Chapter Text
After being roommates with Mitsuri for 2 years, the dual haired girl had gradually wormed her way to your heart. Your goal of only co-existing in a space with your roommate was dashed out the window the moment she gave you a cute drawing of a silly cat. The two of you did not share classes during your first year, seeing as you were from different courses. You were an English major while she was an Arts major. Despite not sharing any classes however, you would both make efforts to eat together or even study different subjects together in your dorm room. After the first year, you've both decided to continue living together and requested that you both were paired as roommates again this year.
Mitsuri was a great friend. Her bubbly and silly personality, a good contrast to your more subdued personality. It also helped that she was a great roommate, knowing how to cook the most delicious dishes and finding the best eating spots to order out in. While she did eat a lot more than you originally expected from a girl her size, you found it quite fun to eat with her, endlessly amused and endeared by her.
While there are a lot of things you love about your friend, her penchant for matchmaking was sometimes a bit too much for you. This isn’t to say that you disliked romance, in fact that is far from the case. You just held your emotions more closely to your chest. Baring your fantasies and desires was something that felt vulnerable for you, and you only ever let yourself be vulnerable when you’re writing. Which is why you’re an English major…with a secret stash for romance novels.
Mitsuri, for all her love of love and matchmaking, has had terrible luck in the dating pool within the men in your university. Her last boyfriend was someone who you would classify as a nerd but not in the fun way. He was also extremely traditional, berating Mitsuri for her split dyed hair and telling her to “cover up more”. You had overheard this conversation and promptly ripped the man a new one, telling Mitsuri to dump him.
You had downed a few drinks with Mitsuri telling her to “forget that asshole!”. A few drinks too much later, you had somehow convinced Mitsuri to make a dating profile to show her all the options she has, and within the next hour, were drunkenly swiping through the profiles on her phone. You had both woken up with a severe hangover the next day but if there was one positive about that whole experience, it was Mitsuri matching with Obanai.
While you were originally against him, seeing as he barely had any information in his profile and no social media presence at all, Mitsuri had enjoyed talking to him and he seems to be genuinely interested in what Mitsuri had to say. They were a ‘opposites attract’ type of pair, and when Mitsuri decided to give her number to Obanai so that they could chat outside of the app, you weren’t too against it. You still, however, cautioned her not to meet up with the man alone, seeing as there could still be many risks that come with meeting strangers.
It has been a couple months, and Mitsuri and Obanai had been messaging on a daily basis, even involving a couple calls here and there. While you were now convinced that Obanai wasn’t too bad of a guy, you still weren’t going to let your friend meet up with him without anybody with her. Which now brings you to your current dilemma.
“I can’t go on a double date with you, Mitsuri! Who would I even bring?” You say to her, as she squealed her suggestion of a double date.
"I can ask Obanai to bring a friend!" Mitsuri exclaims excitedly, "he mentioned something about being close friends with a coworker, so maybe I can ask him!”
From the tone of her voice, you can tell that she has now made up her mind and has started trying to match you with this friend of Obanai’s.
"But I don't know anything about him!” You say in complaint.
“Just go on one date! This way you can check up on me, but also get to go on a date!” She says excitedly.
“Look, I just want to make sure you’re alright and that Obanai is actually as sincere as he is on text. I don’t need to go on a date to do that, Mitsuri.”
At your statement, Mitsuri's eyes soften, and she smiles, her tone a bit more serious, "I am really grateful that you're looking out for me (Y/N), but I think that you should also put yourself out there more! You try to hide it, but I know you’re a romantic too! You can’t hide those books and those writings of yours forever.”
You gape slightly at this, about to deny it but Mitsuri only continues, “I think that you should also have the chance to experience things, instead of having to just think about it all the time.”
Mitsuri often spoke in a rambling and sometimes incomprehensible way, but during times like this, you are reminded of how easily she can see through you. While you still didn't necessarily want to go on a blind date, you know she is right in that you should put yourself out more to actually experience those things you've been dreaming about. You steel yourself for a moment, knowing that this could be a disastrous decision.
