Nagisa, Karma, and Fia stared at each other across the kitchen table.
"Did that make sense?" Fia asked tentatively. "I'm not necessarily trying to set Haven and Benny up, but I really want to give him the chance to tell her how he feels." Now that everyone was feeling better again, she wanted to put her plan into action.
The bluenette bobbed his head. "I understand. I'll try my best and help out in any way I can."
Karma sighed and got out of his seat. "Sure, whatever." He locked his hands behind his head and turned to leave.
"That's it?" Fia blurted involuntarily. "No combativeness today?"
He paused before turning back to face them. "Is this your way of asking me to pay attention to you, Tsu-chan~?" he teased.
Her face flushed. "I-it's not like that!" Fia protested.
"How about this, then?" Karma mused. "I'll tell Haven all about your plans. She would react well, wouldn't she?"
"Y-you wouldn't!" She shot him an accusatory look.
He threw his hands up with a shrug. "You know I would, if I thought it might be of benefit - "
Fia bit her lip in thought. "Fine, what do you want?"
"You could cook whatever I want for the entire week," he smiled, "and you can take over my chores too so that I won't have to do anything at all~."
Fia flushed and put her forehead on the table. "Fine…" she muttered.
Karma slowly exhaled and turned around. "You should have just let me tell Haven…" he whispered. "I'm sorry, Fia."
Haven walked out of her room in her normal black shirt and tie.
"You can't wear that!" Fia said exasperatedly.
"Why not?" Haven asked, "We're just hanging out with Benny."
"Because … well, because," Fia began. Haven didn't exactly know that this was a date. Her own outfit was pretty casual, but she and Nagisa weren't going to be on an actual date. Fia smiled inwardly, even when she had admitted to Nagisa later that she had no idea what dates were supposed to be like (other than from what she had read in novels), he had reassured her that everything would be okay. Nagisa was supportive, unlike another redheaded jerk she knew. She wouldn't put teasing past Karma. Just thinking about it caused Fia's blood to boil and her ears to grow hot.
Nagisa laughed as he entered the room. He put a hand on Fia's shoulder. "Relax, Fia. Everything's going to be okay. We're going to get those two to be closer, right?"
Fia calmed herself and nodded at Nagisa. "Right! Thanks for your help."
"I don't mind at all. I just want Haven to be happy," he answered, smiling to himself.
Fia's eyes widened slightly and she was about to approach Nagisa about what he'd said when Haven came back out wearing black jeans, a pink tank top under a pink denim jacket and a large pink bow on top of her head.
"Wow, I didn't know you owned any clothes that looked like that, almost makes me think you're a girl," Karma smirked.
"They're not mine. They're pass-me-downs from my cousin," Haven looked at her outfit with slight distaste.
"You look good," Nagisa and Fia said together. "Ready to go?"
Nagisa, Fia, and Haven stared up at the flashing sign. Benny had brought them to an arcade. Haven and Benny walking in first, followed by Nagisa and Fia. Haven seemed unaffected by the array of lights and noises surrounding them. Benny excitedly pointed to various areas of the arcade, explaining to his company, mostly Haven, what was what. Nagisa looked around with interest. Fia followed hesitantly.
"American arcades aren't too different from Japanese ones," Nagisa said with a small laugh.
Fia looked to him curiously. "So you have the same types of games?"
"A lot of these, yeah," he replied. "Would you like to play something? We're supposed to be giving Benny and Haven some space, right?"
Fia nodded as she watched the other two disappear into a crowd of gamers. "Yeah. How about skeeball?' she suggested.
With that, Fia and Nagisa became engaged in a series of friendly competitions, running from skeeball to air hockey to pinball to dance dance revolution. Nagisa was very composed for the most part but Fia could still see a shining glint of competitiveness and determination in his eyes. She admired Nagisa for his drive but, most of all, she was just glad to be taken seriously.
Nagisa discovered quickly that Fia was easily excitable, but he liked that she was a good sport about everything. Despite the fun he was having, he had continued to feel a slight nagging in the back of his mind. Finally giving into his desire to check in on Haven, Nagisa stepped down from the dance dance revolution pad and smiled apologetically at Fia.
