Sunday, September 20th

(Y/n) had almost scolded herself to sleep the night prior to losing her phone. She couldn't remember where she had put it and certainly didn't find it in her bag. Even during the morning, she woke up early due to the guilt and worry over her expensive mechanic. The (h/c) haired girl definitely didn't have any urge to get up from her bed either since just a few hours ago she was finishing off her homework for the weekend to distract herself from her missing device. 'The damn did I put it?! Ok, I know I had it when I was going to Ryo's house and I had it when I was still there-' (Y/n) sat up in her bed at the realisation and was ready to smack her forehead against her desk for the cluelessness and worry she put herself through. 'I need to get my head on straight...'

She quickly put on a few casual clothes for winter and didn't seem to care what really matched and what was just unnecessary, too busy thinking about her phone. As she came down to the first floor of her home, leaping three steps at a time, she barely greeted the elderly woman who was downstairs making breakfast, and gave her a rushed and unspecific explanation of where she was off to. (Y/n) sprinted out of the house before the older adult could utter, "What?"

The girl had a spring to her step and speed walked all the way to the boy's house, not taking consideration on using a bus as a faster means of transport. By the time she was face to face with the giant compound again, she was out of breath and cursing how unfit she actually was. (Y/n) walked up to the buzzer and proceeded to push the button and wait for a response from inside the building. After a few seconds, a voice was heard coming through in a low-quality inquiry. "Ryo? Dude, it's me. Can you let me in?"

"Alright, what's the password?" (Y/n) stared at the speaker as if staring right into the boy's face.

"W-what? Ryo I seriously need to find something, so can I come in for a minute?" She wasn't in the mood to amuse the boy since all that she had on her mind was her property.

Through the intercom came a slightly hissing sound that seemed almost mocking and the boy kissed his teeth at her response. "Not quite angel. Try again." Came out the enthusiastic encouragement of the male.

"Ryo, there is no password, now can you let me in?"

"Yes, there is. I made one while you were away." The boy proudly declared and was evident through his tone.

"Then how would I know it?" (Y/n) rose her eyebrow in sarcastic mockery.

"You...-good point." (Y/n) finally heard the buzz she was waiting for and roughly shoved the gate open and wasted no time on arriving at the boy's doorstep. She was greeted by Ryo's smiling face and had to fight the urge of hitting him on the arm for wasting her time. "How can I help my angel this morning?"

"I'm looking for something I might have left here by accident, can I just come in and search for it?" She looked at the blond in hopes he would allow her.

"Sure, what are you looking for?" Ryo stepped aside to allow entrance for the girl and she took the chance to search around on the floor or under objects.

"I think I had lost my phone somewhere here and I couldn't find it yesterday at home." She checked under the large, leather sofa but found only dust-bunnies and forever lost pieces of junk food.

"Oh, I don't know (Y/n). Maybe it's somewhere upstairs."

"That's what I'm counting on...- why are you dressed like that?" She pointed at his chosen articles on clothing that seemed too outgoing for a stay-at-home casual look.

"Well, I'm glad you asked! Guys, are you ready yet?!" He shouted up the stairs and immediately after that Bako and Kaito ascended to greet the girl, dressed in a similar outside-winter style for their tastes.

"Oh sorry, are you guys going out?" She awkwardly looked at them, cursing the bad timing of her visit.

"Yep! We're going to tour around town and check out the 'local landmarks.'" Ryo swung his arms around the two boys and patted their heads. "Even Jin is feeling good enough to come along."

"That's good, I'm glad he's feeling better. But...are all of you going out?" She worriedly looked at each one and  hoped for a contradiction.

"Yeah, Ren is upstairs with Jin, checking him up and Alex is getting Oberon, to take him to the vet." Bako stood beside the girl, smiling at her while she held a disappointing face.

"Well, before you go, can I check Ryo's room for my missing phone, it'll only take a minute."

"Very well, but be swift. We're tardy as it is." (Y/n) ran past Kaito and as she disappeared onto the second floor, there was a quick exchange of smirks between the three boys.

