happy new year everyone! sorry for not updating, it's been hectic for a bit around the holidays, since we're moving and all, but here's a new years update! hopefully i'll manage to cram in a bit more writing before school starts again! anyway, enjoy the new chapter and may 2022 be better than whatever the hell the last two years were
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September 30th, 2005 - 8:33 p.m.
Chifuyu tapped his pen on the notepad he was holding, looking up from his notes and at Baji and Mitsuya, who were sitting across from him. The three were in Chifuyu's room, finishing up the preparations for tomorrow.
''You got the reservation, right?'' asked Chifuyu as he pointed at Mitsuya with his pen.
Mitsuya, who was leaning back on his arms, nodded. ''Yeah, the cats are gonna be waiting for you.''
Chifuyu nodded, ticking off one of the points on the paper. ''Great. Baji-san, you bought the flowers, right?''
'''Course I did,'' Baji scoffed as if it were obvious.
Chifuyu ticked that off as well. ''It should all go smoothly, then. Great.''
''You know, Chifuyu,'' Mitsuya spoke, causing the two other boys to look at him. ''You're planning all of this, but did you ever ask her to go out with you tomorrow?''
Chifuyu froze for a moment, his eyes trailing up the list and at the very first point that remained unticked - 'Ask Y/n out'. ''Shit, shit, shit! I-''
His words were cut off by the bell and Chifuyu sprung up to his window, seeing Y/n standing in front of his front door. ''Speaking of the devil,'' Mitsuya spoke, he and Baji having followed after Chifuyu.
''I'll be back,'' Chifuyu said and quickly ran towards the front door, whilst Baji and Mitsuya remained in his room, opening the window slightly so they can eavesdrop the conversation.
Y/n looked up when the door opened, facing the slightly panting Chifuyu that now stood in front of her. ''You okay?''
He straightened up and coughed. ''Yeah, I'm fine. What's up?'' Chifuyu asked, playing with his fingers.
''Just came to pick up Shin and Mai,'' Y/n said, pointing at the two cats that had already found their way to the door and were now looking up at Y/n. She squatted down, letting Shin walk over to her and nuzzle his face in her hand.
Chifuyu watched as she picked up the two cats, feeling as if something was stuck in his troath. ''I'll just go, then.''
''Wait,'' Chifuyu said and Y/n stopped mid-turn, looking at Chifuyu in confusion. ''Do you, uh . . . Do you want to hang out tomorrow? Or something.''
Y/n shrugged, careful not to drop the cats. ''Yeah, sure. I have no plans anyway.'' Chifuyu felt relief wash over him.
Baji and Mitsuya high-fived inside Chifuyu's room, silently cheering for their friend. ''Step one of the plan, completed!''
''Yeah,'' Mitsuya agreed with Baji. ''Hopefully he doesn't fuck up the rest of the steps.''
October 1st, 2005 - 4:21 p.m.
Chifuyu flipped his phone open, checking the time. He was ten minutes earlier, but he didn't mind - not for her, at least. His other hand gripped the single flower he was holding as it was, unfortunately, the only flower that had survived from the boquet throhout the night.
It's fine, it's easier to carry only one flower anyway, Chifuyu reassured himself, though he wasn't sure if he was convincing himself.
''Oh, Chifuyu, you're here already?'' He looked up, meeting eyes with Y/n. She was dressed casual, but he still thought she looked very pretty.
''Uh, yeah,'' Chifuyu cleared his throat and looked at the flower he was twirling between his fingers, handing it to her. ''This is for you.''
Y/n's eyes widened slightly as she took the flower. ''Thank you,'' she said as she took a sniff, though on the inside she was panicking. Shit, shit, shit, is this a date? Why didn't he say so, I didn't dress up! Fuck, I should've known!
''Y/n? You okay?'' Chifuyu asked, his hands in his jacket pockets and gripping whatever he had inside for courage. Did she not like the flower? Fuck, I should've gone out to buy a new boquet.
She looked at him, giving a small smile. ''Yeah! Let's go.''
