AN: Decided to put an author's note in the beginning just to say that this chapter officially breaks the record for the longest single chapter in this story! Over 9k words. Hope you enjoy.

Chapter 13: After Hours

As I stared at my reflection in the mirror, I continued to pull at the itchy material of the collar around my neck.

Yep. Even though it saw some use a while back, it was still way too stiff and awkward.

Was I experiencing Déjà vu or something? Here I was, standing in front of a mirror and fumbling with the same annoying blue shirt I had worn to the Autumn Festival all those months ago.

I decided to just yank off the entire thing and dress in something more comfortable–stylishness be damned.

I pulled on a plain black t-shirt and a denim jacket, along with tan pants, and called it a day. It definitely wasn't the flashiest of outfits but with the weather getting colder, there was no way was I going to choose form over function like I had foolishly done back then. This time, I doubted Hiratsuka-sensei would bring along another flask of alcohol to bail me out.

Well, then again, knowing her, I wouldn't necessarily put it past her to do something like that again.

I checked my phone and noticed I still hadn't received any texts from her.

I shrugged. There was still some time before 6:00 so no harm, no foul. I headed down the stairs and plopped myself on the couch.

As I looked around, I noticed that the house was still just as quiet as it had been all morning.

Komachi still hadn't come home yet, despite the fact that she had already been out all day. Normally, I would've been more than happy to have the entire house to myself, but for some reason, thinking about Komachi being out with Taishi made me feel uneasy.

I think that normally, that uneasiness would most certainly be due to the fact that she was spending any time around that insect in the first place, but for whatever reason, it didn't feel like that was the issue this time. After what Komachi had said to me about their relationship, I found it increasingly difficult to reconcile the image of my sweet, wonderful little sister with the coldness of her attitude–even if that coldness was directed towards someone I didn't particularly like.

Was I being the unreasonable one here or did I have a point? I couldn't say for sure.

Suddenly, my pocket vibrated and I heard a loud ding. I pulled out my phone and saw a text light up the screen.

'Hey I'm outside'

Ah, there was the text from Hiratsuka-sensei I had been waiting for. I motioned to get up, but before I could fully rise, I heard another ding.

'At least I think I am…'

Another one.

'God its been a long time since ive been to your house to pick you up'

Ding.

'I dont even remember what the front of your house looks like tbh'

Ding.

'This IS your house right?'

Ding.

'Seriously. I could be in front of some rando's house for all i know'

Ding.

'Answer me already before someone calls the cops on the suspicious black porsche parked on their street'

Ding.

'Hey'

Ding.

'Hey'

Ding.

'Starting to get a lil annoyed here haha'

Ding.

'HEY.'

'ANSWER.'

'ME.'

Ding. Ding. Ding.

Despite everything we've been through, it appears that this woman hasn't changed at all in some ways, huh. I've been privy to her excessive texting habits since that day she spam-emailed me into helping her at Chiba Village, but to say that this particular idiosyncrasy of hers has become any less annoying over time would be a lie.

I rolled my eyes, but scooched over to the window to peer through the blinds. Parked on the street near my house was indeed a shiny, black porsche.

I returned my gaze to my phone and typed a few words.

'Wrong house. I don't see any car outside.'

Ding.

'Seriously? Goddamnit. Could've sworn it looked a little familiar at least. What's your adrdess again?'

I couldn't help but snicker quietly to myself at my lame antics.

'Just kidding. I see you. Be out in a second.'

'...'

'Ur dead'

I chuckled and pulled on my shoes.

As I closed the front door, and headed out towards the front of my house, I could see a sliver of Hiratsuka-sensei's face through the slightly open window of her car.

Although her last words to me had been ones supposedly laced with murderous intent, the soft smile she was wearing now as she watched me walk through my house gate was one that made me smile as well.

What, are smiles contagious now? I'd always thought that was something that only applied to yawns.

When I finally reached her car, I pulled the handle and the door opened with a chime.

"Yo," I said simply as a greeting.

Instead of responding to me, she took a second to look me up and down. I stood there quietly as she didn't say anything for a moment.

After a while had passed and I grew tired of awkwardly standing there, I eventually decided to say something.

"Well, can I come in? Or should I just continue standing here?" I asked after she continued her silent appraisal.

"Oh," she started, my words snapping her out of whatever it was she was doing. "Are you a vampire?"

"Huh?" I asked with a raised eyebrow.

"What, do you need a formal invitation to enter any enclosed space now or something? Hurry up and get in here."

I rolled my eyes, but obliged. "Nope. Not a vampire," I said. "Just a guy who gets a little weirded out when his girlfriend stares at him silently for like ten seconds straight."

She let out a particularly hearty laugh. "What, is a woman not allowed to appreciate the fact that her man dressed up and looks damn good for once?"

For once, huh… Hey, I resent that.

"Aren't you supposed to say that I always look good?" I asked sardonically as I hopped into the car and closed the door behind me.

"Nope. That job is reserved for the man and the man only," she replied coolly.

"Uhh, isn't that a huge double standard right there?"

"Sure is!" she said with just a little too much enthusiasm. I rolled my eyes but couldn't help but smile at her antics. "Seriously though. You're looking sharp, Hachiman. I'm happy you took my advice and dressed up a bit."

Her words surprised me slightly because I didn't think that I was actually all that dressed up. I was just wearing a pretty casual outfit that I had thrown together haphazardly. I was a bit shocked that she found it that good looking at all.

