You guy know that I don't have the habit to put comments first right? Yeah,.this is a special case as I need to thanks Kawaii Dream for giving me the wonderful idea for this chapter!
Are you ready?
-0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 00000000000-
"There's no other way…? I thought that I progressed a lot, but…"
Ai sighed in frustration, after he completely understood what jealousy meant he didn't discover anything new.
"I know that there are still some parts missing, but what could they be and how I trigger them?", he mumbled furrowing his brows.
"W-Wait a second, I am almost there"
"Huh?", he blinked, "Is that… Nanami's voice?"
He went outside, and heard a rustling, puzzled, he looked everywhere but couldn't find the said girl, even if her voice still sounded close.
"Ah… Wait kitty…"
He looked up and his eyes widened when he saw Nanami sitting on one of the tree's branch, trying to reach a small cat at the end of it.
"Nanami!"
"Uh? Ah… H-Hello M… Ai-kun", she greeted him weakly while her other hand was holding the branch.
"What are you doing there?"
"W-Well, this is small kitten locked scared and this tree is quite tall so…", she trailed off, feeling embarrassed, "I-I wanted to help it."
"… It's better if you return, the probability of you hurting yourself is 99,9%!"
"D-Don't worry, I will be fine… Ah!"
"NANAMI!"
The cat, scared, jumped on her and then landed safely through a opened window, but Haruka didn't have the same luck as she lost her balance and fell on the lower branch, landing on her stomach.
"Are you ok?", Ai asked concerned, and he could swear that his system stopped functioning when the girl didn't move.
"I-It hurts", she managed to say weakly.
He let a sigh of relief, for some reason his body was shaking.
'I don't have time to try and identify what it is, I better make sure that she's safe', he shook his head, trying to find anything to help the girl get down.
-00-
"Well, you didn't have any major injury, but I suggest that she rests a bit", said the doctor, "…At least until her stomach stop hurting."
"Understood, I will make sure that she rests", said Ai with a serious face.
"…Huh… Sorry", Haruka apologized meekly.
"… Are you ok?"
"Er… Yes, my stomach hurts a bit but… It's nothing severe"
"…I'm glad to know"
"… Sorry for worrying you", she started to fidget, looking down.
"Worriyng…?"
"Yes, I didn't want to scare you like that", she said looking slight ashamed, "B-But thanks for caring"
"Huh? Ah… You're welcome", he looking to the side, with a tint of red in his cheeks.
"Ai, are you blus…"
"The doctor said that's better if you rest"
"O-Ok"
-00-
"Knock Knock"
"You can enter Reiji", replied Ai without looking at the door.
"Hey! How did you know that it was me?", Reiji pouted, opening the door.
"..You're the only one that would say 'knock knock', besides, I recognized your voice", he said with a deadpanned voice.
"Geezz You're no fun, do you only know how to smile when Nanami's near?", he shook his head receiving a glare, "Hey, I'm kidding!"
"… Why are you here?"
"Hum… I heard that Nanami suffered an accident so I wanted to check it"
"… If you wanted to know how she was then you should've visited her", Ai said arching an eyebrow.
"True, I confess that I heard that it wasn't something serious, but I wanted to check if you were ok"
"…Why wouldn't I be?"
"Hum… Because I'm pretty sure that I would freak out if I saw someone that I care falling from a tree", Reiji answered a bit concerned, "Sometimes you're too cold Ai"
"… It's not like I didn't feel anything when that happened", he said, "I just didn't think about it, the first thing that came to my mind was to check if she was ok"
"Oh! So you care!"
"Yes, I care for her, I knew that for quite a while, so what's your real point?", asked Ai while Reiji sweatdropped.
"There's no point, I am just surprised", he replied scratching his head, "It's just that most of the time you have the same expression on your face, so it's hard to tell when you care or not."
"…"
"Huh… Sorry, that's awkward", the brunette said, "Huh… You should try to spend more time with her, for a couple you guys act… In a weird way"
'He doesn't know that I'm a robot and that I lost my feelings', Ai reminded himself, '…It's better if I play along for now'
"…Yes, maybe", he agreed after a long silence, "I did a list of places to go with her"
"Oh… I see, can I have a look?"
