[log] Kenya/Yukari & Zaizen

[naniwaspeed]

Who: Oshitari Kenya, Shiraishi Yukari, and Zaizen Hikaru
What: Kenya and Yukari go on their first ~date~ after Yukari moves to Tokyo, and while Kenya has it in his head that the evening was going to be an amazing, wonderful date with a beautiful girl and delicious food, his reality comes crashing down when one former doubles partner interrupts them
When: Mid-to-late May
Where: La Sirene, the French restaurant that Zaizen works at
Rating: G

Airy piano music trickled out the open windows of this cozy, first floor restaurant a little aways from the heaviest bustle of Shibuya, inviting passersby in to experience rich smells that promised delicious food, live song, and warm conversation. With luxury and without pretension, it was the kind of place where people stayed for awhile.

At least, that was the experience of the customer. Zaizen, however, felt like he had been playing Fauré for an entire hour and, given that the Dolly Suite was intended to be played with four hands, well, it was hardly surprising. He was actually glad when the owner’s small daughter -- now dauntless before him, if she ever hesitated -- requested that he play Once Upon A Dream. After a quietly put upon sigh and a few hushed words to her, he switched over to the cheesy Disney favorite, much to the pleasure and entertainment of some customers.

Zaizen’s back was to the door, but he was quite sure he would have to start waiting on some tables soon. Dinner was picking up too quickly for only two waiters to handle, and the current patrons were moving more from their slow appetizers to full on dinner anyway.

When Kenya said he wanted to take her on their first real date, Yukari was expecting him to pick something a little less… stereotypical than a five star French restaurant. She sure as heck did not know how to pronounce anything on a French menu and given Kenya’s track record with English pronunciation, she did not have much faith in his chances, either. It did not escape her notice that she was also the youngest female patron in the room. She at least had the presence of mind to put on a pair of strappy heels and a nice cocktail dress, but it explained why Kenya was wearing a suit.

Yuushi almost definitely dressed you, she thought as she glanced up at him. But she would be lying if she tried to say she didn’t also spend half of her afternoon trying to pick the right outfit for their first date.

It wasn’t that Kenya was particularly apt to pick someplace that would seem entirely out of their league as university students, but more that he was comfortable going to places that tended to attract an older crowd due to the cost, and just frankly didn’t really think twice. As the son of doctors and a full family of doctors who had come before them, Kenya had always lived a very comfortable, if not upper-class life, and it seemed completely reasonable to want to treat his girlfriend to a nice dinner for their first official date now that they were once again living in the same city.

While he hadn’t specifically told Yukari where they were going, he had at least had the foresight to tell her that it would be a fancier restaurant, which ultimately worked in his favor because she looked utterly stunning in her cocktail dress and he wasn’t sure if he had ever seen her so dolled up before. When they met they were usually in either their running gear or she would have been in her school uniform. At home she also dressed super cutely, but something that hugged her body like that was… well, Kenya tried to not focus too hard on that.

He settled his hand on the small of her back as they were led to their table, comfortably tucked nicely in the corner to allow them some privacy - just as Kenya hoped. He had the brief consideration that it would be the gentlemanly thing to help her push in her chair, but that responsibility was handled by the maître d' instead. Once they settled and had their napkins laid across their laps, Kenya smiled brightly at Yukari. “You look amazing.”

Yukari nodded her head in thanks to the maître d' before he slipped away. Yep, she definitely felt out of her element, here. “You, too… did Yuushi-san dress you?”

“Is it really so obvious?” Kenya smiled brightly. Yuushi was nothing if not a hopeless romantic; Kenya wouldn’t have been a very good cousin if he didn’t let Yuushi in on some of the fun.

“Yes.”

The question had been clearly directed to the prettily polished Yukari, but after receiving assignment to handle the few couples in the more private back corner and happening on two favored idiots (friends) in the middle of what looked like a conspicuously adorable and top secret date, Zaizen felt compelled to interrupt. Not that Zaizen looked at all like the Zaizen both parties were familiar with while wearing his server best and decidedly not wearing his choice earrings or spiked up hair. Even in his functional human disguise, it didn’t take the so called tensai long to put one and one together in the secluded dining setup complete with mood-setting candlelight.

“You look nice, though, Yukari-chan,” Zaizen added. “Welcome to La Sirene.”

The particular gleam striking his usual impassive expression, however, suggested welcome to the Zaizen Circle of Hell, specifically developed to torment sneaks and geeks, may I take your order.

