Disclaimer: I don't own anything you recognize.


A/N: Written for ChibaHaya Week Day 4- Date.


Date

For their first two "dates" (or appointments, as they liked to call it), it was Hayami who always initiated it.

Hayami wanted to have a breakthrough. She wanted to get closer to Chiba. After facing Gastro together, Hayami admitted she'd developed a small crush on him, so it was natural for her to want to know more about him. Besides, they were the sniper duo, so if they had a better relationship, they would work together better.

Unfortunately for her, both of these dates ended awkwardly. They were both very quiet and introverted, so it was difficult for them to communicate.

Hayami was afraid of ruining their partnership by this awkwardness. Hayami wasn't even trying to advance romantically, she just wanted to deepen their friendship. And now it could backfire completely.

But Hayami had also noticed that she was more assertive than Chiba. If she didn't make a move, they might as well never move forward.

So it came as a surprise when Chiba texted her and asked if she wanted to go to the summer festival with him.

Hayami reread the text carefully. Chiba's wording was polite, perhaps even more formal than usual. He clearly wanted to go out with her alone, and he cared very much about her reaction.

So basically, he just asked her out.

Hayami fidgeted, and a little grin appeared on her face before it vanished. She agreed to it quickly and sank into a bashful silence.

Strangely enough, Yada also asked her if she wanted to spend the summer festival together, like an outing for the girls. Hayami politely declined, although she didn't give the reason. She hoped they wouldn't see each other at the festival. It would embarrassing for her and Chiba.

The real problem was when Korosensei barged in and tried to force everyone to go to the summer festival. Hayami wanted a little peace and quiet with Chiba, not a noisy reunion with her class. But well, there was nothing she could do to change that.

On the day of the summer festival, Hayami took extra care in preparing her clothes. She wasn't completely vain, but like most girls, she did want to look pretty. She contemplated letting down her hair, but that might just attract more attention from her classmates, so she chose to keep it up in pigtails.

Chiba was dressed in casual clothes, his usual beanie on his head. Upon seeing Hayami, they immediately greeted each other.

"You look great in the yukata," Chiba complimented honestly.

"Thanks," Hayami replied evenly. "I heard that there's a shooting game at the festival. Let's check it out."

None of them said a word as they stepped into the hustle and bustle of the festival, an array of bright colours before their eyes. The warm and humid summer air clung to their skin, as tantalizing aroma of food drifted into their nostrils. The calls of hawkers sounded from all sides. Chiba noted that the dark sky was clear, indicating a good night for a fireworks display.

"Chiba," Hayami tugged at his shirt, a notion he found endearing. "There's the game."

Chiba spun to see a sour faced middle aged man standing in a booth, a few guns beside him. There were targets behind him, with prizes dangling from the top. Just seeing the guns and targets made the assassin blood in him boil with excitement.

"That's our booth," he grinned. "Ten out of ten?"

"Ten out of ten it is," Hayami replied and they walked briskly to the game.

Both of them scored ten perfect bullseyes out of ten. The man's eye twitched with every shot. It was far too easy for Chiba and Hayami, but somehow, it was incredibly addicting.

When they chose their prizes, Hayami noted that Chiba's choice was a bit weird.

"Is that… a toy truck?"

As if stung by a bee, Chiba reflectively wrapped his arms around the box. "I-it's nothing. And what about you? What's that?" he asked in an attempt to change the subject.

Hayami was offended by Chiba's incredulous tone. "That's a plushie!" she held up the vaguely humanoid stuffed toy, with bear ears on its head.

"It looks funny."

"It's cute!"

The man cleared his throat, unamused by the two teenagers. "If you're finished with your flirting, can you please move away? I can't run my business."

"Oh?" Chiba said. "We're planning to go for another round."

Seeing the man's terrified look was enough to motivate them to shoot perfectly. Maybe Karma's sadistic side had rubbed off them, maybe not, but at that moment, the sniper duo just selfishly wanted to show off.

"What do you want to get this time?" Hayami asked casually as if they were browsing at a supermarket and all of the prizes were within their grasp.

"I want this toy gun," Chiba replied as he fired at the targets.

That's the jumbo prize! The man scowled and crossed his arms. The last time you just got lucky! There's no way anyone can get the jumbo prize two times in a row.

