That ball actually sold for that much?! Should I have kept it?... No, when I look at Sakura’s smiling face, I realize it was all worth it…

“G-Great that you could sell it for that much Fudo!”

“Everything alright Reo? You’re really straining your face there.”

{read the following with a strained face for full immersion.}

“It’s nothing, don’t worry about it…”

“O-Okay.”

“Thanks for the money uncle Reo! Big bro was really thankful, he couldn’t stop talking about how amazing you were!”

“Now now Sakura, no need to bring that up haha. Don’t listen to her Reo, she’s still young.”

Fudo is a really nice guy huh… I guess I’ll help him become stronger in the future, same for Lance. We’re in this together…

“Well it was nice visiting you Fudo, I have to go on a… euuuh… I have to do something hehe….”

Better not tell him about the date, he’ll probably get jealous anyways.

Suddenly his roommate walks into the room holding a red dress.

“Oh you’re leaving already? I just found the perfect size for you~”

“Ha-ah sorry, I would have loved to try it on, but you know, super busy ha-ha… Fudo is probably free though?”

“You’re right! Fudo, come here for a sec!”

Fudo turns towards me with a look on his face like he’s just been betrayed by his own mother… Well time to go, I better hurry!

…

After 30 minutes of walking, I finally arrive at the movie theater. I’m 15 minutes early though.

Out of the corner of my eye, I can spot a beautiful girl with flowing silver hair wearing a black dress… Is… Is that really Sara? She’s wearing something rather revealing, you can see a good amount of cleavage… not that it looks bad or anything, rather the opposite is true…

“Hey Sara, I see you’re also early. You couldn’t wait for our date huh~?”

“N-No stupid, I was just in the neighborhood already… besides shouldn’t the boyfriend come at least half an hour early?”

“Well maybe if I were your real boyfriend I would. Y-You do look pretty good though…”

Her cheeks turn red.

“T-Thanks… L-Lets quickly buy some tickets, we can spend these 10 extra minutes picking out snacks.”

We buy some popcorn and after that watched the movie Sara really wanted to see.

It was a real tearjerker, even I cried a bit at the end. Sara also couldn’t help but shed some tears, she actually cried a lot during the movie… made me see her in a new light, more like a sensitive, fragile girl instead of a violent gorilla.

After the movie ended we still had some free time before the dinner with her parents, so we headed to a nearby arcade.

“Get me that one Reo! I love that character!”

she was pointing at a generic slime keychain stuck in a claw-machine.

“You really want that weak looking slime?”

“Yeah, even in the original series that slime is weak at the beginning, but through effort alone, by the end of the show he’s the strongest! It’s really my favorite character!”

“Sure I’ll get it for you then, we’re on a date after all… even if it’s a fake one.”

I buy 1 U-coin worth of tries from the machine and start playing.

“Fuck…. Shit… a bit to the left… No!”

-10 minutes later-

“You really suck at this Reo…”

“B-But I got it for you!”

“Yeah, after like 80 tries and 2 more U-coins… but… thanks a lot!”

She hugs me, but almost immediately notices what she just did and lets go, her cheeks once again turn red now.

“Euh… Y-You’re welcome. Let’s head to your parents’ home now, we don’t want to be late.”

After a long and awkward walk to her parents’ place, we are greeted by a stern looking old guy after ringing the doorbell.

“H-Hello sir, I’m Reo, Sara’s b-boyfrin… I’m her boyfriend sir.”

Oops, I fumbled that line a bit. But it’s normal to be a bit nervous when meeting the father right?

“Stop embarrassing yourself to our butler Reo! Dad and mom are probably sitting in the second guest dining-hall. Please take us there Pierre.”

Butler? Really? Wait… Did she really just say SECOND guest dinging-hall?! I was too preoccupied thinking about Sara’s hug from earlier, I didn’t even notice her house is so disgustingly huge… I mean, calling it a castle would be an understatement.

“Of course madam, right away madam.”

The butler, Pierre I think, led us through numerous rooms decorated with abundant golden ornaments and rare paintings. I even though I saw a Rembrandt hanging above one of their fire places. I can’t believe she’s actually from such extreme wealth, what is she even doing in the school dorms?!... I should have asked for a better reward….

Apparently Sara noticed me dragging my jaw across the floor from amazement:

“It looks amazing right? You’re probably thinking that you would love to live here right? Unfortunately… It doesn’t really feel like a home to me, no matter how much gold they use to decorate it….”

Yeah I can kind of understand where she’s coming from, it doesn’t really give off any cozy or homey vibes, more like: ‘casino’ or ‘5 star hotel’…

“That’s why you’re living in the school dorm?”

“Pretty much… That and some other things…”