Chapter 3:
PoV: Satoru
When Satoru got home that night he had found it quite difficult to think of an excuse for his mother, and since he had been focused on getting Kayo home safely he didn't even attempt to think of one beforehand. His mother always knew when he was lying anyway so he doubted it would matter much. So when the psychic witch asked in a scarily pleasant tone where he had been, he found himself stumbling to answer.
"U-u-um y-you know, hiking?" It wasn't technically a lie. He had been up on the mountain after all.
"Oh? All by yourself, that must have been lonely." A small smirk danced on her pale lips, "or did you bring someone along?"
WITCHCRAFT! He almost exclaimed aloud. "N-no just me, no one else,"
"Okay, well how about some dinner lover boy?" she asked in that motherly way that said, do you really think you can hide anything from me?
"W-w-what!?" He shouted louder than he had ever meant to.
"What?" She asked back calmly and Satoru had the urge to smack himself, way to go jackass that made it fucking obvious.
"N-nothing, sure dinner sounds great!" Maybe if I ignore it she'll just let it drop. And luckily it seemed like that was true. "Thanks for the food!" And with that he dug in at the speed of light
She placed a small platter filled with different sorts of foods. His mother had apparently already eaten and was content just sitting there waiting for him to finish, her knowing smirk hidden behind the cup of tea she held to her lips as she watched Satoru ravenously devour the meal.
"Satoru," She said in a softly reassuring manner, "You know you can tell me anything, right?"
He stopped immediately, this wasn't just a who are you dating thing, it was as if she… knew. Their gazes locked for a brief moment and he saw nothing but concern. He didn't know how but she knew, maybe not everything but she had to know something. Maybe she knew he was different, maybe he had somehow given away how he was from the future… No, he reminded himself, that's impossible even for some psychic witch. It had to be his sleepy imagination.
"What're you talking about? I'm fine!" Satoru grinned brightly and at first he felt bad, she looked hurt, maybe even disappointed, but eventually she smiled back.
"Well Okay then!" Her smile wasn't the same though, even Satoru could see that it was clearly forced, "Then how about you tell me her name?"
"W-wh-whose name?" Damn her psychic powers!
)):Erased:((
"H-hey mom, i was wondering if maybe i could go to the science center with some friends on saturday?"
"Oh?" his mom put down her fork as that damned teasing smirk she had came back, "Which friends?"
"U-um just you know the guys..." he suddenly felt the urge to run out the door and leave the conversation at that.
"Oh that's a shame, i thought my little man had snached himself a date," HOW!? "A real shame in fact i would've even given you spending money," wait really?
"Well it's not!" he said with a huff. She chuckled under her breath taking a sip of her coffee.
"It is a date isn't it," Damn her psychic powers!
"Y-yeah it is," he relented with a sigh.
"You should bring her by, i'd love to meet her," That wasn't a favorable circumstance in his humble opinion.
"Actually i invited Kayo to the party," he said with his head directed at the door. He was suddenly very ready to head off to school.
"Oh you mean Kayo Hinazuki a few streets over?" DAMN IT!
"Y-yeah..."
-Timeskip-
School the rest of the day had been rough, as if sleep deprivation wasn't enough stressing about getting Kayo away from home on saturday just seemed one straw short of breaking the camel's back. Kayo was acting strange too, she would be smiling at him one second and the next she would refuse to look at him entirely. It was quite confusing, and with the added mental exhaustion previously mentioned, he found it hard to understand what the hell was even going on. What he wouldn't give to be twenty nine right now, preferably before all this happened. Everything was so damn simple back then!
At this point Mister Yashiro was demonstrating something on the board, something about geometry. He wasn't paying too much attention though as he had technically already learned it. Instead he was focused on what had happened the night before. The way Kayo had smiled made his gut feel strange. Like it was filled with helium.
"Satoru?" He quickly stood up as he was called on.
"Y-y-yes Mister Yasiro?" he stumbled to grab his book as the class laughed at his drowsy expense.
"Just making sure you were paying attention and not daydreaming." the class laughed again making Satoru suddenly feel rather self conscious.
"Yeah i bet he was daydreaming about Kayo!" one girl in the front laughed out in that annoying popular girl esque way earning an 'ooo' from the class as a few of the guys started making kissy faces.
