Tale of Discovery

Chapter 252: Date with Yoshino (2/2)

"You're done changing?" I say once Yoshino steps out of the dressing room while carrying a folded rabbit pajamas with her puppet on top of it.

As a response to my inquiry, Yoshino simply nods her head before walking over to me and offering me the pajamas.

Upon taking from her hands, Yoshino is left with her puppet which she immediately puts on her left hand.

Beaming a smile, I reach my arm out to pat her head for a few seconds before turning around and walking over to the cashier.

"Thank you for your purchase," the cashier simply says with a smile.

"You don't need to pay for the clothes," Kotori's voice reaches my ears, "You just focus on making the date enjoyable.

"Sure," I mutter.

---3rd POV---

"Commander, what has happened to him?" a girl with brown wavy her says as she turns around in her seat to face Kotori, "It's almost like he's a completely different person."

"I don't know," Kotori responds with furrowed brows, "But isn't this good?"

"Indeed," a gray-haired middle-aged man interjects, "He simply doesn't seem to need any guidance anymore. His actions and responses are slick and without fault to the point that it seems like he is constantly reading others' thoughts and acting upon them"

"Could this be the result of the training?" the girl with wavy hair asks dubiously.

"No," Kotori bluntly responds, "This change was too abrupt. Perhaps, the shot from that day didn't cause him brain damage, but improved his EQ instead?"

At this moment, a girl with long dark hair opens her mouth and says, "They're leaving the clothing store."

Following that, everyone shifts their focus back to the screens with serious expressions on their face.

---1st POV---

Holding Yoshino's hand, I walk through the mall while casting glances at stores we pass by.

After a few minutes, I notice that Yoshino has once again taken interest in a store. Checking out, I realize that it's a hat shop mostly consisting of female hats.

"Let's go there," I say while tugging on her arm and shifting our direction to the hat shop.

Yoshino's eyes practically shine as she inspects the shop with an amazed look on her face.

"Go on," I say, "Pick one for yourself."

Hearing my words, her puppet's mouth begins to move as a voice reaches my ears, "Well, well, Shido; No need to rush."

Is this her way of saying that we should take our time here? Thinking as such, I beam a smile at her and nod my head before looking around the hat shop.

A while passes before Yoshino seems to have set her sight on a certain hat as she begins walking toward it.

Looking over at the hat that has caught her attention, I see that it's a purple hat similar in color to her dress, albeit a few shades lighter.

Appearing in front of the hat, I grab it before turning around to face the startled Yoshino and placing it atop her head.

"Great choice," I say before pointing at a mirror attached to the wall nearby.

Understanding what I mean, Yoshino walks over and inspects herself in the mirror as a small smile forms on her lips.

"It's a shame that it hides your lovely hair, but it suits you well. Would you like to get this one?"

Yoshino simply nods her head as she continues to observe herself in the mirror.

A few minutes later, Yoshino and I exit the store hand-in-hand as we make our way to the next destination.

"Great job," Kotori's voice resounds within my ear, "You seem used to this now."

"It's nothing complicated," I mutter as I cast a glance at the gleeful Yoshino.

As long as she's happy, then the date is considered a success. Still, I call it a date, but it feels more like a family outing more than anything else.

"So, where will you be taking her next?"

"About that, is there any caf with pastries nearby?"

"Yes," Kotori responds, "I'll guide you to it."

As such, I follow Kotori's instructions for a few minutes before Yoshino and I found ourselves standing in front of a rather large caf.

For obvious reasons, this section of the mall is much more crowded than the sections we've been to so far.

At this moment, I feel a tug on the left part of my shirt.

Looking down, I find Yoshino using her right hand to hold my shirt with a slightly uneasy look on her face.

Curious about the reason for her discomfort, I look around a little only to notice that a lot of people are looking our way.

Well, nothing less is to be expected from Yoshino's outstanding cuteness.

"It's fine," I say while placing my palm against her left cheek, "I'm with here with you."

Yoshino simply nods her head before tightening her grasp on my shirt, causing a wry smile to form on my lips.

"We should head inside," I say.

--

"You're taking them off?" I say as Yoshino takes her hat and puppet off and neatly places them aside.

Currently, the two of us are seated at a table beside one another. Due to the design of the shop, we aren't getting as many looks as we did outside, so Yoshino is more relaxed now.

