The sun was shining brightly overhead, matching how I felt inside as I walked with Sakura to our lunch date. During our walk, we'd catch us looking at each other, breaking out into a smile each time. Each time, I felt more and more of the negative emotions from the past few days washing away.

"Are you sure I don't have something on my face? You seem to be staring at it pretty often today."

Sakura finally said after a while, her teasing tone returning.

"Just your cute face."

She blushed, clearly expecting something along those lines but still happy to hear it.

I was going to say something else, but then we were spotted by a familiar face.

"You two seem to be in a good mood."

Kyoko had a bag in her hand, just finishing up some afternoon shopping. She must have noticed our hands clasped together, but thankfully she didn't immediately blow up.

Sakura let go of my hand, moving forward to pull Kyoko into a hug. I stood awkwardly to the side, as I wasn't sure what I should do.

My relationship with Kyoko was a bit better than it had been previously, but I wasn't quite sure where we stood now. I'd just let Sakura handle this for now, as she was always good about being the barrier between us.

"You're not trying any funny business, are you?"

Kyoko stared at me after the hug had ended, her hands on her hips. I shook my head, hoping Sakura wouldn't say anything that would make Kyoko angry.

"I was never much of a comedian, so no. Nice to see you again."

Sakura laughed, and Kyoko scowled a bit but otherwise stayed calm.

"Well, I clearly saw the two of you holding hands, so I want to know what's going on here."

Sakura gave her a stare, and Kyoko added a reluctant "please" afterwards.

I looked to Sakura, but she merely pointed at me to break the news. I sighed, thinking that Kyoko might take the news better if it had come from Sakura.

"Well, we're dating now."

I wish I had a camera on me, a real one and not the one my ancient flip phone had. The look on Kyoko’s face was priceless.

“H-HUH?!”

Her lips started to move but she merely stammered, it was as if she had so many things she wanted to say but couldn't decide what to start with.

"Sakura, can I talk to your... boyfriend alone for a second?"

She hesitated, as though saying boyfriend was painful for her.

Sakura nodded, finding a spot in the shade to wait for us to talk. Kyoko pointed a finger at me.

"You better keep her happy, or you'll have to deal with me. You got that?!"

I nodded, somewhat frightened by the idea of a vengeful Kyoko coming after me.

"I'll spend every moment I can to make her happy."

Her finger wavered, before she dropped her arm down.

"So, you're actually going to man up? I'm surprised."

Any lingering hostility was gone now, and I was now seeing a different side of Kyoko than I was used to.

"If she is happy, then I won't stand in your way. Just promise to take care of her, if you can do that then you have my blessing."

Underneath the cold exterior I had always seen, there was a nice girl simply putting up a tough front for the people she cared about.

"I promise I will. If I wasn't serious about her, I wouldn't have gone through everything I did just to save her."

Kyoko was silent, no cutting remarks or outbursts. She tentatively held out her hand.

"I'll hold you to that promise, so no slacking."

I reached out, taking her hand and shaking it.

"Of course not, and I don't think she'd let me slack anyway."

A small smile came across her face.

"No, she wouldn't."

We walked over to where Sakura was waiting, I was feeling even better having cleared this latest hurdle. Sakura held out her hand to me, and I interlocked my fingers with her.

Kyoko made a noise, but didn't raise a fuss over it.

"I'm not going to get used to this anytime soon, but if you're happy Sakura, then I won't complain."

Sakura smiled, holding her free hand out towards Kyoko.

"I get to see two of my favourite people getting along, why wouldn't I be happy?"

Kyoko grabbed her free hand, only to be just as surprised as I was when Sakura pulled us into a group hug.

"I want all three of us to get along, okay?"

Kyoko grumbled at the sudden group hug, but the two of us nodded.

After extracting herself from the hug, Kyoko gave the two of us a look.

"I guess I'll leave you two to your plans then."

She started to turn and walk away, but then I realized there was something I should say before she left.

"Are you going to be free later?"

Kyoko stopped, slowly turning back.

"I might be, why?"

I mentioned the plan I had with Sakuta and the others, it wouldn't be right to not invite her after the help she had given.

"I'll think about it, though I don't exactly know anyone else other than your weird friend that tagged along yesterday."

I shrugged.

"You were still a big help. It wouldn't feel right not having you there."

She blushed slightly, before shaking her head to get back to her senses.

"It was all for Sakura, but I guess it would be nice."

Sakura was typing something on her phone, it wasn't until a ringing noise came from Kyoko that I realized she had texted the info to her.

"We'll see you there."

Sakura said with a smile, and I could tell that any resistance to the idea was gone with that simple action. We waved goodbye, though Sakura couldn't resist getting in one last hug.

We both went to Fujisawa and were close to the restaurant when we had run into Kyoko, so after a few more minutes of walking we were seated inside.

Unsurprisingly, Sakura ordered a plate of Offal. I simply kept things plain, though I was sure she would still try to give me some of her food. Sure enough, she placed a few pieces on my plate, humming to herself in excitement.

I stuck a piece of my order on my fork, holding it to towards Sakura. I half expected her to make me say the magic words again, but she simply took the bite and smiled.

"You sure seem to be a natural at this, are you sure you've never dated anyone before?"

