Throughout the past two weeks, Hokuto began to sit next to Misaki more often during their two classes together or directly behind her with his friends. On days he didn't sit with her, he would drop a note about their date to her. Of course, Misaki's friends never miss a chance to embarrass her and would constantly tease them. It finally reached the day of Christmas Eve, and her friends had spent the day before 'training' her for dates. In fact, they trained her so much that their rules were embedded in her head.

1. Never arrive on time or early for the first date. You'll seem too interested. Be around 10 minutes late instead.

2. Wear a skirt once in a while to remind him of your feminine side. If it's winter, just wear high boots or something to keep yourself warm.

Although her friends told her not to, Misaki couldn't help but get to their meeting place on time. It was in her to be punctual. As a result, she decided to obey their skirt rule, even if it felt really cold for her. She didn't have proper dating clothes, but luckily Aki's dad owned a fashion company so Aki gave her a nice outfit. Mariko also insisted on doing eyeliner and blush for her. Misaki looks in her bag, still trying to decide if she should give Hokuto a present at the end of their date or not. After all, it is Christmas Eve. When she reaches their meeting place, Misaki's heart flutters when she sees Hokuto's figure standing there, peering at his watch. 

"Good morning, Hokuto-kun! MerryChristmas Eve!" Misaki greets, waving to him happily as she walks to him shyly. 

"Merry Christmas Eve Misaki!" Hokuto greets back, but gains an expression of curiosity when he examines her face. "You're wearing make up?"

"Y-yeah, Mariko did it for me," stutters the girl, losing confident. "Why? Do you not like it?"

"Unn," Hokuto smiles, shaking his head 'no'. "I mean, it looks nice, I prefer Misaki's natural face." Misaki blushes slightly from his straightfowardness. 

"T-thanks, so what are we doing today?" she asks, clutching her bag slightly tighter, feeling nervous for her first date. 

"Actually, there was something I wanted to try out if it's alright with you," Hokuto answers, swaying on the balls of his feet. He suddenly grabs her hand and pulls her along. "Let's go!" They ran together toward through the crowd, laughing as Hokuto maneuvers them around carefully until they reach a cafe.

"It looks so cute," comments Misaki, peering at the pink decorations.

"Forgive me, but it's a brand new place that's having a grand opening. Couples get special treats and I've been wanting to come here so..." he confesses embarrassed, trailing off.

"It's okay, I like sweets too," Misaki smiles, obliging to his selfish but cute wish. 

"Yes!" Hokuto cheers, doing the fist pump before opening the door for her to go in. "Table for two please!"

They wait patiently at their table for their orders to come out. Well, Misaki was waiting patiently. Hokuto on the other hand, was bouncing in his seat like a child on sugar high. 

"Hokuto-kun, calm down," laughs the girl. Although she couldn't help but gush at how adorable he looked. 

"But I--" He is cut off when his eyes are captured by the sight of a large cup with layers of different ice cream and wafflers on it. "Ohhhh!" Hokuto never once takes his eyes off the beautiful dessert as the waitress places it in front of them.

"Your boyfriend sure likes sweets, doesn't he?" laughs the waitress. "You two are an adorable couple. Would you mind if I take a picture of you two for our couple wall?" The word 'boyfriend' hits Misaki hard. Is that what Hokuto is to her? They're on a date, sure, but are they really together?

"Yes please!" Hokuto chirps happily, already about to dig in. He shoves a spoon into Misaki's hand and buries his spoon deep inside the ice cream. Misaki, who is still shy and unsure of what to do, continues staring at him blankly.

"Miss? Why don't you try it too?" the waitress asks nicely. 

"Yeah, it's really good!" Hokuto mumbles through his mouthful of cake and ice cream. Nodding, Misaki's hand trembles as she gets some of the dessert and is about to eat it when Hokuto begins to complain. "That's not enough to savor it! Here!" In less than a second, Hokuto scoops up a large amount of ice cream on his spoon and quickly feeds it to Misaki before she even realizes it. 'Hokuto's feeding me! And with a spoon he's eaten from already!' A flash brings Misaki back to reality.

