Ichirou’s Sunday was quiet and peaceful, but his Monday was fairly… noisy. Yuuhei had taken the day off, claiming to be sick, and had naturally spent his whole day either on a call with poor Ichirou or texting him about his experience. Part of Ichirou really didn’t want to hear and imagine that, since Yuuhei was like a brother to him, but another part of him was extremely curious about sex since he had never gotten to it.

In the end, Ichirou decided to listen to what Yuuhei had to say. He sat on his bed with the door locked, wearing a large t-shirt as pajamas and only his underwear. It felt a bit like a girl’s slumber party, but Ichirou honestly didn’t mind that much. He listened to Yuuhei speak through his wireless earbuds, his legs spread out in front of him.

“It fucking burned, and I felt like I was being split open from the inside out, but it was the most turned on I’ve ever been. It hurt like hell, but somehow that only made it better. When he started moving, I felt like I absolutely lost my mind from pleasure. I think I’ve been doing sex wrong this whole time. I mean, I’ve only done it, like, ten times or so, but this time was entirely different. It was so good,” Yuuhei said, his voice coming out of Ichirou’s phone.

Ichirou listened, his face red. “H- how many did you two end up doing it?”

“Like, ten times, I think? Well, I came like ten times, he’s better at holding it in than I am, since he’s way more experienced,” Yuuhei recounted.

“Jeez, I can’t believe it was that good. You’ve never talked to me about sex before,” Ichirou said.

“If I’m being honest, Ichirou, I think Takeru-san was probably right about me. He told me that he thought that I would be a good submissive to him, and I think I want to be. He tied up my wrists and spanked me, and I thought I would hate both of those things, but I really liked it. We’re planning on meeting up next week, too. I hope I can walk next time so I don’t miss any more work,” Ichirou said.

“You think you might actually be into BDSM, then? I’m kind of surprised, I never expected that out of you,” Ichirou said, hugging his knees to his chest.

“I didn’t either, but something about the intensity of pain and pleasure married together really drove me wild. I really want next week to come sooner, because I didn’t know sex could be this good. I told you, right? With my previous girlfriends I had trouble keeping it up. I think it’s because, somewhere in the back of my mind, I wanted to be the one getting fucked instead,” Yuuhei said.

“Then, what? Are you gay, or…?” Ichirou asked.

“No, that’s not it. A woman could use a strap on with me, and that would be awesome, too. I mean, obviously, an alpha woman or a trans woman has a cock so she could just fuck me, but you know what I mean. I only went out with beta women, and none of them had a dick. What I’m getting at is that I don’t care what gender they are, I just want to be dominated, damn it.”

“Wah… I can’t believe how much you’ve learned about yourself in the past twenty four hours. I mean, just two weeks ago you were telling me how annoying you found Takeru and how you didn’t want him anywhere near you. What the heck changed?”

Yuuhei paused for a moment, and Ichirou waited quietly. “Okay, so, to tell the truth… because he was texting me about it a bunch, I got curious, so I looked up porn of it. My dick stood straight up immediately, and it has never done that. So I figured that I must just have that sort of kink. It, um, it’s a good way to figure out if you have any kinks, I guess.”

Ichirou nodded, forgetting that Yuuhei couldn’t see him nod. “I guess I’ve never looked into that stuff too much.”

“Yeah, I only watched vanilla porn before, and I know you barely watch that sort of thing, right?”

Ichirou felt his cheeks turn more red and he tried to burrow his head into his knees. “Yeah, uh… it’s just embarrassing. It’s not like I never get horny, it’s just… when I do, I just picture a faceless buff guy. Watching porn is just usually too much for me.”

“You’re so cute, Ichirou. You should get a real boyfriend who can cherish you.”

“I’ll get one eventually. For now, Masahiro-san cherishes me enough.”

Yuuhei was quiet again for a second. “Do you think that you could fall in love with Masahiro-san?”

“What the heck, no! That’s the whole point of us fake dating! For it to be fake.”

Ichirou felt a bit of fire rise up within him. It wasn’t that he was mad that Yuuhei was suggesting this sort of thing, it was more like… he was frustrated. Why did people keep saying that he should date Masahiro? They were friends, and Ichirou didn’t want to ruin that. No, not just that, he didn’t even like Masahiro that way! So why did everyone seem to think that he did?

