Special Property (BxB)

Chapter 33. A Different Perspective on Dating

The library at St. Catherine's is immense. Simply the sheer volume of religious texts dwarf anything on the local level. And it doesn't stop there. Being a school, there are copious volumes dedicated to the curriculum as well as to a wide range of scholastic pursuits. On top of all that, a very healthy inventory of other books related to fiction, non-fiction, language studies, classical literature, historical, and it goes on and on. One estimate put the number at just around 4 million volumes with new ones added weekly.

—The St. Catherine's Library

"We still have some time left, what do you want to do?" Takahashi inquired.

Kato was silent, thinking.

"If I had to guess, you're trying to figure out some way to tell me you want to play ping pong with Murata-san."

"Wrong!" Kato blurted out.

"Oh?"

"Yes. Wrong. I want to play ping pong with you." Kato smiled.

Takahashi chuckled. "I see. I'm not that good, by the way."

Kato grinned widely. This was kind of surprising to him. He figured Takahashi was the god of sports or something. He has a weakness! Kato gleefully thought. "So what? Let's go!" he exclaimed, grabbing some of their bags and pulling Takahashi along with his free arm.

They put their stuff down and checked out some paddles. Takahashi was not joking when he said he wasn't that good. This tickled Kato, but he wanted to have fun and not beat down Takahashi. Kato was a good sport.

And fun is exactly what Kato and Takahashi had. Kato didn't fancy himself as witty or funny, but around Takahashi, he did his best to keep him smiling and laughing. It was so infectious. He went easy on Takahashi and just enjoyed playing. In fact, strangely enough, he even enjoyed this so much more than any game he played with Murata. It's not that he didn't thoroughly love the thrill of battle with Murata, but it was altogether more fun with Takahashi.

Kato could have wished that this moment, this afternoon, well, this whole day didn't have to come to and end, but it had to end. The chime signaled the imminent closure of the Sports Complex. Takahashi and Kato put their paddles away and grabbed their bags and started to make the long journey back to the monastery.

On the way, Takahashi again broke the silence first. "What are your plans this evening?"

First, Kato chided himself that Takahashi was first to speak. He was going to have to work on that. Secondly, he'd never spent a Saturday night here. He didn't know what there was to do. Sleep, maybe? "I don't even know why you bother to ask, Takahashi-san. What do you have planned?"

Takahashi laughed, "I've got you trained."

Kato pushed Takahashi. "Nuh uh," he playfully retorted.

Takahashi smiled. "Let's go to the movies."

Kato stopped. "Huh? We can leave to see movies?"

Takahashi softly chuckled, "No. I wish. They'd probably never see me again if they allowed that."

"Oh."

"Building 12 is a movie theater, well converted into one. We can go and watch a movie."

Kato was interested. "What's showing?"

Takahashi replied in a snooty, mocking way, "Well, whatever they think meets the school's criteria for cultural or educational relevance."

"Sounds boring," Kato surmised with a grin.

Takahashi grinned. "They have free popcorn and soda."

Kato's ears twitched. "Yeah?"

Takahashi laughed. "I knew that would interest you."