Mondo Oowada was sitting across from him, waving his fork and talking animatedly, and Ishimaru wondered just how lucky he was to have a friend like this.

He interjected when he could, but it was Mondo's story and mostly he just sat there, chin resting on his hand, leaning forward, watching him. He felt strangely fuzzy inside – the first time he felt this he was worried, he thought he'd gotten sick, but after a bit of research he'd learned that it just meant that he'd liked Mondo. And that was true. Mondo was his friend. His best friend, his bro, his first and one and only friend.

It was sort of depressing, now that he thought about it.

But, really, he did not need any other friends. He had his bro, and that was all that mattered.

"So, what'd you do over the weekend, bro?" Mondo asked, and Ishimaru perked up. Usually they would have spent at least part of the weekend together, if not all, but Mondo had had things to attend to, so Ishimaru had just done what he usually did on the weekends.

"I studied!" Ishimaru said brightly. "As well as managing my time for this week! I am very prepared for anything that may come up."

"That all you did?" Mondo asked. He looked a little concerned. Ishimaru did not know why.

"Of course I went out for my morning runs," Ishimaru said. "And I did get my daily caloric and nutritional needs for the day-"

"Jesus, Kiyotaka, you didn't go out or anything? I mean, I was busy, but you must've done something fun," Mondo said.

Ah, it was one of those times where Mondo didn't understand. This happened sometimes. As well as the times when Ishimaru didn't understand, but those are usually because of some strange social cue that he missed.

"No, bro, I had fun," he said. "Studying is very fun, and it improves your brain!"

Mondo snorted, dropping his fork onto the table. Ishimaru jumped at the sudden noise and glanced around the cafeteria. Nobody made any moves that they had heard this blatant disregard for school property, so Ishimaru figured that he was safe. "We're doin' something fun tonight," Mondo said, pointing at Ishimaru.

"We have a quiz tomo-"

"Shit, you know it all already," Mondo said, rolling his eyes. "Take a fucking break."

"Language, bro," Ishimaru reminded him, and Mondo rolled his eyes again. Ishimaru thought about the night – he had planned for studying, revising, and perhaps looking over the paper due next Wednesday once more. However… if his bro wanted to go do something fun…

It was difficult to refuse Mondo. Friendship gave him the fuzzy feeling that, sadly, working hard and studying could not quite replicate. And perhaps he could use a break.

"So?" Mondo asked. "You wanna do something tonight?"

Ishimaru sighed. "Fine," he relented. "As long as we get back early enough for me to study."

Mondo looked like he was about to roll his eyes again, but didn't. Instead, he stood up, pulling Ishimaru up with him and putting an arm around his shoulders. Ishimaru stretched up, putting his arm around Mondo's shoulders. It was a bit difficult, he had to admit, but he managed it.

He let the two of them stay that way until the bell rang for class. "It is time for class, bro!" he said cheerfully, removing his arm and worming out from under Mondo's. Mondo just shook his head slowly, grinning a little as he followed Ishimaru from the cafeteria.

The rest of the day went far too slowly for Ishimaru's liking. He did like school. He enjoyed learning and working hard to get the correct answer. However… he had plans after school, and found himself quite fidgety. It was strange, for him. Even Naegi commented on it, which was embarrassing.

He met Mondo outside the school about twenty minutes after school had let out. He was usually at the school until the teachers left, but Mukuro Ikusaba had volunteered to watch over detention and sort out the disciplinary committee for him, so, after his more important and less time-consuming duties, he left the school.

Mondo had his bike, as usual. And, as usual, he handed out the helmet for Ishimaru.

"I really think that you should get a helmet for yourself, bro," Ishimaru said. "Or at least use the one that I got you for passing that History exam."

Mondo snorted and muttered something about it messing up his hair, and then they were off. Ishimaru barely had time to grab Mondo's waist before they zoomed away.

As always, the motorcycle ride was brief and slightly terrifying. If Ishimaru had had his eyes open at all during the ride instead of closed, face buried in Mondo's back, he would have been horrified at how much over the speed limit they were going. As it was, he clung to Mondo for dear life and prayed that they would not die.

They stopped in front of a small café. Ishimaru, as always, was a little unsteady on his feet after getting down from the motorcycle, but Mondo held onto his arm until he got his footing back. "I really would consider…" he would have fallen over if it weren't for Mondo. "Perhaps, going a little slower."

"Nah, it ain't fun unless it's fast," Mondo said. Seeing Ishimaru's expression, however, he softened. "Maybe I can stand to go ten miles an hour slower, though."

Ishimaru put his helmet on the back of Mondo's motorcycle, being sure to secure it tightly to the back using a padlock he often used to make sure that it did not get stolen, and followed Mondo inside.

It was a small, cozy-looking café with several high school students in groups, chatting and overall looking like they were having a good time. It made Ishimaru a bit nervous, seeing so many groups of giggling girls and a few people who were obviously on dates, and he drew a bit closer to Mondo, who… actually did not look much better than Ishimaru felt.

"I can pay," Mondo said to Ishimaru when they got up to the counter, maybe a bit louder than necessary.

"Thanks, bro," Ishimaru said, smiling brightly. Mondo looked a bit red, then turned to the person behind the counter.