“I know, I just… I’ve seen the way he looks at you, and it seems like he cares about you a lot. I suggest you consider dating him for just that reason alone.”

“I’m not going to, and just because he cares for me doesn’t mean he’s in love with me. Jeez!”

Ichirou and Yuuhei talked for a while longer about Yuuhei’s sexcapade, with Yuuhei going into quite a bit of detail about the positioning of body parts, the size of body parts, and which body parts of his hurt for a while. Ichirou listened to most of it, choosing to ignore the gritty details of the size and positioning of some body parts. He did not want to picture Takeru and Yuuhei going at it, thank you very much, it was just something that had happened. 

A couple of days later, Ichirou made the difficult decision to try looking at porn for the first time in probably six months, just to see if he had any weird kinks like Yuuhei did. Pretty quickly he realized that no, he wasn’t into any of this more hardcore stuff, and it actually just looked kind of scary. Yuuhei had to be brave in order to take on being whipped or completely tied up. So, with a close of the browser and a clearing of the history, he decided not to think of any of those sorts of things again. 

However, he did think about what he would like to happen to him sexually. His mind wandered over to a muscular man who didn’t have any defined facial features, a man who kissed him from his forehead down to his toes, a man who lovingly undressed Ichirou, a man pressed his fingers gently into Ichirou… in the end, however, it was Ichirou, by himself, using his own soaked fingers in his hole and slowly stroking his own cock. He moaned quietly to himself, his legs trembling and his hips raised as he reached his climax. 

Masturbation was something that Ichirou didn’t do on his own very often. If he was going to masturbate, he usually did it during his heat. It wasn’t that it didn’t feel good, but it often made him feel lonely. For him, it brought the definite feeling that someone should be with him in that moment, but nobody ever was. It wasn’t ever regret, it was just a sense that he was, really and truly, isolated from any sort of romantic love.

As he usually did, Ichirou cleaned himself up and refused to give in to those sad feelings. He may be lonely romantically, but he wasn’t ready to get married either. He wished he could just casually date, without worrying about where it was going to end up. If he could date in that way, then… well, who would he date? It’s not like he knew a ton of alphas.

For all of a second, Masahiro flashed in his mind. However, he crushed that thought almost immediately, panic rising into his throat for a moment. He was not interested in dating Masahiro, that was the whole point of this… this relationship! No matter how nice Masahiro was, no matter how much Masahiro cared for him, no matter how kind Masahiro was to him, it simply could not be. If he started really dating Masahiro, he would almost certainly end up marrying Masahiro, and he was terrified of the thought of marriage. He wasn’t ready, he couldn’t do that.

Oh, and he didn’t like Masahiro that way, as well! He didn’t. He liked Masahiro as a good friend, thank you very much.

Masahiro had suggested that they go to a nice bar this week, that way they would be inside during the blazing heat. Ichirou agreed, grateful to the air conditioning unit in his room. At this time of year, he rarely went outside. The shrieks of the cicadas and the damp, disgusting heat made him feel like he wanted to die. So, the suggestion that they wait until dusk to go out was actually a wonderful idea.

Ichirou was feeling more like a masculine look today, so his hair naturally went up in a ponytail. He wore a white, button up shirt with a powder pink suit jacket and pleated pants. He refused to put on a tie for this occasion because it was too hot. However, he did put on his white monk strap shoes, despite wishing for his toes to be free. He didn’t put on any jewelry with this look, figuring that he was going for a more masculine look.

Although Masahiro wasn’t here yet, he walked downstairs and through the hallway to the entranceway, in order to sit down. He pulled out his phone, and noted that Yuuhei had texted him that his client didn’t show up, and that he was bored. Ichirou snickered and texted him back, telling him to dye his hair a different color if he was so bored. Yuuhei shot back that maybe he would, although Ichirou knew that Yuuhei was terrified of dying his hair. After all, if the colors turned out even somewhat close to green, he would look incredibly more like a frog than before.

“Sooo, waiting for your boyfriend?” Ichika called as she walked over to sit on the couch beside her older brother.

