It was Kiku's third weekend working the lotion and perfume tent, and his third week "friend-versary" with Alfred, as the blonde had put it one evening over text. The fact that he was keeping track of how long they knew each other surprised the witch. It also made his face feel warm and made his chest feel fuzzy, but Kiku tried not to think about that too much.
Though, after having his cards read by Francis the other night, he spent more time thinking. Most of the time it was about Alfred, but the other part of it was about himself and what he thought he should do now that someone knew who he was. Someone knew who he was and wasn't going to tell everyone or try to hunt him down, like his parents had always warned him about. Someone was making his days full of things to look forward to, and like the cards had said before, Alfred was filling his days with sunshine even on rainy days.
He was friends with Alfred Jones and anyone could tell that there was some level of mutual attraction to each other platonically, but was he really ready if something were to happen to change their relationship? He'd never dated anyone before, let alone another boy, and while his family had no problem with whatever sexual orientation Kiku might declare, he still felt anxious. He was in no way an overtly affectionate person, whereas Alfred practically used physical touch with everyone he talked to. They could hold a conversation well enough, but Kiku wasn't as talkative as the other. On some nights he even fell asleep during their text messaging because Alfred would be telling a story or recounting a recent event of his.
He had his head buried in his arms as he sat near the cash register, head spinning from debating with itself all morning. Kiku hadn't even noticed someone had stepped into the shop until he heard his name being called out.
Immediately he looked up, but instead of meeting crystal blue eyes he had been waiting for, he met eyes with a pair of honey brown irises. "Kiku!"
"Feliciano, Ludwig," the witch stood from his seat, moving to greet his two friends. Neither of them were dressed for the festival, instead donning normal clothes. Knowing Ludwig, he was probably too embarrassed to put on a costume and Feliciano wouldn't want him to feel pressured. "I forgot you two were visiting today. I'm sorry, I've had a lot on my mind."
"Is it about Alfred?" The brunet grinned, pulling away from hugging Kiku. "Is he coming today? Can we finally meet him?"
"Y-Yes, he's coming by today." He replied. "He said it was our three week 'friend-versary'."
"'Friend-versay'?" Ludwig asked, sharing a bemused glance with Feli. "Sounds like something Feli would have come up with."
The raven-haired boy nodded, chuckling at their expressions. "I don't have a clue, either. I assume it's like an anniversary but without the romance." He moved to sit behind the cash register, gesturing for the two to take a seat. "How are you two liking the festival?"
"Can you believe Ludwig's never been to the renaissance festival? In his entire life?" Feliciano started dramatically, giving an incredulous look towards the blonde.
"I only moved here a few years ago, Feliciano. And I've been to a few in Germany." He rolled his eyes in response. He turned to Kiku, "So far, it's nice. I've already asked Feli, but what food do you think I should try?"
Kiku thought for a moment before his eyes lit up. "The candied apples are Yao's and my favorite. Which I keep forgetting to bring him..."
The three met during Kiku's freshman year of highschool. Ludwig had been a foreign exchange student that had caught the attention of Feliciano, and Kiku's quiet demeanor naturally attracted Ludwig. While the two were completely oblivious to the fact that they were close friends with a witch, it never came up in the years they had known each other. They had been inseparable, and for the past two years they had shared Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas together with a special potluck each time.
(That past Halloween, Feliciano had convinced the three of them to dress as Princess Leia, Luke Skywalker and Han Solo. Kiku was lucky enough to had been Luke - Ludwig was left to be Princess Leia as Feliciano's favorite character was Han Solo.)
"You should invite Alfred to the next potluck," The Italian chirped, caramel eyes glinting. "More people, more food!"
"As much as I like Alfred, I wouldn't want to impose on our tradition," Kiku answered truthfully, appreciating the gesture. "It's always been just the three of us."
"So you do like him?"
"He's red to his ears, leave him alone, Feli," While Ludwig sounded serious, Kiku could still hear the smile in his voice over him blushing up to his ears.
"That-That isn't what I meant." He mumbled, avoiding the pair's eyes. Feliciano laughed.
As they soon jumped into a discussion about their upcoming exams and how they each dreaded Mr. Roderich's musical theory exam, footsteps came bounding up the stairs to the tent followed by a loud cry of "Kiku, dude!"
Kiku was out of his seat as soon as he heard the footsteps, but was unprepared when he felt two arms wrap around him in what he could only describe as a bear hug - and he instantly knew it was Alfred who had arrived. His blush from earlier came flooding back into his cheeks full-force, and before he could even return the hug the blonde had pulled away, grinning a dazzling grin.
"Happy three week friend-versary!" Alfred held out a small, velvet black pouch for him to take.
