You were now sitting on a park bench with Tachibana eating ice cream cones she got from her place. You learned she lives a floor above you at the apartment you live in.

She's been trying to plan things out for you to talk to the two guys who popped up at your school. Tachibana was blabbering about how you could meet "him" again through Hanagaki.

"Wait, which one do you like?"

"Uh... Mikey."

STOP GOING ALONG WITH THIS LIE.

Tachibana got more excited, talking about how cute it was if a 'quiet girl like you' were to get together with a guy who seems more social than you were. She then started referencing Shojo manga and rom-com movies with that trope. As you're eating your ice cream it dawned upon you.

Maybe I can prevent Hanagaki and Draken's death if I'm affiliated with them.

But through 'liking' Mikey? You didn't even know him. There are definitely better ways to be affiliated with them instead of you having a fake crush.

Why did I have to panic and say the stupidest thing...

Suddenly Tachibana jumps up from her seat, surprising you. She turns to you with a big smile on her face.

"I know. We could go on a double date!" The pink-haired girl excitedly says, making you sweat. You look at her awkwardly, "You really don't have to-"

"Yes, I do! I'll do anything I can to help a friend!" Tachibana retorts, giving you an excited thumbs up. She doesn't seem like the type to take no for an answer.

You look up at Tachibana, "Please tell me you're joking..." She grinned at the comment, giving away the answer that she wasn't. The girl sits back down beside you, "No need to be nervous! It's your first time going on a date, isn't it?" she says kindly, though being reminded that you've never been on a date kind of hurt.

"Yeah..." You shift your gaze, thinking deeply about it. Then suddenly your eyes widen and you quickly look back at Tachibana. "Wait! I don't want him to know I like him!" You say, raising your voice slightly. Her face was shocked at the sudden volume. Tachibana laughs, "Aww, that's alright then," she pats you on the shoulder as reassurance before continuing, "I'll just tell Takemichi you wanted to tag along, then ask him to bring Mikey!"

If you did actually like the guy, she's a life-saver. You sigh in relief, it's technically not a 'double date' anymore.

"Was it love at first sight?" the short-haired girl asks, smiling at you sincerely.

"I guess..." you say with a sigh, shifting your eyes away. You felt kind of bad for lying to her.

Tachibana gazed into the sky. The sun hit her face, casting a pretty orange, warming up her skin and complimenting her hair. "I know that feeling," she speaks softly. You look over at her, her eyes shining and she was smiling as if someone said something sweet to her. She looks at you and continues, "That's how I felt when I met Takemichi."

"How'd you two meet?" You ask. This was the first time you were interested to hear about someone's love life.

Tachibana looks back at the sky, "It was around 6th grade. A friend and I were on our way home when we spotted a cat getting hurt by a bunch of older kids. They then tried to bully me, but Takemichi stopped them," she chuckled.

"Takemichi's my hero."

Never have experienced romance, you couldn't sympathize with her. You had a few crushes in elementary but it was mostly superficial. You continued to listen to the girl speak about Hanagaki. Tachibana's tone in the way she briefly spoke about how she fell for him was heartwarming. Almost like it was more than a middle school puppy love.

As she talked a little more, you couldn't help but wonder if you'd be able to do the same for someone else.

The girl chuckles and scratches her head, "That's enough rambling from me, I'll tell Takemichi about our double date plan, okay?"

"For sure," you smile. She quickly goes close to you and cups your cheeks.

"YOU'RE SO PRETTY WHEN YOU SMILE GENUINELY!" She yells, sort of scaring you.

"Hey, what's the 'genuinely' part supposed to mean?" Your voice muffled but still slightly offended while the girl's hands were still squeezing the sides of your face.

Tachibana lets go and laughs, grabbing her bag off the ground, "Mikey's a lucky guy for having such a pretty girl fall for him."

In your mind, you protest that he wasn't since you didn't fall for him at all. The first vision you saw that dude in was him punching someone to death!

You grab your bag and get up off your seat, following her toward the building you both lived in. Walking up the stairs, you see that Hanagaki was ahead of you. Tachibana turns to you, "Nows our chance!" She whisper-yells and pulls you by the hand running up to him.

"Takemichi~!" She cheerfully says, Hanagaki turns to see her. He smiles, the two have a mini conversation walking up the stairs while you were behind them, feeling like a third wheel. Finally approaching Tachibana's door, she asks him, "There's this cafe, I've been wanting to go to... Did you wanna go with me?"

"I wouldn't mind at all!" The blonde says. We could tell... He barely concealed his excitement with being asked out. Tachibana then asked if it was okay to bring you and he said it was okay.

"Oh! And ask your friend, Mikey, to come too," Tachibana's hands were behind her back, you looked down and she had her thumb up.

Hanagaki looks surprised after hearing Mikey's name and he looks at you. You immediately look away in embarrassment. "You like him?" He asks, you nod your head slowly in response. I don't but I'll imply I do...

He agrees and says that he'd ask when Mikey was free. You tell the two you were tired and wanted to go home. Really, you wanted to leave the two to have some alone time. You wave at each other goodbye before going downstairs to your suite.

Locking your door, you let out a sigh. Today was the most you've socialized and even had fun, embarrassment aside. You made a friend and you were going to go on a date soon. You smile to yourself. Maybe it's time to change. Live like a middle schooler for once.

Being proud of yourself didn't last long. You almost forgot you HAVE to go on a date. You panic and go to the bathroom.

"AM I PRESENTABLE ENOUGH?" You groan. You weren't mentally ready for it, you were only playing along with the stupid lie you said. You hope things won't escalate too quickly. In fact, you hope he rejects you or something.

Being friends with Tachibana and Hanagaki seems fine enough. It's just a matter of when he and Draken might die.

You sigh and tell yourself the date is a problem for later and walk over to your room to rest.

Chapter two, end.