All The Small Things 24

“Just a little bit off the sides and top, yeah?”

“Yeah, but only a little.”

As Reo directed the man with scissors hovering around him, the blast of the cool air conditioning, despite it still being spring, provided a sense of calm amidst the shop, complemented by the upbeat music playing softly in the background.

The room around him was adorned with slick guitars on the walls, rock music posters, and several old signed Hinami jerseys from God knows who. The coffee table in the waiting area had several pamphlets and magazines ranging from sports, to cars and even fashion if the customer so desired.

The sign outside the barbershop slash hair saloon wrote with an exquisite, sharp font

“SEKIHAIR”

Quite the weird, but unique name, thought Reo, as the young looking man cut his hair and made idle conversation. As he spoke, the Hinami player studied his face.

It somehow looked… familiar. That couldn’t be it though. Reo was certain he’d never seen him before.

“Quite the hairstyle you’ve got here. How long has it been bleached?”

“About a year. But I renew it regularly.”

“I can see. It’s in tip top shape, my dude.” The young barber, with the long purple hair shaved on one side completely, smiled knowingly.

“You know despite us being a backwater island, I’ve had all kinds of wacky hairstyles. Most of them experimented on my baby brother, though.”

“Your brother?”

Reo wracked his brains. Now that he had mentioned it, Reo did have a recollection of Totori briefing him on something along those lines. What DID he say, though?

“You know, us anime hairdressers have a lot on our plate. I mean have you seen the kinds of hairstyles some people—“

“Nii-san! I’ve brought you your—“

A familiar, almost annoyingly high-pitched voice, accompanied by the chiming bell of the door, was abruptly cut off. Naturally intrigued, Reo turned towards the entrance.

“Yuusaki?!”

It was Umio Sekine, his teammate with the weird purple hair tattoo. Reo resisted the urge to facepalm at the fact he hadn’t realized already. Surely, connecting the dots between the Sekihair, the purple hair color, and the hairstyles wasn’t exactly rocket science.

“Heyoz, Umio, just leave the dye over there.”

“I didn’t know I was picking it up for him…” Umio grumbled, as he settled the items on the waiting area.

“Uh, thanks?” Reo smiled wryly, while Umio’s brother laughed.

“Glad to see you’re already friends with my brother!”

“Friends? Where’d you get that idea?!” Umio, always the one to complain, hissed. “What are you doing here so early anyway?”

“Getting a haircut.”

“I can see that… All I meant is… why? We’re open all day long…”

“…”

Reo couldn’t really tell him he came as early as possible because he had a date, could he? Especially considering Umio’s cult and WHO that date was scheduled with…

❖ ⚽ ❖

“Haah…”

Shuna crossed her arms in front of a very visibly full closet, filled with shirts, t-shirts, skirts, hoodies and jackets. Nothing too girly, but also nothing lacking of style. Yet with her first date being a few hours away all she could think about was that nothing felt JUST right for her to wear.

Her favourite T-shirt was too informal. The skirt her mother bought her was a little too long, and the one she bought was a little too… short. Should she be wearing a jacket? And what about a dress? She didn’t know own many dresses in her life, and the ones she did own will probably be too small for her now.

For a second, she eyed her phone and projected a conversation she’d have with Maemi, her only ally in this situatiom.

“A date?! WHAAAT?! WITH WHO?!”

Yeah, she couldn’t just say that to her now, could she? Even if Maemi weren’t a journalist, her loudness would let anyone on Shinrin, let alone Hinami, know about her new relationship. And she didn’t want to be eyed by everyone on the island before she could at least get to experience her first moments… with a boyfriend. All that could come later.

For now all she had to do was get dressed. Without Maemi’s help. Maybe her mom could help?

❖ ⚽ ❖

The hours between Saturday morning and the 5 o’clock meeting time Shuna and Reo had set passed swiftly, almost as if they were a mere trial run for the main event. And who could argue that they weren't?

Shuna waited a few feet away from her house, clutching a small handbag in front of her. Her simple black jacket and blouse played well off her white skirt, and sneakers. Her outfit was simple yes, but also cute and stylish. And always easy to move around in. Her thumbs twiddled a little against each other, as she waited.

Soon, a Reo dressed in a similar manner, sauntered onwards to her. His step didn’t betray a single trace of anxiety, yet his darting eyes did, if one looked closely enough.

He adjusted his hair, smoothed out his light unbuttoned blue shirt and slim fitting pants, and waved. "Hey, ready to get going?"

“As ready as I’ll ever be.”

Shuna managed to swallow the lump in her throat, her heart beating a little faster with Reo's arrival. She smiled and walked beside him.

“You look great. I mean, you always look good, but seeing you in clothes other than your uniform and sportswear is kind of unique.”

Shuna suppressed a laugh. Although he kept a poker face, the fact he talked so much only enhanced the fact he was nervous.

“Thanks. You do, too. Although I kinda prefer you with your Hinami jersey on.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, and your shorts.”

“Hey, that’s definitely sexual harassment.”

With a chuckle, Shuna waved off the comment, and the two strolled toward the bus stop. They had spent the days between the week and Saturday planning their outing. While Shuna had agreed she didn’t mind being seen, she suggested they visit somewhere Reo definitely wasn’t yet familiar with: the next island over, Bushijima.

