Chapter 81 – The Day of the Date (Noon 2)

"…I mean, the movie was so boring…"

Such were the words of Asanagi Umi-san (16 years old, female, occupation: student). She was guilty of drooling while sleeping and being a major nuisance because she just wouldn't wake up.

"I tried to avoid spoilers because the social media hyped it up a lot, but… Ugh… Turns out I should just do it, this whole thing was a waste of time."

"Well, it is what it is, I guess…"

After leaving the cinema, we searched for more information about the movie, but as we suspected, the reviews were very divisive.

The plot was pretty generic for a sob story, something that most people probably wouldn't enjoy unless they were into that genre. The songs in the movie were sung by a really famous rock band, which was apparently another appeal of the movie. I saw some girls actually cried after the movie was finished, so I guess the reviews were accurate, the movie was a hit or miss.

By the way, I did my best to stay awake during the screening.

"Muu… As expected, we shoulda watched a different movie instead. Like the movie currently screening, 'Mutated Giant Man-Eating Shark VS Gustave VS Deep Sea Kraken VS Killer Android: A Battle That Transcend Time and Space!' That's the kind of crap we usually enjoy…"

"Now, that's what I call the B-Movie all-star. There's so much shit going on in the title that made it sound really interesting."

"I want to watch it, but apparently this is the last screening of the movie… I guess we have to wait for the BD release…"

Well, the movie was a major disappointment, but I got to see Umi's sleeping face, so it wasn't a bad deal for me.

Besides, the movie was only a means to an end, all that mattered today was for both of us to have some fun together.

"Well, now that we had a good nap, let's eat something."

"Sure, but where should we go? A family restaurant?"

"Why don't we go to a place that couples normally go to?"

"If you want to go to a place like that, sure, I'll go with you."

"Alright, then that place should be fine."

We decided to go to a recently opened restaurant. Apparently, a lot of magazines recommended this restaurant and the place was so crowded that you could see a line forming even after the lunch time ended.

According to the sign, we had to wait for thirty minutes first.

"Muu… I don't mind waiting, but waiting in this kind of weather… Maki, are you okay? Are you cold?"

"I'm fine. I brought my secret weapon."

"Secret weapon?"

"This."

I pulled out a pocket warmer from my bag.

I knew that it was going to be cold, so I actually put one on both my feet before I left the house. This particular one was the long-lasting type, so it would keep us warm for a good while. 

The winters here were cold, so it was necessary to have these on hand.

"Muu… I knew I should have brought a lot of these things…"

"Do you want some?"

"Yeah, give it to me."

"Here."

"Thank you."

It was impossible to put them on her legs, so she put one around her waist and covered it with her jacket.

"Mm! This feels so good~"

"I brought some smaller ones with me, you can use them on your feet later."

"Mhm! Hehe…"

"…What are you grinning about?"

"Sorry, it's just… Somehow I predicted that this kind of thing would happen… Hehe…"

She said as she pulled me closer to her. Her soft hair felt ticklish to my cheeks, but it didn't feel uncomfortable.

"Ah, I'm not blaming you or anything by the way. Even if we did a lot of research beforehand and set up a proper schedule, things will always go awry in the middle of a date, so this kind of thing is normal."

"Really?"

"Yeah, but still, Maki, are you a grandpa? Bringing pocket warmers of various sizes to a date? Are you actually a seventy-five year old grandpa?"

"I'm sixty years too young to be a grandpa, sorry to burst your bubble."

Well, I couldn't blame her for thinking like that. I picked up this habit of bringing pocket warmers around from my grandparents. They used to give me a lot of them back when I was little.

I didn't have any friends, but my family loved me a lot. That was why even though I was lonely without any friends, my personality didn't grow twisted.

I guess that was also the reason why Umi was able to find me.

"Well, I got what you're trying to say, so, what do you think of me?"

"What do you mean?"

"You know, am I doing a good job as your partner for the date? Something like that."

I had been wondering about that.

I could tell that she was enjoying her time with me and was able to relax around me. I mean, she even slept through the movie while drooling.

The thing I wasn't sure about is whether I was manly enough for our date or not. 

"Honestly, you're doing good… But if you think you aren't good enough or something then… Hold my wrist for a bit."

"Huh? Sure?"

I gripped her wrist as she told me to. I could feel her pulse against my fingertips.

"Could you feel it? It's my heart beat. Well, I'm feeling relaxed right now, so after this you can try to make it go faster."

"Ah, okay… But, why are you making me hold your wrist though?"

"Are you trying to imply something here?"

She gave me a look. Whoops.

Aside from her wrists, the other places I could touch to confirm her heartbeat were…

The two bouncy things that she had and her thin, enchanting neck…

"…Maki…"

"Sorry, I'll stop messing around, so please go easy on me."

"Hm~ Should I?~"

Making her heart beat faster would be my goal from now on. But from the look of it, it seemed harder than it sounded.