Hello ladies and gentlemen! It's a pleasure to see you all again.
Yeah so, remember in the last chapter when I said that the next will be shorter? It was a lie! Not on purpose of course but sometimes ideas just keep coming and coming. And so, I bring you the longest chapter to date with over 9000 words! Also, I decided to change the rating to M just in case.
Some of you caught that Jojo's reference that I put in the last chapter, well if you like Jojo and Danganronpa you should check out "Makoto's Bizarre Adventure: Lucky Hope" by muk854, I'm sure you will enjoy it.
As usual, my beta-reader is TheLadyRedHeart.
Timeline
1-3-2-4
Our favorite couple was resting on the grass, rays of sun shining down on them as they lay beside each other, eyes closed while they just enjoyed the moment. The school gave all the students a few days off once in a while so they could rest from the stress of school life, even when the classes weren't mandatory. Because who needed proper schedules and education plans? Certainly not this elitist school in which all the country is putting their hopes in; anyway, Makoto and Akane were just chilling.
"It's good to have a few days for us once in a while, and not because something bizarre happens in this school every five minutes." Makoto said to the person at his side. Both had their eyes closed but knew that they weren't alone.
"Mhm~" His lover hummed in response, toned arms behind her head like a pillow.
"Though it can be a bit boring if it goes for too long. Should we do something?"
In less than a second, Akane sat up like she was struck by lighting. A toothy grin was on her face. "A date!"
"What?" The boy blinked a few times to banish the sleepiness from his eyes before looking at her with a confused expression.
"A date! You know, we go to places, do fun stuff. We never did it before."
Looking back she was right; they always hang out inside the school. Sure the place was big and there was always something interesting to do, but the same view all the time was getting old.
"Guess you are right."
"We will go on a date then!" She proclaimed before Makoto had a chance to argue. "Tomorrow is Saturday so we will do it then. Come to the front gate at six o'clock. Don't be late~"
And with that she was gone, too excited about the future date to stay in one place, Akane ran away at high speed like that would make tomorrow come faster. She left behind a dumbfounded Makoto that, after blinking a few times, decided to lay down again. It wasn't a problem; after all, they were together all the time and already did a lot of 'boyfriend and girlfriend' stuff, this would be easy.
It was just a date.
Their first date ever.
Makoto jumped up with his eyes wide open and some sweat dripping down his face. "What do people do on dates!?"
/-/
It pained him to admit it but the luckster had little experience in dating...well, none to be precise. That combined with the tendency of teenagers to blow romantic stuff out of proportion made him quite nervous. Luckily, he put a plan in motion: to form a special team to help him make the perfect date plan! And so, the three women were in his room, looking at him with raised eyebrows.
"Really? You two have been dating for more than a month and never went on a date?" Sayaka asked her old childhood friend, crossing her arms in a disappointed manner. "You know, not everyone can have such freedom with their relationships."
"Y-yeah, sorry about that." He said while scratching his cheek. The Idol didn't have the liberty of dating someone just because then she wouldn't be 'pure'. It was pretty dumb but that's Japan for you sometimes. "We were together pretty much every day so we didn't need it."
A third voice cut into the conversation, it was one full of anxiety. "I g-get why the shallow doll is here, being all girly and p-popular, but why me?" It was the voice of Toko who, once again, was struggling with the concept of being 'nice'. "Y-you better not be thinking about getting s-some 'practice' with me before the date, I'll scream!"
"I'm 100% sure that he won't do anything like that." The blue-haired girl sighed while brushing off Toko's hurtful comments, sadly they were used to them. "If I have to take a guess, Makoto invited you because of your 'experience' in romance, right?"
She turned to him for confirmation, and the ahoge boy gave her a nod while trying to fight back a slight blush that appeared thanks to the writer's implications. The hand of a fourth person raised as if asking a question, and when she realized that this wasn't a classroom the hand went down and Aoi blushed in shame.
"Then, why am I here? I don't know anything about dates and that kind of stuff."
"Well, you see…" Makoto scratched the back of his neck this time; he wasn't too proud of his logic here. "I was thinking that since you and Akane like similar things…"
Hina gave him the most deadpan look she could muster before standing up. "I'm leaving."
"Please stay! It was just a joke." It wasn't. "I could really use your perspective Hina."
She pouted cutely before sitting down with a huff. "Okay, but you have to stop doing that-it's getting old...also you owe me a ramen bowl."
"Deal!"
"S-still, I'm surprised that you didn't ask the b-boys to help you. All of you could have a w-wiener party together." For some reason, the gloomy girl was drooling a bit at the idea.
"A wiener party? Is that a party where you eat a lot of them?" The swimmer girl asked with a finger on her chin.
"I b-bet you would l-love being in one."
"You bet, I love wieners!"
Sayaka jumped behind Hina and covered her ears. "Toko stop, don't fill Hina's mind with perverted stuff."
The girl huffed and turned her gaze to the side. "At least this way she w-would have something in there."
Hina was looking around in confusion before the only boy in the room spoke, another blush on his face. "A-anyway, I thought about asking them but…well, Chihiro, Ishimaru, and Hifumi also never had a date before. Mondo gets super nervous when asking a girl out, Leon says that he has a lot of experience but I'm pretty sure that he got more rejections than anything and Hiro...is Hiro." Speaking ill of his friends wasn't something he enjoyed doing, but at the end of the day, facts are facts. The rest of the people in the room nodded in understanding.
"W-wait, what about Master?"
"Byakuya, well he sure is popular but I can't imagine him asking a girl on a date."
Toko could, in fact, the Writer was doing just that if the way she drooled and stared into space with a slight grin was any indication. The rest of the group sighed in unison.