I took the chance to look her up and down really quick, and suddenly, I felt heat rush to my cheeks.

She was adorned in a dark brown, fur hooded parka and tight black jeans. However, it wasn't either of those two items of clothing that had elicited my reaction. Rather, it was the particularly low-cut, dark-blue blouse she was wearing.

The way her seatbelt was resting right between her... er… "hills"... was surely enough to make any red-blooded man erupt into a nosebleed on the spot.

"Hey. You sure have been staring for a long time," a sultry voice whispered quietly. "...Like what you see?"

My body seized up, and I felt a shiver run down my spine.

Upon looking to my right, I saw Hiratsuka-sensei's lips curved into a smirk and her lidded grey eyes staring directly into mine. I swallowed a hard lump in my throat and with a significant deal of effort, was finally able to pull my eyes away.

I coughed and sputtered out a weak excuse. "N-Nope. Just got lost in my own thoughts for a second. That's all."

I heard her laugh next to me. "That was a flimsy-ass excuse. Even by your standards."

"Right… Sorry. I didn't mean to stare. I just got a bit distracted by your… um…"

"These?" she interrupted. Her hands raised to her chest and she lifted those "hills" in between her fingers.

The heat returned to my poor warm cheeks. At this rate, I was probably going to come down with a fever before the night was even half over.

"I was going to say outfit..." I coughed.

She laughed melodically. "You're too easy, Hachiman." Her hands moved to grip the steering wheel as she continued to laugh. "Even after all this time, I can't believe the girls still get you all flustered. You must really like them, huh?"

As I heard her ask that ridiculous question, I realized that this certainly wasn't how I was expecting our first night out as a couple to begin. But then again, to be honest, I didn't really feel all that surprised either. Interactions between me and Hiratsuka-sensei always did have a tendency to spiral into something unusual and unexpected.

It certainly kept the relationship feeling fresh… even if it occasionally resulted in conversations like this.

But even so, it wasn't like what she said was wrong, per se…

"W-Well… I think most guys like… boobs... in general," I stuttered out. "Add in the fact that yours just happen to be especially nice, and my reaction isn't anything that surprising, right?" I asked, hoping to sound as reasonable as possible.

She put a finger to her chin for a moment as if she were deep in thought. "I guess that does make some sense…" However, soon after, her face broke into a devious smirk. "...Pervert."

Upon hearing those teasing words, I couldn't help but roll my eyes and let my face morph into a smile.

Teasing and sarcasm. They were languages that Hiratsuka-sensei and I had become way too fluent in. To be honest, it felt like it had been a long time since we were able to be this way with one another.

Despite the questionable topic, the way we were talking now felt easy and comfortable. It gave me reassurance that maybe we were heading in the right direction.

Knowing that, I decided to match her teasing in kind.

"I guess I am," I responded with a scoff. "So, are we going to sit here all night complimenting your breasts or can we go eat already? I'm getting pretty hungry."

She hit me with her own scoff. "Oh, is that so? Well, excuse me for wanting to indulge in a morsel of conversation with my boyfriend," she said with a sarcastic drawl. "Tch. So typical of a man. Always wants to skip right past the foreplay and head straight into the action."

Her tone was so ridiculous that I couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. "If I'm recalling correctly, you're the one who usually does exactly that…"

She opened her mouth and looked at me as if I'd just grown a second head. Her mouth stayed agape for longer than it had any right to.

For a moment, I thought I'd gone too far and hurt her feelings or something, but after a second, her surprised expression changed into a wide grin and she started laughing so hard she started wheezing.

She punched me on my shoulder with a closed fist, and unsurprisingly, it hurt quite a bit.

"Jeez," I said as I rubbed at my soon-to-be bruised arm.

Once her laughing fit finally subsided, she rolled her eyes. "You deserved that."

"...Maybe a little," I admitted.

Her face was stretched into a large grin.

To be honest, I've always thought that she looked especially good with a goofy grin on her face. The small dimple in the corner of her left cheek that sneakily emerged when she smiled just large enough was something that I'd always found cute. Even before we had gotten together.

That little detail had always given her face a youthful sort of charm… even when her words sometimes had a bit of trouble keeping up with that charm.

"Okay, okay. I think I've tortured you enough for now. I'm starting to get a little hungry too, so shall we?" she asked.

"Sure," I nodded a little too enthusiastically. "I'm actually pretty curious to see what kind of place you chose for us," I admitted aloud.

"Hey, don't hype it up in your head too much or anything," she started. "I never said it was going to blow your socks off or anything. It's just a place that I like and occasionally go to when I'm in that part of town."

"...It's not gonna be a WcDonalds right?"

"You think that little of me?" she sputtered out.

I shrugged.

She hit me in the shoulder again.

Hey, at least it was a bit lighter this time...

"Don't make me hit you again..." she warned.

A quick "won'thappenagainsorryma'am" slipped out of my mouth, which seemed to be enough to satisfy her.

"That's what I thought. Now let's get this show on the road!" she said suddenly with a surprising amount of excitement. I couldn't help but smile at that enthusiasm.

With a turn of the key, her car roared to life, and before long, we began to cruise down the dusk-bathed streets of Chiba at speeds most certainly higher than the posted limit.

"...Huh, this place actually is pretty far," I commented offhandedly. As I continued to stare out of that car window, I noticed that the orange-ish blue sky was now almost completely dark and the lights of Chiba were beginning to switch on.

