"Well, don't you look cheery?" Sae commented sarcastically as he watched [Name] absentmindedly click his plate with a fork. He'd been like that since the moment they arrived at the restaurant their parents agreed to meet up in.
"Huh?" [Name]'s eyes widened as he was brought out of his daze, his head instantly snapping in Sae's direction. Ever since his performance ended, he'd been moving on autopilot. If someone asked him what happened after he got off the stage, he wouldn't be able to answer them.
"I'd assume your performance didn't end well but with how your mom is acting..." Both of their eyes trailed off to where their mothers were seated beside each other. Fumiko held her phone up as she and Hana watched something on it.
Based on the slight audio they could hear from the device, [Name] instantly recognized it as a recording his mom must've taken during his performance earlier.
"It must be because of something else." Sae continued his sentence, his face blank as ever as he gave [Name] an expectant stare. While they haven't known each other that long, they've at least grown comfortable enough to be deemed as friends.
[Name] chewed on his lips as he thought of what to say. He can't exactly say he could see strings that connected people to their destined ones and that he was hung over and slightly heartbroken at seeing his previously stringless friend develop a thread right before his eyes. (It's simply because he thought he'd met someone else who didn't have a string like he did. That's all there was to it, he swears.)
"...Do you think that the string of fate is real? That everyone is connected to a person that was made just for them?" [Name] settled for that instead as he looked down, not wanting to see Sae's reaction to his words.
"Ha?" Sae gave a dumbfounded look as he raised an eyebrow. "That's just a dumb story people use to cope with the fact they'll be forever alone." While one would assume it was a thoughtless answer, the redhead fully believed in that opinion.
Given that he was a child who was allowed free access to the Internet, he wasn't privy to the fact that some people had more than one partner or people who lived and died without a lover beside them.
"Right, of course." [Name] gave an empty smile as he relaxed his body he didn't even realize became tense. He can't exactly argue with Sae for having that opinion, the widespread concept of the string of fate is that a person is connected to only one person.
The reality, however, is that the string of fate is a much more complicated thing. He's seen a doomed friendship of two people being connected to the same person, along with an elderly couple being settled with a person that wasn't their fated one.
He's come to realize that the connection doesn't exactly guarantee that someone is stuck with only one person or that they'll eventually meet. If that wasn't the case, then he wondered what use it was for only to realize that maybe that's the reason why no one else could see them.
But that also derived the question of, why him?
As he thought things over with a silent frown, Sae couldn't help but be put in his silent spiel. It seems like he realized the answer he gave was the wrong one, and he couldn't help but feel a bit bad for turning [Name]'s mood even worse.
"Have you ever thought of being an idol?" Sae suddenly sputtered as he grabbed the paper and pencils given by the restaurant to the kids. He then scooched closer to [Name] in their shared booth with the items on hand.
"An idol?" [Name] was once again snapped out of his thoughts. It seems like the confusion was enough to get him to stop thinking so hard, causing Sae to let out an internal sigh of relief.
"Yeah, well since you obviously have a talent for singing, you have a good chance of making it big in that department."
The statement couldn't help but bring a small laugh from [Name]. "I guess but why an idol specifically? Why not something more common like, I don't know, a singer?" He asked curiously.
Sae's cheeks couldn't help but warm up at the laugh. He didn't want to admit that he didn't think about his words properly, his main goal simply being to distract [Name] from whatever thought was making him so upset.
"Shut up! It's close enough." He argued with a huff. "I'm planning on going pro eventually and one of my coaches suggested to plan out business cards of some sort." He grumbled lowly.
"Oh right," [Name] blinked as he suddenly remembered one of the conversations he had with Sae. It seems like the redhead was determined to pursue the life of becoming a pro athlete. "You're playing soccer, aren't you?"
"It's called football," Sae corrected blandly. "but yeah. Anyways, he said I'd need it in the future when I finally get my name out there and I thought it might apply to you too, seeing as how you're gonna be famous and all that..." The more he spoke, the more he felt embarrassed by whatever he was spouting. He really should've planned out this conversation better.
"You sure have a lot of confidence in me." [Name] placed an elbow on the table before resting his face on his open palm, his eyes showing his amusement as he stared at Sae. "Ah, that's right. You haven't heard me sing yet, have you?"
