The Rising Of The Anomaly - Chapter 180

This is so awkward, it feels like everyone’s staring at me intently…it was the 28th of December, a couple of days later, and yesterday, Katie had messaged me the details for the date she’d asked me out on.

Or, more specifically, she’d just told me to meet her in the East Quadrant at 12 PM today, and I’d arrived with about five minutes to spare. I don’t like to be kept waiting, but I also don’t like to make people wait for me…I won’t have any problem if she arrives before around 12:05 PM, but too much later than that, and I’ll probably complain.

Sure, I like her and all, but that doesn’t mean I’ll let something like that slide. Anyway, it’d been a couple of minutes since I arrived, and I felt kinda uncomfortable. I was standing by a clock tower, which was the landmark that she’d suggested we meet up at.

That was fine and all, but the problem is that there’s a fair amount of passers-by around, and while it wasn’t like every single one of them was staring at me, it sure felt like they were. There were a few glances and whispers every now and then, probably people who recognize me from the X-Warrior Championship.

Thankfully, the hype around me from that tournament is pretty much all gone now, so I don’t get recognized as much as I used to be. Which is definitely a good thing, going out in public was a huge pain for quite a while.

But even though things were a lot less hectic now in regard to that, I think the experience kinda scarred me, I always feel reluctant to go out in public areas these days. It kinda felt like I was doing something wrong by standing around here, I don’t know why. Plus the stares kinda made me feel self-conscious. Is my outfit or hairdo weird? Is there something on my face? Stuff like that.

Incidentally, I was wearing a black shirt with the collar button undone, the sleeved rolled up past my elbow, a pair of jeans and dark red shoes. I left my hair as it was for the most part, except that I’d tucked back the blonde streak that usually fell over my right ear. I don’t really know much about fashion or whatever, since I usually prioritize comfort and practicality over style.

But I figured that I should at least put a tiny bit of effort into picking my clothes for today. I have a bunch of clothes that I’ve never or hardly ever worn, a lot of them being birthday presents from my sister…it’s not that I didn’t like them or something like that, it was more that I just unconsciously happened to stick with the clothes I was most comfortable in.

I couldn’t really tell what looked good or not, so I just decided to go with a simple ensemble, without going too casual. But maybe I messed up? Do these shoes not go well with the outfit? Or perhaps-?

“Sorry, did I keep you waiting?” Came a voice to my left, as I felt a tug on my sleeve.

“Nah, I just got here a couple of minutes ago, plus there’s still some time before 12 PM,” I responded, feeling a sense of relief as I met her gaze.

“You look good, that outfit suits you,” She remarked, as she latched onto my left arm, my elbow rubbing against her chest.

“Oh, uh…thanks. You too, by the way…I mean, you look good too,” I responded awkwardly, feeling a bit overwhelmed.

“Relax, you’re too tense,” She replied, as she intertwined her hand with mine and gave it a light squeeze…her tone of voice, it’s not blank like usual, she sounds…happy.

And I had to say, she looked really pretty…she was wearing a light blue, short-sleeved dress with a floral pattern that went a bit past her knees, while her hair, which was usually tied in a low ponytail, was let down, framing her face.

She also had light make-up on too; red lipstick, a hint of color on her cheeks and her eyelashes looked darker…I don’t know a thing about make-up, but this much I was certain of; it looked amazing on her.

“So, uh, where are we going?” I asked her, as she led the way.

“You’ll see, just leave everything to me. By the way, not that I mind or anything…but you’re staring at me really hard,” She informed me with a slight smile.

“Crap, my bad, I didn’t even realize it…I just couldn’t get over how cute you look with your hair down, plus the make-up really suits you, and uh…I’m talking too much, aren’t I?” I trailed off sheepishly.

“No, um…not at all…,” She muttered in response as her cheeks turned red, slightly tightening her grip around my arm before leaning her head against my shoulder, making my heart skip a beat.

What’s the matter with me today? It’s not like I haven’t been alone with girls before, not to mention that I’ve spent a ton of time with Katie before this, and I never felt this awkward or flustered before…at least, not to an extent where I couldn’t ignore or hide those feelings. She’s definitely being way more expressive than usual, maybe that’s what’s throwing me off?

“Oh, there’s our first stop,” She suddenly remarked, nodding at a building up ahead.

“Huh, that looks like one of those arcades from before WWIII,” I responded in surprise.

“Yeah, it’s newly built, and is a sort of replication of those arcades, it has games from the 1980s to 2000s…you like retro entertainment, right?”

“Mhm, old movies and games and stuff have a kind of charm to them that the stuff these days just don’t have,” I replied, feeling a sense of excitement.

I do play some online games that were made recently, but I mostly prefer older stuff…though with old online games, not many people play those games anymore these days, so it’s hard to fully experience those.

“Glad you look excited, come on, let’s go in,” She suggested as she tugged on my arm, looking kinda relieved.

Was she nervous that I wouldn’t like it or something?

“You’re being a lot more expressive today, is it intentional? You don’t have to go out of your way to-…,” I began, before trailing off as a look of surprise appeared on her face.

“Huh? What do you mean? Like, compared to normal, am I acting all that differently?” She asked me with a look of uncertainty.

Wait, for real? It’s not intentional?

“Well, I mean…a lot differently. Like, you’re smiling a lot, and I can read your expressions and emotions a lot more easily than usual. That’s why I thought that maybe you were putting in an effort to act more expressive…was I wrong?” I inquired in bemusement, as her face then turned bright red and she averted her gaze, before slowly peeking back in my direction.

“Th-this is so embarrassing…I was, um, feeling really happy and giddy this whole time, but I didn’t think that it was showing on my face. I, uh, just assumed that my expression was as blank as ever,” She mumbled bashfully.

“You were smiling a lot though, couldn’t you feel that?”

“Well, I…I wasn’t really thinking about it, so I didn’t realize…,” She responded quietly, before changing the subject kinda abruptly, “C-come on, let’s get inside and see what this place is like. I’ve seen some pictures of it, but, uh, I haven’t been inside before!”

Not exactly subtle, but immensely adorable nevertheless. Huh…I’m starting to get the desire to tease her, I could get addicted to her being all cute and expressive like this.

“By the way, back at Mitchell’s place the other day, I’m still pretty surprised at how forward you were, and-,” I started to recall with a teasing smirk, as we walked into the building.

“Hey, don’t tease me, Kilzachs…,” She interrupted with a pout, before adding, “I don’t want to remember that, it’s so embarrassing the way I just went for it…though, I can’t say that I regret it. In fact, since it led to this, I’m glad it happened…but it’s still really embarrassing to think about.”

“Yeah, I’d probably be embarrassed if I was in your shoes too…though I also agree that I’m glad it happened,” I responded with a grin, before looking around and noticing, “Huh, it’s pretty empty in here, I was imagining that it’d be super crowded.”

“It’s usually crowded at night, that’s why I decided to come here during the day with you. I got us a couple of passes that are valid for an hour, so once they’re scanned, we can freely play any and all the games in here for a full hour,” She replied, before glancing around to make sure that no one was around and then standing up on her tip-toes and planting a kiss on my cheek, “Come on, let’s explore this place!”

Okay, yeah…this is pretty great…

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