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“Oi. Suzaku.”
“Yeah?”
“What’d you honestly think was gonna happen?”
“Uh…”
Suzaku pried his eyes away from the tabletop, glancing around at the cafe’s rather tacky decorations. Strings of pink heart cutouts and sparkly streamers hung from the rafters; the walls were covered floor-to-ceiling with similarly pink cherubs and little romantic phrases; he could hardly see Genbu over the extravagant red rose centerpiece that sat between them on the white lacy tablecloth. His own thoughts were being drowned out by the endless stream of love songs playing just a little bit too loudly.
“I forgot to check the calendar?”
Because of course the one day he invited Genbu out to his favorite cafe without looking at the date would happen to be Valentine’s Day.
“Well, that’s its own problem, since you gotta keep track of your work schedule and all, but…” Genbu sighed, shaking his head. “I will say, I’m impressed that you’d manage to forget this kinda thing, what with it bein’ the major topic of conversation in the office for the past week.”
Suzaku frowned. “I guess I thought it was tomorrow, or somethin’…”
“Well, we’re here regardless, so let’s just eat some damn cake. …Not in the Marie Antoinette sense,” Genbu said, as if Suzaku knew who Marie Antoinette was. “When life gives you lemons, and all.”
“Y-yeah… yeah, what you said!” Suzaku was suddenly craving lemon pancakes.
Despite the cafe being filled to capacity with happy couples gazing at each other dreamily with smiles as sweet as their desserts, it only took a few minutes for a waiter to stop by their table. “Good afternoon. Can I get something to drink for you two?” he asked, looking hesitantly between the two delinquents who were definitely not on a date.
“We can order food as well, if that’s alright,” Genbu replied right away. “I’ll have a slice of the dark chocolate shortcake and a black coffee. Suzaku?”
Shit. He’d been too distracted to even look at the menu. “I’ll, uh, I’ll have a melon cream soda. And a plate of strawberry panc—no, two plates of strawberry pancakes, please. Yeah. That’s all.” As the waiter nodded and walked away, he remembered that he’d wanted lemon instead.
“Sorry for throwin’ that on ya without warning,” Genbu said. “Figured it’d be best for us to have a quick turnover, since we ain’t exactly today’s target customers.” He motioned to the window at the front of a shop, where a pretty significant line of couples stood chatting, waiting for a table.
Suzaku felt a little guilty sitting there with Genbu, watching the line of expectant guests trying to hide in their scarves and jackets to keep warm. Genbu was right—they really seemed like the only people in here who weren’t dating. Even seeing one other completely non-romantic set of customers would’ve eased Suzaku’s worries, but he had no such luck. Only cute couples feeding each other bites of their sweet treats.
Looking at them almost filled him with a sense of jealousy, and he wasn’t sure why. He wasn’t the type to watch romance movies. He didn’t have feelings for anyone in particular, he thought. Was it just because he and Genbu, just a pair of guy friends, stuck out? But… they’d stick out at a cafe like this on any given day, and that never bothered him. Why was he noticing it so much today?
Maybe it was just the love ballads getting to him, he thought as one faded out and another heartfelt piano refrain began.
“You alright, Suzaku? You’re bein’ quiet.” Genbu’s words brought him out of his daze, and he shook his head.
“Yeah, I’m fine. Just thinkin’.”
“Really? That’s new.” Suzaku grumbled at the jab at his intelligence, and Genbu laughed. “So, tell me. What’re ya thinkin’ about?”
“It’s nothin’. Just, uh, kinda wishin’ I’d gotten lemon pancakes instead, that’s all.” It wasn’t necessarily a lie, just not the complete truth. “But it’s okay, so don’t worry about it.”
“I wasn’t planning on worrying about it.” Genbu crossed his legs under the table, bumping Suzaku’s feet slightly. “Oh. Sorry about that.”
“It’s cool. These tables really are small, huh.”
“It seems like they’ve shoved some extras in here just for today, so it’s more cramped than usual.”
“That so.”
It wasn’t like them to have such awkward lulls in their conversations, but something about the scenery of the place seemed to throw off their usual easy dynamic. It was weird. Genbu seemed a little spacey, and Suzaku was definitely not quite himself. Was this just the usual effect that frilly decorations and pink hearts and love songs had on a pair of best friends? If that was the case, Suzaku didn’t like it. He’d be glad to shovel his pancakes down in fifteen minutes flat and get the hell out of there.
The waiter brought their drinks after a minute or two of silence, and the distraction was welcome. Suzaku occupied himself with using his spoon to poke at the lump of ice cream sitting afloat the electric green soda. He could just… look at that, and not at Genbu, who was watching Suzaku over the rim of his coffee cup.
