HIM – NIGHTLY SPICES

Tyson stared at his watch, his leg fidgeting, as he waited for Aya. They had arranged to meet at 7 P.M., but Tyson arrived almost half an hour earlier. As it was Saturday, there were a lot of people passing and chatter filled the city. Even though Spring was in full sway, night had slowly began falling, causing city lights to lit up like lanterns.

He wore a simple shirt with a jacket up top and plain jeans and shoes. Although not overly stylish, it suited him well and it was comfortable. Looking left and right, quarter till 7 quickly came as he finally spotted her in the mass of people. She wore knee-high one piece dress with furls and a white sweater over the top. A handbag hung from the side, her nails painted in meek red. Her hair was tied to one side, hanging over her shoulder, and she had even put on light makeup, causing her eyes to stand out even more.

“Wow, someone got here early.” she said as she stopped next to him. “That eager?”

“… uh, you look good,” Tyson said. Okay, got that out of the way! “Aren’t you cold, though?”

“Eh, if I get cold I’ll just take your jacket.”

“Oi, what about me then?!”

“If you’re manly, endure. If not, cry.”

“I’ll cry! I’ll definitely cry!”

“Yeah, yeah. So, where are we going?” she asked.

“Uh, don’t expect anything fancy,” Tyson said as the two began walking, shoulder to shoulder. “I told you I’m almost broke, right?”

“Eeeh? Cheapskate.”

“…”

“I’m kidding,” she chuckled lightly as she suddenly pinned his arm and locked it with hers, smirking. “We’re not going to you place, though.”

“… do you really think I’m some sort of a sexual demonic beast?! Is that how I look to you?!”

“Sort of.”

“… I think I’ll become a monk. Aye, that suits me.”

“Eh? You’d make a terrible monk. You glanced at my tits at least 7 times since we’ve met.”

“… you counted?”

“Of course.” Aya said, smiling. “I have to know which punishment to exact.”

“… come on. With that cleavage, you knew I’d look! It’s unfair!”

“Tsk, tsk, that’s the ‘enduring the temptation’ part, little one,” Aya said. “How can I trust you if you’re so eager?”

“Ah, whatever,” Tyson said, glancing down. Then I’ll just look as much as I want… “Then I’ll just look as much as I want.”

“So, where are we going?” Aya asked, changing the subject.

“There’s a neat place just off the main street,” Tyson said. “It’s not too expensive and atmosphere is nice.”

“We could just take a walk if you’re that short on money,” Aya proposed. “Oh, wait, we can just split. That’s fine, right?”

“… I know you mean well, but it hurts.”

“How do you know I mean well?”

“If you didn’t, you wouldn’t stop at that and offer to pay everything yourself.”

“Ah, for a change, you understood me.”

“I have to start sometime, right?” he said, smiling. “But I seriously need to find some part-time job.”

“Won’t your studies suffer?”

“Eh, it’s fine if they do. Having a full stomach is more important.” he said.

“Want me to make you lunch every day?”

“Oh? Is this that manga thing? What do they call it… uh, ‘bento’, right?”

“Oh? You’ve been reading more, I see.” Aya said, arching her brow slightly.

“Well, considering the sheer ‘fuck you’ levels of Berserk, I figured I’d find something more light-hearted for a change.”

“So that’s a ‘yes’ on the ‘bento’, right?” she asked, smiling.

“Can you even cook anything?”

“Nope.”

“… so your plan is to incapacitate me with your food and then snag the 2nd spot on rankings for yourself? Tsk, tsk, how cold can you be…”

“Aaah, you’ve seen right through my plan. I was careless.”

“Well, of course, after all I’m Tyson Rey, beholder of the greatest mind this world has ever seen!”

“… even as a joke, that’s just lame.”

“Ugh. Ah, we’re here,” the two stopped in front of a small, diner place that was already half-full. Entering, as Tyson said, the atmosphere was rather nice and soothing, with simple, low-key piano music playing in the background. All tables only had two chairs, and it seemed that most customers were similarly on dates. “What do you think?”

“It’s nice. Can’t believe you discovered this place before I did.”

“Heh. Come on, praise me some more!”

“… you’re that desperate, huh?” the two sat down and looked over a menu for a moment before ordering. “I gotta say, though, you dressed pretty plainly. I expected you’d wear some shining suit to try and impress me.”

“… oi, isn’t your image of me getting more and more warped as the time goes on?!”

“You’re just imagining things.”

“According to you, my imagination is out of this world!”

“You’d do well to use it in writing, then. Something may even come from it.”

“… are you mocking me?! Are you mocking my failed dream?!”

“You’re just imagining things.” Crap! This isn’t any different than how we usually are! Change the mood, change the mood…

“Khm, so, I see you went to great lengths to look pretty. Heh, are you that desperate to impress me?” Wait, that’s no different! What the hell am I doing?!

“So? Are you impressed?” she asked, smiling.

“… yeah.”

“Then it worked, no?” she added. “After all, I wanted to do something different for an actual date.”

“If you wanted to do something different, you should have fixed that tongue of yours for at least a couple of hours!”

“Eh? But aren’t dates supposed to be fun?!”

“Uh? Yeah, they are. So?”

“Well, I’m having fun the most when I’m teasing you,” she added, chuckling lightly. “So isn’t it fine?”

“… dates are supposed to be fun for both parties, you know?!”

“Then you should really loosen up and have fun!”