"Well now that everything has been cleared, let's start the operation Perfect Date!" Sayaka took the initiative of the conversation, her fist-pumping into the air and leg bent, a perfect idol pose. Makoto and Hina also pumped out their fist in the air with energy while Toko just watched them with a disgusted expression. "First things first, we have to decide the place. Do you have any ideas Makoto?"
"Well I was thinking about going to watch a movie, it's a classic choice."
Toko visibly flinched at that, and she even bit into the nail of her thumb because of pure anguish. "I w-wouldn't recommend that, what if you pick a movie that she doesn't like? Before you know it she is walking out and you are sitting there like an idiot."
"C'mon Toko, who would do something so low to their date?" Hina was smiling thinking that it was just another of the literary girl's depressive fantasies. The moment she received the hateful glare of Toko, the smile changed into a sad frown. "S-sorry..."
The blue-haired student stepped between them to prevent a fight. "Leaving the worst possible outcome aside, it is true that if the movie happens to be a bust you will be wasting at least a couple of hours."
"Yeah and just thinking about sitting for such a long time makes me nervous." The bundle of energy was already tapping her leg up and down; she would need to run a few laps around the school after this to spend all this stored energy.
They decided to put the idea on the pile of 'maybes', this was gonna be trickier than expected.
"Oh, what about taking her to a nice restaurant? With candlelight and music, so romantic~" Now it was Sayaka who was having fantasies, the poor girl was starved for some romance in her life.
"Hmmm, I don't think Akane is into fancy things like that…" No matter how many times he imagined it, picturing both of them having a quiet evening while eating was impossible.
"A Dinner then! Those places are very cozy and relaxed, the food is tasty and some even have doughnuts!"
"A-always with that, anyway that wouldn't work either." It was Toko who shot down another date suggestion. "I bet you w-want to look cool by paying for the food right?"
"Of course, it's the least I can do."
"Do you have enough money?"
Of course, he did...for a person with a normal stomach, but everyone that knew Akane or saw her eat knew that this wasn't the case. Sure, the Naegi parents send him some money each week, but not nearly enough to support their possible future family member's appetite. Makoto hung his head in shame, maybe he should get a part-time job?
"Then one of those all-you-can-eat places, they aren't too expensive and you can eat your fill!" Aoi seemed like she knew quite a bit about the restaurant industry, maybe she could work in that sector after winning the gold in the Olympics a few times.
"While that is true, a place full of people eating to burst isn't very romantic."
"Yeah, and it would be hard to talk while she is one of those people…" The Lucky student decided to leave in the dark the fact that his girlfriend has been banned from almost every buffet in town because she devoured all of their food.
"This is harder than I thought…" Hina scrunched her face, eyes closed and deep in thought. She opened them again with a smile of realization. "I know, just go to the pool; you can never go wrong with the pool."
"W-why go to the public pool when we have our own p-pool here?"
"Well to the beach then!"
"It's a bit too cold for that Hina." Sayaka gave her friend a strained smile, she didn't want to turn down her friend's idea in a harsh way.
Toko, on the other hand, didn't really care. "You just want to go swim yourself, you idiot swimmer."
"I-I'm not an idiot, also you are wrong." She wasn't, the blush on the donut lover's face was clear proof of it. Ashamed, Hina looked away.
Another slump. They had to find a solution fast or the mood would drop. Makoto cupped his chin with a couple of fingers, it was a quirk that he picked up from Kyoko but it helped the boy to concentrate. "C'mon think, dating is normal and I'm supposed to be the best at that. Maybe I can get an idea from a romantic movie or from Komaru's romance manga…"
Suddenly a spark in the darkness, in a way it was quite the obvious choice, anime and manga did it all the time.
"An amusement park?"
"..."
"..."
"..."
A deafening silence was the only answer he got, now he was starting to sweat as three pairs of eyes were focusing on him. Are amusement parks the worst place to have a date? Or maybe they were prohibited by some sort of secret girl code that Makoto didn't know about; girls definitely have secret codes everyone knows! Strangely enough, Toko was the one who put his worries to rest.
"That's...a pretty good idea."
"Huh?"
"Yeah, they are filled with a lot of attractions and shows to watch." The Popstar encouraged her old friend with a smile and a nod.
"Those places are super fun, full of food stands and cafeterias too." Hina pumped her fists with enthusiasm, maybe she should go with Yuta someday.
The boy sighed in pure relief, not only had he not said anything stupid but it was also the best idea since the reunion began. Was he letting it get to his head? Just a bit. "Hehehe well I'm pretty good at this stuff after all." Makoto scratched his neck in mock modesty.
"Let's move to the next issue then...what are you gonna wear?" Sayaka's words had a strange weight to it like she was waiting for something to happen.
"Something normal I guess, some nice pants, a shirt and my-"
"You aren't wearing your hoodie on your date." The blue-haired girl spoke so fast that no doubt she was waiting for that.
"W-what?" Makoto felt a strange sense of betrayal. "But hoodies are great, they are super comfy and stylish at the same time! Hina you tell her."
"No offense Makoto, but if you had that on a romantic date with me I would turn around in an instant…"
"Et tu Hina?" The knife just went deeper into his chest.
"You w-wear that old thing every day since I first met you, it's g-gross." Said the pot to the kettle.
"It isn't, I have one for every day of the week so I can wash the rest."
"What are you a c-cartoon character? Get some wardrobe!"
The smelly girl pointed at his face with an accusatory finger, she did have a point. A few more clothes wouldn't kill the guy, however, that was also true for 90% of the people in this academy. He should go shopping someday...maybe get a new hoodie. Still, the teen wanted to do things right for their first official date but his knowledge of fashion was pretty limited. That's when it clicked.
"Ah! I have an idea, please wait here." With no further explanation, the young man bolted out of his own room, letting the female trio slightly confused.
"Did...did he just leave? After dragging us here to help him, he t-truly is the lowest of the lowest. Just like people who put the milk before the cereal!"
"You sure have some funny comparisons, Toko. I wonder where Makoto went?"
