Sara took a deep breath of fresh air, smiling, as the door to the store closed behind her. Finally, a chance to get away from work for her lunch break. What a perfect day! Cool breeze, warm sunlight, blue sky mottled with traces of white clouds... early autumn was a beautiful season to be outside. Settling her purse over her shoulder she set out leisurely for the crosswalk.
However, the person who was standing there on the corner finally caught her attention and registered as someone familiar to her -- and her first reaction was to completely stop in her tracks. She felt her face heat with a unbidden blush (which was normal if not rational, if it was indeed who she thought it was), and even as half her mind scrambled for logical, unromantic reasons for his would-be appearance, the other half of her mind couldn't help hoping and conjuring up cheesy, fanciful what-if scenarios.
No, no, it couldn't be. Even if it is, it's just a coincidence, a--
The rest of her train of thought was completely derailed when Kagetoki turned towards her, face lighting up with a bright smile. "Sara-chan~!"
"K-Kagetoki-san?" she said in partial disbelief, glad that her nervous stutter was kept to a minimum. She surprised herself when she managed to respond to him with a composed smile of her own. She tilted her head curiously as she drew closer. "What are you doing out here in this part of town?"
"Well~ I thought you'd be getting off for lunch about now, and it crossed my mind to drop by and see if you wanted to go get something together," he explained cheerfully.
Sara went speechless at this confession, wondering if she was dreaming.
He must have taken the startled look on her face for distress because he quickly continued, "Ah, but, I know it's last minute, I was just in the neighborhood, so if you already had plans or didn't want to that's okay too, so don't feel pressured or anything, really..."
"Oh, no, I'd love to!" interrupted Sara hastily, feeling a blush coming on again, and trying to fight it as hard as she could. Kagetoki looked a charming combination of relieved and triumphant at her response, which didn't make her struggle any easier.
"Great~! Then, it's settled! Were you feeling like going anywhere specific today?"
One of her earlier conjured-up scenarios popped into her mind, and she ventured carefully, "Um... how about the little crepe place over across the street?"
"Un, that sounds perfect!" He smiled still brighter and Sara finally allowed herself to get swept up in the rush of his active, brilliant energy.
"All righty then, let's go!"
The rest of the excursion passed by in a happy blur. Once inside the little restaurant both of them ended up taking a long, long time to decide what exactly they wanted to eat, and when they finally ordered, the man behind the register just gave them a knowing smile as they quibbled lightly over who was going to pay. Kagetoki won, but only after promising to let Sara pay the next time (hardly a sacrifice if it meant a chance at being together again, she thought). She found a small table for two in the corner and tried not to think too hard about how date-like it was, even when he pulled her chair for her and got up to get them both water. Their crepes arrived promptly, and while they ate Kagetoki chatted brightly about the decor, lavished praise upon the food, queried her about her job. She gladly responded as he prompted, feeling ridiculously comfortable with the easy, natural way he was able to keep the conversation rolling.
After finishing their meal they gave up their table for the growing lunch crowd, and opted to take a leisurely walk around the block until they found a bench to sit on in a quieter part of the neighborhood. The conversation had tapered off by this point -- which was unusual for the chatty Kagetoki -- and sitting side by side in this unusual but somehow still-comfortable situation she was keenly aware of how quick her pulse was yet again.
Not sure if she should say anything and risk disturbing the more or less stable equilibrium, she stole a sideways look at him to try to gauge his state of mind. And of course, it happened to be the moment he had chosen to chance looking back at her. Jade eyes hiding a hopeful, shy warmth that mirrored the one probably showing in hers had the very silly but very real effect of making her heart skip a beat and turned the world bright and happy like she'd never thought was actually possible. They both quickly looked away from each other but she couldn't keep the huge, pleased smile from spreading across her face.
She took a breath and tried to relax, tilting her head back to gaze up into the bright blue sky, and feeling encouraged and a little emboldened by what she'd seen in his eyes, leaned into him just a fraction. He didn't move any closer, but she could feel his smile warm and grow, and that alone was enough to make her heart sing.
After sitting a while like that, he reluctantly broke the peaceful interlude. "Looks like it's been a while... shall we get you back? Ah, not that I'm trying to get rid of you or anything..." he said, quickly explaining himself while blushing a little, and she returned a shy smile and a nod.
They stood and walked back around the block, the companionable silence continuing.
When they were back on the corner where they'd first met up, they stopped to look at each other. She was the first to speak. "Thank you for lunch, Kagetoki-san... and, um, thank you, for coming out all this way to see me."
"Oh, no, it was definitely my pleasure," Kagetoki answered cheerfully. And a little more shyly, he added, "I've, ah, been wanting to come visit for a while." Sara was too pleased to be able to say anything in reply.
There was a long, expectant and semi-awkward pause while they both looked at each other without speaking again, and finally he nodded, turning a touch quieter. "So... I'll see you later?"
She tried her hardest to keep from blushing any more, but her heart had already starting pounding again, clearly picking up on the wistful note in his voice.
"Un... I'd really like that."
And she was sure that the smile her answer earned her was the most beautiful thing she'd ever seen.