Chapter 104.2: Lovely Date Part 2.
''A-Ah, please sit,'' Ichiro said after he woke up from his stupor.
''Mm…'' Azura shyly nodded and sat down.
''I-I think I saw you one day.'' Ichiro pointed out.
''R-Really?'' Azura was surprised.
''Mm…'' Ichiro nodded, ''You were here with a middle-aged woman, your mother I assume.''
''Ah,'' Azura exclaimed.
Ichiro nodded and chuckled, ''What a coincidence that you were living here.''
''Mm.'' Azura agreed with a nod; she was sitting timidly,
Seeing Azura being very stiff, Ichiro decided to ease the atmosphere, ''I guess proper introductions are in order - My name is Kurogami Ichiro.''
Azura smiled and said, ''My name is Azura Nightside.''
''Hmm… Pretty name.'' Ichiro blurted out.
Azura blushed and started avoiding eye contact.
Ichiro put his hand on his face, 'Why did I say that… I am so fucking creepy.'
''T-Thanks,'' Azura said while hiding her blushing face.
Ichiro smiled, ''Should we order something?''
''Mm…'' Azura nodded.
Ichiro pointed towards the waitress.
A female waitress came with quick steps.
Before Ichiro could open his mouth, the waitress managed to talk first, ''We have special discount for couples. Want to try it out?''
Azura blushed even more.
Ichiro shook his hand, ''Umm, we aren't dating, but I would like to have ordinary coffee.''
''S-Same for me,'' Azura said.
The waitress nodded and left the table with quick steps.
''Hehe, I guess we look like a couple.'' Azura giggled and said, but shortly afterward regretted it immensely.
She anxiously waited for Ichiro's comment.
Ichiro nodded and smiled slightly, ''I guess. Jordan and others would definitely make fun of me if they saw me.''
''Who?'' Azura asked curiously.
''New friends I got, they are in the same dormitory as I,'' Ichiro replied.
''Ah.'' Azura nodded with understanding.
Soon the waitress came with two cups of coffee.
''Need anything else?'' The waitress asked politely.
Ichiro turned towards Azura and asked, ''Do you want something?''
Azura shook her head, ''I am fine.''
He saw her taking sneaky glances towards expensive-looking cakes.
''I will take two chocolate cakes, thank you,'' Ichiro said.
The waitress smiled and left the table.
''T-Two?'' Azura asked.
''If you don't want it, you can take it for your mother,'' Ichiro said.
Azura looked at him with her bright blue eyes and then exclaimed, ''I-I have something for you.''
''Hmm?'' Ichiro watched as Azura took a bronze-colored card from her wallet.
''Here.'' She put her hand forwards and offered the card.
Ichiro took it and examined it, ''What is this?''
''T-That's the money you gave us. I have only used enough money for my mom's treatment, and I will find a way to repay the rest.''
Ichiro looked at him and gave the bronze card back.
''Eh?'' Azura looked at him with a questioning gaze.
Ichiro shook his head, ''You don't have to give it back.''
''B-but why?''
''I never wanted repayment after giving those Golden Coins, and I have more than enough.'' Ichiro replied simply, 'And the sh*t-face System wouldn't let me keep it.'
Azura looked hesitant; she bit her lips and was about to give the card back to Ichiro.
Ichiro touched her hand.
Azura looked at him with a shocked face.
Ichiro shook his head, ''I know about your situation; you don't need to lie.''
''W-What do you mean?''
''You didn't have enough money to pay your mom's treatment, and now when you need to pay for two person food's, etc. It can be challenging. It is even more difficult since your mother isn't in working condition.'' Ichiro said.
Azura's eyes widened; she didn't know that Ichiro was aware that she was poor.
She was regretting coming here, but then Ichiro's warm hand grabbed her's tighter.
''I don't judge,'' Ichiro said.
Azura was about to open her mouth, but then two chocolate cakes came.
''Thank you,'' Ichiro said towards the waitress and took the cakes; he put one of them in front of him and another one in front of Azura.
Waitress bowed and left.
Azura looked hesitant while looking at the cake, but seeing Ichiro already eating his, she decided to take a bite and was stunned instantly.
She has been living with cups of noodles for who knows how long.
This cake was a new experience for her.
Ichiro and Azura quickly emptied their plates.
Azura was looking very satisfied.
Ichiro smiled, seeing her cheerful face, ''Do you want to go somewhere else?''
''W-W-Where?'' Azura asked with a nervous tone, 'He couldn't suggest that right…? It's too soon… Only our first date!'
