Mizuki got home from school early, and laughed when she found Sora. He was trying to hang laundry on the balcony, with supervision from Tama-sama, but he was too tall. Unlike she and her mother, who could both simply walk under the rack and reach up to the wires, he was having to reach over the top and drop things through to clip them.

After watching for a moment Mizuki walked over and suggested cheerfully, "Let me finish it Sora."

He turned, blinked down at her, and questioned, "Welcome home? Wasn't I supposed to pick you up in another hour?"

She nodded and grinned happily as she informed him, "My last class was cancelled today because my teacher had a family emergency!"

He looked at her happy face and asked a little dryly, "Rejoicing in the misfortunes of others?"

She gazed up at him a little guiltily as she explained, "I'm not happy because something bad happened to him, but I'm really happy to be off early while you're still here."

He bent and kissed her, before grinning as he agreed, "That part is good. Why didn't you call me?"

She protested immediately, "I did call, it went straight to voicemail."

He pulled his phone out, examined it for a moment, and grimaced. "Oh. It lasts several days between charges, but apparently the extra day was too much for it."

"What style is your charger?" she asked. "Can you use mine?"

He shook his head. "No, that's the only bad thing about this model. It's got it's own proprietary charging station."

--

After she finished with the laundry, Mizuki told Sora that she wanted to get dressed up for their evening date, and claimed the bathroom. She might not always spend much effort on her appearance, but they would be celebrating their first month formally dating.

Sora simply pulled on his clothes, and then left the bedroom to wait at the table until she was ready.

When she finally stepped out, he stared at her without speaking for so long that she asked anxiously, "Do you not like it?"

He drew a sharp breath and reached for her. Once he caught hold of her, he pulled her close and touched her face gently, before telling her somewhat breathlessly, "You look amazing Mizuki. No one could mistake you for a child tonight."

She blushed and assured him quickly, "You look really good too Sora." She meant it. Even though he had taken a fraction of the time to prepare, he was dressed in a casual version of formal wear. He had on dark trousers and a buttoned shirt of some kind of material that shifted through various shades of blue as he moved.

Sora reached out and picked something up off the table behind him, then slid a small corsage bracelet of tiny flowers in a woven band onto her wrist.

"Wow Sora!" Mizuki exclaimed in surprise. "I thought this kind of thing was only for weddings and formal dances?"

He shrugged and replied a little shyly, "I just thought you might like it."

She kissed him and assured him, "I do."

Their taxi notified them of its arrival and Sora scooped up a long dark overcoat, and then took Mizuki's hand.

She asked with a bit of embarrassment, "Would you mind also carrying my phone and wallet Sora? I don't have any pockets, but I could carry a bag if you don't want to."

"I don't mind," he assured her.

She released his hand and dashed back to her room for them, and grabbed a soft dark sweater as well. She felt like she could barely contain her excitement as they stepped out the door.

--

At the restaurant the waitress stared at them for a moment before exclaiming unprofessionally "Oh my god!" She looked them both over before snapping at Mizuki, "Don't you dare tell anyone I'm working here!"

Sora frowned at the girl while Mizuki gazed at her for a baffled moment, before finally recognizing her classmate Haibara beneath the makeup and trim uniform.

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She promptly assured her, "I won't tell anyone, but why does it matter? It seems like a much classier job than mine?"

Haibara objected defensively, "You don't even have any reputation left to protect, I don't want my friends to know I have to work!"

Mizuki regarded her with incredulous amusement, while Sora asked, "Should we go somewhere else, or are you going to take us to our table?"

The manager approached them and asked, "Is there a problem?"

Haibara winced and opened her mouth to speak, but Mizuki interrupted, "No, we just know each other a little and stopped to talk for a minute. I'm sorry if it's interfering in Haibara's job."

"Oh, you're fine," the manager replied quickly.

Haibara looked at Mizuki with surprise, and then guided them to their table. "Your server will be with you shortly," she informed them more politely. "Thanks, I guess," she added uncomfortably to Mizuki.

