Shamelessly writes this as an excuse to write Haruka using emoticons. I was going to say that this was my first fic where Haruka and Takane aren't at school but then I remembered that I also have the STR route, AU settings, and Takane's room under my belt. Still, working with them outside of school is new territory for me.
Gosh I had fun writing these dorks. ;v; (And I bet you could tell.) Now to finally hit the hay and sleep because wow am I tired. If you see any mistakes, feel free to point them out. The "me" that's going to wake up tomorrow will see to it that it gets fixed.
Kagerou Project belongs to Jin.
TO: takane
FROM: haruka
hey takane! movie tickets are half-off today! since we don't have school, wanna go watch something? :D
"How does he even have my number?!"
Takane looked down at her phone, shaking her head at the boy's enthusiasm. Movies – she never went to them in the first place, nor did she really have the energy to. Sitting in a dark place for a couple of hours never really did sound inviting. She only went once or twice as a kid, before they found out about her illness.
Ah, she also remembered the answer to her question (convenient, because she would have forgotten to answer it for herself). During the first day of school, Haruka had insisted on getting her phone number so that "we'll be closer friends in no time!" Of course she objected at first, but she experienced Haruka's persistence first-hand at that moment, and so she gave in.
Funny. They never really did call each other much, because school had gotten them closer than anything else in the world. The only times he called her was to ask if she was able to play Dead Bullet with him, and even then, she would yell angrily (although she was really just extremely flustered and embarrassed) that she had better things to do.
But she didn't have much to do today, did she? She planned on staying in her room all day, practicing her skills for the next Dead Bullet tournament. Haruka seemed so excited for the movies, though...
She was going to give in, was she?
Damn you, Haruka.
TO: haruka
FROM: takane
i'll go as long as you pay for my ticket.
She expected herself to regret sending that message a few seconds after, but that never came. Instead, an overly-anxious feeling exploded inside the sleepy girl as her phone buzzed, a notification from Haruka displayed on the screen.
TO: takane
FROM: haruka
sure! (´°ω°`) i'll buy the popcorn and drinks too! meet me at the theater and we'll figure out the movie there! see you!
"Haruka, you're too nice for your own good." The evident blush appeared on her face as she turned off her phone's screen, fearing that somehow the camera was on and that Haruka was able to see her face through it. It was embarrassing enough to have this happen to her everytime Haruka basically interacted with her. "I was joking about the tickets. Really, treating me to this much in one day…!"
She stood up, the chair creaking as she did. Throwing on what seemed to be a clean jacket and some shorts, she began debating whether or not she should take the bus or just walk.
"Takane!" Haruka's voice filled her ears as she stepped off the bus, irritable yet somewhat comforting. She turned to see him waving at her near the box office, wearing a big smile.
"Haruka, I'm literally just a few feet away from you." She rolled her eyes, feeling that same blush appear again. How inconvenient.
Takane took off her trusty headphones, narrowing her eyes at the boy's appearance. They rarely saw each other outside of school, and rarely saw each other in casual wear. While she had quickly put on a red jacket, half zipped to show off the black shirt underneath it, beige shorts replacing her usual skirt-with-leggings, Haruka seemed to have taken his time.
He wore a large green jacket, too big for him to even fit in it, the sleeves covering his fingers despite being taller than Takane. He wore the jacket unzipped, revealing a white polo shirt that looked identical to his school uniform. However, he had worn pants for this certain occasion, colored with a light brown.
It came to her attention that it was cold, the wind blowing past them as she finished that earlier thought. She shuddered, scolding herself for not checking the weather and grabbing shorts instead. She'd just have to battle through it.
"Hmm? What movie do you want to watch, Takane?" Haruka got in line, looking at the list of movies flashing across the screen. "Ah, I heard about this one movie with animated dinosaurs in it! I think it's called…hmm…"
"Animated dinosaurs?" Takane crossed her arms, laughing for a second as she did. Animated movies were what she expected from Haruka, and to be honest, she found it rather amusing and cute. "As expected."
"O – oh! That one sounds interesting, too!" Haruka replied, eyes shining at the name. "'Abandoned House'…I wonder what it's like!"
"W – w – what?!" The sudden reaction from Takane spurred a reaction from the other people in line, and she hid her face in her jacket's hood. "T – that's a scary movie, idiot! What makes you want to watch that?"
Indeed, the gamer LightningDancerENE could not take scary movies to save her life. She'd take the animated dinosaurs over anything as scary-sounding as "Abandoned House".
"So that's a no?" The line shuffled forward, and they were almost next-in-line for tickets. Haruka looked up, scratching his chin. "How about…oh? What's this?"
