IX / Fun Fun Date Episode
Saturday.
Today, there were no classes at the academy.
Izumi Sumie finished his part-time job in the afternoon and headed to the promised station plaza. The weather was nice, and the downtown area was predictably crowded on the weekend. So many people were coming and going that it was impossible to count them all.
In front of the landmark bronze statue, Izumi checked the time.
At that very moment, a voice called out from across the way.
“Izumi-kun.”
It was Nanao Nanase.
She wore an adorable white knit sweater paired with a peach-colored long pleated skirt. Since the academy skirts were mini-length, this outfit gave her a 30% boost in sweet and lovely elegance.
“Sorry, did you wait long?”
“No, I just got here.”
It seemed they had both arrived well in advance.
Still, Nanao seemed to have rushed to get there, as beads of sweat dotted her brow. Brushing back the strands of hair stuck to her forehead, she smiled happily.
“It feels kind of weird being in casual clothes, doesn’t it?”
Izumi was about to give a normal response like “Yeah, I guess so,” when……
He had a flash of inspiration, his first for the day.
(I don’t want to lose to Black Nanao today, and getting the upper hand early is key.)
He decided to launch a preemptive strike.
Izumi gave her his usual nihilistic smile and leaned his face in close to Nanao’s.
“Were you just dying to see me today? You always act so casual, but the truth is leaking out – so cute, isn’t it?”
Nanao blinked slowly, then laughed.
“Yeah, that’s right.”
She grabbed the hem of Izumi’s jacket.
“Izumi-kun, did you get dressed up just to see me today?”
“…?!”
Izumi flinched, then glanced away with a poker face.
“No, it’s just that my usual jacket was getting pretty old, so I thought I’d change it up…”
“Oh really?”
Nanao narrowed her eyes at his obvious lame excuse. Lifting up onto her tiptoes, she whispered in his ear:
“I wonder if my feelings for you got through, even a little?”
“…?!”
Covering his ear, Izumi’s face turned beet red.
“Cut it out with the black attitude already!”
“Ahaha. Izumi-kun, why don’t you drop that persona too?”
“Don’t call it a persona!”
Nanao extended her right hand.
Tracing along the line of Izumi’s jaw with her index finger, she gave him an upward glance and said:
“But I like you like that, so it would be sad if you stopped, wouldn’t it?”
“And stop trying to seduce me while you’re at it!”
Flustered, Izumi put some distance between them, his face flushing red as he made a private resolution:
(I’m not going to lose to Nanao today!)
Getting thoroughly countered right out of the gate – what a stubbornly persistent guy.
But Izumi was serious. To regain his footing, he hurriedly took out his smartphone.
“Nanao, what did you want for lunch?”
“I was hoping to eat with you.”
“Shall we go somewhere first, then?”
He scrolled through some restaurant Instagram accounts he had bookmarked.
Then Nanao took his other hand.
Not just a normal handhold, but intertwining their fingers in the so-called “lover’s clasp.”
“Uh…”
As Izumi felt his heart skip a beat, Nanao looked up at him with a smile.
“This is supposed to be a date today, right?”
“Y-Yeah, I guess…”
Giving an awkward response, Izumi decided to go along with Nanao’s wishes for today. He already knew there was no point arguing – she wouldn’t back down so easily.
With a cheerful smile, Nanao said:
“This might be the first time I’ve walked hand-in-hand with a guy.”
“……..”
“Oops, you’re giving me a suspicious look.”
“Well, it’s just that…”
Chuckling wryly at the vague sense of vast romantic experience she exuded, Izumi said:
“I can totally see you saying something crafty like that to make a guy happy.”
“Wha- How mean. Izumi Sumie-kun, you’ve got the wrong idea about me.”
Even as she protested, she kept squeezing their intertwined fingers, applying a soft, stimulating friction – she really was trouble.
Not wanting her to pick up on him noticing that, Izumi feigned nonchalance as he said:
“That’s what all flirty girls say.”