"That doesn't matter now." The melodious voice of Sayaka brought the other girls' attention. She had a strange glimmer in her eyes as she stood up. "Ladies, we have been given the opportunity of a lifetime: we are now in the unexplored territory...a boy's room."
The pair of girls were giving their friend a look full of bewilderment, but it was the swimmer who spoke her confusion. "Is that such a big deal? I have been in my brother's room a lot of times."
"Family doesn't count! And of course, it is, aren't you curious about what kind of 'boy secrets' Makoto may have?" Sayaka was beyond excited, doing this kind of normal stuff with friends was a lot of fun for her even if she loved being an idol.
Hina blushed at the mention of boy secrets, surely their pure egg Makoto wouldn't be hiding any perverted stuff...right? "E-even so, snooping around his room is wrong."
"He shouldn't have left three curious girls all alone then~"
"Y-you act like a good girl but are quite wicked…" Toko sighed, the whole situation was starting to wear the girl down. "I bet the other muscle-bound idiot doesn't have to deal with this."
/-/
In the dormitories of the second year, a similar situation was taking place: a group of girls surrounding a mildly confused Akane.
"And those are all the things that a couple can do in public." A flustered Mahiru took a few seconds to recover her breath because, for some reason, she had been burdened with the duty of teaching Akane what was civil to do in public while on a date. "Why do I have to do it anyway? It's not like I've ever been on a date...stupid Hajime." Taking a deep breath, the young photographer began talking again in a caring, but stern tone.
"Remember not carrying him around like a plushie or touching in...w-weird places…" She said with a cough. "Hugs and kisses are fine, but control yourself."
"Now, now Mahiru." The soft-spoken Sonia interceded between the two friends, the grace that distinguishes the Novoselic royal family could be seen in her aura. "Even if our friend Akane is somewhat inexperienced I'm sure that she-oh nevermind she is taking notes."
"Ibuki also found this information very educative." The rocker girl was scribbling something in a notebook, tongue poking out in deep concentration. "She is confused though, where is Hiyoko? Wasn't she coming too?"
Mahiru sighed in resignation, head shaking in a negative motion. "Hiyoko said that this wasn't her problem, I swear we have to have a talk about empathy...hm? What is it Akane?"
The dark-skinned girl was waving her hand in the air to draw attention, Mahiru is unable to remember the girl being so motivated in the normal classes. "If someone is being annoying I can punch them right?"
She deadpanned. "No."
"Okay." Akane began to write in her little notebook again. "Only...kick them…"
Mahiru facepalmed herself with quite the strength, her pale face was starting to get red and numb from all the times she did it in the last hour. In a way she was envious of the traditional dancer, the rotten girl was probably having a great time right now.
/-/
"Squish, squish~"
The kimono wearer was, in a twisted way, having a great time right now. Squatting in front of an anthill, the blonde could see a long line of the tiny insects, every single one carrying food and such in their efforts to help their whole colony. It was inspiring in a way until a dainty finger came down onto one of them and crushed its little black body.
"Hihihi~ this is way better than helping that stupid monkey girl."
From behind her, a voice called over. "What are you doing there?"
"I'm doing squish, squish with Mr. Ant." It was the only explanation the dancer gave, not even turning around to face whoever was speaking to her.
"Ah, are you playing a game with them?" The voice had a happy tone to it.
"Pffft of course not, I'm literally squishing them!" Her tone was even happier, which was pretty unsettling in this kind of situation.
"W-what? B-but you aren't supposed to do that to bug friends!"
"Ugh, you are annoying! Just leave me alone, besides what kind of person is friends with bu-" All the anger she was displaying began to fade when that enormous shadow loomed over her, turning around the bratty girl didn't see a person, but instead a wall of muscles stuffed into a brown suit. her pupils shrank in fear as she craned her neck to look at the face of the gigantic man that was literally blocking the sun from her.
Gonta had such an intense expression on his usually gentle face; it was like his eyes were glowing. His voice was shaky and came from between clenched teeth, "Doing such an evil thing to do to poor ants, Gonta can not stay still before such evil!"
"T-the hell? What are you…"
"Gonta will take care of you…" With a solemn tone, the strong man hurled Hiyoko like she was weightless before running away, ground shaking with every step.
"L-let me go! Help, I'm being kidnapped! HEEEEEEEEEELLLLLLLLLPPPPP!"
/-/
"So? Will you help me?"
Makoto's friends 'kindly' informed the boy that his choice in clothes wasn't enough to have a proper date with a lady. Well, if they wanted fashion who better to assist than the Ultimate Fashionista herself? Sure, sometimes the two of them butted heads and didn't see eye to eye, but they were friends and classmates. So when the needy boy asked for help the blonde did the only thing logical in her situation.
She laughed. A lot.
She giggled, chuckled, and cackled.
Makoto was starting to worry, he never saw someone laugh for so much time without passing out or stopping for air; the girl could be breaking a record right now. After a while, he was beginning to ready himself with the duty of carrying the girl to the nurse's office, but luckily for how funny that Junko found the joke, it was starting to lose its humor.
Wiping some tears away the buxom girl recovered her composure, and with all of that out of her system, Junko gave her answer, "No." and closed the door on his face.
"...don't know what I was expecting…"
With a dent on his spirit, Makoto walked back to his own room; it wasn't the end of the world, he was sure that the girls could help in picking a nice and simple outfit; they were sensible and level headed people after all...or that's what the teen thought before that idea turned to dust once those hazel eyes glanced at the trio of girls.
"Makoto was right, they are comfy!" Hina was in front of the boy's closet, a hoodie in place of her usual red jacket, though she had some problems zipping it all the way up, "Ngh~ I think the zipper is stuck…"
"Pretty sure the zipper is not the problem…" Sayaka was rummaging the drawers like a rogue expecting to find some incredible treasure, what the girl found was a rather old CD. Those blue eyes of hers sparked with joy, "Awww it's the first single of my group, so sweet. I bet he would love it if I convince the girls to sign it for him and Komaru."
