Ch. 7 Progress

The morning begins in the most interesting and unexpected way Hana could have ever imagined. She walks into the kitchen to the smell of breakfast and the sound of loud whispering. Tamaki and Daichi are standing over the table like conspirators planning a revolt.

“She rises!” Tamaki smiles and Daichi points his spatula at her.

“Perfect timing, we’ve decided to help you!”

Tamaki takes Hana by the sleeve and sits her down as she asks. “What do you mean?”

“Kenta likes structure.” Daichi says seriously. “So we’re going to integrate you into his daily schedule to disrupt it.”

Tamaki nods. “Like a cute virus to a computer!”

Hana's mouth opens in disbelief. “Wait- what?” Are they attempting to both be her wingman?

Kenta walks in mid-conversation, fully dressed all prim and proper, ready to do some work today. He pauses, sees his best friend and father on each side of Hana and he immediately becomes suspicious. “What’s going on?”

“We’re helping Hana corrupt you!” Tamaki smiles and Hana feels her temperature skyrocket.

“DON’T SAY IT LIKE THAT!!” She covers her face and curls forward like she’s trying to hide.

Kenta turns towards the office and Daichi points his spatula again. “COWARD!”

“I’m going to work.”

“You live at work! Just come here and eat!” Hana shouts, despite her embarrassment he shouldn’t skip out on a meal just because whatever this is, is happening.

Daichi pulls out the chair next to Hana. “Come, sit next to your future wife.”

“Please stop.” Hana covers her face again from the embaressment, not expecting this to happen today.

Kenta walks right past him and to a chair opposite of her and both Tamaki and Daichi click their tongues in annoyance.

Things settle down as they decide to eat but after they finish and Kenta cleans up, Tamaki slides over a notepad with a checklist: 1. Ask about his interests 2. Share a meal with him 3. Accidental hand touch 4. Compliment his looks 5. Stand really close 6. Always-

Hana stops reading and nearly spits out her drink. “What is this!?”

Tamaki gives her a proud thumbs up. “Science.”

“Number 3 really brings things up a notch.” Daichi leans over to look.

Kenta appears behind them, rips off the page from the notepad and everyone freezes as they watch him fold it evenly before he places it in the toaster.

“Destroying corrupted data.” He says as he pressed the lever down and Tamaki screams.

“My list!! I asked all of my model friends for advice for you, you know!”

Hana looks at Tamaki and blinks. “You’re a model?”

Tamaki nods and smiles. “Me and Ken-Chan were scouted together but he didn’t want to be one with me.”

The smell of burnt paper can be smelled before a fire can be seen from the toaster.

“Kenta!” Hana cries and he calmly unplugs the toaster, letting the flaming paper fall in the sink before running water over it. Everyone watches this and Hana begins to laugh.

“Why?” Kenta asks her, his head tilted in confusion as to why this makes her laugh.

“That wasn’t an efficient method to get rid of that, you’re kinda insane.” She giggles, glad to see that despite the situation, they got an actual reaction out of him that wasn’t calculated.

Tamaki slams his palms on the table. “Good, she likes crazy men and Ken-Chan is crazy, progress!”

“No one said that!” Hana shouts with a blush.

After a chaotic morning, everyone parted ways. They had their break and had to get back to work. The next few weeks settled into something that was pleasantly comfortable, a new normal. Hana felt like this was her new home, and Kenta acted that way as well. It happened in small ways, easy to miss at first but there was a pattern to their days that they grew used to.

Hana always finds breakfast ready for her on the table when she walks into the kitchen, each plate has a small sticky note with neat handwriting to label each dish. Protein, hydration, potassium, carbohydrates. Hana took a sharpie and crossed them out, writing above it, Egg (even though there were multiple), Egg Bread (French Toast), Illegal (Banana), Watah (Water).

When Kenta returns from his morning run, breathing evenly as if exercise had been a suggestion rather than an effort, he finds his notes changed. He looks to Hana who was eating her toast.

“Why is the banana illegal?”

Hana turns the banana to reveal she drew a mask and mustache on the peel. “They’re a criminal.”