You looked at her and sighed before saying, "Fine, I'll go on a blind date with his friend."
Mitsuri squeals and hugs you, "It’s going to be so fun! I'm so excited!"
You pat her in the back while rolling your eyes affectionately, “Yeah, yeah, yeah. We'll be going on a double date while I scrutinize your future boyfriend.” You say teasingly.
At the word boyfriend, Mitsuri flushes brightly, causing her to hit you in the arm which causes you to groan in pain. She truly was stronger than she looked. As she apologized, you waved her away with a grin.
“Oh, but Mitsuri?”
“Hm?”
“If his friend ends up being an asshole, you're doing my laundry for a month.”
At this she whines, stating that a month was too long, causing you to laugh at her antics.
Cut to the present and you are certain that this is the worst decision of your life. You had gone to this double date with questions prepared for Obanai, multiple escape routes and options, and other safety precautions in case anything happens. What you didn't prepare for however, was for your date to look like someone that you can find on the cover for a dark romance novel. You would never admit it, but you had been obsessed with dark romance novels in your high school years, and the man in front of you would look exactly like the main leads in books like those only if it weren’t for his white hair.
Just a few minutes ago, a pair of men had walked into the restaurant you and Mitsuri have been waiting in. At the sound of the bell marking their entrance, Mitsuri had stared at the door excitedly and in her enthusiasm let out a short squeal.
"It's him!" Mitsuri says, her attempt to whisper failing as the black-haired man among the pair whips his head to the side to look at your friend. He was wearing a mask but you saw him look at your friend quizzically, before hesitantly waving at Mitsuri. Mitsuri smiles back at him brightly, enthusiastically waving back.
“Obanai!" She calls out, perhaps a bit too loudly, causing some of the people at the restaurant to look at her. She flushes slightly at the attention but continues to wave him over. If you had been paying more attention, you would have seen how Obanai's dual-colored eyes softened at her actions, and how his posture relaxed significantly. Unfortunately, you were busy short circuiting as you stared at the man next to Obanai.
"Oh fuck he's hot." You say under your breath, causing Mitsuri to look at you a bit concernedly thinking you were talking about Obanai.
Before she could ask you about it however, the pair walked towards the both of you, causing her to once again focus on Obanai. Your attention, however, was trained on the other man. He stood with his hands in his hands in his pockets, his posture slightly slouched. If his white hair didn’t already make him stand out, the jagged scars running across his face certainly would. Moreover, he was also taller than average, and even slightly hunched over himself, you know that he would still tower over you. He wore white long sleeves that were rolled up until his elbows, exposing his forearms that you see are also littered with scars. You briefly wonder where he got his scars, before telling yourself that asking a man where he got his scars on a first date is probably quite rude. To top his outfit, and general vibe off, he wore a black vest and slacks, making him seem like a college professor that you would've definitely had dirty thoughts about.
As he turns to face you, standing behind Obanai, you see that his top 3 buttons are fully open, showing you his neck and collarbones. You draw in a quick breath as he moves closer, your heart racing against your will. Quite unfairly, you also realize that he has the prettiest shade of purple eyes.
‘Fuck.’
“Mitsuri?” The black-haired man says, looking at Mitsuri, causing you to snap out of your reverie. His eyes briefly flickered to you, and you saw his posture go slightly rigid, but as he looked at Mitsuri’s smile, his body seems to relax.
“It’s nice to finally meet you, Obanai!” She says, standing up to greet him. You thought she was going in for a hug like she normally does but are quite surprised to see her shake his hand instead. The man seemed flustered regardless, however, which makes you think that she’s aware that the man probably wasn’t too tactile with women.
They stare at each other for a moment before she suddenly motions to you and says, “Oh and this is my friend, (Y/N)!”
