Kenichi and Risa Amemiya stood before a kiosk within a McDonald's restaurant. The scent of salty French Fries permeated the room.
Amemiya turned to Kenichi.
"So, what are you gonna get?"
"I'm gonna get uhhh—"
As Kenichi was in thought, he felt his phone buzzing. When he raised it, he saw the caller ID: Renji Shimizu.
Amemiya noticed the caller ID.
"Oh, that must be about your basketball game tomorrow. It must be important."
Kenichi ignored the call and put his phone on silent. Outside of gym class, Kenichi never played much sports, and he had no plans to play any if he didn't have to.
"Forget about it."
'Now, what should I order?'
The icon of the teriyaki burger appeared.
'That's it!'
"A teriyaki burger with an egg."
Amemiya gasped.
"B—But, aren't you allergic to eggs?"
"Wha—"
'She's kidding, right?'
Kenichi was almost tempted to ignore her words and add an egg to his burger; he had to make sure.
"Uh, Risa, have I ever eaten an egg in front of you?"
"Did you forget? You had some mayo and had to go immediately to the hospital."
Kenichi turned away, his eyes enlarging.
'To think, Kyoya had such a weakness.'
Kenichi cried internally. He could not shed tears, but the fact that he'd never get to eat egg fried rice or his favorite Omurice ever again had him sobbing.
Amemiya gazed at him.
"Is everything okay?"
"Y—Yeah. I'm fine."
Returning his gaze to the kiosk, Kenichi selected a teriyaki burger with no mayo and no egg. And even included a special instruction letting the cooks know that he was allergic to eggs, in the hopes that they wouldn't cross-contaminate.
Amemiya ordered a McChicken meal with small fries and a Diet Coke. They both paid at the kiosk and grabbed their receipts.
When their number was called, they grabbed their meals and headed to their table. They sat across from each other, and Kenichi leaned in, preparing to dig in.
"Itadakimas—"
"Wait!" Risa interrupted. "Lemme take a picture."
Kenichi felt irritated at the delay, but Amemiya smiled and brought her hands together.
"Please."
"Sure, go ahead."
She snapped some pictures of the food as well as pictures with her and Kenichi, both waving a peace sign.
Then, finally, it was time to eat.
"Itadakimasu," they both said.
When Kenichi took a bite, he tasted the meaty pork flavor coming from the burger. Though the lack of mayo and egg made it less enjoyable.
He looked over to Amemiya, who ate slowly. She had a wide smile on her face.
'At least one of us is happy.'
Kenichi picked up a fry, dipped it in ketchup, and took a bite. A satisfying crunch echoed between his teeth as the salty potato and tangy tomato flavors mingled on his tongue. At least the fries never disappointed.
Amemiya's voice interrupted his mirth.
"Kyoya…"
Kenichi raised his gaze. Amemiya seemed anxious.
"What's up?"
"I'm sorry, I didn't give you this yesterday."
She pulled out a box of chocolates.
Kenichi's jaw dropped. He had forgotten that yesterday was Valentine's Day.
No girl had ever given him a box of chocolates on Valentine's Day. He wanted to smile, but he needed to look cool. He forced a nonchalant expression, but he couldn't stop his lips from twitching from excitement.
"Thank you so much." He awkwardly said.
Amemiya smiled.
But then a thought crossed his mind.
'But why the delay?'
Who cares. A girl was giving a box of chocolate, and that's all that mattered.
Amemiya opened her mouth.
"Kyoya, I'm really happy you invited me on this date. Although it is weird how different you've been acting."
'Guess I haven't nailed Kyoya's personality yet.'
"Do you find this change to be a good thing?"
"I mean, in some ways, I like the fact that you're a lot nicer, but… It's weird that you're acting… How do I put it…"
Amemiya thought about it for a moment. Then she pointed her finger right at Kenichi.
"Like a nerd. You're acting like a total nerd. It's sooo weird."
A chuckle escaped her lips as she said those last words.
Kenichi's eyes narrowed. Those words rubbed him the wrong way. It wasn't the first time a girl called him a nerd, and to hear her say that…
"Shut up."
Kenichi muttered.
Giggles bubbled out of Amemiya's mouth. She placed a hand over her mouth, trying to hide her laugh.
"That's the Kyoya, I know."
'She really likes that kind of treatment.'
His parents had always taught him to treat women with respect. Maybe that advice was outdated.
A moment of silence passed.
To make things less awkward, he reached for his phone. His eyes widened when he saw twenty-one missed calls from Renji Shimizu.
'Holy crap! What does this guy want?'
Renji had also spammed him with several messages.
'This guy's persistent.'
As Kenichi scrolled through several of his messages asking where he was, he found the latest messages interesting.
One said, "Found you!"
And the one right below said: "Coming."
'There's no way he'd know where I am. He must be bluffing.'
At that moment, he heard a loud thud. He turned his head to the entrance along with all the other people in the restaurant, and there he was.
Renji Shimizu stood at the entrance with his leg extended. It seemed he kicked the open. Behind him was a group of thugs that Kenichi didn't recognize.
They strutted towards Kenichi.
Renji Shimizu grabbed Kenichi by the collar and pulled him close.
"Kyoya, what the fuck are you doing! We've gotta a big game tomorrow, and you're wasting your time acting like a clown for some chick?"
Kenichi's blood started to boil.
"I'm not interested."
"Are you stupid, d'you forget how much we spent on this?"
"Spent?"
"Wake up, dumbass! Are you gonna make us lose fifty thousand yen over a date?"
Kenichi's eyes widened; he had no idea that money was on the line. Amemiya did say that Kyoya cared more about this game than the basketball games at school.
'So that's why.'
If money were on the line, then he couldn't walk away from playing so easily. But he was terrible at basketball. He'd probably be more of a burden if anything.
However, a thought flashed in his mind,
'Wait! I'm in Kyoya's body, I might have his skill.'
He turned to Amemiya.
"Sorry, I have to end our date so soon."
"No, it's fine. I can watch you practice."
With that, Kenichi and the rest headed to a basketball court.
***
Kenichi stood at the center of a basketball court, standing in front of the net with a ball in his hand.
At the court were Renji, Amemiya, and others watching.
Kenichi leaped and shot the ball with both his hands. His technique was flawed. He looked like a girl who didn't know how to play. Naturally, the ball missed the rim completely.
Kenichi stared, dumbfounded.
When he stared at the others, their jaws dropped.
A wry smile appeared on Kenichi's lips.
"Guess I'm not so skilled as I thought."