As the clock hit 17:30, Yoshiki picked himself up from his couch, making his way over to the kitchen to take out the bowl of kombu and sardines setting in water overnight from his fridge. He grabbed the piece of paper printed on the counter and smoothed out the crinkled edges with the palm of his hand so it would be legible. He had spent the night prior up for all hours trying to find the best recipe for Yaki Udon that he could so that Ayumi would like his dish.

Keeping his attention on the T.V. that was still playing in the background, the boy transitioned his view from the paper recipe to the dish, pouring the bowl into a pot of water and removing the kombu right as it came to boil. Setting a timer for 20 minutes after adding in the bonito shavings, Yoshiki took a seat at his barstool, his eyes scanning over the apartment for anything left behind that needed to be cleaned before Ayumi arrived. If his timing was right, she should arrive right as the broth was about done.

Continuing to watch the T.V., Yoshiki felt his heartbeat pick up as he heard a series of knocks on the door. As he picked up the remote to turn the volume down, Yoshiki crossed the living room, opening the door to be greeted by the small girl in his doorframe wearing a simple t-shirt and frilly shorts. She hadn't dressed up for this dinner either, huh.

"You made it." He spoke coolly, opening the door and gesturing for Ayumi to come in.

"I was beginning to get hungry." She jested, walking into the boy's dimly lit apartment. The sound of the T.V. was the only thing to be heard as she looked around, Yoshiki felt his shoulders tense back up again as he thought of what to do next. What would Satoshi tell him to do…

"You can take a seat at the breakfast bar, dinners just getting started. Do you want anything to drink?" His hand motioned to where he had been sitting while cooking, ears being alerted by the alarm going off by the stovetop. He picked up his pace to the stove, turning off the alarm and the burner. Adding the bonito shavings, he turned to Ayumi expecting a response to his offer. She was sitting at the barstool, watching him cook before she blinked and realized she never answered.

"Just a glass of water would be great, thank you."

Yoshiki pressed her, "No liquor?" he smirked, watching as her eyes widened at the offer.

"No! I'm not drinking alone with you." She stuck her nose up, turning her head at the idea.

The boy merely shrugged, "Even after everything we all went through, you don't look for ways to help you calm down?"

She nodded her head slightly less convincingly a second time. Humming, Yoshiki returned his attention to the glass he was grabbing from the cabinet above him, not like I had any great liquor on me anyways. As he poured and handed Ayumi the glass of water, he looked over to the stovetop once more before straining the broth, pouring it back into the pot once again.

"So is this your favorite meal or something?" He inquired, eyeballing the amount of soy sauce to add.

Ayumi smiled from her seat, nodding her head, "I had this once a few years ago while I was out and it'll all I've thought about ever since." Her eyes glossed over as he only imagined she was picturing the dish in her head.

"I bet I can make it just as good." He dared, peeping an eye in her direction.

The girl looked up, raising an eyebrow as she fixed the hair tie around one of her pigtails, "I'd like to see you try."

Yoshiki looked on at her for a beat before asking, "Do you ever take those out?"

He felt instant regret as he watched her eyes widen and eyebrows droop, "Why- do they look bad? Are you insulting me?"

"No!" he defended himself, "I've just never seen you with your hair down. Metaphorically and literally."

She seemed to be somewhat soothed by this, subconsciously still slowly playing with her hair while in thought.

"So," He coughed, motioning to the array of food on his rather small counters. "Would you like to help me chop up the fish cakes, mushrooms, and/or leeks?"

Moving to sit up, Ayumi took one last sip of the water in front of her before making her way into the kitchen, "If I want it any good I'd better help." She mimicked, sticking out her tongue as she collected the proper vegetables and fish in front of her. "Do you have a knife?" she asked as she assessed the area. Yoshiki felt his heartbeat in his chest as he handed her a knife from the utensils drawer. "I, uh, I'm following this recipe. If you want to take care of what goes into the soup, I can cover the broth and noodles." He gulped as he motioned to the pieces of paper by the stove he had been reading. He received a nod from Ayumi in affirmation, and the two began to work at their individual stations within his cramped kitchen. Yoshiki would never admit the number of times he hoped Ayumi was purposefully bumping into him, having their elbows knock together or touching his shoulder to move past him. As the ingredients came together, Yoshiki leaned over the hot pot on the stoves burner, carefully placing the food in an aesthetically pleasing way in the pot, cracking an egg on top in the center before putting the lid back on to let it steam for another minute.

"I had begun setting the table, you can take a seat and I'll bring you a serving if you want." He timidly offered, showing her the dining room table set up in his small living room. He felt relieved when she smiled, thanking him as she crossed the room to sit at the small table, taking her water with her.

Yoshiki carefully made her dish look as impressive as possible in his eyes, placing two pieces of crispy shrimp on top of the noodles, scooping a small portion of the egg alongside the rest of the toppings. Walking over to the table, he made a snooty face followed with, "Dinner is now served." As he placed the dish in front of her, Ayumi looked up and tilted her head, placing a finger on her chin.

