No bow tie but you cuff your pants. Nervous isn't the word. Why be nervous? This isn't your first time hanging out with her, just the first "date". What's the difference anyway? Your sweat glands seem to think there's one. Mitiko. Mitiko. You repeat her name aloud to remind yourself that she's just the same girl you've been friends with for 24 episodes. Mi. Ti. Ko. Meaty Koh. Maybe you should bring her a gift. You hurry to the kitchen to fulfill your gift idea, but also to grab a paper towel to dab your forehead. On the counter is a glass cylinder filled with much thinner plastic cylinders of honey. Those convenient things you just pop and the honey oozes out of the end into a cup of tea or a mouth. You think about the first time you saw Mitiko. Sitting so gracefully, daintily, alone in that tea house, sipping with the steam rising up in her face. Yes, that's why the honey sticks make sense. You knew the minute she came on the screen that there was something special about her. You got to know her better over the course of the next couple episodes, the group setting thing, you know? It's less awkward that way. But the minute you got a moment alone with her, you just had to ask her if maybe you two could spend some time away from the show at some point. That was nervous. But you explained, as earnestly as you've ever done anything, just the way she'd flipped your heart on its end, and kept you up to the brittle hours, unable to not "Continue Watching?" though you knew you had to be awake for school the next morning. It's not even your favorite anime, you told her, promptly followed by an "Oh, sorry." She told you she didn't mind. You knew she wouldn't. Of course she wouldn't. Because here we are. Ironed and moussed and cuffed, and sweating. You grab a handful of those honey sticks, hoping she gets the nod, and tie a ribbon around them so they hold together. You close your eyes to focus your breathing, to slow your heart rate.

You look at the clock. You're late.

The “I’m In Love With An Anime Character and We’re Going On Our First Date” Playlist

Secret Music - The Pastels

If I Were a Fish - múm

Simple Minds - Summer Heart

Every Little Thing - Para One ft. Irfane and Teki Latex

Marvelous - Towa Tei ft. Yurico

Fingers & Toes - Alex Winston

Song for a Friend - Pastels & Tenniscoats

The Palm of Your Wave - Bibio

Lady Friend - The Social Experiment

I’ll Be Good For You - *NSYNC

I Think I’m Ready - Katy Perry

Ocean Bed - King Krule

Wanted_You In August - Night Beds

10 Billion Years - Jonathan Boulet

Funfair - Shugo Tokumaru

Run to the Sun - N.E.R.D.