Chapter six. Bento and the perfect date

The next day, Ame Kyoko did not come to school again, but no wonder, considering she had been lying with a fever the previous day. Then the weekend arrived, which Anpan-kun safely spent mainly trying to fend off his sister and a little more on a side job with Mato-san. To his relief, Kyoko did not write to him; otherwise, he would not have known where to go from embarrassment — the picture of Ame-san in pajamas flashed too clearly in front of him.

He only saw Kyoko on Tuesday. She looked much better than when he had last seen her, but she was still quite sickly and pale, clearly not fully recovered yet.

Therefore, the attacks on her in class about her dating Anpan-kun and on whose initiative were weaker than they could have been. She confirmed that they were dating but refused to answer any other questions.

The lunch break was approaching, and Anpan-kun was already preparing to eat. Anpan-kun may have had dinners cooked by his younger sister, Ben, occasionally, but only sometimes. Only when she wasn't too busy studying or in clubs and didn't sleep late in the morning after that. Anpan-kun himself could only appreciate good food but not cook it himself. Therefore, when his sister had no lunch, he usually went to the school cafe for a bun with yakisoba. They didn't give him much pocket money, but thanks to the part-time job, he didn't have to worry too much about it.

And today was Tuesday, just the day after my sister was too busy. As usual, Anpan-kun got up and turned to go to the cafe. But before taking a few steps, he was pretty tenaciously grabbed by the sleeve. When Anpan—kun looked back, he saw Ame-san holding his sleeve. Ame-san had two boxes of something in his hands.

— Ame-san? "What is it?" he asked in surprise, not allowing himself to believe that perhaps this was the most important thing for him.

"Hideki—kun," Ame addressed him by name, "please let's go have lunch together."

And she pulled him out of the classroom by the same captured sleeve.

They went up to a relatively quiet place — a staircase at the closed entrance to the roof. Not the one where there was an exit to the roof when Ame confessed, but permanently closed, so few people went there.

"Ame—san," Anpan-kun began, "why did you invite me to have lunch together? Didn't you want to have lunch with your friends?"

Kyoko Ame's face reflected sadness, contempt, disgust, and something incomprehensible that Anpan-kun could not identify.

"I wanted to have lunch with you, Hideki—Kun, and I started calling you by your first name; I hope you don't mind."

"I don't mind, Ame-san. — The newfound Hideki-kun was a little surprised, but such a demarche on the part of Ame rather pleased him. Although, wait, he shouldn't be happy about it. This is not real! But why such a soft feeling? He got used to it and accepted his nickname, but it had been long since anyone but his sister had called him by his first name. But Ame-san didn't stop there.

— And call me by my first name, please. I've already asked. And so," she handed him something wrapped in a handkerchief with disposable chopsticks tucked under a bundle. — I cooked it myself this morning. She hesitated a little. She added, "but I haven't fully recovered yet, so I cooked the simplest."

What exactly Anpan-kun ate then, he could not say. He was utterly prostrated by the very fact that his girlfriend made something. But it seemed delicious. And even though the girl was probably fake, Ben was the real thing.

"Ame—san, I'm sorry, but I can't do it yet. But I'll try to call you by your first name later.

Ame-san nodded, deciding that was enough for now. She'll be content to call him by his first name for now.

Hideki and Kun, I would also like to say thank you. She shook her head, shrugged her shoulders, and — I don't remember everything, but I heard your voice, and at first, I felt terrible, and then I felt better. Katari said that you grabbed me with your hands all the time, groped my legs, and generally behaved indecently, but Aoi claimed that you would never do such a thing. She insists that it would only be out of necessity if you did. My sisters have very different attitudes towards you, and it's weird. Hideki—kun," Hideki—kun realized that she was addressing him by his first name and not by his annoying nickname, although using a suffix. So, he considers it quite close, although there is a lot to move closer. And secondly, she looks at him seriously, "Tell me, please, what did you do?"

Hideki shrugged his shoulders—he wasn't going to hide much anyway. Whether Ame-san will believe him is another matter entirely.

"In a way, what your little sister says is true. Kyoko's face expressed disappointment, but Hideki continued, "You fell after walking a couple of steps out of your room. I picked you up in my arms and carried you back. And put her to bed. I put a compress under my head and on my forehead.

Is that all? Hideki couldn't read Kyoko's expression this time.

—Almost," he lowered his eyes. —I... also put cold compresses on my wrists... and..." his voice became hushed, but in the silence surrounding them, it was perfectly audible, "and on my ankles.

Hideki felt that even though there was no subtext in his actions, he was wildly embarrassed. And even my cheeks began to tingle a little from the heat. He looked down for a second but decided it was too cowardly. He raised his head and met the gaze of an equally blushing Kyoko.