"I don't believe it is fine dining when I helped cook half of the meal…"

Yoshiki sat down at the other side of the table, their knees touching lightly before he lost her touch as she pulled her legs away. "Yeah, well, look at what we're capable of." He used his chopsticks to pick up one of the fried shrimp, biting down on it satisfactorily.

Ayumi's reaction was small, but he noticed the faint smile on her face as she picked up one of the noodles, eating it slowly. She closed her eyes and the smile grew wider. Opening them once again, she made eye contact with Yoshiki as she gushed, "This is amazing. It's better than I remember."

Yoshiki leaned back in his chair, taking in the fact that not only was Shinozaki pleased with his cooking, but it was better than she had was expecting. This dates not going half bad.

As the two ate, Yoshiki joked one more time as he began to gather the empty plates. "You sure you don't want to celebrate this meal with a nice cocktail?"

Ayumi sat up from her slumped position in the chair, clearly full from her meal. "I've never had a drink before, Kishinuma-kun. I don't know if I want to start now."

Yoshiki turned around, facing Ayumi as he goaded, "I thought you were calling me Yoshiki now? Besides, I can really only make a rum and coke, I could make yours not as strong if that would help put you at ease."

The girl began to get up, gathering the rest of the leftover dishes on the table and bringing them to Yoshiki at the kitchen sink. "Yoshiki," She enunciated before continuing, "I guess I will have a small glass with an even smaller amount of alcohol in it. Please."

Yoshiki shined her a big toothy smile before turning around to grab the bottle of rum out of his freezer, leaving the dishware in the sink for another time. The rum was a crappy cheap brand, but it was alcohol. Grabbing two glasses and the coke from the fridge, he let Ayumi pour her drink herself.

"How much is too much?" She asked, looking up at him while holding the bottle with both hands.

"You've filled the glass with mostly coke, I would pour and count to four in your head, that'll be one shot. You know. Roughly."

Ayumi nodded, saying out loud the numbers 1, 2, 3, and 4 as she poured the liquor into her glass. Yoshiki grabbed a spoon and swirled her drink around for her. When he noticed her gaze on him, he blushed trying to explain, "Otherwise the rum will just sit on top…"

Appearing content with this response, Ayumi took the glass once he had finished. Yoshiki turned to make his own drink before turning back and urging her to 'clink' their glasses together.

"I'm only having one, Yoshiki." She sassed, lifting her arm to clink her drink with his.

After taking a large sip, Yoshiki grinned, pulling the glass away from his lips slowly, "One is all it takes to loosen up!"

Sitting at one of the barstools of his breakfast bar, Yoshiki leaned forward and grabbed the deck of cards sat by the edge. "You know how to play any card games?"

He watched the girl shake her head, "I used to play Mahjong."

He laughed in response, "Ah. Oi, okay well that's not cards. I can teach you how to play bull? That's pretty easy."

The girl swayed her head, taking another sip of her drink while hiding the disgust on her face fairly badly as she looked around the room. Her eyes seemingly landed on the couch instead. "Could we watch a movie? I don't want to use my brain anymore today."

Yoshiki put the cards down, laughing at her honesty, "Yeah my heads had it too. What do you wanna watch?"

Yoshiki led her over to the couch, sitting down before patting the seat next to him, crossing his right foot underneath his lap as he got comfortable. Ayumi followed suit, however, sat a cushion or so away from him on the other side of the couch, her back leaning up against the armrest. He tried to not let it burn too much, choosing to let the alcohol do that instead as he took another sip of his drink.

"Did you see The Wind Rises? It came out last year and I still have yet to see it."

Yoshiki's smile fell off his face as his eyelids lowered, looking to Ayumi to see if she was serious. "The Ghibli movie?"

Her eyes sparkled, "Yes! Can we please? I came all the way here."

Yoshiki tightened his lips, 'all the way here' is about a 10-minute walk… before letting out a large sigh, grabbing the remote, and typing it into his on-demand system. "Tch… okay."

"Thank you, Yoshiki." He heard, immediately turning his head over to see the girl look so small, her back leaned against the side of the couch, and the drink in her hand halfway gone. A small smile was on her face as she used her other hand to play with the hem on her shirt some more.

Patting her head, Yoshiki hid his smile the best he could as he cooed, "No problem, Ayumi."

Hitting play, Yoshiki got up to grab the blanket that had fallen on the floor by his feet, offering it to Ayumi so she would get comfortable. As she took the blanket, Yoshiki began to feel the liquor provide him confidence, attempting to keep a small portion of the blanket himself to pull her closer. When she only tugged for more of the blanket however as he handed it to her, Yoshiki bit the inside of his cheek, letting it go and returning his attention back to the movie on the screen.

Around halfway through the film, Yoshiki was feeling pleasantly buzzed from his drink and had no idea what the plot was at all. Looking over to see Ayumi fully engaged, Yoshiki sat back, thinking about every sappy rom-com he had ever watched where the guy held the girl during some movie, or play, or whatever theatrical live number. Shifting his vision to Ayumi once more, he whispered a small "Psst." to get her attention. As she looked over, he swallowed before saying "Hey, I'm kind of cold."

"Would you like the blanket back?" She responded, giggling as she kept an eye on the T.V. Oi.