"No"
"Geez, you're no fun Ai-Ai", Reiji whined before looking above the cyan haired male's shoulder, seeing some photos, "Huh? Haunted House?"
"… That's for my project", said Ai blushing a bit while taking the photos and putting inside the drawer.
'Project huh? Ai, sometimes you're too transparent', grinned the brunette.
"Fine~ I will visit Nanami-chan now and see if she's ok, Bye, bye!"
Oh boy~ Nanami would be happy to hear that Ai was planning a date with her!
-00-
"Hey Nanami-san!", greeted Reiji.
"Ah! Reiji-san!"
"How are you feeling?"
"Better, I guess"
"Wow! It's good to know, you see, Ai-ai was planning to take you on a date!"
"…Really?"
"Yep! I saw it, he was looking at some Haunted Houses to go!", Reiji said with a cheerful voice, not noticing how she froze when he said 'Haunted House'. "It's a good place for couples, you can cling to him whenever you get a fright!"
"Er…"
"Huh? Nanami, are you ok?"
"…"
"Are you… Scared to go?", he asked concerned when the girl started to shake like a leaf.
"I-I get easily scared with that sort of thing"
"But that's the spirit of Haunted Houses! It means to give a good scare!"
Good scare…
Wait a moment.
'Maybe he's trying to learn about a new feeling?', her eyes widened in realization, ' Maybe that's the reason that he want me to come along?'
Ah… She didn't want to go, as that sort of thing terrified her, but she did say that she would do anything to help him to recover his feelings right?
"O-Ok, you're right, I will go"
"That's the spirit!", cheered Reiji, for the completely wrong reasons.
-00-
"Well, I think this is must be the ideal place", said Ai while carrying a folder, "They say that's the scariest Haunted House on the World"
He opened the door and blinked, a bit surprised to see Haruka standing there.
"What are you doing here?", he asked dumbfounded, "… No, they let you go?"
"Y-Yes, the doctor said that I was good to go and my stomach doesn't hurt as I took some painkillers", she explained fidgeting.
"I see… But there's no need for you to come, I would visit you"
"I know, Reiji-kun told me", she said fidgeting a bit and looking very uncomfortable, "He said that… You plan to go to a Haunted House right? S-So I will go too"
"You don't seem like the kind that would go to this place"
"W-Well, it's another of your plans to recover your feelings right?", she asked breathing slowly before giving a confident stare, "I-I said that I would help you no matter what, and I always stick with my promises!"
"… Are you sure? Your body is trembling"
"Y-Yes, you don't need to worry, I will be fine", smiled Haruka trying to reassure him.
…And herself.
-00-
"Welcome! Are you going to be alone on this journey or will you take someone with you?"
"Two tickets", said Ai in a deadpan voice.
"Ok!", said a cheerful girl grinning, "You look like an adorable couple huh? Well, let's see what kind of difficult your lovely partner takes right? Choose one of the plates here"
"Huh… T-This one?", Haruka pointed to the middle one.
"Oh, let's me see… Oh!", the woman mouthed.
"W-What's wrong?"
"Nothing, it's just that no one even got this one", said the woman smiling, "Guess you're lucky, you got the Lunatic Mode"
"Lun…?"
"The scariest that our house offers, good luck!"
…Maybe it wasn't a good idea to come.
-00-
"AAAAAAACK!", Screamed Haruka when a hologram of a spirit laughing appeared, she started to sob and hide her face on Ai's back.
"Huh… These holograms are impressive, it really looks like they are real spirits", Ai commented with interest, "The place was also well made, it does look like ruins but they also have a good security system"
"…"
"Haruka?", he turned when he didn't hear the girls voice, widening his eyes when he saw that the girl was crying.
"It's too scary", she sobbed, her body shaking slight.
"I see… It's better if you wait me outside", he said with a gentle voice, receiving a nod from the girl.
-Click-
"Sorry, once you enter the house you will stay there until you solve the puzzles or you stay for 1 hour"
"O-One hour?!", Haruka stuttered.
