Ice Cream Parlor

Hmmm, how to get out of sharing ice cream with Yuu?

"Here you are." The ice cream appeared before I could come up with anything. 

"Thank you!" Yuu took the sweet with a childish grin. "Lets go, Haru." Yuu once again grabbed my hand and tugged me towards a table.

Ugh.

Just as we sat down, I heard the bell jingle above the entrance. I glanced up automatically and froze when I saw who it was.

Wha-

"Oh, Haru! What a coincidence!" Akira spotted me after one scan of the store. He grinned as he walked over to us.

"Akira? What're you doing here?" I asked, still in shock.

"Well, after some practice, I thought getting some ice cream with the guys would be a nice break." Akira leered over at Yuu. "I guess I wasn't the only one."

Yuu glared back.

Meanwhile, I found it hard to believe this was a mere "coincidence."

Well, whatever. I'm glad this "coincidence" happened. With Akira here, I don't have to worry as much about Yuu!

"Wow, a coincidence, indeed." I smiled. "We should—"

"Don't you have to get back to your friends, Aki-kun?" Yuu interrupted me. "Don't mind mind us and we won't mind you." Yuu spoke with a sharp smile.

"Eh?" Akira returned the expression as he slammed his bag on the table. "They won't mind." He waved back to his friends, who nodded in return.

"Wow, didn't think you were the type to bail on your friends." Yuu looked to me with concern. "You should be careful, Haru. You never know when he'll bail on you, too."

"Haha, Haru knows I wouldn't do that to him. We're best friends." Akira also looked to me. "Right?"

"Uh, right." I weakly agreed.

You know, I enjoy watching your squabbles, but it's not so fun when you involve me. Keep it between yourselves, okay? Ok.

"Tch." Yuu clicked his tongue, dropping his mask for a second. "Fine." Yuu turned on his sparkly smile towards me. "Here's your spoon, Haru! I can't wait to dig in!"

"Ah...haha." I hesitantly grabbed the spoon. "Yeah, me, too."

"Wait, are you two sharing that?" Akira asked as he pointed at the banana split.

"Yup!" Yuu happily answered. Then, he scooted his chair closer to me until they clanged against each other. I leaned away as he did. "Don't you need to go order, Aki-kun?" Yuu spoke in a cutely mocking tone as he leaned against me.

As I sat on the edge of my chair, I looked to Akira, silently asking for help.

"...Don't you want a different flavor, Haru?" Akira sounded like he forced out the question.

"Huh?" I blinked, not catching on.

"Yeah, you don't like bananas and ice cream together, right? How about you go order something else, and I share with Yuu-kun instead?"

I gaped.

Akira and Yuu sharing a banana split... Oh my God, I wanna see that!

"Okay!" I quickly got up before Yuu could protest. "I'll go now!" I ran away to the line as fast as I could.

Phew! I got out of there thanks to Akira! I'll forever be grateful to your selfless sacrifice!

Once in line, I couldn't help but look back to see what the situation was at the table. From what I could see, Akira took my seat with a stiff smile. Yuu immediately moved his chair away from him with a disgusted scowl.

I couldn't help but chuckle a little at how hilarious it looked.

From there, they seemed to talk about something. I could tell even from all the way over here that the atmosphere around the two was tense and chilling. Yuu lost control of his facade so much that he's openly showing hostility in front of so many people, which is confounding. Won't this affect his reputation?

Mm, from the look on his fans' faces, apparently not. Maybe they're so disillusioned that they can't read the air properly.

Hah, poor lost souls.

Anyway, I wonder what they're talking about with such a heavy atmosphere. They both have smiles on their faces, but the mood was so dark. They look like they could snap and actually starting fighting at any moment.

"Next!"

I snapped my head up and saw it was my turn. I quickly ordered some basic vanilla ice cream before turning my head back to see if the situation changed. 

It looked the same, but now Akira was nonchalantly eating the ice cream while Yuu looked at him with a serious expression.

What? What happened? Whatever did occur, Akira must've came out on top?

Ah! I really want to know what they're talking about!

"Mister? You're ice cream?" I turned my head back around. 

Oh, I've been holding up the line. Whoopsies.

"Thank you." I swiftly grabbed the cone and made my way back to the table.

They stopped talking once they noticed I was coming back. I guess it was something they don't want me to know about, which made me even more curious!

