A Foray into Anime

It was a day like any other. You got up, you ate breakfast, and you went to school, looking forward to lunchtime. It was the usual ever since you'd joined the Literature Club; you'd all get together during lunch and hang out together, talking about whatever it was that was on your minds. Almost immediately, you noticed that Natsuki never actually brought any lunch to the table, so you offered some of yours to her today.
"Thanks, but I'm not hungry." She scoffs, before turning forward to face Sayori and talk to her about something, probably whatever she was baking for the next meeting. You shrug, turning slightly right to continue the conversation you were having with Yuri and Monika about homework for the next period. You notice Monika, sitting across from you, shift her vision toward your left, and out of the corner of your eye, a small hand creeping onto your tray towards the chicken nuggets that were scattered across it. You swivel on the stool towards the hand's owner, catching her red handed. Her look of cautious determination instantly turns to a surprised blush as your eyes meet, and she turns back towards Sayori, quickly setting her arm back on the table.
"I-I was just stretching!" She blurts out. You laugh, pushing your tray closer to her while assuring her that it was alright, that you didn't mind sharing. "Fine, I guess I'll take one." She looks back towards you with a slightly nervous smile, before slowly taking a nugget off your tray. Smiling all the while, you spring a question on her; favorite flavor, between strawberry and chocolate?
"Uh, strawberry. Why?" Without a 'be right back', you hop up out of your seat and get back into the lunch line. Soon enough, you're making your way back to the table with a pink milk carton in hand. As you sit back down, you get her attention and hand it to her. Her blush comes back in full force as she realizes what you had brought her.
"You didn't have to do that, dummy!" She says, closing her eyes and turning off to the side. But you wanted to, you tell her. "Well… thanks. I really appreciate it." She opens it and begins sipping on it.

"Jeez, Nat. You guys only spend the entirety of club time together, you always sit side by side at lunch, you even bake together on the weekends over at his house," Monika teases, taking a bite of an apple and setting it back on her tray. "Can't your boyfriend get ya a drink without you freaking out?" Her expression turns to one of surprise as she turns away from the group and covers her mouth to avoid spitting her drink onto Sayori's face, before gulping it down and turning back.
"My what?" She chokes out.
"You heard me. Your boyfriend!" You couldn't say you hadn't thought of her as your girlfriend, but the word sent a flutter through your heart. You blushed, putting a hand to the back of your head as you looked down at your tray with a smile.
"I-I mean, I guess. We haven't, uh, confirmed it or said it or anything." She stutters out, obviously flustered. You turn to her, and your gazes meet. You ask her if she wants to be official.
"Yeah, dummy. I've only been dropping like, a million hints." She gives you a smirk, trying to hide her nervousness and failing spectacularly. You give a small chuckle, saying yeah, you guess she had. You inch your hand over to hers, and as you take it into your own, you see her smirk turn into a soft smile as her eyes well up. She closes them, and you give her a sidehug. Ruining the tender moment is the bell ringing, signifying the start of the next period. The other girls stand up with their trays.
"See you lovebirds later!" Sayori sticks her tongue out at the two of you before rushing off to her next class, the other two following behind her at a less excited pace after saying their goodbyes. Getting up, you help Natsuki to her feet and grab the tray. You give her another hug and let her know you can't wait to read with her later.
"Yeah, I can't wait either." She smiles sweetly at you. "See ya later, dummy." Her brows furrow in victory, that confident attitude of hers shining through the awestruck she had a few moments ago. You ruffle her hair before getting on your way, making a mental note to get extra food and a strawberry milk with your lunches from now on.

A few more periods passed, and you reached the other part of the day that you loved so much: club time! It was a day like any other, blessed with baked goods, tea, and chitchat before everybody split to read for a bit. As usual, you and Natsuki retreated to your windowside seating, cracking into the current volume of Parfait Girls. She rests her head against you, you wrap your arm around her, you get that fuzzy feeling as you read and she points out small details. It's all very cute, but when you get to the end of the volume and reach the advertisements, she points something out.
"I keep looking for those colored volumes at the book store, but they never have them." Her dainty finger points toward an image that, sure enough, is of the main characters in full color. However, the ad doesn't mention anything about a colored volume, only the anime that started airing a couple of months ago. You ask her if she means the DVDs, and she seems confused.
"Why would they put the colored versions of a manga on a DVD? Shouldn't they just print them out into a volume like these?" Oh my god. She doesn't know what anime is. You suppose it isn't outside of the realm of possibility; she mentioned not having internet access at home, with only basic cable. She wasn't a part of any other clubs, and she didn't really have any other friends. Any print ads for anime would just look like frames of manga that were colored in, and there were some manga that had full color. Time to blow her mind with your weeaboo knowledge. You tell her that you know where to get said volumes, and that she can check them out this weekend when she comes over to bake. She seems pleased with this, and snuggles close to you for a moment before Monika announces that it's poem time. The two of you reach into your bags, pull out poems that are pretty similar in content, and join up with the group.

