I got back to the field five minutes before the bell rings. Our PE teacher Katsura-sensei is nowhere to be seen when I returned.

   ‘He was summoned to an emergency teacher’s meeting, you see.’ Takaki explains.

   ‘Was he mad when I took my time on returning?’

   ‘Not at all. He assumed that you were taking care of Suzu-san.’

   ‘What were you doing with her anyway?’ Nitta asks curiously.

   ‘I confessed to her.’ I shrug as I reply nonchalantly.

   I didn’t even answer that loudly, and yet I was somehow heard by the entire class. All my classmates are staring at me like I announced something really important. Kanae was the first one to react.

   ‘FINALLY!’ she squeals.

   Nagano, on the other hand, looks at me like she understood everything.

   ‘So, how exactly did you ask her out?’

   ‘Did she say yes?’

   ‘Will the two of you be going on a date after this?’

   ‘Congrats, Bandou!’

   And now I’m being bombarded with questions, most of them from Kanae. Oh, and there were a few words of blessing as well.

   ‘I have no comments on any of your questions. Now leave me alone.’ I tell them.

   ‘Oh come on! At least tell us whether she said yes!’ Kanae insists.

   ‘Yes, she did. Happy?’

   Lots of girlish squeals are heard.

   Of course, they refused to leave me, and Suzu after she got a bit better and returned to the classroom, alone. We had to endure this until school is over.

   ‘Suzu and I have to skip out on today’s consultation, Nagano.’ I tell Nagano.

   ‘Are the two of you going on a date right after being ona relationship?’ she asks while smirking.

   ‘Actually, it’s much more serious than that.’

   Wordlessly, I look at Suzu. She notices my stare and nods.

   ‘Keep this between us. Suzu is going to see a doctor to check on her body.’ I whisper.

   Nagano gasps loudly.

   ‘Don’t worry Aiai. It’s probably not a big deal.’ Suzu says to her.

   Nagano does her best to calm herself down and nods her head.

   ‘Please tell me the result the moment it’s out.’ she pleads.

   ‘I’ll be sure to call you.’ I assure her. ‘Now let’s get going, Suzu.’

   ‘Okay~.’

   As usual, Serizawa-san is the one who give us a ride. Suzu has already told him that she’s going to the hospital, so he departed the moment we went inside the car.

   ‘I can’t thank you enough for convincing ojou-sama to visit the doctor, Banjou-sama.’ Serizawa-san tells me gratefully along the way.

   ‘Please think nothing of it. I care about her too.’

   ‘You owe me some ice cream for this, Takkun.’ Suzu reminds me.

   ‘Yes, yes. You can have three once you’re done with the examination.’

   She looks at me with an expression which is full of despair.

   ‘Only three~?’ she whines.

   ‘Hey, those aren’t exactly good for your health.’

   ‘I’ve started to think that you’re my mother instead of my boyfriend.’ she grumbles.

   ‘Take it or leave it.’

   She continues to grumble, but she’s doing it under her breath so that I can’t hear her.

   It didn’t take us very long to reach the hospital, as it’s quite near our school. Serizawa-san parks his car at once of the empty spaces available before turning his neck to look at us.

   ‘I shall patiently await your return while remaining here.’ he says to us.

   ‘Got it~. Let’s go, Takkun~. My ice creams awaits~!’

   ‘We’re here to get your body checked.’ I remind her.

   ‘Let’s not sweat the small stuff, shall we~?’

   Suzu gets out of the car, and I follow her from behind.

   ‘Are you nervous?’ I ask her as we head towards the entrance.

   ‘A little.’ she confesses. ‘I’m still fine since you’re here with me.’

   I reach out my hand to pat her head.

   ‘No matter what the result is, I’ll be here for you.’ I assure her.

   ‘Can I hold your hand, Takkun?’ she asks all of a sudden.

   ‘...Um, sure.’

   I pull down my right hand and hold Suzu’s left hand. Despite her calm look, she’s slightly trembling. I decide not to point it out.

   When we got to the receptionist counter, Suzu tells the nurse on-duty her name and the doctor she would like to meet.

   ‘Please head to the Examination Room at the 3rd floor.’ the nurse tells us.

   ‘Thank you.’

   We go to the medical room as instructed by getting inside an elevator. When we got there, a male doctor in his sixties welcomes us with open arms.

