Edogawa Ward is the easternmost special ward among the 23 wards of Tokyo.
Compared to Shinjuku District where the Gaien Ice Rink is located, this district is a bit more remote.
Early in the morning, Kurosawa Hikaru arrived at Shinozaki Station by train.
"Edogawa?"
After getting off the tram, Kurosawa Hikaru looked at the surrounding environment and felt a little fresh.
He had a relatively clear impression of the last name Edogawa, which he attributed to a certain elementary school student who was a god of death.
Moreover, this was his first time in this area. He came to Tokyo to attend university, and his life was basically a two-point one. He was either in school or working part-time as a tutor.
He rarely went to places like Shinjuku and Shibuya before, let alone the relatively remote Edogawa district.
After sighing, Kurosawa Hikaru was about to take out his cell phone to make a call when he caught a glimpse of a white figure out of the corner of his eye.
Not far away, he saw a beautiful girl with a shoulder bag walking towards him.
Even though the station is a place with relatively high traffic, her presence still stands out from the crowd.
Even in a crowd of people, you can find her at a glance.
As usual, Miki Shiraha was wearing a white dress, looking very simple and elegant.
"Good morning, Kurosawa-senpai."
Soon, Miki Baiyu came closer, waved gently, and greeted with a smile.
"Good morning."
Kurosawa Hikaru saw the faint smile on her lips and nodded slightly.
Unlike keeping a distance before, after talking it out last night, Miki Baiyu's attitude was no longer to avoid him, but to remain the same as before.
"You came so early, it's only 9:10." Miki Baiyu couldn't help but say as he was looking at his phone just now.
"It's still too late compared to you." Kurosawa Hikaru disagreed and looked down at her.
If there is enough time, he will set off early.
Just like his first date with Chizuru, he arrived at the meeting place early and waited.
Because it was his first date with Miki Shiraha, and the meeting place was in Edogawa District, where he had never been before, he set out early. However, this junior girl arrived earlier than him and was waiting for him.
"The skating rink doesn't open until 10 o'clock. It only takes less than ten minutes to get there from here, so there's plenty of time... Senior, have you had breakfast?"
Although he met him in advance, Miki Baiyu was in a good mood, but also a little annoyed.
"not yet."
"Shall we go get something to eat first?"
Hearing this answer, Miki Baiyu suggested.
"Okay, I've never been here before, do you have any breakfast recommendations?"
Kurosawa Hikaru looked at her with a smile.
In fact, he had already had breakfast.
Recently, he basically cooks it himself, because breakfast doesn't have to be too particular and it's very simple to make, as long as it can fill his stomach.
Having said that, he could see that Miki Baiha was very distressed, probably not knowing how to arrange the time before the skating rink opened.
"There's a breakfast shop that I think is pretty good. It's near the skating rink."
The problem was solved, and Sanmu Baiyu immediately thought of a place to go.
"Then let's go."
Kurosawa Hikaru followed her instructions.
There was no need to stare blankly at the station, but now they had a direction. Miki Baiyu nodded, took the lead and began to lead the way.
"It's so cute."
Following her footsteps, Kurosawa Hikaru couldn't help but think as he looked at her back which was a few steps ahead of him.
Maybe it was because he was the one who planned and arranged all the previous dates, so it was quite fresh for him to hear Miki Baiyu thinking about the destination.
The most important thing is that he could feel from Miki Baiyu's words and eyes that she really wanted to give him a good experience.
"Senior, go this way."
Miki Baiyu, who was walking in front, led the way very actively and carefully, and pointed out the way for him to prevent him from going the wrong way.
"Aren't you a directionally challenged person? Can you still recognize the road?"
Seeing her pointing the way, Kurosawa Hikaru found it quite amusing and teased with some surprise.
If he remembered correctly, this school girl was also a person with poor sense of direction.
They had met by chance in Shibuya before, and this schoolgirl had run into an alley without noticing in order to avoid him.
"I'm not a directionally challenged person, but sometimes I get lost when I go somewhere for the first time."
Miki Baiyu was very reluctant to admit this title.
“Yes, yes.”
Seeing that she didn't like this title, Kurosawa Hikaru didn't want to argue with her.
"I mean it. No matter where it is, as long as I've been there a few times, I'll know the way there."
Because his response was a bit perfunctory, Sanmu Baiyu suddenly became anxious and turned around and said.
"How many times will it take you to recognize the way?"
"Three times... five times."
"You are quite good at finding your way, then."
Kurosawa Hikaru is a bit strange.
It seems that Miki-sensei is not a complete idiot when it comes to directions... At least, she can't be as outrageous as Zoro.
This is normal. For the sake of drama, comic characters usually exaggerate a person's characteristics, which makes it easier to create conflicts and highlights.
In real life, no matter how bad you are at finding your way, as long as you have been to a place a few times, you will always be able to recognize the road.
"… "
Miki Baiyu looked up at him and felt that he was speaking sarcastically. He wanted to refute but was speechless.
Although she is not completely directionally challenged, she is indeed worse than the average person in terms of finding her way.
There's no way, because she is not good at observing the surrounding environment. Usually, once she decides to go somewhere, she will go there wholeheartedly and will not be distracted by strange things along the way.
"Angry?"
Because she didn't respond but just kept walking forward, Kurosawa Mitsuru quickened his pace and walked to her side, walking side by side with her, and turned his head to look at her expression.