“Is that so? Izumi-kun doesn’t like flirty girls?”
“I’m just saying, in general, there are guys who don’t like that.”
“In general?”
“In general.”
Nanao chuckled.
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“You’re being really honest today.”
“There’s no point beating around the bush with you anymore…”
Having his opening gambit countered and his sarcasm shrugged off,
Izumi let out a resigned sigh, realizing Nanao was once again dictating the pace.
“If a cute girl like you said something like that to me, I’d probably fall for it.”
“…?!”
And just like that, the hand he was holding tensed up and broke free.
Puzzled, Izumi turned to look, and……
Nanao was shaking, her hands clutching at her hair as she tried to hide her beet-red face.
……That shockingly earnest gesture made Izumi’s brain glitch out for a moment.
As he looked on in bewilderment, Nanao let out an aggrieved groan:
“Moooo…”
“What? Was that for real?”
“Moooooooo…”
“Seriously…?”
Looking away shyly, Nanao mumbled under her breath:
“Wh-What did you want by blurting that out…?”
“………”
Izumi felt the heat rising to his own face too.
The two of them stood in awkward, blushing silence… Until Izumi, feeling crushed by the awkwardness, scratched his head as if trying to play it off.
“I thought you were used to stuff like that…”
“Not from someone I like…”
Her eyes glistening, she gazed up at him steadily.
“It’s the first time for that.”
“Ugh…”
He couldn’t bring himself to say “That’s just how you are.”
At a loss for how to continue the conversation in that unbearably awkward atmosphere, Izumi started walking without deciding on a destination. With Nanao quietly looking down, he worried about what to say next.
“Um, well…”
Finally, he sighed deeply and said in resignation:
“I really do think you’re cute too, you know.”
“……….”
The sheer embarrassment of saying that made his face flush bright red again.
Nanao just stared at him, wide-eyed. …..But then she chuckled, the usual atmosphere returning as she said:
“Then why won’t you go out with me?”
“That’s a separate issue…”
“Aw, we could at least try it out for a bit~”
“You can’t just casually say stuff like that at your age! What if I was some sleazy guy? What would you do then?!”
“Izumi-kun, you really are so upright in that way.”
Narrowing her eyes in an upward glance, she answered firmly:
“If it was you, Izumi-kun, I wouldn’t mind if you were a bad guy.”
“………”
Back to her usual self, but that wasn’t exactly a welcome state of affairs for Izumi either.
“No more black attitude today, got it?”
“Ehh? What’s this ‘black attitude’ you’re talking about?”
“Nanao’s other alter ego.”
“I don’t know anything about that?”
Watching Nanao’s calm smile, Izumi vaguely recalled the past.
[–You’re useless.]
Even though it was years ago, Izumi could still remember every word, filling him with mild self-loathing.
“I just don’t think I’m worth taking up someone else’s time.”
“Huh?”
Nanao looked back at him with a puzzled expression.
But Izumi didn’t answer, instead opening up Instagram on his phone.
“Anyway, what did you want to eat? I have a few places in mind.”
“Wow, smooth subject change.”
“I’m hungry~ I came straight from my part-time job~”
“Ah right, you did. Well um…”
……For some reason, Nanao glanced behind them.
“Nanao? What is it?”
“………”
Facing forward again, Nanao asked in a serious tone:
“Hey Izumi-kun…..you came alone today, right?”
“What’s with that question? Of course it’s just me.”
Izumi had come directly from his job. There’s no way anyone else would be with him.
Wondering about the meaning behind her words, Izumi teased:
“What, are you the type who can see different things?”
Nanao let out an amused snort.
“Yeah, there’s always your grandfather’s guardian spirit watching over you from behind. Maybe he’s whispering ‘Make sure to feed him rice for lunch’ right now?”
“My grandfather is still very much alive…”
Chuckling wryly, Izumi chose a rice-based restaurant on Instagram. Giving them a call, it seemed they had availability since it was past the peak lunch period.
They decided to head to that restaurant for now.
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