"Normal Dialogue"
Saiki Speaking Telepathically
"Character's Thoughts"
"Oh wow…"
That was all Kokomi heard repeatedly, as she made her way down the street through the seemingly ever present crowd whenever she was amongst the public. Kokomi wore a flowing white silk skirt with a pink, purple and blue floral design that ended right below her knees, a simple navy blue v-neck t-shirt that was tucked into the skirt, black kitten heels, completed with diamond stud earrings. She kept her head held high, shoulders back, and steps precise, making her over practiced stride give her the illusion of gracefully gliding. Her appearance, as always, was flawless.
However, tonight Kokomi actually put a little bit of effort with her outfit and skin care routine when getting ready. She may have looked perfect to anyone who laid eyes on her as she passed by, but this perfect pretty girl was not feeling as perfect on the inside as she looked on the outside. No normal person would be able to read what was really going on in that beautiful mind of Kokomi Teruhashi but behind that well-crafted facade, Kokomi was determined, and yet, overwhelmingly worried.
Earlier That Day
It was lunch time at PK Academy and the students were doing whatever they did at lunch on a Friday at school. Students were hanging out with their usual group of friends and talking about plans for the weekend. The main topic amongst the majority of these high schoolers was about going to see the latest horror movie in theatres. Kokomi's group was no exception.
Kokomi took a bite from her perfectly planned nutritionally balanced bento box as Chiyo Yumehara and Chisato Mera talked about, The Dark Disastrous Mind. Kokomi appeared to be fully invested in the conversation outwardly, yet was unsure about what to say, and focused on her lunch, while thinking of a new way to get closer to Kusuo Saiki and finally get an, 'Oh wow!' from him.
"I have an idea! Why don't we ask Nendo, Kaido, Kuboyasu, and Saiki to join us!", exclaimed Chiyo.
"Huh? What was that, Chiyo-chan?", asked Kokomi, snapping out of her thoughts once hearing her crush's name.
"We convince the guys from Nendo-kun's group to go to the movies with us later tonight. This will be the perfect opportunity to get closer to the guys we like. We might even be able to spend some time with them afterward too!", squealed Chiyo while giving a wink to Kokomi.
Kokomi shifted her gaze to where Saiki sat and saw that Nendou and Kaidou were standing in front of his desk, having one of their daily spats, as Saiki observed with his usual stoic face and Kuboyasu sat in the next desk over, throwing in a few of his own thoughts on the topic being argued about.
"That would be perfect! A date with Saiki-kun at the movies! Everyone else will be there but it'll be fun. This will give me a chance to get an 'Oh wow!' from him!"
Kokomi then saw that Saiki's shoulders tensed up a bit.
"He must be getting annoyed with Nendou's and Kaidou's usual antics. Hmm, might as well also calm them down with my presence. Heheh, You're welcome, Saiki-kun."
"Okay, let's do it!", replied Kokomi full of determination.
"We might need to be a bit quiet, as to not let the others know what we are planning and avoid people inviting themselves," whispered Chiyo, after motioning the other two girls closer.
"This will give me a chance to try movie theatre popcorn," Chisato muttered to herself, beginning to drool.
The three girls then got up and headed to where the boys were on the opposite side of the classroom. Kokomi smiled and greeted the other guys and girls in their class as they made their way towards Saiki's desk. They successfully got across the classroom without getting too much extra attention and without anyone tagging along to their destination.
"Alright God, I'm asking for your blessing and that I get a whole lot closer to Saiki-kun tonight.", prayed Kokomi in her head.
At that moment, a beam of light miraculously came down out of nowhere and laid upon Kokomi, almost like the heavens were giving her a big 'okay, you got it'.
Saiki's POV
"Good grief..."
Kusuo watched as the girls from their school trip group came up behind Nendou and Kaidou without being seen as the latter were too deep into their debate to pay any attention to their surroundings.
Today's argument was about where they were going to eat after school. Nendou was stuck on the group going to a ramen shop he heard about as he was walking to school that morning, while Kaidou, after going to so many hit-and-miss ramen shops because of Nendou's suggestions was honestly getting sick of having ramen all the time, and wanted to check out a new curry restaurant. The problem with his idea was that it's a bit farther away than usual. Kuboyasu seemed to be in more support of Kaidou's suggestion, as he too was getting a bit tired of ramen but didn't want to travel to nearly the other side of the city right after school.
