Chapter 172 - My First Ever Relationship

I remember towards the end of last week that Naoto asked me out, and we started dating. Though the way she asked me out was rather cryptic and took me sometime to realise that but I texted her as soon as I got it.

She didn't look like the kind of person to be so indirect while asking someone out who also happens to be younger than her. Considering the fact that she has already been in a relationship, it was lame for her.

But as the fact sounded in my head, I just couldn't wrap my head around it. Even though my circumstances were narrowed down, I was dating Tsubakihara Naoto, and it was an undeniable truth.

Never in my life have I ever thought that I would date one of the most beautiful in my high school. Looking at Naoto, she was way out of my league, as Gaisen said when he got to know that I liked her.

She was beautiful, her jet black hair which moved freely and dark pearl like eyes that would stare at me curiously whenever I would say something dumb. Her slight blushes when she gets embarrassed and her little pouts when she gets mad.

The feeling was surreal, but then there was the hanging stress around my neck as to why I hadn't been able to make her fall for me. I had different things to achieve now, but for that I would require a fresh approach.

It was a free period before the chemistry laboratory, so most of the students were either talking to each other or were busy with their mobile phones. Then there were students like Gaisen, who were busy writing the practicals in his laboratory notebook.

Now I had already done the writing part last week after we were done with the practical. It was the same for Tsūmen as he copied it from me and then Kana copied it from Tsūmen, and that's how most of us were done with it.

We were gathered near his desk, as most of us were busy with the ongoing conversation. Gaisen was trying his best to not take part with us, but the urge to talk with us was oddly irresistible.

I was heading towards the chemistry laboratory with my friends. It was mostly them talking about how Gaisen was so desperate to finish his assignments that he looked so exhausted at that moment. We all laughed at that and continued walking.

As I was about to walk past the staircase since the laboratory was at the end of the hallway, someone suddenly grabbed my hand and pulled me towards them. Recalling an incident like this that happened to me last week, I had a pretty good idea who it was.

"What?" I turned towards Naoto, who was standing in front of me with a bland expression on her face as usual. Albeit, her eyes were gazing at something behind me as I followed her line of sight and turned around to notice my friends looking at me in confusion.

Of course, they had every right to be confused, since the person they were walking with suddenly got snatched from their side without a trace. Naoto could be a very good kidnapper if I was being honest. Her skills are like trained professionals.

I smiled at them awkwardly and told them to continue without me as they walked off and Naoto sighed, finally opening her mouth, "I don't know… I had nothing to do so I came to see you."

The way she said that, I could tell that she wanted to talk with me genuinely and I found it rather cute but I had my class so I looked at her and replied, "Well I have things to do… it's my laboratory class right now…"

"I can tell by the notebook in your hand." She nodded as her eyes shifted towards the notebooks I was holding. With an awkward smile, she diagonally raised her eyes and added, "Ah… then I guess we can't talk."

Looking at her expression, I felt like she was looking forward to having a conversation with me, but since there was nothing that could be done, she accepted it with a downcast expression. 

I smiled softly, and said in an assuring tone, "Don't worry, I'll drop by your class during lunchtime."

"Heh? Really?" She looked up at me with a surprised expression as her lips curved to a cheeky smile. I could tell that she was definitely making fun of me inside her head.

I looked at her dark eyes, which were staring right at me, and asked in a lukewarm tone, "Why? You don't want me to?"

I know it was one of those cliché lines, but I still said that for some reason. And since she was the first girl I was actually dating, I had no idea how to treat a girl beyond the level of a friend. With Saki too, I asked her out and next day she forgot everything so it wasn't a hassle.

Naoto averted her eyes from me as I asked and she said hesitantly, "I didn't say that…"

"Then?" I asked her as she again looked at me with a funny expression on her face and started speaking hesitantly, "No, like I thought…"

But before she could complete her sentence, I knew she wasn't going to tell the truth, so I looked at her with an unamazed look and added in an indifferent tone, "You thought I have social anxiety and can't go up to your class?"

"Uh… was that easy to tell?" She chuckled softly while covering her mouth as she kept looking at me mischievously.

I just shook my head from left to right vaguely and replied while poking her cheeks with my index finger, "It's written all over your face."

A small frown formed on her face as soon as my index finger touched her cheeks. She looked at me with a pout and I walked away while waving at her, "Anyways… see you later then."

It was a rather alien interaction for me since I have never talked with a girl from the perspective of her being my girlfriend.. Also, the fact that I was talking that softly with her was unreal because most of the time my composure was rather different.