Chapter Text
It was a slow day for the Eizouken club. Not that they were finished with the animations they were supposed to do. Rather, Kanamori decided to tell both Asakusa and Mizusaki to rest after seeing the condition the animation had been in, so far. Sooner or later, the club would dismiss themselves. After all, Kanamori could see the sun going down. Doumeki had finished inputting the audio and was on their journey getting more opportunities for their sound library. Mizusaki had gone out to the comfort room for a while.
Not much could be heard except for Asakusa's muttering and the fans rolling from one side to the other. Kanamori had not much to do so she let herself be entertained with the phone in hand. She was about to tap into a profitable opportunity when she realized she could hear the fans. And not so much of Asakusa.
"Kanamori-san!"
Ah, there she was.
Kanamori looked up from her phone to see her best friend holding onto one of the railings. There was something on Asakusa's face that she couldn't decipher. Her mouth had been in a straight line except at the time she called for her.
"You called?"
Asakusa went quickly down the stairs and came to a halt in front of Kanamori. The wide eyes in her face were partnered with a faint blush on her cheeks. A sheepish smile emerged from the small girl's face. She took off her hat, fidgeting with it on her hands. She kept her head low, only looking down at the floor.
"Kanamori-san, have you been on a date?"
What was once a calm composure of the tall girl led to her gawking at her best friend. If anything, Kanamori would be the last person Asakusa would be asking advice from. Never in her life was she asked for a date. So why should Asakusa be asking the odd question?
"Asakusa-shi, why in your right mind would be asking this," Kanamori asked. "That is, if you even have the right mind as of right now."
Asakusa whined. "I'm being serious here, alright? I'm just..." Her gaze looked toward the floor. The hat turned to some sort of mess thanks to its owner's fidgeting. She had lost her words, though Kanamori could see how hard she was trying to unscramble Asakusa's unspoken words.
"Spit it out, Asakusa-shi."
"I...I was thinking of going on a date with Doumeki and I just dunno what to do with that. I'm nervous and my heart's racing but it doesn't feel wrong? Is it normal to be feeling these kinds of things? Am I turning crazy? Kanamori-kun, you think I'm going crazy?" Asakusa pointed to herself with wide eyes. She groaned. She landed onto an ottoman, her arm shielding her eyes as the hat is close to her chest. "Oh please don't tell me that I would! I don't know what are these feelings and ---"
"Stop. Calm down a bit. You might be getting yourself to overdrive at this point."
Asakusa looked at Kanamori for a moment then looked down. Holding tightly to her boonie hat, it seemed that it's getting harder for Asakusa to look at Kanamori again.
"What should I do, Kanamori-kun?"
Kanamori was about to answer that question when Mizusaki came onto the door. The two turned their heads and calmed down a bit. Mizusaki walked towards the two and sat down. Her head cocked to the side as she heard the commotion from outside.
"Hey, what were you guys talking ‘bout?"
"Oop," Akasusa said. She tried not looking at Mizusaki as she put down her hat farther down her face.
"Asakusa-shi here was asking me about the topic of dates. And personally--Ah, hold on to that thought. Mizusaki-shi, have you seen Doumeki-shi on your way here?"
Mizusaki shook her head. "No, I haven't." Kanamori nodded her head.
"As I was saying before I asked that, I had never been on a date--" Kanamori glanced at Asakusa before looking again at Mizusaki."--So I couldn't answer her, even if I have no choice but to." Kanamori then wrapped her hand around her own chin before speaking again. "Though that could mean that the two of them should try to arrange a budget depending on the type of date they would go for."
"B-but," Asakusa said in a tiny voice. "We're not thinking of anything fancy. We were just thinking of a movie date and--"
"I hate seeing couples go onto cliche dates and just say that that was a 'date'. Much more if it were just watching movies and not talking to the partner."
"What do you suggest then? I don't have many ideas as to where this date could lead into."
The three thought for a moment before Mizusaki spoke up. "Asakusa-san, what do you and Doumeki-san have in common?"
Asakusa looked up at the ceiling, her arms crossing. "I suppose it's our appreciation of music and sounds, in general."
"Does she like games? Movies? Maybe even have the same music taste as you too."
The small girl thought for a moment before jumping off of the ottoman, startling Kanamori and Mizusaki for a moment before settling down. "I got it! Doumeki-shi told me that she would love to show me her process on getting the sound files for her library. She was also thinking of getting outside and letting loose. Maybe that could be a great date."
"That settles it," Kanamori said. "I'm sure you asked the wrong person for advice, Asakusa-shi. It looks like Mizusaki is better at advice for dates than I am. Like I said before, I'm not one to go onto dates."
Mizusaki looked at Kanamori. "What? You, Kanamori-san? You never went on dates before?"
Kanamori replied, "There's more work and profit to be done and be gotten. How about you, Mizusaki-shi?"
Kanamori could see Mizusaki's cheeks turn red somewhat. She couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. "To be honest, me neither," Mizusaki said.
How surprising. Amateur model Tsubame Mizusaki not going on dates? There wouldn't be anything that would stop her, much less when she knew that her parents are lenient to her. Plus, how could she be good at dates if she never went on one? Kanamori glanced at Asakusa. Her mouth gaped when she learned about that fact.
"H-how is that possible?" Asakusa shouted for a moment.
Mizusaki gave a small smile to both of them. "I believe that if I should go on a date, it would be with someone I'd put my heart to. I don't want to go crazy over the dating thing, especially if I would never see the person again after that. I'd want to commit to that special someone with all my heart. Plus, it would suck if the only opportunity to see them again is one measly date."
Kanamori gave a grunt onto Mizusaki. "Hm. I suppose I can understand that. After all, your family is rather famous around here."
