Maki hugged her arms to herself as she walked along the sidewalk. The twinkling lights she had seen on their way in were beautiful against the snow. Her breath fogged up in front of her as she waited on the lieutenant to come back with cups of hot coffee and cocoa.

"I'm sorry it took so long," he said as he handed her a cup of steaming hot chocolate topped with whipped cream. "The line was crazy."

Maki looked at his own cup of hot coffee. "I'm freezing."

"Let's get inside and warm up."

Maki took a careful sip of her hot chocolate. The lieutenant had worn the same beige zip-up sweater that he had on at Christmas and a pair of khakis with brown boots.

Maki had never seen him in khakis before, let alone boots that weren't standard Fire Force issue.

Hinawa guided her to a canopied doorway where they could finish their drinks in peace. He sipped at his coffee and proceeded to scald his tongue and throat when he saw Maki pull her sweater up to cool off her stomach.

"Look, there's a movie playing at the theater," he told Maki, pointing.

"What movie is it?"

"I-I'm not sure, I'll have to check."

Maki downed the last of her hot cocoa. "I'll come with you."

He led her to a row of old movie posters. Maki scrutinized the posters as if she was making the most important decision of her life.

"I've seen these three," he told her, pointing. The posters were old and faded, but the designs still advertised the movies perfectly.

"Those are all horror movies though."

"Yeah."

"Which movie would you recommend for me?"

Hinawa started to point to a faded poster before withdrawing his hand. "None of these are suited for you."

Maki pointed to a highly faded movie poster for Romeo and Juliet. "What about this one, though?"

"Have you read it?"

"A little. Somewhat. My brother did my homework for that part of our lessons, but — "

"Well, this is a great adaptation of the play. Very beautiful."

Maki turned to look at him, a small grin on her face. "Really?"

"Yeah. It's got subtitles because it was a silent film."

Maki pointed at another poster — Twelve Angry Men. "And this one?"

"Should I just pick the movie?" he asked her.

"Yeah, probably."

"Okay."

Hinawa led her over to the admissions booth where he paid 200 yen for their tickets. He had chosen a horror movie that had been added recently to the theater and argued with himself that it was not because Maki would get scared and ask him to hold her, but purely because he wanted to see it.

"Popcorn? Soda?" he asked her.

"Yeah, okay."

Maki looked around the lobby of the theater as the lieutenant bought their drinks and a popcorn to share. There were some arcade games across from the concessions and more posters for movies that were arriving soon.

"Here," Hinawa said, handing her a soda cup. "I got you a regular soda, but if you wanted diet — "

"Regular is fine," Maki said.

"I have diet soda," Hinawa finished.

Maki gratefully traded sodas with him and took a small sip out of her drink. Hinawa led her to a small auditorium with a large screen, his eyes laser-focused on her.

He noticed he wasn't the only one watching her; many other men and even some women had their eyes on Maki. She was oblivious to them, only interested in wanting to find a seat in the theater.

"Is right there good?" she asked him, pointing at a seat in the back of the theater.

"Let's sit a little closer to the aisle," he said.

He nudged her to go before him. She sat down in the second seat, leaving the seat on the end open for him. He sat down beside her and pulled the armrest down to put his drink in the cupholder.

Maki followed his example and put hers beside her. She looked at the armrest between them.

"Are we going to put this armrest down?" she asked him.

"We don't have to."

"Okay."

Maki reached over and grabbed a few pieces of popcorn. Hinawa watched as she put them in her mouth, each piece touching her tongue at separate times. It was almost seductive.

As the previews began, Maki watched as the people around her settled in for the movie: a couple about her parents' age a few rows ahead passing smuggled snacks back and forth between them; a man not much older than the lieutenant chewing candy loudly in the front row; a trio of teenaged boys on the opposite side of the theater talking about the reviews they had read for the movie.

"We can leave, if you want," Hinawa said to her.

"No, I'm fine," she said.

He put a few pieces of popcorn into his mouth and chewed slowly. The theater suddenly felt stifling hot; he shifted in his seat as the lights dimmed.

"Do you want to leave?" she whispered to him.

"I'm okay."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah."

No, Hinawa thought. He was aware that this outing could constitute as a date. He would only think of it like that if she did.

"Hey, Maki?" he whispered.

"Why did you pick this movie?" she hissed, not hearing him.

He was well aware that Maki was covering her eyes with her hands. He looked at the other patrons in the theater and noticed that none of them were acting like Maki was about the movie. He slipped his arm around her shoulders and reclined in his seat.

"No. No!" Maki hissed loudly. She buried her face into his chest as a gory scene played out on the screen in front of them. "Tell me when it's over."

"I will," Hinawa said.

Maki kept her face in his shirt as the movie continued. She was terrified; she was going to kick the lieutenant's ass for making her sit through such a horrible movie when they left.

"Come on, Maki," Hinawa said gently. He stood up and grabbed her hand. "We're leaving."

Maki tried to pull her hand free. "I'm fine, I — "

"You're crying."