"Thank you, Hideki—san. I believe you, and you haven't done anything wrong. I'm not angry, and I'm grateful to you. You also went to get medicines for me. Thanks, Ame's face was purple, but her voice was calm. Ame bowed her head. "Tell me if there's anything I can do for you."

Hideki didn't hesitate. And so it was hard and embarrassing to talk about his visit home to Ama; yes, it was too late to dig a well if thirst overcame.

"I want to go to the Aquarium with you, Ame-san.

—A date?" Ame's voice went from calm to agitated instantly. — But we don't have an Aquarium in the city?

Once upon a time, the dreamy Hideki Kazumi calculated the best places to date if he ever fell in love. In his opinion, an aquarium was one of the most suitable locations for a date. Many times, he dreamed of being with a sweet and loving girl. Perhaps it was because their city was in the prefecture, far from the sea, and the Aquarium seemed unusual, even more than his peers who were lucky enough to live near the sea. Or because when their class went to that neighboring town next to the sea, he locked himself at home — anyway, the group that the teacher enrolled him in declared a complete boycott of him. However, after one or two attempts, he stopped himself. Even though he didn't have a samurai in his family, he didn't know what self-esteem was.

And he had wanted to go for a long time. But it was foolish to go himself; he was ashamed to drag his sister around his wishlist. No, she will not refuse, but, firstly, it is inconvenient, and secondly, it is shameful and unromantic. Yes, Kazumi Hideki, a fat man considered disgusting by everyone (or almost classmates) and looked at with well-concealed disgust by his (fake) younger sister Girls, was kind of a romantic. Despite the complete lack of chances for him to have any romantic relationship. And even though the appearance itself was primarily the result of his actions.

Sometimes, he regretted a little that he had turned down the last grade of junior school back then. But he had a reason that seemed severe at the time. The girl who confessed to him was mocking the one he liked himself. However, the one he liked later joined the harassment herself…

And the side result was that he recovered considerably and completely buried all his chances of any real school romance.

Well, he didn't regret it anyway. But if I agreed, I would regret it. Well, he couldn't stand her for long. And everything would have gone differently, even though it would still have ended in bullying. The influence in the class of the girl he once rejected cannot be underestimated, and even though she is in his class, she does not seem to remember him. Or he was pretending to.

Well, an additional positive result was that he met Mato-san…

But if things had gone differently, he wouldn't have had the option to take his girlfriend to the Aquarium because it is expensive and difficult for those living in their city. Firstly, because he wouldn't have any money.… And secondly…

— Ame-san. Your job is to agree and be ready when I pick you up tomorrow at four-thirty. And by the time the Aquarium opens, we'll be right next to it. I'll book the tickets right now. And it would be best if you also asked your parents.

"I agree," she didn't think for a second. — And I don't have to talk to my parents. It's enough to talk to the older sister. How are we doing, Hideki—kun?

— It's a secret, — he smiled a little, — I need to make a final agreement. I'm sorry, Ame-san.

Hideki—kun pulled out his cell phone and called someone:

— Sato-san, tomorrow morning is the day that you're leaving us, right? Yes, yes, but I won't be alone. Great! Four thirty in the morning, as usual? — that's where Hideki—kun ended the call — That's it, I've agreed. And, Ame-san," after waiting for a look that showed that the girl was listening, Hideki—kun continued, "It's cold at four in the morning; take warmer outerwear.

***

Kyoko Ame grimaced in displeasure and turned off the alarm—four in the morning. Let the clothes be ready in the evening; half an hour is extremely little time for a girl to put herself in order. She was sleepy, and even though she went to bed yesterday almost at eight in the evening, it was challenging to say precisely how much she slept. She was constantly tossing and turning, strange thoughts came into her head, and it was hard to say exactly when she fell asleep and exactly how long she slept.

Kyoko patted her cheeks, gathered her courage, and began to get dressed and ready. At four twenty-nine, my cell phone beeped and reflected, "I'm waiting near the house." At four thirty exactly, I walked through an empty house, put on my shoes at the entrance, and quietly went outside.

There was a dark shadow next to the gate, and she even managed to get scared for a second, but she recognized a rather outstanding figure — Hideki —Kun was already waiting for her.

Hideki—Kun's voice was a little hoarse in the morning silence. Ame thought that he should have gotten up even earlier than her.

—Good morning, Hideki—kun," she managed to say.

— Come on, Ame-san — without wasting time, Hideki—kun took her by the hand and dragged her somewhere. - In case you stumble, it's still dark enough, — explained to her such unceremonious behavior. We have to walk very little, don't worry.

They walked in the darkness and silence of the night city for literally ten minutes and came to one of the highway exits, which was almost empty at this early time. Rare trucks raced through it, and scarce cars left the city, illuminating a couple patiently waiting for something.

