One Year Later

10 | Raring to Go

Kiyotaka woke up, mentally, before his alarm sounded. His hand slapped the clock as soon as he heard that screech, and then he threw the covers aside and jumped out of bed. He wasted no time in getting to the bathroom for a shower, to make sure that his teeth were sparkling, to make sure his eyebrows were still well-groomed and that his hair was silky-soft.

Nothing out of place. Not today.

It had officially been a whole entire year. A year with his best friend and his boyfriend and maybe, one day, a husband, should the laws change to reflect the way that he felt. He was nervous, and he was terrified. But most of all, he was excited. He was happy. Sakura had done a good job of knocking some sense into him.

Speaking of Sakura— she and Asahina had apparently felt the same eager pull to get started that Kiyotaka had. Not an hour passed before he heard frantic knocking at his door. He didn't delay in letting them in, but he did make some half-hearted effort to pretend to scold them.

"Do the two of you not know what time it is? I'm not even dressed yet!"

Asahina just stuck her tongue out as she shoved past him and into his room. Sakura seemed to get a chuckle out of his flannel pajamas, but didn't say anything. Well, whatever— he had planned on seeking their approval of his outfit anyway.

Asahina set some things down on Kiyotaka's perfectly-made bed. One of them was a cardboard box wrapped in pretty paper that she was quick to draw his attention to.

"For your present," she said, demonstrating the easy-open lid. "The special box I told you about. Kyouko-chan is still working on getting the gift. ...Now, what are you supposed to wear to your date?"

"About that..."

Kiyotaka wasted no time in showing the girls to his dresser drawers. He wanted to be allowed to wear his favorite boots this time. Asahina said she'd only agree to that on the condition that she got to pick out the rest of his outfit. He begrudgingly complied. He did like those boots, after all.

His gaze flickered over to Sakura. She was looking intently at her cell phone.

"What are you plotting, Oogami-chan?"

"Whatever do you mean?"

"Don't play dumb!" Kiyotaka put his hands on his hips. He planned to confront any subterfuge directly this time. Sakura wasn't the type who could wiggle her way out with lies or make things up on the spot. "I still remember what happened last year!"

Sakura looked at Asahina as if asking her for permission to speak. Asahina shrugged. Sakura smiled, almost.

"We... must confess that we inadvertently may have taken advantage of the situation at hand."

"What do you mean?!"

"I-It was just gonna be a little party!" Asahina sprang to her friend's defense. "We... were sort of planning a reunion party. A surprise anniversary celebration. Everyone who was involved last time agreed to come. B-But then other people caught wind of it and before we knew it, it had gotten out of hand! We didn't wanna overwhelm you. But we didn't wanna disappoint the others, either."

Clearly, both girls had braced themselves for Kiyotaka to get mad. He didn't. He touched his own chest.

"You were planning a surprise party all this time?" Asahina's eyebrows raised at that. "I... am quite touched, I must say! No one's ever done that for me. I didn't have friends before."

"W-Well, I mean... it's only natural, right? It was kind of a big day for all of us, in a weird way. Before that I hadn't really realized how close we'd all gotten. But now..." Asahina paused, briefly. "Now I know I can go to you about anything. Y'know?"