"Told you," Hiratsuka-sensei responded without looking over from the driver's seat. "But this restaurant I'm taking you to is really close to the theater, so once we make it there, at least we'll be able to fully relax and enjoy our meal," she continued with her eyes on the road. "We won't have to rush out of fear of missing our showing or anything."

"That's good," I responded. To be honest, I was starting to feel the hunger pains pretty bad. I basically hadn't eaten anything since breakfast, and at this point, I was certain we had been driving for more than half an hour. I didn't want to bother her or anything since she was the one who was giving me the ride, but I couldn't help but let a little "hurry please" slip out from under my breath.

At that, her grey eyes finally turned to look at me. Her thin eyebrow rose. "Pardon me?"

Shit... She actually heard what I said?

I've said it once and I'll say it again. Seriously, how good was this woman's hearing? I thought your hearing was supposed to get worse as you get older, not better...

"Uhh, nothing," I said as I rubbed my neck and gave her the most innocent smile I could.

She rolled her eyes. "We're almost there. Just be patient," she said, her gaze turning back to the road.

I decided not to bother her anymore lest I be on the receiving end of another of her bone-shattering shoulder strikes.

Instead, I took the opportunity to glance at the sights we were passing.

We had pulled off the highway a few minutes ago, so at this point, we began to pass by more restaurants and shops.

We were approaching what I thought was the downtown area of this district.

As I gazed upon these unfamiliar streets, I realized that I had actually never seen this part of Chiba before. Ichihara was pretty damn far away from my house and the shops that I usually frequented, so I never felt a need to venture out this far. Surely, it would have taken longer to reach by train as opposed to car as well. In addition, wasting too much time frolicking around in distant parts of Chiba would detract from my study time and my time with Komachi and...

Ahhh, in the end, these are all just weak excuses, aren't they.

It turns out that there are some parts of Chiba that I've never seen before...

For a self-proclaimed Chiba expert, this is actually really unacceptable. Someone please revoke my Chiba expert card immediately.

"Aaaand… We're here," a voice drifted into my ears.

With expert maneuvering, Hiratsuka-sensei deftly pulled the car into a metered parking spot. A chime rung, her engine turned off, and that grey-eyed woman then turned to smile at me.

"Ready?"

My stomach growled loudly. "More than ready."

With a nod of her head, she laughed and said, "Okay, come on then. Before your stomach starts collapsing in on itself."

"That definitely wouldn't be good," I said under my breath. I opened my door, and almost immediately, I was hit with a melange of mouth-watering smells.

I looked around me and noticed that we were pretty much in the thick of downtown Ichihara. Judging from what I could see as well as smell, it appeared that there were plenty of restaurants surrounding us in this busy downtown area. In addition to those, there were shops of all varieties on every corner. Bustling crowds of people walked past us at brisk paces to get to wherever exactly it was that they were going.

It was a lot to take in all at once, to be honest.

"Not too shabby, huh?" I heard a voice beside me say.

I blinked once and turned to address the owner of that voice. "Not at all. A little crowded for my tastes, but it's pretty nice."

I meant it. I found myself really impressed by the area. It was bright and lively and upscale. To be completely candid, it didn't strike me as a place Hiratsuka-sensei would enjoy spending time at. She always struck me more as someone who preferred the smoke-filled, rough and tumble, fight could break out at any minute types of scenes.

"I thought you'd like it," she smiled. "I usually don't bother to come all the way down here by myself anymore, but I have a girlfriend who lives in the area," she paused. "Well… had, I suppose. We used to hang out a ton on our days off… Until she met someone and got hitched, that is…" Her face that had been pleasantly smiling quickly turned into a thin grimace. "After that, she was always busy with her "hubby" or "date-night" or her "baby's operation" or whatever, and I didn't really have an excuse to come down here so I stopped all together."

I blinked a few times.

Uhhhh, not that I don't appreciate the colorful story, but that was a little more information than I asked for, sensei...

Still, it's not like I didn't notice her dour expression.

Hiratsuka-sensei got like this sometimes, and through painstaking trial and error, I've deduced that the best way to help her feel better wasn't to offer her logical advice nor judge her.

Instead, a small gesture of reassurance or comfort was usually just enough to lift her spirits. I decided to be a bit bold and grabbed her hand–giving it a quick squeeze.

It was actually rather soft… and warm...

Her grey eyes turned to meet mine. Her tight expression was slowly replaced with a small smile. I felt my hand tighten as she squeezed it back.

Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed that a few wandering eyes had drifted toward our direction. I let my fingers linger against hers for a moment, but eventually pulled my hand back slowly.

She coughed once into her palm. "...But I digress. Anyway, the restaurant shouldn't be too far of a walk from here. Shall we?"

"Mhm," I nodded.

With that, she started briskly walking in the direction of what I assumed to be the restaurant she was taking us to, and I followed closely beside her.

We mostly made idle chit-chat as we walked a few blocks through the busy downtown area, occasionally commenting on interesting shops that we saw.

As we passed by some restaurants that I thought looked pretty promising, I would occasionally look to her and ask, "is it this one?" However, I was met with a "nope!" every single time.

It wasn't until after quite a few minutes had passed that Hiratsuka-sensei's feet finally came to a stop. Mine followed suit.

With a large wave of her arms, she suddenly and loudly declared, "Ta da!"