Time Skip

(Y/n) came down to where everyone was now prepared to journey out. "I didn't find it..."

"Aww, I'm sorry (Y/n). Maybe you can come back later and look for it then." Ren walked up to the girl and warmly patted her head as comfort.

"Yeah..."

"Or, you can join us too (Y/n)!" Bako blurted out which caught the girl by surprise.

"B-but I don't want to intrude or anything, plus I can just come back later-" she was cut off by the blond's hand grasping her arm and dragging her towards the outside while the rest followed. "Why do you like lugging me around?!"

"So, recommend some places for us (Y/n)." All the boys waited for the girl's response which made her feel somewhat pressured.

"Uuumm...I can recommend different things for each of you but-" she was interrupted by Alex who stepped in before she could finish her speech.

"Have you eaten anything?"

(Y/n) stared as him but was only answered by his usual bland gaze. "Well, no but-" (Y/n) found herself interfered with again from another person.

"Then that's what we're going to do first. Can't have you starving (Y/n)." Ren looked around and spotted a very acceptable looking restaurant with a colour theme of black and caramel. "How about there?" The (e/c) eyed female glanced at where the boy was pointing at and squirmed back at his choice.

"That's one of the more expensive restaurants you'll find here. The reviews are good but only if you can afford it." (Y/n) cringed at the fancy look that enveloped the whole scope of the area and immediately felt her pride shrink six sizes.

"Then let's go." Kaito put an arm around the girl's shoulder, forcing her towards the intimidating building.

"B-but I've got no money on me! A-and this building scares me! I swear I saw one of its paintings look at me once!" (Y/n) striped to squirm back but was restricted by the crimson haired male.

"Don't worry (Y/n), we'll pay for your part." Jin appeared beside her with his soft-spoken voice giving the girl a calmer attitude but still kept her guard up.

"I will never ask you to pay for me at this place! You guys are going to end up broke after this!" She continued to warn the boys but they simply ignored her demands and literally had to shove the girl in upon entering. "How much money did you all even bring?!"

"Enough." They simultaneously answered and hogged the girl towards one of the maitre d's, who looked bewildered by the teenager's behaviour.

"Table for 7 please," Ren told the older gentleman while (Y/n)'s speech was stopped by Bako's hand. The mannered, older man put on an atmosphere of composure and obedience and led them to a table designed to cater 7 people. It was decorated with a large, thick black cloth that had swirling and winding patterns sown into it by hand. Laying on top of it were cotton, ginger napkins folded into sharp triangles.

As (Y/n) had to be forcefully shoved down in one of the soft, cushion seats, a realisation occurred to the males. Only two people can sit right next to (Y/n). Bako made a quick move toward the girl's right side but got pulled back by a certain intellectual that caught on to the dilemma. While that was going on, Ryo and Ren began pulling the chair on the female's left from either side, neither loosening their grip. All four of the males attempted to make this look as civil and harmless as possible to the naked eyes, while much like little children, were waging a war in their own minds. (Y/n) was too distracted to even notice what was happening on each side of her and was trying to mark out the cheapest foods on the menu. All the while, Jin and Alex both looked at each other with expressionless faces and turned back to their passively aggressive friends.

Jin quietly slid in the right-hand side seat next to (Y/n), while Alex pulled up another chair and placed himself on her left. The other four boys soon caught on to this and ceased their attacks and moped to different seats.

"This is ridiculous! The salad here costs more than a pizza from a bakery." She continued to flip through the menu, only for the prices to escalate with each item. "I-I'm not doing this! I'm going to Subways, at least there they'll give you free Coke- hey!" The menu disappears from her hands as Bako had leant over and taken it. "What are you doing?"

"Relax (Y/n). If you're so worried about the prices then don't look at them." Bako put the laminated card from the girl's reach.

"B-but how am I going to choose what to eat then?!" (Y/n) couldn't help but feel a strong sense of inferiority with a place that had the air of higher-class, such as this. It completely blocked out the air to reach her brain, and couldn't let her think straight.

"Then let's play a game! Each one of us will give you one dish to choose from and their prices will be unknown so you can't make a bias choice. Does that sound good guys?" Each one of them nodded and held up their menus to examine for this new challenge.

