Work Text:
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Himekawa: hey gero, are you were free today around 6:00 pm? I was wondering if you want to go the new museum that’s opening. No pressure, but let me know !!!
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That’s what the text read on Hikaru’s phone. Today was one of his off-days where he had no missions nor any dates planned, so going on a date with Himekawa sounded like a great opportunity. Plus he hadn’t seen her since their job together with Kimie, so it would be a great opportunity to catch up with her.
I should text Kinosaki to ask if he’s free, I would do much better knowing he’s there.
While Hikaru had gotten a lot better at handling dates and romantic situations, he still couldn’t do a solo date without being an absolute mess. He felt abit guilty dragging Kinosaki around for his dates after everything he already does for him already, but Kinosaki’s presence was a very grounding one. Like “a professional is looking after me so I won’t have to worry about messing up” type of presence.
So, Hikaru pulled out his phone and wrote up a message.
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Hikaru: Hey Kinosaki! Himekawa just sent me a message asking me to go on a date to the new Museum opening. Could you make it there?
Kinosaki: Ooooo Good Job Gero-kun !!! That sounds like its gonna be so much fun! Unfortunately, I can’t make it today! Sorry ;-;
~~♡~~
Huh, I Guess I kinda forgot Kinosaki has his social life too
Hikaru felt abit less excited on the prospect of Kinosaki not being there for the date, but guess he couldn’t help it. It’s not like he owned Kinosaki, He definitely couldn’t demand any more of his time than he already gets. Hikaru mentally readied himself when his phone buzzes and he received another text. He picked up the phone to look. Hmm, maybe he changed his mind?-
~~♡~~
Kinosaki: I’ve actually got my own date today too.
Kinosaki: Twinsies! Maybe we could go on a double date someday :3 But not today though, we are going to the amusement park.
Kinosaki: But I know you will do great today, Gero-kun. You have me as a teacher so yk. Good luck on the date !! I’ll talk to you later byeee
~~♡~~
Guh!?
Hikaru felt a slight twist inside his heart. He knew Kinosaki stopped swindling after their deal started, he didn’t need to anymore. So that means this was a real date…
But with who? Hikaru wasn’t aware of anybody Kinosaki was seeing, given they had spent most of their days together in the last 2 months. But then again, Kinosaki was popular– and really attractive –So it’s not like it would take him that much effort to find someone eager to take him out. But something was still tugging at the back of his mind….
What if Kinosaki is being set up by my family? What if they try to threaten him again?
Thoughts like that slowly started to spiral in his mind. It wouldn’t come as a surprise to him, his family has tried to attack Kinosaki multiple times. Even going so far as to poison him once. No, He couldn’t take that sort of risk. He should definitely make sure Kinosaki is not in any danger. That’s the least he could do when he’s the reason for all of this.
But If I tell him this, he would probably just brush it off and tell me to mind my own business…
So Hikaru decided, He will abide his duty and shadow Kinosaki’s date to make sure he isn’t in any danger.
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Hikaru: Hey Himekawa!! Sorry, I have an urgent mission today ;-; Thanks for the invite though! I will make sure I can make it up to you next time !!
~~♡~~
He didn’t bother looking at the response, he had to be quick and get ready for his stakeout. He started to pack all his toxins and his gear. He had to prepare for the absolute worst case. It could be Teruaki again, so he can’t slack off. Kinosaki didn’t even know what he looked like either.
I have to hurry up.
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Hikaru made it to the entrance of the amusement park as soon as he could, and he started scouting out for when Kinosaki and his ‘date’ arrive. The gate had plenty of blindspots so hiding shouldn’t be a problem. He picked a corner around the gate and started to look around. It seems they haven’t made it here yet, there’s no other route to get into the park, as far as he could check. Now all he needed to do was wait.
He stood there for about 45 minutes before he started to get antsy.
Did I miss something? Did they already go in without me noticing? That shouldn’t be possible !! I should probably text Kinosaki to-
That’s when Hikaru spotted Kinosaki.
Kinosaki was wearing was wearing his date outfit from their museum date 2 months ago. Black cropped jacket over a purple shirt, Long vanilla skirt to complement it. Hikaru felt a slight heat come to his cheeks. I forget how good looking he is.
