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“Let’s go on a fake date together, Utsumi!” Red hair blowing in the wind, Yuuta stands there, smiling, as if he didn’t just say the weirdest thing he’s heard since Gridman told them that those four people were middle schoolers.
“...What?” There are so many things wrong with that sentence, he doesn’t even know where to start. First of all, there was no lead-in at all. Just let’s go on a fake date, standing on the roof, with maybe 10 minutes left until class resumes, and he expects Utsumi to just agree?
Yuuta rubs the back of his head. “Well, Rikka and Akane are going out to a cafe, so…” He trails off and looks at him expectantly, as if he should just magically understand from that flimsy half-sentence.
“...So? Wait, those two are together?!”
That… actually wouldn’t be very surprising, would it? Akane, when not doodling in her notebook or staring out the window, tended to send a lot of glances toward Rikka’s corner of the classroom, although Utsumi never thought anything of it until now. Rikka, on the other hand… He’s not really sure. Actually, has he ever seen them talking?
“No, they’re going with some college students. Namiko and Hass roped them into it.”
“College…?”
Yuuta nods. “Which was why I was thinking, let’s go to the same cafe! And then, maybe… I could try to get Rikka jealous?” He laughs sheepishly.
So that's where the fake dating comes in. A plan like that is definitely bound to fail. “And what's in it for me?”
“Huh? Akane's gonna be there.”
“So? Maybe it'll work for you, but Akane and I don't even talk to each other.”
“But… what about the college students? You don't want the creepy old college students to do anything, do you?”
Yeah, that was kinda worrying. He hopes Namiko and Hass at least chose decent people to make their friend go get coffee with.
Yuuta presses on. “And it'll be fun! You can get a pastry and one of those sugary coffee things, and I'll even pay for everything, like a good boyfriend! Okay?” He smiles expectantly.
“They won't even believe us,” Utsumi says instead.
“Then we'll just have to act good enough.”
“...When is it, anyways?”
“Saturday! You in?”
“I… guess I'm free.”
…
Yuuta takes hold of his hand before dragging him into the Starbucks. He sees Akane sitting with Rikka and some taller guys, but resolutely ignores them as they get in line. Yuuta is practically hanging off his arm now - he doesn't remember him being this good at acting - it’s weird because that one time they did a history skit, he sucked.
Orders taken, they head for the other corner of the cafe, hands staying interlaced over the table.
…
In the middle of a conversation with her date (about college electives, actually), Rikka's eyes narrow. She nudges Akane. “I'm not imagining things, am I? That's Hibiki and Utsumi, right?”
Akane follows her gaze. “Yeah, it really is.”
Rikka sighs. “This is like the second time this happened already.”
“Really?” Akane's warm magenta eyes glint with something unidentifiable. “Are they being weird to you?”
“Nah, it's gotta be a coincidence. I don't think they even noticed us.”
Akane laughs. “They seem really absorbed in each other.”
“Yeah, for real…”
…
“Come on,” Yuuta whispers, “you have to do something. I don't wanna be the only one putting any effort into this.”
It was your idea, Utsumi's tempted to say, but instead picks up his fork and cuts up a piece of cinnamon roll. “Fine, then,” he mutters, and raises his voice a little. “Here, say 'ahhh.’”
Yuuta's blushing a little, but he still open his mouth and Utsumi leans over to feed him the pastry piece.
...This is ridiculous.
…
Their “double date” is honestly just more like a group hangout. The conversation is open across the whole table, and the two college students don't really seem that interested in them. Rikka's glad that her friends at least had the foresight to not just dump her with some random people.
In fact, if she thinks about it, it's almost like she’s just going out with Akane. The other girl is surprisingly fun to talk to, and she wouldn't have known it if not for the date. Maybe she should be thanking Namiko and Hass… but no, she doesn’t appreciate them trying to meddle in her (currently non-existent) love life.
“I didn't know those two were dating,” Akane comments, sipping her Frappuccino.
Dating…? Rikka glances at them.
“Utsumi, there's something on your face,” Hibiki says, loud enough for Rikka to hear from where she's sitting, and he leans over to wipe something off Utsumi’s face with a napkin. They're both blushing copiously. Yeah, there's no doubt they're together.
“I didn't know either,” Rikka sighs. “Ugh, I wish they could've at least told me…”
“Maybe it's new?”
“Maybe,” she agrees.
…
“I’ve been meaning to say this for a while, but...”
“Yeah?”
