Ishi woke up the next morning not looking forward to the day. It seemed that this was becoming his life as of late. Where he had to do things when he’d rather enjoy the weekends at home to himself. Or perhaps he was worried about making a bad impression on the first date of his life?

Nah, it was definitely the first part.

Either way, he needed to prepare himself. That meant enjoying a nice breakfast with his family and taking a deeper shower than usual. When he began looking out for what to wear, that was also when his mother took note of his actions.

“This isn’t like you.” She mentioned the different approach he had for the day, when usually he wouldn’t even bother since the boy wouldn’t even leave the house on a weekend. “Is Otoya coming over?”

“You could say that.” He responded. The boy would’ve rather preferred to not let on his mother know about this date. She would act very insufferable to him if she found out. Though lying wasn’t something he was a fan of, so he simply withheld information. Which is still lying by the way.

“Hmm? He didn’t tell you?” Unfortunately, Koto lives here and goes to the same school. So he was both aware of the situation, and unaware that Ishi didn’t want it to be known. “Ishi has a date today.”

“You’re going on your first date!?” His mother glowed with excitement upon hearing the news. Meanwhile, Ishi shook his head in disappointment as he made a mental note to punish Koto later. “Who is it with? Is it Rinse?”

“No.” He replied, trying to get passed his mom now blocking the only exit to his room. “It’s with a girl named Chinae, I tutored her during the Summer break.” To say during the break was overselling it, since he only tutored her twice.

“Ah I see, the you two hit it off and you’ve had a crush on her ever since.” His mother believed she had figured out the pattern as it was very comment according to the other parents.

“It’s not like that at all.” He corrected her, informing the woman that he was going to be with Otoya and Rinse for today as well.

“Ah, double date then.” His mom still wasn’t getting it, nor was she letting him leave either. Not until he was absolutely ready to go on a proper date.

Her treatment of him felt like torture, but it really wasn’t that bad. His mom got out all of best clothes that were fashionable, but not too formal for a midday date. She also gave him a little bit of his dad’s cologne to ensure that he would smell very attractive.

“You’re not touching the hair.” He stopped her from gelling back his hair. That would be far too much for something like this. Plus, he knew that Chiane would certainly not try hard at appearing appealing to him, as they didn’t actually like each other and this wasn’t a real date.

“I know you don’t care about how others look at you, but if you want a girl to take notice. You’ve got to at least try.” She countered.

“Good thing I don’t want to be noticed then.” He responded, ending this little session of improving his appearance. Perhaps a part of him was aware of how he would look to them, since surely they wouldn’t be trying that hard. Except for Otoya, since he was going to be going out with an idol.

Finally, after dealing with his own mom the entire morning, there was a knock on their door. It had to be at least Rinse coming to take him so they’d meet their dates. Ishi opened the door, ready to leave, but the sight he got gave him pause. “What’s up with the getup?”

Now, if she was dressed extravagantly, he might not have batted an eye. Though he would’ve thought that to be overkill. It’s just that she wasn’t dressed amazingly at all. In fact, it was as if she was hiding who she was, wearing sunglasses, a sunhat, and plain dress.

“I’m an idol, don’t pretend you don’t know.” Given the environment of her job, going on a date with a boy wasn’t something that would aid in her professional popularity. So she went with an outfit that wouldn’t easily reveal her identity and make her seem inconspicuous. Though she looked like someone that would have a lot of other people staring at them. “It’s fine if you still call me Rinse, but try not to raise too much attention on us.”

“Trying to avoid attention is what I’ve always wanted.” Though whether he was successful in that endeavor was a whole other story. Especially given his own actions. “Real funny that you say you can’t have a boyfriend, but then you go out and kiss me.” For once, he actually held a bit of a grudge. The nerve of that girl to do so in front of so many other people.

“It was only on the cheek.” She played it off. Despite him being caught off guard by her move, it seemed that he didn’t let it affect him for too long. “The others were trying to get you to blush, so I pulled out my ace.”

“I’m not some robot that people can play with.” He walked passed her without waiting for her to follow. They needed to meet with the other two at the agreed upon location on time.

“I didn’t think you would care this much about your first date.” She commented on his outfit. “Let me guess, your mom.”

“Bingo.” She was beginning to know him well. A little too well for his tastes. “Just to let you know, we’ll probably end up separating during the date.” He informed her.

“It’s a double date, isn’t it?”

“Well, at first I know we’ll definitely stick together.” That was what she wanted, otherwise he wouldn’t have bothered finding a date for himself. “But, I know Otoya was really looking forward to going on a proper date with you. So for his sake, I’ll give you two some alone time.”

“Do you really think anything’s going to happen between us?” She didn’t think too much about this date herself. While his friend was a nice guy, it wasn’t as if she had any romantic feelings for the boy.

“If there’s one thing I know about love, is that we never really know when it can hit you.” He responded, chuckling about what he thought to be a silly fact. “Who knows, maybe even I can fall for Chinae.”

“What? You can’t just go and do that after everything else you just said.” She protested a lot more than what a regular friend should.

“How many times do I need to tell you that my life isn’t under your control?” He was annoyed by her repeated actions relating to his relationships. So what if he did get closer to another girl, she wasn’t his mom. “But don’t worry, Chinae’s not my type. I don’t plan on seeking any girls until I get to college, then I’ll find myself a nice, quiet girl and get married to her.”

“That sounds incredibly basic.” He laughed at what she considered to be an insult. That was probably the best compliment to his plan that he could get ever. “What about the sparks? The chemistry, or even any of the other romantic stuff?”

“You’re incredibly naive, and probably should stop reading that shojo stuff.” He thought that stuff wasn’t how real relationships worked out. Not in any long term manner in the reality. Of course, she was an idol, so perhaps her world was simply that different than the one he had.

Finally, they reached the location where they agreed to meet the other two. It was at the park, located near a popular shopping district with plenty of things to do. So the four of them weren’t going to be bored during this entire date.

It appeared that Rinse and Ishi was the last ones to arrive, though they weren’t late. In fact, they were right on time. The moment Otoya saw them approach, he immediately glowed up with anticipation. Having to stand next to Chinae was draining him of fun, but seeing Rinse’s beautiful face was enough to rejuvenate his soul.

“It’s nice to see you today.” He greeted her, not even caring about her odd outfit. “I hope you like this.” The boy had even gotten her a flower, which signaled to Ishi that he was being completely serious about this. His friend was even dressed nicely, just like him. So that meant he needed to support him fully now.

“It’s wonderful.” Rinse took the gift wholeheartedly. He was already making a good impression. “You really didn’t have to do that.” While those two were chatting it up, Ishi greeted his own date.

“Hey.” He was a lot less enthusiastic about things. She didn’t seem to be into it either, as to be expected from the girl he knew from school. Though her outfit was a lot nicer than he was expecting her to wear.

It wasn’t anything too special, but a lot like what his mom gave him, she certainly was dressed up for a proper date. Chinae’s red blouse was definitely the most expensive thing he ever saw her wear. It matched well with her black skirt, which were certainly not the jeans she would normally wear in public. Her nail polish and makeup also showed signs of the effort she went into personally into her appeared.

“That’s how you introduce yourself on a date?” She crossed her arms and glared at him. Despite the work on making herself pretty, those icy harsh eyes of hers certainly never changed.

“It’s not like either of us actually care.” He responded. “But, you do look wonderful today.” He’d even use the word, ‘cute’, to describe her. Ever since learning of her double identity, Ishi had gotten the idea that her Chiana persona was the beautiful version of her. Though it seems that even the Chinae version was beautiful in her own right. In his opinion, maybe even more so. “Is that better?”

“Better.”