"I, on the other hand, don't care where we go today, as long as I get to the grocery store afterward. The brand that I usually get my coffee jelly from created a new variety pack. There's supposed to be three new coffee jelly flavors: Mocha, Vietnamese Coffee, and Caramel Latte. I just need to make sure I get there before it closes at 9 pm. I had plenty of time before with just the guys' plan but with the plan, the girls' have floating around in their heads, I might be pushing it when it comes to time. Yeah, I was already listening in on their plan and focused in a bit more once Yumehara brought up my name."
"Usually, I wouldn't care to see a movie in theatres because of all the trouble it causes me and it's a very draining experience every time I go. However, now, I have my Germanium ring to block everyone else's thoughts and I'm actually curious about the storyline. 'The Disastrous Dark Mind', seems to be about an overpowered man with an array of different abilities, using them to get revenge, torturing people to get what he wants and ultimately goes on a downward spiral, killing anyone who looks at him sideways."
"Essentially, a movie about what it would look like if I didn't listen to my mom and turned to the dark side. If I don't see this movie tonight, I am only going to get a headache of spoilers tomorrow. A bonus is the movie is directed by one of my favorite up and coming directors. It's highly unlikely that this movie is going to turn into a big flop and I just might fall for a few jump scares."
Kuboyasu was the first out of the other three guys to see the girls approaching. "Oh, Teruhashi-san! Uh, I mean, hello ladies, what's up?"
"Hi, guys! Hi, Kaidou-kun.", Chiyo said ending her last sentence shyly.
"Oh Teruhashi-san!", screeched Nendou and Kaidou as they nearly jumped out of their skins and quickly turned towards to the girls, putting on masks of cool, surprised they didn't see the school's angel head their way.
Yumehara rolled her eyes and gave a sigh. Stepping forward, she began to tell the boys their idea of going to the movies and maybe hanging out afterward to probably get some dinner. As the guys agreed and roped Kusuo in without asking, they started going over the details of what showing to go to and where they could go eat. After about 15 minutes of talking and looking up information with their phones, they chose a showing at 5 pm, and with the new curry restaurant just down the street from the theatre, that would be where they would have dinner. They asked Hairo who happened to walk into the classroom for a moment if he wanted to join them, but he had Tennis Club after school but would try and meet them at the curry restaurant for dinner. He also had heard about the restaurant and had been wanting to check it out.
"Hmm, this can work. The movie is about two hours long and that's with the previews in mind. We'll probably spend an hour getting dinner and the walk back home is about half an hour. I won't have time to stop by the store on the way home after school because it's a bit out of the way but I still have time to stop by after everything tonight with just a bit of time to spare. If this goes well, I'll get to the store at around 8:30 pm. If I need to, I'll just teleport near the store and still be able to get it before it closes.
After planning out the night, the girls said their goodbyes to the guys and started to head for their seats to finish their lunches. Teruhashi, Yumehara, and Mera were in high spirits the whole time talking out the details for their outing, while each had their own fantasies playing out in the heads of how tonight could possibly pan out.
Mera pictured herself gorging on popcorn, candy, and soda and then eating an insane amount of curry during dinner. Yumehara imagined herself sitting next to Kaido and grabbing on to him whenever a scary part would pop up on the screen, while a fantasy Kaido held her in his arms on his lap, watching the movie like it was no big deal and comforting her everytime a scene was scary or gory.
Teruhashi's fantasy was a little confusing to Kusuo though. Teruhashi imagined herself next to him while having her arm looped through his arm, holding his hand and having her head resting on his shoulder while some kind of cliche romantic scene played out on the screen.
Kusuo sighed. "Teruhashi is God's favorite, I wouldn't be surprised if through divine intervention she ends up at least sitting next to me most of tonight, but I wouldn't bet that we'll end up closer than that. Also, I doubt there are going to be any scenes like that in this movie. Does she not know what kind of movie we are going to see?"
Kusuo watched unnoticed as the bluenette was putting away her now empty bento box and bidding 'see you laters' to Yumehara and Mera. Probably going on her daily stroll through the school to make appearances and grace her admirers with her presence before lunch was over. As she strutted to the classroom door, Teruhashi froze just long enough for only him to notice and then continued walking a tad slower than before.
"Wait, what movie did we agree to see? Don't tell me it's that new scary movie everyone is talking about." Teruhashi began to panic in her head as she controlled her outward facial expressions. "I can't handle horror or over the top violent movies. Not even a little. I was so caught up my thoughts at this opportunity to be with Saiki-kun, I totally missed the name of the movie. What have I gotten myself into?!"
