For lack of a better adjective, not to mention that my train of thought had been derailed for some time now, I was nervous.
Beyond nervous, actually. The feeling that was pushing down on my psyche was more like overwhelming terror.
Okay, screw it. I was freaking out like I had never panicked before.
I had discussed possible date plans with Yukari last night, debating and weighing the options until eleven in the evening. And after all that suffering, I managed to piece together what I thought would be a half-decent plan for my first date with Aigis.
Half-decent. For my first date. I felt pathetic, to say the least. Yukari had woken me up at 8:15, dragging me out of bed as she literally threw me into the shower. After I had tidied myself up, Yukari had chosen an outfit for me that she thought would be suitable for my date and for the still-chilly weather: a navy blue sweater with a collar that made it look similar to a polo shirt, pale blue jeans and a grey coat which I swore weighed at least five pounds. When I was foolish enough to ask Yukari the reason I had to drag along the stupid thing, I promptly received a sharp blow to the side of my head, along with a comment about loaning it to Aigis if it got cold later on.
Afterwards, Yukari proceeded to shove my breakfast down my throat (since apparently I wasn't eating fast enough), then rushed me out of the house since she insisted that I arrive at least twenty minutes early. Which brings me to my current state of being: sitting on the couch in the living room of the Yamada household, quivering like a dog in the middle of a hurricane as I waited for my girlfriend to finish getting ready. It would have been more bearable if I Keisuke-san had been there, but unfortunately he had already left for work, hence I had no one to talk to since Aigis' mother was busy helping her with a "something" that they failed to specify.
"We're almost done!" Yui-san yelled from the direction of Aigis' bedroom.
"Okay!" I replied, trying to mask the misery that I was feeling. Well, it wasn't real misery, it's just that my extreme nervousness had finally managed to transform into a feeling that was pretty close to misery. I groaned, doing what I could to calm myself down.
A few minutes later, I had just regained my composure and the trace amount of sanity I had left when I heard footsteps approaching. I looked up at the two women approaching me... and my jaw almost hit the floor. No, actually it did. It unhinged itself from my skull and fell through the floor into the center of the earth. And then if fizzled up and died.
Aigis' outfit was beyond cute, with her simple yet elegant one-piece navy dress with tight sleeves and lace on the hem, with a matching scarf and black leggings. But what really got me was the fact that for the first time since I had met her, she was wearing make-up. I mean, she looked great with her natural appearance, but this was definitely something else. Her cheeks had been lightly dusted with a light-colored blush, her eyelids with an eye shadow that was in between white and cream-colored, and her lips glistened with what I assumed to be lip gloss.
"I- is this too much?" Aigis asked with uncertainty in her voice, looking down to avoid my gaze. "I- I mean, I didn't really want to do this, but my mom insisted so I went ahead with it..."
"Oh! No, no, you look... great..." I replied, quickly snapping out of my delirium as my face began to redden. "You look good in make-up."
"I, uh... thank you..." my girlfriend stammered, the surprise clearly showing on her face. "I honestly thought you wouldn't like it..."
"Well, looks like my work here is done." Yui-san interrupted, placing a hand on Aigis' shoulder. "Have fun on your date. I'm going to go take a nap now." she concluded, yawning as she walked back towards the bedrooms.
"So... do you want to head out now?" I asked, holding my hand out as I tried to put a brave look on.
"Lead the way." Aigis said, smiling as she wrapped her fingers around mine. We walked out of her house together, and we slowly closed the distance between us as we continued down the road.
"Minato-kun?" my blonde-haired companion asked once we had arrived at the train station, which was fairly empty since it was Sunday morning.
"Yes?"
"You're pretty nervous about this, aren't you?"
"Damn... you're right though, how'd you know?" I answered, laughing nervously at how easily Aigis had seen through me.
"My mom told me how much you were shaking after she let you in." my girlfriend replied, giggling as groaned miserably.
"Great, you must think I'm a total dork now."
"No, no! I actually thought it was really cute when she told me about that."
"Oh... really? How so?" I asked, giving Aigis a questioning look.
"Well, the only times I've seen you get nervous are when Yukari-san is angry at you, so it's nice to see that you're not completely immune." she answered as a smile spread across her face. "But why are you so nervous? It's just a date."
"How can you say that? This is a date, it's-"
"How is it any different from us hanging out together like always?" my girlfriend interrupted, surprising me with an unexpected amount of sharpness in her voice.
"...Is it really any different?" Aigis asked again after I failed to respond after a minute had passed.
"Well... it's not different, it's just that... it's more... important, I guess." I mumbled, scratching my head embarrassedly.
