Work Text:
Jirou was staring at herself in the mirror in the dorm room, eyes wide. She’d said yes when Kaminari had hurried out a confession, but now that she was waiting for him to come and pick her up, she suddenly wasn’t sure that it was a good idea.
“I just… I’ve had a crush on you since first year and we’re gonna be graduating in like three months and I can’t imagine not telling you before that. So! Um… Do you wanna go out?”
In retrospect, her reply of “yeah, stupid” was probably not the best, but the way he’d grinned at her afterwards made her feel like she’d just read him a poem she’d written about him or something. It was in that moment that she knew he really did like her. He knew her well enough to see that she was embarrassed and her response had reflected that.
So here she stood, in front of her mirror, wearing a black dress that hit her mid-thigh with a pair of combat boots and hoping she didn’t look like a total idiot.
A knock at her door made her heart shoot right into her stomach. She blew out her cheeks, heading over to her door and opening it. She breathed out a sigh of relief when it was Momo outside.
“I just wanted to see how you were doing,” her best friend smiled at her.
“I’m going to throw up.”
“Oh! So better than I expected. When is Kaminari supposed to come pick you up?”
“In about ten minutes.”
Momo patted her on the shoulder. “Well, you look lovely, he’s going to just lose his mind when he sees you.”
“God, I hope not. I can’t take him being any stupider than he actually is.”
Momo smiled, wrinkling her pretty nose slightly. “Are you sure you actually like him?”
“Yeah! That’s the worst part! He’s cool. He actually is. And I can’t tell him, I just end up calling him some weird ass name or something. It’s ridiculous.”
“Oh. Well, that makes sense.”
“How does that make sense?”
Momo cocked her head. “You’ve never been super open with your emotions, Kyouka. It’s possible that you want to be open with him because you care about him but now you don’t know how to express that.” She gestured to Jirou’s outfit. “Dressing up for him is probably something that he’ll appreciate greatly.”
Jirou looked back at the mirror. “I just feel… Weird. He always went for pretty girls-”
“You’re pretty.”
“-thank you, and now he’s saying he’s had a crush on me since first year? So why flirt with those other girls?”
“Kyouka, you are a bit unattainable. I’d give Kaminari the benefit of the doubt if I were you.”
“Yeah. Yeah, you’re right. I really should. Thank you.”
Momo reassured her a bit more before leaving the room, leaving Jirou alone with her thoughts again. Fortunately, or maybe unfortunately, it wasn’t much longer before a sharp rapping at her door.
She stood shakily, smoothing her hands over her skirt, before opening the door. Kaminari stood there, dressed in a charcoal button down and black dress pants. He grinned at her, and held out a single rose to her.
She smiled a little, taking it. “Thanks.”
“Yeah! I wasn’t sure what flower was your favorite, but I figured asking would make you real suspicious on why I was asking. I didn’t think to bring a vase or anything though-”
“Don’t worry,” she cut him off, setting it down next to a couple books on her dresser. “I’ll press it and save it.”
“Oh! That’s cool,” He smiled, rocking back on his heels. “You look really pretty.”
She blushed, turning back to her bed to sling her bag over her shoulder. “Thanks,” She said softly. “I appreciate it. You look nice too.”
Kaminari looked quite pleased with himself at that. “Thank you. Come on, I got us tickets to that orchestra you wanted to see.”
Jirou froze. He’d told her to dress up, but she hadn’t known why. She’d mentioned, off hand a couple weeks ago, that she wanted to branch out on the types of music she knew how to play, and she’d wanted to start with classical. Plus, she’d added, there was an orchestra that was coming in to town and she thought it would be nice to see them.
“You… You remembered?”
“Yeah, of course!”
“What would you have done if I’d said no?”
“Well, be bummed, maybe ask you to go as friends, and if you didn’t want to, I’d have given you the tickets.” He cocked his head to the side. “Why?”
“Dunno. Just curious, I guess.” She saw him looking a little unsure and rushed to clarify “But I said yes because I wanted to! I do wanna go, as like… More than friends.”
He let out a long, whooshing sigh. “Cool. Are you ready?”
“Yeah.”
It should’ve been more awkward, walking to the train station as a couple, but Kaminari had a way of loosening her up and making her feel more comfortable than anyone else. Halfway on the walk, Kaminari reached a hand out for her, and Jirou felt her face explode with heat. She took his hand after a moment of hesitation, lacing her fingers with his. He sighed in relief and pulled her against his side, jostling them both. JIrou laughed as her shoulder bumped into his.
The orchestra, Jirou found out by accident, had not been cheap. She almost wondered where he’d gotten the money and her heart squeezed at the idea that he’d been saving up to take her somewhere. If he’d liked her since first year… It was possible he’d really just been that serious about her all along, and she’d never known.
“These are really good seats,” Jirou said softly as they sat down. “Wow.”
“You know what’s weird?”
“Hm?”
“You haven’t tried to bully me or tease me yet,” He laughed, “I just feel like you’re gearing up for something.”
“What, you want me to bully you?” She arched an eyebrow at him. “I’m trying to be nice to you because you’re taking me on a nice date, dork.” She flicked his forehead, and he laughed harder.
“That’s better! You were making me nervous, I thought I was doing a bad job! I’ve never been on a date that I actually wanted to be on.”
“Sorry, what? You had so many dates, second year especially.”
He lifted a shoulder, staring down at her hand, looking like he wanted to reach for it. “I was sort of hoping I’d get over you. You’re so… Untouchable. I mean that in the best way possible, Ji, you’re… Awesome, and I know I don’t deserve the chance to go out with you but damn, I want to. And I couldn’t get rid of that feeling, no matter how hard I tried.”
