Dinner
Our StoryA/N: Sorry for the super long delay! The second half of 2021 has been insane with graduate school applications and my JLPT exam! Now that all of that has been completed, I get to finally focus on writing again! Thank you all for waiting - here's the next chapter after 19389423849729804 years!
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Daiki stood in front of the restaurant nervously with his hands tucked in his pockets as he rocked his feet back and forth. He stared at the entrance door and slowly let his eyelids fall to a close. 'Get it together.' He silently lectured himself in an attempt to erase his anxiousness. Then after taking in a deep breath, he opened his eyes and stepped forward into the restaurant.
"I'm here for Matsuoka's reservation," Daiki told the greeter. After being pointed in the right direction, he paused for another moment in front of the private room. With his hand levitating above the door handle, he took a brief moment to recollect his thoughts before finally sliding the door open.
Prior to this dinner, Daiki had thought through every possible scenario. He convinced himself that he had never been any more prepared for anything else in his life. However, Amu's presence in the room was enough to cause him to forget every single trail of thought.
"Amu-chan? W-what are you doing here?" Daiki asked in a stunned tone.
Mayu, on the other hand, couldn't help but frown at her boyfriend's greeting. "Well, it's nice to see you too, Dai-chan." She mumbled. "I hope you don't mind if Amu joined us today. We just thought that it would be a nice opportunity for the four of us to spend some time together, right Amu-chan?"
Upon hearing the strange number, both Amu and Daiki exchanged confused glances before turning their gazes back to Mayu. "Four?" Amu asked, clearly only seeing three people in the room. However, before Mayu could answer her question, the door slid open once more and another person stepped in.
"Ahh- Chinen, perfect timing! Now that all of us are here, we can finally commence with our double date."
"Eh?" Daiki and Amu uttered at the same time.
"Sorry for being late." Chinen apologized. "Yuto wasn't in the best mood today so we just decided to hang out for a bit. I completely lost track of time."
"Oh, don't worry about that at all. I've already ordered the set for all of us so it should be on its way soon. Make yourselves comfortable in the meantime." Mayu insisted, gesturing to the one empty seat next to her and the two seats in front of her.
Daiki watched as Amu sat back down in her seat in front of Mayu. Given that Chinen took the empty seat next to his girlfriend, Daiki had no other choice but to take the seat next to Mayu.
"Speaking of being late... Dai-chan, you've actually been early to everything all day today." Chinen commented, glancing at his childhood friend in front of him in suspicion. "It's not too usual of you."
"Yeah uhm... about that." Daiki began, tilting his head to the side as he quickly thought about how he could get some time alone with Mayu so that he could break the not-so-good news to her. "Actually... the reason why I was early to this dinner is that there's something I actually wanted to talk to Mayu about." He said in a careful solemn tone.
"If it's anything that you think I don't want to hear then let's save it for after dinner." Mayu responded, pursing her lips. "Let's not spoil our appetite."
An awkward moment of silence washed over the four individuals in no time as they sat waiting for the course to begin. Noticing how uneasy the atmosphere seemed to be, the older girl decided to speak up again. "So anyway, how are you two doing?" Mayu asked the couple in front of her, placing an elbow on the table before resting her chin in her hand. "I actually wasn't surprised to hear that you two were dating. I feel like you both had always suited each other perfectly."
"Oh uhm..." Amu began, unsure how to answer Mayu's opening topic. Seeing how troubled the younger one appeared, Chinen offered to answer while taking his girlfriend's hand into his. "Things are going well for us." He answered broadly while gently smiling at Amu. "I couldn't have asked for anyone better to be spending my days with."
Feeling uneasy at the scene that was unfolding in front of him, Daiki decided to take a sip of water to cool his mind from the mixed emotions he was currently feeling.
"Aww, that's so cute! Dai-chan and I used to be as affectionate as the two of you. Before that incident not too long ago, we used to stay over at each other's apartments almost every single night. We literally couldn't get enough of each other." Mayu boasted, her words enough to make Daiki choke on the water he was drinking.
"Sorry, my boyfriend is just being clumsy as always." Mayu chuckled, grabbing a napkin in hopes of cleaning Daiki up from the small mess he just made. However, just before she could lay a finger on him, the boy raised his hand in protest and grabbed his own. "That's alright. I can take care of myself perfectly fine." He insisted, declining her help. "On the other hand, can we please change the topic?"
"Oh, okay sure," Mayu replied, her lips curving into a subtle pout. "So Amu-chan, have you and Chinen kissed yet?"
"Eh?" Amu uttered, taken back by the girl's sudden question. 'What kind of topic change is that?' She thought. "We umm.." Amu began, taking a quick glance at her boyfriend who didn't seem phased by the question at all. "We're takings things slowly."
"Aww, Dai-chan and I had our first kiss before we even started dating. It was cute too, you see- the two of us were hanging out at my place and-"
"Mayu. That's enough." Daiki sighed with annoyance, not wanting to hear the end of the girl's explanation. "Can't you tell that they're uncomfortable?"
