BEFORE YOU READ: The illustration in the last part of the chapter is NOT MY ARTWORK! It was sketched by @gregorsamsa10 on Discord! All thanks and credit to him for the amazing sketch! That's all; enjoy the episode!

Episode 7: First Date; Back To School

Kousei held up his freshly ironed red plaid shirt. Thankfully Ms. Hiroko had not thrown all of his things out after the funeral of his other self. Kousei smiled, satisfied; yes, this shirt would be perfectly acceptable for today's occasion.

That special occasion being him and Kaori's first official date. Where he was not acting as Watari's stand-in.

"Breakfast is almost ready, ya lovebird!" Hiroko called from downstairs. "And don't forget to turn off the iron! I'll murder you if Koharu gets burned!"

"I'm coming!" Kousei shouted back, unplugging the iron and donning the warm shirt. Hurrying downstairs, he saw that Hiroko had prepared her signature "Breakfast Suckerpunch", which consisted of heavily seasoned bacon, scrambled eggs augmented by cheese and garlic, and rice cooked just to perfection. Thanking her for the food, the pianist sat down and began to wolf down the hearty meal.

"Someone's awfully chipper today," Hiroko observed, pinching Kousei's cheek.

"Oh come on!" Kousei groaned. "It's not even ten o'clock in the morning!"

"No, but your lovely lady musician will be here in just an hour! Better eat up!"

As Kousei horked down the food—his time eating MREs had made him quite appreciative of what he'd been deprived of—Hiroko outlined what the rest of the week would be like for him once she departed for her trip to Hiroshima. She told him she'd be departing at 1pm this afternoon, so she'd be gone by she time he returned from what would undoubtedly be an entire day out with Kaori.

"There's a group of American university students visiting Hiroshima this week as part of their history class's trip," Hiroko explained. "I got a request to play a performance at the museum. Ya know, a "promotion of peace" type thing. I'll be up there till Friday."

She winked at Kousei.

"And you are not letting Kaori into the house while I'm gone, is that clear musical love boy?"

Kousei rolled his eyes. "Yes Hiroko, I understand."

As Hiroko had predicted, Kaori was right on time, ringing the doorbell at 10:30am on the dot. As Kousei opened the door, his breath was cut short as he gazed upon Kaori's pretty blonde curls, quaint, purple skirt, sturdy brown purse and freshly shined blue heels.

"She sure wasn't kidding when she said she wanted us to dress fancy today!" Kousei thought with admiration.

"Greetings, Promoted Friend A!" Kaori grinned, twirling around in her skirt. "How do I look?"

But Kousei already knew his answer.

"Absolutely dazzling, my wondrous virtuoso." Kaori blushed as Kousei bowed his head to the ground.

"Good grief Kousei, it's not that special of an outfit." Kaori thought. However, she still blushed appreciatively at Kousei's compliment.

"How about me?" Kousei asked in return. He held the door open so Kaori could fully see his outfit: the red plaid shirt, a black tie, and black jeans to match his black dress shoes. Kaori stroked her chin thoughtfully, then grinned.

"The pants and tie match great!" Kaori beamed. Then she glowered her eyes at the shirt, and Kousei was slightly scared.

"But the shirt is far too pedestrian."

"Wait, what?!" Kousei said in surprise.

"Red plaid? Seriously?" Kaori said, then straightened up her shoulders as she strode up to the front door.

"When going on a date, the couple ought to match!" Kaori proclaimed, speaking like a nineteenth-century aristocrat. "Not simply adorn themselves with casual attire of the peasantry!"

Kousei's shoulders drooped along with his expression. "I'm a peasant now?"

"But fear not, my now Elevated-Friend-A!" Kaori continued speaking, ignoring her boyfriend's complaint. "For I shall aid you in acquiring a new, more appropriate shirt!"

"Um, I can just go get one myself..." Kousei said, beginning to walk back into the house.

"Oh no you don't mister!" Hiroko butted in. "If your lady wants you to match, you better let her be the one to pick your new fit!"

"Wh—what?!" Kousei stammered.

"The girlfriend always wins, bud!" Hiroko grinned. "Ya better get used to it!"

Before Kousei could argue back, he found himself being pulled up the stairs by Kaori's hand, past his practice room and into the dressing room, where Kaori began enthusiastically rummaging through all his clothes.