"G-guys please...this is really unnecessary..." The girl stopped her speaking as she realised the boys were ignoring her pleads and choosing their contributions. (Y/n) took the chance to look around and absorb her surrounding and attempt to get accustomed to the stifling air. She then spotted a few professionally dressed waitresses in the corner talking and giggling at each other while looking at the boys surrounding the table. The (h/c) haired girl quickly caught on to the fact that they were obviously finding the guys attractive, but she then spotted another girl off to the side. She looked much younger than the other waitresses and was wearing a uniform much different from the older females, to show her lower ranking in the staff as a server. She was very petite and had flaxen hair with deep hazel eyes, and (Y/n) found the girl's appearance very familiar though she couldn't quite put her finger on it. She had seen her before but not officially talked to her, and it was evident she was around (Y/n)'s age. 'Maybe I've seen her around town...? No, that's not it.' The girl then noticed the mysteriously familiar female sending gazes in her direction. At first (Y/n) though the girl was staring at her, but upon closer inspection, her eyes were lingering behind. (Y/n) looked back to realise that she was focusing on Jin, who was oblivious to this. (Y/n) continued to switch her attention between the young waitress and the shy boy, trying to conclude for a reason for the watchful looks. However, soon the other girl noticed (Y/n) was staring at her and embarrassingly turned away with a slight blush on her face. 'That was...something?'

"Alright! We've all decided on dishes! (Y/n), pick whichever one you deem tasty sounding." (Y/n) gulped as the boys put out all of their picks, trying to figure which one sounded the cheapest:

Kaito: 'Dry-Roasted Egg & Barbecued Lemon Oysters.'
Bako: 'Tenderised Sugar Shrimps & Roasted Pepper.'
Ryo: 'Gentle-Fried Easter-Style Lamb & Cream Turkey.'
Jin: 'Herring Dried Western-Style Lobster & Brined Peas.'
Alex: 'Grilled Portobellos & Caramelised Pears.'
Ren: 'Roasted Duck With Raspberry Glaze.'

'What's with these Frou-Frou names?! Is this all supposed to be one dish?I'm not even that hungry...'

"Please chose something (Y/n), you're looking too pale for someone who isn't starving." Bako continued to persuade the girl to pick any of the give options but she simply denied him and stood with her arms crossed.

"No! I refuse to order anything from here, especially when it's you guys that'll have to pay for it." Her determination was evidently not going to be swayed.

"...Alright...let's order these for ourselves then." Kaito called up the waiter while the males and even (Y/n) looked at the boy in surprise.

"But we can't just sit there and eat while (Y/n) watches...-" Bako then caught on to the ruse Kaito had specially planned and grinned at his clever friend. "But since she doesn't want any then let's eat." As looks were exchanged around the table, the rest of the group began to understand and play along with the idea. All the while, (Y/n) stayed in the dark for what they were planning and could only wonder fearfully what was going through their mind.

Time Skip

After all the dishes were served one by one, it felt like (Y/n) was being taunted with each delivery, smell and appeal. 'So this is how the choices look up close...' She scanned each one of the delectable meals, somewhat regretting not giving them a chance. The savoury aroma that wafted from the table made her mouth drool and even ended up unintentionally staring at the fork filled with food from Jin's side.

"Want some?" The boy smiled at her stubborn obviousness but she simply shook her head, distrusting her mouth to say the right words. She turned away from him to avoid getting tempted but was tortured once again by a spoon full of Cream Turkey being waved in front of her.

"You know, all it takes is the word and this baby will be all yours." He proceeded to move the cutlery in a circular pattern, playing on the girl's strength and hunger. She once again refused and put a foot of distance from herself and the table.

Despite only 5 minutes passing, (Y/n) could feel her determination cracking and wondered how good the delicacies would taste. After her stomach growled for the 7th time she decided she needed to refresh her mind and excused herself to the bathroom. 'Stay strong (Y/n)! They can't keep eating that food for the whole day...! Right...? Then I'll just have to stay in here for another hour until they finished.' The hungry girl sighed and was about to enter the large black doors to the ladies bathroom when her eyes spotted a somewhat familiar figure.

