If there's one thing Kaoru and Eichi have in common, it's an extremely acute understanding that just because you can't do something, it doesn't mean you can't do it. The other boy doesn't ask what lie Eichi came up with to be here and Eichi doesn't ask how Kaoru snuck out this time; if you don't want to be at home, you find ways around the armed guards and the abhorrent father.
"We could go to the arcade again," Kaoru suggests. He and Eichi sit in the backseat of Hideki, Kaoru's older friend's, car. Theoretically, they could get around on public transit, but Kaoru said Hideki had offered and Eichi wasn't about to pass up on the opportunity to ride around the city in a car with an older boy—the idea is straight out of a movie.
Eichi hums in response. They went to the arcade last time, and though it's always fun, he's hoping he can push the boundaries a little more for this outing.
"Oh! Or the aquarium," Kaoru follows up quickly.
Eichi giggles. "That's cute, Kaoru."
"What? What's cute about it?" Kaoru pouts, turning to Eichi with wide eyes and brows curved exaggeratedly upwards.
"I forgot you're in the Marine Life Club, for a moment."
"Well, you know," Kaoru smiles.
"Someday I'll take you to China with me," Eichi tells him. "They have the biggest aquarium in the world there, you know. Of course, it'll have to be at a time when my health is doing better... the air there is a little hard on my lungs, you see." He sighs, directing his stare to the window. He's not sure where Hideki's heading, given that they haven't told him a destination. When Kaoru and Eichi first got in the car, the twenty-two year old lodged a pair of dark sunglasses in his wavy hair and jokingly offered to drive them to a club downtown. The idea seems very fun and all, if not a little terrifying, but there's no way Eichi and Kaoru could actually get into one without ID.
"Go to China with you…" Kaoru repeats. "You know, that's not the kind of thing other people usually offer each other casually."
Ah.
Eichi feels his cheeks heat, forcefully concentrating on the road outside until watching it makes his head spin. If he were with Wataru or Keito he could say something like that, no problem, but Kaoru's different. Despite coming from a family that's quite well off as well, he acts normal, and his tenuous relationship with his father contributes to his lack of impressment.
"Well..." Eichi says airily, hoping he didn't wait too long to respond. "I'm not a usual type of person, after all."
"That's true," Kaoru agrees and Eichi releases a quiet sigh. "Did you have anywhere you wanted to go, Eichi? I go out pretty often so I have a lot of different suggestions, but if you have something in mind already then I'd love to take you there."
Eichi plants an arm on the seat between them and leans on it, turning his head to face Kaoru again. "Hmm," his heart pulses a little faster in his throat. "Actually, I was thinking you could take me to dinner."
"Oh," Kaoru says, and Eichi resists the urge to swallow, pushing a hair behind his ear. Hideki catches his eye in the rearview mirror, eyebrows raised but saying nothing. Whatever, it's too late to take it back now. Kaoru is quiet, which is better than saying no right away, but he might just be thinking of how to politely tell Hideki to turn around and drop Eichi off at home again. Maybe he can at least ask to be taken to Keito's.
"Yeah, sure," Kaoru says as Eichi's running through the wording, and Eichi's eyes widen, excuses forgotten. "I'll take you to dinner. Though, it's still a little early for dinner, right?"
"Y... yeah, it's a little early," Eichi agrees, steadying his breath and sitting up again.
"We could go to Odaiba," Kaoru goes on, paying Eichi's pause no mind. "They've got movie theatres and game places there. Oh, and the giant Ferris wheel."
"Giant Ferris wheel, huh," Eichi echoes. Kaoru is looking right at him now, his brows drawn a little lower than they usually would be, and Eichi feels heat wash over his body. He knows. And he knows Eichi knows.
"Odaiba's practically built for dating," Hideki comments from the front seat, and Eichi and Kaoru both jump. His eyes are smiling in the mirror.
After a moment, Kaoru laughs an extremely natural-sounding laugh, more than Eichi would've been able to manage. "Well, usually when I'm out it's 'cause I'm on a date," he covers. "So those are the kindsa places I'm familiar with."
"Yeah, of course," Hideki says good-humouredly. "Well, Odaiba's great, anyway. You'll like it, Tenshouin."
"I'm sure," Eichi says. Keito is going to kill him.
"Odaiba, then!" Kaoru declares, and Hideki signals to change lanes. "Thanks for the ride, Hideki."
"Yeah, anytime, kid," Hideki replies, and Eichi wonders for a moment what Kaoru did to earn the favour of this older boy. Kaoru's eyes light up, and he gives Eichi a grin. At that, Eichi's muscles finally relax, and he smiles back too. He's never been to Odaiba, though he's familiar with the island from his family's business, and taking a photo together with Kaoru at the top of the Ferris wheel before going to dinner at some ambiently-lit restaurant and convincing Kaoru to let Eichi feed him tempura all sounds good and fun. And, more important than that, it sounds like a date. An actual date, with self-proclaimed boy-hating Kaoru Hakaze. And the one who brought up Odaiba was him.
He takes out his phone to text Wataru, planning to tell Keito by sending him the Ferris wheel selfie later. To borrow his friend's favourite word, this is going to be amazing.
A/N: ... I always found it funny how Kaoru agrees to take Eichi to a ~popular date location~ right after eschewing male attention. Thanks for reading, and reviews are always appreciated!