"How adorable! The indirect kiss is perfect for your photo!" gushes the waitress, showing them the photo before walking off to pin it on the wall with the other couples' pictures. After she leaves, Hokuto looks back at Misaki with an apologetic look. 

"I'm so sorry if I made things uncomfortable for you!" he apologizes quickly, after realizing what he's done.

"N-No! D-don't worry about i-it!" Misaki stutters, blushing a bright red. "I know y-you didn't mean a-anything!"

"I'm really sorry!" he apologizes, eating the ice cream a lot slower. "It's just, when I go out with my friends, we usually play around and feed each other. I forgot that we were on a date since I got a bit too comfortable. I'm really sorry, Misaki." A sad looking Hokuto just reminded her of an abandoned puppy, so Misaki just had to cheer him up.

"It's okay, I'm very happy that you're comfortable with me," she says, trying to smile away the nervousness. Hokuto nods, smiling, but still remains sad. Misaki sees the waitress bringing out another piece of cake, so she decides to point that out. "Look, our second order is coming up." At this, Hokuto perks up and look at it with his mouth watering. As soon as the waitress divides the slices of cakes for them, Hokuto grabs one piece with lightning fast reflexes and shoves it down his mouth, basically inhaling it.

"Ahhh, it's so soft!" squeals the dream-eyed man. "It's like eating a delicious cloud! And the cream they put inside really compliments the flavor of the cake!" He then remembers the girl in front of him, who sits smiling while staring at him. "Sorry, that wasn't very prince-like was it?" He laughs, embarrassed.

"He he, no, but it was very cute," giggles Misaki. She picks up a napkin and leans over to him. "You have a bit of icing.... well, everywhere." Blushing, Misaki begins wiping the icing off of Hokuto's whole mouth as he just watches her, concentrating on her face. "You... you make me nervous when you look at me like that."

"Really?" he asks, teasingly. Hokuto leans back and continues staring at her with a seductive look in his eyes. Misaki tries to ignore it, but his gaze remains on her, causing all the blood from her brain to rush to her cheeks. She finally loses it when Hokuto slowly his lip. "Misaki-chan..." 

"Stop it!!!" she moans, hiding her face behind her napkins. 

"Ha ha ha! You're really cute, Misaki," Hokuto laughs brightly, going back to eating. He looks up at a tomato-faced girl. "Misaki, I'm sorry it was just a joke. Here. Say 'ahhh.'" He playfully feeds her a strawberry. Misaki slowly eats it, but blushes again when she feels the tip of his finger against her lip. "You really blush easily, don't you?" 

"Hmph," she pouts playfully. "Just eat your cake." Misaki pretends to be angry as she throws a strawberry at Hokuto, who skillfully catches it. "Is there something you can't do?" 

"Yeah, eat all this by myself, so help me," he jokes, feeding Misaki another cake.

The two finally finished all the desserts that Hokuto ordered. They walk out side by side and Hokuto goes for her hand. However when his hand touches her, Misaki jumps high in the air, staring at him in shock. As a result, Hokuto quickly retracts his hand.

"What is it? Are you okay?" Hokuto asks, slightly shocked.

"N-no, I just wasn't expecting you to touch me," she mumbles, slightly embarrassed. So many girls her age could kiss a boy no problem, yet here she is, jumping because a boy wanted to hold her hand.

"You didn't expect us to hold hands on a date?" asks Hokuto. Misaki nods, feeling worse about how inexperienced she is. When Hokuto remembers, he begins feeling guilty about making her feel bad. "Ahh... That's right, you've never been on a date." She groans inwardly. She must seem so lame to him. "Then... I'll teach you all about love! Starting today!" 

"Huh?" gasps Misaki, surprised by what she heard. "Teach me... about love?"

"Yeah, I mean, I haven't had that many girlfriends before, but I do know a few things about it," Hokuto answers with a positive attitude. "So come on, I'll teach you so you won't feel bad about yourself anymore. Besides, I think you're a great girl." Hokuto's compliment leaves her fluttering inside as she nods to agree to his idea.