You stand up and greet them, bowing politely. You introduce yourself, and briefly look at your blind date to see his reaction, forcing your face to look as nonchalant as it can. When you look at him however, you see him staring at your friend questioningly.
“Kanroji?” He says with a tilt of his head. His voice was gruff, causing you to briefly think that it’s unfair how he also sounds sexy.
“Oh!” Mitsuri exclaims, only seeming to register the presence of the other man now. Before either you or Obanai could question how they know each other, she suddenly greets him and says, “お久しぶり*, Shinazugawa-sensei!”
At the use of the word teacher, your head snaps at the man. He didn’t look old enough to have taught your friend, and you are alarmed at the idea that this man could be into young girls.
“You taught Mitsuri?” Obanai exclaims in surprise. He had a quiet vibe to him, making his surprise feel momentous.
“She was in the first batch of students I started teaching. She was in her third year.” He said simply. “You started working in Kimetsu Academy the year after she graduated.” He says turning to Obanai for the latter part of his reply.
“Excuse me,” you say interjecting, “I don’t mean to be rude but how old are you two?” Already making plans of escape on the high chance that they were in their 30s.
“I’m 24 and so is Obanai.” He says, pulling his wallet out to show you his ID.
“I graduated college at 21.” He says, answering the unasked question. You stare at his ID and confirm that he was in fact 24. Your eyes linger at his photo before you stare at his name, and learn that he was called Shinazugawa Sanemi. You stare back at the man, and then at Obanai, before handing him his ID back.
“Alright.” You say hesitantly. There was technically nothing wrong with your age gap, you were only 3 years apart after all, but you wonder briefly if that would pose a problem later on. You stare at Mitsuri, who seems to only be looking at Obanai, causing the man to shift slightly.
“Well, I don’t have a problem with the gap, but just so we’re upfront, I’m 21 and we’re both sophomores.” You state simply, looking at the man. Obanai seems to already know this, and Sanemi seems to have inferred it.
The white-haired man shrugs and says, “Well I don’t really give a damn about a 3-year age gap.”
Obanai simply nods and says, “I’ve already known that Mitsuri was a college student.”
“Well, that settles that.” You say, “Would you guys want to take a seat now, so we don’t look awkward standing near this table?”
This sets everyone to motion, with you taking the side of the chair that was against the wall in the booth table you were in. Sanemi sits opposite of you while Mitsuri sits to your left. As you settle in, you see your date staring at you causing you to look at him curiously, wondering what he’s thinking.
“Shinazugawa Sanemi.” He says suddenly, offering his hand, “Nice to meet you.”
“Nice to meet you, Shinazugawa-san.” You say, shaking his hand. You grasp it briefly, and you feel the scars on his hands. What struck you the most however was how big his hands were. His hands completely dwarfed yours, and you pay attention to this difference perhaps a little more than you should. Forcing yourself to act normal, you let his hand go, trying your best not to fixate on it. You stare at the table in front of you and offer the two men the menu that you and Mitsuri were looking at earlier.
“Should we all order?” You say to the group.
“Their food here is really great! The group meal set B is my favorite, it’s so delicious but still affordable!” Mitsuri says excitedly. She had eaten the whole group meal by herself, causing some of the other patrons to be shocked during your first time here. You looked at Obanai for his reaction, but he seems to only look and smile at her.
“Then I would like to order that as well.” He says to her quietly, causing her to grin.
“I ordered it the first time I was here. The owner was so surprised I could eat more.” She says with a laugh. You look at your date and he seem to be looking at the menu intensely. As he stares back at you with the same expression however, you think that maybe he just has an intense resting bitch face. You smile at the thought and stifle a laugh before breaking eye contact.
“I remember that you did leave quite an impression with your ten-tiered bento.” Sanemi says, with an impressed tone.
“Ten-tiered?!” You say in exclamation. You didn't have any doubt that Mitsuri could finish that amount of food, bringing that to school must have been difficult.