"Not personally but your mom replaying that video of your performance was good enough for me." Sae jabbed a thumb to the adults on the other side of the table as he heard their mothers squealing over another replay of the video he's heard ever since they got here.
"Ah," It was [Name]'s turn to turn embarrassed this time as he gave a flushed smile. "So what was that about business cards?" He offered weakly, trying to change the subject. He didn't want to think about his performance being watched over and over again.
"It's nothing too hard. Just plan out the design, formation, and more importantly, your signature." He stated as he offered his companion one of the colored pencils he held. As he said, it was nothing complicated, just a simple activity that should distract [Name] enough from his own thoughts. "It should include your basic information like name, contact email, phone number, and other stuff."
[Name] couldn't help but sweatdrop at the list. He doesn't even have his own phone yet, let alone those things that Sae had told him. In the end, he settled for simply writing his full name before blinking up at Sae like a lost puppy.
Sae seemed to realize the major flaw in this activity of his causing him to sweatdrop. "We can just put a placeholder for now..." He mumbled as they ended up putting x's in place of actual information on the paper. "We can focus on the design of the card."
[Name] seemed to let out a hum as he squinted at the paper, his mind blank of what to put on it as a unique touch from his person. As he thought it over, Sae seemed to pull the paper closer to him as he immediately scribbled something on it.
He watched the other curiously as the redhead seemed to hide the paper during the duration of his writing. After he was done he turned the paper around with a surprisingly bashful expression. "It's dumb, I know, but I just thought of it and..."
"Wow..." [Name]'s eyes couldn't help but sparkle at the sight as he stared at the paper like it was the most beautiful piece of art in the whole world. It was just multiple badly drawn butterflies, all in different colors, but that didn't seem to lessen his amazement.
"Stop looking like that!" Sae eventually yelled, having enough of the embarrassment, as he clutched the paper close to him.
"Wahh, it's so good!" [Name] complimented as he leaned closer to Sae due to his enthusiasm. The action seemed to cause Sae to grow redder as the emotionally inept kid backed away.
[Name] continued to grin at the other before an idea struck him, an imaginary light bulb glowing atop his usually thoughtless head. He grabbed the other blank paper given to them before scribbling away on his corner of the seat.
Sae couldn't help but ease up a bit now that they weren't so close as he watched the other work away on the corner. It didn't take long before that same paper was excitedly pushed against his face.
"An idea for your own business card! So that you'll always have a remembrance of me." He spoke proudly, an imaginary light glowing behind him causing Sae to physically squint at the brightness.
Sae gently grabbed the paper in interest only to feel himself grow warm at the sight. The paper held his name in the middle with multiple different musical notes littering around it. "This has nothing to do with football, idiot." He huffed but despite that, his words were warm and filled with fondness.
"Hey! Butterflies have nothing to do with singing either!" [Name] argued with puffed-out cheeks.
"It could though," Sae argued, his eyes turning deadpanned as he looked up from the paper to stare at [Name]. This made the latter pout harder knowing that Sae was right.
Thankfully, instead of having to come up with a suitable response, the waiter finally arrived with their ordered food, saving him the trouble.
"Finally!" Fumiko cheered as she put her phone away. Hana clapped beside her with just as much enthusiasm once she saw the delicious-looking food.
Both kids gave each other one final stare before turning their attention to the food as well, ready to dig in. Everyone ate heartily for the evening as a conversation broke out between all four of them.
By the end of the meal, everyone was full and happy. Both pairs gave each other a heartfelt goodbye with the promise of meeting each other once again before walking away in their respective directions.
"Did you have a good time?" Fumiko asked as she held her son's hand securely within her own.
"Yeah!" [Name] nodded happily as he bounced with each step he took. This action seemed to garner a laugh from the older lady as they kept walking.
Once [Name] settled down and started walking normally, his hand couldn't help but pat his pocket on instinct. Memories of him secretly folding the paper Sae had drawn the butterflies on and pocketing it before they left had him giggling to himself quietly.
Little did he know, Sae had done the same exact same thing as the redhead clutched the paper filled with musical notes tightly in his hand on the way back to his house.
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No matter the plot of the fanfic I'm writing, just know I love Sae Itoshi with my whole heart.