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The next day arrived, and it had been a long while since Naoya had woken up without sleeping a wink.
In the past, nights like these were common since there was a threat of being assassinated while he was knocked unconscious, but this time that was not the case.
Today, Naoya Zenin, the Special Grade Sorcerer, the leader of Hei Squad of the Zenin clan and the one who was most likely to inherit the clan in the future, was feeling nervous because it was his first date.
'What the hell is wrong with me?!' thought Naoya as he scrubbed his face, roughly cleaning any possible smudge that might be there.
'Fighting against curses, Nii-san, even Satoru never made me this nervous,' thought Naoya.
He looked at his face in the mirror.
Handsome as always.
'Relax, it is not that big of a deal,' thought Naoya and smirked towards the mirror.
A moment later, the smirk vanished.
'...It is a very big deal.' thought Naoya and splashed some more water on his face to cool his head.
He then proceeded with the bath, and once he was cleaned and fresh, he got out.
-----
Meanwhile, in the girls' dorm:
Utahime had been awake for the past two hours.
She was equally, if not more, nervous than the boy who asked her out today, and that left her wide awake for most of the night as well.
She had changed into multiple outfits, but was still not sure what to go with.
"How about this?" asked Utahime and looked towards the critics.
Currently in her dorm room, aside from her, there were Mei Mei, her Grade 1 supervisor, Yuki Tsukumo, and a few of the female teachers who taught them the common subjects at the school.
Yuki and Mei were called in the middle of the night to ask for help, and hearing their panicked junior's begging and whining, the two came to assist her. The teachers, though, saw the three girls gossiping and asked what the two graduates were doing here. After inquiring, they too got involved. There was hardly any fun stuff at Jujutsu High, and this seemed interesting to them.
"Give it a twirl," ordered Yuki.
"Again?" whined Utahime.
"Listen here. It was you who asked for help and made me ride my bike all the way back to this place. So when I say twirl. TWIRL!" ordered Yuki.
Mei Mei nodded. She too had to come in haste and quite early too. Luckily for her, she was stationed nearby, since she was currently acting as Utahime's supervisor and was active around Kyoto, but she still had to come in quite early.
"Okay..." muttered Utahime and gave a twirl.
"With enthusiasm!" ordered one of the teachers.
"Y-Yes!"
"Too plain!"
Utahime changed.
"Too casual!"
Utahime changed.
"Too formal!"
Changed again.
"..."
"W-What?"
The critics looked at each other and gave a nod before turning towards Utahime with a thumbs up.
"It looks cute! The guy will be knocked out!" said Yuki.
"C-Cute."
"Too cute!" One of the teachers said.
"I-I-It's not too much, is it? We are just g-going out."
"...Didn't you say it was a date?" asked Mei Mei.
At her words, Utahime's face turned crimson.
'...He did say d-date.....WHAT THE HELL AM I THINKING?!?!?!?!?!?!' mentally screamed Utahime.
The audience looked at the scene.
It was turning quite interesting as the time passed by.
"By the way, who is the guy?" asked Mei Mei.
"...Now that you mention it, you never mentioned who it was? Spill the beans!" said Yuki.
"Eh? No? W-Why?" panicked Utahime.
"Is it an older guy?" asked one of the teachers.
No reaction.
"Younger guy?" asked Mei Mei.
*Flinch*
'YOUNGER GUY IT IS!' thought the other ladies simultaneously.
Mei Mei stood up and gave a pat on Utahime's shoulder.
"You are in luck. I know how to charm the 'younger' guys, but to know my secrets, you will need to tell the name and pay a fee~" said Mei Mei with a smile.
"Ah... no, thank you. I am good without an arrest warrant," replied Utahime.
Mei Mei's smile didn't vanish, but for some reason, Utahime felt it turned scary.
Before she could take her words back, Mei Mei used a cursed energy-enhanced flick on her.
"Ow!"
-----
Back to Naoya:
Right now, he was in Tokyo, more specifically in the Furshiguro residence.
As for the reason he came here, it was because this was the place of the person who was not only sanest among the people he knew, but also had dating experience.
"Just wear whatever you want. She will mostly be after your money anyway," said Toji.
Needless to say, that sane person was not Toji.
"Toji! Get the hell out! Naoya, don't listen to that idiot!" said Miyuki, the sane one with dating experience.
Naoya had arrived at their home quite early, and the family was asleep. Since he came unannounced, Toji came out with a bat and swung it at Naoya without any hesitation, complaining about disturbing his weekend sleep.
Being the good boy he was, Naoya apologised and told the situation to the couple.