Mitsuri flushed slightly and said, “It was for senior year. I got so stressed while studying for the college entrance exams, that I had to bring more food.” She pouted slightly, causing you to smile at her cuteness. You look at Obanai and realize he was doing the same, causing you to be more comfortable about the two of them.
You look at him curiously however and ask, “If you don't mind me asking, why the mask? Are you alright?”
Obanai seems to startle at your direct gaze and staggers to reply.
“Oh, I-” He begins shifting slightly, “I have a bit of a cold, and I didn't want to spread my disease.”
In actuality, it was because he gets so nervous around women that it feels like an allergic reaction. Sanemi glances over at his friend, gauging how much he can handle. This to you, just looks Sanemi looking at his friend as he speaks.
“Oh, I hope you get well soon.” You tell the man honestly.
Obanai nods at this in gratitude and promptly looks away from you.
“He's allergic to women.” Sanemi suddenly says, causing you and Mitsuri to look at him questioningly, while Obanai hisses at him.
“ Shinazugawa !”
Sanemi only rolls his eyes, and says, “He gets nervous when in close proximity to women, that his body physically “reacts” when near them. So really, he might as well be allergic.” He says bluntly. Obanai kicks Sanemi under the table, causing the other man to grimace and then glare back at him.
“He doesn't sound nervous when he talks to me.” Mitsuri says with a smile, causing you to grin, about to tease her. Before you could however, her expression shapes to horror as she turns to the man in question.
“Wait, is it because you don't see me as a woman?!” She says with a horrified expression.
At this Sanemi facepalms, while Obanai visibly panics.
“No of course not!” Obanai says quickly, “It's because you’re the only woman I like!”
At this admission, both of them flush red, and are now unable to react to each other. You process all that Sanemi has said so far, and look at the two of them and decide that your questions weren't as needed as you thought. In fact you may need to form new questions so they don't end up too flustered like right now.
You stare at your date and he is looking at the interaction with an outward look of disdain but the softness in his eyes and the slight curl of his lips tells you otherwise. He stares at you and for a moment, and you both have a sudden understanding of the reason you both decided to be on this double date. He simply nods at you, while you smile.
You turn to your friend to help diffuse their flusteredness and say, “Why don't we all order?” You turn to Sanemi and ask, “Have you decided on what you want?”
“I'll take a tonkatsu and a matcha.” He says in reply, “What will you be having?”
“Oh I'll have a (food) and (drink).” You reply to him before turning to the other two and saying “And you'll both have the group set meal B?”
They both nod, still slightly flustered. You wonder if Obanai could actually eat that much. You look at him assessingly, and think that he probably can’t even finish half of that meal. As you stared, you remembered how he gets nervous around women and decided to avert your eyes instead. You are suddenly met with purple eyes, staring at you with more intensity than you would have expected, causing your breath to hitch slightly. Before you could do anything else, you see him raise his hand to order.
A server comes up to your table and says, “Can I take your order?”
“Yes, I'll have a tonkatsu set, with a matcha, while she'll have a (order) and (drink). We'd also like to add 2 set B group meals.” He said to the waiter.
As the waiter confirms and repeats your order, you find yourself transfixed by how he sounds when he speaks. His voice was gruff, and he speaks with slight rasp as if he's been shouting all day and you've noticed that he was quite the potty mouth with his friend, but he has been polite with you and the server.
You had been staring at his mouth as he spoke, and the more depraved part of your brain had started wondering about where best his mouth should be. Before you can descend into your thoughts any further, you quickly snap yourself out of it. You closed your eyes briefly and shook the mental images from your head, causing Sanemi’s eyes to snap to you.
“Did you want to order anything else?” He says to you.
“Oh, no, I'm good. Thanks.” You said, realizing that you shaking your head may have looked like you were disagreeing with what he had said. “I just remembered something irrelevant.”
He simply nods in response to this, and confirms back to the waiter. The waiter bows his head, and walks away.
