Wooing

On a bench sat Masaki, staring down at the rippling river flowing in front of him. Out of his headphones played some calming music, a failing attempt to put his mind to rest.

She can be here any minute now.

He wore a white dress shirt and dark blue trousers, a lot sharper than his usual hoodie and sweatpants combination. He couldn’t help but worry about looking underdressed compared to the always so-stylish Ishihara-san.

There is no point

With such a beautiful girl on his side, there was no point in trying to measure up. He might as well fade away in the background.

He rearranged his hair using the turned-off black screen of his phone as a makeshift mirror. That is when he could see a red-haired girl approaching him from behind in the reflection of his phone screen.

Masaki turned around and there she was, his date, Akane Ishihara. Her beautiful blue eyes reflected the oncoming rays of sunshine, her red hair being lightly blown by the wind. She wore a white sleeveless blouse, using a black ribbon as a bow. Her black skirt was accentuated by a black belt with a golden buckle. In her hands, she held a small purse.

“Good afternoon, Masaki-san”

She said with a calm voice.

“You look so great… ehh… beautiful”

He could feel the blood flowing to his cheeks.

Business relationship, business relationship, business relationship.

Masaki kept repeating in his head, in an attempt to cool himself down a bit.

We have met before, just the two of us.

But he knew full well that he was lying to himself, since this time, there was no professional reason for them to go places. They were purely here because they wanted to spend time together, trying to get to know each other better.

Ishihara-san chuckled at him getting all flustered.

“Let’s get away from here”

She reached him her hand - and pulled him up from the bench.

“I have a great spot I want to show you”

X

Pulled by his wrist by the immaculate Ishihara-san, Masaki is pulled in an unfamiliar direction. His plans for the date were immediately thrown off. Not that he minded…

“Where are we going, I have no idea where we are”

She turned around and smiled at him.

“We are really close, trust me”

Masaki decided to put his faith in her.

After turning into another street, Ishihara-san suddenly stopped. They were standing before an old-looking shop, A peek into the storefront revealed that they sold a lot of antiques and other random nickknacks.

“Let’s head inside”

Ishara-san led him through various isles of miscellaneous stuff until she stopped at a spot against the shop's back wall. On the ground stood some old electronic devices, like an old washing machine and photocopier.

“This is the spot where I fell in love for the first time”

Love? With who? In such a crusty spot?

Akane chuckled.

“Relax, I am just teasing you, on this exact spot stood my guitar before it became mine”

“You made me all confused there for a second… So this is where you bought your guitar - the red one?”

She nodded.

“Well… I didn’t exactly buy it…”

“You stole it?”

Masaki was shocked.

She moved her mouth towards his head and then whispered in his ear.

“Do I look like a criminal to you?”

“N... no of course not!”

She moved her head back and now looked straight into his eyes.

“I made a deal with the owner to do some after-school chores, in exchange for the guitar”

Her head turned around to the ground.

“There is no way my parents would have their perfect little darling buy something as unscrupulous as an electric guitar”

“That must have been pretty tough…”

She put her finger against her mouth.

“There is a reason Maid in Melody is a secret indie band”

Masaki couldn’t imagine how it must be growing up like that. The contrast between him and her was enormous. His parents had been trying to get him interested in playing music for as long as he could remember. Of course, that is to be expected with his father being a record producer. But most importantly, he now just realized how little he knew about his date. They had been spending a lot of time together in the last couple of months, making music and stuff. But he never really got to know much about her besides her passion for music.

He grabbed her hand and held it firm.

“I believe in you, Ishihara-san. No matter what your parents may think of it, with your talent and drive, I can’t see anything but a gold future for you and your band”

“Oh, Masaki-kun”

A red blush formed on her cheeks.

“I try not to think too much about the future…”

She briefly stopped after which a hopeful sparkle formed in her eyes.

“Please help me to make Maid in Melodies the city's most popular high school band”

“I won’t let you down, Ishihara-san”

X

After browsing around - looking without buying, Masaki led Ishihara-san to the location he had in mind. Since Maid in Melody's first single would be released today, it would only be natural for them to pick up a copy. And where else to go than the hidden record shop a couple of blocks from their school, the one Ishihara-san followed him toward when they just met.