“Yeah, I got bored upstairs,” Ichirou said. “He’s on his way, though.”

Ichika collapsed next to him on the couch, looking at him. “You and I haven’t got to talk much lately.”

“We talked for, like, two hours yesterday,” Ichirou said, his eyebrows crunching together in confusion.

“Okay, but not today. Have I told you that Yuri-chan wants us to meet up with her?” Ichika asked. 

“No, you haven’t. Why does she wanna meet up with me? Isn’t she your friend?” Ichirou queried. 

“Of course she’s my friend! But I think she wants to get to know you, too, for some reason. Maybe it’s because you both like cutesy things or something like that,” Ichika said, shrugging.

“Okay, well, Masahiro and I are gonna go to that cat cafe in Harajuku next week, do you and her want to come with?” Ichirou asked.

“I think that’ll be good. She really likes cats, too,” Ichika said, grinning. “She’s so cute… maybe I should take her to that maid cafe, too, so she can wear those cute kitty ears.”

“I’m just glad you’ve found an outlet besides me for your weeaboo shit,” Ichirou grunted, slumping down in his chair. “You used to prattle endlessly to me about your gay manga, and it would drive me wild. It seems like you’ve finally got yourself a high society friend who doesn’t mind.”

“Yeah, and she’s so cute…” Ichika said with a sigh. “I want to meet up with her again, before next Saturday. I’m gonna go call her.”

Ichirou snorted at that, watching his sister get up and start dialing her friend. After he could hear Ichika chatting down the hall, his phone let off a cute little jingle to let him know that Masahiro had messaged him. He pulled out his phone and looked at it for a moment, before walking outside.

Despite the fact that it was after seven, it was still blisteringly hot. Ichirou almost felt like he was swimming through a vat of hot soup to get to the car. Masahiro was not outside of the car to greet him like he usually was, which spoke to the heat. Ichirou walked around the front of the car to the passenger side, quickly jumping into the car and slamming the car door behind him. Ahh, air conditioning… much better.

“Good evening, Ichirou-san,” Masahiro said.

Ichirou turned to look at the other man. Masahiro was wearing a black suit and tie, which Ichirou couldn’t help but think suited him immensely. With a quick greeting from Ichirou, Masahiro pulled out of the driveway and drove them into the city. The hotel they were headed to was in Shinjuku, and Ichirou was able to easily recognize the building from a distance, mainly because it wasn’t one building, it was three.

Masahiro dropped off the car in the underground parking, and the two of them quickly walked inside. It was, again, much cooler inside. They had to take a couple elevators to get up to the fifty second floor. Masahiro offered his name up when they asked for reservations, and thus they were seated in a couple of seats by the window. 

The aura of this bar was quiet, muted. Live jazz was being played by a band, and the theme of the bar seemed to be New York City. There was colorful, jazz themed pop art upon the walls, but everything else was dark. The tables and the chairs were dark, and even the floors and the support beams were dark. The air smelled a bit like cigarettes, but mostly like good food. The light was rather low, with only a few lights above them and some lamps. This gave the bar an extremely intimate feeling, although that somehow comforted Ichirou.

However, as Ichirou looked out the window, he couldn’t help but note how gorgeous the view was. Although it was just becoming eight o clock, so therefore not dark out yet, he was able to see across Tokyo. Because of the window’s positioning, they wouldn’t be able to watch the sun set, but perhaps that was for the better. Hopefully by the time it turned dark, they would be able to see all the lights of the city.

The waitress dropped off their menus, and Ichirou looked through it carefully. They had some nice food here, and some really nice champagne. A five thousand yen glass of champagne… now that sounded nice. As for the food, he wanted some pan seared scallops, and a dish of tagliolini pasta with Canadian lobster in a tomato garlic sauce. Going out and getting these sorts of fancier meals… to be honest, this was his favorite sort of evening.

Ichirou peeked out over his menu. “Are you ready?”

“Yep, I’ll flag down the waiter,” Masahiro said, smiling at Ichirou.

While Ichirou got seafood, Masahiro got a salad with cherrywood bacon and Kobe beef with an espresso martini. They handed their waitress the menus. Afterwards, Masahiro clasped his hands together and turned to Ichirou.