Kinosaki was beaming with a smile across his face as he walked with both of his hands forward, holding his purse. He looked radiant, like he was having a good time already. Huh. Hikaru let go of the breath he didn’t even know he was holding, and he looked over to the person Kinosaki was walking with.
Hmm, tall, muscular, golden hair, sunglasses, Bepp-
LEO BEPPU?!
Hikaru suddenly chocked on air. Kinosaki was on a date with Beppu. The gun user who was delusional enough to believe the man was already engaged with Kinosaki. What was going on? I thought kinosaki didn’t like-
Oh. Oh yeah. He told me it was none of my business.
Suddenly, Hikaru felt very embarrassed at what he was doing. After ruling out that it wasn’t his family’s doing, it dawned on him that he was stalking his friends going on a date by themselves. Guess there really was nothing to worry about…
But for some odd reason, he didn’t want to go home. He had refused Himekawa so he couldn’t go with her now. He had no other jobs today. It didn’t make sense, Mei never really expressed any feelings for Beppu. The opposite was true, He always seemed to dislike Beppu’s obsession with him. The sudden change, it felt odd to Hikaru. Like his Insides were getting twisted. Hikaru couldn’t pin point why, but his gut was telling him to stick around.
He kept his eyes on them as they entered into the amusement park. Beppu was being his usual self, speaking loudly about how he’s gonna give ‘his honey’ the best amusement park date ever. Mei was beside him, smiling, which made hikaru feel uneasy to say the least.
Mei then hooked his arm with Beppu’s and they started walking towards the various rides. They first went to the Carousel. Hikaru followed behind them, while making sure he isn’t noticed by beppu’s sharp eyes. As he got close to the rides, he saw Mei and Beppu getting on one of the horses Together?!
Is that even illegal?!
Hikaru then looked off to the side to see the operator with hearts in his eyes looking at Mei. Ahh, I guess he really can charm his way into anything. Hikaru stood off to the side as he watched Mei and Beppu spin around on the horse as Mei is seated infront of Beppu’s Lap. Beppu seems to be in absolute delight, which starts to put Hikaru off abit. This is totally unsafe! What if the horse breaks and Mei gets hurt?! Has Beppu not thought about that?
Hikaru stood close just incase that happens, so he could catch Mei and make sure he didn’t get hurt. It’s the least he could do. He waited for the Carousel to stop spinning, and watched as Mei shook himself abit before getting off the horse with Beppu’s assistance. Hikaru let a sigh out as he watched them, thankful Kinosaki didn’t get hurt.
Next they went off to the Balloon Darts Stand, which was apparently trademarked. Hikaru followed them, just hiding around the earshot. He saw Mei hold onto Beppu’s arm and say, “Beppu-San, If you can get me that bunny over there, I will give you a kiss~”
Both Beppu and Hikaru choked on the air and started coughing at the same time. Beppu looked like he was about to explode. He started to stutter, “H-h-honey, you shouldn’t stay stuff like that before m-marriage. I- um I will win you the prize anyways!” He started skittering around and then picked up the darts. Of course, he aced every shot he makes, being the expert gun user. The stand owner had to stop him from popping every balloon, and quickly gave them their bunny prize. Mei looked very pleased with it. After that they went off to the food stalls. Hikaru followed suite, very much relieved that Mei didn’t kiss Beppu.
Huh? Why though. They’re my friends. I should be happy that they’re enjoying themselves.
Hikaru tried to remind himself, yet he still couldn’t brush off the sour feeling he got when he tried to imagine it. Mei’s lips on Beppu’s, while he wraps his arms around his hips-
No! He had to stop thinking about it, and focus on following them. He ignored the burning inside himself and concentrated on the task at hand. He saw Beppu and Mei infront of the Ice-cream stall, enjoying their ice cream together while they talked about which ride they wanted to go on next. Mei said he wanted to go to the Ferris wheel, and Beppu almost leaped 2 feet in the air in excitement.
Oh no, this is bad. Without me around in the ferris wheel, anything can happen.
