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"Hey, Akito... Let's follow Kohane and Touya's date tomorrow."
It was only yesterday when a certain teammate suddenly texted him something outrageous right before he went to sleep. Is she drunk-texting? was what Akito wanted to convince himself so he could just ignore the whole message, but there were several reasons that proved him wrong after he woke up in the morning.
One, high school age wasn't the age to drink yet, legally.
Two, her presence in front of his door this morning, getting him a knowing smile and a light nudge from his mother, told him that she was dead serious about her plan to the point of coming to invite him at his house directly.
That was how he found himself being dragged to a cinema, hiding behind a pillar while the girl was busy taking a peek at a certain couple. Akito scratched his head, the cinema was crowded with people since it was weekend so they probably wouldn't be found out that easily, but still... he couldn't help but feeling kind of worried if his partner would think of him badly for following him secretly like this.
"Are you seriously going to do this, An...?"
"Of course! I need to know if Touya treats my partner right! It's Kohane's first date!"
"If you're saying it like that it's also Touya's first date, you know?" The guy sighed. "Are you accusing my partner as someone who would mistreat Kohane now? My partner is the gentlest guy I know, that guy wouldn't even hurt a fly."
"I know, I know! It's not like I'm accusing Touya or anything, just..." She clenched her fists in front of her chest nervously. "I just need to make sure with my own two eyes, just this once! After all my cute partner is going to be taken away by Touya..."
Seeing her sudden gloomy face, he knew he'd lose to her once again. This girl, what kind of unnecessary thing is she worrying about? Akito groaned in defeat before patting her on the head.
"Your partner isn't going to be taken away by anyone, stop thinking such stupid thing... Are you a mother who can't let go of her daughter or something? Geez... Alright, alright. We only need to watch over them until you're not worried anymore, right?"
"Yeah! Thanks, Akito!" An smiled again and Akito unconsciously let out a sigh of relied. "Oh, they already bought the tickets! Let's hurry and buy tickets for the same movie!"
Akito did as he was told, but when he asked the clerk about which movie ticket that those two just bought, he wasn't sure if this would go smoothly. He glanced at the girl who was still having her full focus on the couple, would An be okay with this kind of movie?
"This movie... are you gonna be okay with it?"
"Yeah, yeah, just buy it. I'll pay you back later... Oh no! I lost sight of them... Hurry up, Akito!"
She didn't even ask what kind of movie that they were gonna watch, but he bought the tickets anyway. The moment the movie started to play and an eerie music played in the background, An finally realized the genre of this movie. Her body tensed in her seat.
"Wait... Don't tell me it's that kind of movie...?"
It was a newly-released horror movie that was said as the most anticipated horror this year. If he remembered correctly from the review that he happened to read, it was quite gory with a lot of jump scares. In short, the worst kind of horror movie.
The pushy girl from earlier was now gripping on his sleeve with apparent fear on her face as she stared in horror at the screen, it would be a lie if he said he didn't find any enjoyment in the gap between her strong image and her scaredy-cat one. In fact, he enjoyed it plenty.
"It's a horror movie," Akito calmly answered in a hushed voice so he wouldn't disturb the others. "I asked you before if you were okay with it, didn't I?"
"B-but... why would you watch horror movie on your first date? Shouldn't you watch something more romantic? Why are you making Kohane watch this kind of movie, Touya!? Minus one point!"
"... Oi, don't just go and blame it on Touya. The two at the front row seem to be enjoying it, though?"
"I've been wanting to watch this movie ever since I saw the trailer. but it's kinda scary to watch alone... I'm glad Aoyagi-kun agreed to watch this movie with me," Kohane said excitedly, gaining a small smile from the guy beside her.
"I also want to watch this... I heard this movie got praised for its soundtracks, so I'm quite curious. I'm glad Azusawa wants to watch this too."
"Oh, is that so? Hehe... what a coincidence~"
"Yeah, it's a nice coincidence. Let's enjoy the movie together... Also," Touya hesitated a bit before placing his arm on the arm rest, opening his hand. "You can just hold on to me if you're scared, Azusawa."
