I never break a promise!

Hideki's internal celebration was short lived, because he was immediately faced with a dilemma; where would he be sleeping that night?

He had slept at Hasuki's house the night before, but he would need to find somewhere else to stay. He wondered if it would be too much to ask Fuka's parents to let him sleep in their shop. He was just a stranger to them after all. Would they think he was a danger to their daughter? He was thrilled by the thought of it though, sleeping under the same roof as the cutest girl in the world. 

No! Of course these people would be happy to give me a place to stay! I'm pretty much a blessing to their lives, so they should be happy to do this for me. 

"Fuka, I'll be right back," he said and slipped out of her room. He returned to the front of the shop and found her dad restocking a bunch of melons. 

"Sir? I have a question," he said boldly, hoping a bit of confidence would do him some good. 

"Hrrrh, what do you want?" the man asked with a grunt. 

"I know you probably don't have much room, but could I stay here for the night?" 

The man stared at him with a deadpan expression. He put his hand on Hideki's shoulder and sighed. 

"What in the world makes you think I would let you sleep here!?" he yelled, his collected demeanor shattering. "Haven't I already done enough for you? You have got to be the most ungrateful brat I have ever met!" 

"Err- I don't have anywhere else to go!" Hideki yelled back. They continued to yell in each other's faces until Fuka's mother split them apart. 

"Now, now, this is not how you should be treating an employee Kazuo..." the kind woman grabbed her husband's hand to calm him down. 

"I don't care if you have to sleep on the streets, you won't be staying here," the man said angrily. He was so angry that Hideki thought he might burst a vein. 

"Fine, be that way. I wouldn't stay here even if you paid me," Hideki fired back, crossing his arms. He felt a little childish for arguing like this, but he wanted to get the upper hand. In reality, he would be happy to be paid for anything- no matter what it may be. 

He turned towards the exit and opened it, lingering for a moment to see if he would get an apology.

"Be back tomorrow at 8 or you're fired," he heard the man say. Hideki nodded quickly and left the building. He felt bad for not saying goodbye to Fuka, but it's not like he wouldn't see her again. 

He wandered around town for a few hours. It was more peaceful later in the day because there were way less people on the streets. He found himself going with the flow of crowds, simply going where his feet took him.

There was no sense to his wandering. He was just following his body. He knew that if his body could take him to where his heart wanted to be, he would eventually end up in his own home again. He would walk through the front door and say a quick "I'm home", then go to his bedroom to play video games. He wouldn't have to think about it, it would come to him naturally.

However, "I'm home" was something he would never say ever again.

He returned to Fuka's house and plopped himself down on the side of the building. He was going to sleep on the concrete that night. It was already dark out and luckily it wasn't too cold.

He took off his suit jacket and used it as a pillow. He could imagine what Fuka looked like right now, cuddled up in warm bed sheets, her eyes gently closed. 

I look like an idiot, sleeping outside! If only I could go lay down next to Fuka...

Morning arrived quickly and Hideki couldn't be happier about it. His back was sore from laying on rocks all night. He stood up and tried to crack his back, but it was a little hard. He hoped he wasn't late for work, since he didn't have a watch.

He walked around to the front of the store and went inside, still cautiously aware of the fight he'd had with Fuka's dad. 

"Hideki!" a sweet voice welcomed him inside. Fuka was standing next to her mother and was holding a small basket. 

"Good morning," he winked flirtily. He didn't really care that her mom saw his advances towards her daughter, maybe he could win over her mom too. "Are you going somewhere?" he asked, pointing to the basket.

"I was going to go to the market again," Fuka smiled. "Would you like to go with me?"

"Ahhh, why wouldn't I?" he ran his fingers through his hair seductively. "I have to work though..."

"Oh! I'm sorry...I forgot about that. We could go together later," she frowned. He could tell she felt bad for forgetting. After all, she was the only one who didn't have to work. 

"Yeah, let's go later," he said. He checked in with her dad and started his second day on the job.

Standing on a corner and holding a sign doesn't sound like the most intense job, but Hideki easily got tired. His legs would cramp up from standing in place for long periods of time and his feet started to burn after a few hours. He knew he wasn't as strong at seduction with these setbacks, but he still tried his best.