Including the ones from his grade school years that he'd never gotten around to donating.

"Hey now, come on!" Kousei tried to stop her. "You said you'd pick me a new shirt, not go through every relic of my childhood!"

That was when Kaori turned to him with a cruel, triumphing smile over her face.

"Oh, you must've thought I was joking when I said I'd repay you for yesterday, didn't you?" Kaori hissed sinsiterly.

Kousei knew she was just acting dramatic as usual, but a small tinge of Kaori's witch voice sounded all too real. Kousei's face flushed red with embarrassment as he helplessly watched Kaori find all his childish t-shirts.

Now it was her turn to revel in victory.

"Awwww, did wittle Kousei wike Staw Waws?" Kaori mocked jokingly, holding up the shirt with the Millennium Falcon on it that must've been from second grade.

"Oh that's not even half of it!" Hiroko yelled from downstairs.

"Not helping, Hiroko!" Kousei shouted back down.

After about fifteen minutes of rubbing her revenge in Kousei's face, Kaori finally selected a purple button-down shirt which was emblazoned with dark blue stars going up the sleeves.

"Now this one is really snazzy!" she cried in celebration.

"That one?! Seriously?!" Kousei almost whined. "That'll make me look like some weird punk frmo a 60s movie!"

"You already look that way regardless!" Hiroko roasted Kousei—again.

After Kousei—with many death glares from Kaori incentivizing him—had changed, Kaori held up her phone and flashed a peace sign to go with her bright smile.

"Say cheese, my dear!" she said, clicking the button as Kousei reluctantly—but still sincerely—smiled. He didn't want to complain too much after all.

He was getting to spend the entire day with Kaori. Just him and her.

As he and Kaori left the house, they bid Hiroko a safe journey and locked the front door. As soon as Kousei's hand left the pocket where he put his house keys, he felt something soft, and delicate grab his fingers.

It was Kaori's own hand.

He gazed into her pale indigo eyes and smiled. She smiled back, ruffling the scruffy black hair that sat stop his head with her other hand. Then, she smiled deviously, reaching into her purse and revealing a large wad of yen.

"My dad says you have to let me use most or all of this up at the mall!" she revealed. "And if you don't, I'll go crying to him and let him know how much of a big meanie you are!"

Kousei was getting somewhat pale at the recollection of how many bags the Kaori in his old universe had made him carry. But then he just grinned back.

"Bring it on!"

Kaori put the money back in her purse, rubbing her hands together in cunning delight.

"Oh just you wait, Kousei!" she cackled. "You're going to rue the day you laid eyes on my childhood pictures!"

"Ah, so you do know how to call me by my name!" Kousei joked back, unlocking his bike and taking it off the kickstand. "Hop on!"

Just one hour later, Kousei was feeling much less confident in his earlier boasts as the not one, not two, but four gigantic shopping bags hung from his shoulders like concrete bricks. The Coconeri Mall was clearly filled to the brink with all sorts of goodies...

And his girlfriend planned to buy all of them, or at least try to.

"This giant teddy bear is so cute!"

"Cherry blossom scented candles?! These will make a fine addition to my collection!"

"YES! Twice the color, double the glitter on this watercolor palette!" Kaori squealed.

"What do you even need those for?!" Kousei said indignantly. "Are you a painter as well?!"

At last, Kaori said she needed to use the restroom, and Kousei was able to temporarily avail himself of the burden that had been cruelly weighing down his body. As he cooled himself off, he clenched his fists in frustration. Did Kaori really need this much stuff on a school weekend no less?!

Then Kousei stopped.

He started to laugh.

He started to smile.

The Kaori in this universe may not have been ill. And she'd obviously still lied due to Tsubaki's affections for him.

But even in this universe, she was still as tempestuous, capricious and unreadable as ever. Acting calm and sweet one minute, then becoming as overbearing as the White Witch from Narnia the next.

And yet, in spite of all this frivolous spending he had to put up with, Kousei felt an unexplainable joy welling up inside him.

After all, how was he to fight back against it?

He was helplessly in love. All Kaori had to do was smile at him and glance into his soul with those big, piercing indigo eyes.

It was somewhat silly, really. Kousei knew that. But it was the truth, and he would embrace it.

