Notes: I felt like people might want to take a look into Rei's head in this fic, since it was mostly from Nagisa's POV, so...here you go! Hope you enjoy this last chapter as much as I did writing it :)

Last year in May, I first saw that incomprehensible person. Loud, childish, impulsive, with an appetite beyond human understanding. Whenever I saw him, he was always joking, always smiling, always laughing about something.

Truth be told, I found that even harder to understand.

Extra 2: Illogical

-Last Year, August-

"Huh? What do you mean, you don't want to come?" Across the café table, Rin stabbed his fork accusingly at Rei. "I've asked you four times if you'd get some drinks with us and all those times you said you were busy. Now you're telling me you don't want to meet him?"

"I was trying to be polite," Rei replied, turning a page in his book on fluid mechanics. "Despite my personal opinion, he appears to be a good friend of yours. I would hardly wish to sully your outing with my presence."

"What opinion?" asked Rin with disbelief. "You've never even met the guy directly. What opinion can you possibly have already?"

"He seems rather loud. Unrestrained." Illogical. Rei turned another change in his book. "From what I've seen of his personality, I highly doubt we would ever get along." Rin's brow lifted towards his hairline.

"So what? When we first met, we weren't all buddy-buddy either," he pointed out. "Well, with the way you were being all stiff and standoffish, there weren't a ton of people who were buddy-buddy with you, but—"

"So you do acknowledge that we are good friends," Rei remarked, with a faint smirk at Rin. "Even with the year in-between high school and college."

"Wha—" Flushing, Rin clicked his tongue and turned his head sideways. "It's not like we need to address that come now! And even in that year, we were in the same city anyways."

"We hardly saw each other, due to my exams and your freshman year," Rei pointed out. "Still, to be in the same banal senpai and kouhai relationship for five years running—what a long time we have ahead of us."

"Oi. Are you seriously picking a fight?" Sighing, Rin propped his cheek in one hand. "I don't know what Nagisa ever did to get on your bad side." He frowned slightly. "But you really need to stop calculating people up-front, or whatever it is you do. You're never gonna make friends that way, you know?"

"I have made friends," the brunet replied smoothly. "They are all esteemed members of the Physics Club." Rin groaned.

"I meant with people who don't necessarily share your nerd hobbies! Give me a break over here!" He rubbed the back of his neck with a sigh. "No wonder you kept disappearing when he was around. And I thought Nagisa could get you to loosen up a bit. He can be a handful sometimes, but he's not that hard to get along with, you know?" And both Nagisa and Rei were good friends to Rin—another reason he had wanted to introduce them, but Rin hardly wanted to admit that out loud. Before him, Rei closed his book, eyes looking vaguely thoughtful.

"A person like him defies my understanding. How would I ever get along with someone like that?"

"—Huh?" With a shake of his head, Rei dismissed his own words.

"It's nothing, Rin-san. And certainly don't let my absence ruin your evening." His smile was somewhat snarky and Rin's brow twitched.

"To hell with your absence—we're gonna be swimming in drinks tonight!" On an afterthought, he blinked. "Or maybe not—he is seeing some guy lately, so he's stopped crying to me about the one before him, thank god—"

"I see." Not paying much attention to the news, Rei opened his physics book. "Nonetheless, enjoy your evening, Rin-san. And make good choices." Rin snorted.

"You're such a mom."

Even if he turned down Rin's invitations, Rei knew he'd see more of Hazuki Nagisa than he wanted to anyways. They never met directly, it was true—largely due to Rei's one-sided efforts—but with the blond constantly around the same college area as he was, it was getting harder and harder not to run into him.

Thankfully, Nagisa made it easy for Rei to notice his presence—with such an eye-catching personality, it was hard for any passerby citizen to not notice him. At least one out of four pedestrians would stop to stare through the family diner window as the blond devoured a whole pepperoni pizza at an incredible speed, a slice constantly in each hand and his mouth full with a third. Many stand owners, cashiers, waitresses, and other strangers in society would be taken aback by the way he addressed them so informally, by their first names and a '-chan' at the end, without fail. And certainly anyone with any sense in color and aesthetics would take a double take at his wardrobe—rainbow socks, ridiculously loud patterns, neon—so much neon, Rei thought with a shudder, and never as the point color. There were other things too, that made him eye-catching—the way he tackled all of his acquaintances with over-energetic hugs (he was so open about PDA in general), the way he pressed his face against display windows that interested him and yelled his excitement out loud for everyone to hear, the way he'd easily join a kickball game at the park with children not even half his age.

