The Maggot and the Ice Cold Witch (1)

The next day, I woke up at around the same time that I would any other day and made my way slowly but surely to the bathroom to get ready for the relatively troublesome day that was going to be before me.

"I really wasn't expecting any of this to happen..."

A sigh escaped my breath and as I entered the bathroom, I quickly started showering myself just in case and all the while I was doing so, my mind was thinking back to the reason as to why all of this had happened.

"I really don't get what Kano wants to do today. She didn't tell me anything and to top it off, she doesn't look like the type of person to enjoy going out just because"

Katsumi on the other hand did look like the type of person to go out on the weekends and simply do whatever she felt like doing, both her and Kano were complete opposites which was a good thing for me overall.

Upon finishing showering, I exited the bathroom only to bump into my sister who seemed to have been ready to go into the shower herself.

"Morning"

"Good morning, what are you doing bathing so early, brother?"

"Going out again"

"Again? With whom?"

"Kano"

"Big sis Kano?"

"Whenever I hear you call her that, it gives me the chills"

"Sorry that she likes me more then she does you"

"Rub it in all you want, that doesn't hurt me one bit"

"Yeah, yeah. Just enjoy this date, ok?"

"Whatever you say, little sis"

Upon making my way towards my room, I couldn't help but think back to the fact that both her and Kano got along relatively well because of all the times they would bump into each other.

"Who would've thought that the ice queen herself could get along with another human being?" I shrugged my shoulders, headed back to my room, changed into my clothes for the day and seeing as how she was taking a shower, I felt like the nice thing to do would be to make breakfast for everyone.

After around 30 minutes, I had successfully finished breakfast and served it to everyone.

"Thank you, brother,"

"Thank you for making breakfast, dear"

"No worries mom, it's the least I can do for the both of you"

As we all gave thanks, the both of them started eating and as soon as I was going to take the first bite out of the food, my mother cleared her throat and glanced over at me "Going out with a girl?"

I closed my mouth and glared at her for a brief moment "Why are you using that tone?"

"Because it's nice hearing that you're going out with a girl your age~"

"Don't get your hopes up, I wouldn't dare date her"

"What are you saying? I'm just glad that a girl actually invited my useless son out"

"..."

"Now, now... It's just Kano from the neighborhood"

"Kano? That's quite unexpected"

"Does she only have it out for me when it comes to people she dislikes?"

"Maybe"

"Possibly"

"Thanks for the kind words..."

The three of us continued eating and as soon as I saw that it was a good time to start heading out, I washed my dishes, put on my shoes and glanced over my shoulder "I'll see the both of you later"

"Take care, dear"

"Have her enjoy today, got it?"

"Whatever"

I made my way out of the house and slowly but surely started making my way towards the intersection where we were supposed to meet up and as I was approaching it, a lone figure was standing up against the wall almost as if she was there waiting for hours on end.

"Hey there, you're here early"

"Hey"

I stared at her for a bit and couldn't help but be slightly entranced by the way she looked. If anyone were to simply see her standing there without anyone nearby, they would think she was a model or something.

A white blouse which showed off her shoulders, a black leather pants and a fashionable belt made up her outfit and that alone was more then enough to make me feel like I was talking to a fake Kano.

"What?"

"H-Huh?"

"Why are you gawking at me like that? Disgusting"

"Now look..." I couldn't help but face palm at the way she reacted "I was just a bit impressed at the fact that you're pretty fashionable when it comes to what you wear, that's all"

"...!"

"Those clothes... T-They look good on you"

"T-Thanks..."

"..."

"..."

Silence enveloped the both of us for around a minute or so and only when she cleared her throat did I manage to snap back to reality "I-I guess we should be going, don't you think?"

"Y-Yeah, the faster we get this done, the faster I can get back to playing my games"

"Why are you such a shut in?"

"That's how I like to live, that's all"

"Whatever"

With that, the both of us resumed back to our usual way of speaking, but even then, I still found myself thinking back to how she looked "That was out of nowhere... But I guess she does look good even if I want to deny it"

Upon arriving at the center part of the city, I had yet to know what we were doing "Hey, Kano?"

"Yeah?"

"What are we even doing today? You haven't told me anything"

"Well, I was just thinking of dragging there"

"You make me sound like I'm some kind of animal or something"

"No, I just thought you would reject the idea, that's why"

"But didn't I tell you that I didn't mind where we would go?"

"I know you said that, but at the same time... I didn't want to see you look mad or disappointed, that's all..."

I stared into her eyes for a brief moment and couldn't help but chuckle "Hahaha!"

"What are you laughing about?!"

"It's nothing... I just wasn't expecting you to actually feel like that" I wiped away a single tear and smiled at her "You really don't have to worry about a thing, wherever you want to go, I don't mind it"

Her cheeks went a slight tinge of red at my words and she simply gave me a small nod "Thanks... I appreciate that"

We made our way inside the nearby mall and as we went up the stairs, I glanced over at her and finally decided to ask her once more "What are we doing then?"

"I wanted to buy some clothes"

"I see. I guess you do have some pretty fashionable clothes on"

"Why do I feel like you had a different perspective of me before?"

"Probably because I thought you were the type of girl to not worry about the clothes they wore and what not"

"Well, I do mind it"

Upon arriving at the department store, we immediately headed towards the women's side and as she glanced through the new releases, I simply stood there wondering what I should be doing.

"Should I go and sit down?"

"What do you think about this one?"