Every female customer got a friendly wave and a compliment. It made him feel good when the girls finally acknowledged him and waved back. 

All he could think about was his "date" with Fuka. 

Could that even be considered a date? We're just going shopping...but I'm going out with her! This is a win in my book, take that Hasuki!

When his shift was over he went back into the store and put away the sign. He was surprised by how good he was at his job, since there were lots of girls hanging out inside. He was content with knowing that his good looks were being used well. 

"Are you ready to go?" Fuka stood at his side with her basket in hand. She had been waiting all day to go out with him and that made him even happier. 

"Mhm, let's go," he grinned and gently grabbed her hand. 

Wow, I'm being pretty bold right now. Does she like it? Her heart probably just skipped a beat and she's thinking..."Oh, gosh! Hideki's hand is just so big...what a hottie!" 

He was unintentionally chuckling to himself like a creep until Fuka made a pouting noise. 

"Why are you acting weird?" she asked, looking up at him with a concerned expression.

"O-oh! No reason," he smirked. She didn't let go of his hand though so he knew it was probably okay for them to stay that way. He realized that his assumptions of how she was feeling were truer for himself. 

This was the first time he had held her hand and he knew he was probably blushing a lot as they walked down the street. Her hand was small and dainty and their fingers fit together like puzzle pieces. He wanted to hold her hand forever but she let go of him when they got to the market. He tried to hide his disappointment. 

"What do you want to get Hideki?" she asked him, placing a few strange looking fruits in her basket. He realized that a lot of the food in the market was stuff that didn't exist in his world. There were multicolored berries and nuts, strange looking meats, oddly shaped vegetables, and much more.

"Your parents don't sell this stuff in their store?" he asked, looking through some of the food they could buy.

"Our food selection is very small and we don't eat the food we sell unless it starts to go bad. I have to go out and buy stuff once a week, which is what I was doing yesterday..."

"Err- so you didn't get to buy anything because you met me?" he said, pointing to himself. 

Fuka nodded and added a few more things to the basket. She paid the owner of the food stand and they moved on to the next stand. 

That just showed Hideki how caring Fuka was. She went out of her way to buy food for him, a complete stranger. She didn't even care that she wouldn't get to buy groceries, she was more concerned with his well-being. 

She cared that much about me before she even knew me. How much would she be willing to do for me once we're closer...maybe even a couple. 

Hideki couldn't help but smile when he looked at her, so concentrated on picking the best fruit. She was beautiful, and he was reminded of the reason why he was following her around. He was going to die because of this girl, and he was dead set on doing so.

Something caught his eye at the third food stand. There was an arrangement of cute looking desserts, and one looked especially tasty. It was shaped like a long spiral and had a soft purple color. It also had a sugar coating on the outside of it which made it look a little shiny.

"What's this?" he asked Fuka.

"That's a Kinett's Spiral, you've never seen one before?"

"No, I'm from far away, remember?"

"Oh- sorry," she giggled. "It's like a cookie, but it's softer and coated in sugar. Usually you don't eat it by itself, you put a piece of fruit inside the spiral."

"How would that even work?" he asked. He was intrigued by it for some reason. 

"There are special tools that allow you to cut fruit in a spiral shape. Most people use mellon." she explained.

"So you have to buy another thing for it to taste best? That's so dumb!" Hideki complained. "What's it named after anyway? Who the hell is Kinett?"

She laughed at his confusion and put it in her basket. "That's the man who invented its effect."

"Its effect?" Hideki tilted his head.

"When you eat it, you gain a temporary ability to see in the dark," she said. Hideki's eyes widened.

So there is magic in this world? Man...things just got really interesting.

"This is a popular party dessert among kids. It's used in night time games like hide and seek, and only the hiders eat it so the seeker is 'blind'."

"Woah, that sounds like fun. Can we try it when we get home?" he asked.

"Mhm, I haven't had one in a long time. They are really nostalgic," she smiled with a slight tilt of her head. 

Home? I just...called her house "home". This place is really getting to me...

Their shopping trip ended shortly after that and Hideki couldn't wait to go try the mysterious cookie.