Just then, Kousei overheard what sounded like someone growling in irritation, and looked up to see a young boy about two years younger than him exiting the bookstore across the hall with his fists clenched. Similar to Kousei, this boy had a crown of straight, jet-black hair atop his head. Unlike Kousei, however, this boy was a foot shorter, wore a casual white t-shirt and brown cargo shorts with black sneakers, had brown eyes, did not have glasses...and was having a much less pleasant day than Kousei.

Kousei was concerned. Though he was an only child, he'd always had a tender spot in his heart for younger kids who looked like they were down on their luck.

"Probably how I got duped by Takeshi's sister so easily," Kousei chuckled to himself. Calling the boy over, Kousei smiled at him kindly and asked his name.

"My name is Nishikata," the boy muttered.

"I see," said Kousei. "What's wrong Nishikata? You look pretty frustrated. They have a lot of cool things on sale today!"

Kousei gestured to the loaded bags. "As you can see, my girlfriend is taking full advantage of it!"

Nishikata's face brightened up as he laughed just a teeny bit. Kousei smiled. Good; he was already helping to lift the boy's spirits.

"I guess nothing is really wrong," Nishikata told Kousei. "It's just this classmate of mine is driving me crazy!"

"How so?" Kousei inquired. "They're not bullying you are they?"

"Does constant teasing and humiliation on a regular basis in front of all my friends and teacher count?"

Kousei wasn't quite sure how to respond to such a grievance. After all, Kaori was teasing him plenty, and they'd only begun dating forty-eight hours ago! However, there seemed to be something else at play, so Kousei did a bit more probing to coax out what was troubling the young Nishikata.

"Does this guy make fun of you for being weak, scared of the dark, or things like that?" Kousei asked.

"It's a girl," Nishikata clarified.

"Ah, now I see," Kousei said in understanding. "She just drives you out of your mind, doesn't she?"

"More than that!" Nishikata suddenly shouted, to which Kousei gently reminded him to keep his voice down. "She always seems to read my mind, and know what my every last weakness is! Every time I try to get her in trouble, make her laugh, or win any sort of contest to get back at her she always backfires it on me!"

Nishikata stamped his foot. "It's not fair!"

Kousei couldn't help but be amused. This boy was sharing an uncannily similar experience to his...in sixth grade no less! Just like Kousei, Nishikata had somehow inadvertently become the subject of his classmate's admiration. The piano prodigy was tempted to praise the boy's way with the ladies, but then Kousei remembered how upsetting Hiroko's teasing could get and thought better of it.

"What's this girl's name?" Kousei asked instead.

"Takagi-San," Nishikata answered.

"Have you ever considered that maybe she teases you because she likes you?" Kousei suggested.

"HUH?!" Nishikata gasped, his mouth dropping wide open. "Wha—what do you mean?!"

"I'm just saying, I think this girl might have a thing for you and she just has an unusual way of showing it!"

"NO WAY!" Nishikata denied, shaking his head adamantly. "She wouldn't be so cruel to me if that was the case!"

"Hate to break it to you Nishikata, but you can never win with a girl!" Kousei winked. "If you keep trying to rationalize her actions and read her, you're gonna lose!"

Nishikata's shoulders drooped down. "So what am I supposed to do then?"

"Well, do you feel the same way about her?"

"GAAAH?!"

"I'm just asking Nishikata, settle down!" Kousei said.

Nishikata sighed. "Sorry. It's just that—that—"

"Yeah?"

Nishikata paused for a while, then took a deep breath.

"The truth is, yes, I do like her back. A lot," Nishikata admitted. "She's very cute, and well, smart and kind. But if I were to tell her that it would be so embarrassing! I'd basically just be giving her the victory and she'd never let me hear the end of her infernal teasing!"

Kousei smiled. Yup, this boy was in the same plight alright. He just had to learn to accept the inevitable outcome. Putting a hand on Nishikata's shoulder, Kousei gave him some wisdom that was sure to be true across all the multiverse.

"Look Nishikata," Kousei began. "When I was in seventh grade, I felt the same way about a girl in my class who drove me crazy! One minute she'd be sweetly asking me to hang out with her, the next she'd be threatening to throw me in prison like an angry queen!"

Kousei let that part of the story sink in before continuing on.