She grabbed hold of a white cardigan and a pair of cargo pants and thrusted them at me "You're asking my opinion?"

"Yeah"

"Well..." I stared at the clothes on hand and then at her. I repeated this two more times until I decided to give her a response "I think I'd look good"

"..."

"W-What?"

"I'll go and try it on then" She grabbed hold of a few more outfits and headed towards the changing rooms without skipping a beat. Just when I thought that it was time to relax, she turned back and called out to me "In the meantime, choose something for me to wear"

"Why me? You're the expert about all this"

"Yeah, but I want to see what you like so that I can tell the princess"

"..."

"Just kidding" She beamed me a smile and headed off towards the changing rooms once more. Seeing her acting in such a way was relatively nice, but at the same time, I couldn't help but feel a bit weirded out by it.

"I'm not used to her acting like that" I let out a sigh and glanced through the clothes for a bit "Why does she want me to pick out something? She should be the one doing this, not me"

I clicked my tongue and continued looking through the clothes, but even then, nothing in the new releases section peaked my interest.

"Now what?" Just when I had thought I could simply tell her that there was nothing I liked, my gaze landed on the section of dresses and what not.

"..."

I made my way toward it and as I was glancing through them, my gaze landed on a black light fabric dress that included a belt. I picked it up and stared at it for a bit "This would look good on her..."

I then turned towards the hats and noticed a black hat to go along with it "I wonder if this is something that she would actually buy..."

I made my way towards the changing rooms and called out to her "Kano?"

"Yeah?"

"I picked something out, I just don't know-"

Before I could finish my sentence, she stepped out, grabbed the things from my hand and headed back inside the changing room.

"Thanks. I'll put them on quickly"

"..."

"Makoto?"

"At the very least, let me finish my sentence, don't you think?"

"Yeah, sorry about that"

I sat down on one of the benches that was there for the people to wait and as I did so, I let out a sigh and simply started lightly tapping my fingers against the wall.

"I'm done"

"That was fast!" Before I knew it, she stepped out of the room and as she did so, I couldn't help but find myself simply staring at her the entire time.

"Something wrong?"

"No... I'm just impressed, that's all"

"About what?"

"That it looks good on you... I like it"

"Y-You do?"

"Yeah, I really didn't know if it would fit you, but that's just my taste, that doesn't mean-"

"I actually like it as well..."

"You do?"

"Y-Yeah, for something that someone else picked... It's not bad" She looked up at me and nodded "I'm going to get this one as well"

"What? Are you sure about that?"

"Yeah, I want it"

"Do what you will"

"I will"

With that, she finished picking out the rest of the outfits and just when I had thought that we were finished, she looked at me for a brief moment and sighed to herself.

"What?"

"Don't you have any better clothes for outings such as this?"

"I don't go out often, so I have no need for clothes like that"

"We're changing that today"

"Huh?"

Before I could say another word about it, she grabbed my hand and started dragging me to the men's section of the store "Hey, I told you that I'm fine!"

"We're getting you some nice clothes"

"Why?!"

"... Don't worry about it"

"I actually do worry about it!"

She ignored my pleas and simply started glancing through the items on display without a care in the world all the while she was murmuring to herself some things about the articles of clothing that she was picking up.

After around 15 minutes or so of her doing all of this, she had finally decided to let go of me "Here, go and change into these"

"..."

"Hurry. We still have places we need to go to"

"Fine..."

I took the clothes and started making my way towards the changing rooms, but this time around, I was the one inside doing the changing.

"Let's see..." I took the pieces of clothes and started throwing them on in accordance with the order she had given them to me.

One by one, I started coming out with the outfits on and with each one I would either receive a thumbs up or a thumbs down from her part and before I knew it, I was coming away with two new outfits.

"..."

"Something wrong?"

"You made me spend my precious money..."

"Are you really saying that to me now when you were the one who went out with the princess to a place that you needed to pay to get in?'

"W-Well..."

"...?"

"Yeah, you have a point"

I let out a sigh and as we were walking through the mall to see what to do next, I stopped in place and stared at one place in specific.

"How about we go there?"

"The arcades?"

"Yeah, just to kill some time"

"You just want to play games"

"Yeah, but it'll be fun, don't you think?"

"..."

"..."

"Fine, let's go

"Yeah, I managed to convince her" We entered the arcade spot and as we glanced around to see what there was available to play, I was about to call out to her when I noticed that she was nowhere to be seen.

"Huh? Where'd she go?"

I glanced around for a bit and noticed that she was already trying to get a stuffed cat in the crane game section.

"I guess we can split up for a bit" I continued walking around the arcade and as I was doing so, my gaze landed on the epiphany of a game that can be addicting.

"A randomized prize machine..."

I stared at the price and even though it was hurting me, I still decided to play along with it. I inserted the money and pressed a single button. 

I waited there for a bit and a small capsule popped out "Lady luck, be on my side today!"

I opened the capsule and noticed that there was a necklace. It didn't look cheap, but at the same time, it wasn't something worth hundreds.

"It looks nice, but what am I going to do with this?"

I stared at it for a bit, shrugged my shoulders and stuffed it in my pocket. As soon as I did so, a voice called out to me "What are we going to play exactly?"

"Why don't we look around for a bit?"

"Sure, that's why we're here, to kill time"

"Yeah, let's do that"

With that, the both of us started traversing the arcade again which entailed that our date had yet to finish.

To be continued on part 2...