Gentarou started to feel a little tired, it began to grow late in the day. The amusement parks lights began to spark to life, and the crowds began to thin out a little more. He felt tired, but he couldn’t show it, not with Mayu by his side. She always gave him this certain energy, one he couldn’t quite explain. It felt stronger than friendship. Sure, the fake date had gone well, and he had hoped he helped Mayu to discover her loving emotions a little better. Gentarou, on the other hand, discovered his loving emotions pretty quick after the “fake” date. He thought of how natural it felt, and how he couldn’t get Mayu off his mind. He had invited her out again tonight, and disguised it as another “fake” date. Gentarou had to know if he wasn’t delusional, if he was really falling for this robot. He snapped out of his train of thought, looking down the robot at his side. They were waiting in line for the ferris wheel, a favorite of Gentarou’s.
“You’re not afraid of heights or nothin’, are you?”, Gentarou asked.
“Not at all! Heights do not phase me!”, Mayu assured him, as they walked forward in line. Her smile gave Gentarou a warm feeling through out his body. Like he’d been hit with a ray of light directly from the sun, and the sun was no more than a foot away from him. They finally reached the cart and climbed aboard, the ferris wheel setting off. He sat close to Mayu, and began to drop knowledge onto her.
“Alright, so this is the part of the date where you guys would like, snuggle up or something! But since you’re a robot I think it’s okay? I’m not sure... The whole robot thing kinda changes a lot of factors here.”, Gentarou struggled to find what to tell her in this situation. Then the park began to catch his attention.
“I can spread warmth to my limbs if needed for this snuggling procedure?”, Mayu asked, but before she could spread her heat Gentarou declined.
“Don’t worry about it for now, I don’t want you to wear out battery or nothin’!”, Gentarou replied, not wanting to have to lug Mayu home through this crowded park. He looked back down the crowds in the park and began to speak his thought process aloud.
“Do you think there’s someone down there lookin’ at me right now, their future friend, Gentarou Kisaragi... and his future cute robot girlfrie-”, Gentarou then seized up, his eyes widening, realizing what had just slipped from his mouth. He looked over to Mayu, a sense of dread welling up in his heart.
“I bet they are! Thank you for calling me cute! I am glad we are friends! I am your friend! Who is a girl! You are my friend! Who is a boy! And Human! Nice how that works out!”, Mayu spat out, her words stringing together extremely fast, and her face getting flustered. Gentarou struggled to get words out, and came up with his excuse
“I uh, meant practice, girlfriend! Practice! After practice we will then find our future boyfriends and girlfriends!”, Gentarou sputtered, speaking fast and getting red in the face himself.
“Of course! Of course! Practice! I am here with my practice boyfriend! Practicing!”, Mayu shouted, seeming just as flustered as Gentarou.
Gentarou’s heart filled with dread once more, realizing the cart had stopped at the top. He looked over the edge of the cart, noting the height, then looked back to Mayu, who was now looking away from him. He bit his lip, trying to think of what to do next. He then had an idea, grabbing his Fourze driver out. He performed his henshin right next to Mayu, the loud belt noise catching her attention. He sat there in the Fourze suit, and bent his arms to 90 degree angles, pretending to be a robot.
“Kisaragi...?”, Mayu gaped, confusion flooding her voice.
“You have to prepare for when your robot boyfriend does stuff! So Fourze is closer to a robot than I am, so we’ll practice with him! First off, the robot kiss!”, Gentarou shouted, pecking his helmet against Mayu’s cheek, letting out a goofy “Mwah!” noise when he did so. Mayu’s cheeks turned an even brighter red, to where Gentarou began to worry about her battery again. Gentarou rubbed the back of his head.
“And the last part of robot boyfriend practice tonight is... hand holding! Robots can have really weird hands! Fourze has pretty chunky fingers, so we’ll give it a shot with him!”, Gentarou shouted again, gently clasping his fingers between Mayu’s. He looked over to her, a nervous smile waiting under that helmet of his.
“Yes, this is very useful practice, Kisaragi!”, Mayu agreed, her eyes glowing with a cheeriness. Gentarou had a sense of relief wash over him. He knew for certain now, but he’d have to give it a few more “practice” dates. They held hands through out the rest of the ferris wheel ride in a peaceful silence, and left the cart once they hit the bottom, other park visitors staring at Fourze as he was dragged off the cart. The rest of their night was spent among the expensive amusement park games, and Gentarou managing to nail Mayu a giant stuffed robot from a ring toss. They parted ways at the train station, and promised to stay in touch. The entire train ride home, Gentarou couldn’t stop thinking about his “practice.” He was gonna need a lot more than that.
