck off".

He chuckled at the response before turning his phone off once again. Having a look around once again, he felt weird. He was only 20 and he was going out with someone in their mid-30s. Thinking about it now, he probably got a lot of weird looks when he was out and about with Lisa. Especially after she snuggled up to him in that park.

It hadn't been that long of a day but it felt like a million different things happened. Checking the time, he noticed that it was about time he went back to that shop. Forcing himself up, he looked up at the sky—ceiling of the mall, in this case. The lights of the floors assaulted his eyes which made him wince. He rubbed his eyes a bit to try and let whiteness subside.

"Kazuya, you okay?" A familiar voice asked.

"Lisa? Yeah, I'm fine... Woah." After his eyesight fixed itself, he was taken aback at the sudden sight. Lisa had changed clothes dramatically. She was now wearing a red top where one side was shoulderless, along with a frilly, white skirt which reached just above her knee and with it, was a belt.

(Skirts need belts?!)

Rubbing that thought aside, he also saw she was wearing some rather cute earrings. It would probably look weird on others but she was one of the few people who could still pull off a cutesy look despite her age. The earings themselves had a flower design where each petal was a different color of the rainbow. In contrast to the mature vibe she gave before, she gave a more adorable aura now.

After he had finished gawking at her, she let out an audible laugh.

"I pull it off well, I assume?" she commented. "Well, guessing by that 'woah' you just did, I'd say I do," she said as she playfully spun around.

"I didn't think people your age could pull off such looks."

"...!" she pouted at the age comment. But before she could even begin to scold him, he walked up to her with a less than subtle face. He was staring very openly at her, admiring her features. Her white silky skin, the subtle shine her eyes gave out because of the lights, and her soft pillowy lips.

With a quick nod, he concluded, "Yep, you're cute."

The transformed woman then ran a hand through her hair. "Naturally," she stated as she turned around and walked away without so much as giving a glance at him. He couldn't help but smile at her reaction.