“Well,” he took a deep breath again. “..I don’t know if I feel really comfortable dating you, if you actually have no feelings for me after what…happened that one night,” he said.
Aiko couldn’t say that he wasn’t surprised when RIrishiyo told him this. He had been expecting this, of course, coming out from his mouth. What had angered him so much was that Ririshiyo couldn’t bring himself to say the word “sex.” He was so built up on that night, but yet he never acknowledged the truth directly. With a sad and somewhat self-pitying sigh, he paused, hesitant to respond to him.
“I guess so,” Aiko said. “I understand… about your feelings, of course. But I do like you. A lot.”
Ririshiyo sucked in his breath before saying anything. “Hi,” he greeted. “I just wanted to know if the only reason that we’re going out is so you make sure I don’t ask about that girl again.”
A couple of seconds had passed before Ririshiyo said anything. With a dulled look on his face, Aiko casually swung his legs back and forth on the couch as his eyes lazily focused on the TV show he was watching. “What?” Aiko said, after Ririshiyo had finished his question. He hadn’t been expecting him to ask this that. “Uh, well… I guess.”
Ririshiyo decided to call Aiko about their whole relationship and exactly why they were dating.
A few hours had passed since noon, and Aiko was busy away looking through a bunch of television shows ever since their date. He was feeling moderately upset by everything that had happened in the past, and wondered if their relationship could ever strengthen. Hopes of Ririshiyo ever returning his romantic attractions for him seemed somewhat dim, and Aiko was very close to giving up.
When his cellphone rang, he knew it was Ririshiyo— not only by his ringtone, but also because nowadays, he seemed like the only person to ever call him. Aiko contemplated picking up his phone, not sure if he actually wanted to, and continued to stare at the television. His ringtone droned on for several more seconds, and he was tempted to see what the other boy wanted.
Aiko couldn’t take it anymore. He quickly snatched his phone off from the couch and answered. “Hello?” he asked warily, knowing for a fact that this couldn’t be good news.
When Ririshiyo returned home, he wondered if he should start asking Aiko about the girl again. If they broke up, what would really change? Their dates weren’t very..date-like, and he somewhat doubted that Aiko was going to put a restraining order on him. But he didn’t deny that it was very possible.
The boy lay down on his couch and continued to watch television, feeling oddly provoked. Aiko knew that it was better to just end their relationship, but at the same time, he wasn’t so sure if he wanted to. He loved Ririshiyo, after all.
Ririshiyo just crossed his arms tightly and watched him walk away, wondering why they would be dating in the first place. Then he realized, that Aiko was sort of using him. He went back home.
Aiko had honestly put some consideration in breaking up with Ririshiyo, but he didn’t want him to ask any more questions regarding the girl’s name. His stomach tightened at the very thought of telling him, and he wondered if Ririshiyo would ever feel the same way about him if he ever actually found out. As he tread back home, he made it his duty never to tell Ririshiyo, no matter how many times he pestered him about it.
Opening the front door of his house, he felt as if he needed to do something important, but completely forgot. Instead, he just decided to watch television.
Ririshiyo inhaled sharply. He felt bad for making the date boring, and seeming like he wasn’t up to do anything. He really was a boring person.
“Okay.”
Aiko didn’t want to hurt Ririshiyo’s feelings by doing this, but he was getting pissed off. He had tried to make a nice time, but all he did was continue to act as if he were on his period. “Sorry, but I don’t you really like this date, so I guess I’ll just go,” he said, beginning to walk away.
“I didn’t say I don’t wanna go anywhere,” he said. “I just don’t care where we go. I don’t know places people go on dates.” But people sure as hell don’t resort to McDonald’s, he thought to himself.
“You know what, uh, I’m just going to go back home…” Aiko said, sighing.
Ririshiyo sat up and starting heading towards the exit. “Wherever is fine. I don’t really care.”
Aiko sighed and then mumbled something to himself, angry. “Why don’t you just want to go anywhere?”
Ririshiyo ate his burger very quickly but he wasn’t at all messy with it. When he was done he sat straight up in his seat and looked out the window waiting for Aiko to finish.
While they were eating their burgers, Aiko couldn’t help but feel awkward, sitting there with him as no conversation took place between them. He attempted to create some more small talk as time passed by, but he bit back his own words and ended up not saying anything to his partner. Aiko didn’t feel at all happy with himself. For some reason, the summer was beginning to feel worse.
When he finally finished his burger and his plate was completely empty, Aiko paid for everything and got up from the booth. “Where do you want to go now?”
Aiko didn’t want to say anything else that would hurt Ririshiyo’s ego, although he was positive that he didn’t mean it that way. “I—I’m sorry,” Aiko quickly said, his hands leaping towards Ririshiyo’s shoulder in a comforting way. “I didn’t mean to.”
Ririshiyo tried to act like nothing happened just now. “What do you mean?” he quickly said, almost sounding defensive.
“Sorry about calling you boring,” he said, putting his hands back down. Aiko realized that he created a commotion and an audience of people who were staring incredulously at them. The waitress came quickly with their plate of burgers and set it back down on the table. When she left, Aiko began to eat one from the plate.