Sanemi turns to the group and sees that Mitsuri and Obanai has calmed down significantly and seems to be trying to look at each other interchangeably. While he is quite amused at the way they seem to be playing eyeball table tennis, their awkwardness frustrates him more than it should. As he turns his eyes to his date, he tries to relax his stare, remembering Kanae’s words.
He remembers Kanae teasing him saying, “You always look so intense, Shinazugawa. You should try relaxing!”
Sanemi had only scoffed at her then, arguing that he wasn’t intense. Only for her to whip out a picture of his resting bitch face.
Since then, he has made an effort to relax his face more when meeting new people. Having a terrible case of resting bitch face, mixed in with his scars didn’t make a particularly friendly image after all. He looks at you and hopes that he hasn’t put you off too much .
Sanemi had felt the need to accompany Obanai since it was his idea to put him on the dating app in the first place. After learning that his friend (but they would never call each other that to their face) would grow so nervous around women that he would have a physical reaction, he suggested online dating as a way to still meet people. Obanai had originally declined, but after a few weeks, had reluctantly slid his phone to Sanemi, asking him to help set up an account.
After helping his friend, he hadn’t heard any updates in regards to the app, and assumed that he had deleted it. So imagine his surprise when he pulls him aside after work one day and asks him to go with him on a double date with someone he had matched with online, and her friend.
“Ha? Why the hell would I go on a double date with you?!”
“You were the one who told me to go get a dating app!” Obanai hissed in reply, flustered.
“Yeah, but I don’t remember saying go get a double date.” He says as he turns away from the man, “That shit is no longer part of my business.”
“Her friend wanted to join the date for safety reasons, and Mitsuri had suggested a double date.” Obanai says in reply, blocking his way. Sanemi internally thought that the friend was smart for checking up on online meet-ups. He didn’t particularly like that women had to do that just because of how terrible some men are but he admired her preparedness.
“Why was a double date her first suggestion?” He says with a scoff.
“She loves matchmaking.” The man replied simply.
“So you’re asking me ?” Sanemi says incredulously.
“You’re the only one I could ask!” Obanai says begrudgingly, “I don’t know a lot of other people.”
At this Sanemi pauses as he stares at the man in front of him. Even though he won’t admit it, Obanai was one of his closest friends, and the man has made working in this school a lot more bearable.
At this Sanemi sighs and promptly glares at the man, “Fine. But you’re paying for my meal.”
Obanai nods and says, “I’ll text you the details.” He pauses for a moment and quietly adds, “Thanks.”
“Whatever.” Sanemi responds, as he walks away. He’ll probably regret going out on a date with some stranger, but at least he’ll have a free meal.
He had followed Obanai to a table, resigning himself to simply fourth wheel. He knew you were only there to assess Obanai and really, who was he to stand in your way. Unlike you, he didn’t really think he needed to check the validity of Obanai’s choice, as he already knew that they differ greatly with their taste in women. When he saw Kanroji however, he reconsidered his decision of not vetting the people his friends are dating. While she does fit into Obanai’s type, seeing a former student on a double date was still a strange experience.
As he was about to back out of the date – dating people younger than him wasn’t particularly his style – he sees his date for the first time and he feels himself pause. He sees you and can’t stop himself from thinking about how stunning you look. And when you immediately move to question the both of them about their age after his declaration, he finds himself grinning at your directness. He also saw you clock the different exits as well as the people around you, and he finds that he likes that you have a good amount of cautiousness within you. After all, Sanemi had always preferred directness in a person, and the assured way you carried himself had him drawn to you.
If asked, he would deny it, but he saw himself in the guarded way you spoke, and that similarity was probably also why Sanemi stayed, despite the age gap. He had told you that he didn’t care much for it, but in actuality you were the youngest person he has gone on a date with. What Sanemi can’t deny, even to himself however, was how in danger he was of being enamored with you. While he is assured of his attraction to you, he learns that he also enjoyed the little faces you make as you watch Mitsuri and Obanai interact. He thinks you are unaware that you do them, and he hates how much he likes it.
