Home Date? No, I'm Cooking At Her House For Some Reason - Chapter 3

May 17 (Tuesday): Make-up Holiday First Date…

Since it was our first date, I was nervous and arrived about 15 minutes early at the meeting place.

My outfit was mostly the same as usual. Since it was early spring, I wore a light hoodie and jeans, which I thought was a slightly better choice for me.

I’m not that particular about clothes, so this should be fine.

As I was killing time on my smartphone, Okada-san arrived after a while.

“Good morning.”

“Good morning!”

Okada-san seemed very excited, maybe because she had been looking forward to the date, and was somewhat high-spirited.

I must have appeared normal, probably. Even though I was acting calm, I was still quite nervous about our first date, but hopefully, it wasn’t noticeable.

“We scheduled our meeting time quite early and we’re still 10 minutes ahead, so what should we do? Should we buy the tickets and have some tea at the nearby Wac?”

“Let’s do that.”

So, we bought the tickets and got drinks at the café while chatting and waiting.

Even for small talk, I wasn’t sure what to talk about, so I decided to do the typical “compliment her outfit” thing that I had heard about.

“Your casual clothes today look fresh and cute. Different from your uniform.”

“It sounds like you’re not used to giving compliments… haha.”

“Well, it’s my first date. I tried to follow the general advice.”

“Does Hattori-kun dress like this normally?”

“Yeah, lately I’ve been into hoodies. For spring and autumn, I usually choose hoodies with a hood. But is this okay for a date? This outfit?”

“I think it’s fine? It’s my first date too. If it were too formal, it would be difficult for me. Casual clothes are good for a movie date, I think. As long as they look clean.”

“I see. Maybe we could go shopping for clothes together sometime.”

“Sure.”

It was almost time to enter the theater, so we headed back to the movie theater and saw that people were already entering.

I wanted a drink, so I asked Okada-san what she would like for her drinks and popcorn.

“Drinks and popcorn, what would you like?”

“Milk tea and caramel popcorn, please.”

“There is tapioca in the milk tea though?”

“That’s fine.”

“I’ll go get them, so please wait here.”

“What about the payment?”

“I’ll cover it. I have some money from my part-time job, and it’s not that much.”

I bought two milk teas and caramel and matcha-flavored popcorn and came back.

I handed one of the drinks to Okada-san and whispered, “Your hand, please,” while holding the tray with one hand.

We smiled at each other and moved to our seats, chatting about the movie while we waited for it to start.

“Hattori-kun, now that I think about it, it’s an anime, but it’s also a love story—is that okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine with romance in anime and manga. I’ve read most of my sister’s shoujo manga, so I think I can enjoy it. Besides, romance in guys’ manga and light novels often caters to male fantasies, so I don’t mind. This one is like that too, right?”

“I’m sure it wasn’t based on a shoujo manga.”

“In those stories, the girl is usually head over heels for the guy, and it’s unlikely that both sets of parents approve without any objections, right?”

“Haha, you’re right… When you think about it, there are many stories like that.”

“They’re sweet and relaxing to watch, though. It’s about time for the movie to start.”

The announcements and guidelines for watching the movie began, and the main feature started.

We shared each other’s popcorn and watched the movie for about 90 minutes.

It was a bit early for lunch, but since it was a weekday and a good time, we moved to a family restaurant.

We talked about the movie, discussing what we liked and the protagonist’s actions while having our meal.

I thought it would be crowded because it was a weekday and the local office workers would be there, but it wasn’t, so we decided to just talk.

“About the future…”

“The future?”

“Yeah… If I share my schedule with you, we can plan to hang out when it suits both of us. I don’t usually have sudden plans, so we could hang out regularly. And summer vacation is just two months away.”

“It’s better than suddenly suggesting to hang out and our schedules not matching…”

So we decided to talk about this with our schedules in mind, including some predictions.

Other than hanging out with Yamada and the others, I only go to the movies with Miyazaki, a friend from elementary school.

It’s usually around the day after the exams are over, but it’s not sudden; it’s just that I don’t know until right before the exams.

“As for the weekend… I think I’ll be hanging out with Yamada and others on Saturday. After school, I might go over to Yamada’s house and hang out.”

“Every week?”

“Probably, for now. On the other hand, I usually keep Sundays free unless something urgent comes up, so I have time available. Since there’s more time on Sunday, I think it’s good for hanging out, what do you think? But if Okada–san have plans with your friends, you can prioritize those, and we can make arrangements to decide on the details at the last minute.”

“Is that okay?”

“It’s okay. When I have free time, I’m playing games or working on plastic models or something to pass the time.”

“Ahahahaha.”

“I guess it’s the same on holidays.”

Okada-san listened thoughtfully.

On Saturdays, Sundays, and public holidays, I basically have as much free time as I want, as long as I don’t hang out with Yamada and the others.

“What about you, Okada-san?”

“Is it okay if we hang out every week or suddenly? As long as you don’t have plans… but.”

“I think it should be fine. I’ll let you know in advance if I have plans.”

“What about after school on weekdays? I’m not looking to go out but just to chat sometimes.”

“I don’t have club activities, so I’m free. I usually just go to bookstores or do some shopping and then go straight home.”

Since I’m usually indoors, I finish my shopping after school and stay home.

I don’t even go out to convenience stores at night.

I don’t go to Yamada’s place since it’s far, but I can visit my close friends from elementary and middle school.

Since summer vacation is less than two months away, I should also talk about plans for then.

Okada-san might have plans with her friends.

“How’s your summer vacation going? I usually stay at my grandma’s place for three days during Obon. Other than that, I might have occasional plans, but I’m mostly free to do homework, go to bookstores, arcades, or play games at home.”

“Summer vacation… homework… how do you do that?”

Okada-san seemed more concerned about homework than having fun.

I’m the same way, though I’m not doing anything special.

“Homework? I just do a few pages daily, dividing it by days. By early August, I’ve finished most of it.”

“…Why are you so systematic with it??”

“When I was in first grade, I forgot my homework and got punished for it. Since then, I’ve been systematic about it.”

“Surprisingly, when I was little, I wasn’t serious. Ahaha.”

“I’m not that serious now either. I just do what needs to be done, no extra studying or reviewing.”

“So, what are your scores on the exams like?”

“I think I averaged over 80 in all subjects.”

“Ehhh, can you really get those scores just with that?”

“I only study about a week before exams. My scores in Japanese aren’t great, but I’m good at memorizing, so my overall score is decent. By the way, midterm exams are at the end of the month. Are you prepared?”

“Ahhhー, please don’t remind me!”

“How about a study session next Sunday? Also, let’s do summer vacation homework together.”

“We can talk about it later.”

“Hahaha. Okay.”

After talking about our holiday plans and unexpectedly discussing studying and homework, we continued talking about other things we wanted to know.

“Anything else you want to know?”

“There are still many things I don’t know about you, and you’ve told me about your schedule, so I’ll ask more as we hang out. But it seems like you’re somehow accommodating me to fit my schedule, but is everything okay? Your relationship with Yamada-kun and others?”

“It’s fine. I usually hang out with them on Saturdays. And since you’re my first girlfriend, I want to prioritize you.”

When I said that, Okada-san blushed.

It was getting late, so we decided to wrap things up. But I wanted to keep talking a bit more.

“Where do you live? If you don’t take the bus, I could walk you home.”

“I walk here, so please walk me home.”

We talked about my part-time job, my sister, and her family while I pushed my bike and walked her home.

We didn’t notice someone watching us from her house.