Chapter Text
The next morning was a normal one for Nakamura. He got ready for school as usual, had breakfast, and for who knows which time read the manga Kawamura had drawn for him.
The school day went as usual. Boring and long lessons. As usual, Nakamura looked at Hirose, trying to do it without anyone in the class noticing, as well as imagining the various topics of conversation they could have. Nothing new, really.
And finally, the school day was over. It was Friday and Nakamura wanted to ask Hirose if he wanted to go home with him.
'Maybe we can even stop at a cafe...' he thought.
While Nakamura was giggling and imagining another romantic scene in his head with a slight blush on his face, Hirose's friends approached him and started a conversation.
'CRAP! Not them again!'
A few minutes later, Hirose and his friends left the classroom together.
"Uhhhhhhhhh again?!" Nakamura fell face down into his desk "I'm hopeless!"
He stayed in the classroom for some time, after he returned to reality and looked at the clock on the wall, he realized that he had been in the empty classroom for more than 30 minutes.
Nakamura took his school bag and headed towards the exit. The weather outside was warm but not hot, perfect for early September. If Nakamura wasn't able to spend time with Hirose, he would at least be able to enjoy the peace and quiet on his way home.
On the way to the school gates, he began making plans for the evening and weekend.
'Today I can finish reading the manga, and tomorrow-'
As soon as he left the school grounds, he was pulled out of his thoughts by the sight of a person who was definitely waiting for Nakamura.
"Oh you're finally here," he waved his hand, "Hello there!"
It was Matsumura.
Nakamura was surprised. This tall boy came to their school only on Thursdays, when the three of them walked home with Hirose.
'Oh right.' Nakamura had already forgotten about what happened yesterday. But now he remembered.
"What are you doing here? In case you forgot, Thursday was yesterday."
"And?" Matsumura replied.
"Hirose has already gone home."
"I'm not here for Hirose, but for you."
"Wha? Why?" Nakamura asked in confusion. Yes, they started fake dating for practice, and because of the 'fake' part, he really did not understand why Matsumura came to their school today.
"When people are dating, they usually go home together, you idiot." Matsumura sighed. "And it's not nice to greet your partner with the question, 'What are you doing here?' "
"Yeah? But calling your partner an idiot is a good thing?!" Nakamura's face totally was showing all sorts of negative emotions at this moment.
"Now, now," Matsumura gave a fake smile. "Better get rid of that expression because we're going on a date."
"WE ARE WHAT!?" Nakamura asked, "Wait, Yes, I agreed, but I didn't think it would happen so quickly!"
The tall boy looked at him with confusion. "Did you think I would wait for a month or something?"
"Not re-" Nakamura didn't have time to finish his sentence when Matsumura started going.
"Nevermind, let's go already."
Nakamura had no choice but to follow him.
They walked in awkward silence. Nakamura didn't really like these situations because he didn't know how to properly break the silence. But after about 15 minutes of walking, he finally asked,
"Where are we even going?"
"To a cafe of course," after a short pause, Matsumura added "we'll discuss some details."
"Sure."
They continued walking in silence for another 5 minutes until they finally stopped near a small cafe.
Matsumura opened the door and held it so Nakamura could enter first.
"Wow, it was really nice of you." Nakamura commented as he walked inside.
"Well, ladies first as they say-" Matsumura said with teasing.
"Who-WHO DO YOU?! .... You know what.. nevermind."
They walked to an empty table and sat down opposite each other.
The cafe was not that big but quite popular as there were quite a lot of people in here.
An awkward silence fell between them as Matsumura looked through the menu.
After he decided what he would order, he handed the menu to Nakamura, to which he replied, "I'll just take coffee. Without milk."
"Without milk? That's bitter, do you seriously like that." It wasn't a question.
Nakamura wanted to answer something, but the waiter approached them to take their order.
"We'll have a cappuccino, black coffee and one cheesecake."
When the waiter left, Nakamura finally asked, "So what did you want to discuss?"
The degeneration of Matsumura's face became more severe and looking into Nakamura's eyes he said, "We have to set some rules."
"Agreed," Nakamura immediately replied, "and isn't that what we should have started with yesterday?"
"Maybe we would have done this yesterday if you hadn't been in such a hurry to get home."
"Should I apologize now for wanting to get home instead of talking to you?"
Matsumura opened his mouth to answer something, but then he was interrupted by the waiter who brought their order.
"Well anyways, let's start with rule number 1, No real feelings."
"Um, should that be a rule?" Nakamura looked at his cup of hot coffee. "Like, it's obvious without a rule-"
"Stop being a smartass, I'm just clarifying."
Matsumura took his cup and brought it closer to his mouth, "rule number 2, practice dates three times a week."
"Three times?! Plus one day when we go home together with Hirose?" He poured, " this ... mean I'll have to see you 4 times a week?!"
"What did you expect? Practice is practice." Matsumura took a sip of his drink. "How about Monday, Wednesday and Saturday?"
"Okay, that'll do." Nakamura finally takes a sip of his coffee too.
"And finally rule number 3," One more sip, "We must act like a real couple in public."
Now Nakamura's face expressed an emotion that was somewhere between disgust and confusion.
"And...do you seriously think I'll agree to this?"
Matsumura sighed, "Then how do you think it's going to work if we keep acting like we're trying to get rid of each other?"
"But I can't even imagine that of all people, I should act like this with you!"
"Don't worry, it's not that hard," The taller boy took a spoon and scooped up a piece of cheesecake. "Like that, say ah~" He moved closer to Nakamura, bringing the spoon with cheesecake closer to his mouth.
A slight blush appeared on Nakamura's face. "I won't do it-"
"Say ah~" Matsumura's smile still remained on his face, but his eyebrows began to furrow.
"No."
"Damn. Just. Say. It." Matsumura's face and voice changed in an instant and sounded very terrifying now.
"Okay! Okay!" His face became much redder than before. "Ah-" He opened his mouth and looked away. He was rather embarrassed to do something like that in public. But now he knows how it will feel if he decides to try this with Hirose.
"See, it's not that difficult." After Nakamura swallowed a piece of cheesecake, Matsumura handed him a spoon. "Now it's your turn."
"Mine? I reserved this for Hirose, not for you."
"Well, be glad that I give you the opportunity to manifest your dreams into reality."
"Shut it, you damn saver." Nakamura took pieces of cheesecake with a spoon and also brought it to Matsumura's mouth."Say ah."
"Ah~" A piece of cheesecake quickly found its way into Matsumura's mouth.
'God. It's so embarrassing....' was on Makamuras mind.
As soon as Matsumura swallowed a piece of cheesecake he said. "You need to work on your pronunciation, but you're in luck because the cheesecake isn't finished yet."
"Oh god....." Nakamura's face was very red. "Okay, I'll do it, but only if you pay for my coffee."
"Deal." Matsumura grinned.
They spent quite a while in this cafe before they managed to finish their slices of cheesecake and their drinks. In the end, Nakamura even managed to sound as convincing as Matsumura. The taller boy paid for his partner as promised, and they left the cafe.
"Well, see you on Monday, bye."
"Yeah, bye-" Nakamura was actually surprised by the fact that Matsumura hadn’t offered to walk home with him.
Matsumura waved goodbye and left.
On the way home, Nakamura tried to process everything that had just happened.