Mizusaki nodded. "I wouldn't date anyone just for the fame either. But anyway, do you have a plan now, Asakusa-san?"
Asakusa-san stood up onto the ottoman. No longer does she bear the nervous expression on her face. Her eyes shined brighter than before as she pumped her fist to the air. "Tomorrow would be a good date for me and I'm sure of it."
She chanted as much as she could before seeing Kanamori and Mizusaki looking up at the stairs, their expression blank. Asakusa hesitated to look behind, fearing it would be someone she had in mind. And surely enough, she saw the blonde looking at her.
Doumeki smiled. On one hand, they carried around the sound device while the other still held onto the doorknob. "I hope you wouldn't mind," Doumeki said. "But I think that your chants were cute to the point that I recorded them."
Asakusa looked like she was about to fall off the ottoman when she heard that. Thankfully, she balanced herself before looking at Doumeki again. Doumeki laughed before coming down the stairs.
"You know, Asakusa-san. If I'm being honest, I'm nervous as well. But hearing you might just take my fear off my chest."
"How much did you hear ‘bout it?"
"Oh? So you were talking much about it before chanting?"
Asakusa gave a sheepish smile and turned her head as Doumeki chuckled for a bit. "I'm joking. But on a serious note, I'm more than excited for tomorrow."
"And speaking of tomorrow, I should go now." They grabbed their bag before heading towards the exit. "Oh and," Doumeki said as she looked over her shoulder. "Don't be late, Asakusa." And just like that, Doumeki had left the building. Well, not before she bumped onto the door and quickly made pace outside.
The aftermath of Doumeki led to Asakusa fainting, leading to Kanamori and Mizusaki scramble to get Asakusa to lie down onto the ottoman.
---
It had been a few hours since that incident had happened. And for some reason, it led to Kanamori thinking about what had happened for a bit.
As she stared up at her bedroom ceiling, she couldn't help but wonder about the many suitors that tried to come to Mizusaki for dates. She can't be bothered by how Kanamori herself could and would never have dates in her life. Who is she to have dates anyway? Would anyone bother having a date with a tall, money-hungry, and fearful woman in their life? Especially when it's Sayaka Kanamori herself? She's not lovable, that's a fact. Anyone with a right mind could just leave her alone and forget about her.
Scoffing at the thought of getting to dates, she decided to make her time productive. She should be sleeping or better yet, get onto working onto the club's finances. She decided on the latter, as she booted up her laptop. As much as she loved to sleep, she'd hate slacking off and keeping tabs with the finances. It's one of the things that would make Kanamori satisfied, especially after what had been the case today.
The sound of Kanamori's phone rang. She grabbed it before looking closely as the caller was. And just like that, Kanamori began to smirk.
It's Tsubame Mizusaki herself .
But why call at this--Kanamori had to look at her phone's time--ungodly hour of midnight? Doesn't she need to sleep? Moreover, why Kanamori? Kanamori didn't have to think before pressing the accept button. The first thing she heard from the other side of the call would be a yawn.
"Kanamori-san? You're still awake?"
"Why do you sound so surprised, Mizusaki-shi? You were the one who called me."
"Well, yeah but..." Mizusake's side turned silent.
"Mizusaki-shi? Are you still there?"
Kanamori could hear Mizusake yelp as she could hear muffled noises. She must have dropped her phone somewhere. And hopefully, not somewhere too high.
"Sorry! I just didn't think you'd still be awake at this hour."
"And why would you even be calling me?"
"Well, I was thinking," Mizusaki said. "About Asakusa-san's events on going on dates and all. It led me thinking, What's it like being on dates? I mean, I saw how you and Asakusa-san were surprised and all but I just can't stop thinking about it."
"Is that it? You just want to talk to me about that?"Kanamori could hear her quiet laughter from the other side. "No, silly. I was about to ask you something."
"And what would that be, Mizusaki-shi?"
"Would you go on a date with me?"
If Asakusa's question about dealing with dates already got Kanamori surprised, there's no denying that Mizusaki's question was the winner of the day. Kanamori felt her cheeks begin to heat up. Her hands started to shake. It's getting harder to focus onto the Excel sheet in front of her.
"You're very straightforward, Mizusaki-shi."
"And you're not so bad yourself, Kanamori-san."
A simple grunt was all that Kanamori could give her. There are a million questions that were inside her head. . Why her? Why couldn't it be someone else? Is this a joke?
"Kanamori-san? Are you still there? Please tell me I didn't startle you with the question. If so, I'm so sorry."
"Don't apologize, Mizusaki-shi." Kanamori hesitated before talking again. "I may be startled but it was nothing."
"Hmm, alright. If you do decide to answer my question, just let me know alright? I'd love to hear from you soon."
"Okay."
"Well, I'm going to hang up now. It really is getting late. I hope you get yourself some rest soon."
"You too."
The call ended a few seconds later. Kanamori got up from her chair and looked at her calendar full of different events. It surprised her for a moment that this weekend could be perfect. Kanamori sat down and shot a message through her phone.
Kanamor i: I'd love to. Today's weekend would be perfect.
Mizusaki: Perfect. But where would you like to go?
Kanamori thought of some places. She decided to put up somewhere Mizusaki doesn't even know.
Kanamori: It's a surprise. I'll help you lead to it.
Mizusaki: Please tell me you do not have a meeting with a Yakuza member or anything.
Kanamori: Me doing that to you? I'd rather draw something than to put you up with that.
Mizusaki: Alright. Can't wait to see you this weekend.
Kanamori: Mizusaki, we are club mates and school mates. Don't worry about it.
Mizusaki: Classic Kanamori. Always would know what to say.
Kanamori: See you then?
Mizusaki: See you. ❤
Kanamori closed her phone before looking at her calendar. She grabbed a pen and proceeded to write within those blank boxes.
Date with Mizusaki.