[N] A Date at the Mall

Anon ambled in through the main doors of the super mall and found himself in the main lobby. Rows of colourful flora and bushes lined the walls, smaller planters with flowers were spread around the room. In the centre a large fountain sprouted from the ground spraying water into the small pool below, it was surrounded in parts by small birch-wood benches. The scenery was quite beautiful actually, not that Anon really cared, he was just excited to spend some time with some friends for a change.
He sat down and kicked his feet up onto the bench and leaned his head back, staring up at the skylight above him. Rays of the afternoon sunshine shone through and soaked the lobby in light, the gentle sound of the fountain next to him only served to add to the serenity of the scene. Off in the distance the hubbub of shoppers could be heard ever so faintly.
Monika had proposed that the girls spend the Saturday shopping at the mall as a bonding experience, both Yuri and Natsuki reluctantly agreed however Sayori was far more excited than should be allowed, she immediately invited Anon without even asking the others.

By the looks of it he was the first to get here which was strikingly odd, Monika was the punctual sort as was Yuri, not to mention Sayori never offered to walk with Anon which seemed a tad suspicious. On the other hand Natsuki was probably having some difficulty convincing her father to let her out, he was always the strict type.
Anon decided to shrug it off, they’d show up eventually. He was getting to spend some time with the girls so it was a win in his books even if they were a bit late, it’s not like he was going to be stood up by all four of them or anything, right? He popped an earphone into his left ear, trying to dispel such thoughts.
Some time passed, Anon lifted his wrist from behind his head and placed it in front of his face, staring at his watch and pondering to himself.

“One-Twenty, she said be here by one.”

He returned his hand to its original position and sighed, perhaps Sayori had mixed up the time.
Suddenly he felt something tap on his shoe and a high-pitched voice filled his empty ear.
“Hey, dork. Mind moving your feet?”
It was Natsuki, Anon pulled his feet back and sat upright, adjusting his position to get a better view of the girl that was now sitting on the bench with him.

Her pink hair was done up in one neat ponytail at the back with her usual red clip adorning the front. She was wearing a light denim jacket that barely reached her waist with a black and white striped shirt underneath. A familiar pink skirt flowed down to just beneath her knees and met a pair of white kitten knee socks, ending in a pair of white and blue sneakers. She was much more adorable now that she was out of the schools drab uniform and in some nicer clothes for a change.
A lollipop stick stuck out from her pursed lips, staring down at the mobile phone in her hand. It was an older make with a screen cracked beyond reason, Anon figured she just didn’t have the money for a new one. She looked incredibly bored, almost as if she didn’t want to be there.

He shifted and sat next to her pulling his own phone out, his free earphone fell onto his lap and he caught sight of it, hesitating for a moment before picking it up and reaching it towards the girl next to him.

“What do you want?”
“I dunno, figured you’d want to listen to music while we wait for the others.”
The girl looked at the earbud for a moment before taking it.
“Fine, but don’t put any of your garbage on.”
“You pick then.”

He opened the “Music” app and handed the phone to her, she began flicking through playlists in search of something that sounded like it would fit her tastes, she came across a playlist with an overall cutesy album cover.
“Snail’s House?”
Anon chuckled. He’d shameless spent an entire weekend falling down the music rabbit hole in search of stuff he figured the little girl would like.
“You would love it, give it a try.”

She pressed play. Instantly cute electronic-pop beats hit the pair’s eardrums accompanied by chiptune drums, a small smile spread across the little girls face. Anon could tell she was enjoying it as she started to bob her head gently to the rhythm, he couldn’t help but smile as well.
The two made small talk and cracked a few jokes here and there, over the months of reading manga and spending time with Natsuki in the clubroom, they had grown close and Anon could pin her interests down quite easily even if she wasn’t the first to admit her affection for them, the two were comfortable in one another’s company.

Anon switched his phone on and read the time. Another forty minutes had passed since the girl next to him arrived and it was now two in the afternoon, he was starting to lose hope in the others showing up. Natsuki noticed his concern and piped up.

“Maybe you should give Sayori a call and see where they are?”
He only replied with a short “Mm” before pulling his earphones from the phone and switching off to the “Phone” app, selecting “Sayori” under his incredibly short contacts list and pressing the call button.

