Blind Date

### Summary

Two days prior to the blind date scene on a Wednesday in September, Nana practically begs Rin to come with her on a double date with her boyfriend Jirou and his single friend. Rin's never been interested in dating, but reluctantly agrees after Nana brings up the time Rin ditched Nana at the mall to go check out "neko day" at the public library.

On Friday, after Professor Satoru's 5 o'clock class, Rin goes to meet Nana at Mitsuru Café (before Nana started working there). Waiting at a street light, she hears Satoru call out from behind her. She doesn't hear him since she's so focused on what she imagines the blind date will entail, so he has to jog to catch up to her as she's crossing the street.

S: “Hi, Rin. May I walk with you?”

R: “Sure.”

S: “Headed home?”

R: “N-no, I’m going to meet up with Nana, actually.”

S: “Ah. Nana… is that... Nanako Sakamoto?”

R: “Yeah, Nanako.”

S: “Fun. I’m meeting up with one of my friends as well.”

Neither of them feel comfortable admitting that they’re going on a blind date. They find it strange that they both keep walking in the same direction, and at every intersection they glance at each other, expecting the other to start walking in a different direction. Eventually they both stop in front of the café, and Satoru turns to Rin.

S: “Alright, well this is where I depart. Have a wonderful afternoon with your friend, and I’ll see you-”

R: “I’m actually going here, too.”

S: “A-ah. Well, after you.”

Satoru looks surprised, and a bit anxious. He holds the door open for Rin and they walk in.

N: “Riiin! Over here!”

Nana calls out from a booth towards the back of the café, waving enthusiastically, leaning over the edge of the booth. Across from her is Jirou, Satoru’s friend, giving a short two finger wave. Rin and Satoru look at each other, processing what’s happening, then start walking over to them.

J: "Looks like you've already met."

Jirou says to the both of them. Then to Satoru, accompanied by a fist bump,

J: “What’s up, man."

Rin and Satoru slide into the booth, Nana and Rin on one side, Jirou and Satoru on the other. Rin leans into Nana.

R: “You didn’t mention that my date was my language and literature teacher.”

N: “I had no idea! Oh my god I’m so sorry!!” Nana whispers back.

R: “It’s fine, don’t let it spoil your date.”

Later on during the date, the four are talking about various sports, and how Jirou was on the swim team in college.

R: “I love swimming. It’s a shame only those on the swim team are able to use the pool on campus. I would’ve joined the swim team, but their schedule conflicted with Satoru's class. Er, sorry, I didn’t mean to make you feel bad about it, I like going to your class.”

Satoru keeps this in mind.

They all hit it off and decide to move to a karaoke bar for the rest of the night. Satoru sings Telephone Number (very poorly) and points to Rin as he sings, which makes her laugh. Satoru sees her smiling without trying to hide her face/turn away and feels happy. Nanako and Jirou get a bit too drunk and start making out. A tipsy Satoru offers to walk Rin home. On the walk Rin mentions that she lives with three other roommates, all of which work fulltime and are rarely home. When they arrive at her house, she says:

R: “Well, this is me. Thank you for walking me home.”

S: “Anytime, Rin. I had a nice time with you today.”

Rin starts to blush so she pretends to cough so she can turn away from him.

R: “Me too.”

She turns back to him and he’s just looking at her smiling. She turns away again and walks towards the door.

S: “Haha, you’re so cute. Goodnight!”

As Rin unlocks her door she hears him call her cute and whips around towards Satoru, blushing hard now. He was already walking away, though.

R: “G-get home safe!”

He spins around and gives her a thumbs up and a smile.

R: *I can’t believe he called me cute… well, I mean he is a little drunk…*

Rin continued to think of him for the rest of the night.

R: “Get a grip, Rin.”

She says to herself as she falls asleep, blushing.