♡｡༝☆.ᐟ 𝟲𝟲. 𝗔 𝗡𝗢𝗧 𝗦𝗢 𝗕𝗔𝗗 𝗗𝗔𝗧𝗘
────   𝗪𝗢𝗥𝗗 𝗖𝗢𝗨𝗡𝗧: 𝟭,𝟱𝟴𝟰

❝ 𝗜𝗧'𝗦 𝗡𝗢𝗧𝗛𝗜𝗡𝗚. 𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗦𝗔𝗜𝗗 𝗡𝗢𝗧𝗛𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗪𝗥𝗢𝗡𝗚, 𝗜𝗡 𝗙𝗔𝗖𝗧, 𝗜 𝗧𝗛𝗜𝗡𝗞 𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗦𝗔𝗜𝗗 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗔𝗡𝗦𝗪𝗘𝗥 𝗜'𝗩𝗘 𝗕𝗘𝗘𝗡 𝗟𝗢𝗢𝗞𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗙𝗢𝗥.  ❞

──── 𝙉𝘼𝙊𝙆𝙊 𝙇𝙊𝙊𝙆 𝘼𝙏 the watch on her wrist as she tapped her foot. sitting on a bench next to a light decorated tree, she waited for date with the next suitor.

she was sitting here for almost ten minutes. and nothing. no phone call. no sign that he was on the way. the date was already off to a bad start, the man standing her up.

but just as naoko was about to leave, she felt a hand on her shoulder. with her guard up, she raised her fists turning around to see a dark-haired man panting with his hands on his knees. "sorry i'm late! i-there was so much traffic!" he apologized, standing up straight. "you're lucky. i almost left, kamo-san." naoko crossed her arms, a little disappointed.

"sorry again to make you wait out here." he paused, "i brought you some flowers, i picked them from my garden myself." he handed her a lovely bouquet filled with a variety of flowers that complimented each other, all wrapped in the brown paper.

naoko smiled, smelling the array of flowers. 'maybe this date won't be that bad' she thought to herself as they walked across the street to the restaurant they made a reservation at.

sitting at their table, the waiter took their order, heading off to the kitchen.
"so kamo-san, i guess we should introduce each other." naoko got straight to the point, she'd done this many times before and tonight was no different.

"right. well i'm kamo keiichi, i'm um twenty-two, and i'm a semi grade one sorcerer." he introduced himself, not really sure what to say.

"oh you're older than me. i guess that makes you the first one, the last few suitors were all the same age as me." naoko explained and kamo cleared his throat, "aren't you going to introduce yourself, zenin-san?"

"oh right, sorry. i'm zenin naoko, i just turned twenty this year. i hope we get along for the night." she smiled, not feeling too bad about this date. it was a better start than any of the dates before even if he was late.

"so kamo-san, do you have any hobbies?" naoko asked, getting to know him a little more than just status and rank. "yea, i really enjoy baking and cooking." keiichi said a slight smile on his face as he mentioned his hobbies.

"me too! i've been trying to learn new recipes lately, but i've always loved to cook since i was in high school." she exclaimed, a little excited they share something in common.

"how about you zenin-san, any hobbies?" he asked and naoko was surprised. this was already shaping to be different than the dates before. usually how this went was, the men talked and talked about themselves all night long as naoko listened, bored out of her mind.

but this was different, keiichi seemed interested in learning about her as well, listening to her attentively. naoko smiled at the small gesture, "other than cooking and baking, i really love to read. oh and i also have been really into gardening lately."

"i could give you some tips, i've been growing lots of plants in my garden for a few years now. what kind of plants are you trying to grow?" he suggested and naoko's eyes lit up, actually enjoying their conversation. "well, i've always been fond of bonsai trees, so i have one in the center of my backyard right now. i hope that it will grow big and healthy in the future."

"i don't have too much experience with bonsai's but i hope that it grows well!" he cheered her on and then the conversation between them grew a bit silent both of looking for something else to say.

naoko cleared her throat, ready to ask the man another question, "i know it's going to sound random, but what do you look for in a wife, kamo-san?" he widened his eyes, the question took by surprise.

he thought about the question he was given, thinking of an answer. "well, i don't really look for much, i want a simple life with my wife. one where we live comfortably with each other."

