Haruka grabbed the back of his collar and dragged him straight toward the Titanic theater. She pulled so hard that his shoes left two long streaks across the floor.
Ryunosuke thought to himself with quiet resignation: (Do all women have this much physical strength? I could understand it from Kamuro, but why are you like this too?)
In the end he surrendered, allowing himself to be hauled along with the hollow expression of a man whose soul had already departed his body.
Inside the theater, Ryunosuke sat holding two boxes of popcorn with zero enthusiasm.
Titanic. Really.
Only someone with questionable taste would choose this over Godzilla.
Since this was the school cinema, it was nearly empty, maybe six people scattered around. The room felt enormous. Even if a couple were doing something they shouldn't be, no one else would notice.
Ryunosuke glanced sideways, caught a couple making out aggressively nearby, and looked away with mild disgust. The seats here were different from a regular cinema; rather than individual chairs with armrests between them, they were joined together and could recline all the way down, not unlike a bed.
Haruka had her arm wrapped firmly around his and was eating popcorn from his box. Then a mischievous thought crossed her face, and she laid herself across his lap and tilted her head up to look at him.
Her lips curved into a smile that could have stolen the soul clean out of a person. The beauty mark beside her lip made the whole effect considerably more dangerous.
"Hey, Ryuu-chan, could you pat my head?" she said in a deliberately coaxing voice.
Before he could answer, she took his hand and placed it on top of her own head herself.
Ryunosuke looked around with a frown and dropped his voice very low. "Stop it. Someone will see."
Haruka didn't care. "So what? We're a couple now, aren't we? What's wrong with being a little affectionate?"
"We haven't even made it official yet." He said, pained.
"Does that really matter?" she replied.
"Yes, it does." He said helplessly.
Seeing he wasn't going to comply on his own, Haruka changed tactics. She sat up from his lap, draped her arms around his neck, and breathed warm air against his ear with a wicked little smile.
"Haruka is a bad girl, you know."
"If you won't pat my head, I'll scream. You don't want to cause a scene, do you?"
"Tch." He hadn't expected her to be this skilled at playing with someone's nerves. Cornered by the threat, and honestly not entirely opposed to it, he gave in and did what she asked.
Having gotten her way, Haruka settled back into his lap contentedly, enjoying the slow, steady movement of his hand through her hair. Her blue hair was exactly as smooth as silk.
Perhaps from having spent so much time around attractive girls lately, Ryunosuke managed to keep his internal reaction contained and didn't show anything on his face.
"Haaah." Haruka sighed. Seeing that her usual tricks weren't quite landing the way she'd hoped, she felt puzzled, then quickly understood why.
Both Airi and Arisu, the girls rumored to be with him, were beautiful in their own right. Ordinary tactics were never going to be enough.
(I'm going to need a different approach to win Akasaka Ryunosuke's heart.)
As though he had read exactly what she was thinking, Ryunosuke said in a flat voice, "Just be yourself."
Haruka paused, not having expected that at all. Then, slowly, she felt something settle inside her.
He was right. She only needed to be herself. She turned to face the screen, and for the rest of the film she stayed close to his side, comfortable and easy, as naturally as if they had always been this way.
"Where should we go after this? Karaoke?"
"Wherever you want." He said without much care. He had no particular plans and, honestly, limited experience with dates.
"Understood. Let's go then."
◆━⊰✿✧✿⊱━◆
After the film they went to karaoke. For most of the session Ryunosuke was the one singing, while Haruka listened. Every single song he picked was an anime theme, which revealed rather plainly that he was an enthusiast of the genre. In his previous life, ninety-nine point nine percent of his playlist had been anime music. The rest was coincidence.
Haruka rested her chin in both hands and kept him company with patient contentment. Before either of them realized it, the time was up. Ryunosuke felt a small pang of disappointment, not quite satisfied.
Haruka offered to extend the session, but he declined. It was already very late. He said he would walk her back.
Under the steady glow of the street lamps, they walked side by side. Ryunosuke finally decided to say what was on his mind. "There are already five women in my life right now. Think it over carefully before you decide anything."
He wanted to be honest first. If she couldn't accept the situation, it was better to let her go than to start something on a false foundation. That wouldn't have been fair to her.
Haruka stopped walking. "So that's why Airi was okay with me going after you. I see how it is now."
She was quiet for a moment. "It sounds like both Airi and I have quite a few rivals. Who are they?"
Ryunosuke told her honestly. "Morishita Ai from Class B. Sakayanagi Arisu from Class B. Sakura Airi and Kato Megumi from Class C. And Shiina Hiyori from Class D."
He had said everything there was to say. All that was left was her answer. But Haruka simply walked ahead of him at a leisurely pace and waved for him to follow. "Walk me home first. Once we're there, I'll give you my answer."
After walking her to the entrance of the girls' dormitory, they stood in silence for a while.
Haruka took a slow breath and said, "Do you want to come in for a bit?"
In the middle of the night, into the girls' dormitory. The invitation was perfectly clear. She had also made a small stop along the way back to pick something up. If he walked through that door, something would happen.
But Ryunosuke knew that if it came to that now, whatever was between them wouldn't be love anymore. It would tip into something else entirely, and he didn't want that for her.
"I'll head back." He said, and turned to leave.
Haruka let out a quiet breath of relief. He hadn't taken advantage of the opening, and that made her glad. She had made up her mind.
Before he could get too far, she called out, "Wait! I have something for you!"
When he turned around, Haruka rose onto her toes, pressed a brief, light kiss to his lips, then stepped back quickly. "There. That's my answer. I like you. And neither Airi nor I are going to lose to anyone."
Standing with her hands folded behind her back, she delivered her confession with a smile, honest and sweet and entirely her own.
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