"But as I got to know her more, she was the most amazing, beautiful person I'd ever met. But I never told her. And I'll regret that forever. Do you know why?"

Nishikata shook his head.

"Because a day came when she was gone and I would never have that chance again."

Nishikata reflected on this information. He couldn't exactly refute this gentlemen's life experience. Even with this risk, however, Nishikata still resented Takagi-San's constant teasing.

"So what do I do then?" Nishikata asked Kousei.

"Well, I'm not suggesting you go tell her right now," Kousei said. "But just think about it. Who knows? If she's as smart and cute as you say she is, you might be missing out on a lot by not saying anything!"

Nishikata sighed in defeat. "Okay, I guess you're right."

Just then, Kousei saw some movement out of the corner of his eye, and glanced over Nishikata's shoulder to see a girl with short, brown hair and big brown eyes sneaking up behind him. She was the same height as Nishikata, and wore a simple pink shirt, denim shorts, and red tennis shoes.

Kousei was no detective, but he knew exactly who this was. He tapped Nishikata on the shoulder and gestured behind him.

"But for future reference, you might want to be a bit more aware of your surroundings next time, my friend." Kousei advised.

Nishikata's eyes grew wide. His body quivered in fear. His hands turned clammy, his brow broke out into a sweat, and his joints refused to move. His worst nightmare had just come true.

"No...no...no!" Nishikata panicked. "It can't be! Not like this—!"

But as the doomed Nishikata turned around slowly, his eyes met with Takagi-San's sparkling brown eyes, and he found himself rendered even more powerless by her spell. Takagi-San, not one to miss out on an opportunity to gloat over him, clasped her hands together and batted her eyelashes at Nishikata with a dreamy gaze.

"Awwwww, Nishikata!" Takagi-San said romantically. "I never knew you felt that way about me! How sweet of you!"

Nishikata growled, balling his fists tighter than he ever had before. Then suddenly, he lunged forward, not sure what exactly he would do should he succeed. But he didn't need to worry about that, because Takagi-San easily sidestepped and began running down the hall with Nishikata hot on her heels.

"Nishikata, don't chase me! You're so creepy!" Takagi-San taunted in her bubbly laugh.

"I'LL SHOW YOU WHO'S CREEPY YOU LOUSY PIECE OF CRAP!" Nishikata roared back. "Geeeeeet BACK HEEEEEERRRREEE!!!"

Kousei laughed and laughed. Such was the way of love. Once hit by Cupid's arrow, one's sense of logic and rationale was all but a husk of its former power. As coincidence would have it, the very girl driving Kousei crazy in the same way emerged from the restroom, planting a kiss on his cheek as she walked up behind him.

"Sorry I took so long!" Kaori apologized. "Who was that I heard you talking to?"

"Oh, just some boy utterly and madly bewitched by a girl who's beautiful beyond his wildest dreams," Kousei said, trying to be a smooth talker. "Sounds relatable if you ask me."

Kaori blushed. "Just for that, you're buying all the dessert and meals today."

"I wouldn't have it any other way," Kousei grinned. "On that note, where do you want to go first?"

"There's this cute little ice cream shop in the West Wing of the mall!" Kaori replied, picking up three of the six bags. "Let's go there! And yes, I'll help carry some of the bags now. I'm not that heartless."

"Good, because in this universe you don't have an excuse," Kousei jested.

Upon arrival at Kaori's ice cream shop of choice, Kousei settled for a simple vanilla waffle cone, while Kaori ordered a medium scoop of cookies and cream. Thankfully, there weren't too many other customers in the shop. As such, there wasn't a long line awaiting the couple as they ordered their ice cream.

There was, however, a rather unpleasant surprise for Kousei as he and Kaori sat down at their table.

"So, how are you enjoying this new world, Arima?" a familiar voice said with juvenile bitterness.

Kousei looked behind him, and the outrageously spiky golden hair was all he needed to see. It was Takeshi Aiza alright, sporting a blue short-sleeved shirt with a flaming skull on it and black jeans held up by a belt with a heavy golden buckle. His blue eyes sparked with competitive intensity. Kousei groaned.

"Not this again."

"Excuse me!" Kaori said, disgusted by the untactful intrusion of Kousei's self-proclaimed rival. "We're trying to enjoy some ice cream here!"

