Red Strings ¦¦ Chishiya Shuntarou x OC

Thirty-Second String

A/N: For all you Kuina simps out there. Enjoy

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You showered three times, yet you could not help but perspire and feel as if you smelled. You were not new to this, the whole dating game that was. So why were you exceptionally nervous this time?

Single for the last two years, you were finding it harder and harder to date as you grew older. So many people had tried to set you up with someone but somehow, it never turned out well. Either they were just entertaining their friend/family, or they were not interested at all. Not that you were interested in them to begin with.

This blind date was set up by your boss.

Yes, your boss the CEO of Chuya Group: Chuya Aoi.

Lately, he seemed to be in quite a good mood, and had taken quite an interest in your life. When he discovered that you were single, he got a little too excited. To be honest, you thought he was going to ask you out and that freaked you out a little. As much as he was a very eligible bachelor, you would be too afraid to date someone with a status like his.

Two days later, he came up to you asking if you were free on the weekend. Unless laying on your sofa with a bowl of chips while browsing through Netflix for hours on end trying to find a show you could ignore while scrolling on your phone counted as busy, you were definitely free for the weekend.

And that was how you found yourself sitting in a high end restaurant, sweating through your clothes out of pure nervousness.

Apparently your boss' sister knew someone who would be 'perfect' for you.

Funny how that word was always the one everyone would use. How could there be so many people 'perfect' for you?

"Hi, are you the one Kurenai wants me to meet?"

"If by Kurenai you mean Chuya Kurenai, as in my boss' sister then yes, I am."

Your blind date was a woman, and she was sporting a head of dreads. She was dressed up for the restaurant too, though she still looked rather casual. She was definitely pretty.

Sliding into the chair on the other side, Kuina smiled at you.

When Kurenai said she had someone to introduce to her, Kuina was skeptical. Kurenai ran in a different circle to her, and as far as Kuina was concerned, anyone she knew would be much too sophisticated for her. Although, her first impression of you was that you definitely were not a part of Kurenai's circle. In a good way.

"I'm Kuina Hikari, it's nice to meet you."

You introduced yourself, swallowing a little. Now you were nervous for a completely different reason.

Before, you were scared of who your blind date could be. What if they were an obnoxious jerk? What if they were a serial killer? Your mind ran wild with imagination and all sorts of possibilities. Now, you were afraid of messing this date up because at first impression, you really liked her.

"This is my first blind date," Kuina said, laughing a little. "Never thought I'd have to be on one."

"I'm quite used to this," you said, though you realised your statement could be taken in the wrong way. "Not that I'm always on blind dates! It's just...a lot of people are worrying about me being single. My mum, my dad, my aunt, my friends, and now my boss."

"Hm...once you reach a certain age, people start to worry. When we were younger, it was always you can't date until you're 18 or finish school. My mum is starting to get worried about me too, constantly asking if I'm dating yet."

Letting out a laugh, you snorted a little and immediately stopped. How embarrassing could you be?!

"Before we go any further, I just want to put this out there," Kuina said.

She had a serious look on her face, and your guts were telling you that this was probably something bad. Was she going to tell you that she was already in a relationship but only came on this blind date out of politeness? Because that happened before. Twice.

"I am transgender. It's better for you to find out now than later. Since it's only our first meeting, if you have a problem with it then it's easier for us to part ways."

"Why would I have a problem with it?"

The nonchalant way you asked that really caught Kuina off guard.

Kurenai was the only other person who was so cool about it when Kuina told her. In fact, she simply said okay and moved on, not treating Kuina any differently than she would anyone else. It took some time for other people to finally accept her for who she was, even her own mother.

"Do you mind if we go somewhere else?" Kuina asked. "I don't know about you but places like this really suffocates me."

"I agree. I just took a look at the menu and I like absolutely nothing on there. Why the hell is soup more expensive than a bento at a convenience store?"

You left the restaurant before you even ordered a drink, and Kuina said she knew of a place to take you. It was a small ramen shop hidden in an alley, and it was run by an old couple. As soon as she walked in, the couple greeted Kuina warmly.

Even though you did not order, two bowls of ramen were brought over to your table along with plenty of sides.

"They're a lovely couple," Kuina smiled. "I met them after I ran away from home. I was so hungry that I passed out just outside the alley. They brought me in and fed me as many ramen as I could eat."

"Very lovely indeed."

Small shops like this were always hidden gems. They were almost always run by a lovely old couple who treated every customer like their own family. There was a shop just like this near your apartment and you ate there almost every night purely for the old lady who ran it. She was like a grandmother you never had.

Taken out of the fancy restaurant setting, both of you seemed to be more relaxed as you ate. You talked about nothing in particular but the conversation was fun and you were laughing the entire time.

"Thanks for the meal!" Kuina called out to the old couple in the kitchen.

"Don't you dare leave money! It's our treat!" they yelled back.

Kuina put a finger to her lips as she grinned, slipping the money for your meal under the ramen bowl then indicated for you to leave quickly before they found out. The old couple never charged Kuina for her meals, even when she would bring her friends. Before she had a job, Kuina would take on their kindness. Now that she was self-sufficient, however, she always made sure to pay.

"Ah...that was some very good ramen," you sighed, walking next to Kuina. "I'll definitely be going back there."

"They know who you are now, they'll probably be feeding you more than you order," Kuina laughed.

"I wouldn't mind!"

For the next fifteen minutes or so, you simply walked next to each other. It was getting late, and you had work tomorrow but you did not know how to leave. Or rather, you did not want to. And more importantly, you were curious about how the date went for Kuina. Did she like you as much as you liked her?

"I think it went well today," Kuina said, as if reading your mind.

"Huh? Oh yeah, definitely. Which is a surprise, because I haven't had a successful blind date in...forever."

"Your phone." Holding her hand out, Kuina put in her number as soon as you handed it over. "This is my number. Would be a real pain in the ass if we had to set up another date through the siblings. And knowing them, they'd be sending us somewhere too fancy for my liking. I know a perfect tonkatsu place to take you next time."