Akito and Akari remain in the changeroom for a bit, then Akito steels his resolve one final time, slapping himself on his cheeks, startling Akari.


    “I’ll head out now, just wait a few before following, alright?” Akito whispers to Akari in a warm tone.


    Akito then stares straight at the ground once more, and begins the path out of the store. He runs into a mannequin on the way out, again, and apologizes to it before getting out of the store. The cashier notices all of this, then exhales.


    These kids are getting more and more confusing each year, I swear.


    Akito waits outside of the store for a few minutes, then Akari exits, meeting up with him.


    “Where to next?”


    “Does there really have to be a plan?” Akari replies, giggling about how nervous Akito is.


    “You’re right, so why not explore them all?” Akito laughs, then takes charge by grabbing Akari’s hand, and walking toward more stores.


    They look in various stores, one with jewelry, another with furniture, all the while looking like they’re enjoying it. They enter a clothing store, and head over to the male section.


    “This one would look good on you, I think”


    Akari holds up a shirt to Akito’s chest, still on the coat hanger, then switches it to another one in her other hand. Akito is nervous the entire time, but manages to keep his composure.


    “You think? I was always more of a plain color kinda guy, not really a graphic shirt person”


    Akari looks slightly disappointed at this sentiment, Akito scrambling to fix his misstep. He reaches for one of the shirts in her hands, taking it from her and walking to the changerooms.


    I didn’t mean it like that! I just hope this’ll make up for it…


    Akito exits the changeroom, wearing a graphic shirt of a clock, the hands all warped and messed up. The writing below it says “Time Lost”. Akari is happy to see Akito wearing something she picked, blushing extremely hard at this fact.


    “So…how does it look?” Akito nervously asks, his face red from embarrassment.


    Akari is left speechless, Akito noticing this and looks to the ground in sadness.


    I knew it, what I said can’t be taken back so easily. I guess I ended up ruining one of the only good things…


    Akito turns to change back when Akari grabs his hand, her eyes filled with excitement.


    “You look super good, Akito! I knew I was right to choose this one!” Akari exclaims, her smile emanating warm light toward Akito, him just taking in the scene.


    Akito heads back in the changeroom, then exits immediately, the shirt in his hand. Akari smiles at this, but Akito is a bit embarrassed to admit his fault, so stays silent.


    They head over to the girl’s section, Akito trying not to look around, Akari gleaming at the variety of clothes. To avoid looking at the women’s clothing out of courtesy (his personal courtesy), Akito fixes his gaze onto Akari.


    She looks like she’s having fun. I’m glad that she’s enjoying this time…our time together. Seeing that face, seeing the sincerity in her eyes, it almost makes me wish that these times would never end, as foolish of a wish that that would be.


    Akari’s eyes fixate on a specific dress; a red and strapless, long and flowing dress. She stares for a moment, admiring its beauty. Akito does the same thing, but to a different end.


    She walks away to look at other things, Akito finally looking at the dress, then back at Akari.


    They find some bracelets while heading out of the store, and they’re part of a pair, a matching set. Akito and Akari are both looking at it with the same thought.


    I want it.


    They head to the cash, handing the bracelets and the shirt to the cashier, who rings them up.


    “Are these for a special someone?” the cashier teases


    Akito blushes, looking away for a moment, before looking back to the cashier and paying.


    “Yes…yes they are”


    Akito and Akari leave the store, when Akito holds his stomach for a moment, realizing he needs to go to the bathroom.


    “Can you wait here for a moment? I have some…uhhh…unfinished business…” Akito tries explaining to Akari


    “Sure! I’ll be waiting here for you, just don’t take too long!” Akari waves at Akito, as he heads back to the store.


    A few minutes pass, Akito finally leaving the store, another bag in hand.


    Akari tries sneaking a peek into this bag, but Akito gets defensive about it, refusing to let her see.


    “Why don’t we get something to eat?” Akito suggests, half-ly because he needed an excuse to stop her prodding, and because he was hungry.