She picked up almost immediately. “H-Hi Anon!”
“Sayori where are you? You were supposed to meet us at the mall an hour ago.”
She laughed nervously. “Oh yeah, uh… Something came up, I-I can’t go today.”
“Oh, alright. Well what about the other two? Natsuki and I are the only ones here.”
“They’re busy too, I think… I mean not that I would know… R-Right?”
Another bout of nervous laughter, Sayori never was good at keeping secrets. Anon let out a somewhat defeated sigh.
“Alright then, well I’ll see you later Sayori.”
“Bye Anon! Say Hi to Natsuki for me!”
He hung up and glanced over at the girl next to him. A sickening feeling burrowed in his chest as he sighed again. They’d been stood up by all three of the girls, even Sayori which was the most suspicious part.

“Looks like it’s just us today.”
The girl’s eyes fell downward, a slight pout crossed her face.
“I figured that would happen…”

Despite his disappointment in the others for screwing them over, another thought crossed his mind. Maybe this was the chance he’d been after for a while now, he’d always wished to spend more time with the little girl outside of school grounds. He wrapped an arm around her and pulled her into a side hug.

“Well, let’s make the most of today together then.”
That sounded incredibly corny he thought, the girl pulling away from the hug only confirmed that.
“Fine, but don’t get any funny ideas idiot.”
Anon chuckled, there was the familiar attitude he’d grown to love over the months. The two stood up and made way for the escalator that lead to the main area of the mall.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The two spent the next few hours perusing all the shops that caught their interest, Natsuki dragged a reluctant Anon by hand into a small soft animal store and ogled at the range of colourful teddies and other animals. The boy watched as she fawned over a particularly fluffy dog, it was a husky pup with eyes almost as blue as Sayori’s, its soft grey and white fur practically melted under the girl’s fingers. He took a mental note of it and its price tag. $10 didn’t seem like anything compared to the smile she wore while turning it over in her dainty hands. He essentially had to pull her out of the store so that they could move on.

Anon caught sight of a small comic book store wedged in between a GameStop and a small jewellers, a sign propped outside read “Manga and Anime Merch. Upstairs.” He nudged the girls shoulder and pointed it out to her, they took off at racing speed and flew past all the shelves of boring super hero comics and climbed the steep spiralling staircase to the Anime haven that awaited above.
The upstairs area was much larger than the previous floor, what lay before them was rows upon rows of shelves stacked high with all kinds of manga all neatly organised into sections such as “Slice-of-Life” and “Mecha.” One particular shelf higher above the two read “Hentai.”
Natsuki pointed up at it and laughed to herself, she was nowhere near the height to be able to reach and the edge of the shelf was only reachable by Anon’s fingertips. He crouched down to the ground and gestured for the girl to get on his back, she slapped him across the back of the head almost instantly.

“I am NOT reading hentai with you dork! Cut it out.”
He laughed as he stood upright, taking notice of the girl’s tomato-red face only furthered his glee, she slapped him again.
“Alright, alright I get it. Let’s find something more our taste.”

The two set off through the shelves of the store together, finally they settled next to a row of slice-of-life pieces titled “Subarashii Dream Puffs.” Anon opened the first volume he could get his hands on and leaned on the shelf next to him, Natsuki took to his side and leaned on him so she could read along with him.

Some time passed, Anon flicked over to the last page and returned his free hand to its original position, which wrapped around Natsuki’s waist. He’d placed it there unconsciously a while ago and neither had taken notice, similarly the girl was nuzzling into this chest ever so slightly, they continued to read in silence. Finally closing the book and placing it back on the shelf, the two noticed the position they were in, the girl’s face contorted with feigned disgust.

“Ew get off me jerk!”
“Hey! You’re the one cuddling up to me like a puppy.”
“Was not!”
“Yes you were.”
“As if Anon, get real.”
She stormed off towards the staircase and disappeared quickly, Anon let out a content sigh. Even when she was trying to be mad at him she was the cutest thing he’d ever lain eyes on. He followed her and found her waiting outside the store with her arms crossed, tapping her foot impatiently.

“What now?”
“I don’t know, wha-”
Their conversation was interrupted by a loud animalistic growling, as if on cue Natsuki’s stomach roared like a beast from hell itself.
“Well, I guess that’s that sorted. Any ideas?”
She pouted slightly in hunger, a frown spreading on her face.
“I saw a coffee shop earlier I wouldn’t mind checking out actually.”
“Let’s go then, you lead the way.”
She grinned at the thought of being put in charge and marched off towards their next destination, the element of pride in her step, Anon hurried to catch up with her.


Soon enough they were sat at a small table across from each other, the girl was digging into a tub of blue bubble-gum ice cream while glaring at Anon over the ridge of the pot. He smiled back and sipped from his strawberry smoothie.