Ichiro pointed out of the windows towards a nearby shop that sells clothes.
''Clothing store?''
Ichiro nodded and stood up, ''I didn't buy a lot of winter clothes. I didn't think it would be this cold here.''
Azura chuckled, ''S-Stupid.''
Ichiro grinned and left the cafe with Azura.
They arrived at the clothing store and looked around the store.
Ichiro walked towards the men's section while Azura followed silently behind.
The clothing store Employees were shocked seeing the most beautiful couple they had ever seen.
They didn't dare to interrupt and decided to stand on the sidelines.
''How does this look,'' Ichiro said and took a grey-colored sweatshirt.
''D-Do you want an honest opinion?'' Azura shyly asked.
''Mm.'' Ichiro nodded.
''Why are you buying only sweatshirts?'' Azura asked.
''They are cool,'' Ichiro said.
Azura chuckled, ''You should buy sweaters instead, stuupid.''
Ichiro smiled, ''I am not some winter specialist, alright.''
''It's common knowledge!'' Azura said with an amused smile.
Ichiro looked towards sweaters next and took a black-colored sweater, ''What about this?''
''You should be more creative, take this,'' Azura said and took a light brown-colored sweater that looked fancy.
Ichiro took it and nodded, ''I will take this, then.''
Ichiro took a few more sweaters with different colors.
Next, he started walking towards women's sections; while Azura looked strangely at him, he was going in the wrong direction.
Ichiro looked at the sweaters in the women's section and saw many looking similar to men's ones; he grabbed a few and started walking towards the Employee.
''Eh… Ichiro?'' Azura tried to ask why he took a few female clothes, 'Who is he planning to give them to? D-Don't tell me that he has a girlfriend?!' She went pale.
Ichiro bought the clothes and took two bags; he put his own clothes on another one and the women's clothes on the other one.
Azura was about to say something, but then Ichiro offered one of the bags, ''Here.''
''Eh…'' Azura dumbly took the bag and saw Ichiro walking out of the store.
''Ichiro, what is this?''
''Meeting gift. There are also few for your mother, and please don't reject, it would make me sad.'' Ichiro started acting hurt.
Azura quickly shook her head, ''T-Thanks… but you didn't need to…''
''I wanted to, and I am a very selfish guy,'' Ichiro said with a smile.
''Hmph.'' Azura pouted, 'Selfish… Lier.'
They walked around the Mall and ended up at the Martial Arts Game section.
Ichiro saw a group of people trying out the game, which he did record a few days ago.
Azura looked curiously towards leaderboards and saw Top 1 being miles ahead of everyone else.
[1st - 14395 - KurogamIchiro]
''KurogamIchiro,'' Azura muttered quietly, but then she widened her eyes.
''Y-You did that record?''
Ichiro nodded, ''Yup.''
He looked at the group of people doing everything they could to improve their score, even using kicks.
But their scores didn't go over 3000.
''Noobs.'' Ichiro shook his head and started walking away.
Azura woke from her stupor and followed behind him.
''Oh.'' Ichiro looked towards a small booth in the distance.
A group of friends was joking around while taking pictures.
''Azura, wanna take a picture?''
Azura looked towards the booth and felt fearful of going there, mainly because the group of people looked scary to her.
But they were only ordinary students having fun, Azura's shy personality is resurfacing.
Ichiro saw her looking conflicted; he grabbed her hand, ''No need to be nervous.''
Azura, feeling warmth for the first time in a long time, only nodded shyly and let Ichiro lead her towards the booth.
''Excuse me, can we take a few pictures?'' Ichiro asked from the group of friends.
The group looked at him and gawked.
The females in the group also almost fainted out of shock, but then they saw him holding the hand of an extremely beautiful girl.
The group got instantly nervous seeing the couple in front of him.
''W-Wait, you are Kurogami Ichiro, The Third King!'' One of the groups exclaimed.
The group went instantly more nervous; they quickly left the booth and said, ''It's all yours.''
Ichiro chuckled, ''We will take only a few pictures.''
He led Azura to the booth, and they were standing next to each other while their shoulders were touching.
''Smile,'' Ichiro said, and he instantly did a goofy smile.
Azura saw his face and instantly smiled.
*Clank*
The picture was taken.
The picture had a handsome male doing a stupid-looking smile, but he still looked extremely charming.
Next to him, a beautiful and also adorable-looking young woman was smiling while looking at the handsome male with the corner of her eyes.