AN: Well, upgraded this from one-shot to series. Read and Review, thanks. Oh, and I put lots of video game references in this one. R&R !
The blaring noise of my alarm clock wakes me up. Yawning, I stretch and pull away the curtains, letting in the sun. After showering and changing, I make my way to the school building. I kinda feel bad for not going with Hanako yesterday. I already ended up going to the city anyways, so Hanako would've been at least made for some decent companionship. I should try to make up for that.As I enter the classroom, I see the usual scattered arrangement of students laying about, greeting me with a nod or wave. One of those students is Hanako, so I drop my stuff at my desk before walking over to her.
"Hey Hanako, how'd your day go yesterday?"
"It was a-alright. Did you get your homework finished?"
Ah, that homework. Stayed up 'til about midnight doing that crap. And I still forgot to buy my stuff thanks to Yozora. Now I have to go back to the city soon before I run out of soap.
"Yeah, I did. Stayed up 'til midnight doing it, but it was worth it." I gesture towards the stack of papers on my desk. "Do you have any plans after school?"
"Umm no. Why?"
It's kind of obvious why I'd ask you if you had anything to do, Hanako. But I repress that remark so I can move forward with my hastily constructed plan.
"Well there's this new movie down at the town's cinema, Left 4 the Half-Fortress, and it looks really good, at least from the trailer. Would you er... want to see it with me?" I lower my voice a bit while I'm asking this, no need for the gossip mill to get ahold of this.
"S-sure. I've seen the trailer too. Are you going to ask Lilly to come too?"
Wait what? She's blind, why would she have need to go to a damn movie theater to watch something she can't...watch? Well, maybe Hanako's accustomed to doing things with all three of us now?
"Last time I checked, they haven't found a way to convert movies into a form that blind people can understand." I say with a chuckle. "But if you really want her to come with us too..."
"No it's fine Hisao. S-she has class representative duties to handle after school anyways."
Inside my mind, I'm jumping with joy. Finally, I can get some good alone time with Hanako. Not that there's anything wrong with Lilly, but still. The arrival of Mutou interrupts our conversation, so I head back to my seat and get ready for the next few hours.
Nothing eventful happens after that. No other random interruptions, the usual small talk with Lilly and Hanako at our tea room during lunch, and the usual feminist rant Kenji goes off into while he's blocking me from entering my dorm to change for my movie night with Hanako. At least I managed to set up a rendezvous point with Hanako before leaving for my room. When I finally get inside my room, I notice my phone lying on my desk. Huh, I guess I forgot to bring it with me today. Picking it up, I idly go through my small contacts list until I end up selecting Yozora. Maybe I should text her?
Pondering that question, I get changed into some respectable clothes for a night out: Denim pants and a blue T-Shirt with a graphic of a lion on a shield with some English lettering that seems to translate into "The Alliance". My parents sent it to me with one of their care packages, so I might as well eke some use out of it. After combing my hair into a somewhat representable shape, I leave my dorm room, confident about the night ahead. It is a school night, but it's not like we're going to be drinking or anything like that.
As I'm walking, I realize I haven't decided whether to text Yozora or night. I guess I shouldn't, it is pretty rude to be on your phone half the time when you're with someone, especially so when you have a thing for said person and you don't want to seem like a dolt. With that in mind, I take a seat in one of the benches near the school's gate, and wait for Hanako.
Five minutes later, Hanako greets me. But as she drew close to me, I notice that she's wearing nearly the exact outfit that Yozora was wearing yesterday, with only a different shirt and shoes to differentiate Hanako from her. A very unusual coincidence.
We start walking down the road to town, when Hanako says something.
"Hisao, what's the actual plot of the movie? I did say I s-saw the trailer, but it just seemed to be lots and lots of action shots." Hanako asks.
"It's about these 9 guys who kill near facsimiles of each other everyday for no reason...who er..." It's a bit tough extracting the plot from said trailer. "Oh yeah, who somehow get sucked into a zombie-infested United States, who team up with four survivors...than..." Damn, maybe next time I should judge a trailer on what the actual plot will be instead of all the action shots.
"Ok, I lost track after that, hehe." I nervously finish. Damn Americans and their ability to sell a movie based on explosions.
To my surprise, Hanako has a small giggle at that remark. I guess it is funny that we're going to watch a movie based on explosions. Not that it's a bad thing anyways.
"Don't worry, Hisao, I like action movies. They're fun to watch."
A girl liking action movies? Wut. Isn't there a stereotype about chicks only liking those cheesy romantic movies like The Notebook?
"I always thought girls only liked those cheesy emotional movies. You don't seem like someone to appreciate action movies." I inquire. Hanako looks a bit shocked at this, as if I were saying it was a bad thing.
"W-well, I just don't like those kind of movies, especially the..." Hanako trails off, leaving the final part of her sentence unspoken. It seem like a touchy subject for her somehow, so I drop it and move to safer waters.
After about ten minutes, we finally arrive at the theater. Hanako and I pay for our tickets, and we take our seats right in the middle of the cinema after buying some popcorn and soda. Some trailers go on, mostly about Western movies that's finally been dubbed or at least subbed for us Japanese viewers. It's a shame that most of the good movies come out in America, because I'm really bad at learning English. There's a reason why I got that 43 on the test.
