_Chapter 62~ Such a Dork_

"I asked you once, and I'm going to ask you one last time: did you eat my ice cream?"

His head was on my lap after I forcefully threw it down and I stared directly into his eyes, raising an eyebrow to dare him to refute to the answer to the question I already had an answer for.

Satoru from underneath me peered right back, though his upside down features was the least of my concern at the moment. "I have no idea what you're talking about," he eventually said.

I grasped onto his cheeks, pinching them even tighter. "It was mint chocolate ice cream. In a small plastic container with a clear label of 'Property of Reina.'"

Satoru was still as impassive as ever. He didn't respond, only furthering the frown to pull down the corners of my lips.

"I know you did it," I continued, pressing harder against his cheeks. "You're the only one that has been in this household besides me. I'm asking you again: did you eat it?"

"I didn't," he said.

I narrowed my eyes. "Liars aren't getting a date tonight."

Satoru clearly hesitated and his neck slightly moved as his Adam's apple bobbed. "I'm sorry, I ate it."

I bit the inside of my cheek, my grip tightening. "I cannot believe you! Go buy me a new one!"

He winced, reaching out with his free hand and placing it over my hand to loosen my hold. "I'll get it another time. We're leaving soon."

"No, you're getting it right now," I enunciated. "I was looking forward to it so much!"

"It wasn't that good," Satoru told me.

I swatted his hand away. "And how would I ever know that? You ate it!"

Rising his head from my lap, Satoru turned to face me. Propping his elbows against my bed, he mimicked my position. "You're one that said I could get anything I wanted from the kitchen."

"That should imply everything but my own personal ice cream," I stated firmly, shooting him a dirty look.

Satoru promptly recoiled, as if he were a vampire in the sun. "Oh no, don't glare at me like that. It hurts so much. I'm melting."

Rolling my eyes, I rose from off the bed, maneuvering my way over to my desktop where I'd left my phone. "Melt all you want, loser."

"Oh c'mon, Reina," he called after me. "Bestow upon me your forgiveness."

"No," I refuted easily.

"Look, I know it's my fault but that ice cream just looked so good, sitting in the freezer in all its glory! The taste of it was something else entirely, though...."

I didn't respond, only settled for a unimpressed scoff as I tapped at my screen.

It was to my least expectations to have his head randomly poke out into my field of vision, now flattened black bangs swishing with the action. I twisted away automatically but he only continued to pop his head around, a frown dancing upon his features.

"Aww, please forgive me," he said. "Please? Pretty please with a cherry on top?"

Silence.

"I beg of you; can you be so kind as to forgive this poor moron for the thievery of your ice cream?"

Silence.

"Reina," he tried again. "If you don't accept my apology, how do you expect I live with myself?"

I stopped moving my body to send him a flat look. "Well maybe you should've thought twice before your grubby little fingers went and devoured my ice cream without permission."

I started in the direction of my closet and he came after me.

"I'll get you something even better," he promised.

My frown lifted the slightest. Tempted, I peered his way. "I'm listening."

"I'm thinking we go to an ice cream parlour right now," he immediately suggested, rather giddily. "My treat so you can get as many scoops of that horrible mint chocolate flavour you like so much."

I scrutinized him at first before rolling my eyes and pushing him towards my doorway. "And I've stopped listening." I couldn't help but snort. "As great as you treating me a cone of delicious mint chocolate ice cream sounds, you know we can't go right now. We have to head out to Erika's party soon so hurry up and go to your house so you can change."

Satoru moved backwards with steady steps, smiling widely. "Then I can take you on that mini date?"

"It's rather likely—if we get the opportunity." I shooed him out my door. "Now, now, get out of here and come back fancy enough to wow me."

He mock saluted. "Yes, ma'am. I'll return—ready to wow—very shortly."

His behaviour was enough to make me laugh. "You're such a dork."

"A dork ready to knock your socks off," Satoru said, quickly planting a kiss on my cheek before racing down the stairs. "I'll be back!"

My hand found itself to my cheek after hearing the front door close after him. A wide grin slipped onto my face. Jeez.

It didn't take much time at all to get ready, considering I had planned my outfit weeks in advance. I was going in a casual long-sleeve shift dress, navy blue in colour. With light makeup, I even took the opportunity to straighten my hair the best I could as well. But it was terrible. My hair was still not the type to be straightened, and it most likely never would be.

Regardless, by the time I'd done the best I could, I took a moment to admire myself in the mirror. My hair, instead of the fluffy state it was typically in wasn't too badly flat now, with only a bit of curls at the tips. My favourite necklace—the one my mom had given to me that one day lay perfectly at my collarbone also. It took me a long time to realize that the necklace had been the gift Satoru had given to me on my birthday, when I'd gotten drunk. The memory from that day had now become vivid in my mind, and now I could entirely recall what had gone down.

Admiring myself for a bit longer, I sighed in defeat, fiddling with my front bangs. Maybe it would've been better if I hadn't tried straightening it in the least....

