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You waited patiently outside the cafe you’d been working at for the past couple months. You wished you at least had a little time to run home and change out of your pants but you appreciated how enthusiastic Karamatsu was over the phone last night. He kept insisting he had a really romantic date idea but knowing him he was going to suggest something ridiculous or that horribly expensive restaurant again. Either way you were excited to see what he had in store. The two of you had only been dating for a month or so- his penchant for being absolutely painful only inciting glee within you as the two of you warmed up to each other quickly. He’d taken you on multiple dates since then, all of them unbelievably cheesy yet still unbelievably fun.
Speaking of Karamatsu, you could hear him now, calling out your name loudly as he ran closer. A laugh escaped your lips as you saw the dozen roses he had clutched in his hands. He was really going all out wasn’t he? But that’s just the type of person he was you supposed. After a pause for breath he dropped down to one knee and presented them to you gingerly. No longer able to hold it in a rather loud laugh escaped you as you took the roses from the man before you.
“So,” Another giggle rose from you, “Just what kind of romantic date do you have in store for me this time?”
He cleared his throat and stood, twirling his sunglasses around for a moment before placing them dramatically on his face. “Well my darling, I was thinking I would wine you and dine you. Perhaps go out dancing by moonlight with candles in the windows.” He looked off dramatically.
“Sounds great.” A wide smile was spread across your face. “So where exactly are we going to be doing this?” A soft sputtering noise came from him. “You have no idea do you?” Stammering. “We gotta keep it cheap remember? I don’t get paid till next week, and even then I don’t think I could afford wine and some kind of private moon viewing venue.” Your words were a bit harsh but with a light tone, merely intending to bring the hopeless romantic of a man back to reality.
He hung his head in a dejected fashion for a moment before nodding. “Ah, yes. Something cheap. It’s just so hard to remember when you, my beautiful Karamatsu girl, deserve the world.” His smile crept back on to his face, his hands spreading out as he spoke dramatically. People were starring. “Did um, did you happen to have ideas my darling?”
You paused for a moment, taken a bit aback as he was typically the one who decided what you two were to do on your dates. “Well, it should be really pretty in the park this time of year with all the flowers blooming. Plus the weather has been so nice.”
“Oh! Yes! That should be lovely.” His smile widened as he grew excited for a moment before he went back to his cool-guy facade. “But not as lovely as you I’m afraid. Ah how the flowers will wilt and weep when they gaze upon your beauty. Surely the park will be barren before we leave, the park as empty as the moon we will be under.” He was rambling again.
Before he could continue posing dramatically in front of your workplace you laced your free hand with the closest one to you. He jumped a bit in shock, his cheeks already tinting red despite having held your hand before. “Shall we go? I don’t want it to get too dark before we get there, it’s pretty late already.” You gave him a reassuring smile as you began to pull him towards the park by your home as it was only a short walk from your work. It was rather small but had a nicely sized open field of grass that was currently filled with flowers. You had been meaning to go see the flowers for a couple days now but you weren’t going to tell Karamatsu that anytime soon.
Finally arriving you could see most of the people who you saw coming and going from the park weren’t there, only the two of you and a few people here or there, leaving the two of you to have some time alone. Honestly it was for the best, knowing Karamatsu. Speaking of him once again he had withdrawn his hand from your own, using it to swing the guitar on his back to his front. Oh god. He began to strum gently, taking a few steps back from you before beginning to sing a song about what an “enchanting Karamatsu angel” you were. Your now free hand moved to cover your mouth. He swelled with pride as it must have looked like you were taken with emotion but in reality you were trying to not snicker in front of him. He was just too silly for you to handle!
You allowed him to play without interrupting him for a couple minutes, enjoying his over enthusiasm for attempting to look “cool.” Granted he was a bit embarrassing but if you were really honest with yourself you loved it. It helped that you loved the ridiculous attention too. Suddenly you were torn from your thoughts as an older woman stood beside you for a moment before a small chuckle rose from her. She walked towards Karamatsu and handed him a couple thousand yen before giving him a small applause. Holy shit did she think he was a street performer? You quickly grabbed Karamatsu’s arm and pulled him further into the park.
