When Ayasaki asked him if he wanted to go out with her and Sengoku Saturday evening and followed it up with “dress nicely!” he had been conflicted. First and foremost, up until high school he’d never really had friends before, so he was utterly excited about being asked to spend time with his friends outside school hours. But on the other hand he had crushes on both Ayasaki and Sengoku, so being with no one but the two of them outside school was a bit hard on his heart. He’d already been heartbroken over Yoshikawa, he was trying his best to get over his feelings for the red and pink haired couple now.

But in the end, his longing to spend time with his friends won out and he said yes.

It took him an unnecessarily long time to pick out what to wear. He’d been told to wear something nice after all, putting a lot of pressure on him in his mind. His parents were whispering at each other as if he couldn’t hear, wondering if he was going on a date. That only made his heart squeeze tightly in his chest, and he had to just sit and calm down his feelings for a moment. That finally made his parents leave him alone so as to not stress him out again.

He ended up mostly satisfied in a pair of light blue jeans, a buttondown shirt in a soft bubblegum pink with a purple sweater on top to keep out the eventual chill of the April evening. Now he just needed to wait the next two hours til he was actually supposed to meet up with them.

He arrived early, yet he wasn’t the first one there. Sengoku was already waiting, dressed in dark cuffed jeans and a black long sleeve ribbed t-shirt, a jacket that looked extremely soft under his arm. Their eyes met and Akane gave a shy “hi” as he stood next to him, looking away before his heart could race too much from how attractive Sengoku was. He leaned on the statue they were meeting next to Sengoku as they waited for Ayasaki to arrive. Akane felt his cheeks burn despite his best efforts. “I... hope you didn’t wait too long.”

Sengoku’s own cheeks flared red, and he tucked some hair behind his ear. “I, uh, no, not really, just a few minutes.”

“Oh, that’s good. The weather is beautiful though, so at least you wouldn’t get cold.” Sengoku muttered something Akane couldn’t hear, but suddenly Ayasaki was next to them, grinning from ear to ear. She poked her boyfriend’s cheek. “I heeaaard yoouuuu. Cheeky.”

The redhead’s face turned so red it almost matched his hair. “I, I, I didn’t, I mean, I did but- bu-buh--”

Ayasaki cut him off, turning to Akane, “I’m so happy you came! This is gonna be so much fun!” She twirled around so she stood between them, hooking one arm with each of theirs. She looked so cute in her yellow dress over a cream coloured long sleeve shirt. The straps of the dress were tied into bows and the low heels she was wearing matched the colour of the dress. His face, like Sengoku’s, went red.

“Th-thank you for inviting me. It, um, made me very happy.” Ayasaki’s smile went even brighter, like she was powered by all the batteries in the world at once.

“Of course! Okay boys, let’s go!”

They started walking, Ayasaki seeming like she was the only one who knew where they were heading, judging by Sengoku’s face and timing of when the young woman decided to turn a corner or cross a road.

In the end, they ended up in front of a movie theatre, the lights inviting as they headed inside. They were going to see a movie? Akane wasn’t even sure what was currently available there, but mostly he was just excited to spend any time with his current company. Were they sure they wanted him there when they went to the cinema though? That felt terribly intimate, no matter what Ayasaki wanted them to watch.

It was clear that Ayasaki had planned everything out very well. She bought them all a big tub of popcorn and a drink of their choice before she led them to get their tickets stubbed that she had bought ahead of time. Neither boy had the chance to see what they were watching, but they were ushered to their seats. Oddly enough, Akane found himself seated in the middle, even though he would have expected the couple to want to sit next to each other. He offered to switch with one of them if they’d rather sit together, but Ayasaki assured him that it was fine, and Sengoku nodded his head in agreement.

When the movie was just a few minutes in, it was clear to Akane that it was a romantic movie. The popcorn had been situated in his lap, and he was flustered every time his friends reached into the tub to get some. Halfway through, during one of the suspenseful scenes, he felt a hand take a hold of his. He looked to the side and his eyes met with a smiling Ayasaki, who slid her fingers between his. His face went red, and worriedly he was about to look at Sengoku when the redhead also took his hand in his. He slid down in his seat, looking between the other two, forgetting the movie entirely for a few moments. It was entirely overwhelming, confusing and fantastic.

