"Geto says they are on their way." Shoko put away her phone and looked at the waiter you had been stealing glances at while he was taking the order at a nearby table.
You had found that coffee shop not long ago one day you had been out on your own, but you had dragged Ieiri there several times since then. It started as...
"I found this nice place near that store you liked the other day."
"Oh, really?" Shoko had said.
"I think you would like it. We should go together next time."
Once there, Shoko had realized rather quickly that the waiter was particularly friendly towards you. That is how you had to tell her he had noticed the anime keychain hanging from your bag the first time you stopped by (he was a fellow fan), and then small talk turned into a nice conversation, and next thing you knew was you were telling him you would see him next time. And you had, many times after that.
So, whether you were coming alone or with Ieiri, he always served your table and chatted a little with you. Had school been rough that day? Had you seen the last episode of that anime yet? He was reading something new, maybe you would like it too.
Shoko would participate in your conversation just enough not to make you feel like you were excluding her, but she was not really interested in all of that. Your likes differed. She did not want, however, to prevent you from making friends with people who shared your interests.
"I'll admit that he is cute, but is he cuter than me?" Shoko sighed. "He must be if you are ignoring me for him." She rested her face on her palm and looked at the table the guy in question was tending to.
You smiled at her fake jealousy. "Stop it..." you said shaking your head lightly and beaming at her. "No one is cuter than you."
She gave you a side smile. Gojo would kill me if he heard you, you know?
Young as she was at that moment, Ieiri had never tried to analyze the depth of Gojo's feelings in any circumstances. She had always thought it pointless. So, when he had introduced you and said you were his close childhood friend, she had just accepted it. The possibility of him holding deeper feelings would only cross her mind later, but one thing had been evident to her since the beginning: Gojo liked your attention more than anyone else's.
"Are you going to ask him out or are we just going to keep coming here until I have tried everything there is in the menu?" Shoko's voice was soft, but a flushed color rose to your cheeks at the thought that Ikeda may have heard her.
"Well, is not like that..."
"Oh, good, you ordered something already," Gojo said plopping down on the seat next to you while Suguru greeted both of you and sat next to Shoko.
Satoru then took a long sip of your iced tea.
"That's mine! Get yours," you complained but only received his silly smirk in return.
"Excuse him, [name], you know how he gets when he is outside," Suguru defended calmly, looking at the menu Shoko had handed him.
"He is like this all the time." You sighed, and Gojo nudged you. Shoko looked amused by your situation.
Gojo rolled his eyes. "Why did you invite me if you did not want me around?"
"You invited yourself," you hissed. "I am glad you are here, though, Geto." You smiled at the latter.
Gojo was going to claim he had been your friend for longer and it was unfair Geto always got better treatment, but then he saw Suguru and Shoko looking up to the figure that had materialized next to your table.
"Is everything okay around here?" a guy wearing a black apron who seemed to be around their age asked. "Looks like the rest of the party is here. Would you like to order anything else?"
Suguru ordered something and Satoru did too. Ieiri said she was okay, and then the waiter looked at you. "And you, [name]?"
Gojo looked at him. Had he addressed you by your name? That was a bit weird.
"I'm alright. Thanks, Ikeda."
And it looked like you knew him as well? His focus shifted to you. Suguru had also picked up on it and, after that Ikeda guy had walked away, he was the one to ask. "You know each other?"
For some reason, the cunning smile that appeared on Ieiri's lips made Gojo uncomfortable.
"Something like that...I have been coming here for a while now." You scratched your wrist, and Gojo wondered if you were nervous. He knew all your quirks by heart now and you did that when you were, he was sure.
Suguru hummed and dismissed it, but Shoko saw an opportunity to tease you. "He certainly makes this place look brighter, doesn't he, [name]?"
Gojo looked at you from the corner of his eye. Were you blushing?
"And I bet he thinks you are cute too. We should ask him, no?" Shoko pressed on.
You shook your head and laughed. Now you were really red, which made Shoko laugh too. It was usual for her to tease you like that when cute-coffee-shop-waiter-guy (as she had started referring to him) was around, but it was the first time Geto and Gojo had joined you there and witnessed it.
Geto did not fully understand what you two were all about, but he enjoyed seeing his friends having fun. Nevertheless, he did not miss the straight line that had replaced Satoru's usual smile.
***
"You are supposed to go the other way." Gojo kept furiously pressing the buttons of his controller.
"This is a shortcut." You were sitting next to him on the floor of his room because he had invited you to play video games with him.
Since he had started high school, Gojo had been spending a lot of time with Geto. At first, you had felt displaced, but Geto was nice and, after having Satoru attached to your hip for so many years, maybe finding another kindred spirit would be good for him, and just maybe, it would be good for you to do the same.
That made you think of your new friend, the one Shoko insisted thought you were cute.
"Girls must like him. He is a pretty face," Shoko had recognized the first time she saw Ikeda.
She had been right; you had noticed it from the start too. Ikeda's eyes were pretty, and his smile was kind, plus, he was so friendly. When he told you his mother had named him Haruki just because he had been born in the spring, you thought it really suited him.
But that only meant you had a high opinion of him, right? It was not like you really liked him the way Shoko believed, was it?
"Satoru," you made your character jump on the screen, "have you ever liked someone?"
Gojo's sight remained on the game. "What do you mean?"
"I mean, how do you know you like someone like... you know... romantically?"
Gojo's fingers faltered over the buttons of his controller. "Hmm..." He saw your avatar getting hit by an enemy attack and dying in the game. If you could not back him up, that meant he would lose too, right? "I don't know... I guess you just like them and..."
You had left your controller on the floor and were looking at him intently.
It was getting dark outside, but he could still see your features clearly.
"And?" you urged him.
He was not sure of what to say. What did it even mean to like someone that way? He thought Inoue Waka was attractive. Did that count?
He shrugged. "And... you just know." He did not want to give you a dumb answer, but he was not great with this kind of questions either.
You averted your gaze. "But it is different than when you like a friend, isn't it?"
Satoru pondered it for a bit.
Is it?
"I guess..." He pushed you gently and put on his best smile. "Why does it matter anyway? Are you interested in romance now?" He was being playful, but you felt like he had seen through you.
"You think I should?"
He smiled. "Nope. You have me, right? I'm a boy and your friend. What would you need a boyfriend for?"
You returned his smile. "You are right, I wouldn't have time for him. You are too high maintenance."
With the way you were smiling at him, Satoru thought you could easily find someone if you wanted to.
Maybe you are right. Maybe it feels different...
"Oh... We lost." You were looking at the screen showing the message 'game over'.
Satoru should have known that was foreshadowing.
