As the sun began to rise on the horizon, two figures cast long shadows as they walked toward their destination. One was tall and wearing workout gear while slinging a pink bicycle on his shoulder, while the other was carrying bags full of baked goods.
While the scene might look romantic from an outsider perspective, the two people in particular were dead silent. Only the sound of their footsteps and the rattling of the incapacitated bike rang in their ears.
Ai was currently staring at the ground as she walked forward, her cheeks flushed in embarrassment. She didn't know what to say to break the silence that she felt was picking away at her sanity.
Ken on the other hand was mortified.
'How could I have been so stupid…'
He blamed himself for hurting the woman beside him, even if the wound was just superficial. Caught up in his own thoughts, he didn't realize the atmosphere had become so unbearable.
"S-So…" Ai stammered, raising her head to look at the boy beside her.
Seeing his stoic face and the lack of reaction to her voice, she couldn't bring herself to continue speaking. Instead she just gazed at him, appreciating the chiseled jaw and some of the foreign yet appealing features on his face.
'Now that I see him up close, he's even more handsome.'
Ai's cheeks suddenly felt on fire as she realized what she was thinking.
As if feeling the gaze on him, Ken turned, only to see Ai's beautiful blue eyes staring at him. This only lasted for a moment before both turned away, blushing.
'Argh damn it. Is this some kind of Shojo manga?
He chastised himself for putting on such an embarrassing face. However, it didn't seem like he had much choice in the matter considering his body was reacting on its own.
Being accompanied by the woman he had a mega crush on in his previous life seemed to be enough for his hormones to go out of control.
Despite having the mental age of a 24 year old, he was in fact still unaccustomed to the fairer sex. Therefore he honestly did not know how to act in front of Ai.
'Damn, this is more pressure than the bases loaded with 2 outs in the bottom of the 9th innings…'
"Um Ken." Ai's gentle voice called out to him as she stopped in place.
"Y-Yes?" Ken turned around, his heart skipping a beat.
"This is Mrs. Masuda's house." She said, pointing to an apartment he had just walked past.
"Oh… I'll wait here for you then."
He inwardly sighed, feeling exasperated at his lack of social skills. Just what kind of man was he if he couldn't hold a conversation with a 16 year old girl.
Ai walked up and buzzed the doorbell. It wasn't long until an older woman arrived at the door to collect the bag of pastries with a smile.
She tried to give money to Ai, however she politely declined, stating that her parents had said this delivery was on the house. Unfortunately, she underestimated the wily tactics of Grandma's when trying giving away money.
"Honey, take this money and go treat you and your boyfriend to some nice breakfast."
"W-What are you saying, w-we're not a c-c-couple!"
Mrs. Masuda's eyes narrowed in response, her whole body poised to act.
In the moment of Ai's flustered denial of their relationship status, the Grandma swooped in and placed the money in Ai's breast pocket. Then in a matter of untold speed, she ran in the door with pastries in-hand and slammed it shut, leaving the girl bewildered on the front porch.
Ken's eyes widened in shock. He was pretty sure that this Grandma would give the Aoyama twins a run for their money with her acceleration speed.
He had half a mind to try using Identify on her.
"Pfft HAHA—"
Seeing the crestfallen look on Ai's face, along with the whole situation, Ken couldn't help but stifle a laugh, quickly placing his hands over his mouth.
Ai turned her head to look over at Ken and saw him trying to hide his laugh. Instead of being angry, she also found the whole situation to be ridiculous.
A smile crept onto her face as she gazed at him.
'So he has this kind of side too?' she thought inwardly.
Ever since noticing him, Ai had only seen the hard working and dedicated Ken. This was the first time seeing that he could also laugh at silly things and have fun.
Subconsciously, she began to relax.
On her way past Ken, she nudged him with her shoulder and stuck out her tongue.
Ken froze for a moment, not expecting such a reaction. However, he suddenly felt a lot less awkward around her.
The two continued to walk along the path, this time feeling a little closer. Ken even took the initiative to begin the conversation.
"Wow, who would have thought that Grandma Masuda had such agility."
Ai nodded, "She actually used to practice ninjutsu in her younger years."
"What!? She was a ninja?" Ken almost dropped the pink bicycle on his back in shock.
"Pfft.. Hahahaha"
A velvety laugh poured out of the girl beside him as she began to clutch her sides and giggle to her hearts content. The laugh was infectious, causing a smile to subconsciously appear on Ken's face.
It was then that he knew, he had been duped.
"Ha ha ha." Ken laughed sarcastically, however he was inwardly surprised and impressed at the same time. Even though he pursued Ai in his past life, he had never witnessed this side of her.
The two continued to talk back and forth for the remaining 20 minutes of the journey back to Ken's house. Since the ice had been broken, it was as if the two were old friends, sharing their interests and blabbing about anything and everything.
Ken learned that Ai's parents ran a bakery and she often delivered pastries in the morning. This was news to him since he had been running every morning for almost an entire year.
Now that he thought about it, he had decided to run a different route this morning for some reason. Since his mind was feeling all fluffy, he couldn't quite remember why he had chosen to do so.
Ai also loved western fashion and even made her own clothes in her spare time.