   ‘Hello there, young Suzume. It’s been too long since I last saw you.’ he says to Suzu.

   Suzu nods politely at him.

   ‘Hello, Yamanobe-sensei.’ she greets him.

   ‘How’s your mother doing?’

   ‘She’s kind of fine.’

   ‘Kind of?’

   ‘She overworked herself, so my father forced her to be hospitalized.’

   ‘Oh, dear. And I kept on warning her too before she got discharged all those years ago.’ he mumbles.

   Suzu shrugs. ‘My mother’s stubborn that way.’

   ‘That I definitely agree. You have no idea how difficult it was for me when she was my patient.’ he chuckles.

   He got more serious.

   ‘Since you’re here, I take it that you want to know whether you have the same disease as your mother?’ he asks.

   ‘That’s right.’

   ‘Very well. We’ll begin right away.’

   The doctor looks at me.

   ‘I know that you’re worried, boyfriend-kun. However, you should go back for now.’ he tells me.

   ‘It’s fine, doctor. I’ll be waiting here until you’re done.’

   ‘The examination might take a while. Hours, even.’ he warns.

   I shrug.

   ‘It’s not like I have anything better to do.’

   ‘Very well. If you insist so much, you can sit down and wait.’

   Suzu waves cheerfully at me.

   ‘See you later, Takkun~.’

   ‘Yeah. Good luck.’

   Just as the doctor has warned, the examination on Suzu’s body took quite a long while. It was two hours before they finally came out. The doctor is walking at the front, with Suzu walking slightly behind him. Both her hands are covering her face, and I can hear her sobbing.

   I could tell that she’s fine since she does this kind of crying when she can’t eat a limited edition snack, or some other pointless and trivial thing has happened to her.

   ‘She’s perfectly normal. The disease that her mother has is not passed down to her.’ the doctor tells me.

   Yup. Totally fine.

   ‘So, the reason her stamina is terrible is because she never bothered to exercise, and not because of some crazy disease.’

   ‘Precisely.’

   ‘Isn’t that great, Suzu?’

   ‘No, it’s not~! I thought I could get a “Excused from PE for the rest of your life” card~!’ the girl whines.

   ‘Just face the reality and do something about your stamina already.’

   Suddenly, Suzu puts away her hands. She has a hopeful expression on her face.

   ‘Say, Yamanobe-sensei. How much does it cost for you to write me one of those card?’ she asks the doctor.

   ‘What on earth are you asking? There’s no way he can do that!’ I chide.

   ‘I’m afraid your boyfriend is right, young Suzume. It’s morally wrong, and borderline illegal too.’ the doctor chuckles.

   Suzu looks at him with an expression of absolute despair.

   ‘Noooooooo~!’

   ‘Well, thank you for um, whatever you did to examine her body, doctor.’ I tell him while ignoring Suzu’s cry.

   ‘No need to thank me. I’m just glad that there is one less patient out in the world.’

   ‘Come now, Suzu. Stop crying and let’s leave.’

   Suzu does as I say while still sobbing, but not before remembering to thank the doctor and pay for the consultation fee and other whatnot.

   While we’re on our way to leave the hospital, I texted Nagano to inform her that Suzu is free from the disease. She texted back a few seconds later and wrote that she’s really glad and stuff. Serizawa-san, on the other hand, is sobbing with relief when we told him the news.

   ‘I am so glad to hear it. I am so glad to hear it…’ he kept on saying.

   Wow, Serizawa-san must be considering Suzu to be someone really important for him to react like this.

   ‘There there, Seri-seri. I’m okay, so you can stop your crying now.’ Suzu comforts him.

   ‘Yes. Please give me some more time, however.’

   We wait patiently until he’s all calmed down.

   ‘Please forgive me for showing you my unsightly form.’ he clears his throat. ‘Now then. Where do the two of you like to go?’

   I look at the screen at my phone. It’s just past 6, and I’m nowhere near hungry. Even so, I’m with Suzu the glutton here.

   ‘Are you hungry yet?’ I ask her.

   ‘Not really.’

   Her reply shocked me to the core.

   ‘Um, are you sure you’re all right Suzu? Do you want to go back to the hospital? Or is this an indication that it’s going to rain blood sooner or later?’

