Extra info note: Yes, this is written in the style used in the English version of the anime. I don't use this style too often, but somehow I thought it fit with the storyline and sometimes I like using a style that most people don't use. Just to clear that up.
"C'mon, Ayumu! Thanks to you, we're already late!" her voice sounded like an alarm clock that didn't have a 'snooze' button.
He had no idea why he was here. Maybe he had finally gotten bored enough to let Hiyono Yuizaki drag him to the movie theater. For the last half an hour, she had been harping at him about being late. It wasn't his fault that she had decided last minute to drag him to a movie so early in the morning. His eyes drooped lazily. It was way too early for this. He severely regretted not throwing her out of his house when she dropped by that morning. Six o'clock and the hyper culinary-vacuum cleaner had barged into his room with a voice that sounded(to him) like a fog-horn in the middle of the night. If it weren't for the small package of 115 pounds landing on his back and tickling him until he began coughing from laughing too much, he would never have left the comfort of his bed.
"Ayumu! Hurry up!" her voice abruptly interrupted his daydreaming about Dreamland. A restrained sigh escaped his lips as he shoved his hands in his pockets and followed her to the concession stands. He automatically knew this could take a while.
She leaned eagerly over the counter and stared at the menu, reading over every edible possibility. He approached her and tilted his head to catch her eye, raising his eyebrow, "Do you have enough money for any of this?"
Hiyono froze as she had opened her mouth to order. Her eager smile faded and she slowly turned to look at her friend's skeptical face. She broke out in a wide innocent grin and glittering eyes. It didn't take him long at all to figure out what that meant. He sighed heavily and muttered something about gluttony being her best friend and shame in any form being her arch-enemy. She huffed, crossing her arms and waiting for him to offer to pay for her food. Finally he dug a small wad of cash out of his jean jacket pocket and held it out to her, fully aware that she would probably start making a scene if he didn't get any food for her. He knew that she'd done that before. If she knew he could afford it and there was a slight possibility he would cave in, she would definitely take advantage of it. He fully knew this, so he didn't even bother to resist this time.
The girl stared at the money in wonder, surprised that he gave it up so easily. She heard him give another heavy exhale and state grumpily, "That's all I got, so don't use it all."
She looked up at him and smiled warmly, "What if I get you a drink? And you're gonna share a popcorn with me whether you like it or not!" she raised her arm triumphantly.
The brunette raised an eyebrow, "You'd eat it all."
Hiyono turned up her nose and huffed, "Fine. We'll just get the Jumbo Family Size then!" she turned to the counter as she said this so the boy working the concession could start getting it a while. The boy nodded and picked up the Jumbo bucket, giving Hiyono a wide smile as he did so.
Ayumu eyed the concession worker suspiciously before glaring accusingly at Hiyono, "I thought I told you not to use it all."
As Hiyono took hold of the giant popcorn bucket, she replied happily, "But I'm not using it all for myself. You're getting stuff too, so it doesn't count."
She gladly took the large soda from the concession worker's hand and slurped a big gulp. After swallowing, she turned to face Ayumu, "Just tell him what you want, I'm gonna go to the bathroom a minute."
Ayumu abruptly confiscated the popcorn bucket, "Not with our popcorn, you're not." his words almost surprised himself. Did he just say 'our'? Like, possessive pronoun that relates to him and her?
He brushed it off. It was just popcorn, and he wasn't going to allow her to traipse into the girl's bathroom with HIS popcorn bought with HIS money.
Hiyono puffed and reluctantly let him take it from her. With that, she quickly turned around and skipped away. Before she could get a few yards, she spun around and took off in the other direction, remembering which way the bathroom was.
The boy at the concession stand watched Hiyono and chuckled, then turned to Ayumu, "She your girlfriend?"
Ayumu had to suppress the 'ulp!' that threatened to ruin his calm disposition. He cleared his throat and glared down at his popcorn, as if it was the enemy, "No, she's just a..." he stopped. What was she? In truth, she was his partner, his assistant, even maybe a sidekick. Most may even venture to say 'a partner in crime'. Dare he call her a friend? Did he really see her that way?
