"What day, then?"

"Sunday. That's when I have the most time."

"Me too. How do I recognize you?"

Akihiko scratched the back of his neck. Setting this up was annoying him, not to mention making him feel stupid. It was like when people agreed to a blind date and the girl had to say something dumb like, "I'll be wearing a yellow rose in my hair." He wasn't wearing a rose for anybody, yellow or otherwise. Finally he typed, "I'll be in a red shirt."

"Okay, you can look for a guy in a baseball hat."

"Fine. See you then." Akihiko closed his laptop and rubbed one eye. ...a baseball hat? Why the hell did it have to be a baseball hat, of all things? Well, he supposed lots of guys wore them. Like sex offenders or yakuza trying to keep a low profile. Yeah, this would be interesting. Well, too late to back out now.

Sunday rolled around and Akihiko was standing outside Hagakure at the appointed time. He'd actually arrived a few minutes early, and a glance inside had already confirmed that there were no guys in baseball hats around yet. He crossed his arms over his chest impatiently and resisted the urge to start pacing, hoping the owners didn't mind him leaning against their shop. He wasn't really sure whether he wanted his friend to show up, or bail out. While he was scanning the crowd again, he was startled by a hand on his shoulder. Akihiko spun around.

Akihiko blinked when he saw who it was. "Oh...hey Junpei."

Junpei wasn't looking at Akihiko, however. "Hey Senpai. Have you seen anybody in a red shirt?"

"...what?"

"I'm supposed to meet somebody here." Junpei smiled and tugged the rim of his hat absentmindedly, still looking around. He looked back to Akihiko to say more, but the words stopped dead in his throat. "...Damn, Senpai, what the hell's with that expression? You gonna sneeze or something?"

Akihiko put a hand to his eyes and refused to speak for several minutes. Junpei was about to give up on him and keep looking for his buddy, when Akihiko muttered something.

"Uh...what was that, Senpai?" Junpei frowned and leaned in.

"...Muhammed Ali."

Junpei stared at him. "Wh-What?"

Akihiko put his hand down and looked at him tiredly. "I'm Muhammed Ali. And you're Badass_Mofo, right?"

"Oh shit." Junpei took a step back. "I want to die now."

"You seriously couldn't come up with a better name?"

"Shut up Muhammed."

"Hey, he's a famous-"

"I know who fucking Muhammed Ali is." Junpei waved his hand and then sat down. "Wow, I guess I really should have figured out that it was you..."

"Why? I mean, what are the damned odds, that..." Akihiko bit his lip and dug his nails into his upper arm. "...that it would be you, of all people."

"Well don't sound so excited."

Akihiko frowned at him. "You know what I mean. There's gotta be thousands of people playing that stupid game."

"Well, maybe it's fate." Junpei shrugged. "You'd never confide in me like that in real life."

"Of course not! It's not like I could tell you that stuff." Akihiko glared.

Junpei glared right back at him. "Why not? Huh? What's so bad about having a crush on someone you can't do anything about? I mean, I'm in the same situation...I bet it happens all the time."

Akihiko stared at him. "You...seriously don't know why I couldn't tell you about it? Are you that dumb?"

"Don't call me dumb, dammit! What's the big deal, anyway? I mean, I know you said it was a guy, but..."

"It's not some guy, it's you. ...Idiot."

"See, there you go again, calling me-wait. What?"

Akihiko shook his head. "Forget it, I don't want to talk about this anymore. I knew this was a bad idea." He started to walk off.

Junpei chased after him. "Hey, wait! Wait dammit! So you really think I'm just an idiot who sits on his ass all day playing video games? Seriously?"

"Pretty much, yeah." Akihiko put his hands in his pockets and didn't look back.

"Well, you're a bossy violent older guy who worries too much!"

"Look, I really don't care what you..." Akihiko stopped walking. "...wait, isn't that what you said about the guy you like?"

Junpei didn't answer. Akihiko finally turned back to look at him, against his better judgement.

Junpei stuck his chin out. "You really never noticed, did you? I knew it."

Akihiko was speechless after that. Finally, Junpei sighed and looked away. "...well anyway, yeah. It's you."

It took awhile, but Akihiko finally seemed to un-freeze in his tracks. He gulped and looked down uncertainly at the blank space between them. "Wh...What do we do now?"

Junpei shrugged. "I don't know. But the next time you make some dumb excuse to come to my room again, I'm not letting you leave."

"What...! You really were being too loud!" Akihiko's fists clenched.

"Whatever...I stand by my statement."

Junpei's elaborate unconcern just rattled Akihiko more. "Are you seriously trying to sound threatening? What makes you think you could win against me in any kind of fight?"

"I don't gotta fight you to keep you in one place, Senpai." Junpei put his hands on his hips matter-of-factly. "I just gotta seduce you. That's way easier."

Five minutes later Junpei woke up on his back on the sidewalk. He blinked and rubbed his temple painfully. Akihiko was nowhere around, so Junpei guessed he'd punched him and then stormed off. "Hmph...playing hard to get." Junpei stood up and dusted himself off. Obviously, this was going to be a challenge. Then, against all reason, he felt a broad smile forming on his face. Junpei had finally found a game that he wasn't going to get bored with.