I nodded, recalling our conversation long ago.

"I have no actual idea what I'm doing, I'm just hoping I'm doing a good job."

She gave me one of her award winning smiles.

"You're doing a great job. I couldn't hope to ask for anything better."

I gave in and smiled back, thinking to myself how good it felt to be complimented by her.

We continued eating, though I could feel Sakura staring at me more than the food in front of her.

"Is something on your mind?"

I had finished eating, so I finally was curious what kept her looking at me. She pushed some of the food around on her plate, thinking over what to say.

"I was just thinking how lucky I am. To have someone care about me as much as you do, and isn't afraid to show it. You even smoothed things over with Kyoko on your own."

I was about to hesitate but then she laid her hand out on the table, and I placed mine in hers, our fingers forming what felt like an unbreakable bond. No matter how many times I held her hand, I still never got used to the feeling of joy that I felt at such a simple act.

I looked down, realizing both of our plates were empty.

"Shall we head out?"

Sakura nodded, standing up but never letting go of my hand. I joined her, making our way to the counter.

Sakura had started to reach for her wallet, but I quickly handed over the money for our meal.

"Are you sure? You don't have to pay for mine you know."

I nodded.

"I want to pay, seems like the right thing to do for our first date after all."

She blushed at that, the price of the meal was worth it to see something that beautiful.

We stepped out of the restaurant, and I checked the time on my phone. We still had some time to kill before we were expected to be at the apartment, so I asked Sakura what she wanted to do.

"Hmmm, how about we just walk around for a bit? I just want to spend time with you, it doesn't matter what we do as long as we are together."

I had managed to say some sweet things to her, but it was effortless for her. I'd clearly have to practice more to reach her level.

We found ourselves wandering the area, peering into stores but never going in any. To the rest of the world, we were simply two young lovers on a date. For the first time, I didn't do my usual wondering about how others viewed me in that moment.

To be completely honest, I simply didn't care. No matter if it was a stranger or someone I knew, I realized it didn't matter what anyone else thought. The one person whose opinion mattered was by my side, her hand in mine.

Part of me wished that we could just walk together for the rest of the day, but we had plans.

As the time for the meet up drew nearer, we began to head toward the apartment. I quickly caught Sakura up on the people that she would be meeting.

"You waited this long to tell me you were living under the same roof with one of the most famous celebrities?! I'm a little disappointed now."

Sakura pouted, but only for a moment.

"I'm excited to meet them, I have to thank them for taking good care of you."

I felt a little flustered, but I was slowly getting used to it. It almost felt like a game, and I was determined to catch up eventually.

"I'm sure they're just as excited to meet you, after all they've heard."

Now it was her turn to be flustered.

Sakura kept asking what all I had said to them about her, but I was determined to not give in.

"You'll just have to find out, I promise it was all good things though."

She mock pouted again, though the fact she never let go of my hand let me know she wasn't actually upset.

We walked through the park near the apartment, enjoying the peace and quiet.

"Can we go on a park date sometime?"

Sakura looked over to me, a twinkle in her eyes at the thought of another date. I nodded, basking in the warm smile she gave.

As we reached the end of the park, I could see Sakuta up ahead carrying some bags. I waved, and we headed towards him. I reached out, offering to take some of the bags.

He shook his head,

""Ah! You guys are finally here. I got it, it's not too heavy. Shall we head up? Everyone is excited to finally meet you."

We followed Sakuta into the elevator, and soon found ourselves on the fifth floor.

Since Sakuta had his hands full, I opened the door of the apartment for him. From inside the apartment, I could hear some familiar voices. Mai was the first one that we ran into, as we followed Sakuta into the kitchen.

"You made it, welcome back."

She looked over to Sakura, holding out her hand.

"I'm Mai Azusagawa, it's so nice to finally meet you."

Sakura reached out, taking Mai's hand.

"I'm Sakura Yamauchi, t-thank you for having me. Wow! I-I can’t believe… the Mai Sakurajima is standing in front of me…"

“Oh, you don’t have to get so tensed up. I’m just like other normal people. Make yourself at home please.”

The two of them giggled, probably more due to sharing the same name.

"Are you guys hungry or thirsty? We have some snacks now but we'll start cooking dinner later."

The two of us shook our heads, still full from lunch.

"I'll take some water though, if you don't mind."

Mai filled a glass, handing it to Sakura. She looked to me, but I shook my head once again.

I had a slightly mischievous idea to have some of Sakura's glass, but before I could she held it towards me. I half expected her to hold the glass to my mouth, thankfully she didn't go that far.

I took a small sip, ever aware that I was drinking from the same glass as her. Somehow, that made the water seem sweet.

I handed it back over, as Mai simply smiled at the two of us.

"I can see why you worked so hard, you two look great together."

Equally embarrassed, the two of us just awkwardly smiled. Our romance being as fresh as it was, it would take some getting used to.

Rio peeked her head around the corner, spotting me.

"Well congratulations are in order."

She made her way into the kitchen, one hand leaning on the counter. She was dressed casually, I half expected to see her wearing her usual lab coat.

She glanced to Sakura.

"I'm Rio Futaba, I'm guessing you're the one we've all heard so much about."

She smiled.

"Take good care of each other, and I'm sure you two will always find happiness."