Hearing the story, Toji gave an annoyed sigh, but being the good-natured, kind, generous, and benevolent guy he was, he was ready to teach Naoya from his sea of philanderous knowledge, only for the young Zenin to ask Miyuki for advice.
Toji blinked in surprise and wondered whether Naoya was blind or if he was just retarded. He clearly was the better choice between the two of them.
Now, the older Zenin turned Fushiguro was sulking while making sure to take all jabs at Naoya.
"Now, give me a twirl," said Miyuki after Naoya changed into another set of clothes.
Naoya looked at Miyuki, who was smiling ear to ear, clearly enjoying playing dress-up with Naoya.
Naoya looked at Toji.
Toji looked back at him with a shit-eating grin.
"Twirl!" the order came once again.
Naoya sighed and did as he was told.
-----
At the time of the meeting:
Naoya stood outside the agreed meeting spot.
Five minutes early.
He leaned against a wall casually—
Or at least, that's what he was trying to look like.
In reality—
He had arrived around an hour early, and since then, he has been constantly checking the time.
'Relax. You're acting like a rookie.'
He crossed his arms.
Then uncrossed them.
Then put his hands in his pockets.
Then took them out again.
"...This is worse than fighting."
"Naoya?"
A familiar voice called him and made him flinch.
He turned around and was thinking just one thing.
'Please just tell me you didn't see me acting like a weirdo. Please just tell me you didn't see me acting like a weirdo. Please just tell me you didn't see me acting like a weirdo,' prayed Naoya and looked at Utahime.
His thoughts and prayers stopped.
Utahime stood there, slightly fidgeting with her sleeve.
She had gone with something simple.
Nothing flashy.
But—
It suited her.
She looked cute.
A lot.
Still, he snapped out of his thoughts and spoke.
"...You came."
"..."
And immediately regretted it.
'YOU CAME?! WHAT KIND OF LINE IS THAT?!' mentally screamed Naoya and wanted nothing more than to punch himself and shoot himself in the foot.
Utahime blinked.
"...Of course I did. You asked."
"...Right."
Thankfully, Utahime was equally nervous and didn't focus much on Naoya's speech slip.
She, too, was a bit stunned by Naoya.
Silence.
Both of them looked anywhere but at each other.
"...You look nice," Naoya said.
Straightforward.
No hesitation.
Utahime froze.
"...Y-You too." She replied with a blush on her face.
Naoya smirked slightly.
That was better.
"S-So, where are we going?" asked Utahime.
Feeling a bit calmer now, Naoya spoke normally.
"I was thinking of going on a stroll first and then heading to a place to catch a bite to eat,"
"...That works.'
And so they walked, side by side, neither too close, nor too far; occasionally their shoulders touched, and immediately the distance between them increased.
None of them said it, but the two were acting far more unfamiliar than they acted normally.
"So…" Utahime started.
"So…" Naoya replied.
"...You go first."
"No, you go first."
Silence.
"...This is getting a bit frustrating. We don't act like this normally," Naoya muttered.
Utahime snorted.
"...It kind of is."
That broke it.
The tension eased a little.
"Sen-...Utahime-san, should we go about how we usually do around each other? I want to go on a date and get closer to you, but not by making the whole thing uncomfortable for us," said Naoya seriously.
Utahime's eyes widened in surprise at hearing him say that, and her ears slowly started to turn red.
Naoya looked at her, turning redder and wondered why it was happening.
He replayed what just happened. Realized what he said.
He blushed a bit, too.
------
After overcoming the awkward moment, they decided to act a bit more as they normally do and continued their walk.
Suddenly, Naoya's gaze fell on Utahime as he noticed her looking towards something.
He followed her gaze and noticed her looking at some kids.
"...Utahime-san, targeting kids is..." muttered Naoya.
"Huh?....No! What are you talking about?! I was looking at the clips and hair ties that they just bought! They looked cute! I swear I am not like Mei-san!" yelled Utahime.
Slightly far from them, a crow cawed.
Naoya looked at her suspiciously, making Utahime panic, but soon he smirked.
'Ugh! He is teasing me.' thought Utahime.
"Well, let's take a closer look," said Naoya before Utahime got angrier, held her hand and pulled her along.
"Eh? No, it's ok-"
"Shh~ As the guy who has the privilege of practising hair styling on you. I say we should take a look," said Naoya with a 'serious' look.
Seeing him act like that, Utahime snorted, but slowly her gaze shifted to her....their hands.
Without saying anything, she held on a bit more firmly.
