Time Flies

Chapter 2 - Obfuscating a Vixen

"Ahhh, I spent a lot more time with Chiaki than I thought," Kiyotaka sighed.

He had to prepare for his date with Satou this Christmas afternoon. Chiaki had dragged him to a boutique to get himself an outfit for the date. He already ironed out his white hoodie, grey denim jeans, and newly purchased black overcoat.

Kiyotaka had already made some preparations beforehand, like acquiring 50000 points from Sudou beforehand with the help of Horikita as reimbursement for buying a point earlier in the year, and running Ryuuen's pockets for 100000 points as one of the stipulations for the rooftop incident never coming to light. He didn't particularly want to harm Ryuuen's pockets much because he wasn't going to participate in the class competition much anymore. However, he wanted to take Satou out to some places she might enjoy, even if he had to turn her down. At the minimum, he hoped they would become friends at the end of the date.

He put on his outfit and decided to come to the meeting place fifteen minutes ahead of time. Internet-sensei claimed that males should arrive early to the date. In his pocket was a novella that he was going to read to kill time. Arriving late would be disrespectful to Satou, and arriving on time would imply he wasn't that interested in the date and might be doing things on the fly. Kei had leaked to him that Satou planned on asking her for some dating tips, but her sickness had her in the wrong state of mind. In the case that Satou had trouble with making plans for the date, he was going to help her.

Kiyotaka arrived at the destination and sat on the bench, taking out the novella to read. Snow accumulated on his person, but he didn't brush it off. He was curious about the cool sensation, and it felt refreshing. After a few minutes, he looked up from his novella, noticing the presence of his partner, looking dazed and with a pink tint on her cheeks.

"Satou," he greeted with a wave, snapping the normally sly fox out of her stupor.

"Ah, Ayanokouji-kun, what are you doing? Why are you covered in snow?"

He didn't want to tell her about his curiosity or else she'd be weirded out, so he cleverly replied, "Chilling."

"Pfft—"

The pun dissipated her nervousness as Kiyotaka intended. Whatever tense feeling she had lightened up some.

"You're early, Ayanokouji-kun,"

"Of course. I wanted to spend time with Satou," he replied.

This was one of the few times someone had wanted to hang out with him. The idiot trio usually barged into his room or hung out with him with an ulterior motive. With Ike and Yamauchi, it usually involved asking for help with something perverted or for him to be an errand boy. Sudou was a little better, either asking something involving Horikita one way or another or for help when he's distressed. Even though he was impertinent and selfish at times, Kiyotaka put him just below his clique. He didn't leave even though he gained a bit of popularity from his performance at the relay. Kiyotaka also wondered what would have happened if he told Sudou about all the times he saved him. Would he be closer to him than the other two idiots?

Meanwhile, Satou flushed and gave him a bashful smile, completely unlike her usual demeanor. Despite the foxy attitude she displayed after he gained her interest, she was still a maiden at heart.

"Where would you like to go?" Kiyotaka decided to ask. Satou clung to his arm and started pulling him in a certain direction.

"Let's go to the plaza! I wanna go to a bubble tea shop!" she exclaimed enthusiastically.

The two made their way down the boulevard, with Satou chatting amicably with Kiyotaka about her hobbies and favorite pastimes. The two arrived at the perfect time, the boba shop having scant a queue. Satou had ordered a jasmine milk tea with honey boba while he ordered a mango smoothie with boba. She was surprised that he paid for them both.