Clumsy Affection

“Were you waiting long?”

It was finally the day of the date they’d arranged in an attempt to call each other’s bluff. It had been the last week of Midoriko’s semester and the end of her special exhibit, so she’d been plagued by late nights and obligatory happy hours. They hadn’t seen each other much since making plans, leading to a sense of anticipation for this day.

“No. I just got here,” she lied. Midoriko insisted they travel separately, but arrived early due to her own frayed nerves. She did her best to look unbothered. “So where are we going anyway?”

“A movie, a cafe, and the aquarium,” he replied, counting off the destinations.

“Did you just do an internet search for ‘first date’ ideas?”

“So what if I did?” He smirked. “You said you wanted normal and local, so I’m giving you normal and local.”

Those were her two conditions for their date: it had to be normal, and it had to be local. She disliked the idea of him using his magic to whisk her off to Paris or something in an effort to woo her. For a first date, and one where he promised to impress her? He was going to have to work hard for it.

She had let him do the planning, but Enishi Ryouma was an extravagant man. What does “normal” mean for someone like that? Fine dining? Opera? Ballroom dancing?? He wouldn’t even give her a hint. So she dressed up and put on makeup.

“By the way, did you dress up for me?” he asked as they made their way to the movie theater from their meeting point. “You look especially pretty today.”

“I was worried about underdressing…” she mumbled. Midoriko had opted to wear some of the luxury brand items she hadn’t gotten around to selling—a pair of slacks and a nice blouse. “But now I feel overdressed…”

Ryouma just cocked his head to the side and smiled.

Instead of one of his many suits, he showed up dressed in stylish but casual clothing. She looked like she was dressed for a job interview compared to him.

“Also, what’s with the arm sling?” she asked, pointing at the sling around Ryouma’s right arm. With his looks and sense of style, he might have passed for a model if it weren’t for that.

“Whaa? It doesn’t make you want to nurse me back to health?” he said, wiggling his elbow.

“It stands out way too much!”

“Well, I have the arm bandaged. The sling just makes it look less weird,” explained Ryouma. His curse was something he couldn’t cover up with glamour, so he usually wore long sleeves and gloves to hide it.

Ryouma led her to a small, independent cinema that seemed to only play limited runs of cult classics. He’d researched it ahead of time and planned for a showing of a certain horror movie.

Midoriko wondered if he’d picked it because he was hoping she’d get scared and cling to him. If so, he’d seriously underestimated her constitution. She’d encountered things far scarier than a bog-standard ghost story over the past two months.

It wasn’t a bad movie, but it wasn’t great either. As she sat there wondering what exactly made the movie a cult classic, Midoriko looked over at Ryouma. She’d expected him to be equally as bored, only to find him completely enraptured by the movie.

He wore an expression she’d never seen before as his attention was fixed on the screen. The corners of his lips curled into a smile he couldn’t seem to erase, and his eyes sparkled with delight. Midoriko couldn’t help but stare as she watched him silently mouth every line along with the actors.

Ryouma glanced at her and smiled. It was probably obvious to him that she was paying more attention to him than the movie. Midoriko turned her head back toward the screen in shame, but when she did, he casually clasped his hand around hers.

After the movie, they stopped by a charming, old cafe for lunch. It was another thing that Ryouma had looked up ahead of time and picked out.

“Well?” Ryouma took a sip of his iced coffee.

“W-well what?” Midoriko shifted in her seat. He was looking at her with such anticipation. Did he already think he won her over?

“What did you think of the movie?”

“Oh, the movie…” She relaxed and took a sip of her own drink. “It was okay. The story was meh, but I thought the special effects were good.”

“Oh…” He seemed to deflate a bit at her middling review. Was he hoping she’d like it?

“S-so…Was that movie one you like a lot? You seemed really into it,” she asked, trying to seem interested.

Ryouma smiled softly. “Let’s just say…It has a special place in my heart.”

“I see. Then I’m glad we saw it together, then.” Midoriko smiled at the thought of him sharing yet another personal thing with her. But wasn’t it a little unbalanced?

As she stole glances at him, she wondered what kind of personal information she could offer him. Surely he’d already looked into her, but how much did he know?

“Um…I also…like horror movies a lot,” she said, fidgeting with her fork. “A-and I like indie rock, and reading mystery novels, and traveling.”

“Really? Then we have a lot in common,” he said, resting his chin on his hand. The corners of his eyes crinkled as he smiled. “What else do you like?”

Midoriko nearly choked as she felt his leg rub against hers under the table. He said he was trying to win her over, but wasn’t he laying it on a little too thick today? Why was he trying so hard anyway? They were only doing this to prove a point.

Midoriko pushed down the feelings that were rattling her chest and continued making first-date level small talk. After they finished eating, it was time for the next part of their date—the aquarium.

***

“Y-you should let go now, or people will think we’re a couple…” Midoriko said, trying to pull her hand free from Ryouma’s grip. He’d taken her hand at a crowded section of the aquarium, but hadn’t let go even as they wandered into sections with fewer people.

When they walked into the next section, the air suddenly got colder. Maybe the comforting warmth provided by his hand wasn’t so bad after all.

“Maybe I want people to think that,” he replied, squeezing her hand tightly as he tugged her along. “Why does that embarrass you? Aren’t you the one who’s been staring at me all day?”

“I just–” She really wasn’t doing it on purpose, but a nagging thought was eating at her. “I couldn’t stop wondering what you looked like to other people.”

He stopped walking abruptly, causing Midoriko to bump into him.

“How about we take a picture together, and I’ll show you.”