"A girl I know from school." he finished. After all, that was the truth, wasn't it?
The concession boy widened his eyes, "Oh? So she doesn't have a boyfriend?"
Ayumu frowned darkly at his popcorn, explaining calmly, "You'd have to ask her about that, though if she doesn't, I advise against it."
The boy tilted his head, "Why?"
"Ayumu! Why are you still standing around? You're not the kind to chitchat!" this time her voice sounded like an angel rescuing him from the horrors of having a conversation with some guy who had his boggling eyes on Ayumu's...wait. What was he thinking? It didn't matter. All he knew was that no matter what movie Hiyono had dragged him to(the identitiy of which he didn't even remember), it sounded quite inviting as opposed to staying here and watching some guy look at Hiyono like that.
He sauntered over to his companion, carrying his drink and the popcorn, while she carried her own soda. She trotted down the hall after giving the ticket guy their movie tickets. When she stopped and turned around to wait for him at the door to the theater, he looked up at the sign. Of course, it just had to be another one of her cartoons.
He shrugged to himself. At least it was better than some sappy romance movie. He never watched much television but he knew Hiyono to watch movies that usually had some romance in it, but nothing that overcame the rest of the movie. He knew for a fact she hated horror movies, so that could easily be eliminated. She seemed to like movies that made her cry or a mix of action/adventure and romance. The only thing Ayumu could think about is how deprived she tended to act. Maybe she was, but in this instance, Ayumu couldn't care less.
He shoved a couple pieces of popcorn in his mouth as he slowly followed her into the theater. She sat down in the middle of an aisle near the front, as expected. Ayumu followed her and sat down next to her. There was always that part of him that wanted to sit at the other end of the theater, but then again there was always the part of him that almost found comfort in her presence. No matter where he was, he hardly knew anybody. If it weren't for her, he'd always be alone, gone back to what he was before he met her: a brick wall with too much on his mind and an attitude problem. There was also the fact that it somehow kept his spirits up when he was with her. She'd stuck with him through thick and thin, and she had helped him out on almost countless occasions. Now that he thought about it, he did consider her a friend, at least. After all she's done for him over the past two years, the least he could do is think of her as a friend. He was only thankful she hadn't heard his conversation with the concession boy.
The commercials interrupted his thoughts. He sat and watched, mostly uninterested, while Hiyono confiscated the popcorn and began to eat as if it were an addiction. Ayumu tugged the bucket away from her and whispered, "Not yet. If you eat it all now, there'll be none left for the rest of the movie."
Hiyono slouched in her chair, crossing her arms and pouting, but not saying a word.
After the movie started, he let her have the bucket, occasionally taking a handful of popcorn for himself.
He had to admit, for once it wasn't a bad movie. It amused him this time though. Hiyono's love for food had run away with her. A cartoon about cooks in France, and a rat. He knew she would blow up at him(with puppets on hand) if he ever used the term 'cartoon' about one of her movies, so he kept that part to himself. As they were walking out of the theater, Ayumu caught his caramel-haired friend using her finger to get the last bit of butter out of the popcorn bucket. An amused smirk tugged at the sides of his lips, but he knew that if she caught him with that amused smirk on his face, he would never hear the end of it.
She slurped down the last bit of her soda and turned to look at him, "I'm gonna go see if I can get a refill for the soda, 'kay?"
Ayumu barely had any time to respond before she skipped back up to the concessions. He gave a heavy sigh and brushed his fingers through his disheveled brown hair. He had to trust her. Though it wasn't long before he realized that it was the concessions worker he didn't trust. Watching him flirt and smile at her like that made Ayumu want to hurl.
When she trotted back to where the Narumi boy was standing, she gave him a light smile and continued toward the door. Ayumu followed her once more. When he reached the place where they parked their bicycles, he cleared his throat and inquired, "What did you and that kid talk about for so long?"
Yuizaki mounted her bike and giggled slightly, "I'll tell ya when we get back to your house. You're still making me lunch, right?"