I flinched slightly at the startlingly loud declaration.

I turned my gaze towards her hands. It turned out that those hands were pointed towards the general direction of a...

Ramen restaurant.

Can't say I didn't see this one coming...

"Ramen, huh?" I asked.

Her happy face immediately turned into a pout. "See? I told you not to get too hyped up about it or anything. I didn't want you to develop unrealistic expectations and end up disappointed."

Crap. The last thing I had wanted to do was offend her when she had gone through all of this trouble just for my sake.

I waved my hands. "I didn't mean it like that," I said. "You know ramen is one of my favorite foods. Besides, I'm not a picky eater anyways. Also, it's pretty chilly out here, so ramen is the ideal food to warm us up and keep us from freezing," I said a little too quickly.

She raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms. "Uh-huh."

I gave her an awkward smile and quickly averted my eyes to look at the large menu that was posted on the window.

Maybe if I stare at this menu long enough, she'll forget I ever said anything...

To be fair, the food did look really tasty–at least as it appeared in the photographs. As I was looking at the menu, I was able to see inside the restaurant itself. Despite its relatively small size, it was actually remarkably crowded.

"Looks pretty full in there," I commented. "Might have to put our names down and wait a while."

"Come on," Hiratsuka-sensei said with a nod, seemingly ignoring my comment. She grabbed my arm and dragged me inside the small, dimly lit shop. I had no choice but to comply as I was haplessly pulled along by my surprisingly strong girlfriend.

She pulled the handle, and a rush of warm, fragrant air suddenly wafted over us.

As soon as I took a breath, my mouth immediately began to water and my stomach let out another low pitched whine.

I swallowed. It smelled absolutely amazing in there.

Hiratsuka-sensei must've seen my expression because she smirked.

We walked a little further into the store until we reached a small podium.

Upon seeing us, the hostess greeted us immediately. "Good evening and welcome to Ippudo! We're a bit busy right now so please put your name down and we'll let you know as soon as a table is available!"

Ah, so I was right then. It appears that we'd have to wait.

"We have a reservation for two for seven o'clock," Hiratsuka-sensei said beside me.

I stared at her a bit wide-eyed.

"And the name?" the hostess asked in a cheery voice.

"Shizuka."

The hostess checked the computer and then grabbed a set of menus. "Ah, of course. Right on time. Please follow me to your table!"

We complied and trailed a few steps behind her.

"You made a reservation?" I whispered to Hiratsuka-sensei in slight disbelief.

She looked at me with a cocked eyebrow. "And why do you sound so surprised about it?"

"I don't know… it just seems like something that would take a lot of foresight."

"Are you saying I don't usually demonstrate foresight?"

"Well, I wouldn't exactly say you're known for it or anything," I responded.

She nudged me in the ribs with her elbow. Harder than I would've liked. "Ow."

"Here you two are," the hostess suddenly said as she stopped at a booth. We both quickly shut up and then thanked her for leading us there.

Like the rest of the restaurant, the booth was dimly lit and a bit small. However, it gave off a comfortable and isolated atmosphere. Despite the small size of the restaurant, the seating was spaced far apart enough to give a semblance of privacy to its occupants.

As we were settling into our seats, we heard a quiet laugh emerge from somewhere to our side. We turned our attention in that direction.

The laugh had come from the hostess. "By the way, you two are really funny," she said with a chuckle. "I liked your little banter back there."

Hiratsuka-sensei and I looked at each other and grimaced a little bit out of embarrassment. Oops... Had we really been that loud?

"Are you like his aunt or something? You guys sort of have an Aunt May, Spider-man dynamic going on," she said with a little giggle.

Time slowed to a crawl for a second as we both heard that question. I personally wasn't sure what the right answer to that question was, or hell, if there even was a right answer to it.

However, what I was more concerned about was what Hiratsuka-sensei's reaction was going to be.

At least she had said aunt and not mother…

"Two waters please," a terse voice whispered.

Hiratsuka-sensei's eyes were squinted and I could see one of her eyebrows trembling ever so slightly.

Oh, it was plenty evident that she was annoyed.

The hostess blinked. Her expression was one of confusion. "Umm… I'm actually not your server. He should be over to help you with your order any mom–"

"I said. Two waters. Please."

Hiratsuka-sensei's eyes narrowed and she stared the hostess down.

Call it cowardly, or whatever you want really, but in that moment, I found the ceiling tiles in the restaurant to be particularly interesting. My eyes drifted toward them and stayed glued there for more than a moment.

"E-Erm, right away, miss," the hostess said with a small bow before quickly taking off.

I finally decided to return my gaze to the simmering thirty-year old woman in front of me. "That was a bit harsh, no?"

Hiratsuka-sensei rolled her eyes. "Hardly. She compared me to the aunt from Spider-man. That woman's like a billion years old for crying out loud," she said with a loud scoff. "Was that little string bean trying to pick a fight or something?" Her eyes narrowed again.

I found her comment amusing, even if not completely factual. "A billion years? I think that actress is pretty young... At least she looks it," I offered. "She's probably younger than Iron man and even he's not thatold."

She raised an eyebrow at me. "...Iron man?"

Her confusion managed to confuse me. "Yeah… You know. Tony Stark. Spiderman's mentor."

She looked at me, her grey eyes regarding me seriously for a moment.

An awkward silence fell between us before she finally asked, "...Are you high right now?"

