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“Ritsuka!”
His name was called in an excited tone, a cheery one. The dark brown haired boy turned his head in the direction of the voice with a smile on his face, lifting his arm to wave at the blonde twin tailed girl that approached towards him.
“Artoria! Hey!”
Ritsuka Fujimaru spoke out to his girlfriend who approached him, jogging in his direction. Once she had gotten close enough, Artoria looked up to him with a soft smile, before staring away down to her fingers grasping a basket, which she found herself fiddling with. Ritsuka himself was quiet too, staring at her with a slightly awkward smile. Taking his hand up to the back of his head to scratch it softly, he would speak again. Both painted a light pink tint on their cheeks from the blood running up their face.
“So…shall we go?”
“Oh- Yes! Of course!” Artoria responded looking back up to him excitedly, hiding her nervousness through it.
Walking side by side, the two went deeper into the grassy field they found themselves in, Ritsuka found himself holding the strap of his backpack a little tightly. The walk itself was silent, with both of them taking glances at each other from time to time before looking straight forward in embarrassment. Of course, it was not the first time the pair went out together, but it was their first date as boyfriends.
It had not been long ago that Ritsuka had managed to gather the courage to finally ask out the country side girl to go out with him romantically. In what was a sweet moment, she had accepted, embarrassed, just as much as Ritsuka was, but both felt extremely happy over it. Even their close friends had congratulated them over it, relieved if anything that they had finally sealed the deal after so long.
Naturally, the two would go out on a date together, it just happened that suddenly the closeness and atmosphere of such a date was completely different from the casual outings they would have with the others. They became more self conscious about themselves as they walked close together.
“You look…pretty”
Ritsuka spoke first, breaking the silence. He said it with his eyes peeking at her casual outfit, a white button shirt and blue skirt, a pair of brown shoes to match together. It was not particularly outstanding, but he thought of how pretty she looked in it regardless. She turned to him, smiling softly and responding.
“Thank you…you look handsome too”
Her eyes looked at him up and down as she responded. It would be a lie to say they weren’t about to shut down inside from the many things they were feeling as they walked side by side. Ritsuka muttered a soft ‘Thank you’ as they closed in on the spot they had decided on.
The sky slowly turned darker and darker as the sun set in the distance, they had agreed on a night time date picnic out in the field. Unconventional for a first date, but if anybody was asked, they would say that was a way to describe the two lovers at times. It was a familiar experience particularly for Artoria, who had done a lot of such activities before moving into the city. It was her who suggested it after all, and Ritsuka happily went along with it. Getting to the spot, Ritsuka got his backpack off, placed it on the ground, and started putting down a blanket on the grass.
“Just in time, the sun has set” He said as he finished placing down the blanket, and sat down on it. Turning to Artoria, he extended his hand, inviting her to sit beside him, which she complied with, putting down the basket on the blanket too. With both sitting down together, the awkward silence continued for a little more, the two looked anywhere that was not each other. When they finally turned to speak to each other at the same time, they stopped on their tracks as they noticed the other wanting to speak, causing both to giggle in reaction.
“You go first” Ritsuka spoke first, conceding her the word. To which she just nodded softly before speaking.
“Well- Uh- I mean, you are fine with this sort of thing, you know, being our first date…? You know, it does not seem like the sort of thing couples do for the first time and just…”
She asked him what had been bothering her from the start, an embarrassed blush dyeing her cheeks as her eyes traveled back and forth while she explained herself. She wanted to say something else to lighten the mood first, any random comment, but in the end, unable to think of anything she simply got to the point to start the conversation. Ritsuka’s expression turned a little surprised, but it was not beyond what he expected. His expression shifting into a smile, he spoke back.
“Of course I am. You know it's more about us being together than the place, plus it's a beautiful sight is it not?”
He asked her while looking at her with a warm smile, though it was uncertain to know if he referred to the beautiful starry sky forming above them as the sunlight disappeared completely, or to Artoria whom he stared at. With such thought running through her mind, Artoria let out soft mumbles as if trying to respond back but being unable to form a word.
“Ah! Uh- Well yeah it is! Uh, you know what? I should take out the food!” She said deflecting the conversation as she could not focus well after the words were spoken. Reaching to the basket she had brought along, she opened it and brought out a few sandwiches.
“It's not much, but it seemed fitting for this sort of scenario! So uh, I hope you enjoy them”
She stated while handing one over to Fujimaru. She looked expectantly at him, quite obviously hoping for a good reaction. Taking it, Ritsuka did not waste time to take it into his mouth, changing his expression immediately into one of delight as he tasted it.
“This is really good Artoria! It's simple but really tasteful, on top of that, I know you must have put effort into making them”
He responded to her silent question with a smile, proceeding to consume the rest of the sandwich. At the response of her boyfriend, Artoria clenched her fist and and made a happy emote of victory now knowing he had liked it. Taking her own sandwich to her mouth to eat, the two would continue to do so for a little, chatting idly about random topics, mainly related to school. When they had finished eating, the two found themselves a little closer to each other on the blanket, staring up at the starry sky.
“Have you ever heard of the bunny on the moon Ritsuka?” Artoria asked him while looking up to the vast sky idly.
“Hm? Not particularly. Why?”
“Back home it was said that during a full moon, you can see the shape of a bunny on it if you are in love…”
At the statement, Ritsuka subconsciously turned to look at the moon itself, though it was impossible to discern anything. For the moon was still in its crescent phase and no such feature would be able to be seen. Without turning to look at her, he spoke.
“You know Artoria, I am really glad I asked you out then, I mean, I have liked you for a while of course. And now I can say I am…really happy, and so I wish for both of us to continue being happy together, I want to make you happy”
He spoke, not daring to stare at her, though the obvious blush on his cheeks gave away his feelings. His hand, though, moved over to lay on top of hers. Artoria herself was very embarrassed at the words, but she did not dare mutter anything, for she liked what she was hearing. Reciprocating the act, she entangled her hand with Ritsuka’s quietly.
“So, the next full moon, lets come back here ok?”
Ritsuka proposed to her, finally turning his head to look at her, a bright smile on his face.
“Yes, of course!” Artoria responded with a bright smile in return, before muttering the number ‘10’ quietly.
“Hm?”
“It's the tenth time we have held hands”
She answered back softly, laying her head on Ritsuka’s shoulder, yet turning her head to look at the beautiful stars. Fujimaru only nodded silently, tightening the handhold as he too turned to look at the sky. Just like that, the two spent the rest of their date quietly watching the sky, enjoying each other’s company.