〚 Why Would You Ever Kiss Me 〛 S. Sano & W. Imaushi

02 | Teen Years

You're giddy, Wakasa could notice. Despite being stuck in a crowded train, suffocated by the stress and somewhat gloomy aura, you were full of life, and it irks him.

"We weren't even that close to each other, but it's so warm," you beamed, half screaming, half whispering, "you should have introduced him way sooner"

"What good does it do me?" 

"I mean, you could help a friend out?"

"Nah, couldn't be bothered" you grumbled, pushing past a crowd of salarymen in an attempt to catch up to him. You were about to say more when you noticed the weird expression on his face, so you figured you'd let him be. 

When you two passed by his apartment, you expected he'd just leave and head home, but you were surprised when he kept walking alongside you. He noticed your confusion, turning to you with an eyebrow raised slightly, "what?"

"We passed your home"

"Yeah? It's late, I'll walk you back" 

You shook your head, stopping in your tracks, "I'm fine on my own, my house isn't that far away anyways"

"Exactly, I'll walk you back and I'll go home, can we get going now?"

There's no stopping him, Wakasa is just as stubborn as you are so you gave up. You were relieved though, at least you knew he was not mad at you, not much, at least. As soon as you arrived home, Wakasa immediately bid you goodbye before turning back the way you came and your mom welcomed you from the kitchen, "was Imaushi with you?"

"Yeah, he already went home though"

"You didn't invite him for dinner?"

You hummed, finding your spot on the dining table, "he doesn't seem well, I wouldn't want to bother him"

Your mother shook her head, sighing, both hands finding their way on her hips, "did you two fight?"

"We didn't, you're just overthinking it"

"Ah but the poor boy lives alone, how can I not overthink it," you kept your gaze fixated on her as she took out some containers from the kitchen cabinets, packing in some dinner before placing them in a bag. She placed the bag onto your lap, rolling her eyes when you stare back at her blankly, "Go have dinner with him"

"Mom, he's not a kid, he'll be fine"

"I don't care, you two have some talking to do and I won't shut up until you fix anything you had going on with him"

You grumbled but still stood up nevertheless. Your mother bid you a safe journey when you left, and you grumbled, displeased. She could be pretty nosy at times, but you don't hate your mother, you knew she meant well. Still, you kinda wished she wouldn't pry too much into your relationships.

You waited for the lift in the main lobby of the apartment, slightly nervous to meet Wakasa again. He's a little scary when he's in a bad mood, but you figured your mother was right. If you don't talk it out now, you'll only feel worse about it later. A small ding snapped you out of your thought, and you groggily made your way into the elevator, unaware of your friend beside you.

"(Y/N)?"

Your head immediately snapped up to see a confused Wakasa, his eyes darting between you and the little goods you're carrying, "what are you doing here?"

"Oh well, mom told me to give you these," you lifted the bag up into his view, "are you going somewhere?"

"I was just about to get some dinner, but guess I walked all this way for nothing, huh?"

"Sorry," you grinned, rubbing the back of your neck sheepishly, "didn't mean to"

Wakasa didn't seem mad about it though, he had a small warm smile on his own. Now Wakasa smiling isn't something new, but it isn't something common either. You wanted to point it out, but you didn't want him to stop smiling, so you simply return it, "let's have dinner together"

"Sure," he affirmed, "been a while since you last visited"

As soon as you reached his floor, Wakasa wasted no time taking your burden away from you, his free hand swiftly reaching for his keys before unlocking his apartment. It's a small house, a simple studio, he lives alone so he doesn't need much space anyways. You noticed some changes to the home, but nothing too drastic, you kinda miss hanging around with him, "make yourself comfortable"

You sat in front of the small table in his living space, letting him serve you. When he was done he sat opposite of you, helping himself to the food, you did too, "are you okay, Waka-chin?"

"Yeah, why do you ask?"

"Just uneasy I suppose," you saw him nod lightly in understanding, "but if you're not uncomfortable or anything you can tell me"

"Why would I be uncomfortable?"

"I mean, me getting giddy and all about your friend," you chuckled, embarrassed, "I realized how stupid it seemed, especially when I just met him"

Wakasa was silent for a moment, and you wonder if you were right, but all your wariness wear off as soon as you saw him smiling reassuringly, "he's your first crush, after all, it's not weird at all"

"Really?"

"Okay maybe a little weird," you rolled your eyes at the remark, but laughed it off, "we're still friends then?"

"Are you stupid? You think I'll stop being friends with you because of some crush?"

"You were weirdly silent on the way home, I really thought you were upset"

"It's not that," but what exactly is it? Wakasa can't really tell either, "I just thought about something, don't worry about it"

And worrying about it is exactly what you did. You took a moment to think over what you could do to make him feel better then you got an idea, "Waka-chin, are you free tomorrow?"

"Yeah? What's up?"

"I kinda abandoned my girls today, so we were planning to go out tomorrow. Wanna come with us?"

"Ain't no way," he frowned, "I don't wanna seem like a pervert, hanging around girls"

"There's nothing perverted about that," you whined, "plus some of my friends think you're hot, this is your chance to get a girlfriend"

"I don't want a girlfriend,"

"Waka c'mon, it'll be fun I promise"

Wakasa doesn't really have a good feeling about it, but you kept begging him to come with so he reluctantly agreed. You puffed your chest up, proud of your praiseworthy convincing skills (which consisted of 95% whining and 5% of an actual effective argument, but hey it works), "see you tomorrow then?"

"Yeah," he flashed you a small smile, and a weird sensation broke out in your stomach, "see you"