Chapter 12
After drinking two servings of black coffee brewed by Ichiro, Sakurako was ready for the date, so she called for him
"I'm ready to go"
"Got it"
Ichiro who was behind the counter went to change his clothes, he was quick having simply changed into his school uniform to save time, and then went towards Sakurako
"Shall we get going?"
"Yes"
Ichiro offered a hand to help Sakurako get up, which she accepted, but after getting up Ichiro still kept on gently holding Sakurako's hand. Sakurako did found it somewhat confusing, but she didn't mind it, and so the two left the cafe and went on to their date
The two walked down the street in silence with Ichiro leading the way
"... So, where will we be going for our date?"
Sakurako made that question to Ichiro when they stopped at an intersection, hearing her question, Ichiro faked a thinking expression
"Well... If I tell you where we are going, we'll lose part of the fun"
"So... You don't have anything planned?"
"I do have a planned route for our date, but I just want to surprise you as we go"
"I see, then I'll be looking forward to it"
"I'm sure you'll like it. Ah! The light turned green"
Ichiro showed a gentle smile to Sakurako, but when he noticed that they could now cross the street, he once again went back on leading the way while keeping at Sakurako's walking pace
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"So? What do you think of the boy?"
"So far... He's being pretty nice to Ojou-sama"
The two adults observing Ichiro and Sakurako as they sat down at an outdoor table of a bakery, were Aki, Sakurako's maid, and Hiraku, the driver of the Kogane family. And the two were tailing Ichiro and Sakurako, mainly Ichiro, to make sure he wasn't like the last fiancé of Sakurako
So far from what they observed, was that Ichiro appeared to really care for Sakurako, and made the two give quite an amount of points to him
"Where do you think he's taking Ojou-sama to, Hiraku-san?"
"Guessing by the direction they're going, he's probably taking her to the shopping district at the city center, but beyond this, I can't tell due to the number of places they can go from there"
"Good grief... Alright, let's continue our investigation"
"Of course"
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Some time later
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After a relatively long walk, both Ichiro and Sakurako arrived at the city center, and right now the two were standing in front of a museum
"..."
"..."
And Ichiro had a smile on his face as he looked at Sakurako who was clearly looking excited at seeing what was being exhibited there
"Wanna go inside and see?"
"Yes!"
"Then let's going"
Ichiro said that as he waved two tickets for seeing the exhibition in his free hand, with that the two went up the stairs and towards the exhibition center building, as they went inside the building, two adults walked towards the museum, and stopped in front of a sign that said what was being exhibited there
"A world history of... Coffee?"
"The way that the boy acted, he clearly knew beforehand what was being exhibited here"
"And the fact that Ojou-sama is always going to his place for drinking his handmade coffee, so he clearly knows that she's addicted to coffee"
" "... ... ..." "
The two looked at the building as they stayed silent with serious faces
< <100 points!> >
Aki and Hiraku both bought that as they gave a thumbs up to Ichiro they made proud smiles before they themselves went back on following them, but they had to buy tickets for going into the exhibition before they could continue
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Some time later
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Ichiro and Sakurako were checking the exhibition at their own leisure, the special exhibition wasn't that big, but due to Sakurako checking everything in there, the two had spent a pretty good amount of time in there
"Are you liking our date so far, Sakurako-san?"
"Yes"
"That's good"
Sakurako looked at Ichiro when she said that, she wasn't smiling but her face was clearly filled with enthusiasm and delight, and seeing her like that just made Ichiro keep on gently smiling at her. But as Sakurako was gazing at the coffee plantation mockup, Ichiro noticed someone coming towards
"Ah! If it isn't, Ichiro-kun"
"Oh! Nobu-san, I didn't expect to see you here today"
"I can say the same to you"
Ichiro had turned to greet the middle-aged man known as Nobu, who had called his name, was a customer who visited his family cafe from time to time, so Ichiro was quite familiar with him
"I'm glad that the tickets I gave you are being used"
"Don't mention it, I should be the one glad since you were the one who gave me those tickets"
The two were having a friendly conservation, all the while Sakurako continued on thoroughly observing the mockup with great attention, so she completely missed the conversation that the two were having. But the same couldn't be said for Nobu, who eventually noticed Sakurako behind Ichiro, as she bent forward in an attempt to take a closer look at the mockup
"! What a surprise. It's good to see you, Kogane-san"
"? Who are you?"