He stares at it for a moment then nods. “I see.”

At some point Hana discovers that Kenta has a planner, a horrifyingly detailed planner. Every hour of the day was sectioned into tasks, routes, estimated times, blocks of buffer for unexpected things to happen, it was so detailed she felt like he was preparing for war.

When he steps away, she adds into his schedule:

3:00 PM Go outside and sit in the grass

5:30 PM Feel one emotion

8:00 PM Watch cat videos

When she checks the next day she giggles when she sees that he’s written notes next to the tasks:

Sat on grass momentarily during the commute.

Emotion felt-Irritation, Source-Planner Vandalism

Cat Videos Pending

That same evening she found him on the couch watching a video of a kitten attempting and failing to jump up onto a chair.

Hana feels her heart warm as she watches before asking. “You actually did it?”

“I complete scheduled tasks.”

The kitten fell again and the edges of Kenta’s mouth twitched.

“Ah! That was almost a smile!” Hana points and he clears his throat.

“It was not.”

“It was the start of one.”

“It was a facial spasm.”

The longer they spent time together, the more Kenta integrated Hana into his routines. He bought popcorn every Friday for movie night, when her phone battery was low she found it already plugged in and charging, her favorite snack was restocked before it ran out. When she thanked him, he always responded with “It is for efficiency.” but she understood it was him being thoughtful.

Some evenings they walked together after completing assignments, Kenta got better at informing Hana in the folder what she would be dealing with, and Hana got used to helping people in different ways. Sometimes it was emotional like the married couple and the shut in, but other times it was simple tasks. Sometimes helping someone move, or clean, or noticing their struggles can help them turn their lives around for the better.

Kenta always took the shortest route, Hana always took the scenic route.

“This way is ten minutes faster.”

“This way has flowers and a dog you can pet.”

He pauses and without a word, begins to go her direction and she walks beside him with a smile, triumphant.

That route became their regular after that, the two always happy to watch one of the neighbor's elderly labradors waddle over to the fence for pets. The dog loved Hana right away, they tolerated Kenta after he gave them a treat.

“When did you get that?” Hana asks and he holds up the bag.

“Yesterday, I sought out what might interest canines.”

Hana laughs. “Some dogs are just weary around certain genders. Were you sad you couldn’t pet it?”

“It was unreasonable to deny my kind efforts.”

“That means yes.” Hana giggles.

Rain came one afternoon without warning, the forecast said it was sunny yet suddenly the sky grew dark and it began to pour. Hana puts her bag above her head as Kenta takes out an umbrella, he holds it above her and she puts her bag down, grateful to share. She then noticed he’s holding it more over her than him, getting half of himself wet.

“Kenta, get closer under the umbrella.”

“I am water resistant.”

Hana rolls her eyes and grabs his belt from behind, pulling him under the umbrella until their shoulders are pressed together. They didn’t say anything for the rest of the way home, both just focusing on trying to stay under and not get wet, but Kenta's steps became less coordinated, and neither would say it out loud, but they enjoyed the warmth of being so close.

Since movie night was now a routine, Hana tried introducing him to all different kinds of movies. Kenta still analyzed everything and Hana kept trying to get him to stop. One night she grabbed him by the shirt and threatened to make him watch movies all week if he said something during her favorite movie. He was quiet for that one. But he had questions after.

“Why could the elf stand on snow? Do only some know magic? Why didn’t Leg-” Hana shoves a pillow in his face.

“We’re only on the first movie, just wait! There’s also books if you want to read them.”

They get through the series over the next few movie nights and Hana will glance over to see his reaction to certain scenes and realize he’s not looking at the screen at all, but at her with a fond smile. He looks away as soon as she looks over, his smile leaving to his stoic usual but his ears tint with a hint of red.

There were some things that worried Hana about him though. She saw signs, little things that were easy to miss if you weren’t living with him for a while. Knowing a bit about his past because of Daichi, she knew that things were rough for him after his brother passed, but she still didn’t know all the details. Kenta didn’t seem keen on sharing, but then again, maybe he doesn’t even remember much and just functions based on instinct of what he was taught.

