The bustling streets of Shibuya swarmed with passing cars as the sun radiated brightly in the clear sky. Crowds of people scrambled about, some in a hurry and others at their own steady pace. A nearby boutique played a catchy tune through its speakers, catching the attention of passing window shoppers. Elsewhere, the smell of barbeque from an outdoor grill wafted through the air, beckoning passerby to sit and stay for a meal.

Rhyth and Yoyo were skating aimlessly down a busy sidewalk. It would be a crime not to make the most of such a nice day, but they were wasting it away with nothing to do.

Rhyth began to slow down until she came to a complete stop. "I'm bored," she sighed.

Yoyo stopped next to her and shoved his hands into his pockets. "Yeah, same. What do you wanna do?"

"I don't know, there's nothing to do!"

"We could go grab something to eat."

Rhyth shrugged. "I'm not really hungry right now."

Yoyo hung his head; he was really hoping she would say yes to food.

"Well," he declared, "I bet I can think of something fun for us to do."

"Go ahead. I'm up for anything."

Yoyo scanned their surroundings. Across the street from them was a large upscale department store. The two of them wouldn't be welcome there, especially not with their skates.

He pointed it out to Rhyth. "Hey, we should race through that department store. That'd be fun."

Rhyth turned to face the store. "What? No way, I'm not doing that!"

"You said you were up for anything!"

"Yeah, but not that!"

"Oh, come on! It'll be fun!"

Rhyth crossed her arms. "No it won't! We'll get in trouble!"

Yoyo groaned. "Ugh, you're so boring. Fine, I'll do it alone."

"Yoyo, don't!" Rhyth shouted, but it was too late; he had already taken off towards the store. She chased after him, begging for him to stop, but he disregarded her pleas. Before she could catch up to him, he dashed into the store. She stopped in front of the entrance and covered her mouth with her hand in shock.

The store was much larger on the inside than it looked from outside. Yoyo gazed upwards to see a security camera hanging from the ceiling. He raised his hood over his head to shield his identity before beginning his sprint to the very end of the store. The store's employees immediately gave chase as he weaved down the aisles, dodging startled customers and elaborate store displays. The further he progressed, the angrier the employees became. Soon they started to shout at him.

"Hey you, stop!"

"Get back here!"

"Stop right there!"

Yoyo ignored them as he reached the end of the store only to find out that there was no other exit. His only escape was through the entrance back at the front of the building. He quickly turned around to see the store's employees blocking his every path, none amused by his actions. Yoyo welcomed the extra challenge.

He rushed towards one of the employees and pushed them out of his way. The man fell into a clothes rack, knocking items onto the ground. Yoyo snickered before the severity of his actions dawned on him.

I just committed assault, didn't I?

He realized he had passed the point of no return, but the exit was in his sight. Not daring to look back, he continued towards the exit whilst his adrenaline gave him a much-needed burst of speed.

Rhyth watched as he dashed back out of the store. Before she could say anything, he grabbed her wrist and began pulling her down the street.

"C'mon, we gotta get outta here!" he exclaimed urgently.

Rhyth had still not fully grasped the situation, but the severity of Yoyo's voice was enough to trigger her flight response. She kept pace with him, unable to stifle her wildish giggling as they escaped.

"Oh my god, Yoyo, you're crazy!" she cried. "I can't believe you did that!"

Yoyo looked at her. "Hey, you're laughing! That means you're having fun."

"Only because I'm not the one whose gonna get in trouble if we're caught!"

Yoyo smirked. "You know, I actually pushed someone down to the ground, so if we do get caught then I'm really in trouble."

A look of dread washed over Rhyth's face. Suddenly this wasn't all fun and games anymore. She gripped Yoyo's hand tightly and sped ahead, dragging him along behind her. He couldn't help but chuckle at the sight of her genuinely scared of getting caught; the look of concern on her face and the determined swinging of her free arm amused him, perhaps a bit too much.