I couldn't help but sputter out a "What?"

Were we not on the same page here?

How can she know who spiderman is but not Iron man...

Oh.

"Wait…" I said slowly. "You do know that she was talking about the new spiderman right? The MCU one?"

I was almost tempted to say something about there being a generational gap with the hostess being a zoomer and Hiratsuka-sensei being a mere boomer, but I figured that would probably only succeed in making things about a hundred times worse.

"Oh," Hiratsuka-sensei said, understanding seeming to dawn on her face.. "I never bothered to see those. There were just so many of those movies. Seemed like way too big of a time investment."

Now, it was my turn to be flabbergasted. "This coming from someone who's seen over 23 seasons of Metalloid Cruiser… Like, what, 20 times..?"

"Well, that's different! That show is a timeless classic!" she protested. "Those new comic book movies are just one big soup of generic action. Blech." She stuck out her tongue a bit as she said that. "I do like that Captain America though. He's just mmmm."

I couldn't help but give her a look for saying that.

"Uh-huh," I said with a roll of my eyes. "Fun fact: did you know Erwin Smith from Shingeki no Kyojin was partially based on him?"

"Oh, really? No wonder. He's pretty mmmm too."

Despite the fact that she was talking about purely fictional characters, I couldn't help but feel an irrational little pang of jealousy. "We should probably decide on what to eat before the waiter gets here," I said, turning to my menu. Maybe a bit petulantly, I hoped that would change the subject.

"Good point," she responded.

Upon looking at the menu, I bawked slightly at the prices. The bowls of ramen were all more than twice as expensive as the bowls from the ramen restaurants I frequented.

Are things in Ichihara just that different or was this restaurant some kind of strange anomaly?

The large menu outside I had taken a look at earlier didn't display the prices, so I felt really taken off guard.

"4000 yen for a bowl of ramen?" I couldn't help but ask.

"Eh, don't worry about that," Hiratsuka-sensei said with a small smile. "Just pick whatever you think looks good."

I gave her a look, but I guess what she said made sense. It was a special occasion tonight. I suppose I shouldn't worry too much about the price and should instead just focus on making the night a memorable one.

I turned back to the menu. The Black Bomb Tonkotsu ramen honestly looked amazing based on the description and the picture. I felt like it was something definitely worth trying.

"What do you think about the Black Bomb Tonkotsu?" I turned my menu in her direction so that she could see the image I was pointing at.

"What's in it?" she asked.

"Smoky roasted black garlic sauce, pork belly chashu, and a slow-cooked egg," I said, reading off the menu.

"Mmm," she hummed quietly. "That sounds like it'll hit the spot just right." For whatever reason, there was a slightly husky undertone in her voice.

Despite the innocent topic, I couldn't help but flush at her words.

Taken out of context, those words could mean something totally different, you know...

In fact, I'm pretty sure she's said those exact same words to me in that different context before...

I swallowed.

Luckily, at that moment, our waiter came over to our table and set two waters down. "Hey…" he said, his tone almost careful. "...are you guys ready to order or do you need a little more time to decide?"

Despite the fact that it was our first time meeting him, the waiter seemed oddly reticent.

Did he perhaps have a conversation with the hostess and receive a grim warning to "be mindful of that scary old woman at that table over there"? Because, honestly, that didn't seem like such a farfetched possibility.

"2 Black Bomb Tonkotsus please!" Hiratsuka-sensei said loudly, snapping me out of my errant thought.

It appeared she had ordered for me. I shrugged. I didn't really have a problem with that since it meant less work for me.

"Oh yeah, and let me get a pint of sapporo from the tap," she added.

The waiter nodded and scribbled something down in his notebook before asking, "Can I see your ID please?"

Upon hearing that question, Hiratsuka-sensei faltered for a moment. "Excuse me?"

"Could I see your ID please? Sorry. It's just our policy since you're ordering alcohol," he responded.

"Oh. Sure," Hiratsuka-sensei said quietly, reaching for her wallet. For some reason, her surprised expression had quickly morphed into a big smile. "It's just been a while since anyone's asked me for my ID to buy alcohol."

"Really? That's surprising. You look really young, so I just have to make sure!"

Hiratsuka-sensei seemed to be pleased by that comment, because she let out a flattered laugh. I couldn't help but stare at the guy.

No need to get so chummy there, server-san… Just confirm her age and get lost already, pal.

The waiter took her card, looked at it, then at her face. "You're all good to go. You look great for your age, by the way."

Hiratsuka-sensei's expression that had been beaming and shining as if she'd just received some of the highest praise in the world suddenly fell, and her eyebrows knitted together. "What do you mean for my age..." she muttered dangerously.

"O-Oh, nothing, ma'am!" he said with a tinge of panic in his voice. "...Anything else I can get for you two?"

Heh.

I gave the waiter a simple "no thanks".

"Nope," Hiratsuka-sensei said a bit tetchily.

"We'll have your order out right away," the waiter said with a tense smile before heading off to the kitchen.

I couldn't help but snicker lightly under my breath.

She raised an eyebrow. "And what's got you so tickled, Hachiman?"

"Nothing," I chuckled before turning my gaze to meet her eyes. "You're just cute, that's all."

That declaration seemed to catch her off guard, because her face turned pink almost instantly. "W-What? Why? What did I do?"

I shook my head. "Nothing in particular."

She huffed. "I swear, sometimes you just get a kick out of teasing me, don't you?"

