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For students at Hope’s Peak Academy, there were limited options concerning places to go at the weekends. The nature of the school meant its students were famous, many of whom shone in the public eye and featured often in the media, local and national. Some international.
Most students chose to remain at the school over the weekend to spend time with their classmates while others decided to return to their homes. However, remaining cooped up in a school wasn’t something anyone wanted, so a third weekend hang-out option was a lesser known corner of the surrounding city.
A hidden alleyway, tucked away behind the busier thoroughfares. Here lay a charming mixture of independent boutiques and cafes, even an arcade. Despite the quaint nature of the parade, very few people were aware of its existence – perfect for the high profile prodigies of Hope’s Peak. Sayaka Maizono was able to browse handbags without being bombarded with questions about boys she may or may not be dating. Aoi Asahina was able to stuff her face with donuts without being apprehended by diet-conscious members of the paparazzi. Kiyotaka Ishimaru could play a game of air hockey with Mondo Oowada without either boy being pestered about members of their family.
Byakuya Togami could go on a date with Touko Fukawa and no one would bat an eyelid.
Touko was surprised that Byakuya agreed to accompany her into town at all. The café Touko chose was situated between a fashion boutique that the likes of Junko Enoshima and her posse frequented, and a gift shop selling pointless trinkets.
They sat at a table by the wall, away from the door and the counter where a bored looking teenager scrubbed at the coffee machine under the supervision of a manager. Byakuya had paid for the drinks. Touko had blushed red when he said he would, further enforcing in her mind that this was a date and not just a meeting of classmates. The word date had never been said aloud, but those were Touko’s intentions when yesterday she managed to stutter a request for them to go into town after school the following day.
He had agreed. And there they were.
Touko clutched her fruit tea between nervous hands. One of Byakuya’s hands loosely cupped his black coffee. The steam rising off both drinks accentuated the silence that fell between them.
The café wasn’t very busy. A few other tables were occupied. By the window sat a trio of girls, similar age to Touko, enthusiastically pouring over manga. Near them, an elderly couple. A duo of middle-aged woman sharing a bit of juicy gossip sat near the counter.
Over Byakuya’s shoulder, Touko spotted two Hope’s Peak students, a short blonde boy and a taller girl with braids. They were in the year above and she didn’t know their names but recognized them from passing glances in the corridors. Until recently, Touko believed that the pair were siblings from the way they arrived at school together and left together but after seeing them hold hands on several occasions (even hearing changing room gossip of them kissing) Touko came to the conclusion that they were not related. At least, she hoped they weren’t.
‘What is the purpose of our meeting here?’ Byakuya broke the silence.
Touko stopped staring at the familiar students and turned to meet Byakuya’s stern gaze. ‘… The p-purpose?’
‘Yes,’ said Byakuya. His stare was unwavering.
Something in Touko’s chest sank. She had hoped that her purpose was obvious. Maybe if he had known the “purpose” then he wouldn’t have been there to ask the question.
‘I…’ Touko chewed her lip. ‘I thought s-since we’d been doing a l-lot of projects in class together recently that…’ A glance down at her tea. ‘It might be n-nice to spend time together outside of school as well.’
Byakuya nodded slowly. ‘I see.’
Touko snuck a glance at him. He took a sip of his coffee.
‘I don’t usually agree to spend time with individuals outside of an academic or business context.’ He set down his mug. ‘But regarding our literature project, you have been most useful so feel free to see this as payment for your services.’
‘Oh.’ Picking up her cup, Touko took a gulp, obscuring her face to hide her disappointment.
During the recent literature project, she and Byakuya worked together. This involved a certain amount of private study sessions in the library. One evening (the night before the deadline, when the rest of the class only then decided to get their act together and produce something for the project) Byakuya deemed the library too busy so they ended up finishing the project in his room. Touko was sent reeling, imagining all sorts of scenarios in which the tension between them would become overwhelming, leading him to shove aside their books and throw her onto the desk in a passionate kiss.
Touko’s fantasy remained a fantasy. The project was neatly finished off at which point Byakuya ejected her from his bedroom. But not before agreeing to come with her to the city the next day.
Byakuya didn’t seem to pick up on her disappointment, merely raising his cup again to his mouth. On the whole, it was likely a good thing. Touko didn’t want to ruin the atmosphere of an outing she could still think of as a date by whining about how he clearly didn’t think of it as a date. Going for “coffee one-to-one” with Byakuya Togami was just as good as doing on a “date” with Byakuya Togami.
Touko’s eyes fell on the familiar students behind Byakuya. Their hands lay on the table, fingers entwined as their owners gazed into each other’s eyes. Dropping her gaze, she glanced at her hands. And Byakuya’s hands. One of which rested on the table by his saucer.
She let one of her hands drop from her mug, mirroring his. When seconds passed in which he didn’t acknowledge her movement, she spoke.
‘Did you enjoy the p-project we did together?’ She inwardly cringed at how boring her choice of subject was. They had a lot in common, Byakuya and her. Picking a topic of conversation shouldn’t have been hard yet Touko struggled to start a dialogue. If this were a scene in one of her books, the conversation would be flowing readily.
‘To an extent,’ he replied. ‘The finished product was of a high standard so there is no doubt that our efforts will lead to a place at the top of the class and will reflect well on our overall grades for this term.’
‘Yes…’ Touko nodded. ‘W-With my writing and your incomparable brilliance it would be impossible n-not to get the best grades.’
Byakuya smirked at this. Touko let her face relax into a smile, only then realizing how tense her expression had been.
‘We made an impeccable team.’
Touko’s expression grew into a wide beam. ‘T-Thank you, Bya… Togami-kun.’