Kusuo watched as Teruhashi made her way out the classroom into the hallway. "Well, tonight is going to be interesting…"
Back To The Present (Kokomi's POV)
"Ugh, I blame my stupid big brother, for how I am when it comes to scary movies. Before Makoto was an actor, I was too young to watch those kinds of movies but now that I'm old enough, he makes such a big deal if I try to watch any movie that he's not starring in out of fear that I might like another actor and think they are more handsome.",thought Kokomi. "Makoto has never starred in a horror movie before, and because of that, I haven't been exposed to those kinds of things. I even tried to watch one not too long ago but couldn't get past the first ten minutes."
Kokomi let out a sigh and took a look at her surroundings. The crowd around her was starting to become bigger. The crowd mainly consisted of teenage boys and young adult men but there was a sprinkle of women of all ages throughout it.
"Okay, I'm about five minutes away from the theatre. I think this would be a good time to try and lose this crowd and put on my disguise. It can't completely cover up my gorgeous looks. Heh, like that's not even possible. But I can try to appear normal and not standout too much."
Kokomi headed into a department store and made random paths throughout the store to shake off some of the people who followed her inside. Once she felt like she was alone, Kokomi headed to the children's department and found an aisle no one was in.
She quickly tied her hair into a low bun, placed a normal medical mask over her mouth, sported rose-tinted sunglasses and put on a blue zip-up hoodie. All these things came from her tote bag she was carrying, just in case, she needed it.
Kokomi checked around her, quickly composed herself, and traveled through the store toward the main exit as quickly as she could without grabbing any shopper's attention.
"Last time I was at the movies, I ran into Saiki-kun and ruined everything because of Makoto. I want to make sure there isn't an uproar this time, to make it up to him. I'm so glad Makoto is in Hokkaido filming for a variety show for the next few days or he would probably have stalked me like usual and cause another disaster."
Kokomi made it outside without any incident.
"Alright, now I just need to get to the movie theatre, hopefully with only two or three people noticing me, preferably no one at all, without creating another crowd like earlier."
As the theatre came into view, Kokomi saw that the line for buying tickets was not as long as she thought it was going to be.
"Okay, so far so good. I caught the attention of a few people but no one has followed me yet. Just need to get through that line and meet everyone inside."
Luckily going through the line wasn't a big deal either. There were a couple of guys that did double takes at her but were then distracted by a friend they were with and went inside.
"I didn't realize it was so hard trying to not get any attention. Hmm, what a bother sometimes. I guess it's the cost of being so stunning.", Kokomi giggled to herself.
Kokomi finally made it inside, with an extra ten minutes to spare before they're agreed meeting time. No one from the group was here yet. This gave her the chance to quickly head to the bathroom, take off her disguise and do any needed touch ups, though that was unlikely.
Five minutes later, Kokomi came back out of the bathroom to see that Kaidou, Kuboyasu, and Mera were at the meet-up spot chatting. Automatically, she started to hear the "oh wows" all around her and the staring begin but people continued walking by to go see their movies."
As Kokomi got closer, she observed that Kaidou-kun was shaking a bit and seemed pretty worried about the movie as he was making a weird face of something between anxious and brave.
"At least, I'm not the only one who's nervous about the movie…"
"Hi, everyone!", called Kokomi as she walked over.
"Oh, Teruhashi-san!", the guys shouted in surprise.
"Hi, Teruhashi-chan!", Mera replied back, but then looked at her wallet depressed.
"Mera-chan probably only had enough money for the ticket and for dinner. She was so excited about the popcorn earlier at school…"
"Hey, Mera-chan, can you come with me for a second?", asked Kokomi.
They went through the concession line and Kokomi bought a large popcorn, a box of candy and a drink just for Mera and a medium popcorn for herself. She was given an incredible discount, with no surprise. As they left the cashier, Mera looked like she was in heaven and super excited to devour all of her snacks. As they came back to the meeting spot, the rest of the group had arrived and were waiting for them.
Kokomi' s eyes went straight to Saiki and stayed there. All of her surroundings seemed to fade away, while all of her worries and fears seemed to be replaced by a light feeling of joy and relief.