And speaking of the park—Rei had seen Nagisa do stranger things. Late one night, the brunet had been returning to his apartment after studying in the library, when he heard singing in the park he was passing through. To his left there had been a playground, and when Rei turned towards it, there Nagisa had been, standing on top of the monkey bars with his arms spread out and belting out some pop song at the top of his lungs. The blond had also been swaying a little suspiciously, and Rei had stiffened, wondering if he was going to fall off.

In the end, he'd quieted down and stumbled off to the safety of the ground, and Rei had exhaled in relief. But only because he was Rin's friend—and Rei was loath to wish misfortune on someone just because they were illogical and under the substances.

So in short, Rei just couldn't understand Nagisa at all. And it wasn't just because he was strange. It was because no matter what he was doing, what situation Rei caught sight of him in, Nagisa was always cheerful. Even when a stranger got mad at him for stepping on his foot, even when a friend made a particularly rude joke about him, even when he was stood up by someone and sat alone in a restaurant for an hour. How could a single person be smiling all the times Rei saw him? People like that made Rei suspicious—he'd met someone like that once or twice before, and in the end they'd either been talking about him behind his back or trying to use him to get what they wanted…

'You're never gonna make friends that way, you know?'

Maybe Rin was right, about his habit of calculating people. Finding his thoughts straying in an unwanted direction, the brunet cleared them with a shake of his head. He stood before the crosswalk, waiting for the light to change—and heard a girl's voice laughing.

"Geez, Mamoru—you look so silly!" Rei turned to see a high school couple emerge from the flaps over a purikura machine outside an arcade. The girl was apparently pointing out something amusing in the photos she held, and the boy with her was making a face at it. Their hands were joined, and the purikura machine they'd left behind was pink and covered in hearts. Brows pinching together a little, Rei turned just as the light turned green. He made his way across the crosswalk with the other pedestrians.

Romantic love—that was yet another thing Rei found illogical. He recalled all the letters he'd found in his shoe locker in high school, especially the days after his track competitions—pink stationery with discreet heart patterns at their edges, declarations of love penned in small, curvy handwriting. In the end, he'd rejected all of their senders, as politely as he could.

Such a sentiment was arguably meant to aid survival and reproduction, both practical causes for humanity and the ecosystem—so why did it also cause humans to act less practically, irrationally? Before, when he was younger and saw his parents being sweet with each other, Rei had simply thought it was nice—but as he grew older and more in tune with the rules of science and logic, romantic love became a rather puzzling concept for him. And although he was glad his parents were happy together, Rei privately thought that he himself would never be swept up by such incomprehensible feelings.

Come to think of it, hadn't Rin mentioned that Nagisa was seeing someone? Looking back on his memories of seeing the blond, Rei realized that he did in fact seem even more cheerful than usual since July. He supposed that it probably did have something to do with the older man's romantic affairs. The thought of love itself made Rei's nose wrinkle, but maybe it wasn't outside reason for something so illogical to influence an equally illogical person.

If that was the case, then there was no use of looking further into it. He would never find a logical answer. And perhaps, Rei thought, it didn't even matter so much anyways. It wasn't like he and Nagisa would ever be friends—or even acquaintances. In fact, if Rei hadn't seen the man around so much, he probably wouldn't have thought so much about him in the first place.

With the beginning of winter four months later, Rei found a reason to think harder.

"Achoo!" He'd been headed back for his apartment after studying for finals at the college library (yes, they were a month away, as Rin had pointed out, but starting a month before was expected, at least for Rei if not his peers, and besides Rei already studied almost every day of the year anyways). To his slight horror, the signs of a cold were starting to surface—Rei led a healthy life with balanced meals and regular exercise, but the common cold seemed to trump it all at least once every two years of his life. Hoping that a good night's rest would help blow it away, the brunet tugged his red plaid scarf over his nose.

He was just nearing the park sandboxes when loud sobs began coming from the area.

At first, he wondered if it was a child who'd gotten injured while playing. But when he got close enough to see the source of the sound, Rei's eyes widened.

Sitting on the edge of the sandbox was definitely not a child, but Hazuki Nagisa. His golden hair seemed a darker blond under the grey sky, his skin pale and cheeks flushed from the cold. The fingerless penguin gloves and cheery pink of his winter coat were a glaring contrast with his current mood. His brows were pinched together, his usually bright eyes almost scrunched shut. His lips weren't curved up in their usual smile, but turned down at the corners. Large tears rolled down his pink cheeks as he cried without restraining his voice, without care for the stares from the park visitors around him.

The sight clashed so greatly with what Rei was used to, that he almost forgot to hide. Once he was securely behind a tree, he peered out from behind the trunk in disbelief.

