Originally posted on my personal writing blog (along with another various accounts I have elsewhere). This is an extra chapter I couldn’t quite fit into a series I once wrote for Kasamatsu! I hope you enjoy! (I’m contemplating posting the other chapters to the Kasamatsu fic I wrote; let me know if you guys like this idea)
-Neon
There’s a tense
moment of silence as ____ glances back and forth between her companion
and the direction their waitress had just left in. With their orders
already taken, an opportunity for conversation should have been
initiated, but neither teen was seizing the chance. In a nervous habit,
she starts nibbling on her bottom lip, wracking her brain for any topic
that would be of interest.
“So,” she starts eventually, noticing how the boy across from her flinches ever so slightly. “Basketball?”
In
her mind, ____ is chastising herself for the lame start of a
conversation. Of course her date would want to talk about basketball—he
was Kasamatsu Yukio, after all—but she didn’t know the first thing about
the sport save for the few things her friends back at Seirin had told
her. Needless to say, she’d already dived headfirst into a topic she had
no experience in.
“Y-Yeah,” Kasamatsu answers back.
He’s
cursing at himself inwardly for the short response, unable to find the
words to express himself. Even if he could, he doesn’t really know what ____ means. Did she want to know why he played basketball? Or maybe
she wanted to talk about his last game? It was possible she was leaving
it open for his interpretation so he could take the conversation in
whatever direction he chose, but that plan would only work if he could
get the jumbled vocabulary in his mind to make coherent phrases longer
than a syllable. This date was a bad idea.
When Kasamatsu fails to
elaborate further on his answer another silence starts to linger in the
air. ____ finds herself glancing around the cafe, looking for another
source of inspiration for their conversation. When none presents
itself, she goes back to the previous topic, albeit hesitantly.
“I
don’t know much about it myself. Maybe you could teach me a few
things?” She leaves the question hanging in the air, hoping her voice
didn’t sound overly hopeful.
There’s another beat before Kasamatsu answers with a quick, “S-Sure.”
____ feels her heart sink when, once again, Kasamatsu ends his answer short.
She hadn’t expected him to be so closed off and, for a brief second,
she wonders if it’s something about her that’s putting him off.
“I’m
sorry this is really awkward,” she apologizes suddenly, catching
Kasamatsu slightly off guard. ____ couldn’t remember the last time a
first date had gone this badly; maybe it was a bad omen? “If you want,
we can call this date off. I wouldn’t mind—”
“N-No!”
The
quick outburst startles ____ and she reels back in her seat for a
second, staring at Kasamatsu with wide, curious eyes. Despite the fact
that he’s turning his head in every direction other than hers, she can
still see the red flush that’s begun to creep its way onto his face. It
tints his ears ever so slightly before he finally opens his mouth to
speak once more.
“Stay,” he murmurs, proud of himself for not
stuttering for once. “I…” Once again and far too soon, he’s at a loss
for words. Just how hard could it be to explain that he really wanted
this date to work out? “I want to know… you?”
Even though he’s
ended it like a question, the fact that he’d said something more than
one word at a time has brought an accomplished smile to ____’s face.
Still, she knows it must have taken a lot of courage for him to do so
and it’s more than likely that he’ll return to his one syllable answers
once again. It takes her a moment, but a plan comes to her mind that may
take use of his short replies. This date might just be a good idea
after all.
“I want to get to know you too,” she confesses. The
words cause a tinge of pink to dash onto her cheeks and she tries to
shake it off before continuing. “Why don’t we play twenty questions?”
“H-Huh?”
There’s confusion laced in Kasamatsu’s voice, something ____ was betting would happen.
“We’ll
ask each other a series of yes or no questions,” she elaborates, making
a two with one hand and a zero with the other. “Things like ‘do you
like the school you’re in’ or ‘do you like eating seafood’ and stuff,
okay?” When Kasamatsu hesitantly nods, ____ smiles. “Great. Uh, I’ll
start.”
She takes her time to think of a good first question, her
thinking process showing on her face as she glances around the room.
Every so often, ____ would lock eyes with Kasamatsu, though he never
held the gaze for long. Finally, after a dragged out minute, ____
snaps her fingers together in a gesture that says she’s finally thought
of one.
“Do you play any instruments?”
The questions was simple enough and Kasamatsu easily finds himself nodding as he mutters out a quick, “Yeah.”
And
for a second, ____ forgets the rules to the game. “That’s so cool!
What kind of instrument do you play? Do you know how to play any modern
songs, or just classical stuff? Can you play something for me one day?
I’d really like to hear it. Oh, have you ever—”
There’s a certain
panic in Kasamatsu’s eyes as the onslaught of questions assault him.
Noticing the overwhelmed expression, ____ brings her inquiries to a
screeching halt. She smiles sheepishly at him as a form of apology
before gesturing for him to take his turn. Unfortunately, it only lands
the two of them right back at square one.
“D-Do… Do you, uh…”
____ doesn’t even bother to count the minutes it takes for Kasamatsu to finally finish his question.
{EXTRA}
“Okay,” ____ says, her voice holding a tone of finality. “This is the twentieth question I have for you.”
She
pauses for dramatic effect, making Kasamatsu feel rather nervous. What
if she asked something that would inevitably embarrass him? He didn’t
want to have to lie.
“Will you,” she starts off slowly. “Teach me how to shoot a basket?”
His answer his immediate. “Yes.”
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