Honda slumped down in a chair at the mall food court. He took a sip from the soda in his hand before setting it down on the table and sighing. Today was not a good day, and he knew that very little would be able to change that now. He snatched a newspaper abandoned on a nearby table and started reading even though he knew he wouldn't like what the paper had to say.

Jounouchi walked out of the electronics store with an adorable smile on his face. Not only would he finally get to see Honda today at the mall, but he also got the Exile CD that he long pined for, while he was wating for his friend. He couldn't wait to listen to the soothing, romantic songs when he got home, to daydream of Honda.

Honda paged through the paper, barely glancing at the articles. Giving up, he tossed it down on his table and stood up. Picking up his soda, he weaved his way to the main corridor of the mall. Looking around, he saw Jounouchi walking out of one of the shops. Smiling, he started walking over. If hanging out with his friend made him feel better on a good day, then he figured hanging out when he was having a bad day would be a sure way to brighten his mood.

The smile on Jou's face grew into a wide grin as soon as he saw Honda. "Hi!" Jou said gleefully. He then noticed Honda's eyes looking a bit sad. "Hey, um... you don't look so well. What's wrong...?"

"Huh? Oh, it's nothing. I think I've just been reading too much stuff about Shadow." Honda rubbed the back of his neck and stared at the ground. "Really, I'm fine." He glanced up and tried harder to give Jou a genuine smile. "Anyways, what have you been up to?"

"I... just got a new CD!" Jou replied happily. It was nice to recieve a break from current events anyway, especially because they were scaring him. "It's um, Exile," he said, producing the "Styles of Beyond" album from the plastic bag he held. "You've heard of them? I mentioned it in my journal last night. I dunno if you'd like them or not, but..."

"Yeah, I clicked on some of the stuff on the website last night. I can see why you like them so much." His mood was already improving just from seeing Jou so happy. "So, what else is new or interesting?"

"Really...?" Jounouchi beamed. "...I think my hair is growing back, but... I dunno..." He clutched his blue baseball cap, not quite ready to remove it. "...I messed with it a little. I like it, but... would you...?"

Not exactly what Honda was expecting, but he supposed that counted as new and interesting. "Would I what?" he asked when he realized Jounouchi wasn't going to finish the question.

Hesitantly, Jounouchi removed his hat. His hair was still relitavely short, but the remainder of his bangs were swept across his forhead, covering most of the uneven spots. Jounouchi looked up at Honda, pleading for approval.

Honda watched as Jounouchi removed the cap, then tried to figure out why it was such a big deal. Obviously he wanted an answering reaction, though. "It looks fine to me. Why wouldn't it?" he replied, idling wondering if this was some sort of trick question. He shrugged slightly, then glanced around. "Now where to?"

"You think so?" Sparkles appeared in Jounouchi's eyes. He knew Mokuba was lying in his posts, after all. "Um... There's something that I've always wanted to do with you..." Jounouchi said shyly. "...There's an arcade around here, right...?"

Honda relaxed, apparently he'd given the right answer even if he didn't understand the question. "Yeah, the arcade's over there," he gestured down the mall corridor. "Wha'd you want to do?"

Jounouchi blushed. It was like... asking Honda out on a date! ...Or was this a date? "I... wanna play DDR with you... Are... you up to it...?"

A small part of Honda wondered why that led to Jounouchi blushing; a larger part argued that he seemed to blush at almost everything, so it would be nearly impossible to figure out what trigger it this time. "Um, sure. You any good?" he asked as he started slowing walking towards the arcade.

"Not really," Jounouchi replied embarrasedly. "I... don't play too often because there are a lot of mean guys that hang around the machines... but I like the music a lot..." He managed to give a small smile.

Honda smiled back. "Don't worry, I don't think they'll bother us, even if neither of us is very good. It okay if I let you pick the songs?" He looked away. "I, uh, I'm not very good at remembering songs either."

"That's... so nice of you..." Jounouchi giggled. "I guess we can mess up together." The two reached the doorway to the arcade. "I bet you're pretty coordinated, though. I'm not all that good at sports, even though I do try..."

"Heh, thanks. I'm sure you're okay too." He scanned the arcade, and saw that one of the DDR machines was open. "And it looks like today might be our lucky day after all. C'mon, let's get that machine before someone else does." Grinning broadly, he grabbed Jou's arm lightly with one hand while pointing to the machine with the other.