Kiku's eyes flickered between the pouch and Alfred's eyes, unsure of what to say. They were supposed to give each other gifts? If that were the case, he could have gotten him something from the shop - the lotion or cologne he had first bought on the day they met. Alfred should have told him it was customary to give each other gifts - now it looked as if Kiku didn't care enough to get him a gift. "Alfred, I-I can't..."
"No, yes, you can," he insisted, placing the pouch in one of Kiku's hands. "Really. I actually just got it this morning at one of the shops."
"I didn't get you anything, though." He knit his eyebrows together in disappointment, a small frown on the witch's face.
"You can get me something for our next friend-versary. Don't sweat it, Keeks."
With that smile, Kiku couldn't bring himself to argue further. He took the pouch, a warm smile spreading across his face. "Thank you."
A throat clearing behind him brought them out of their moment. Alfred looked behind him and met eyes with Ludwig and Feli, who had been watching their interaction with obvious interest. "No way! Are they your friends? The ones you told me about?"
"Y-Yes. Feliciano, Ludwig, this is Alfred Jones. Alfred, these are two of my classmates, Feliciano Vargas and Ludwig Beilschmidt."
The two rose to meet the blonde, who met them with the energy of an excited puppy. As expected, he instantly hit it off with Feli, who had matched his energy and Ludwig may not have met his energy, he did get a good first impression from the earlier interaction with Kiku. Overall, both Feli and Ludwig could tell Alfred truly cared for Kiku - whether it were in a romantic or platonic way was left a mystery to them, however. Alfred seemed the type to gift any of his friends. Regardless, it was a relief to Kiku that his closest friends had gotten along with him.
Kiku suddenly remembered something during their conversation. "Feli, Ludwig, aren't you two going to look around the festival? I feel as if I'm keeping you."
"Oh, yeah!" The brunet gasped, turning to the taller of the four. "If we hurry, we can make the jousting tournament!"
"I'd feel rude to leave," Ludwig said, to which the witch shook his head.
"I'm fine, really. This is my job, after all."
Alfred hooked his arm around Kiku's shoulders, and he could feel the blush reach up to his ears. "Yeah, and he's got me to keep him company!"
Feliciano and Ludwig shared a quick glance before agreeing to leave, promising to stop by on their way home. The raven haired boy turned towards the blonde, shrugging out of Alfred's arms. "You say it isn't necessary, but I still insist on giving you a gift somehow."
"Keeks, it's really fine," he waved him off, but then seemed to think better of it. "Well, okay, you can, but you really don't have to."
"I really do," Kiku insisted.
"Then instead of getting me an actual present, come with me to this really good ramen house." His eyes were shining more than they usually did. "I've been there once with Matt and it was the best ramen I've ever had."
Now, Kiku Honda had never truly been asked out on a date before, but from what he's seen in television shows and various anime, this sounded like a date. Unless there was going to be others joining them, but with the way Alfred phrased the request, it didn't sound like there was going to be anyone else but the two of them. Which was perfectly fine, as that was how it was every weekend, but this was going to be in a much more intimate setting - but what if this was just two friends going out together? He'd be disappointed if it were just a friendly outing, but he'd still be just as terrified if it were something else.
Kiku could feel his palms grow clammy, but attempted to calm down his nerves. He hasn't even said yes yet and he's already having a panic attack. "Would-Would it be just the two of us?"
"Totally," Alfred - for once - sensed the anxious mood and quickly added, "if you're cool with that. We could invite Feli and -"
"No, no," Kiku wasn't sure how he was even able to speak; his heart was practically in his throat. "It's okay. That would be nice. I think I could go for some ramen."
Alfred's grin couldn't possibly be any brighter. "Sweet! I can pick you up. Are you free this Friday night?"
He nodded, feeling a smile grow onto his lips. Date or not, Kiku found himself excited.
The week could not have gone any faster for the both of them. Finally, after several homework assignments and three pop quizzes on Alfred's end, Friday evening had arrived.
Yao had helped Kiku with his outfit choice - even after several attempts of sending him away, he remained to help his little brother on his first "date" - and sent him off when Alfred had pulled into their driveway. He was obviously more excited and enthusiastic for this date than Kiku, who was nearly trembling and about ready to turn tail and run back into the house. A date was obviously what he wanted, but he didn't think it would happen so soon.
The drive was pleasant enough; there weren't many moments of silence as Alfred talked enough for the both of them. His driving was also enough to comment on; Kiku wouldn't categorize it as "road rage", but more as bitter and sarcastic commenting that made him actually laugh out loud.
The restaurant was not too far from Kiku's place, so they arrived relatively soon. It was
smaller than most others Kiku had been to, but there was quite a lot of people waiting outside so it must be good to attract so many customers. There was a list of names with size of their parties on the window the the restaurant, which Alfred quickly scribbled down, and occasionally someone would step out and call a name. It was definitely different from the ramen houses Kiku has been to before, but it wasn't too cold outside and Alfred was not at all bad company to wait with.
