[b]Kotori Shirohane - Warakuma Central Shrine | Wednesday, July 13 2015[/b]

When Rui answered her question with a simple positive, a small smile managed to sneak its way onto her face - she had held the slight worry that, given her lack of dancing experience, it hadn't really been all that enjoyable for him. However, his words did put her at ease - at least for the brief moment it took before she realised that he had slowed his steps and let go of her hand. Whilst she most definitely hadn't gotten used to the feeling of her hand being held by his, she did wonder what had moved him to do so - only to feel his hand instead coming to rest at her side.

For a brief moment, Kotori's expression turned to slight confusion - but this lasted only for a heartbeat before her face quite suddenly and most undeniably flushed with a bright shade of red once she realised just how they must look right now. Whilst Rui seemed quite nonplussed by the whole situation, Kotori's experience was quite the opposite - even more than before, she held her eyes behind her glasses fixed very intently on the ground in front of her; barely daring to lift her gaze unless absolutely needed to avoid walking into any fellow festival-goer. She held her hands close to herself, fingers clenched and only the constant motion of walking abating her sudden need to find some release for her nerves that would otherwise undoubtedly have led to her picking at her skirt.

However, she wasn't afforded this luxury - but her mind raced nonetheless, trying to come up with some semblance of explanation for this most embarrassing of situations that she now found herself in. Unfortunately, she couldn't really get anywhere without immediately imagining just how they must look right now to an outsider - a boy and a girl, walking this close together? Undoubtedly, there would be some people who would misconstrue this as a couple out on a pleasant walk - a thought that brought a fresh wave of heat to Kotori's cheeks - when no such thing was actually going on.

No, no, no, there was really nothing going on here - after all, this was really just a group outing; even if the group size turned out to be a bit smaller than they'd originally thought. And really, it was probably just a bit easier to navigate the crowd for Rui, rather than having to occasionally look back and make sure she was still following him, even if their touching hands probably let him know all he needed. And really, it wasn't as if anything else could be going on - that was really just silly. The popular boy and the awkward girl going out was really just fantasy, after all - something Kotori would probably quite enjoy reading, but not something that actually happened in reality.

Just as she managed to convince herself of this and bring the shade of red that had taken hold upon her face from 'blindingly obvious' to merely 'possible to miss, albeit only on the briefest of glances', Rui's voice interrupted her thoughts - and unmade what little progress Kotori had just managed, what with the source being quite a bit closer than before. [color=green]"Eh? Pi-? Oh, ri-right, uhm..."[/color] It took her a moment to realise what he'd just said - which forced her to raise her eyes up from the ground and over the nearby stalls; making sure that in doing so, she could avoid directly looking at Rui for fear of her cheeks betraying her once more.

Truth be told, she hadn't paid any attention to the various stalls that they'd passed whatsoever - but put on the spot as she was, it was a little late to admit this. And rather than risk any questions as to why if she actually did, Kotori quickly decided on one of the nearest stall. [color=green]"S-some, uhm, Ta-takoyaki... maybe?"[/color] she said, a little belatedly, after making sure that the stall owner didn't happen to be someone she knew, what with living in the shopping district - that would undoubtedly end up being an embarrassment that she'd never be able to live down.

Unfortunately, preoccupied as she was, Kotori didn't quite catch the fact that Rui wasn't just asking for her preference, but actually extending an invitation - a realisation that came a little too late to protest as he'd already stepped forward, using a lucky lull in the number of customers to place an order. Kotori was almost thankful for the fact that this meant he had to, at least briefly, leave her side - as this gave her a moment to try and calm herself down and maybe cool off the seemingly constant warmth that was emanating from her cheeks. Unfortunately, this endeavour was not met with particularly much success when the stall owner's confirmation of Rui's order ended with a joking "for the young couple" - and loud enough for at least some people to give a curious glance.

As such, Kotori was still feeling no less embarrassed when Rui stepped back to hand her the small plate of takoyaki. [color=green]"Th-thank you,"[/color] she more mumbled than said as she hesitantly accepted the food. It was only now that she actually held it in her hands that she realised that it might be a bit difficult to eat whilst simultaneously walking and navigating the crowds. [color=green]"Uhm..."[/color] she started as she looked about - and luckily soon noticed a bench not too far off. Evidently, most of the festival goers seemed to prefer to actually walk about, as it happened to also be unoccupied.

[color=green]"Uhm, shall w-we, uhm, sit? Ah, o-over there, I mean,"[/color] Kotori said, making a vague gesture somewhere in the direction of the bench - whilst only now glancing up at Rui and even then just for a brief moment to await his answer. In fact, as she thought on it, a brief break to catch her breath after all this excitement would be quite nice anyway.