It'd been over half a year since he'd first seen the blond—Rei had started to think that he'd never see an expression on his face other than cheerful or silly. Never had he expected to see Nagisa look this devastated. But now that he had—it felt strange. Stranger than his constant smiling, stranger than his behavior and fashion and anything about him in general.

'Strange' didn't feel like the right word. Something in Rei's gut was twisting unpleasantly. But that was natural, wasn't it? It would be stranger to see someone crying and feel happy about it—or perhaps just downright cruel.

With his back against the tree, Rei stayed and watched long after the other visitors went away—forgetting about finals, about retiring to bed early, about his cold symptoms. He listened to Nagisa's sobs quiet with the progression of thirty minutes, saw the blond wipe his tears on his penguin gloves and slap himself twice on the cheeks. With another thirty minutes, the red under his eyes faded to a barely noticeable pink. And again, that smile was back—cheery with the corners curved up.

When the person Nagisa had been waiting for showed up, it occurred to Rei that he really shouldn't be watching this. In fact, he really shouldn't have been watching as the man cried, either—it went against his morals to spy on people during their private moments (or what should be one of them). Yet, Rei's feet didn't move from behind the tree.

With the distance, he couldn't hear what they were saying clearly. But he noticed that Nagisa's smile remained intact. He even laughed once, and patted the man before him on the arm. After about ten minutes, he was waving cheerily as his company left him, even standing on the tips of his toes. And then, when the person was gone, his heels landed on the ground and his arm at his side. Rei only saw Nagisa's back—it looked silent somehow, eerily unlike the blond he knew.

That evening, Rei went home and had dinner and opened his textbooks. And instead of studying, he thought—deep into the hours of the night.

"How…how is Hazuki-san doing, lately?"

It felt weird for Rei, hearing Nagisa's name fall from his own lips. Across from him, Rin sighed.

"Remember that guy he started dating in July? Apparently they broke up a few days ago." Rei inhaled slightly—it was just as he had thought. "I went drinking with him yesterday and the day before—he was being quieter than last time, but considering that it's Nagisa that's probably not a good thing." Rin ran his fingers through his red hair, looking a little exasperated but worried at the same time.

"Oh." A beat of silence. "I see." Not noticing Rei's expression, Rin went on.

"What did he say about this guy—something about catching the bouquet at a wedding and meeting his eyes?" He sighed. "For someone who starts dating people for cliché reasons, he falls for them way too hard. It looks like he's been pretty resilient about it up to now—but maybe all those relationships are finally taking a toll on him."

"So that's how it is," Rei murmured, more to himself than to Rin. Not missing those words, Rin raised a brow at his friend.

"—But why are you asking all of a sudden? You never ask about Nagisa, like ever." Jumping in his seat, Rei laughed somewhat nervously.

"J-just out of curiosity, Rin-san!" he said, the corner of his mouth twitching. "Since Christmas is coming up and all—in the spirit of holiday caring, you see?!" In return, Rin shot him a dubious look.

"You don't give two cents about Christmas." He blinked. "Now that you mention it, that's coming up in two weeks, huh? Man, what crappy timing…"

"Very unfortunate," agreed Rei, cramming his cup of coffee to his lips and praying Rin didn't pry further.

It wasn't as if Rei wanted to keep thinking about it. But just as before, Nagisa kept entering Rei's line of sight, and well, it wasn't that Rei didn't ponder over it when the man wasn't within his sight, but that was natural, wasn't it? After witnessing a shocking phenomenon, surely it was natural for said phenomenon to linger on one's mind.

Of course, not many people would refer to a man crying loudly in the park as a 'shocking phenomenon'. Surprising, perhaps, and capable of arousing the public's curiosity—but not equivalent to something like dead birds falling from the sky or a UFO sighting (the latter which Rei was firmly convinced against, but that wasn't the point).

When he thought about it, it did feel a little silly. Of course people had different emotions—of course they couldn't possibly be cheerful, not all the time. And perhaps those closer to Hazuki Nagisa had seen all the different faces he could make, Rei reasoned—his own surprise just came from the fact that they didn't even know each other, not really.

Well, now Rei knew a different face, too. But that wasn't a big deal. So Nagisa was capable of being something other than cheery. So he could cry that hard over someone he cared about—so he could send that someone off with a flawless smile, in the name of something as illogical as love. So what? What did Rei care about someone who marched against the drumbeat of logic?

As he was having these thoughts, Rei came to a stop before the usual crosswalk, the one near the arcade and the gaudy too-pink purikura machine. The light switched from red to green, and he started to move with the crowd.