“So… did you unfortunately hear about Takeru and Yuuhei-san’s Sunday?” Masahiro asked.

“Y- yeah, I did,” Ichirou said with a wince, partially regretting asking so many questions and receiving so many answers.

“Okay, glad it wasn’t just me that had the unfortunate experience. I won’t press you for anything, I just needed to know that I wasn’t alone in this crappy situation,” Masahiro said with a sigh.

“Thanks, I don’t think this is an appropriate place to talk about such things,” Ichirou said with a cough.

“Agreed. Oh, I just wanted to mention as well that you look really nice. It’s amazing how well you pull off super feminine things and then super masculine things. I don’t think I could do that well at all,” Masahiro said with a laugh.

Ichirou flushed and looked down and away. “Y- yeah, well… isn’t that basically what dominant male omegas are supposed to be like? Beautiful, but obviously still a man?”

“I guess so. I don’t know any other dominant male omegas,” Masahiro said mildly.

“I suppose I don’t either,” Ichirou grumbled as the waitress placed down their drinks in front of them. Ichirou felt his frown instantly get replaced by a smile as he took a sip of the expensive drink. Truly, one of life’s joys.

“You really like champagne, don’t you?” Masahiro asked, an eyebrow raised playfully.

“I- it tastes really good,” Ichirou said defensively. “It makes me feel warm and happy, too. I just get drunk differently on it.”

“Good to know. Unlike the time you had ciders, and you got all sa-”

“Please don’t bring that up! That was very embarrassing!” Ichirou hissed, his face turning bright red.

“Sorry, sorry,” Masahiro said with a chuckle. 

“Oh, by the way, next week, we were planning on going to that cat cafe, right? Ichika asked if she and Yuri-chan could come along,” Ichirou said.

“Yuri-chan? Who’s that?” Masahiro asked, blinking.

“Oh, um, remember, she’s that girl we met in Akihabara that one time,” Ichirou offered.

“Ohhh, okay, sorry, I forgot her name. But why do they want to come along? It’s just a cat cafe,” Masahiro said with a shrug.

“Apparently Yuri-chan likes cats. Besides that, I guess she wants to get closer to me? I’m not really sure why. I figured you wouldn’t mind, but I wanted to ask,” Ichirou said.

“I don’t,” Masahiro said. “But speaking of future plans… I wanted to talk to you about the three weeks after that.”

“Oh? What is it?”

Before Masahiro could respond, their appetizers were placed before them. In front of Ichirou was a plate filled with golden, crispy scallops with a lemon butter drizzled over it. As a garnish, there was some parsley as well. Meanwhile, in front of Masahiro was caesar salad that had baby gems, croutons, parmesan, and bacon. Ichiro cut up a slice of his scallops, waiting for Masahiro to continue, and after a mouthful of food, he did.

“Um, I don’t think I’ll be able to meet for the next three weeks after that,” he said hesitantly.

“What?!” Ichirou cried, before covering his mouth. He was louder than he had meant to be. A couple that was seated near them looked over to Masahiro and Ichirou for a moment with a disapproving look before returning to their meal.

“I’m sorry, I really didn’t know how to tell you, but finals are coming up. I’m going to need to focus on them,” Masahiro said apologetically. 

Ichirou pouted. “For three whole weeks?”

“Yes, in fact, I feel like I’m pushing it with only three weeks. I’d love to spend more time with you, but I need to make sure my studies are coming first,” Masahiro said with a sigh.

Ichirou sipped at his drink, sulking slightly. It wasn’t like he didn’t understand. Masahiro’s goal was to be valedictorian, and he had already been trying to push himself to be less of a recluse by going out with Ichirou every week. Ichirou really should have expected this much, if he was being honest. With Masahiro being in grad school, it really was a wonder that he was managing this much.

“You’re going to text me, right? You’re not gonna drop me after all this, are you?” Ichirou asked, looking up to Masahiro with puppy eyes.

“Of course I’ll text you, and of course I’d never drop you,” Masahiro said, bending over a bit. “You’ve become a sweet friend of mine, I couldn’t bear to lose you just because we spent a few weeks apart physically.”

Ichirou nodded, this answer seeming to satisfy him. “Well, I hope you do well on your schoolwork. If I know you, I know that you will.”

