Root Beer Float (Kaito x Meiko)

Eleven

I stared at myself in the mirror. Red lips, red dress, red nails. Brown hair curled, brown eyes surrounded by makeup. I had to admit I did look pretty good. I would've wanted to date me, too.

Compared to Luka, I was a lot more gruff and supposedly more masculine too, but I loved getting dressed up like this. I did my makeup for work all the time, but this was different. I could be more dramatic with it.

And now that I looked my best, I could move on to the next thing to fret about. How to act on this date. I'd read a bunch of dumb advice on how to make a good impression and how to be appealing, but to me it seemed like a load of bullcrap. I wasn't gonna intentionally try to be more appealing, I would act however I pleased. And if he didn't like it, well, then I'd know it wouldn't work out. Better to be myself now than several dates in, especially if he didn't like me.

That new thought scared me. What if he doesn't like me? What a dumb thing to worry about. Obviously, if the date didn't work out then that was fine, but the idea of losing Kaito altogether made me sad. After all this time, I was starting to grow fond of him.

Luka knocked on the door and came in. "Are you ready to- ooh!"

I stood up and grinned. I'd had this dress for a couple years, but I only got to wear it on special occasions. I loved it, though. "Bet now you wish you were in Kaito's place, huh?"

"Nah," she smiled. "You do look beautiful, but I'm glad to be me."

I groaned. "It was a joke, Luka. No need to get all philosophical."

"I know," she chuckled and started adjusting my hair. "But, I get you to myself all of the time. I have to share every once in a while."

"Haha," I said sarcastically.

She exhaled deeply and looked at me. "Oh, my little girl's all grown up. I promised myself I wouldn't cry!"

"You are not crying!" I shoved her, but she clung onto my arm.

"Oh, but I am!" She faked a wail.

And then Rin opened the door and stared at us. We froze. "What in the world are you doing?"

"Rin," I straightened up and cleared my throat. "One thing you'll learn in life is that adults really just act like grown children." That made Luka giggle.

Rin shook her head like she was highly concerned for us. "Well, whatever. Uncle Kai is here."

"Baby! You're not supposed to answer the door alone!" And like that, Luka had gone back to being an overprotective mother. I didn't stick around to hear the rest of her lecture.

Kaito was waiting by the door, and can I just say he looked good? Apparently he thought the same about me, because when he saw me his eyes got real wide and his whole face turned pink.

I chuckled. "Hey."

"Um- uhh... here," he shoved a bouquet of flowers in my hands. "Those are for you."

"Cool, thanks," I responded, immediately handing them to Luka.

She squealed. "Oh my, these are gorgeous! Kaito, you have great taste in flowers! I'll be putting these on the kitchen table where we can all see them!"

"Th-thanks, Luka," he stammered.

I stepped forward. "What's wrong, Kaito?"

"Nothing, nothing at all!" he rubbed the back of his neck, not daring to look me in the eye. "You're just really pretty."

Now it was my turn to blush. As much as I wanted to compliment him back, all I could say was "thanks".

Once we got into the car, Kaito seemed to relax a bit more. He took the liberty of placing his hand on my thigh, just above my knee. "So, if you're Mei-chan, why don't I have a cute nickname?"

"That's more Luka's thing," I said, uncomfortably shifting a bit. "I don't really do nicknames."

He pressed on. "But, like... isn't that a thing couples do?"

"I don't know," I mumbled.

Once at the restaurant, I peered over the menu. No way would I get a salad just to impress him. I wanted some meat, so it was meat I would have.

"So," Kaito started, breaking me out of my thoughts. "You're supposed to learn about the other person on a first date, right? I don't think you ever told me how old you are."

"Kaito, first rule of talking to a woman, never ask her for her age," I teased. "I'm 27. Old, I know."

His eyes widened a bit. "Really? I'm only 24. Uh, but don't worry! Older women are totally great!"

I rolled my eyes jokingly. "You know, I don't think I really know much about you as a person. Do you have any hobbies or anything?"

"You mean, like, besides ice cream? And scarf collecting?" He asked.

"Well, obviously."

He rested his elbow on the table, chin in hand. "Hm... this may come as a surprise, but I really like to sing."

"Really?" He was right, I wasn't expecting that. "I used to be in choir, but... I don't like my voice that much."

"I like your voice a lot! I hope I can hear you sing someday." He smiled and took a sip of his drink.

I shook my head. "Not likely. I don't sing, not anymore."

We went on like that for a while, and when we finished our food he took me by the hand and led me to the park, just like last time. Except it actually wasn't like last time, because this was a date.

"You know, Mei-chan, I think this could really work out," Kaito said. He was still holding my hand.

I turned to face him. "You think?"

"Yeah," his voice was much softer this time, and then I realized he was leaning in for a kiss.

I turned my head away. I couldn't do it again.

When Kaito realized I wasn't going to kiss him, I pulled my hand away too. "Meiko?"

Meiko. He never called me by full name.

"I want this to work out too, so you deserve to know the truth. I've.. never actually had a boyfriend before. I'm not used to all of the touching and stuff." I looked up at him. "You need to know that if we're gonna do this, it's going to be a really slow process."

Kaito just smiled. "Okay. I understand. We'll go one step at a time."

"If you could ask before you touch me or something, I would appreciate it a lot... that's an embarrassing thing for me to ask, but I really do like you. I hope we can keep doing stuff like this." My face was definitely red now.

He chuckled. "Definitely. I think it's important that we can stay friends under anything romantic. Even if it's a little bit awkward for now, it's better for us to be on the same page so there's no misunderstandings later."

"Exactly," I nodded. "I'm so glad you agree. I got really nervous saying all of that."

"So... do you wanna go on another date soon? Should we start seeing each other exclusively?"

I thought for a moment. "Well, I wasn't really looking for someone to date in the first place, it just sorta happened. Nobody else has ever shown this much interest in getting to know me, therefore it's not like I'll be seeing anyone else. So yes, I do want to go out again, but... I don't think we should use the whole boyfriend-girlfriend label yet."

"Okay," Kaito nodded. "Yeah, you're right. We can plan another date, but don't forget to come visit me during the week, too. We're still friends, after all."

I smiled. "We should always be friends."