"No."
Miki Baiyu shook her head. She wasn't that easily angry. She was just depressed about her own shortcomings.
"Senior Kurosawa, your speed skating skills are so amazing, have you ever practiced before?"
After thinking it over, she realized that she was misunderstood because she didn't say anything. After thinking it over, she decided to change the subject.
Because she had been watching Senior Kurosawa from a distance, many questions had accumulated in her heart.
For example, speed skating… Kurosawa-senpai competed in speed skating with his friends in Gaien before, and his skills were really amazing.
Although she didn't practice speed skating, it is also an ice sport, so she could see that the senior's skating skills were far beyond the level of ordinary people, at least enough to participate in official competitions.
"I learned it when I was a child." Kurosawa Mitsuru nodded.
Although he knew that he did not have a skating skill experience card and was completely at the ordinary level, this junior had seen what he looked like when skating, so it would be too fake to say that he had never learned it.
"Have you ever learned figure skating?" Miki Baiyu was a little curious.
The feeling that Senior Kurosawa gave her was really mysterious.
Reading, photography, playing the piano, archery, and skating. He always seems to be very versatile and there is nothing he can't do.
"No, I just tried it when I was playing with my friends. I was terrible at skating, not even close to you."
After thinking about it, Kurosawa Hikaru shook his head.
The skills he acquired for this dating mission were entry-level ice skating and entry-level ballet.
Although these two skills, when combined, are figure skating.
After all, the essence of figure skating is actually dancing on ice, using the ice as the stage and performing gorgeous dance performances.
“I’m not a very good skater…”
Hearing his praise, Miki Baiyu shook his head and waved his hands.
"You're not a good skater? I've seen your competition videos. You can't fool me."
Kurosawa Hikaru found that she was quite modest and teased her.
"It's really not good enough. The game videos you watched were of me in the past, not me now."
Miki Baiyu shook her head with a very sure tone, and her soft and ethereal voice was raised by several levels.
"… "
Noticing her excitement, Kurosawa Hikaru paused.
In front of him, Miki Baiyu, who had always been gentle and well-behaved, was so excited.
Obviously, his words touched her sore spot.
"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have been so loud... It's just that I'm not skating very well right now."
After a firm rebuttal, Miki Baiyu saw his smile freeze and immediately regretted it, and hurriedly bowed to apologize.
"I just returned to skating this year, and I'm still in the process of rehabilitation and retraining... During those years in high school, I was studying all the time, and I wasted so much time. My figure skating level is far behind that of my peers."
In order to make up for this mistake, she also added some more.
As she said this, she clutched her skirt tightly, feeling extremely anxious, and was very worried that he would be angry.
"Don't apologize, it's my fault, it's not your fault.
Seeing that she wanted to comfort herself, Kurosawa Hikaru shook her head and comforted her.
Although her voice was raised a few notches, what she said was not excessive. She was just a little emotional, which was not a fault at all.
"sorry."
Miki Baiyu became even more frustrated when he heard him say this.
The senior finally agreed to go on a date with her, but she ended up performing so poorly.
"It doesn't matter."
Seeing that she was still very discouraged, Kurosawa Mitsuru thought for a moment and said.
When someone apologizes, it is better to accept it calmly than to say some words of understanding.
Because when a person apologizes, it means that she thinks she has done something wrong.
Even if you think she did nothing wrong, saying something comforting like "I understand" will only make her feel that you are a good person and the matter is not over.
"Uh-huh."
After hearing his answer, Sanmu Baiyu looked up and observed his expression, then he felt relieved.
Following this little episode, the two men started walking again.
The skating rink is not far from the station. Although both of them walked slowly, they arrived there in about ten minutes.
However, there was still more than half an hour before the museum opened, so they walked into a breakfast shop.
"Senior, do you eat so little?"
When the waiter brought the breakfast, Sanmu Baiyu was a little surprised when he saw his breakfast.
“Is that not enough?”
Kurosawa Hikaru was a little confused.
Although he had already had breakfast, he still ordered an egg roll and a bowl of miso soup to match Miki Shiraha.
"Can these breakfasts support your energy consumption?"
Miki Baiyu nodded, very confused.
"Energy consumption?"
Kurosawa Hikaru didn't quite understand what she said.
"You usually play the piano and practice archery. Aren't these both very physically demanding and energy-consuming?"
Having once stood at the top of a field, Miki Baiyu knew very well that Senior Kurosawa had definitely put in unimaginable sweat and effort in those corresponding fields, just like her.
Because of this, Senior Kurosawa should have a big appetite, but he only ate an egg roll and a bowl of soup... He ate only that little, not as much as she did.
"We're going to be skating soon. Eating too much will affect your exercise. Save some room for lunch."
Realizing that she had the mindset of an athlete, Kurosawa Hikaru thought for a moment and then explained.
"So that's how it is."
Although Miki Baiyu felt that half an hour was enough to digest, he did not comment much on his habit.
Then, Kurosawa Hikaru took the fork, picked up a piece of egg roll, put it into his mouth, and started chewing.
"How about it?"
Miki Baiyu looked at him expectantly.
"tasty."
Kurosawa Hikaru, who was eating normally, noticed her nervousness and concern, and immediately smiled with his eyes brightened.
Although the skill of acting was not acquired from Miki Shiraha's dating mission... but the skill of acting is very useful in socializing with people.