amane knew that [name] was still working on her club in which they do flower arrangements, most likely that she would take long since it was already dismissal and she's still in the club. he took her school bag from the side of his desk along with his.

he mustered up the courage to go to the flower arrangement club, he knocks on the door and a member opened it for amane. "yes, how may i help you?"

"is [name]-san there?" amane asked with the hint of shyness.

"[surname]-san! you have a guest!" the student turned their head to [name] who was adding white lilies to a small vase. "uhm, what's your name?" they ask amane.

"yugi." amane replied.

"yugi is calling for you!" they yelled. [name] stopped what she was doing and stood up from her chair to see amane waiting by the door. "ohohoho~ your boyfriend?"

"it's not like that." [name] nervously chuckled, swatting her hand to change the student's mind. "he's a close friend." she corrected and stepped out of the room where amane is.

"do you want to walk together?" amane asked while twiddling his fingers timidly. [name] wanted to walk home with him, however, she has to finish her last vase before leaving.

"amane-kun, you should go ahead." [name] bowed apologetically. amane's heart sank a bit, he couldn't blame the club for taking much of her time. yet, amane never gives up that easily. "i still have to finish my last vase and i might take long."

"i'll wait for you."

[name]'s [eye color] eyes widened and looked at amane in disbelief. he sheepishly scratches the back of his hair. "don't worry, i'm not that impatient, you should go do your flower arrangement, i'll wait be waiting outside." he didn't really mind if she takes long.

"are you sure?" [name] grabbed his hand and stared at him with hope. "i'll be quick." she said with a little panic in her voice.

"just take your time." amane tells her with a reassuring tone in his voice. "i don't mind if you take long, just go do your club activities. besides, you'll never get bored when waiting for someone you like." he grinned.

[name] blushed, steam coming out on top of her head. amane realized what he just said so he blushed heavily as well. "um, you should go back..." amane mumbled shyly.

"m-mhm..." [name] slowly walked back inside her club to continue her activities. amane covered his blush using one hand as he slid down to the wall to crouch. he pulled out his phone and went to search some random stuffs to pass the time.

"how to court a girl." he typed in the search bar. amane cringed a bit, he could feel his alter ego cackling at his stupidity. he deleted the whole search and went to his groupchat with two of his friends.

the three idiots with a mountain
active now

hanako-07
guys
help

zest-o
what's up my guy

aoiforlife
?
yamabuki did u just play wap in my bluetooth speaker?

zest-o
why not

hanako-07
how do you guys court someone?

mount-fuji
oh?
you're going to court someone yugi?

zest-o
he's courting [surname]
he told me recently
that he gons to court her
😎

hanako-07
my mind's blocked rn
so i can't think of anything
i mean i can't just say "may i court you?" without anything else, it wouldn't be memorable

aoiforlife
ur mind blocked bc
no head just [surname]

zest-o
u can just serenade her to her window
u guys live next to each other

mount-fuji
t

hat's a great idea
its romantic if you think about it

aoiforlife
just confess to her yugi

zest-o
@aoiforlife the last time you did that
you got rejected for like more than 3000 times
than an i love you 3000

mount-fuji
fr fr

hanako-07guys im in a crisis rncan ya all help me ;-;

i don't even want to look back at this with a cringe expression

zest-o
why don't we just let yugi sing
then the three of us can play the instrument
we can improvise

mount-fuji
bestie
the last time my friend did that he got friendzoned
it was a two month preparation

zest-o
another slay what can i say
my guy ain't okay

amane stiffened at fuji's story, he shook his head, there's no way that's going to happen. he bet that the guy gave up after getting rejected or maybe he'd try pursuing her to like him back, yeah he must think positive.

aoiforlife
courting a girl to like you may be hard
but nothing feels difficult if you desire for the results
get some confidence yugi
go and win her heart
if you can manage to get [surname]'s hand
then i can make aoi give me 100 points

hanako-07
ah thanks aoi
i'll probably have to court her
i feel like she's not yet ready to have a boyfriend
she wouldn't feel used to the sudden shift from a friendship to a relationship

mount-fuji
i wonder
isn't friends to lovers kind of a fast burn?

zest-o
the slow burn part is the friends and it kinda escalates quickly on the lovers
at least that's what i red

"sorry for keeping you waiting!" [name] saw amane crouching down while looking at his phone. amane stood up from the floor and puts his phone back inside his pocket. she saw that he was even carrying her bag. "um amane-kun, let me carry my bag, you already have your guitar and your bag." she insisted.

