Chapter Text
It starts off with a date. A failed attempt at a date.
"I'm sorry, Takemichi-kun." Hinata nibbled her bottom lip as she gazed downward. "It's not that I don't want to go out with you, but I already made plans with a friend the other day,"
Takemichi can't help but feel a slight twinge of disappointment. Not at Hina. Never at Hina. It's practically his fault for not planning the date diligently enough.
For the last week he has been rolling in his best, scrambling to think about the perfect surprise date as a way to make up for being a bad boyfriend (which is his stupid past self's fault that he's trying to undo, if he adds his two cents). His notebook is filled to the brim with ideas from what he thought of and the ones he asked around for. Most of the ideas he got from Tomas were pretty excellent, like visiting the zoo to see the new panda, recommended by Chifuyu.
There are also some trashy ones, like going to an escape room or banging shit up in a rage room. The first one might potentially be something Hina would enjoy, as she is currently very into the detective Holmes series, but he got a gut feeling they're both going to be engrossed for hours on end before even coming across a sniff of the first clue. Being in a room with a rage-filled Hina sends shivers down the back of his neck, so that’s also a no. He might have ended up being the victim that very night. It was best to keep it for times when she doesn't have any leftover resentment that is aimed at him.
After many days of thinking, Mitsuya just mentions offhandedly, "Why don’t you bring Hinata to the new couple café?” That’s the best one so far, frankly, and that’s what he decided for the day.
The place has a strong love-themed decor, with red string and a baby cupid motif all over the place. Fancy but not too fancy. As long as the customer is publicly decent, they're allowed in. Surely Hinata would love it. He'd passed through the cafe before on his way to school, giving it nothing but a mere glance, but he never actually went in. In fact, he’s never stepped foot in those types of establishments ever in his life. There’s a first time for everything, right?
Takemitchi wore the cleanest clothes he currently owns, which are just a pair of freshly clean black tees that don't smell and long trousers. Akkun was there at his house when he was getting ready. His hair was combed neatly, and Akkun did his magic to make the color look presentable. He gave him a thumbs-up of approval at Takemichi's choice of clothing after several rounds of trying.
In his opinion, the Hawaiian shirt would have looked better, along with his usual slicked, gelled hair. But Akkun was glaring daggers through his back and threatened to ruin his recently finished 2000 puzzle pieces if he decided to look like a hobo for a date with Hinata. No way in hell he’ll let Akkun do that. That puzzle took him a whole week to finish.
"You're already acting like a clown on a normal day; why would you want to dress like one too?" Akkun looks at Takemichi with an incredulous expression on his face. Wow, Akkun, way to hurt his poor feelings. Is this the person who he calls his closest friend all this time? Takemitchi wipes his imaginary tears while clutching his stabbed chest. So shirt and pants it is. Boring.
So there he is, with a bouquet in his sweaty hands hovering over the Tachibana front apartment door, trying to gather his confidence. This isn’t his first date; they’ve been to many in the past. There’s nothing to be nervous of. Really. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and pressed on the doorbell. Well, here he goes.
The sounds of the door being unlocked. Takemichi expanded his hand, passing the flower toward her arm as soon as the door was opened. “Good morning, Hina—” He greeted with full enthusiasm, except it wasn’t Hinata in front of him. The jet-black hair, a head shorter than his, stared silently at Takemichi before looking back at the flower currently in his arm. “Oh, sorry. I thought you were…”
Takemichi cleared his throat and asked, “Can you call your sister for a second? I have something to say to her.”
“You just missed it.”
“Hm?”
“She just went out a few minutes ago, maybe five…” Takemichi blinks before the words settle in. He excuses himself and immediately walks outside the buildings.
She can’t be that far away. There’s still a chance!
He stumbled upon Hina strolling in the park. When he saw Hina already all dolled up, he thought it would be the best time to ask her out, but he should have known she was already busy.
"It's okay, we can go there another time," fluttering his hand around, trying to show that he's not bothered in the slightest. A deep part of him wants Hina to cancel her plan, as he is her boyfriend, and wouldn’t that make him the first priority in her life? But he punts the thought to oblivion in a faraway corner of his mind. That's not right for Hina. Being a controlling jerk will do the opposite of buttering her up.
“I hope you’ll be having lots of fun today.” Takemichi wonders who she’s hanging out with so she can dress so nicely. Maybe Emma? Or it could be the girls she always had lunch with. For all the time he had brought Hina into Toman’s business, he couldn’t even remember her friend’s name. Damn, he's truly a terrible boyfriend. Why Hina decided to stay with him in both timelines is still lost on him, but he's not looking at the horse gift in the mouth.
For a fleeting moment, Takemichi can see Hina's face filled with a hint of guilt. She shouldn’t be; it's not really her fault after all. Her pursed lips open for a second before closing again. Finally she speaks after finding the right words, "I'm really sorry, Takemichi, but let's go on a date another day, okay? Hina will make it up to you, I promise." She presented him with a pinky finger, and he linked his own with hers.
Right, there’s always another day. Their date is not effectively a bust yet. On the bright side, he’ll get more time to improve on whatever it is he needed to.
She gave him one last goodbye hug before going on her merry way, and he caught onto the scent of perfume; the warm, sugary cocoa lingered on her skin.