Work Text:
Aira stood in front of the cafe doors, trying to will himself to finally open them and step in. He knew that if he stood here any longer, he would end up convincing himself to just leave.
Instead, he checked his phone, reading over the messages Kohaku had sent him.
kohakucchi: Youll meet him at the cafe cinnamon at the table we usually sit at
kohakucchi: Be there for 1!!!
kohakucchi: And trust me on this and don’t get mad at me either
At first, Aira wasn’t too worried. Sure, being set up on a blind date could be scary, but it was Kohaku setting him up, and he was sure it would go well!
Now though, standing in front of the doors, Aira could feel his heart pounding in his chest.
He really didn’t want to be here.
If anything, he was only attempting to go through with it because of how confident Kohaku was. Aira didn’t want to hurt his feelings!
But, honestly, Aira was already aware of his own feelings and the crush he had on a certain redhead.
Shaking his head and clutching his fists, Aira made up his mind. He was going in and he was going to enjoy himself, whether he liked the guy or not.
Aira pushed open the door, and made his way to the familiar table next to the window. Before he could sit down, he turned as he heard his name called from behind him.
“Aira!”
It was Hiiro.
Aira’s face immediately flushed red at the sight of his friend. The thought of Hiiro finding out he was here for a date was mortifying and shameful, all at the same time.
“H-Hiro! What are you doing here?” he asked, checking around to make sure his date wasn’t coming up anywhere. Him stumbling over his words and completely red-faced wouldn’t be a good look for him at all.
Hiiro tilted his head in confusion, all dog-like. Aira's mind screamed at himself. “Well, my brother told me I would be meeting you here. Did you not know?”
Aira paused his internal screaming to process the new information. Rinne told Hiiro to meet Aira at the same cafe that Kohaku told Aira to go to for a blind date, at the same time.
He almost let out an external scream.
God, Kohaku and Rinne had set them up on a date together! Aira couldn’t tell which part was more impressive, the fact that he fell for this, or the fact that Kohaku and Rinne actually worked together.
And Aira was almost completely sure that Hiiro was unaware of what this entire meet-up really meant.
Despite that, Aira tried his best to get his act together. He was honestly relieved that the mysterious date just turned out to be Hiiro, which he wanted to blame on how he and Hiiro were friends instead of his obvious crush on the redhead.
“Uh, y-yeah, of course I knew!” Aira hastily grabbed Hiiro’s hand, refusing to let the touch get a hold of his thoughts, and dragged him to sit down at the table. “Let’s get something to eat.” He picked up the menu, and placed it to stand in front of him, hiding his red face from Hiiro who was seated across from him.
Pretending to look through the menu (Aira already knew what he was getting, the chocolate parfait, as always), Aira tried to calm himself down, despite the situation.
Somehow, he was put on a date with his friend, and, unfortunate crush, without him knowing. And Hiiro himself was most likely unaware of it being set up as a romantic date.
The thought made Aira want to groan. He should tell Hiiro what was really going on.
But as he peaked over the top of the menu to find Hiiro looking intently through each and every item, genuinely contemplating which one he should order even though he will most likely end up with omurice…
Aira couldn’t help but be just a little selfish, just the one time.
“What are you ordering?” Hiiro asked, suddenly meeting Aira’s eyes.
“Um, the chocolate parfait. It’s what I always get.”
Hiiro hummed, nodding his head contemplatively before looking back down at the menu. “I’m not sure what to order,” he sighed.
Aira huffed. “You know you’re just gonna order omurice again, you do this everytime!”
Hiiro shook his head rapidly. “No, not this time! I’m trying something new.”
Just then, the waiter came up to fetch their orders. Automatically, Aira asked for the chocolate parfait. Both Aira and the waiter then looked at Hiiro for him to give his order.
When they were met with silence, Aira sighed and said, “Omurice for him, please.”
The waiter wrote down their orders and left the two boys to themselves.
Hiiro looked at Aira with his eyebrows furrowed. “I didn’t get to finish looking at the menu!” he cried, looking genuinely disappointed. So disappointed that Aira started to feel guilty.
He frantically searched for a way to improve the situation. “It’ll be okay! You already like omurice, and you usually spend so long on the menu, anyways!” Aira assured.
Hiiro solemnly nodded along. However, his mood seemed to have not improved.
“And, we could come back, if you really want!” Aira continued.
At the suggestion, Hiiro promptly perked up. “You would come back here with me?” he asked.
“Uh, yeah? I mean, if you wanted to.” Aira picked at his nails. Did Hiiro want to go on another date with him? No, no, Hiiro wasn’t even aware that this was a date.
Hiiro nodded excitedly. “Yes, we should! I love spending time with you, Aira!”
Aira’s face flushed in embarrassment. Hiiro always spoke such nonsense to Aira, and he never knew what to do with it. Instead, he just ended up as a flustered mess. “What are you even talking about?!” Aira cried. “We see each other basically every day! I mean, we work in the same unit, you idiot!”
Hiiro only shrugged and smiled at Aira. “Yeah, but it’s even more special like this, isn’t it?” He stared expectantly at Aira, as if hoping he would say yes.
Aira looked away, becoming increasingly embarrassed as Hiiro continued to wait for his answer. “S-sure, whatever!”
Seemingly content with the answer, Hiiro nodded with a big smile on his face. While Aira continued to nervously pick at his nails.
How did he let himself get in this situation?