In the back of her head, Kokomi thought that Saiki would back out at some point, but there he was. She felt like she was floating in a sea of pure warmth and she could see all of her daydreams begin to rush back into her head as she looked upon the subject of all of them. The effort to escape the crowds and hide was all worth it because now she had the chance to be here with him.
Kokomi stopped next to Chiyo-chan, and greeted her friend while her eyes never left Saiki-kun. Saiki's face, like always, held no particular expression on it and he wore a simple outfit with jeans, black converse, a plain red t shirt, a black bomber jacket along with his usual green tinted glasses and antenna hair clips. However, Kokomi could not help but check him out and have her breath taken away by seeing him in normal clothes other than his school uniform.
Maybe to other people, Saiki-kun seemed plain and ordinary but to her, he was the most mysterious and interesting guy she had ever met. She'd only seen a reaction from him a few times but that was usually when it came to dealing with Nendo, and sometimes Hairo and that medium guy from class 2. Even then he seemed to be only slightly annoyed, amused or caught off guard. Let's not forget he only seemed to be completely content when he was eating sweets.
"Awww, whenever I get the chance to eat sweets with Saiki-kun, I have such a strong urge to just hug him and simultaneously melt on the inside when he makes that adorable face, especially while he's eating coffee jelly. I feel like swooning just thinking about that expression he makes. If only I can get a reaction like that out of him towards me."
" He's one of the few people in this world that my looks have no effect on and can't get a reaction from no matter what I do. I could do more to try and get a reaction from him but I have my own image to keep up and I don't want him to end up hating me. Somehow all of that makes him so attractive and if you really look closely, with a little help, he could pass as one of the best looking guys in our grade. It just seems like he really tries to make himself look as plain as possible. He gives me such a challenge. If only I knew what he thought about me."
"Hey little buddy, I see that your shaking. Can't handle scary movies?", teased Nendou, putting his weight on Kaido's shoulder while peering down at him.
This snapped her out of her thoughts and look at the rest of the group. The joy she felt earlier, felt like it was being sucked away and swallowed up by anxiety and fear. Kokomi gulped and focused on composing herself.
"Shut up! I'm not scared you, Idiot," retaliated Kaidou. He then processed to speak some kind of nonsense about Dark Reunion and their plot to take over the general public.
"Yeah, yeah. Whatever you say, Runt." Nendo said, cutting him off. "Let's see how you are after the movie. I bet you're going to wet your pants." He then began to laugh.
"Now that we're all here, we should probably head inside and get some good seats before the movie starts," Kuboyasu spoke up.
The group began to head to the theatre room that their movie was going to play. They made sure they were early to their showing since the movie seemed like it was a big deal and it was probably going to get crowded soon.
They got a row with enough seats for everyone in the middle of the theatre that was not too high or low. With a short prayer and determination, Kokomi snagged a seat between Chiyo-chan and Saiki-kun without trying to be obvious. The seating order ended up being Mera, Kuboyasu, Kaidou, Chiyo-chan, herself, Saiki and then Nendou.
Once everyone claimed their seat, having 20 minutes before the previews started, people went to go get snacks, use the restroom or get comfortable and chat to the people beside them.
Kokomi, with a wink, ended up giving her popcorn to Chiyo-chan to share with Kaidou. She was starting to get so nervous that she didn't think she would be able to stomach it. Someone should at least enjoy it and it gave an opportunity to have Chiyo-chan to interact with her crush.
Kokomi decided to stay in her seat and continue to try and calm herself down. Fiddling with her fingers and glancing at Saiki every minute helped a little. Saiki seemed to be listening to Nendou, as he was giving him a detailed description of another movie he had watched last time he went to a movie theatre, but he kept his gaze facing forward and nodded every once in a while. When she glanced to her other side, Chiyo was making an effort to have a conversation with Kaidou. Not wanting to interrupt the people on both sides of her to help distract her, she stuck to herself.
"Okay, I have to stay calm during these next two hours. As a perfect pretty girl, I need to put on a brave face. My appearance must be kept flawless at all times. I must look calm and unbothered. Although everyone will be focused on the movie, I can't leave a chance of someone glancing at me and I not look perfect. It'll be ok to jump and react but not too over the top, there has to be a balance to all of this. If it gets too hard I can grab onto Chiyo-chan, not look at the screen or just think about Saiki and ignore the movie altogether. But wait, I still got to know what is happening in the movie, everyone is definitely going to talk about it over dinner. I'll have to watch at least some of it no matter how hard it gets. Maybe I'm overthinking it and it won't be that bad. Yeah, I can do this. I'm Kokomi Teruhashi!"
