I admit I’m new to this couple, so I don’t know if I had managed to depict them well. This is just a ball of fluff, actually, so I hope you’ll appreciate it. I love Sakurai’s clutch personality, so I couldn’t not to insert it.
Imayoshi glanced at Sakurai, fidgeting by his side, and sighed.
Not that he was disappointed or bored, absolutely not, but when Sakurai was that nervous it was almost impossible to have a single conversation. He liked when he was a stuttering mess, but only if he was the cause.
“Are you sure it’s alright?” he asked the boy, brushing a hand against his.
The gesture startled Sakurai, who instinctively jumped to the side with wide eyes.
“Yes! Sorry! I’m fine! Sorry!”
“AH, here we go…” Imayoshi thought, powerlessly watching as his boyfriends started blabbering apologies in a progressively lower voice. So, he had really entered into his Panic Mode, uh?
And to think Imayoshi had looked forward the date so much it was almost embarrassing to him.
After six months of dating, for the first time ever, as they were walking home together Sakurai had taken the initiative to invite Imayoshi out. His boyfriend had been so surprised he had almost tripped and hit a pole. That ball of anxiety taking the courage to ask him out? He had been so proud of him he had had to restrain himself to push him against a wall and madly make out. Not really appropriate while being outside.
Yet, now that they were out, the boy seemed even more nervous than usual. Imayoshi had managed to decipher from his messy half-sentences that he had planned to go to a new café with different types of sweets, recommended for couples. A classic date, perfect to spend some time chatting quietly. But Sakurai was probably overthinking, no matter how many times he had reassured him it was a good idea.
The crowd didn’t help his mood either.
“Ryou,” he called his name, knowing well how it always worked to have his attention, as he tried to hide his frustration, “It’s fine, I already told you.”
The boy froze but couldn’t stop a trembling “Sorry!” from escaping from his lips.
Imayoshi had to hold his breath not to sigh again.
His boyfriend could be such a hassle. That must have been love, uh?
“Here,” he stretched out his hand, “Let’s hold hands. That helps, right?”
Sakurai’s eyes went wide. He looked at it, then peeked around fidgeting nervously, and finally quickly took it. Imayoshi squeezed his hand with the shadow of a smile, and the boy seemed to relax a little. He literally hid against his shoulder, but it was incredibly cute, and the boyfriend didn’t mind one bit.
They resumed walking in a peaceful silence. Sakurai seemed still restless, but at least he wasn’t apologizing to himself anymore.
“We’re almost there…” he whispered at some point, and Imayoshi nodded.
They turned a corner and found the shop at last.
It was… crowded. Incredibly crowded. Like, all-the-students-of-the-area-are-here crowded.
He threw a side glance to his boyfriend.
“Are you sure you want to go there?”
Sakurai was paler but still nodded.
“I-I booked a table in advance…”
“That’s not the problem here…” the other thought, warier. Yet, the idea that Sakurai had found the courage to make a call and reserve them a table moved him enough to make him want to risk it all and enter in that shop.
“And you?” Sakurai asked, throwing him a sharp glance.
“Keen as always,” Imayoshi scoffed, amused by how observant his ball of anxiety could be.
“Sure, can’t wait to eat that cake.”
As Sakurai had planned, the waitress led them to the table immediately, with a big smile on the lips. They slipped in the booths facing each other and took off the jackets.
However, the inside of the shop wasn’t less packed than the outside; the clients were literally mobbing the display case of the sweets.
“Uhm, h-here you have t-to go and order a-at the counter,” Sakurai explained, playing with the hem of his sleeves.
“Ah, what do you wa-” Imayoshi moved as to stand up, but Sakurai stopped him.
“NO!” he exclaimed, jumping to his feet, “I-I’ll go!”
Imayoshi arched an eyebrow.
“It’s not a problem for me…”
The brunet shook his head stubbornly.
“I invited you here! I’ll go!” he repeated heatedly.
“Without stuttering…” his boyfriend noticed. He must have really cared.
He didn’t want to belittle Sakurai’s efforts, so he seated back again.
“Then, thank you. Choose for me, I trust you.” His words finally made Sakurai show a sheepish smile. He nodded enthusiastically and disappeared into the crowd.
The other boys sighed with a small grin.
It was not long before two girls approached him.
“Are you here alone?” one asked with a hopeful look.
Imayoshi immediately flashed his practiced smile.
“Not exactly,” he avoided a direct reply.
“You’re with a friend?” the other one seemed excited at the prospect.
“Can we sit here?”
Imayoshi was on the verge of dismissing them when he caught the sight of Sakurai out of the corner of the eye.
He was standing frozen with wide eyes and the hands gripped around the tray with their treats. Oh, he knew that expression, he knew it well.
Imayoshi had to bite back a smirk.
“This is going to be fun…”
He looked back at the girls and tilted his head.
“Sitting with us you say?” he asked in a voice louder than needed, showing another sugary smile.
“Yes!”
“Wouldn’t that be fu-”
“I’m sorry, could you move, please?”
The two girls jerked, turning swiftly.
Sakurai was standing behind them with an icy smile on the lips.
“We just-”
The boy slammed the tray down on the table and leaned towards Imayoshi; he grabbed his tie and pulled him forward to press a kiss onto the corner of his lips.
“Sorry for the wait,” he apologized in a sultry voice, then glanced at the girls, paralyzed, “Do you need something else from my boyfriend?”
“N-No-”
“W-we were going-”
“Sorry!”
The two scurried away with red faces.
Imayoshi couldn’t restrain himself anymore and burst into an amused laughter.
Sakurai, on the other side, plopped down on the booth with his arms crossed and a pout on the lips.
“I-it’s n-not funny!” he stuttered with a furious blush on the cheeks, averting his eyes.
“I found it funny. I love your clutch mode!” his boyfriend shrugged with a wicked grin that made him pout harder.
“You have such an awful personality…” he muttered with an empty glare, but that made Imayoshi chuckle more.
“He’s adorable when he’s embarrassed like this…”
“Nah, I just love the gap. From a cute blushing mess to a hot possessive predator: it makes me weak,” he teased him mercilessly.
Sakurai’s redness only increased, and he hid the face between the hands.
“I can’t believe I’ve done that!”
“I’ll wear the tie more often when we make out.”
“P-please s-stop teasing me! We’re in public!”
“Said the guy who had just kissed me.”
Sakurai moaned and curled more on himself. Understanding he had reached his limit for the day, Imayoshi decided to stop there. Instead, he stretched a hand and ruffled his hair.
“It’s fine, it’s fine! Don’t worry, no one noticed apart from the girls, it’s fine. And here I am, properly swooned. I would say this is being a nice, satisfying date for now.”
Sakurai peeked through the arms, unsure to believe him or not.
Imayoshi showed him one of his rare genuine smiles and caressed his head more gently.
“Come one, didn’t you want me to try these amazing cakes?”
At the mentions of the sweets, Sakurai perked up with stars in the eyes.
“Yes! I’ve taken this one that…” And he threw himself in an excited explanation of the sweets he had chosen. Imayoshi listened to him in silence, enjoying how happy and at ease he seemed now, chatting in all his cuteness.
