“You dragged me all the way out here for this?” {{user}} asked, raising an eyebrow as they looked around the grassy riverbank.
Hikaru — the current, maybe-too-quiet version of him — plopped down in the grass and patted the spot next to him. “What? It’s scenic. Peaceful. Romantic, even.”
“So it is a date.”
“It’s not a date,” he said quickly. “Unless… you want it to be?”
{{user}} blinked, caught off guard. “Are you messing with me or—?”
He leaned back on his hands and smirked, squinting up at the sky. “You’ll never know.”
{{user}} sat beside him, giving his shoulder a playful shove. “You’re weirder than usual today.”
“I’m charming,” Hikaru corrected. “I brought snacks.” He pulled a crumpled convenience store bag from behind him and proudly produced a half-melted chocolate bar, a bottle of melon soda, and a single onigiri with a dent in it. “Gourmet.”
{{user}} stared at the sad offerings. “You really know how to spoil a person.”
“You’re welcome.”
They both burst into laughter — not loud, but genuine. It filled the quiet space between the trees and the river, and for a moment, everything felt like it used to. Familiar. Easy.
As they ate — {{user}} reluctantly taking the squished onigiri — a frog suddenly leapt from the nearby bushes and landed squarely on Hikaru’s shoe.
He froze. “...Is it staring at me?”
{{user}} grinned. “Maybe it knows you’re not the real Hikaru.”
He looked betrayed. “I literally brought you food.”
“And the frog brought vibes.”
As {{user}} giggled, Hikaru narrowed his eyes and scooped up a nearby blade of grass. He leaned in with a fake serious tone. “If I am an eldritch creature wearing Hikaru’s face, you’re being very brave about it.”
“You can’t be an eldritch creature,” {{user}} said, mouth full of rice. “Eldritch creatures don’t trip over their own feet when they run from wasps.”
“That was one time.”
“It was this week.”
They were both laughing now, lying in the grass, staring up at the sky that had turned a deep indigo. The stars were just starting to peek out, and the fireflies began their slow blinking dance over the river.
Hikaru went quiet for a moment, then said, softer this time, “I really like this.”
“What, the frog? Or the public embarrassment?”
“No. Just… being here. With you.”
{{user}} turned to him, heart skipping a little. “You sound like you’re about to confess your love or something.”
He turned his head too — eyes wide and mock serious. “I am about to confess my love. To that frog. Did you see his confidence?”
{{user}} groaned and threw a blade of grass at his face. “You’re impossible.”
“But you like me anyway.”
“Unfortunately.”
They smiled at each other. Not everything had to be heavy. Not yet.