What Is Love? | My Inner Demons x Reader

Chapter 43: Attention, Affection

"Yes." Pierce replies, though his straight face doesn't change.

"If it makes you happy, P- (Y/n)!" Noi chirps.

Rhys gives a small nod. "Of course, (Y/n)..."

Asch and Leif, however, make no attempt to respond.

"Sorry, Jake..." (Y/n) sighs. "Some of them have some trouble with people, but I didn't think it'd be this... difficult."

Jake shakes his head. "D-Don't worry, (Y/n), it's not your fault."

"I still feel bad..." They look back at Jake. "Let me take you out again, Jake, my treat. To make it up to you."

Jake's cheeks immediately flush red at their offer. Now it really felt like (Y/n) was trying to ask him out, not that he minded. "Y-Yeah, s-sounds good..."

"Good! It's a date."

At that simple word, the Daemos all went into a panic.

"A-A date with him?" Asch murmurs, wide-eyed.

"He wasn't even part of this competition!" Leif huffs.

Noi frowns, looking between the two humans. "Th-Then... how could he win?"

(Y/n) looks back to the Daemos, and their smile disappears at their expressions. "Are you guys okay...?" But before any of them could reply, Elsy returned with the food, placing a plate in front of each of them.

~Jake's PoV~

I felt my face burn as (Y/n)'s eyes lit up at the sight of our food. It was such a simple thing, ordering food in a restaurant, but they could still find a lot of joy in that. It was cute, they were cute. Unfortunately, I don't think I was the only one who noticed. The tallest friend, I think his name was Pierce, smiles slightly at the sight of (Y/n)'s enthusiasm, and the one I think is Noi had the slightest tint of pink on his cheeks. It was both strange and unsurprising that they all seemed to have a thing for (Y/n)... I completely understood the feeling myself. (Y/n) was almost too easy to like. They care a lot and it really, really shows.

(Y/n) went to get a bite of their food, happily, only for something to fall into their lap. They give a small huff before pushing out of their chair. "I'm gonna go clean that up..." They mumble. "Don't wait for me though." They don't give any of us much chance to respond before hurrying off to the restroom.

I look at their friends awkwardly, thinking I should probably make conversation, but not entirely knowing what I'm supposed to say. None of them seem to like me that much anyway.

"So, uh..." I look down. "H-How do you all know (Y/n)?"

"Oh, well-" Noi starts, only for Leif to hit him in the arm as the one with glasses starts talking. Okay, that was weird...

"We met them not long ago, while we were in our cos-plays." Rhys explains.

Something feels very off about this, the way he's speaking and the way apparently Noi couldn't explain something that simple to me. It creates an uncomfortable feeling in the air. "Oh, so you were here for the con then? I didn't think (Y/n) went to that."

"They did." Asch interjects, sternly, clearly against me trying to make conversation. Okay then...

"Well... h-how do you guys feel about them? Since you met them, I mean?" I realize when the question comes out that it might be a little weird. I don't want to interrogate these guys, I just got invited to have dinner... I just want to know if I even have a shot with (Y/n). What they're into one of these guys already? What if they're already- I feel myself tense up. What if they're already dating one of them? What if they're dating all of them, and now I'm third- seventh? Nevermind- third wheeling with all of them? That'd be-