“I can still write you a list. There’s probably something that makes more sense in there.”
“Nah, don’t bother. Tell me over time.”

Sorely tempted to ask him what he liked about me. I didn’t dare.

“...I don’t have to worry about how I act around you. You seem fine with me even if I don’t try to control my moods.”

I blinked for a few times.
“Hm, I am.”

I paused and held his gaze. It took me a moment to realize it wasn’t just him commenting about it, but his answer to my one thing I liked about him.

I hurriedly redirected my gaze to somewhere else in the room. 

“Do you still want to play for a while?”, I changed the topic, quite obviously. Mizuki didn’t call me out on it.

“Let’s play together later. Besides, I’m gonna have to throw you out, soon.”

“Eh, I don’t wanna intrude, so feel free to throw me out whenever”, I exclaimed, troubled.

“My sister should be coming home soon. Another one. Would prefer not having you around then.”

The sister with social anxiety then. He probably didn’t want to trouble her by having me intrude into her home so suddenly. I hummed in understanding. 

“No problem. I’ll just leave soon. We’ll see each other tomorrow anyway. Uhm, on that topic… Are you gonna take my train again?”

He thinned his lips unhappily.
“Can’t you take the later one?”

“...Sure. I can take the later one. Don’t like waking up early?”

“Hate it.”
He spit the words out. God, I would love seeing him right after waking up. Tired and grumpy, with messed up hair and marks from sleeping, rubbing his eyes. Wobbly steps as he climbs out of the bed, voice drawling…

Aaaah! So cute! I wanna see it!

“...What are you thinking about?”

Mizuki’s face popped before mine. I twitched back and scratched my cheek.
“N-nothing, why?”

“Because you had a creepy half-grin on your face and dazed eyes. Come, admit it.”

What, admit I’d like seeing him right after waking up? So, saying I want to sleep next to him, essentially? Tell the guy of few-day relationship I wanna share a bed with him already? Yeah, nope.

I’m not saying that anytime soon, even if he already gave me the allowance to do quite some things with him.
(And I’ll be totally taking him on that offer. Soon. Just not today.)

“S-story for another day”, I evaded the question, laughing stupidly. Mizuki looked like he wanted to bite me for that.
He didn’t, just saying. Unexplored kink.

“So, should I leave? And see you tomorrow on your train, last wagon?”

“Hm”, Mizuki agreed. His fingers moved to end the game and shut down his laptop.

Hmmmm I really-

[(Please choose what to say.)

 

• “Can I kiss you?”
• “Can I get a kiss before I go?”
• (Say nothing)]

 

 

Well that is two-thirds reading my mind. I don’t wanna go with option three, the point is between the other two…
Actually, I already know what I wanna choose, don’t need to think about it~

“Can I get a kiss before I go?”, I whined, tugging at his shirt.

He glared at me with a dropped jaw - audacious, how dare I ask him to do such a thing  - then rolled his pretty eyes at me. The bed shifted with his weight, he leaned on his knees. I was dragged over rudely, but that was a small price to pay for him to take the initiative.

His lips pressed roughly against mine, warm and sweet. He allowed himself to linger for a moment, his eyes almost closed. 

I ignored the jump my heart did, just opening my eyes as he inched away. His hot breath tickled my skin in those two seconds he didn’t fully retreat yet.

When he did, he almost awkwardly lowered his head between his shoulders, staring at the bed.

It was almost comical, that he looked more troubled by this than when I had nibbled on his ear before, or when he had kissed me as sort of a weird show of strength, or any of the other kisses before.

Maybe because this time, it was a purely loving gesture, like a married couple. But that was exactly what had my heart rate up through the roof, not because of excitement, but because I was overjoyed at the simple reality of what was happening. To have a person I have adored for a long time and loved almost just as long, never even dared to approach, now sit in front of me, shy like a little girl.

Endearing.

That was the term that fitted this the most right now.

“I like that the face you are making right now is mine alone.”
I laughed. It was just a thing I wanted to tell him, linked a bit to what I liked about him. I liked that expression. And I liked that he wasn’t showing it to anyone else.

“Shut up. I’ll bring you to the door.”

There wasn’t any of the usual bite in his words and I continued smiling like an idiot. The bed squeaked as we left it and walked to his door.

Not really to my surprise was that Kirumi was lingering in the kitchen. I had a feeling that if any suspicious sound had come through that closed door, she’d jump forward and press her ear against it. I didn’t like that kind of behaviour but hey, who was I to scold some other family’s daughter?

Mizuki glared at the cheeky girl and went forward to hold my bag up for me.

“Thanks. I’ll be seeing you tomorrow then.”

I slipped into my shoes and took the bag, then curtly looked at Kirumi.

“Bye”, I called out before returning my attention to my boyfriend. “Say thanks to your parents for me, please. It was really nice to be invited to the meal.”

“It stressed you, didn’t it?”
“Absolutely.”

The exchange was done in monotone. I stared at him as he stared at me, with a neutral face.

“I’ll talk to them about it. See ya.”
“Bye.”

The door fell shut behind me. I walked a while before stopping and letting my shoulders slump with a long, exhausted exhale of breath.

I don’t care whether that’s my boyfriend’s family, I thought as I stared up at the sky. I’m going to do everything possible so that I will never have to sit through a meal with them again. Holy fucking shit. There really is nothing more awkward than parents finding out their son isn’t averse to guys, and has a boyfriend, and has him over at the same time.

No no, wait. I’ll take that back. I don’t want to jinx myself. They could have walked in on me kissing him.

Yeah, that sounds about right. There’s still a lot more awkward stuff that could happen, but that was at least very awkward on the scala.

---

“Okay, so, how about a trip to another city?”, I suggested, leaning forward on the table as Mizuki sipped on his drink.

I had studied the system-guide for quite some time. 

Mizuki did like cinema, but nothing good was running.
Our homes were off-limits because no date-y enough.
Going out to eat is a thing we usually do.
Themeparks are no good for either of us. (Too many people, too loud.)

I didn’t know what he thought about stuff like museums or aquariums but I had zero experience with those as well and didn’t want to risk it ending badly.

Anyway, the point was that we had been regularly meeting through school and also shared part of the way to it, even spend a lot of time after school together.

But none of that was a date and I kinda missed that.

Mizuki looked at me with mild interest, chewing on his straw.
He had already mentioned that he found it funny how seriously I took the date business, considering we were getting along exceptionally well even without it.

...But I have a dating system, goddamnit! Isn’t that a shame!

“What for?”, Mizuki asked, leisurely leaning back.
“Well, we could choose one by the sea. It’s not that far. Just a day like a tourist. Or maybe make it an overnight trip.”

His eyebrows slowly raised high and I added a sentence.

“I mean, with separate rooms! Just for the extra time!”
I actually didn't have ulterior motives, for once!

“The sea, huh”, he muttered, thinking about it and then nodding. “It’s not overly expensive, either. And my father will pay for my half, anyway.”

I hadn’t expected him to happily take his father’s suggestion, after all…

But yay! A date!