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When Ken Takakura was out with his friends, he knew people stared. How could they not? Momo Ayase and Jin Enjouji were two of the most vibrant, stunning people Ken had ever met. They drew attention like magnets, yet they were always unabashedly themselves, and neither seemed to care if strangers looked their way, whether positively or negatively. That confidence just made them even more brilliant, so carefree, so cool, that Ken’s plainness almost stood out next to them for how different he was.
It wasn’t just their clothes, their hair, their personalities, either. There was something about the both of them that Ken had noticed early on, something they shared that he hadn’t expected. Of course, Miss Ayase’s ears were pierced—a fashion-minded girl like her needed to accessorize—but it surprised Ken when he met Jiji and saw that the boy’s ears were pierced, too. It didn’t exactly mesh with his sporty, athletic look, but the more Ken got to know him, the more he realized that the simple blue hoops suited Jiji: they were colorful but straightforward, unexpected but cool at the same time.
Ken’s eyes flicked over to Miss Ayase, who was walking a few paces ahead of him. They were on their way to the nearby convenience store to pick up after-school snacks before going back to the Ayase household for the afternoon, with Jiji trailing just behind Miss Ayase and a little in front of Ken. Looking at the two of them together made Ken’s stomach churn with butterflies, and when Jiji cracked a joke that made Miss Ayase almost double over in laughter, that feeling twisted into something closer to jealousy.
He still wondered, sometimes, if Miss Ayase wasn’t more interested in Jiji than she let on. She claimed to be annoyed by his boisterous antics, and she certainly put on a show of talking down to him at school, but Jiji barely seemed to notice or care—in fact, he seemed downright giddy when Miss Ayase insulted him, like it was some kind of inside joke the two of them were sharing. When they were side-by-side like this, smiling at each other so brightly, it was hard to deny that they made a cute pair.
Ken sighed. Sometimes, late at night when he could afford to daydream about the future, he thought about changing up his personal style—or gaining one in the first place. He had never really given any thought to the clothes he wore; he had to wear his school uniform for the vast majority of the week, so who cared what he wore on the weekend? Ken certainly didn’t… but maybe if he dressed a little cooler, stood up a little straighter, held his head a little higher, people would look at him like they looked at Miss Ayase and Jiji.
Not that Ken really cared about what strangers thought of him. He had such good friends now, and he knew they liked him just the way he was, but… he still felt like something was missing. He knew it was silly, and that Miss Ayase would make fun of him for it, but he wanted to be cool.
Unconsciously, he raised his hand to his ear, brushing lightly against the lobe. He used to think of pierced ears as something only girls had, but meeting Jiji shifted his whole perspective. Maybe it would look cool on him, too…?
“…right, Okarun?”
Ken startled out of his thoughts to find that Jiji and Miss Ayase were both looking at him expectantly.
“Sorry, what was that? I didn’t hear you,” Ken said, dropping his hand back to his side.
“Space cadet,” Miss Ayase said, rolling her eyes at him, but any actual annoyance on her face was tempered by a small smile. “Were you zoning out?”
“I’m hungry,” Ken lied. “Just thinking about what I want to eat.”
“Oooh, me too!” Jiji chirped, grabbing his stomach with both his hands and exaggerating a groan. “We gotta get to the store soon or I’mma die…”
“Suck it up, you big baby,” Miss Ayase said, thwapping Jiji lightly on the arm. “We’re almost there.”
“A-Anyway, what did you want to ask me…?” Ken asked.
“Oh yeah! You wanna go to the festival together this weekend?” Miss Ayase asked him, and his heart skipped a beat. A festival? Probably a light show at this time of year. A light show, together, at night, in the soft glow of the illuminated trees… It was pretty romantic, wasn’t it? Was she asking him on a date?
“Yeah, it should be totes excellent!” Jiji chimed in, and Okarun’s heart fell.
Right, not a date; an outing, as friends. As soon as he started to feel disappointed, he felt guilty for feeling that way in the first place. After all, they were friends, the three of them—why not go to a light show together? It could be fun.