Masahiro smiled gently at that. “Thank you. I’ll do my best to live up to your expectations.

“That won’t be hard for you,” Ichirou snorted.

After this, they fell into a comfortable silence for a moment. Ichirou ate his scallops and Masahiro ate his salad, each savoring their own food. Ichirou finished his glass of champagne and ordered another one. He wasn’t really planning on getting drunk, but he was planning on enjoying the delicious alcohol.

“I heard about this new drama called Beloved,” Masahiro said. “It seemed like it might be your cup of tea. There’s even a male omega in it.”

“Oh?” Ichirou asked, his eyebrow raised. Admittedly, he had been reading more the past couple of weeks, so he didn’t exactly know what the new shows were. It was a lot easier to find omega authors to support rather than betas playing omega characters. It’s not that the betas were bad at it or something, it just was rather annoying to know that they were playing romanticized versions of what an omega went through, without actually having to go through any of the stigma. People just wouldn’t hire omegas if they could get a beta who looked the part enough.

“Yeah, it’s got that one idol from that group that everyone likes recently… uh, Haru, I think his name is Haru,” Masahiro offered.

Ah, that’s right, that boy was part of a well known idol group. Ichirou remembered seeing his merchandise at that store in Akihabara. He actually only vaguely knew his name. Ichirou wasn’t into male idols that much, but it did make him smile to see Haru appear in commercials and other such things. If he was in a drama, Ichirou wanted to be able to watch it. It was the least he could do to support another male omega who was just trying to make it in the world.

“What’s the drama about?” Ichirou asked, before taking a bite that would finish off his appetizer.

“Umm, it’s about high school kids, one where a guy is a rebellious student and the other is a goody two shoes. The rebellious student falls in love with the goody two shoes, but the goody two shoes isn’t into it. So, it’s about how this punk of a student is doing his best to get a nerd to love him,” Masahiro recounted.

“Wow, did you watch the whole first episode or something?” Ichirou asked.

“I did,” he admitted. “I put it on while I was studying. I’ve been trying to watch dramas every once in a while since you said you enjoyed them to me. It sort of feels like I’m getting to know you better, in a weird way.”

Ichirou blinked in surprise at that, feeling his cheeks turn red for some reason he couldn’t quite pin. “U- um, thanks for showing interest in what I like, I guess…”

“Of course. You’re my friend, I care about the things you care about,” Masahiro said earnestly.

“I guess I should watch some robot anime then,” Ichirou said.

“You don’t have to, I know it’s pretty far out of your wheelhouse,” Masahiro said.

Their waitress returned, bringing Masahiro his 180 gram steak of Kobe beef, and Ichirou’s pasta. Ichirou let out a soft hum of pleasure, smelling the wonderful seafood and aromatic garlic. True, nobody would want to kiss him after eating this garlic, but nobody would want to kiss him either way. So, he might as well enjoy his food!

After swallowing his first bite of pasta and lobster, he decided to continue the conversation from before. “But if you’re going out on a limb to try what I like, then it only seems fair for me to at least give your anime a try. I don’t want this relationship to be one sided, it’s only fair if we both do things.”

Masahiro smiled gently at that, not saying what was on his mind. This relationship was entirely one sided, but Ichirou could never know that. He would do whatever it takes to ensure that Ichirou never was uncomfortable with Masahiro’s feelings. He would just be quietly devoted to Ichirou, for as long as he could. But still, if this was a way for Ichirou to feel better about this relationship, he supposed there was no harm in having a movie night.

“Then, after all of my exams are done and I’m on summer vacation, why don’t we watch some mecha anime and dramas together. You could stay the night in my guest room, if you’d like,” Masahiro offered.

Ichirou felt his eyes go wide. “W- will that be okay?”

“What do you mean?” Masahiro asked, looking confused.

“W- well, I just…” Ichirou’s face turned red and he looked out at the skyline that was turning orange. “I’ve never stayed over at anyone’s house, let alone an alpha’s…”

Masahiro’s mouth formed a small “o” in surprise. Because even considering having sex with Ichirou was off the table for him, it hadn’t even occurred to him how this could sound. He coughed and cleared his throat, his own cheeks turning pink despite doing his best to keep his thoughts clean.