"I'd be lying if I said no," I answered. "But you really are cute sometimes," I continued boldly.

Her face turned even pinker. "...Hey, what's with all these sudden compliments? At least give me a second to process them..." she protested, turning her face to look at some spot on the floor.

Hiratsuka-sensei was funny in some ways. Sometimes, if you gave her a compliment, she would beam and laugh it off as if it were the most natural and expected thing in the world, but if you managed to catch her off guard—usually with genuine, unsolicited praise—she would often turn into a stuttering mess. It was a really cute weakness of hers.

She coughed, and her face that was pointed away slightly, turned to face me again. "A-Anyway, are you excited for the ramen?"

"Yep. I'm starving," I answered. The conversations we'd been having managed to distract me from my hunger, but with Hiratsuka-sensei's reminder of our impending meal, I suddenly found my stomach aching again.

"I'm sure it'll get here soon," she assured me. Her words actually brought me some comfort—that is, until she continued with, "...Think they're gonna spit in our food?"

That question caught me off guard. I nearly choked on the water I had been sipping.

"I hope not," I said with a grimace.

"Me too," she laughed. "I mean, I wasn't that harsh with them, right?"

"Well…" I trailed off. "If they do decide to, hopefully they only do in yours. I didn't do anything wrong after all," I shrugged. "No reason we should both be punished."

Her face took on an indignant expression. "You brat!" she cried out. "You're gonna be my taste-tester. If anything's off, we're gonna switch."

"What the heck, that sounds like a terrible deal on my end..." I objected.

"Well, I guess that's just the price you pay for having me as your girlfriend," she smiled.

Despite her confident words, her smile actually seemed a little shy. Her dimple was just barely visible.

Gah.

How can a woman who's ordinarily so brash have moments of such absolute cuteness...

"Well, when you put it that way, I guess it's not the worst deal in the world…" I muttered quietly.

She laughed brightly at that.

Almost at that exact moment, our waiter came out with a tray consisting of two bowls of steaming hot ramen and a pint of ice-cold beer.

"Thanks," I said as he set the first bowl down in front of me.

"Mhm, thanks," Hiratsuka-sensei said–perhaps a bit tersely–as she received her own bowl.

"...Of course," the waiter responded softly. "And here's your sapporo. Anything else I can get you?"

As soon as we both hit him with a "no thanks", he all but practically sprinted off, muttering a quick "enjoy your meal" before he did.

Damn. You really scared him straight, didn't you Shizuka-chan…

Almost immediately, Hiratsuka-sensei grabbed the tall glass of beer, took a huge sip, let out a huge sigh of satisfaction, and then a small burp–all within the span of two seconds.

"Classy," I remarked snidely.

She laughed, and I decided to focus on the food in front of me.

As soon as I did, the caveman part of my brain immediately activated and everything else took a backseat to the bowl of hot, steamy goodness in front of me.

It was undeniable. The ramen looked and smelled absolutely delicious.

Just as I was about to split open my chopsticks and maniacally scream "itadakimasu!" before jumping right in, I was interrupted by a voice.

"Hey, slow your roll there, Mr. taste-tester. Mine first."

I couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at that. "You were serious about that?"

"Yep," she answered confidently. "This is a part of your job description, remember?"

I rolled my eyes. "Fine, give it here." I thought she was a being just a tiny bit silly, but I didn't want to back down now and break my word.

Plus, even with the way Hiratsuka-sensei grilled him, there's no way that guy would've gone to such lengths to get back at her… R-right…?

I grabbed Hiratsuka-sensei's bowl and pulled it closer to me. I picked up the chopsticks and threaded some noodles up, before putting them in the soup spoon. I grimaced, mentally preparing myself for the worst. Just as I was about to bring it to my mouth, Hiratsuka-sensei let out a chuckle.

I lowered the spoon ever so slightly as I angled my gaze towards her. "...What?"

"I was just kidding, Hachiman," she laughed. "I just wanted to see if you'd go through the trouble just to make me happy."

Her squished cheek rested against the ball of her hand as she looked at me.

I couldn't help but stutter out my next statement. "O-Oh, is that so?" I asked. "...Well, how'd I do?"

"You passed with flying colors," she smiled.

I couldn't help but smile back at that.

I set down my spoon, and then proceeded to push my bowl to her side of the table.

"Hey, what are you doing? I said I was kidding," she said with confusion in her voice.

"...Your bowl looks better. Let's switch," I said simply.

She gave me a look as if to say 'You know we both ordered the exact same thing right? What the hell is this idiot doing…'

However, soon after, her face changed from confusion to a look of content disbelief. She sighed. "Doesn't it ever get tiring being so relentlessly gentlemanly all the time?" Her eyes rolled.

"Sometimes," I shrugged. "...But it has its benefits," I smiled softly.

"Brat," she chuckled. "Well, I think that's enough teasing from the both of us for now. "Let's hurry up and eat before our food gets cold. It'd be a shame to let such fine-looking ramen go to waste."

I nodded vigorously. "I literally couldn't agree more."

And with that, we both cried out "Itadakimasu!" with aplomb before digging in.

Upon touching my tongue, the entire flavor profile of the ramen immediately made itself known.

The powerful–yet not overwhelming–umami taste. The texture of the perfectly crafted noodles and the tender, juicy cuts of the marbled chashu slices. The subtle accent of the green onion slices and bonito flakes contrasted with the rich piquancy of the broth.

