Henry walked slowly towards Jeri’s house, a small yellow rose in one hand while the other was raised to his face as he counted the minutes by from his wristwatch.

“You got ten minutes Takato.” He murmured to his friend who was not even there to hear it. He really hoped his friend showed up, or else he’d have a lot of explaining to do.

Takato’s and Jeri’s innocent glances and body language had been easy for Henry to read and after waiting nearly a year for one of them to make a move, he got impatient and decided to give Takato a gentle nudge in the right direction. He knew it would work, there wasn’t a doubt in his mind.

His plan was simple enough. Ask Jeri out on a date, then let Takato know when and where so that he’d have two chances to catch up with them. And Henry knew that Takato would show up and break up the date for two simple reasons. One, there was no way that he’d let him be Jeri’s first date and two, he wouldn’t be able to stay away, especially not for something as important as this.

Henry was nearly reaching the end of the park as he looked down at his watch again. “Seven minutes, Takato. You must really be cutting it close.” He chuckled softly to himself….

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Takato ran as fast as his legs could go, cutting through the park towards Jeri’s house, determined to intercept Henry before it’s too late. He took a quick glance at his watch and groaned. He had all of five minutes to catch up with Henry and though the small chance that he might show up late crept into his mind, he knew it was highly unlikely. Henry was never late for anything.

As he ran through a clearing, Takato saw something that gave him an extra burst of speed. Not too far away was Henry, dressed in some jeans and a nice sports jacket, holding a yellow flower, heading straight towards the clearing and the small street that would lead to Jeri’s house.

'Jeans?? He’s going to take her out wearing jeans?? ' He admonished, running all the faster. “Now or never.” He murmured under his breath before yelling out, “Henry, stop!!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Henry, stop!!”

'Good timing, Takato' The silver-eyed boy chuckled mentally to himself, then he smoothed his face into perfect normality and turned to face Takato. “Takato? What are you-”

He was quickly cut off as the brunette slammed into him, having been unable to stop himself in time and both boys went skidding from the concrete to the grass.

“Ow!” Henry moaned, landing flat on his back on the grass, feeling welts forming under his shirt from the rocks and cement. This was definitely not in the plan.

Takato managed to land on top of his friend and he quickly straddled his stomach, keeping him down. A rare flair of jealousy in his usually sweet, magenta eyes.

“Jeans?? Faded jeans, Henry??” He exclaimed the minute he got a closer look at him.

“Whoa, someone’s trying to look impressive.” Henry retorted as he noticed Takato. “Do you always wear special clothing on Saturday nights?”

Takato blushed in embarrassment and got off his friend, as he restuffed his white shirt into his navy-blue pants to reduce the wrinkles already present on it. “No, I usually wear these for special occasions.”

“Well its looks good on you. Would’ve probably looked better if you didn’t run so much in it.” He teased as he rose up off the ground.

“Yeah well….You can’t take Jeri out tonight!” Takato blurted out as he adjusted his navy-blue coat.

Henry pretended to look shocked. “Oh really? Why not?”

“Because…” He stalled before finally saying it. “I am.”

The dark-haired boy looked up at the heavens. “Finally! Now, fix your hair and take that rose. You got three minutes to meet Jeri.”

To say the least, Takato was taken aback by his friend’s sudden change, but quickly recovered, knowing now that this was all apart of Henry’s trick. After running his fingers through his hair, he then took the offered rose and quickly followed Henry to Jeri’s place.

“You do know I’m going to get you back for this, right Henry?” Takato panted as they power walked.

Henry merely chuckled and looked over his shoulder at his well-dressed friend, grinning. “Yeah, but I think it was definitely worth it.”

They managed to reach Jeri’s place with thirty seconds to spare, which Henry quickly put to good use. He adjusted Takato’s collar, smudged off the dirt that got on his chin from the fall, wiped the sweat from his forehead and with less success, tried to smooth out the wrinkles on his jacket.

Takato winced under the clean-up. “Hey, come on, stop!” He protested softly, smacking Henry’s hands. This was all so last minute for him. What if he messed up?

Noticing the tinge of worry in his friend’s eyes, Henry smacked his arm. “Don’t you start backing out on me, Takato Matsuda! Or so help me I’ll-”

“Henry? Takato? Is that you?” Jeri called out softly from the other side of the door. In a sudden burst of nervousness, Takato shoved Henry unexpectedly into the bushes next to the house as the door opened. Henry fell in with a yelp, but at least he was hidden.

Jeri peeked her head out and smiled brightly at Takato, who was breathless and still a little messy.

“Hi…um…Jeri.” He mumbled, trying not to let the sound of the rustling bushes distract him anymore then he already was.

“Hi Takato, you look very handsome tonight.” Jeri praised softly, stepping further outside.

“So do you. I mean…wow.” He praised back. She wore a baby blue sundress with dark-blue little flower pattern all over it. A small headband with the same small dark-blue flowers crowned her lovely hair.

Jeri blushed deeply and looked down at her shoes. “Thanks.”

Feeling a sudden pinprick of pain on his palm, Takato looked down and realized he was squeezing the thorny stem of the yellow rose a little too hard. “Oh! This is for you! I hope you like it.” He said a little too loudly, relaxing his hold on it as he gave it to her.

Her light-brown eyes lit up as she received the gift. “Oh thank you! You’re so sweet!” Suddenly her smile faltered and she looked around a bit. “Um…where’s Henry?”

“Henry?” Takato echoed, then remembered. “OH! Henry…well…he got into a little accident in the park and had to cancel for tonight. He says he’s very sorry.”

“Poor Henry! Is he alright?” She asked.

The brunette grinned goofily and looked at the bush where Henry still remained hidden, watching it all. “Um, yeah…Its nothing serious. He just fell into a bush.”

Henry had to stifle his laughter with his hands. Takato blushed a little more.

“So, does that mean he asked you to take his place then?” Jeri asked as she twirled the pretty rose with her fingers.

“Um…well…actually…” Takato stumbled again, not knowing how to explain himself. Then a sudden burst of light came to him and his nervousness faded from his eyes. “No, he didn’t ask me to take his place.”

The firmness of his tone made Jeri frown curiously. “Then, why are you here?”

'Now or never, Takato' He said to himself. “Because, I didn’t want you to stay at home tonight when you were expecting to go out and because…”

His magenta eyes softened as he added, “….I wanted to ask you out tonight.”

The smile that spread across Jeri’s face was probably the sweetest he’d ever seen. “I’d love to.”

Takato’s own smile stretched ear to ear as he stepped back and offered her his arm. “Shall we?”

Jeri gladly took his arm and after wishing her family good night, they headed towards the theatre to go on their date. Their first date.

Henry quietly emerged from the bushes as soon as the coast was clear. His body a little sore, but his heart light. Stepping out into the streets, brushing out his clothes, he then looked up to see his friend and the girl of his dreams walking hand and hand down the street. The two were adorable without a doubt.

“Mission accomplished.” He said to himself, a smile of his own gracing his face. Silently wishing the two well, he then dug his hands into his pockets and headed home.

The End.