Chapter 188 - The Bitter After Taste - Part 2

Naoto's POV

We reached the table, and it seemed to be a round wooden table, as the boy gestured to us to sit down. I slid the chair out which also seemed to be wooden, but had cushions on them. Taking a seat, I looked towards Saishi who was already looking at me.

"Here's the menu, Sir." The boy handed over a black card as it was the menu and Saishi took it from his hand with a smile as he nodded and said, "Thank you."

Saishi was quite mature for his age and that thing always attracted me towards him. He seemed to be quite familiar with social norms or rather his socializing skills were good. He is also more wise than me for some reason, I wonder what his problem is.

"Is something wrong?" He asked me and his voice broke my train of thoughts as I realised that I was staring at him all this while. Smiling awkwardly, I nodded my head from left to right and said, "Oh, it's fine… by the way what are ordering?"

His eyes shifted at the menu then at me, as he turned the menu card and passed it towards me, "Here, decide for yourself.." 

I was confused as he was giving me the whole menu to decide for myself but it wouldn't be good since a date is between two people so deciding everything for myself would be selfish. I hesitantly took the menu from his hands, "Eh?" 

"Let me check…" I said, as I looked into the menu and saw the bunch of dishes in appetizers and starters. I slightly shifted my eyes upwards and looked at Saishi as he seemed to be fiddling with his mobile.

He looked quite calm considering it was his first date and stuff. Or rather he was just good at handling stress unlike me. It may appear like nothing affects me from outside but inside, I would be feeling a bunch of emotions.

My eyes were wandering around subtly, as I was observing the interior of the cafe. It had the aesthetics of the late 90s and there was slow music going on in the background which was really soothing and complimented the atmosphere.

"How come you know of this place?" I asked, as his eyes shifted up from his mobile and looked at me and he said, "I have come to this area with my friends, so I know."

"Oh… I'm liking the looks of this place." I expressed my honest opinion about this place, as he smiled and added, "You'll like their food too."

I appeared like he had come here before with his friends and eaten their food since he was quite confident about his claim. I nodded my head, and asked, "Yeah, let me check… by the way what will you order?"

He looked confused for a moment, as he seemed to think for some time before replying in an uncertain tone, "Uh… I'll probably order something with chicken in it."

"Chicken?" I was curious, as he chuckled and replied, "I love chicken."

He loved chicken and dishes with them, which was something new I got to know about him. We have never talked about our food preferences till that moment. All I knew was that he loved chocy milk because he would always be drinking one in school.

"What about your chocy milk?" I asked as he looked at me and said, "Oi Senpai, not fair. I can't choose."

After placing the order, we talked with each other while the food was being prepared. Though the topic of our conversation wasn't something deep. We were just talking about how different we act at school compared to outside.

Well he seems a bit approachable in school, but outside he just has an intimidating vibe about him. Though he was a guy I couldn't predict at all and his actions are sometimes really weird.

Later our orders arrived, and we continued talking while eating. I couldn't believe that my idea of going on a date differed so much compared to what it was when I was Vivian. It might be true that people around someone affect them.

After we were done eating, he was drinking his hot chocolate while accompanying me around the bookshelves. He seemed to have quite some knowledge about books too and apparently he liked to read novels too. He was a complete geek.

Though, it was finally time for us to go home, and I wouldn't say that the date was boring, albeit all we did was eat some food while talking with each other. I wouldn't say that this was the plan I had in my head, but I definitely enjoyed this.

We got out of the cafe and it was already evening. The sun was setting as the sky was lit with bright orange colour and we were walking side by side. I glanced at his face and it didn't bore any expression.

It was really irritating that he always had the same face no matter what happened. I couldn't tell if he also enjoyed it or not. We were walking, my hand was brushing against his but didn't seem to pay much attention to it.

Why wouldn't he hold my hand? I knew he wasn't bad at reading the atmosphere. My eyes glanced up towards him as he was narrowing his eyes at me with a confused look on his face. 

I didn't say anything and brushed it off with a smile as we kept moving. Suddenly I felt his fingers upon my palm as he wrapped them around and held my hand. Embarrassed by this, I looked at him as he had a slight smile on his face.

"What?" I asked in an agitated tone as he chuckled softly and looked at me, "Nothing, I just like holding your hand."

The rest of the walk continued in silence. So my first date with this guy wasn't as I expected it to be. It was full of things I was experiencing 

for the first time from a guy. Vivian was a good boyfriend too, if I compare him to Saishi but Saishi feels closer for some reason.

That's how my life changed. I went from dating a guy from Kendo club to a complete geek.