"Minato-kun... you shouldn't worry too much. I'm just as nervous as you are." Aigis sighed, leaning against me as she rested her head on my shoulder. "But I know everything's going to be okay... because I'm with you."
My eyes widened as I turned to look at my girlfriend and saw the look on her face. I had expected her to be grinning or holding back laughter, but although she was blushing, her expression gave no indication that she hadn't been serious when she said that.
"I... uh... thank you... for having so much faith in me." I replied, a little delirious from how warm my face had become. "I... wow, after you say something like that, I can't help trying my best." I continued, smiling fondly at my blonde-haired companion.
"Glad to have you back to normal." She replied, gazing up at me with affection in her eyes.
After our little talk at the train station, our date continued without too many complications. After we arrived at Paulownia Mall, we had breakfast together at Changall Café, during which a suspicious looking man began flirting with Aigis after I had left for a brief visit to the restroom, which I responded to by "accidentally" spilling my coffee on the guy's pants. Although it pained me to see that the scalding liquid had missed intended, the action had its desired effect, and the man fled the restaurant with the appearance that he had wet himself.
Afterwards, we headed to Mandragora for a one-hour karaoke session. Since Aigis was too shy to go up at first, I wound up singing a duet with her, which seemed to boost her confidence quite a bit despite the fact that we were completely out of sync and kept tripping over each others' words. Towards the end of our reserved hour, Aigis sang a round of "Paradise Lost" that sounded so much like Chihara Minori that I spotted some passerby's peeking in to see if the famous seiyuu had decided to drop by for a visit. After that, I wound up singing the last song of our session, which happened to be "Just the Way You Are" by Billy Joel, whose lyrics caused Aigis to blush intensely as I sang.
"Minato-kun... were you trying to imply something during that last song?" my girlfriend asked quietly as we made our way out of the karaoke bar.
"Maybe. Why?" I asked, winking coyly at her, which caused her already red face to darken considerably.
"I- um... I don't know..." she mumbled as she buried her face in my shoulder to hide her embarrassment. "Oh, look! A crane game!" she said, perking up pointed in the direction of Game Panic.
"All right, let's go check it out." I sighed, grumbling silently as my girlfriend cheered rather loudly.
"So many stuffed toys... ooh, a Jack Frost doll! Can you get it for me?" Aigis pleaded, her eyes shining as she made her request.
"I'll try, I'll try." I laughed, pulling out my wallet.
After four failed attempts, each of which disheartened me a little more, I finally managed to snag the Jack Frost doll, which was promptly squeezed with great force as I handed it to my blonde-haired companion.
"Thank you! I'll treasure it forever!" Aigis cheered, beaming at me as we walked towards our next stop.
We concluded our venture in Paulownia Mall with a trip to Power Records, where I found that Aigis, although she had only listened to the theme songs from the various animes and that she watched, seemed to like songs that were cheerful and upbeat, and also enjoyed songs that were calm and relaxing.
It was about 3 p.m. when we walked out of the mall, so we decided to go back to Iwatodai Station. Since we didn't have a solid idea of what to do next, I decided to take Aigis to the manga store on the third floor of Iwatodai Shopping Center, which was a big mistake on my part. We wound up leaving the bookstore with 4 bags of manga and a gaping hole in both of our wallets.
"So... what should we do now? Do you want to eat?" Aigis asked as we made our way down the spiraling metal staircase that led to the lower floors.
"Sure, but... hey, wait a minute, is that..?" I murmured, spotting a familiar looking head of pale brown hair running by the bookstore on the first floor.
"Who is it?" Aigis asked, peering over my shoulder. "I don't see-"
"I'll be right back." I interrupted, rushing down the steps as the head stopped in front of the takoyaki stand. I flew down the steps to see a person I hadn't seen in a long while sitting in front of the takoyaki stand.
"Mamoru? Is that you?" I said, gawking in disbelief.
"Huh? Holy crap, Minato!" the pale-skinned athlete said, looking up with wide eyes. "Hey!"
"Hey! How the hell have you been?" I said as we locked hands in a firm handshake. "I haven't seen you in forever!"
"Minato-kun, why'd you run off like that?" Aigis puffed angrily as she walked over to I was standing. "It's not nice to leave-"
"Hello, who's this?" Mamoru asked, pushing past me to take a better look. "Hey there, why don't we-"
"Hey. No hitting on my girlfriend." I growled, taking a firm hold of Mamoru's neck and giving it a hard squeeze.
"No way!" he shouted, whipping around to look at me with a shocked expression on his face. "You... her... dude, that's so awesome! You finally got a girlfriend!" my brown-haired friend laughed, patted me on the back.
