Disclaimer: I do not own Nisekoi or any of the characters in this story.


"Would you like to order now, Miss?" The waitress asks for the 4th time that night. It was getting embarrassing. Not to mention self-degrading.

"N-no! I mean, just a bit more time," Chitoge squeaks as she looks at the empty chair across from her and looks back down with a sigh. The waitress gives her a sympathetic smile before politely walking away.

What a douche. Where was he? It was an hour and a half past their meeting time and he's still not here. More importantly, she was getting hungry and really did want to order. She looks toward the door for the nth time that night in hopes that her date would show himself. Only to get apologetic smiles from the other tables. It makes her furious, so much so that she decides to just up and leave. To hell with that guy.

"Darling! I'm sorry I'm so late. Traffic was killer," a guy says to her, loud enough for everyone to hear. "Adelt said your date wouldn't be able to come so I came, play along, yeah?" Raku adds quietly as he gives Chitoge an encouraging smile.

Perplexed, Chitoge sits back down and smiles to keep up the act.

"What the hell are you doing here, bean sprout?" She says through gritted teeth. A semi-forced smile on her face.

"Saving your butt, gorilla ojou-sama," he answers with a smug smile.

"Who says I need saving? I don't need anyone to save me," she counters.

"I don't care. I already went through the trouble of dressing up and coming here so just play along," He whispers then let's out a professionally fake laugh. Chitoge does the same. Smiles plastered across both their faces.

"Fine, but if you embarrass me with your eating manners I'm gonna leave you," she smiles at him evilly.

"Oh please, you should be worrying about yourself," he revamps.

"Are you ready to order now, Miss?" The waitress asks with a smile.

"Yes, thank you for being patient with us," Chitoge says gratefully.

"Yeah, thank for taking care of my girl while I wasn't here yet," Raku adds, effectively making Chitoge blush.

The waitress just smiles and takes their orders. She even brings over two glasses of wine as a gift. They wait in silence for their food to arrive.

"So," Raku puts down his wine, "do you wanna talk about it?"

"About what?"

"The douche who ditched you, rant and stuff," he offers. "Isn't he a secret suitor or something?"

"He is. He doesn't know we're fake dating and I didn't have it in me to turn down his offer for a date," she elaborates, "and he was cute so I uh," she trails off, avoiding Raku's gaze.

"That so?" Raku raises his brow, looking annoyed, as he looks away and sips more wine. "I never thought your old man would be the type to get you into some kind of arranged marriage."

"He's not. It's Claude's idea. Says I need to find someone who has the makings of a prince," she explains.

"Really? And while you're still dating me. The nerve of that four-eyes. And you even let him!" Raku complains.

"It's not like I had much of a choice. They were lining up one by one before I even knew about it!"

"He doesn't deserve you," he mumbles. To which Chitoge whips her head up in surprise. Her mouth in an 'O' shape.

"Really? What makes you say that, bean sprout?"

"The fact that he didn't show up," he says nonchalantly, crossing his arms on his chest.

"Don't be so judgmental. Something important must've come up," she defends.

"That's exactly my point. If he can't take a minute to have dinner with you then how will he take care of you when you get married?" He leans in extensively to emphasize his point.

"Well sorry for not having you vet him up and down first!" She snaps at him. "Why do you even care? What's it to you? We'll be nothing but memories to each other in a few months anyway," she's still avoiding his gaze. Flustered with the fact that he saved her, again.

"Because you're my best friend, that's why, you stupid gorilla," he's avoiding hers too.

"Please, bean sprout. That reason's getting old. And this isn't the first time you don't approve of my date," she claims.

"That's because all your aspiring fiancé candidates want is your Dad's position. And are you seriously telling me that you'll forget all about us once the three years are up?" He asks seriously, a hurt look on his face.

"I don't see the point in remembering. Since I'll be leaving anyway," she shrugs.

"I didn't know gorillas could be that heartless," he quips, "and I know you don't mean that." He sits back down on his chair.

"And I can't understand why bean sprouts have to judge my dates," she scoffs. "You don't even have much of a reason to not like them so why?" She gives him an irritated look. Even Chitoge didn't know why she said all those things to him. Not when she didn't really mean them.

"Because they're not me!" He hisses as he gazed into her blue irises, his whole body tense, unintentionally so.

Chitoge was, well, surprised? Bewildered? Confused? Her heart though, she felt like it skipped a beat. But why?

"Thank you for waiting," someone interrupts, "here are your orders," the waiter sets down the food.

Saved by food. Raku couldn't be more grateful. He just downright confessed to Chitoge, he was such an idiot. There was no way he could take those words back, or even give it another meaning. He'll think of something before they finish eating. Hopefully.

Chitoge on the other hand, didn't know what to ask. Her heart felt like it was going to burst out of her rib cage. Too shocked to talk. At any rate, she's sure she'll think better once she eats.

As the ate in silence, both kept wondering how to bring up to topic. Or whether or not to bring it up at all.

Raku, having thought of nothing useful over the course of the whole dinner, decides to wing it and says, "Darling, come on, I'll walk you home," he smiles awkwardly and offers her his hand. She accepts it but doesn't look at him at all. They walk in silence halfway through.

"If you're so bothered that they're not you, then I'll tell Dad to stop Claude," she finally says. "It's unfair to you, even though we are just fake dating. Plus, if they really love me then they can wait 'til I'm free from you."

"Like I'd be stupid enough to let some prince just take you away from me," he says quietly. Tightening his hold on her.

"What was that?"

"I said, you can't wait to get rid of me, huh?"

"You have no idea," she rolls her eyes at him. No idea how much I don't want that day to come, she adds in her head. "

"Here's an idea. Date. Tomorrow. I'll pick you up at 8:00," Raku says out of the blue.

"Aren't you a bossy bean sprout?" Chitoge says sarcastically. Her face turning a slight shade of pink.


A/N: Yeah. This didn't come out as smoothly as I wanted it to. DId you guys like it? This was inspired by a tumblr writing prompt post for OTPs and a few ideas of mine thrown in. Thanks for reading! God speed!