"Hey! Watch where you're going, brat!" An angry voice ripped through the air, and Rei's eyes rose. And there he was again, facing a grumpy-looking old man with the same unfailing smile.

"Sorry for running into you, ojii-san!" Nagisa chirped, clapping his hands together in apology. "I'll be sure to be careful next time!" Before him, the old man's expression grew even crankier.

"What next time!" he huffed, shoving past the blond. "Honestly, youngsters these days are so troublesome," he continued to grumble, not quietly, as he made his way across the crosswalk. "Dyeing their hair ridiculous colors and charging into people without warning—no sense of manners at all—" Behind him stood Nagisa, and his expression flickered—for a moment, Rei thought he saw the smile disappear. Then, he reached up to tug his bangs once, before turning with that same smile.

"This is my real hair color, ojii-san!" His voice was loud, expression just as cheery as before, and Rei's eyes widened slightly. The pedestrians that were passing stared, and the old man's back stiffened as he stopped. Eventually, he coughed and moved on, without answering.

"How rude, huh?" Rei heard a few passerby women whisper. "And he was the one who bumped into that blond guy in the first place—"

"So that hair color is natural, huh? He didn't sound like a foreigner though—" They made their way past Rei onto the sidewalk, while the brunet continued to stand still. He saw Nagisa fluff his bangs a few times before resuming his walk. The blond stepped onto the sidewalk just some feet away from Rei—not noticing the dark-haired man as he made a beeline for the arcade.

Had he just…? Blinking, Rei found that the light had changed back to red before he could cross. The words 'fighting back' flashed across his mind, but his cheery tone hardly seemed to indicate a fight. Rei had been sure that Nagisa would just let the old man's comment pass and be on his way.

Maybe Nagisa was less predictable than Rei had thought. In fact, Rei seemed to be getting the realization a lot lately.

"His hair?" repeated Rin, with a blink. "Oh, yeah—it's supposed to be from his great-grandmother. I heard she was French or English or something."

"Oh—I always thought it was dyed." At Rei's words, Rin laughed.

"You don't get a color like that from hair dye—that's why I've never touched anything lighter than this red," he explained, pointing at his own locks.

"I see." Rei's hands went up to twist the tips of his own bangs, just like a certain someone did.

"Yeah. Now that you know, don't ask him if it's dyed. His mom has the same blondish hair, and I think they've run into trouble with assholes who wouldn't let it go before."

"Oh." So his mother was also blond. Rei remembered how the smile on Nagisa's face had flickered that day. "I'll be sure to remember that."

"Yeah. Though I guess he wouldn't mind too much, as long as you don't have any bad intent—" Pausing, Rin stared over at Rei. "—Wait. Does that mean you're actually gonna interact with him?"

"—Huh?" Rei blinked back at him owlishly. "O-Of course not," he stammered, wondering why he was stammering. Raising a brow, Rin leaned back in his chair.

"Well, you sure are asking about him a lot lately, for someone who doesn't ever plan on meeting him."

"Hardly," Rei countered firmly, and Rin shrugged.

"Whatever you say."

He found himself recalling all the times Nagisa could have been angry but wasn't. And before, Rei couldn't figure out what the man got out of acting cheery in those situations. But the next time someone yelled at Nagisa for stepping on their foot and Nagisa wore an apologetic smile, Rei noticed the limp in the stranger's leg. The next time he saw Nagisa laugh as his friend poked fun at him, Rei noticed that none of their other companions would talk to that one friend. The next time Nagisa smiled at someone who was extremely late for an outing, Rei noticed how fatigued his company seemed with their constant yawning. And then, everything finally added up together—that was Nagisa's way of being considerate. Rei couldn't believe that he hadn't noticed it before—but then again, maybe he just hadn't been looking hard enough.

There were times when that consideration was admirable. And other times, Rei found it frustrating. Sometimes he'd find himself wanting to tell all those people off—but then, he'd stop to feel puzzled with himself. It was true that he had his own moral standards in life, but before he'd never cared to act on them for someone he barely knew. Although Rei wasn't exactly inconsiderate, he hardly believed his consideration for others reached Nagisa's level—not for almost-strangers, at the least.

After all, almost all the things he did know about Nagisa were from observation, and really, his knowledge was quite limited. Rei only knew about Nagisa's extreme penchant for penguin goods and strawberry sweets and odd mascot characters. The way he habitually dozed off on the train, unwittingly making a stranger's shoulder his pillow and drool depository. His habit of flopping down on tables when he was hot or tired, or his tendency to break out into pop or anime songs to express his mood. The way his eyes shone with a rare look of concentration as he beat challenger after challenger at DDR in the local arcade—his calf muscles did look quite outstanding in the shorts or capris he wore while he danced. Not that Rei was looking or anything. There was no reason for him to.