The slow, lazy drawl was exactly the last thing Kenya ever wanted to hear on the face of the planet while on his first official date with Yukari. He had read online that Zaizen had gotten a new job, and he had known that it was some fancy restaurant that would never in a million years have hired him if he hadn’t somehow managed to game the system, but what were the odds that a restaurant that Kenya had found on Google, selected because of its menu options and five star ratings, would just so happen to be the same place.

Kenya resisted the urge to dart out of the restaurant at a breakneck pace, instead adopting his sweetest, most charming I’m-your-upperclassman-and-you-should-respect-me-and-by-the-way-go-away smile. “Hey, Hikaru. I had no idea this was the place you got a job at.”

“Thanks, Senpai,” Yukari responded, also putting on her sweetest “don’t look at me that way” smile. “So maybe there are more than mothballs in your pocket, huh?”

Rapt eyes watched this bizarre comedy unfold to remember everything that couldn’t be photographed right now. A moment or two passed in silence, Zaizen just staring blankly into the artifice and letting them sweat under the weight of it.

“Yeah, you didn’t,” he said, finally. Because Kenya wouldn’t have come here if he had, obviously. “And I don’t think instrument rental receipts and loan slips will help much with any side business endeavors,” but potentially could afford them a Mister Donut trip or two.

Deciding that these two were a meal to enjoy slowly -- it was ultimately a happy thing after all, probably -- Zaizen tilted his head and spoke in a crisp, professional tone in stark contrast to his kansai ben, “Would you like to hear the specials?”

Yukari couldn’t help but giggle at the keigo - it was one thing to hear someone from Osaka speak it, it was another to hear Hikaru speak it while waiting on them in a French restaurant. The absurdity of the situation did not escape her, even if she was inwardly sweating bullets. Not only were they still hoping to keep this on the downlow, if Kuranosuke was going to find out, Yukari really didn’t want it to be because of Hikaru. “Sure, let’s hear it,” she said sweetly.

As Yukari spoke, Kenya gave Zaizen a sweet, charming smile. If he was going to have any hope of not allowing Zaizen say a word about this encounter, he was going to have to be sugary sweet. If there was one thing and one thing only he knew about his former doubles partner, it was that Zaizen would worm under your each and every word and spin it in a direction that you did not intend - Kenya had fallen victim to it many times and he was not about to let it happen again. And, worst case scenario, he wasn’t above bribing him if necessary. He happened to know a couple of his critical weaknesses.

But before he was going to resort to any of the above, he needed to somehow convince Zaizen that this was not, in fact, a date date. It figured that in literally merely a month of Yukari moving to Tokyo that he would find himself in a situation like this, but that really was just Kenya’s luck. If he could magically convince Zaizen that he was treating Yukari to a nice dinner as a congratulatory, welcome to Toudai and Tokyo sort of outing.

As much as Kenya wanted to shout from the rooftops that was not the case, as the only person who he had told up until now was Yuushi and his younger brother and it needed to stay like that for at least a while until he knew how he wanted to approach it with a certain blonde, he needed to rein in his enthusiasm.

“Yeah, definitely. But it looks like the menu is pretty comprehensive, too, so~”

Zaizen already had no intention of tattling on Kenya and Yukari -- not that they needed to know that just yet. First of all, it wasn’t his business. He could understand and relate to the desire for privacy, and he would never take that away from people he cared about.

Second off all, well. They were kind of cute. It didn’t take much to see that both Kenya and Yukari were happy to be with each other and had quickly seemed to team up against him. The too-much-energy couple stuck together in a way that gratified Zaizen’s protective feelings over both of them.

“It is,” Zaizen agreed. “But this couples meal might tempt you.” Features nonchalant as ever, he filled each of their water glasses to the brim and recited as if from practiced memory, “A pair of slippery fish, freshly caught from the Kansai region. First they’re on high heat and oil in the frying pan, then tossed into the fire -- our oven -- with some flavorful acids and parsley for garnish.”

“Weird… It almost sounds like you’re talking about Koishikawa-senpai, if you’re talking about parsley.” Yukari touched her toes to Kenya’s shin under the table discreetly. “But I’m not in the mood for fish,” she added, giving Hikaru her best big, brown eyes. “Anything a little meatier?”

Zaizen was never going to live this down. He thought that he was clever, but Kenya knew all of his tricks; he wasn’t going to let Zaizen poke at them quite so easily, and he also wasn’t going to rise to the occasion. He didn’t want to give him the satisfaction. Kenya looked between Zaizen and Yukari and nodded in agreement. “Yeah, I think some sort of meat dish would be great. Any recommendations?”