    “Sure, lead the way captain!” Akari playfully remarks, them both heading to the food court.


    They buy some food, then sit down and eat some french fries and Akito gets a hotdog. They eat in awkward silence, neither knowing what to do from here. Akito looks around, seeing a movie theatre.


    Seeing a movie wouldn’t be a bad idea…


    Akito thinks about the romance movies he’d seen before, a scene replaying in his head where the MC and love interest go to a scary movie, a scary part of the movie frightening the girl who clings to the MC. This gives Akito a good idea.


    “Would you want to go see a movie?” Akito suggests to Akari, who’s a bit busy eating fries, to notice.


    Akito reaches out to grab Akari’s hand, then repeats what he said. Akari is more than happy to see a movie, but when Akito says a scary movie, her face turns blue.


    “Do you not like scary movies, Akari?”


    “They aren’t my favorite…but if you like them…then…I could be convinced to”


    Akito blushes for a moment, then takes a deep breath.


    This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.


    I am about to tell probably the biggest lie I’ve told anyone before, so please forgive me.


    “Yes. I love horror movies” Akito proclaims, emanating all the false confidence a man could ask for.


    …


    They finish up eating and head over to the theatre, going to the ticket booth.


    “2 tickets for The Devastator, please” Akito politely asks the booth operator, who stands there in silence for a moment.


    “What, Isn’t a guy supposed to pay for things on the first date?” Akito follows up, the booth operator shrugging it off and letting Akito pay for 2 tickets, and they head into the theater.


    Their seats are in the upper-left of the theater, mostly obscured from the rest of the people in attendance. They take their seats, watching through previews when Akito hears some familiar voices.


    “...I think that you’d beat a bear in a fight before I could run 3 miles, Takuma”


    “That’s probably not true, Kenji. I wouldn’t fight the bear in the first place.”


    “Yeah, Takuma’s a total pacifist”


    Kenji, Takuma and Ryu enter the theater, popcorn in hand, followed by Umi, Fumiko, Miki and Rei.


    There’s no way…the same movie, AT THE SAME TIME!


    Akito begins to nervously sweat, taking deep breaths to calm himself. The lights dim, indicating the movie is about to begin, which works in Akito’s favor.


    ….


    About half of the movie passes, but Akito doesn’t realize this, as he’s been staring at his friends the entire time, trying to monitor them so they don’t look toward him and Akari.


    A loud scream from the movie is heard, followed by a SLASH.


    Akito leans back in his chair, setting his hand on the armrest, which ends up on top of Akari’s hand.


    Akito blushes, but looks over to see Akari watching the movie, her hand shaking in fear. As he’s about to pull away, she turns her hand and holds onto his, trying to calm herself.


    Akito faces the screen, trying to pretend his hand isn’t his hand, but rather a fake hand and is definitely not being held by Akari right now. Though his face is pointed at the screen his eyes and still fixated on Akari, but her’s are now closed from fear.


    She’s not lying about hating horror movies…so let me at least make up for my lie.


    Akito grabs her hand back, and her breathing steadies. Just as the audio quiets down for a moment, another scream is heard, which makes Akari hold onto Akito’s hand even harder.


    Akito smiles, looking back toward the screen, his mind now only focused on his hand, and his connection to Akari.


    Forgive me, Akari. I know this is what I’d planned would happen, but I tried to forget how it’d make you feel. Sorry, but allow me to keep being selfish, at least when it comes to you.


    Akito looks toward his friends, then we shift perspectives to the friends in the front.


    …


    Takuma takes a handful of popcorn out of his bucket, snacking while watching the movie. He reaches to grab another handful, but is shocked when there isn’t any left in his bag.


    “Aww man, I thought I had a bit more left” Takuma silently weeps, which Rei catches onto.


    Rei reaches her popcorn bag over, tapping Takuma’s hand with it, whispering “Feel free”.


    “For real?”


    “For real.”


    Takuma grabs a handful, finishing it in an instant. Silently Cheering at the flavor of the popcorn, which is no different from his own.


