Yahaba + Kyoutani - Girls' first date.

[yahaba]

[Smoothing down her dress, Yahaba checks herself in the mirror one last time. She's got her hair up and for once it's not for volleyball. A single strand curls out of her loose bun. She tucks it behind her ear, hoping it comes off as alluring rather than like she missed it and didn't want to redo her hair again.

She's not even sure why she bought this dress, but it's proving useful today. It's blue, the light kind that makes her hair look less mousey and more golden. The scoop neck gives an impression of cleavage and the loose short sleeves hide some of the tone in her arms, it finishes above her knees, making her legs look longer. Her shoes match her dress, a silver buckle keeping them secure. She snorts at her reflection.]

Kyoutani won't care.

[Even said aloud she doesn't entirely believe it. She's still surprised that she managed to convince Kyoutani to go out on a date date in the first place, rather than their usual joined hobby of settling in for a movie that's more of a tactile experience than cinematic.

She checks her makeup one last time and pulls her handbag over her shoulder. It's black. Not blue. She supposes she can't have everything.

With a sigh and a shake of her head, she makes her way down to the entrance of the apartment complex to wait for Kyoutani so they can go to the restaurant. It's not a long walk but she's glad that her shoes are an easier pair to walk in.]

Comments

[kentarou]

[ Kyoutani actually shows up on time, rolling up to the front of the building a few minutes after Yahaba arrives. She ambles along with her hands in her pants' pockets, unhurried, not looking at all like she'd almost made herself late figuring out how to dress for their... date.

She'd settled on a pair of form-fitting black pants and black ankleboots with a single plain buckle. The pants are the one pair she owns that aren't either baggy or ripped, and the shoes the only pair that aren't trainers, even if they are a bit scuffed. Her short sleeved top is not black, though the zig-zagging colours are dark. She's even put on a bit of makeup, although the eyeshadow makes her look harsher than her usual eyeliner. The outfit isn't particularly formal or feminine, but it's different enough to what she usually wears - the tightness of the pants revealing that she actually has a bit of a figure - that she already feels a little uncomfortable. ]

Hi.

[ The general impression Kyoutani gets of Yahaba is that she looks pretty, her hair and clothes inexplicably making her look softer and more delicate than she usually does. Even though Kyoutani likes the way she looks normally, too. ]

...You look nice.

[ She means it, as deadpan as her voice is and as much as she sounds like she's just parroting what past dates had said to her. Kyoutani hasn't gone on many dates, hasn't really thought about what you're supposed to do on them. She's never really cared. For Yahaba, though, she might be willing to try.

She arches an eyebrow at Yahaba in a questioning way - ready to go?]

[yahaba]

[See, this? This right here? This is offensive. And Yahaba is offended because her breath legitimately catches on sight of Kyoutani. And then Kyoutani is saying that she looks nice? Which, okay, she does. But in the face of Kyoutani, she's heating up under her makeup and having to hold back from chewing her lip and making her lipstick smudge. She tries as much as she can not to let it show, adjusting her handbag to her outside hand and taking the lead as a reply to Kyoutani's unspoken question.]

You look good, too. [Her reply to that question is an understatement, and it's all she can do not to keep looking at Kyoutani, which is why they've barely taken a few steps before she pieces together that Kyoutani's looking as stiff as she is herself.]

You can relax. I'm not going to pounce on you or anything. [She avoids eye contact as she says that, well aware she's being hypocritical, but at least she always keeps some level of poise, unlike Kyoutani, whose stiffness is kind of cute when she thinks about it, but also makes her realise that she likes her usual manner. Which is kind of annoying, because she doesn't want to be the kind of person who likes grumpy girls who slouch all the time and take up too much space.]

[kentarou]

[ Yahaba saying that has the exact opposite of its intended effect. Maybe you should pounce on me, Kyoutani wants to say, except Yahaba had asked her on this date because she wanted to do something other than make out and get handsy on the couch, so Kyoutani will behave until they head back to one of their places and the make-out-and-get-handsy part of the evening can presumably commence.

She notices Yahaba purse her lips, which draws Kyoutani's attention to her lipstick. Kyoutani pictures what it would look like smudged a little out of its perfect lines.

...Maybe she can behave until they they get into one of their buildings, at least. ]

Which restaurant are we going to, again?