It was the young waitress that kept on staring at Jin earlier. (Y/n) tilted her head and looked around to notice that all the other staff members were either none present or busy, so she decided to take a chance with this girl. "Uumm, hi!" (Y/n) went up to the resting female and startled her with the greeting. "Sorry! I was just passing by and...I couldn't help but think, but have we met before?" It was only when the words had left her mouth did (Y/n) realise how weird they sounded, especially if this, in fact, was a stranger she was referring to.

For a moment, that seemed to be the case since the girl didn't answer her, but then she smiled politely and straightened up. "You could say that. I'm in your Geography, History and PE class so I guess that's how you can recognise me." (Y/n) grinned at the long awaited answer and then realisation settled in.

"Oh, yeah! Your that girl...Uumm... 'Sei something,' right?" The dark-blond girl nodded with a flattering smirk.

"Sei Shigi, pleasure to talk to you personally, (Y/n)." Both the students shook hands and exchanged welcoming glances. After discussing her new acquaintance's position and attitude towards the restaurant, (Y/n) seemed to no longer find it as intimidating or degrading as before when she heard about all the weird and none-fancy stuff that sometimes occurs in the restaurant behind the scenes, and even found herself laughing out loud a few times at how normal the well-mannered people were in actuality. It gave her some incentive that despite the facade and masks of professionalism each member put on, they were really the average person outside of their work. But as the topic began getting more and more tired, (Y/n) decided to ask something that had been on her mind from the very start.

"By the way, you were staring at my friend Jin an hour ago, was there something wrong?" The other girl's face flared up at the mention of his name and attempted to hide her fidgeting by playing around with her cream apron.

"So you did see that...haha, sorry I must have looked like a real creep when I did that." The girl awkwardly laughed but couldn't hide her fond expression and began crumpling the edge of her clothing. "You see...I kinda have a slight crush on him since he came to our History class, and I've heard so many great things about him but...I don't know, it's always worrying when making a good impression..." Sei's features then changed into guilty and darker ones, "That's why I felt so jealous when you got to sit next to him and then managed to talk to him and stuff. And it kinda hurt a bit when I saw you two still sitting close to each other today...B-but don't get the wrong idea! I have nothing against you and I admire you for being so bold with your actions, I just wish I could, at least, chat with him for a bit..." (Y/n) could tell that the girl seemed genuinely interested in her friend and smiled at her cheekily.

"Ok then, I'll help you out with that." The waitress' eyes light up at the proposal and looked at the girl with a hopeful stare. "Under one condition...you give me your phone number so we can stay in touch." (Y/n) smiled at her new friend and was returned with an equally kind grin. After receiving the worker's number and reminding herself to look for her phone after all this, (Y/n) began concocting plans of action for the two.

"(Y/n), are you coming?" Ironically, the boy in question appeared around the corner and spotted (Y/n). Sei immediately turned away to hide her red face and began playing with the hem of her uniform.

"I'll be right there." She called back and the boy disappeared from view. "Ok, I'll talk to you tomorrow Sei, have a pleasant day." They exchanged goodbyes and walked to their own assigned plans.

As returned back, she regretfully remembered why she had left in the first place. Despite her being gone for quite a while, the food was barely half eaten and still steaming with warmth and strong spices. She pouted away as the boys seemed way too happy in eating their food, than necessary. "I know what you're trying to do, and I'm not going to fall so easily." All the boys innocently smiled at the girl as if they didn't know what she was talking about. But even with her best attempts to stay strong and fierce, she felt her hands moving towards the foods more than a few times.

"For the love of everything (Y/n), stop being so stubborn and eat." Ren held up a fork of a raspberry glazed, roasted duck and torturously moved it about.

"No! I'm not touching that-" she never got to finish her sentence before the whole fork was shoved into her mouth. She pulled back with the piece of food still at her tongue and despite her want, to spit it out, it ended up travelling down her thought with minimal effort.