The last of the group had literally flipped the mattress off the bed, eyes scanning the bed frame with hunger. "C'mon they have to be here, boys always hide their dirty things under the bed."
"Again, I don't think he is that kind of boy, Toko."
"Y-you don't know anything aside from dancing and singing, a boy can survive a whole month with only manga, porn, and fried chicken!" It was a mystery what was the source of Toko's information but that didn't make it any less true.
"What!? Yuta too!?"
"Are you three having fun?"
Time seemed to freeze, and none of the girls moved an inch or spoke. A chill ran down their backs at how cold the ahoge teen's words sounded. They didn't need to see his face to know that he wasn't smiling. An earful was in its wake.
"I'm not mad...just disappointed." Said Dadkoto.
/-/
Saturday came, the skies were clear and a gentle breeze made the leaves swing pleasantly; a perfect day for a date. The lucky boy was standing on the gate with his new attire: a pair of nice black tennis shoes along with well-kept jeans. A simple white button-up dress shirt did the job of covering his chest with a blue jacket on top. It was simple but it worked, and now he was standing on the gate. Maybe he came a bit early to make sure nothing will go wrong-about thirty minutes early to be exact. While watching his phone to make sure the time was right, a couple of steps caught the boy's attention. Looking up, Makoto's eyes widened and his lips parted slightly thanks to what he was seeing.
Akane was walking up to him while waving her hand vigorously into the air as if he could somehow miss her. She wasn't wearing her usual clothes either; a dark red and black jacket over a white shirt, along with high-waisted black pants that for some reason had the images of some flames rising from her ankles. A bit strange but she made it work. Her shoes were a clean plain white, that un-wilding mane of brown was tied up in a messy ponytail, and a few bangs were framing her face along with the one between those dark gray eyes.
Maybe he was a bit biased, but to Makoto she was stunning.
"Hope you didn't wait too long." She stood before him, a smile on her lips while she eyed his clothes. "Hey you look really nice, how about me?" Akane put a hand on her hip waiting for a response.
"You look beautiful." It wasn't Makoto's most inspired compliment but those words came out without thinking.
"Save something for the date you~" The athlete wasn't fully blushing but that wide smile was a sign that those words warmed her heart. She gave him a playful punch in the arm, making him stagger a bit. "Where are we going?"
The Luckster repressed the need to rub his slightly sore arm and gave her a cheeky smile, "That's a surprise."
After a short walk, they took a bus the rest of the way, talking about silly things and looking at their phones. A few minutes later the couple arrived at their destination. Akane's eyes went wide with child-like wonder and that put a huge smile on Makoto's face.
"An amusement park!" The girl's eyes were jumping between the attractions that could be seen from the entrance, laughter and excited screams filling the air. "I always wanted to visit one!"
"What are we waiting for?" Heart full of joy for getting to see the girl of his dreams so happy, Makoto offered an arm which she hooked with her own before walking in.
It was Saturday so it was a bit crowded but not enough so it would be a bother to them. The place was named "La-la-land"-not the best of names- Akane suggested that maybe the one who named the park was a stutterer; both of them laughed at the bad joke.
"I think it would be better to eat after getting on the attractions." Other couples were walking around, so he knew that the place was a popular spot for dates. "Where do you wanna go first?"
"That one!" Still full of excitement, she pointed.
Hazel eyes followed the finger to a huge rollercoaster.
The happy smile changed to a nervous one.
"Th-that one? I don't know...rollercoasters are so cliche..."
"But I really want to ride one, and look at how fast it goes!"
He was looking all right, how it dropped from the top at high speeds and turned around to let you hang in the air. Akane was looking at him, curiosity in her eyes as she could see how the hoodiless boy was fidgeting in place and sweating.
"Wait a second…" A teasing smirk began to form as the tanned girl understood the problem, she bent over so they were eye to eye. "Are you scared~?"
The teen flinched at how right she was, he never liked heights and if you combine them with speed, it became a living nightmare for him. Sadly he was also cursed with male pride and the need to be cool in front of his girlfriend; being a boy was hard sometimes.
"Of course not...l-let's go."
Even though he said that Akane had to drag him to the line of the attraction. He couldn't even use that time to relax because people kept screaming loudly, and of course, his luck wouldn't help him this time. Five minutes later they were boarding the death machine; front car no less.
The security bar placed against Makoto's body felt cold, like the grip of death, the slow ascent of the car just like walking up the stairs to the gallows.
"Wow, I get really dramatic while scared...at least someone is enjoying this slow torture."
In contrast to the boy, Akane was quite giddy. The girl was grinning and rocking in her seat from pure excitement. It was a cute sight, a shame that he couldn't fully appreciate as they got higher and higher. At the highest point, they had a perfect view of the whole park and again the Luckster could only gaze at the drop. All of his blood flowed down to the teen's feet, luckily it all came back up when they were launched down at ludicrous speed.
He screamed, and she screamed too.
His were of pure terror while hers were full of joy.
Makoto's hands were gripping onto the bar so hard the knuckles were turning white, but Akane's were high in the air as if she was trying to catch the wind.
The ride only lasted a few minutes, but for him, it was at least an hour. Shaky legs took him to a nearby bench on which he decided to rest until his heart started beating again. Akane stood in front of him with a cocky grin.
"C'mon that wasn't so bad, it was like riding a really fast bicycle."
"Mental note: Never get on a bicycle with her." Sighing he wiped off some cold sweat from his forehead. "I know that those things are safe but can't help getting scared once I'm in one, my body doesn't listen."
Akane knew that being afraid sometimes was normal and didn't make you weak, in fact, it was Makoto who taught her that...but there wasn't anything wrong with a bit of teasing between boyfriend and girlfriend.