She didn't think that she could handle one hour in that place.
"Nanami", called Ai.
"Huh?"
"Don't worry, these puzzles will be easy for me", he said with a reassuring voice.
"O-Ok, then"
"Most of things here rely on visual effects", he said looking around, "So you only need to close your eyes"
"H-Huh, but it will be hard to walk if I don't see where I'm going"
"That's no problem, just hold my hand"
Haruka looked at him and nodded when he offered his hand, breathing slowly, she held it, feeling more calm.
"Let's go"
"Right", she agreed with a small smile, before hearing shriek that made her froze on the spot.
"Hum… It seems that they also rely on sounds"
"D-Don't worry, I will be ok"
"…Listen to my voice"
"Huh?"
"If the sounds also scare you can listen to my voice", he gave her a look, suddenly a bit shy and awkward.
Haruka also blushed, but smiled when she heard that, forgetting where she was, she opened her eyes, and just looked at him the whole time.
He blushed the whole time, as he wasn't good with words, but tried nevertheless to hold a conversation the entire time to distract her, a fact that made her feels warm and happy.
-00-
"It seems that my plan failed"
"S-Sorry, I thought that it would be of help but in the end I got in the way"
"Huh? Oh no, it isn't your fault, it's just that the place failed to make me feel scared"
"Feel scared? Are you trying to make you feel scared on purpouse?", Haruka asked feeling puzzled.
"Yes… After I understood the feeling of being annoyed, angry and jealous I couldn't learn about news feelings", he sighed, "It seems it's still too soon for that"
"I don't think so, you're doing fairly well", Haruka smile, "You did a lot of progress, there's no need to push yourself"
"…Don't you feel scared that we may not return to what we are before?"
"No, I don't", she said with confidence, "I admit that at first the whole idea scared me, but not anymore"
"…Why?"
"It's like back in the haunted house. You make me enjoy too much of our time together to worry about anything else"
"I see…"
"Besides… Ugh", she crouched down, feeling a sudden pain.
"What's wrong?", he asked worried.
"I-I don't feel good, I-I guess that the effect of the painkillers wore off", she said weakly which alarmed him.
"Let's go to the nearest hospital!"
-00-
"We already gave her some painkillers, she will be fine"
"Understood"
"Huh…"
"So… You lied when you said that you were ok"
"I didn't want you to worry", she admitted feeling like a child being scolded.
"I think that your reckless gives more scares than the scariest Haunted House", Ai sighed.
"Ah… Sorry it wasn't my intention", she gave an awkwardly laugh before blinking, "Wait, you said that you felt scared?"
"Huh?", he also blinked.
Now that he thought better about it… His first reaction when she saw her falling down or when she's suddenly started to feel unwell, it was very close to the way she reacted when they were in the Haunted House.
"Huh… Yes, I think I remember that I panicked when I saw you falling"
"I-Is that so?"
"While I'm grateful that today didn't go to a waste", he said with a sigh, "I don't think that I like feeling scared, especially if I need to worry about you"
"Ah… Sorry, I will be more careful from now on"
"That's a relief", he chuckled a bit.
'I never saw him smiling so much before...', she thought blushing, 'W-Well, he did say that he wanted to first comprehend all of his feelings but he also said that he liked me'
…Maybe she could risk a date?
-0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 00000000000-
Something less dramatic and more giggles heh, even if I don't feel that's my best chapter I also didn't think that it was half bad
So… I guess that I will go for a romance the next chapter, and if you're wondering if I consider if the chapters until now were romantic I will say that more-or-less.
Now to the reviews~
Cure Noble0- Huh… I can't tell if that's a compliment or a critic XD, hahhaa, but I will go for the compliment until they say that I'm wrong keke, thanks!
Lady-Korina-Alice- Yes, I find adorable his clueness ^_^, he's such a sweetheart on the games!*o*
Brandnewmelody-Good to know that you loved it dear!
rupali100- It's hard, I guess that I get very into it, like I'm actually speaking, but sometimes it's hard to balance on how much he knows and how much he already knows hahah, they're very complex and I'm crying because it's hard! XD