Innocent Date

Even though Shinobu had told Haru and Jeanne to go on a date, both of them didn't really have that much of a plan and they decided to go to Trifas, considering the situation was quite bleak and that place wasn't that far from their new basecamp.

Haru glanced at Jeanne and could see that she was a bit nervous somehow, so what he needed to do at this moment was to erase the awkwardness between them.

"You know... even though it isn't my first time to be here, it is my first time to see the people in this place, but I can see that there is a lot of difference between this place and my home," Haru said.

"Oh, what's the difference?" Jeanne asked.

"The people here... how should I describe it... I can feel that they're closer?"

"Closer?"

"In the place where I live, everyone is living in a hurry and everyone is so distant, so this place is kind of new for me."

Haru somehow remembered the time when he moved to the countryside when he was in elementary school, and somehow his expression turned weird when he thought about his childhood time since he was raped at that time.

Jeanne stared at Haru's expression, wondering why he showed an interesting expression.

Haru realized that Jeanne was staring at him and he quickly shook his head then asked, "How about you? I mean... your life before you joined the war, was this place similar to your home?"

"My home, huh..."

Jeanne somehow missed her family since after she joined the war, she had never seen her family again so she might be lying if she didn't feel any regret at that time, but then her head was patted which somehow made her comfortable. She looked up and saw him patting her head.

When Jeanne stared at him blankly, Haru quickly said, "I am sorry... I have just unconsciously...." He knew that he might have done something wrong by making her recall her family, after all, he also knew that probably, Jeanne hadn't seen her family after she joined the war.

"No... no... it's alright..." Jeanne quickly lowered her head, trying to hide her blush on her cheeks since she would be lying if she didn't feel good by his pat since it made her relax somehow.

"Anyway, how about checking out the market? Maybe we can see something interesting there, shall we?" Haru asked.

"Sure."

Jeanne nodded without hesitation.

Shinobu and Raikou, who were observing their date, were wondering why when Haru and Jeanne were quite awkward to each other there was something that made their date so sweet for some reason.

---

Haru and Jeanne were looking around the market together.

Haru felt this place was so novel, and he could tell that there were a lot of fresh ingredients.

"Haru, do you want to cook something?" Jeanne asked and there was saliva that was dripping in her mouth, recalling the taste of the food which was made by Haru.

"There's saliva in your mouth," Haru said with a smile.

"What?!" Jeanne quickly wiped the saliva off her mouth. She didn't expect that she would make a blunder in this place and felt very embarrassed at that moment.

"Do you want me to cook something?" Haru asked.

"We... Well..." Jeanne blushed, but she made a small nod.

"Hmm... we have eaten breakfast after all, how about we have a picnic later in the afternoon?" Haru asked. "I will cook something by that time."

"That's a great idea!" Jeanne nodded without hesitation.

"I wonder what I should cook... do you have something that you want to eat?" Haru asked.

"I... I will leave everything to you Haru," Jeanne wasn't sure what she wanted to eat, considering the food that she ate in her time was quite limited. She ate either bread or potato, and she didn't eat much, considering her family condition and the war on her time caused her country's economy was quite bad at that time.

"Then how about we have a sandwich? It seems that there is a good salami there," Haru said.

"That's a great idea!"

Jeanne nodded without hesitation.

---

When both of them bought various ingredients for the picnic later, Jeanne's eyes glanced at the ribbon that was sold by a street vendor. She only looked at it for a second before she continued to talk with Haru, telling him that it might be good to add some strange ingredients.

Hearing such words, Haru realized that this girl had some mischievous side.

They spent their time trying various snacks around the market and hid in the alley where there weren't many people there since Haru wanted to put all the things that he had bought into his zipper storage.

Seeing how a zipper was opened on his hand, Jeanne opened her eyes wide.

"This...?!"

"Well, this is also one of my abilities," Haru said.

"....It's sure convenience ability."

