Takeru was completely foreign to the idea of dating. It wasn't something he had ever thought of ever doing: his time had stopped before he could even discover what flirting even was. He had never understood the guys gathering around pretty girls and vice-versa, watching from afar, from a television screen. Once he had started his life back up, with fresh and new beginnings, he got curious about it and his own feelings. After all, now that he wasn't such a shut-in, he was teased by his Grandpa and Grandma about "getting a girlfriend". That must have been a very unsubtle way to encourage him to try dating someone, right? The idea seemed to make them so happy… He couldn't not give a shot to it.

The first issue was an obvious one he hadn't thought about before: who was he going to try dating? You dated someone you liked, even loved, right? But how were you supposed to tell who you should date? Well… To get some advice and possible trails to follow, Takeru wanted to speak about it with someone else, but Yusaku was incredibly evasive and Kusanagi pointed out that he was awkward around girls to begin with. Kusanagi himself told him that it was fine if he didn't know it all already, that it was kind of difficult to get the hang of it all, and that he should try with someone he was close to.

It was by asking his grandparents that Takeru got his answer. Grandpa and Grandma looked incredibly amused by his request over the phone, judging by the little giggles he could hear on the other side of the line (yes, he knew how to use a mobile phone now, thanks to Kusanagi and Flame's advice, and watching Yusaku use his during classes).

"Why don't you ask Kiku out, Takeru?" Grandma told him. "You've always been friends, and you used to say you'd marry her later when you were four or five!"

He felt his cheeks eat up as he, in fact, somewhat remembered having said that years ago.

"G-grandma!" He stuttered, taken aback. God, that was so embarrassing…

"Your grandmother is right, young man," Grandpa then took the phone. "Ask this poor girl out, it's been a while since you've seen each other!"

"B-but…"

"There's no "but"! It's now or never!"

And Grandpa hung up, leaving him to wonder if he really was going to go through with it.

Despite all the buts he tried to tell himself, Takeru still found himself on the phone with Kiku a couple days later. Flame had verbally spammed him to do so, pleading his partner to finally spit it out to her. Spitting what, he didn't really know. They hadn't spoken in what felt like centuries: last time he had seen her, he was still dressed like a delinquent and was about to get kicked out of school, when he now manages to get good grades from time to time and follows the school's uniform rules to a T (almost, because his tie is burgundy, she gifted it to him to motivate him to attend school again years ago). What would she think? Was he abusing her patience that eventually got him out of his ten-year blackhole? "You'll never know if you don't try," Flame told him again.

"Oh Takeru, it's you!" Her voice was still a blessing, and his heart didn't slow down in the slightest to hear her so happy. "It's been a while since we've talked to each other. How have you been?"

"I… I've been fine! Busy, but fine. I've made some friends in Den City, I could introduce you to them one day! Hope you're doing well too! Ah, huh… speaking of which…"

He was still incredibly awkward with conversations…

"W-would you mind spending a little afternoon in Den City, over the next break?"

His heart wouldn't stop beating now to the point he felt dizzy from it. He begged his body not to give up on him now, the moment was too important for it to let everything slip up.

"Ah…" Her response was hesitant, almost pensive, but that was just the beginning. "I would love to! Give me a bit of time and I'll send you when I'm free during the next break."

Takeru had never let out such a heavy sigh of relief once he could pull the phone away from his ear and mouth.

The second issue was sneakier. Now that all was said and done, and soon enough they had both settled for the same date and a location to meet up with each other, he needed to know how he would bring the subject onto the table. He learnt by once again asking advice from Kusanagi about pick-up lines: "It's lines that make the other one know you're being flirty or romantic!" he said. As such, he searched up for them on his phone from time to time. He was also sure he was amusing Yusaku that way, considering the little smirk he could see on the latter's face from time to time. Look who was speaking… He wrote some of these down, guessing most of them were just going to fall flat on their face as soon as he'd try to say them. Some were… way too suggestive or sexual for him to even attempt saying them in public. They were better off where they were, as in "suggested for a dating app he doesn't use anyway". What was the point of an app for that when meeting someone in-person felt way realer? He didn't see it in the slightest, clearly.

The day came before he could even plan it all out in details. Saving the virtual world stuck in a warfare between Ignis and humans had taken more time and energy than he could have ever previewed. That didn't prevent him from rising from bed early to make sure he would pick Kiku from the train station at the planned hour of half past nine in the morning. Flame didn't know if he was dumb or courageous, but he still wished his partner good luck. It was a very personal matter and he didn't want to bring Flame in it, instead hoping he'd be fine staying at Café Nagi for the day with Kusanagi, Ai and Yusaku. Maybe Aqua, Miyu or Aoi would pay them a visit. In any case, this was out of his reach now: he needed to focus on what was at hand.