"I... uh... who is this?" Aigis asked with a confused look on her face.
"Oh, this is Hayase Mamoru. He was one of my rivals in anything sports-related when we were in middle school. But outside of that we were really good friends." I said as Mamoru got me in a headlock.
"Yep! This guy is the only person who can beat me in a footrace." he laughed, punching me gently on my shoulder.
"So what brings you here?" I asked my brown-haired friend after he released me from his headlock.
"I was passing by here on my way to get- oh crap, I still have to get the groceries!" Mamoru groaned, slapping himself on the forehead. "Sorry dude, it's been great seeing you, but I gotta run. Nice to meet you, by the way!" he said, quickly shaking Aigis' hand before he charged off into the distance.
"How come you haven't seen him in so long?" Aigis asked once Mamoru had disappeared. "Doesn't he go to our school?"
"Actually, he doesn't. His family is having some financial troubles, so he's attending a different school so he can save some money." I explained quietly.
"Oh... but then how can you stay friends if you're so far apart?"
"Huh... that's a tough one. In all honesty, it's really hard." I replied, smiling sadly as I realized how little contact I had with Mamoru after the last day of middle school. "Long-distance friendships are really hard to maintain, but... I think that if you're really friends with someone, you'll find a way, somehow..." I finished as my voice trailed off. "But enough of that, let's go eat!"
After a hearty meal at the Wakatsu Restaurant, it was still pretty early, so we decided to head back to Aigis' house to watch one of the DVDs that we had bought at Power Records. However, the weather forecast had failed to warn me of the storm that brewed as we walked out of the train station, which began pelting us with rain after seven minutes after we had left the station. Forget raining cats and dogs, it was raining Hondas and Mitsubishis (A/N: The cars). And on top of that, the rain was very, very cold. Fortunately, there was a sheltered bus stop nearby when it the torrent began, so we quickly ran to take shelter.
"Agh, dammit... Stupid rain." I grumbled as I dug through my pockets in search for my handkerchief so that I could dry my face. Aigis, despite being just as wet as I was, pulled out her own handkerchief and began dabbing it on my cheeks.
"What are you doing?"
"I'm wiping the water off of your face." my girlfriend replied as she continued busily wiping the rainwater off of my forehead.
"Uh... why?"
"Because your face needs to stay dry, otherwise you'll catch a cold." Aigis answered, backing away with a satisfied smile on her face when she finished drying me off.
"Uh... thank you. You can use mine... I guess..." I mumbled embarrassedly as I handed my handkerchief to my blonde-haired companion.
As Aigis proceeded to dry herself as much possible, I was surprised to find that the five-pound coat that Yukari had forced me to take had managed to stay relatively dry underneath my sweater, which had apparently soaked up most of the rain that I had been pelted with.
"Here, you must be cold..." I said, putting the large coat over Aigis' shoulders while she continued to dry herself.
As I took my seat, however, Aigis surprised me by moving closer until she pressed against me, throwing the other half of the coat over my shoulder as we made contact.
"It's better this way, right?" she asked in response to the look of confusion that appeared on my face. "We can share our body heat and while the coat keeps us warm, so neither of us risks getting a cold," she concluded as she laid her head on my shoulder. "Oh, and I get to do this." she added, giggling cutely as I felt my face get warmer.
"So... Ai-chan?"
"Mhm?"
"...You had fun today, right? I mean, I didn't mess anything up, did I?" I asked nervously, looking away to hide my embarrassment. "I know I didn't do anything wrong, I just-"
"Minato-kun, that's enough." Aigis interrupted, speaking in the same stern tone that she had surprised me with earlier.
"But-"
"Minato-kun, I don't understand why you're acting like this..." Aigis said, looking down at the wet pavement dejectedly. "I... I thought you'd be happy going out on a date with me. I mean, you seemed so eager yesterday, but now... you're acting like you're scared to be with me right now. I don't know anymore... did you force yourself to do this? If so, I-"
"No! It's not that!" I blurted out frantically, "I... I'm sorry if I gave you that impression, but I just wanted to make sure you were happy. I mean, the things we did today weren't all that special, so I thought that you might have been dissatisfied..." I mumbled, looking away sadly as I finished my statement.
"...I see... I'm sorry." Aigis apologized, surprising me as she quietly wrapped her arms around my waist. "I didn't make it clear, then..."
"What do you mean?"
"I should have responded properly two nights ago when you told me that simply being myself would make you happy. I... no matter what we do, no matter where we go... as long as I am by your side... I will always be happy, no matter what happens." Aigis concluded, her voice softening as she looked up at me and smiled softly at me. "But if you really need to know, I honestly enjoyed our date today." she added quickly.
