08 - My first date

"Yuichi… You're him— i mean her... Right..?"

Still asking that?!

I ignored Nagi’s question and only looked down, tightly gripping the bottom of my skirt.

My face felt incredibly hot now, and my vision started to blur.

I never expected this. That after sixteen years of living, my long-awaited first date would turn out to be with a guy…

"Nagi… I'm saying this because I'm afraid you'll misunderstand, but I'm not wearing girls' clothes just to go on a date with you. Got it?!" I said loudly. Even though I said that, I couldn't deny that my heart kept pounding every time I met him.

Nagi nodded in understanding.

For some reason, I was breathing more than usual today. All this exhausting activity was making my throat get thirsty quickly.

"Nagi, what did Akane-san say to you just now? How did you end up here?" I asked curiously.

Nagi scratched his head a few times before finally answering. "Akane-san asked me to help her shop at this mall. She said she was going to buy a lot of stuff, so she asked for my help," Nagi explained.

"I see…"

Well, it seems like I’m not the only one who went through a lot of preparation for today.

My eyes landed on the outfit Nagi was wearing—a dark green jacket with black checkered patterns, left open.

Underneath the jacket, he wore a plain white shirt that contrasted with the jacket’s color. Meanwhile, Nagi wore tight-fitting black jeans on the bottom, which suited his body’s proportions.

I could also catch a strong scent of cologne coming from him.

"ARGH—!? Yuichi?! That hurts! Why did you suddenly—"

"Huh?"

Apparently, I had pinched Nagi’s arm without realizing it.

For no clear reason, I suddenly felt irritated after hearing Nagi’s explanation. Especially seeing him suddenly paying attention to his appearance just because Akane asked him to go shopping with her.

He always dressed so casually when he was with me.

Does that mean he prepared all of this for a date with Akane? Not me?

"Don’t just pinch like that… It hurts, you know." His complaint snapped me out of my thoughts. Nagi kept rubbing his arm, which had turned red from my pinch.

"Hmph! Don’t care."

For some reason, I suddenly felt guilty...

"Sorry," I muttered in a soft voice, so quiet that even the one I pinched probably didn’t hear it. I wasn’t sure myself if I really intended to apologize or not.

I sighed.

Oh, right, before I left Akane’s villa, she gave me a card.

I pulled the card out of my small bag to examine it more closely.

The card was square-shaped, with an elegant black color. Particularly on the mall’s name, the letters seemed to be made of gold.

Akane told me to use the card whenever I needed to pay—does that mean it works like a credit card?

Oh? There’s small writing here too… Um… "Unlimited card."

What does that even mean?

"…"

Forget it.

"Nagi, here." Slowly, I extended my hand toward Nagi, opening my palm and spreading my fingers apart.

"Huh?" Nagi stared at my hand, looking confused. Oh, come on, how can you be so dense?

Without overthinking it, I took the initiative and grabbed his hand myself. I intertwined my fingers with his, and in an instant, Nagi’s face turned red.

Once he realized my intention, he adjusted his grip, finding the right position for his fingers before holding my hand firmly.

"What’s this for?" Nagi asked, covering part of his face. Even though he was trying to hide it, I could tell he was blushing—

BECAUSE SO WAS I.

I quickly turned my face away, worried that Nagi would see just how red I was now.

My heart was racing faster and faster. Even though I was standing still, my mind was wandering everywhere.

I didn’t think the impact would be THIS strong! I used to hold hands with Nagi all the time when we were little, but now it feels so different...

Especially when I felt just how big Nagi’s hand was. I just realized it now, but—are all guys’ hands this big?

Awawawa…!! From the start, why did I even listen to Akane’s request so easily?!

Suddenly, Akane’s words from earlier echoed in my mind, "When you two go on your date, don’t forget to hold hands the entire way."

"Hmm.. Now I’m suddenly remembering that shoujo manga I read yesterday, " she said.

She just casually made us act out a scene from the shoujo manga she read!

Ah, whatever! I don’t care anymore!!!

***

After I managed to calm myself down by repeatedly thinking of something else, I finally felt at ease again.

Our first destination was a clothing store. Even though all my old clothes from when I was still a guy had automatically turned into girls' clothes, I still needed to shop for new ones.

Most of them didn’t fit anymore when I tried them on, they felt way too tight.

We hadn’t let go of each other’s hands the entire time, and I could feel my palm starting to get sweaty.

Even so, I hadn’t let go because I’m a man of my word. Hehe, I feel cool.

But because of that, the atmosphere between us became awkward, and our walking got stiff. People were staring at us because of it...

Well, at least we were almost at the store.

"Nagi," I called out.

"What?"

"Pick out some clothes for me."

"I have no idea what kind of girls’ clothes look good. Maybe if you follow your own taste, you'll find something," I replied.

"What, am I a girl or something? Besides, I don’t know the latest girls' fashion trends, only a few. Want to wear one of those?" Nagi shot back.

Whenever Nagi spoke in that questioning tone, for some reason, it always felt like something was off.

"Try... naming some." I had a feeling I shouldn’t have asked, but I was curious about what type of clothes Nagi liked on girls.

"First, you need to buy cat ear headbands and a tail, then two cat gloves to complete the set. Lastly, you have to call me 'master' and end every sentence with 'nyaa'. Is that enough?" Nagi explained with a deadpan expression.

"W-what…?" My cheeks immediately turned red upon hearing Nagi’s explanation. Without hesitation, I squeezed his hand as hard as I could.

"OW!" Nagi screamed in pain.

"I asked for clothes! Not a FETISH! Stupid Nagi! Pervert!!!"

I was panting after shouting those words. I couldn’t believe he liked things like that.

Cat ears and tails? Does he have no shame?!

Nagi will never learn unless he’s given the RIGHT lesson.

I grabbed a piece of Nagi’s arm and twisted it tightly.

"OW OW OW!! What now?!"

"Stupid Nagi!! Don’t you know it’s rude to talk about things like that in front of a girl?! You should be grateful that the 'girl' who heard your weird fetish is ME!" I shouted, twisting his arm even harder.

"STOP!! Enough already!! I was just kidding! I swear I don’t have a fetish like that!"

I kept twisting his arm until I felt satisfied.

Once I was satisfied, I slowly let go of his arm.

"Huff… huff… Don’t do it again."

"Sorry… Yuichi-sama…"

At least Nagi understood.

But—why do I suddenly feel like something is bothering me? Did I say something weird earlier?

My words started replaying in my head. "You should be grateful that the 'girl' who heard your weird fetish is ME!"

....

...

..

Forget it! Nothing happened today. Yes. Exactly.

I grabbed Nagi’s hand and pulled him into the store, pretending like nothing had happened.

TO BE CONTINUED.