All of it came together to craft the perfect flavor. It became something far greater than the sum of its parts. I wasn't exaggerating by saying that eating this ramen cured my depression and made me a better person.

We ended up devouring our meals in the blink of an eye. If we were in the presence of more polite company, they more than likely would have been repulsed, but hey.

Love it or hate it, this is what peak ramen eating efficiency looks like.

Before long, all that remained on our table were empty bowls and cups, as well as crumpled up napkins.

"Ahh," we both sighed out with complete and utter satisfaction.

Our eyes were glazed over and our cheeks were pink with pure contentment.

"I… I think that ramen just changed my life," I said with wide eyes.

Despite being in her own food coma, Hiratsuka-sensei laughed at that. "I'm assuming that means you liked it?"

"Liked isn't strong enough of a word, to be honest," I said.

"See?" she asked. "And you had the nerve to doubt me at the beginning," she said with a scoff.

I couldn't disagree with her at all there. "I stand corrected. I officially eat crow."

"I accept your apology," she laughed again, before saying, "Hey, I have a secret to tell you."

I looked at her curiously as I heard her say those words. "...Really? What?"

"What if I told you that I actually made the reservation for this restaurant over a week ago?"

I initially wasn't sure how to respond to her statement, but eventually I settled on saying, "Uhh, I would say that that's kinda crazy. I mean, the ramen's amazing, but what kind of place makes you make a reservation that far in advance?"

"A Michelin Star restaurant, for one," she said.

My eyes widened upon hearing her words. "What?"

"Yep," she said enthusiastically. "Ever been to one before?"

"Never," I answered truthfully.

"Well, you have now!" Hiratsuka-sensei said happily. "So, did it live up to the hype? Was it worth the hunger you had to so cruelly endure?"

To be honest, if this was what a Michelin Star restaurant was like, I suddenly felt motivated to burn right through my bank account and seek them all out to try, because that ramen was one of the best things I had tasted in my entire life.

"One-hundred-percent," I answered.

She laughed and clapped her hands together. "Well, I'm happy to be the one you popped your Michelin cherry with."

I gave her a funny look. "Uhhhh, that's a particularly graphic way to put it, but… Thanks for taking me here. It was honestly great."

"You're welcome," she smiled.

With the conclusion of that conversation, we ended up talking about one thing or another until our bill finally arrived.

When it did, I was the first to take a peek at it.

Upon looking at the receipt, I noticed a memo near the top that said in bold letters: CASH ONLY.

My eyes slightly bulged, and I quickly asked Hiratsuka-sensei to confirm the statement. "Apparently this restaurant only takes cash?"

"Yep. Did I not tell you that?" Hiratsuka-sensei responded casually.

"You didn't even tell me where we were going, let alone anything about the payment policies..." I muttered.

"Oh, is that so?" she asked, her finger tapping her chin a few times as if she were contemplating something important. "Oopsie!" she responded with just a little bit too much pep.

Somehow, that doesn't quite sound like a real apology, but oh well.

I rolled my eyes, but motioned to say something. "Hey, stop me if my language is a little too new-age for you, but would you mind if I Benmo'd or Jelle'd you?" I asked. "I'm not carrying much cash tonight."

It's not like I thought Hiratsuka-sensei was technologically inept or anything, but admittedly, there was a bit of a generational gap between us, and I honestly didn't know if she knew anything about those money-sharing apps. Heck, even I didn't know about them until Komachi showed me one day, so I certainly wouldn't blame her if she didn't know.

I heard a scoff from the woman across from me. "Of course I know about Benmo and Jelle! I have a smart phone too, you know. It's not like I'm click clacking away on a Razr from 2007 or something. Give me some credit please, sheesh."

Whoa, that was a pretty strong reaction from her, but of course, somehow a completely expected one. Still, it surprised me that she actually knew what I was talking about.

Okay, so maybe I really didn't give her enough credit sometimes.

"My bad, my bad," I said with my hands at my chest. "But yeah, so that means you have one right?"

"W-Well, not exactly…" she said, her face turning ever so slightly red. "B-But I've definitely heard of them before!"

After all that fuss and defensiveness, you really don't have an account huh...

"Uh-huh..." I nodded. "Sorry to do this to you, but could I pay you back the next time we meet up? I don't have enough cash on me to cover my end..."

Ahhh, I knew I should've taken more money out of my stash before I left the house. I usually didn't carry much cash in general (especially not enough to cover a meal quite this expensive) out of some paranoid fear of accidentally losing my wallet. Of course, it was impossible for me to have known that I would've needed this much, but still. It was a bit embarrassing having to basically ask her for a loan…

"Like I said earlier, don't worry about it," she said simply.

Her nonchalant statement caught me off guard. "Oh... Earlier? What do you mean?"

She sighed. "Are you really asking me, or are you just being difficult?"

"I'm really asking," I answered.

"I thought you were the master of reading in between the lines," she retorted.

"I guess my skills are a little rusty after spending all this time around such an unapologetically blunt woman," I shrugged.

She laughed at my comment, but didn't continue immediately after that. After a moment, with a breath and what seemed to be a great deal of effort, she finally said, "It's. My. Treat. Dummy."

Her expression gradually softened and soon, her face morphed into a small smile.

