Kichi couldn’t believe they were walking out of the zen garden disappointed, but that was the direction this outing took for them. They had already burned some time from there visit here, so wherever else they went to was going to be their last destination. That meant making another mistake was not an option. Too bad for him he was unsure on what to do next.

“So where should we go?” Said Airi as she put a hand under her chin to look around and think. “Maybe this time we should actually pick a place.” Unfortunately for them, the arcade was apparently closed now. It was still early on in the day, so it must’ve been something that occurred in there that they couldn’t have been aware of while inside the zen garden. A shame for both of them as that certainly was the destination at the top of both their lists.

“Man, I’m really bad at this.” He didn’t just come to this realization on his inability to chose. Kichi always knew he relied on his coin way more often than most people thought he should. Now tasked with something as simple as a location to head to with a cute girl had him sweating buckets.

“I guess we’ll just walk around until we find something then.” She suggested, to which they both began heading down the sidewalk towards nowhere in particular.

“I’m real sorry.” He said, lagging behind a bit and taking a bad leaned down posture as he followed.

“It’s no problem at all.” She responded. “I’m kind of excited to be honest. We can treat this like an adventure where we don’t know where we’ll end up. Just that it’s going to be cool and stuff.” He appreciated her mindset. This girl was always looking for the bright side in everything. She was always trying to make the best of any situation, good or bad.

“Thanks, but…” However, as much as he was happy she could take control and make things good. Kichi felt disappointed if he had to be the one to rely on her. This is troublesome. He’s a boy, and more importantly he’s also the one who had lived in this town longer. If anyone was supposed to be responsible for the day, it had to be him. “I got an idea.”

“You do?” She stopped right in her tracks upon hearing him proclaim this. It got her anxious yet again despite his prior plan ending up becoming a dud for them. “Where?”

“Heheh.” He chuckled. After giving it some thought, the boy knew she would be one who’d love the idea. “You like sweets, right?”

“Yes, definitely.” She answered. “Me and Aoi have this huge sweet tooth. But I don’t know which one, they all seem to be about the same size.” He looked at her for a bit before continuing on. That had to have been a joke, right? But after she didn’t add anything else to the statement. The only thing Kichi could do was pretend she didn’t just say that.

Then how about we go to this cafe just right around the corner.” He pointed her in the direction he knew it to be in. “It’s called ‘Ma’s Sweet Delights’, and they’ve got a ton of foreign sweets treats there.”

“Really!?” She jumped up like a child excited about going to a candy store. “I’ve never had the foreign stuff. That must be real yummy then.” Kichi was glad his idea was a hit with her. Now all they had to do was go there and order some things. It was admittedly basic and simple, but after what they had to endure. It was a breath of fresh air.

“Is there anything you’ve always wanted to try?” He asked as they entered the building. While the zen garden they were inside earlier had a fair number of visitors. This place was beyond packed with dozens inside a small pace. Many of them weren’t so different from the pair in that they were young teens hanging out and looking for something to satisfy their sweet tooths.

“That one looks good.” She pointed in the displace case towards some eclairs. Another thing they also shared with the people inside this shop were they were coupled up as one boy and one girl. It wasn’t a surprise that many couples took their date to a location like this. Though it was also a fact that wasn’t lost on Kichi either. In a sense, it would make it appear that these two were on a date as well.

“Okay, I can pay for that.” Even though this wasn’t a date, he felt compelled to be the one to pay for both their treats. It was a bit of paying her back for his bad decision earlier, even if he didn’t state it out loud. She was the one that wanted to enjoy the day together and he was the one who messed it up a bit. Kichi picked up a mont blanc himself. So they both ended up with something french.

Even with the many people here, they were able to find some seats and a table for them to sit down and enjoy themselves just outside the cafe. Being able to have something so tasty under the bright summer sun gave their day new meaning.

“Mmhmm, this is great.” She proclaimed as she took a major bite. He couldn’t help but smile at seeing her nibble on the treat he bought for her. Perhaps he could make a move right now, but would that be the correct one to make? The twins were still new to him like they were to everyone else. Maybe she wouldn’t be interested in trying anything with some boy she just happened to run into.

At the end of the day, their initial meeting was just pure happenstance. If it didn’t happen, then they wouldn’t be sitting here on a beautiful day having fun. Sure they still would’ve transferred to his class, but if he didn’t literally run into them on the day before. Then they’d have little reason to talk to each other at all.

Or maybe all these thoughts were just his excuses for inaction in this moment. That the boy himself didn’t know if this was the right thing to do. He couldn’t trust himself to make the major decision. “What do you think, Kichi?”

“Huh?” Airi’s voice broke him from his train of thought. She looked at him a bit weird and he wasn’t certain if he had done something dumb without realizing.

“Your monty blancy? That’s what it’s called, right?” She asked again. He hadn’t said anything when they sat down and she felt it growing a bit awkward between them. Despite not being the brightest of girls around, even she wasn’t blind to her surroundings. “Is it good?”

“It’s called a mont blanc.” He corrected her on the name, then took a bite with the plastic spoon offered by the shop. It was a strawberry variant and the sweetness and tart took hold of his tongue. “It’s delicious” He told her. With the way it made him smile just from the taste alone, it was no wonder this girl had been so expressive in her own delight.

“Can I have your strawberry?” She pointed at the fruit topping on his dessert. “I love those.”

“Yeah sure.” He agreed and picked it up with his spoon. The boy assumed as he held it up to her that she’d pick it up with her hands. However she gave him a surprise by eating it directly from his utensil.

“Mmm, it’s great.” She spoke while still chewing her food. “Thanks a lot!” While she expressed her gratitude, he paused a bit before continuing to eat. She had just put her mouth all over his spoon. As disgusting as it sounded, her essence was left behind from taking that bite. A sigh that everyone should know would be an indirect kiss.

Despite not showing it, he panicked internally. What was the meaning of this? She always seemed to be a bit air headed, so it was entirely possible she didn’t understanding the implications to her actions. But what if that was on purpose? Was she testing him? Did she expect a certain response from him? If so, then what did she want?

Kichi knew he couldn’t stay frozen for long. He could take a bite and accept this indirect kiss, but what if she thought he’d be a creep for doing it? And if he decided to put it down to get another one, then she could take that to mean a rejection and be sad about it.

Finally, after less time than he’d want to consider things. The boy had to make his decision. Trying his best to keep calm and collected, he took another scoop of his mont blanc and took a bite. “It’s good, right?” Her words caused him to shake a bit from being startled. The look at him seemed to be that of ignorance to his actions, so he relaxed a bit into thinking that he had been overthinking everything in the past few seconds.

“Yeah, it tastes great.” He answered.