    “This tastes good!”


    “It’s just popcorn, the same as you got…”


    They both laugh at Takuma’s comment, and he reaches for another handful at the same time Rei does, with their hands making slight contact. Rei blushes at the contact, but Takuma is focused in on the movie, and eating the popcorn.


    Fumiko notices Rei and Takuma’s laughter, glances to the screen, then back at them.


    “I don’t understand them.” Fumiko coldly whispers


    “Understand who?” Kenji whispers back


    Fumiko discretely points to Takuma and Rei, still slightly giggling.


    “This is a scary movie. What is there to laugh at?”


    “Maybe they’re seeing something that the rest of us don’t” Kenji jokes back, still managing to keep the volume to a whisper.


    Kenji’s joking face turns to one of fake anger towards his friend, slightly waving his fist at them and whispering “Damn you Takuma! You better loop me in later!”


    Fumiko sees this, and lets out a half-hearted laugh, to Kenji’s surprise, which makes him smile.


    Fumiko observes Kenji’s smile, with a single passing thought, before they both resume watching the movie.


    …odd


    Ryu is sitting next to Kenji, and he’s staring intently at the screen. He reaches for his drink, not looking at which one he’s going in to grab. Miki sees Ryu’s hand reaching for a drink, but grabbing hers and not his own.


    Hey…wait that’s my drink! What are you planning on…?


    Ryu moves the drink closer to his mouth and takes a sip, to the shock of Miki. Ryu looks confused at the drink.


    Weird, this tastes a bit different.


    He looks to the cupholder, and sees his mistake, glancing over to Miki, whose face is red but is “watching” the movie. His face turns bright red, and tries to slide the drink back into her cupholder without her noticing.


    She must like this movie, with a face looking like that there’s no way


    As soon as Ryu places her cup back, she immediately grabs is and takes a sip, which stuns herself and Ryu, the 2 of them thinking the same thing:


    T-T-T-That’s an…I-I-I-INDIRECT KISS?!?


    Miki takes a big sip, her face still completely red at her own actions but refusing to stop. Ryu’s eyes are wide open, zoning out while facing the movie, taking in the fact that he and Miki just shared an indirect kiss.


    Umi just watches the movie with a blank expression, not really paying attention to what’s going on during the movie…or right next to her.


    If he’s not even here, why’d I even come?


    Umi, of course, if referring to Akito, unknown to her is actually in the same theater, watching the same movie.


    The movie finishes up, and the lights turn on, everyone but Akito and Akari getting up and stretching after sitting for so long.


    “That movie was something else, huh? It’s got a pretty similar story to other slashers, but it has its own kind of charm” Kenji critiques, most people taking it as sarcasm.


    “There''s a story…? I thought horror movies were for that ‘scare’ factor” Takuma replies, confused about a horror movie having a plot.


    “The killer was inefficient. He could’ve-”


    “I think you should end that sentence there.” Umi cuts off Fumiko, who was about to plan a theoretical murder.


    Akari is about to get up, but Akito puts a hand on her shoulder, indicating her to stay sitting with him for a moment, then indicating his friends in the front.


    “If they see us here, nothing good can come of this. For your sake, we’d better wait a bit” Akito whispers to Akari.


    She’s happy that Akito’s thinking of her, seeing as her face is bright red. They wait for ~5 minutes, and the theater is completely empty, which allows them to make their escape.


    They head into a hallway outside of the theater, then an exit at the end of that hallway. They leave the mall, the exit leading to the outside world, the setting sun reflecting off business building setting the scenery, the 2 of them taking in the beautiful view.


    Akari and Akito stand there in silence, Akari looking to the left as Akito looks to the right, their gazes meeting.


    “...so”


    “Did you have fun?” Akito skeptically asks


    “I never really liked horror movies…” Akari replies, to Akito''s slight disappointment.


    “...but with you..”


    “...I never wanted that movie to end.” Akari finishes her sentence, Akari’s face glimmering from the sun.