It didn't take long to arrive at the cat cafe, but unfortunately for Chifuyu, the door was locked, the lights were off and there were no cats in sight. His heart dropped as he neared the door, reading the note that was stuck on the inside of the glass.
Unfortunately, Diona's Cat Cafe must remain closed until further notice. We are sorry for the inconvenience and hope we will soon be able to provide you with purrfect service again soon.
If he wasn't feeling very much disappointed, Chifuyu would've laughed at the cat pun. ''What's up?'' Y/n asked as she stood next to him, reading the note as well. ''Were we supposed to go in there?''
''Yeah, I had the-'' Chifuyu's phone rang and he was honestly starting to get irritated at how often he was getting cut off. He turned away from Y/n, who was still looking inside the deserted cat cafe. ''What is it, Mitsuya?''
''Yo, Chifuyu, uh,'' Mitsuya sounded nervous, which scared Chifuyu even more. ''You might wanna skip coming to the picnic.''
Chifuyu's heart dropped in his stomach. ''Why?''
''We had a small accident-''
''GET THE FIRE EXTINGUISHER QUICK!''
''WE'RE IN A PARK, WHERE THE FUCK DO I GET A FIRE EXTINGUISHER FROM, DUMBASS?''
''THROW IT IN THE FUCKING LAKE THEN, FUCKER!''
Chifuyu didn't need to know anymore. ''I'll talk to you later, Mitsuya.''
''Sorry, man.''
He didn't answer, but simply closed his phone and put it in his pocket. Spotting a bench in front of the cat cafe, he sat down and leaned his head on his hands. Honestly, he just wanted to cry from frustration, but he didn't want to do it in front of Y/n.
The bench shifted slightly as Y/n sat down next to him and put a hand on his shoulder. ''This is supposed to be a date, isn't it?''
''It was supposed to be, but it's just a disaster,'' Chifuyu said as he straighted up, though he didn't look at her. She could tell how tired he was from today and her heart swelled at how much effort he put into it. ''I had everything planned, but everything went wrong for some reason. The fucking picnic blanked caught on fire, for fuck's sake! How did that even happen? I just wanted us to enjoy ourselves and then I could confess to you and then-''
His words got caught in his troat once he realized what he said, his eyes widening and not even daring to look in Y/n's direction. He prepared himself for rejection after the disaster - he wasn't even sure if he can call it that, since the date ended as soon as it started. And now he confessed out of no where too, could this day get any worse?
''You didn't have to plan so much just to confess, Chifuyu.'' There it was, the moment of rejection was coming. Chifuyu closed his eyes as if he was about to get punched and that could as well have been the case. ''I would've said I like you, too, if you had just randomly mentioned it at my window or something.''
Y/n thought she deserved an award for how composed she was acting right now. A part of her had expected that she might be Chifuyu's crush - another part still had its doubts, so hearing it from him made her jump around and scream, but she couldn't do that. Not right now, at least.
Chifuyu opened his eyes at her words, finally looking at her. She looked as if she'd just said the most casual thing of the world, whilst he was freaking out on the inside. Much like Y/n, he had his doubts about her feelings.
''That's . . . that's great.'' He wasn't sure what to say. Those were the only words his mind produced and he wanted to kick himself for how dumb he sounded.
''You wanna be my boyfriend, Chifuyu?''
He couldn't believe she was the one who asked the question first, but he didn't mind. Not at all, if it meant they'll be together. ''Of course, yes, of course I will. Is that even a question?''
Y/n laughed as his reaction as she stood up, pulling him with her. She wrapped her arms around his right one, pointing at a parlor on the other side of the street. ''C'mon, I'll treat you ice-cream for all the effort. I appreciate it, really, even if it didn't work out. Take this as our first date, yeah?'' All Chifuyu could do was nod and admire her composture.
He couldn't believe it. Despite all the plans going down the drain, he still ended up here, now being able to call himself L/n Y/n's boyfriend.
He liked the sound of that.