"So, you wanna walk or take my bike?" Mondo asked. Ishimaru didn't even have to think about it.

"Let's walk," he said. Mondo rolled his eyes, but nodded. Ishimaru changed the subject to the matter at hand – their date that night. It was the second one that they'd ever been on, and hopefully would turn out a tad more successfully than the first. "I've never been bowling before."

"What?" Mondo asked. "'Course you have. Every little kid has one of those… one of those fucking bowling birthday parties. You have to have had one or at least gone to one."

"No, brother," Ishimaru said. "We never had much money growing up, and my birthday was usually spent at home with family, a small celebration, and perhaps a few new books or kendo equipment. Bowling was excessive."

Mondo muttered something about Ishimaru's family being absolutely no fun before scowling and nodding. "Alright," he said. "Let's go."

They chatted aimlessly on the way to the bowling alley, the conversation growing from birthdays to friends to pets, during which Mondo was moved to tears and Ishimaru had to very quickly comfort him by dragging him into a pet store and steering him toward the puppies.

By the time they got to the bowling alley, it was fairly late. The bowling alley was a popular date and group hangout spot for people at their school, Ishimaru observed; a group of girls, several from his class, was bowling at the end of the alley, Sonia Nevermind had dragged Gundam Tanaka out for a night of bowling, Kazuichi Souda, Hajime Hinata, and Nagito Komaeda in the lane next to them, Souda sending Gundam a glare every few minutes.

"C'mon, we pay by the game here," Mondo said, dragging Ishimaru to get their shoes. Ishimaru, who had figured as much, nodded. "I don't care where we go, just as long as it's not by that hope-obsessed freak."

Ishimaru nodded and, after figuring out how they were going to pay and finding balls that would suit them, marched them to an empty lane.

"Loser buys dinner," Mondo said. Ishimaru grinned and nodded.

"Yes," he said. While it was true that he'd never bowled before, it couldn't be that hard and, anyway, he was not that bothered about buying dinner if he did lose.

But that was if he lost, and he was not going to give up before he even started. The thought was preposterous.

"You may go first, brother," Ishimaru said, still not quite sure how he was supposed to do this. It would be best to let Mondo go first, he thought; he could study how Mondo did and copy his movements.

"Alright," Mondo said, nodding. He reached for Ishimaru, hesitated, blushed, and gave him an awkward one-armed hug. Ishimaru felt his face grow hot. It was irrational, for him to be blushing like this when he had hugged Mondo many times before… but it was different when they were 'dating.'

He studied Mondo carefully, taking in how he held the ball and the movement of his wrist. Mondo ended up knocking down eight of ten pins, so he must have a good technique. If only Ishimaru had known what they were doing earlier, so that he could have researched it. Next time he would ask Mondo beforehand.

"Beat that," Mondo said, ruffling Ishimaru's hair as he passed to sit down. Ishimaru nodded, eyebrows set.

"Of course I will!" he said.

His first ball was a gutter ball, and he frowned. He'd just have to make up for it. Mondo chuckled, and Ishimaru whirled around to glare at him.

"Sorry, bro," he said. Ishimaru managed a smile. Mondo opened his mouth, flushed bright red, and then practically shouted the next words. "D-do you want me to help you out?"

"I am perfectly capable-" Ishimaru's words cut off in a squeak when Mondo's arms circled his waist, hand over his on the ball. "B-brother! This seems quite inappropriate!"

Mondo didn't say anything, just shifted Ishimaru's position and pulled his arm back. Ishimaru was fairly certain that he was a brighter red than Mondo – it didn't help that his face was either pale white or dark red, he really had a disadvantage here.

He was not too flustered to take note of how Mondo moved his arm, however, successfully knocking four of the pins down. He would just have to replicate it.

"I am going to go get a drink," Ishimaru said, peeling away from Mondo and glancing around to see if anyone else had seen that very obvious public display of affection. "Would you like me to grab you one as well?"

Mondo just grunted and picked up his bowling ball. Ishimaru checked to make sure he had enough money in his wallet and hurried over to vending machine. He got himself a bottle of water, of course, it was the healthiest choice, and picked out some type of soda he figured that Mondo would enjoy for him.

Mondo had bowled a strike. He smirked at Ishimaru, who scowled and snatched his ball.

The first game ended with Ishimaru losing, and badly. However, near the end he had started to get better, so he claimed that he had been learning.

So, they played another game.

And another game.

And, after their fourth game and Ishimaru's first game, it was starting to get quite late. "I believe I have lost, brother," Ishimaru said, trying not to take it too harshly. He opened his wallet, only to find it empty. "Oh. I… ah, it appears that I am out of money."

He tried to force a laugh, but it came out weak.

"I can pay… well, shit," Mondo said. "I'm out, too. Didn't bring as much as I thought, I guess."

"I was supposed to pay," Ishimaru said. A look of panic crossed over Mondo's face.

"No, no, it's alright, see? I'm fine- we can go to my place, alright?" he said. His voice was starting to raise. Ishimaru swallowed and nodded. Mondo breathed out a sigh of relief and threw an arm over Ishimaru's shoulder. Ishimaru managed a grin, and Mondo smiled back.

Apart from the mishap at the end, their second date had not turned out too bad.

This was requested by an anon on Tumblr who wanted Ishimaru and Mondo on their second date, going bowling, loser buys food, oops they're both out of money type of deal. So, here it is~