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“Hitori!! I wanna stay over tonight!!”
“WHA-"
Not two seconds after getting on the subway does my beautiful girlfriend, Ikuyo Kita, spring this demand onto me. After we started dating, she began to start meeting me on the train, as opposed to at school. It’s far more inconvenient for her, so I’ve told her she doesn’t have to, but she insists she have her ‘Morning Hitori Time’ before school starts… whatever that means. I don’t dislike it though…
Today was already starting differently however, as what would usually be a conversation or greeting was just a direct request to stay over. How do I respond to this? Why does she want to stay over this badly?? Am I somehow the stupid one here???
“Hitori?” she calls out with a slight tilt of her head.
“A-Ah! S-Sorry! O-Of course you can stay over! Y-You don’t need to ask something like that…” I say with a light red growing on my cheeks.
“Hehe! Why, thank you, my Hitori <3” Her smile threatens to take over my mind before it’s even 8 AM.
“S-S-So why did you want to stay over!?” I ask, desperate to stop my heart from taking over my mind.
“Cuz it’s Halloween!!” she exclaims cheerfully.
Oh… I kind of forgot. This month has gone by so fast, and we’ve just been so busy with band stuff, but it really is Halloween today.
“I wanna stay over and watch scary movies!!” she says with a shine in her eyes.
“W-Why…?” I ask, remembering how she reacted to our culture festival’s haunted house last year.
“Um,” she ponders, putting a thumb and index finger to her chin, before shooting her face upwards to meet my eyes with a smile. “For the vibes!”
…
This girl… is just so silly…
I can’t help but giggle to myself.
“Heyyyyy! Are you laughing at me?” she asks, stifling some giggles herself.
“N-No,” I say through a smile. “N-Not at you…” I look to the side.
“Hitori Gotooooooo-“ Kita says in a playfully fake anger before cupping my cheeks with her hand and making me look into her dazzling amber eyes. “That’s, like, textbook talk for someone who’s actually laughing at you!”
I’m still giggling into her hand as she desperately tries to hide her smile, faking some intense rage at this exchange of ours. She looks so incredibly cute right now that it’s not even fair. She’s completely taking over my thoughts.
“N-Nuh uh!”
I just say the first thing that comes to mind.
“What do you mean ‘nuh uh’!? You-“ Kita’s smile starts to break through her faux anger while saying this, so she moves her other hand to ruffle my hair.
“Ehehehehe!” I can’t even hold back as my giggling turns into full on laughter.
“Am I really that funny to you, Hitori Goto!?” She can’t even try to hide her smile anymore. And I know for a fact that the red on her face isn’t from anger.
“W-Why,” I struggle through a laugh, “do you keep using m-my full name, ehehehe?”
“To show how angry I am,” she desperately tries to say with a straight face before bursting into a giggle.
For the span of a few minutes, we simply laugh with each other, taking glances at each other’s faces before laughing in joy once more. I could look at her face for hours…
As we begin to calm down, she releases my face from her grip and simply keeps a hand on my cheek. I lean into it, desperate for her touch. She takes the hint and brings her face closer to mine until our foreheads are touching. We just stare into each other’s eyes for upwards of a minute. I swear the deeper I look into them, the more I get lost into a world of Ikuyo Kita… Ehehe~
“Soooooo?” she asks, breaking me out of falling into some lovey dovey delusions. I’m not sure if I’m happy about that or not…
“H-Huh?”
“Are we gonna watch scary movies for the vibes ?” She gives a little laugh alongside what started this whole silly morning in the first place.
“Hehe, sure, Ikuyo. I-I haven’t really seen that many, though,” I say honestly.
“That’s okay! Neither have I! But people always talk about them, so they have to be good, right?” she says, Kitaura shining brightly.
I chuckle to myself. “I’m not sure something’s good j-just because it’s talked about a lot.”
“Well, either way, I think it’s time I start hopping on the Halloween trend! I wanna get spooked!”
“Y-You got pretty scared during the culture festival, d-didn’t you?”
