🚲 design bias 🚲
by airauralintensity

a keshite maneshinaide kudasai fanfic about shifting perspective

fandom: keshite maneshinaede kudasai
characters: kakeda, iijima, tanaka arisu teresu and professor shiroishi mentioned
ship: iijida
themes: fluff, role reversal
rating: K+


A/N (3.12.2022): I should be writing other things, but I am not lol.

I only started Keshite Maneshinaide Kudasai for Kotaki Nozomu (any other Jasmines out there?), but I kept watching because of the interesting way it was produced and because I myself went to a STEM school pursuing a STEM degree. It was such a trip of a show, and honestly maybe it wasn't even that good, but I cannot stop thinking about it even after watching 11 hours' worth of moves through the Japanese Film Festival Online, so here I am. ^-^;;

This fic was supposed to be a humorous episode of Iijima teaching Kakeda something new, but the underlying softness of their relationship overpowered me, and I didn't write anything as funny as I wanted it to be... Guess I'll have to write another fic to get that out of my system. Oh no. /s


Iijima is not a person who is embarrassed by ignorance. Whether in love or in physics, she has always welcomed the chance to learn, to grow. Among many other reasons, it's why she and Kakeda work so well together. The fact that she is always the one asking questions and he is the one answering them is a staple and comfortable part of their relationship, and she wouldn't give it up for anything.

That's not to say, of course, that she isn't enjoying this either.

"If you keep sticking your legs out, we're not gonna make it very far," she gets out through a giggle.

She isn't being sarcastic—it's not in her nature—but when Kakeda sends her an angry pout, she knows that's how he takes it. She leans over and places a feather-light kiss on his temple to mollify him, an easy feat with him seated and her standing beside him.

He lets go of his annoyance easily, but his frustration is still apparent. "I don't understand, Iijima-san. I did the math. It should be a simple matter of momentum and balanced forces!"

He should start calling her Kyouko, and she should start calling him Satoshi, but should's never mattered much in their relationship.

"Why do I keep falling?" he continues to despair.

She squeezes his hand where it's resting on top of his on the handlebar, an offering of empathy as much as a bid for attention. When he looks at her with the eyes of someone who is not used to being wrong, she smiles at him in a way she hopes displays patience and trustworthiness.

"That's why I'm here, Kakeda-shi. I won't let you fall."

Kakeda lets go of the handlebar and flips his hand to hold onto Iijima's more surely, acknowledgement and gratitude in one subtle movement. She can't help how her smile brightens as a result, and she relishes in the star-struck look he gets whenever he's especially enamoured by her. It's nice being around someone so open with his feelings for once.

He squeezes her hand for a moment before asking, "Can we take a break? The weather is too nice, and it makes me feel guilty for being so frustrated."

She nods enthusiastically. "I made us a picnic!"

He dismounts the bicycle, and they walk over to the park bench where they left their stuff. She hands him a bento wrapped in her favourite furoshiki before taking out her own box, and they start their lunch in companionable silence, enjoying the nice weather and the better company.

Iijima is only halfway through her meal when she hears the tell-tale scrape of chopsticks on the inside of an empty bento. "Why couldn't you have taught me how to cook instead of how to ride a bike?" Kakeda asks in a whine, but the quirk of his lips belie any serious discontent.

"You know how to cook!" she argues. She's had his food before; he needs no help with meal preparation.

"I know the science of cooking. I don't know how to make it delicious or how to make it a memory. Those are just as necessary to master the skill."

Kakeda is also someone who is not embarrassed by ignorance. It just so happens that he knows so much that when he does readily admit to not knowing something, it makes him sound pretentious because real people who don't know things don't care about the things Kakeda doesn't know.

At least, according to Tanaka. Iijima thinks it's charming the way that Kakeda thinks about the nuances of things. It's never just cooking or just chemistry—not with him.

"I don't know those things either," she says out loud instead of the other silly, affectionate thoughts in her brain. "Maybe we can learn together!"