If a voice was raised on tv, his posture changed and he straightened up right away. If a plate slipped from Hana's hand and broke, he apologized before helping clean it. He apologized for things that he didn’t have to, and at first she believed that it was him being kind but multiple dots make a line. The most worrying was one night she found him standing in the kitchen at three in the morning, hands on the counter as he stared at the sink.

“What are you doing?” Hana asks gently.

“Thinking if I earned tomorrow.”

She stared at him wide-eyed and he blinked, realizing he said it out loud. He immediately corrects himself.

“I meant reviewing schedule priorities.”

She didn’t say anything, just walked over and made him a glass of warm milk with some honey to help him get to sleep.

Tamaki visited often, typically with ten messages detailing how close he was to getting there, sometimes he let himself in through a window. Once through a vent that nobody understood but he just laughed it off with dust covering his hair.

As a model, he brought the latest gossip, snacks, and usually chaos despite his marshmallow soft happy personality. While Hana and Kenta bicker over the spices for fried rice he smiles as he watches them, his chin resting in his hands.

“You two bicker like a married couple now.”

“Incorrect.” Kenta states and Tamaki points.

“DENAIL! You’ll accept it someday!” He enjoyed seeing his best friend flustered, even if it was subtle.

Daichi visited often too, much louder, like a storm sweeping through. He once walked in while Hana fell asleep on the couch and Kenta was draping a blanket over her. He gasped as quiet as he could as he backed out of the room, the biggest grin on his face.

“OH MY GOD IT'S HAPPENING!!” He scream whispers and Kenta walks into the hallway, glaring at his father.

“Nothing is happening.”

“It’s pre-happening!” He pats his son on the back, proud.

Kenta doesn’t deny this one.

Assignments continued, people stuck in their ways with no way out in sight. Hana got better at helping, making her arrival seem more natural than as if she was sent, and Kenta was happy to have her take jobs that he could not. Sometimes after a successful job, she gave him a high five, but he didn’t understand it at first.

“What is this for?” He stares at her raised hand.

“High five, you clap like this.” She takes her other hand and claps it.

“I have seen this in movies, what is its purpose?”

“Joy.”

He thinks for a moment then smacks her hand too hard, causing her to yelp.

He flinches hearing the sound for the first time, his eyes filled with worry and his stomach churned with guilt. “I misjudged my use of force.”

Seeing how worried he was, or could show at this point, she assured him it was okay. After that, he got his dad and Tamaki to practice with him.

Months passed like this, the two grew closer and got used to each other more and more. The office felt like home, even in the part they did work in. One late night, Hana walks out into the hallway from brushing her teeth and she spots Kenta sitting at his desk in the dark.

No lamp, no paperwork, no movement, just sitting there in the dark.

“Bad night?” She asks carefully.

He is silent for so long that she begins to think he won’t answer. But as she approached he spoke quietly, his voice clenched as if he’s holding himself together. Then he responds. “Certain dates are less efficient than others.”

She looks at the calendar on the wall and notices the date circled. She remembers a talk she had with Daichi about looking out for him at the end of this week and she knows why. It was the anniversary of his brother's death. She looked back to him and he was sitting perfectly still at his desk, but his eyes were distant. She knew he was forcing himself to stay composed, and that any slight movement might cause that to shatter.

Hana gets him a cup of tea, more to the scent can calm him down then expecting him to drink it. She gives him a hug softly before she sits on the floor next to his chair, leaning against the desk, not saying anything, just being there. After a while he lowers a hand and rests it on top of her head, no playful ruffle like usual, just resting there. A thank you that he couldn’t get out. And for a while, neither of them moved.

Kenta removes his hand, realizing that he probably shouldn’t leave it there. “You didn’t ask.”

“About what?” Hana looks up at him.

“The date.”

She looks at the calendar and back at him. “You look like you didn’t want to talk about it.”

“That is accurate.”

“So I didn’t ask.”

He was silent for a moment, the sound of summer insects humming beyond the window. A car passed in the distance, the world kept moving while they stayed still.