It was just an objective assessment of a human body part.

"Mm—" Rin was humming to himself thoughtfully, as one of Nagisa's favorite pop songs played in the background of the kitchenware store. If Rei recalled correctly, it was the one that he was singing non-stop just a week ago. After a class they shared ended, Rei and Rin had set out for the shopping center so Rin could replace a mug of Nagisa's he'd accidentally broken. The redhead was holding up a white mug with pink polka dots and a yellow checkered mug, obviously torn between the two.

"Oi, Rei, which one do you think I should—" Before he could finish, a third mug was thrust in his face. What looked like an abstract painting of a strawberry was splashed across its white porcelain surface.

"I think this would do better," Rei said, pushing up his glasses.

"O—oh…" replied Rin, slightly surprised.

"And I believe they are selling strawberry shampoo for fifty percent off at the store next door." Rei's hand hovered over his face. "Not that that's currently relevant. To us."

"…Okay?"

When Rin told him the next day that Nagisa loved the mug, Rei tried very hard to suppress his smile. When a suspicious-eyed Rin added that Nagisa had also jumped on the strawberry shampoo sale, Rei could hardly keep the corners of his lips from twitching. When the redhead asked how Rei had known Nagisa liked abstract art, Rei just said he'd seen the blond visit an abstract art exhibition before. It was probably half-true—he'd seen Nagisa very enthusiastically pocketing the flier for it near the station, so the man would've probably taken the time to visit by now, right?

So he was a thorough observer. Rei had always been—observation was a key skill in science and life in general.

Thanks to that, Rei also noticed how Nagisa would hardly pass through the park for some time. There was a group of children who always played ball near the sandboxes—Rei sometimes heard them talk about Nagisa, wondering why 'that blond guy' wasn't coming to the park anymore. And sometimes, when Rei passed by the sandboxes, he'd stop to sit in the spot that Nagisa had sat that winter, staring absently at the children as they played ball.

To Rei, love was just as illogical as it had been before the past winter. It was illogical—but he'd considered it, in the form of tears and smiles and a certain blond's absence from the park. And Rei came to the conclusion that maybe, it bothered him the way it did because despite being illogical, it still existed. Because if Nagisa hadn't meant all of his illogical feelings, then he wouldn't have cried so hard that winter. Even if he sometimes used his smile as a tool to smooth situations out or reassure people, every one of those tears had been genuine. Either that, or Nagisa was a very good actor.

And it wasn't too far-fetched to say Nagisa himself was the same. He was illogical, and yet he very clearly, very loudly, very visibly, existed.

He was real. Real enough that Rei's thoughts of him were showing up as an apparition before his eyes.

"Heyy, guys, I'm back!"

"Ah! It's that blond guy!"

"Let's play ball, onii-chan!"

Wait. That wasn't an apparition. That was the real—

In a flash, Rei was hiding behind a tree, his glasses askew and his heart pounding wildly. When he'd calmed himself down by reasoning that really, there was no reason to be this startled, Rei peered out cautiously from behind the trunk.

"Huh—that glasses guy from earlier is gone!" one of the kids pointed out, and Rei quickly ducked his head back around.

"Glasses guy?" Rei jolted slightly when Nagisa repeated the kid's words. "Who's that?"

"We dunno," another kid said, shrugging. "He always sits over there and stares off into nowhere though."

"Oh." Nagisa stared at the particular spot on the sandbox for a while, before turning to the children with a smile. "You shouldn't talk to weird strangers like that, okay?" Behind the tree, Rei almost slipped and fell.

"But you're a stranger, too!" pointed out one of the kids. "And you're weirder!" To that Nagisa gave a laugh—Rei found the sound oddly refreshing.

"Me? I'm harmless!" Grabbing the ball from one of the kids, the blond threw it on the ground and started kicking it. "C'mon, hurry before you all lose to me!"

"Hey, no fair!" The patter of smaller footsteps followed, and soon the area before the sandboxes turned into a battle ground of sorts. Rei watched from behind the tree as Nagisa played ball with the kids, kicking up dust and laughing like he was a kid himself.

It occurred to Rei that this was the most defenseless, carefree Nagisa he'd seen in months. The cold was finally starting to lift from Tokyo—maybe the blond's discreet sadness was also lifting as well. Or maybe it was because he was around children at the moment—they did say people lowered their guard around children, after all.