"I understand, don't worry about it, why don't you choose the next one? Maybe we can get in one for kids, those are slow and safe." She had such a grin on her face that Junko and Hiyoko would be proud of it.
"Ahaha very funny…" The Luckster was now pouting cutely while crossing his arms over his chest, then he saw something behind the Gymnast and his frown turned upside-down. "Can I choose anything?"
"Sure, whatever you want."
Now he was grinning too. Raising a tired hand, the boy pointed at the next attraction. "That one."
The athlete had to turn around to see which one of them he was pointing, and her eyes fell on a rundown mansion with an eerie aura to it. Akane began to sweat, she knew what kind of attraction that was.
"I-I don't know, seems kinda boring…" Just as he did before, Akane was doing her best to convince him that they should try any other thing.
And just like before Makoto got closer to her, a teasing grin on his face. "Are you scared~?"
And what do you know? Girls also have their own pride and the need to be cool in front of their boyfriends; being a girl was hard sometimes.
"Fine! I will show you that I'm stronger than before!"
/-/
The interior of the mansion was only illuminated by a very dim light, the walls were covered in rust and the floor made the sound of rotten boards every time anyone took a step. They even lowered the temperature of the rooms to induce chills on the visitors, clearly, this place knew what it was doing; Akane hated it.
Her throat was dry while her hands were damp thanks to the sweat, it was also clinging to Makoto's so hard that one would need power tools to pry them apart. "T-This is dumb, why do people like this?"
"Well, some really like the rush that you get when something scares you." He wasn't that big on scary things but having someone at your side that was terrified was oddly calming. Still, he was starting to feel bad for Akane, even if it was to get back at her Makoto didn't like her suffering like that. Smiling he gently caressed her hand with a thumb to soothe the girl's nerves. "I do think that you became stronger, remember the time the classes made a haunted house for the school festival?"
She did, it was pretty hard to forget such a terribly scary and embarrassing experience. And yet, she wouldn't want to anyway. "Yeah...we weren't even dating at the time and I couldn't let you be the only one doing awesome stuff."
At those words, Makoto's cheeks obtained a pink hue and he scratched his neck in embarrassment. "I don't remember doing anything special."
"You did…" Akane then gave his hand a soft squeeze, gray eyes gazing into hazel ones, a blush, and a shy smile softening her features. "You were really cool."
His heart skipped a beat, she had no right being so cute in this gloomy place. The atmosphere of the room completely changed, now it was cozy and relaxed.
BUMP
BUMP
BUMP
A door next to them began to rattle and shake like someone was knocking on it intending to break it down, the terror came back.
"AAAAAAAAHHHH!"
"What was th-HMMMM!?"
Holding hands was upgraded to a strong, tight hug by the terrified girl and once again Makoto was a victim of the height difference. It wasn't something that he disliked, not at all, but it was hard to breathe with so much soft flesh against your face. After dragging him through several rooms and a few pats on the back, the boy was liberated from the round prison, face missing the sensation but lungs appreciating the air.
After a few more jumps, scares, and jumpscares; the couple was close to the exit if the signals covered in fake blood didn't lie.
"Ugh, this is awful." She walked on shaky legs and low spirits, obviously regretting the whole teasing thing.
"Sorry, I will treat you to the food later on." That was the Luckster's plan from the very beginning but now he had an excuse to do it without her trying to do the same.
Suddenly a door flew open at the other side of the hallway, crossing the frame was a bulky man with a hockey mask and a huge machete in hand. The truly scary thing about him was how hard he broke the copyright laws, at least until he let out a strong roar and lunged for them while raising the weapon. Before he could realize Akane let go of his hand and started to run...straight to that frenzied killer.
"Ora!" With a scream full of spirit instead of terror, Akane's foot found a home in the stomach of this poor man. He just woke up today to do his job and scare some kids, instead, his payment was a flying kick from a ridiculously strong girl that sent him to the ground out cold. "Hah, that was easy, he was just a chump."
While Akane was quite proud of bringing down the tower of a man with just one swift kick, Makoto was more panicked than proud as he clutched his head with a stressed expression. Of course, that masked man was just an employee of the Haunted House, and the machete was made of cheap plastic, and it quickly led to them getting banned from entering the place ever again. The girl didn't care too much about it but she did feel bad for Makoto.
"He was carrying a huge knife and waving it while screaming at us, of course, I kicked him!"
"That poor man…" He rubbed his eyes. The ahoge boy wasn't angry at her, in a way it was his fault for insisting on going inside knowing fully the girl's fears, "But why weren't you scared that time?"
"Huh? It was just a dude with a weapon, what's so scary about it?" Another perfect example of the unique logic that the fighting lover had, "Monsters and people aren't scary, you just have to beat them up." She frowned. "But ghosts are different, you can't even touch them and do a lot of freaky stuff."
"So as long as you can fight them is fine?" Makoto couldn't help but smile, it was a very Akane thing, and in some way he understood. You can only be around people with superhuman abilities for so long before common thugs and armed people become tame in comparison. "Okay, let's go into another attraction. One that we'll both enjoy."
Looking around, she saw some kind of giant cups with people inside, they were spinning and laughing. "What's that?"
"Those are Spinning Cups, think you'll like them." With a smile, the boy led the way to the curious attraction, and after a small line, they were sitting inside a huge white cup, a circular plate in the middle. "This is simple, you spin the plate to make it move faster."
As a demonstration, he began to spin it and the giant cup moved as a consequence. Intrigued by it Akane started to do it too, adding more speed to it and the more they spun the more fun it was. Smiling they both began to laugh, it was just a simple thing but it was special simply because they were doing it together.
The wild girl was getting too much into it, in a mix of letting her emotions run free and wanting to know how fast it could go, she began to spin it faster and faster. The centrifuge force was so intense that the boy's body began to slip.