Jounouchi was shocked at the sudden touch. It wasn't like he and Honda were a couple holding hands (yet...?) but still... Jou followed Honda to the machine. He was released from Honda's grasp. Jou stepped up on the platform and put his coins inside.

After dropping Jou's arm, Honda moved to the other side of the platform and also put coins in. Adjusting the settings, he looked over and asked, "So, what song you gonna pick first?"

"Um..." Jounouchi pressed the button several times. The game was set on Light Mode, but it was still difficult for him to find a cute song that he would pass easily. Finally, he found one: "Cutie Chaser". It wasn't too fast, and it was level 3--which Jounouchi barely even mastered. "Is this all right with you?" He asked Honda, pointing to the screen."

"Sure, I guess." He didn't recognize the song, but that didn't say much. He looked at the stats on the screen. Level 3, that shouldn't be too bad. "Ready to start?"

"Uh huh." Jou was so excited and nervous. But now wasn't the time for worrying, for the song had already started. It was a bit tricky, as it only had a three-meter beat instead of four. Jou stepped. He missed. Jou stepped again a few times. He missed again a few times. He continued stepping...

Honda kept his eyes on the screen as the song began, rather than give in to the temptation to glance over at Jou. Biting his lip, he tried to get used to the beat. Once he was fairly certain he was getting the hang of it, he allowed a small smile to cross his face. He wouldn't get a perfect score, probably not even a particularly good one, but he was confident that he wouldn't embarrass himself. He just wished he'd have caught on sooner, since the song was almost over now.

The song drew to a close, and the scores were revealed. Jounouchi had gotten a 'C'. Not too bad, but not enough to impress Honda...

Honda stared for a moment before grinning. "I got a B!" he exclaimed, turning to Jou and ignoring the fact that the blonde could see the score too. "That's much better than I expected. Do you have another song in mind?" His earlier bad mood was completely forgotten by now.

Jou was disappointed to see that Honda's score was higher. But, as long as Honda was happy... "Yeah! Um..." Jounouchi returned to the buttons once again. The next song he chose was "Butterfly"; a little faster, but still at level 3. Jounouchi thought he could manage.

Honda turned back to the screen, still grinning. He noticed that the next song was still a level 3, which he figured was a good idea for them both. This time he got into the song more quickly. With the faster pace, though, he wasn't as sure how good he was doing.

Not only was the song faster, but it had a lot more steps. Jounouchi had a hard time keeping up. Still, he did get to finish with the end. Jounouchi received a 'D'. His face drooped in discouragement.

Honda leaned against the bar, slightly out of breath, then looked up at the screen. "Heh, we passed. That's good, right?" He tried to smile encouragingly at Jou, not rubbing it in that he had somehow managed to make a C. "Got enough energy for one more?"

Tiredly, Jou replied, "Yeah... just one more..." He reached for the buttons and pressed them again. This time, Jou chose a song called "So in Love". It was still level 3, but a much slower song. Also, by choosing this song, Jounouchi hoped that he could drop a certain hint to his friend...

Honda blinked at the screen, not expecting Jou to pick that. Rather than think about it, he watched the screen and waited for the arrows to line up. He stepped several times, and each time anticipated the step too soon. Biting his lip and scowling slightly, he tried harder to get the steps correct. The song and the urge to glance over at Jou made it even harder to concentrate.

"You may be far away/but I need you here today..."
It was such a beautiful love song. But those darn freeze arrows! Jou lost his balance a couple of times. However, the slow speed let him catch up.
"You're the only one for me/come on over and you'll see/you and me, we are so in love..."
Jou assured himself that he could do it, and soon, most of his steps were Greats and Perfects rather than Goods or Boos.

Despite how hard Honda was trying to concentrate on the steps, it just wasn't working. He wasn't sure if it was the slow tempo, the song lyrics distracting him, or a combination of both. He really hoped to pass this song, and was quite glad when the song seemed to be ending.

The song neared its end, and Jou was still dancing. He repeated to himself in his head, "I can do it, I can do it... Honda will be proud of me..." He did so well... but those darn eighth-note steps at the very end tripped him up. Jounouchi anxiously awaited his score. His eyes lit up as he saw it on the screen. "...I got a 'B'! I... did pretty good!" He exclaimed.

Honda smiled at Jou's enthusiasm, pointedly ignoring his own D. "Yeah, you did. Good job, buddy." He leaned against the bar and closed his eyes, all the concentrating had taken more out of him than he'd anticipated.