"Fia, I'm going to go find the others first," he said.
Stomping quickly on the lit blue and pink arrows and out of breath, Fia said "See you soon!" between heavy gasps for air.
Nagisa smiled at his friend. He would have to find time to talk to her about the feelings grabbing at his thoughts. With that in mind, Nagisa left to find Benny and Haven.
"Hey, Haven, I won this for you," Benny came over holding a small, pastel-colored stuffed animal.
"Ummm… thanks? What is it?" Haven asked. The blue and white plush had the body and head of a dog and the ears and tail of a rabbit. Benny shrugged and put his arm over Haven's shoulders.
"I can't really tell either," Benny laughed, "What are you going to name it?"
"Hey, guys." Nagisa walked up to them. "I finally found you," the bluenette said. A reserved but friendly smile graced his face.
Haven looked from Nagisa to the stuffed animal.
"I think I'll name him Gisa-kun," Haven brought the plush up to her face.
"Why?" Benny asked as he dropped his arm away from Haven's shoulders.
"Cause he's the same color as Gisa's hair," the corners of Haven's mouth rose slightly. Benny muttered bitterly.
Nagisa looked a little surprised and embarrassed but he smiled nonetheless.
Panting but giggling, Fia ran up behind Nagisa and tapped his shoulder. "I finally beat my highscore!" she said giddily.
Nagisa smiled. "Congratulations, Fia. You're the new Dance Dance Revolution champion."
She beamed a smile at him before straightening herself out and looking between her friends. "So, what's going on? Did I miss anything?" Fia asked as she took notice of the small stuffed animal in Haven's hands. "Who's that?" Fia asked as her weakness for cute things bubbled to the surface.
"It's Gisa-kun," Benny grumbled.
"Eh?" Fia gave Nagisa a questioning look. He sweat-dropped and shrugged in response. She sweat-dropped in return and looked between her friends. The atmosphere was more than just a little tense. "S-so… Ready for the game?" Fia attempted to lead her friends from the indoor arcade and towards the ice arena.
The crowd roared in anger as the hockey players all smashed into the glass and began fist-fighting on the ice. Haven, Fia, Benny, and Nagisa simultaneously checked the scoreboards. The opposing school had somehow managed to take the lead, albeit not by much.
"Penalty! That was obviously tripping!" Haven yelled at the ref.
Fia flinched and covered her ears. It wasn't as if she wasn't used to this level of noise, but she had forgotten what kind of person Haven was when it came to the ice. Haven was dressed to the nines in the school's colors, fully armed with pompoms, noise-makers, and banners. She couldn't believe that they had all chipped in for the sake of 'school spirit' only to have it all utilized by a single person. Concerned, she stole a glance at Nagisa and Benny, each situated on either side of Haven.
Nagisa was watching the game intently, his poker-face unreadable as ever. Benny, by contrast, looked as if he was extremely tense - whether that was because he was nervous or upset about Haven or the game, Fia wasn't sure.
"YOU SUCK!" Haven screamed with their side of the crowd. "LET'S GO VIPERS, LET'S GO!" She chanted, banging her hand on the glass wall. As her beloved team scored and scored again, taking the lead right before halftime, Haven screeched "VICTORY VIPERS! TO VIICCTTOOORRRYYYYY!"
Fia instead turned her attention to the screaming crowds. She thought she saw a familiar red head near one of the camera men, but when she looked closer, he was nowhere to be found. A few moments later, the screen above the ice displayed a white haired person in pink and a blue haired person in white. Around them, the kiss cam frame flashed and the stadium broke out into a long and loud chant of "KISS! KISS! KISS!" Haven blushed a bit and looked at Nagisa.
"Why not?" Haven smiled, looking slightly drunk on adrenaline.
Nagisa was startled by all the attention focused on them. He didn't want to kiss Haven - not like this - but the noise was deafening. Blushing profusely, Nagisa grabbed Gisa-kun, the plush. He kissed the dog-rabbit-thing's snout and then pressed the plush's snout to Haven's cheek as he turned away and covered his red face with his other hand.