“Th-That doesn’t count! That was just… um… f-for the vibes!!” she says with a touch of pink present on her face.
“Ehehe~” I can’t help but start to giggle once more. You can’t just use that excuse for everything, Kita…
“Are you laughing at me again ?” she playfully asks.
“S-Sorry!” I manage to slip out through laughs.
“Hehe,” she laughs before smiling a little more gently. “I actually really like it, you know.”
“E-Eh?”
My laugh is instead replaced by a blush forming on my face at those unexpected words. I look into her eyes and see nothing but a warm love. I feel like I’m going to melt but I can’t look away.
“You always try to hide your laugh,” she says with a touch of worry.
“A-Ah…” I trail off. I consider trying to weasel out of this conversation, but decide to be honest instead. “M-My laugh is p-probably annoying so-”
“It’s not annoying at all!” she passionately exclaims. “Your laugh… it’s adorable. I love hearing you happy like that. It’s something I want to hear every single day.” Her eyes continue to be filled with nothing but genuine love.
“I-Ikuyo…”
“Hey…” She pulls her forehead back and instead moves close enough that our noses touch. “I don’t want you to feel any pressure to hide it. Will you keep laughing for me?”
“A-Ah…” The part of me that wants to deny is defeated by the part that’s absolutely lost in this girl’s dreamy eyes. My mouth moves on its own, “I love you, Ikuyo… Ah-“
She quickly moves to put a finger on my lips. “Don’t take it back, my love,” she says with what I can only describe as an enchanting smile. “Even if you didn’t ‘mean’ to say it, it’s still special to me. And I love you too~”
My heart is beating so fast I’m worried it might burst. My face is red, not out of embarrassment, but out of pure love for this girl. She’s just so…
“H-How…?”
“How, what?” she asks with another playful smile.
“Y-You’re always pretty… Y-You always look amazing, b-but… i-in moments like these… y-you make these faces th-that just… m-make my heart… H-How can you get even m-more beautiful!?”
Okay, the red might be from embarrassment now. I can’t believe I just said that. She’s probably so weirded-
But when I open my eyes to see her reaction, it’s a blushy but loving smile. How am I supposed to compete against that???? My heart is all yours, Ikuyo Kita…
“Well… Let’s just say I have a certain girl I’m trying to look especially good in front of~” she proudly says through her blush.
“I-I think… that girl i-is probably t-totally enamored with you…”
…Why did I say that???
“Hehe! You think so? That would make me really happy <3” she responds, a smile I could die for plastered on her face.
“M-Mm-hm… Sh-She’s… so in love with you, i-it’s crazy… ”
Seriously, why am I saying these embarrassing things!?
Kita purposefully lets out a hot breath in our close proximity and watches me turn red in record time.
“Tell me more about how the girl feels~” Her eyes are still filled with pure love, but I can tell… they’re laced with something a little more devious.
“A-Ah, well she-MMPH-”
Her lips press against mine before I can continue that thought. They’re so warm… They feel so good. I was already addicted to her kiss, but this…
…
Somehow, I hear the announcer saying we’ve arrived at our stop. My memory of the past ten minutes is hazy, but I don’t think we stopped at just one…
——————————————————————————————————————————
“Movie time!!!!!” Kita is practically bouncing off the walls in excitement once we enter my room.
“W-We don’t have an extra TV, so… i-is my laptop and a speaker fine?”
“Mm-mm! We’ll turn the lights off so we have the proper atmosphere, hehe!” she says with a starry glimmer in her eyes.
She’s so excited… It’s honestly really cute…
As I stare at her for a very normal amount of time, she notices and locks eyes with me. I can see for a moment that she’s about to tease me, but something about my eyes must have stuck out to her because she holds back, turning a light red. She quickly recovers, however, and simply gives me a serene smile.
My heart cannot take this.
“Ikuyooooo…”
“Later,” she says with a slightly mischievous smile.
“…J-Just one?” I plead.
She dramatically rolls her eyes. “Goshhhh, my needy Hitori~”
Despite her words, she walks over with a smile on her face and pulls me into a satisfying kiss, before pulling away and leaving me wanting more.
