Chapter Text
Valentines Week: Love is in the air.
Romance riddles the halls, couples surprise each other with cute gifts and love letters that they pour their heart into too.
Cherry has been asked out a fair amount of times by multiple girls, to whom which he declined.
For one VERY specific reason.
Riku Aoki.
Don’t get the wrong idea, he’s not romantically interested in Riku. Ew. The thought makes him nauseous.
It’s the opposite actually. Cherry has loathed Riku since the moment he was born, and Riku reciprocated those feelings—forced together at birth by their moms, it’s always been that way.
They don’t get along, they just don’t mix. Like water and oil.
Cherry & Riku, neck to neck. So, how is Riku the reason Cherry hasn’t accepted any Valentines, you may ask?
Easy.
Cherry has a plan to fuck with Riku, purely to see how angry his stupid face can get, and his ego successfully bruised.
- Make a Valentine’s gift every day
- Put it in Riku’s locker before school starts
- Successfully trick him into thinking he has a secret admirer
- Bully him about it at the end of the week
It’s the perfect ploy!
…Plus, Cherry is bored. And the desire to see Riku all upset is very prominent. Not in a weird way! Fuck, I worded that wrong.
“…Cherry? Bro, you’ve been staring menacingly at nothing for like… 5 minutes, you good?” Theo nudged Cherry’s plate with his fork, his eyebrows threaded in confusion.
“Huh? Oh—it’s nothing. I just came up with a really good idea!” Cherry beamed, the excitement evident in his tone. “Is it for Valentines? It’s coming up, y’know. Don’t tell me you got a date already?!” Theo whined.
“What? No—no! Not that, haha…” Cherry replied, his shoulders tensing. He felt very called out, for whatever reason.
“Thank god,” Theo sighed in relief. “I’m thinking of asking out Charlotte. She’s so pretty, man.”
“Who?”
Cherry didn’t recall.
“That uh, black haired girl with, y’know, the pink?” Theo gestured to his hair. “Don’t you remember? She hangs out around Riku,”
Cherry’s ear perked up at the mention of Riku. For heterosexual reasons, obviously. His gaze turned upwards as he searched to remember. “Riku…?” He murmured unconsciously. “Oh, that Charlotte, got it.”
“Yeah, should I ask her out?” Theo asked, grinning. “Uh… sure, dude.” Cherry nodded absentmindedly.
Charlotte. She hangs out around Riku, like… a lot. To be honest, Cherry didn’t like Charlotte.
Fine, he hated her. But that’s nobody’s business but his own. He kinda, maybe, possibly doesn’t really know why he hates her… he just does.
He spots her and Riku talking too many times to count. Riku is always laughing that stupid laugh when he’s with her. It makes Cherry feel weird. What an idiot, right?
His jaw tensed, his nails biting into his palms. Why? No clue.
“AMBROSE!” Theo shook Cherry’s shoulders. Cherry’s eyes widened. “WHAT?!” Cherry gasped. “Oh–my bad. You weren’t responding. Seriously bro, what’s on your mind?”
What was on his mind indeed.
“Man, I dunno,” Cherry shrugged.
“Is it a girl?” Theo leaned in, causing Cherry to flinch.
“What?! No!” Cherry blurted, sounding more defensive than he meant too.
“…a boy?” Theo leaned in closer. “NO—Stop leaning in, dude!” Cherry leaned back, his eyes darting around.
His heart rate increased, and he felt eyes that weren’t there burning into his skin. It was overwhelming. Why was he acting this way? This is all too confusing.
“Fineee… if you ever want to talk, I’m here for you, dude.” Theo patted his shoulder, his concern laced with casualness.
“Right… right. I-I will.” Cherry stammered.
—
After the day thankfully finished with the shrill bell, signaling Friday’s end and the weekend's start, Cherry found himself rushing to the gym faster than usual.
He’s been off all day. Probably just shook at his own genius plan, heh.
Well—now that he thought about it… (he totally hasn’t been noticing all day), he hasn’t seen Riku, really.
He spotted Riku for a moment on the way to class, but he had yet to start a conversation. It’s not like he was paying attention to Riku that closely, but Riku almost looked… upset.
“Yo, Cherry, you are looking sad, my guy. What’s up?” One of Cherry’s volleyball teammates pointed out, lightly punching Cherry’s shoulder in greeting.
“Oh—nah dude, I’m good. Just a little tired.” Cherry smiled as his teammate slugged an arm over his shoulders.
“Alright bro, better get on your A-game though. Might be able to beat you this time.” The teammate chuckles.
“Pfft, you wish.”