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Makoto tapped his finger nervously against the table, pulling slightly at the tie that clung around his neck. He didn't like wearing it, like most people, but he wanted to look nice, so his hand had been forced. He quickly checked his phone.
It was 8:37.
Kyoko said she would be here by... 8:45 or something? Makoto knew that he was rather early, but his anxiety had basically dragged him all the way to this restaurant. It was Valentine's Day for God's sake! Even if Makoto wasn't the anxious type, he'd still be worrying about this.
Due to being Valentine's Day, the restaurant was filled with couples that were chatting sweet nothings to each other. A few of them had glanced over at Makoto, ranging from reassuring glances, judgemental gazes, and suspicious stares.
Makoto tried his best to avoid eye-contact with any of them. He was feeling self-conscious as it was, he didn't need these people to degrade his self-confidence further. Although, just as the thought crossed his mind, a waiter suddenly approached his table.
"Sir, I don't want to be "that guy" but you've been sitting here alone for twenty minutes now. Is someone coming or what?" The waiter asked, raising an eyebrow with a notepad in his hands. Makoto hesitated briefly before clearing his throat and answering.
"Uh, yeah, she'll be here soon. I just, uh, got here kinda early. Or, rather, uh, really early." Makoto said, taking a glance towards the restaurant's front doors, although he didn't have the best look from where he was sitting.
"Oh, early, huh? Those nerves getting to ya? Well, good luck with your date, sir, I'll be back in a few minutes. Hope she didn't flake out on you." The waiter says before turning around and walking off, to... wherever waiters go, Makoto didn't really know.
"Hope she didn't flake out on you."
As he watched the waiter walk off, eventually leaving his sight, those parting words swirled around in Makoto's head as his anxiety shot through the roof. He checked his phone again, trying to rationalize his thoughts.
It was 8:39.
"It's fine, it's fine, Makoto. You're just early. No need to panic. She'll be here, she said she would, right?" A helpful voice in Makoto's head said, which was probably his optimism shining through. His sense of optimism and anxiety tended to clash against each other quite a bit. Thankfully, his optimism was usually stronger.
He continued to tap his finger against the table nervously, although it was drowned out by the chatter of other people and the clatter of plates and forks. To try and ease his mind a bit, he glanced at the menu that had been given to him when he was sat down.
He glanced his eyes across it, seeing what they served. This was a rather exquisite restaurant, serving all sorts of fancy meals and drinks, along with massive price tags to boot. An average person like Makoto could never dream to order most things on this menu, but Kyoko had already assured him that she would pay for everything. It made Makoto feel a bit guilty, but there wasn't much he could do about it, Kyoko made ten times as much money as Makoto could ever dream of from her detective work. Makoto checked his phone again.
It was 8:42.
Just a few more minutes until she would be here, surely. He kept glancing over the menu, trying to see what he'd want. Eventually, his eyes locked onto a section that labeled different types of curry. He loved curry, it was one of his favorite foods. He read through his options.
"...Curry over rice sounds good." Makoto thought to himself, checking his other options to make sure there wasn't anything else he would find more appetizing. He nodded before sliding the menu to the side and checking his phone once more.
It was 8:46.
Makoto felt his heart sink before looking up to glance around, but as soon as he did, someone sat down across from him. Startled, he gazed at the person who had silently sat down, not initially realizing who it was through his shock.
Kyoko Kirigiri, the Ultimate Detective, was sat down across from the Lucky Student. Makoto was briefly left speechless, seeing exactly what she was wearing. A blue flowing dress with highlights of purple and navy blue. She wore cap sleeves that covered her forearms and left her shoulders open, connecting to her gloves, which she had swapped out from her usual purple ones with stud to black, silky ones. Her lavender hair had been done in a ponytail with the black ribbon she usually wore.
Kyoko's mouth had been knit into a small smirk as she adjusted in her seat, glancing over at Makoto, seemingly darting her eyes down at his clothing, which majorly consisted of a white dress shirt covered by a greenish suit jacket.
"You look nice, Makoto." She said simply as she leaned forward a bit in her seat. Makoto was frozen for a few seconds before nodding.