"How was it?" Ren grinned at the broken girl and she mopped at his success.

"It was delicious!" She wined and surrendered to her craving. "Fine! I'll have a bit more but that's all!"

"Then you can also have some of mine!" Ryo shoved the dark eyes boy out of the way and stuck his spoon of food out for her. She hesitated at first and then made a move to take the spoon from the boy's hand and eat it herself, but he moved it out of reach before she could hold it. He shook his head in a scolding manner and propped the food up again. "No, no angel. Just open your mouth." (Y/n) looked at him in confusion as to what he was inclining.

"N-no, I can feed myself! Just let me-where is my knife and fork?!" The girl looked around for her disappeared cutlery but found no sign of them. Meanwhile, Alex quietly smirked as he hid the silverware under his chair. "I swear I had them here. They must be somewhere!" But after looking virtually anywhere around herself and on the table, she saw nothing and looked back at the tempting piece of food.

"Well~?" Ryo patiently waited for the inevitable and so (Y/n) had to comply and be fed to. Ryo rejoiced at the intimate action but celebrated too soon since Bako then took a turn at doing the same.

"I can guarantee that you'll adore this (Y/n)." Despite feeling slightly uncomfortable, she proceeded to take the shrimp in her mouth due to her hunger. Bako gently smiled at her contempt expression and prepared to give her more but stopped when Jin beat him to it. He begrudgingly backed away but proceeded to carefully glare at the boy.

"You can eat anything from my side as well (Y/n). I'll be really glad if you do." He gave her a heartfelt grin that guilt trapped (Y/n) into agreeing on tasting his own dish.

(Y/n) didn't really feel like she had the pride to continue on being fed and was about to voice her decision but ended up tongue-tied when even the hard-headed genius offered from his own plate. "D-don't ask questions and just eat it!" (Y/n) almost laughed at the evident embarrassment he was going through but composed herself before any chortle could erupt from her and took the egg in her mouth. For a slight moment, she could swear to anything she saw a glimpse of a genuinely adoring smile on the boy's features but went by as quickly as it came, making her doubt it even appeared.

"Ok guys, it's no longer funny anymore, I'm not going to be fed any-" but she then stopped herself as she noticed Alex beside her holding up a piece of golden pear with a bronze glazing of caramel. She was about to object but knew it would bite her conscience later on. She knew the boy wasn't someone who expressed emotion through his physical features so she wouldn't even know if he felt hurt by her rejection. And for some reason that made her feel even more entitled to regret her rejection since he would be upset on the inside and she'll never know. With a hefty sigh, the female turned towards the boy, "Fine, but after this, I'm getting my own equipment from one of the staff here." The girl exhaled and allowed entrance for the food.

The pear tasted incredibly sweet and was a fitting way to end all of this baby-styled breakfast. "Oh, (Y/n). You have a bit of the syrup at the corner of your mouth." Ren pointed out after his round of spiteful glaring.

"Oh gosh, thanks." (Y/n) was about to take one of the napkins and wipe it off when a hand darted out and restrained her wrist in place. (Y/n) jolted up to see Alex's face at a dangerously close proximity of her own. Before any reaction could come out of her, the boy stuck out his tongue and ran it along the sweet sauce, draggingly collecting it from her skin and retreating further away from the girl's face at a reasonable distance.

For a moment, everything was silent amongst the table and not even a breath could be heard. "A-A-Alex, w-why did you-?" Then in the span of a single second, a whole clutter of dishes and cutlery sounded out in synch as they either hit each other or moved around the table and even cause a few spills from the more unbalanced drinks. Bako stood up straight and his towering height accentuating his stance of readying attack, and it did not make the situation any cosier with him being seated right across the silent boy. Ryo and Kaito both slid out of their chairs, taking a lower levelled approached as they looked at Alex with pure malignity in their eyes. Jin and Ren stood seated but were tightly gripping onto forks and showing clear signs of contemplating whether they should settle down or gouge the boy's eyes out and cut off the tongue that dared to taint (Y/n).