“Definitely!” Ken said, perking his voice up as much as he could muster. It must have worked, because Jiji and Miss Ayase both beamed at him, and a wave of warmth washed over him. It made him happy to have their genuine smiles turned towards him; it was rare for Ken to have people looking at him like that, so he savored every moment it happened, however infrequent.
They reached the store a few minutes later, Jiji bursting inside and bee-lining for the snack aisle while Miss Ayase and Ken trickled in after him. Miss Ayase said something about wanting to check out the beauty products real quick, and soon Ken found himself alone, wandering the aisles. He let his feet carry him around, not knowing what he was looking for until he stopped in front of a particular display.
The little at-home piercing kit was staring at Ken from the store shelf, taunting him. It was right there, easily within both his grasp and his budget. He could pick it up, buy it, and have pierced ears within the hour. What could be hard about that? People used them all the time. Stores wouldn’t sell these kinds of kits if they were dangerous, right?
“Whatcha looking at there, Okarun?”
Jiji’s voice suddenly cut through Ken’s anxious thoughts, and he nearly leapt out of his skin.
“N-Nothing!” he squeaked, whipping around to face not only Jiji, but Miss Ayase, too.
With a disbelieving frown, Miss Ayase peered right over his shoulder towards the shelf he was standing in front of.
“Piercing kits?” she asked, and suddenly, her eyes lit up. “Oh my god, Okarun, do you wanna get a piercing?!”
“I—” Ken started to say.
“What? No way!” Jiji said, doing a double take of the shelf. “Dude, hells yes! Let’s do it right now!”
“What, with one of those cheap-ass things?” Miss Ayase said, scoffing in the direction of the DIY piercing kits. “Sure, if you want him to lose an ear. He should go to a piercing parlor.”
“He’d have to wait and get an appointment!” Jiji countered. “Who knows how long that could take?”
“Or maybe their schedule is totally open! You don’t know.”
When he found the tiniest gap in Jiji and Miss Ayase’s conversation, Ken cut in and said, “I don’t know any piercing parlors.” Who did they think he was?
“Yeah, but I do,” Miss Ayase said, cocking her head at him like it was the most obvious thing in the world. “There’s a great place right in downtown Kamigoe, that’s where I got mine done.”
“Oh yeah, yeah!” Jiji said, snapping his fingers. “I went there too, right before I moved away. Can’t believe my parents let me get my piercing so young.”
“Jiji, call and see if they have an appointment tomorrow before Okarun chickens out,” Miss Ayase commanded.
“What? Why me?” Jiji asked.
“You’re the only one of us that’s got a phone right now.”
“Oh yeah.” Jiji pulled out his phone and asked, “Tomorrow work for you, Okarun?”
“W-Wait,” Ken stuttered. This was all happening so fast! “Wait, I didn’t say—”
But Jiji had already dialed the number, and before Ken could protest any further, Jiji was talking to someone on the other end of the phone. Ken tried to eavesdrop, but Jiji was barely two sentences into the conversation when Miss Ayase hip-bumped Ken and startled him out of his trance.
“Why didn’t you tell us you were thinking about gettin’ a piercing?” she asked.
“I—I guess I didn’t know I wanted it until now,” Ken said.
“So what changed your mind?” Miss Ayase asked.
“I don’t really know.”
“Uh huh,” Miss Ayase said. “You sure it’s not just ‘cuz you wanna match your two coolest friends?”
Ken ducked his head and didn’t say anything. How could she have known that was exactly the reason?
Luckily, he was saved from having to continue the conversation when he heard Jiji thanking the employee and hanging up his phone. He turned back to Miss Ayase and Ken, smiling brightly.
“Good news! They had a cancellation for tomorrow afternoon at 3pm. We’re totally good to go!” he said.
“O-oh… yeah, great,” Ken said, and tried to smile. It was fine. He was trying to be more spontaneous lately, and besides, he did want this—at least, he thought he did—so it couldn’t hurt to check the place out, could it?
The salon was modern and stylish and immediately made Ken feel out of place. Every surface was white or black or some kind of polished steel, shiny and immaculately clean. There were bold art prints hanging on the walls, close-up photos of pierced ears and… other body parts, noses and eyebrows and even some places more intimate than that, inspiration pictures for the clients who came in without knowing exactly what they wanted.