“I mean, I’m not going to do anything to you. There’s a lock on the door, too, so if you’re worried about it, you can always lock me out,” he said.

Ichirou tapped his fingers together, thinking as Masahiro ordered a mocktail next from the waitress. He remembered how Masahiro’s scent had surrounded him at that apartment, how it almost made Ichirou sleepy with how comforting it was. He remembered the urge to roll into the blankets, and he remembered how safe he had been feeling around Masahiro lately. He thought of how long he would be without those compassionate pheromones.

“I wanna try,” Ichirou said, sounding a bit nervous.

“You want to try what?” Masahiro asked, blinking.

“I wanna sleep over at your place,” Ichirou said. “I’ve never slept over at anyone else’s place, but I want to hang out with you.”

A beaming smile spread across Masahiro’s face. “I’m so glad! It’ll be fun! We can get snacks, and stay up late, and get comfy in the couches, and I can make breakfast and dinner, and we’ll just have so much fun!”

Ichirou smiled back. “Yeah, it will be!”

Then, like a train, it hit him. If he stayed over at his “boyfriend’s” apartment, wouldn’t that look like he was having sex with Masahiro to his parents? Oh, god, no, Ichirou felt his face flame up at just the thought. It was true, though, that would have been “going out” for almost four months at that point. Some couples did end up doing it by that point, right? So maybe his parents wouldn’t completely and utterly freak out.

“Your face is really red,” Masahiro noted. “You okay?”

Ichirou jumped a bit at that before vigorously nodding. “Yes, yes, I’m totally okay, nothing is wrong, I’m completely fine!”

Masahiro tilted his head a bit in confusion, and Ichirou stuffed his mouth with lobster and pasta in retaliation. He was not about to let Masahiro in on that thought, because then things would possibly get awkward. Not only that, but Masahiro might decide it would be better if they didn’t actually meet up for that night! Ichirou was not about to risk his fun night because he couldn’t stop thinking about how his parents would think that he was having sex.

“I’m glad you trust me a bit more now,” Masahiro said with a tiny sigh. “I was so nervous when we first began hanging out that I would do something to make you uncomfortable. I really did my best to make sure I put your feelings first.”

Ichirou sipped at his champagne, looking down. “I know. I can tell. I really appreciate it. I was so nervous for so long about getting into a relationship… I’ve always been a bit scared of alphas, to be honest, so it’s really refreshing to be able to trust a couple of them.”

Masahiro scooted closer, looking interested. “You didn’t like alphas?”

“That’s not exactly it. It’s more like, I saw how much power they held, how differently my sister was treated from me, how people would write me off… it’s not as though I hated alphas, I just was scared that they had more of a voice than me. When I got to middle school, I began to hear stories of rape, and how omegas deserved it. It scared me that anybody could think that way. The stories of alphas that couldn’t control themselves… I was really scared of that happening to me. That’s why I asked to go to an omega exclusive high school. That was a bad mistake, though.” Ichirou laughed softly, a tinge of regret in his voice.

“I can completely see where you’re coming from,” Masahiro said sympathetically. “It really sucks that omegas are looked down on in that way. I don’t understand it one bit. It really is just a bunch of bullshit so alphas can get away with whatever they want.”

Ichirou nodded, looking up at Masahiro. “It’s really gross. I’m glad you understand…”

“How could I not? My aunt is one of those terrible alphas.”

Ichirou was taken aback by that. “Sh… she is?”

“Yeah. I don’t think she’s actually done anything to hurt anyone like that, but she certainly adds to the culture, saying that the omegas should keep better track of their heats, or that omegas are always the ones to come onto alphas… really gross stuff like that. She’s absolutely disgusting,” Masahiro said, a disgusted sneer making its way onto his face.

“Your aunt sounds kind of like a bitch,” Ichirou said.

“She is! She sucks so much,” Masahiro complained. 

“She would probably be nice to me because I’m the obscenely rich omega who is dating her nephew,” Ichirou grumbled.

“Yeah, as nice as she can be. Like, she probably would say some off handed shit without thinking about it. I hope you never have to meet her, though. Since we’re not really dating, there should be no reason. I only see her once a year or so,” Masahiro said.