Clap Clap "That's enough guys," Yashiro said, obviously trying to hide a smirk, his dull maroon eyes full of a parental kind of amusement, "Satoru just try and pay attention to the lesson okay?" he said softly as Satoru nodded on his way down to his seat.
"Geez you must really like her if she does that to you," Misato said in a bitter uninterested tone.
Satoru shook his head absent mindedly, he remembered a lot of customers at the pizza shop like her. Although he found himself reflecting on what she said, I can't like her like that, I'm twenty-nine. Well technically i'm ten but… Shaking his head angrily he noticed his cheeks had a reddish glow to them, GOD DAMN IT WHY DO I FEEL THIS WAY!
-Small timeskip-
As class winded to a close Satoru found himself in a rather disappointing conversation, "What!? What do you mean you're all busy!?"
Kenya was the first to talk, "I have a project i need to finish and i asked Hiromi to help,"
"Y-yeah and I Osamu was gonna show me this new game he bought!" Kazu beamed brightly.
Disappointing as it was, Satoru liked the idea of hanging out with Kayo alone to be rather exciting, "That's cool i guess. I'll just ask Kayo if we can use it as a date," Damn! i said that out loud!
Kazu bellowed in laughter slamming his hand across his blushing friend's back, "That's the spirit! Anyway guys we should probably get going, don't wanna make Satoru shy when he asks his girlfriend out!"
And with that they all left, laughing and joking down the hall. Kayo crept up to his desk as he let out a sigh, "Satoru? Is everything okay?" She asked with the faintest hint of a blush as she refused to look him directly in the eye.
"Y-yeah i was just telling them i couldn't hang out saturday, because i have a date with you," the shade of her face rivaled that of her coat as she beamed excitedly at him for a second.
Her face soon fell though and she looked away sadly, "B-but," her voice wavered slightly and her eyes held what looked like a mix of fear and crushing defeat, "My mom wants me home early on saturday"
Before Satoru could stop himself he reached out for her hand, giving it a comforting squeeze as she looked up at him, shocked, "It's okay i'll talk to her about it, maybe i can even get my mom to help convince her!"
Kayo's eyes lit up with a hopeful spark, and a scarlet blush still present. They walked out of the classroom, hands still entwined as Satoru had the biggest internal conflict of his twenty-nine/ ten years of life, What the hell was i thinking! I can't get my mom involved! Sure she was quite possibly the most understanding woman he knew, but what if this threw her into the sights of the murderer!? Hell what if she got into a fight with Kayo's mother? No, he'd have to do this on his own.
As they continued the walk it seemed like Kayo was squeezing his hand tighter and tighter, sure he didn't really mind since he knew why she was so nervous, but he'd be damned if he said that she didn't have one hell of a grip! He squeezed gently back as a possible comfort. She looked over at him wide eyed, seemingly realizing how hard she had been gripping, "S-s-sorry i didn't mean to squeeze so hard i-"
"It's fine!" he said offering her another smile, "i don't mind one bit," that was a big fat lie but at least Kayo didn't have the same psychic abilities his mother did. She just looked at him, seemingly at a loss for words as she hid her scarlet cheeks in her yellow scarf, squeezing his hand gently and leaning closer. Wow that was really cute! Wait i'm twenty-nine! The rest of the walk was spent in a comfortable, but increasingly anxious silence.
As they approached Kayo's apartment complex he found himself just as nervous as Kayo had been. This whole asking parental permission to date was new to him, revival or not. Kayo was again squeezing his hand way too hard, as her apartment came into view she gave his aching hand one last squeeze before letting go hesitantly. As she walked up to the door it abruptly opened to the figure of her mother with a surprised look on her face.
"Kayo? What the hell are you doing home so damn early?" Her tone made the lone male want to grab Kayo's hand and pull her back to shield her from any oncoming wrath.
Satoru took a step forward clearing his throat and with a shaky breath began to stumble out an explanation, it certainly didn't help to calm his nerves that the last time they talked he had yelled at her. As he explained she put her hand on Kayo's head, the way she had when she told her to 'explain' how she got so many bruises. He found himself clenching his fist and having to take a breath to calm his nerves before continuing his explanation of his plans, conveniently leaving out his reason for this spontaneous date.
