Settled inside the dark room of the local cinema, several silhouettes sat among the rows of crimson, velvet seats. Despite his best attempts at making himself comfortable, Asaba Harumasa could feel a certain uneasiness, an anxiety that practically permeated every inch of his athletic body. The movie hadn't even begun... and yet Harumasa felt strange sitting so close to-- her. Indeed, he was sitting right beside his coworker and boss, the ever famous swordmaster of the Hoshimi familyβ Miyabi. Of course, it hadn't been the first time they'd shared each other's company. They were comrades after all. Harumasa knew what it was like to fight back to back with her when they were both protecting New Eridu from dangerous Hollows.
But this was different. This time, the two of them were on a date.
Harumasa could practically still hear Miyabi's father's voice reverberating in his head. How the great Hoshimi Souichirou implored him to keep up the quasi-relationship that the New Eridu tabloids had published. The voice was so clear in his mind that he could perfectly recreate the man's tone and cadence. Never once in a million years would he have expected Miyabi's father, of all people, to ask him to date his daughter. Even if her father knew that it was all just a farce.
Urgh, what a pain!
Sitting beside Miyabi, Harumasa turned towards her. He had no idea why he had decided to dress up for this occasion, ditching his usual Section Six battle outfit for something more suave and formal. He'd dressed himself in a jet black three piece suit, complete with tie and dark green button up. Even more noticeable, he'd be found without his master's yellow headband, a signature part of his usual appearance.
"Sooo as I was sayingβ if you have any questions, Chief. Feel free to let me know~" Harumasa whispered softly, "I figured that this would be a research opportunity for us, so you can see how real couples are supposed to act." If he was going to be taking Miyabi out on fake-dates, it only made sense that he'd try to teach her something in the process. That was what her father wanted, at least. Without much research into the film that they were about to watch, Harumasa had hastily picked out the newest romance flick that was playing in theaters.
As the movie started, Harumasa would lean back into his seat, eyes darting back and forth from the screen to the woman beside him. "Ah, looks like the movie is starting. I heard that Astra Yao even makes a cameo in this one." He'd remark, trying to break the uneasiness between them as the movie played. The pair would find themselves rather quiet for the first hour of the film, the movie taking on a soulful, heartwrenching story about a young princess who falls in love with her knight.
Unlike her nervous co-worker, Hoshimi Miyabi was strangely calm. She usually was, in the face of most trials and tribulations, and this date was the toughest one yet considering she had no inkling of training to recall. She was a blank slate, so inexperienced in the language of love that she could only rely on the good graces of her co-worker to teach her the ways of courtship. It was, so far, an uneventful experience. They sat side-by-side, shoulders almost touching, and watched the movie without much interaction. She almost had to question herself if this was truly how people dated, because she couldn't readily tell the difference between this and an innocuous outing with friends, or even co-workers.
For what it was worth, she had tried to make it different. She had chosen to overdress for the occasion, as well; though, in her defense, her traditional upbringing had taught her to wear kimonos for special, joyous occasions. She couldn't think of a better "special or joyous" occasion to make that choice of wardrobe than here and now. It seemed Harumasa was of the same mindset since he was also formally dressed for the date, and even smelled fragrantly of a cologne Miyabi had never picked up before. She was perceptive of such details, and found herself on more than one occasion leaning towards him to follow the scent.
She was observant of other details in that theatre, too, specifically of all the other couples that gathered on their own dates to the cinema. Some were like them, a touch awkward and nervous, and others were completely comfortable in each other's spaces. Miyabi studied their behaviors whenever the movie would come to a lull, but then her attention flitted back to the big screen when Astra Yao made her very brief, but glamorous appearance.
Miyabi's ears perked up slightly as a deep chorus of vocal appreciation flooded the cinema, with one man standing up to give the starlet herself a standing ovation. Miyabi saw, albeit briefly, the cross looks of envy on their girlfriends' faces. She glanced at Harumasa, almost expecting to see the same star-struck expression on his face, if it was true that no red-blooded man could withstand the charms of Astra Yao. She wondered how it would make her feel, if Harumasa took to her beauty the same way.
"Do you enjoy her?"she asked, considering it a fair question.
Perhaps, if he did, then she would also have to follow the examples in the audience and slap his arm or tug his hair in frustration. "Is she more of your... type?" she followed up with a more inquisitive and genuine question, wanting to use this opportunity to know better of his preferences.
Though the first hour of the film would prove to be uneventful, it seemed that everything would change once Astra Yao made her appearance on screen. Firstly, there was the crowd, who seemed quite excited to see the famous starlet, men whose eyes were wide with adoration and desire. More alarmingly, however, would be the question that would draw from Miyabi's lips. Those softly spoken words, inquisitive and innocent. While one might have taken such questioning to be a sign of jealousy, Harumasa knew that Miyabi was far too straightforward for such thinking.
"Erm... enjoy her?" Harumasa repeated the question again, a sign of discomfort... an attempt to buy himself more time to think about the question, "I suppose her music is fine, but I can't say I've ever been a fan of her movie appearances," He nodded, "They've always seemed like they just put her on the big screen to cash in on her fans." His head turned, eyes studying Miyabi's reaction to see if she'd be satisfied with his attempt to dodge the question.
"Urhhhhβ" His eyes shifted back and forth, his finger hooking itself into his collar in an attempt to loosen it, "I do like pretty women, so I suppose in that regard, she'd be my type... Ehe..." He finally answered in an awkward manner.
