Track 15

Three weeks… That was how long it had been since Hikari and Crow returned from the farm. Nearly a month had passed since the two had secretly become a couple over vacation. In that three weeks, Hikari didn't have a single moment alone with Crow. It seemed as though their friends needed them more than usual. One moment it was Kamiko needing Hikari's help choosing a dress, the next Rom was having one of his infamous band meetings where he would try to make the boys a little more focused on music. And when it wasn't anything like that, it was everyone going out to ramen and everyone going to see a concert together... Every now and then, they would exchange glances and try to sneak off together, but that usually resulted in something like Kamiko telling Hikari she'll go to the bathroom with her.

Then there was their original plan for Hikari to spend the nights that Kamiko was in Aion's room over in Crow's... but did that happen? Of course not! For some reason, Aion was always staying over with Kamiko... Sure, they were respectful enough to keep their hands off each other (for the most part) when she was in the room, but she had no way to sneak off without them knowing!

The poor snow leopard was slowly getting more and more irritable, too. She found herself snapping at people without even realizing it... Crow included. This was when he started to notice that something had to be done.

It was a busy day at the cafe, and Hikari was working her ass off waiting just about every table in the cafe after a coworker called off. She could just tell that this was going to be the day that would break her. While Hikari was in the kitchen, dropping off a load of dirty dishes, the bell on the door chimed, signaling that another customer had entered. She sighed as she dropped the dishes in the sink. "It just never ends, does it?" she asked herself with a groan. She opened the door to the dining area and walked to the table, where a customer sat alone, reading the menu. She brushed off her little apron and took out her pen and notepad. "What can I get for you?"

A voice came from behind the menu. "I don't need anything, thank you."

Seriously...? This guy comes in and takes a seat in the cafe and doesn't plan on ordering anything? She did not have time for these games. "Look, you either need to order something or get out..." the slightly moody Hikari responded.

Crow put the menu down and looked up at the girl he adored so much with a smile. "I'll order when you are off work, my Angel." What better way to make her feel better than to treat her to a little date?

Hikari thought she might drop her pen. "Crow?! You- What are you doing here?"

"I came to see you... I hate seeing you so down all the time. I know things have been a little rough since we got back, but I'm going to make it up to you, okay?" he told her.

Hikari was speechless. Crow had never visited her at work before. "O-Okay, but... won't everyone wonder where you are?"

He grabbed her hand making her blush from embarrassment. "Listen... You and I were really close friends before we dated and everyone knows that. If they find out we were out together, they don't have to know it's anything more than that!" Of course, with everything he had planned, it would be way more than that.

He had a very good point... Finally, she smiled and gave him a nod. "I will see you when I'm done, then." With that, he kissed her hand, which flustered her all over again. That was something Crow never got tired of seeing. Hikari rushed back to the kitchen and held her notepad over her face. She was blushing so hard, but had the biggest smile on her face. The two of them had never been on a real date before.

Just a couple hours later, Hikari finally finished her shift. Crow, who had patiently sat at the same table and watched her the entire time, finally stood to walk out with her. He smiled to himself as she walked next to him. He wasn't exactly sure what to say at first, but he was more than happy to finally spend some alone time with her. Over the past few weeks, he had really missed her.

After deciding the ramen house was a safe place for them to go, the two sat at a small table and ordered their usuals. "What made you decide to come out and do this tonight, Hoglet?" Hikari asked while stirring her straw in her drink.

"You've seemed so on edge lately..." he responded with a sad tone to his voice. "I've missed that pretty smile of yours."

Hikari's face turned red as the exact smile he was referring to appeared on her face. He was too sweet to her, and she wasn't exactly sure what she did to deserve it. The leopard reached under the table to take his hand and held it tightly, missing the way it felt in her own. She only wished their night didn't have to end there...

As their food was brought to their table, they both added their favorite toppings and ate in silence. Nothing had to be said. They both were more than happy to just be together. Once both of their bowls were empty, Crow got up from his seat to help Hikari up, then helped her put her jacket on. That was the right thing to do, wasn't it? He wasn't so sure he knew all the proper things to do on a date. Hikari smiled and thanked him before quickly sneaking a kiss on his cheek, when she felt like she was sure no one was watching. "So what did you want to do next?" Crow asked, loving the way his girlfriend beamed with happiness that night. There was no way he could let the night end there. Hikari stopped walking and blinked at him. They weren't going straight home? She smiled and tapped a finger to her chin. What did couples usually do on first dates? Or even any date in general? As she was lost in thought, she gazed up at a billboard advertising a new movie titled "The Night of the Stone Stealers." She remembered hearing about it from a few of her coworkers. It was supposed to be a horror film filled with crazy monsters.