“What about your uncle? Do you think I’ll meet him at some point?”

“Oh, I mean, if you want to meet him at some point, I’d be happy to introduce you two. I just figured you wouldn’t really want to since we’re only going to be together for six months,” Masahiro said, sounding surprised.

“Oh. Yeah, I guess there wouldn’t be much of a reason, would there?” Ichirou asked softly before taking one of his last bites of food.

“Yeah, but that’s fine, isn’t it? I mean, I won’t be meeting your family either,” Masahiro said.

“I suppose so.”

If Ichirou was being honest, he was strangely a little sad about it. Even though they were just going through the motions of a relationship, it also felt pretty good. Something about finally supposedly living up to his parents expectations was pleasant, but also Masahiro was a really nice guy. He liked pretending to be in a relationship with him. It wasn’t like he actually wanted to be in a relationship with him, he just liked the idea of being in a relationship. That’s why he wanted to do things like introduce Masahiro to his parents, or introduce himself to Masahiro’s uncle.

Still, he had no actual reason to introduce himself to Masahiro’s uncle, nor did he have any reason to introduce Masahiro to his parents. As things were right now, the plan was still to have it end in just over three months. They were just about halfway through their fake relationship. For some reason, that made his stomach twist uncomfortably. 

Was he going back on the idea that it should only last six months? Maybe. He had been thinking about making it last longer for a little while now. However, he wasn’t ready to commit one way or another. He decided that he would have a nice long think about it while they were on their three week “break” from each other. 

Ichirou looked out the window. By now, it had become night. The sky was dark, but the city was completely lit up. Cars appeared to be so small from up here. He watched silently as he watched one particular car drive off.

“Do you want a dessert?” Masahiro asked.

“Oh, sure!” Ichirou said with a smile.

Masahiro ordered them a fresh strawberry pavlova with a citrus curd to share. As Masahiro didn’t have as big of a sweet tooth as Ichirou, he said he would just take a couple bites. Ichirou expected about as much from him, and Ichirou ordered a glass of dessert wine. Because he had spaced them out well, they weren’t affecting him too much. He felt a bit warm and cozy was all.

The waitress came back fairly quickly and put the meringue dessert in front of them. Ichirou stuck his fork into it, ensuring he got a piece of a strawberry as well. Masahiro did so as well, smiling at Ichirou. Ichirou smiled back, enjoying the wonderful taste. The curd also tasted good, not too sweet, not too sour.

“Ichirou-san, have you got any plans for the rest of the summer?” Masahiro asked.

“Oh, no, I guess I don’t really. It might be nice to get away to somewhere cooler,” Ichirou said. “Maybe I’ll head up to Hokkaido while you’re away. They’ve got a lot of pretty scenery this time of year.”

“That sounds excellent. I would hate for you to feel all lonely without me,” Masahiro said teasingly.

Ichirou’s cheeks turned pink. “Sh- shut up. I’m not gonna be lonely without you at all!”

“Are you certain about that?”

“Yeah, of course I am!”

Ichirou didn’t want to admit that he would miss Masahiro. It was only going to be three weeks after all. And, admittedly, he had been looking forward to spending their three month anniversary together. It’s not like it was a real relationship, though, so there was no reason for him to have been looking forward to it. Now that he thought about it, why was he even keeping track? Masahiro obviously wasn’t.

“Well, if you’re certain… I know I’ll be lonely without you.” Masahiro smiled so genuinely and warmly that Ichirou ended up having to look away, his face aflame.

“I- is that so…” Ichirou mumbled.

“Yeah, it is. I care about you, after all,” Masahiro said, still smiling much too brightly for Ichirou to be able to look at.

“W- well, I mean… I guess, may- maybe I’d miss you… just a little, okay! Just a little, s- so don’t get any wild ideas.” Ichirou folded his arms and pouted, effectively looking extremely adorable in his tsundere way.

Masahiro stabbed a strawberry with his fork, his smile just a bit less bright. “Don’t worry. I never would.”

“Um… just because I’m curious… do- do you think we should be celebrating our anniversaries? I- I’m just saying, because maybe our families will notice, or um-” Ichirou managed to stutter out.

