Reincarnated Into Anime World

Kaori immediately got started on what seemed to be the most exotic thing we could do there - pottery and batik art.

Pottery was pretty much common knowledge to everyone, but not many people could experience it. Pottery is the process and the products of forming vessels and other objects with clay and other ceramic materials, which are fired at high temperatures to give them a hard, durable form.

Of course, the firing process was done someplace else after we got the basic shape that we wanted to be done, and we could either display it or take it back home after several hours.

Batik is the art of wax-resistant dye on fabrics to create beautiful and colorful designs. It's also slightly (quite) dangerous due to the heat needed to melt the wax, so it's also done under ȧduŀt supervision. Batik was hard for a beginner to do, but the final product would turn out amazing if done nicely.

Apparently, both of them were under my "intermediate art proficiency", so while it wasn't the best, it was definitely appreciatable. Very much like that poop figure.

On the other hand, Kaori struggled with pottery more since it required fine control over her strength. Her initial vase turned out to be a container in the end, which was quite impressive in its own right.

I mean, how could a cylinder shape become a hollow box unintentionally?

But it didn't matter too much to both of us. We weren't aiming for the perfect art here, but just to have fun and try new things with each other.

This is the "experience" that I was talking about. I mean, I could do this alone, but why would I? It's a waste of money, time, and effort.

Yet, with Kaori beside me, it suddenly turned into such a fantastic event. This is the effect of a "date", turning the ordinary into something extraordinary.

It's an exhilarating effect.

In the end, Kaori changed her plan to place flowers inside to something of a "secret box" for her precious belongings.

We spent about an hour and a half playing with the plentiful art types present. We paid for this, so I'm sure as hell getting my money worth. Plus, Kaori looked like she was having fun trying out new stuff anyway.

Afterward, it was time for lunch. Bidding the promoter guy goodbye, we headed for one of the restaurants selling traditional Japanese meals. Like Shouko, Kaori preferred the regular restaurants instead of those high-end ones since her life was pretty humble, owning a bread store and all.

Kaori had also gotten a phone for her birthday. I didn't mention this before, but since I got my phone first, both Shouko and Kaori opted to have the same phone as I did. It's like matching accessories on a phone level.

Anyway, using her phone, Kaori had snapped a few pictures of us together doing random art. Sitting beside each other with the phone between us, we looked through the photos to have a good laugh at ourselves as we ate. I just have to at least compliment the company on lending us some aprons. Otherwise, Kaori's pure white dress would have been a sloppy mess of colors by now, and it would be a pity.

"Here's your couple deluxe ice cream!" The waiter served the huge and fancy ice cream on the table with a smile, "Enjoy!"

"Thanks!"

"By the way, if you wish to take part in our event, you will be able to eat that ice cream for free. If you win, you can even earn some additional items as well." The staff informed us as he pointed to a small stage being prepared for something. I have already noticed that before, but I didn't know it was for something like that.

"What do you think, Kaori-chan?"

"It looks fun~," Kaori muttered as she munched on the ice cream by herself. The ice cream was initially meant for two, but it seems that Kaori had a sweet tooth.

"We'll join then." I spoke to the staff, who seemed quite delighted at our agreement, "By the way, what is the event about?"

"It's time to showcase your love as a cute couple." The staff spoke with a smile. She looked awfully delighted as she continued staring at us for a while before reporting back to her boss about us participating.

I wonder why...

"Hello everyone! I hope that you all are having a good day. Thank you so much for gathering here!"

After we finished our ice cream with some flirting here and there, the emcee on stage had just spoken.

"Today, we have a special event for couples! We have several couples all ready to showcase their love for one another! I can't wait to see them perform their best to show their love to their partners! Without further ado, let's welcome the teams!"

It was a relatively small event compared to events in other malls, but it was still well-received. About 15 couples were present, including us, and all of us were holding our partner's hand as we waved to the cheering crowd.

We were the youngest there, and while most were in their young ȧduŀt phase, there were some older couples.

"Now, take a good look at the couples before us and place your bets!"

Oi, doesn't that sound pretty illegal?

"I'm just kidding, don't do that. Anyway! Let us introduce our first event of the day! Drumroll, please..."

The screen behind us flickered with life as all of us instinctively looked behind towards the screen, eagerly awaiting to see what game we would be playing first.

"And our first event is..." The emcee shouted as the screen slowly slowed down to show the name of the event, "The princess-carry event! Contestants have to choose between themselves to see who would be the princess and the prince! The prince must then princess-carry the princess and last as long as possible!"

"Until the time runs out or five pairs are remaining, whichever comes first, the remaining contestants will proceed to the next round! To add some spice, we will also be doing a QnA with the pairs to find out all about their embarrassing couple dates! So be sure to not fall from embarrassment!"