"WHY YOU-" Bako had to use all the tension in his muscles to stop his mouth from moving any further along with his sentence as he realised the scene was attracting outside attention from the staff and a few of the guests. The rest of the males also took notice of the surprised spectators and forcefully relaxed. What truly made them snap back into place was the terrified look (Y/n) was giving them as she cringed back in fear. Bako gave a last bitter scowl at the unaffected boy and cleared his throat. "Ahem...Ryo be careful with your juice, you spilt it everywhere." Bako said subtly loud enough to sound annoyingly angry to the naked ears of the people around them.

Once all the onlookers had moved on to their own business, the boys settled down and quietly waited as a few waitresses cleared up the ruined cloth, replaced it with a new one and rearranged the dishes of food back in their orderly manner. This gave the boys a chance to cool off and simply think of what to do next. (Y/n) still seemed shaken up from everything and the males had idea how to relax her after something like that.

(Y/n) began to suffocate in the tense silence of the atmosphere and figured no one was going to try and fix it. She fidgeted for a while when an idea hit her. She quickly snatched the menus Bako had kept away from her and to the surprise of the males, she began browsing through it. "Can I have the 'Tenderised Garlic Herring and...the Kiwi Fudge?' Is that alright?" She said in a cheery voice that went along with the intention of normalising the topic again.

The males looked at each other with a quantity of relief and nodded their heads. "Sure angel, you can have anything you'd like! I'll get the waitress."

After smoothing out the whole situation, (Y/n) began to eat her own chosen dish. Soon enough, conversation began to flow and it almost seemed like nothing even out of the ordinary had occurred. (Y/n) was glad to simply forget about the incident.

Time Skip

(Y/n) laid back in her comfortable seat, with a full and satisfied stomach. "Aaahh...~ this was probably the best breakfast I've ever had...and here come the guilt." She slouched back as one of the finely attired waitresses came up to the table with the receipt in an empty, leather cover. (Y/n) made a move for the folded booklet to check what the price had added up to be, but was stopped by Ren's appearance behind her. "What are you-?" A napkin was placed around her eyes, temporarily blinding her to her surroundings.

"We told you not to worry about it (Y/n), so just let us pay," Jin told the blinded girl in a reassuring tone.

"C-come on! I ordered so I have just as much right to see the bill as any of you." Her hands were held still by either one of her sides, enabling her to remove the cloth in front of her. "This isn't funny! Now I won't be able to sleep at night thanks to you-"

"Alright, all done." The blindfold was removed to reveal a happy looking Bako, with the contents of the paid tab at the farthest side of the table. "Come on, it's almost noon and we haven't even looked around properly," He called up one of the waitresses to come and collect the payment. An idea flickered in (Y/n)'s head as she saw that the waitress was her peer, Sei. The young worker took a quick glance at the handed booklet and her eyes widened for a split second.

She took a step back and gave a slight boy to the blue-eyed boy with evident gratitude in her gesture, "Thank you very much Sir." She then scuttled along and left the rest of the group to gather their belonging and prepare to leave.

"Uuummm...I'll go and freshen up. I'll be back in a sec." She casually walked off until she turned the corner, and then sprinted to find her new friend. (Y/n) spotted the girl as she was about to enter the 'Staff Only' room. "Sei! Hold up." The light-brown haired girl halted and turned her attention to the approaching customer.

"Hey. Did you enjoy your meal?" Sei looked at the girl's eager expression and raised and eyebrow. "Is there something I can help you with?"

"Yeah, do you still have the receipt from our table? I just want to check it." Sei fumbled around in her apron and emerged with the black cover and handed it to the girl. As (Y/n) took a speedy glance at it, she could literally feel her pockets shrinking in agony. "This thing is longer than my phone number!"

"God you're stubborn." (Y/n) jumped in her spot and spun around to see her cold-eyed friend scoldingly looking at her through his glasses. She began wondering how he has caught on to the ruse and attempted to stutter out the question. "The others might be foolish enough to fall for your excuse but I'm an astute person (Y/n), it would be insulting if I believed that obvious lie." He took the stunned girl by the shoulder and began leading her back in the same direction.

"B-but...how am I supposed to pay you back?!"