38 Chapter 38 A date, sort of

A little bit later, after finishing drinking their coffee, Tatsurou, Marie and Naoki went out of the shop, while Yumeko stayed behind to pay...

"Now that everything is solved, I can dismiss you, now I have to go take care of some paperwork..." Yumeko said as she came out while she stretched and looked at Tatsurou and the girls.

"I feel a bit bad, knowing that you paid for everything..." Tatsurou said as he looked at Yumeko, that gave him a gentle pat on the back.

"I was the one that invited you three, so it's only normal, don't worry, about it!" Yumeko said as she smiled.

"Ok, thanks for the coffee!" Tatsurou said as he bowed a bit and Marie responded with the same gesture, Yumeko just winked at them.

"And I'm really happy to have seen you again, Naoki-chan!" Yumeko said as she now turned to Naoki that blushed and just answered with a simple nod.

"Well, I will put you as my provisional, when I get home, so when I send the info of the mission for Tatsurou, you will receive it too, ok?" Yumeko said as she gave a thumbs up to Naoki, and began, to take her leave.

"See you, Tomorrow!" Yumeko said as she kept walking away and waved at Tatsurou and the girls, that responded with the same gesture.

And when Yumeko finally left, a sudden silence ruled over Tatsurou, Marie, and Naoki, but it wasn't for too long.

"You better not drag me down, Kurokami, you hear!" Naoki said with an angry tone as she pointed at Tatsurou.

"Don't worry, I won't do that..." Tatsurou said as he sighed.

"You better not!" Naoki said still angry as she took, her leave and left Tatsurou and Marie alone.

"This girl, I swear when it comes to Yumeko, she acts a lot different..." Tatsurou thought, as he looked at Naoki leaving.

"Anyway, how about we go home..." Tatsurou said this, to Marie as he began turning in the direction of his place, but he was interrupted by Marie, that pulled on his sleeve.

"Say, Tatsurou, about that compensation, you talked about, before we left the classroom..." Marie said as she kept holding Tatsurou's sleeve.

"Y-Yes, what about it?" Tatsurou said as he looked at Marie with a curious expression on.

"Can I, redeem it, now?" Marie asked as she fidgeted a bit.

"Sure, what is it?" Tatsurou said as he awaited Marie's request.

"Well, do you remember when, me, you and Shirayuki, went out, to show me the town, I saw a book store in the Shopping square, and I wanted to go there, if that's ok..." Marie said as she looked at Tatsurou and awaited his answer.

"That's what she wants? I'm actually surprised..." Tatsurou thought as he looked at Marie, that was still waiting for his answer.

"Sure, we can go there now, let me just call Weiss, to tell Shirayuki that we're going to get home a bit late..." Tatsurou said, as he looked at Marie that looked as if she was beaming with light, as she smiled.

"S-Sure!" Marie said with an excited tone as she kept smiling...

A while later, after calling Wise and taking the Monorail to the Shopping square, they were now on their way, to the book store Marie talked about, and something was bugging Tatsurou a bit.

"I said, it was ok to go, but now that I think about this, Marie and I, we are making our way to a store, just the two of us, if you look at this from the perspective of an outsider, it looks like we're on a d-date..." Tatsurou thought this a bit embarrassed, as he glanced at Marie that was smiling.

"Well, judging by the way she is acting, she doesn't mind it at all or she isn't thinking too much, about it..." Tatsurou thought again as he placed his hand in front of his forehead, after he saw that unlike him, Marie was acting calm and normal.

"Fufu, now I'm really happy, that Tatsurou left me behind this morning! We are literally having, what looks like a date!" Marie thought as she looked at Tatsurou and smiled.

"Even if I don't end up buying anything, it's more than worth it! One hooray for being left behind!" Marie thought again and looked more like she was skipping instead of walking...

After a little bit more walking, they were now in front of the book store, Marie talked about, and to Tatsurou's surprise it was actually the same one he usually goes to, and this wasn't your usual book store, as it was a very well known one that was two stories tall and sold new and used books, and had almost every book, you could want.

"So, how about, we go inside?" Tatsurou said as he looked at Marie, that just nodded in agreement, and as they stepped inside, they were greeted by the dozens upon dozens of shelves, filled with books.

"No way! I have never seen a store like this, there are so many books!" Marie said with a happy tone a she looked like as if she was "jumping" with excitement, Tatsurou just smiled as he saw this.

"Really?" Tatsurou asked as he kept smiling, but in all honesty, seeing Marie's reaction was already, too clear of an answer.

"Yes, the ones I usually go to, are rather small, cramped even, especially the ones around the town of Lourdes..." Marie said as she looked at Tatsurou, still with her excited tone on.

"I see, so is there any genre you prefer?" Tatsurou asked a bit curious.

"Yes, I like mystery and romance novels, but I tend to like mystery a lot more..." Marie answered almost immediately as she heard Tatsurou's question.

"If you like mystery novels, then I know the section they're at, come..." Tatsurou said, as he began making his way to the mystery novels section.