Twenty minutes passed by and everyone was back at their seats in time for the previews, while last minute stragglers walked into the theatre to find seats. Kokomi felt uncomfortable as the previews started to play. She felt like she was holding her breath for each preview. Most of them were for upcoming horror films and each one seemed scarier than the previous one.
"You can do this, you can do this. It's not that bad.", Kokomi repeated in her head.
Kokomi saw something glisten from the limited light coming from the screen in the corner of her eye and looked down to the side. It was Saiki's ring, but it was sitting in the palm of his hand rather than on one of his fingers. He had been taking it off and putting it back on several times before now.
"Is he nervous or is it uncomfortable for him to wear? I wonder if it's for fashion or if it means something." A small pang of jealousy struck her. "I can't assume anything. I'll ask him about it later. Huh. I must really do like Saiki-kun and surprisingly I think I'm ok with that. I've never felt jealousy like this for anyone before."
The theatre was then completely silent before a creepy music box melody filled the air. The movie was finally starting.
"Thinking about his ring distracted me long enough to get through the rest of the previews. Yeah, I can do this. It's not going to be too bad."
Nope. It was so much worse than she imagined.
The movie started out light hearted and ok, as they introduced the character and set the story up. The character had many different powers and was having fun with them. There were even moments that had her giggle, like when the main character pulled a seemingly harmless prank on another character. However, the story took a turn once they realized how powerful they were and they used them on someone who wronged them.
At first, it was just scratches, moving objects, whispers and some minor jump scares. However, as the story moved on, gore started to become more and more prevalent. The main character put images in other characters' heads to torment them, making them see silhouettes and faces that weren't there. He made them believe someone was chasing them with foaming mouths, broken nails and gnashing teeth just for him to swoop in for the real kill. He made minor characters murder others. It was all becoming too much and it was only going to get worse.
During the scenes, with the minor jump scares, Kokomi would prepare herself with covering her ears and watching the screen when she felt a jump scare coming. But when the details of bleeding and characters screaming intensified she couldn't help but keep her hands over her ears and squeeze her eyes shut.
"Breathe. Breathe. Everything is ok. Nothing is going to hurt you."
Kokomi had wanted to grab onto Chiyo earlier in the movie but her friend had her back to her and was grabbing onto Kaidou's jacket, and hiding her face into it when something popped onto the screen. Glancing in her friends' direction and what she could see with the limited light, Kokomi couldn't tell if Chiyo was really scared but it seemed like her moment with sitting close to Kaidou was not wasted. Kaidou's face had a mix of flustered and terrified as he kept his eyes on the movie screen but he had his left arm around Chiyo's shoulders rubbing her left arm to calm her down. Act or not, Chiyo-chan seemed to be somewhat distracting Kaidou and in turn, kept him calm.
"I have to watch the movie. Everyone is going to talk about it later and I know they're going to want to know my thoughts. Come on Kokomi. It's easy you just have to look and not turn away."
Kokomi slowly uncovered her ears, placed them in her lap slowly and clasped them together tightly. She was greeted with complete silence. She fixed her posture and slowly opened her eyes.
Big Mistake.
There on the screen, was a long brightly lit hallway where a lone figure looked down the ground just standing there. It was completely still as only it's head slowly, like a string puppet, jerkingly lifted its head. When its head was finally lifted it was a thing of nightmares. It had the face of a man with bugged out eyes, blood oozing from the eyes like pus, an impossibly big smile with broken teeth and black ink drooling out collecting onto his chin. Whispers began to fill the room increasingly getting louder until they became shouts, sobs and gagging until they became full on screams. The lights in the hall began to flicker while some shut off, leaving dark patches and shadows. The figure began to walk closer to the screen as it picked up its pace and began to run. As the figure got closer the details of the grotesque looking character were becoming clearer. A knife could be seen in each hand, dripping with blood looking like it was coming towards the audience ready to strike.
Kokomi was unable to tear her eyes from the scene.
She wanted to run but she couldn't do that without bothering the other guests. Whether she cared or not she was in the very center of the theatre and trapped in her seat. Her body was paralyzed, refusing to listen to her to look away.
"Why? Why am I here…?." Kokomi let out a soft whimper.
Before she let her thoughts go any farther, she stopped and attempted to steel herself against the horrible image playing out before her.
