Red Strings ¦¦ Chishiya Shuntarou x OC

Forty-Ninth String

A/N: Thank you @Aeilani for the suggestion!

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Their trip to Okinawa soon ended, and although Chishiya felt relaxed after the trip, he soon dived back into work and so did Kurenai. For the three days and two nights they spent entirely together, they now had to spend a week apart. As if the universe was worried that they would be sick of each other after spending so much time together.

So when the opportunity for them to have a date, Chishiya jumped right on. Even if it was a double date with Arisu and Usagi.

Ever since they met, Chishiya knew he did not get along with either of the other two. Usagi was always guarded around him for some reason, like she did not trust him. Not that Chishiya cared, to be honest. He would not trust him too if he were not himself.

Arisu, on the other hand. Chishiya did not particularly like him from their first meeting. They were both similar yet different, and he could not quite put a finger on how. But Arisu also seemed like the type to try and save everyone or else he would forever feel guilty if they were ever in a life threatening situation, and that irked Chishiya.

Kurenai, however, seemed to get along quite well with them.

During their trip in Okinawa, she would discuss psychology with Arisu. Though Chishiya had a hunch that she was simply asking for tips on how to manipulate others without letting on that was her true intention. And although she was not best friends with Usagi like she was Kuina, they were constantly seen together in a group of four along with An.

"I would have preferred if this date was just the two of us," Chishiya said, tying the laces on his ice skates.

"Don't be such a Grinch," Kurenai smiled, squeezing his cheeks. "We've never been on a double date before. This will be fun."

"We had that dinner with your friend and your ex."

"For the last time, she's not my friend."

"Ready?" Arisu asked, approaching the couple with Usagi following behind him. "Let's get on the ice then."

Holding his hand out for Kurenai's, Chishiya led the way onto the ice.

He never ice skated before, nor did he try skating in any form before. How hard could it be though? Chishiya was a pretty observant person, and he prided himself as a fast learner. He predicted that all he needed was probably ten minutes, and he would have mastered ice skating.

Stepping onto the ice, he nearly slipped with his first step but he was quick to steady himself. Carefully, he brought his second foot onto the ice and was walking with extremely small steps. He was not about to slip and fall right in front of Kurenai.

Unexpectedly, Kurenai was the one who fell.

As soon as she stepped onto the ice, she somehow used too much force and her legs went forward. She fell backwards, pulling Chishiya with her because she was still holding his hand. He fell on top of her, crushing her a little but supported his body with his gloved hands on the ice. He was more concerned with the way Kurenai fell.

"Are you okay?" he asked, going straight into doctor mode. "Did you hit your head?"

"I don't think so," Kurenai said, sitting up.

Chishiya touched her arms, squeezing gently while observing her. She did not wince in pain, and he could not feel anything out of place.

"Ready to get up?"

She nodded, and Chishiya stood up first. Or...he tried to.

Before he could even stand up, his foot slipped from under him and he fell. Kurenai's eyes widened before she bursted into laughter. And though he was slightly in pain, Chishiya was glad that he managed to make her smile.

Ten minutes went by, and this was the time Chishiya predicted he would need to master skating. Little did he know that he would be spending ten minutes just trying to get up from where they fell by the entrance to the rink. Every time either of them tried to stand, they would just slip and fall once again. Eventually, Chishiya had to scoot over to the side and grab onto the wall to pull himself up.

"I thought you knew how to skate," Kurenai said, clinging to the wall. "I was kind of hoping for that romantic drama scene where my boyfriend teaches me how to skate while holding my hand the entire time. I only got the falling over on top of each other part, and that hurts more than it was romantic."

"Well...to be honest, I thought I would have grasped the concept by now," Chishiya sighed.

"Stuck to the wall, guys?" Usagi asked, skating past with a grin. "Guess there's something the power couple can't do, huh?"

"God's fair," Kurenai retorted. "I'd choose a brain and wealth any day over knowing how to swim and how to skate."

"Come on."

"Hey! Hey! Hey!"

Usagi grabbed Kurenai's hand, pulling her away from the wall and skated right to the middle. She then showed Kurenai how to balance on the skates, and how to move her feet. Usagi held onto her hand the entire time, even skating backwards as she was pulling Kurenai around the rink.

Kurenai got her romantic drama scene, but it was with Usagi and not Chishiya.

"Want me to teach you?" Arisu asked, stopping next to Chishiya.

"No thanks."

"Really? You're missing out on a lot of fun here."

Spending the rest of the night (or however long they planned to be there for) clinging onto the wall did not sound appealing at all to Chishiya. If he could, he would leave right now but that would be admitting to defeat. And now that she was actually moving around, Kurenai seemed to be having a blast.

Seeing Chishiya contemplating, Arisu patted his shoulder, indicating for him to hold on.

Perhaps it was the fact that he offered to teach the other man how to skate that was putting him off. Sometimes, pride could get in the wall and be one's downfall. So instead, Arisu simply offered his shoulder. He could still join in on the fun without having to learn from Arisu.

Although still embarrassing, this seemed like a more acceptable option for Chishiya.

Putting his hand on Arisu's shoulder and gripping hard, Chishiya was finally departing from the wall after forty-five minutes of being stuck there.

Arisu skated with ease, even as he was dragging Chishiya (whose feet were not moving at all). He caught up with the two women, and the four of them skated together.

Surprisingly, it was a lot more fun than Chishiya originally thought.

It would be another hour and a half before they were getting too tired, especially Arisu and Usagi when they had been dragging another person around the entire night. Chishiya was just glad to be getting off the ice finally.

"Thanks, Usagi," Kurenai smiled. "That was a lot of fun."

"Not going to lie, I didn't think I would enjoy tonight. I always thought you were a little too stuck up for my liking." As she was guarded with Chishiya, Kurenai could feel that Usagi was the same way with her. Even when they were spending time together in Okinawa, there seemed to be a wall between them. "But I guess you're not too bad. I had fun with you."

"Such high compliments," Kurenai said, sarcastically.

"She's lying, she likes you." As Arisu exposed her, Usagi hit him in the arm. "What? You were so excited when you were telling me about how Kurenai-san and An-san are so clever the way they came up with different strategies for the volleyball game."

"I didn't know you like me that much, Usagi."

"No I don't! Don't you dare hug me!"

Despite her protest, Kurenai went in for a hug and wrapped her arms tightly around Usagi while the other woman was struggling and yelling at her fiancé.