Ryouma pulled out his phone and pressed close to Midoriko. He had the selfie camera open, ready to take a picture before she could even react. When the shutter sound went off, Midoriko could only blink in disbelief.

“Huh?! D-delete that! I wasn’t ready!”

“Nuh-uh! Your clueless face looks so cute!” He laughed as he held up the phone with the photo displayed. Next to Midoriko’s caught-off-guard expression, immortalized in the photo, was Ryouma with those distinctive moles. He looked exactly like how she saw him every day.

“Why’d you go out with your normal face?” she asked, suddenly feeling hyper aware of how he must look beside her.

“I can’t let my girl be seen with another man now, can I?” He held out his hand. “Give me your phone. I’ll take a better one for you.”

There he goes again, saying things I might misinterpret, she thought as she reluctantly handed over her phone. This time, he took a proper selfie with her, complete with a penguin photobomb.

“They’re so cute!” Midoriko exclaimed, turning to look at the penguins in their enclosure. She saw a family of penguins—two adults and a chick—huddled together and sighed.

“Midoriko, did you know penguins mate for life?” Ryouma said, resting his chin on top of her head.

“Actually, that’s a misconception. They’ll seek a new mate if–”

“Stop, stop!” Ryouma put his hand over her mouth. “That’s enough of that for today!”

Having worn out all the conversation topics she could think of at the cafe, she’d resorted to reading every info card and plaque out loud in the aquarium to fill the air. Animal facts were safer than saying the wrong thing… Until they weren’t.

He was trying to flirt, and she killed the mood.

“S-sorry for being awkward when you’re trying so hard,” she mumbled. As Midoriko tried to walk away, he grabbed her hand.

“I realize that I probably should have asked you where you’d like to go instead of just dragging you around all day,” he said, bowing his head. “So if you want to go home–”

“No!” Midoriko looked down at the sensible shoes she wore. They were slightly out of place in her outfit, but she was glad she’d chosen them over heels. “I’m actually having so much fun with you!”

“...”

“The truth is, I’ve been so nervous about today,” she continued. It was like a dam broke in her heart, allowing her feelings to rush out. “It’s just…been a really long time since I’ve gone on a date, and I didn’t know what to do or what to say.”

Her glasses were sliding down her face as she continued to stubbornly look down. Midoriko couldn’t bring herself to look at him. She could only imagine what kind of smug expression he was probably wearing.

“I’m not ready to go home yet…I just…” She bit her lip, stopping the flood of honesty. I don’t want this day to end.

“I get it,” he said softly. Ryouma pushed her glasses back up her nose, then planted a kiss on her crown.

Her eyes widened. Midoriko looked up at him in surprise to see he wasn’t smug or bored or upset—Ryouma looked almost…bashful. Her heart began to pound in her chest.

“Midoriko, why don’t you pick where we go next?”

***

They ended up in Dotonbori sampling the street food. Amongst the crowds, they’d found an out-of-the-way spot to sit and indulge in their skewered snacks and alcohol.

“Thanks for everything today…And always,” Midoriko said, pulling two cans of beer out of a plastic bag. “I feel like I haven’t been appreciative enough.”

“No, no! It’s fine!” Ryouma laughed while cracking open his beer. “Your sincerity came through in the aquarium.”

They clinked their cans together, then Midoriko drank deeply.

“Well, one of us has to be sincere!” she said, taking a bite of some kushikatsu.

“What makes you think I’m not?” He frowned.

“You’re always teasing me—trying to get me flustered!” She alternated between bites of food and sips of beer. “You think that just because you’re handsome, you can get away with it!”

“Hm? You think I’m handsome?” A foxy grin crept across Ryouma’s face.

“That’s– I mean–” Midoriko stammered. “Anyway! You’re always saying things that can be misinterpreted.”

“Like what?”

“Like…Complements…Telling me I’m important to you,” she mumbled. She took a deep breath and continued. “All of that stuff you said at the aquarium. Especially that stuff.”

“And how would you misinterpret that?”

Midoriko closed her eyes and swallowed hard. “I might think that you actually have feelings for me.”

“I do have feelings for you.”

“Wha…?” Her eyes blinked while her mouth gaped open. Ryouma shoved a skewered candied strawberry into her open mouth.

“Do you really not believe me? That hurts.” He pouted. She chewed on the strawberry as he leaned in closer, meeting her eyes. “Are you seriously dense or just insecure?”

Midoriko choked, then washed it all down with the rest of her beer. She felt called out. Insecurity…It’s definitely insecurity.

Ryouma pulled back and sighed. “Honestly, I had this whole thing planned with the penguins so I could tell you how much you mean to m–”

She pressed her lips to his. It was an uncontrollable urge that took hold of her. Maybe it was the alcohol, or maybe she just got caught up in the moment.

“Oh…” he murmured as they pulled apart from their clumsy kiss. Ryouma’s eyes, wide with surprise, sharpened. He licked his lips and smiled. “I forgot that you prefer when I’m direct.”

What she’d done finally hit her. But before she could talk her way out of it, Ryouma pulled her closer, and their lips crashed together once more.

He kissed her with a hunger and ferocity like a man starved as he sucked and nibbled on her lips. When she parted them to breathe, he took it as an invitation to delve deeper with his tongue.

“Ah! R-Ryouma…!” gasped Midoriko through his relentless assault on her mouth. “W-we’re in public!”

He pulled away and muttered a curse under his breath. Ryouma’s eyes burned with desire as he looked at her. Their cheeks flushed, lips slick with saliva, both catching their breath.

He rested his forehead on her shoulder. “Fine. Let’s go home.”