Is This Considered a Date?

Mika and Saya were looking at each other, and a brief moment of silence ensued.

"Is Mika with you?" Rin asked, astonished.

Saya looked at Mika, her eyes wide with panic and fear.

"Well,  I mean, yes. He was worried about me, so he came to check on me," Saya replied, her voice sounding very excited.

"He was worried about you? Did you tell him that your-" Eirin stopped, surprised.

"What? Uh, yes, I mean, um, after not talking for a long time, I guess he just worried"

"Wdym that 'I got worried?' " Mika whispered.

"SHH, MIKA!" Saya whispered back, but her voice was still too loud.

"What was that sound?" Eirin asked curiously.

"N-Nothing! I didn't hear anything," Saya said in a panic.

"O-Okay?" Eirin said.

Saya took a deep breath, trying to calm herself down. 

"We were actually planning to come to your place too," Rin said.

"What? When?" Saya asked, surprised.

"'When?' Right now, of course. Besides, if Mika is there, we'll get to see him too."

"Wait, girls, listen-"

"We'll talk when we get there. We need to hang up now."

"Wait, Rin, I-" Saya was about to say something, but Rin hung up. Saya became even more anxious.

"Are they coming to your place?"

"Yes, what should we do?!?" Saya panicked.

"Calm down, nothing will go wrong."

"How can nothing go wrong? They'll definitely ask why you're there and all that."

"I'm not going."

"What?"

"I won't go. Just go home. Tell them, 'Mika's family called him back home,' and that's it."

"So, I have to lie?"

"Is there a better option?"

Saya was uneasy, but she understood Mika's point.

"Fine, by the way, your foot is bleeding badly."

"What? Oh, it will stop bleeding soon, don't worry. I'll wrap it up once I clean up here."

"That's not okay... Oh, Mika, you're really an idiot. Where's the first aid kit?"

"Umm, it's in the bathroom."

"Alright, I'll be right back, wait for me."

While Saya was on her way, Mika had already cleaned up the broken dishes. When she arrived, they treated his foot together using the first aid kit.

"Okay, all done. I should go now," Saya said as she headed towards the door, putting on her shoes. Just as she was about to leave, she suddenly stopped.

"Saya, is there something wrong?"

Saya turned around abruptly and hugged Mika.

"Thank you for being with me. And I'm really sorry for getting mad at you. I hope you can forgive me."

"What?" Mika was taken aback by Saya's sudden hug and didn't know how to react. There was some uneasiness in him about the moment when he had raised his voice at her.

"I'm sorry too for saying weird things to you," Mika said as they hugged.

Saya suddenly pulled back as if remembering something and looked at Mika with bewildered eyes.

"WAIT." Her voice sounded incredibly excited and surprised.

"What happened?"

"YOU WERE MAD AT ME!" 

"What do you mean?"

"Wasn't it like that? What was that then?"

"I, I don't know..."

Saya was even more surprised, but she realized that she needed to leave.

"Okay, we'll talk about this later for sure, okay?" She started moving away from the house.

"What?"

"MIKA."

"Okay, fine."

Saya smiled, waved, and walked away. Mika pondered to himself,

Despite having so many things to be upset about, she can still smile. She's really someone unique.

***

Mika went inside and headed to his room. He sat in front of his computer and saw that he had received a message on his phone. He opened it and found that he had been added to a group called "Surprise Operation for Yuki." Kai had added him to the group. He was puzzled and typed in the group chat, 

"What's going on?"

"Sorry, Mika, I added you suddenly because I thought you should be part of it too. The thing is, Yuki's birthday is in two days, and I wanted to prepare a surprise for her," Kai replied.

"I see, but why are there only three of us, and why me?" Mika asked.

"Yuki said she wanted to meet up like we did before. I talked to Mana at school, and she agreed, but I could only reach you through this group. Sorry again. Also, Yuki is your childhood friend, so I wanted you to surprise her too," Kai explained.

"Hello, Mika!" Mana had messaged after Kai's explanation.