Ken had never felt more out of place in his life, and he was just starting to get cold feet when he felt Miss Ayase and Jiji approach him from behind, effectively blocking his exit. He swallowed hard and looked up.
“Hello! Welcome in.”
An employee had come to greet them as they walked in. She was dressed in black slacks and a black top with white detailing, and her hair was pulled back in a neat ponytail, conveniently showing off her ears, which were dotted with piercings. That wasn’t the only place she had piercings, either; her eyebrow had a small silver bar in it, and her nose had some kind of sparkly crystal in the right side nostril. It wasn’t exactly as extreme as Ken was expecting, but it was definitely a lot.
“Are you the appointment for… um.” She glanced back at her computer and frowned. “Okarun?”
“You used that name?” Ken hissed at Jiji.
“You have another?” Jiji asked.
“Thaaat’s him!” Miss Ayase said brightly, grabbing Ken by the shoulder. He lurched forward under Miss Ayase’s strong grip and stumbled until he was standing in front of the employee. “He’s here for his first piercing. Ear lobes.”
“Wonderful. Then, let’s have you check out our starter jewelry first,” the woman said, giving him a patient smile and gesturing for him to follow her.
She led him over to a case filled with a small collection of stud earrings in gold and stainless steel. There wasn’t as much of a selection as Ken had been expecting, but he had researched ear piercings for a while last night before bed and knew that there was a special kind of earring he’d need to wear while the piercing healed, so he supposed it made sense. You had to work your way up to the really artsy stuff.
“Do you have a particular style you’re leaning towards…?” the employee prompted him after a few silent seconds.
“I, um,” Ken started to say, but before he could get much more out, Miss Ayase and Jiji were by his side again, craning over his shoulders to look at the jewelry display.
“Ooh, look at these!” Miss Ayase exclaimed, poking her fingertip against the glass. “They’d be perfect, don’t you think?”
Ken glanced down to where Miss Ayase was pointing. It was a little hard to tell, but it looked like she had picked out a pair of plain gold earrings with round, polished studs.
Jiji followed her gaze and frowned. “They’re nice I guess, but why?” he asked.
“Because,” she said, a wicked grin on her face, “he could use a spare pair of golden balls, dontcha think?”
“Oh.” Jiji paused, and then his eyebrows shot up. “Oh! Momo!” he said, bursting out into laughter.
“M-Miss Ayase!” Ken exclaimed, feeling a rush of heat bloom on his cheeks. “We’re in public.”
Luckily, the employee didn’t seem to follow the conversation, so he was safe from further humiliation for the time being.
“I think you may prefer a stainless steel style,” she said, making a sweeping gesture over the left-hand side of the display. “If you’re going to wear those glasses every day, then steel should match your frames a little better than gold.”
“O-oh, yes, of course,” Ken said, and averted his eyes to the stainless steel earrings. They all looked kind of the same: no hoops, just studs, a few with crystals or glass of some kind but more just solid steel.
Eventually, his eyes landed on a pair of earrings that were shaped like little silver stars. The points were rounded so that it looked more like a starfish than a traditional star, but they still had a vaguely celestial feel to them that he felt drawn to.
“Maybe, um. These ones?” he said tentatively, pointing out the star studs. All three of his companions leaned over to view his pick.
“Ooh, the stars! I love it,” Jiji said, gesticulating wildly in their direction.
“I like ‘em, too,” Miss Ayase said, more subdued.
“I’ll take them!” Ken screeched before he could change his mind. The employee blinked, then gave him a crooked smile and a nod.
“All right, let me get a set and I’ll be right with you,” she said. “You can go back to my station and have a seat, okay?”
Then she disappeared into the back of the shop. Ken took a few shaky steps towards the piercing chair, hauling himself into it with some difficulty. Sitting here now, it suddenly hit him that he was about to get a hole punched into his body. On purpose! He’d been attacked before, shot up with shards of glass and much worse, but this was the first time he’d ever set out to harm his body intentionally.