Jou continued looking at the screen. He then turned his attention to Honda. "Heh, we both got a 'C'. You did pretty good, too, Honda-kun." Jou gave a smile of approval to his friend.

Honda opened his eyes again and looked over. "Yay us." He stepped off the platform, almost falling, but managed to catch himself in time. "Well, I'm wiped out. Where to now?"

Jou managed to catch his breath, but his stomach growled. "...I'm a little hungry... are you?"

Honda nodded. "Yeah, food sounds really good right now. Food court or somewhere else?"

"Anywhere, really," Jou answered cheerfully. "I like all types of food. ...except spicy food. I... don't like burning my tounge."

"Heh, that's good to know." Shakily, he started to walk through the arcade, back to the main part of the mall. "Food court it is, I guess."

And so, Jounouchi followed Honda to the food court. There were so many places to choose from... Finally, the Italian place caught Jounouchi's eye. Today would be good for some pizza. "I'm gonna be over there," he told Honda, pointing in the pizza place's direction. "Where did you want to go?"

"Okay, that's fine. I'm getting a sandwich." He nodded at one of the food counters several feet away. "I'll find you or you'll find me after we get our food." Without waiting for a response, he started walking over.

A few minutes later, Jou got a slice of barbecue chicken and pineapple pizza, a small salad, a roll, and a soda--which would be considered a snack to him. He looked around for Honda. He didn't seem to be at the sandwich place...

Honda looked around, trying to find a table that was empty and still relatively clean. Finally seeing one towards the far end, he turned around to look for Jou. Seeing him standing outside the line, he waved him over, then headed for the table. Glancing back, he hoped Jou was following.

At the corner of his eye, Jounouchi thought he had seen Honda... but, where? He traveled to the direction where he thought he saw his friend with the beautiful brown eyes, only to find that he was in the opposite end. Sheepishly, Jounouchi set his food on the table and sat across from Honda.

"Oh, good," Honda said, swallowing a bite of his sandwich and looking over. "You found me." Honda tried to think of something more to say, but nothing was really coming to mind. His food was a little more important at the moment. "Having fun here today?"

Jou nodded shyly. He was very hungry. However, he found himself only picking at his salad, and timidly gazing into Honda's hazel-brown eyes. Gosh, his eyes were so beautiful... Wait... sitting across from each other, like a couple, admiring Honda's eyes. It really did seem like the two were on a date! Didn't it...?

Nodding in agreement and giving up the pretense of trying to have a conversation, Honda continued eating. Since he had been sitting longer than his friend, he didn't think it strange that he finished first. Swallowing the last bite of his sandwich, he glanced at Jou's side of the table and was surprised that the food was basically still untouched. He frowned and looked up. "Your food's just sitting there. Something wrong?"

At that moment, Jou felt like such a dork. "Oh! Uh... nothing." he replied, his cheeks very red. He finished both his salad and his roll in under five minutes, and then took a sip of his soda. Before working on his pizza, Jou asked, "Honda-kun... d-do you want me to buy something for you today...?" The beauty of Honda's intense eyes made it difficult for the young blonde to speak.

"...Buy something?" Honda gaped for a moment, trying to figure out what the blonde meant. He shook his head. "N-no, that's fine. Save your money for yourself." He looked away, wondering what that offer was about. "I have a job, for the moment, I can buy my own stuff." He couldn't recall anyone offering to buy him something in quite awhile.

"But... you bought me medicine when I was sick..." Jounouchi pleaded. "It's only right for me to buy someting for you..." Behind his glasses were big, adorable puppy dog eyes that only a cute, charming person like Jounouchi could perfect. "I... just wanted to thank you, that's all..."

Honda risked a glance across the table, and was sucked in by the puppy dog eyes. He tried to look away but found he couldn't. "Th-thanks," he stammered, giving up hope of looking away, "b-but it--it's really not that big a deal. I-I j-just did what any f-friend would do." He mentally cursed himself, both for stammering and for not being able to look away. He held a breath and slowly let it out again, reminding himself to breathe properly. "If...if you really think you have to buy me something, then..." he really hoped he didn't regret this, "then I guess I can let you pick something out."

Jounouchi squeed. Before taking a bite of his pizza and swallowing it, he exclaimed, "I know just the thing for you! You're going to love it..."

Honda stared with trepidation. He swallowed the sudden lump in his throat and finally found himself able to look away. "Are you gonna tell me or make me wait for you to surprise me?"

