The wonderful date Kirin had carefully planned out for almost a whole week went perfect… in her head.

In reality, it couldn’t have been worse.

A disaster. A complete disaster, Kirin thought as they headed home. Even if I tried, I couldn’t come up with what happened. The goddess of Yuri has forsaken me…

In the beginning, everything was going well. Though Kirin only wanted to show her neighbor a good time, since neither of them had gone on proper dates in a while, she acted like a proper gentlewoman. She held Mari’s hand, walked on the side of the street on the sidewalk, opened the door for her, and made Mari laugh a few times on the way to the movie theater.

However, once the movie started, everything went downhill. Unlike the reviews said, the wonderful romantic comedy was closer to drama with a few funny moments and a wholesome ending. However, instead of laughing, both women left the theater crying.

Stupid reviewers. What do they think romantic comedy is supposed to be? Damn those foreigner’s moviemakers. I wanted to laugh and leave the theater with my heart all warm, Kirin thought at the time. Her bad mood lasted more than she wished, but once they were closer to the fancy French restaurant she had picked based on online reviews, her confidence was back.

Mari-san and I can talk about the movie. Even if it wasn’t what I expected, the movie was good.

Or so she thought. The food was too exotic for both women. And since neither enjoyed the so-called gourmet food, they couldn’t tell if the taste was exquisite or bland. And that wasn’t even the most exciting thing that happened at the restaurant.

One of the customers had ordered a meal that had flambe in the name. Kirin had no idea what it was, but it involved cooking before the customer with a live fire. Unfortunately, the woman who ordered was drunk and spilled an alcoholic drink on it, which made the fire grow.

Everyone panicked and left the place. Though it wasn’t a huge fire, and no one was hurt nor anything damaged, the fire burned the mood.

To make matters worse, we didn’t even get to each much. I’m still hungry, Kirin thought.

“That was eventful, don’t you think?” Mari said with a tiny smile. “I’ve never seen a live fire.”

“Yeah, me neither,” Kirin answered with her shoulders down. I’ll never get a chance to take her on a date again. Not without revealing that I like women.

“You don’t need to look so down,” Mari tried to comfort the teacher.

“I just wanted to show you a good time. You jogged for this…”

“Thanks for the consideration. Despite everything, it was fun. I’m pretty sure I’ll never forget this date!” Mari’s smile and enthusiasm were so contagious even Kirin with her bad mood couldn’t resist.

“I’m glad,” she said, chuckling. Despite the whole ruined night, she was feeling better after that smile.

But when she escorted Mari to her door, she couldn’t feel anything but regret she had lost her chance.

“I hope we can go out again soon.”

“You’re just saying that…”

“I’m not. Believe me. I like my job, but sometimes is tiresome to be surrounded by people who try to undress me with their eyes.”

“I-I can imagine that…” Kirin flashed a guilty smile and averted her eyes.

“Well, then, good night.”

“Good night…”

After a moment of looking at each other, Mari smiled one last time before closing the door.

Kirin stood there, with her shoulders dropped and her head down. A whole week wasted, she thought as she went to her apartment. Her stomach rumbled and she went to the fridge. Apart from the ingredients, the only food she could eat without much effort was instant ramen.

She heated the water, but before she could pour on the ramen, the light suddenly went out. Great, a blackout… The only light in her apartment was the moonlight coming from the window.

“The moon is pretty tonight,” she said aloud without thinking as she looked up.

There were no clouds, and without the lights from the houses, apartments, and buildings around, the starry sky and the moon shone brightly.

Suddenly Kirin had an idea to save their night. She ran to her bedroom, got a thick blanket, and ran back to the kitchen to get another instant ramen and the boiling water. She left her apartment and went to her neighbor’s. With difficulty because of everything she was carrying, she managed to press the doorbell with her nose.

When there was no sound, she remembered there was no electricity and she kicked the door lightly a couple times.

“Kirin?” Mari’s hair was down, and she was wearing pajamas.

“Let’s go,” Kirin indicated the end of the corridor with her head.

“Go where?”

“To the roof. C’mon.”

With her insistence, though confused, Mari smiled and followed her. The roof was just a square empty space above the apartments. It was small and there was nothing special about the view. However, to Kirin, it was perfect.

She handed the ramen and the water to Mari and opened the blanket for them.

“What’s all this?” Mari asked as they sat on it.

“It’s to make up for the failed date.”

“It wasn’t a failure…”

“If it were a real date, I would consider it a failure.” Kirin opened the lid of the ramens and handed one to her neighbor along with the chopsticks.

“It was real,” Mari mumbled as she accepted it. As they ate, they both smiled. “It’s good.”

“After that gourmet meal, most things are good.”

“More than the meal, is the person you’re eating with.”

Kirin blushed. To hide that, she focused on her food. Once they finished, they put it down and looked up the sky.

“The moon is beautiful,” Mari whispered suddenly.

Kirin widened her eyes and kept looking up. No. It’s not what I think. In the past, that was the same as a love confession, but there’s no way Mari is doing that… No way…

“Kirin.”

“Y-yes?”

The teacher finally looked at her neighbor. Her neck was starting to hurt.

Before she could understand what was happening, Mari leaned closer and their lips touched.

“Eh? Eh? Eh!?” It was all Kirin could say when they stopped kissing. She was so shocked she couldn’t even blush. “W-w-what? Eh? What?”

Mari’s cheeks were a slight shade of red and she averted her eyes as she played with a lock of her hair.

“I’m already a mother and yet you’re making me blush like a teen.”

“But… eh!?”

“Geez, you’re so slow. I thought teachers were supposed to be smart.”

“No, but… eh!? You… why did you… kiss me?” Kirin mumbled, her face finally reddening.

“How can you ask me that? It’s because I like you!” Mari complained, blushing a bit more.

“B-b-b-but you’re not… like me. Are you?”

“I don’t know. All I know is that after I realized you liked me, I started thinking about you in a romantic way. Then I realized I didn’t mind… Then I realized I wanted to kiss you…”

Kirin became an alarming shade of red. “R-really?”

“Yes…”

“B-but you didn’t say anything…”

“I invited you on a date.”

“But that…”

“I’ve never asked anyone out, let alone another woman. The only person I dated was Rei’s papa. After him, there were a lot of men who asked me out, but this was the first time I did it…”

Kirin had no idea what to say. Once she recovered from the shock, she gulped and leaned closer. She met Mari’s gaze and then they both closed their eyes to kiss again.

She had no idea for how long they kissed. All Kirin knew it was the best kiss she had in a long time. When they parted their lips, they looked at each other and blushed and smiled at the same time.

“This was one of the best dates ever,” Mari said.

“Yeah, I think so too,” Kirin said, leaning forward for another kiss.