SOLO • Shinichiro

Sensei

NINE days until departure

It was like something out of a movie— the new and unfamiliar feelings he felt last night while being doted on, the unknown setting of beautiful lights overlooking the streets of Shibuya— his brain replayed these scenes all throughout his dreams and into the next morning. It's all he can see. Even the bright sunlight that streams in as the garage is opened falls to nothingness behind the thoughts of you, only finding himself snapped back into reality when his friends arrive the moment he's turned back into the shop.

With a bright smile and sway in his step, Keizo comes straight through the showroom toward the back counter, leaving Wakasa to linger near the entrance. His hands come down onto Shinichiro's shoulders, playfully shaking him around and asking, "how'd the date go, Shin?"

"Good," Shinichiro smiles to himself as he digs through a toolbox, slamming the drawer shut and sliding the wrench into his waistband before turning with a smug look and an inflated ego, "second one was good, too."

"Two, huh?" The lingering company near the door approaches the counter, leaning down onto his elbows and looking up at Shinichiro as his curiosity peaks, Wakasa's question earns him a side eye from Keizo, "so, make it official yet?"

"Well, she works in Korea, some company or somethin'— doubt she'd go for it," Shinichiro mumbles as he turns to look through a drawer near the long rows of bikes, clicking his tongue before moving to a different toolbox. He doesn't notice— or think anything of— the buzz of hushed voices near the counter, too focused on finding his missing tool until Keizo inquires about what type of work you do, "mmm, shit— forgot to ask."

With no luck in finding it, he passes up the pair at the counter and heads to the back of the shop, leaving the buzz of whispers to continue in his absence as Wakasa begins in a told-you-so tone, "he really doesn't know, Kei— we gotta tell him."

"Waka, don't," Keizo's hand comes up to cover his whispers, glancing down the hallway once to check for the topic of the discussion, he tries his best to reason with the unusually on edge man, "don't ya think there's a reason she didn't tell him?"

"Lying— it's lying, she's a liar," as his attitude festers, lilac eyes turn to piercing daggers with his assault on your character— you are a liar, with soft-looking skin and a lovely voice, glowing eyes and a radiant light that was unlike anything he'd ever seen.

"Waka, you—" Keizo bites his tongue, physically having to prevent the muscles in his face from turning up into a smile at the sight of envy in human form. With a deep breath, Keizo swallows down his lung's burning desire to laugh as he starts in a gentle tone, "you seem mad over Shin's new girlfriend."

"He just said she's not his girlfriend."

"Let's just— not mention it for a while, alright? At least 'til we figure out why it's a secret," Keizo turns, rubbing the back of his neck in frustration before looking back and snapping at Wakasa, a light bulb going off above his head, "maybe she just wants him to like her for herself— true love."

"Shin would date a bowl of Yakisoba if it-"

"Found it," a cheerful and oblivious Shinichiro bounces back to the front, stepping right between the men on his walk towards a half-repaired bike, "what ya talkin' about?"