A blush spread across her cheeks. Quiet fell again but it wasn’t immediately uncomfortable. This allowed her gaze to return to their hands. She could just reach out and…
How would he react? Would he let her hold his hand over the table? Or would he blanche and refuse to let her come near him ever again? Real people were so unpredictable. If only she were writing this scene herself.
Taking a determined gulp of tea, she edged her hand across the table. Byakuya took no notice of her creeping fingers as his gaze was held elsewhere.
The girls by the window cut through the quiet atmosphere of the café with a bout of obnoxious giggling. Byakuya’s brow furrowed as he stared in their direction. Touko allowed a glance over her shoulder to mirror Byakuya’s scrutiny.
The tallest of the three girls seemed to be finding something extremely hilarious in the manga book they pored over. The other two laughed along, one with curly hair trying to point something else out, to which the third girl laughed. Touko grimaced. She had never found manga to be of any interest, nor had she ever enjoyed being in a gaggle like that. Once time, Sayaka dragged Touko out with a few other girls for a shopping trip. Touko spent most of the day sitting outside changing rooms while Sayaka and her gang paraded around in skimpy outfits that Touko wouldn’t be seen dead in.
She much preferred today’s outing with Byakuya, even if conversation was scarce and he didn’t think of it as a date.
The girls by the window continued to giggle and Byakuya rolled his eyes, averting his gaze. Touko fidgeted in her seat, edging her hand a little more across the table. Though this time, Byakuya noticed. His hand disappeared back to his lap without comment.
Touko brought her hand slowly back to her mug. She crossed her legs under the table. Doing so, her foot brushed Byakuya’s leg. Byakuya glanced momentarily at her.
‘S-Sorry…’ stuttered Touko, raising her cup to her lips to hide her blush.
Byakuya didn’t say anything in response. She took this as a good sign. Perhaps he hadn’t minded…?
About a minute passed in which Touko contemplated moving her feet again, before Byakuya spoke.
‘I have never been to this part of the city before.’
‘Oh?’ Touko looked up, pleased that he had initiated conversation.
‘I’ve only ever visited sectors important to the upkeep of the Togami conglomerate, which don’t involve cafés or other frivolous ways to spend time.’
‘Do you l-like it here?’
‘It’s passable.’ A pause. ‘Since you knew where to go when we got here, I assume you’ve been here before?’
‘Yes,’ said Touko, dipping her head in a nod. ‘I c-came here with some of the girls in our class once… It w-was boring and tedious.’
‘As expected of any outing with any of our classmates.’
Touko snickered and Byakuya smirked. When they had not been entirely focused on their project, a lot of their conversation involved sneering at their classmates.
‘It’s n-not boring and tedious with you though…’
‘Of course not,’ said Byakuya. ‘Nothing is tedious or boring with me.’
Truer words had never been spoken. Touko moved one of her feet forwards ever so slightly, so it brushed Byakuya’s foot. She checked his face for a reaction. Nothing.
She was determined that tonight she wouldn’t go to bed with a gloomy air of disappointment. Sure, going to the city and having coffee with Byakuya Togami was great – fantastic, even – but she was sure that he probably had coffee with plenty of other people in a sort of business-repayment context before. Someone as charismatic and as intelligent and as wonderful as him surely would have a large circle of people to socialize with. People of a much higher caliber than those at their school. Higher even than her.
So if she could come away from today, having defined this as more than just a business commitment, then she would sleep sound tonight.
With more determination than before, Touko laid her palm upwards on the table. Byakuya glanced at it.
‘What?’ He asked, picking up on Touko’s expectant vibes.
She took a deep breath. ‘On t-these kind of outings, p-people sometimes… hold h-hands…’
‘I know, I’m familiar with your books.’
Touko nearly choked. ‘Y-You are?!’
‘Yes.’ Though Byakuya didn’t take her hand, he didn’t tell her to remove it. ‘I researched each one of my classmates before attending Hope’s Peak, so naturally I read a couple of your books. That’s how I knew that you would be the optimum person to work with on a literary project.’
Touko felt her cheeks glow red. Her fingers twitched. ‘S-So do you…?’
Byakuya stared with disdain at her hand, then around the café. ‘You want me, Byakuya Togami, to… hold hands… with you?’
Touko nodded meekly, fingers beginning to shrivel inwards.
‘In the middle of a public space, where anybody could be watching and feeding that sort of scene straight to the press?’
Her fingers shriveled into a loose fist.
‘Absolutely not.’
Touko let both her hands drop into her lap. Byakuya drained his coffee with a grimace. ‘S-Sorry.’ She whispered.
Though adamant not to hold Touko’s hand, Byakuya didn’t move his foot away from hers under the table. If anything, his leg brushed against hers more and more as Touko finished off her tea, though that might have just been her imagination.
She tried to ignore the Hope’s Peak students behind Byakuya, who continued to stare fondly into each other’s eyes. One day, she and Byakuya will reach that point. That was a fact Touko was sure of. He just had to get his head around public displays of affection. Actually, affection as a concept was something Byakuya didn’t seem familiar with. That would be the best place to start. Perhaps reading more of her books would help…
In the private taxi on the way back to the academy, Touko noticed Byakuya’s hand resting on the leather armrest separating their seats. His palm faced upwards, just as hers had done back in the café.
Cautiously, Touko lifted her own hand and placed it on his palm. She felt him tense, but he didn’t pull away.
They spent the rest of the journey in silence, their hands loosely entwined. Touko kept trying to sneak a glance at Byakuya, but he pointedly directed his gaze out of the window.
Maybe on their next date, he would be more inclined to hold hands publically. Either way, holding hands in the car was a good start.