Work Text:
Sitting in the ice cream parlor, I anxiously wait for Satou to arrive to get started on the partner project. Ordering two of the greatest coffee jelly's in town, I set up the workspace as regularly as I could.
Strangely, I found that I was feeling a bit nervous. Was it because I've never been alone with him before? Sure, I've been preparing for this day to go as ordinarily as possible since the plan was set, but why did that make me nervous?
'I wonder where he's sitting...' His thoughts pierced my mind, and I quickly looked up to see Satou entering the parlor. After noticing me, he walked to the table smiling like he usually does and sat across from me. Satou glanced down to the coffee jelly that was placed in front of him, and gave me a confused look. Damn it- does he not like coffee jelly?
"Haha... sorry if I sound weird, but what's that?" A normal reaction to seeing coffee jelly for the first time, yet I couldn't help but feel a bit hurt from the lack of enthusiasm on his face.
"Its coffee jelly, the best thing in the world. We can order something else if you want." Satou nodded and called a waiter over to order a basic vanilla ice cream bowl. He pulled out a few books from his bookbag and laid them out on the table as I ate his discarded jelly. His ideas for a book report, unsurprisingly, were basic. Eventually we had decided on Romeo and Juliet.
We finished the first part of the assignment and agreed to take a short break to get to know each other more. It felt strange, having average conversations, no crazy situation happening, no annoying people bugging me at every chance they get. Just me and Satou. After a few rounds of ice cream and jelly, he even tried a bit of my coffee jelly and liked it too- though I still can't bring myself to like the bland flavor of vanilla. 'I never expected Saiki to be this fun to hang around..' I silently cheered to myself after hearing that thought, knowing that it was going perfectly.
After a bit, we started working on the second part of the project, but I started to notice weird things with Satou. His mind was filled with unordinary ideas for the project, everything new and creative. His attitude towards me changed a bit too, but I didn't have the time to pinpoint why. I didn't know he was this creative or unique, and I didn't think I'd get this upset either. It felt like a balloon pop, where my admiration for Satou's average life kept filling my heart up until a single flaw drove it all away.
Satou sat across from me, taking a few bites of his own coffee jelly, oblivious to my new view on him. His thoughts were filled with me, similar to how I was earlier, where all I could think about was Satou.
"Hey, Saiki?" I looked up from the book in my hand, knowing what he'll say next.
"You know, I didn't think I'd have so much fun hanging out with you... I think we should go out together more often, you know?" There it was.
"I feel comfortable enough to really open up to you- basically what I'm saying is-"
Please don't say it.
"I like you, Saiki." Satou smiled at me, differently than when first walked in. The feeling I had for him earlier was gone, but I didn't want to lose the perfectly ordinary friendship that I had kept between us.
"I'm sorry Satou, but I just don't feel the same way. The friendship we currently have is for the best." His expression didn't change much, but his new, sincere smile and overall demeanor was exchanged for his normal one. He simply went back to his normal, boring self that I previously had loved.