“Thank you.”

Hana smiles at him, and he feels that smile melt his heart. “You’re welcome.”

Kenta stands, trying to avoid lingering with his emotions high like this. “You should sleep.”

“You should too.”

Kenta just nods and the two walk down the hallway, before they part Hana looks up at him.

“Kenta?”

“Yes?”

She touches his shoulder gently. “If certain dates are hard, you don’t have to be alone. I’m here for you when you need me to be, and I always will be, alright?”

His eyes soften. “Understood.”

She smiles and pats him a few times. “Goodnight.”

“Goodnight Hana.”

She closes the door and sits on her bed, feeling her heart beating fast for such a quiet conversation. She sort of… in a roundabout way confessed. Across the hall Kenta was lying in bed, staring at the ceiling. For the first time ever on this day, the heaviness in his chest felt light.

The next morning, Hana walked out, expecting Kenta to maybe finally take some time to rest but there he was, apron and all cooking breakfast.

“Why do you have that apron anyway? You don’t seem to enjoy media so I’m surprised you have stuff with a comic book character.”

“Father gifted it to me.” He places a plate in front of her. “And as a child I did, they were my favorite.”

Hana laughs. “It’s great to see every time.”

He looked down at it, which was literally just the suit with abs. “I fail to see the humor.”

“It’s just fun, sometimes things are just fun. Makes you look cute.”

He tilts his head. “I am cooking eggs.”

“Mhmm!” She grins and his ears turn red, whatever yesterday had been, hadn’t broken him. She was happy that he was back to normal. If anything, he looked a bit lighter.

At that exact moment, Tamaki bursts through the front door. “GOOD MORNING LOVEBIRDS!”

Daichi follows from behind carrying bags. “I BROUGHT WATERMELON!!”

Kenta closes his eyes, accepting his fate. “I was happy for six minutes.”

—---------

That afternoon, Tamaki insists they all go to the summer festival in town. Daichi slams his fists on the table. “YAKATA TIME!!”

Kenta looks up from his paperwork, everyone hanging out in the office since he insisted on working.

“No.” He says flatly.

Tamaki lies on Kenta's desk and bats his eyes at him. “Ken-Chan bu-”

“No.” Tamaki rolls off and wipes a fake tear from his eye.

“Am I losing my touch? I got a lot of modeling jobs though.”

Daichi pats his back. “It’s okay, he only has eyes for Hana now.”

He looks over at her and she nods her head as if accepting a mission. “Kenta…” She begins gently, smiling far too sweetly.

He narrows his eyes. “This expression is dangerous.”

Daichi and Tamaki hug. “It’s working, he’s so in love!”

Hana blushes and almost fumbles her plan because of them. “Kenta… I’ve never been before. Will you go with me?” She looks at him with pleading eyes, not being as dramatic as Tamaki but she leans on his desk to meet his eye level.

Kenta’s pencil snaps and he stands up. “I will… review your proposal.”

“That means yes.” Hana smiles.

“It does not.”

“Oh yes it does and you know it.” She grins.

By sunset, despite all of his objections in every kind of way, Kenta finds himself standing in the hallway while Hana holds up two yukata options against herself. One a blue with white flowers, and another a pale pink with little goldfish. Her hair was already tied up, loose strands framing her face. She looked so bright in the evening light spilling through the window.

“Kenta!” She smiles at him, holding one against herself. “Which do you like better?”

He looks over to her and forgets how language works.

“Kenta?” She asks again, tilting her head. “Which one?”

He opens his mouth but nothing comes out, Tamaki gasps so loudly he actually dries out his throat and starts to cough. Daichi slaps the wall with laughter.

“MY BOY IS BUFFERING!”

Kenta blinks several times as if rebooting, collecting himself. “The… blue one.”

Hana smiles. “Blue it is.” She goes into her room to change and Tamaki drapes one arm around Kenta.

“So how does it feel?”

“What?” Kenta blinks.

“To witness beauty and go speechless.”

“I reject the premise.” His brows furrow slightly.