After he finishes ordering the food, much to his embarrassment, he goes back into staring at you. While he does force himself to occasionally look away so he doesn’t appear like a degenerate, he can’t help but want to memorize how you look. With great reluctance, he chooses to stare at Obanai and Kanroji instead, and notice a still lingering awkwardness between them. He leans against his palm as he tries to decide whether he wants to help them or just let them squirm.
“So what do you guys teach?” He hears you ask and decides that you were clearly better than him, because he had originally wanted to see who would break first. Your question however, gave him a reason to stare at you so he can’t fault you that much.
“Chemistry.” Obanai says simply. Sanemi sees you make another face, and he wonders if this is because of your disdain over the subject or because of something else. (You wanted to make a dad joke about the Chemistry between Mitsuri and Obanai but held back).
“Oh, are you the new head of the chemistry club, Obanai?” Kanroji says, “A friend of mine used to be a part of it when we were in Kimetsu.”
Obanai seems to consider this, “Well there are no applicants this year, but they might have joined the Biology club instead.” He pauses for a moment before adding, “I might consider heading it if there are students that want to join.”
Sanemi internally notes that the reason there were no applicants that year was because Obanai is just as strict as he is, while the previous Chemistry teacher had been too lenient with his students. The old chemistry lab was damaged a lot because of how careless the teacher prior to Obanai was.
“I’m sure a lot of students will join if you tell them, Obanai!” Kanroji says with a bright grin. You were staring at the two as they conversed, just like decent people would, but Sanemi chooses to only stare at you. Noticing his gaze, you focus back at him and ask, “How about you?”
“I teach math.” He says, and this time he sees a more obvious expression take over your face. Sanemi guffaws when he sees your face visibly scrunch up in distaste. You look away from him, embarrassed.
“I take it you hate math?” Sanemi says with a grin.
You scratch the back of your ear with a sheepish blush at the call out, "Fuck, was it that obvious?"
"Well you’d definitely be shit at poker," Sanemi replies with a teasing grin. He pauses briefly as you laugh at his comment, looking at you with an expression you can’t quite comprehend. Before you could dwell on it, he asks, “So what’s your major? I’m assuming it isn’t Math.”
Despite his teasing grin, you feel your posture straighten, and despite having no real reason to, you suddenly grow more guarded.
“I’m an English major.” You say as you gear yourself up in preparation for the comments on how impractical it was or how STEM based majors were more helpful to society. You were a practiced debater, and you stare at him waiting for his response.
He nods at your answer and says, “Are you aiming to teach?”
This throws you off as you were about to prattle on about the usefulness of your degree and how it wasn’t any less important than the courses under science and mathematics. You pause as you consider his question.
“I had originally taken this degree because I enjoyed writing in English and wanted to pursue that further.” You tell him honestly, “But I think that I might enjoy teaching it as well if I got the chance.”
Sanemi nods at this and says, “Well good luck.” He looks at you for a moment before suddenly admitting, “My favorite teacher was actually an English teacher.”
You looked at him mildly surprised at the fact. While you think that English teachers were generally kind, you didn’t expect his favorite teacher to be an English teacher.
“I was shit at reading English, even more for the writing but she had helped me out a lot. Even when I lashed out and submitted the shittiest writing, she still chose to be kind and encouraging. She was the only reason I passed English in high school.”
You soften at the mention of his English teacher, remembering fondly the teacher that inspired you to be an English major in the first place. As you stare at him again, you find yourself in danger of beginning to truly like this man. Your physical attraction for him fading into something more holistic.
Sanemi looks as if he suddenly shared too much and instead grins smugly and says, “Well, that and the fact that I was fucking great at math. I was my school’s representative for Math competitions for three years straight.”
You let out a whistle, impressed at his skill. Seeing his grin however, made a sudden burst of confidence shoot through you as you teasingly said. “Oh so you were a nerd in high school.”
