Hendrix stood in front of the compound entrance, looking at the car keys in his hand.
The orange, afternoon sun was in full stride now, so the snow had mostly melted, a couple patches still scattered across some of the plains of grass between the sparse buildings.
Hendrix could feel the sunrays on his face, juxtaposed by those cold Tokyo winds.
"I can't believe Jason trusted me with the van. I know I said the Frewin's taught me the basics of driving, but I didn't think he would say anything about 'privacy'." Hendrix thought.
His day had become more and more confusing as it went on. It felt like everyone was somewhat interested in him and Vida's dinner.
"It's just a hangout, we do it all the time." Hendrix thought.
If anyone heard that thought, they would've slapped their face.
Suddenly, his own words flooded back to him.
"Then, it's a date!" Hendrix's words flashed in his mind as his cheeks burned. He put his hand in his palms, equal parts embarrassed, flustered, and awe-struck at his own stupidity.
"It's too late to turn back now. Not like… I wouldn't go on a date with Vida…" Hendrix thought, quickly shaking his head to try to get the thought out. "She wouldn't think like that, though. I've gotta get it out of my head."
"Hendrix!" Vida's voice shouted from inside the compound.
Hendrix heard clacking, which caught him off guard. He turned towards the door to greet his friend.
"Vida-" Hendrix stopped at the sight of her.
Vida wore her dreadlocks down, a long ponytail flowing down the front of her shoulder.
She wore a fitted light green dress that went down to her knees, one that Hendrix had never laid eyes on in his life, just like the black heels she wore.
Her face was accentuated by makeup, courtesy of Amora and Bloom. Now that he thought about it, Hendrix had never seen her wear makeup, especially not this much.
He let out a little chuckle, an accidental manifestation of his utter bewilderment.
"What?!" Vida snapped. "Is there something on my face?!"
"Oh, um… No. You just." Hendrix scratched the back of his head, looking at the ground as he made his signature awkward smile. "You just looked really pretty."
"Um… Thanks." Vida looked away, kicking off a few seconds of awkward silence. "Well, we should get going!"
Hendrix suddenly felt outclassed to the highest degree. He was just wearing his usual graphic band tee and his favorite pair of patched pants. His scuffed up black boots didn't help either.
"Right." Hendrix clicked the keys as the van's lights flashed.
He ran over to the passenger side as he opened the door for Vida.
"Thanks." She chuckled, hopping in.
On the side of the compound's entrance, Akilah and Amora peeked through the bushes, trying to keep track of their friends.
"We'll just follow them from afar. There's no telling how bad Hendrix will fuck this up." Akilah said, Amora nodding in agreement.
"Got it." Chase said from behind the two girls, almost making their hearts jump out of their chests.
Chase shushed the two startled girls before going back to watching Hendrix and Vida through the leaves.
"Babe, what are you doing here?!" Amora whispered.
"I'm coming too. To, y'know, make sure he doesn't mess up or whatever." Chase said.
Akilah rolled her eyes.
"It's pretty obvious he just finds this hilarious." Akilah thought.
Hendrix hopped into the driver's seat, starting the car as they made their way out of the driveway and down the road towards town.
The drive was quiet, Hendrix too stunned by his accidental date, and Vida nervous about what she thought was a planned date.
Their friends quickly realized they had no way to catch up, settling on jogging their way into town.
"Why did I go along with this?!" Chase stumbled over his tired feet halfway to their destination.
"You could've just stayed back, babe." Amora said between exhausted huffs.
"This should be it." Hendrix said, parking in front of a sushi restaurant that looked like the definition of a hole in the wall. "Bloom and Alex said this place is really good."
"I'll be the judge of that!" Vida chuckled as Hendrix laughed. The two of them quickly dove back into a nervous silence a moment later.
They opened the door to the establishment to reveal a bored man and woman, the man in a chef uniform.
"Welcome in!" The woman suddenly jumped up with a cheery smile as the chef ran into the kitchen. "I can seat you right over here!"
Hendrix and Vida sat at their table, overlooking a small lake that reflected the now setting sun.