"are you done with your club activities?" amane asked as he gave [name] her school bag that belonged to her. [name] nods eagerly, looping the straps of her bag around her shoulder. "okay, let's go. kokoro-san and tsukasa said that we should go ahead."

"okay." before they could even go downstairs, kokoro and tsukasa coincidentally passed by with a bunch of papers on their hands.

"you two walking home together?" tsukasa asked. amane raised his eyebrow, his brother could've won an oscar for his acting--because he was the one who told amane to walk home with [name]. "that's nice, stay safe." he smiled cheerfully as he went ahead while kokoro followed along.

"honestly that guy's planning every act." amane whispered under his breath, looking back to see if tsukasa has already left. "come on, we should get going." he said while tapping [name]'s shoulder. the two of them changed their shoes together by the entrance and continued their way home.

meanwhile, tsukasa was overseeing things by the window. he pulled out his walkie talkie. "this is black coffee speaking, phase one complete, i repeat phase one complete."

"copy, donuts has successfully went out with takoyaki, over." kokoro was at the other side of the building seeing amane and [name] walking to the other direction.

"well done melon bread, operation: dubbaddu wari wari phase one complete, over." tsukasa turns off the walkie talkie and proceeded back to where sakura was waiting for them. as he joined paths with kokoro, the two fist-bumped with one another.

♡♡♡

"thank you for waiting for me and walking me home amane-kun." [name] says with imaginary flowers appearing around her to convey that she appreciates amane's company.

amane grabbed her hands as he gently clasped them, enveloping warmth to hers. "let's walk to school tomorrow morning and go home together too!" he says with a toothy grin.

[name] smiled, her cheeks were probably hurt from smiling too much, but amane was being too sweet to her, she couldn't help it. "by the way..." amane mentions as he leaned next to her ear. "you're really cute." he whispered and pulled away with a quick grin.

heat rises on the tips of [name]'s ears. she raised her fingers to touch her ears which they felt warm. amane smirked. "see you tomorrow~" he cooed. [name] puffed her cheeks at him as she turned her back to enter her house.

when amane is in front of [name], she's a friend but at the moment she turned her back she's now a crush. it feels like he's being a fake friend where he doesn't see her as a friend because it's more than that.

amane took off his shoes and went inside the house to see his father sitting on the couch watching tv and his mom is cooking dinner. "hi dad." he said. "can i ask you something?"

"sure son, how may i help you?" mr. yugi asked while he turned to look at his son who was now sitting next to him. "is it about a girl?"

"h-how did you know?!" amane slides back and shielded himself on how his father figured that out easily.

"you're easy to read amane." the older man said with a closed-eye smile. amane had a sweat-dropped expression, is he that easy to read? "so what's up with this girl you're interested to?"

"i've liked her since middle school and i'm planning to uh--court her. i wanted it to be memorable in a way so she wouldn't get bored whenever the topic was brought up."

"you know, your mom was pretty hard to get when we were in highschool but i managed to win her heart just by sending letters." his father bragged while his eyes twinkled at the memory.

"it took you almost a hundred letters just for me to say yes to you." mrs. yugi overheard their conversation while she was cooking dinner.

"what'd tell you, hard to get." mr. yugi pointed out, he placed a heavy hand onto the boy's shoulder. "but at least i didn't give up into courting your mom. it may be a long process just to reel a yes from her, even if she did say yes, i never stopped courting her after that--we're still married and have you and tsukasa."

"your father's right, dear." mrs. yugi leaned against the wall to listen to their conversation. she smiled, remembering the old times where mr. yugi used to send her letters in her locker everyday expecting her to say yes. "the least you can do is try, who knows, it might take a while for her to say yes once she lets you court her, it's sort of a test of patience to see how long you're willing to wait for them."

amane looked at his dad as he nodded in agreement, then at his mom. you may never know when will it end it's up to you whether you still want to keep on going or just give up halfway. but for amane, he will keep on going.

he will never give up.

♡♡♡

rewritten in: april 23 2022