What a sadistic emcee. Aiming to humiliate everyone in front of the audience? Too bad this is only my second "official" date, so I will not have any embarrassing things to talk about.

"By the way, anyone can be the prince or the princess; the male doesn't necessarily need to be the prince and the female, the princess. So feel free to explore your own strengths, and let us see which male is weaker than their partner!"

Hohoho...aiming to force the boys to princess-carry even though they might be weaker than their date? The organizer must be salty...

The event soon started, and all of us immediately got into position. Of course, I carried Kaori in my arms. Partly because me carrying her is a lot safer than her carrying me, partly because I want to hold her in my arms, and partly because my strength is much higher than an average teen due to some weird factor, perhaps my lineage, allowing me to easily carry a thirteen-year-old Kaori.

The time started, but because we weren't told when the time would run out, all we could do was just carry our girlfriends. We stood there for about five minutes while the emcee continued interacting with the audience first, allowing us to get used to our current positions.

"I'm not heavy, am I?" Kaori asked worriedly. Probably because she ate about 2/3 of the couple's ice cream set and she just had lunch, she was worried about her weight.

"Don't worry. I'm stronger than I look."

Hm, it's probably the wrong thing to say as Kaori pouted.

"Well, you're not heavy at all. In fact, you're too skinny and light." I said as I pinched her waist after adjusting my grip on her back. Sure enough, she had zero meat in that area.

"Yii!" Kaori exclaimed as softly as she could after being lightly pinched as she glared at me.

"You should really eat more, Kaori-chan. I know that every girl worries about their weight, but there wouldn't be any weight to worry about if they died of malnourishment."

It's probably not the best way to say, "eat more since I don't want you to risk your health trying to diet every day", but Kaori was a bright girl and quickly understood my meaning.

"You need to have more delicacy when it comes to treating girls, Fuu-kun." Kaori wrapped her hands around my neck as she said, "Still, thank you for your care. Don't leave me when I become fatter, though."

"I'll drag you to exercise if that day ever comes."

We continued chatting about various things in this rather intimate position. Kaori leaned against my ċhėst with her hands still wrapped around my neck; it was her own way of helping me lessen the pressure on my arms. It didn't really do much since I'm still the one who needs to bear all her weight in the end, but it was the thought that counted.

"Oh, what do we have here? Our youngest couple isn't even trembling yet?!"

About ten minutes have passed since the timer started, and one or two of the weaker boys with heavier girls have already dropped out, resulting in some rather...angry girls present. It seems that this event loves to destroy all superficial love.

The emcee noticed us, and he immediately headed in our direction and placed the microphone directly in front of us.

"Do you mind introducing yourselves to our audience? I'm sure we're all curious about our cutest couple here!"

"Etto...My name is Uesugi Fuutarou, and my girlfriend's name is Miyazono Kaori."

"So Uesugi-kun and Miyazono-kun. Tell us, how long have you guys been a couple? Since you're so young, are both of you childhood friends?"

"It's been about 8 months now. We met at 12 years old, so no, we're not childhood friends."

"Now, Miyazono-kun, what about Uesugi-kun attracted you?"

"M-Must I answer that?"

"Of course! We're all dying to hear about some romantic childhood love! Ah, the naivety of children falling in love, the wonderous feeling as they discover unfamiliar emotions, the Doki-Doki they feel whenever they meet each other!" The emcee slowly grew solemn, "Then they grow up and realize that everything was just built on a lie. The relationship becomes a give-and-take, and everybody becomes sad. Then here comes the break-up part, your first love is now gone, and as you continue to grow up, you can never forget about your childhood love despite breaking up with your first girlfriend. No matter how good your future partner is, they never attracted you like how you were attracted to your first girlfriend in the past..."

God help this man. This guy must have gone through some rough times to become this depressed just because I (he?) mentioned childhood love?

Even Kaori was stumped on how to reply to this sad commentary. The audience quietened down to give this man a minute of silence. The man then just gave a bright smile as he patted my shoulder, "Never give up on your love, Uesugi-kun. No matter how hard times are, don't give up."

[A/N: That's not a flag right there.]

"Moving on to our next couple!"

The attention was soon diverted away to another unfortunate couple that went through a more intense interrogation session than us. Maybe because we're younger, so the emcee didn't do much?

The round lasted for almost 45 minutes before five pairs were eventually left. The audiences were surprised that I could hold on to Kaori for quite some time, unlike those ȧduŀt couples, and their cheers further increased.

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A/N: I almost forgot to publish lol. And the emcee is an anime character. I sort of changed his background a little, but I retained his depression. If you can guess who he is, I'll publish another chapter tomorrow.. Being an emcee is not his real job though, so don't get tricked by it.