Heartstrings [Kirishima Ikuya x Reader]

1: ☆Enchanted☆

Planning anything, let alone a party, has never been one of Ikuya's favorite things to do. It's stressful work, and he'd much sooner be doing literally anything else, but for the sake of friendship, he tells himself to suck it up and get to work.

Sure, he does find himself questioning his and Kisumi's friendship whenever the latter takes to annoying him (which is more often than Ikuya would've liked), but he's not that big of a jerk to not even take the effort and do something nice for the salmon-haired boy on his birthday.

At least he isn't the one left to do any of the actual planning. Poor Makoto had ended up having to volunteer when Ikuya admitted his severe dislike for tasks involving management skills.

No one trusts Asahi enough to let him be the one in charge because of how often his excitement gets the best of him. And, of course, Haru needs no mentioning.

They know that Haruka cares about his friends, but his dislike for bothersome things puts Ikuya's own disdain for party-planning to shame.

So while Makoto handles things like venue and catering and decorations with Haru's assistance, Asahi and Ikuya (reluctantly) agree to team up and prepare a guest list.

The pair later realizes just how much of a Herculean task this is when they see the size of Kisumi's contact list.

"I knew this guy was popular but..." Asahi trails off, his eyes as wide as saucers and a certain awe that borders on horror in his voice.

Ikuya swallows. "What is this-- the entire population of Tokyo?" He pauses and scrolls further down, then adds, "Iwatobi too, by the looks of it."

Setting the phone down like it's a ticking time bomb, Asahi rubs at his eyes. "We're gonna need a bigger party hall."

"A stadium might do the trick," Ikuya suggests, only half sarcastic because they just might actually need to figure out how to rent a stadium.

With a deep inhale, Asahi sits up straight, visibly pulling some determination out his seemingly infinite supply. "Right," he mutters, cracking his knuckles and rolling his shoulders, "we can do this. We push ourselves everyday. This is fine. Let's give Kisumi the best party ever!"

Ikuya wants to argue-- this is definitely not fine by his definition, and the challenge is beyond people as inpatient as the both of them are, but he holds his tongue and only scoots closer to peer at the offending phone screen.

"How did you even get your hands on Kisumi's phone?" he asks after a moment, pausing in jotting down Kisumi's most frequently called's numbers.

Sheepishly, Asahi rubs the back of his neck. "I stole it when he wasn't paying attention. He has basketball practice for all of today, so he isn't gonna notice it missing until evening. I'll slip it back by then. Somehow. I hope."

Ikuya stares for a long moment. "If we get arrested for this, I'll kill you," he says finally and Asahi immediately goes to protest loudly but is cut off by his sister bringing their drinks over to them.

"What even are you both doing?" Akane asks, raising her eyebrows at them, which is how she often looks at her younger brother.

Sighing, Asahi relays their problematic chore to her and she tilts her head.

"Why don't you ask (L/n)-chan for help?" Akane asks, her tone suggesting that the both of them are stupid. She shakes her head at them and then leaves them to their own devices so she can check on the other patrons of the cafe.

Blinking in confusion, Ikuya turns to Asahi but the redhead is too busy slapping his own forehead and grumbling to himself to notice.

"(L/n)?" Ikuya prompts, managing to get Asahi's attention.