Sakurako made a confused face as she didn't remember meeting Nobu before
"Ah! That's right, I forgot to introduce myself. I am Miyata Nobu, a long-time partner of your family's company"
"Ah! I see. It's nice to meet you, Miyata-san, and thank you for supporting my family"
"I should be the one thanking you and your family, also that performance of yours back there was really impressive if I must say"
"... ... ... ! I Thank you for the praise"
Sakurako took a few moments to process what he had just said, and then she remembered about her violin performance she did months ago
"That's just my honest opinion. By the way, did you come here with your fiancé?"
"Yes"
"But I don't see Hasegawa-kun anywhere?"
"My new fiancé is Ichiro-san though"
And Sakurako pointed to Ichiro who was standing beside the two as he watched them talk with a smile on his face
"Eh?"
Nobu made a surprised face when he heard that, and he looked toward Ichiro
"That's right, I'm Sakurako-san's fiancé"
And Ichiro confirmed what Sakurako said as he went back on gently holding her hand
"That's really unexpected, I never thought that you two would ever get engaged, and I can't imagine what happened for the Hasegawas to break your engagement with their son... Oh well, I can just ask Ryousuke-san some other time, so I'll be taking my leave. Sorry for bothering you two on your date"
"It wasn't a bother, so bye-bye"
The two lightly waved to Nobu as he walked away, and once he was far enough, Ichiro turned to look at Sakurako
"Shall we get going?"
"Yes"
And the two continued sightseeing the exhibition, until they eventually saw everything, and reached the exit
"Wanna see something else in the museum?"
"No, I'm fine"
"Is that so? Then it's time for me to buy my birthday gift for you"
And yet again, Ichiro lead the way as he held hands with Sakurako and stayed at her pace. This time, after a relatively short walk, the two entered a jewelry store, in there the two began looking at the rings on display, and not long after one of the employees came to them
"Welcome, are you two looking for something in particular?"
"Yes, thank you. I am looking for a pair of engagement rings"
"Is it perhaps for you two?"
"Yes, we're betrothed to each other"
"... *Nods*"
Sakurako who wasn't all that into jewelry simply stayed quiet as she nodded to Ichiro's remark, then the employee was slightly taken aback, but she quickly recovered
"Got it, then I'll bring some other designs for you two to see"
"Thank you"
And the employee went somewhere, leaving the two to look at the displayed jewelry again
"Did you find any ring that catches your attention, Sakurako-san?"
"No, and what about you Ichiro-san?"
"I think I'm going to wait for the employee to show what else they have before making a decision"
"I see"
"Sorry for the wait"
Just as the two finished talking the employee came back, and began showing the other engagement rings they had. Sakurako looked at the rings but wasn't really impressed by them, as for Ichiro he was having a pretty decent talk with the employee as he looked at the rings shown to them
"..."
Sakurako looked at Ichiro in silence, she began thinking about how Ichiro have been doing quite an amount of effort for her during their date
"Ah! Can I have look at that ring?"
"Sure"
As Sakurako was deep in her own thoughts, Ichiro was taking a close look at a golden ring with an amethyst on it
"Can I try it?"
"Sure"
"Thanks. Sakurako-san"
"! What is it, Ichiro-san?"
"Your left hand please, Sakurako-san"
"?"
Sakurako did as Ichiro asked, then he gently held her hand and put the ring on her ring finger, the ring fit surprisingly well on her finger without any sign of getting stuck or being too loose
"... Yup, it really suits you. I'll be taking a pair of this one, please"
"Got it, do you perhaps want to take that ring with you already?"
"I will take on your offer. It would be a waste to take off such a pretty ring from my fiancée"
"Yes, you are right... May I take a measurement of your finger"
The employee had a somewhat embarrassed face after hearing Ichiro saying that with a smile on his face
"Sure"
The employee then measured Ichiro's ring finger, as that was going on, Sakurako looked at the ring on her finger, as Ichiro's words kept repeating in her mind. Then her cheeks got tinted red as she felt pretty bashful from that
"Hm. I think we might have a matching ring with your size, would you like to take it?"
"Yes, please"
The employee then left once again, which gave Ichiro another moment to interact with Sakurako
"Did you like the ring, Sakurako-san?"
"Huh? Ah! Yes, I did... It looks very pretty"
"I'm glad you liked it"
"Hmm... Why did you pick this ring in particular, Ichiro-san?"
"Why I picked this ring? It was because the golden color made me remind of your hair, and the amethyst is just like your eyes. So I thought that such a beautiful ring would perfectly match with my even more beautiful fiancée, Sakurako-san"
"..."