"A-Akane not so fast, I'm going to-Woah!"
As expected he couldn't hold onto his seat anymore and kinda flew for a second before crashing into Akane with a 'thud'.
"Ugh, sorry I couldn't hold, are you o...kay…" Makoto couldn't finish the question once he saw the position they were in. Thanks to the crash Akane was now laying across the seats, the hands of the teen were resting at the sides of her head while he was on top of her, faces a few inches apart. Strangely, he wasn't nervous to be so close to her in this kind of position, Makoto's mind was clear, and could only think about how beautiful she was, his eyes not blinking, "...sorry…"
"I...don't mind…" Akane was in a similar situation, for some reason the boy was so handsome right now that her heart was beating like she just ran a marathon. The distance between their faces began to close and her heart just beat faster, by instinct they closed their eyes. Their hot breath tickling each other lips, closer and closer until…
"Please make sure to walk to the exit once the ride is over."
The voice of the woman managing the attraction snapped them from the romantic moment. Some people were watching them while giggling about how cute they were, others were simply jealous of the couple's closeness. Red as a tomato, Makoto jumped back up while offering Akane a hand to get up. She, of course, accepted it but gave the woman in the booth the stinky eyes for interrupting them.
"B-boy I'm hungry, aren't you hungry? Let's go eat!" Clearly desperate to get away from the place the Luckster walked away at a stiff pace. It's not like he was embarrassed about showing affection in public, but doing it in such fashion and getting so lost in the moment; it was a bit too much for his pure heart.
Wanting to cool down, they ended up in an ice cream parlor that had every flavor under the sun. After picking a table outside to enjoy the weather, both of them choose their orders. Makoto's pick was a vanilla glass cup with chocolate on top, because vanilla was a very delicious but overlooked flavor, or that's what he said.
Akane chose one called "The Arc" which contained a scoop of every flavor in the store besides several pieces of fruit. The poor waitress tried to dissuade the girl by telling her that it was a plate for at least three people, which she took as a challenge. Makoto did his best to ignore the price, it didn't matter today.
"How are you liking the amusement park?" He took a bit of ice cream and put it in his mouth; delicious.
Somehow Akane had devoured a third of her plate already, only stopping to answer the question, "Yeah it's hella fun, I should have come here a long time ago."
"You mentioned that before, how you always wanted to visit one?"
"Yep." Another scoop was consumed, "When I was little I always climbed to high places, like rooftops and such. From there I could see the attractions and people having fun so I wanted to do the same too, but we had no money and even after getting a job I had to take care of my siblings. Guess I just forgot after a while, no big deal."
"What else did you want to do?"
Her eyes went to Makoto's face, a serious expression on his face. It wasn't fair, she was just a normal high school girl like everyone else. Why did she have to live such a hard life and take care of her whole family by herself? Makoto did know, Akane was just like that; protective of the small and weak and the kindest girl he ever met. That's one of the reasons why he fell in love with her. But it was futile crying about the past.
"Anything you wanted to do and couldn't, I want to help you make all your wishes and dreams come true… I will make you happy." Pure determination and willpower were burning in his eyes, those words have a heavyweight to them.
"Makoto…" Letting the spoon on the table she began to lean forward to him.
"A-Akane?"
Once again their faces were coming closer to each other, the boy losing himself into her dark grey eyes.
"Boop!"
"H-huh?" The sensation of a poke and something cold on his nose startled Makoto, the girl just booped him with a finger covered in ice-cream.
"You are too tense, relax." A toothy grin was plastered all over her face, wider and brighter than ever before. "Forget about all of that and just focus on having fun."
Makoto chuckled a bit, looking like he went too dramatic again, "Yeah you are right, sorry for spoiling the mood."
"You didn't." She licked her lips and let out a satisfied sigh. "I already finished, so we can leave whenever."
"Wait, what? When?"
"While you were speaking about making me happy."
He slumped in his chair like a deflated balloon, "So you were eating…"
When Makoto went to pay for the tasty treats he didn't realize how Akane was looking at his back with kind eyes; he didn't hear her words either.
"I will make you happy too."
/-/
The arcade was full of people who preferred the safer emotions of games, but anyone thinking that they weren't as intense as the wildest roller coaster has never fared against Chiaki Nanami on a bad day.
The couple split for a second after playing some DDR; Akane was doing freestyle dance and managed to get a perfect score thanks to her reflex. After she went to the bathroom, Makoto was in front of one of those punching machines that measured one's strength, a screen with three digits was resting on top of a red mat that clearly has seen better days; one doesn't need to be the Ultimate Mechanic or Inventor to figure out how it worked. The boy wasn't on the muscular side of the spectrum but he still figured that it would be fun to give it a try.
"Let's see, one coin for two tries." After fishing for some loose change in his jacket and sliding the coin inside Makoto adopted a fighting position. "Just as Sakura told me; wide stance, shoulders up and twist your body while throwing the punch…"
Following the motions that his friend taught him one day, Makoto hit the mat with all the strength he could muster, a small thud when they collided. The display on top flashed and numbers began to appear at random while the machine calculated the final number.
-086-
At the sight of the number Makoto scratched his cheek, he wasn't expecting anything crazy but reaching the three digits would have been nice. He put himself back in position but a snicker behind him broke his concentration.
"Pffft, did you see that? Laaaaaame." The voice was unmistakably one of a woman and had an annoying bratty quality to it.
"Now, now Babe, don't be too harsh with the little boy." This one was a man, his words carried such a haughtiness that could give Byakuya's a run for its money.
Turning his head a bit Makoto saw a man and a woman with smirks full of pure arrogance and snotty, even wearing matching clothes that the teen could only describe as gaudy. Apparently, even assholes could find their one-and-only; it was touching in a weird way.