“Y-You didn’t have to pay you know, I can do that myself.”
“I wanted to, besides it’s the gentlemanly thing to do.”
He received a swift kick to the shin.
“You? A gentleman?”
She snorted and went back to her ice cream, finishing soon after and placing it down on the table. Anon was halfway through his smoothie by now.

“That looks nice actually…”
“You want some?”
“N-No.”
Anon had already lifted his mouth from the straw and spun it round to face the girl, she looked down at it before hesitantly taking a drink.

“Well?”
“It’s really good! Maybe you do have some taste after all.”
“You doubted me?”
“Of course I did, you’re not a taste genius like I am!”

The two laughed at her comment and began taking turns drinking from Anon’s smoothie. Out of nowhere something small and warm landed on the boy’s hand that was casually placed on the table next to his drink, it was Natsuki’s much smaller hand. She didn’t seem to notice nor did he want to make her aware of it, he was enjoying the feeling too much.
A familiar loud slurping pierced the air signifying that the smoothie was finished, Natsuki let go of the straw and caught notice of Anon’s eyes which had gotten lost in her own pink pair, they gazed into each other’s eyes as her face reddened ever so slightly. Anon felt her fingers tighten around his hand a little, he smiled.

“Natsuki.”
“Yeah, Anon?”
The girl’s tone was genuine, lacking any semblance of her usual teasing or stand-offish nature.
“Your hand.”
Her eyes darted down to the table only to find her hand slowly wrapping around Anon’s, she pulled it back immediately and looked away, her face growing even darker.

“I-I…”
Anon chuckled. She continued to stutter out of pure embarrassment.
“I-It’s nothing, don’t get any ideas…”
“You liked it, don’t lie.”
“M-Maybe… So?!”
He let out another short laugh. “Come on, let’s get going.”
They stood and left.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

By now a few hours had passed and it was closing in on six in the evening, the two barely noticed that the crowds of people in the mall were thinning until a jaunty bing-bong emanated from a loud speaker and filled the entire building, followed by a voice informing any remaining customers that closing time was near.
The sound caused Natsuki to jump, she grabbed hold of Anon’s arm and wrapped both of her own around it tightly, he looked down at her and burst into fits of laughter, tears forming at the ends of his eyes. A tiny fist beat against his chest followed by another.

“S-Stop laughing idiot!”
“You got scared by a loudspeaker, what do you want me to do?”
Another round of fists landed on his shoulder this time, despite the handfuls of resentment she was throwing into him she had begun to giggle along with him.

“Shut up, god you’re so insufferable sometimes.”
“Come on, you have to admit it’s pretty funny.”
His laughter died down to a mere chuckle matching the girl’s giggles, she was still holding onto his arm as they continued to walk towards the escalators that fed back into the main lobby where they had first met that day.
They boarded one and looked at each other as they sailed downward slowly, their faces mere inches apart, Anon made his best efforts to stop himself from closing the gap. His face flushed at the thought.

Eventually they came to the end of the escalator and took off on foot again, passing the fountain and finally crossing the exit threshold, they were instantly coated in an orange hue as the sun began to set off in the distance, melting along the horizon like a chocolate candy sitting next to a fire.

Natsuki let go of Anon’s arm and they turned towards each other. Anon looked down into her burning pink irises and smiled, Natsuki blushed furiously under his gaze but managed a smile in return. Out of nowhere the girl threw her arms around his waist and held him tightly, burying her face into his chest, her voice incredibly muffled as she spoke.

“T-Today was fun, we should do it again sometime… D-Dork…”
Before Anon could even speak or return the hug she let go of him and took off in the opposite direction, darting by small groups of people exiting the mall, he watched her go, butterflies filling his chest and kicking up a storm as a sheepish smile split across his face.

He pinched himself several times. “Did that really just happen?”
Soon enough the boy came to his senses, it would be getting cold soon now that the evening was truly starting to set in and he didn’t want to be caught in it. He set off for home, unbeknownst to him he did so under the watching gaze of three pairs of eyes.


Three girls were crouched behind a small car close to the mall’s entrance, one of them threw her fists up and cheered. The three exchanged excited chatter from their hiding spot.

“It worked!”
“I’m not surprised honestly.”
“I told you they liked each other.”

Silence fell momentarily.
“Well now what?”
“I don’t know about you two, but I’m going home. We’ve been out here far too long.”
“Agreed, see you all on Monday.”
“I can’t wait to see their faces, they’ll kill us!”
The three giggled mischievously and parted ways, setting off for home themselves.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The End.