“I'm sorry about the kaijuu. I shouldn't have told you that they might be human, especially as a joke…” He hunches up. “I thought you died and I… I’m sorry.”
Yuuta reaches out and interlocks their hands. “It's not your fault. Hearing that kaijuu speak would've made jump to that conclusion, joke or no joke.”
“But…”
“It's not like I'm actually dead, so everything's okay, right?”
“Next time…”
Yuuta squeezes his hand. “I'll call you.”
Utsumi squeezes back and smiles. “Not if I call you first.”
...He’s definitely blushing now, too.
...
After finishing up the last of her latte, Rikka yawns and stretches.
Akane tilts her head. “Ready to leave?”
“Yeah, let's.”
Akane moves and picks up Rikka's garbage for her.
“Wait, lemme just…” Rikka pulls her phone out and takes a picture of Hibiki and Utsumi, hands joined and making faces at each other.
“What's that for?” Akane asks.
“Namiko and Hass will definitely have to get off my back when they say this,” Rikka says smuggly.
“Are they bothering you?”
Rikka laughs. “I mean, it’s a little annoying, sometimes, but it's just a friend thing, you know?”
“If you say so,” she says lightheartedly. “By the way, want to hang out next Friday after school? I’d sort of like to try the new ice cream place at the mall.”
Rikka is being more than genuine when she says she’d love to.
…
Utsumi, who was trying to stave off his embarrassment by quietly feeding Yuuta more cinnamon roll, looks away by chance and realizes that Rikka and Akane already left.
“Uhh, Yuuta? We don't have to act anymore .”
“What?” Yuuta blinks and follows his gaze, eyes resting on the empty table. “Oh. Oh.” He sinks down in his chair. “This is so embarrassing…”
A sentiment Utsumi is really inclined to agree with. “In the first place, wouldn't the logical conclusion seeing this be to assume you like boys?”
“Uhh, well, you can like both…”
“But just this wouldn't make Rikka think that, would it?”
“Uh… I don't know…” Yuuta trails off before narrowing his eyes. “But your goal was Akane, right? You should have thought of that, too!”
“To watch Akane.”
“Yeah, which you didn't do!”
“Well, you didn't even notice they were gone until I told you!”
“Yeah, so we both failed.”
Utsumi sighs. “So this was useless, huh…”
Yuuta grimaces. “Well… At least we had fun, right?”
“Y-yeah, but…” There are… certain connotations in saying a fake date was fun.
“Yeah! And I'll pay like I said I was.”
“Okay.”
They're still holding hands - they have been that whole conversation. Utsumi hastily pulls his hand back.
“By the way, Utsumi? You… really do have something on your face now.”
…
Utsumi gets them both popsicles and they sit on the bench of a nearby park.
“Hey, do you maybe wanna… do that again?”
“What, is Rikka going somewhere again? Her thinking we’re together probably really won’t help anything. I don’t think she’s that kind of person.” Utsumi turns around, but Yuuta avoids his
gaze, staring resolutely at the playground.
“Yeah, it wouldn’t work,” Yuuta agrees. “Which is why, uh… maybe we could go on a real one?”
“A real…?” Utsumi’s brain takes a few seconds to catch up. So, in other words, they’d be real boyfriends? Spending time with each other like that just because they enjoyed each other’s company, instead of some other convoluted reason?
...It sounded sort of nice, actually.
“I thought you liked Rikka.”
Yuuta fidgets. “Well, I have amnesia, so doesn’t it make sense for that to change easily? Since I don’t really know much about this kind of stuff, right?”
He sighs. “I told you, you can’t just blame everything on your amnesia.”
“Yeah, but, um… accept?”
Utsumi hesitates, before softening. “Yeah, sure.”
Yuuta’s eyes brighten. “Wait, really?! Don't you like Akane?”
“I mean, I did, but I found out that doing this sort of stuff is nice… with you....” He’s really bad with words, isn’t he?
Yuuta smiles and interlocks their hands. “So since we’re dating now, we can do this sort of stuff, right?”
“Y-yeah…”
“And can I kiss you?’
He tastes like cinnamon.
(Rikka’s happy that Hibiki and Utsumi are deciding to be open about their relationship, but kissing in front of Junk is a little too open. Ever since that thing at Starbucks, they’ve been much more affectionate, and while it’s not necessarily a bad thing, she wishes they at least had the professionalism to not be all lovey-dovey in front of Gridman.
They’re in… her house, after all.)