He slowly became transfixed on her every move, from her forward-leaning body to the way she pushed off the pavement with her skates in a manner that made it seem like—for just a split-second—both her feet were hovering off the ground at the same time. His eyes drifted further upwards until they were caught by her hair blowing playfully in the wind. It was then that he finally registered the sensation of Rhyth's hand holding firmly onto his. Despite the panic in her actions, her hand felt safe and warm, as if nothing bad could ever happen to him so long as he didn't let go.

Yoyo snapped out of it once Rhyth turned around and noticed him staring at her. He quickly shifted his eyes away from her, but he had already been caught. The event made both blush.

Rhyth then looked past Yoyo and began slowing down. "They're not behind us. It looks like we got away."

They both stopped to catch their breaths. Only then did Rhyth let go of Yoyo's hand.

"Man, you nearly tore my arm off," he quipped as he removed his hood from over his head.

Rhyth, still panting, replied, "I just didn't want you to get caught. You would have gotten in deep trouble."

Yoyo smiled feebly. He felt too embarrassed to tell her that the store's employees likely never even left the store to pursue them.

"Wow, that was exciting," Rhyth remarked with a smile back on her face. "It's never a dull moment with you, is it?"

"You're still a wuss for chickening out, you know," Yoyo teased.

"Hey!"

Rhyth forgave him for his cheap insult. She wasn't too exhausted from their workout, but Yoyo appeared to be sweating heavily; he clearly wasn't in as good a shape as her. She spotted a grassy park down the road and gestured towards it.

"We should go over there and find a shady place to rest."

"Yeah, alright."

The two made their way to the park at a leisurely pace. Although Yoyo's legs and feet were beginning to ache less, his mind was still hooked on when Rhyth held his hand. The moment her hand squeezed tightly with his in its grasp, he felt a fluttering in his stomach, a sensation he would feel almost every time he was with her. He was young but he wasn't stupid; he knew he had feelings for her. And yet, he just couldn't muster up the courage to confess them to her face. A man showing his softer emotions was a sign of weakness, and Yoyo felt he had to hide his feelings from Rhyth to maintain an image of coolness. Still, his heart yearned for her. If only he could shed his stupid pride.

They arrived at the park and looked around for a shady spot.

"How about over there?" Yoyo suggested, pointing towards a gazebo.

"I don't know," Rhyth replied. "There's a few other people there and I'd rather we find a nice and quiet place to ourselves." She surveyed the park and spotted a large tree with outstretched branches. "Oh, over there is perfect!"

The two of them approached the secluded tree and sat down at its roots. Rhyth leaned back, resting her head against the tree trunk while Yoyo lied on the grass. The sun-kissed leaves of the trees slowly darkened with the approaching sunset, enhancing the warm summer ambiance.

"It's such a nice day out," Rhyth uttered softly.

"Yeah," Yoyo replied in an equally calm voice.

The pair enjoyed a moment of silence to admire the peaceful scenery and each other's company. The only thing that could be heard was the singing of cicadas.

During their silence, Rhyth snuck a look at Yoyo who was staring straight up at the sky, a carefree look on his face. Watching him gave her a warm and familiar feeling inside. She really enjoyed the time she spent with him that day, especially when they were fleeing from the department store. She didn't mean to grab his hand then—it happened instinctively—but she was glad she did. Not only did it feel pleasant, but it gave her the motivation to skate harder so that they could escape. Rhyth was well aware of her feelings for Yoyo, but she was too afraid to ask him out. The fear of rejection haunted her more than the uncertainty of whether Yoyo shared feelings for her too.

Rhyth took a closer look at Yoyo and noticed that his eyes were closed. She gently nudged him with her hand.

"Hey, are you sleeping?"

Yoyo's eyes opened. "No, I was just resting my eyes."

Rhyth giggled. "Are you really that tired?"

Yoyo yawned. "Hey, it's been a long day."

Rhyth sighed serenely. "Yeah, but it's been fun."

"I told you skating through that store would cheer you up. You were smiling and everything."

