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Miu wasn’t used to this. She wasn’t used to buying flowers and dressing up with the intention of wooing someone instead of waiting to be wooed herself (and laughing at most of the people who dared to try). Her arrogance was carefully constructed, a years-long project of creating exactly the sort of character she wanted to be. It hid the small, trembling part of her inside that was desperate for affection. Well, it did sometimes. It wasn’t something she enjoyed consciously thinking about, but given what she was about to do, it was impossible to keep it from coming to mind.
“Prove it,” Kaede had said, her words echoing in Miu’s mind. “Prove you’re really committed to me and can treat me like, well, a lady! Not everything has to be about dirty jokes or making fun of people.”
Contrary to the doubts she was apparently having, Miu did care about her. Quite deeply, in fact. Kaede was amazing. There was no doubt she wanted to keep her in her life. She just wasn’t used to voluntarily taking down her walls and conforming to the sort of polite, proper behavior everyone tried so hard to force on her.
She sighed, hugging the bouquet of pink and red blossoms close to her chest. The flowers smelled wonderful, and they were arranged perfectly, not a petal out of place. Well worth the money she’d shelled out for them. Kaede couldn’t possibly object to them, nor to the tickets Miu bought to the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra. The gifts were perfect. All she had to do was make sure she could match them with her behavior.
She’d been loitering outside Kaede’s door long enough. Steeling herself with a mental reminder that she was the gorgeous girl genius who was going to change the world with her inventions, Miu reached out and rang the doorbell.
“Oh, hi!” Kaede smiled when she opened the door, though there was an edge of confusion to her voice as she looked Miu up and down. “You’re...actually on time. And you rang the doorbell instead of just pounding on the door. I guess you really are taking this date seriously.”
“Of course I am,” she said, biting her tongue to stop herself from bragging. “I planned the perfect night for you.” She stepped inside when Kaede moved aside, looking around the familiar living room and trying not to focus on the frantic beating of her heart. The front door closed with a soft click. “Uh, here, these are for you.” Miu thrust the bouquet in Kaede’s direction with a little too much enthusiasm, narrowly avoiding punching her in the chest.
“Thanks, Miu. These are really pretty.” Kaede took the flowers, eyes sparkling. Miu’s heart sped up even more at the sight, nervousness tying her stomach in knots. “Why don’t you tell me about what you have planned for tonight while I get these in some water?”
Powerless to resist, Miu followed her into the kitchen, watching as she fetched a vase from the cupboard and filled it with water for the flowers. She told Kaede about the orchestra tickets she’d gotten, preening a little when she cheered. She didn’t care that much about classical music, but seeing how happy it made Kaede was pretty exciting. Was that how Kaede felt listening to her talk about her inventions?
“And we have time to go to dinner first,” she continued after every detail of the concert had been covered, trying not to let herself get distracted by how beautiful Kaede looked. “Wherever you want. Don’t worry about price, my kickass inventions pay me plenty.” It was a pretty mild remark compared to her typical bragging, but Miu still felt nervous for a split second until Kaede giggled, nodding in acknowledgment.
Dinner was fantastic, and the orchestra was more enjoyable than she expected too, especially when Kaede reached over to squeeze her hand in excitement or whispered important details to pay attention to.
They returned to Kaede’s at the end of the night. Miu leaned in to kiss her in the doorway, feeling like the protagonist of a romance novel. The softness of her lips and the warmth of her arms wrapped around her made all the hard work feel worthwhile.
“I had a really nice time tonight,” Kaede breathed when they parted. “I know it couldn’t have been easy for you, but I appreciate it. I’d like to keep going out, if you want. And just for the record, I don’t expect perfect behavior all the time. I just want to know that you care.”
“I can do that,” Miu agreed. Then she kissed her again.