The crowd went wild, some members with cheers and wolf-whistles, some with "d'awwws." Fia looked on in confusion and concern as she saw Haven blush and Benny turn away before getting up and slowly leaving. She sighed and surveyed the scene once more. The screens no longer showed Nagisa and Haven, but Fia did notice a particular person hanging around the cameraman once again. Biting her lip, Fia made a split decision to chase after Benny.
"Benny!" she called as she raced out of the arena. She found him sitting on one of the benches outside. Approaching slowly, Fia called to him more softly, "Benny? Are you alright?"
He looked up at her with a very-forced smile. "Yeah, I just, uh, came out to get some fresh air since it was hot in there… You know how these games are."
She tentatively took a seat on the far end of the same bench. "Y-yeah…" her voice fell away into the evening shadows. "I'm sorry," she apologized quietly.
"For what?" Benny asked, shooting her a glance as he fiddled with the strings of his hoodie.
Fia took a deep breath and sighed. "Because… I realized your feelings and I wanted to help you, but I seem to have just made things worse. I didn't think he - that she - that they -"
"It's fine," Benny sighed irritatedly.
"Benny, I -" Fia started.
"I said it was fine, didn't I?" he said bitterly. He got up and, shoving his hands in his pockets, began walking away. "I'm going for a walk to clear my head."
Fia was scared to move for a moment, but her shoulders drooped as she watched her friend walk away. She knew that he wasn't going to be back anytime soon, but she still waited there like a desert waiting for rain. It only seemed natural to her. She waited until she noticed people had already begun to stream out from the arena in long troves. She waited until she saw a pair of familiar faces wandering around, probably looking for her. She waited until almost every person had dispersed and a familiar redhead ambled out.
Fia slowly rose from her seat and made her way over to him. He noticed her and stopped walking, waiting for her to catch up. He grinned and made an effort to speak to her but she had already gripped his shirt so tightly in her hands that her knuckles were turning white.
"Why…?" she murmured, the words barely leaving her lips.
"What?" he asked. "I didn't hear what you said." Karma became more serious at the girl's demeanor.
"I asked you… why… why you did that…" Fia sputtered out. "How could you…?" Pain seeped through the girl's breaking voice. "You didn't even consider his feelings!"
"Did you consider Nagisa's?" Karma asked cooly.
"I DIDN'T KNOW!" she yelled in frustration. "I DIDN'T KNOW AND IF I HAD I WOULDN'T HAVE COME UP WITH THIS STUPID PLAN IN THE FIRST PLACE!"
"Would you have…?" Orange eyes peered down at the girl.
"F-fuck, I… I don't know! But I would have put some more thought into it and at the very least I might have been able to prevent Benny from getting hurt! I hurt him so badly today that I-I..." Fia trembled as she spoke and tears fell from her eyes.
Karma looked off in the direction that Haven and Nagisa had left. "He would have gotten hurt anyway, Fia. You know that."
"Sh-shut up!" Fia cried as she pounded on Karma's chest. "You didn't have to rub salt in the wound by doing that!"
"If I hadn't, then those three might never have realized how they felt and everyone would have gone home today feeling like shit!" Karma snapped.
Fia pulled away from him and quietly sobbed into her hands. The closest lamp to the pair flickered in the silence and then went out completely.
Karma sighed and called out to her in a softer tone. "Fia… We both did what we thought was right, and we'll have to live with that."
Fia hid her face behind wet, tear-stained locks of hair and turned away. "I hope we can," she murmured as she turned on her heels and began the long, dark walk back to the apartment she could no longer comfortably call 'home.'
Narrator: Guys, any comments this chapter? Benny…? Fia…? No tsundere outbursts…? Haven…? No coding jargon…? Nagisa…? Karma…? No antagonizing, snarky remarks…? C'mon guys, anything would be welcome at this point. I guess not. Well, before this gets more depressing than it already is, I'll give the preview: it's time to reconcile with a very special guest. And to lighten the mood, a punch line! Orange you glad I didn't say "banana?"
All: Wow. Boooooo!
Narrator: At least you guys responded!