The days passed by quickly, and you prepared for Natsuki's visit. You went and bought some strawberry milk as well as some totally healthy snacks, borrowed a copy of the first volume of Parfait Girls from the library, and completely legally acquired the first season of the anime on the internet. You decided to go with the dub since it'd be her first time watching an anime, while also grabbing the sub just in case she wanted to see what that was like as well. On that Saturday morning, the doorbell rung at a quarter past noon, and sure enough, on your porch stood that pink haired mega cutie that you could now officially call your girlfriend. Speaking of cute things, her outfit. It was like an off-white cable knit sweater that was way too big for her, reaching about a few inches above her knees. Her leggings, black, jetted out from underneath said sweater and settled into her boots nicely. Said boots matched the look, being a sort of feltish material that was the same off-white. Just the right level of comfy for the fall weather, you think. Stepping inside, you pulled her into a hug, her head nestling underneath your own extremely comfortably. You stand there for a moment in the mutual embrace, before telling her that the manga is in the living room and you can't wait to show her.
"Yeah? Shouldn't we bake first, then read it?" She responds, her head still pressed into your chest. Nah, you say. Just a quick look, maybe read through the first couple chapters to appreciate the art, then you'll get to baking.

"Alright, if you say so. Let's go check it out!" She slips her boots off, revealing some fuzzy blue socks that seem exceedingly comfy. You lead her into the living room, and show her the sight; the coffee table with an array of snacks and the volume of the manga, the lights dimmed to a setting that might be suitable for reading, and the couch covered with a cozy blanket.
"Pfft, you dork." She lets out, looking at you with a lovestruck expression. Sitting down on the couch with her, you pick up the book and cuddle up close underneath the blanket. Opening it up, you read for a few pages before she realizes something's up.
"Hey, is it just the lights, or are none of these panels actually colored?" Oh, your mistake, you say. You reach toward the table, pick up your TV remote, and flick it on. It's paused on the first frame of the opening, which mimics the cover of the first volume.
"Wait, what?" Her face turns to surprise. "You mean to tell me there's a show of Parfait Girls?" Damn right, there is! You start it up, and immediately she's drawn into it. You keep the volume of the manga at hand, comparing some of the frames of the animation with certain iconic panels. She notes that they did a really good job transferring it to animation, and you have to agree. Plus, the dub ain't all that bad. The Fun Animation Company did a pretty good job with their voice cast. After a few episodes, you're singing along to the opening together, and snuggling throughout the episodes, taking breaks only to grab a snack off the table or shift to a more comfortable state of being tangled up. However, one episode starts and you realize that she isn't singing along. Looking down at the cupcake cuddled up against you, you realize that she'd fallen asleep at some point. Aw, she's so precious when she's sleeping. Come to think of it, you're extremely comfy how you're sitting, and a bit tired, too. Shutting your eyes for a moment and clutching her head close probably wouldn't hurt, you think as you do just that.

You come to a couple hours later, your girlfriend rustling against you. Pulling slightly away, you see her open her eyes, then smile at you sleepily. You smile back, pulling her back into a hug. Looking toward the TV with her head underneath yours, you see events that signify the end of the first volume. Guess you'll have to go back and watch that another time. You feel her head moving beneath yours, and then, on your cheek, a warm and soft feeling. You turn back to her face, and notice that right around where the feeling was where her lips would've been. You wonder if what you thought happened actually happened, and your suspicions are answered when she cranes upwards and plants another smooch on your lips. Your eyes go wide, then close as you bask in the moment. You take a few minutes to exchange kisses, when suddenly she pulls away and checks her phone for the time.
"Oh, crap. I gotta be home soon." She says, a sad tone to her voice. Hey, you respond. It's only Saturday, you could always do it again tomorrow. Besides, she's gotta come back anyway; you guys never actually did any baking.
"Well, who's fault is that?" She gives a small chuckle, and stands up, bringing you to your feet with her. You turn the TV off, and walk her to your front door. She slides her shoes back on, and turns back around to face you. You give her another hug, and turning your head down to meet hers, you give her a kiss on her forehead. She blushes, rolls her eyes, then quickly bounces upwards and plants one on your lips. She starts to head out, while you tell her to text you and that you'll see her tomorrow.
"Yeah, yeah! I will. You'd better get more of that anime! I'll text you some of the other series I wanna watch!" Yeah, yeah. I gotcha, you say. "Alright, I'll be over here early tomorrow so we can watch more and bake! See ya then, love y-" She catches herself, stopping dead in her tracks as she does. You're also surprised at what you thought you heard, before cautiously responding that you love her too.
"That's- that's not what I was gonna say! Idiot, you can't just say something like that!" Her face turns a shade similar to crimson as she turns away from you. "B-but I guess I love you too. I'll text you later!" She hurriedly walks toward her home, as you close your door with your heart pounding. You guess that was to be expected at some point, but hearing it was still weird and exciting. You're sure of one thing, though. You love hearing love. Upon returning to the living room, you're sure of another thing, and that's that you're gonna have to restock on strawberry milk.