Soul for a Girlfriend?

Chapter 187 - The Bitter After Taste - Part 1

Naoto's POV

I was standing near a bench underneath the tall clock in the central plaza. The area was quite crowded and the loud noise of chatter was irritating. I could see many couples around me as this place was apparently a good spot for hanging out.

It was afternoon, and the sun was shining brightly. It was quite hot, that's why I decided to wear white coloured dress. I might not have knowledge of science but I know that white doesn't absorb heat.

Still I was sweating slightly and I checked the time on my mobile. I arrived earlier than the time we decided on. I was a bit nervous and ended up coming early. Well he wasn't there so I thought that he wasn't looking as forward as me to this date.

I was waiting eagerly for him and there was this strange feeling in my gut.. I was suddenly quite self aware about myself as I was adjusting my hair every now and then. There were many thoughts running in my mind.

I was looking around, as my eyes were scanning my surroundings but there was no trace of him. Maybe he was punctual and would arrive exactly at the time we decided. But knowing him, he might actually be late since he is quite lazy.

As my eyes were wandering around, I heard the familiar voice of Saishi calling out my name. I turned towards him and he was walking towards me with an unreadable expression on his face.

His hands were in his pockets and the sleeves of his dark blue shirt were folded up his forearms. His eyes were staring at me intently, as it made me a bit uncomfortable. Was I looking bad? Or was I overdressed?

He finally spoke and we laughed about how both of us were early. He was looking quite handsome as I was used to looking at him in the usual school uniform. His hair was looking a bit different too as it wasn't messy as usual.

After staring at me for a while he complimented me about how cute I was looking and it made me feel quite embarrassed. It was weird since it was coming from a person like him.

The fact that I was on a date with him was quite surprising in itself as he wasn't the kind of person to go outside. Well I was standing with him near the bench as we're deciding on where we could go.

I was good with any place which wasn't crowded and crawling with people like this. I don't know how people even like this. Just thinking of being around so many people with constant noise was irritating.

We're talking last night over text, deciding which place we could visit but I was being quite indecisive so he just took all the planning ro himself. As standing in front of me he had a stiff expression on his face as he was thinking about something.

"What's your idea?" I asked him, as his eyes shifted towards me and he said, "I told you last night."

"That cafe?" I asked, as he nodded and explained, "Well I think, it'll be better to sit down in a quiet place to eat and talk rather than walking around in this crowd."

That was actually quite an agreeable plan since I also wanted to visit some place quieter than this. I smiled at him and nodded, "Well, that's a good plan, I don't have any problems."

"Really?" Even though his face was unfazed, there was a hint of surprise in his voice. I guess he wasn't expecting me to say that. Well thinking from another perspective, it was quite a boring plan to just sit and talk but I liked it personally.

I awkwardly smiled and slowly walked closer to him and wrapped my arm around him as we started walking. He had a confused look on his face as I said softly and smiled, "Yes… I mean… I also don't like places with too much crowd… you know?"

We were heading towards the cafe which was a bit from the plaza but the street was peaceful there. As we were moving farther from the plaza, the crowd was also gradually growing less. The loud noise of chatter and cars honking was fading away too.

I was a bit nervous and my heart was throbbing but I had a poker face from outside so I was expecting that he wouldn't know about me being flustered and all. Even though I've been on dates before, I was just not good at these things. 

I wrapped my arm around his and pulled him towards me but that was something I did without giving it much thought. Now I was walking with him and his elbow was touching my boobs, I was feeling quite embarrassed.

But I couldn't tell him that because it'll make everything awkward between us for the rest of the date. I can slowly let go of his arm but what if he takes it some other way? It would be quite a bad impression on the first date.

We finally reached the cafe, as it was located in an area with very few people. The cafe itself looked quite empty from outside and looking at this cafe reminded me of how my cousin told us to come to his cafe if we ever go on a date. It's funny considering we were actually on a date one week later.

As he was about to open the door to the cafe, I let go of his arm because it's weird clinging on to each other. Rather than weird, it was cringe. He looked at me confused but without saying anything, his hand reached for the door.

As he pushed open the wooden door which opened with a creaking noise, we walked in and the smell of coffee hit my nose. It was a strangely delightful smell. The interior of the cafe seemed to be quite aesthetic.

I was looking around as there were bookshelves with books in them which appeared not only for display but for reading purposes too. The place wasn't really crowded as there were a few people.

"Table for two?" I heard him say that to a young boy, probably a bit older than us, as he nodded and pointed towards an empty table near the window, "Hai, this way…"