Zaizen’s sharp gaze peered up and down Yukari’s pretty browns and then flicked over to his former doubles partner. They were holding up pretty well together against them.

“Koishikawa-senpai is my favorite senpai,” Zaizen stated plainly. “But if you’re in the mood for meat, the kitchen has a nice big chicken, fat enough for the both of you.”

Yukari couldn’t help but laugh at that - if there was anything Kenya had proven himself to be when they first got together, it was a big, fat chicken. Not that she could talk, it did take a lot of mustering her courage to open her mouth, too. That seemed like the kind of thing that Hikaru would not be able to relate to, though. “Roast chicken,” she suggested.

As much as he didn’t necessarily want the evening to be as it was, there was something at least a little amusing with how Yukari was playing into Zaizen’s ways. He well understood the intention through the words, but why was it that Zaizen would assume that he was a chicken? Why couldn’t he think that Kenya had everything under control just the way he liked it - that this was how he had planned and there was nothing that had taken him aback.

The little voice in the back of Kenya’s head told him that it had everything to do with the fact he and Zaizen were much too close of friends for that, and Kenya knew for a fact it was Zaizen’s favorite past time to bother his upperclassmen. He was not going to believe for a second that Koishikawa was actually his favorite.

“I’m thinking I’m more in the mood for some beef.” Kenya smiled at Yukari, mimicking the motion she made moments ago, gently resting her foot against hers. “Maybe a good cut of steak? It would probably help to actually look at the menus if there aren’t any more specials we’d be interested in…”

Looking straight at Kenya, Zaizen responded to Yukari with an expression that masked his amusement, “We can certainly roast that chicken for you, mademoiselle. Well-done is highly recommended.”

He stepped back and bowed, slightly more exaggerated than he normally might for the full effect. “And for you, sir, I’ll return with the menus. Should I also retrieve something besides water?”

“Well, you know, Senpai, I’m not actually 20, yet…” Yukari turned her attention back to Kenya knowing full well he was probably going to want to impress her with some incredible bottle of wine that cost more than she would spend on meals in a week, normally. She assumed no matter what she said, he would object to immediately. “So just water for me.”

As to be expected, Kenya was going to do just that. He ignored the fact that Zaizen’s eyes were like lasers pointing directly to the side of his head as he smiled at Yukari. “I think it’d be nice to have a bottle of something - do you have any recommendations?” Kenya was definitely going to make sure that they made the most out of their experience, especially if that came with the territory of grilling Zaizen for information to make him do his job. It’d be interesting to see just how well the part his favorite former doubles partner played.

Zaizen nodded once to Yukari, fully intending to respect her age with the requested recommendation. “Of course a respectable date would definitely not try and get someone underage drunk,” he skewered Kenya with a single look then showed Yukari his best customer service fake smile. “I recommend the imported fruit ciders. One of each flavor and menus?”

Maybe if Yukari hadn’t explicitly stated it, he could sneak them something, but alas. He wasn’t about to lose his job over it.

“Sounds great, Senpai.” Once again, Yukari tapped Kenya’s foot with hers gently, seeing the fire raging behind Kenya’s eyes. She knew how riled Kenya would get with prolonged exposure to Hikaru - it was like Hikaru was radioactive, or something.

The tap on his foot brought him back down to a reasonable level of excitement. Kenya relaxed back into his chair and gave Yukari more of an easy going smile. It wasn’t going to do either of them any good if he let Zaizen rile him up - it would probably only result in drawing attention to them when he wanted it to be a nice dinner shared between them for their first date and it would also help immensely to not prod Zaizen in return. It was bad enough that it happened constantly online.

“Yeah, sure, that sounds great.” Kenya glanced up at Zaizen, giving him the same smile that he directed to Yukari moments before. If nothing else, he was going to kill him with sweetness; that was usually a very quick way to get Zaizen off his back. “Thank you, Hikaru. We appreciate it.”

Zaizen bowed shallowly to both of them and then gestured to the name tag he had adopted for the, “Camille is happy to help.” Hikaru, on the other hand, was strongly tempted to ruin Kenya’s smile -- reflex and all.

He turned on his heel and quickly ferried the carefully cultivated menus over to the couple, and his second departure for the drinks left Kenya and Yukari to their own devices for a moment.

Yukari looked back over at Kenya with a patient smile that might as well have been on her brother’s face. There were certain things that were just Shiraishi qualities that the whole family possessed. “You shouldn’t let him get you all riled up like that… I mean, if anyone is going to know about it, might as well be Hikaru-senpai who isn’t going to tell anybody.”