At the mention of the word nerd , Sanemi’s face falls in response while Obanai snickers. Mitsuri turns to you with a look of surprise as she tries to parse Sanemi’s reaction.
“ Nerd? I wasn’t a fucking nerd! I was in the damn track team!” He says indignantly.
“Sure, sure,” you saw with your voice filled with mirth, “Whatever you say, Math Olympiad.”
Sanemi’s face morphed into a conflicted expression, visibly torn between pride and annoyance, which caused you to laugh in surprise.
“Were you actually a math olympiad?” You exclaim in surprise, letting out an impressed laugh.
Sanemi crosses his arms over his chest, causing you to fixate over his forearms and his chest for a moment before you force yourself to look back at his face.
“I was one of the representatives for Japan for the International Math Olympiad, during my third year.” While his voice held a sense of pride for this achievement, the irked look on his face at being clocked so easily had you grinning.
“That’s actually really impressive.” You tell him with honest awe in your voice. Unable to resist teasing him however, you cheekily add, “It doesn’t help your case with you not being a nerd, though.”
He glares at you for a moment, but you can see that there was a genuine amusement in his eyes. When Obanai continued to snicker at him however, his brows furrowed deeper in irritation as he elbows his friend.
“I wasn’t a nerd!” He says to you, but now also turning to Obanai.
“I’ll believe it when I see it.” You say with a grin.
“Yeah, where’s your proof Shinazugawa?” Obanai adds in response.
“I’ll show you!” He takes his phone out of his pocket and begins to to furiously scrolls through his phone. You laugh at the aggressive way he looks for his proof, only stopping his search when the food starts to arrive, begging with his order. As the table begins to become more crowded you all give thanks for your meal and begin eating.
As you take a bite of your food, you feel Sanemi’s eyes on you, and you look at him curiously, “What is it?”
“Here.” He says as he hands you his phone, finally allowing himself to start eating his meal. You look at the screen and see a video on it. As you press play, a track video shows up on the screen. Very visible among the people running was the white haired man leading the race. The video cuts off with Sanemi in the lead and you stare back at the man in front of you in shock.
He was already staring at you, smirking as he takes a bite of his food. You force your face into an expression of indifference as you say, “Not bad.”
You hand him his phone back, struggling to maintain the nonchalant look on your face when you’re acutely aware that you were already helplessly attracted to this man and that if you could, you would burn the video into your memory.
Sanemi swallows the bite he took and says. “Not bad? I was fucking good .”
You knew that if it were anybody else, the cockiness in their voice would have already turned you away in disgust. Instead, you shake your head at him good naturedly, as you see your amusement mirrored in his eyes.
The four of you continue to exchange conversation as you eat, getting to know each other further. Obanai had not end up eating much, causing Mitsuri to happily volunteer to eat his share. You all watch in awe as she finishes the meal, while also talking enthusiastically about her art. You and Sanemi would also have separate conversations while Mitsuri and Obanai talked, but generally you spoke together as a group.
As the date draws to a close, you find yourself growing more hesitant to leave. You stare at Sanemi, nervously preparing yourself to ask for his number. While you do think that this date has also been enjoyable for him, you can't help but wonder if that was enough to warrant a second date. As you all move to pay, deciding to pay for each of your own shares, Sanemi puts a hand out to stop you from paying.
“I'll pay for our share.” He says simply, while pulling out his wallet.
You look at him incredulously, “I can pay for myself.” Before you could launch into an argument about independence and feminism, you are immediately silenced by what he says next.
“It’s fine, you can buy me a drink next time, in exchange.” He says, as he shifts slightly away from you, and you notice how he seems to have suddenly grown shy about it. You look at him in shock and he must have taken your silence as a disagreement and adds, “Not that this is transactional, I just wanted to treat you. To thank you for a good time.”
You look at him, torn with still wanting to pay but pleasantly surprised that he had wanted to go out with you again. You smile at him briefly before you let out an exaggerated scoff.