When it seemed like things couldn't possibly get more uncomfortable, the main characters on the screen crashed their lips against one another, adorning the viewers with an all-too-graphic series of sloppy, passionate kisses. Harumasa's eyes widened with discomfort, "Oh man... I wasn't expecting this to be that type of movie." He'd whistle, biting his lower lip as the man on screen began tearing eagerly away at the Princess' dress before playfully pushing her down onto the bed.
It seemed the other couples in the theatre didn't share in his discomfort in the slightest, some enthusiastically taking the opportunity to make out in the same fashion, dark silhouettes pressing their faces together and locking lips only a few rows down. Harumasa would turn to Miyabi once more, his own face slowly hovering in Miyabi's direction. He'd lean closer and closer, as if his face was on an unstoppable crash course for Miyabi's own portrait.
At the last moment, his face would brush past hers, his supple lips brushing dangerously close to her skin. He'd angled himself so that he could whisper into her ear,
"Hey, you aren't uncomfortable, are you?" He cooed softly, "If you want to get out of here, I can take you somewhere else."
Miyabi wasn't probing for the purpose of stoking her jealousy. Her question was purely inquisitive and naΓ―ve to a fault. Her entire life had been composed of a series of training lessons to become who she was today, so it was interesting to know someone else had taken a much different path than hers. Both of them were loved and respected by the public for very different reasons, and she was slowly understanding why people lauded her.
"I see," she replied plainly to Harumasa's response, taking it at face value as if Harumasa had read it off a report. Harumasa might have been nervous with that admission, but it had only served to heat Miyabi's cheeks in the dim theatre. Surely, if Harumasa liked pretty women, and he was currently on a date with her, it logically made sense that she was pretty. It had taken some mental gymnastics to come to that connection but she was over the moon nonetheless.
With her heart light with praise, Miyabi turned back to the movie, which quickly took a rapid turn from romance to debauchery. Miyabi seemed unfazed by it, and only observed more intently as the sexual aggression ramped up. The angles and lighting painted a passionate mood, and Miyabi was bewitched, her ears rotating like little satellites to subtly pick up the practiced, but convincing sounds of arousal from the male actor.
Perhaps she was too into it. There was unmistakably something stirring inside of her.
Only when Harumasa was close enough did she flinch, and her eyes widened a fraction from how close he was to her. She felt his breath grazing her cheek and picked up his scent in her nostrils, an attractive trace of his masculinity he often hid behind his charades of laziness and playfulness. The feeling that burned inside of her, smoldering like a hot coal, was anything but uncomfortable. At least, for now. "No," she replied, blushing but surprisingly cool. "Why would I be?"
Surely, Harumasa's face was less terrifying than any grotesque Ethereal that had gotten that close to her face before. Harumasa was certainly easier on the eyes. Miyabi glanced out of the corner of her eyes at the screen, the kissing couples, then Harumasa's lips. "Are you uncomfortable?" she asked him in return, equally as concerned for her date. "There is mild nudity in this scene. If breasts bother you," she paused, gently placing her hand over his eyes. "Then avert your gaze for a moment."
Harumasa's concern for Miyabi would turn out to be nothing more than a projection of his own anxieties, a reality that Miyabi would unwittingly confront when she turned the question back in his direction. The young man, however, would be far too proud to admit that the situation he found himself in was too much for him, instead electing to brush away Miyabi's wayward hand. It was just... that there was something different about Miyabi. Perhaps it was her innocent, sheltered nature that made him take pause, or maybe it was something else entirely.
"Noβ that's not it," Harumasa would retort softly. A little bit of nudity had never been an issue for him. After all, he'd had gained a reputation for being quite the confident womanizer in recent years. "I just... wasn't planning on introducing to you to this sort of stuff right off the bat." He pouted, mildly flustered by how Miyabi had attempted to be the one to protect him. "Crawl, walk, run. You know? I just wanted to show you what a first date with someone might look like." Harumasa sighed as a series of animalistic moans and grunts reverberated from the movie theatre.
"Aaaaah. Your father is going to kill me if he ever finds out about this." Harumasa groaned aloud, burying his face into his hands. He could practically hear Souichirou Hoshimi's disappointment in how he'd taken his daughter to such an explicit film. "And just how long is this scene going to last for?" He added in frustration.
It'd be a few moments later that Harumasa would regain his composure. If they were going to sit through this, he could at least make their time useful. It'd be worth it to teach Miyabi a thing or two about what she was looking at. Educational. Hm! Hm! Harumasa nodded eagerly to himself, practically trying to gas himself up to confront the situation head on.
"Look, Miyabi, what you're seeing... well, it's something that two people who are attracted to each other do." Harumasa explained gently, "Like how you hunger for food, it is only natural for two people to want to be... intimate." He reached out, plucking Miyabi's hand into his own, "You'll know who that person is because you will feel your heart skip a beat at their touch," He slowly intertwined his dexterous fingertips against hers, palms pressed firmly as fingers locked together. He'd confidently hold her hand as if to give her an actionable test she could use in the future.
"When you lock eyes, you'll find yourself getting lost in their gaze." He added, amber gemstones staring deep into Miyabi's garnet pools. "And when their lips get closeβ" He slowly brought his lips down towards hers again, edging dangerously close before stopping mere inches apart.
"You'll feel your body get hotter... and the world stop."He whispered softly, lingering for a few moments longer before finally pulling away. He'd release Miyabi's hand, confident that he'd made his statement. "You see, you didn't feel anything there, because I'm not that person. One day, it'll feel different,"He nodded, happily convinced that he'd given Miyabi a proper lesson in what romance might feel like.
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