"What's what?" Takane peered up at the board blinking the titles, and she squinted. "I don't see anything."
"'Dead Bullet 1989: The Movie'!" Haruka pointed at the movie's name, beaming down at Takane. "Isn't that your favorite game, Takane – or Ene, if you'd prefer? Let's go see it!"
Again, eyes turned to the two, and the blush from earlier began spreading on her face, heart beating faster than she'd ever experience. She didn't know whether it was the fact that he had called her "Ene", or that the people around her had started to talk. Being around Haruka was so difficult – so why did it make her so happy?
"D – don't call me that!" She just wanted to hide in her jacket for the rest of her life. Finally the line moved forward once more, and soon they were at the ticket booth, the person behind it speaking in a monotone voice.
"What tickets do you want?" They said, blinking with a bored expression at the smiling Haruka.
"Two tickets to 'Dead Bullet 1989: The Movie', please!"
Oh no, he did it.
Why, Haruka, why?
They were totally going to question why a girl was watching that movie. And then they'd find out about their shooting game booth, and then they'd find out that she was LightningDancerENE. She should start living the life of a NEET if this kind of luck continued.
"Let's go, Takane!" Unexpectedly, Haruka grabbed her hand, and whisked her into the theaters.
"Of course you'd get a large bucket all for yourself." Takane huffed, watching the boy next to her finish half of the popcorn in his hold when the movie hadn't even started yet. Beside him was a large drink, filled with flavored juice that he found tasty. "Eh, Haruka, you really didn't have to buy me anything else."
Haruka smiled back, popcorn kernels stuck between his teeth. Meanwhile, buff-looking guys entered the theaters, grumbling about how the movie better be accurate to the game, and so on. Really, the scene was rather unsettling, and Takane would have bolted if Haruka wasn't there.
"I don't mind!"
Soon the room darkened, and a hushed setting took place. Takane turned to the screen, already feeling tired despite the movie just beginning. With a bang, guns started appearing, along with multiple people she assumed were players, shooting away at the zombies.
Really, what was even the plot to this story?
Suddenly, a rush of cold wind filled the room via air conditioner, chilling Takane to the bone. She shivered, zipping up her jacket and holding on to the small popcorn bag she had at hand. It shook along with her hands, and she stubbornly stuck a popcorn kernel in her mouth while her teeth chattered.
"Huh, Takane…?" The words barely left Haruka's mouth, a whisper hardly heard by Takane. She wouldn't have heard if he wasn't extremely close to her. "Are you cold?"
"N – not at all," she said through chattering teeth, her knees bouncing up and down. Wearing shorts was a real bother.
A sudden move from Haruka surprised her. Quickly he wrapped his arms around her, his warm embrace shocking Takane into letting out a loud yell. It just so happened that in the movie, this guy had just shot another zombie, and so her yell mixed with the sound of multiple bangs from a gun.
"Oi!" A gruff voice from behind her startled her, and she quickly hid into Haruka (But why am I still letting him hug me?! No fair!). "Hey, boy! Keep your girlfriend quiet when she's scared, or get out!"
"G – girlfriend?!" She broke free from Haruka's grasp, turning around to face the man that had let those words spill out. "I'm not his girlfriend!"
Only chaos ensued. As they were chased out of that particular theater, Haruka clutched on to his food like it held his dear life.
"I'm sorry for getting us kicked out of the movie," Takane said, a humiliated expression crossing her face. "Ah, and sorry for yelling when you, uh…hugged me."
"It's all good, Takane!" Really, he was too kind, even after the events that took place. "It was kind of funny, actually! And…ah, it was kind of…well, how do I put this?"
Takane raised an eyebrow at the boy, sitting down at one of the tables provided in the movie theater. He continued eating popcorn for a while, and she took a sip of her soda to lessen the ineptness.
"It was…kind of, well, interesting to find that the guy thought we were going out!"
A natural spit-take took place, the soda spraying all over the floor.
"What are you trying to say, idiot?!" Pinching his cheek, she tried to get rid of the burning sensation taking over her face and heart. "It's not interesting at all!"
"Ah, sorry!" She let go, irritation and awkwardness fuming from Takane. Haruka smiled, sending her heart to flutter about in the most annoying way possible. "Still, this day was pretty fun. Shall we go home now?"
"Actually, we're still here." Takane lowered her voice so that none of the theater staff would hear. "How about we sneak into a theater and watch that movie with the animated dinosaurs?"
"Or maybe 'Abandoned House'?"
"Don't push your luck, Haruka."