"And I want this plushie," Hayami used her gun to point at a stuffed figure with two cymbals in its flabby hands.

Chiba snorted. "That's even weirder."

"Stop insulting it!" Hayami gave a little pout.

But when they finished their second round flawlessly, Hayami got Chiba's toy gun and Chiba got Hayami's plushie, then exchanged them as gifts. The man in charge of the game was puzzled by their action, but decided that he would never understand teenage romance.

By now, the snipers were on fire and began to get carried away. They didn't stop playing the shooting game until the man forcefully dragged them away.

"Y-you can't do this!" Chiba protested as he clutched the numerous prizes to his chest.

"I can do whatever I want!" the man snapped, pushed to the limit. "Now because of you two brats, I won't be able to get a profit!"

"Sorry, we were having too much fun," Hayami said with a completely straight face. "Maybe you should turn up the difficulty level."

The man was annoyed by how nonchalant the two teenagers seemed to be. "Maybe you grab your boyfriend and scram!" he practically yelled at their direction.

It wasn't the first time they had been mistaken for a couple but they didn't care at all. What other people thought was none of their business.

The man put up photos he had taken of the sniper duo in front of the booth. "Now everyone will know what shameful things you had done!" he scolded.

"Fine, let's go," Hayami turned her heel and walked away, Chiba following her. Once they were out of the sight of the man, they shared a look, and began to laugh.

"Did you see his face!" Chiba gasped.

"The game was too easy," Hayami chuckled. "How could we not take advantage of that!"

"Yeah… but now we have too many prizes…" Chiba looked down at his arms, and sobered up quickly.

"... Maybe we should've stopped after three rounds." Hayami wondered what to do with the large amount of the plushies she had just won. "What should we do…"

"Chiba-kun? Hayami-san? Why so glum?"

A new voice cut through their musings. It was Nagisa. After explaining their situation, Chiba noticed there was something weird with Hayami.

"Are you okay? Your cheeks are red."

"It's just the heat." Hayami didn't want to admit it was because of Nagisa seeing her so close to Chiba. He could easily assume they were on a date, and she didn't want him to know.

"If you're not feeling well, we can always sit down and rest," he looked at her in concern.

"No, I'm fine. Don't want to spoil your fun." The last part of it came out as a mumble.

For the next half hour, the duo walked around, had a few bites, and played the occasional game. This date was less awkward due to constant external stimulus.

When they passed by the shooting booth again, they weren't surprised to see that someone had drawn a red umbrella above their two pictures, with big hearts surrounding it. Someone had also written "no eyes" next to Chiba's picture and "ice queen" next to Hayami's.

Embarrassed by it, the duo quickly shuffled away, cheeks burning red by the implications of the drawing.

"The fireworks display should be starting soon," Chiba mentioned as he saw the crowd beginning to gather.

"Ah, that's a lot of people," Hayami looked at the masses around her, hugging her precious plushies to her chest.

Because neither of them were big on being around people, they decided to watch the fireworks at a distance. They sat on a bench next to a vending machine and watched as the fireworks zoom through the trees.

"They're so pretty," Hayami said softly, her eyes trained on the dazzling bursts of colour. Chiba could see the reflection of the glowing fireworks in her eyes.

"Yeah, they're so pretty," he agreed, turning his head away from Hayami to watch the display.

Chiba liked it. He liked how it was just the two of them in the silence. There was no one to witness their relationship.

Hayami's hand brushed against his, and Chiba felt something warm and fluttery blossom in his chest.

It was wrong, was it? He couldn't let his feelings distract him from working with his partner. He was afraid if their relationship started to venture out of the platonic zone, it may start to break until even their friendship would be ruined. And that would definitely interfere with their training and assassination.

He knew what they were doing. He knew these "appointments" were just thinly veiled dates. And he knew that Hayami had asked him out for two times, which meant she felt something for him too.

But no, they couldn't. Their friendship and partnership was still budding and fragile. They couldn't risk it. Besides, they weren't mature enough to handle it all. Being friends was enough for them.

Even though two hearts longed to be with each other, they had to suppress their own feelings for the better good.


A/N: *barrels through* I had overestimated my ability to write fanfiction.

Alright, it's here, and I'm not dead.

Thanks for the support and please review!