   ‘Ojou-sama, it is perhaps wise to turn back and consult Yamanobe-sensei once more.’ Serizawa-san says.

   ‘...You know, the two of you are being very rude today. Just drive us to the nearest arcade, Seri-seri.’

   ‘Understood, ojou-sama.’

   The arcade we went to is kind of huge. They use up two shoplots, and they have three whole storeys all to themselves. Suzu is already drooling from looking at the size of the building.

   ‘Say, Takkun. Do you think we can stay here for as long as we can? You know, like a manga cafe?’ she asks me as we’re standing outside the entrance.

   ‘Don’t be ridiculous. We still have to go to school and everything, annoying as most of them are.’

   ‘Boo~, and here I thought that you’ll agree with me here~.’

   ‘Look, let’s just go in okay?’

   ‘...Fine.’

   Seeing all the available games made her mood better in an instant. The three ice creams I bought for her probably helped as well.

   ‘Which one are we playing first?’ she asks.

   ‘Hmm, good question.’

   It was then when I saw a shooting game which title I was quite familiar with. One thing that surprised me is that there’s a V next to its title, indicating that it’s the fifth of its series. Last I checked, there were only four of them.

   ‘Oh look, that series has a new sequel.’ I say while pointing at it.

   ‘I love playing the previous ones too! Let’s go play it first, Takkun~!’

   ‘Totally.’

   We spent a good amount of time playing it. In the end, we actually managed to clear it without taking a single hit. Myself aside, Suzu is an absolute prodigy at doing headshots. She could take down tons of enemies by only using a single bullet for each of them.

   ‘Well that was fun.’ she exhales as the end credit of the game rolls.

   ‘Sure was. I knew this already, but you’re really good at games huh?’

   ‘Well, I was always alone inside the big house after all. My parents were hardly around, and I had no friends. So I turned to video games. They’re always there for you, they won’t have other things better to do other than accompanying you, and they won’t be bored of you. They’re the best friends an indoor person could ever have~.’

   ‘Wow, that was surprisingly relatable.’

   ‘Don’t you have friends of you own, Takkun?’

   ‘If you’re talking about Kazuki and Masato, I guess we were close for a while. And then they got themselves girlfriends-’

   ‘But they broke up. And then you helped them get back together.’

   ‘-Sure, we still talk to each other every once in a while, but now that I think about it, we weren’t really friends. We were more like acquaintances.’

   ‘What about us?’

   I give her a look.

   ‘Are you really asking me that?’

   She gives me an impudent grin.

   ‘Come on Takkun, you can do it~!’ she encourages.

   ‘We’re lovers, of course.’

   Again with the impudent grin. I couldn’t help but pulling her cheeks.

   ‘Ow ow ow~! it hurts, Takkyun~!’ she complains while barely being able to speak.

   ‘That’s the point, ain’t it?’

   ‘Okay, I’m sowwy, I’m sowwy~! Please let go of ma cheeks~!’

   I did as she pleads. She puffs up her cheeks while looking slightly upset.

   ‘You shouldn’t resort to violence, you know~!’ she chides.

   ‘You only have yourself to blame for that.’

   While massaging her cheeks, Suzu looks around for the next game to play. And then, her eyes somehow stop at the many available photo booths.

   ‘Let’s go take a picture, Takkun.’ she tells me while pointing at them.

   ‘I didn’t know you’re interested in that kind of thing.’

   ‘Fufu, I bet you don’t know lots of things about me.’ she says smugly.

   ‘Yup, almost nothing at all.’ I confess.

   ‘Don’t worry, I’ll make sure that you know everything about me as we hang out more~. And I mean everything~.’ she assures me.

   I try not to think too much about the meaning of the last part of the sentence she said.

   ‘Let’s take the pictures then.’ I say in an attempt to change the subject.

   ‘Yay~! Photo booths, here we come~!’

   One thing about me, is that I hate taking pictures. If I dig out photos with me in them (which isn’t a lot), I wasn’t smiling in any of them. I try my best not to frown or look dissatisfied, but that ended up making me an expressionless look when the photo was taken.

   ‘Come on Takkun, show me a smile!’ Suzu urges while the countdown has started.

   ‘I can’t. You know how little I smile. It’s even worse when it’s picture time.’ I tell her bluntly.

   ‘Just imagine our happy couple life together from now on~!’