"Hi, Mana. Okay, I understand, no problem. But what do I need to do?" Mika asked.

"It's not a big deal. Just come to school on Monday. After school, we'll go to the park together," Mana replied.

"Okay, but isn't her birthday on Sunday?"

"Yes, but we'll also celebrate it separately. If we celebrate with everyone else, it won't feel as special," Kai typed.

"Yeah, I agree with Kai," Mana added.

Actually, it would be nice if I also celebrated with them. She never misses my birthday.

"Okay, sure. I'll help too," Mika replied.

"Yay!" Mana typed, looking excited.

"Great, I'm glad you'll be there, Mika. That's all for now. See you on Monday," Kai wrote.

"See you!"

"Yes, see you," Mika replied.

I've become quite social, haven't I? Mom would be happy if she knew.

***

Mika put his phone down after the call with Mana. He received another message, this time in private from Mana.

"Hey Mika, are you available?" Mana's message read.

"Yes, I am. What's up, Mana?"

"Can I call you?"

Why does she want to call me instead of messaging me? And why privately?

"Sure, no problem for me," Mika replied.

In a short while, his phone started ringing.

"Hey, Mika,"

"Hi."

"Sorry for disturbing you at this hour," Mana's voice sounded lively and relaxed.

"No problem. Is there something important?"

"No, I just... I wanted to talk, I guess," Mana said.

"You just wanted to talk?"

"Y-yes, no... I mean, I just wanted to... hear your voice," Mana stumbled over her words, sounding flustered.

"I don't understand?"

"W-what am I sa-saying?!" Mana seemed to panic.

"Are you okay, Mana?"

"What? Y-yes, I'm fine. The thing is, I called to ask you for something."

"What is it?"

"W-well, you know we're going to celebrate Yuki's birthday, right?"

"Yes."

"We'll need to get her a gift too."

"Right."

"Since it's in three days, we'll probably have to buy it tomorrow or the day before."

"Yes."

"Can you stop just saying 'yes'?" she said, her voice a mix of annoyance, shyness, and hesitation.

"Oh, yes, sorry. I was just trying to let you know that I'm listening," Mika said apologetically.

"No problem. Anyway, I was thinking, maybe we could go together?"

"Go where?"

"TO BUY THE GIFT, of course," she said, sounding very shy.

"Oh, sorry," Mika took a moment to consider her proposal. "She's right. I don't know what to buy, so going together would help me decide," he thought.

"Sure, that works," he replied.

"That's what I thought - WAIT, WHAT DID I SAY?" Mana seemed shocked, and her surprise was evident in her voice.

"Yes? What were you thinking?" Mika wondered what she meant.

"I-I... nothing! So, we're going out together tomorrow, right?" Mana asked excitedly.

"Yes, didn't we agree on that?" Mika was still trying to understand Mana's reactions.

"Then, does this, I mean, is it kind of like a date?" Mana's voice was very excited and hesitant, expecting a significant answer.

A date, hmm... well, after all, a date is just two people going out together, isn't it? I guess that's what she meant.

"Yes, it will be a date," he said.

There was a moment of silence, and Mika didn't know what Mana was doing in the background. After a while, he decided to ask.

"Mana, are you there?"

"W-what? Yes, I'm here!" Her voice sounded extremely happy.

"Okay then, how about we meet in the city center tomorrow?"

"O-o-okay. Where exactly?"

"At the Great Lovers statue, how about that? People usually meet there," Mika suggested, recalling that it was a common meeting spot.

"W-what? Really?" Mana's voice was full of surprise and excitement.

"Yes, is something wrong?"

"Nothing, it's just... okay, let's meet there at around noon, is that good for you?" Mana asked, sounding eager.

"Sure, that works."

"Okay then, see you tomorrow."

"Okay, see you," Mika said, and he ended the call. It was almost midnight.

Guess it's time for bed

 As he headed downstairs to take out the trash bag full of broken glass, he remembered that he had forgotten Saya's drawing tablet again.

"Looks like it was all for nothing now," he thought. Suddenly, he remembered the events of the day.

I hope everything went well.