“You said ‘just one’, my love.”
“O-Oh…” I look down somewhat sadly, but she quickly grasps my hands.
“I might get a little needy myself if you bring up some popcorn, though,” she says with a wink.
I’m a little dumbfounded for a second, but quickly start to laugh. “W-Was this just an elaborate way to get popcorn out of me??”
“Ehehe, a magician never reveals their secrets!” Kita says with a bold smile.
“Hehehe!” I can’t help but laugh at how silly she’s being today.
…
After grabbing the popcorn and turning the lights off, we’re sitting in front of my dimly lit laptop screen. Thursday the 12th is loaded up and ready to be played. We’re sitting on my futon, piling up all the blankets we could find to make a makeshift couch. It’s soft and comfortable, though not very practical.
“…You ready?” I ask with my hand on the wireless mouse.
“M-Mm!” Kita suddenly seems really on edge about this for some reason. I can’t tell if it’s from excitement or something else.
Either way, I press play and the opening scene plays. When the title card appears, however…
“EEK-“
…Did she just-
“I-Ikuyo-“
“S-Sorry! I-I just, uh, saw a bug!!” she says with a panicked expression.
“…Okay,” I say, still unconvinced.
…
The movie continues on with its intro, but the moment the camera does any kind of suspenseful cut, even if nothing scary actually happens, I hear an “EEK-“
…Kita is completely weak to horror, huh?
We’re at the halfway point of the movie and it’s clear that the actual ‘scary’ part of the movie is about to start. I look over to see Kita holding onto the bowl of popcorn like she’ll die if she lets go.
“W-Why don’t we stop here, Ikuyo?” I say, clicking the left mouse button.
“Eh!? Why!? W-We’re only halfway through!”
Why are you being so weirdly stubborn about this?
“…Are you sure you don’t want to stop watching?” I ask, still very suspicious of how she’s acting.
“Y-Yes! Hit play!” she says firmly.
“…Alright.”
It doesn’t take long after hitting play for the first death of the movie to happen and-
“AAAAAAH-“
Kita’s entire body jolts upwards in terror, and, yes, that includes the bowl of popcorn she was holding. Popcorn is now scattered all across my room.
“…O-Okay, I’m gonna turn on the lights now-“
“W-Wait!” she cries out. “I-I’m used to it now, I-I can keep going!”
“…W-We really don’t have to keep watching.” I don’t even particularly like horror movies.
“B-But…” She looks at me with pleading eyes.
I breathe a heavy sigh. “O-Okay, but I’m leaving the light on.” She gave me a slight pouty face in response. “I-I’m not… b-budging on… that…”
She must realize how much effort it took for me to be that demanding because she settles with a simple “Mm.”
Walking back to our makeshift couch, the screen is honestly a lot harder to see with the light on, but if it’ll make Kita feel better then it’s fine. I really don’t care for these movies anyways.
I think… I’d need to see something really psychological to scare me. Like seeing someone slowly lose everyone and everything they love until they’re just left alone in a void of nothingness… That would be pretty scary. Who would ever make a story like that, though? Sounds uninteresting.
Anyways, it looks like someone died in the movie again.
“AAH-“
Kita screams, but instead of jolting upward, she lunges onto me, not enough to hurt of course. She’s now wrapped herself around my stomach and is holding on for dear life. With her directly touching me like this, I can feel her shaking. This is scaring her so much more than she’s admitting…
I don’t know why she’s so dead set on finishing this movie, but…
Haah… Instead of stopping the movie like I should, I begin running my fingers through her hair in an effort to calm her down. Her lustrous red hair… I continue to run my fingers through it, paying attention to how soft it is. I’m becoming entranced. This is far more entertaining than what’s playing on my laptop.
Kita seems a little embarrassed, but it’s keeping her from getting too scared, so she doesn’t mind my longing gaze.