"You'll see..." Jounouchi giggled. "Um... I'll take you to that store, if you really want to know." He then took a few moments to finish his pizza.

Honda sat and tried to decide if he really wanted to be surprised or not. On one hand, if he let it be a surprise, then at least he didn't have to wander around a store that he might not want to be in. On the other hand, he wasn't sure if he wanted to be surprised. "Er, can you give me a hint? Like...tell me what store you're getting it from?" Hopefully that would help him decide if he wanted to follow along or wait for the surprise.

"Like I said, you're going to like it. I mean it..." Jou smiled cutely and stood up. Tonight, he was being quite bold. He was sure to win Honda's affections this time. Or, at least... be one step further to actually becoming his boyfriend.

"Gee, some hint." Honda was still debating if he should go with Jou or wait here at the Food Court. "I...guess I'll wait here, so you can surprise me properly." He sighed, hoping that was the right thing to do. It was impossible for him to guess what his friend might get for him.

With that, Jou dashed out of the food court ecstatically. He made his way to the chocolatier, for he knew that Honda's present would be there. Jou examined the boxes. Too big, too expensive. A heart-shaped box... definitely not, as he would be giving too much too soon. He finally chose a tiny box and bought that. Jou skipped back to the food court and searched for his nice friend with the amazingly gorgeous eyes.

Honda tapped his fingers on the table impatiently. He closed his eyes and tried to calm his fingers by think about something, anything else. It still didn't work, he couldn't help worrying what Jou would get him. Probably something at least twice as expensive as the medicine had been, he thought with a small smile. He gave up trying to figure it out, and went back to tapping on the table.

"Um... Honda..." Jou began when he returned to the table. "I... bought you this..." He coyly held out a small bag with the tiny box inside. "They're chocolate-covered cherries. Um... they were only 500 yen. And, um..." Jounouchi blushed very brightly and scratched his head. "S-since you like cherries, um... I... thought you'd like them, so... I bought them..."

Honda accepted the bag hesitantly, and pulled out the box. He stared at it for a moment, then up at Jounouchi. Of all the things he thought the blonde would buy for him, this hadn't even crossed his mind. He nervously dropped his gaze back down to the box in his hand. "Thank you. Really, thank you so much. I..." he trailed off, unsure what to say. Instead, he put all his attention into slowing opening the box.

Jou smiled widely and reddened even more; his whole face was the same color as the box. "Um... you're... welcome... Honda-kun." Jou spoke breathlessly. "Um... th-there's also... something I wanted to ask you..." He looked away nervously.

Honda glanced up momentarily, "Uh huh?", before putting his attention back into opening the box without accidently tearing it. Finally managing to do so, he pulled one of the cherries out and held it before two finger. He looked up again, wondering what Jou's important question was.

"Um... weren't you gonna give me your address? I'd... really love to come over to your new apartment..." Jou looked at the ground. Gosh, this was so embarrassing.

Honda popped the cherry into his mouth, eyes widening at the taste. He pulled the two fingers out of his mouth, and realized that Jou had asked his question. "Huh? Oh, right." He glanced around and noticed a pen sitting on a nearby table. He got up and grabbed it. Not having any paper, he grabbed a napkin too. He scribbled on it, pleasantly surprised to see that the pen worked. "Here's the address. And it's a house, not an apartment. Isn't that even cooler?" He grinned and handed the napkin to Jou. "And you have my cell phone number, so you can call if you want to come over, and I'll make sure I'm there. Did you want to go right now? Or do you have to get home soon?"

"Y-you're living in a house...? That really is cool!" Jou bounced slightly. This man had been just too nice to Jou. If there weren't so many people around, and if Jou didn't have any of those pesky inhibitions, he would have wrapped his arms around Honda and told him his feelings right then and there. "Um... it's getting kinda late. I have that test tomorrow..."

"Right, right." Honda nodded. Since he didn't go to school anymore, he tended to forget about things like that. "Another time, I guess. And thank you, again, for these." He held the box of cherries up and continued grinning. "I'll see you soon?

"Okay," said Jou. "Hopefully, we'll do something like this again..." He gazed into Honda's eyes once more. They were just so pretty... especially when he smiled... Jou then turned and waved goodbye at Honda. "See you!" he called. He ran, almost skipped, carrying his new CD. From here on, Jou knew that things just couldn't get any better than this.

Honda smiled at the retreating figure and pulled another of his new treats out of the box as he sat again. Jounouchi had made an excellent choice in picking the chocolate-covered cherries.