Suddenly, it hit her. That was perfect! Not only would no one recognize them in a dark theater, but if they went to see this movie together, she could act like she was afraid and he'd have no choice but to comfort her. She chuckled to herself, deviously. "Well, Hoglet~" she started in a sweet tone. "I haven't gone to a movie in forever! And I've heard great things about that one there!" She pointed up at the billboard as she spoke. Crow looked up at the advertisement she was referring to and gulped. She wanted to see that? He then looked back to see a… very ironically sweet smile on her face. Why was she looking at him like that? It wasn't like he could tell her no… Besides, it was just a movie. He was tough. There was no way it could even be that scary… to him at least. He would have to be brave for her! How bad would it look if she got scared and he couldn't even hold himself together to make her feel better-

"Crow? Is that a yes or a no?"

"Hm?" The hedgehog shook his head, erasing those thoughts from his mind. "Hah! Of course, Angel! You're lucky you have me to go with you, or it might just be too much for you."

The couple made it to the theater just in time for the movie to start. Since they had just eaten, neither of them needed any snacks, so after purchasing their tickets they made their way into the dark theater and took their seats in the very back row. On the outside, Hikari looked to be very excited to be seeing a movie with Crow, but on the inside she was absolutely nervous! She was seeing a movie with Crow… Next to her, sat a brave looking hedgehog, though just like Hikari, what he showed on the outside was not how he felt on the inside. Of course, he was extremely happy to be seeing a movie with Hikari, but why did he have to pick such a terrifying movie!?

As the movie started, Crow felt his heart beat faster out of anxiety, but in his mind he continued to tell himself that he could handle anything, even some silly movie. His eyes wandered away from the screen as the dark monster in the movie started attacking poor defenseless myumons, to see how Hikari was doing. The poor hedgehog was already trembling, so he couldn't imagine how she would be feeling. Judging by the expression on her face, the scene must have scared her, too. He reached over and took her hand, hoping it was enough to comfort her, and sunk down in his seat. It was going to be a long movie…

On the inside, Hikari couldn't help but laugh at how stupid the movie was. It was all so obvious it was fake. She had to make it look like it scared her, though, if her plan was going to work.

By the middle of the movie, Crow had been sitting with his feet up on the seat. This didn't seem unusual to Hikari, since this was how he always sat while in Angelica's, but the vocalist had done this out of fear. He couldn't let some monster come out from under his chair and grab his feet!

The movie was just starting to get good. One of the smaller monsters had just broken into the main character's home to steal her Melodesian Stone, and Hikari knew that when that moment came, she'd have the perfect opportunity to practically throw herself at her boyfriend out of mock fear! Slowly, she inched herself closer to him as the movie grew quiet. It was so predictable that the monster was about to jump out.

Crow sat, legs crossed in the seat, as he clenched his tail in his hand. Where did the monster go? Why did everything seem so calm and quiet? He didn't like this… He didn't like this at all…

The moment the monster finally jumped out, Hikari grabbed Crow by the arm, planning to pull him closer to her, but things didn't exactly go the way she had planned. The moment she grabbed him, her… "tough," "brave" boyfriend let out a scream, just before falling out of his seat. Hikari's eyes went wide as she stared down at him, biting her lip to hold in her laughter. After being shushed by some of the other movie goers, because of Crow's scream, Hikari knew she needed to keep quiet, and instead reached out a hand to help him up. Sensing that she was judging him, Crow gave Hikari a glare, mumbling under his breath that it wasn't that funny.

After feeling just a little guilty for what she seemed to have put him through, Hikari leaned closer to him, and hugged his arm for the remainder of the movie. She couldn't help but feel slightly annoyed that things didn't go her way and that he wasn't the one holding her, but this was nice, too. She didn't mind protecting the scared little hedgie from the big bad monsters!

The entire walk home after the movie, Hikari could no longer contain her laughter. She had no idea Crow could be so scared of some stupid movie!

"You should have seen yourself in there! I didn't think you were going to make it!" she hugged her arms around her stomach as she laughed out loud.

"Can we just stop talking about it… please? It's really not that funny," the grouchy hedgehog mumbled as his tail dragged behind him. She hadn't stopped making fun of him since they left the theater!