There was a knock on my bedroom door, waking me from my thoughts. Pivoting on my foot, I tentatively left out the washroom door. Sucking in a breath I pulled open my door only to find the source to be Satoru.

He was dressed in a blue suit, sharp-looking, and well-fitted. Exactly the sort of thing attire that was necessary for a formal event like this. Although I would've argued it in the past, with his wavy, black hair it complemented him rather well and made him look very handsome.

Seeming to catch my satisfaction, he performed a slow spin for emphasis, momentarily causing me to giggle.

"Wow, I'm surprised," I finally said. "I didn't realize my boyfriend was such a looker."

A grin crossed his face. "You were going to find out eventually."

"I was now, huh?"

For the first time, his head shifted downwards and he stared at me for a while. Feeling awkward, I downturned my head, slightly subconscious about what he would think.

"I-It's weird... right?" I murmured, once again playing with my front bangs. "I-I kind of just wanted to try it for today's...um...."

Satoru let out a tiny chuckle at my stammering. "I also didn't realize my girlfriend could be more beautiful than she already is."

I sensed my cheeks getting warm as I tentatively raised my head to look at him. "Seriously? It doesn't look weird?"

He met my gaze with a small smile. "Different yes, but not anywhere near what I'd call weird."

"...Thanks for making me feel good about myself. But I don't know if I can trust you."

"Why not? I'm telling the truth," he insisted. He leaned downwards, forcing me to meet his eyes. "You're seriously beautiful."

My heart rate increased in a frenzied pace. I averted my eyes, blushing even more. "Oh, um...."

"This reminds me of when I went to dye my hair the other day," Satoru started, gesturing to his hair. "Remember what you said when I asked you how it looked?"

I bit the inside of my cheek. "That it suits you a lot?"

"And were you lying about that?"

"Of course not," I said. "I do like your black hair. But—"

"But nothing," he waved me off. "I just feel the same way, too. Except yours isn't permanent, but it still gets the point across."

Satoru's words had brung my spirits up the tiniest bit but I still couldn't find the confidence.

"Why are you suddenly so humble?" Satoru asked after a pause. "Lots of people will like it too."

"They'll probably find it weird, that's why."

"Nobody won't."

"If Miyabi were here he so would've commented on how strange it is."

I wasn't able to believe that the words had tumbled from my mouth, but for sure it had been too late. Satoru's expression contorted. "Reina..." he began.

My heart constricted slightly at the way he said my name. "Sorry," I breathed, blinking back tears. "I'm an idiot. Why... did I bring him up?"

Gingerly cupping my left cheek, Satoru tilted my head to properly stare at him. "Reina, I'm still here."

I looked up at him, almost hesitantly. My mouth was forged downwards in the form of a frown, but my nerves could immediately calm at his reassurance. "You always will be, won't you?" I whispered. "I really don't want you to leave me either."

He softly placed a kiss on my forehead. "I'll never leave you," he promised.

My bottom lip quivered. Why was I saying stuff like this? Hadn't I moved on? Besides, clearly he was the one that had gone through a lot more than I did and yet I was being selfish like this. How could he be so tough?

"You're so tough, Satoru."

"Because I have you," he responded. Butterflies flitted to the base of my stomach. "Aki and my step-mom, too."

My lip trembled.

"Aww, c'mon, cheer up," Satoru quickly went on. "We're going to have fun tonight at your cousin's event, remember?"

"I remember." I carefully rubbed at my eyes. "She's looking forward to it so much she never stopped texting me."

"Then you can't be down." Taking my hand, in almost a dance sort of way, Satoru spun me around. Due to my clumsy nature, I stumbled slightly, falling into his chest.

"Hey," I began, peeking my head up.

Satoru was smiling. "Do you know how to dance for the party?"

"I don't dance very well," I admitted.

"I don't dance very well either," Satoru agreed. "Or, at all for that matter. I always end up tripping over my own feet."

I grinned a bit. "That's not good. If we're both bad dancers I guess we have to stay as far away as we can from the dance floor."

"Or we can embarrass ourselves?" he suggested.

I rolled my eyes. "I'd rather not."

"Why not?"

"People will notice us, as the losers who can't dance to save their lives," I snorted.

He chuckled. "Point taken." Accordingly, Satoru enveloped me into a tight embrace, uttering, "Cheer up, okay? I love your smiles."

Warmth grew in my chest like a wildfire, ridding the unease and doubt that might've welled inside of me. I wrapped my arms around him, my joy slanting up the corners of my lips. "I love you too."

Satoru's body went rigid. Eventually, he drew backwards, pouting a bit. "Hey... don't just say that out of nowhere," he said. "My heart wasn't ready."

I giggled. "Oops, I didn't realize you had to prepare your heart. Oh I have sinned."

Satoru narrowed his eyes at me. He snaked his arms around my waist, drawing me closer to him.