"Yeah, and apparently this guy would rather do that than sign up for the piano competition in a few months like a proper rival musician!" Takeshi insisted. By now he had walked over to their table, and was attempting to stand over Kousei in a menacing manner.

Kousei, however, was not having any of it, and just looked up at the ceiling in exhaustion.

"What do you want, Takeshi?" Kousei sighed.

"What do you mean what do I want?!" Takeshi said, becoming increasingly belligerent. "Sign up for the piano competition that's just two months from now! We were still rivals in your old universe, right?!"

Kousei had had enough. Rising from his seat, he looked Takeshi in the eye and quickly extinguished the faux competitive fire of his self-alleged "rival".

"No, we weren't!"

Takeshi was quickly humbled alright. The misplaced anger in his face faded away instantly and was replaced by a look of disillusioned surprise.

"You realize that you and Emi never made any effort to talk to me at those competitions, let alone introduce yourself to me right?" Kousei said. "I was literally just there to play, same as you. That's it. Seriously!"

Takeshi's felt his face growing red. First, this guy had achieved a flawless victory at every competition since they were kids. Then, he'd barely acknowledged him and Emi after two years of being absent. And now Takeshi's idol schooled him on manners after cheating death via transfer from another universe?!

"We were never rivals, dude!" Kousei reiterated. "I never even challenged either of you or insulted you in any way! You guys both put that label on yourselves!"

Takeshi was speechless.

"And get rid of that yee-yee a** haircut, man!" Kousei bantered. "You look like a porcupine made a nest on your head!"

Kaori nearly fell out of her chair at the finishing remark. "Kousei!"

Takeshi wanted nothing more than to counter every one of his—who he'd thought to be anyway—rival's roasts. He felt a thousand words forming on his tongue, and wished for the courage to say every one of them back at Arima.

But Takeshi also understood...Kousei did have a point.

Especially about his haircut, which Takeshi had been to lazy to ever address.

Takeshi's mouth stammered as he pointed a shaking finger at Arima, trying to come up with a retort. But in the end, the pianist whose musical skill did not match his wild haircut simply walked out of the ice cream shop, greatly humbled and very conscious of his need for a barber.

Kaori clutched her stomach, desperate to ensure her laughter did not release the ice cream she had just consumed. "That was too far, Kousei!"

"What?!" Kousei defended himself. "He was interrupting our meal and acting like I've done something wrong simply by existing!"

After the couple finished their ice cream, Kaori guided—or yanked, really—Kousei over to a Shimamura store in the mall that was also having an extravagant sale. The first place Kaori hurried them over to was the shoes, and Kousei knew that today was far from over.

"Why did we have to come here of all places?" Kousei grumbled.

Kaori giggled. "I warned you I was going to take advantage of the Spring Sale today! And the best part? When I see a pair I like, I want you to put them on me!"

"Let me guess, we're getting size 12-Wide and up, right?" Kousei quipped.

Kaori glared at him. "Tread carefully, Promoted Friend A."

Kousei was able to put the bags down at least, but he couldn't help feeling somewhat embarrassed kneeling before Kaori like a medieval servant every time she spotted a cute pair of shoes. Which, her having a not-so-picky sense of fashion, was basically every blasted pair in the aisle. Kousei tried to keep count of how many sandals, flats, sneakers, and boots he slipped onto Kaori's feet, but to no avail. Eventually, he accepted his fate and simply just smiled each time Kaori dreamily swooned over a pair of shoes and asked him to slip them on. Soon enough, Kousei found a way to flip the script and made her feel awkward by bowing to her with dramatic flair every time she asked to try on a pair.

"But of course, thou fairest queen of my heart!" he'd say with exaggerated Shakespearian invocation.

Finally, Kaori selected a pair of neat summer sandals that fit comfortably, and Kousei was grateful to be departing the dreadful aisle at last. The next stop on Kaori's list was the fitting rooms, where she tried on various dresses, stylish jeans, and graphic design t-shirts. Kousei didn't mind this quite as much though, for all he had to do was wait on the bench outside the fitting rooms—bags off his shoulders—as Kaori donned her selected attire. Every time Kaori emerged from the fitting rooms, Kousei would just gaze at her with admiration and tell her how amazing she looked. Kaori was flustered by this. Just like Kousei, though, she was more than happy to be spending the day with him.

