Chapter Three: First Date

"Dammit… Ayane made me forget my gloves and my scarf…" Kirihara grumbled while he vigorously rubbed his hands together and blew fleeting hot breath over them.

If his older sister wasn't so nosy, he would be a lot more comfortable (warmer, definitely warmer) at home than waiting out in the cold. Sitting on a cold bench with his back pressed against an equally cold wall and waiting as winter snow slowly fell around him wasn't Kirihara's intention. He had actually arrived 20 minutes early. Ayane was unbearable to hang around. She just wouldn't let it go. How hard was it to imagine him dating anyone?

Actually… now that Kirihara thought about it; he wasn't sure if people could imagine him dating. He was dating a guy too. Did that make him gay? He had no idea of how to go about with it. If it wasn't for how nervous he was, he would have confided in Renji, but that would have given the data master an excuse to follow him around for the sake of "research."

He tilted his head back, staring up to the sky, and exhaled deeply, watching his breath form in the chilly air. It was only Hiyoshi he liked, simple as that. Kirihara didn't want to complicate things in his head; Renji stressed that to him too. Just getting through this first date was a nerve-wrecking but a crucial step.

Still. Kirihara never expected Hiyoshi to share the same feelings as him. The reality of it hadn't sunken in yet.

"Kirihara-kun… Kirihara-kun…!"

"Hm…?" Something was shaking him, and it was still freezing as hell. Lethargically, Kirihara raised an arm to get the shaking to stop. "Wha…?"

When the shaking wouldn't quit, he cracked open his eyes and found Hiyoshi in front of him.

How long had he been sleeping? Or rather, when did he fall asleep?

Kirihara barely registered the hand that Hiyoshi had rested on his shoulder. It withdrew swiftly when he had just got a look at it. So that was what woke him up… along with the worry in Hiyoshi's tone. Seriously, he never thought the guy could sound anything but flat.

"How long have you been waiting here?"

He was slow to reply and took to rubbing his freezing hands together. Somehow, the thought of explaining why he was early felt… stupid. What was it that Renji told him?

"You don't have to always be straightforward, Akaya." The data master spoke matter-of-factly.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Well, Kirihara had an idea of what his senpai meant.

Renji let out a soft sigh. "How honest do you want me to be?"

"…75 is good…" He responded with a sheepish smile. However, his decision immediately changed. This was for Hiyoshi, dammit. "No! 100%. Seriously, a hundred!"

There was a faint smirk of approval on his senpai's lips. So maybe Kirihara said something right for once. "You have a tendency to blurt out what's on your mind without giving it much thought. It has its advantages and disadvantages, but I would advise you to tone it down."

Kirihara wrinkled his nose at the thought. Nope, it really wasn't appealing advice because what happens if he became boring?

"Just think before you speak, Akaya. That's what I'm saying."

Half-heartedly shrugging, Kirihara replied with a casual "not long."

"Mm." Hiyoshi shook his head when he seemed to have something more to say but decided against it.

Neither of them spoke soon after. It felt as though they were holding back their breaths. The silence only intensified.

"Sooooo… where are we going?" Kirihara finally spoke. Damn, this was getting awkward. "Hopefully somewhere inside? It's cold, you know?"

Hiyoshi gave him a snort. "Obviously."

"I'm freezing, dammit."

The complaint was more directed to himself. Kirihara still kicked himself for not grabbing some gloves or rather anything that could keep him warm besides a sweater. Oh, and "nee-chan" definitely was to blame; he didn't forget that.

Suddenly, a scarf was shoved into his face. Kirihara jolted back, eyes wide. 'The fuck?'

"Here." Hiyoshi shook the knitted fabric in his face. When there was no movement to take it, the scarf was shoved into Kirihara's freezing hands.

There was no protesting now, but scarves weren't exactly for his hands, for Hiyoshi-kun's information. Though, he wasn't going to say that out loud. His fingers curled over the warmth. Did he mention how soft it was?

Out of the corner of his eye, he caught the other male's head turning away. It was like last time. The Hyoutei tennis regular really had a habit of turning away when embarrassed.

It was… cute.

"Put it on already." He got up and took a couple steps away, not looking back. Eventually, Hiyoshi spared him a look. His expression had softened somewhat. "It's a café we're going to, Kirihara."

"Right!" The curly-haired teen swiftly wrapped the scarf around his neck and followed after him.

In the back of his mind, he wondered if he had warmed up quickly because of how flustered he felt or because of Hiyoshi's lingering warmth.

"Atobe-san," Hiyoshi begrudgingly spoke after asking if his captain was available for a private matter (Kabaji had cleared out of the room at this point), "I know you're popular among girls and all, but have you taken any out on a date?"