“Well if I have to buy you a drink, I would like to know where and when?” He looks at you now, watching your face morph into a full grin. He handed over his payment of both your shares to Obanai who was offering to pay using his card, as he did not bring enough cash, and turned to you with a smile of his own.
“Well if you gave me your number, maybe we can work something out.” His confidence grows with your reciprocation of his interest. He pulls out his phone and hands it to you, causing you to shake your head.
“Damn, and here I was wanting to ask you for your number earlier.” You laugh as you take his phone and type in your number, sending yourself a message.
You take out your phone and confirm that it was sent as you saved his number. He watched you with a smile, and he would never admit it but there was a thrum of excitement emerging in his chest at the thought of going out with you again.
You looked back at him and smiled. “Guess I'll see you around?”
“You will.” He says.
He looks as you turn to Obanai and Mitsuri and he sees his friend stiffen as you look at him.
“Iguro-san,” You begin and Obanai looks mildly sick, “You're the only man that Mitsuri has dated that I've approved of, and I hope it stays that way.” You had said this sternly but there was a hint of mirth as you said this.
Obanai relaxes as he hears this and he nods simply at you. He turns to Mitsuri and quietly says, “I'll work hard to be a good boyfriend to you.”
At the word boyfriend you see your friend's face turn bright red as she stutters the word out with a squeal. Her reaction causes you to laugh meanwhile Sanemi lets out a scoff.
“What the hell are you two flustered for? Stop acting like high schoolers.” He says gruffly. There was an undeniable level of fondness in his tone however, which causes you to laugh more as you turn to him.
“Not a lot of people had chances to go out on dates in high school, Mr. Math Olympiad Track Star.” You said with a teasing grin, causing the white haired man to look at you intensely. The purple of his eyes baring down on you with an emotion you can't name.
“Who said I went out on dates?” He says, with a raise of his (non-existent) eyebrows.
“Well, didn't you?” You say teasingly, “I'm sure you were popular with a lot of people since you were both smart and athletic.”
As his face grew more serious however, you realize that you've perhaps assumed something you shouldn't have.
“I wouldn't know. Didn’t really care much about what people thought in high school.” He says with a guarded stance.
You nod your head at this and decide to switch to a lighter topic. “Well, you would have definitely been a senior I had a crush on.” You said with a smile, perhaps a bit too honest.
“Is that so?” He says, his smug grin back, “Think you would have done those cheesy confessions?”
“Define ‘cheesy’?” You question despite already knowing you’ve done quite a few cliche confessions.
“Like, writing a letter and all that shit.” He says.
You laugh embarrassedly as you say, “Well I wouldn't be giving it directly but I have left letters in shoe lockers before.”
He wrinkles his nose in response, making you suddenly want to tease him.
“Not a big fan of romantic gestures, Shinazugawa?”
“Sanemi.” He suddenly says, causing you to let out a “What?” by instinct.
“Call me Sanemi.” He says. You nod at this and just when you thought that this was the end of the interaction, he moves closer to you and responds.
“And I do like romantic gestures, I just prefer a more…” He pauses as he leans closer to you before saying, “ physical gesture.” Your breath hitches and he catches it, causing him to smirk at you.
“That and I wasn't the best reader.” He says as he leans back to his original position. You would have grinned at his comment, but your mind is currently going on overdrive as you try to process his previous closeness and the desire that is beginning to stir in your gut.
Before you could stop yourself you ask, “What type of gestures?”
Sanemi raises his brow at you with a laugh and says, “Buy a man a drink first.” Despite his laughter however, you see his eyes flicker down to your lips briefly.
“Maybe I'll show you the next time we meet.” He says, his eyes shining with promise. “If that's what you want.”
With a confidence you didn't know you had, you pass by him and slide your hand to forearm and say, “I'm looking forward to it.” Before walking away, grabbing Mitsuri’s arm as you move to hire a cab. Your friend chats away as you try to calm your racing heart.
Back where you left him, Sanemi can't help but grin as you walk away thinking, I'm also looking forward to it .