You stand there in shock outside the changing room, wondering if you're just having a real weird dream. One pinch against your arm assures you that you aren't, and you rub your arm as you mull over what's just happened.

Sendo? Into you?

Since when?

You rack your brains, thinking back to the last few times you'd hung out with the u-20 lot; you can't seem to recall any significant events that had involved Sendo, and by the time Aiku has changed back into his regular clothes, you've only confused yourself further.

"What's with that face?" He asks, taking in your perplexed expression, and you stick your tongue out at him.

"Shut up," You taunt back, following him as he walks out of the building. "You're just jealous 'cause you're so ugly."

"Right." He agrees sarcastically, that stupid smirk on his lips. "I'm the ugly one."

"Are you seriously calling me ugly?" You squawk indignantly, bumping his shoulder. "With a face like that?"

Aiku laughs good-naturedly, refusing to rise to the bait. He opens the car door for you, and you get inside, fastening your seatbelt as he starts the car.

"So, we're going out to eat now," He says, reversing his car- he narrowly misses scratching Niou's car, but he doesn't seem to care, leaning back in his seat casually. "You wanna come with? Or you want me to drop you home?"

"Um... I'll come, yeah." You aren't sure if you've chosen wisely, thinking back to what Sendo had said to you.

"Hey, you're making that face again," Aiku remprimands, and pokes your cheek. "What's up? Something's on your mind, I can tell."

You're hesitant to tell him for about a second, but then his gaze slips over to meet yours, those multicoloured eyes of his inviting you to speak. You oblige, and tell him what had happened outside the changing rooms.

He lets out a low whistle. "Dann, so Sendo finally told you, huh?"

"You knew?" You demand, face flushing slightly. "And you never thought to tell me?"

"Well, he never told me, but it was a bit obvious," Aiku shrugs. "Always laughing at your stupid jokes, blushing whenever you'd look his way- you really never realised?"

"No," You shake your head. "I genuinely didn't."

"So, what're you thinking?" Aiku keeps his eyes on the road, but you get the feeling he's watching you through his peripheral vision. "You gonna give him a chance?"

"I'm not sure yet," You admit, fidgeting with the edge of your cap. "Maybe? I mean, I've been single for a while, and he's hot, so why not, right?"

Aiku doesn't respond, and the rest of the car journey is in a heavy silence- you get the feeling that Aiku has something to say, but he never does, so you decide not to pry, content with relaxing in the passenger seat as he drives. Your eyes drift over to him, snagging on the way the muscles in his arms relax and tense as he drives, the smooth column of his neck, the sharp curve of his jaw-

You snap your eyes away, annoyed with yourself. Yes, he's attractive, but no, you are not stroking his ego by letting him know that.

He pulls up to the parking lot of the restaurant the u-20 lot are meeting at, and you hop out, stretching your arms.

The hem of your sweatshirt rides up a little as you stretch, exposing a sliver of your stomach, and you ignore the way Aiku's mismatched eyes snag onto it.

"Is anyone else here yet?" You ask, going to join him as he walks in.

"Think so," he answers, hands in his pockets. "Saw Neru's car when we arrived."

"Over here!" As if summoned, Neru waves at the two of you from one of the larger tables near the back, sitting with Darai along the booth.

You slip in besides Aiku along the booth, waving back cheerfully. Aiku makes idle chitchat with the other two whilst you sit to the side, waiting for the others to join.

"Ah, look, Sendo's arrived, too." Darai points out, and your head shoots up a little too fast as he approaches.

"You came." He sits opposite you, and you nod, suddenly feeling rather shy.

"Yeah."

Aiku glances between the two of you, blushing at each other like you're ten years old, but he doesn't comment on it, turning back to his conversation with Neru and Darai.

Kitsunezato and Hayate are next to arrive, followed by the other members of the team. Niou is last to arrive, and he walks in with his phone to his ear, settling down besides you as he wraps up his call.

"Bye, sweetheart," He says, and everyone does a double take, including yourself. "Love you."

He hangs up his phone and pockets it, freezing when he sees everyone staring at him. "What?"

"Sweetheart?" Kitsunezato snickers. "Who's your sweetheart, Niou?"

"Don't tell me you actually got a girlfriend?" Aiku smirks, and a vein bulges in Niou's forehead.

"What're you laughing at, bastards?" He demands angrily. "Is that so surprising?"

"A little bit, yeah." Hayate admits, adding fuel to the fire.

"That's not fair! Aiku waltzes in with his girlfriend and nobody says a thing!"

"Ew!" You swat Niou's arm in disgust. "I'm not his girlfriend, idiot!"

"Coulda fooled me!"

"Shut up, Niou." Sendo cuts in, rolling his eyes. "She's not dumb enough to date Aiku."

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?" Aiku protests from besides you. You kick his foot under the table, silently willing him to keep silent about last night. "I'm plenty dateable!"

"You shut up too, Aiku," You say jokingly, bumping his shoulder. "He's not wrong."

"Hah." Sendo says triumphantly, looking smug. Aiku grumbles something that you don't quite catch under his breath, and the conversation moves along.

Overall, the lunch is lovely and enjoyable, with you reminiscing on old memories with the team members and swearing death on Aiku whenever he flirts with you, much to the amusement of the other guys.

