Yuta’s First Date

Nakano sat on the edge of the fountain, nervously waiting for Yuta to arrive. She chose her most cherished outfit–a blue sundress with a cherry blossom design and beige heels.

“Y-You actually came!” Nakano jumped up and ran to meet Yuta when she saw him approaching. “I wasn’t actually sure you’d come…”

Yuta stopped in front of her. “I’m only here because you promised to tell me what I wanted to know if I came.” Since he didn’t want to be here, he chose the simplest outfit he could find.

She blinked. “I did?”

“Yes, you did. I’ve held up my end of the bargain, so make sure you don’t back out on yours.”

Nakano glanced up, lost in thought. “Oh, okay… Don’t worry, I haven’t forgotten about it or anything...”

“You better not have.”

“Let’s get going!” She pulled on his arm, dragging him along with her.

Yuta hadn’t told Shiori about this date, believing it would upset her.

The first shop Nakano pulled him to was the otaku store. Yuta grit his teeth and silently followed her.

She squealed when she saw School Spirit II on one of the shelves. It looked to Yuta as if she were restraining herself from jumping in excitement. “Yuta, they have School Spirit II!”

“Isn’t that game targeted toward guys?”

“T-The first one was. The only characters you could romance were girls, but they expanded their audience to girls as well in the sequel. Here, look!” She shoved the game in his face and pointed to the cover. “These are all the romanceable characters. There are the same amount of guys as there are girls.”

Yuta gently pushed her hands down. “I heard you’re an anime fan from Hitomura, but I didn’t know you were into dating sims as well…”

Nakano shrank back. “Hitomura…”

“He’s too dramatic, I know. I wish he would leave me alone.”

“I’m grateful he doesn’t chase after me anymore…” She shivered.

“Chased… is that metaphorical or literal?”

“Um… a bit of both…”

‘How desperate is that guy?’ Yuta sighed. “Was there anything else in here you were interested in?”

“Well…” She fidgeted with her hands, nervously looking anywhere but at Yuta. “Let’s just say we might be here a while…”

And a while it was. Nakano stopped after every other step to fan over a game, anime, figure, or other merchandise. From his observation, it appeared that Nakano’s favorite genre was romance.

‘If she wasn’t being mean to Shiori, I’m certain they would have gotten along.’ Yuta checked the time on his phone while he was waiting for Nakano to check out. A quarter past three. ‘How does it take two hours to go through a single shop?’

The next store Nakano brought Yuta to was a clothing store. There was a changing room in the back, and she had him wait for her to change into all the outfits she had taken from their racks.

The curtain opened, and she stepped out wearing the first outfit. It was a yellow high waist dress, accompanied by a fake sunflower in her hair. She spun around and looked at him expectantly. “Well? H-How do I look?”

“Fine.”

“Does it look good on me?”

“Sure.”

She pouted. “You don’t sound very interested!”

“That’s because I’m not.”

Nakano flinched. “W-Well in that case… I’ll just–” She stood taller and crossed her arms. “I bet you one of these outfits will make you fall head over heels for me.”

“No, I really doubt that.”

“Oh yeah? Let’s see who’s right.” She stepped back into the changing room and closed the curtain behind her.

A few minutes later, she walked out in a puffy baby blue crop top and cream-colored shorts. She struck a seductive pose. “How’s this one?”

“I don’t think that’s really your style.”

“What’s wrong, you don’t like girls that show skin?”

“I mean, I’ve never cared about how girls dress. But you don’t seem like the kind of person that would show a lot of skin.” Yuta took a deep breath and leaned against the wall. ‘When will this date be over…’

“That means it’s time for me to try on the next outfit.” She disappeared into the changing room yet again.

Nakano showed Yuta several more outfits, none of which got any kind of reaction out of him.

“You’re supposed to compliment girls when they’re showing you the outfits they are trying on, you know.”

“I’m not one to feign interest in something.”

“No wonder you haven’t been in a relationship before. You’re not very nice to girls.”

Yuta narrowed his eyes. “I’m especially not nice to girls that bully others.”

Nakano laughed. “You think you’re a saint, huh? You’ll come rushing to anyone’s aid when they’re in trouble?”

“Got a problem with that?”

“No, no… I just find it amusing. The person who almost never allows anyone to take up his precious time will protect anyone that’s in trouble!”

Yuta rolled his eyes. ‘I swear, it’s like she becomes a different person sometimes… I can’t tell which version of her is real and which is an act.’ “By the way, why do you put on an act?”

Confusion spread over her. “What act?”

“Sometimes you act shy, other times you act like this.”

“Oh, that.” She leaned against the wall. “I don’t think I’ll tell you yet.” Nakano pushed herself off the wall and retreated to the changing room. “I know you don’t want to be here, so let’s head back to our meeting spot and call this date over.”

“Finally. Then you’ll tell me all about why you wrote those notes.”

“Not yet. I’ll write you a note tomorrow explaining everything.”

Nakano stepped out of the changing room in her original outfit. Yuta followed her as she put most of the outfits away and bought the first two outfits she tried on.

More people were filling the street. Yuta glanced at the time. Four fifty three. “Why did you ask me on a date?”

“Hm?” She turned around to face Yuta, walking backward. “That should be obvious. It’s because I like you.”

“You know I’ll never return those feelings.”

“That’s precisely the reason I wanted to go on a date. This will be my only chance.”

“You promise to tell me everything tomorrow?”

“Mhmm! I promise.”