“You’re killing me here!”

“Softly?”

“Who’s making dated movie references now?!”

“I figured I’d give it a try.”

“… good job.”

“Oh my, thanks.” she said, smiling, as the waiter brought their orders; Tyson ordered simple steak while Aya ordered chicken soup. “Can you even finish that thing? Wait, didn’t you say you were short on money? Why buy something so grand? Even I held back.”

“… shut up. If I’m gonna splurge money, I may as well feel good doing it. To balance the regret I’ll feel afterwards.”

“We could have just gone for a walk, you know?” Aya said. “The night isn’t that chilly anyway, and city looks pretty nice at night.”

“… I was planning to do that… after dinner…”

“Oh my. Did I spoil the surprise?”

“What surprise?! How is going for a walk surprise in any dimension?!” Ah, it’s fine… this is just how we are, I guess…

“Let me make a conjuncture.”

“… not again…” Does she really know I planned on relaxing her with dinner so I can hold her hand after?

“You wanted to hold hands while walking,” KNEW IT! “But felt you had to deserve it somewhat.” … okay, a bit off the point, but she can really read my mind…

“So? Is there something wrong with that?” Tyson asked, taking a bite of the steak.

“No,” Aya shook her head. “You could have just done it, you know?” she added, smiling wryly.

“You’re plenty relaxed, I see.”

“You’re nervous enough for both of us, I guess.” Ugh, it’s not nerves… I just want it to go well… no way I can say that, though. “Anyway, what’s the story with that Layla girl?” Tyson nearly spat out a mouthful of meet, causing him to cough for a moment.

“… d-do you really wanna talk about my exes on our first date?!”

“Eh? Why not?”

“… why not, you ask… aah, common sense is really lost on you, huh?” Tyson sighed, recovering. “Fine. What do you want to know?”

“Why’d you start dating her?”

HER – IT’S ALL THE SAME

Why the hell am I asking him about his ex on our first date?! Although her expression was deadpan, there was fire burning inside Aya’s mind. I was supposed to the focus for tonight! Ugh… what is wrong with me…

“Why? Uh, I asked her out and she said yes?” Tyson said.

“Eh? That’s it?”

“Isn’t that how dating usually goes? You approach someone you find attractive and ask them out for a date, right?”

“…”

“… you and I are different, eh, unique situation.” Stop squirming when trying to cheer me up!

“So, why’d you break it off?”

“Well, isn’t that how dating usually goes?” Tyson said. “You try dating, it doesn’t really work, so you break things off.”

“…”

“Ah, shut up.”

“I didn’t say anything.”

“Your eyes said plenty.”

“I’m just preparing myself to be discarded after you had your fun with me.”

“… khm, anyway, let’s not talk about other girls,” Tyson said. … ah, thank you for fixing my screw-up… “Why’d you decide to study language and literature in the first place?”

“I liked reading?” Aya said after a short thought.

“Eeh, that’s pretty ordinary.”

“What’d you expect?”

“Hmm… something like… you wanted to conquer the world of literature so you could spread your alien literature easily?”

“… so you still didn’t drop that alien thing, huh?”

“… that just begs for a cheap joke.”

“Dude, we’re eating.”

“Oh? Miss Alien can’t handle literal dirty talk when eating?”

“Only morons can. Ugh, now I’m thinking about it… thanks a lot, idiot.”

“Yup, I can see disgust written all over your face.”

“It’s aimed at you, by the way.”

“… yup, I truly am a piece of shit.”

“Making it a pun doesn’t make it any better!” she exclaimed, sighing.

“… I’m about to say something stupid.”

“Are you implying you ever said anything smart to begin with?”

“Eh? I haven’t? I think I had plenty smart lines.”

“You’re imagining things.”

“I really ought to do something about this massive imagination of mine,” he said, smiling. “Anyway, what I wanted to say… uh, is this any different than how we usually are?” He’s right!! This isn’t a date! This is just how we always are!

“… ugh, you’re right. Let’s revise; I’m supposed to act cute and innocent, and you’re supposed to act, uh, manly and take charge?”

“…”

“…”

“No way in hell.” both exclaimed at the same time. Short silence followed as they burst out in laughter, covering their mouths as to not disturb others.

“… I guess it’s fine, though,” Aya said after the two calmed down. “Dates are supposed to be fun, after all.”

“Yeah,” Tyson said, smiling wildly as he leaned forward and wiped something from the corner of her lips, surprising her. Oi, oi, oi, oi, that’s not good for my heart! “You’re the best when you’re just yourself… even though it hurts me… a lot.”

“Well sorry for being hurtful.” Aya said, suddenly sighing. “Don’t blush because of your own actions!!”

“Shut up! I didn’t-- I wasn’t thinking!! Besides, I accidentally touched your lips, and felt they were so soft, so I started imagining how it’ll feel like when we kiss and then--- aaah, you are supposed to shut me up at moments like these!! Hey, stop blushing! You’re supposed to be rock in our dynamic!!” HOW CAN I NOT BLUSH, YOU IDIOT?!

“W-w-who said we’ll kiss anyway? Humph, your imagination is really amazing.”

“W-we’re not gonna?!”

“Is that something really worth crying over?!!”

“S-shut up! I’m not crying…”

“For the love of…” … s-so he planned on kissing me… aah, there goes my nervousness… blown away so simply, making me wonder why was it ever there…