ooo. | It has been about three days since Izumi met Norihisa. Three days since she ended up getting a date from him and now, she was shopping with Maki for said date. As soon as she mentioned that she got a date, her friend instantly drove to her apartment. Practically forcing her to go shopping with her. Since, and she quotes, she dresses like a "soccer mom". Which Izumi took offense to. But alas, here she was. rummaging through racks of clothing in a fancy looking store.

"So he pays for your flowers and then gives you his number on a card?" Maki asked, looking at two dresses in her hands. "And you still won't tell me who he is? I'm surprised Yamato-san didn't interrogate you."

"Tetsu-chan wanted me to find out what his social security number was." Izumi chuckled, thinking about that moment. "Today, he called me this morning. He practically begged me to tell him his name."

"Well, I can understand why, you're not exactly known to be sociable." Maki pointed out, giving her a teasing grin. "When was the last time you even dated anyone? Oh, I remember. Your last ex was a rapper, wasn't he?"

While she laughed, Izumi glared at her, placing her hand on her hip. "Can we not talk about him, please?" She nearly groaned. "Ugh......I'm glad I even got out of that relationship. He was such a cheater. I don't even know what came over me when I gave him a chance."

"I mean, he was very charming." Maki mused over, thinking about him. "That's all, really. He was good looking and charming. Guys like him are like snakes in a garden. They can hide in plain sight, until they decide to show their true colors."

"Hmmm." Izumi hummed in agreement. Her last ex and her lasted for about 4 months before the toxicity started.

He was charming and loving, in the beginning. But after a while, he became super possessive of her, jealous, and he even cheated on her. While she couldn't even glance at another man's direction for more than two seconds before he got pissed off, he went behind her back and cheated on her. She never knew who the woman was because she broke up with him when she found out. But all she could say was good riddance and wished that girl the best of luck with him.

If they are still together, that is. Either way, she doesn't know nor does she care.

"But anyways, I'm going to go try on these dresses." Maki sighed, showing her the items she picked out. "Be right back~"

"I'll be here!" She called back, staring at two dresses in her hands. There was a display mirror next to her.

One dress she had was white, long sleeved and it had a short skirt. It was pretty and made of silk but it looked a little too short for the night. Also white was a bad color for her to wear. She always got some kind of stain on it every time she wore the color.

The other dress she had was long, peach colored and also made of silk. It had spaghetti straps, a slit in the long skirt and the bodice looked like a corset. It was very beautiful. But she wondered if it was too much. She didn't want Norihisa to think that she was trying too hard. Although, it was a beautiful dress.

Both were good options and she was finding it hard to decide which one was the better pick. That is, until she gained an outsider's opinion.

"The peach dress." A feminine voice brought her out of her thoughts.

Izumi quickly turned her head to the direction it was coming from. There was a lady standing about four feet away from her, she was wearing a black tank top, dark blue slim fitted jeans, black boots and a white and black fur coat. Her hair was long and dark brown and she had a stoic expression on her pretty face.

"Excuse me?" Izumi asked politely.

The lady nodded her head to the peach dress she was holding, the corner of her lips turned a little bit upward. "The peach dress would look great on you." She explained, looking at the purses near the mirror. "It'll make your other features stand out beautifully."

"Oh!" Izumi giggled, feeling her cheeks flush a little. A compliment was a compliment, no matter who it came from. "Thank you~. I like your boots, they're very nice."

"Thanks." She thanked, giving her a small grin. Her eyes turned curious as she surveyed Izumi a little. "You're going on a date?"

"Yeah," She confirmed, placing the white dress back on the rack behind her. "It's the first date I've been on since, what it feels like, forever."

"I can see that." The lady chuckled, thinking Izumi was pretty amusing. "Well, if it's worth anything, he would be an idiot to not be impressed by you. You're very pretty."

"Thank you~" She said sincerely. "I'm Izumi, by the way, Izumi Karasuda."