He probably should have expected that Yukari would comment on it, but it didn’t change the fact that he probably could have taken the high road. “Yeah, I know.” Kenya leaned forward to rest his elbows on the table and ruffled his fingers through his hair as though it was going to help clear his head. “I couldn’t help it - I just wasn’t prepared to have to deal with that.” He looked back up to meet Yukari’s eyes and gave her a small, sheepish smile. “Sorry.”

“It’s okay,” Yukari assured Kenya, leaning forward to touch her hand to his forearm. “It’s still our first date, right~? We should enjoy it and not worry about what Hikaru-senpai or anyone else is thinking.” She sat back in her chair, again, grinning brightly. “I mean… it’s nice that we can actually talk face to face and not over the phone, anymore. Though… I kind of feel shy about it now that we’re talking like this, again.” She laughed lightly and tucked some of her hair behind her ear. “I liked you for a long time, so even just saying we’re on a date...”

There had been numerous occasions since becoming a couple that they had said such things to each other, but it didn’t stop Kenya’s heart from pounding against his chest, anyway. It was still a little hard to believe sometimes that she would agree to date him after what had felt like an eternity in the months leading up to it. The happiness was evident on Kenya’s face as he gave her a bright smile in return, touching his fingers to the back of her hand. “It’s still kinda hard to believe, isn’t it? But… it makes me so happy.”

Nothing was quicker to send a shot straight through Yukari’s chest than Kenya’s dumb smile. She hoped he never figured it out or she would be in real trouble. “Yeah, me too…” A blush graced her cheeks and she glanced down. She was really not great at being shy, but even her confidence had limits. “But… shouldn’t we be talking about awkward first date things? Isn’t that how this is supposed to work?”

The pink that brightened her cheeks and the bridge of her nose was too cute. Kenya had to keep himself from flailing about completely uselessly, lest Zaizen come back mid-flail, so instead he danced his fingers over her hand in a soothing motion. “Awkward first date things, huh? I didn’t know there were such things.”

Well, if they were on a first date and didn’t already know one another well, there would definitely be the standard awkward first date questions. “You know, like ‘where are you from?’ or ‘what do you do for a living?’ That kind of stuff when you’re just vetting a person.” Yukari tilted her head with a teasing smile, though it lost some of its effect with the pink of her cheeks. “Most girls wouldn’t let you past the first date when it came up you were an iguana enthusiast who likes making his girlfriend go for early morning sprints.”

Kenya laughed, his pounding heart now slowing to a steady beat once more, but he continued to run his fingers over the back of her hand momentarily before linking his fingers with hers instead. “I mean, I just had to know that you were special when you started putting up with things like that.”

These idiots were clearly gaga for each other and would keep talking until interrupted. He did, however, slow his feet and make another lap for an appetizer when his sharp ears picked up on Yukari’s confession like words. ‘Awkward first date things’ was also not a great place to interrupt, but as the couple hadn’t so much as glanced at the menu, he decided to make an appearance with the cider.

“Cite some other reasons, too, Kenya-san, you’re being outdone,” Zaizen advised and put the three ciders hooked into his fingers on the table. Then, as he neatly popped each cap, he elaborated, “Apple, pear, and orange pippin.”

Even though they hadn’t ordered it, Zaizen put down a small basket of breads and a cheese sampler plate.

Flustered, Yukari chose to be distracted by the bread and cheese platter instead of trying to look at Hikaru or Kenya. “This looks great,” she said softly more to herself than to Hikaru. “Thanks for bringing this.” As soon as she smelled the bread, she remembered how hungry she was… and picked up the menu to start perusing for dinner.

Ever still sugary sweet, Kenya looked up to smile at Zaizen as he retracted his hand from Yukari’s to pick up his menu. “I don’t wanna hear that from you.” He was genuinely grateful for the small platter, he had done a terrible job at properly looking at the menu even after Zaizen had put them down right in front of them, but it was still definitely his plan to kill Zaizen with kindness to get out of this encounter reasonably unscathed. His pride counted on it. But it probably was far from the last time. “But, yeah, definitely - thank you.”

Zaizen fought the instinct to shrug because this wasn’t the kind of place where one shrugged; they paid him reasonably well to pretend that he had some sense of manners. “Anything for our guests,” he drawled, threading barely detectable loops of sarcasm through otherwise perfectly polite words. “I’ll give you some time with the menu.” And each other. “Since Oshitari-san doesn’t want to hear from me, Shiraishi-san, please let me know if you have any questions regarding our offerings.”