"I don't wanna be stereotypical or anything, but does your family make their own ramen?" The blonde asked, hands stuffed into his jacket pockets.
Kiku chuckled. "It's very rare when my parents make it. Since I'm half japanese and half chinese, we get a mix of both types of food."
"Dude, you're so lucky. My dad can't cook for shit," He laughed, enticing another giggle from Kiku. "Matt does literally all the cooking when he's not around."
"What about you?"
"I would cook, but I, like my father, have zero skills in the kitchen. I survive off of fast food and Mattie's pancakes."
"Well," the boy started, cautiously, "if you'd like, you could come by sometime and try my parents' cooking."
Alfred nodded enthusiastically, and that warm feeling spread across Kiku's chest again. "Dude, yes! I'm so down."
Their table was called, and they were led inside by one of the hostesses. The restaurant at was indeed much smaller than it looked on the outside, with five booths against the walls and several tables in the middle. The kitchen was also small and appeared practically squished against the back of the restaurant, waiters rushing in and out with bowls of ramen in their hands. The hostess led them to one of the middle tables, handing them menus.
Kiku was surprised to see the menus were mainly in Japanese, with English translations underneath the characters. "What do you recommend, Alfred?"
His blue eyes scanned the menu before pointing to a picture of a bowl of ramen on his menu, "Last time I was here, I got that one. But this other one is pretty spicy and Mattie got the vegetable one."
The options looked absolutely delicious. There wasn't much to choose from aside the five main types of ramen, but Kiku had had most of the foods listed on the menu. They had agreed on ordering pork gyoza as an appetizer before ordering their own choice of ramen, leaving the two of them to make conversation after the waiter left. It always amazed the witch how easily the two of them could fall into conversation; usually, Kiku would struggle to keep the conversation going or even put in effort to talk, but topic after topic seemed to flow from his mouth when he was with Alfred. Like Feliciano and Ludwig, their conversations were effortless and smooth, laughs bubbling out of the both of them at each sarcastic remark or witty comment. If this was a date, then the both of them could get used to it.
Their soup and gyoza had arrived rather quickly, much to their delight. Kiku broke his chopsticks apart, picked up his duck spoon and was about to dig in until he noticed Alfred had his phone out, facing him.
"What?" Kiku stirred his soup, raising an eyebrow.
"It's your first time, I need to get this for Snapchat," the blonde replied matter-o-factly, grinning at Kiku's expression after taking his first bite of the noodles. "How is it?"
If there was one thing Kiku Honda appreciated, it was good food - and this was really good, authentic food. "This is...the best ramen I've had in a long time."
"Right!" He set his phone down and picked up his own chopsticks, breaking them apart. "I'm stoked you like it. The gyoza is really good, too. "
Alfred had gotten the tantanmen, and Kiku had gotten the traditional tonkotsu ramen (to play it safe; he wasn't entirely convinced the restaurant would be as good as it ended up being). After trying Alfred's, Kiku had vowed to get the tantanmen the next time he would visit - or they would visit. Was it too soon to be imagining future dates? Probably, but for now, the witch didn't care. There was good food and good company, so that was all he would focus on.
Bowls nearly empty and gyoza eaten, Alfred insisted on paying the check. While what they had wasn't exactly expensive, Kiku felt obliged to pay since this was his gift for their "friend-versary", but was persuaded - only because the blonde had given his card to the waiter faster than Kiku could.
"Thank you, Alfred," the raven-haired boy had said once they were out of the restaurant and into the chilly night air. "That was really good."
"Thanks for going out with me! I don't like going out to eat alone," he replied, falling into step with the shorter boy. "Plus, I've been meaning to take you out. I mean, not in, like, a date way, if that's what you're thinking - unless you're cool with that, then this is totally a date. But only if you're cool with it, I mean, I don't even know if you swing that way -"
"Alfred." Kiku was red to the tips of his ears, despite the cold. They both had stopped walking.
He looked towards him, instantly regretting letting his mouth go off. He expected to see confusion, disgust or even anger, but instead Kiku looked - happy. Granted, he refused to look at Alfred, but there was a hint of a smile on his face and his blush was enough to match that of a tomato. "Kiku, look, I didn't mean to..."
The boy shook his head. "D-Don't apologize. I wasn't sure you felt that way, but now that I know you do..." Brown eyes met blue. "I guess I should be honest about it, too."
"...Holy shit, no way," It wasn't exactly the response Kiku was looking for, but it did make him laugh. "Dude, you're joshing me."
"I'm not." He smiled at his surprised expression. "I don't eat ramen with just anyone, you know."
Foregoing Kiku's personal bubble, Alfred engulfed Kiku in another hug, laughing into his hair. The shorter didn't find himself minding, even around so many people. "I believe you!"
the ramen house was based off of one in my hometown. definitely better than instant noodles.