He shakes his head violently. "That's not true. Even when you're just working in the cafeteria, your food tastes better than the other work-study students'. Arisu-senpai and Teresu-kun agree."

She pauses eating in shock, knowing exactly what that last sentence implies. "Did you test that? Really?"

"... We gathered empirical evidence."

Professor Shiroishi once told her that if any of the three students stake a claim on empirical evidence, it really just meant they sat around waiting for proof of something they already wanted to believe was true.

By the look on Kakeda's face, she can tell he can tell exactly where her line of thought went. "That is to say, I think your cooking is delicious, Iijima-san. Every meal I taste becomes my new favourite meal. Thank you for making this bento for today." He bows even while seated.

She watches him neatly re-pack the bento and chopsticks in her furoshiki, admiring the awkward yet undeniable care in his movements. "Perhaps you're forgetting to account for experimenter bias?" she offers uncertainly.

He lifts his head to look at her with wide eyes, and she shyly turns hers downwards as she explains, "Your personal connection to the subject matter may lead you to conclusions you wouldn't draw otherwise."

She hears more than sees the way he sits up straight at the new information, no doubt turning it over in his head in the way he is wont to do. Unlike the others, she doesn't mind when he goes minutes at a time without speaking. It means he's taking the time to really think about something; it means he cares enough to think about it in the first place. She slowly picks at her food as she waits for his response.

"Perhaps I am," Kakeda says eventually.

Iijima snaps her head up, unsure what she had wanted to hear but definitely sure this is not it. Kakeda doesn't look at her, eyes instead directed outward to a butterfly. Or maybe he's looking at some other biophysical phenomenon, one she would never be able to tell is present without some guidance from him.

He continues, "Perhaps it is not something that should be analysed to begin with. Perhaps I can simply let it be. You're not an experiment; you're my girlfriend." He turns to meet her gaze, and his eyes squint into joyous half-moons. "Of course I'm biased; I'm so biased! I think you're the cutest, nicest, bravest, most patient person I've ever met! I don't need any proof to believe everything you do is the best thing that's ever happened to me."

"Kakeda-shi." Whatever she's pleading for, she doesn't know, but she thinks he'll find a way to provide it anyway.

He takes her hand that isn't holding her long-forgotten chopsticks and holds it in his, gentle and firm. "Thank you for taking the time to teach me something new, Iijima-san."

She knows that he's not just talking about the bicycle, but for lack of anything else to say without bursting into grateful tears, she leads them back in that direction. "Does that mean you're ready to try riding the bike again?"

His expression instantly morphs into one of disdain as he snaps his head to look at the mechanical offense, and she doesn't try to stop her laughter.

"Einstein-san is believed to have said, 'The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results,' and I think he was onto something."

"Hmmm, but didn't Edison-san once say, 'Genius is one-percent inspiration and 99-percent perspiration'?" She hops up from the bench and strikes a confident pose, chopsticks pointing to the sky. "We'll just keep practising until we can do it!"

"You don't need to practise; you already know how," he reminds her as he follows suit and stands up.

"I know how to ride a bike," she replies as she swiftly but neatly packs up their picnic, "but I don't know how to travel through the city on one or the etiquette for riding with a companion. Those are just as necessary to master the skill."

Strong arms around her waist hoist her up into a spinning hug, and she squeals with delight even as she demands to be let down.

"The weather is too nice! We should just enjoy it without complication," he calls out over her happy cries.

She only stops laughing when he sets her back down on solid ground, but she can see the remnants of joy on her face through the reflection in his eyeglasses. She grabs an arm around her waist and holds that hand in hers, tugging him to join her on a walk.

Should's never mattered much in their relationship, but maybe that should change. The weather is quite nice, after all.


A/N (3.12.2022): I didn't write it but the set-up is that Iijima wanted to go on a bike date. In true Kakeda fashion, he goes to his friends begging for their help in learning how to ride because he doesn't know how yet wants to give Iijima literally anything her precious heart desires. Iijima shows up because Zombie-chan invites her ("No one said we couldn't."), and Iijima offers to teach him instead!