Chapter 31

It was currently a few minutes before 10:00 on a Sunday, the agreed day for the date between Ichiro and Sakurako. Ichiro was already at the fountain area in front of the train station, having arrived about 15 minutes earlier for good measure, Ichiro was also wearing a short-sleeved denim jacket with a white shirt underneath, and beige cargo pants as he waited for Sakurako to arrive.

After a few more short minutes, he noticed that the people around him started to look in one direction, and when he looked in that same direction, he saw who was catching everyone's attention. It was Sakurako, who because of her mother and maids, had her blonde hair done in a braided side bun as she also got some simple makeup, alongside with her wearing a simple long red wine skirt, her usual black turtle neck sweater which contrasted with the white long-sleeved wide neck sweater. Although her clothes were the complete opposite of what a normal person would wear during spring, especially on a hot day, those clothes did help in complementing Sakurako's simple but cute feeling to her appearance.

"Sakurako-san! Good morning"

"Ah! Ichiro-san, good morning. Did you kept you waiting?"

"No, you didn't. Also, that hairstyle looks cute on you"

"Ah!... T-thanks"

Sakurako blushed a little from Ichiro's suddenly praising her

"Hm. Can I ask why you don't your usual beige sweater and sweater on you as well today?"

"Mom and Aki-san didn't allow me to. They said it was something about showing more of my curves to you"

"I think you weren't supposed to say that second part to me though"

Ichiro gave a small dry laugh at Sakurako's bluntness, but he had to agree with Sakurako's mother and her maid. Sakurako didn't have pronounced curves like Kohaku, but she wasn't completely flat like Himari either, and now that she didn't have her beige sweater or her scarf to in hiding her curves, Ichiro could notice that Sakurako did appear to have well-built body curves.

"..."

Ichiro decided to stay quiet as he closed his eyes while he hid whatever he was feeling, behind his usual unbreakable smile, before quickly going back to talking to Sakurako.

"Shall we get going, Sakurako-san?"

"Sure"

"Great!"

Ichiro offered her a hand, which Sakurako accepted, and the two went to the train station while holding hands. After entering the station, the two started waiting for the train to arrive.

"Have you ever ridden a train, Sakurako-san?"

"No, I didn't"

"I see, so make sure to not fall since it's your first time, okay?"

"? Okay"

Sakurako cutely tilted her head to the side as she agreed with what Ichiro said. After two minutes, the train arrive at the scheduled time, and when the train doors opened, the two boarded it. Once inside the train, Sakurako looked around with curiosity, with Ichiro just looking at her with a happy smile, but then the train started moving, which caused Sakurako to lose her balance.

"Ah!"

Sakurako started to fall to her right, only for her to fall on Ichiro, who passed his left hand from behind her to hold Sakurako in place.

"I told you to make sure to not fall"

"... Sorry... And thanks..."

"Don't worry"

When Sakurako noticed what happened, she started to blush again

"..."

Seeing how close they were to each other and the way Ichiro was holding her with a one-arm hug, Sakurako slowly moved her hands around Ichiro and held onto him with a hug as well, which caused her blush to increase a bit more. As for Ichiro, he turned his head away from Sakurako's vision to hide his stupidly happy smile and slightly blushing cheeks from her. The two kept hugging each other for the entire duration of the train ride.

-

Around half an hour later

-

After the train arrived at their destination, the two made a relatively long walk to the aquarium at a carefree pace as they looked at their surroundings while holding hands, until they arrived at the Aquarium's entrance which had quite an amount of people visiting it as well.

"Hai. Here's your ticket, Sakurako-san"

"Thanks"

"Now shall we get inside?"

"Yes"

Using their tickets, the two passed through the ticket gates and continued with their date. The two slowly walked around the aquarium at a gentle pace, with Sakurako showing a very childish curiosity about everything that she saw for the first time.

"... Haven't you visited an aquarium before, Sakurako-san?"

"Nn *Nods* When I was younger, my parents didn't have time to bring me to places like this, so I used to spend most of my time at home..."

"I see"

"But they did try on compensating it, by bringing me to the parties that their business partners and other people always invited them to"

"That sounds exactly like them, and let me guess, you liked the parties that had a buffet, right?"

"Yes, the parties that had an all-you-can-eat buffet were the best"

"That's good to hear"

"... And I also realized over time that I... Prefer staying at my home with the AC at a nice temperature seating on the sofa with a blanket while reading a book, with the sunlight hitting me on the side which makes me feel sleepy"

"That's oddly specific"

"But I don't hate spending my time going to places like this with you, Ichiro-san"

"... *Smiles*"

Upon hearing Sakurako telling that to him, Ichiro simply showed a happy smile to her

"I also enjoy spending my time like this with you, Sakurako-san. Now shall we continue with our date?"

"Nn *Nods* Yes, lets"

The two continued leisurely walking around the aquarium, with them often making the other visitors look at them, mostly because of Sakurako's cute and ladylike demeanor even when she looked curious. The two spent hours enjoying their time together, but eventually, they had to stop because...

*Stomach growling*

"..."

"... There's a restaurant in this aquarium, do you wanna go there to have lunch?"

"Yes..."

Sakurako blushed as she agreed to Ichiro's suggestion of having lunch at the Aquarium's restaurant, so the two made their way there in a leisurely manner