"Yeah. T-thanks. You t-too." Makoto murmured quietly, so soft that he doubted that Kyoko actually heard him, although she seemed to get the message, as she nodded back.
"Honestly, Makoto, I'm surprised you beat me here. I was expecting you to oversleep, based off of previous incidents." Kyoko said as she lifted up the menu in front of her, reading off her options. Makoto chuckled.
"My anxiety wasn't going to allow me to... to sleep. To sleep. Yeah." Makoto said nervously, stumbling over his words a bit. Kyoko chuckled in a way that sent shivers down Makoto's spine.
"Mhm, that sounds like you." Kyoko said as she continued to read off of the menu, before setting it down. "Although the next time we do this, we're not returning here. Not only is it cramped, but it's also too expensive to be dining at consistently."
"...Next time?"
"Yes, Makoto, next time."
Makoto took that information in as Kyoko continued smirking. His face was probably a bright red.
"What are you ordering, Makoto?" Kyoko asked, glancing towards the menu he had set aside, before her eyes dart back to him curiously.
"Uh... Curry over rice." Makoto answered, clasping his hands together after brushing hair out of his face. Kyoko nodded as she glanced back to the menu and ran a finger along it, eventually locating whatever it was she was searching for. Her eyebrows knit as she stared at the menu. Makoto wasn't sure why he was paying so much attention to her facial features.
"That sounds good." She says before glancing off to the side, eventually waving to a waiter, coincidentally the same one that Makoto had talked to a few minutes prior to Kyoko's arrival. The waiter walked on over, hefting his notepad with a pen.
"Oh! Good evening. I'll be your waiter for tonight. What will you be ordering?" The waiter said in a much more professional manner than before, glancing between the two Ultimates.
"Two servings of Curry over rice, please." Kyoko responded. The waiter nodded and scribbled the order down on his notepad.
"Alright, wait right here, and I'll be back with your meals before you know it." The waiter finished and turned to walk away. Makoto and Kyoko glanced back towards each other as they both pushed their menus aside, no longer needing them.
"Tell me, Makoto, what's your opinion of Valentine's Day?" Kyoko asked, shifting in her spot as she asked the question. Makoto hesitated for a second before briefly thinking about it.
"It's, uh, kind of corny." Makoto replied with a slight shrug. Kyoko nodded.
"That does appear to be a rather common way of viewing this particular holiday. Maybe it was just my Grandfather's perception on emotional connections in general, but I never even thought about Valentine's Day until recently. If it wasn't marked on calendars by default, I think I would've gone through today completely unknowing." Kyoko said as she leaned forward a bit more and crossed her arms on the table. Makoto didn't respond, this seemed like it was turning into a Detective Kirigiri Monologue, although not one where he was scolded for forgetting to lock his doors for once.
"But then, well, you came along, Makoto." She said, a twinge of pink forming on her cheeks, as she looked at him. "You showed me that small and sentimental things are worth looking for. You made me more open other people. You single-handedly managed to remove the closed fist I had put around my heart."
If it wasn't obvious, Makoto's face was a bright red, flustered from the genuine appreciative comments coming from the detective, her usual stoic tone slowly melting away as she averted eye contact bashfully.
"While I remain to be not a fraction of how foolishly open you are, Makoto, I now see that... letting your emotions out, albeit cautiously, isn't always a bad thing." Kyoko finished as she smiles and chuckles quietly at the boy, who still remains to be flustered beyond belief.
"And you're also so damn cute." Kyoko whispered quietly, although Makoto still translated what she said despite the loud ambience of the restaurant by reading her lips, nearly causing Makoto to collapse onto the table, but he managed to catch himself with his arms before he slammed his face into the table.
Makoto wanted to reply with something that sounded vaguely like a proper response, but he was interrupted by the sudden appearance of their waiter, now holding two plates of the same food, curry over rice.
"Here ya go." The waiter said as he carefully laid out the plates onto the table, giving it first to Kyoko and then Makoto, before standing up straight with a nod.
"If you need anything, just call me over. I'll be more than happy to help." The waiter said before turning around and walking away towards another table with a couple. Kyoko glanced back towards Makoto, who began to silently eat his food. With a chuckle, Kyoko picked up her fork and followed suit, taking small bites of the food in front of her.
