My heart yearns to comprehend him…
His complexities…
His intricately woven personality…
If he would only let me do so…
Tohru gazed at her "boyfriend" as he led her to the movie house.
"We're suppose to watch something educational, but the movies are something less to be desired," he said apologetically. He looked up at the Now Showing signboard and winced when he read the movie.
"Lost in Mars," read the onigiri, then sighed. She never liked sci-horror flicks.
"There's a good romance movie after that though," said Yuki soothingly. "Until I Met You".
"OK," she agreed finally.
"Let's go?"
A green-blooded monster sprawled on the ground, lifeless, just as the spacemen cheered.
"The movie's over," said Yuki as he patted the girl whose head was buried on his shoulder, shivering.
"Mrmph," said the muffled voice of the girl. She couldn't erase from her mind the horrid sight of spilled guts floating inside the smashed spaceship of the trapped astronauts.
"See? The second movie is starting?" He had to laugh at how scared his date was of the movie. "Come on, sweetheart. Do you really like my perfume that much, that you can't get yourself away from me?" he teased.
Instantly, her head looked up. "Iie! I-I mean…"
Yuki gazed at her for a moment, lost in the extra vulnerability and fragility the lights of the movie screen give the face of his girlfriend.
"Honda Tohru-san?" he murmured huskily.
"Y-Yes?"
He didn't speak anymore, because his face was on its way down to hers.
Alarm bells rung inside her head, but she couldn't summon the guts to push him away, even just to say "Stop".
Because she knew, somehow, she was curious what it felt to be kissed.
Suddenly, a drum sound blared on the speakers, making them jump apart from each other. They looked at the screen and saw that the opening credits were starting to roll on the screen.
"T-The movie's starting," said Tohru nervously.
Yuki sighed and sat back on his seat. What the hell happened back there?
"You know what? How I wish I never met you at all! Because I wouldn't have to hurt myself! Because then, I would still know how to keep my feelings in check!" yelled the leading man on the screen.
"What would you like me to do then? Fade away from your life, huh?" yelled the female lead back.
"No!!!" barked the man as he imprisoned the girl in his arms. "I want you so badly, that even while saying all of these…" His voice softened. "I'm aching to hold you like this…for all eternity."
Tohru wiped a tear from her eye. "Oh Carlos Miguel, tell her then! Tell her that you love her even if the whole world is against you!"
"Honda-san," said Yuki as he handed her his hanky. "It's only a movie. Those characters won't hear you even if you scream at them."
"Ssh!" hissed the women behind them. Yuki sighed and leaned back on his seat again.
"Cecilia, until I met you, my life has been plunged in darkness," said the leading man emotionally.
"That must have been terrible!" said Yuki in mock sympathy. "Having a power failure in his house until he met her."
"Ssh!!!"
He then watched wearily as the lovers on screen shared a deep, passionate kiss as a theme song played on the background.
No one can stop this feeling now…
No one can stop us…
Our hearts are crying out for each other
You truly are one-of-a-kind
I do hope that you are the one…
The ending credits rolled as the scene faded into black and the movie house's lights turned on.
He yawned, then turned to his girlfriend. "Let's go?"
She blinked back her tears. "Eh? So soon? Can't we watch it for just one last time?"
He sighed. "Alright."
That afternoon, they were walking home after strolling in the mall for hours. Tohru hugged the stuffed mouse that Yuki bought for her in a toy store.
"Ah, the movie was good! At least, it's that flick that stuck in mind and not the horror one," she said. "I'm sorry if I had to make you sit down for another couple of hours to watch it. I just can't get over at how dreamy the story was."
He laughed. "Yes, well, I appreciated the large bucket of popcorn anyway." He then turned to the sky. "The sun's about to go down. Let's go watch it!"
"Yes!"
As the breeze blew on them both, Yuki started to speak. "Do you and my brother go out like this often?"
"Yes, he takes me out to dine," she said nonchalantly. "Why?"
"How do you find him?" he wanted to know.
"Funny, but he asked me that same question before…right after I slapped you." She blushed faintly.
He chuckled. "So what did you say?"
"Um…let's just say, I told him that you look as handsome as he is."
Silence.
"Yuki-kun, please tell me…why you hate your mother so much…"
He paused. "Honda-san, I rather not talk about it."
"I told you, Yuki-kun, I am your friend as well. I want to share your pains too!"
"I don't want you to feel what I feel," he explained. "I don't want to see you cry again with me-"
His words were cut by her slap on his face.
"Yuki-kun," she murmured. "I am your friend. I care for you so much! Try to understand that you refusing to share your troubles with me…" She looked down. "It makes me feel so bad…"
"You care for me?" he repeated slowly.
"Of course!" she said, still not looking up.
"Look at me, Honda-san," he instructed.
"No…"
He gently tipped her chin up with his fingers. "You do not know what you're saying. We've only met a few days ago. How can that be?"
"I don't know…"
Her words echoed his own emotions. But he couldn't think. He just couldn't.
They were too close…simply too close. The inches separating them suddenly seem to shrink. He would die if he couldn't kiss her now…
Mama, don't leave me!
Shameful…a mouse! Ah, I will not accept that.
Mama?
Get your hands off me!
Mama, don't go! Don't leave me!!!
Tohru noticed that he suddenly got tensed. She felt her heart wrench.
My nearness disgusts him…is that it?
She stepped away from him. "I think we better go home-"
"Not yet-" he said before pulling her back into his arms and kissing her passionately.
Suddenly, her doubts and fears that he hates her faded away, because his kiss makes her feel that she was adored…that she was beautiful.
However, she just had to make a fool out of herself. Because absent-mindedly she whispered something that made him freeze.
"I love you."
tsuzuku