"Then, can you explain dates to me?" she asks, slightly more confident than before. 

'Well, usually couples hold hands when they're on dates," Hokuto answers. He extends his hand out toward her and asks, "Is it okay?" Misaki nods shyly and Hokuto takes her hand into his. "There are two ways to hold hands, one is the way we're holding now." Misaki looks at their hands, which were simply on top of one another. "Another way is this." A blush makes its way upon her face again when Hokuto slips his fingers through hers, intertwining them. 

"I think I prefer this way more," confesses Misaki, still blushing as Hokuto chuckles at her honesty.

"Next, there are different kinds of dates too," Hokuto states, pulling her along to walk while swinging their hands playfully. "But let's stick to first dates for now since that's what we're on. First dates are usually to get to know the other person. As you saw before, I love sweets, so I took you to a sweets shop. What about you? What do you like?" Misaki thinks hard about what she does in her spare time.

"I l-like books," suggests Misaki, then instantly regrets it. 'What if he thinks that's lame? I mean, he goes karaoke-ing with friends and to popular places. '

"Alright," Hoktuo states, interrupting her thoughts. "I think I know a book store around here. Let's go." She follows behind him, bewildered at his open mind. Usually at this point, her friends would say they should split up, but Hokuto is willing to go check it out with her.

'It's because he's just really nice,' she thinks. But deep down, it made her heart soar that there was someone willing to try her interests. 

"Here it is!" Hokuto standing in front of a book store where they sold magazines, manga, and other popular books. Of course, since it was Christmas Eve, not a lot of people are in the store, but at the Christmas tree instead.

"This place looks really cute!" Misaki chirps excitedly. "I've never been here before." 

"Honestly, I've never really been into reading besides manga," Hokuto tells her, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. He watches the precious girl in front of him as she runs around the book store, stars in her eyes as she looks at the books. "Are there any manga that you like?"

"I've actually never read manga before," Misaki says, embarrassed. This time Hokuto stares at her, wide eyed.

"You've never read manga before?!" he exclaims, shocked out of his mind. "That's it, we need to make you read a manga today." He stomps over to the manga section, grabs a few books, walks back to Misaki, and throws it into her hands. "You have to read this. Crayon Shin-Chan is my favorite manga."

"O-Okay," Misaki says, shocked at how bold he suddenly got. "How about I choose some books for you to try and you choose some for me?"

"Sounds like a plan," Hokuto agrees. "Here, I'll carry these books for you. I'm going to find some other manga for you." Hokuto walks back to the manga section while Misaki goes to the self-improvement section. Suddenly she hears three girls laughing.

"I thought I was imagining it, but you're actually taking Hokuto-kun to a book store for a date?" laughs Marina, one of Houkto's fangirls. 

"You're really inexperienced when it comes to dating, aren't you?" Tsukino adds. 

"W-well, Hokuto says first dates are for getting to know the other person, so I showed him something I like," answers Misaki. 

"Since she's so inexperienced, why don't we help her out girls?" asks Minami. 

"Good idea, Minami-chan!" cackles Marina, slowly approaching Misaki like a leopard would to a prey. "Boys tend to think with another head. So if you want a perfect date, you should go to a love hotel with him."

"A love hotel?!" gasps Misaki, appalled at the idea.

"Of course you girls would think like that," a familiar voice chastises. The three mean girls split to reveal an angry Hokuto glaring at them.

"H-Hokuto-kun!" gasps Tsukino. "W-we were just saying hi to Wakahisa-chan."

"Come on," Hokuto growls, ignoring them as he takes Misaki's hand and drags her out of the store. They walk down a bit with Misaki trying to make sure Hokuto is okay while he breathes in and out deeply. "Sorry that I made you leave before we bought anything and that you had to experience that. I hope this will make up for it a little bit?" He shyly places a small package into her hands. Misaki unwraps it to find a few volumes of Hokuto's favorite manga in there. She chuckles slightly at his childishness. 

'I'll definitely give him my present at the end of the date,' Misaki tells herself.