"No! I finally have actual friends. People I can really hang out and have fun with. They're an interesting group of people but I have a great time whenever I'm with them and definitely make a new memory every time. I refuse to regret this time spent with them. Plus, I really want to get closer to Saiki-kun."
The figure was getting closer. Swinging its arms lazily. Opening its mouth, it let out a cackling that sounded like a demon from Hell as it picked up speed, rushing towards the audience.
The hair on the back of her neck bristled. A cold sweat formed on her brow. She wanted to scream, but there was no air in her lungs, not even enough for a gasp. Her throat was tightening like someone was choking her. She felt like she was suffocating. Her lungs begged for oxygen. Fear filled her veins like ice. Nausea and lightheadedness crept in close behind. Darkness began to fade into her vision.
Look away! Air! I need to breathe! Breathe! Breathe!
"Please." Tears began to fill her unblinking eyes. "Please, someone."
A tear spilled out and slowly ran down her cheek. "Someone. Someone...help me."
Kusuo lifted the armrest between him and Teruhashi, shifted his body to face her, reached across with his left hand to cup her right cheek and gently nudged her face to pull her gaze from the screen to look at him.
Breathe Teruhashi.
Kokomi quietly sucked in air, filling her burning lungs and finally after what felt like an eternity, shakingly exhaled. She blinked, focusing on Saiki-kun's face, as more tears fell down her cheeks.
Good. Keep breathing. Inhale and exhale.
Kokomi followed his instructions, as she felt his other hand cup her other cheek and wiped away the falling tears. He ignored the movie and made sure their gaze was connected.
He knew based off of the music, sound effects and his knowledge about the director's style, that the scene was only at the beginning stages and was going to get crazier when the figure reached its destination.
A crash rung throughout the room and the music heightened in intensity. Kokomi flinched. No doubt must have been a jump scare as gasps and a few screams could be heard from other audience members.
She couldn't stop her eyes from glancing toward the screen, but when she looked, a palm was in the way, obstructing her view.
Kusuo cleared his throat loud enough for only her to hear and put a bit of pressure in her cheek to bring her attention back to him. He could feel her trembling under his fingers. She appeared to not have full control of her body yet and was unsure of what to do.
Carefully without moving his left hand to block the screen from her gaze, he used his right hand to reach for her hands that were still tightly clasped in her lap and laid his's on top of her's.
Kokomi relaxed just enough to create a gap in between her hands, which he took advantage of to gently separate them.
Keep your eyes on me. Don't look at the screen yet.
Kokomi slightly nodded, as he slowly moved his left hand down to hers, ready to block her view again if he needed to.
When his left hand joined hers in her lap, he lifted her hands one at a time and placed them on his right arm. He did all of this without his eyes leaving her's.
Now you can use my arm or jacket to block the screen if the movie seems like too much for you to handle. You can squeeze my arm as hard as you need to. Don't worry, you won't hurt me. Are you feeling better? Do you need to get some air?
Kokomi continued to look at him but her fear was replaced with astonishment. Flustered and embarrassed she looked down at her hands on his arm and quickly nodded and then shook her head, answering both of his questions.
There's probably another hour of this. Hang in there, it'll be over soon.
Kokomi felt relief wash over her. It felt nice to have someone to grab onto and rely on and it being Saiki-kun on top of that, she felt butterflies stir in her stomach. She gave him a nod.
Exhausted and still frazzled, she moved her body towards his direction, just as he felt him adjust back into his seat. With the armrest out of the way, she was able to move closer and wrap her arms tightly around his right one. With some hesitation, Kokomi rested her forehead on his shoulder and closed her eyes. She could still hear the movie in the background but she kept her focus on Saiki and how lucky she was to be this close to him.
"World War III could start right here in this theatre, for all I care. No one is going to take this moment from me. I don't care what anyone says." Her body finally relaxed.
Saiki's POV
"Since I got to the theatre, I've been taking my ring on and off, just to check on everyone. I didn't want to have an incident on my hands that would take more time than necessary and prevent me from getting my variety coffee jelly pack."
"It seemed like the main two people who might a situation were Kaidou and Teruhashi. Kaidou because he gets scared easily and was most likely to cause a scene and Teruhashi because she attracts people in general and she seemed the most worried out of everyone. If she faints watching this movie and doesn't come to by the end, the whole theatre might go into an uproar."