"I'm actually perfectly fine, Dai-chan," Chinen responded. "Are you sure you aren't the one that's feeling that way?"
"Chii." Amu said in a stunned tone, pulling her hand away from her boyfriend's. It was unusual to see Chinen this offensive, especially to someone she'd assume he was close to. Just as things began to escalate, a knock on the door echoed throughout the room and a waiter entered just a second after.
"Good evening. Could I interest the party in a glass of our special complimentary red wine tonight?" The waiter asked, displaying the bottle of wine for everyone to see.
"Ah, perfect timing." Mayu exhaled before twirling a finger in the air. "Everyone will take a glass."
"Very well then."
"Actually..." Amu began in an apologetic tone. "Could you skip me, please? I don't do too well with alcohol."
"Amu-chan, are you silly?" Mayu teased. "It's complimentary wine. You'd be out of your mind not to have at least a taste of it."
"Sorry, Mayu but I really can't. I'm highly allergic." Amu explained, remembering exactly what happened not too long ago when she drank in front of both Daiki and Chinen.
"Oh come on, it's just a sip."
"If she doesn't want to then don't force her." Daiki said, rolling his eyes this time. "Why are you so pushy today, Mayu?"
"Don't ask me that. Instead, why don't you ask yourself why you're so defensive? None of these questions are even directed to you, Dai-chan."
"How am I supposed to sit back and watch you nonchalantly bully the girl that I..." Daiki began but immediately stopped as soon as he realized that he said too much.
"The girl you what, Arioka?" Chinen threatened, folding his arms across his chest.
Feeling awkward being in the middle of the drama that was unraveling in front of his eyes, the waiter who had just finished pouring three glasses of wine quickly bowed to the table before rushing back out the door.
After the door closed behind the man. Daiki sighed and leaned back in his chair. "Nothing." He said in a soft tone, letting his gaze fall onto the table in front of him.
Chinen didn't bother questioning the older one's silence. Instead, he just decided to down his drink in hopes of distracting himself from the situation at the table. It was obvious to him that Daiki was still in love with his girlfriend and hiding that fact only infuriated the younger boy more.
Despite everyone's different perspectives, they all had one expectation in common - and it was that tonight's dinner will be much longer than they had originally thought.
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The rest of the evening went by with Daiki and Amu staying silent for the majority of the time. Daiki was afraid of accidentally saying the wrong thing again and Amu was afraid of accidentally stringing up another argument. Furthermore, Mayu's pressured glances didn't go unnoticed by Amu. The younger girl knew that she only had one purpose for being here- and that was to prove to Daiki that she no longer has feelings for him.
By the time the bill came around to the table, Mayu grabbed it and held it firmly in her hands. She then stared at Amu who ended up receiving the wrong impression. "Oh, I don't mind taking care of the bill." Amu said, reaching out for the leather bill holder. However, Mayu didn't budge.
"That's not what I was implying." The older girl said, placing the bill on her lap. "I just wanted to create some additional time between the four of us to clear out some misunderstandings that were created today." She said, leaning forward in her seat to face the girl in front of her.
"Dai-chan's speech really hurt me today so what I need to know from you, Amu-chan is... do you have any feelings for my boyfriend?"
"Mayu." Daiki sighed in frustration for the nth time before shifting his gaze to the younger girl. "Amu-chan, you don't have to answer that."
"Amu-chan." Mayu repeated, her eyes piercing right through Amu's strong front.
The younger girl let out a brief exhale before finally responding to Mayu's question. "I don't feel anything towards him." She answered, her gaze landing on the boy across from her.
Amu didn't know what to make of his emotionless expression. However, as soon as he glanced back, she could feel her own heart break instead- as if she had just made the biggest mistake of her life.
"I know." Daiki said in a soft tone, peeling his gaze from her. "You already made it clear to me when you didn't meet me that evening as you promised."
'But I was there'. Amu thought, letting her shoulders drop. Just as soon as she thought about sharing what really happened that evening, Mayu spoke first, but her words this time were enough to shift the atmosphere of the entire room.
“Aren't you glad, Chinen? It looks this double date idea of yours really helped clear things up in the room."
"Chii?" Amu uttered, quickly shifting her stunned gaze to her boyfriend. "This was all your idea?" She asked, hoping that the boy would protest against Mayu's accusation.
But whatever hope Amu had left immediately vanished when Chinen nodded in regret.
"Sorry, Amu." He apologized. Chinen's apology was enough to push the girl past her limits for that night. Immediately, she rummaged through her bag for her wallet before placing enough Yen on the table to cover the entire bill. "I have to go." She said, her voice nearly breaking, before rushing out of the room.
"Wait, Amu-chan!" Chinen called, running after her.
With only Daiki and Mayu now left alone in the room, the boy didn't feel as if he needed to hold back his frustration any longer. "Honestly, Mayu. You really sunk to a new low playing around with Amu's feelings like that." He said, standing up from his seat to head towards the door. However, before he could leave the room, Mayu quickly slid close the door and stood in front of it, blocking his exit entirely.
"Let them be. They need to sort out their relati
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