There was that irritating smirk of Atobe's, only he could pull off. That ass…

"You've made the right choice coming to me, but I'm a little disappointed though. Someone like Ootari would not be my first choice." Atobe added to the disapproval with the wag of his finger and then turning it to himself. "Ore-sama is who you should be going to, ahn~"

He disregarded the urge to roll his eyes; it wasn't worth it. Choutarou was his childhood friend, so of course, Hiyoshi would go to him, regardless of helpfulness. To be honest, who would Atobe's first choice be? Probably his reflection.

But Hiyoshi had dealt with Atobe's ego for years now. He could look passed that. With how many love letters his senior would receive daily and how he could get girls to flock to him with the snap of his fingers, there had to be something appealing about the self-proclaimed king, right? Something besides his money, tennis skills, and physical appearance, he hoped.

"I'm here now." He managed to say without much bite. "I have a date. Where would you go for a date?"

"Simple. Take her out on a yacht."

'Like hell it was.'

Instead of speaking his mind, Hiyoshi shook his head.

"Oh right, you can't afford that."

His resolve to defeat this ass of a king only grew stronger. It will be gekokujou, dammit.

"Forget it, Atobe-san. We'll just go to a café."

"In all seriousness though, Hiyoshi-kun," Atobe began to say.

The teen really hoped this was worth listening to.

"You should learn to be like me. Well, not exactly like me because no one can, but be expressive." Atobe faulted his smirk that he so fondly enjoyed throwing out there.

"My insight tells me that you don't know how to. A café is where conversation happens. Can you manage that?"

He frowned slightly at what Atobe meant. Within the obvious implications of narcissism, there was something about his words that rang true.

"I suggest you don't keep all of your thoughts to yourself."

That still bothered Hiyoshi to no end. He had actually spent most of the evening trying to grasp what exactly Atobe meant. Seriously, why did Atobe like to speak in riddles? How could that make him feel superior?

He exhaled sharply. If it wasn't for his martial arts training, he would be more tense just from thinking about his tennis captain.

"…you okay?"

"Yeah, why?" Hiyoshi responded after not giving the question much thought. He looked up from his half-eaten cheesecake, gray eyes meeting green.

'Were those eyes always so bright…?'

While scratching the side of his head, Kirihara absently stirred his spoon through his hot chocolate. "Ahh, no real reason. You got quiet is all."

He didn't respond yet, unsure of how to go about with this.

"I'm usually fine not saying much."

Now it was the other that had fallen quiet.

Hiyoshi snapped, "What?"

"That's kind of…" Kirihara started tapping his index finger against the table. "…well, I don't think I could do that. I like talking. Talking's fun."

There was a twinge of annoyance, deep in Hiyoshi's gut. He felt it climb towards his jaw where he wanted to grimace, except he shoved that back. What was with this feeling of dread? Again came that twinge. It was starting to itch.

What exactly was Kirihara implying? That not talking was boring? He couldn't tell. The more Kirihara beat around the bush, the more Hiyoshi's itch (now in the arm) needed to be scratched.

Admittedly, Atobe had brought up a good point. Conversations happened in cafés, and Hiyoshi was clearly failing at the moment. Nothing about this was like his hangouts with Choutarou, where they would be sitting in this same booth and his friend would be rambling on and on about whatever came to mind. Hiyoshi liked to listen, honestly. It was cathartic, relaxing.

This was the opposite.

He was actually… nervous.

Hiyoshi abruptly sat up straight, realizing that he had been caught up in his own thoughts again. Looking at Kirihara, he saw how distant the curly-haired teen was and how just as awkward. Fuck… what was he supposed to do?

"This isn't what I wanted."

With alarm evident in his green eyes, Kirihara looked as though someone had told him to run 10,000 laps. "A-Ah… I mean if that's what you think, we don't have to continue. It's the first date and all, and I like you and everything but if you think this is a mistake, then we don't need to-"

Hiyoshi couldn't form much of an expression. With how Kirihara was blathering senselessly, he couldn't pinpoint how he felt. He felt uncertainty, irritation, and … flattery? Well, Kirihara did say he liked him… but he was also thinking this date wasn't work out for some reason.

Before Kirihara became too wrapped up in his rambles, Hiyoshi reached out to touch his hand. There were probably less embarrassing ways to get him to shut up, but this was an action that didn't require the Enbu practitioner to slap the other in a public place. He never understood why slapping someone was such a normal thing in Rikkai.

"That's not what I meant."

Kirihara shut up and looked down at Hiyoshi's hand before meeting eyes with him again. "Then… what?"

His words caught in his throat. Er… how could he explain this without sounding like a sap? Hiyoshi still couldn't fully embrace Atobe's advice in being more open, but he had to try, right?

"This probably isn't the best first date."

Withdrawing his hand, Hiyoshi tried not to sound too dejected, but he certainly felt it. This was his first date, ever. Confessing to Kirihara was a huge step as it was, but following through with the date… well, it wasn't up to par with what he wanted.

