Asuna slipped her feet into her boots and bent over to zip them up. She had to tuck part of her fuzzy socks into the boots to get the zipper to go up. She stood up and turned around. Kazuto had his shoes on and had her purse in his hand, ready to go.
He opened the door for her and walked beside her down the parking lot. They got into the car and drove off. She noticed that Kazuto was taking a different route than he normally would. The short route only took an hour, but the long route took two.
"Where are we going?", she asked.
"I'm taking you the long way.", he replied.
"Why?", she wondered.
"So that I can spend more time with you.", he said with a wink and his sly smile.
Asuna felt like she was melting every time he did that. It put a pressure on her chest like there was a weight on it, but it was a good pressure, like happy anxiety. Asuna giggled. They stopped a couple of times along the way to look around in shops and just window shop until they had seen everything in the store.
Asuna's phone range. Just as she expected, it was her mother. Asuna answered the phone while rolling her eyes.
"Asuna, where are you? Who's driving you? Why aren't you home, yet?", her mom flooded her with questions.
"I'm on my way home, Kazuto is driving, I only just got discharged from the emergency room.", she said.
"Well get her faster if you want any supper.", her mom said.
"When I get home, I need to talk to you. I'll be home in a couple of hours. There's a little bit of traffic. Afternoon rush.", Asuna said, feeling a little bad for lying.
"Fine. I'll see you when you get here.", her mom replied.
"Love you.", Asuna said.
She heard the phone click off.
She shoved the phone back into her pocket, frustrated at her mother. After all that she'd been through today, her mom still showed no affection. What would her mother have done if Asuna had died? would she even cry?
Asuna looked across the room to where Kazuto was browsing the computer accessories, like mouses, keyboards, and screen covers. He seemed particularly interested in a laser keyboard, where you typed via a projection. Asuna went back to looking at the headphones. She needed a new pair pretty badly. Hers were falling apart, but they had lasted a long time and they were good headphones.
She picked up a box that said skullcandy on it. The headphones were white and black with a little skull emblem on the sides. They were nice, but she was saving for now. She would worry about headphones when she was moved out.
They left the store and got back into the car. They were passing through another town when Kazuto spotted a restaurant and pulled into it.
"You have to try this place. They have the best food.", he said. Asuna knew that she wouldn't be getting any supper from her mom, anyway. She got out and went in with Kazuto. They waited to be seated and followed the waiter to a table for two. They sat down and Kazuto reached over and intertwined his fingers with Asuna's. They sat there in silence, looking at the menu.
Asuna wasn't familiar with what they had, but she decided on shrimp lo mein. Kazuto was still looking, obviously torn between two choices. He sat there, deliberating until the waiter came to take their drink orders.
"What can I get you to drink?", he said.
"I think I'll have water with lemon.", Asuna said. The waiter jotted it down and then turned to Kazuto, who ordered the a soda.
A New Title
Start from the beginning