Hearing Ichiro say that to her with a smile, made Sakurako look down in silence as her cheeks turned even redder. She was never told such a thing before, so she was completely defenseless to Ichiro's gallantry
"... ... ... Ermmm... Here's the other ring, and the bill for the rings"
"Ah! Thanks! Hmmm... Quite the pricey ones, but if it's for my cute fiancée it's worth it"
The employee who heard Ichiro say to Sakurako also felt somewhat embarrassed. But Ichiro who was the one saying it didn't have any signs of being embarrassed at all, so he picked up the bill, and looked at how much he would have to pay, it was very expensive, but he still decided to buy it. So he took out his debit card from his wallet and went on to pay for it
After a short while, he went back to Sakurako who was still looking down
"Shall we get going, Sakurako-san?"
"Ah! Y-yes"
Ichiro offered a hand to Sakurako, who was still feeling somewhat embarrassed, with little hesitation she accepted his hand and got up from the chair
"It's pretty late already, want to go back to the cafe?"
"S-sure"
"Okay"
And the two left the jewelry store while holding hands
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"They left the jewelry..."
"Oi, why did you go silent? Did something happen to ojou-sama?"
"She's looking embarrassed"
"What?"
"Ojou-sama... Is looking embarrassed"
Aki repeated her words again with a serious face, while Hiraku made a shocked face
"S-she's looking embarrassed!?"
"Yes!... I can't say anything else aside from... That the boy is something else"
Aki and Hiraku, and many other people that were close to Sakurako, had never once seen her looking embarrassed. And now, Ichiro had managed to somehow make her feel embarrassed
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Ichiro still kept leading the way as they held hands, but as they walked back, they passed in front of a certain, which made Ichiro stop walking and look at it. The shop was one that sold model kits, and Ichiro had the hobby of collecting model kits of historical warships
"... *Sigh*"
"Do you want to buy it, Ichiro-san?"
"I would like to but I don't have enough money for it right now"
"Want me to pay it for you?"
"No can do, I'm the one supposed to be covering the expenses today, and because I want to show off my good side as well"
"Ichiro-san, you did a lot for me today. So, I insist on paying it for you, so that I can do something back to you"
"... *Sigh*... Very well. You win this time, Sakurako-san"
The two then entered the store, and just some minutes later they left it, with Ichiro carrying a big plastic bag with him, with that done, the two then made their way back to the cafe. There Sakurako had some coffee, while she waited for her family's driver to come to pick her up
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Later that day
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Sakurako was back to her home, and she was now having dinner with her parents, the first one to talk to her was her mother
"So how was your date with Ichiro-kun today, Sacchan?"
"It was pleasant"
"That's great to hear! Did you two did anything interesting?"
"We went to an exhibition in the museum"
"Is that so? What was it about?"
"I think it was about coffee"
The one who answered Emma was Hansuke, hearing his answer, Emma made a funny surprised face as she wasn't expecting the exhibition to be about that
"Yes. It was about coffee, it was a pretty exhibition"
"I can't really say that you wouldn't like it, when you love coffee so much, Sacchan... Anyways, did you two go somewhere else?"
"Yes, we went to a jewelry"
"Ah! You did say that he wanted to buy a ring for you some time ago. Did you two find anything?"
"Yes, he bought an engagement ring for me and..."
When Sakurako said that, she immediately remembered what Ichiro had told her back at the jewelry, which made her stop talking
"Hm? Did something happen between you back there, Sacchan?"
"N-no..."
Sakurako looked to the side and down as her cheeks turned red from the embarrassment. Seeing her like that, made everyone inside the dining room make surprised faces
And her parents in particular were panicking since they wanted to take a photo of their daughter making such a cute embarrassed face, but in their panic, they could only do one thing
<
And that thanked Ichiro for managing to make Sakurako feel embarrassed
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Later that night
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"..."
Sakurako had just laid down on her bed, she wasn't feeling sleepy yet, so she was just deep in her own thoughts as she looked at the ceiling of her room, then she turned to the side and looked to the side and looked at the engagement ring Ichiro had bought to her standing inside the ring box, that was on top of her nightstand
"..."
Looking at it, she could feel her face getting hotter, she didn't really understand what exactly she was feeling, but she didn't hate it. She then turned off the lights and closed her eyes to calm herself down, then slowly she finally began to feel her sleepiness reaching her, and then she fell asleep