Ten minutes into the game, Nagisa was aiming a particularly enthusiastic kick at the ball when one of the kids snatched it instead. He ended up kicking the air and falling, toppling backwards. A worried sound left Rei's throat, but the man thankfully didn't hurt his head, arms snapping back so he fell on his palms. Not seeming to mind, the blond let his upper body fall on the ground. A wide smile split across his face, and to Rei's utter confusion, he started to giggle in earnest before bursting into laughter. The kids gathered around him, looking down at him dubiously.

"Why is he laughing?" "D'you think he hurt his head?" "I dunno—he seems fine to me!" As if Nagisa's laughter was infectious, the children started to giggle as well. When Nagisa spread out his arms, they piled on top of him one by one, joining in on his laughter. The man's hair was swept to the side from his fall, cheeks flushed from exhilaration, eyes crinkled and sparkling genuinely as he really laughed.

Ah—so this was it. Rei had seen his polite smile, his joking grin, heard his mischievous giggling and loud guffawing at something he found hilarious. He couldn't say none of the former were genuine—but this smile, this laugh was different. Refreshing, unrestrained, childlike—happy. It was like seeing a whole other face—and he couldn't tear his eyes away.

Eventually, Nagisa came down from his laughter and beamed. And in turn, Rei's heart did a funny flip in his chest.

"—was thinking, y'know, since it's spring again and all—"

"Yes—" Rei murmured absently, not really listening to what Rin was saying. His thoughts were still with Nagisa, with the way his smile had lit up his eyes and the way his infectious laughter bubbled out from his lips.

"—and he's had some time to get over the guy from before—"

"Mhm—" Rei wondered if it was strange, that an almost-stranger's face wouldn't leave his mind.

"—so I'm thinking about introducing Nagisa to someone new—"

"EH." A loud sound of surprise tore from Rei's throat. Before he knew it, the cup of coffee that had been in his hands was lopsided on the table, and his lap was full of black liquid—thankfully turned cold, with how Rei had been spacing off. His face colored with embarrassment and he scrambled all over the place, trying to wipe the coffee stains off his pants with a few napkins.

"Rei—" Across from him, Rin's eyes were wide. "What the hell are you doing?"

"I—uh—I—it was an accident?" Rei fumbled with his words, dabbing the napkins at his pants in vain. "Um—you, you said something about—introducing someone? Who?"

"—Dunno." Rin was giving him the scrutinizing eye. "I haven't decided who yet. But I know a few decent candidates here and there, so—" Rei's glasses slipped, and he hastily pushed them up with a coffee-stained hand.

"I-is that so?" Brown stains formed on his glasses. "I—I see! Th-that is extremely thoughtful of you, Rin-sa—"

"Waaiiiittt a second." Rin fixed Rei with a discerning look, one that made Rei gulp nervously for some reason. "Am I onto something here?"

"? Onto what?" ? What was Rei feeling nervous for, anyways? It was just Rin-san asking him a question—why did he oddly feel like he was trying to hide something?

"I thought you were being weird recently." Rin leaned back in his chair, looking Rei up and down. "You've always avoided Nagisa, but you've been weirdly jumpy about it lately. Not to mention you've actually started asking about him—and the thing with that mug. And your reaction just now—that was weird as hell, too."

"Wh-what do you mean, Rin-san?" Rei forced a laugh, bringing his empty coffee cup to his lips. "Why, why would my actions be considered 'weird'? I hardly see anything out of the ordina—"

"I have no idea how—but do you have an actual thing for Nagisa?"

Rei stared. Rin waited.

"—A thing?" repeated Rei, with a confused frown. "What do you—" Before him, Rin sighed impatiently.

"I'm asking if you like him!" When Rei's expression didn't change, the redhead groaned. "Like, do you want to go out with him! Jesus, how can I make that clearer?"

"—'Go out'?" The furrow in Rei's brow deepened. "You can't possibly mean—" Images of love letters on pink stationery and hearts on purikura stands crossed his mind. "—Romantically?" he finished, with a doubtful look. "Why would you ever come to that conclusion?"

"Rei. I just said I was gonna set him up with someone and you fucking dropped your coffee. You should've seen the look on your face—"

"B-but that has nothing to do with me having romantic sentiments for—" Rei's words sputtered out, face feeling warm all of a sudden. "H-how does me spilling a drink equate to—to that illogical notion?!"