They both ordered water, before the waiter left them in their awkward off-stare to decide what to eat.
The three spies finally caught up to Hendrix and Vida, hiding in one of the bushes outside the spot Alex and Bloom had told them to hide in.
"Good, they got the window table." Amora whispered as they got settled into their bush.
After a few moments of watching Vida and Hendrix look out the window in an awkward stillness, Chase groaned.
"He's bombing it!" Chase exclaimed before Amora shushed him.
"Don't worry. I prepared for this." Akilah whispered, pulling something out of her pocket.
She raised her closed fist to her mouth, blowing air into it as it opened.
A flurry of camellia petals hurried toward the restaurant's window, rushing past the nervous teenagers' view.
Vida gasped, her eyes glued to the petals as she raised a hand to the glass.
Hendrix smiled as he watched the pink petals hurry past.
"Those are camellias! Someone must have a garden nearby!" Vida turned to Hendrix with a wide smile.
Hendrix smiled. "It's like our freshman field trip." He muttered.
Vida turned to Hendrix with a confused smile. "What field trip?"
"You don't remember? It was the entrance celebration for our high school. We went to the Zoo with our class." Hendrix chuckled as he remembered the next part. "There was a garden by the front entrance that me and you went to look at. You were so infatuated by it that we lost our class, and you decided that you would just look at the flowers until they found us."
"We were there until the end of the trip!" Hendrix burst into a hysterical laughter.
"Did I really do that?! I'm so sorry-" Vida's apology was interrupted.
"No, no, no. I wouldn't have spent that time with anyone else. I could watch paint dry with you, and it would be fun. I love spending time with you-" Hendrix stopped himself as Vida's face went red.
The nervous silence had returned. Both of them looked out the window in a flustered stillness.
"Shit." Akilah muttered. "These kids are hopeless."
"You're the same age as us!" Chase threw his hands up in confusion before being shushed by Amora.
"Mr. and Mrs. Frewin had already taken us to see the tigers. The camellias were new." Vida muttered as she pouted sarcastically.
"You made sure I knew that." Hendrix chuckled.
"That reminds me of our freshman year homecoming…" Vida rambled on as Hendrix leaned in, laughing as they both recalled how bored they both were at their school dances.
The conversation roared into a constant sea of laughter as the Tokyo sun set outside their window.
"Are you two ready to order?" The waiter asked.
Hendrix and Vida ordered the specials that Alex and Bloom had recommended, the waiter leaving to pass their order onto the chef as their conversation started back up.
That time Hendrix got in trouble with the principal, the time Vida joined the swim team for a week, the two of them burst out laughing at every detail of their stories.
"I don't know why I was so nervous." Hendrix thought. "Date or not, she's still the same Vida. The one that helped me through… Everything"
"He's still the same Hendrix." Vida thought. "The one that made sure I was cared for everyday."
The three spies looked on from the bushes, smiles covering their faces as they watched their two friends eat their sushi.
"Oh no, they really are perfect for each other." Amora giggled.
"They would've had fun either way." Akilah tried to stretch her legs without causing too much commotion.
"Ugh, does that mean we jogged here for nothing?!" Chase groaned before Amora shushed him.
The sushi was amazing. They laughed about how neither of them trusted Alex and Bloom's food recommendations as they ate.
After Hendrix paid, the two of them piled back into their van, more lively than when they had arrived.
The ride home was half as awkward, filled with jokes and laughter.
Hendrix parked the van in the compound's driveway, the moon now high in the sky as stars filled the black sky.
"Thanks." Vida said as Hendrix opened the door for her.
"It's nothing." Hendrix smiled.
"I mean… Thanks for tonight." Vida smiled, struggling to keep eye contact with her date.
"Um… Yeah. It was nice." Hendrix smiled, not even attempting to keep eye contact.
The two of them sat in silence. This time, it was a little less awkward, being replaced by a certain comfort in the other's presence.
"I'll… See you later… Then." Vida said, making her way into the compound.
"Okay. Goodnight." Hendrix watched her go through the door.
"She really is… Beautiful…" Hendrix thought, his cheeks turning red as he admitted it.