August 31st, 2005 - 12:12 p.m.
''Go to a festival?'' Chifuyu asked, his eyebrow quirked. When he noticed Draken was calling him, he didn't expect to be invited to a festival. ''That's random. What's the occasion?''
''Emma wants to go and then I remembered you and that girl you like,'' Draken said, followed by a chuckle. ''So I thought I would ask you to come as well.''
Dude, Draken, you're an idiot, Chifuyu said, face-palming at his friend's density. ''I'll ask Y/n and see. Thanks for the invite, man.''
''Yeah, sure.''
The call ended and Chifuyu went to his recent calls, his finger hovering over the call button. It's not like this is a date, right? Draken and Emma will be there so we'll be third wheeling, so it's okay.
Before he could press the button, the doorbell rang, waking up the two sleeping cats laying on Chifuyu's bed. He sighed, closing his phone and putting it in his pocket as he made his way to the door. Maybe this is the universe's way of telling me I shouldn't invite her and just let Draken and Emma go alone.
The universe seemed to work in weird ways as when Chifuyu opened the door, Y/n stood there with Shin the cat in her arms. Well, damn.
''Hi,'' Y/n said as the cat meowed as a greeting. ''Sorry for dropping by unannounced. Shin seemed lonely at my house so I brought him over.''
Chifuyu shook his head. ''No problem, leave him here,'' he said, hearing a meow and looking down to see Mei staring up at her brother. Shin jumped down from Y/n's arms and towards his sister, the two of them play-fighting as Peke J sat on the side and watched them.
The two teenagers couldn't help but snort at the scene. ''I'll be heading back, then.'' Y/n gave him a wave as she turned around to go back to her apartment.
''Wait, Y/n!'' Chifuyu called, causing the girl to stop and furrow her eyebrows at him. C'mon, Chifuyu. It's not a date . . . sadly. ''Uhm, one of my friends - the one that got stabbed? He invited me to go with him and another friend to a festival later today . . . And I was wondering if you wanted to come with me? I don't want to third-wheel, you know?''
Is he . . . asking me out? Y/n felt her cheeks warm up at the thought and she cincerly hoped he didn't notice her flustered state. ''I . . . uh, yeah, sure. I'll come along. No problem, yeah.''
Oh, God. ''That's great! I'll come pick you up at around six, yeah?''
''Yup. See you then.''
August 31st, 2005 - 5:58 p.m.
He wasn't sure why he was so nervous. This wasn't the first time he was going to hang out with her and they wouldn't even be alone - so, what was going on with his heart? Why was it beating so fast?
In manga there's usually kiss scenes during firework shows. That's what's been circling his mind this whole time.
Checking his phone, he realized there was still one more minute until six o'clock. One more minute and he was finally going to call her and tell her he was downstairs. He's been here for at least ten minutes now, but he didn't want to rush her, he was just a bit too excited.
I should really stop thinking like my life is a manga or something.
''Chifuyu?'' He looked up, seeing that Y/n was already standing in front of him. His eyes quickly looked her up and down. She was dressed a bit more formal than she usually does and he couldn't help but gulp. Did she take this as a date? ''Chifuyu? Why didn't you call me if you arrived earlier?''
He blinked at her. ''You saw me?''
''Yeah, through my window.'' She pointed up, presumably at her window. ''Anyway, sorry for making you wait.''
Chifuyu shook his head as he straddled his bike. ''It's no problem, I was here too early anyway. Hop on, now, the others are probably waiting for us.''
August 31st, 2005 - 6:42 p.m.
Originally, both Chifuyu and Draken had been rather anxious about going out on a, what the two would label as, a double-date. After half an hour of hanging out, though, they were getting annoyed from having to hang out with each other since Emma and Y/n had clicked almost instantly.
The two were sluggishly walking after the girls, who seemed to be having a great time getting to know each other. Chifuyu sighed, letting his head fall back. ''How long do you think they're going to pretend we're not here?''
''I think they just forgot,'' Draken said, shrugging his shoulders.
''Oh, look! They have tokoyaki, do you wanna grab some, Y/n-chan?'' Emma asked as she pointed at one of the booths.
Y/n nodded. ''Sure! I was just getting hungry.''
Chifuyu and Draken hurried after the two girls who were hurrying over to the tokoyaki stand, trying to not loose them in the crowd. Chifuyu stood next to Y/n, who was already ordering. ''Oh, Chifuyu!'' Y/n said upon finally noticing him. ''You want some, too?''
Chifuyu shook his head. ''Not a fan, I'll pass.''
Y/n nodded as she grabbed her food and thanked the seller before turning to her right. ''Emma-chan-'' She cut herself off as she noticed that neither Emma or Draken were there anymore, causing her to frown. ''Where'd they go?''
''They ditched us,'' Chifuyu clicked his tongue. ''And Draken was the one to invite us, c'mon now.''
Y/n laughed. ''I mean, we were third-wheeling, weren't we?''
''No. Draken and I were the ones third-wheeling.''
''That's not true!'' Y/n said as the two continued walking down the busy street. ''We were all together, weren't we?''
''We were walking behind you the whole time.''
Y/n bit in her tokoyaki and looked away, avoiding Chifuyu's skeptical look, which caused him to laugh. Her eyes fell on a shooting game, pointing it out to Chifuyu. ''You wanna give this a try?''
''Aren't we going to look for Emma and Draken?'' Chifuyu asked, though followed after her anyway.
Y/n waved him off. ''I think it's time we leave them alone for a bit. Emma-chan told me how much he likes him.''
August 31st, 2005 - 9:52 p.m.
''Hey, Y/n.'' She looked up from the cat plush that she had won at a shooting game and at Chifuyu, who was still by her side. ''The fireworks should be starting in a few minutes. Do you want to go watch?''
''Hm? Oh, yeah! Let's go!'' She grabbed his arm and started pulling him towards the field where other people were sitting, prepared to look at the fireworks. As neither of them had a blanket with them to sit on the grass, so they opted to sit on a curb as to not stain their clothes.
''By the way, Chifuyu,'' Y/n said as she held out her cat plush. ''You can keep it.''
Chifuyu looked at her in confusion. ''Huh? Why?''
''Just accept the gift, will you?'' Y/n said, putting it in his lap and wrapping her arms around her legs.
Chuckling, Chifuyu looked at the plushie - it was really cute and he wasn't sure why she was giving it to him, but he was sure he was going to treasure it. ''You know, I should be the one winning you stuffed toys, not the other way around.''
Y/n scoffed. ''That's very old-style, Chifuyu. Besides, this isn't a date - and even if it was, it still wouldn't matter-'' She kept on rambling about how it was okay for girls to gift things to guys as well, but Chifuyu's mind was stuck on some of her previous words.
This isn't a date. Right. He almost forgot.
''Chifuyu, the fireworks!"
He looked up, watching as the colors exploded, painting the sky in various shades. Time felt like it was slowed down and he thought they were the only ones enjoying the show. He glanced at her, seeing her look mesmerized with the fireworks, as if she hasn't seen any her whole life. He felt like he couldn't breath. She looked very, very pretty in his eyes.
This felt exactly like a scene from a manga.
''Yo, there you are, you two.'' Draken's familiar voice brought Chifuyu back to his senses, the moment ending as quick as it had started. Emma and Draken sat down next on Y/n's other side, Emma immediately chatting Y/n up again.
This was real life, after all.