“So, uh, what else did your brother say to you?” Aira asked curiously. “You know, about meeting me here.”
Hiiro tilted his head as he thought. “Oh, well-” he paused, suddenly remembering something. “Actually, I was meant to give you this.”
He started to dig into the giant bag that he had brought with him. Only to pull out a container of chocolate-covered strawberries.
Aira gasped softly at the sight.
“My brother told me it would be good to get you a gift!” Hiiro said excitedly as he placed the container on the table. “I figured you would like these since you like strawberries, and chocolate.”
Aira blushed further at the gift before he started inwardly panicking as he realized he didn’t have a gift of his own.
If only Kohaku had told me in the first place! he thought bitterly to himself
Hiiro scratched the back of his head. “I guess you might not want them now, since you’re already getting a chocolate parfait-”
“No, no, I do!” Aira hastily grabbed the container from the table when he saw Hiiro reach out towards it. “I might not eat it now, but I will save it for later.”
Hiiro’s face lit up at Aira’s words before looking down at his hands. “Ah, that’s good. I was almost worried you wouldn’t like it,” he admitted.
Shaking his head furiously, Aira held the box to his chest. “No! I love it!”
With a bright smile on his face, Hiiro nodded once. “I’m glad.”
Just then, the waiter returned with their food, placing each respective meal in front of the two boys.
Somehow, Hiiro’s grin grew even wider as the omurice was set in front of him. Without wasting a breath, he dug into his meal.
Aira could only watch, completely unsurprised. He sighed lightly, shaking his head. “I still don’t understand why you have so much trouble ordering food when this is how you act,” he said.
Hiiro paused from ravishing his food. “Sometimes I forget that omurice is the best thing I’ve found since coming to the city,” he said. “And you, Aira.”
Aira promptly stared down at the table and grabbed his spoon. “Shut up!” he cried, and started eating.
They continued eating their food, filling the space with light conversation. Once they were finished, Hiiro, much to Aira’s confusion, insisted on paying the bill.
As the pair exited the cafe together, immediately, Hiiro turned to Aira expectantly. “Did you have fun on our date?” he asked.
“Wha-!” Aira shrieked, so Hiiro knew about it being a date the entire time?!
So, what did that mean for everything else? Hiiro knew it was a date, and still went through with it. The more he thought about, the more Aira wanted to curl into a ball and roll away into the horizon.
He wanted to scream at Hiiro for not saying anything. Rinne was probably playing a stupid prank to embarrass him, and of course Hiiro would be gullible enough to go through with it.
Hiiro grabbed onto Aira’s shoulders, shaking him out of his thoughts. “Aira, please answer!”
Aira pulled himself away from Hiiro’s hands. “Yes, it was fun,” he mumbled, still answering, despite his anger. He started to turn away, about to escape from the embarrassing situation.
Before Aira could leave, Hiiro yelled, “Then, can I be your boyfriend!?”
Aira froze in place, slowly turning around to stare at Hiiro. He was staring directly back at Aira with conviction in his eyes, even though his face was incredibly red.
“What?” Aira said, stunned.
Taking deep breaths, Hiiro looked down to count on his fingers, lifting one for each point. “I took you on a date, bought you a gift, and paid for lunch.” He looked back up at Aira. “Now I’m meant to ask you to be my boyfriend, right?”
Oh. Hiiro was courting him.
Aira felt his face growing warmer by the second. “Oh, my God,” he whispered to himself.
He stood frozen in place, too shocked by the entire event to respond.
Hiiro tentatively stepped closer to Aira. “Did I do something wrong?” he asked, clearly worried.
Snapped out of his frozen state, Aira wildly shook his hands out in front of him. "No, no, no! I just- I mean! I-” he stumbled over his words, face turning redder by the second.
I’m so embarrassing! he yelled at himself, placing his hands to cover his eyes.
He took a few deep breaths before speaking once again. “W-what I mean is, I would love to be your boyfriend," he said, staring directly at the ground, instead of meeting Hiiro’s eyes.
However, he didn’t need to look at Hiiro’s eyes to know he was excited. “Really?” Hiiro asked, bouncing on his toes.
“Y-yeah, um, I've liked you for quite a while,” Aira mumbled.
Deciding to be brave, Aira looked around the two of them before steeling himself, going on his tiptoes, and kissing Hiiro and the cheek.
The two boys stared at each other in astonishment. Hiiro slowly brought his hand up to where Aira had kissed him, completely at awe.
Aira, on the other hand, immediately regretted his bravery and felt positively mortified.
So, he did the only sensible thing at that very moment.
He turned on his heel, and sprinted home before Hiiro could catch up.
————
aira ♡: WHY DIDNT U TELL ME HIRO WAS MY DATE
kohakucchi: Ahh sorry love Rinne got me involved and I figured it wasnt a bad idea since I already knew you liked Hiiro
kohakucchi: And Rinne having a good idea almost never happens so I wanted to make sure it didnt go to waste lol
aira ♡: ig its fine cuz i have A BF NOW ◝(ᵔᗜᵔ)◜
kohakucchi: Oh yay! Im so glad it worked out
kohakucchi: Yall are cute
aira ♡: YAY THX!
aira ♡: wait
aira ♡: WDYM U KNEW I LIKED HIRO ( ˶°ㅁ°) !!
aira ♡: KOHAKU??
aira ♡: ANSWER ME!!!!
aira ♡: WAHHHHHHHHH (ᗒᗣᗕ)՞
(read, 2:08)