"Not that funny? Crow, you walked into that theater acting so brave and confident, then ended up screaming like a little child halfway through it!" Hikari said while playing with his tail.

The moment she touched it, he jolted out of fear, feeling like it could have been one of the monsters, and grabbed it before holding it to him. "I didn't scream like that… You're just exaggerating now. Besides, you were scared at the beginning anyway, and if I wasn't there to hold your hand when that happened…"

As the hedgehog continued to ramble on, Hikari was hit with an idea. She reverted back to her small myumon form and ducked down behind some trash cans in the alleyway.

"...then you-" As he turned to look at her, Crow realized that Hikari had completely disappeared. Where could she have gone? "H-Hikari? Ahah, very funny… You can come out now!" He looked left and right, hoping to spot her, but had no luck. "A-Angel...?"

Suddenly, little Myumon Hikari jumped out of nowhere and landed on his back with a playful growl. "EeeyaAAAH!" Crow yelled, his tail standing straight out and his eyes wide. The moment he realized it was just her, he huffed a loud groan. "Seriously, Hikari? You almost gave me a heart attack!"

"What?" She asked in a sweet and innocent voice as she nuzzled her soft furry cheek against his. "Was poor widdle Crow scared that a scary widdle monster was going to get him?"

The flustered hedgehog's face burned a bright crimson from her affection and turned his face away with a pout as she teased him, something the currently small leopard caught onto right away. As she held onto his shoulders, her tail dropped, and she realized her little game wasn't so fun anymore. She didn't want to actually upset him…

Hikari wrapped her little arms around his neck and hugged him. "Aw, come on, Hoglet, you know I'm only teasing. Please don't be mad at me." He sighed and put on hand on the side of her face as he pulled her close to his own face in an attempt to return her hug.

"I know," he said. "It's just… embarrassing. I'm supposed to be the one protecting you, not the other way around like it was back there…"

Hikari stared at him with a concerned look on her face before letting go of him and changing back to her human form so she could walk next to him again. "It's okay, Hoglet, really! I don't think any less of you because of that, I promise. Don't worry!" She flashed him a smile and held her hands behind her back. Her sweet smile and kind words were enough to lift his spirits again and he gave her a warm smile in return. He should have known that she wouldn't actually judge him.

As they walked down the street and entered an empty alleyway, Crow reached to hold Hikari's hand. She quickly pulled it away and stuffed it into the pocket of her jacket and looked away. "I-I'm sorry, Hoglet... We are just too close to home now..."

"Oh come on, Hikari! Everyone is busy right now... No one is going to see anything..." he said with a pout. The hedgehog really missed having any sort of physical contact with her, and after everything that happened, all he wanted was to be close to her.

She stopped walking and turned to look at him with a sad expression on her face. She felt her anxiety returning. She couldn't risk anyone ruining their relationship, even if that did mean hardly getting to see each other. "It's too risky, Crow... I can't stand the thought of anyone trying to come between us..." She turned away, tears filling her eyes uncontrollably. Why did she get so emotional about these things? What was the worst that could happen? If he cared for her as much as she did for him, would anyone even actually come between them?

The look on her face just broke his little heart... He couldn't give up. He wanted her to be happy, not sad... Quickly, without thinking, he grabbed her hand and pulled her back to him. She didn't even have the chance to say anything before he pressed his lips to hers, and kissed her. At first, she made a few noises as if she were telling him to stop, but gave in rather quickly. Damn, did she miss kissing him. He held her body close to his and made out with her right there in the alley with no shame at all. She had to know there was nothing to worry about.

When he finally pulled away from the breathless leopard, he spoke lowly. "No one could ever come between us. I'm not going to let that happen." He gave her one more kiss on the lips before stepping back and holding his hand out to her, feeling so proud of himself. Who was brave, now?

Hikari bit her bottom lip, admittedly disappointed that the kiss only lasted as long as it had. She looked up to him with tears in her eyes. She had to trust him... They could do this. She took his hand and held it tightly as she walked very close to him. "I'm so sorry, Hoglet... I know I'm not exactly the best girlfriend in the world... I'm still getting used to all of this."

Not the best girlfriend? He couldn't help but chuckle. "Hikari, don't think like that. I know you're just scared, but no matter what happens, you won't lose me." He gave her hand a reassuring squeeze and escorted her back to BRR, only releasing her hand once they stepped foot inside the building.