“Ah, I think I know where we are going”

Ishihara said when they entered the street where the store was located.

“Luckily, this time you're following me on my own accord”

He turned to Akane and winked.

“Let’s enter together”

When the two of them were unexpectedly met by a familiar-looking face, at least for Masaki.

“Dad?”

Before them stood Masaki’s dad, who was talking to the shop's owner, and an old friend.

“I didn’t expect you here today Masaki - I came here to buy a copy of your single”

Masaki chuckled.

“Thank you, Dad, we had the same idea”

His dad readjusted his glasses, he focussed his attention on the girl standing next to Masaki.

“My name is Tsuchiya, I am Masaki’s father. You must be the singer of the band.”

Akane bowed before him.

“Nice to meet you Tsuchiya-san, I am indeed.”

“Thank you a lot for the help with the single”

Masaki’s dad laughed.

“I didn’t do anything but schedule some meetings - it is Masaki who you should thank. He went above and beyond with this single, you must count yourself lucky with such a dedicated producer.”

Masaki shrugged his shoulders.

“Dad… you don’t have to do that, I just did what was expected of me”

But Ishihara-san wasn’t having it.

“You shouldn’t undersell yourself, Masaki-kun, Everyone loves the track you made, all the work you put in really shows!”

A red tint appeared on his cheeks.

“Thank you… I guess I did my best”

“And the miss isn’t exaggerating, your single has been selling like hot cake. I have had multiple people ask for a copy, your band must be pretty popular already here with the young crowd.”

Ishihara-san’s eyes started twinkling.

“Really? People have come here to buy our single?”

“Indeed, you must have gathered quite a couple of fans already”

Masaki looked at Akane.

“Your performance must have motivated them all to go and buy a copy”

The shop owner started talking again.

“After all the interest, I decided to spin a copy for myself here in the shop, and I must say you really got a neck for it. Your raw guitar music brings me back to my younger days, although I would have loved to have my tracks produced like they can these days. Everything sounds so crisp.”

Masaki’s dad scratched his head.

“We really tried our best in those days with the analog technology we had…”

The two of them laughed.

“Here, please take a CD each, they are in the house”

X

The date day continued with them going to an arcade, a nice restaurant, and a concert venue Masaki booked. This time Akane didn’t need to worry about performing herself, as they visited another band playing.

“That was awesome, I don’t go see other bands perform often enough”

“Going with you was a totally different experience than with my friends.”

“Thank you a lot Masaki-kun”

The two of them walked toward the riverside park where they started their date earlier today.

Without Masaki noticing, they were suddenly holding hands. It felt only natural, a lot of the tension he felt earlier on had disappeared. He looked up to her, she looked as pretty as ever in the city’s evening light.

I love you Akane Ishihara

He couldn’t help but think that even if it was just in his head.

Reaching the waterfront, the two of them sat down on the grass sloop leading up the the river shore. They watched the water reflect the million different little lights.

“I want to thank you again, Masaki, for everything. The card, the track, the date, everything. But most of all, for opening my eyes. For giving me the courage to express my thoughts on paper, express them to the audience, to the world.”

“For that, I will be grateful forever. In fact, I’ve already started working on the next song's lyrics.”

Masaki chuckled.

“I guess I have to get started then.”

He continued talking to her.

“Thank you for the compliments Ishihara-san, but don’t undersell your own abilities. Learning to play guitar, starting the band, getting there on the podium, building your fanbase, that was all of your own fruition.”

“A producer can only do so much, without all your talent and work you put in, it would have been a total flop.”

The two of them stared into each other eyes.

“I can't find the words to express how happy I feel right now.”

Masaki said to his date.

“There is no for that, I feel exactly the same.”

The two of them stared into each other's eyes.

She held his hand tighter.

“Trust me… close your eyes”

She whispered to him.

Masaki followed her command and felt Ishihara-san’s hand touch his cheek. Soon after, Ishihara-san's warm lips touched his.

Time seemingly slowed down in this moment of bliss.

T… this is really happening?

“You can open your eyes”

She said, her face gloating with happiness.

“Let’s do this again, Masaki-kun”