Not that it was going to hurt him. Well, not long-term, anyway. Unless it got infected, and his ear fell off, like Miss Ayase had said…
“Hey, Okarun?”
Miss Ayase’s voice was suddenly much closer than Ken expected, and he whipped around to face her. She tilted her head at him and asked, “You okay?”
“Fine!” he exclaimed, a little too loudly. Miss Ayase rolled her eyes at him.
“Yeah, I’m so sure,” she said. She grinned sharply at him, her eyes narrowing, and in a sing-song voice she said, “You want us to hold your hand while the big bad lady puts a hole in you?”
“N-No!” Ken said, shutting his eyes tightly and turning away. “I’m not nervous.”
He waited to hear Miss Ayase’s laugh, sure she was about to tease him even further, but instead he felt something touch his left hand, and he startled in place, his eyes flying open again. He found Jiji at his side, gently taking Ken’s hand in his own.
“It’s cool if you are, y’know,” Jiji said, squeezing Ken’s hand. “It’s freaky, I get it.”
“Hey!” Miss Ayase exclaimed, and suddenly she lashed out and grabbed Ken’s right hand. “I know that. I wasn’t trying to be mean or nothin’…”
Heat crashed through Ken’s body. Miss Ayase and Jiji’s hands were so warm and soft, yet their touch was surprisingly firm. Having them both hold on to him like this felt… really nice.
“Excuse me.”
The piercing employee had come back.
“You two can’t stand here; I need the space,” she said.
“Oh, right,” Jiji said sheepishly, dropping his hold on Ken’s hand. Miss Ayase quickly followed suit, stepping back until the two of them were standing a suitable distance away. Ken found himself missing their presence immediately.
The employee went on to explain the details of what she was about to do, but nothing was sticking in Ken’s mind. It was fine, he reasoned; he didn’t have to do anything but sit still, right? She was the one who was doing all the work.
Then, before he knew what was happening, she had the piercing gun pressed to his earlobe and pulled the trigger.
It hurt both more and less than he had expected. It was sharp and sudden, like getting an injection at the doctor, but instead of feeling empty afterwards, his ear felt warm and heavy with the sudden weight of the starter earring in his lobe. While he was still processing the first piercing, she went right ahead and pierced the other ear, too.
All in, it took less than a minute. His earlobes were throbbing slightly, but it didn’t really hurt, exactly, more that it felt a little sore. The employee handed him a mirror to hold, and he peered at his reflection. He tilted his head, admiring the shiny stars sitting on his ears, and an involuntary smile spread across his face. It looked… really good. There wasn’t even any blood.
“Thank you very much,” Ken said, handing the mirror back to the employee. She smiled and bowed her head shallowly at him.
“It was my pleasure. Now, if you’ll come with me to the front desk, we can take care of the payment…”
Ken followed her to the front of the store, glancing at Miss Ayase and Jiji as he did. His friends both had big grins on their faces, but they politely waited until he had finished paying and left the store before bombarding him with questions.
“How do you feel?” Jiji asked.
“A little sore, I guess?” Ken said.
“That’ll pass after a few days,” Miss Ayase said. “Just try not to touch it; hands are pretty grimy.”
“And make sure you wash it a few times a day!” Jiji added.
“You guys, I was there when she gave me instructions for taking care of the piercing, too,” Ken said, but he ended up sounding more fond than exasperated. It was nice to have someone concerned about him.
“Sorry, sorry,” Jiji said. “It’s just exciting! Okarun’s got a piercing! Hey, we should go celebrate. Ooh! Y’all wanna go get oden?”
“Now you’re talking!” Miss Ayase said, linking her arm through Jiji’s. A split second later, she had Ken by the arm, too, and started dragging them down the road towards the closest convenience store.
Once they arrived, Jiji insisted on picking up the treats himself, and he flew into the store, leaving Ken and Miss Ayse alone outside to wait. Ken shivered, and tried desperately not to reach up and touch his ears. His new piercings were getting chilly in the cold winter air.
“Sooo…” Miss Ayase drawled after a few moments, scuffing her foot against the concrete. “Why’d you do it?”
