[ It's not like he's compensating for some kind of person he can't ever be, some condition he can't fulfill. Just two days before, he barely knew much beyond Haru's name. But having gone the whole nine yards to purchase a pair of new jammers must be indicative of some critical overinvestment in his part. It's only bound to worsen if he's paddling laps through the pool like a fool, wondering if there was really any rhyme or reason to agreeing to the proposal in the first place.

In the first place, they're not best friends to begin with. ]

I just felt like it. It could be fun once, right? If we raced, but — I don't want to force you if you don't want to ... ! That's not what I mean, either, so — ...

[ He's babbling now, fishing excuses out of thin air before settling on the only good way to salvage the situation. ]

... do you want to?