"I can't really say," Kirihara began to say while laughing. "Can't compare when I've never been on a date until now."

He snorted. "That's a lame way to comfort me. There's no way."

"No way what?"

'…he wasn't kidding?'

Hiyoshi narrowed his eyes out of doubt.

"This can't be your first date."

Kirihara shot him an incredulous look, almost offended. "It is."

'Seriously?'

He felt the urge to shake his head at the other's words. How come he couldn't accept that? Hiyoshi struggled to see that as fact because well…

"You've gotten confessions before, right?"

Kirihara nodded his head.

"And you've met with these girls too?"

Another nod from Kirihara.

"…then you've been on a date with at least one of them, right?"

His anxiety became increasingly apparent with each question. Again, it just bothered him that Kirihara had girls who boldly admitted their feelings for him. There was bound to be someone who caught his eye. No way he could reject all of them and be okay with that.

"Nope."

Hiyoshi was stunned.

"Why does it matter?"

"Because…" He felt his cheeks go hot. "…you're… cute… you know, that's what girls say, even those from Hyoutei…"

There was no response from Kirihara and Hiyoshi was afraid to look at him. In the words of Shishido, this was lame; he was lame.

Eventually, the silence got to him and Hiyoshi allowed a small glance at his date. There was an odd expression that he would never expect Kirihara to pull. Never. He was smiling. ...sort of. It looked like he was trying not to, but why would he do that?

"...what?"

Kirihara jolted in his seat and let out an awkward laugh. "Ah, you see, you said something that surprised me."

He cocked an eyebrow, unsure of what to make of his behavior. Then again, this was much like the Kirihara he knew from afar. The curly-haired teen seemed a little hyper at times, sometimes unable to control his motormouth. He was surprisingly kinder outside of his demon mode; his violent personality substituted cluelessness. There were many confusing traits about him that the more Hiyoshi pondered and bothered with it, the more he came to like Kirihara.

"You think I'm cute."

A small strained grunt forced its way through. Hiyoshi remained tight-lipped for he didn't know how to respond.

"I said girls do."

"But you do too."

His suppressed smile was becoming undone. It was annoying. But was it worth being stubborn?

Slowly, Hiyoshi nodded his head. "Yeah, I do." The smile finally got to him, so he snapped, "What about it?"

"N-… Nothing." Kirihara said although it really looked like he was going to say something more. Abruptly, he stood up. "Let's get going."

Unsure of what the hell he was thinking, Hiyoshi felt he had no choice but to follow along. He left the money on the table and kept a few steps behind Kirihara. His mind raced with lots of worry. Was their date over? Did he mess up?

They continued walking in their awkward line before Kirihara abruptly - again - stopped at a street corner. He turned around, took off the scarf Hiyoshi had given him, and wrapped it around the blonde's neck. His hands rested on his shoulders.

"What are you doing…?" Hiyoshi asked. There was no venom in his tone; instead, he was actually scared. Maybe Kirihara was just making him feel better with the whole first date talk. Maybe Hiyoshi ruined dating for Kirihara in general.

Kirihara took his time responding, his green eyes studying the Enbu tennis player's face. Seriously, it was making Hiyoshi blush.

"I didn't want anyone to see you like this."

Before he could angrily tell him off, Kirihara kept talking. "You were blushing back there. You're pretty cute, you know that? I like it."

There was nothing Hiyoshi could say because the embarrassment and relief shut him up completely. All he could do was avoid eye contact with Kirihara and glare down at his feet.

"Yeah, this isn't what you wanted, but for a very first date, I had fun."

Hiyoshi could feel it. He could feel that dorky smile Kirihara sported when he enjoyed himself. That was enough to believe in him and that Kirihara wasn't going to ditch him because of a crappy date.

"I actually wanted to go on a walk. Walk… and talk. I wanted to get to know you better, and I thought a café was better."

Oh great, he was confessing more than he wanted to.

In response, Kirihara simply smiled. He turned around and glanced back with his hand outstretched for Hiyoshi to take. "Can't talk if you're behind me."

Finally, Hiyoshi met his gaze and couldn't help but smile back. He took his hand without a second thought and fell into pace with him.

The evening did end with a better first date than expected.

Author's Notes:

Ahahaha... yeahhhh, I'm sort of going back to writing? It's the same excuse as before: College and life got in the way. I've started a blog (link's in the bio) and posted this fanfic there cause why not? I'm hoping to accomplish more writing by updating every two weeks instead of weekly. Life is still affecting me pretty badly, so writing is more or less my crutch whether or not I get reviews.

So I commend you for anyone who's been anxious on me updating this. I've actually outlined the whole fanfic. The execution part of it all though... I hope I do complete this one for once.