Waving his hand, Yoshiki added, "No, but- would you share?"

That seemed to get her attention, as her eyes moved from the screen to Yoshiki once more, he saw her gaze squint as she slowly moved to sit next to Yoshiki on the couch so that they both could be underneath the blanket.

"Don't try anything." She proclaimed boldly, leaving an inch of space in between the two.

"Me? How about you?" He shrugged, shifting his weight underneath the blanket so that their thighs were touching.

She mumbled a quick "hmpf" as she took out the hair ties holding in her two pigtails. Yoshiki turned his head, "I thought you didn't do that?"

Almost immediately Ayumi scolded, "Yeah well it was bothering me having it up, it was too tight."

Yoshiki nodded his head, his voice trailing off as he mumbled: "Mhm, yeah sure…sure…"

As the two settled into their positions on the couch, Yoshiki slowly lifted his arm, placing it on top of the couches back behind Ayumi. When the girl didn't seem to acknowledge it, he let his fingers dangle by her neck, slowly letting a few locks of her hair spiral around his index finger, feigning his attention on the T.V. screen still. Soft, was his first thought. As the movie continued, he noticed Ayumi's eyes become hooded, the large meal, alcohol, and length of the movie seem to have taken their toll.

Yoshiki slowly lowered his arm to move around her shoulder, helping shift her weight more on his chest. "You can close your eyes if you need too, I can wake you when the movie is over."

Ayumi nodded her head slowly, a hand slowly reaching to Yoshiki's chest and lightly pulling on the fabric of his shirt. Yoshiki sat there gazing over her small figure leaned up against him. He could feel her breaths slow as she relaxed in his arms. Slowly he massaged his thumb in small circles on her back, releasing a slow exhale as he relaxed in the peacefulness of the time being.

As the movie neared its end, Yoshiki grabbed the remote and turned off the T.V. completely, letting Ayumi sit in his arms for just one minute longer…

Her eyes began to flutter open, slowly and groggily she rubbed her left eye as she looked up, "What time is it?"

Yoshiki kept his hand on her back for fear if he moved it suddenly the mood would be broken. Peering his vision over to the kitchen clock, he frowned, "It's pretty late. The movie just ended and I was about to wake you. Your parents must be thinking about you."

Ayumi slowly sat up, and Yoshiki took his arm away unwillingly. She stretched, yawning out a, "They think I'm at Naomi's, I said I might be home late."

Yoshiki grinned, leaning closer intriguing, "You thought you'd be here late, huh?"

Slowly the groggy fog must've lifted from her brain, as Ayumi frantically shook her head, moving further to the other side of the couch "Not like that! I just didn't know how long dinner would take!"

Yoshiki sarcastically nodded his head, leaning against the couch and crossing a leg, "You wanted something to happen is what it sounds like."

He shifted his head over to watch the girl's cheeks turn bright red, eyebrows furrowed as she sulked, "Not true..."

Yoshiki leaned his weight forward, facing Ayumi before looking to the door, hiding his frown, "Can I walk you home?"

She shook her head, "No, I'd rather my parents not potentially see you walk me home after I said I was with Naomi."

Fair… Yoshiki felt his shoulders slump, "Well, I can walk you to the door."

As the two got up, Ayumi gathered her things before turning around at the doorstep. She looked up at him, again beginning to fiddle with the hem of her shirt. She let out a small, "Thank you for dinner." Bowing her head slightly.

Yoshiki patted her head instead, smiling as she looked up at him, "Don't thank me, you helped! I think it was a pretty good date."

He paused on the word date, running his hand through his hair a little exasperated as he followed up, "If that's what we were doing… otherwise-"

He was silenced when he felt a pair of small lips hit his, and the gentle touch of a hand on his shoulder. Ayumi had lifted on her tiptoes, stabilizing herself on his shoulder to kiss him at the door, and Yoshiki was still blabbering?

Shutting up, Yoshiki closed his eyes, returning the kiss, his hand slowly moving to cup her cheek. Before the kiss could continue, Ayumi broke away, redness on her cheeks making her appear almost pink. Yoshiki leaned forward once more, returning a soft kiss to her lips before returning his hand back to his neck, anxiously waiting for the tension to be broken.

"So, I'll call you?"

He received a nod as her hair shook back and forth, free from the pigtails she normally wore. Walking out the door, Yoshiki waved, "I'll be seeing you, Ayumi."

The girl turned halfway around as she walked, "You haven't given up on me yet after all..."

As he closed the door, Yoshiki slowly touched his fingers to his lips, looking around his now-empty apartment. The space had just felt so full of life, energy, and maybe just on his behalf but definitely sexual tension. It was depressing to stand there in only silence. His legs carried him back to the now-empty couch, pulling the blanket up to his chest as he reached for his phone to text the only person who would possibly care about his night: Satoshi.

"Food was good."

Bzz. "That's all you have to say..."

"The movie was good too, jeez."

Bzz. "Yoshiki this is me asking to hear more."

Yoshiki felt a small smile creep upon his face, feeling lucky to have a friend who cared at all.

"Alright, alright. So she got here around 18:00…"