#dear.orders

it was going well. going great, actually. everything was on hagi—who was late, by the way, where the hell was he—so they could order as much beer and food as they wanted.

and then hiro had to tell the girls that date had a girlfriend.

which, he wasn't jealous of him or anything, he had you, who worried too much, who hated (loved) when he teased you, whose eyes lit up when he gave you a hand-crafted object instead of buying one for you, who fidgeted with his hands when you were nervous, who he really wanted to be with instead right now instead of these annoying—

"what about you, matsuda-kun? do you have one?"

"hah?" he glared up from his food (he wasn't paying attention, he was too busy thinking about you).

"y-you don't have one, right…"

why was hagi grinning stupidly widely at him.

"w-we can tell…"

oh, for—

the boy's eye twitched as he let out a low growl, slamming the table as he stood up, ignoring his friends' protests and leaning close to the two girls.

"listen here, you—"

"jinpei-chan," hummed kenji, tugging his collar back with an apologetic grin that didn't really seem to meet his eyes ("oi, hagiwara—") and turning to the girls apologetically, "so sorry about him, he gets all riled up whenever people bring up [name]."

"[name]?"

"you—we weren't planning on telling anybody," he hissed, tearing himself away from his friend's grip, pointedly ignoring the other three's curious stares (they didn't need to know), "and—wait, how do you know? you've never even met her before." he eyed him suspiciously, resting his chin on his hand as he frowned. "don't tell me…"

"it's obvious, isn’t it?" hagiwara continued nonchalantly, oblivious to matsuda's pointed glare.

"what's obvious?" hiro blinked.

"come on, man," he began, "don't think i haven't seen you sneak your phone in class to text them."

jinpei went strangely silent.

"your silence is awfully damning, jinpei-chan," he grinned—god, jinpei wanted to punch his lights out.

"wait, who's [name]?" date stared.

hagi grinned and jinpei groaned into his hands.

"hagi—"

"you're not the only one with a secret girl who you like to hook up with sometimes, hanchou."

the table went silent.

"huh?!"

the walk home was exhausting. was this how date felt when they all interrogated him about natalie? yes, he was dating you, he had been for months at this point; yes, he loved you (who wouldn't?); yes, you had kissed already; no they couldn't see any photos of you; no, they couldn't meet you; no—

he groaned, finally managing to shake them off as he practically stumbled into his dorm and slamming the door shut behind him, ignoring his friends' snickers.

it was late, but he knew you'd be awake.

"jinpei," your tired voice groaned, "it's one in the morning." he grimaced slightly, rolling his shoulder. stupid date almost ripping his shoulder out of his socket during training. but you didn't need to know about that, you worried enough about him anyway. "something wrong?”

"sorry," he groaned, dragging a hand down his face as he slumped against the desk, “somehow hagi found out, and he told the others.”

there was a pause on your end.

"[name]?"

and then you promptly burst into laughter.

"what the hell is so—"

"sorry, sorry," you apologised, but he could hear your grin, "is that all you called me for?"

"wha-what do you mean, is that all i called you for?" he snapped, sitting up indignantly, "we said we wouldn't tell anyone, right?"

“mhmm.”

he scowled, putting the phone on the desk and leaning back down on the desk, his voice low.

"and now they know."

"uh huh."

he sputtered.

"[name]—"

"i was kind of thinking about telling my other friends soon, to be honest..." you admitted sheepishly before pausing, "ah-wait, if-if that's fine with you..."

cute.

"yeah," he nodded instead, running a hand through his hair, "yeah, i'm cool with that."

"okay," you breathed, and he heard you shift under the covers, "okay. then i'll tell them tomorrow."

"yeah, sure, you do that the—wait tomorrow?!"

"i mean you told your friends already, right?" you asked, and he could practically see you tilting your head curiously like a goddamn puppy.

"hagi was the one who told them," he grumbled, "i didn't tell them shit until they started interrogating me about us."

"yeah?" you huffed in amusement, your gaze softening as you rolled onto your side, tugging the quilt over your head, "what did they ask?"

"well," he sighed before his head snapped to the door to the hushed whispers outside.

he didn't like how familiar the voices sounded.

"sorry, i need to—" he marched towards the door, swinging it open and staring down into four pairs of wide eyes.

"oops," date said.

"we've been caught red-handed," hiro chirped, "sorry, matsuda."

what was it with everyone and never looking and sounding as sorry as they sounded.

"what the fu—what are you four doing here?"

"late night chats with the love of your life?" hagi grinned, "here we thought you were finally being a good boy and going to sleep early jinpei-chan, but you were sneaking calls in your room."

"jinpei?" he heard you ask and somehow his friends' grins got impossibly wider.

"yeah, give me a minute," he growled into the speaker before muting, "what the hell is your problem?"

"we wanna meet your girl," grinned date.

"she seems cool," beamed rei.

he groaned, unmuting.

"say hi," he muttered numbly.

"um," you started, clearly in shock, "h-hey guys..."

they immediately gasped, cooing and grinning up at him.

children.

his friends were all children.

"i ship it," hiro said immediately.

"oh-um-thank you?"

it was honestly kind of cute how you stammered and stumbled through your greetings and their incessant questioning.

"aww, he's going all soft for you," cooed hagi, noticing how his gaze softened slightly.

"am not!" he snapped, his gaze immediately hardening again.

"it's not news to me," you hummed as his head snapped up.

"you too?!"

"i approve," date clapped a hand on his (uninjured) shoulder.

"you're not my dad?!"

"we better be your best men at your wedding, jinpei-chan."

"hagi!"

"joking, joking~"