“Are you jealous my angel? I know that woman was charmed by my siren’s song, even giving me an offering out of her joy, but alas for her, you are my one true Karamatsu girl.” He was beaming. You weren’t even looking at him but you knew exactly what expression surely had to be plastered across his hopeless face.
“I think she thought you were playing for money.” You giggled. “But you sounded really great so I’m not surprised.” His hand began to shake a bit as he held on to yours. “Sorry to cut you short though. We should just find somewhere to sit before the sun gets too low.”
The two of you stopped by a tree in the field. He muttered something close to an apology for how late it was before you waved him off. You sat down in the grass, tiny blooms of purple and white all around you and the crinkly bundle of roses as the sky began to fade into the darker reds and purples of the night. After a moment of pause he joined you in the grass, his face fixed on the sky as it transitioned into night. Or at least he did for a while. Even out of your peripherals you noticed him turning every now and then to stare at you, gradually staring for longer and longer until finally he was just fixated on you.
“What’s up?” Despite asking casually he visibly jumped back a bit from you. “Woah hey are you alright?”
“Ah y-yes.” He nodded quickly and straightened his sunglasses before he seemed to wilt nervously once more. “It’s just so romantic, watching the sunset you know?” A nervous laugh rose from him slowly. “I was thinking that ahh, this might be.. Perhaps a nice time to… Share a-” He was bright red now. “A k-kiss?”
A wide smile enveloped your face. “That sounds perfect actually.” Now you were feeling rather red as well. “But you’ve gotta give me your sunglasses.”
His hands jolted up to grab at them defensively. “Ahh but then I would be losing part of my signature ‘Karamatsu Look’ my darling..”
“I want to see your face though.” After a moment his nervous smile melted away, hands lowering along with the sunglasses as he gave in to your request. “You look really nice without them you know.” His eyes shifted away from yours nervously. He wasn’t wearing contacts today.
“Well my darling Karamatsu angel, I’ll have you know that it is truly you who looks nice tonight-” He began rambling once more but you let him have this one. He was just so red and nervous that that you watched him as he spoke emphatically, hands moving around wildly as he monologued. Usually you’d let him go on for a bit before pulling him out it but you just waited patiently as he went on and on, hoping that it was calming him down. Despite raving about romance and love he really wasn’t experienced with either of these things. That was fine with you however, his over the top romantic act was incredibly endearing in your eyes. God, there was even that time you invited him over to your apartment to watch a movie and he had shown up in this horribly embarrassing robe with an entire bottle of wine. It had been so hard to cheer him back up after you had laughed so hard. Really how could you have expected that?
After you realized it was on to getting dark you felt worry rise within you. He was still going strong and looked like he could keep it up for a good while longer. As he closed his eyes for dramatic effect you quickly looked at your phone to check the time. It wasn’t terribly late but he had definitely been going for near ten minutes now. Well it was now or never and that was for certain.
With a burst of foreign confidence you seized his collar, forcing his eyes to lock with yours as he began to shake once more. “Are you sure you want to kiss me?” Once again you used harsh words with a kind tone, taking him aback for a moment before he nodded quickly.
“Y-yes. I do.” Just as the words left his lips they found yours pressed against them. A soft choking noise rose in his throat as he screwed his eyes shut in contrast to your own gently shut ones. After sitting there stunned for a moment his hands gripped on to your sides as they trembled softly, his lips beginning to become far too pursed with his inexperience.
It was over quickly as you withdrew from him in fear of overwhelming him with too much too soon. Sure it wasn’t the best kiss in the world by any means, but honestly it had to be one of your favorites. After a pause to take in the moment your eyes fluttered open, a deep blush rising quickly to your cheeks as your eyes immediately locked with Karamatu’s. You had never seen him so red, with eyes wide enough to reflect the new stars above as he stared at you in awe.