This was my second date with Fate-san. Halfway through, she had finally found the courage to voice her true feelings, and I had accepted them in turn.
To put it simply, the relationship between Fate-san and me had transformed. We were no longer just friends; we were lovers.
Such a change carries a heavy weight, shifting the very core of how two people relate to one another. Up until this point in the date, we had both been so painfully conscious of each other that our behavior was plagued by awkwardness and constant nerves.
But despite this official progression in our status, the air between us didn't exactly settle.
"...Ah, um."
"...Well..."
"P-Please, after you, Kai-chan."
"N-No, after you, Fate-san. What were you going to say...?"
Far from calming down, we were both more flustered than ever. Why was this happening? No, I knew why.
One reason was that Fate-san was surprisingly pure-hearted. The reality of being my girlfriend seemed to have hit her hard; she was more restless now than she'd been before the confession.
As was usually the case, her tension was contagious. It had spread to me until we reached a point where we were both too embarrassed to even look each other in the eye.
Furthermore—though it felt strange to say this in front of the Goddess of Destiny herself—moments that felt like a "trick of fate" were starting to pile up. For instance, just as I’d decide that I couldn't keep avoiding her gaze and turned to look at her, she would turn at the exact same moment, causing our eyes to lock.
When I’d reach for my drink to try and distract myself, my hand would bump into hers as she reached for hers at the exact same time. Nothing was going smoothly.
"...L-Let's just try to calm down and have a drink."
"Y-Yeah, good idea."
While navigating these strange coincidences, I finally managed to bring the cup to my lips. Wait... grape juice? I could have sworn I was drinking apple—Ripple Juice...
"..."
"..."
It seemed Fate-san had realized the mistake at the same time I did—only after taking a sip. We looked at each other simultaneously, then immediately turned bright red and looked down.
An indirect kiss... This was bad. Really bad. The more I tried to push the thought out of my head, the more it consumed my every thought.
When I stole a glance at her, my eyes drifted toward the soft curve of her lips. I shook my head violently to clear the thought.
"...H-Hey, Kai-chan?"
"Y-Yes!"
"W-Well, you see... um... a k-kiss! Do you think... we should... do that!?"
"Eeeehhh!? W-Wait, Fate-san! Where did that come from!?"
Her explosive question hit me like a surprise attack. I felt my mind go completely blank as I stammered out a response.
Fate-san fidgeted shyly, tapping the tips of her index fingers together as she spoke.
"N-No, I mean... I don't really know much about these things myself, but... lovers... they're supposed to kiss, right?"
Her words were dangerous enough, but that gesture was far too cute. I was losing the ability to think rationally.
"I-I don't think it's necessarily something we have to rush into. There's no need to force it. We can... we can get to that kind of thing in due time..."
"I-I see. You really do know a lot about this, Kai-chan. T-Then, what should lovers do on a date?"
"..."
Wait, that was a problem. I couldn't think of a single thing. No, that couldn't be right. I'd been on a fair number of dates by now; I should definitely be more knowledgeable about this than Fate-san.
I should have been able to pull from my past experiences and offer a suggestion, but my mind was a total vacuum.
Actually, it was because my eyes kept drifting back to Fate-san's lips. I was definitely panicking.
I had to do something, or things were going to get awkward. It wasn't that I didn't want to kiss her, but if we did it right now, in this state, I’d be too embarrassed to say another word to her for the rest of the day.
Think. Think! What was something "lover-like" that we hadn't done yet today?
"...W-Well... how about we link arms?"
"I-I see! Then... should we walk along the shore... with our arms linked?"
"Y-Yes! I think that sounds perfect!"
I had only managed to suggest the safest possible option, but it was enough to buy us some time to regain our composure. I’d figure out the next step once we started moving.
With that decided, I started helping Fate-san pack away the leisure sheet.
Dear Mother, Father—I was definitely in over my head. And a plan born from that kind of panic was never going to go as expected. At the time, I didn't truly understand what I was getting into. I had completely forgotten what linking arms actually entailed... and more importantly, the existence of the devastating weapon possessed by the petite Fate-san.