"The rest of the group, I'm not really worried about. Kobuyasu is a former deliquent and doesn't scare easily. If anything he's probably seen scarier things in real life. He's been watching the movie mostly unbothered, taking it like a champ. Yumehara is a bit jumpy but that's about it. She's actually taking advantage of the movie to hold onto Kaidou. Nendou only made it through the first thirty minutes of the movie before he fainted. I was concerned at first and kept tabs on him but he's been coming to about every 15 completely fine before fainting again. You would think him fainting so much would damage his brain somehow but no worries, once the movie is over, I'll just rewind time on him. Mera hasn't been paying much attention to the movie at all. Her thoughts are mainly on the snacks Teruhashi bought for her earlier and what kind of curry she wants to eat at dinner."
"Kaidou hasn't been able to fully watch the movie because he's freaking out about a girl clinging onto him and he's not sure on what to do, which left Teruhashi to be my main focus."
"I've been watching the movie the whole time but I've been keeping an eye on Teruhashi in my peripheral vision. Her prayer to God to sit next to me may have helped but I made sure to take a seat next to her. There have been a few moments that even made me a bit uncomfortable. During those unnerving scenes, I've been taking off my ring, try to block everyone else's thoughts and just focus on Teruhashi's."
"During the hallway scene, I noticed she became incredibly still, almost like a statue. I quickly took off my ring and glove, placed my hand on her shoulder lightly and zoned entirely onto her."
"All of her thoughts and everything she was feeling became overwhelming unbearable. Everything she had going through her head made what was going on the screen ten times worse. She had been in such deep shock that she didn't feel my hand on her shoulder or noticed when I waved my hand in front of her face."
"I tried to think about which power to use on her to get her out of her trance without causing more of a problem but I had nothing. I knew I had to be quick before she fainted. I nearly groaned in frustration and almost became desperate, when she literally cried for help in her thoughts."
"That's when I decided the best course of action was no powers and trying to reign my strength as much as possible, as not to hurt her and be gentle. Once I made up my mind, I snapped into action."
"When I moved her face towards me, I had to admit, my heart broke a little. I had never, in my life, seen anyone more terrified than she did at that moment. All the acts of kindness she had done all night came rushing back to me. "
"She helped Mera and Yumehara, just because she wanted to. Also based off of her thoughts earlier, she made an effort not to grab too much attention because she wanted to make it up to me and make sure I felt comfortable."
"Though she's arrogant and a little too aware of her beauty, she has her moments of loyalty and kindness to others, especially her friends. Her determination, in general, is quite admirable too."
"It would be too much of a jerk move to not help calm her down. I guided her back to steadily breathing again and kept her attention off the screen. That's when her fantasy during lunch came to mind. After all, she had been through till that moment, I caved. She deserved it. I helped place her hands on my arm but it was up to her if she wanted to do anything about it or let go."
Kusuo adjusted himself back into his seat, facing the screen once again. At the same time, he felt Teruhashi scoot closer and tighten her grip on his arm.
"You win this round, Teruhashi." Peering down to his right side, he watched as she placed her forehead on his shoulder and felt her finally relax. "At least she didn't go as far as trying to hold my hand, even though this once, I don't think I would stop her."
Kusuo let out a breath that he didn't know he was holding and relaxed as well.
If you looked closely you could see just a ghost of a smile on his face.
Kokomi POV
'That sure didn't feel like an hour,' pouted Kokomi disappointedly, as she watched the end credits begin to scroll up the screen.
The past hour, Kokomi was in pure bliss. She had finally lived out one of her fantasies and it was amazing. Sure it would have been better with some kind of romance movie instead. However, even though she had been petrified majority of the time, it was somehow worth it to see Saiki's cool and caring side. He practically saved her and she ended up really close to him.
For the rest of the movie, since she held his arm, Kokomi tried to watch the movie. There were moments when there was just dialogue and she could handle that but when there wasn't, she would press her face into Saiki's shoulder and squeeze her eyes shut until a disturbing part was over or peek over his jacket sleeve, that she used as a shield several times, ready for a jump scare.
Every once in a while she would glance at his face to see how he was reacting but every time she looked, he had his usual bored looking face. He never flinched, gasped or made any faces. He just watched the movie looking completely unbothered.
There were a few times he would to look to his side and seem to shift out of discomfort but she soon found out that he was turning to peer at Nendou, who would stir a bit before becoming uncharacteristically still and quiet. She had been tempted to see how he was handling the movie but could not bring herself to look just incase a scary scene popped up.