"Haru! Welcome back." Yuu pulled his lips into a smile again.

"What did you guys talk about?" I knew they weren't going to give me an answer, but I still had to ask just in case they threw me a hint.

"Nothing really." Akira answered as he took another scoop. "Right, Yuu-kun?"

"...Right." Yuu stiffly agreed.

Hm? Hm? Hmmm???

"Fine. Don't tell me." I said in disappointment before licking my ice cream.

"Don't worry, Haru! It was just a chat between two guys. Nothing out of the ordinary." Akira reassured me.

Mhm, yeah. Totally. Just a chat between two guys who clearly want to murder each other!

"Whatever you say." I dubiously replied.

In the end, whatever went down really affected Yuu. He became quieter, like he was thinking. Akira acted as usual, though. He just rambled about how his practice went as we ate our ice cream.

Yeah. Akira definitely won. What exactly? I don't know!

Soon, I finished my cone without any incidents. Since Yuu was so distracted, he didn't touch the split at all. Half was perfectly consumed by Akira. 

"Finished?" Akira asked as he stretched. "Man, that really hit the spot!"

"Yup." I nodded.

"How about we walk home then?" Akira suggested as he stood up. 

I instinctively looked to Yuu to see his reaction, but he was still out of it.

I know. I know I shouldn't be concerned about him, but this was so... not him. It bothered me. It bothered me so bad! Shit!

"Yuu-kun?" I called out. He didn't respond. 

"Just leave him." Akira waved dismissively. "Come on. Let's go." Akira grabbed both of our bags.

"Yuu-kun." I ignore Akira and tried again while waving a hand in front of him. He blinked before coming to.

"Oh, yeah?" Yuu focused on me for the first time since I came back from getting my own ice cream.

"Thanks for the cookies and ice cream, even though I didn't end up eating it." I gave him a little smile. "See you tomorrow."

"O-Okay." Yuu looked at me with his cheeks tinted a rosy pink. 

Ah, the boy can still make an adorable face. He should be fine then. Why was I worried about him in the first place? 

"Let's go." I said to Akira as I turned to him.

Akira was oddly silent as we walked home. Maybe because I ignored him earlier? 

"Hey, Akira, I have something to tell you." I started carefully.

"What's up?" Akira responded like normal.

Oh, maybe he is fine?

"About the cameras, I found out who was the culprit." I sighed.

"You did? Who?" Akira's expression hardened.

"...Would you believe me if I said it was Yuu-kun?" I looked to the ground as I said this.

I'm sure if I said this to anyone else, they would totally doubt me. Akira, though? Something tells me he already knows more than I think.

"Of course, I believe you!" Akira proclaimed as he grabbed my hand. I jumped a little at the sudden contact and looked up at him. "If I had to choose who to trust between you and Yuu-kun, of course I'd choose you!" Akira looked hurt that I doubted him.

"...Because you don't like Yuu-kun in the first place?" I couldn't stop myself from asking with a slight smirk. Akira deadpanned before letting go.

"And here I was being serious." Akira sulked.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry." I quickly apologized. "Thanks for believing me."

"Hmph." Akira kept his nose held high, continuing to be a sulky boy. I shook my head as let out a chuckle. "So? What're we gonna do? You have evidence, right?" Akira asked as he peeked at me.

"Haha, about that..." I sheepishly looked at the ground again.

"You threw the cameras away, didn't you?"

"..."

*** Omake ****

"You're really annoying, you kn0w that¿"

"Ahaha, I'm glad the fee1ing&s muTual!" 

"I'm tel1ing you now. |f you don't stay aw@y from HARU, y0u'll reGret itttttt

"Heeeh, yoU^re out r|ght THR%@ten|ng me now? How cuTEe#

''F*%k. OFf~$

((H@hA, n0 caN dO~ HARU's to0 am%#ing tO¡. I *N0& y0u can U^DeRsT@nd that. That;S whY you wan1 HER al| to y0ur$e1f.#

"...*%U knowwwwjahdnl

,,"Ah; ye@H,. HOw c0U1d I n0t¿ SHE*s mY b3$T fr1eNd, @ft3R a|llll¡1!1!¡1!

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This conversation has been omitted due to glitches.

W—I hope you understand.

Thank you for your i—patience.