"Should I stop saying it then?" I asked, glancing upwards with a raised eyebrow.

Satoru's lower lip extended in the form of a pout. "No...please don't."

"Aww, you said please," I cooed.

"Stop teasing me," he sighed. I caught his eyes darting down to my mouth. My heartbeat pounded relentlessly in my ears as he began to lean forward. The pit of my stomach clenched a bit when he stopped short of my lips. "I... love you too," he confessed. "Way more than I thought I could."

My heart seriously felt as if it would explode. "Satoru...."

"When we first met..." he began. "I'm sorry I hurt you."

"You didn't mean to hurt me," I hurriedly told him. "And I kind of deserved it for sitting on your lap."

"If I didn't shove you, and ask for directions, you wouldn't have had a reason to concern yourself with me." He paused. "You wouldn't have had to go through all this either."

"But I wouldn't have gotten to meet you then," I pointed out. "And I'm grateful I did. Even if it took a lot of fumbling here and there, I'm so grateful I received the opportunity to get to know you."

"Me too," Satoru agreed. He swallowed hard, sudden colour tinging his cheeks. "Jeez, you're too cute for me, Reina."

My heart became a pile of goo in my chest. "What are you suddenly on about? I'm not cute."

"Yes, you are," he reasoned. "It should be a crime to be as cute as you are. You're arrested for the thievery of my heart."

Before he could dare press our lips together, I blocked him with my hand. "Wake up, lover boy, we have to get going now."

"Yeah, tell that playboy, Reina. Putting the moves on you like that...."

Both Satoru and I went stricken. Eyes as wide as saucers, we both simultaneously shifted our heads back and gasped, lurching backwards and gripping onto each other for dear life.

"M-Masumi-nii you were home?" I demanded, finding difficulty in forming the words through the embarrassment sweeping through me.

In the darkest corner of the corridor, my older brother who was casually leaning against his bedroom's doorframe had his reading glasses rested by the bridge of his nose, lips pursed in disapproval. He picked himself off the door, scooping up his suitcases that he gripped in his hands.

"Mom and Dad are heading home now to take me to the airport," he started, slipping off his glasses to properly look at us.

"S-so you were standing th-there the entire..." Even as I stammered, my brother's sour frown answered the question for me. I craned my neck up to Satoru for warning signals but unlike the first time he saw him, Satoru carried no means of fright.

He politely bowed his head. "It's nice to see you."

"You dyed your hair," Masumi responded, narrowing his eyes and the top of his head.

Satoru rose his hand subconsciously to his hair. "Um, yeah."

"It's no longer spiked up either... So you realized my little sister doesn't belong with a delinquent and tried to fix that?"

Satoru said, "Well—"

"No, it's not a bad thing. I really do admire your desire to change," Masumi cut him off. "My sister belongs with kindhearted people, not arrogant bad boys so I'm glad you get it."

Moving away from Satoru, I stood my ground in front of him. "Masumi-nii!"

"Calm down, Reina," Masumi said, briefly flickering his gaze from Satoru and looking my way. To my surprise, a broad smile consumed the bottom half of his face as he reached out and held out his hand to Satoru's. "I approve."

I momentarily gaped at him for a while. "W-wait, what?"

Satoru placed his hand in Masumi's as my older brother chuckled.

"After that adorable show of affection how could I not?" he said. "I mean, I did hear some very sketchy words like 'he hurt you' but that can't possibly be the case, right?"

Satoru gritted his teeth—Masumi's grip on his hand wasn't getting any lighter. I reached to separate it. "Hey—"

The ding of his cell phone seemed to snap my brother to his senses. His eyelids fluttered as he pulled out and scanned his phone screen. "Oh great, Mom and Dad are waiting outside."

"You're leaving?" I asked.

As if hearing my disappointment, Masumi met my eyes with a frown. "Yes. I know, time was too short. Now give your brother a hug."

I awkwardly did as told, heading into his arms. "See you."

Retreating apart, he mussed my hair. "Take care of yourself, all right?"

"All right."

"And I'm hoping that if she doesn't—which happens extremely often—you'll be there to support her?" Masumi went on, shooting Satoru an ominous look.

"Of course," he promised, stiff from fear.

Masumi smiled yet again; his personality was definitely on-and-off. Squeezing me once last time, he faintly told me, "When I come back you two better still be together or else I'm burying a body."

"Masumi-nii!"

Racing towards the staircase before I had another chance to say anything, my brother laughed and waved. "See you two lovebirds! Take care!"

I heaved a loud sigh as soon as he left the house, returning it to its sense of equilibrium.

"Jeez, why is he so troublesome?" I sighed, folding my arms.

"Siblings always will be," Satoru chuckled, looping his arms through mine and guiding me in the direction of the front door as well. "Let's go already."

"Yeah, we do not want to be late for it do we?" Grinning at my words, I relented to his tugging, holding up my fist. "To the party!"

He mimicked my action. "The party!"