"Sure, let's go!" Marie said as she followed behind Tatsurou...

Now, Tatsurou and Marie were in front of the mystery section, and as Marie saw how filled and big the shelves were, excitement, was the only feeling, that one could see in her eyes.

"Whoa, they have so many, I don't believe it!" Marie said as she looked in every direction and placed her hands together.

"Tatsurou, look they have Agatha Christie and Ruth Rendell here!" Marie said as she pointed at one of the shelves that were filled with the works of Agatha Christie and Ruth Rendell, as Tatsurou saw this he couldn't help but to have a smile on his face again, as he saw Marie running her index finger on the books, to choose which one to pick.

"Honestly, I didn't know you liked to read that much..." Tatsurou said, as he got close to Marie.

"I tend to read every day, especially before going to bed!" Marie said as she kept smiling.

"You do?" Tatsurou asked a bit curious.

"Yes, I picked this habit from my mother, at first she read me a story before going to bed when I was little, so it's more or less engraved in me, honestly, she would have loved to be here and see this..." Marie said as she did a small pause, that Tatsurou took notice off.

"Marie, your mother, is she..." Tatsurou asked this, but he didn't finish his question as Marie's face gave him the answer.

"I-I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have asked..." Tatsurou said with a worried tone, as he scratched his right cheek with his index finger, as the gilt of asking Marie about her late mother, hit him quite hard, that was when Marie, turned to Tatsurou.

"Don't be like that, it's ok, you didn't know, and when it comes to my mother, I really love to talk about her..." Marie said as she did a small pause and held Tatsurou's hands.

"Because, I believe that if don't, I will slowly forget her, and I don't want that to happen, I want to always remember her..." Marie said with an honest and reassuring tone as she smiled towards Tatsurou.

"I see...but even so..." Tatsurou said with an impressed tone, as he blushed and looked a bit away from Marie, still feeling bad for asking, Marie of course took notice of that.

"By the way, Tatsurou, do you usually read?" Marie asked with a curious tone as she let go of his hands.

"Well, I'm not a big fan of these types of novels, I'm more of a manga or light novel fan..." Tatsurou said as he scratched the back of his head.

"Oh, I see, I see, I don't usually read that, but my old roommate, Amélie, was obsessed with manga and anime, she likes light novels too, but unlike manga, they are quite hard to come by and a bit expensive in France..." Marie said, with a happy tone as remembered her old roommate.

"I know! How about you recommend me one of your favorite light novels, I would be happy to read it!" Marie said as she smiled, but Tatsurou on the other hand.

"Wait, really?" Tatsurou asked a bit surprised with Marie's proposal.

"Yes, really! Let me just choose a few novels here, then we can be on our way!" Marie said as she turned her back to Tatsurou, as she began choosing which novels to pick...

After choosing the novels she wanted to read, Marie placed them in a plastic basket, Tatsurou brought for her, and then after that, she followed Tatsurou to the manga and light novel section of the store, that was a lot bigger than the mystery and romance section together.

"Here we are..." Tatsurou said as he stepped inside the section.

"Wow, If Amélie saw this, she would faint..." Marie said as she looked to all sides with an impressed face on.

"Now then, Tatsurou, what do you recommend?" Marie asked with a curious tone as she looked at Tatsurou, that jolted upon hearing her, and for him, it felt as if the world came to a stop.

"Ok, Tatsurou, calm down you can do this you just have to recommend her something that isn't a shoujo or a very girly romance...that is basically impossible!" Tatsurou said as he cursed himself for licking romance stories more than action-packed ones.

"What do I, do? She is looking at me with big expectations!" Tatsurou thought as he looked at Marie that was still waiting on his recommendation.

"Hmm, let's see a good light novel, that isn't filled with romance, but also has some action...damn it! I can't think of anything!" Tatsurou thought again, as all the light novels that came to mind were too long or filled with too much romance, Tatsurou was starting to get desperate, but that was when he saw it, his salvation.

"That's, Beyond the boundary!" Tatsurou said as he looked at a shelf, that had the three volumes of the light novel, Beyond the boundary, Tatsurou had read it a long time ago online, and he liked it a lot, it had a simple yet good romance between the two main leads, and it had some action to boot, and best of all, it was finished in three volumes.

"I recommend this one, Marie! It's really good!" Tatsurou said with a happy tone, as he took the three volumes of the shelf and showed them to Marie, that grabbed the first volume and looked at the cover for a bit.

"The boy on the cover, looks a bit like you, Tatsurou!" Marie said as she kept looking at the cover.

"R-Really?" Tatsurou asked with a surprised expression and tone.

"If he had black hair, he would look exactly like you!" Marie said with a tone that made her sure of what she said.

"Other than that, it looks pretty good and since you liked it, I'm going to take it!" Marie said as she placed the first volume in her basket and then took the second and third from Tatsurou's hand, placed them there too.

"Well then, how about we go know?" Marie said, as she turned her back to Tatsurou and began walking out of the section they were at, and as she did, Tatsurou sighed.