"No," she had said simply.
Satoru found himself enraged, "What?! What do you mean no!? Why not!?"
"You two are too young to be dating, i was sixteen when i had my first boyfriend." Well excuse me bitch i'm sorry you had such a bad childhood, he thought. Her hand on Kayo's head was really starting to unnerve him. Satoru couldn't remember feeling this protective over anyone, ever! Sure he felt protective with his mother but she was a badass and sure as hell didn't need his protection, "Besides who's responsible if someone gets hurt? You?"
Don't even go there with me bitch…
"Anyway, kayo helps me around on saturdays." her hand was roughly 'Patted' on Kayo's poor head as she flinched back and Satoru found himself contemplating homicide.
"I just want to take her to this museum, it'll be educational and stuff!" Yeah way to sell your point idiot! "I just thought it'd be cool"
"Yeah, yeah," she said condescendingly, "Because you'd know about cool, in any case, why would you want to be with someone like her. She's nothing special,"
His temper overflowed and what came out he knew would have horrible repercussions later, "I WANT TO PROTECT HER!"
"Oh really?" Her eyes were shadowed under her bangs and for a second he could swear they glowed a faint red, she turned to the little girl who was currently hiding her face behind her scarf, "Kayo do you want to go with him?" Kayo looked conflicted for a second but not longer as she nodded slowly, "Why you little brat! Your not going anywhere you slut!"
Satoru sprang into action as the woman's hand swung down towards Kayo, but before he could do much he found himself sent backwards onto his ass with a grunt. What the hell does she have some kind of forcefield!? But it was no forcefield, more like a superhero.
"Mom!" he exclaimed excitedly, Wait where the hell did she come from?! WITCH!
"Watch it miss Hinazuki, you shouldn't say nasty things like that about your daughter"
"M-miss Fujinuma I-I-" the look on her face made Satoru feel some kind of twisted satisfaction as he looked over to Kayo, who was in turn looking at his mother wide eyed. "This isn't any of your business."
"Actually half of this is my business, a trip to the science center can be very educational for a kid," She said with an honest looking smile, "don't you think we should encourage that, we are their parents." she looked over at Satoru with a faint twinge of pain in her eyes, "I'm a single mom too so i know how tough it can be sometimes, Come by sometime and we'll talk." Now that she was done talking Satoru noticed, despite the sweet voice she used and the even sweeter smile, the air radiating around his mother was one that seemed to say, Try me bitch!
"Kayo, get inside." Miss Hinazuki said with a growl.
"O-okay," she spared a last glance at the new woman before stepping inside and looking back at Satoru with a faint blush.
"So uh.. is saturday cool?" Satoru asked awkwardly. "I'll see you then?" Kayo sent him a smile as the door closed slowly.
"So did i screw everything up?" his mother asked after a few awkward seconds.
"No that was amazing!" He said with a bright smile. And with that they started walking home in a comfortable silence.
"I guess it's lucky i showed up when i did," his mom said not long after they left the immediate area, "I got off work early today and i saw you two, so i decided to follow you," oh no!
"W-what!?" He exclaimed with a new scarlet blush adorning his cheeks, "How much did you see?" Not the hand holding please!
"How much was there too see? Don't worry though i only saw you two holding hands," DRAT! He mentally exclaimed, "Either way, you don't have to worry about Kayo, tonight, did you notice how nice her clothes were? Her mom goes through a lot of trouble to make her look presentable," she did have a good point. Maybe since she was now, he could ask for her help more, no definitely not.
"So did you know what happens over there?" he asked.
"I didn't but from all that, i have my suspicions," She was definitely a reporter for a reason, he honestly wished she would be recognized for her talents. He also wished he could tell her, everything.
If things had been different he might have right there, however as of now he couldn't bring himself to even try. She may be understanding but this was rather different.
"Kayo's a cutie~!" his mom said suddenly, his cheeks heated up and he had to remind himself TWENTY-NINE MOTHER FUCKER! GET THOSE THOUGHTS OUT! "Hang in there kiddo, for her"
"I-i will," He sighed.