If Kenya had any questions he could fuck right off, and the prim smile he shot Yukari’s way suggested as much.

Yukari glanced over her menu to give him a sly smile in return. Okay, so maybe Zaizen had her back after all. “You might have to teach me how to pronounce some of these things…” The steak diane both sounded delicious and she felt she could comfortably pronounce, but then there were foods she didn’t even recognize. What was foie gras, anyway?

Kenya knew that look - it was the look exchanged between his underclassmen that meant that he was going down whether he liked it or not.

Not that he really knew how to pronounce anything either, but he figured that he could just attempt with his best smile and display of enthusiasm, and Zaizen would likely know what he was getting at. If he was going to throw him a bone, anyway. It was hard to tell with him sometimes. He simply listened, nodding thoughtfully, and looking at his menu.

Dipping his chin in vague cooperation, Zaizen took two neat steps to behind Yukari to follow the line of her finger. “If you’ll show me what you’re interested in, perhaps we can ask your fashionable date to demonstrate?”

Because why not add gasoline to what was already a perfectly good bonfire?

Yukari smiled angelically and found the longest name on the menu that was almost entirely consonants as best as she could tell and pointed to it. “What about this one, Senpai?”

Kenya knew that smile, too. He could barely speak Japanese on a good day, let alone French, and Yukari was definitely not going to let him live this one down, either. He made a mental note to enact some sort of anti-Yukari and Zaizen ganging up on Kenya because it’s fun pact, and leaned forward so he could also get a look at what Yukari was pointing to.

What.

For a long moment of silence Kenya stared at the word, trying to wrap his head around how that collection of letters could possibly equate to a pronounceable word. There was no way. He turned his gaze upwards to look at Zaizen instead. Help, he pleaded wordlessly, though he knew that the chance of it falling on deaf ears was greater than not.

Yukari was wonderful. A muted smirk all but lived on Zaizen’s face at this point. Maybe it had something to do with seeing Yukari so happy after her receiving clearly some kind of fulfillment of her longtime crush; that or winding up Kenya just never lost its appeal.

He met Kenya’s helpless gaze and let him sweat. But not as long as he could have. Then slowly, he pronounced in Japanese-accented french, “Bouillabaisse de marseille. It’s a kind of fish stew.”

Kenya really ought to have known that his first mistake was dating a Shiraishi.

Yukari adopted a delighted expression and nodded. “Oh, that sounds wonderful.” She wasn’t about to try to make an attempt to say that back to Hikaru, she knew she would butcher it. And she thought it would be much funnier to hear Kenya butcher it, instead. “Kenya-san,” she said in sing-song, “why don’t you order for me?”

Yep. Yukari was right. Kenya’s mistake was definitely dating a Shiraishi.

Since Zaizen was officially no help, he turned the same helpless look to Yukari. He wasn’t about to tell her that no, he couldn’t do that because he was terrible at pronouncing languages that weren’t his native tongue, but he also didn’t want to go in with gusto in case he just made a total and utter ass out of himself. Zaizen had enough fodder from over the years; he didn’t need Kenya upping it by his own hand.

As it was clear that Yukari was taking the same firm stance that Zaizen was, Kenya looked back at the menu. How hard could it truly be? And with a confident look and a confident tone, he said confidently, “Boo-lee-ah-bye-say deh maru-sale.”

And the gauntlet was thrown; kouhai had officially banded together against the senpai, regardless of context. Zaizen liked Yukari’s wickedness almost as much as he liked watching Kenya puff himself up to accomplish the seemingly impossible. His own response was almost kind, “Not as bad as I thought,” he said with a smirk that suggested he may or may not have recorded it. “One bouillabaisse, and for you, sir? You were looking for a beef dish?”

Or something that was as well-done as Kenya looked like he might be soon.

Now that they had Kenya cornered (and he really was doing a great job), Yukari posed her foot under the table, watching Kenya’s face and waiting for him to speak. The moment he opened his mouth, she would strike.

He wasn’t even going to bother trying to order something for himself. Even if it was going to be admitting defeat, Kenya was going to just order what Zaizen suggested. “How ‘bout-” And that’s when he felt it - the sensation of the toe of Yukari’s shoe running up the inside of his leg as he tried to say what it was he was going to do. His face faltered for just a moment, unsure if he was going to be able to keep his voice steady as he continued, “Your favorite. Anything is good.” Though his tone was surprisingly level given the circumstances, it would definitely not pass anyone’s notice that her actions had clearly had an effect on him.