The curry and rice was really good, so good that it nearly made Makoto forget about being embarrassed from Kyoko's words. But just that, nearly. The words still existed in the back of his head, replaying over and over again.
However, the meal went by too quick. After what felt like no time at all, both of them done with their meals. The next several minutes were a blur, involving of their waiter taking their plates and Kyoko paying for their meal, apparently totaling around a hundred and twenty dollars or so, which gave Makoto a mini-heart attack, but Kyoko (once more) said it was fine.
Once all of that was wrapped up, Makoto tipped their waiter graciously and the two left their table and walked towards the exit, walking rather close to each other.
"Well, all in all, I'd say that was a successful night." Kyoko said, glancing towards Makoto with a smile.
"Definitely!" Makoto said enthusiastically, nodding as he turned to her as well, only now noticing how close he was to her. The two walked out of the building and out into the parking lot when Makoto suddenly remembered something.
"Oh, Kyoko, stay here, I need to grab something real quick!" Makoto said excitedly before jogging towards the car he had arrived in (which was secretly his parent's car) without waiting for a response from Kyoko. Thankfully, the detective just raised an eyebrow, crossed her arms, and stood still a she watched the Lucky Student run towards a car and open up the passenger's side. He grabbed a small heart-shaped box off of the seat, shut the door, and ran back towards Kyoko, who was waiting patiently.
However, Makoto was a bit too excited. He tripped as he was running, falling over his feet and hitting the asphalt with his face, his arms outstretched forward and holding out the box in front of Kyoko's feet.
The detective seemed a bit stunned. Makoto let out a quiet groan from the ground before moving his head to look up towards Kyoko, pushing the box towards her.
"'S for... you..." Makoto murmured quietly, his optimism unwavering. Kyoko finally shook off surprise and kneeled down, picking up the box before helping the Lucky Student back to his feet. Kyoko brushed off Makoto's suit with her gloves before glancing down at the box.
"Didn't you say that you thought that Valentine's Day was corny?" Kyoko asked, darting her eyes up towards Makoto, who chuckled in response.
"Doesn't stop me from being corny." Makoto said with a chuckle. Kyoko shook her head with a grin before opening the box. Judging by Kyoko's expression and comment, Makoto guessed that Kyoko had been expecting chocolate. Makoto's mouth tugged into a smile as Kyoko's eyes widened a but.
She reached inside the box to take out a beautiful pair of white silk gloves. She looked them over, looking at them from various angles. With a chuckle, Kyoko slide off her current gloves, briefly revealing the burns on her hands, before sliding on the new ones and continuing to examine them.
"Do you lik-" But before Makoto could finish his (probably obvious) question, Kyoko surged forward and cupped the boy's face with her hands, before pressing a gentle kiss directly onto Makoto's lips.
Makoto was briefly caught off guard by the sudden kiss, his brain needing to comprehend what was going on, before he eventually realized that he was being kissed. Hesitantly, he kissed her back passionately.
After what felt like forever, Kyoko and Makoto pulled away from each other to take in some oxygen. Unfortunately, Kyoko checked her phone and stepped away from Makoto.
"Apologies, Makoto, it appears I must make my leave. Grandfather will become suspicious if I stay out too longer. I'll see you tomorrow." Kyoko says, before turning around and walking towards the car she had arrived in. Feeling a bit disappointed, Makoto backed towards his car and eventually turned towards it. But before Makoto could open the door, he heard the sound of someone yelling.
"Makoto!"
The Lucky Student glanced over towards the source of the voice, coming from none other than Kyoko, who waved towards Makoto with a smile. Once Makoto was staring at her from across the parking lot, Kyoko placed a hand on her lips before blowing a kiss towards Makoto, before chuckling, which instantly caused Makoto to become incredibly flustered once more.
Kyoko waved goodbye to Makoto before opening the door to her car and stepping in, eventually pulling out of the parking lot and driving off.
Makoto remained standing in the parking lot for a few minutes, his face bright red and nervous stuttering coming from his mouth. Eventually, he shook his head and managed to think straight. He opened the driver's door and sat down in the car, sighing to himself as he closed the driver's door.
"Love you, Kyoko."