Chapter 58: Preparing for The First Date

Hearing that Kitahara Chiki was going to go on a date with her tomorrow, Matsuda Yumi cheered on the other end of the phone.

It was clear how excited she was at this moment, and how much she was looking forward to their upcoming date.

Kitahara was also infected by her emotions, and the corners of his mouth curved upward.

Come to think of it, this kind of cheerful girl was quite interesting. He wondered whether she would also be this lively and active when doing that kind of thing...

"So, Yumi-chan, what time do you get off work tomorrow afternoon? Let’s agree on a time and place to meet." Kitahara asked.

"Me? Any time is fine for me. I could even skip work and it would be no problem. Senpai, you decide!"

Matsuda Yumi’s mood was especially beautiful right now. For the sake of the date, she had even said something like skipping work.

One could imagine how much she valued this date.

After all, Japanese people had a very rigorous attitude toward work, basically meticulous and diligent. Some even regarded it as more important than life itself.

Uh... perhaps Matsuda Yumi was an exception.

She clearly would not be like that.

Hearing this, Kitahara thought for a moment but could not come up with anything. He was not familiar with Tokyo and could not think of a suitable dating spot, so he simply tossed the question back to her:

"Let Yumi-chan decide instead! I don’t usually go out much, so I don’t know what place is suitable. Yumi-chan, pick a place you think is fun!"

"Mm... then how about ’Golden Gai’ here in Shinjuku? It’s quite lively over there!"

Matsuda Yumi on the other side gave an address without thinking too much. It was a relatively well-known bustling area.

"Golden Gai" was a pedestrian street, mainly featuring various specialty food restaurants and small taverns.

There were also many entertainment venues around, such as karaoke, cinemas, love hotels, and so on. It was very suitable for dating couples to spend a good time together.

Kitahara had only heard of the place and had never been there, but since Matsuda Yumi mentioned it, going to see it would be fine too.

"Sure. Then how about six in the evening tomorrow?"

"All right! At six o’clock, let’s meet at the entrance of Golden Gai. There’s a big archway there. I’ll be waiting under the archway on time for you, Senpai! Senpai, I’m really looking forward to it, hehe..."

...

After hanging up the phone, it took quite a while before Kitahara found his writing state again. Women really affected typing speed too much...

In Shinjuku Ward, in an ordinary small alley, inside a bookstore with a sign reading "Matsuda Bookstore," after putting down the phone, Matsuda Yumi cheered and jumped for joy:

"Sugoi, great, so happy! Dad, Kitahara-senpai agreed to go on a date with me tomorrow! Hurry up and congratulate me!"

She came to the side of a middle-aged man who was organizing books and shook his arm coquettishly.

This middle-aged man was really not tall, and his figure seemed very thin. His back was even slightly bent, as if he had borne too much pressure from life.

However, examining his face carefully, he could still be considered refined. Especially those eyes, deep and bright, revealing a faint scholarly air.

He was Matsuda Yumi’s father, named Matsuda Hongo.

Matsuda Hongo, having his work interrupted, looked at his daughter and thought for a moment about the name she had mentioned, then asked with some uncertainty:

"Kitahara-senpai? You mean the person you’ve been pursuing all along? That writer?"

"Yes, it’s him! Kitahara-senpai was finally moved by my sincerity and agreed to my request to date. I’ve finally gotten what I wished for!"

"All right, Yumi-chan, good job! But writers are all very boring. Yumi-chan, you need to be mentally prepared. You can try dating him first, but it’s best not to invest too much emotion, so that if you later feel it’s unsuitable, you won’t be too heartbroken when you break up."

Matsuda Hongo carefully chose his words as he advised his beloved daughter.

"I won’t! I won’t break up with Kitahara-senpai. I’ll get along well with him, then marry him, have a bunch of children for him, and live happily together.

Also, although Kitahara-senpai is a bit poor at talking, he absolutely cannot be considered boring. Mm, at least he’s much more interesting than you, Dad!" Matsuda Yumi argued.

Knowing that his daughter was currently head over heels in love and had been blinded by love, that saying anything now would be useless, Matsuda Hongo smiled bitterly and shook his head helplessly.

He was not optimistic about his daughter’s romance.

As the woman, being too proactive in a relationship was not good. It would make the man value and cherish her less.

And he understood the writing profession too well, because he himself had written things before. He was very clear that most people in this industry had some distinctive ways of thinking and emotional worlds. Many of them even had mental states that could not be considered normal.

After actually being together, his daughter might not be able to tolerate it.

Turning to go upstairs, Matsuda Yumi no longer wanted to bother with her mood-killing father.

"Dad, I won’t help you watch the store today. I’m going to prepare for tomorrow’s date!"

...

Matsuda Yumi lived on the second floor of the bookstore.

The second floor was not large, only forty or fifty square meters. Aside from her father’s bedroom and the common area, her private space was only a small room of less than ten square meters.

The room was very neat and warm, giving off the fresh fragrance that belonged to a girl.

Although small, the facilities were complete, and everything was arranged neatly, without the slightest sense of disorder.

A small single bed was placed against the wall, covered with pink sheets printed with cute flower patterns. Beside the bed was a bedside table, on which sat a uniquely shaped desk lamp and a few open books.

The shoe rack, wooden desk, and storage shelves were all small and exquisite. Only a large wardrobe seemed somewhat out of place, occupying no small amount of the limited space here.

Matsuda Yumi opened the wardrobe and picked out one pretty dress after another from the various clothes, holding them up against herself, trying to choose the best-looking one.

Finally, after trying them on, she settled on the clothes, and then began to think about what places she needed to pay special attention to tomorrow.

"For a first date, I should give Kitahara-senpai a souvenir gift, right? What should I give?"

"Right, I also need to bring some money! Although Senpai seems to be in a very good financial situation, let’s still go Dutch. After all, I can’t let him bear all the date expenses right from the start. It seems that’s the trend now too."

"How much should I bring? Fifty thousand yen should be enough, right?"