"What's good?" Mondo asked aggressively, slamming his hands down on the counter. The woman behind the counter, looking a little nervous, stammered something about iced coffee and cakes. Mondo looked at Ishimaru. "What do you want, bro?"

"I, um," Ishimaru said, staring up at the menu. "I would… perhaps like to try… a mocha? Twelve ounce?"

"Is this all on one order?" the woman asked, and Mondo nodded. She punched something into a computer, and looked at Mondo.

"What you said was good and some of those cakes," Mondo said, jerking his thumb at the plate of treats. He pulled out his wallet and, grumbling about the price, handed over the money. "Go sit down. I'll wait."

"No, bro, you paid! I'll wait!" Ishimaru said. The woman behind the counter looked relieved at the prospect of having Ishimaru to deal with instead of Mondo, and Mondo nodded, kicking his way over to an empty table.

"How did someone like you end up with someone like him?" the woman behind the counter wondered, sliding three cakes on a plate over the counter. Ishimaru took them, holding the plate in one hand and wondering how he was supposed to hold two coffees in the other.

"It is a long story," Ishimaru said. "But he is my best friend."

Looking at Mondo, he wondered if the fuzzy feeling he always felt would ever really go away, or if it was permanent. He liked the fuzzy feeling, but it was rather distracting at times.

The mocha was slid over the counter, and then Mondo's iced coffee. Ishimaru managed to get everything into his arms – the iced coffee was thicker, so less likely to spill, so he put that on the plate, and made his way carefully over to Mondo.

Halfway there, he tripped over someone's foot or a chair leg or something and went sprawling, coffee and pastries going everywhere.

He felt tears prick the corners of his eyes and he dug his fingernails into his palms, trying to hold back the tears. Mondo was at his side, a hand on his shoulders. "You okay? Kiyotaka, are you- fuck, you're crying. Um. Are you okay?"

"I-I'm sorry," Ishimaru managed to choke out. "I appeared to have… I- I ruined our fun and…"

Mondo snatched some napkins from a nearby table and began wiping up the mess, starting with Ishimaru. "No, it's fine, you're okay, shit stop crying, you're fine…"

An employee came out then with a mop. He asked if Ishimaru would move, and Mondo snapped at him to leave them alone.

The employee, naturally, did.

Mondo pulled Ishimaru awkwardly up, putting an arm around his waist. "C'mon, Kiyotaka, you're okay," he said. "It's fine. Shit, the stupid coffee probably wasn't even worth it."

"A-and you paid for it and I just ruined it all," Ishimaru wailed, having completely given up on getting a hold on his emotions. Mondo grabbed the iced coffee from the ground – while Ishimaru's mocha had gone everywhere, the iced coffee had just sloshed open a little bit – and shoved the straw into his mouth.

"No, see, it's fine. It's fine!" Now Mondo was yelling and Ishimaru was crying and they were on the verge of being kicked out of the coffee shop.

Ishimaru sniffled, swallowed, and took one of the napkins, blowing his nose. "W-we should go," he hiccupped. Tears were still leaking from his eyes, but, overall, he had stopped completely bawling.

Mondo nodded, pulling Ishimaru out of the coffee shop, glaring at everyone as they passed. He also hit the unfortunate soul that had accidentally tripped Ishimaru.

Once they got outside, Mondo pulled Ishimaru over to a bench and wiped the rest of his tears away with a spare napkin. He then tossed it onto the ground.

"L-littering is not prohibited," Ishimaru said, swallowing. At least he'd stopped crying. That was better. He was getting a hold on himself again. Mondo looked like he wanted to argue, but just picked up the napkin and shoved it in his pocket.

"Bet you would've preferred staying home and studying to this, huh?" Mondo asked, leaning back, hands behind his head. Ishimaru shook his head.

"No. I enjoy spending time with you," he said. "I get a nice feeling when I am with you. It is a fuzzy feeling that I cannot get with homework or working on the disciplinary committee, no matter how hard I am working."

Mondo was staring at him, open-mouthed.

"Next time, perhaps, we could go someplace where they put the lids on tighter, however," Ishimaru said. "Or a place that is less crowded."

Mondo was still just staring at him.

"Are you alright, bro?" Ishimaru asked, looking curiously at him.

Mondo was flushed a bright red. "A fuzzy feeling?" he asked. He was speaking very loudly.

"Yes," Ishimaru said, nodding. "I believe it is a friendship feeling."

And then Mondo grabbed onto his face and kissed him. It was awkward. It was very awkward and almost painful, but that fuzzy feeling in Ishimaru's stomach blew up into thirty different fuzzy feelings. When Mondo let go of Ishimaru's face, Ishimaru managed to speak.

"T-that made the fuzzy feeling worse," he said. Mondo swallowed, still bright red.

"D-d'ya maybe want to do that again?" he asked. "Like. Er. Fuck, I mean… d'ya wanna… go out and… kiss and maybe… er… would-you-like-to-go-out-with-me?"

"Huh?" Ishimaru asked. He was bright red as well, he was sure. "I- I did not quite catch what you were saying, bro."

"Doesn't matter," Mondo muttered, and Ishimaru left it at that. He just leaned into Mondo, staring at Mondo's death contraption – er, motorcycle, nearly forgetting the horror that had happened in the coffee shop.

This got a little out of hand but um yeah. This was requested by anonymous on Tumblr, and I had fun writing it! :)