Ken swallowed. “Do what?” he asked back.
“You know,” Miss Ayase said, and she flicked her ear, sending her seafoam green earrings waving. Her expression was deceptively neutral when she asked, “You tryin’ to get someone’s attention?”
“What?” Ken said before he could stop himself. “No,” he quickly added, but was that really true? Wasn’t he trying to get someone’s attention, or more than just someone?
“‘Kay,” Miss Ayase said, her mouth set in a thin line. Ken could tell she wasn’t done pushing him on the topic. She wasn’t good at hiding her feelings, not really, and Ken liked to think he was good at reading her after all this time spent together.
“I just wanted to, that’s all,” Ken tried. Miss Ayase looked at him skeptically, and he continued, “I’m serious.”
“Serious about what?”
Ken looked up. Jiji had returned, carrying a bag with three packs of pre-made oden and some more assorted snacks sitting inside it.
“Nothing,” Ken and Miss Ayase said at the same time.
“Aww man, Momo and Okarun are leaving me out?” he half-wailed, hanging his head. “See if I ever treat you two again…”
“Don’t be like that!” Miss Ayase said at once, looking pleadingly at Jiji. “We were just… talking about the festival tomorrow. We can meet at my place once the sun goes down, sound good?”
From there, the conversation devolved into planning their outing the next day, and then to preparing their oden once they arrived at Miss Ayase’s house, and the strange question Miss Ayase had asked him seemed to go forgotten—by Miss Ayase, at least. Ken didn’t forget about it, though, not even once he was home and lying in bed, blinking at the ceiling and trying to still his fluttering heart.
The sun rose and fell quickly the next day. Light was just barely peeking above the horizon when Okarun was washing out his piercings, using warm water and a plain soap like he’d been told, and then it was time to meet up at Miss Ayase’s house. Jiji was already there when Okarun arrived, chatting animatedly with Seiko while Miss Ayase tried to usher him out the door and get to the festival already.
The festival was set up at one of the few parks that dotted Kamigoe city, and you could see the lights from a half mile away, dimly glowing in the dark winter night. Once they actually arrived, the light was even brighter, strings and strings of multi-colored lights curling around tree branches and over intricately-designed trellises. For just a moment, Ken was swept up in the majesty of it all; he hadn’t been to a light festival like this in years, not since he was young. He just never had the time.
Soon, however, he found his attention straying to his companions, instead.
They were busy walking under a tunnel of lights when Ken dared to glance at Miss Ayase out of the corner of his eye. Her arms were hanging loosely by her side as she walked, and Ken watched her flex her fingers, curling them into her palm, fighting against the numbing cold. Suddenly, he was overcome with an intense longing to reach out and take her hand, to warm it up with his own.
Then a cool wind blew past him, and he shivered, his own hand bunching into a fist. His fingers were cold, too. His eyes darted to his left, where Jiji was ambling easily beside him. Jiji said he always ran hot, even more so now that he had to keep Evil Eye under wraps. His hand would probably be nice and warm.
Try as he might, Ken couldn’t stop thinking about the way it had felt to have both his friends holding his hands back at the piercing parlor. It had been so sudden and over so quickly, but for just a moment, Ken had felt… safe. Like he really didn’t have anything at all to worry about if he had Miss Ayase and Jiji at his side. Now they were all walking side-by-side again, and it felt like the most natural thing in the world to just… reach out and take their hands.
Ken shook his head lightly, trying to knock the thoughts out of his mind. You weren’t supposed to think about that kind of thing when you were out with your friends. Even if you were out at a festival, under a tunnel of multicolored lights. Even if you were surrounded by nothing but couples. Even if all the evidence pointed in exactly one direction…
“Okarun?” Miss Ayase asked. She tilted her head at him curiously. “You good?”
In reply, Ken blurted out, “Are we on a date?”
“Huh?!” Miss Ayase balked at him, almost physically jumping back in shock.
Jiji stuttered out a nervous laugh and said, “Who—what, who’s on a date?”
“Us three,” Ken said, but his face was burning in embarrassment. Maybe he’d really mis-read the situation.