Tamaki pokes his cheek which Kenta slaps away. “You lived the premise.”

Kenta removes Tamaki's arm off as if setting him aside. Daichi grins and hands his son a bag. “I got you one, you should wear one too.”

“No.”

“You’d look handsome.”

“No.”

“Hana might like it.”

Kenta pauses and Tamaki and his dad slap each other in excitement. “He paused!”

“I was not.”

“You were imagining her complimenting you~” Tamaki teases.

“I was not.”

“What are you guys going on about?” Hana asks as she steps out of her room, the boys all go still. The blue yukata suited her perfectly, elegant and yet soft, the flower petals winding around the fabric like they were drifting in the wind. She has a decorative pin in her hair, little flowers dangling by her exposed neck, immediately making Kenta look at the floor.

Daichi wipes away a fake tear. “My daughter in law is so radiant.”

Hana blushes. “We’re not engaged!”

“Yet.” Tamaki smiles.

Kanta turns around abruptly. “We’re late.”

“We’re ten minutes early.” Hana says.

“We’re late for being early.”

The streets were alive with lantern light, sizzling, whistles, bells and chatter. Games and food stands lined the pathway from ring toss to shooting stalls, cotton candy to takoyaki. Kids ran around playing and fireflies could be seen in the trees beyond everything making it look like there were stars all around them. Hana's eyes light up as she looks around.

“I want to try everything, eat everything and play everything.”

“That can be done over the course of the weekend.”

Hana grabs him by the wrist. “Look, that one’s open, let’s go!” She pulls him to it and he looks down at where she’s holding him, allowing himself to get dragged along.

Tamaki covers his mouth as he looks up at Daichi. “We have contact.”

The man fans himself with a flyer dramatically. “This is better than soap operas.”

They start off with ring toss, Hana winds up missing all three very badly. She puffs her cheek out into a pout. “Rigged.”

“It’s skill based.” Kenta states.

“Then win it.” Hana squints her eyes at him.

He takes the rings and looks, measuring the distance, keeping the wind in mind, weight of the ring, etc. and one by one he gets all three. The vendor, upset by someone getting a perfect mark, allows him to choose any prize big or small.

“That one!” She points to a wolf mask and with no preference, Kenta silently agrees. She ties it loosely on the side of his head before he can protest. Her hands linger as she looks at him with a smile, maybe a little too long. He breaks eye contact by looking at a takoyaki stand as if it would display him with emergency instructions.

They go over to the shooting stall next, and for this one, Daichi comes out of the back and winks at Hana. “I’ll win you something.”

Kenta looks up at his dad, and the man knows that he just lit the competitive side in him. “I can win Hana a better prize.”

“Oh yeah? Let’s see what you got son.”

The two do their best to shoot as many cans as possible, Daichi definitely made the man running the stall nervous with his big frame. Even though the bullets were rubber he looked like he was somehow ready to kill. Kenta had the same vibe but it was all in his eyes, determined not to lose to his father.

In the end, Kenta won by a single can, Hana clapping as he slightly allowed himself to feel pride, not many would notice but it can be seen in his posture.

Daichi pouts. “Guess years of experience doesn't beat insane calculations.”

They moved onto food next, getting one of everything and sharing it among the four so they could all have a bit without getting too full to try everything else. Hana gets a stick of cotton candy and after taking a few bites, holds it out to Kenta who stares at it.

“It’s cotton candy.”

“I know what cotton candy is.”

Hana raises a brow. “Then why do you look suspicious of it?”

“It is on a paper stick, the weakness of the structure concerns me.”

Hana rolls her eyes. “It weighs literally as much as a feather, it’s fine. Just eat it.”

She tears off a piece and holds it in front of his face, he looks from it to her then opens his mouth for her to place it on his tongue.

“This is good.” His eyes flicker with joy and Hana beams.

“There he is.”

“There who is?” He looks at her.

“The man capable of enjoying living.”

“I was capable previously.”

“Try this next.” She holds out a spoonful of shaved ice and his eyes widen from the cold.

Hana laughs. “Did you forget ice is cold?”