Kohane looked surprised for a while then a smile stretched on her face, her cheeks were dusted with adorable pinkish color as she accepted his hand. "Okay, I will. Thank you, Aoyagi-kun!"
For both An or Akito, or maybe even anyone else there, surely those two seemed like a happy couple from every angle.
An slumped down to her seat, Akito grinned at her.
"Still going to blame it on my partner now?" Akito quipped. "It's clearly Kohane who suggested them to watch this movie, isn't it?"
"Ugh..."
"Well, let's also enjoy the movie while we're here."
"No, no... Impossible, there's no way I can."
"Ah, so you're scared."
"I-it's not that either! I mean, we're here to watch over Kohane and Touya... not to enjoy the movie!"
She was still trying to put a brave front despite the look on her eyes obviously screaming 'get me out of here' that Akito tried his best to stifle his laugh. An probably didn't noticed either how she'd been gripping his sleeve without letting go at all for a while now.
"Alright, if you say so..." He returned his attention to the giant screen. "Oh, the ghost just appeared on the mirro—"
Before he even finished talking, suddenly there was an extra weight on his shoulder and he didn't have to turn his head to know that it was her burying her face in his shoulder while clinging to his hoodie.
"An...?"
"Is it gone, yet!?"
The girl was clinging to him for her life, trembling as she covered her face, but he got a strangely pleasant feeling that was inappropriate for this kind of situation instead. After all, a scared Shiraishi An wasn't a sight people could normally see, so to be very honest he was actually feeling good that he could see this side of her. His hand patted her on the head as an attempt to console her (and to lessen his guilt for feeling happy to see her scared), but the urge to tease her was still far greater.
"... Hm, not yet."
That was a lie. It was still a peaceful family moment of the movie now. She couldn't even tell the scenes from the background music because she was too scared now, Akito silently thought.
"... Is the ghost still there?" she asked again after a while.
"Mhm, it's still there."
"... Ugh... why is the scene so long...?"
That's because I'm lying. Maybe he played his prank too far. He was planning to apologize, but when he noticed how close she was clinging to him, his hand somehow chose to push her head closer to him instead. Ah, this is bad. He was using the advantage of this situation too much. There was no helping it, she looked totally cute clinging to him like this, his sense completely lose to the devil's whispers.
Just for today, it's fine just for today, Akito said to himself.
He then moved his eyes towards the couple that they were supposed to watch, in place of An who was still too busy cowering on his shoulder. Kohane also seemed to be scared at the jump scare parts (though not as much as An) that her body would jump slightly, but Akito noticed how they were holding hands and Touya would squeeze her hand gently when she was scared like this, making her more relaxed after. Oh, that's a nice move, he silently praised his partner.
Another thing that Akito noticed after watching them for a while was that his partner stared at Kohane's face longer than he stared at the screen.
That Touya... are you coming here to watch the movie or to watch Kohane? Oi?
Well, that's fine as long they looked happy with each other.
Akito then looked at the girl beside him again. Really, there was nothing that An should be worrying about Touya and Kohane. They're perfect for each other, even you actually already know about it deep down, don't you?
He patted her head.
"...Akito?"
"Hm?"
"Touya and Kohane... How are they now?"
"They're... holding hands."
"Already holding hands on first date... Touya, you don't have a proper sense of distance..."
"There's no use complaining about someone's sense of distance when you're clinging to me like this you, you know...? Also holding hands on a date is perfectly fine, isn't it? If you ask me, your sense of distance is far worse..."
"...Uhn, you might be right."
Huh, she's surprisingly easy to agree when she's scared? Akito wondered at the lost of her stubbornness for a while. Maybe she didn't have the energy to argue anymore. Shrugging, he returned his attention back to the movie. It was already progressing more to the scary parts, a good thing since he didn't need to lie anymore.
Instead, he thought about another prank.
"...Whoa, a head suddenly fell from the ceiling! Man, that was crazy scary even I'm getting the goosebumps... Did you see how the face was crushed, An?"