"You can call me Sarah." The lady, Sarah, introduced herself. She stuck out a hand for her to shake. Which she did.

"Nice to meet you, Sarah-san." Izumi smiled at her, pulling her hand back.

"You too," Sarah replied with a smirk on her lips before leaving her there. Izumi watched as she walked away with intrigue. That was a rather interesting interaction. She seemed nice but also closed off or bored of her surroundings. She wouldn't mind meeting her again.

ooo. | "Oya?" Izumi questioned as she helped Naomi clean glasses. The girls of Ichigo Milk ended up rushing over to Itokan to tell Izumi all that she missed while she was away from work. Apparently, Yamato saved a former student of Oya High and now, they were looking for him. These girls get information faster than any news reporter.

"mhm!" Shiba hummed as she enthusiastically reported more to her. "His name is Chiharu. The poor boy came in here looking very scared of his surroundings. You should have seen him. Today, they're supposed to go fight Oya."

"I pray he's okay, now. And I hope those boys make it out." Izumi winced slightly, after hearing everything that was said. She hated the infighting between each area of sword. To her, it made the area more dangerous than it ought to be.

Maybe she was just too compassionate, and she has never really set foot in Oya's territory, but it must be scary to know that an entire school of some of the most dangerous delinquents were after you.

Just before she could reply with more, her phone went off. Izumi quickly placed the glass on the counter and pulled out her cell phone. She turned on her lock screen to see that she received a text message from Norihisa.

Nori 🌹: hadn't heard from you since our last conversation, you doing okay?

Izumi smiled softly. She was worried about her. It was about two days ago since the last time they texted each other. She gathered the confidence to finally text him after meeting him, with the anxiety of wondering if he was too busy to reply ( Also because she's genuinely a shy person ). But as soon as she sent a message to him, he replied quickly. And it had been that way for a few days.

Sometimes, he would even text her in the morning or throughout the night. It made her excitement and nervousness over this date increase.

She quickly replied to him.

Izumi: yes im fine sorry for that i've been working

"Ooooh, is that your mystery man?" Naomi teased, bumping her shoulder with hers. Izumi blushed, biting back a wide smile.

As soon as Naomi said "mystery man", every single member of Ichigo Milk snapped their heads over to Izumi. She could have sworn that they had stars in their eyes with the way they were beaming at her.

"Zumi-nee has a boyfriend?!" Oshiage exclaimed gleefully.

"You have to tell us everything!" Ishikawa added.

"Where did you meet him?! We have to know!" Junko demanded as all of them huddled around the bar, staring at Izumi with anticipation painting their faces.

Izumi was too shocked to utter a word. She heard Naomi snort out a laugh from behind her. She turned and glared at her. To which, Naomi just flashed an innocent smile before heading to the back. Izumi sighed and turned back to the girls.

"Everything I tell you girls, stays here." She whispered to them. It was a good thing the boys were not there yet. Otherwise, it could be a lot worse. "I mean it. No one here tells Cobra or anyone else anything I tell you."

"We promise!" The girls said in unison before huddling closer to get the full story.

Izumi pursed her lips before leaning on the bar counter. "Well, I won't tell you his name because I want to make sure this turns out good first. But we met a week ago. I was buying flowers for my mother and he suggested I get white lilies."

"How sweet~" Nonoriki swooned, sinking her chin on the palms of her hands a little. "He is knowledgeable about his plant life."

"Then, he paid for my flowers and bought his own red roses." Izumi continued on with a soft smile on her face. Whenever she thought back to the moment, it brought a smile to her pretty face. "I asked if there was any way I could repay him and he said that I could by going out to dinner with him this coming friday night."

"Waah~" Asuka gasped in awe. "So cool! He's romantic! How did you get so lucky, nee-chan?!"

Izumi grinned, shrugging her shoulders. "I don't know but he's better than my last ex."

