A Date to Remember

It was the first day of break after midterms. I waited downstairs at the front door for Tochaki-san to show up. We said to meet with each other at the door at 9 AM. It is now already 9:30. I wonder what's taking her so long. I knew generally that girls take longer to prepare to go out. I wore classic black pants with a navy blue button-up shirt with a red jacket since its winter season. I also did my hair today so it swings to the right and doesn't block my face, so I don't look like a gloomy guy. I usually wear glasses but decided to not wear them today. My vision wasn't too terrible to the point I was blind without them so a day not wearing it should be alright. I looked at the clock again and again until finally I saw a girl running down the stairs.

"Sorry Juni-kun! I made you wait!"

Tochaki-san was wearing a black outfit from top to bottom. She was wearing a short skirt and winter boots. Her white jacket was unbuttoned. Her hair was tied up as a ponytail that fell all the way down to her waist similar to when we went out to buy clothes. She was carrying her bag in her left arm. To put it simply, she was absolutely gorgeous. Any guy would die to go out with someone like her and I was no exception. I had to turn my face away to avoid letting her see my red face.

"What's wrong Juni-kun? Do I look weird?"

"No, you look beautiful."

"Thank you! And you look handsome too."

She seemed to have noticed I did my hair today and showed a blushing face. Maybe I look at least alright if I did my hair. Maybe I'll wear it to school one day. Back to Tochaki-san's appearance wise, there was no lies in what I said. I turned around and looked at her again. My face felt hot again so I yet again turned my face again. Tochaki-san was grinning the whole entire time.

"It took her an hour to figure out what to wear and how to do her hair. She was even asking me what would make your heart race."

"Dad!"

I didn't even see Tokita-san but it seemed like the father and daughter were together the whole morning before this. Tochaki-san's grin immediately disappeared and her face was also embarrassed. I guess we both had it hard for each other.

" Well, shall we leave then?"

I got rid of my impure thoughts and smiled towards Tochaki-san.

"Yes.

Tochaki-san searched up the location of the aquarium and it was quite far from the house. We decided to go by high speed rail. When we got on, there were already a lot of people and no available seats so we stood by each other. There was one stop before we arrived at our destination. When we stopped, a butt load of people got on the train. It was not very much room. I tripped on someone's leg at one point and held onto Tochaki-san's hand. She didn't seem to mind though.

"Lets hold hands until we get off. We wouldn't want to get lost."

Tochaki-san's idea wasn't bad. I wouldn't want to get lost in a place I have no clue about. I don't have a phone so it wouldn't end well. She was smiling at me with a little bashful look. I wonder what's in her head right now.

"Look at that stingray! It's so big!"

We were now inside the aquarium and it was a world I had never seen before. There were fishes everywhere I looked and it really seemed like I was under the ocean.

"Hey hey! Let's take a picture!"

Tochaki-san dragged me close to the tank and we took a picture with the coral reef and fishes as the background. The smile on Tochaki-san's face was priceless. If she is having fun, I guess it is worth spending a whole day with her. This all happened while Tochaki-san was holding my hand. I didn't know "until we get off" means until the day was over. But it was whatever. There were many people staring at us. Men and women both. We looked like a young couple going on a date. Well at least half of that information is right. I don't know if a "date" only applies to if the two people are dating or not. This could simply just be called hanging out. Many couples were also at the aquarium. The male couple who was staring was getting dirty looks from their female counterpart. Some even slapped the male. They do kind of deserve it though, but again, I don't know anyone who wouldn't look at Tochaki-san especially when she is dressed so cute and pretty today.

After an hour or so, we both got tired so I decided to go buy some water with the cash Tokita-san gave me before heading out. Sorry Tokita-san, I'll repay you as soon as possible. Tochaki-san wanted orange juice and I got myself a can of coffee. When I got back, there seemed to be trouble though.

"Do you want to go hangout with us for a while?"

