High School DxD - Finding Love in a New World

Chapter 3 - First Date

...

The two of us begin to walk around the city, nervousness rolling off me in waves.

"Where to first?" Koneko asks.

"Well, I figured we'd swing by the arcade. I haven't been there in years." I say, looking down at her as we walk. "You up for it?"

"Of course." She says simply, but I can see a competitive glint in her eyes.

After a short walk through the lively city, we arrive at the arcade. I look around at the machines for a moment, until I see it.

"Oh hell yeah, it's still here!" I say, happily.

"What is?" My short date asks.

"This." I say, pointing to an old arcade cabinet. "Guilty Gear! Me and my friend used to play this for hours and hours, I think I still remember how to play it."

She nods resolutely and moves over to the machine. Oh yeah, this'll be fun!

A few moments later, I absolutely lose. Both rounds, at that. "Okay, I haven't lost my touch as much I thought I would've, but you're really damn good at this." I say, slightly shocked at her skill.

"One hour of video games a day." She explains. It doesn't make a lot of sense, but oh well.

"Rematch?" I ask, she nods.

I lose again and again, and again, and again. "You done?" She asks.

"No, I wanna beat you, at least once. And don't let me win either." She nods and we play again. After a total of 10 losses, I get serious, putting in all of my focus... then I win.

Upon winning, I breathe out a loud sigh of relief. "Okay, that's enough of that. Wanna play something else? You can pick this time."

She looks around and eventually chooses the dance machine. "DDR? Never tried it. Let's give it a shot." I grin.

About a half and hour passes as I check my watch after playing DDR. We both are drenched in sweat, but don't mind it, as we both were just having too much fun. Noticing each other panting in exhaustion, be share a laugh. "Okay, one more thing." I say. "Then we'll go somewhere else." I walk over to the claw machine, bane of my existence.

"Claw machine? Seriously?" She asks.

"It's customary, and probably a bit cliche, for a guy to get a girl a present on a date, usually a stuffed animal of some sort." I gesture to all the stuffed animals in the machine. "So, I'm gonna win you one."

I try my hand at it. Looking around for a target, I spot it. A black cat plush. I activate the machine and go for it. The claw moves, and picks up the plush, to my surprise. It pulls towards me and releases it into the box. I stare wide eyed for a good minute or so. "That is the first time I have ever won this damn machine. I cannot believe it."

Koneko merely takes the plush out from the machine. She looks at it for a moment, inspecting every angle of it. Before holding it tightly to her chest. I stare, confused for a moment. She's holding onto it as though it might disappear... "Thank you, Issei." She says, after a second.

I merely smile at her. "You're welcome, Koneko. You hungry?" I ask. She nods, placing the plush in her purse. We both leave the arcade, side by side, and walk through the city once more.

—————

A little while later, we sit down in the small cafe, recently rebranded as a cat cafe, in a secluded part of the city. Seems like it was a good decision, as Koneko smiles when a cat rubs against her. She leans down and starts petting it.