She reached over and took his hand, blushing hard at his look of surprise. “Don’t look at me like that! I obviously like you too. I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t!”
“Well, I didn’t know if you were doing it just to be nice!”
“When have I done anything just to be nice?”
“Fair enough.”
The lights dimmed, and the two of them settled back. JIrou noticed that they were still holding hands, and she could feel (and hear) how his heart rate had picked up at their closeness. She smiled a little to herself. It always felt a little odd to be close to Kaminari, but not odd in a bad way. It just felt different than being close to the rest of her friends. She knew it was because she liked him, but that was way too embarrassing to admit, even as she sat here on a date with him.
The orchestra was amazing, and Jirou couldn’t take her eyes off the way the musicians moved their hands. It was like a dance, following along with music. She found herself leaning forwards a little in her seat, tugging on Kaminari just a bit. She heard him huff out a laugh next to her before squeezing her fingers.
In short, it was magic.
They watched the performance in near silence. Afterwards, Jirou found herself chatting animatedly to Kaminari about what she’d gleaned from the performance, and how she was going to apply it to the instruments she already knew and instruments she’d like to learn in the future.
She realized, as they entered the train station, that she was still holding his hand, and he was looking at her like she’d actively hung all the stars in the sky. She furrowed her brow at him, tugging on his arm. “Why are you staring at me like that, you idiot?”
“Are you kidding?” Kaminari laughed. “I’m just thinking about how I’m literally the luckiest guy alive right now.”
She felt her face heat up, and she looked away, pulling her hand back. “Shut up.”
“No, I mean it.” He didn’t reach for her hand again, but he sounded sure. “I just… I never thought you’d come on a date with me, because I’m super annoying and I feel like I’ve done some stuff that’s made you mad, but… You’re so fucking cool.”
They boarded the train and, since it was so late, there were only a couple seats left. Kaminari gestured for her to sit and stood in front of her, hand on the rail.
“You’re cool too.”
“Huh?” Kaminari leaned down.
Jirou tilted her chin up, looking into his face. “You’re cool too. I wouldn’t… I wouldn’t hang out with you so much if I didn’t think so. I tease you and stuff, yeah, but I really do like you, and you’re interesting, and we like a lot of the same stuff. If somebody were to ask me who I wanna hang out with, on any given day, I’d pick you.”
He smiled brightly at that, even as a light blush colored his cheeks. “Man, I don’t think I’ve ever heard you say so much nice stuff to me in quick succession before.”
“Don’t get used to it,” She mumbled.
He leaned down, brushing his thumb over her cheek lightly. “I won’t.”
She took the initiative to take his hand as they walked back to school, and they talked more about the orchestra, but the whole mood was different. He was softer, leaning towards her to hear her talk better. Jirou noticed, that in all of Kaminari’s softer moments, when he wasn’t cracking jokes or being loud with his friends, he was with her. She liked that she had that piece of him, almost to herself. He was so colorful, had so many pieces to him that most of their friends didn’t get to see.
When they got back, Jirou found that she didn’t necessarily want the night to end. She liked seeing him like this. Damn. Did that make Kaminari her boyfriend now? She let him walk her to her door, and turned to look him in the face. “Thank you… For tonight. It was really fun.”
He smiled, tilting his head. “Thanks for coming with me.”
“Yeah.” She rubbed the back of her neck, looking away from him for a second. “So. Um. What are we? Now.”
Kaminari blinked, clearly not expecting that question. “Well… I don’t wanna pressure you or anything.”
“You’re not. I’m asking.”
He let out a shaky breath, nodding. “I think it’s clear that I really like you.”
“I like you too.”
“Yeah… So, I know this was only our first date, but I’m serious about you. About… Us, I guess.”
She smirked a little. It was nice to hear him say that. Jirou had never had a boy like her before, and when it was someone as attractive and interesting as Kaminari, she had a hard time believing that she was worthy of his affection.
“So are you asking me to be your girlfriend?” She asked slowly.
He nodded, and she noticed that his hands were shaking, little nervous sparks firing off between his fingers. “I’m trying to, yeah. I’m doing a shit job, though.”
She laughed, deciding she’d teased and tortured him enough. She took a step forward and wrapped her arms around his shoulders, tucking her nose into his neck. She felt him let out a long, painful sigh as he squeezed her about the waist, almost lifting her from the ground.
“I thought for a first date you’d like… Take me to an arcade, or the mall or something. But it was nice, doing something fancy with you,” She murmured. “I like being with you.”
He leaned his head against hers. “Yeah?”
“Yeah,” She nodded, pulling back to look him in the face. “So yeah, I’ll be your girlfriend.”
A crooked smile crossed his face. “Cool.”
Jirou caught herself looking down at his mouth, and quickly made eye contact again to draw attention away from it. “Do you wanna… Come in and watch a movie?”
“What movie?”
“I dunno.”
He sighed softly, looking at her with an expression she couldn’t even name. “I really… I really wanna kiss you first.”
She bit the inside of her bottom lip to keep from screaming. God, she was being so awkward. “Okay.”
“Okay?”
“Yeah.”
He leaned forwards slowly and pressed his forehead to hers, taking a few moments to get used to the closeness. Finally, he pressed his lips to hers, fingers curling into her waist. It was over almost before it started, and Jirou felt her heart thundering wildly in her chest even so. She could feel Kaminari’s heart, too.
“Cool,” he whispered, once they were far enough apart for him to do so.
“Yeah.” She pulled shaky hands from his shoulders and gestured back to her door. “So… Movie?”
“Yeah, I’ll change into my pajamas and be right back.”
He bolted, then, and Jirou laughed to herself, opening her door. She’d always thought she didn’t have time for boys. But maybe it was alright to make time for this one.