I blinked a few times in surprise. "H-Huh? I can't let you do that," I protested quickly. "I really appreciate the thought, and normally I would never turn down a free meal or a free anything really, and to be honest, I don't even mind snagging a free MAX coffee or something from you on occasion, but this is way too expensive of a treat, and there's no way I could possibly let—" I blabbered.

Hiratsuka-sensei had closed her eyes while listening to me practically exhale words. "Sometimes you talk too much, you know."

My words were halted by that exasperated statement.

I sighed. "Seriously though… I'll pay you back…" I insisted.

"Please, Hachiman," she began. "Just think of this as a small token of my appreciation…" Her face was slightly turned away from me as if for whatever reason, she didn't want to look me in the eyes. "...for everything."

Those softly-spoken, sentimental words had caught me squarely off guard.

"O-Oh…" I responded lamely. Now it was my turn to look at my feet. "Then thank you. I really appreciate it."

"Of course," she nodded quietly.

I thought we were just going to sit there awkwardly for a while until one of us suddenly gained the courage to say something, but Hiratsuka-sensei suddenly took the initiative and continued.

"I think that this past week has been… really good. On my end, at least," she said cautiously. "It's felt more right than it has in a while… So, I just wanted to do something… To thank you…" She absently played with a strand of her long, black hair. "...for giving me another chance."

Ah…

Her words were a bit vague, but somehow, I felt like I understood her intention. Had she been planning this meal all this time as a way to say sorry or something? I'd already told her that there was no need to feel all that guilty in the first place… It's not like it had ever been all her fault anyway…

"You're not getting a second chance," I decided to say.

At that, Hiratsuka-sensei's eyes widened for a second before she turned her gaze away from me completely. Her grey eyes seemed to deflate.

"Because you never needed one," I finished.

Her eyes widened again, and she gave me a stunned expression before smiling. She kept silent for a while before eventually saying, "...Thanks, Hachiman."

I smiled softly at her.

I couldn't help but agree with her words.

I think she had been cautious by saying that things had felt better on her end, but the truth was that things had felt a lot better on my end as well.

Even though only a week had passed since our tear-filled confessions in the classroom, things felt… different. In a good way.

At first, we couldn't help but act incredibly shyly and unsure around one another, but it didn't take long for us to fall into a familiar rhythm. What was different, however, was that we communicated more and we did our best to explain how we'd felt for the past few months.

The conversations certainly weren't easy nor particularly neat, but it genuinely felt like both of us came into those conversations ready to listen to the other person.

I think we learned more about each other in that past week than we had during the entirety of our relationship... In some ways, it almost felt like we were getting to really know each other for the first time.

It didn't erase the things that had happened, but it did help us understand one another better.

And that was enough. For me at least.

"No, thank you," I said. "I couldn't possibly have asked for a better free meal."

She brightened up and snickered at that. "Fufufu, I hope this doesn't mean you're going to treat me like your own personal wallet or something. This was a one time thing only. That's all!"

"Whatever you say, Shizuka-tsun-tsun," I responded sarcastically.

"Damn right," she said with crossed arms. "Shizuka-chan only gets dere-dere when her Bakadere boyfriend deserves it. Which is rare, of course."

"Hey, who are you calling a bakadere? If anything, I'm more of a Kuudere," I responded indignantly.

She scoffed. "You wish. I was being nice by calling you a bakadere. In reality, you're definitely a shundere," she chuckled as if she had just told the world's funniest joke.

I rolled my eyes. "Hey now, I may not be the most outgoing person in the world, but I'm hardly a Tomoko Kuroki, right?"

"Well, you definitely have the same dead eyes, that's for sure," she offered.

...Damn. She got me there.

"...You win," I muttered.

That seemed to satisfy her because she nodded and chuckled. "I always do."

As we continued indulging in that pointless yet entertaining banter, I realized that between our meal and conversations, we had actually spent a considerable amount of time in this restaurant.

Absently, I decided to flip over my watch to check the time.

The sight I saw was one that was concerning, to say the least.

"Wait, the showing's at 8:30 right?" I asked.

Hiratsuka-sensei, who had been casually leaning back in her seat, suddenly perked up and nodded, "Yeah…Why?"

"...It's 8:22."

"Shit!" she exclaimed. "Seriously?"

I nodded.

"Crap. Okay, let's bring the check up to the front and take off. Double time!" she cried out as she jumped from her seat. "I can't believe I lost track of time like this. Shit. Shit. Shit…"

Although I thought that her reaction was just a little stronger than necessary, I did understand where she was coming from.

She has been practically dying to see this movie for ages now, after all.

"Alright," I said as I stood up. "If we wanna make it, we're gonna have to run. You ready?"

"I don't care if I have to do a full-on sprint. I'll channel my damn inner Usain Bolt if I have to, but I am not missing a single minute of this movie. You can quote me on that."

Despite her serious expression, I couldn't help but full out laugh. "You're right. We definitely can't let that happen," I said. "So let's hurry and get moving."

We looked at each other for a moment and shared a smile before jetting off through the restaurant and onwards toward the theater.

AN: I finally got around to finishing volume 14, and I have to say, the ending did not disappoint. I don't want to give anything away, but overall, I'm very pleased with how the story ended. Also, Shizuka is looking goood in the new season. Saki too. As always, much love to those who have stuck around this long and especially to those who have given me feedback on the recent chapters. Your words always motivate me to write faster so I appreciate every one of them. I hope to get the next update out soon! Until next time.