Maki wiped under her eyes and was shocked to see that he was right. "Oh god, I'm sorry. This is so stupid, I can't believe I'm crying because of a stupid movie. I must look like a fool."

"Actually, you look very pretty."

Maki blushed. "T-Thank you."

Hinawa smiled. "Let's go. I didn't really want to see this movie anyway."

He waited for Maki to slide out past him before grabbing their drinks from the cupholders. Maki led the way out of the theater as she munched on the remains of their popcorn, holding the door for the lieutenant. He tossed their drinks in the trash and turned to Maki.

"I'm going to the bathroom to wash my hands," he told her.

"Yeah, same. Popcorn always makes my hands greasy."

"Meet me at the doors, okay?"

"Okay."

Maki watched as he walked away. She remembered she was holding their bag of popcorn and quickly tossed it into the trash.

She walked across the hall to the women's bathroom and looked at her reflection in the mirror. Her eyes were puffy, and what little bit of makeup she had thought to apply was smudged, but there was no other evidence she was crying besides that.

She quickly used the bathroom and headed back out into the lobby of the theater. The lieutenant was waiting on her, right where he said he'd be. She hurried over to him.

"Can you do me a favor?" she asked.

"What?"

Maki pointed across the lobby at the arcade games. Their bright, flashing lights and neon designs had gotten her attention earlier and she was fascinated watching people attempt the crane game.

"Can you try the crane game for me?"

"Maki, my luck is shit at these types of games," Hinawa warned, walking over to the game.

Maki jogged after him. "I'm not asking you to win or anything."

He didn't care. He'd spend as much as he could trying to win her a cheap toy. He deposited a coin into the machine and watched it come to life.

"Pick quick," he told her.

"Choose for me," she replied.

He dropped the crane on a small cat and was shocked when the crane dropped it into the prize box for them to retrieve it. Maki grabbed it and gave him a large smile.

"It's so cute! Thank you!"

"You're welcome. I really expected to lose though."

Maki hugged the tiny toy as they left the theater and Hinawa smiled. He placed his hand on her lower back and guided her to a small diner nearby.

"Why are we going here?" she asked him.

"Well, I figure we can get a snack or something before we head back."

"Can we get milkshakes?"

"We can get milkshakes."

He held the door open for her and led her to his favorite table, a booth looking out over the water.

"Do you know what flavor you want?" he asked her. "I'll go ahead and order them."

"Strawberry. With whipped cream."

"I think I'll get a chocolate shake."

"Wait, how about instead of milkshakes we split a sundae?"

"Now you're talking."

Maki gazed out of the window as Hinawa put their sundae order in — vanilla ice cream, hot fudge, whipped cream, and sprinkles.

"The sea giving you any answers?" Hinawa asked her.

Maki sighed. "Just thinking."

"About?"

"It's nothing important."

"It's about me. I know it is."

Maki sighed and put a napkin over her lap. "I haven't been able to stop thinking about you and your parents since…"

"Since I told you how my mother really died?"

Maki nodded. "It just bothers me."

"I'm sorry."

"Did she leave you anything?"

"Maki, please, leave it."

Maki opened her mouth but was silenced by the arrival of their sundae. The waitress gave them each a spoon and extra napkins before leaving to wait on another table.

Maki picked up her spoon and eyeballed their sundae. "This looks so good," she said.

"Tastes even better," Hinawa told her. "Here."

He held out a spoonful of goopy hot fudge and vanilla ice cream to her. She allowed him to feed it to her: the hot fudge just a tad too hot, the ice cream cooling it down.

The sundae was indeed delicious. She scooped her own spoonful of creamy sundae out and licked the spoon.

"This week has been so relaxing," she admitted. Hinawa was letting her finish off the sundae, having had his fill of sweets for the next year.

"It really has been. I'm glad you dragged me out here this week."

Maki pushed the bowl away. She couldn't eat the last few bites of the sundae.

"I'll finish it off," Hinawa said, picking up his spoon from the bowl. He polished it off and wiped his mouth with a napkin.

"Are you ready?" he asked her.

Maki nodded. "I think I'll go to bed when we get back."

"I agree. I feel like I could pile up with blankets on the couch and just sleep for days."

"That sounds like a great idea to me."

Hinawa paid the check and led the way out of the diner, Maki following behind him. She clutched her small cat as they made their way back to the beach house.

"I'll pay you back for everything when we get back," Maki said.

"Don't bother, it's my treat."

"No, I insist."

"Maki, I said no."

Hinawa pulled out his key and unlocked the door. He tossed his keys on the table to the side and removed his shoes.

Maki set her sneakers beside his shoes and walked down the hall to her room. Hinawa followed her, unzipping his sweater as he went.

"Goodnight," he said, leaning into her room.

"Night," Maki said.

Hinawa cleared his throat. "Listen… tonight was a lot of fun."

Maki straightened up. "Yeah, it was."

"Maybe we can do it another time?"

"Yeah, I'd love that."

Hinawa turned and walked into his room. He flopped on his bed and fell asleep instantly.

Yeah, tonight was a good night.