[▀▀ロロ]=
Grunting in annoyance, Kenma stuffed his cell phone into his jacket's pocket, flicking the switch that would put in on silent. He could still feel it vibrating in his pocket, alerting him to the onslaught of texts that were flooding his inbox. It was bad enough that Kuroo was bothering him about the outing he was about to go on, but ever since the sly volleyball captain told the rest of the team, it seemed like half of them wanted to put their two cents into the situation as well.
It wasn't like he was going on a date. He barely knew [Name] other than the fact that she was pretty decent at English and knew her way around a beaker and bunsen burner in Chemistry. Besides that, even if this could be considered a date, it wasn't his idea to go in the first place. He just wanted to get to the cafe, eat whatever she was offering, then leave so he could put all this behind him.
With his hands in his pockets and eyes downcast toward the sidewalk below, Kenma would only glance up once in a while to make sure he was heading in the right direction. [Name] had invited him back to the cafe where they had first interacted a couple days back, so it wasn't like he had to look around often. It was a place he went to frequently.
His phone was still vibrating at almost regular intervals and Kenma had half a mind to pull out his phone and call every single person who was bothering him. Though, he supposed a better solution would be to turn the phone off altogether. Just as he was pulling it out to do so, a voice called out to him from a distance away.
"Kozume-kun, I'm glad you could make it!"
[Name] was waving at him from her spot in front of the cafe, an excited smile on her face. For a second, he wondered when she had left school to get there so quickly. He had left immediately after school—or rather, Kuroo had forced him to leave immediately after school—and she still managed to beat him there without him realizing.
"I'm glad you came so quickly," she said with relief once he was close enough to hear her at an appropriate volume. "Your friend that was with you yesterday and the day before, um," she paused, trying to remember the name he'd given. "Kuroo? He gave me your number and I tried texting you to tell you I was already here. My phone's only halfway charged and I was afraid it'd die before you got here…"
"Kuroo gave you…" Kenma twitched, imagining his so called best friend handing [Name] a slip of paper that contained the digits to his cell phone. He dug it out of his pocket, looking at the screen and seeing an unfamiliar number as the last two received texts.
"I'm sorry I didn't ask directly," she apologized as he began putting his phone away once more. "I couldn't find you anywhere today."
Right. Because he had already found himself a new, decent hiding spot. He hoped this one would last longer than the last.
"I-It's fine… I guess," he mumbled.
"Great, um," an awkward silence consumed the two of them—something Kenma had feared would happen—and they stood there for a while before [Name] gestured to the entrance of the cafe. "Would you like to go inside now? I've already got us a table."
Nodding a bit stiffly, Kenma followed [Name] through the entrance. The familiar scent of the place washed over them as he followed her to a table near the back, somewhat isolated from the rest of the place. As they sat across from each other, the uncomfortable silence from before followed them into the cafe as well. It was alleviated for a second when a waitress came by to take their orders.
"Just get what you want," [Name] had said as he glanced at the menu. "It'll be my treat today."
When their orders had been placed and the waitress had left, the silence settled once more. Kenma felt nervous, fidgeting his fingers around his cell phone inside of his pocket. It was still vibrating, meaning Kuroo and a few other people were still trying to text him. He pulled it out for a second, checking all the messages and grimacing at the words of 'encouragement' his friends were sending. Then, realizing that it was normally rude to have a cell phone out when you were out with someone, he shoved it back in his pocket before looking up with minor panic.
But [Name] was on her phone as well, a look of concentration on her face. Kenma could hear the noises coming from her phone and the familiar sound of an annoying character he'd grown to recognize reached his ears.
"Are you playing a game?" His question came out slowly, not quite sure if he'd heard it right.
Having been caught, [Name]'s cheeks flushed a light pink as she quickly exited the app. "Yeah," she answered, affirming his suspicion. "It's the reason why my phone has been dying so quickly lately. I can't put it down until I get passed this final level."
Thinking back to the game he thought she was playing and remembering the exact difficulties she was going through, Kenma hesitated before saying, "I could help."
His statement sounded more like a question to both of their ears, but it didn't stop [Name] from grinning widely. Unlocking her phone once more, she placed it on the table between them so they could both view the screen. She clicked a few buttons here and there, showing her character and the stats she had acquired over the course of the game. As she explained what she'd done so far, Kenma realized that she'd taken a completely different approach, making the end seem almost unfamiliar and new. It was going to be a new type of challenge finishing the game her way.
They were both so engrossed in finishing it that they barely even noticed when their orders had finally arrived.