[ The too-small, girl's pockets on her pants start to annoy her, so she takes her hands out of them, and then idly thinks about holding Yahaba's hand. At some point. Maybe. ]

[yahaba]

[Yahaba's eyes keep getting drawn back to her date. Her really hot date. Who she knows can kiss her until her lips bruise and hold her up by her hips as she grinds against her with her hand down between th—

She diverts her gaze away.]

The one not far from here, Mako's? They do seafood. [She hesitates.] You like seafood, right? [She's pretty sure it comes out a little like an accusation, that Kyoutani shouldn't dare to not like seafood. But she didn't mean it to. It's just hard. She looks so nice. And it occurs to Yahaba that Kyoutani must have put effort in. Put effort in for her.]

[kentarou]

[ the way she inquires after Kyoutani's food preferences makes it sound kind of like a test. ]

Sure? Why wouldn't I?

[ her response comes out brusque, almost defensive, but more from force of habit than from finding the question at all objectionable. and it's not a lie - she likes seafood just fine, it's just that she'd probably prefer something fried that she can eat with one hand within 15 minutes. not like she'd tell Yahaba that right now, though.

they reach the end of the block and come to a stop at a crosswalk. Kyoutani glances at Yahaba surreptitiously. she decides to give into her earlier impulse and takes Yahaba's hand - except she squeezes so hard that the gesture probably feels more like she's trying to crush Yahaba's fingers. ]

--

((there's probably some kinda fish taco joke to be made here but i'm ignor--))

[yahaba]

[Yahaba shrugs with one shoulder. The thing is that they just don't talk. They snark, they banter, but talking isn't something that they do. Talking would mean Yahaba knew more about Kyoutani than how she sounds when Yahaba sucks marks into her neck.]

I don't know. You might only want to eat things with blood or something.

[The crush on her fingers is almost a relief, but she still frowns and squeezes back in protest. It's not like their relationship is changing that much.]

[kentarou]

[ she's almost surprised by the bark of a laugh that comes out of her. ]

You sure you're not thinking about yourself?

[ if someone were to ask her what Yahaba's favorite food was, she wouldn't be able to answer, to be honest. they've eaten together a few times before, but it was always after class or after practice, at whatever place around that was cheapest, and Kyoutani was always more focused on the snipping at each other rather than whatever Yahaba decided to eat the most often.

she loosens her grip so that it's less uncomfortable, but squeezes Yahaba's fingers again right back. maybe it's this - touching Yahaba in some small way, the physicality of it - that reminds her that even though they're trying to take things in a new direction, Yahaba is still Yahaba. ]

[yahaba]

[Yahaba physically relaxes at the laugh. If Kyoutani's laughing that means she's having an okay time, no matter what either one of them is actually saying.]

I'll have you know my tastes are totally refined. [Even if she would eat the same thing for a week straight. She figures that if something tastes good there's no reason to vary it.]

But, like, if you wanted to pick somewhere for next time... [She shrugs.] It would be fair, y'know. [Her face is heating up under her makeup. She just doesn't do talking about this stuff. About talking like she wants there to be a next time. Even though she does.]

refined taste? Yahaba? pls

[kentarou]

[ "Next time?" She's surprised. She hadn't been anxious about this date exactly - whatever happened, however it turned out, she would have just rolled with it like she always did - but she had felt a little on edge. She'd assumed that at the end of the evening Yahaba would decide whether she wanted to do this again, or whether she'd relegate Kyoutani and their... relationship, to whatever the fight-and-kiss thing they'd been doing for the last few months was. She's not sure whether she would have been disappointed by that. It would have been easier, definitely, but maybe not what she most wanted.

In any case, Yahaba admitting that she wanted to do this again, with Kyoutani, has her feeling so warm that even if she might not be smiling, exactly, her entire expression softens a little.

She looks at Yahaba. ]

Yeah. Okay. I could do that.

[ The light changes, and they cross. Soon, Kyoutani think she catches sight of the restaurant's name-- ]

Hey. Is that it?

uh, yes?? she has refined taste?? like totally?? just... not in girls. she likes her girls rough.

[yahaba]

Yeah, that's the one. [Yahaba's hand feels warm in Kyoutani's still, and she tugs on it to she skip-walk the last of the distance and push into the restaurant. She's cute and she's bouncy. And she's not really flustered by Kyoutani at all.

She releases her hand, but reluctantly, and takes a half step backwards to find a hint of Kyoutani's body heat as a member of the waitstaff asks if Yahaba made a booking and seats them.

She sets her handbag down at her feet and tries to smile nicely. She feels pretty stupid for how happy she is about doing this, despite the awkward air hanging over their date.]