AUTOPLAY.

        Stands on her tip-toes to elevate herself a few inches, taking a firm hold on his arms and pressing her lips to his cheek.

@tachixbana​

        “-- C-Chitanda Eru!”

        That made for one hell of an introduction, considering how all she’d done was approach the tall brunet before abruptly crying out her own name. Her eyes marveled at how tall he was, taking note of his drooping emerald eyes and placid expression. His friendly demeanor made this a lot easier for her. But then came the dawning realization on what she’d just done and her entire face grew beet red from embarrassment of how she’d butchered the greeting. It was second-nature of her to jump to the point without relaying any information first hand.

     ｢★｣ “Haha, whatever you say!” Even though she had seemed reluctant at first, it seemed that she…kinda… doesn’t hate him anymore. That’s a start. “Glad I entertain you.”

     “Anyway, ‘nuff talking. What kind of smoothie do you want?” Ah, well, there goes the last of his paycheck. But, who cares? He’s got a cute girl holding hands with him on a date, and he can always just forego lunch for a bit. No biggie, right?

        “Um, strawberry... you’re broke, aren’t you.” She managed to catch a glimpse of the contents of his wallet as he pulled it out to make the payment for the smoothie. That was kinda embarrassing, and it would be even more embarrassing if he tried to hide it. Reflecting back on his earlier statement, ‘entertain’ wouldn’t have been the right word for it. Sure, she merely went out with him to alleviate her own boredom and avoid spending all afternoon in that apartment of hers, but now she was feeling weird. “What the hell even is your name?” Her gaze fell to where their fingers were intertwined together. Was this normal?

“….seriously?”

He had to compose himself. Nagisa wasn’t about to let tears break through his frustrated output. He would not falter before her. Before he could further his words, though, she had the nerve to walk away. In a fit of rage, he practically jumped forward, grabbing the girl by her wrist. 

“You think I’m to blame? Are you kidding me?” his stoic tone had vanished, “You think I enjoy sitting back and watching you saunter your happiness with someone else? That should be me! Didn’t I mean anything to you? You little…─” his words were cut off by a sudden lump in his throat. His grip weakened. 

“…whatever. It doesn’t matter.”

         “... little what? Aren’t you going to finish what you started?” There was no effort made to brush his hand off of her. Eru fought a rough battle to silence the nausea that had taken up residence in her gut. She tried to suppress it with all her might, but the quivering of her bottom lip had revealed everything. 

        “That guy showed me nothing but kindness when we went out. You, on the other hand, have never shown even a trace of interest in me. Pining after you for nearly a decade gets old. He wouldn’t have called me a... what you implied earlier. All we got was a damned smoothie, you fucking moron.

……. why…?

His emotions were shrouded by an uncaring facade, unmoving as Eru charged forward. His dug his heels into the ground as the smaller fist connected with face, a huff and wince being the only initial reaction. But, damn, for such a tiny fist… that hurt.

“….you expecting some kind of huge reaction? Some breakdown..?

                                   well, too bad. You’re not worth it.”

        In a voice she refused to believe was her own, the words slipped out from underneath her breath, meek and feeble:

                “Hazuki-san... why would you say that...?” 

        Something welled up in the girl’s throat, making her words choked and faltering at the ends. The disbelief and pain that overtook her expression was immediately replaced with indignation, and for a second, a semblance of her old self had begun to emerge through the cracks that formed in her armor, but his lack of response forced it to retreat to safety. She was very sleepy.

        “I’m done here. I’m going home.”

     ｢★｣ “Huh? Okay, I’ll watch out for him! Wouldn’t want anyone to interrupt our date, right?” He grinned as he continued to marvel at the phenomenon that is the date. What an incredible event. No wonder people liked dating so much. 

     “Hey, that’s fine with me, hehe. I do like to think I’m very handsome, after all ~”

“Oh, because I just love wasting my time on some ungrateful girl. Don’t be stupid.” toxicity laced his words, his gaze avoiding the girl overall. “I brought you here to tell you that I saw your little date with that lanky dude. How was that? Did you weasel your way into his affections, too? Or was it just his bed?” 

        .

        .

        !!!

        Realization struck her like a wrecking ball as the meaning behind his implication sunk in; without sparing a second to even consider the consequences, Eru broke out in a mad dash, teeth bared and arm pulling back into a taut fist. She charged forward, eyes flaring with rage as she shot her arm out, ready to strike him in the jaw.

     ｢★｣  “Well, they do say my persistence is my most attractive trait!” He laughs loudly. “I’ve got some bucks on me, so smoothie sounds good! And hand-holding, yes.” Iwaizumi has never held hands with a girl before, so this is definitely a big score for him! What a incredible jump from loser to..not-loser. Nice work, Hajime.

“Tiresome, really…?” Nagisa could only sigh before laughing at the comment; a dismissal laugh that was far from joyful, “How condescending, coming from the girl completely disinterested in anything other than throwing herself around to get a reaction. But, whatever─ do what you want, I don’t care.”

His voice remained stoic, the only frustration visible being that of a twitching brow. 

     ｢★｣ “Nothing’s a waste of time if you believe in it! We can always move the date to your house if you’re that lazy, though. And kissing is always good in my book!”

    ｢★｣ "What’s a cutie like you just sitting around? Why don’t we go out on a date and I’ll show you how dazzling the world can be if you just get out there!“