The movie continues and Kita jumps at more of the ‘scary’ scenes. She’s clearly much less scared than she was earlier though, so I’m satisfied. In fact… I’m having a much better time just comforting her…
With this thought in mind, I lower myself to start kissing the top of her head. Lightly, of course.
“W-What are you doing, you silly?”
“…Comforting my g-girlfriend.” I’m only able to say it because she’s not looking at me.
“…You’re so silly,” she says with a clearly happy smile.
We’re able to watch the entire rest of the movie in this position. She jumps every once in a while, but my many ways of pampering her keep her from getting too scared. When the credits finally roll, I hear a heavy sigh of relief.
“…W-Were ‘the vibes’ worth it?” I somewhat teasingly ask.
She looks me dead in the eyes, and I see the energy drain from her face before she even says a word. “…Hitori, can we go to bed?”
“O-Of course! I-I’ll make the futon.”
She gives a gentle smile. “I’m not tired enough that I can’t help with that, my love.”
“O-Oh, okay.”
…
After a few minutes and a quick “Goodnight!” to Mom and Dad, Kita and I turn in for the night. It takes no time at all for her to snuggle up to me, her head right under my chin as we hold each other.
…She’s shaking.
“Ikuyo?”
“S-Sorry…” she says through chattering teeth.
“…Tell me what’s wrong,” I say with a little more confidence than usual, thanks to being in my natural state of darkness.
“…I-It’s stupid-”
“Ikuyo.”
I can feel her shuffle for a moment, clearly debating whether to say it or not. I already have a good idea of what it is…
“…I-I’m scared,” she admits. “I-I know it was just a movie, b-but…”
Haah… We really shouldn’t have watched this movie…
“...What are you scared of?” I gently ask.
“U-Um… S-Someone breaking in a-and killing me.”
…We live in Japan, girl.
“I-I’ll tell you what,” I say as I gently run my fingers through her hair again. “If someone really does break in, I won’t let them hurt you.” I say with a gentle smile. Although she’s clinging too hard into my chest to see.
“…R-Really?” she asks, clear concern in her voice. This is really bothering her.
“Mm-hm. In fact-” I pull her as close to me as physically possible. “I-I’ll hold on to you all night long. N-No one will be able to get to you.”
“H-Hitori…”
“I promise,” I say with as soft a voice as I can manage. “No one is going to hurt you. I’ll make sure of it.”
“M-Mm,” she says, a little warmer than her earlier tone.
“Now, l-let’s go to sleep, Ikuyo. Y-You can keep hugging me all night if that’ll help, ehehe.”
“O-Okay…”
…
“I’m sorry…” she says in a whisper.
“Why?”
“If we had just stopped watching…”
I mean, I have been wondering… “Why did you want to keep watching so bad?”
“…I-I wanted to get over my fear of horror… things,” she all but forces out. “A-And… l-look cool in front of you…” she trails off.
…Sometimes it amazes me how similar our minds are.
“I a-already think you’re the coolest girlfriend ever. I-I don’t really care if you can watch horror movies or whatever… I love you, Ikuyo,” I say in a whisper of my own.
“I… love you too… Hitori…” she says, clearly trying to hide some flowing tears.
I smile to myself before giving a kiss to her forehead.
“Goodnight, Ikuyo. I-I promise I’ll protect you, s-so sleep well,” I try to say reassuringly.
“…Mm… Goodnight, Hitori… Thank you for being… th-the best girlfriend ever…” Her tears must have tired her out, as she quickly fades into an unconscious state.
Haah… What a day. I think that’s enough horror movies for us. Although, I didn’t mind cuddling with her like that…
We don’t need a movie to do that, though. I don’t want her to feel scared like this again. I know rationally that she’ll be okay, but… I just don’t like seeing her sad like this.
If nothing else, I’m glad that all of my years of feeling comfortable in the dark paid off… Could I have comforted her as well in any other situation?
I guess I’ll just be thankful things played out the way they did.
I think… I want tomorrow to be a day filled with cuddles… just to make up for today…
Prepare yourself, Ikuyo Kita… m-my love… you won’t escape my hugs tomorrow~