Red Strings ¦¦ Chishiya Shuntarou x OC

Twenty-Fifth String

A/N: Hey guys, my first original fiction on here is out! It's called When Summer Ends. Go check it out and I'd love to have your feedback!

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"Tell me why you didn't book a table."

Personally, Chishiya was not one about 'hypes'. He barely kept up with social media, and he never understood why everyone else would so readily jump on the train of the next trend. If a ramen shop had a line that took an hour and a half for him to eat one bowl, it was not efficient and definitely not worth it.

But when it had been almost two weeks since they had a date, Chishiya did not have the heart to tell Kurenai he was not at all interested to try this new restaurant that had been trending on social media recently, with five-star ratings from food bloggers all over the world apparently.

What he did not understand, and eventually could not help from asking, was why did Kurenai not book a table?

Surely with her name, the restaurant would probably pay for her to have a meal there. Not that Chishiya was after material gains by going out with Kurenai. He just did not understand why he had to line up outside for half an hour.

"Because," Kurenai said, looking up at him with her big eyes, "waiting is the whole point. I don't really care about eating at this restaurant. I'm just enjoying the moment where I get to hold your hand like this. And hug you like this when I feel a little cold."

Despite not understanding her logic, Chishiya smiled.

She had been a lot more affectionate lately than flirtatious, since they did not get to see each other often. Whenever she got the chance, she was holding onto his hand or hugging him with her head on his chest. Her words and tone were a lot sweeter too, compared to her usual teasing and feisty one.

"If hugging me is all you want, we could have done it at home," Chishiya said. He leaned in a little closer, whispering, "We could be doing a lot more than just hugging too."

"Stop it, Shuntarou!"

"Kurenai?"

It was always an eye-opener just how quickly her mood could be soured purely by one person.

Turning around, Hina was standing right behind them with Kyou. They were obviously on a date too, but what were the odds of bumping into them at this exact restaurant, at this exact time? Kurenai would not put it past Hina to be that kind of stalker just to make this into another competition of some sort.

"Fancy seeing you here, Hina."

"Are you waiting in line for this restaurant?" Hina asked, her tone oh-so-condescending. "You do know you can book a table right? Oh but, they are so busy all the time. I wouldn't be surprised if they couldn't get you a table."

"There are plenty of restaurants in the city. I don't think I'd die if I didn't eat here."

"Well, how about this? I've booked a table for Kyou and me, but I'll ask if they could upgrade it for the four of us. I wouldn't want you waiting out here in the cold."

Before Kurenai could even deny her offer, Hina walked right up to the front of the line and gave her name. She watched as Hina was talking to the host before he disappeared into the restaurant, possibly to check if he could upgrade her table.

"Who's that?" Chishiya asked, sensing Kurenai's annoyance.

"Sasaki Hina, my high school classmate," Kurenai sighed.

"And you don't like her because?"

That was one of the things she liked about Chishiya. He could always tell when something or someone was bothering her. "She makes everything we do into a competition. I was never interested in competing with her, but she made it her life's mission to make my life miserable by winning in anything and everything."

"You know what? Suddenly I don't mind sharing a table with them," he smirked. "I'll be the perfect boyfriend. She will never beat you in that."

"But you are the perfect boyfriend."

Coming outside again, the host directed Hina and Kyou inside. They beckoned for Kurenai and Chishiya, so they stepped out of the line and walked in behind them. As they were shown to their table, Chishiya pulled out a chair for Kurenai before sitting down next to her. He then grabbed the napkin off the plate and unfolded it, gently placing it on her lap.

Hina was gritting her teeth the entire time, watching them.

This was not the kind of treatment she would get from Kyou. Nor any of her ex-boyfriends, actually.

Like usual, Kyou went to sit down but Hina cleared her throat, glaring at him. He stared back, wondering what was wrong before finally understanding what she wanted and pulled the chair out for her.

Once they were all sat down, they looked over the menu and eventually ordered.

"So, tell me how you met," Hina smiled. "I'm interested to know the guy who managed to melt Kurenai's cold, cold heart."

"We met at a ballet."

"I couldn't believe my luck to have such a beautiful woman sitting next to me," Chishiya said, holding Kurenai's hand and purposely putting it on display on the table. "I couldn't concentrate the entire show because I was basically watching her."

"You never told me that, Shuntarou," Kurenai giggled. "I couldn't concentrate either because I was focused on you too!"

While the meeting was true, the story itself was made up but they were both quick on their feet as they gushed about each other. Chishiya would sneak in kisses on her cheek, brushing her hair out of her face, and just staring at her in admiration. He was not kidding when he said he would play the role of the perfect boyfriend.

When their food came, Kurenai's came with peas which she did not realise. As the perfect boyfriend, Chishiya took her plate and brushed all the peas onto his plate before putting the fish down in front of her again.

Watching all this was enough to make Hina gag.

It was obvious they were purposefully putting on a show for her, but what irked her was the fact that while they were exaggerating, they really did seem genuinely in love with each other. How could it be that Chuya Kurenai found the perfect boyfriend when she was the one dating the supposed perfect man?

"You know, I'm so happy that everything is working out between you guys," Hina smiled. "Considering the string of boyfriends you had, Kurenai. Isn't that right, Kyou? You dated Kurenai before me, didn't you?"

How she enjoyed that look on Chishiya's face when she brought up the fact that her boyfriend and his girlfriend were once lovers.

"Is that so?" Chishiya hummed, looking at Kurenai.

Her past was her past. It was something that he could not change, nor would he want to. Kurenai was who she was today because of her past. Although, he was a little peeved at the fact that she talked about who Hina was but failed to mention that the guy with her was her ex-boyfriend.

"We dated for less than a year before we broke up," Kyou said.

"Kurenai must have dumped you though. If I were you, I would never let a woman as amazing as her go. Then again, not every person in the world could keep up with Kurenai. Probably why she broke up with you, right?"

Kyou was quiet because Chishiya was right.

The very reason she gave when she broke the relationship off, was the fact that she found him boring. They had absolutely no similar interests, and Kyou had a tough time keeping up with Kurenai mentally. To be honest, he still did not quite understand why they dated in the first place. One thing was for sure though, she was one unforgettable woman.