"Whaddya want for breakfast?" Ken asked as they led Daigo to the kitchen. They opened the fridge, letting him look at their options.

Daigo leaned against the doorway, crossing his arms. He was dressed now. He thought for a moment.

"I think I'll just have some toast and jam," he answered.

"You sure?" Ken asked with a frown.

"I'm sure," Daigo replied. "I'm not that hungry."

Ken's concerned frown deepened, but they still popped two slices of bread in the toaster as they got on to making some tamagoyaki for themselves. They had had it the day before, but they didn't care: there was a reason it was their favorite breakfast, after all.

"I sent a text to the group chat telling the crew what happened," Daigo spoke up as Ken got the eggs going.

Ken simply nodded in response - they could already hear their phone vibrating in their back pocket. They weren't sure whether or not they wanted to look at the replies just yet.

"Did you tell Clio, too?" Ken asked.

"Yeah," Daigo replied. "I felt obligated to, since he's in town and he's our friend and all."

"You shouldn't have to feel obligated to that shit," Ken reminded him. They could almost hear Daigo shrugging behind them as the slices of bread popped out of the toaster, browned and ready.

"What kinda jam you got?" Daigo asked.

Ken lifted the finished tamagoyaki onto a plate with a pair of chopsticks and opened the fridge once again.

"Peach and grape," they answered. "Which one d'you want?"

Daigo answered by taking the jar of peach jam out of the fridge and placing it on the counter. He went ahead and grabbed the sizzling hot slices of toast, hissing in pain as he dropped them onto a plate.

"Hey, be careful," Ken scolded him.

"Sorry," Daigo uttered.

Ken's scowl faltered, and they reached out to brush Daigo's hair behind his ear like they had done the night before. His bruise was starting to heal, the splotches of purple having been replaced with an ugly yellow that was even more chilling to look at under the flourescent lights of the kitchen.

"Does it hurt?" Ken asked.

Daigo shook his head, having seemed to dissociate again. A solemn silence fell between the two as Ken took the frying pan off the stove and turned off the flame. A lightbulb abruptly went off in their head.

"Wanna go to the library later?" Ken asked, a shy grin slowly spreading across their face. "Like, a sorta date situation?"

Now Daigo was paying attention. He glanced over at Ken, cheeks turning pink. At last, he smiled.

"That sounds good," he answered. He lifted his heels off the ground to kiss Ken on the cheek. Ken's mind went blank as Daigo calmly picked up his plate and sauntered over to the dining room.

If only Ryota could see this: he'd one hundred percent be jumping for joy.

~

Just take care of yourself. Love you, man.

Ken reached the last reply in the groupchat to Daigo's news, and they put their phone away to charge for a few minutes. They rummaged through their closet, trying to put together a suitable outfit for a library date. Daigo had gone back to his place to change and apply some eyeliner, and Ken was glad that he was in an okay enough mood to put some effort into the day.

"Not this . . . no, not that either . . ." A frustrated Ken tossed garments over their shoulder as they fished through their bottom drawer.

Tok, tok, tok

"Are you decent?" Chinatsu asked from the other side of the door.

"Yeah, c'mon in," Ken sighed.

Chinatsu opened the door and popped in, still wearing her grease stained apron from a morning rush at the cafe she worked at. She raised an eyebrow at the brand new mess on Ken's floor.

"Dafuq?" she blurted out.

Ken felt themselves go red, expecting a barrage of teasing.

"Daigo and I are going on a date and I need to pick an outfit before he comes back." they explained.

"'Bout damn time!" Chinatsu shouted in response, positively beaming as she slapped her thigh. "I dunno much about fashion, though. Maybe call Litsuko?"

"Perfect," Ken remarked with a snap of their fingers. "Now leave me alone, I gotta put something together." They shooed her away with their fingers.

"Whatever. Have fun, squirt," Chinatsu said with a wink, and she disappeared back into the hallway, closing the door behind her.