He jabbed at his ice cream a little longer, trying to fill the space, but the silence was really starting to bug him. They could usually be comfortable around each other without talking just fine. This was different, though. Weird. Suzaku really felt like he was starting to lose it a little bit. As he tried to think of something he could say to break the tension, his ears focused in on the song playing from the speakers. Some romantic tune about a man desperately pining for an oblivious girl. It wasn’t exactly his type of music.
A question popped into his mind just then. “Hey, Genbu.”
“Yeah?”
“Do you, y’know… wish ya had a girl to spend Valentine’s Day with, or somethin’?”
Genbu nearly choked on his coffee. “A girl? …I don’t think about girls much,” he began, gently setting his cup down on its saucer. “But that aside, I guess I ain’t much of a romantic.”
“So I’m not, like, bein’ annoying by bein’ here with you?”
Genbu frowned. “‘Course not, why would ya think that? We’re best friends, Suzaku. Birds of a feather. I’m happy to spend time with you whenever.”
Suzaku was grateful for Genbu’s devoted friendship, but his answer didn’t satisfy whatever thought was nagging at Suzaku’s brain. What was that thought, even? That same feeling of jealousy from before lingered, but he still wasn’t sure why it was there. He’d be happy if Genbu were sitting at one of these tables with someone else, sharing each other’s food, lovingly looking into each other’s eyes, enjoying this romantic moment, right? If Genbu were happy, then it’d make Suzaku happy, too.
But now that he pictured Genbu sitting here with someone else, that feeling was even stronger.
It wasn’t that he wanted to date Genbu—was it? Now that he thought of it, maybe… maybe it was. How had he not noticed it before? They were practically on a date already, just without the actual dating part. And maybe he wished he could be that person sitting across from him sharing a romantic moment. Wait, romantic? Did he like Genbu romantically? It felt a little weird to think that, but he couldn’t deny that it made sense. They were best friends, soulmates, who were extremely close and spent almost all of their time together. Suzaku’s day was always brightened when he saw Genbu. He could always rely on Genbu for advice and support, and he’d always be there for Genbu, too. He’d give anything for Genbu’s happiness. He’d kick anyone’s ass if it meant Genbu would be able to smile. He didn’t know much about romantic feelings, but… looking at it that way, that was sure what it looked like.
Maybe now wasn’t the best time to be having this kind of revelation, he thought as he looked up and saw Genbu squinting at him in confusion.
He had to say something. “Well… I guess what I mean is…” He scratched the back of his neck and tried to look only at his soda. “Is there someone you’d rather be here with? Y’know, like, on an actual date?”
Genbu sat quietly for a moment, eventually taking a sip of his coffee. He paused. Exhaled. Took another sip. Suzaku watched him nervously, his iron grip on his spoon tightening.
Finally, Genbu put his cup down on the table and smiled. “If I were to take someone on a date to some kinda cheesy romantic cafe like this, huh… Then I wouldn’t change anythin’.”
Suzaku blinked. It felt like all the tension had been lifted at once, even though the implications were probably heavier than their few uncomfortable silences. He didn’t have to worry about the idea of Genbu with some random other person—it was him that Genbu wanted to be with. How long had it been him? (That might be a question for another time.)
He opened his mouth to reply, but at that moment, the waiter came with their food.
After muttering a quick thanks for the food and watching the hurried man make his way back to the kitchen, Suzaku looked back at Genbu. “I-I, um, I think… I think I’m happy that it’s you here, too,” he managed. Okay, maybe he could’ve worded it more elegantly, but his brain was kind of melting. “Um… yeah. So, um, we should… probably eat these and get outta here, right?”
Genbu laughed softly. “Don’t think there’s any need to rush now. If I’m takin’ this the right way, then, I guess we’re more like the intended clientele after all.”
“So we’re gonna call this a date ?”
“I don’t see why not.”
“Sounds good to me!” Suzaku grinned, sticking his fork into one of his massive piles of pancakes. “Oi, Genbu. Wanna try a bite?”
Genbu nodded and started to pick up his fork to reach it over, but Suzaku stopped him, holding his own fork out to Genbu instead. “Here, lemme do it!”
“Wh—Suzaku—what are you—”
“Just eat it.”
“…Fine.” Genbu leaned over and ate the bite of pancake from Suzaku’s fork, blushing just enough for Suzaku to notice. “It’s delicious. Now eat the rest yourself, will you?”
“‘Kay! Let’s eat!” In seconds, he’d scarfed down several bites of his pancakes, while Genbu just watched him amusedly. “It’sh shooo goob!” he exclaimed, cheeks still stuffed with pancakes, and Genbu laughed. Suzaku could barely stifle his own laugh, too.
Yeah, he was happy like this.