Kokomi let out a sad sigh. Quickly she removed herself from Saiki's arm, adjusted herself in her seat and put the armrest back down between her and Saiki, covering up any evidence of her ever clinging to him. Clasping her hands in her lap once again, and taking a calm breath, she turned to her right just in time to see Chiyo-chan unlatch from Kaidou and turned towards her.
Chiyo wore a huge grin as her face that read total victory and she gave Kokomi a thumbs up and a wink. The whole group except Nendou began to shift and stand up ready to head out of the theatre. People around them began to stand as well, stretching and nervously chuckling to whoever they were sitting by. Chiyo turned back to Kaidou to say something to him giving Kokomi a chance to let her face fall a bit.
Kokomi looked down the row to see if people were moving to get out. The music from the end credits filled the room and people slowly filed out of the rows to join the group of people slowly descending down the stairs to the entrance. She was starting to feel impatient.
"Ugh, this music is so creepy. I just want to get out of here and have nothing to do with this movie ever again."
As the people in their row were finally moving, the music faded out as something began to move on the screen. Kokomi knew exactly what that meant.
"Ah, they added an end credit scene right when they knew people would have their guard down and be leaving. Will this movie never end?!"
Not putting any thought into her actions and refusing to look at the screen, Kokomi turned around, pressed herself into Saiki's front, wrapped her arms around his torso, buried her face into his chest and squeezed her eyes shut. Right away she felt a hand press into the middle of her back and begin to rub her in a soothing manner.
Kokomi heard new music begin to play and what sounded like someone crying come from the speakers. The music abruptly stopped and was replaced by real screams, curses, and gasps from people who were still in the theatre and stopped to watch the extra scene. She gritted her teeth tightly together until it started to hurt, waiting for it all to end.
After what felt like forever but was really two minutes it finally ended and the end credits continued to play again. Half of the people trying to leave the theatre stopped trying to leave and moved to the first two rows to see if there would be another scene after the credits, while the other half sped up their pace to get out.
It's over. It's not this director's style to have another one after that. Besides this isn't some Marvel movie.
Kokomi still trembling from being caught off guard, looked up at him meeting his gaze as he looked back down at her. Their faces were so close that all she had to do was lean up on her toes and their lips would meet.
Embarrassed by her own thoughts, she quickly let go and staggered a few steps back from him.
"It's ok. He has no clue I thought that just now. I can't believe I considered stealing a kiss from him. As a perfect pretty girl, I can't have my first kiss in a common movie theatre. It has to have flare and be romantic."
With her face becoming hot and turning the color of a tomato, she quickly nodded her thanks to him.
He tilted his head to the side, having a subtle expression of confused and astonished, before turning it upright again and nodding back. He then turned his back to her and nudged Nedou who was still in his seat.
Kokomi put her hands on both sides of her face screaming internally before trying to calm down. Chiyo and the others began to move down the row making their way out.
"Ah, thank God. I'm so done with this theatre. I'm ready to eat."
Kokomi took one more glance back at Saiki before blushing and letting a small smile form on her lips.
"I guess it could have been so much worse," thought Kokomi, full of relief as she was finally walking through the exit.
A/N: Thank you so much for reading this, I really do appreciate it.
So, I have several more chapters planned out to add onto this story and therefore going to leave it as ongoing. However, I do get really busy and may not have time to add more. With that being said, each time I add a chapter it can be considered its own stand-alone story with no cliffhanger but I'm leaving room for the story to be continued. This takes pressure off of me from feeling guilty if I do end up stopping and it doesn't leave you, the reader, unsatisfied if I do suddenly stop. I have to clarify this because of the pressure placed on me for not finishing another story of mine in another fandom. Every chapter I put up from here on out will be in chronological order and progressing from the previous chapter but will have a drabble kind of sense to it.
I'm mainly writing this story to practice my creative writing skills, which have been lacking within the past few years as I am a science major in college and type more factual papers rather than things where I can use my imagination. I'm also hoping this will help with my verbal communication and storytelling. So I'll be trying out some different descriptive writing in the next chapters.
Another reason I'm writing this is that I like the art in this fandom, mostly from an artist named Raqquo (I think). They also write short stories for this fandom that I can't get enough of and was inspired by. I thought I could add something maybe others will enjoy since it seems like there still isn't much out there yet.
That's it for now. Until next time!