In all honesty, I felt quite foolish for being so paranoid about making our date perfect. As Aigis looked at me with those eyes that radiated warmth and affection, I realized that I had been scared of disappointing Aigis with my lack of experience that I had almost ruined our outing with my erratic behavior.
"Minato-kun, isn't this usually the part where the boy and girl kiss?" my companion asked, quickly snapping me out of my daze. "You know, after the pair clears up all of the misunderstandings between them?" she continued after seeing the bewildered expression on my face.
"So are you saying that you want to kiss me?" I asked coyly after I regained my wits.
"It would be nice." My girlfriend smiled as she leaned in. I met her halfway, and for the second time since we had become a couple, our lips met once again.
The last time I had kissed Aigis, I had been too overcome by the passion to notice anything but the sensation. But now...
Now I noticed my girlfriend's golden locks gently brushing against my cheek...
Now I noticed the fresh smell of the cool rain mixed with the faint scent of Aigis' perfume...
Now I noticed the warmth of her body as she pressed against me...
Now I noticed the pounding of her heart, in perfect unison with my own heartbeat...
Now I felt the smooth texture of her lips as we kissed each other with gentle passion...
And as we parted, I saw the total devotion that Aigis had for me reflected in those perfect blue eyes, which glimmered like stars as we gazed lovingly at each other.
"Minato-kun?" Aigis breathed after a few moments of silence had passed.
"Yes?"
"Can I address you as just Minato from now on?" my girlfriend requested shyly, looking away as a deep blush colored her cheeks.
"Sure, but what's wrong with calling me Minato-kun?"
"Nothing, but... it would help me feel a little closer to you..."
"All right... Minato it is then." I laughed, putting my arm around Aigis and pulling her into a gentle hug. "But only if I can call you Aigis."
"Okay... Minato." My girlfriend replied, blushing as she tried out my new nickname, of sorts.
We continued to silently watch the rain fall for the next ten minutes, simply basking in each other's warmth as we waited for the downpour to subside. I was just beginning to doze off when the rain finally quieted down enough for me and Aigis to continue our trip back to her house. When we finally made it to her house, we were greeted by the sound... of silence. We soon discovered a note from Aigis' mom saying that she had left for work and that her dad had to work late, along with some minor details about her dinner and the like.
"So in other words... we're alone together in this house until my dad gets home?" Aigis asked as a weird look slowly spread across her features.
"I guess so..." I replied mildly, already suspecting that a certain thought was forming inside my girlfriend's mind. My suspicions were confirmed when she suddenly turned away, her face quickly becoming bright red.
"Why don't I go make some popcorn?" I asked, placing my hand on Aigis' shoulder, realizing my mistake a split second too late.
"Oh, shi-"
I didn't feel her hand impact my face. I didn't hear any sound resembling a smack. I didn't even feel myself falling backwards. All I knew was that a second later, I was on the floor, flat on my back and staring at the ceiling with a throbbing pain on my right cheek.
"Okay... that hurt."
"Oh my god! Minato-kun, I'm so sorry!" Aigis apologized, hopelessly fussing over me as she bent down to help me up. "I got the wrong idea, and-"
"Don't worry, it's fine." I said, wincing in pain as I got back on my feet.
"You hit me pretty hard though." I groaned, forcing a chuckle as I rubbed my poor, stinging cheek. "Wow... that's definitely going to leave a mark."
"I'm really sorry... I didn't mean to slap you so hard... n-not that I meant to slap you at all, it's just that... I did it completely out of reflex, so... um... sorry."
"Don't worry... the pain will go away eventually." I sighed, smiling gently at relieved girlfriend. "Enough about that. How about I make some popcorn while you load up the movie?"
Twelve minutes and one bowl of popcorn later, Aigis and I sat in front of the TV together as the prologue of Bleach: Memories of Nobody began playing on the screen. Despite the fact that I hadn't seen the movie yet and I was really interested in the movie, I felt myself beginning to nod off, since my exhaustion had apparently caught up to me.
You feel your eyelids getting heavy. Close your eyes for a bit?
Yes
No
"Wow... I must be really tired if I'm imagining a dating sim menu in my head..." I thought, laughing mentally as my consciousness began to fade. "Whatever, I'll go along with it."
You feel your eyelids getting heavy. Close your eyes for a bit?
- Yes
No
Your mind goes blank as you slowly drift off into a deep slumber...
1 Hour Later
I had no idea what time it was when I woke up. I just sat there, rubbing my eyes as I worked my way out of my drowsiness.