"Don't listen to what those girls said okay?" Hokuto tells her. "They just wanted to intimidate you. I'm not expecting anything like that of you at all." Misaki nods, putting her present back in its bag. "Come on, it's our first date, but it's also a Christmas date too, so there's one thing we have to do no matter what." 

"What's that?" asks Misaki, wondering what he is planning.

"We have to go to the Christmas tree and take pictures there!" Hokuto cries happily, taking Misaki's hand, which is now done more naturally than before. When the two reach the tree, Hokuto moves Misaki into place and stands next to her. He pulls out his phone for a picture and instinctively, Misaki smiles as Hokuto gives a cute, toothy grin. "Cheese!"

"You know, saying "cheese" for a picture actually makes a smile less natural and not as pretty," Misaki informs him, then groaning inwardly as she realizes that's a mood wrecker.

"Oh really?" asks Hokuto. "Never knew that, thanks for the new lesson." Whether he felt the same as she did or not, Misaki felt relieved when he didn't show any annoyance with her random spurs of information. After taking several pictures, Misaki decides to give Hokuto his present. "Hey Misaki, it's getting late. Come on, I'll walk you home."

"Ne, Hokuto-kun?" Misaki calls. Hokuto turns to her with a confused look.

"What is it?" he asks. Silently Misaki reaches into her bag and pulls out a small box, handing it to him. "Aw, you shouldn't have!" He puts his phone back in his pocket to open it with two hands. Inside laid a black leather bracelet that would look stylish with any outfit. "This is awesome! Thanks, Misaki!" Out of excitement, Hokuto jumps on her for a bear hug. Misaki blushes from being in his arms, but decides to milk the opportunity while it is still there. Besides, he smelled pretty good.

"Think of it as a thank you for today," Misaki says as they walk toward her house. "I know my friends sort of pushed you into this but thank you for spending the day with me."

"I told you, I wanted to spend the day with you," Hokuto reminds her. "Your friends just helped me." They walk a little bit farther in a comfortable silence. "Actually... There's another thing I wanted to say to you." This time, Hokuto picks up a shy aura, not at all like his usual character. "I like you, Misaki-chan." His words ring through her ears several times before she could process it. "Misaki?"

"D-did you just say you like me?" she asks, not believing her ears.

"Yeah, I like you Misaki," he repeats, regaining his confidence as Misaki's face turns red again. 

"B-but why?" Misaki asks. So many questions ran through her head, like when did he start liking her? What did he like about her? What's going on?"

"I've liked you ever since you tutored me in math," confesses Hokuto. "I wanted to be able to prolong our sessions together, so that's why I lied and said I was bad at English too. You were always so driven in school, you have such an innocence that just made me want to look out for you. The way you always blew your cheeks whenever you get stumped on a question, or how you poke your cheeks when you get bored. Or how you continue tutoring so innocently whenever guys tried to flirt with you. It's cute. You're cute."

"I-I actually like you too," Misaki confesses before she can think. 

"Yeah, I know," Hokuto laughs, causing Misaki's face to burn up even more. "I watch you enough to see what you notice in class. I see your eyes trailing me and how you perk up everytime I talk to my friends."

"How conceited!" groans Misaki, slapping his shoulder playfully. 

"So now that we both like each other, do you want to take the next step and be my girlfriend?" Hokuto asks, pouting cutely.

"Are you sure you really want me as a girlfriend?" asks Misaki. "I don't know anything about dating. I never think about relationships, but school. Won't you be sick of me being so clueless?" Hokuto stops her by putting a finger on her lips.

"It's fine, I'm willing to teach you," replies Hokuto. "You were my math tutor, so let me be your tutor in love. So again, will you be my girlfriend?" This time, Misaki nods happily, grateful that he wouldn't mind being with her despite her inexperience. She jumps into his arms for a hug as he squeezes her tightly.

"Merry Christmes Eve, Hokuto," she sighs happily. "I'm glad you're my first boyfriend."

"Me too," he nods against her shoulder. "Let's share more firsts with each other from now on." Misaki begins to blush again as Hokuto pulls her in even closer. "Hey, how about on our next date, I'll teach you how to kiss?"