"Only because I was watching you do it. You were trying to push me to do it even though I didn't want to."

"That's cause I knew it'd make you laugh in the end, and I was right."

Rhyth huffed scornfully. "Yeah, right! Nice excuse. You just did it to make yourself happy."

"That ain't true. I was already happy just hanging out with you."

Rhyth smiled sheepishly. "Is that all it takes to make you happy?"

"Yeah. I mean, that's why we're friends."

Rhyth looked away to stare at the open sky. "Well, I feel the same way about you."

The stars above had become visible with the setting sun. In that moment, Rhyth felt alone with Yoyo in the universe. This was it; the perfect moment to finally confess her feelings for him.

She turned towards Yoyo with her legs out to her side and leaned in closer to him.

"Hey, Yoyo?" she muttered shyly.

"Yeah?" he responded, still lying on his back facing the stars.

She had gotten this far; all she had to do was say the right words. And yet, the right words didn't come to her. She racked her brain for what to say, but eventually the awkward pause became unbearable and she blurted out the first words that came to her mind.

"Do you wanna be more than friends?"

Yoyo couldn't believe what he just heard. Surely she didn't mean what he thought she meant. He quickly sat up and looked at her.

"You mean… best friends?"

"N-No," Rhyth stammered, "I mean… boyfriend and girlfriend."

Both of their faces were flushed from embarrassment, but also excitement. Yoyo wanted to shout his answer from the top of his lungs, but he had to maintain his cool demeanor. He kept his response calm and collected.

"A-Alright."

Only afterwards did he realize how stupid and uncool his response sounded, but it didn't matter at that point; the goofy smile on his face had already given away his true feelings. Unlike him though, Rhyth didn't shy away from expressing her joy with a large grin. At that point it became clear to both that they cared for each other.

The most difficult part of confessing was over, but none of them knew what to do next.

"Should we… kiss?" Yoyo suggested bashfully.

Rhyth's knees began to shake. This was the moment she had been waiting for, but her words failed her yet again.

"O-Okay."

The two of them slowly leaned in until their puckered lips touched. Neither of them had any experience in kissing, so they merely held that position for a second before pulling away. Despite the awkward kiss, they both came away from it with brighter smiles than before.

"Did you like it?" Yoyo asked Rhyth.

"Yeah, I did," she replied. "I liked it a lot."

"Cool."

Another uncomfortable pause emerged from their love-struck gawking. Yoyo was the first to snap out of it and raise an important question.

"Well, now what?"

"Oh, umm…" Rhyth didn't think this far ahead. "I guess we could start heading back to the Garage now."

Yoyo's eyes looked downwards. "I dunno, I'd rather stay here with you for a little bit longer."

"Oh… Me too, actually."

They both leaned back and rested against the tree. Rhyth's heart was still beating heavily in her chest, but she felt a lot more confident in herself than she did before. It felt nice just to sit there with Yoyo, but there was an even greater sensation that she wanted to experience again. She inched herself closer to him.

"Hey Yoyo, can we… hold hands?"

Her request caught him off-guard. Normally she wouldn't ask to hold his hand, but now such a simple act carried a far greater significance to them.

"Y-Yeah, sure," Yoyo replied timidly.

He began to slowly move his hand, but an emboldened and impatient Rhyth quickly snatched it up and held it in her own. The sensation as their fingers became intertwined was warm and comforting, just as they remembered. With their hands connected and their anxieties drifting away, they relaxed in the peacefulness of the coming night.

"What do you think we should do tomorrow?" Rhyth asked Yoyo.

He looked at her with a furrowed brow. "You're already thinking about tomorrow?"

"Well now that we're boyfriend and girlfriend, we should do something special."

Yoyo chuckled. "Do you still trust me to come up with something that you'll like?"

Rhyth smiled affectionately. "I don't care what we do; I'll be happy so long as I'm with you."

She lowered her head onto Yoyo's shoulders and shut her eyes. Together they enjoyed the rest of the sunset.