Kousei's attitude shifted when Kaori decided it was his turn to find stuff to try on, and at first the pianist adamantly protested the assignment. Then, Kousei actually found himself having fun showing off different suits and ties, dress pants, vests—and even some nerdy t-shirts—to Kaori as she guffawed at her boyfriend's showiness. The two were there for what must've been at least a couple of hours before Kaori and Kousei finally each bought a new outfit (Kaori settling for a red dress with yellow roses, whilst Kousei bought a black tuxedo) and headed elsewhere for their next meal. The walks to each location were filled with meaningless, colloquial small talk between the two as they discussed what it would be like for Kousei to return to school, suggested pieces for their next duet, and more.

Kousei treasured all of it. Every second, every word, every moment.

And so did Kaori.

At last, Kousei pulled up to the front of Ma Fille later that evening with the bags draping from the bike handles and filling the basket. Kaori's parents let out a healthy chortle as their daughter brought in the bags of merchandise she'd acquired with eager gratitude.

"Well, what else is an allowance for?" Kaori said with an innocent smile.

Waving goodbye to her parents and kissing Kaori goodnight, Kousei biked back home-his speed much quicker now that all bags except the one with his tuxedo were gone—and plopped back down on the sofa, exhausted from the eventful day. As he gazed up into the ceiling, Kousei felt a great warmth spreading across his body and a content smile spreading across his face.

What a mood he was in—what was it called?

Ah yes. Being in love.

"So, how was the date?" Hiroko teased over the phone later that evening.

"Hiroko, seriously?" Kousei chuckled. "We just went to the mall and bought a bunch of stuff. That's all!"

"Uh-huh," Hiroko said in disbelief. "If I hear about you spacing out in class because of daydreaming about her, you better hope the bridge has a good spot to sleep."

"Okay, don't you think that's a little unnecessary?"

"Hey now, I may not be your mom by blood, but I'm still your backup mom nonetheless!" Hiroko warned.

"Fair enough," Kousei conceded. "Good night, Hiroko."

After they hung up, Kousei looked at the clock and saw it was only 9pm.

"I still got some time," he thought. "Even if it's just for a little bit, I should practice before I get swamped with schoolwork this week."

In the house next door, Tsubaki sat studying for her test when her skin suddenly got goosebumps at a familiar sound. At first, she swore she was imagining it.

But no.

That was Kousei alright, playing an elegant accompaniment that was most likely going to be the piece he and Kaori would use in a duet.

"Thank you, Kaori," Tsubaki thought appreciatively. "For giving my friend hope again. Be happy, Kousei. You and her. You deserve it."

...................................

"I told you that I wanted to practice something at least once before today!" Kaori shouted, her violin case leaning against the wall of the Music Prep Room.

"I've been busy with all sorts of make-up assignments and tests all week!" Kousei retorted. "What am I supposed to do, make copies of myself?!"

Kousei wasn't lying. The second he walked back through the front door of his middle school on Monday, he'd been hounded by the principal, school counselors, and various teachers with millions of questions. The counselors wanted to know if he planned to attend the same prestigious music school in Europe his other self had signed up for. The teachers and principal, meanwhile, had almost immediately scheduled different make-up tests and assignments for him to get back up to speed as quickly as possible.

Granted, Kousei was grateful that now he had most of the academic headache out of the way. But still, that had been a lot to cram in from just Monday to Friday!

"I've only been in this new world a week! Geez!" he wanted to scream.

"Hmph," Kaori grunted. "I'm going to get us some snacks. Wait here and see if you can think of anything for us to begin practicing for the talent show!"

Finding a vending machine in the cafeteria, Kaori punched in the appropriate numbers and provided the necessary payment as the snacks dropped down to the bottom door. As Kaori obtained the sustenance, she turned around and was startled to see Tsubaki standing behind her.

"Oh, hey Tsubaki!" Kaori said cheerfully.

"Hey Kaori!" Tsubaki replied. "How are you and Kousei?"

"Oh, we're fine," Kaori chuckled. "The knucklehead hardly practiced anything this week is all. And we need something to play for the end of the year talent show!"

Tsubaki scratched her head. "Yeah, about that..."

Tsubaki looked off to the side. Kaori was confused.

"Kaori?"

"Yeah, Tsubaki?"

"Can I ask you a favor?"