After she walked away Sora asked curiously, "Why did you cover for her?"

Mizuki looked at him and shrugged. "It didn't cost me anything? And it's not like I hate her, I barely know her."

Sora was still grinning at her, and wasn't paying attention, when their server arrived. He set down a basket of bread and started to pour the first glass of wine.

Sora glanced over, startled, and objected abruptly, "No alcohol."

The server stopped, looking flustered, and Mizuki suggested quickly, "You can drink a glass if you want to Sora? You're not driving until much later."

Sora looked at her dubiously. "But we can't drink together?"

Mizuki shrugged as she asked, "That's fine isn't it?"

He hesitated, but then nodded to the server and agreed, "Just one glass then."

Relieved, their server finished filling the glass, gave them their menus, and then turned to Mizuki. "Congratulations," he said shyly. "Should I bring you ice water, or would you prefer something else?"

Mizuki asked hesitantly, "Do you have any sparkling juices?"

The server listed the few they had available, and Mizuki chose one.

Sora asked, "Can you just bring us the bottle of that?"

The server nodded and whisked himself away far more gracefully than Haibara had moved.

Sora grinned at Mizuki until she asked, "What?"

"What do you think you were just congratulated on?" he asked with amusement.

She shrugged and admitted, "I'm not sure. Did we tell them we're celebrating our first month?"

Sora chuckled, and then sipped the wine and closed his eyes for a moment. Mizuki laughed and he opened his eyes and looked at her. She grinned.

"You look like that tastes really good," she told him cheerfully.

His cheeks flushed a little, and he said uncomfortably, "If I didn't like drinking, it wouldn't be a problem."

"Can I taste it?" she asked with amusement.

"Mizuki," he said cautiously.

She hopped out of her chair, walked over to him, and demanded, "Kiss me."

"Oh," he replied with relief, and leaned over to kiss her.

"It's not awful," she commented when the kiss ended. He looked at her with amusement as she moved back to sit in her own chair, and added, "The beer I tasted was horribly bitter and sour or something."

"Beer is kind of famous for being sour," he pointed out.

"I don't like coffee either," she added.

"I like both alright, but I'm not addicted to either of them," he conceded after a moment.

He took another sip of the wine and she sat quietly, watching his face as he savored it. After a moment she told him, "I'm really proud of you Sora."

He looked back at her with confusion, and asked, "Why?"

She explained with embarrassment, "I had no idea that you enjoyed alcohol so much, but you still decided to limit it all on your own." He looked at her, and then blushed before looking away, and she added a little anxiously, "I hope you don't mind me telling you that?"

"I don't mind Mizuki," he assured her quickly as he glanced back at her. "It's just a little embarrassing."

She grinned at him.

--

The food was good, when it arrived, but they both felt like the evening ended too soon.

When they got back to her parents' place, Sora asked belatedly, "Mizuki, should I have gotten you something besides flowers?"

"Why?" Mizuki questioned.

"I don't know, I feel like usually a man would give a girl a bit of jewelry or something more permanent too? But I didn't think of it that way until just now," he replied uncomfortably.

She shook her head, and told him firmly, "We didn't say anything about getting presents when we were planning it, and I think I'd have felt uncomfortable if you'd gotten something like that for me when I had nothing for you."

"Okay," he agreed uncertainly.

Mizuki grinned up at him as she assured him, "I mean it."

Sora could only smile and bend down to kiss her before going inside.

--

While he was changing his clothes for the ride home Sora asked suddenly, "Do you mind if I just leave some of my clothes here Mizuki? Instead of carrying them all back and forth every week?"

She replied immediately, "Of course not?"

He hung his coat in her closet instead of folding it back up, and left a small pile of clothes to be washed the next time she was doing her own. Then he picked her up and kissed her intently for a few more minutes. They both sighed when he finally released her, and then he left.