He was pacing out on the platform, unable to stand still and head stuck in thoughts and potential scenarios, when the train's blaring sound told him she would be there soon. Shaking his head and making sure he wasn't sweating too badly (…perhaps that was a bit late to check that), he faced the train and hoped to be near where she'd get off from. His guess wasn't too bad: he was a wagon away from being right, but they still spotted each other. She was as cute as he remembered her being, if not more, her natural charms and features shining against all the other persons in the station. Before he knew it, he had run up to her and pulled her in a hug. God, he truly had missed her.

The day went out perfectly, in a blink of time even. They visited the buzzing and shiny streets of Den City's centre, making sure to avoid all the tiny alleys that looked more than shady. They caught up on each other, he told her about what had happened in New Link VRAINS while making sure to explain everything clearly, she recounted for him a few events from his home and gave him extensive news of his grandparents. They eventually arrived in a park with bright green grass and not too far away from Café Nagi. That was in case she wanted to meet his new friends. He really wanted to introduce her to Flame, Yusaku, Ai, Kusanagi… She'd get along perfectly with Aoi and Miyu too. Ah, but for now, it was him and her and only them, alone together. The topic still hadn't been brought up, so… It was time he did so. It was always the boy who did it first anyway, right?

They sat on a bench, looking down on a pretty pond where birds landed and flew back from, turn-by-turn.

"Kiku, I… I wanted you to know that you're beautiful, and that…"

Just to think about it, going through his newfound entire library of bad lines, it was embarrassingly awkward to say. He stayed that way, looking at the ground with his face reaching dangerously high levels of temperature. If he said nothing, she'd just go back to their previous topic, wouldn't she?! Ah, damn, he needed to say something!

"I… I'm sorry," he ended up apologizing, "I was trying to find a pick-up line, y'know, like how the others do… But I'm so bad at that… You know what? I'm just gonna be frank."

Takeru looked back at her, noticing how her own cheeks were starting to redden. He wanted to turn away, to forget about it, pretend as if that hadn't happened. Instead, taking his courage by both hands, he picked hers in his and swallowed. Heart beating thrice too quickly, a familiar dizzy spell coming back, he finally managed to piece a sentence together.

"Kiku, would… Would you date me?"

He looked down, a nervous laugh ensuing, before murmuring again, "please?"

He didn't dare look back up. What if this had been too rough? She'd scold him again like she had done so before, but she had always been right to scold him, and that meant bad news for him… Would he ever stop getting bad ideas for his life decisions? Forever seemed to pass before he even attempted glance back at her, only to notice she was stuck in place, mouth half-opened in awe. That was when he actually regained some composure and faced her again, albeit his eyes still loved to look at the grass or the pond again from a moment to the other.

"You don't have to find a pick-up line to tell me that, dummy," she said before her hand took his other. "We've known each other for long enough for you to do that, no?"

"I-I guess…" He didn't really know how to reply, too shaken by everything and by actually going through with it all. It was easier to take on Duellists in Link VRAINS than that…

Before he could say much, the dizzy spell came back and knocked him in the back of the head. He'd have surely crashed head first into the bench or her would she have not caught him in his little fall. Seemed he hadn't fully recovered from overusing Burning Draw so much… Haha, that was pretty awkward.

"Takeru, are you okay?!" she asked with that soft concerned voice of hers, the one he didn't want her to have to use again.

"I… I'm fine," he replied earnestly even if unsure of his own wellbeing in one instant, "just got a bit too stressed… It's nothing…"

"If you feel ill, we can go back to your place, it's fine…"

Ah, that was oddly familiar to a few pick-up lines! However, considering how Kiku was genuinely worried for him, it'd be distasteful to consider that was what she was going for. Instead, he shook his head hoping for the spell to disappear.

Once he was back up together, composure regained and body not so lightheaded, they went back to what they were talking about. Well, "talking" wasn't that accurate of a descriptor there: she pulled him into a hug, a gentle one compared to the one he gave at the train station. That was an unspoken yes. Retaining happy tears inside, he returned the hug, and he could swear he could hear someone clapping near them.

He hoped it was his parents cheering him on from the afterlife, but it could have just been him congratulating himself.