"You are right, Snookums~," She said, voice so full of sugar that Makoto wouldn't be surprised if the annoying girl drooled honey. "Maybe he thought that this was the section for kids."
These insults, worthy of a petty school bully, made him think about Chihiro and his problems with not being masculine enough. Makoto and Mondo always told the insecure boy that being a man had nothing to do with being strong. He still believed that but it was hard not to see the programmer's point of view right now. Not wanting to deal with them, the Luckster decided to ignore them, and let a tired sigh. Not in the mood to use his second try, Makoto began to walk away.
BAM!
A thunderous sound made everyone around jump in place, and eyes full of shock and surprise landed on the back of a girl in front of the punching machine. Her posture made it very obvious that she just used it, once again the numbers flashed randomly before the screen gave the final result.
-874-
"Wh…" The dumbfounded expression on the couple's faces suited them quite well.
"Tsk I wanted to reach at least 900."
More sounds of disbelief came from their open mouths, unable to form coherent words. After scratching her head a bit the strong woman surrounded the teen with her arm, putting him in a tight one-arm hug.
"I think we are done here, let's bounce Darling." That last word that Akane spoke had a very obvious tone to it.
"Darling!? Him!?" For his part, the man's voice had a tint of disbelief and a whole lot of jealousy, something that his girlfriend didn't like.
"And why do you care!?"
Makoto and Akane began to walk away from the two idiots, clearly their love was pure and true.
"I d-don't care, believe me, Babe. Besides, no way that such a hottie is going out with that lose-"
He didn't finish that sentence. A bone-chilling sensation coursed through both of their bodies, then they saw it. Akane was glaring at them over her shoulder, her eyes piercing their very souls, just like a ferocious beast ready to pounce and tear them to shreds in an instant. Catching the message, the two asshats ran away in fear.
Some people categorized Makoto as someone dense; sure he had moments where some things went over his head, but this wasn't one of them. He knew that Akane defended him and Makoto felt bad about it, not because of some dumb things like 'the man has to be the one protecting' but because he didn't want Akane to go out of her way every time an idiot called him names.
"Akane, I'm s-"
"Don't." "She cut him off before he could finish, gaze forward and serious. "You didn't do anything to be sorry for, so don't apologize."
Makoto felt her hand squeezing his shoulder with care and brought his body a bit closer to hers. Just walking around together and sharing warmth; felt good.
"Thanks." A ghost of a smile on his lips.
Akane pouted a bit. "I did want to get a higher score. I bet that the old man or Sakura could do it."
"Now Makoto was chuckling out loud. "Hahaha...pretty sure they could break it."
His hand rested on her hip before squeezing back.
/-/
The date was going great, sure there were a few bumps along the way, but the overall note was positive. It was getting late as the sun began to set, however, there was time for one last activity, one that every couple should do at the end of their date.
No, it's not sex. Get your mind out of the gutter.
It was the Ferris Wheel, a classic attraction for couples. At least that was all those romance animes said and we all know that those are 100% faithful to real life. Both of them looked up the tall structure. Sure, they will be high up but it moved so slow that Makoto could handle it. Probably.
Once inside, they sat in front of each other so they could watch the view freely, and the cart began to rise up in the air at a slow pace. More and more of the city began to appear before their eyes, the orange light of the sunset illuminating the buildings, giving them an almost mystical aura. The Ferris Wheel stopped just when they were at the highest point, a perfect view of the park and the city. Finally, Makoto's luck was working in his favor.
"Check it out, you can see Hope's Peak from here." Akane stood up, hand against the glass to see better.
"Yeah." Makoto was looking at her. Seeing her so happy and with so much childlike wonder filled his heart with a warm fuzzy feeling. God, what a dork. "I had a lot of fun today, more than when I came here with my family."
Akane sat down again, though this time she was next to him. "How's that? Pretty sure they don't force you into the rollercoaster."
"Hahaha my little sister tries but that's not what I'm talking about." He glanced down, to his fingers fidgeting with nerves. "When I'm with you everything is just...amazing, no matter what it is, as long as I'm doing it with you." Cheeks red and voice soft, it was embarrassing opening like this all of a sudden.
"Look at me."
"Wha-"
The moment he lifted his head, Makoto's lips locked with Akane's, eyes widening in surprise. They were soft and sent a shiver down his back that pooled in his stomach. He closed his eyes and allowed himself to melt. Here there were no curious eyes of people to interrupt them, just the two of them reveling in such a simple but, oh so delightful, activity. After what felt like half an hour the cart began to descend and the two of them broke apart.
"I bet that was fun too." She had a cheeky smile too, but that grin couldn't hide the slight darkening of her cheeks.
"I don't know...think that I have to try again to be sure."
He wasn't that slick. "Nha, it's only one for a ride and if you don't use it, you lose it."
Makoto began to pout in protest but the only thing Akane gave him was a stern look. After a minute they began to laugh. God what dorks.
Once outside, both of them walked to the exit, less crowded because of how late it was. At that moment Makoto had an idea and took his cell phone.
"Let's take a picture, that way we will have something to remember this day." They tried to buy something in the arcade with the tickets they won, sadly the only thing they could afford was a tiny keychain with a monochromatic bear on it. For some strange reason, they hated it.
They both got closer to each other..Akane was the one grabbing the phone so they would have some room for the selfie. The sign of 'La-la-land' was above them as a landmark, both of them were sporting happy smiles, Makoto was giving a peace sign to the camera while Akane was winking at it. With an audible click, the moment was immortalized. Mahiru could give them some tips about it but even she could agree on one thing: they had radiant smiles.
The trip back was a calm one, the two teens talking about their favorite parts of the date and where they should go next. They kept doing small talk until they reached Makoto's dorm room, she was adamant that the one being guarded was him.
"I'm spent." A long stretch followed those words, "Tomorrow we should take it easy."
