Day 7: AU. Date.
Kokonoe Arata can almost feel the angry waves of frustration emanating from Hisami Touji crash against his back as he sits at his desk, hunched over a book and trying his hardest to ignore the nonsense coming his way.
Touji is sitting on their couch, gripping his phone in one hand and angrily scrolling through the information on his screen with the other, "She's too young to be going out on dates,"
Arata turns a page, loudly, trying to give his friend a hint. . .
"Who even is this guy? Why didn't she give us his full name? We have a right to know."
Why is he being included in this ridiculous overprotective rant?
"If she was going to be so vague then she should have given me more time to find out who this guy is," Touji curses under his breath and huffs loudly "There are three Takahashi's in her class. Three, Arata. And I'm not even completely sure it's somebody from her class."
There's angry tapping at his back. Touji is still fumbling with his phone. Hacking his way into the students' school records, no doubt.
"I knew that her going back to school was a bad idea, I knew it, even if it's a different school in a different city. School causes nothing but trouble."
Hadn't they agreed to leave their past behind and try to lead normal lives now? Start again. Wasn't this the whole point?
"How can we trust some random stranger with her?"
Arata lifts a brow but he doesn't turn to look at Touji.
Lisa trusting a stranger was how they had become this little dysfunctional family in the first place.
"We shouldn't let her go," Touji continues, and he sounds like he means it "nothing good can come out of this."
Arata turns another page and shifts in his seat, refusing to be dragged into the matter. No matter how many times Touji says "we" or "us".
Mishima had spent over a year with them already and she had faced things far more dangerous than a date with a kid her age. Touji is acting very childish. He never cares if Mishima hangs out with her new group of friends. He even encourages it. How could this be any different?
"Okay, I'm letting her know we do not want her going out."
He hears Touji stand up and he sighs and turns. The brunet needs to be stopped before this turns into a bigger deal.
Mishima will owe him one.
"You are in no position to tell her what she can or can't do,"
Touji stops and turns "Aren't we her guardians of sorts?"
"We are only one year older,"
"Then you say something, you have this whole authoritative parent thing going on. She'll listen to you, I'm sure. Even if it's only because you still intimidate her some."
Arata shoots him a mild look, feeling slightly insulted, and Touji deflates, sitting heavily back down on the couch.
"Stop sulking, you'll make her worry," He gets up from the chair at his desk and pats Touji's head with his book as he heads to the kitchen "That girl worries about enough as it is."
"I'm not sulking," Touji mutters through clenched teeth but he glances at the closed bedroom door and his chest tightens.
A timid creak of the door alerts him of her presence and he looks away deliberately as she makes her way out of the bedroom.
"I'm heading out now," she says in a low tone.
He grits his teeth and doesn't answer her, stubbornly looking at the wall.
"Touji-kun?"
Silence.
"Are you feeling unwell?"
Why is she using that tone? He can't just ignore her when she sounds worried. He sighs and turns to look at her.
She is wearing one of her usual cute dresses, this one is a pale yellow, of all colors, there's nothing really out of the ordinary in her outfit but for some reason she looks more attractive than on any other given day, and he can't stand the thought of her going out, alone, looking cuter, with some other guy.
His lips thin and he groans as he pries his eyes away from her.
"Touji," she steps forward, concern etched in her features "what's wrong?"
Unintelligible words float to her ears and she's tilting her head, trying to make sense of them.
"You'll be late, Lisa."
Arata's voice makes her jump and he shakes his head at how easily she still scares.
"B-But…"
"He's fine."
Another groan.
"Are you sure?" Lisa glances at Touji, who now has his face buried in his hands.
"I'm sure, just go."
She doesn't look convinced but she turns around and quietly exits the apartment.
It's been approximately five minutes since Lisa left the apartment when Touji stands up and heads for the door.
"Leave her alone."
"I'm not going to follow her."
Arata doesn't need to say anything.
"Fine, but I'm not going to interfere or anything. I'll just make sure the guy doesn't try anything funny, alright? I promise."
Arata shakes his head.
"I'll be invisible, I swear." Touji grabs his helmet, and on second thought he turns back to Arata. "Hey, can I borrow one of your shirts, and maybe that dark blue baseball cap you sometimes wear?"