“No.” He clears his throat. “It was just colder than anticipated.”

They try goldfish scooping next, Hana knelt at the tank, determined despite knowing the probability of failure was high. Regardless, she always wanted to give it a shot. She carefully tries to scoop a fish but the paper scoop dissolved. Hana frowns, her shoulders slumped, clearly sad that her strategy failed.

Kenta crouches beside her. “You have to use excessive force.”

“What, can you use science for this game too?”

He nods, accepting a scoop from the vendor and after watching the fish carefully, he scoops one on his first try. Hana stares at the fish in his bowl.

“How are you able to calculate everything like that?”

“Years of practice.” He holds the little bowl with the fish to the vendor and they put it in a bag to be carried. He holds it out to Hana, the corners of his lips in the slightest of smiles. “For you.”

Hana looks from the fish to his face and softens, smiling as she takes it. “Thank you.”

As Tamaki and Daichi get obsessively competitive with each other over some games, the two drift away from the main path into a lantern lit side path in the trees. The noise of the festival grows quieter, dulling as it grows further in the distance. Warm wind blew between the trees, rustling the leaves as crickets chirped. For the first time today since the early morning, it was just the two of them.

Hana looked up at the lanterns. “This is nice.”

“It is an acceptable ambiance.”

She laughs softly. “You’re hopeless sometimes.”

He looks at her. “I am trying.”

She turns to him to see the sincerity in his eyes, a bit caught off guard that he didn’t banter back like usual.

“At what?” She decides to ask gently.

He thinks for a moment. “Many things.”

He didn’t elaborate but she understood what he meant. Trying to be yourself after trauma is hard, no matter how much you’d like to be. The responsibility of his ability didn’t help either. It was a burden that most people didn’t have to bear.

In the distance the first boom of fireworks echoed overhead. They both looked up to watch them, blooms of red and yellow catering sparks across the night sky. The light made the tops of the trees shine, and Hana finds herself looking at Kenta who was focused on her instead, the light flickering over his face, sharpening his features before softening them again.

“Kenta.”

“Yes?”

She smiles with a soft laugh. “You should be watching the sky.”

He blinks once before tilting his head upward as if a dog that had listened to a command. Another firework burst, this time in blue, and people could be heard cheering in the distance. One firework whizzed into the sky and boomed louder than the others, causing Hana to flinch, grabbing his sleeve. He notices immediately and shifts closer so he stands slightly in front of her.

“Sound buffer.” He states and Hana laughs, knowing he was being considerate despite how silly it was.

“Thank you.” She smiles as she looks up at the sky once more.

They both freeze as they hear a familiar voice approach. “Ken-ChaaaaAAAAAAN!”

Daichi followed behind with skewers filling his hands as Tamaki got them to follow over to a shrine. Kenta was clearly unhappy by the interruption, Hana just laughed, having a good time. They climbed the stone steps and even though they just reunited, the third and forth wheels took off to look at charms. Knowing it would take a while, Hana sits down on one of the steps, patting beside her for Kenta to join.

He sits, in his own special way as usual, like he’s ready for a board meeting despite the casual setting. He notices Hana's gaze and loosens up a bit, knowing if he doesn’t that she will make a comment. They sit in silence for a while, looking up at the night sky even if the fireworks are over.

Hana wraps her arms around her legs and rests her chin on top, still looking at the sky as she speaks. “You’ve changed.”

Kenta's eyes shift to her. “How so?”

“You eat snacks now, you rest, you manage to watch movies with me every week even if it’s highly inefficient to you, and you attended a festival.”

“The festival was not voluntary.”

“You enjoyed being convinced into it.”

“I reject that statement.”

She smiles. “You also smile more.”

He froze, looking back up at the sky. “That is inaccurate.”

“You smiled today. And yesterday, and the day before.”

“You were counting?”

Hana nods and Kenta stares at her. “That is a bit creepy.”

Hana bursts laughing. “Sounds like me talking to you!”

“I dislike that.”

“No you don’t.” She grins and he doesn’t deny it, which was his version of agreement. They look back to the sky and she thinks back to what they were talking about earlier.