Which was when I realized that my face had gotten a lot closer to the carpet...
And the living room had suddenly turned sideways...
And for some bizarre reason, I was resting my head on a pillow with a blanket on it.
"Wait... when did I-"
"You're awake."
I froze in place as my eyes slowly looked up... into the warm smile of my girlfriend.
"Come on, you're just in time for the final battle of the movie." Aigis said excitedly, grinning at me as I slowly rose from my rested position.
"... I fell asleep on your lap?"
"No, you fell asleep sitting up, but then you tipped over and your head fell into place."
"And you were completely all right with that?"
"Yes." Aigis replied simply, redirecting her attention to the movie. "Oh, and Yukari-san called. She said you could stay over for as long as you like since it's our first date, and not to worry that you're an hour late."
"Crap." I moaned, glancing at the clock to see that I was not only an hour late anymore, and that the current time was 8:13 p.m., two hours and thirteen minutes after the time I had agreed to come home.
"Yukari's not going to be happy about this..." I grumbled, slowly getting to my feet, only to be stopped by a slight tug on my arm.
"Can't you stay... just a little longer?" Aigis pleaded quietly, her hands gently grasping my sleeve. "Just until the movie is done..."
I wanted to resist Aigis' plea for me to stay. I didn't want Yukari to splatter me on the wall since I had pushed her patience far more than I should have. But the way that she looked at me, with those beautiful, blue eyes of hers, her lip quivering as she held onto my arm, the clear expression of sadness on her face... how could I say no?
"All right. Only until the movie ends." I mumbled, sitting back down as Aigis thanked me delightedly.
"Well, I suppose getting brutalized by Yukari is worth it... if only for Aigis' smile..." I thought to myself as my girlfriend took her place beside me.
It was 8:41 when the movie ended, epilogue and all. "Wow, that was a great movie." I yawned, as I rose from my seat. "I'd love to stay, but I have to head home..." I sighed as I sauntered over to the front door. Aigis quickly followed, holding the door open for me.
"Good night." my girlfriend mumbled quietly, an unmistakable hint of sadness hint of sadness in her voice.
"Minato... do you think we can do this again sometime soon?"
"Of course."
"I mean, without you being so nervous... like you're enjoying yourself, instead of acting like you're afraid that something will go wrong..."
"Oh..." I answered, realizing that I had probably made some parts of our date a lot more awkward due to my paranoia. "That was just first-time jitters. I promise I'll be less paranoid next time." I added, as a look of relief shone on Aigis' face.
"Okay then... good night, Aigis." I smiled, pulling her closer to me for a brief kiss. "I'll see you tomorrow."
"Ah... yes." Aigis blushed, waving as I departed from her home.
I hurriedly made my way back to my house, worried of the vengeance wrathful woman who was awaiting my return would inflict upon me. After a few seconds of procrastinating in front of the entrance to my home, I came to the conclusion that if I delayed my return any further, it would only increase Yukari's wrath and make my suffering all the more painful.
"Well... here goes." I muttered, gathering my courage as I slowly opened the door.
"I'm ho-"
"How was your date?" Yukari asked simply from the couch, glancing up at me from behind her fashion magazine. "Did you have fun?"
"A-are you feeling okay?" I questioned nervously as a haunting fear crept up my spine. "You're not angry?"
"Nope."
"Even though I'm two hours late?"
"Didn't Aigis tell you that I was okay with you being out late?"
"Yeah, but... you're seriously not mad?"
"Do you want me to be?" Yukari asked, eyeing me warily.
"No, but... well, I was expecting you to... I don't know, knock me around like usual, I suppose." I laughed, relief washing over me as I took a seat beside her.
"Well, I guess I'd do that normally, but..." Yukari sighed, and sat up as she closed the magazine and put it on the coffee table. "Today was your first date, and I wanted you to have fun... so I figured that I shouldn't make such a big fuss if you were late."
"Wow... I never would have expected to hear that from you." I joked, earning me an elbow to the ribs from Yukari.
"You're horrible!" Yukari shouted as she began to assault me with her rolled up magazine.
"All right! I give!" I laughed as Yukari ended her attack. "I guess that last comment was uncalled for, though."
"Of course it was." Yukari huffed, sitting back down on the couch with an air of indignation about her. "And as your punishment, you've gotta tell me everything that happened." Yukari grinned, her eyes gleaming with mischievous intent.
"That sounds fair." I laughed. As I began to relay the day's events to a very interested Yukari, I remembered that third semester final exams were scheduled to begin in a few weeks.
Just a few more weeks... then I had one month to spend as much time as possible with all of my friends...
Just a little while longer.