After five minutes of waiting, headlights illuminated them, and a particularly large-looking truck began braking. The driver of which opened the window, stuck out his hand, and waved to Hideki—kun, "They say, get up." Hideki—kun opened the door farthest from the driver, lowered some ladder, helped Kyoko, and climbed up.

—Good morning, Sato-san,— Hideki—kun said to the driver.

—Good morning,— Kyoko squeaked in a shallow voice.

—Good morning," he chuckled, "Are you growing up, Kazumi—san? Is this your girlfriend?" Or a little sister? She's a little girl.

"This is Ame-san, my girlfriend, Sato-san. We're classmates.

— Oh, how! Well done, Kazumi-san. I told you not to worry! And I didn't have time to introduce my daughters, it's a pity! Oh well. You're lucky, Ame-san. Although he is still young, Kazumi-san is very intelligent; he helped me immensely. I had a breakdown not far from your city, and I knew Mato-san, the workshop's owner, from service in the self-defense forces. An unpleasant breakdown and far away, and even Mato-san, as luck would have it, was out of town, and if I hadn't left that day, it would not have been good. And Kazumi-san found out how to get there and fixed it on the spot…

The driver's voice rumbled, lulling Ame-san to sleep. When the truck stopped, she came to her senses with her head resting on Kazumi-kun's shoulder beside the Aquarium.

— Ame-san, Ame-san? Are you okay?

She fell asleep! I fell asleep and leaned on Hideki—Kun's shoulder. Shame on you! If she also drooled, there would be no shame at all. Kyoko got up and sat up straight, trying to pretend that nothing had happened. But her not-very-successful attempt was given away by her flushed face.

— Let's go down; Ame-san Hideki—-kun has already managed to slide down and showed that he is ready to pick her up if such a need arises.

—Okay,— Kyoko squeaked.

She was almost down, but her leg twisted a little, and she fell on the last steps.… It was picked up by Hideki—Kun.

Maybe not quite decently, but carefully, carefully, and very carefully.

"Is everything all right, Ame—san?" Hideki—kun asked her as soon as her feet touched the ground, "And I'm sorry, please?"

"It's all right," Kyoko nodded —and don't worry. It's not a big deal.

Kyoko was afraid to admit it, but the arms that wrapped around her across her torso were more pleasant to her than disgusting.

"I'm sorry anyway," Hideki lowered his gaze but recovered quickly enough, looked up, and nodded to some thoughts of his own.

— How are you, little ones? "Are you okay?" came a voice from the truck above.

"Thank you, Sato—san, everything is fine," he shouted, "Thank you so much for the trip!"

"You're welcome, Kazumi-san! Anyway, I'm on the way and stopping here to rest anyway.

— Well, we're off. Hideki—kun slammed the door and pulled Kyoko by the hand, "Come on, Ame-san, we're going there.

The aquarium was not far away, and he knew exactly where to go, even if he had never been there. Nevertheless, modern means of determining the route are sensible; Google Maps allowed Hideki—Kun quite simply to virtually "walk" from the probable truck stop to the entrance. And feel quite confident. He's not a civil servant, so they forbid him — the "servants of the people" have not yet reached such idiocy.

It wasn't the first time they had walked hand in hand, and Kyoko found it embarrassing every time. But both she and Hideki reminded each other to behave correctly.

It was the perfect date. As it turned out, Hideki had prepared well, but Kyoko adored tropical fish, so she felt like she was in paradise in the hall where they were gathered. Hideki liked marine predators, and even though this Aquarium was smaller than the Chibi Open Oceanarium, which he had read about, there were no killer whales there. Still, there were several sharks, so he was highly pleased.

It was the perfect date. It started perfectly — exciting and unusual. It continued in a rather romantic and almost classic place for first dates — the Aquarium. They even stopped by the souvenir shop. And that's when Hideki noticed that Kyoko was staring at some pendant.

— Huh? — she said vaguely, — when she noticed Hideki —kun coming up — The shape is attractive.

Hideki looked closer — a Mobius strip of silver alloy hung on a simple black thread. On the right and left, and next to it below, were decorations in simple shells; some reminded Hideki—kun of a Klein bottle.

"The Mobius strip," Hideki—kun said, "is a geometric paradox—a ribbon with only one side. Do you like it, Ame-san?

Kyoko shook her head:

— I rather liked it, but she was a little embarrassed. And she walked away, looking at other souvenirs.

Hideki could tell more about the Mobius strip, the Klein bottle, and other geometric and mechanical attractions; Mato-san was fond of this and often told and sometimes showed.

When they left the store and walked a little way, Hideki excused himself and returned.

When he returned, Kyoko Ame seemed lonely, sitting on the bench, but he dismissed such thoughts. However, this did not stop him from trying to make this date even more perfect, not least because there was a high chance that their first date would be their last.

Therefore, he tried very hard to make this date perfect. And to some extent, it worked out. Or not?!