Why were they doing this? He didn’t want them to let go, and he held on tightly to their hands for the rest of the movie. The popcorn stayed untouched.

The lights turned on slowly to not shock the senses, and Akane came out of his dazed state of being in awe of holding hands with both his crushes at once. Ayasaki didn’t let any time go to waste as she urged the other two to get up, and she moved them around so she was linking arms with them again. Akane didn’t get the chance to ask why they held his hands, but what would he have said, anyway? ‘thank you’ and confess? He’d been straightforward with Yoshikawa, but he hadn’t planned on letting anyone know about his feelings for Sengoku and Ayasaki since he knew they were already dating each other and he had no chance for them to say yes. But now this? It was all so confusing.

Things got even more confusing when they stopped in front of a restaurant, and it turned out a table for three had been booked in Ayasaki’s name. She explained that it was her dad’s favourite place to bring her family, and he had helped her book them a table. The restaurant was beautiful but still cosy, and on a Saturday night like this it was full with couples out on dates, and families spending time together.

They sat down, and Ayasaki talked him through the menu. Sengoku had been there before with Ayasaki and her parents, and he gave some suggestions on what he thought Akane might enjoy. It made him feel warm and fuzzy inside, even though he was still confused.

While they waited for their meals, Ayasaki started to talk about the movie. Sengoku gave awkward replies, and Akane tried to remember what had happened during it. His head had been so full of thoughts of the hands in his that he didn’t remember much past the point when Ayasaki had twined her fingers with his.

After a minute or two, he decided to be upfront about his confusion. It was only growing bigger and bigger, and at this point it was better just to ask. “So, um… why did you… hold my hands?”

Sengoku’s face went bright red again, and he started to stutter even worse than he’d ever heard him do before. Ayasaki came to his rescue. “We’re courting you.”

“Remi!” Sengoku squirmed in his chair. “Do you have to put it that way?”

“What, we are!” She swatted her boyfriend gently in the shoulder. “He’s asking us, the least you can do is be honest with him!”

Akane stared at the both of them with wide eyes, pink blossoming on his cheeks. His voice was barely more than a squeak when he talked again, “you’re what? C-co-courting me? But… but you’re already, you’re together…?”

“We are. But we like you, both of us like you.” Ayasaki looked him in the eye, smiling at him. She nudged Sengoku in the side with her elbow, and he was the one to continue where she left off. “Will you, would you go out with, uh, would you date us? Both of us?”

He’d never heard of anything like this. Was this a thing you could do? He’d had no idea, he’d just counted his losses the day he realised he was fantasizing about being with both of them. He’d thought he was just greedy. “I, um, I like you too.” He then realised he didn’t actually answer the question he’d been asked, and he nodded slowly. “I, I’d love to.”

Ayasaki squealed and threw her arms around him, causing both boys to get flustered, and quite a few looks were thrown their way. PDA really wasn’t appreciated most of the time by the people surrounding you. Or maybe it was just because she had been so loud.

She got back to her seat and reached for their hands. “I’m so happy! I’ll show you all the Remi-extraordinaire dating spots in town.”

Sengoku took his other hand, so they were all holding on to each other, his cheeks still red, but less explosively so. “I’ll warn you if there’ll be bugs. She’s the only one I know who isn’t at least a little freaked out by them.”

“They’re cute! I already gave Kakeru one that looks like him, and I know which one I’m gonna give you. It’s a surprise which one it is though.”

“It’s some sort of dragonfly-”

“Neorothemis fulvia!”

“Uh, that.”

Akane blinked, the name of the bug Sengoku had been given flying right over his head. At least he knew it was some type of dragonfly, thanks to Sengoku.

“I’ll… look forward to it?” He was scared of spiders, so hopefully it wouldn’t be one of those, but it seemed like it would at least be dead. Though Ayasaki had seen him freak out over one once, she might remember that.

“Don’t worry, it’ll be just as cute as you are.” She patted the back of his hand with the fingers resting on it. The flush deepening on Akane’s face made her grin and giggle.

They only let go of each others hands once the food arrived.

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