Love and Punctuality

Rei glances at the Verdin clock on the side of the street. 4:15 PM. Unbelievable. Rin promised to pick him up from queer book club at 3:40 on the dot. Evidently they have different definitions of the phrase.

He takes the generous amount of time he has to tidy up. It won't hurt to look decent, and he's got nothing better to do. He folds back sleeves making sure not to over-wrinkle, and he straightens his polo cardigan--Red, to match the shoes and glasses. It is a particular someone's favorite color. Besides, it's practical to wear layers this time of year. Someone might get cold. Someone might need to borrow the cardigan, perhaps even share it with him.

Of course, all this is speculation. A hypothesis that's proving incorrect on account of the fact that still, at 4:17 PM, he is alone on the sidewalk.

His phone buzzes in his suit-pant pocket. He scrambles to grab it. Rei hates responding late, but hates it more so today. He barely glances at the caller ID before pressing the tellurium green answer button.

"SO, HOW'S IT GOING?" the speakers scream. It's unmistakably Nagisa Hazuki, contact name The Loud One.

"Hello to you too."

"Answer the question!"

"Now that you mention it, bad. Deplorable."

"You only use 'deplorable' when it's serious. What's going on!"

Rei takes a deep breath. He's a reasonable person who refuses to get upset over small things. He also cannot pass up an opportunity to rant.

"He hasn't even arrived yet!" he exclaims. "Not the best start to a first date. Not that I'm the expert here, but most people do know how to tell analog time, don't they?" He manages, he thinks, to keep disappointment out of his voice. It doesn't matter if he's part of the Swim Club Buddy Posse now. He has a reputation as a stone cold intellectual, and he can't let one bad date change that.

Still, what if that was really it? What if Rin can't tell analog time? Rei is used to being miles ahead of his classmates, but what if the knowledge gap is worse than he thought? Christ, he's never dated before, but could he handle dating someone who can't even read the clocks in the Iwatobi hallways? Or what if-

"OH MY GOD, THAT BOY IS AN IDIOT!" The interjection yanks him out of his head, and for once Rei is glad to hear Nagisa's voice. 

"I'm not arguing."

"That's not what I mean! Okay, I know why he's late. God, I told him it was a bad idea."

"Wh-"

A mechanical roar. Like the sound of a lawnmower makes when it's powering on, amplified through surround sound speakers at an obnoxious party. In a gathering fog--or smoke maybe--there's a brief blue glint. He squints. It's the silhouette of a bike, about a block and a half away.

"What's that noise? Are you at Momo's house?"

"I'll call you back." Rei hangs up and pockets his phone, making quick strides toward the object.

The bike grinds to a halt, and the roar comes to a frictional stop.

"Excuse me! Hello?"

A figure stumbles off the vehicle and holds up his hands. This guy is clearly way in over his head. Rei cannot be fooled by the figure's all-black outfit and leather Doc Martins. The guy stumbles over his feet, his laces are untied, and he's not even facing the right way. "I didn't do it, officer!" he shouts, back turned squarely to him.

That voice. "Rin?"

"Rei?" His head whips around, hair of a familiar faded dye job flares about his head.