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"What were you two even doing on a roof in the first place?"
Azami looks at Muku. Muku looks away. Izumi continues looking between them.
"We, um..." Muku mumbles, "I was playing with some of the cats in town, and then they jumped up on a building and looked down at me like they wanted me to come up too, and..." he scratches his cheek, "I-I always think Misumi and Hisoka look really cool when they do stuff like that, so, I, wanted to give it a try-" deep breath, then he scrunches up his eyes and pulls the hem of his shirt. "I'm really sorry! I even made Azami come with me like- like some kind of trickster demon who snatches up gullible kids and-"
"Chill out, you didn't make me come with you." Azami pats Muku's cheek with the back of his hand. "And I'm not gullible. You told me not to come, because you didn't want to 'make' me do anything, and I went anyway since it seemed too dangerous to do by yourself."
"Ah... oh, yeah, you did."
Azami turns to Izumi. "I'm sorry too. Even though I knew it was dangerous, I just went with it instead of telling him to stop."
Izumi sighs. "Well, it's better that you went with him instead of just leaving, I guess. Still," she glares, making the two boys tense up a bit, "you should both know better than to do something like that without prior experience. You're incredibly lucky that Itaru and Chikage noticed you on their way home from work."
Muku raises a hand slightly. "Actually, um, I was able to hold onto the ledge pretty well. Not- not that I'm not grateful that Chikage-san caught me! But it'd been a little while already, and I think I could've lasted until a solution was found... maybe."
Izumi closes her eyes and presses a hand to her forehead. "Muku, I know you're... unexpectedly strong, but that's not-"
...wait.
She looks up at Azami, confused. "You said you went with him because it was dangerous alone, right?" He nods. "If he was there for a while, why didn't you... did you not try to pull him up?"
Azami... blushes? "No, I mean, I- I wanted to get him back up, and I could've just grabbed his arms, but I..." He shoves his hands into his pockets. "Couldn't think straight."
Izumi relaxes in understanding. "Ah, that makes sense... I guess I can't blame you for being a bit flustered."
Azami blushes even harder. "It's- it's his own fault!"
"Azami, I understand, it-"
"HE SHOULD KNOW BETTER THAN TO-"
"Azami, please calm-"
"TO BE S-SO INDECENT!"
"HE-!?" No, no, remember Izumi, this is Azami saying this. She turns to Muku, who's gone back to looking away from them. "Muku, what is he talking about?"
Muku presses the tips of his fingers together. "Well... after I fell I, um, started yelling 'grab my hand!'"
Oh God
"B-but please don't get mad at Azami for it! I knew that was why he was too freaked out to do anything, and I knew I could just ask him to grab my arms instead..."
Izumi takes a deep breath, trying to collect herself. "Then... why didn't you?"
"Because..." Muku starts blushing too, fighting back a smile. "Because... it'd be so romantic, you know?!"
...No, she doesn't.
"NO IT WOULDN'T!" Azami shrieks - Izumi doesn't think she's ever heard his voice reach this pitch before. "IT'S ALL THAT- THAT- PERVY MANGA YOU READ THAT'S ROTTING YOUR BRAIN!"
Well, it's not pervy, but she was starting to agree with that last bit.
"You don't understand, Azami! Even if it's not romantic, looking deep into each others eyes, grabbing the others hand and-"
Oh boy, this might escalate quickly. Izumi pulls something out of her bag.
"HAND H-HOLDING IS INHERENTLY-"
***HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONK***
The sound startles them both into silence. Izumi breathes a sigh of relief, putting it back in her bag. 'I'm so glad I invested in this airhorn.'
She looks back at them.
"Muku." She starts. "I... can't believe I need to say this, but your safety is more important than reenacting a shoujo scene."
Muku nods, looking sheepish. "Yes, director."
"Azami." He grumbles in acknowledgement. "Muku's - and anyone's - safety is more important than... uh..." She waves her hand around. "...That."
"But he's fine. And I didn't need to grab his... hand specifically, I was just too- distracted to realise at the time."
...Fair point. "Yeah, but still, there's... there's a difference between grabbing and holding someone's hand."
"No there isn't."
Welp. That's not very much to argue against. How can she explain this in a way Azami will understand?
He scuffs the ground with his shoe and sighs irritably. "Basically, this wouldn't have happened if it wasn't Muku, yeah?"
Well... in a sense, yeah, but with how Muku shrinks into himself with that statement she probably shouldn't verbalise it.
"It's an... easy solution, then." Azami turns to Muku, blush still present on his face. "When are your parents free?"
"Huh?" Muku blinks. "IIII'm not sure, I'll have to ask. Why do you want to know?"
"Because, we already know each other decently well, but we need to meet each others parents first." He closes his eyes. "Then, we can date, and in a few years we can get engaged, and then we can hold hands, so we won't run into this issue again."
Izumi feels like her brain just restarted itself. ".........Azami, tha-"
"That's a great idea!" Muku exclaims, a bit too quickly. "I'll text my parents about it later, I'm sure they'd be more than happy to meet you!"
Azami nods. "Okay. Cool. I'll... I'll go text my dad too. Later." He turns and walks out the room, also a bit too quickly, and Izumi's too stunned to tell him she wasn't done talking to them yet.
When she looks back at Muku, he's practically vibrating with excitement, red-faced and sparkly-eyed. "Ah... this is just like in 'Sweetheart Simplicity'! Let's see, in that one it took... about six months to properly confess their love?!" He cups the sides of his face. "Kyaah, maybe that is too quick!" He squeals, smile betraying his excitement.
Izumi... decides that, maybe, it's best to just leave it. They both seem happy enough with it, and she feels a headache coming on from just the thought of trying to understand how either of their brains work.
Kids these days