Chaoskouji

Arc 5 Chapter 4 - Definitely Not a Date Part 1

Later on, far off into the distant future I would look back on tonight as a turning point in my time here at school. A pivotal moment, one of the foundational moments of my choices. It was tonight that my relationship with Kikyou was redefined, my resolve was hardened, and my goals were set in stone.

But mostly I remember it for the pain in my ear as a result of asking an apparently stupid suggestion.

"Do you want to go out for dinner?"

The resulting yell across the phone forced me to hold it away from my head, as I did my best to get over the ringing in my head.

"I'm sorry could you repeat that? I didn't hear a word you said."

My next sentence resulted in another bout of shouting, one that I could at least partially distinguish through the volume.

"What the hell is wrong with you?! Asking a question like that and then ignoring me! Listen you bitch, do you have any idea what sort of thing you said, and you have the audacity to ignore my response?! Fucking asshole!"

I hadn't expected a reaction this severe.

"Are you OK?"

"It's been," she almost growled, "a really long day! So, I'm sorry for reacting appropriately to a stupid fucking question."

I sighed. "Look, I'm sorry for not understanding."

"And?"

"And for ignoring your response." Although that was her fault for screaming so loudly.

"Yay Kiyotaka! That wasn't so hard, was it?" Instantly all traces of anger had disappeared from her voice, a cheery and happy girl returning in a moment. I felt an involuntary shiver run down my spine in fear of such a demon.

Moving on from that terrifying exchange, I repeated the original question.

"Hmm, I have nothing planned for tonight, so I was probably going to come over anyway. Sure! I'd love to go have dinner with you Kiyotaka." I could feel the smile in her voice over the phone. It was a very rare occurrence, so it still shocked me whenever Kikyou was genuinely happy, without putting on her façade, and this was one of those times.

"Great. Meet me at the entrance to the dorms at 6." It was a bit before five now, so that gave her plenty of time to get ready. I had picked up enough to know that girls could need an extraordinary amount of time to prepare for an outing.

"Oh? I thought you, mister practical, would just want to meet there." A suggestive tone entered her voice. "Don't tell me you want to walk there with me, ne Kiyotaka?"

"I suppose that's somewhat the case. Make sure to wear something nice." The place I had in mind wasn't especially cheap, and required more than just a t-shirt and jeans, although I had no doubt that Kikyou would have worn appropriate clothes anyway.

"A-Are you asking me out on a date?"

I was about to respond, before doing a double take at what I heard. It was almost imperceptible over the lower quality phone call, but she had definitely stumbled over her words slightly. For what reason, be it embarrassment, anticipation or something completely different I couldn't tell.

"Eh?"

"Well, nice clothes implies a fancy restaurant, walking me there yourself. It kinda gives off that vibe doesn't it?"

I spent a second trying to figure out the best way to respond.

"Back on the island, I promised I'd buy you dinner, didn't I? I wasn't really thinking of this as a date, just dinner with a friend."