For whatever reason it may be, Sasayan found himself watching a horror movie with Natsume at her house, and with her alone.
He couldn't count how many mental fist-pumps he had already made.
Sure, the girl insisted that they put a pillow in between them to 'prevent any advances on his feelings', as she said, but Sasayan was alright with the situation. Happy even.
As the film played and gave Natsume chills, the boy directed his attention to giving not-so-subtle glances at the brunette. She was wearing her hair in a ponytailed tossed to the side.
He remembered this was the way her hair was when she came to comfort him while he was didn't want anyone to know how down he was.
Natsume eventually caught the boy staring at her. Instead of withdrawing his stare, Sasayan smiled. The girl felt her cheeks grow red and warm. She took another throw pillow from her side and stacked in on the pillow separating them.
There was no denying, Sasayan was annoyed by how the brunette acted. Sometimes, her reluctance for his feelings was just way out of line, but the batter learned to ignore it sooner or later.
No matter how peeved he was with the girl, he couldn't help but feel the butterflies come back when his thoughts settled down.
Lost in his thoughts, he was suddenly brought back to reality by Natsume's scream from the other side of the pillow wall. "Natsume-san?"
He grabbed the remote and shut the TV, tearing down the wall between them. The girl was welling up. "S–Sasayan-kun! D-d-don't look." She shrieked as she wiped her eyes with her sleeves.
The boy smiled. And then he chuckled. Which eventually snowballed into a hearty laugh.
"Why are you laughing!" Natsume yelled at the cackling boy, who was already grasping at his stomach for air. The girl started beating him up with a pillow. "It's not funny!"
This was one of the reasons why Sasayan actually liked being with Natsume. It was comfortable around her. To an extent, of course, but the times where he felt more of a friend than a suitor to her really comforted him.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" He apologized, wiping his own tears, which came from too much laughing.
The girl sat back down accompanied with a scornful humph. He knew she was angry, and bent on showing the anger in every way she could think of. "C'mon, Natsume-san, I swear I was sorry."
She averted his amicable stare. Sasayan sighed and sunk in his seat. "Fine, I'll just go on and continue this movie."
He pressed play. The film continued on a particularly horrific scene involving a knife-wielding spirit and an oblivious teenage girl. It was a cheesy movie, actually, but it was already sending chills back into Natsume.
The boy chose to ignore her for the time being. These were the moments when he really didn't know what effect his movements could have on her.
And suddenly, the screen lit up with the face of the psychopathic spirit.
"S—Sasayan!" Natsume shouted at the top of her lungs, clinging to the boy seated next to her. He instinctively wrapped an arm around the girl, surprised more by her than the movie.
When the shock subsided, they both realized the extent of the situation.
Almost at the speed of light, Natsume slid herself to the opposite end of the sofa. Her face was already even more red than it was a while ago.
Sasayan on the other hand, was stuck in one position. Both of them comprehending how much microns were left in between them just then.
"Natsume-san… I think I should go. It is getting pretty late." The boy normally didn't feel awkward with the girl. He was supposed to feel comfortable. But something struck within him when he felt her grasp him tightly like that.
The main reason why he liked being with her because he liked her. And that pseudo-hug was already enough to send him sky-rocketing. Which is why he felt awkward all of a sudden.
"Wait." The girl said under her voice. Sasayan didn't hear her, and grabbed his bag, almost ready to go out the door.
Natsume stood up from her end of the sofa just as the boy grabbed the doorknob. "Souhei." Rarely did anyone use Sasayan's real name.
He threw a look over his shoulder, just to make it clear he heard her.
"I—I'm all alone in my house tonight, S-Sou—" She couldn't bring herself to saying his name again for some reason. "—Sasayan-kun. The movie is still kinda scaring me."
"What of it?" He asked with a hint of curiosity (and hopefulness) in his voice.
Natsume's ankles shook while she felt her cheeks burn. "C-Could Sasayan-kun possibly s–stay with Natsume for the night?" She barely managed to get past the stuttering.
His eyes widened. It was all too obvious how much he was resisting to pump his fist in the air like he'd just hit a homerun.
"O—Of course Sasayan-kun would be s—sleeping on the sofa. D–d–don't get any ideas, okay?!" Natsume rapidly added to her sentence.
That's good enough, he thought.
He was already beaming with some form of glee.