"——!?"
Akito exaggerated the scene and described it to her on purpose, obviously making her scared even without her looking at the scene. this would be the last prank today, he promised himself, but the reaction he gained from her was stronger than he expected.
She circled her arms around his neck, pulling his body towards her and hugging him tightly. Her face which was buried on his shoulder before now was buried in his hair, while he had his head on her shoulder. It was quite an awkward position, but she didn't look like she was gonna let him go any moment now.
"...Oi, An. It's hard for me to watch like this."
"I don't care!!"
Akito sighed, though secretly thinking that the situation wasn't so unpleasant despite his back kinda hurting from the strange position. Even though you just talked about Touya's sense of distance... was hugging someone this close a proper distance for her?
Well, it's mostly my fault though.
While Shinonome Akito kept on stroking her soothingly on the back for the rest of the movie, Shiraishi An ended up watching neither the couple nor the movie.
"... The worst... who would want to watch that kind of movie?"
"Well... many people except you're not one of them, apparently. Did you even watch the movie at all, though? Weren't you just hugging me all the time? Haha... was it that comfortable?"
"Argh, shut up!! I couldn't think properly at that time, so I just grabbed anything near me! Akito was the nearest!!"
"Okay, okay. Whatever you say—crap... Oi, come here!"
"Wha—!?"
Akito quickly grabbed An to hide behind the corner as soon as he saw Touya and Kohane. They seemed to be happily discussing about the movie while walking.
"The movie was very interesting... I was really surprised when the head suddenly fell!"
"Yeah, Azusawa was really cute at that part."
Kohane tilted her head, smiling in confusion. An looked at Akito questioningly, while Akito just held back the strong urge to roll his eyes at his partner's answer.
"...?? How about Aoyagi-kun's favorite part?" Kohane asked again.
"My favorite part... Hmm... I think I like the part where Azusawa's face quickly changed from tense to happy."
"???? I see? Were you having fun, Aoyagi-kun?"
"Mhm, It was really fun. I'm glad I came here with Azusawa." Touya then reached to hold her hand, making her blush slightly at the gesture. "Do you have anything you want to eat after this?"
"Anything is fine... Oh! Is there any coffee recommendation again? Aoyagi-kun's recommendation is always good after all~"
"Oh, yeah... I do. Then shall we go there?
"Sure~!"
As they walked away hand-in-hand, Akito and An also walked out from behind the corner. The sweetness was very clear in the air that there was no people who would doubt that they were dating. Even An seemed to be admitting defeat, Akito glanced at the girl beside him.
"...He didn't watch the movie at all, did he? It's more like he's watching the changes of Kohane's expression throughout the whole movie rather than the movie itself."
"Yeah... for sure."
"Touya... sure really loves Kohane. Kohane loves Touya a lot too. They love each other, don't they?"
"They sure do."
"They're happy, aren't they?"
"Totally."
"Mhm... alright, that's that! I've been convinced enough! Touya will make Kohane happy, I'm sure of that!" She excitedly threw a punch to the air, nodding to herself. "Thank you a lot for going with my strange request today, Akito! I promise I will give you something as a thanks later, then see you—"
Before she waved him bye bye, Akito quickly grabbed her hand.
"Do you... want to get something to eat first before going home?"
He nervously scratched his head as he invited her, making her strangely feel nervous too.
"Eh... well... sure, I guess? That doesn't sound bad."
"Alright, it's decided. Let's go."
"Oh, do you have anything you want to eat? I guess I'll treat Akito today as thanks~!"
"Hmm... pancakes."
"Of course."
"Oi, what's with that response?"
"Nothing~ Then I will leave the place to Akito's recommendation."
"Yeah, just leave it to me."
Since Touya was doing his best with his date, he thought he should put some effort in his own too. Although it wasn't technically a date, yet.
Good luck, Touya. I'm also doing my best on my part here.
Maybe then one day they could have a proper double date rather than secretly following from behind like this.