“I thought you wouldn’t want to,” Masahiro said, sounding surprised. “After all, it’s just a fake relationship.”

“Well, yeah, it is, but, um, I mean, I just, I think…” Ichirou stumbled through his words, not able to come up with a coherent sentence.

Why was it so hard for him to figure out some sort of reasonable reason for them to celebrate an anniversary together? No, why did he want to celebrate their anniversary together? It obviously wasn’t a big deal to Masahiro. Why was it a big deal to him?

“Do you want to do all of the little things since this is your first time being in any form of relationship, even if it’s a fake one?” Masahiro offered up an explanation that Ichirou instantly latched onto.

“Y- yeah, that must be it! I mean, I’ve never been with anybody, so, even if the relationship is fake, I want to do the stereotypical things. Not, like, kissing or hugging or anything, but other little things. L- like getting each other gifts or celebrating anniversaries. You know how it is,” Ichirou said, being very casual about this whole situation as he shakily sipped on his dessert wine.

“I think I can manage that much if you want, Ichirou-san,” Masahiro said, finishing off his mocktail. “Of course, it’s up to you. I just thought you wouldn’t want to because it seems too romantic.”

“I- I don’t mind doing romantic stuff if it serves a purpose. Like, how we held hands in Harajuku. Celebrating anniversaries serves a purpose! It signals to my family and possibly your family that we’re happy together.” Ichirou huffed before taking a large sip of his wine. It was almost empty at that point.

“I understand, I understand,” Masahiro said with a laugh. “I’ll keep that in mind. I’ll send you some flowers or something, okay?”

“Don’t tell me that! I want it to be a surprise,” Ichirou said.

“Okay, okay. Are you going to get me something, too?”

“Naturally. It wouldn’t be fair if it was just me.”

“I get it. I’ll get you something nice, okay?”

“Thank you. I’ll get you something good too.”

The waitress came over at that moment, and Ichirou handed her his card before Masahiro could manage to pull it out. Ichirou had been preparing since the instant he saw her walking from the kitchen. Masahiro seemed to be severely disappointed that he wasn’t paying for once, but Ichirou felt like things were a bit more balanced. Perhaps that was just his perception, though.

After regaining Ichirou’s card, they walked over to the elevator, then over to the next elevator. Although Ichirou absolutely was not drunk, he did happen to stumble over his own feet at one point. Luckily, Masahiro caught him, grabbing him around the waist. With a huff, he pulled him back up. Ichirou’s face was red and he quickly walked out of the elevator.

“Th- thank you,” Ichirou grumbled as they made their way into the parking garage. The night air was thick and wet, and Ichirou was really regretting the decision to wear a suit jacket.

“Of course,” Masahiro laughed. “What did you even trip on? There’s nothing in the elevator to trip on.”

“Sh- shut up! It just happened that way, okay?”

“I understand,” Masahiro said in a jovial way, unlocking his car.

Ichirou threw himself into the blue sports car, mumbling under his breath about how the elevator must have a ghost in it in order for Ichirou to stumble over it like that. Masahiro got in the car as well, humming softly to himself. He turned on the car and pulled out of his parking spot. With that, they were on the road again, through a dark Tokyo.

“Ichirou-san?”

“Hm?” Ichirou looked over to his fake boyfriend.

“Just… I’m glad you’re my friend. That’s all.”

Ichirou felt his face flush at that. “H- huh?”

“Sorry, I’m just being sappy. I guess I didn’t realize how much I needed someone like you in my life.”

Masahiro’s smile lit up and darkened as they passed by street lamps. Although Ichirou could clearly see that he meant it, there was something else in that expression. It wasn’t frustration or anger… was it sadness? It might have been sadness. Why was he sad? Wasn’t it a good thing that they met? 

Because Ichirou couldn’t read exactly what Masahiro was feeling, he decided to be a bit more honest than he generally liked to be. “Y- yeah, I’m… I’m glad we’re friends, too.”

Masahiro’s smile melted into a slightly softer one. This was his usual gentle, eye crinkling smile that Ichirou really liked. “I’m really glad to hear that.”

Masahiro and Ichirou drove into the night, both with varying degrees of attachment to the other, but certainly as friends.