As the movie finally starts, I notice that Hanako's been drifting slightly closer to me from her seat, although it could just be me wishing that she actually was moving closer. As the movie goes on, I find that Left 4 the Half-Fortress has an insanely deep plot that manages to incorporate elements of comedy and horror into it. Those 9 men from Teufort sure do have a lot of funny mannerisms.
Halfway through the movie, with the serious part of the story unfolding, Spy, Nick, and Gordon Freeman find themselves wandering the basement of an abandoned mansion in search of Australium. But as the creepy music starts to wind up and the trio find themselves moving deeper into the basement, a cry emanates from the area in front of them. I lean back a bit, unsure of what the sound it is, but at least I know that it isn't anything good. Than I grab some popcorn.
Hanako doesn't seem to be taking this portion of the movie as well as I am though. I felt her flinch when that Charger came out of nowhere and beat the life out of Scout. While he'd end up respawning anyways, it doesn't change the fact that it was scary as hell.
A few minutes later, the heroes find themselves in front of a set of wooden double doors. Freeman, being the toughest of the group, takes point and opens the door. Looking around, the camera shows a relatively small room that looks like it's been used for storage. Oddly enough, there appears to be arrows that lead directly to the 'Objective', or at least that's what the subs say it means anyways. Then the same crying that the audience heard earlier starts again, except this time it's continuous. It gets louder as they follow the arrows, eventually leading to a chest against the wall with the label "Australium" on the wall. But there appears to be a woman slumped over and crying next to the chest. Spy, being the gentleman that he is, starts to approach her slowly, but then the music stops, and her crying is replaced with growling. Normally that would be a sign to back away, but Spy keeps going forward. Eventually, he gets close enough to touch her shoulder, and suddenly the woman turns around, eyes red with fury, and slashes Spy in the face with her suddenly razor-like claws.
This sudden turn of events frightens even me, so I instinctually put my arm over Hanako and pull her closer to me. Then I realize what I just did. I look down to Hanako, who's looking at me with surprise, although with a small smile on her face.
"Y-you didn't get scared there, did you Hisao?" Hanako asks as she leans on me.
"No, I totally meant to do that." It's best to pass it off as a fluke for now. No point in Hanako questioning my manliness, or lack thereof, right now.
As the movie nears its climax with a full scale assault against the Announcer and her company full of lackies, I start to think of whether I should try to make a move. But then the rational side of my brain kicks in, claiming that I have no idea how Hanako feels about me. That, and it would feel really cliched to do so. As I continue to produce excuse after excuse, an image of Yozora flashes into my mind. It was for the briefest of flickers, but for some odd reason, it makes me resolute in not doing anything.
Hanako doesn't notice my inner dilemma, too embroiled in the movie and in snuggling against me. She looks almost serene right now, with the darkness to cover her scars and someone to watch a movie with. It's like she's being a normal person for a few hours.
The rest of the movie passes by uneventfully, the protagonists triumphant, only to see a spaceship come into view in the sky. Then, credits. Like it's not obvious there's going to be a sequel. I carefully extricate my arm from around Hanako, who gasps in surprise as I pull away. We take our leave of the cinema, and start the trek back to Yamaku.
Hanako and I stay silent for the entirety of the trip, neither of us having much to say. We've been spending most of our time together with Lilly, so there's nothing that neither of us have already discussed. When we finally get to our dorms, I turn to Hanako.
"So, err, goodnight than, Hanako." I lamely say. I really ought to be smoother about these farewells.
But then Hanako does something strangely uncharacteristic for her, she opens her arms wide and embraces me in a hug. It's a bit on the light side, as if she's treating me as a fragile object. Looking up to me, she has the same smile I noticed back in the theater.
"Goodnight, Hisao." She whispers before pulling away from me and walking towards her dorm.
That moment left me dazed for far longer than it should have. I didn't even notice I made my way up to my room until my head met my pillow. Then I remember that I should probably change into my pajamas before sleeping. Luckily, I have no near-due homework, so I can get a good night's sleep for once.
As I empty my pocket of junk, I pull out my phone and select Yozora again. I'm tempted to message her about how she infiltrated my thoughts in the theater. It was odd using her as an excuse to not be more forward with Hanako. She's just someone I randomly met, not my girlfriend or other significant person. I still want to text her, but I should probably wait a bit longer before I do so. Putting the phone back on the desk before I change my mind, I finish changing and jump into bed.
I guess I can text her tomorrow. That should be enough time to make it look like I'm not desperate for a girl or anything like that. Come to think of it, I never really had much use for my phone to begin with. Never had much reason to contact anyone with it. And judging from what Yozora said about being alone yesterday, she probably doesn't have anyone to talk to as well. At least this way, we won't be wasting our parents' money with the phone bill.
Ah, screw it, I might as well confront this now. I know I want to 'talk' to Yozora, not out of practicality, but because of...I'm not sure, maybe something about that alone remark she made?
It would be a good way to delve into the matter of things, I guess. That, and she is someone from outside my little social circle. As much as I like Hanako and Lilly, I'm not going to hold myself back socially on their behalf. Lilly already has an army of other friends and admirers, so it wouldn't hurt for me to talk to Yozora and see where this goes.
Satisfied with my rationality of the situation, I drift off into sleep..