"You're stuttering." A smirk was starting to form on Rin's face. "Oh god, I can't believe it. And you used to be all like 'he's so illogical and un-sciency, I don't think we'll ever get a-long, blah blah blah—'"

"Th-that's preposterous!" insisted Rei, flushing. "What do you mean that I have 'a thing' for Hazuki-san?!" Even as he denied Rin's accusation, Nagisa's smile flashed across his mind. "He's—I barely even know him—" He remembered spotting that strawberry mug, just knowing it would be a good choice as soon as he'd laid eyes on it. "I would never be caught up in something as illogical as romantic attraction—"

"But you are interested." The expression Rin wore was that of someone who knew he was right—it infuriated Rei every time he saw it. "You do want to know more about Nagisa. You can't deny that much."

"I—" The fact that he'd spent months puzzling over Nagisa's existence occurred to Rei. "Th-that's not true!" By now, however, his protests seemed to be falling on deaf ears.

"Now this is a hilarious and interesting situation." Rin's smirk was even wider, if not more mischievous. "Hey, Rei, I have a suggestion for you."

"—your speculation is completely unreasonable—are you listening, Rin-san?!"

"Why don't you try meeting him? On a date?" There was laughter in Rin's voice, a knowing glint in his eyes.

Across the table, Rei's mouth fell open stupidly. Soon, his face steamed up like a kettle on high fire.

"Absolutely not!" His horrified yell had Rin collapsing in laughter. "Wh—Rin-san! Stop laughing!"

A date. With Nagisa. Just the notion made his heart lurch in his chest. But that didn't prove anything.

All the same, a nagging feeling was crawling up Rei's spine—that there might be some weight to Rin's words, even if they weren't completely true.

-Two Months Later-

Time really passed in the blink of an eye. And things seemed to change just as fast.

"All right, Rin-san." Inside their usual café, Rei stood up a bit shakily from his seat. "I'll be off now. Th-thank you for sitting with me on a weekend morning."

"You mean for making sure you don't run away?" With a grin, Rin stood as well. "Someone's gotta make sure you actually go." Rei laughed weakly, only because he couldn't find the composure to do much else.

"I'm so nervous that I feel like throwing up," he said, smile shaky. Rin laughed as well.

"Relax—it's just Nagisa. He won't hate you—probably."

"Rin-san!" The redhead chuckled at Rei's wail.

"Go break a leg, lover boy." With that, Rin slapped Rei on the shoulder. "And don't overthink things too much. It's just a date."

"Just a date," Rei repeated faintly. He stood up straighter, hands reaching up to tug at the edge of his bangs. "I'll be back, Rin-san—and intact."

"You're not going out into battle!" Rin's laugh was the last thing he heard, before Rei left the café.

Six months ago, all Rei had wanted to do was avoid Nagisa. And now, he was on his way to meet the same illogical person.

-Three Months Later-

On a warm autumn day, Rei found himself back at the usual crosswalk. His long fingers curled around the strap of his backpack, his foot tapping on the sidewalk absently as he vaguely hummed the melody to a pop song. When the lights turned green, the brunet made his way across, steps brisk with anticipation. He spotted a familiar head of golden curls on the other side, and his violet eyes lit up.

"Nagisa-kun!" A smile lifted the corners of his mouth, and he ran past the pedestrians to reach the blond. "It's rare of you to be ten minutes early! Were you waiting lo—" The rest of the words died on his lips when he noticed something.

On Nagisa's face was a very deep, very noticeable pout. His arms were crossed, his body turned away from Rei. It was rare to see him this cross—wondering what was wrong, the brunet cautiously placed a hand on Nagisa's shoulder.

"Um—Nagisa-kun? Is something the matter—"

"I heard about everything from Rin-chan." The smaller man's peevish voice cut him off. "You can't hide it from me anymore!" At the accusation, Rei went rigid. His thoughts immediately leapt to the swimming lessons he was getting from the redhead—they were supposed to remain a secret from Nagisa until Rei could surprise him on their next swim date. Rin-san, I'm going to kill you! Feeling half-vengeful and half-panicked, Rei scrambled to piece together a reply.

"N-Nagisa-kun—I understand why you might be upset, but please understand—I just wanted to surprise yo—"

"Rin-chan told me exactly what you used to think of me a year ago!"

"—Huh?" Blinking, Rei stepped back with surprise. Before him, Nagisa's cheeks had puffed up to the size of peaches.

"I can't believe you called me loud, obnoxious, and annoying! And you didn't even know me that well back then!" His pout deepened. "I knew you were avoiding me because you didn't like me!" When he finally processed what Nagisa was talking about, Rei groaned inwardly. He really was going to have to kill Rin for exaggerating his words.

"That's not true, Nagisa-kun—I never called you 'obnoxious' or 'annoying'! And I never disliked you—you know how Rin-san tends to blow things out of proportion!"