It was Jeanne's first time seeing such an ability, after all, and she had to admit that it was so unique that she wasn't sure what to say for a moment.

"It's alright. I know this ability is quite weird."

"No, that's not what I mean!"

Jeanne panicked, trying to explain that she didn't try to mock

"I was joking with you, you don't need to take it seriously." Haru chuckled, looking at Jeanne's reaction.

"Mooo! Haru, why are you always teasing me!" Jeanne pouted and looked away, showing that she was annoyed.

"My bad... I wonder if you will forgive me?"

"Hmph! I am not going to forgive you so easily!"

"Then what if I give you a gift?"

"Gift?"

Jeanne looked at Haru curiously.

"Well, I feel that we need to commemorate our date so I have prepared a gift for you," Haru said.

"What kind of gift?" Jeanne asked. Unlike Haru's worry, she didn't care much whether the gift that he would give her was something cheap, or rather, it had been a while since she had received a gift and somehow, she was quite excited and curious.

"Can you close your eyes?" Haru asked.

Jeanne was suspicious and asked, "You're not trying to trick me, again, right?"

"Of course not, believe me." Haru patted his chest and said, "I am not going to do anything weird."

"...Well, I will believe in you this time," Jeanne said.

"Is my trust in you that small?"

"...Considering how I have shared some memories with Shinobu, I can tell that you're quite mischievous," Jeanne said with a smug smile.

Haru twitched his lips and hoped that Shinobu didn't show Jeanne with something weird.

"I won't do a trick on you so close your eyes a bit."

"Alright."

Jeanne closed her eyes, wondering what this guy wanted to do, however, she felt a gentle movement on the end of her hair and could feel that her hair was being loosened before it was tied again. Her heart was beating very fast at this moment since she could feel his finger touching her hair.

"Open your eyes."

Jeanne opened her eyes slowly and somehow had some idea what kind of gift that he had given her.

"What is it?"

"Well, you can check it here."

Haru took out his smartphone and changed the camera mode into a selfie.

Jeanne then saw the reflection of her face on Haru's smartphone and saw a new ribbon at the end of her braid.

"I am sorry it is something cheap. If we go to the city then I might be able to get something better for you."

In truth, Haru wanted to give something better, but, there was nothing much in Trifas, considering how this place was part of the countryside in Romania.

"No! No! It's alright! I feel very happy with this gift!" Jeanne said quickly, but that was the truth since she felt really happy. She was a bit interested in this ribbon before, but she didn't expect him to buy it for her.

In the past, Jeanne remembered that the nobles and businessmen, when she was still alive, gave her various gifts, but she donated them to the army or church since she didn't need them.

However, this time, it was different, it was the first gift that she received as a girl, not as the Saint nor it was as The Maid of Orleans.

This ribbon might be cheap, but she was very happy with it.

"That's great." Haru smiled and said, "You're beautiful with that."

It was such a simple sentence that came out of his mouth naturally and so sincere, caused considerable damage to Jeanne who had never had such praise before.

"I... I..."

Haru chuckled, then let out a sigh. "I am a bit worried."

"Worried? About what?" Jeanne suddenly looked up and startled by his words.

"You're so cute Jeanne, I am afraid that I have a lot of competitors after this," Haru said while letting out a long sigh.

Jeanne blushed and hit Haru's chest again since she knew that this guy was definitely teasing her again!

Before her fist hit his chest, Haru caught Jeanne's hand and said, "How about we continue our date?"

"Um..." Jeanne nodded, but then she saw that Haru was holding her hand. Her face was red, but then, she felt that it was very nice.

Both of them walked around again while talking and laughing together, spending their time together.

"....."

Raikou and Shinobu, who were watching their date at this moment, would be lying if they didn't feel jealous.

This date might be an ordinary date, but an ordinary thing was so expensive for Raikou, Shinobu, and Jeanne since the three of them didn't have an ordinary life and spent most of their time-fighting.

However, Raikou and Shinobu had made up their minds to ask him for a date later, no matter what!