For the next week, a flurry of texts went back and forth between Aki and Hedeon. She discovered that he was not very verbose in his messages, usually responding with the bare minimum required of him. She was often hard-pressed to keep a conversation going, but did her best by asking questions about where he went to school, his figure skating, and anything else that seemed like a safe topic. She discovered in the process that he was a year younger than her, seventeen, and that he attended a public school not too far from hers. He had one sister who was two years younger than him, and didn't have much to say about his parents other than they worked office jobs. Aki often felt like she was rambling on about herself in their texts, but Hedeon was always polite and never said that she was boring him, so she figured it was probably fine. And she reasoned that if he wasn't interested in her, he would stop replying.
Eventually, though, her patience ran out. As she and Sabina were waiting for the other members of their study group in the library one day, Aki flopped her head down on the table and groaned.
Her friend leaned forward to whisper, "Are you all right, Akiya?"
She let out a gusty sigh. "I'm not sure what to do about Hedeon. We've been talking back and forth for a week, but it's been nothing but talk. I've never really dated anyone before, so I'm not sure how fast I should pursue this. Is he waiting for me to ask him out? Or is he not really interested in me that way? How am I supposed to tell?"
Sabina rested her head on her hand, angling her gaze down at her forlorn friend. "Wow, I've never seen you so indecisive about anything. What happened to the Akiya who takes the world by storm, everyone else be damned? Since when do you sit around waiting for things to happen to you?"
Aki lifted her head off the table. "You know, you're right! We've been talking long enough that it wouldn't be weird if I asked him out! He has to be interested in me a little bit at least, or he wouldn't still be replying to me." She paused. "The only problem is what do I ask him to do?"
The other girl shrugged, waving to the rest of the approaching study group. "I don't know, something public, so it's neutral. Maybe a movie?"
Aki pondered this new problem throughout their study session, getting very little actual studying done. But she did determine that Sabina was onto something, and that a movie would be ideal. They would be alone together, in a dark theater, that wouldn't require her partner to talk very much. Accordingly, when she was walking up the stairs to her apartment later, she was busy composing a message:
'Hey, there's a movie I've been wanting to see lately, but my friends can't make it this weekend. Any chance you'd want to go see it with me?'
She sent the message off just before she unlocked the door, stepping into the apartment. She looked around for Makkachin, but saw the poodle was occupied with a visitor in the living room. She put her bag down and kicked off her shoes, smiling as she said, "Hey, Aliya. How are you?"
The girl looked up at Aki's entrance and smiled sweetly in response. From her side, Aki's brother scowled at her, clearly upset that she was intruding on their time together.
Aki decided that it would be fun to provoke him a little further. Resting her elbows on the back of the couch between them, she leaned forward so she was separating them with her body and asked Aliya, "How are things going with you? You guys have been hanging out at your place more often lately, so we haven't had a chance to see you."
Aliya, apparently unaware of what Aki was doing to her brother, answered blithely, "It's been pretty busy. My әкем and I have been practicing a little more often lately, so it's really nice to get to relax with Kolya." The nine-year-old leaned past Aki and smiled at Nikolai, who promptly turned a bright red.
Obviously trying to deflect the topic, Nikolai grunted, "Anyway, what are you doing home so early, Aki? I thought you had a study group."
She straightened up and waved her hand. "Oh, I did, but we finished a little early. And, of course, I just wanted to rush home and see my dear otouto!" She darted her hand forward and ruffled Nikolai's short blond hair as he yelped in protest.
The sound drew the attention of their otousan, who emerged from the hallway a few seconds later. "Aki, okaeri!"
She grinned, one hand still on Nikolai's hair. "Tadaima."
Angrily, Nikolai swatted her hand away and asked, "Anyway, now that Aki's home, is it time for dinner?"
"Sure, we can eat," Yuuri responded, turning to their guest. "Do you want to eat with us, Aliya, or should I have your parents pick you up?"
"I'd like to stay here if that's all right."
"Of course it is. Aki, can you text Yuri and let him know we have his daughter for the evening?"
"Sure thing, Otousan." Aki took out her phone to open Yurio's message thread, but was stopped short by a new notification. Hurriedly, she opened it to read a new message from Hedeon:
'Sure, we can see a movie. Just let me know when and where we should meet. I'm fairly free this weekend.'
Aki pumped her hand in the air in silent victory. Unfortunately, her brother noticed her action. He asked her suspiciously, "What was that for?"
Quickly, she shut the message and said, "Nothing. Don't worry about it." She turned on her heel and began quickly walking to her room. The last thing she needed was judgment from her younger brother when he couldn't even sort out his own crush.