Sendo's eyes are glued to you the entire time, and you pretend not to realise until Hayate points it out.

"Yo, Sendo, you good?" He points a finger towards you. "You've just been staring at her this entire time, man."

"He lacks subtlety." Darai says, shaking his head.

"You- just- shut up, idiots!" Sendo's face flushes red, and you make up your mind in that moment.

"Hey, Sendo?" You lean forward slightly, your hands close enough to brush his, the tips of your fingertips barely touching. "About what you asked earlier..."

His eyes snap up to yours, and he leans his head to the side. It's kind of sexy, you realise, and you feel the tips of your ears turn pink.

"You got an answer for me?"

You nod. "I want to go out with you."

Everyone else at the table goes absolutely wild, roaring at the top of their lungs, loud enough to attract the attention of other customers. In the corner of your eye you see Niou begrudgingly hand over ¥1000 to Hayate, and a waiter has to come over to ask your table to keep it down.

"Seriously?" You ask, watching Hayate gladly pocket his newfound money. "You placed a bet?"

"We've been waiting for Sendo to grow a pair and ask you out for a while now," Hayate explains. "Just a matter of time."

"You guys can all go die." Sendo grumbles, and you laugh at his grumpiness at being teased.

"I'm just surprised he asked me out today of all days," You admit with a sigh. "I look like ass today, too."

"No you don't," He frowns. "You look perfect, always."

The boys yell again, and Niou even shoves Sendo playfully. Aiku joins in on the taunting, but you can't help but feel as if something's off with him.

You mentally reprimand yourself. You've agreed to go out with Sendo, so you tell yourself to forget about Aiku and focus on your potential relationship.

It doesn't exactly help that Aiku had slept with you the night before, but you're not going to tell Sendo that. At least, not yet.

Eventually, you're all asked to pay for your meals and leave due to the ruckus you're making, and Sendo is in such a good mood, he pays for everything, much to everyone's delight.

You all leave the restaurant in high spirits after that, and you bid your goodbyes before entering Aiku's car- at least, that's what you're planning to do, but you're stopped with one foot in when Sendo grabs your forearm.

"I'll drop you off home," He says, and it's only once you're this close to him that you realise just how handsome he is, his blonde hair being blown out of his face by the wind, brown eyes fixed on yours.

You turn back to Aiku, who's looking at you with an expression you can't quite decipher.

"Is it alright?" You ask, and he shrugs.

"Sure, it's fine," He says dismissively, waving a hand in your direction. "What're you asking me for?"

You're not quite sure how to respond- again, you get that feeling that he's got more to say but isn't saying it, but you just smile at him.

"I just didn't want to upset you," You step out of his car and shut the door. "But if you're fine with it, then I'll see you later."

He hums in response before getting into his car and driving away, and you let Sendo lead you back to his. He opens the door for you and you climb in; his car is noticeably a lot neater than Aiku's, with less rubbish tossed around. He gets in after you, starting his car and looking over at you.

"You free tomorrow evening?" He asks, pulling out of the parking lot.

You consider. It's a Sunday tomorrow, and whilst you have that assignment due Monday that you haven't gotten round to doing yet, you decide you'll be alright postponing it a little while longer.

"Yep." You nod, rubbing your palms against your thighs nervously. "You got plans for us?"

"Yeah," He's so different with you than he is with the other guys, you almost get whiplash. He's a lot gentler and more soft spoken. "I'll pick you up at seven, okay?"

"Okay."

Sendo laughs at your bashful response. "You don't need to be so shy, you know? I've known you for ages now."

"I know," You say meekly. "It's just a little strange. You caught me off guard today."

"It was a bit sudden, I know," He admits, scratching the back of his neck sheepishly. "I'd been thinking about it in my head for so long I kinda just blurted it out."

You giggle at his embarrassment, feeling the tension between you lightening a little.

"That's an understatement!" You punch his arm playfully. "I literally pinched myself to see if I was just dreaming."

"That's how I felt when you said yes," He confesses, cheeks tinted a slight pink. "Even paid for everyone's food- my bank account is not happy about that."

You laugh, reaching out a hand to brush his bangs out of his face gently. His hair isn't as soft as Aiku's, with finer strands and-

Wait.

Why are you thinking about Aiku? You mentally kick yourself. You're going on a date with Sendo tomorrow. You need to forget about Aiku.

He's not exactly making it easy, what with his weird knowing looks and his uncharacteristic silence, but you will yourself to just push all those thoughts out of your head.

Sendo parks outside of your apartment complex, and you exit his car, thanking him for dropping you off.

You hesitate for about a second, but you lean back into the car and kiss his cheek, delighting in the way he blinks at you rapidly, red blooming onto his face.

"I'll- I'll see you tomorrow." He stammers out, and you wave him goodbye as he drives off, returning to your apartment with a sigh.

Why can't you shake off the feeling that this isn't the right choice? All because of that one night with Aiku, your literal friend?

You sigh in frustration, flopping onto your bed.

"Stupid Aiku." You mutter, doing you best to try and forget the way his muscles had felt under your touch, the way he'd gaze into your eyes, his stupid smirk.

You pick out your outfit for your date with Sendo tomorrow, determined not to let Aiku plague your mind. After all, he's probably out picking up another girl right now, knowing him, unfazed by the intimate night he'd shared with you.

That thought stings way more than it should.