This wasn't unnoticed by Naoya.
He tried to act all cool earlier, but he was conscious, and the action by Utahime made it even more obvious. Still, he refused to make eye contact with her and ruin his cool persona.
Once in the store, the two started browsing the hair accessories, and Naoya made sure to play around with Utahime's hair with any accessory that caught his eye, much to Utahime's embarrassment.
Still, it was not that she hated the whole thing.
Just the warm gazes from the ladies near them made her even more embarrassed.
The men were giving murderous looks to Naoya, who simply ignored them as he was busy with Utahime's hair. If he said so himself, he had a real talent as a hair stylist and working on her hair made her look even cuter to him.
After all testing was done, Naoya sorted through the accessories that got a good reaction from Utahime and went to the counter to have all of them packed.
"Ma'am, pack all of these, please," said Naoya with a satisfied smile.
"Okay~ Thank you for patronage."
"Eh? Wait! I don't need that many. Also, let me pay f-" said Utahime.
"Oh my, what is that? A UFO?!"
"Huh?"
Utahime fell for the oldest trick, and by the time she realised what had happened and turned around, Naoya had already paid for the whole thing and placed the nicely packed bag in her hand.
"Here, take it," said Naoya with a smile.
Utahime looked at him with annoyance and turned towards the shopkeeper.
"How much was i-"
"Don't tell her! Let's get going!" said Naoya and pulled Utahime away.
"Fufu, how youthful..." muttered the lady.
Once they were out of the shop, Utahime tried to pay for the accessories, but Naoya didn't allow her.
"Naoya, let's just go 50/50 at least. I feel bad."
"Utahime-san,"
"Yes."
"I asked you out on a date, so I want to make it nice for you. Please let me gift it to you," said Naoya.
"Still...these are too many."
"...I try hairstyling on you, so it's not like it's just a gift for you. I would really like it if you used them..." muttered Naoya, though by the end of it his tone got quieter and quieter.
Utahime heard what he said, processed it, and crashed.
Utahime lost that one.
-----
After that, the two continued their date as planned, walked some more, and ate at a place where Naoya had made a reservation.
Now, the two were sitting on a park bench with a curtain barrier around them so that neither of them disturbed the other.
During the stroll, Naoya noticed a few crows following them, and when he mentioned that to Utahime, the two of them realised that they were being spied on by Mei Mei and the girls back at Utahime's dorm.
"Seriously, Mei-san...." muttered Utahime and facepalmed.
"...She probably told other girls that if they paid her, she would broadcast the date to them," said Naoya.
"It most certainly went that way," agreed Utahime.
The two chuckled.
They sat there, chatted for a while, nothing too serious, just everyday things. Naoya annoyed Utahime a bit, but still, the atmosphere around them felt nice.
They continued to talk for a long time, and only when the sun was about to set did they realise that it was quite late.
Naoya and Utahime didn't realise, but while they were talking, their hands were resting against each other. Now, when Naoya finally noticed, he looked at her and stood up.
"I'll walk you back," said Naoya
"I can go on my own."
"I know," replied Naoya with a shrug and flicked her lightly. "But I still want to"
She pouted, but didn't argue.
-----
As they reached the staircase, they stopped.
"We've reached," muttered Naoya.
"Yeah..." muttered Utahime.
She looked up and smiled softly at him.
"Today was fun."
"I am glad you liked it. You don't know how nervous I was the whole time," replied Naoya.
"Fufu, I can imagine....Let's do it again," replied Utahime.
Naoya's eyes widened a bit.
"...Are you asking me out now?"
"H-Huh?! I just meant—"
"I know."
He smiled.
"...I'd like that," replied Naoya with a smile.
Utahime smiled back and turned around to leave....but stopped.
"...Naoya."
"Hm?"
"...Thank you."
He nodded.
"No need."
"...Still."
She hesitated but then quickly stepped forward and lightly held his sleeve.
Just for a moment.
Then let go.
"...Good night."
And ran.
Naoya stood there.
Silent.
He slowly turned around and started walking away.
Once he was sure that he was far away from the school and was not under surveillance from crows.
He raised both his hands up in the air, as if celebrating something.
He didn't speak a word, just made various awkward victory poses, clearly enjoying and feeling happy.
-----
Somewhere far away:
*Shiver*
"Seriously, what is this feeling of missing out?!" complained a driver as he drove Satoru Gojo to a mission site.
"Hm? Something wrong?" asked Satoru.
"No. Everything's alright, Gojo-sama."
Satoru simply shrugged his shoulders, not thinking much about it.