   I could barely imagine what it’ll be like for us from now on, but somehow there are lots of scenes where the two of us are being happy together. All of them flash by in microseconds, and that somehow made me smile.

   After the photo is taken, we go outside and wait for the sticker-photos to come out.

   ‘Wow, you actually smiled properly for a change, Takkun.’ Suzu says as she’s examining the final product.

   ‘Well, don’t expect me to do it again.’ I grumble.

   We didn’t hang out in the arcade for very long since Suzu is getting hungry. After two hours or so, we left the arcade and go back to Serizawa-san’s car.

   ‘Where would you like to go next?’ he asks us.

   ‘Yamamoto’s canteen, please. I’m hungry~!’ Suzu requests.

   ‘Why there, of all places?’ I ask her.

   ‘Isn’t it obvious? I want to eat the food you cooked, Takkun~!’

   I sigh.

   ‘Fine, I’ll do it.’ I relent.

   ‘Ehehe~! I love you, Takkun~!’

   ‘Yes, I love you too.’

   I notice that Serizawa-san isn’t asking about our relationship at all. I guess it’s that obvious.

   Miiko’s jaws dropped when she saw Suzu and I walking into the restaurant while holding hands. Oh, right. She’s working here tonight.

   ‘O-Oh my god! This is a miracle! Um, not to be rude or anything, Takuya onii-chan, but still-’ she stutters while flailing around excitedly.

   ‘I get it Miiko, so just calm down.’ I tell her.

   She calms down and peeks at Suzu bashfully.

   ‘Shall I start calling you onee-chan, Yoshinaga-senpai?’

   ‘I guess so. And you can call me Suzu, Mii-mii.’

   ‘Hey, we’re too early for that. And what is my cousin, a cat?’

   ‘Let’s not sweat the small stuff, shall we~? And more importantly, I’m hungry, Takkun~!’

   ‘Just give me a moment.’

   I look over at the counter, where Miyako-san is looking over here with wide eyes.

   ‘Is it okay if I borrow the kitchen for a while, Miyako-san?’ I ask her.

   My voice made her snap out of it.

   ‘Of course, go ahead Bandou-kun.’

   ‘Thank you.’

   ‘I want gyuudon, okay? With lots of beef!’

   ‘Yes, yes.’

   Her husband Uekawa-san is surprised to see me enter the kitchen. Even so, he too authorized its use so that I could cook something for both myself and Suzu. I decide to cook a katsudon for myself, and a gyuudon for Suzu as per her request.

   ‘Here’s the food you ordered.’ I tell her as I put the bowl of gyuudon in front of her and my katsudon right next to her.

   She claps her hands excitedly.

   ‘Yay, about time~!’

   ‘Let’s eat.’

   ‘Yup, let’s!’

   ‘Itadakimasu!’ we chant together.

   After eating silently for a minute, Suzu grabs a piece of beef with her chopsticks and puts it near me.

   ‘...What are you doing?’ I couldn’t help but ask.

   ‘I’m giving you a bite of my food, obviously.’ she smirks.

   Upon hearing that, Miiko turns around sharply and points her phone at us.

   ‘...Don’t you have to get back to work Miiko?’ I ask my cousin.

   ‘Don’t mind me, onii-chan. Just continue with what you’re doing.’ she encourages.

   ‘That’s right, Takkun~. Say ah~!’ Suzu chimes in.

   ‘...The two of you are having the time of your life, aren’t you?’

   I open my mouth and chomps into the outstretched slice of beef.

   ‘You could have looked slightly embarrassed, you know~?’ Suzu grumbles.

   ‘As if I’ll be embarrassed by something like this.’

   I pick up a piece of pork cutlet with my chopsticks and hold it out in front of her face.

   ‘Want one?’ I ask.

   She chomps it down without replying. All the while, Miiko is gleefully taking pictures of us, but I try my best to ignore her.

   Once we’re done eating, we paid for our food and left the place. Next, we enter Serizawa-san’s car once more.

   ‘Where to now, sir and miss?’

   I look at the time. It’s getting kind of late.

   ‘Shall we call it a day?’ I ask Suzu.

   ‘Yup.’ she agrees.

   ‘Please send me back to my apartment.’

   ‘It would be my pleasure.’

   And so, my first date with my girlfriend has ended.