"and do you think you can have that with an arranged marriage?" she questioned wondering what he would say. this would make or break how this date would go.

"well, even if it's arranged i think i'd want to be close with my wife. i would want a relationship where we could at least lean on each other, we don't have to be in love, but we should at least respect each other, right?" naoko liked his answer. she smiled at him causing him to turn his head in curiosity, wondering what the smile could possibly mean.

naoko laughed at his rather cute gesture. "it's nothing. you said nothing wrong, in fact, i think you said the answer i've been looking for."

they continued to talk, as the waiter placed their food on the table. taking a few bites of their own plates, they both hummed in unison, enjoying their dishes. they both laughed at each other in response.

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meanwhile, a white-haired man was seen walking outside, looking for some desserts to snack on.

as he walked down the many stores in the shopping center, he noticed naoko sitting by the window of a restaurant.

he smiled, excited to see her. but his smile faded as he saw another man sitting in front of her as they talked with smiles on their faces.

she was laughing with this other man, and he felt strange. he hated seeing that she was having a good time. a good time with a man she could potentially marry in the future. he was jealous. oh so painfully jealous.

he watched from afar, observing naoko. she looked like she was having fun. and satoru was thinking maybe he should join in on the fun too?

he walked towards the entrance of the restaurant, passing by the hosts without a question from them. he spotted naoko and the dark-haired man sitting across from her. he walked past their table, pretending to head to the bathroom.

as naoko conversed with keiichi a white-haired man stopped her flow. distracting her, "satoru?" she questioned, making the tall man turn around at the sound of his name. keiichi looking in the same direction as well, curious to who it was that caught naoko's attention.

"oh naoko! funny seeing you here!" he exclaimed approaching their table with a smile on his face. "what are you doing here?" naoko questioned, thinking what a weird coincidence to see her ex here.

"oh i was just getting some drinks at the bar." he explained, lying through his teeth. keiichi questioned, "there are no bars her-" but was cut off by satoru who approached the man sitting across from naoko. "oh didn't see you there, and who are you?"

"satoru, this is kamo keiichi. kamo-san, this is gojo sato-" naoko introduced the two of them, hoping to make the interaction a little less weird. "gojo satoru! right i've heard plenty about you." he shook his hand, feeling a little cockier by the second. "oh naoko was talking about me, i see." he smirked looking over at naoko.

"no actually-" keiichi tried to correct his misunderstanding, but he interrupted him once again, "she did, didn't she? what did she tell you? that we dated a few years back? that we were originally supposed to get married?" he explained as he pulled up a seat to their table. keiichi grew curious as satoru spilled a bit too much information. "you guys dated?"

"yea! we go way back, right naoko?" he confirmed, putting his arm over naoko's shoulder. she grew irritated, not liking what he was up to.

"what are really doing here, satoru?" she gave him a glare knowing what he really came here to do. "i told you i just came to-" he began to make excuses but naoko shut that down. "you're lying..." she said softly trying to keep her cool, "so you're telling me that you didn't come here to ruin my date with kamo-san?" the tension grew around the three of them.

"i really think you should leave." she demanded softly, a disappointed in him. "we'll talk about this later." she said softly in satoru's direction right before he left their table, with his head down low.
naoko continued her talk with the dark-haired man, hoping that he didn't feel too disrupted at the sudden appearance of her ex.

they talked for another thirty minutes, finishing the food on their plates before they bid their final words of the date to each other, "i'm so sorry, kamo-san. i had a really great time with you tonight. i hope that satoru didn't ruin it." naoko apologized, her head drooping down a bit, feeling bad for the events of tonight.

he waved his hands in front of him, "no. not at all. i had a great time too, and i'd love if we could do this again." he smiled warmly at naoko, waiting for her response. naoko smiled back, "yea i'd love that." she said as they headed towards the door of the restaurant.

as they left the restaurant, they bid their farewells heading in opposite directions. and as naoko walked in the direction of her car she noticed a white-haired man sitting on the bench nearby. she sighed making him notice her presence as she stood in front of him, a little disappointed in him.

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♡｡༝☆.ᐟ 𝗞𝗢𝗝𝗜𝗡𝗔𝗔𝗔'𝗦 𝗡𝗢𝗧𝗘
────   𝘴𝘢𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘶'𝘴 𝘫𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘴𝘴𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘩𝘦 !!

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