moving up

Chapter 25

"Just go up there and ask her!" Mina urges. "Come on, you've come this far. You can't just back out now, you've got to go for it!"

"I know, I know," Hanta replies, sighing. "I'm not backing out, I'm just getting myself hyped up for it. You can't rush me."

"If you take too long to get 'hyped up', our lunch break will be over! I'm only rushing you because I have to!" she insists.

He's finally decided to do something about the potential flirtation he has going on with Ibara. After being bugged by Mina for months, with her reminding him over and over again that there's no way he'll get anywhere with her if he doesn't take the initiative, he's finally decided to ask her out, and see what happens.

But they make it through their entire order and are sitting at the table without him having mentioned it, and Mina is growing frustrated with him. Of course, he wasn't going to ask Ibara out with an audience; it's bad enough that he's doing it when she's at work and can't really go anywhere to get away from him, he isn't going to add any more pressure to that if he can avoid it.

"Just go do it! I'm not looking, I'm paying attention to my phone, so go do it!"

"Alright, alright, I'm going!" He sighs again before standing up. It's no big deal, he tells himself, he's just going to ask her to hang out, and if she doesn't want to, it's fine. This is all totally casual.

"Hey, um," he starts.

"Was there a problem with your meal?" she asks with a smile.

"No, nothing like that! It was great, I just...wanted to talk to you?" He steadies himself. "I feel like I see you in here all the time, but we don't really know each other. I think it would be cool if we could get to know each other, if you want to. Like, maybe this weekend, if you're not working?"

Ibara looks surprised, but then, she smiles. "That sounds like fun."

"I have to get back to work soon, so we can't talk much now, but..."

"Here, let me write down my phone number. You can text me when you get off."

He returns to Mina, triumphant, and she has to struggle not to laugh at the smile on his face. On their way back to the store, he says, "You know, since you've made me face my own fears, I think it's only fair you make a move."

"With Yuga?" She makes a face, as if she's considering denying her interest in him yet again, but then, she sighs in defeat. "You're right, I know. I'll talk to him and see what happens."

~X~

"So, what was it you wanted to talk about?" asks Kyoka. She and Koji are walking down the sidewalk outside the store, making their way through the rest of the strip. He had asked if they could talk after they clocked out, and though she has a little bit of an idea of what's coming, she lets him say what he needs to say.

"I...well, Kyoka, I was just wondering..." he starts, then stops, struggling to find the right words. "I like spending time at work with you a lot, so I was wondering..." Kyoka tries to be patient, though it grows harder for her not to just finish his sentence for him.

Finally, he steels himself enough to come out and say, "I like you a lot, so maybe we could do something outside of work."

"Like a date, right?" she asks, and he blushes, but nods. This has been building for a while, and she knows it has. And she likes him, though she isn't sure when that started, or she might have tried to put a stop to it when it did. "I don't...I mean, you've heard about what happened with Denki, right?"

Koji nods, frowning, and she sighs. "Dating someone you work with...if things go well, it's really no big deal, but if they don't, it can be really hard. You're a great guy, and I'm not saying things are gonna go bad, but..."

"I understand," he replies. "It's alright."

That's just like Koji, accepting it without a second thought, and he's even trying not to show her how damn sad he is. But he still looks so damn sad, and Kyoka does like him, and she does want to go out with him. She's an idiot for letting herself get back into this mess, but is it really the same? After all, Koji and Denki are polar opposites, and she just feels like it would be different, if she gave it a try.

"Hey, I never said I was turning you down," she says. "Like I said, you're a great guy. I like you a lot, and that's probably the biggest reason I'm afraid of things going bad. Even though I don't think that'll happen, I just don't want to lose what we have now. But...I also really want to see where it goes. So maybe if we went slow..."

"We can go however slow you want," says Koji. "I don't ever want to hurt you."

Though it's still too early to tell, Kyoka already has the feeling that she isn't making a mistake with this.

~X~

Mashirao has absolutely no idea what to say or do. Fortunately for him, even though Rikido seems to be in the same boat, Toru is having no trouble filling the silence. This was her idea, and he was surprised enough that he was willing to go along with it, but even more surprised that Rikido was as well.

He's liked her for a while, but got mixed signals from her, unsure of if she was interested in him or Rikido, who very obviously liked her as well. To be honest, he expected it to remain an unresolved love triangle; he never expected her to be bold enough to ask both of them out, at the same time, to consider the possibility of her dating both of them.

But now he's here and so is Rikido, and if they're both even willing to try, then that has to say something. There's no telling if it could actually work, but Toru seems happy that they considered, and Rikido really isn't a bad guy, and he treats Toru well and is nice to work with. Maybe this isn't that big of a deal at all.

At least, as long as they keep their boss from finding out about it.