"Seriously?"
"I'll be very cautious but just to be safe. I'd hate for her to recognize me and think that I'm spying on her and her date."
"That's exactly what you're going to be doing." But Arata goes into his room and comes out with a dark shirt and the cap. "You're absolutely ridiculous, and if she finds out I want you to leave me out of it."
Touji grins and nods. He hurries to change his outfit and is out the door just as fast. If he hurries he can catch up. At least he knows where she is heading.
When he arrives, Lisa is standing alone just outside the entrance of the amusement park.
His eyes narrow, resenting the guy's selected spot for their date just more than a little bit.
Lisa waits (they wait) for five more minutes until a tall guy with dark brown hair arrives, panting and looking apologetic for making her wait. He's so much taller than Lisa, he's probably even slightly taller than Nine. Lisa looks so tiny next to him.
Touji dislikes him already.
Lisa smiles at him and shakes her head, probably brushing off his apologies and telling him that it's okay.
The guy smiles at her and offers his hand as he points to the ticket booth.
So her classmate doesn't waste any time, huh. Touji shoves his hands in his pockets, staring rather gloomily at the scene.
He sees Lisa stare at the hand and then up at her much taller date.
Touji almost wants to look away.
He's glad he didn't when he sees Lisa start digging in her purse, taking out some coins, and finally placing them on the guy's open palm.
For a moment what's-his-name just stares and blinks at Lisa.
Touji laughs out loud, choking a little when he tries to stop. He clears his throat and lowers his cap when a couple of heads turn in his direction. Lisa is so precious.
When he looks back at the couple the guy is standing in line and Lisa waits by his side. No hand-holding.
Good. Keep your hands to yourself, pal.
They enter the park and Touji trails them from a distance after buying his own ticket.
They wander for a while, not getting in line for any of the attractions. The guy points at several rides but Lisa seems unsure. Touji notices she looks tense…nervous, maybe.
That Takahashi guy is making Lisa nervous.
Touji frowns when the guy places his hand on her shoulder and Lisa jumps, eyes wide as she looks up at him.
It's hard to make out the pale yellow amongst the cacophony of voices, luckily, they guy's voice is such a bright green it makes it easier to locate Lisa's soft hue when they're both speaking.
Her voice doesn't tell Touji much, it goes dim and brightens like a light bulb with a faulty voltage.
Does that only confirm that she is indeed very nervous? If she is…
Touji swallows. She must really like this Takahashi person.
The boy takes his hand off her shoulder, apologizes for startling her, and steps back. Giving her some space.
Lisa shakes her head and looks just as apologetic. She seems to ask him something, apparently trying to ease the tension.
The guy thinks for a moment and finally points to a place. His voice turns enthusiastic, and both Lisa and Touji follow the direction of his finger.
A Ferris Wheel.
Touji swallows and his eyes dart back to Lisa.
She hasn't moved or spoken. Her eyes are glued to the big mechanical ride. Her mouth opens and closes without any color coming out.
Touji can sense her unease, and he fears she'll get a bad flashback and crumble. He starts walking towards them, slowly at first, unsure about what he's going to do when he reaches them.
'You should've picked another ride. I'm taking her home.'
Maybe he'll just grab Lisa's hand and take her away.
But when he's only a couple of feet away Lisa snaps out of her shock and murmurs an 'okay'.
Touji stops in his tracks.
Lisa looks at Takahashi and offers him a timid smile.
The guy takes this as an indication for him to lead her, and taking her hand (with no hesitation this time) pulls her along and away from Touji.
"Lisa…"
He stares at them as they get lost in the crowd.
Is she really willing to go on a Ferris Wheel again for this guy?
He stands in the same spot for several minutes as some people push and shove past him. It's just like him, to be invisible. Maybe, after today, he will become invisible to Lisa as well.
She's just fine without him looking over her.
In fact, she no longer needs any looking over.
Who is he kidding anyway? He followed her because he was curious about the boy who had had the courage to do what he hadn't done in a year.
He had taken Lisa for granted, he had thought that he and Lisa were already…something.
He had been so stupid. It is clear now how much he still doesn't know about normal people.
He is the one who missed his chance.