It burned him not knowing, but he sighed anyway, "Do I have a choice?"
"Nope." she sped off towards his house, giving him little time to react and speed after her.
Hiyono parked her bike in front of the apartment complex and made her way up to his(and his sister-in-law's) apartment, where she waited for him to catch up and unlock the door. When he did, she made herself at home in the usual kitchen chair. He knew she would like anything he made her for lunch. She'd said so herself. This time, though, his actions were fueled by something else. Something that made him want to make her something delicious so that it would somehow secure her staying there, with him. He tried to shake the thought and began working on lunch. Hiyono sat silently, waiting for the food to be finished. Finally, he broke the silence. It was sometimes unnerving when she was quiet.
"So what did that kid say to you?"
Hiyono bit back a grin and tried to shrug nonchalantly, "He wanted to know if I would go out to dinner with him tonight."
Ayumu nearly dropped his spatula. He gave another heavy sigh and raised his eyebrows, "Really..."
The girl nodded, trying to catch his eye, though he was intent on keeping his gaze down. When he finally did look up at her, he was almost shocked at how cute she looked, to him anyway. She sat there, her head tilted as she continued to gaze at him expectantly. Her caramel-colored hair was tied into its usual braids, though she wore a light blue hair-band this time. She wore a long-sleeved sky blue shirt with ruffles on the cuffs and hems, and a pair of casual blue-jean capris.
He pulled his gaze away from her and tried to concentrate on the food, "Well, tell him you're busy."
Her eyes widened, "Why? I don't remember having anything to do tonight."
The brunette almost stuttered, "Um-now you do. You're going to stay here."
Her next words came quietly but pierced like knives, "I don't see why you'd want me here. I thought I was just a girl from school." Oh. Crud. His eyes shot up to her, finding the hurt on her face that she had managed to hide all this time. The way she had said it, he knew she somehow must have heard him. She stood up slowly, "I guess I'd better go."
"No." his voice was sharp, and clearly startled her. As she trudged a little closer to him, he continued, "You're not...just a girl from school."
"But you said-"
He cut her off, "I lied."
She turned around quickly, "I'm not sure you did..."
As she headed for the door, he caught her by the elbow and pulled her around to face him. After a moment of searching her eyes with his brown ones, he quickly leaned in to catch his lips with hers; partly to express the feelings that he tried to hide from even himself, and partly to keep her from leaving. He closed his eyes and gently massaged her lips with his own, an action in which the cold part of him wanted to bask in denial. However, his own words came back to haunt that part of him. The melody of logic always plays the notes of truth. Like it or not, he was kissing her, and the action wasn't unreturned.
Hiyono gasped at the first few seconds but quickly closed her eyes and stepped closer to him. Finally, after so long he had bridged that last gap in their relationship. Despite how many people saw her, Hiyono was not as dense as she appeared. She felt the warmth rise into her cheeks and her entire face as she ran her hand through his rugged brown mop of hair. For almost two years she had wanted him to do that.
Ayumu brushed her bangs out of her face just as he felt her kiss him back. He exhaled deeply through his nose and ran his hand down through her hair, tugging her braid out as he reached the end. After doing the same with the other, he gently pulled back to look at her, honey locks cascading over her shoulders. He whispered, his face still close to hers, lingering in case of another kiss, "You're so beautiful."
She whispered back, meeting his gaze, "I said 'No.' "
He leaned back to scan her face with a confused expression, "What?"
A satisfied smile reached her face, "I told him 'No.' "
"But-?" his reaction was cut off by her forefinger touching his lips. She giggled, "I told you that he had asked me on a date. I never told you that I agreed to it."
His eyes went wide, "But-Wait, How come? After-what I said back there..."
Hiyono shook her head and slipped her hands onto his shoulders, "I never thought of you as just a boy from school..."
He drew her into another shorter, but equally(if not more) modest kiss. Things were different now. No, things have been different for a long time, it's just taken this long for the incredibly intelligent detective Ayumu Narumi to realize it.
End