Chapter 61: Go on a date…?

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Translator: Soafp

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As lunch break was coming to an end, Sora cheerfully hopped off Ginji’s lap.

“Up we go!”

“Careful. I'm getting kinda sleepy now.”

“Were you thinking of using me as a body pillow?”

Sora gave Ginji a mischievous, teasing grin. Ginji stretched lazily.

“That might not be so bad. You're pretty soft, after all.”

“…Pervert.”

“You're the one who said it!”

As the two—whose sense of personal space was clearly broken—were cleaning up their lunch, Ginji's smartphone buzzed.

He checked the message; it looked like spam.

Sora placed Ginji's bento box into his bag and finished tidying up.

“Was it from Tetsuya?”

“Nah, just more spam. I've been getting a lot of that lately. Maybe I should change my email address.”

“In that case, should we stop by a store on the way home?”

“Honestly, it's kind of a pain. As long as I have IINE, I'm good…”

“…I've got an idea.”

Sora's eyes sparkled with a ping.

“What is it?”

“Earlier, you asked if there was anything you could do for me, right?”

She inched closer to Ginji.

“Yeah. You thought of something?”

“What about… going on a date?”

Sora tugged gently at the hem of Ginji's shirt, looking up at him with wide, hopeful eyes.

And then, both of them froze. Once again, there was only a little time left in the break. The first one to recover from the freeze was Ginji.

“A date? You mean… that legendary thing boys and girls do together?”

“Exactly.”

“…”

“…”

They couldn't move recklessly—it was an intense standoff, right on the edge. Sora had moved beyond trying to make Ginji notice her. Her feelings were now overflowing. As for Ginji, he had already accepted that it was impossible not to be aware of her.

Still, he hadn't expected their relationship to progress this quickly before the weekend. Yet after what happened with Mio the day before yesterday, Sora had started openly clinging to him, and Ginji was beginning to question whether it was fair for him to keep playing defense.

“…Well, like, we could just go to the phone store together, and then grab something sweet on the way back… something like that… is that not okay?”

“I'm down. But, wait, does that count as a date?”

“If… if we put some effort into it, I think it could. Like, if we meet up somewhere…”

Too embarrassed to make eye contact, Sora looked off to the side while tugging on Ginji's sleeve to coax a response. There was no way Ginji was going to say no at this point.

“Sounds good. But I don't have any clothes for a date.”

“I mean, to be fair, I don't either. …Since we're going to the station anyway, maybe we could shop for some?”

“So we'd buy clothes for the date, during the date…”

“Well, it's not like I ever imagined I'd be the one to ask someone out.”

“Same here. Didn't expect to be the one getting asked.”

“Ehehe… we're alike, huh.”

“Ghh—!”

At that, Sora turned to him with a smile so dazzling it was practically lethal. Ginji nearly praised himself for not hugging her right then and there. His knees gave out, and he sat down in his chair.

“So… what's the verdict? Are we going on a date?”

Oblivious to Ginji's internal panic, Sora squatted down and looked up at him from below. Her short hair fluttered slightly in the breeze coming through the window. Ginji could see his own reflection in her mysterious, glimmering eyes.

“We are. I always wanted to try a date at least once.”

“I'm honestly shocked I want to go on one. Okay, so what should we do…”

Just then, the chime rang loudly. The two exchanged glances.

“Want to talk about it on the way home?”

“Yeah, probably best not to be late to class. I'll grab the bags.”

Ginji picked up their bags, and the two of them headed back to class. Sora wore a bright, beaming smile, and Ginji looked just a little flustered. A few of the boys in class, seeing the large lunch bag Ginji carried, seemed to sense something, and without saying a word, pulled canned coffees from their bags and downed them in one gulp.