"Wasn't your last ex a musician or something?" Naomi asked, returning back to the front. "Rapper, I think?"

"Ugh, don't remind me." Izumi rolled her eyes. "He's in the past and I would rather not think about him."

"Wait, you dated a musician?" Junko asked, curiously. "What happened?"

"That's another story for another time." She chuckled out, walking over to exit the bar. "In the meantime, remember what I said. Not a word to anyone about my date."

"Your date?" like magic, Dan's voice suddenly appeared. The door swung open to reveal everyone from Sannoh Rengokai entering the bar. Beat up and happy. They looked like they were celebrating.

"Oi, are you talking about Zumi-chan's date?" Tetsu immediately caught on as they all entered fully.

The girls of Ichigo Milk just looked at each other before giving them a stiff look. "We don't know what you're talking about."

"You were just talking about Izumi's date." Tetsu accused, looking at them with annoyance in his eyes. "I heard you!"

"Were we?" Oshiage asked, feigning confusion. Only making Izumi and Naomi laugh a little. Those girls loved picking on them. It was really funny to watch. "I don't remember any of us mentioning a date."

Dan and Tetsu looked at them suspiciously while the girls just began to leave. "We have plans of our own." Junko suddenly announced. "bye, Izumi-nee and Naomi-nee~!"

Naomi waved goodbye to them. Izumi winked at them, thanking them for keeping to their promise. "Goodnight, girls." She bidded as they left the cafe.

"One of these days, you're going to have to tell us about this mystery man." Yamato pointed out as he walked over to the bar. "We're just looking out for you, Zumi."

"And I appreciate it but I don't want you to go on a manhunt for him." She smiled at him, leaning on the bar. "But anyways. You all look beat up but happy. What happened?"

"We took down Oya!" Tetsu announced loudly, causing an uproar amongst them. "You should have seen it! Cobra was so cool!"

"I don't think I've ever seen people this happy about winning a fight." She laughed out as they began to loudly cheer on.

Izumi laughed as they all began celebrating and drinking. Which resulted in Cobra getting pretty drunk. Yamato had to carry him home because he was practically flirting with everything that moved. Even to her, at some point. After making sure they were okay, Izumi went home. The night was getting darker as the late hours approached and she didn't want to stay out too late.

When she got home, she immediately got ready for bed. Once she finished showering and got dressed for bed, she got under her blankets, prepared for sleep. That is, until her phone notification went off. She picked up her phone and saw that Norihisa texted her back.

Nori🌹: did you make it home safe?

Izumi smiled a little before replying to him. Happy to see he cared enough about her safety.

Izumi: yea i did thank u for asking i hope you're okay

Nori🌹: you'll be happy to know that im home safe and sound

Izumi: i am happy to know that ☺

Nori🌹: well i'll let you go to sleep. i'll call you tomorrow morning okay? i hope you're up early

Izumi: lol im an early bird i'll be up. goodnight nori

Nori🌹: goodnight, sunflower

On Hyuga's end, he stared at his phone screen with a very small grin on his lips. He had been talking to this girl for about three days and she already had him doing and saying things he would never normally do or care about. It was like she had magic or something. Either way, he didn't mind it.

As he smoked from his pipe, letting a thick line of smoke escape his lips, he sighed. Hyuga locked his phone and laid back on his bed, staring at the ceiling as she couldn't stop thinking about Izumi. Everything about her was perfect. And now that he had the chance to get close to her, all of those drawings and paintings he did of her seemed mundane and dull. They were nothing compared to the real deal.

Hyuga let out a slight chuckle as he placed his pipe down on his bedside. "Ahhh~......You've made me your prisoner, Karasuda." He mumbled, smirking a little as his eyes remained on the ceiling. "......And you don't even know it."

before yall ask, yes her ex boyfriend
is Ice from Mighty Warriors. Just to add a
sprinkle of drama because why not?

anyways, hope you all liked this chapter
don't forget to comment and vote!

love you!