"Then how come you avoided me so much all those months?!"

"I told you, that was because—well, because I thought you'd be difficult to get along with, but that was only for the first six months or so! After that, well, I was trying to figure out some things and I truly did feel nervous about meeting you—"

"I'm breaking up with you, Rei-chan," replied Nagisa, in a childishly disgruntled voice. "It's over!" Without warning, he began dashing away at a surprising speed for someone his height.

"Eeeh?!" Alarmed, Rei quickly chased after Nagisa. "Wait—Nagisa-kun! Things aren't like that anymore, you know they aren't!" he called, feeling flustered and a little desperate. "Please don't say it's over all of a sudden!" When Nagisa didn't show signs of slowing down, Rei stopped, eyes squeezing shut.

"No matter how things were back then, I really do like you now!"

At the outburst, Nagisa's feet finally came to a stop. Behind him, Rei's cheeks were burning from his public confession. When the blond turned around, his pout was fading and his cheeks were a warm pink.

"Really?" he asked—voice half-petulant and half-shy. Rei's flush reached his ears, but he didn't look away.

"Of course!" he said firmly. And just like that, Nagisa's lips quivered up into the beaming smile Rei loved so much.

"Then, can we do something super couple-y?" he chirped, sullenness completely gone from his face. It was almost as if he'd never really been upset in the first place—

Oh. Before Rei knew it Nagisa was standing right before him, large, sparkly eyes staring up into Rei's. Gulping, the brunet asked, "What is i—"

"Over there!" With an exited tug at Rei's sleeve, Nagisa pointed to the purikura machine before the arcade. "Let's go and take some photos! They have really cute sticker designs in that machine!"

"Wh—wait, Nagisa-kun!" A flustered Rei was dragged towards the machine, whisked behind its bright pink flaps in the matter of seconds.

Later, when they emerged from the machine, Nagisa was laughing at the stickers in his hand and Rei was shoving his hand under his glasses.

"Oh my god, Rei-chan, I can't believe you actually struck this pose!" the smaller man gasped between giggles, staring at a shot of Rei with one knee up, sticking his arms at an upward angle like a butterfly. Thanks to the antennas, mustache, and tutu stickers Nagisa had added, Rei looked even more ridiculous than he would have.

"Are you sure you don't want a retake, Nagisa-kun?" asked Rei, eye twitching as he stared at some of the other stickers. "The way my eyes are squinting in that frame is not beautiful. And I'm positive that turning my face a greater angle would result in the most optimal shot—"

"Those are the ones you're getting embarrassed over?" Nagisa laughed. "Rei-chan, you're such a dork!"

The indignation in Rei's eyes eventually gave way to obvious fondness, as he watched his boyfriend look over their photos happily. He recalled seeing a high school couple leave the same purikura machine a year ago with their hands joined—now, Rei wondered if he and Nagisa looked the same as those teenagers had.

Slowly, Rei's hand reached over to take Nagisa's in a gentle, warm squeeze. Blinking, the blond looked up to see his boyfriend averting his eyes, free hand going up towards his glasses.

"Rei-chan?"

"Just—just so you know," Rei began, fiddling with his red frames. "I would have taken them with you, even if you'd just asked up front." For a moment, Nagisa's expression flickered with surprise. Then, his eyes glowed warmly with affection.

"I really like you too, Rei-chan."

"—Eh?" Before Rei had a chance to let those words sink in, he found himself being tugged behind the purikura machine flaps again. As soon as they fell down, warm lips pressed against Rei's, softer than before and tasting faintly of strawberries. Rei found his eyes widening once, before lidding gently as he kissed Nagisa back.

All anyone outside could have seen were Rei's Nikes and Nagisa's bright yellow sneakers on tiptoe. That was what Rei told himself as they emerged from the purikura machine ten minutes later. Hopefully, the average passerby wouldn't be too curious about their matching disheveled hair and flushed faces.

Yes, love was illogical. But so was Nagisa. And to Rei, Nagisa was one of the best illogical things to exist in the world.

End Notes: Thank you for reading til the end! Especially to those who left reviews, thank you so much! I've missed writing fics and it was good to be back with more Reigisa. I know the fandom's shrinking a little since the anime's ended, but it's good to know people still are reading and writing stuff now and then.

I think I've mentioned that I've written and scrapped a lot of stuff before. One of these days I might go back and edit/rewrite some of that, because I've gotten kind of far into some of them and it kind of feels like a waste. I also have an idea for something else related to this Blind Date AU that I might write sometime. Until then...well, I hope people will still be interested :')

As always, please let me know what you thought!