"Take a look at the menu for what you want to order," I say as I push the menu in front of me toward Yoshino.

"Okay," she meekly responds before grabbing the menu and starting to look through it.

While Yoshino browses through the menu, I inspect the caf we're in right now. If I were to sum its appearance up into one word, it would be 'calming'.

The general color of the whole place is sandy yellow with most adornments being brown wood.

The table we're seated at is right beside a one-way mirror.

If there is one thing that stands out about the caf, it would be the number of couples here at the moment.

Out of the nine tables taken, eight are by couples, including us.

"Shido," a soft voice suddenly reaches my ears.

Looking at Yoshino, I find her cheeks covered with a red hue as she has her head lowered while pointing at something in the menu on the table.

Taking a look at what she has chosen, a grin forms on my lips as I teasingly say, "What an interesting choice."

Shortly, a waitress appears at our table with a small tablet in her hand as she asks, "Are you prepared to make your order, Sir?"

Nodding my head, I point at what Yoshino asked for and say, "I would like to have this juice. Also, a cake of your choosing."

"Understood," the waitress says as she taps the tablet screen a couple of times before glimpsing at the still-blushing Yoshino and saying, "You have a very cute little sister."

"Indeed," I say as I pat Yoshino's head, causing her to lower head slightly as the blush on her face deepens.

Following that, the waitress bows politely before moving away.

"Truly, you are the cutest," I say as I gently stroke her left cheek with my fingers.

"Thank you," she says in a soft voice.

A few minutes pass before the same waitress returns while carrying a tray with our order on it.

She sets a rather large glass of juice and a small vanilla round-cake down on the table before bowing and saying, "Enjoy."

Watching her walk off, I shift my focus over to Yoshino and ask, "Which would you like to try first?"

Instead of responding by words, Yoshino simply points at the glass of juice.

Grinning at her choice, I say, "Alright then, let's start."

The glass of juice that Yoshino so boldly ordered is one that is clearly meant for couples. It's a banana juice with two pink straws inside it twisted in a way that they form a heart shape.

Moving closer to Yoshino, I lift her body and place her on my lap, startling her.

"It would be easier to drink like this," I state.

Hearing this, Yoshino simply nods her head before reaching out to the glass of juice and moving it closer to us.

Following that, the two of us begin drinking the juice with our faces close to each other.

Right now, the blush on Yoshino's face has reached all the way to her ears.

Suddenly a notion appears in my mind, which I directly follow through as I deliberately move my head closer so that our cheeks touch.

As expected, Yoshino gets surprised by my action but doesn't lose her composure anymore as she continues to suck on the straw.

Soon after, we finish the juice and detach our mouths from the straws.

"Was it good?" I ask Yoshino while wrapping my arms around her waist.

"Mmn," she hums as she rests her head against my chest.

A pleasant scent invades my nostrils as I move my right arm to run my hand through Yoshino's hair.

Looking around a little, I take note that no one is looking before moving my head forth and kissing the corner of Yoshino's lips.

"Now, let's eat the cake," I whisper into her ear as I grab one of the two forks on the cake's plate and cut a small piece of it before moving it toward her mouth.

As a response to this, Yoshino's opens her mouth a little as I slowly feed her the cake.

Immediately after that, Yoshino's eyes widen as a joyous expression appears on her face.

Chuckling at her actions, I ask, "Is it tasty?"

This time, Yoshino nods her head enthusiastically as she grabs the other fork and cuts off a piece of the cake as well.

Just as I thought she was going to eat it as a certain glutton would, Yoshino moves the piece toward my mouth with an expectant look in her blue eyes.

Pleasantly surprised, I open my mouth for Yoshino to feed, causing her expression to turn even more joyous, to the point making it seem like she will burst from happiness.

I chew on the cake and swallow it before saying, "It really is tasty. Although, I'm sure it tastes better than it normally would because you were the one that fed it to me."

Hearing my words, a bright smile forms on Yoshino's lips before she abruptly moves closer and kisses my cheek.

Seemingly just realizing what she just did, Yoshino moves her head away as her face turns completely red while steam seems to rise from her head.

Chuckling at her appearance, I grab the fork and cut out another piece to feed it to her while ignoring the 'pleasant' looks we're being given from a few of the other customers and the now-smiling waitress.