Ken snatched the charging cord out of their phone and called Litsuko on FaceTime. She answered in a few seconds, but her face was extremely close to the camera, so much so that the tip of her button nose was nearly touching the screen.

"Hullo, I'm on the toilet," she greeted them. Her voice carried a hint of worry.

"I need a date outfit," Ken replied, cutting right to the chase. "Daigo and I are going to the library."

"Ayo!" Litsuko cried out excitedly.

"Should I wear purple?" Ken suggested, too anxious to give her time to get hyped. "It's his favorite color, after all."

"I mean, that's obvious," Litsuko agreed. "Don't you have a pair of purple slacks? Maybe pair it with a graphic tee."

"Yeah, that sounds good!" Ken thanked her. "What about my green Studio Ghibli shirt?" It would match their scrunchie.

"Recipe for success, if you ask me!" Litsuko gushed. "Maybe your fake dog tail and a touch of lip gloss!

"Pink, though, not clear - clear is for winter."

"Thanks, girl," Ken said with a thankful grin. "I'm gonna leave you to take a shit. I'll let you know how it goes!"

"Good luck~! I want every drop of tea spilled!" Litsuko sang before hanging up.

Fifteen minutes later, just after they finished applying a thin layer of lip gloss, Ken heard a familiar knock, signaling that Daigo was back. They quickly dropped their wallet into their satchel and zipped it up before rushing over to the front door. They fitted on their brown loafers and stood up to unlock and answer the door. There was Daigo, wearing a band tee and an oversized leather jacket. His eyeliner was perfectly smudged. He had even brushed his hair. Beautiful.

"How do I look?" Ken asked expectantly.

Daigo smiled as he looked Ken up and down.

"Fucking adorable," he answered.

Ken thanked Daigo by taking his hand and kissing his knuckles, and they made sure to let him know how handsome he looked. Daigo gave their hand a squeeze in response, and the two headed towards the elevator. Since they lived in an urban area, it was safe to hold hands in public. Daigo always had cold hands, but Ken didn't mind - they found it pleasant, anyway.

The streets were relatively busy that day. Ken eagerly tugged Daigo along, across crosswalks and around corners. It was rather cloudly, and by the time they got to the library, it had started to drizzle. Ken ran their hand through their hair once they got inside, as if to comb out the raindrops. They headed to the front desk to check in, and Daigo followed suit.

"Where d'you wanna go first?" Ken asked.

"Horror manga," Daigo immediately answered. "I still have some Kazuo Umezu works on my TBR."

Ken immediately cringed in discomfort. Daigo noticed this and groaned with slight annoyance.

"Guessing you'll be snuggling up in the mythology section?" he assumed.

"Bingo," Ken replied, recovering with an uneasy chuckle. "See ya later." They weren't too sure about leaving him alone, but they trusted him.

Daigo shot Ken a quick smile before departing for the manga section, and Ken trodded off to where the books on ancient mythology were located. Since their bey, Kerbeus, was based off of the Ancient Greek monster Cerberus, it was only natural that Ken picked up an interest in the tales of Ancient Greece and Rome.

It wasn't long before Ken got lost in a copy of The Song of Achilles. Deep down, Ken knew how glorified it was, but they refused to let it get in the way of their love of fantasy. Soon enough, they felt loneliness creeping in. So they found their way to the manga section, where Daigo was sitting on a beanbag chair, one leg crossed over the other and looking mildly disturbed (if he was uncomfortable, then that manga had to be gross). His face brightened slightly when he noticed Ken standing not two feet away from him.

"You wanna cuddle, don't you?" he guessed. He was reading a manga called Baptism.

Ken smiled in defeat: Daigo was so much better with social cues than they were. They plopped down on the beanbag chair next to Daigo and wrapped an arm around his waist as they propped open their book with their thumb. Daigo leaned his whole body against them, resting his head upon Ken's shoulder. Oh, how Ken loved this fuzzy feeling.