“Don’t be stupid; you don’t go on dates in groups, dummy,” Miss Ayase said. She refused to meet Ken’s gaze now, choosing to stare pointedly at the ground instead.
“Oh, yeah… right,” Ken mumbled. He looked away and tilted his chin down so he could hide in his scarf. “Sorry.”
A cold breeze blew between the three of them, settling into an awkward cloud that pressed around Ken’s heart and made his whole body shake. He tried to swallow, but his throat felt thick, and he couldn’t stop himself from trembling. He was so stupid; he really just shouldn’t have said a damn thing.
After a long moment, Jiji spoke up.
“Would you hate it if we were?” he asked. “If we were on a date, I mean.”
“Who, me?” Ken asked.
Jiji shrugged. “Both of you,” he said.
“That doesn’t matter,” Miss Ayase said, her words sharp, “because this isn’t a date.”
With a frown, Jiji turned away, slipping his hands into his jacket pockets, and Ken could feel himself starting to panic. This wasn’t what he wanted at all; now Miss Ayase and Jiji were both shutting down—and Ken could relate. His heart was hammering in his chest so hard it was a wonder his companions couldn’t hear it. He was downright terrified, but… he could see a future where he shut down, too, where he kept quiet and succumbed to the awkward silence that was threatening to engulf them, and he didn’t like that future. Not one bit.
“You know, Miss Ayase,” Ken said, his voice cracking slightly around the edges, “you were right.”
Miss Ayase glanced at him, her eyebrows furrowed.
“About my piercing,” Ken explained. “I was trying to get someone’s attention.”
“Oh yeah?” she asked. Her gaze hardened, though she tried to hide it. “Did it work?”
“I don’t know yet,” Ken said. “Y—y’know, you two never told me, so… what, um, what do you think?”
At first, no one said anything. Ken’s limbs felt like they were shaking so hard he might collapse. Then, Miss Ayase looked at him again, really looked at him, her eyes darting from his ears to meet his gaze and then back again.
“They look really good,” she said quietly.
“Yeah,” Jiji agreed. “Super cute.”
“Then yes,” Ken said. “It worked.”
The cold air seemed to blanket them in silence as the weight of Ken’s words sank in. They had stopped walking, grouped up together near the edge of the light tunnel, watching the other couples pass them by. Ken was trying to formulate what he could say to salvage the situation when suddenly, he felt something brush against his hand, and he jumped in place.
It was Miss Ayase, taking his hand in hers. Ken turned to her with wide eyes, a questioning sound escaping his open mouth.
“Go buy me a snack,” Miss Ayase mumbled.
Ken blinked.
“Huh?”
“A snack,” Miss Ayase repeated. She squeezed his hand. “If this is a date, go get me a snack. Guys’re supposed to treat their dates, right?”
Ken’s cheeks started to flush with warmth. He turned to look at Jiji, who was watching them with an unreadable expression, half impressed and half something else. Quickly, before he could stop himself, Ken reached over and pulled Jiji’s hand out of his jacket pocket, lacing their fingers together, too.
“Okay,” Ken said breathlessly. “Jiji, do you want me to get you something, too?”
That unreadable expression on Jiji’s face morphed into surprise. Then he flipped around so he was facing Ken and Miss Ayase, reaching out to take Miss Ayase’s free hand with his, until they were standing in a loosely connected triangle shape.
“Let’s all go together!” he said, and started to walk backwards, tugging on Ken and Miss Ayase’s hands.
“Jiji!” Miss Ayase exclaimed, laughing as she stumbled a few steps forward. “You’re gonna trip and fall, you dork.”
Jiji barely seemed to hear her. Putting one foot deftly behind the other, he pulled them out of the light tunnel, his warm smile lit by the multicolored lights that dotted the sky around them. Ken struggled to keep up until Jiji stopped in place and pulled him and Miss Ayase into a hug, snuggling his head against Ken’s shoulder.
With his heart thumping wildly inside his chest, Ken looked sideways at Miss Ayase, who caught his eye with a shy smile of her own, and he felt warm inside again.