There were three boys surrounding Tochaki-san. They looked only a little older than me, probably also in high school but second or third year students. It seemed like they were hitting on her. One of the boys stepped closer towards Tochaki-san and Tochaki-san's face got worried. She wasn't smiling like when we took our pictures and showed a genuine concerned face. Ironically this situation happened just a few weeks ago. I finally decided to step up.

"Hey, I'm back!"

When Tochaki-san heard my voice, it looked like a prince was coming to save her. Her expression changed to a calmer and happier face.

"Sorry my friends, she is with me."

The guys turned around to each other, shrugged, then laughed. I have a general idea on what they are laughing about.

"You are with her? Are you serious? Stop joking dude."

"Well, reality isn't always what you think it is isn't it."

"Yea yea whatever. We just wanted to go get a drink with her or something, you know? With people that are in her league?"

Tochaki-san hid behind me during all of this while holding my hand. I can tell she was shivering.

"Just get out of our way already. What are you, his girlfriend?"

"Uhh, n–"

"Yes! He's my boyfriend. We are on a date!"

Tochaki-san yelled this sentence out. I looked at her with a shocking face but her face turned back to a worried one while still hiding behind me. There were more people staring at us now. A guard was looking in our direction as well and one of the guys must have noticed this.

"Gosh damn it. The situation got bad. Let's just get out of here."

As soon as they said that the three boys left. There was now only me and Tochaki-san standing left with many other people staring at us.

"Sorry for holding onto you the entire time as well as lying being your girlfriend."

" Don't worry about it. Let's continue our exploration shall we?"

I pretended to ignore those staring faces and move on with our day. I patted Tochaki-san on the head and it seemed like she had gotten calmer again. We spent the rest of the morning taking pictures.

We spent a couple more hours in the aquarium until it was noon. Tochaki-san wanted to go shopping afterwards and I had no problems with it. She did say she wanted me to carry her bags afterall. We exited the aquarium and found a nice place that sells ramen. We entered and found a seat. We both ordered a tonkatsu ramen set. The smell of the kitchen that was on display was amazing. When our food arrived, it was steaming hot. I took the first bite and it was delicious.

"Oh my God! This is so good! Juni-kun, what do you think?"

"It tastes very good, Tochaki-san."

That was an honest answer. I only ever had ramen a few times so it was quite an experience.

"Hey hey, Juni-kun. Say Ahhhh!"

Tochaki-san held out her chopsticks with a piece of tofu that was given to us as an appetizer.

"Uhh, I'm not sure if it's appropriate."

I didn't know if this would count as an indirect kiss or not and didn't want to take the chance.

"Come on! Don't leave me hanging! Just take the bite!"

"...alright."

I took the bite and my face felt hot. I was probably also red on my cheeks and tried to hide my embarrassment. Tochaki-san was grinning very hard and I decided it was my turn. I picked up another piece of tofu and held it to her face.

"It's your turn Tochaki-san."

"What?? I-I..I'm go-good I think…"

"I did it so it only makes sense you do it as well right?"

"Yea but… You know…"

"Come on, just take the bite!"

There were other people looking at us now. I thought it was pretty normal, but Tochaki-san seemed to only get more flustered when she saw other people staring. She wanted this to end quickly so I presume she took the bite of tofu.

"What do you think?"

"Juni-kun… dummy…"

How was I a dummy when you did it to me first? Well I guess I ruined the mood now. Wait a second…

I reached my hand out and stroked Tochaki-san's head. She raised her head a little and showed an embarrassed but smiling face with a bashful look. Damn she is pretty. There were even more people staring now but she seems to have forgotten about them.

After lunch, me and Tochaki-s-an decided to stop by a public park to rest a little. Digest our food before going anywhere else. There were couples walking around the park, somewhere chatting while others were just simply enjoying the wonderful scene. Me and Tochaki-san found a bench and decided to rest there for a few minutes.

"Isn't this wonderful Juni-kun. It is so relaxing!"

"Yea, you are right. It really is comforting."

Ever since the death of my parents, the times I went out has significantly decreased. It was a nice change for me to enjoy the scenery.

