Chase had put on a disguise.

Sunglasses? Check. Hat? Check. Jacket? Check. Everything she needed to continue her investigation. She had also bought a bucket of popcorn.

She had followed Kyle and Tear to a movie theater in New Leaf City, and stealthily seated herself in the row behind them a few seats away. She leaned a bit closer to listen to their conversation.

"…and then when he bent down, his pants tore!"

"No way!"

"Yes way!" Kyle pantomimed the situation. "You could hear them tearing, like RIIIIIIIIP, and Aran started laughing like crazy!"

"No way, no way!" Tear laughed. "What did he do?"

"He high-tailed it out of there of course! Teleported away! Then he came back like, five minutes later and was all 'if you tell anyone about this, especially that idiot light mage, I will end you!', and Aran was just laughing so hard she fell on the floor!"

"That's hilarious!" Tear giggled. "But, aren't you worried he'll actually go after you?"

"No way, I told everyone I met today about his little 'accident', if he does go after me it's just going to confirm their suspicions!"

"That's- snirk- that's hilarious! Too funny! Ok, my turn now…so I was talking with Neinheart in Ereve the other day…"

"Phantom split his pants…classic!" Chase mumbled as she jotted the story down in her notebook. She then frowned.

This didn't sound like a date. Where was the flirting? And the kissing? This was supposed to be a date, so where was the flirting and kissing?

'Oh well…' Chase thought to herself. 'Maybe they're saving it for the movie, I bet it's super romant-'

"Chase? Is that you?"

Chase jumped in her seat, almost spilling her popcorn. Her gaze drifted over to meet the eyes of Kyle, who was leaning over the back of his seat. Tear was beside him, doing the same.

Chase panicked. "Wha-! Who-! Me? Noooooo!" She adjusted her sunglasses. "My name is-" She coughed and adjusted her voice to be a little deeper. "-my name is Stephan Speilbottom…"

"Chase, your tail is sticking out of your seat." Kyle pointed at the fluffy appendage.

Chase stared at her tail, which was indeed completely visible beside her right thigh. She wagged it experimentally.

"Um…ok, this isn't what it looks like."

"What it looks like?" Tear asked, looking confused. "Why? What were you doing?"

"Er…that is…I…"

"And what's with the wacky outfit?" Kyle asked. "Why are you wearing sunglasses indoors? In a movie theater, at that. Are you ok? Did something happen to your eye-"

"I-I wasn't following you for anything bad! I promise!"

"Following?" Kyle looked even more confused. "You were following us?"

"Urk-! I-I mean-!" The girl sighed. "…yes."

"Why?" Asked Tear.

"U-um…w-well, see…"

"Hey, come on down here and sit next to us, plenty of room!" Kyle patted the seat to his left.

Chase looked startled "W-what? Wont that be…a bother?"

"Why would it? Come on!"

A moment later the three were seated next to each other. Tear had confiscated Chase's popcorn and had started munching on it.

"…so you got to meet that Kinesis guy and his girlfriend?" Asked Kyle. "What were they like?"

"W-well, he was super cool, and she was…wait, that's not the point! Why aren't you guys doing couple stuff?"

"What do you mean?" Asked Tear, shoving another handful of popcorn into her mouth.

"L-like…um…y'know…" Chase mumbled something.

"Huh? I didn't catch that sorry."

"I-I asked why you guys aren't kissing!" Exclaimed Chase, a bit too loudly.

It took a moment to register on the young Novas' faces. The two turned bright pink almost immediately, and Tear choked on her popcorn.

"K-kissing?!" The orange-haired girl stuttered out. "T-that's a bit-! Um-!"

"P-personal…" The blue-haired boy finished, looking at his lap.

"B-but you guys are a couple now! Shouldn't you guys be doing couple-y things on your d…d…da…"

"Date?!" Tear flushed red. "W-wait, this is a d-d-date? I-I didn't-! I-I mean-!"

"N-no no! Wait, Chase, it's not a- no, I mean, just because it is a- oh geez…" Kyle took a deep breath. "Chase, just because we are dating doesn't mean we do that stuff all the time."

"Why not?" Asked the animal-eared girl.

"B-because…um…well…" Kyle leaned in to his girlfriend and whispered to her. "T-Tear, help me out a little!"

Tear's cheeks were as red as a beet, but she took a deep breath and tried her best. "C-Chase, it's good to do flirty stuff- not that I want to…or DO! Do want to! But, not all the time, like-!"

"B-because we're friends first!" Kyle managed.

"E-exactly!" Tear nodded. "J-just because we're d-d-d-dat…ing…doesn't mean we can't have fun together like we used to!"

"Oh…" A lightbulb seemed to go off in Chase's head. "So…basically…you act normal around each other, and that's proof that you love each other, right?"

"Y-yeah!" Kyle nodded furiously. "S-something…like that…I think…"

"I see! I see!" Chase scribbled something in her notebook. "O-oh! S-sorry for interrupting your date…I…um…"

"N-no! I-it's ok!" Tear took another deep breath, in and out. She smiled at Chase. "It's ok. You can watch the movie with us if you want, but in return, you have to buy us more popcorn!" Tear patted the empty bucket.

"W-what?" Chase looked started. "Y-you mean it? I won't be in the way? Even though it'll be so romantic?"

Kyle and Tear simply looked confused.

"Romantic?" Kyle ventured.

"Yeah! The obvious thing to watch on a date is a super romantic movie, right?" Chase grinned.

"Uh…" Kyle started. "Chase…I…don't know what to tell you, but…um…this isn't a romance movie…"

Now it was Chase's turn to be confused.

"It's that super-cool zombie flick everyone's talking about!" Tear beamed. "The one that got a super-high rating for its super-realistic special effects! He dared me to watch it all the way through…" Tear pointed at Kyle. "…so I dared him back! First one to leave the theater has to treat the other one to lunch!"

Chase's face was drained of all its color, her tail curled closer to her body and her ears twitched down. "Z-zombie…scary...?"

"Yeah! Come on!" Tear grinned. "It'll be fun!" The theater darkened. Tear held out the bucket. "Hurry and get the popcorn while the trailers are going! I heard the first scene is killer! Literally!"

Chase limply grabbed the bucket.

"U-um…I…um…"

"Don't worry, this girl acts tough but she sucks at horror stuff!" Kyle shook Tear's shoulder playfully. "Anything you want is on her after this!"

"Oh yeah? Just you watch me!"

The two Novas smiled at the animal-eared girl. Chase looked back and forth between the couple for a while.

"P…popcorn…o-on it…" She gave a weak smile.

Chase wobbled her way out to the lobby.