He wanders a little, refusing to go back home just yet. Ni—Arata will definitely lecture him, throw in a few 'I told you so's' for good measure, and make him feel even more miserable with his undiluted sincerity.
Touji will also confess what he did to Lisa once she gets home. She'll probably get mad at him but he deserves it. He really shouldn't have come. It had been wrong.
He walks by some stands and decides to get Lisa a big penguin plush he happens to see in one of them. He just needs to knock a pyramid of bottles, which seems like an easy task at first, except, for some reason, his aim seems to be extremely off today. It takes him several tries, but he doesn't give up until he has the big, cuddly plush in his arms.
Now he's broke as well. Another lecture from Arata will be due.
Maybe she'll forgive him faster this way.
Still couldn't blame her if she didn't though.
He looks at the Ferris wheel in the distance before walking out of the park. By now Lisa and Takahashi must have reached the front of the long waiting line and were probably next in turn to ride it.
She will be fine.
"I'm home," he walks sulkily into the living room, his eyes downcast and the giant penguin dragging behind him.
"Touji?"
"Eh?" His head snaps up at the sudden burst of yellow before his eyes.
Lisa is standing in front of the couch now, looking confused, and Arata stares at him from his chair at the desk, eyes slightly wide at the sight of the penguin.
"Lisa?"
"Why are you dressed like that? What is that?"
Touji looks at Lisa, then at Arata. Apparently his friend hadn't said a thing to the girl. No matter how much he disagrees with his actions, he still has his back.
His brown eyes soften as he smiles and hands the plush over to her "It's for you. I'm afraid I have some explaining to do…"
"Huh?" Lisa lowers the huge bird to the floor so she can look at him.
"I… wait—what are you doing here already?" he looks her over, suddenly alarmed "Did something happen? Did that guy do something to upset you?" he steps forward, his hand is on her cheek as he inspects her face "Was it the Ferris Wheel? I knew you weren't ready but you looked fine when I —"
"I'm fine, I'm okay." Lisa is so flustered by his sudden concern, her brain doesn't process all of what he's saying. She taps the hand on her cheek reassuringly as she averts her eyes. "He was really nice to me, even when I told him I needed to cut our date short."
"Eh?"
His hand remains on her cheek and Lisa can feel the heat rushing to her face. Soon he'll be able to feel it too. She stutters and doesn't manage to get a clear sentence out.
"She got here a little over an hour ago," Arata offers instead.
"But why?"
Lisa swallows hard "I-I was worried about you, this morning you didn't seem to be feeling well. I felt really bad leaving you here like that."
His hand finally falls from her face and he looks genuinely remorseful. "Lisa… I'm so sorry. I ruined your date. I'm so, so very sorry. Please forgive me."
"No, no, you didn't." She grabs his hand and laces her fingers through his; the gesture is so natural that he can't help but compare it to the tense way in which she reacted to the other boy's touch. "I didn't want to go on that date to begin with."
His eyes widen and he doesn't know what to say because he hadn't expected to hear those words at all.
"I shouldn't have agreed to it, but I felt so bad saying no to him. He's one of my new friends and I didn't—he is so nice, really, but it felt so awkward and it wasn't his fault, I just—" she shakes her head "I didn't handle it well."
He blinks several times at her.
"Besides I already…" she lowers her voice until it's an incomprehensible mumble, then she pipes up again "We should go to that park together though, I kept thinking you would like it there."
"Really?" he can't help the smile pulling at his lips.
She nods enthusiastically.
Behind her Arata sighs loudly and throws his head back on the sofa. Such a couple of idiots, how did he get stuck with them?
"Looks like somebody else could use a visit to the amusement park," Touji taunts.
Lisa giggles and agrees.
Arata opens his eye and shoots them a mildly annoyed look "Seriously, do you two want to complicate things further by—" he sighs, a smile of his own drawing on his lips at the sight of their still intertwined hands "Idiots…"
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Dolce S.- So this wasn't exactly an AU, more like an Alternate ending thing, in which the Sphinx babies are alive, they have decided to use their civilian names as part of their plan to start living a normal life, and Lisa goes out on her first date. It was very weird using their civilian names. But I thought it would be only normal for them to switch back to them once they decided to finally try to live a normal life.