As I was looking around, I saw a few orchid flowers. I bet this would look very cute on Tochaki-san. I stood up and walked towards the orchid flowers.

"Juni-kun? Where are you going?"

"Just stay there, I'll be right back."

I picked up a piece of orchid flower and walked back.

"Tochaki-san, would you mind closing your eyes for a bit?"

"Uhh, yea."

She closed her eyes. I broke off the excess stem from the orchid flower and stuck it on Tochaki-san's hair. Although I would think black and pink don't really work together as a combination, it looked absolutely stunning with the orchid on Tochaki-san's black hair.

"Can I also borrow your phone really quickly?"

"Yea."

Tochaki-san took out her phone and I opened the camera app and took a picture of her. I handed the phone back to her.

"You look very pretty, Tochaki-san."

She saw the picture and her face lit up. She touched the orchid flower a little bit to adjust the angle so it doesn't fall off and smiled at me.

"Thank you Juni-kun! I love it!"

She stood up and hugged me. I didn't know my single act would make her this happy. But if she is happy, I am glad I done so.

We hung out in thepublic park for a few more minutes taking pictures before going to a mall nearby to buy some accessories that Tochaki-san wanted. She went straight for the clothes section for womens and started looking at the selection of clothes.

"Oh my Gosh! There are so many pretty dresses! Juni-kun! What do you think? Which one do you think fits me!"

"I think you can buy any of them Tochaki-san. They look very nice."

Tochaki-san didn't seem to be satisfied with my answer as she gave me a pouting face before looking for clothes herself. It seems she had an idea on which one she liked because she came back to me and held up two pieces of dress.

"Hey Juni-kun! Which one do you like and prefer?"

The dress on her left hand was a sunny yellow type of color that had a flower pattern at the bottom half of the dress and two white strips on each sleeve. The second dress was similar in figures except it was a pure white color.

"I think you can wear whichever one you want. Both are pretty."

"But I want to ask which one YOU like Juni-kun."

I honestly didn't know. Both dresses seemed very pretty and I personally think both would fit her. Considering both are short sleeved, I assume she wants to wear that during the summer. I think the sunny colored dress would fit the theme a lot better so I chose that one.

"The yellow one seems very nice. It would look very nice on you Tochaki-san."

"Then I'll try this one then!"

Tochaki-san went out to the changing room and I waited outside while looking at other stores. I didn't notice a group of girls, probably around five people, coming up to me.

"Hey mister, there is a cafe right down the hall, wanna come with us?"

There was indeed a cafe shop, but that wasn't the issue. I have to wait for Tochaki-san."

"Uhh, am sor–"

"Sorry girls, he is with me!"

Tochaki-san was right beside me holding me by the arm. We then walked away from the group of girls. Although I couldn't see her face, I knew Tochaki-san was pouting. I messed up, didn't I?

"I left for a few seconds and you got caught talking to other girls!"

"I'm sorry Tochaki-san, I didn't notice them walking towards me initially."

"If you want to talk to girls there is one right in front of you…"

What's that?"

It seemed Tochaki-san said something beneath her breath. I couldn't hear it clearly.

"It's nothing."

It was clear she wasn't in a good mood.

"What can I do to cheer you up Tochaki-san?"

I had to make it up to her somehow. It was my fault I didn't notice the group of girls talking to me and Tochaki-san was worried I might leave her side.

"Pat my head…"

"Pardon me?"

"Pat my head…"

"I'm sorry Tochaki-san, I couldn't he–"

"Pat my head!"

What a weird request.

"I want you to pat my head…I like it when you do that."

"Uhh, su-sure."

I lifted my hand up and petted her like a cat. She lowered her head and looked bashfully at me. It seems like she is all cheered up now.

We spent the rest of the day buying more things Tochaki-san wanted. I followed her closely for the rest of the day and carried her bags like I promised. We got home at around 6 PM, ate dinner, and spent the rest of the night relaxing before finally going to sleep.