“Earlier, I think I know what you meant when you said you were trying but I wanted to ask about it.”

He thinks for a moment before saying. “I do not understand many normal things.” His gaze remains forward. “How to rest, how to speak, how to enjoy things correctly. How to…” He pauses. “...want without guilt.”

Hana feels her chest tighten at his words.

“You make those things seem possible.”

Hana looks at him, her eyes wide as she realizes just how much of an impact she has been on him. Tamaki and Daichi did their best but in the end, he made the most progress because of her. She feels her heart soften and she smiles. “That might be the nicest thing you’ve ever said to me.”

“It was not optimized.”

Hana smiles at him warmly. “It was perfect.”

Kenta goes silent in thought before admitting. “I am unsure what I am supposed to do when someone says something like that.”

Hana speaks gently. “You can start by looking at me.”

He turns his head and their eyes meet, he can feel his heart squeeze by how fondly she looks at him. It’s not the same as the look she gives cute animals, or when she sees her favorite foods, it’s something special that he feels is only for him. Hana’s pulse increases knowing despite his straight face, it wasn’t as strict as usual, there was a softness to it as if she’s managed to melt some outer layer around him.

The moment is interrupted by footsteps thundering up the stairs. “KEN-CHAN, HANA-CHAN!” He runs up to them holding out some charms proudly. “I got you two charms for lovers!”

The moment shattered instantly and Hana covers her face with her hands, she lets out a groan and Kenta stands up before walking away as Tamaki follows, trying to get him to put a charm on his phone. “Ken-Chan, you can’t just escape!”

“I absolutely can.”

Tamaki goes to Hana instead and she accepts the charm with a laugh, attaching it to her phone. Knowing that she has accepted it, Kenta lets Tamaki take his and put it on for him. They decide it is time to head home and they walk through all the stalls again on the way back, they all grab more snacks and Hana gets herself another cotton candy, biting right into it as they walked. A bit of the sugar sticks to the corner of her mouth and Kenta stares at it, wanting to correct it.

Before putting much thought into it, he reached over and brushed it away with his thumb before licking the sugar off of it. Both of them freeze and Kenta looks down at his own thumb like it took a moment to realize what it just did.

“There was debris.”

“Uh-huh.”

“It required removal.”

“And eating?”

Kenta pauses, his ears turning red with embarrassment. “Yes.” He decides upon. “I will now stand over there.”

He walks away to a stand with grilled corn, asking for one with the intensity of a man reconsidering his entire existence, slightly scaring the vendor staff.

The festival is soon behind them, Tamaki waving as he heads back home, singing happily. Daichi promised to come back with stronger matchmaking tactics which everyone ignored. Now it was just Hana and Kenta walking through the warm summer streets under a quieter sky. She carried the goldfish carefully, the charms on both of their phones jingled now and then.

“You know…” Hana starts. “You’re getting a bit easier to read.”

“That is unlikely.”

“Your ears turn red when you get flustered and you tend to try and physically escape the situation.”

Kenta doesn’t argue as they arrive at the office building's entrance. Neither moved to open the door as if neither of them were eager for the night to end. Hana lifts the goldfish up to eye level. “What should we name him?”

Kenta thinks for a moment. “He survived under unstable transfer conditions, crowd stressors and environmental fluctuation so… resilient unit one."

Hana stares at him. “No.”

“It is accur-”

“No.”

He thinks again. “Terry?”

Her eyes widened. “Like the lizard from the board game?”

“He also survived disaster.”

She laughs as she looks at the fish. “Terry it is.”

Kenta looks at the fish with a smile, small, but without a doubt, a real smile.

Hana saw it clearly and she felt her heart skip a few beats as he opened the door for her. He then looks at her, his expression back to normal. “You appear overheated.”

She walks inside quickly, setting the fish on the kitchen counter. “Goodnight Kenta!”

Before he can even protest she hurries to her room, cheeks red. He goes to look at Terry and looks at his reflection in the glass, the charm on his phone swaying gently. “Concerning…” He murmured before going to bed.