Zaizen smirked slyly; he didn’t need any sort of x-ray vision to see through his mischievous kouhai’s shenanigans. Yukari earned the sparkling approval Zaizen’s narrowed gaze flicked in her direction. Some praise didn’t need to be spoken.

“Definitely the coq au vin,” Zaizen drawled. “Please let me know if you need anything at all. It is my great pleasure to serve you.”

Although sarcasm colored his statement, it was, for once, true. For the show at least. He bowed and went to bring their orders to the kitchen.

“Thanks, Senpai,” Yukari called after him, not missing the gleam of approval in his gaze. She waited for him to be out of earshot before giving Kenya her full attention, again, slipping her toe along his inner calf. “Sorry for the dirty tactics,” she said without the slightest hint of remorse. Now that Hikaru was gone, it was safe for her to admit to herself that it made her stomach twist to see her touch rile Kenya up as much as it did. They had not been able to do much of that - touching, that was - with the distance that had separated them. Everything still felt raw and new.

Kenya stared at Zaizen’s back as he walked away before the repeated motion of Yukari’s toe along his inner calf snapped his attention back to her. Although this was far from what he had in mind asking Yukari out on this date, Zaizen was most certainly not an invited third member, it would still be better for him to focus on what was actually important - the fact that they, right now, were able to be together when for months they had been separated by hundreds of kilometres.

“S’all good,” Kenya said warmly, though he know full well that Yukari didn’t feel an ounce of remorse. “He’s just running with it because he can.”

It didn’t take an idiot to see that Kenya and Yukari were absorbed with each other, and Zaizen Hikaru was no idiot. He kept a discreet eye on the couple as he waited on other tables and looked, for all intents and purposes, like a high class server who actually knew what he was doing. Only once did he come around to Kenya and Yukari, but it was only to unobtrusively top up their waters and move on to the next table before they could really even notice them.

He had been trained to wait for a lull in conversation when a pair was on a date. However, he knew those two chattermouths long enough to know that there wouldn’t be one. So when their food was piping hot and ready, he pulled a senpai aside.

“Can you bring this to the corner table? I’m going to play for a bit,” Zaizen jerked his head toward the piano. As he often played when most tables were settled with their food, his coworker agreed easily.

The splendid meals brought before Kenya and Yukari were accompanied by the warm crawl of notes across the piano keys, sound lingering and bright like fairy lights sewn across the ceiling to complete the romantic ambiance. Although Zaizen didn’t have the words to wish his friends well, he rather hoped that they would hear it anyway.

The only thing that brought a lull in conversation when it came to Yukari and Kenya was a plate of food as spectacular as the one they had been presented. Yukari’s chatter was traded out for a smile with a mouthful of food and nodding to indicate her appreciation. It even seemed as though maybe Zaizen had given up his relentless pursuit of Kenya in favor of offering them a pleasant ambiance for their dinner.

In its own way, this was the perfect date for Yukari… right down to Zaizen catching them and taunting Kenya. It all felt a bit like home when she was so far away from everything familiar.

Reflecting back on the night later, Kenya would think nothing but fond things. In the moment, with everything still so fresh and new having been their first date and all, it wouldn’t have been his top choice to be interrupted by one of this closest friends - especially not the one who would always be the first to torment Kenya if given the chance.

Yet, even with those circumstances, somehow it broke the ice - not that he had been worried that the evening would be awkward, it wasn’t that at all, but since their coming together over Christmas, they hadn’t had the opportunity to truly explore the relationship in ways other than what had been their norm for so many years. Yukari was truly lovely, there was no doubts for that, and the opportunity to do so in a laughter filled evening was all Kenya could have hoped for.

And even if it had been in his own special way, devoid of any particular words or really any encouragement at all other than Zaizen and Yukari’s mutual silent agreement to give Kenya a hard time, the fact that Zaizen did take the opportunity to play the piano to provide a nice ambiance to the evening was not lost on Kenya - and he appreciated it more than words could even say. It wouldn’t last forever, the teasing was bound to resume long before Kenya would want it to, but it was always like that with his friend. They wouldn’t have been so close had it not been.

It was with fully bellies, plenty of laughter, and a kiss to Yukari’s cheek that they had parted ways for the evening. Even though this particular evening had come to an end, Kenya was excited for what sorts of things they could do in the future - what other date nights they could plan, what events they could attend, and what creative ways they could continue to build their relationship in this new path they walked down together.