Contrary to what others might think, Hikaru did know abit about romance. He had watched a few movies Akari lent him recently, rom-coms, and he knew that a ferris wheel was the perfect place for an intimate moment. He suddenly felt really anxious, like something might happen in there that he might not like.
He suddenly snapped back to reality, and realized they had already gotten into a carriage on the wheel, and without thinking he sprinted as fast as he could and got ontop of their carriage mid air, without getting noticed. It was starting to get dark out so hiding wasn’t a problem, but he needed to be careful. He knew he was being stupid but he just had to follow his instincts, and his instincts told him not to let them go alone.
He peeked inside to see Mei and Beppu sitting on one of the benches together, bodies close enough that it was impossible to breath without inhaling the other’s breath. Mei was looking towards the scenery of the city while Beppu had a big red blush on his face, and a smile that would tell you he just won the lottery. He was looking only at Mei, and nothing else. Hikaru felt like he was being intrusive, looking into an intimate moment that made his guts feel like they were being twisted inside out. The only way he could focus on not thinking about what that meant was by making sure he wasn’t gonna fall off the wheel and die. He kept his hands and feet tight around the carriage as he looked at them.
Suddenly Mei started to move his head in the direction of Beppu, and both Hikaru and Beppu started to panic. Beppu started to stammer, “I uhm- H-honey I’ve actually never kissed anyone befo-” as Mei ignored him and started leaning in closer and closer, and Beppu closed his eyes. Hikaru suddenly felt like his breathing had stopped. Time seemed to slow down and Mei leaned in...and kissed Beppu on the cheek.
Beppu opened his eyes with a blush on his face, and started to rub the back of his head in embarrassment as Mei gave him a wink and pulled his tongue out at him. Hikaru felt himself physically relax before he remembered he’s ontop of a ferris wheel and he suddenly tensed up as he tried not to fall off. The rest of the ride was fairly eventless as they just seemed to chat about normal everyday stuff.
As they get off the ferris wheel, gero jumps off without being noticed and sighs a breath of relief. God that was so stupid. But he also didn’t regret it, he somehow felt like if he didn’t make sure he was there he couldn’t sleep tonight. He then looked around and spotted Mei and Beppu as they started to leave the amusement park. He audibly sighed as he realized it was finally over. He quickly followed them as he saw them say their goodbyes and Mei giving Beppu a quick hug before separating as Mei got into a cab. As the cab started to drive off into the direction of Mei’s apartment, Beppu started walking off towards his own, as Hikaru presumed.
That left Hikaru to finally have a moment to himself, and it suddenly dawned on him what he had been doing the whole day. No, I have to get home first. So he ignored his blazing mind and called for a cab of his own.
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Hikaru slumped into his own bed face first, the exhaustion of the whole day hitting him all at once. He let out a big breath he had been holding on for the whole ride home, and he let his body relax.
…
…
…
I like him, don’t I?
I definitely like him.
It all hit Hikaru all at once. He felt so many different emotions at the same time, realization, elation, embarrassment, acceptance, embarrassment again. He thought about what he had done the whole day, he had stalked his...crush(?) on his date like an absolute creep. He might’ve started with noble intentions, but after confirming Mei wasn’t in any danger he stuck around for his own selfish interests.
Guh!? I’m such an idiot.
Now that he realized that he liked Mei, he started re-contextualizing every interaction they have ever had. As he started thinking, it was more and more clear how fucked he was. He didn’t just like Mei, he definitely really really liked Mei.
But… wasn’t Mei seeing Beppu right now? He suddenly realized and he felt his hopes crushed in instant. He suddenly felt like he already lost his shot before he even had a chance. Maybe if he had noticed sooner he-
He then remembered that Mei himself taught him that these days its normal to see multiple people at once. He himself was doing this, so why was he so scared of Mei doing the same? Looking at his and Beppu’s interactions, it definitely wasn’t anything serious. All he needed to do now was to take his chance before he loses it.
Yeah, he’s decided it. He picked up his phone and started typing out his message before he chickened out.
~~♡~~
Hikaru: Hey Kinosaki! I was wondering if you were free tomorrow, or anytime this week?