"I'm happy, that she liked it..." As Tatsurou said this and was about to take his leave he saw something, that caught his attention "Wait, they have the new volume of "Princess of dawning light"! No way, and it's a special edition to celebrate the 2nd anniversary of the manga run!" Tatsurou said as he grabbed the newest volume and began "analyzing" it.

"I have to buy it! But, Marie is here..." As Tatsurou said this, Marie poked her head inside the section.

"Aren't you coming?" Marie asked a bit curious, as she looked at Tatsurou that jolted upon hearing her.

"I'm coming, I'm just choosing something for me, I will be with you, right away!" Tatsurou said as he hid the manga of "Princess of dawning light" behind his back, Marie just nodded, as she took her leave again.

"God, I almost got caught, what should I do...Wait, I could buy a light novel or manga that is on sale and hide this one between them!" Tatsurou said as he began choosing some other books to buy, after a bit, he took the 4 volumes of, Violet Evergarden, that were on sale...

After Tatsurou and Marie, paid up, they left the book store.

"Finally, we're out, sorry I took so long..." Marie said as she was holding a big bag in her right hand.

"Don't worry about it, it's ok, and at least you won't have to worry about not having something to read, for a while, huh?" Tatsurou said as he laughed a bit making Marie blush, with his remark.

"Your right about that...but honestly, I'm actually impressed, by how cheap everything was...in France, this would be really expensive..." Marie said with an impressed tone and expression.

"Well, things here in Takamagahara tend to be cheaper thanks to a lot of the agreements, it has with the rest of the world..." Tatsurou said as he looked at the bag Marie was holding.

"I didn't know that! It should be like this in France!" Marie said still impressed, Tatsurou just smiled.

"That would be really good, well then, how about we go home?" Tatsurou asked, as he looked at Marie that just nodded while smiling at Tatsurou, but as they were leaving...

"Wait, a second Marie, there is another store I want to go to before we leave..." Tatsurou said as he looked at a store, that was behind Marie...

Meanwhile, back in Tatsurou's apartment, Shirayuki was sitting on the couch and she didn't have the happiest of expressions on.

"I don't believe it! Marie was able to convince Tatsurou, to go out on a date with her!" Shirayuki said with an angry tone as she remembered how Wise told her about, Tatsurou calling her saying that he and Marie were going to be home a bit late.

"I swear, Marie is really pushing it, with this!" Shirayuki said still angry, as her ahoge pointed upwards.

"I'm happy that Tatsurou and Marie are friends now, and I like to be with them, but still, Marie has been doing all of those things with him and acting as if it was nothing..." Shirayuki said as her ahoge went down, looking wavy, as if, it lost his life, it was at this moment, that she heard the front door of the apartment open.

"We're home!" Tatsurou and Marie said as they entered the apartment, and as Shirayuki heard this, she went to greet them at the door.

"Welcome back..." Shirayuki said with a monotonous, almost robotic voice to Tatsurou and Marie, this caught them a bit off guard.

"Shirayuki-san...is something wrong?" Tatsurou asked as he took off his shoes and got close to Shirayuki.

"Nothings wrong..." Shirayuki said, as she pouted and turned her back to Tatsurou, surprising him a bit.

"I know that Tatsurou's not at fault, but still..." Shirayuki thought as she blushed a bit and the feeling of acting jealous was starting to get to her.

"I'm sorry, for going out so suddenly, Shirayuki-san..." Tatsurou said as he looked at Shirayuki that briefly glanced at him.

"It's not much, but I got you something to compensate..." Tatsurou said as he reached for his school bag and gave a brand new apron that had a drawing of a cute wolf on it, to Shirayuki.

"A new apron! Why?" Shirayuki asked a bit surprised as she held and looked at her new apron.

"Well, it's a bit like an apology, but the main reason is that the apron your using is a hand-me-down from Wise, and I think you deserve a new one..." Tatsurou said as he scratched his cheek.

"I see..." Shirayuki said as she looked at Tatsurou.

"Even when he was out with Marie, he was still thinking about me..." Shirayuki thought as she looked at the apron once again.

"I forgive you..." Shirayuki said a bit silently, as she looked away from Tatsurou.

"What?" Tatsurou asked a bit curious, this caught Shirayuki off guard.

"I mean, I was a bit angry, since I made lunch for us and you two didn't show up...I don't like to waste food!" Shirayuki said as she blushed a bit.

"I'm sorry about that, it won't happen again, ok? " Tatsurou said as he patted Shirayuki's head.

"Alright then, and also thanks for the apron, it's really cute..." Shirayuki said as she blushed once more, but this small moment was suddenly interrupted by Marie.

"Lucky you, Shirayuki! Why don't you try it on?" Marie said as she got close to Shirayuki and pulled her a bit away from Tatsurou.

"S-Sure, let's do that!" Shirayuki said as she, Tatsurou, and Marie went to the living room to see how the apron looked on her...