    Akito chuckles, then sets his bag on the ground. Akari smiles, then begins to speak again.


    “Thanks to you, I don’t have to wonder what a date could be like anymore” Akito blushes at this sentiment, and follows it up with his own.


    “I never could’ve guessed dates could be this…fun”


    He reaches out his hand, grabbing both of Akari’s hands with his, and he closes his eyes. The sun lowers to a point directly between them, each of their faces lit up from the descending sun.


    “I…”


    Akito opens his eyes, and the 2 of them look into each other’s eyes.


    “...might finally be starting to see the brighter side of things” Akito finishes, in a happy and warm tone.


    “I-”


    RIIIIIIIING


    Akari is about to say something, but is cut off by Akito’s phone ringing, he picks it out of his pocket, seeing that his brother, Shoya, is calling him.


    “Do you mind if I take this?”


    “Sure, go ahead”


    Akito takes a few steps away, answering the phone.


    “How’s the date going Aki?”


    “NOW’S NOT A GOOD TIME”


    “Oh, sorry. I’ll call back at-”


    Akito hangs the phone up, and walks back to Akari, setting his phone in his pocket.


    “Who was that?”


    “It was my brother. Just wondering where I was”


    They stand there for a moment in silence. Akari''s watch timer begins going off, and as she looks at it, her eyes widen and she realizes that her parents are supposed to be here now.


    “ Crap! Sorry, I lost track of time, I gotta go now!” Akari speedily replies, while turning to head to the front entrance.


    “I had fun today! So…let’s do this again sometime, alright?” Akari asks, just about to start leaving.


    Akari begins walking, and Akito stands there in silence still staring at his hands, the thoughts in his head clouding his vision, possibilities of a future, with Akari.


    He snaps back, and tries to reach out and grab her hand, but misses.


    I don’t understand myself, and these irrational impulses. What good would holding her hand do? My mind was so clear a moment ago, yet now it seems like I’d convinced myself to believe something that wouldn’t have made any difference. I felt like if I missed this chance to hold her…that she’d just disappear, and never come back. And now I don’t understand myself, let alone my actions.


    Akito picks the bag up from the ground, seeing a red tinge peeking from the top of the bag, and stuffs it back in without a second thought. He heads back into the theater absent-mindedly, still thinking about Akari. He heads through the hallway, then turns toward the main lobby. He starts paying attention to his surroundings, and focuses on a group of people in the lobby; his friends.


    If they notice me here, I’m surely done for!


    Akito runs toward the hallway he just came from, but Takuma spots him just as he turns the corner.


    The group still talks, but Takuma, usually loud and energetic, is now silent.


    Ryu and Kenji notice this, then Takuma runs in the direction he saw Akito in, screaming back to his friends.


    “I SAW HIM. HURRY UP”


    Kenji and Ryu have no idea what this means, but follow anyway. Left in confusion, Rei, Miki, and Fumiko chase after them, but at a slower pace, with Umi notably absent.


    Akito takes shelter in an empty theater, just below the window on the door. He hears footsteps running by, and all of their faces are seen passing by through the window. Akito passes this stealth-check, and exhales out of relief.


    He sneakily heads toward the lobby, looking over his shoulder the entire way to make sure they don’t spot him.


    He turns a corner, and begins walking a bit faster, not looking in front of him as he’s doing so.


    …


    A sink turns on, and a set of female hands wash up, then dry off with a paper towel. They open a door, then look toward where the group was just moments before, and an unknown voice lets out a sigh.


    Where’d they run off to now?


    The female takes a step outside the washroom, then turns to see Akito speed-walking toward her. Akito looks forward, but not in time. The 2 collide, both falling on the ground. Akito gets up and extends a hand to the girl, with glasses on them


    “Sorry about that! I should really look where I’m going. Are you okay?” Akito, the girl taking the glasses back reaching her hand out.


    What’s he doing here?


    Akito recognizes the girl, one he’d met before, but only briefly; Umi Nishikawa.