Akane nodded in agreement, "We can get snacks and chill watching some movie."
"Yeah, movies and chilling sound cool." Before wishing each other goodnight Makoto stepped closer, this time he was the one going for the kiss. The Luckster swore that he would never get tired of them and the tingling sensation that came along with it.
She didn't say it but Akane felt the same way, "Hey, I told you that it was only one kiss per ride."
"We did 'ride' the bus." He cheekily pointed a smirk on his face.
"Heh, you got me there…good night Makoto, love you."
"I love you too, good night."
Sometimes the things we remember fondly are the most simple little things; the sight of seeing your loved one with their hair a bit different, the way their laugh echoes in your ears, or how sweet a kiss is when you are above everything.
Those are the memories that can bring a smile to one's face only by remembering them.
And they intended to create many more.
For this had been only the first date of many to come.
Omake:
Hiyoko was extremely displeased, to say the least. One minute she was minding her own business without disturbing anyone -ants weren't people so they don't count- and the next this gorilla in a suit brought her to a creepy lab, full of even more creepy bugs. Thank God they were all in cages along the walls, but that wasn't the worst part of all of this, oh no.
"And this bug friend is a Bombardier beetle, they belong to the Carabidae family. They are very little but can fire a mixture of chemicals that reach 100 degrees Celsius, very hot so Hiyoko should be careful."
It was this bug lover creep, he had been talking for hours about them and called it Meet and Greet or some garbage. Seriously, who cares about all of that? A creepy bug is a creepy bug and that's that!
"Oh and this one is a Dinastes hercu-"
"I don't care!" Finally, the dancer exploded, throwing her hands in the hair with a huff. "I get it no more squeezing stupid ants, can I go now?"
The glasses wearer looked anxious, it was a start but he truly wanted for the smaller girl to see how wonderful and not scary insects can be. It was a shame that the Headmaster prohibited letting them out of the cages after the last Meet and Greet. Apparently, some people got really scared.
In a rare moment of clarity Gonta's red eyes lit up, "Gonta got it!" Ignoring the annoyed grunts of the girl, the entomologist made his way to one of the walls of the lab. A few seconds later he came back to the table where he and Hiyoko were having a 'friendly talk'.
She opened one eye to see what kind of slimy or multi-legged thing he brought. Another eye opened, curiosity on both of them as she scooted a bit closer. "Is that...a chrysalis?"
The muscular teen smiled in response, the chrysalis was pale-green with small golden dots near the bottom and a gold-and-black rim around the dorsal side near the top. It hung from a sturdy branch inside of the plastic box that protected the fragile insect.
"It's a Monarch butterfly after the caterpillar reaches the last step, it forms a pupa around itself and after some time a butterfly emerges. This one should be hatching soon"
Right, she at least knew that much thanks to a combination of TV and common knowledge. Still, he will need more than a green sack to change her opinion on-
Twitch.
"It moved!" The blond girl scooted even closer to the box, wonder replacing malice in her orange eyes.
"Really?" The Behemoth of a man used his perfect sight to confirm that the chrysalis was, in fact, moving. "We are really lucky!"
The green mass twitched again and again but after a few minutes the girl grew anxious, no matter how much it moved, the butterfly wasn't coming out.
"Hey, shouldn't you help it or something? Looks like it has trouble."
"Gonta can not do that." A hint of sadness in her gentle gaze. "It has to come out by itself or else it will lack the strength to fly later on."
It made sense, even if you are pretty or skilled one needs strength to survive, if not you will be squeezed without remorse. The Saionji family taught her that.
The dancer's mind got pulled away from those grim memories the moment a tiny black leg pierced the husk from inside, another one came to assist and the slick body of the insect began making its way out. In less than a minute, its whole body emerged, wings wet and crumpled on the back of the bug. However, as it hung down they began to expand and dry, stiffening as they acquired a black, orange, and white pattern similar to the clothes of the girl. Such a girl let out a breath that she didn't know she was holding.
"Thank goodness, friend butterfly looks healthy. Let's see if it wants to meet us." A powerful hand took off the cover of the box with practiced ease.
The insect's wings quivered a bit before they started flapping and in a moment it was flying. Testing its new wings the butterfly made a few circles around the room before something caught its attention. The floral pattern on the dancer's kimono seemed very real to the hungry insect and flew closer to her until it landed softly onto one of Hiyoko's sleeves.
For Gonta's relief, she didn't slap it away, instead, Hiyoko slowly raised her arm until the creature was at eye level with her. "It is...kinda pretty for a bug."
Pure Gonta took that as an honest compliment and walked a bit closer to look too, "Butterflies are a bit like people, even if they are a bit bad at first, they can change into something really nice with enough work."
At that the older girl gave a snarky smile, eyes glancing at him sideways. "So? Gonna tell me that I can change too? I don't see that happening any time soon."
At that, the aspiring gentleman smiled at her, not a shadow of malice on his expression. "Gonta sure that Hiyoko can do it too, she already pretty as butterfly after all."
Just like the wings of the butterfly that left her sleeve, Hiyoko's heart fluttered.
Maybe bugs weren't so bad after all.
And that's a wrap, folks!
I want to give my deepest apologies to all the ones who puked rainbows thanks to the excessive fluff at the end.
Jokes aside, I bet a lot of you are thinking: "What's with that Omake? Do you ship Gonta and Hiyoko?"
The short answer is no, the long answer is also no. Buuut since this fic started with a rare pair I thought that it would be fun seeing some others spark, like a chain reaction. There will be "normal" ones too but don't worry they wouldn't be the main focus. This is still a Naewari fic.
With that out of the way, maybe I should try to do some short chapters instead of going crazy writing long ones all the time.
Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed it and I will see you next time.
PD: Yeah I know that butterfly's wings need hours to expand and dry. Just imagine that it's the Ultimate Butterfly or something…