Although it did house the rival team, it was a mere bus ride away through the bridge constructed a few years back, and offered a lot of things Hinami didn’t.

The bus ride to the island of Bushijima lasted no more than 20 minutes, and it wasn’t crowded at all. In fact, the only other passengers were some middle school kids out to have fun, much like Reo and Shuna themselves.

“So where to?”

Reo spoke as he gazed around him. The island of Bushijima looked… almost identical to Hinami. It was small, but picturesque, somewhat old but lively. The only other island in the complex he had visited, Mizushima, gave him the impression every other one would probably have its own look.

Although their neighbors had a rather different vibe to them, they weren’t exactly different in and of themselves either.

“Let’s see… how about we do something we can’t in Hinami?”

Shuna tapped her chin, and turned to the young man standing beside her, looking round.

“Sounds promising…”

Reo couldn’t deny that a new experience piqued his interest, so he followed along blindly. He and his girlfriend strolled along the lively main streets of the island, bustling with activity on the weekend. They passed laughing children with their families and groups of teenagers having fun. Interesting storefronts lined the narrow streets, with ramen shops and food vendors hinting at what their next destination might be if their fun ended sooner than expected.

Without much delay, Reo and Shuna stopped in front of a small building that was neatly decorated, with dim warm lights and well-placed backlighting. Posters behind glass adorned the walls, and the delightful scent of popcorn filled the atmosphere as soon as they walked in.

The movie theater in Bushijima couldn’t compare to the ones in Kyoto that Reo had visited countless times, but it didn’t have to. It was smaller, yes, but it had its own unique charm. It felt different, almost homely.

“Ah, but the smell…”

“Hey, concentrate, we’ll get to that later.” Shuna snapped her fingers in front of Reo’s drooling face, trying to get his mind away from the delicious snacks.

“Which movie do you wanna watch?”

“I’ll leave that up to you.” Reo shrugged, but surveyed the posters in front of him nonetheless. There weren’t big screens to advertise them through trailer movies, nor blockbuster titles to lure you in. There was just a random selection of movies being showcased through posters alone. They weren’t even that recent.

But there was something that caught Reo’s eye.

“Why is everything… football related?”

Reo squinted his eyes and shook his head. He’d think his mind was playing tricks on him, but the time he’s spent in Hinami has taught him that seeing football everywhere was part of the Shinrin-exclusive experience.

“Not everything.” Shuna smiled, and pointed to a poster near them, “This is a story about a male violinist who lost his interest in his hobby, and a female pianist. The two of them swapped bodies, I think, and while the pianist rekindled her passion for piano, the violinist decided he wanted to become the pirate king.”

“What the heck? That’s literally 3 different famous plotlines jumbled into one…”

“I think I saw it last year, but Maemi was crying through half the movie so I couldn’t pay too much attention.”

“Was she really crying over this nonsense of a plot…?” Reo was naturally skeptical about Toraichi’s sister’s mental fortitude.

There was also a movie about a time travelling girl that tried to save the boy she loved from a bus crash, while they both overcome some kind of trauma, but since that one was football related too, Reo didn’t bother mentioning it.

“Two XL buckets with extra butter please!”

While Reo was busy cringing his heart out from the displayed titles, Shuna didn’t waste a moment to order up their fair share of popcorn. It seemed like not only Reo's nose was about to explode from sheer anticipation alone.

"Isn’t that a bit much?" Reo asked, joining his girlfriend in line for their snacks. If one could call them that. As far as Reo was concerned that was a full course meal. 

The theater was indeed small, but thankfully it was still a little early in the day for a movie night audience to flood through the entrance. Besides, the movie selection today was more than a little niche.

“Trust me, the movie’s long. Besides… weren’t you drooling a couple minutes ago?”

“Here you go. We ran out of XL buckets, so we used one XXL one instead. Hope you don’t mind!” The young woman working behind the counter smiled apologetically.

“Ah, well I’m—“

“How much? And can I tip?”

“Eh? Reo?!”

Before Shuna could even think of objecting. Reo had already paid for their SHARED snack, and grabbed the gigantic bucket like one would hold a child, bracing his lower back as he almost deadlifted it.

“Let’s… go…”

“Is it that heavy…?”

❖ ⚽ ❖

Grinning widely and proudly, Reo shoveled popcorn in his mouth as the young couple took their seats in the relatively small theater. All the while, Shuna gave him an amused grin.

“Did you really want to share that badly?”

“Men are simple creatures.”

As Shuna resigned herself to her fate, the movie rolled onto the sheet before them. Despite having the whole plotline spoiled for him, Reo watched with the same intensity as if he hadn’t. All was quiet, and the audience seemed to enjoy the screening a fair amount.

Especially Shuna.

Reo couldn’t stop himself from stealing a glance or two towards her during the movie. At first he did so just to check if she had fallen asleep, due to how quiet she was, but then he found himself coming back for more of her facial expressions every chance he got.

At moments she looked happy. At others sad. Others she appeared anxious.

If he hadn’t dug up tons of popcorn with his hand, he’d definitely want to try holding hers in it.

What he didn’t know was that Shuna herself stole glances of him, grinning to herself by how his face seemed the same as usual, yet also profoundly different in detail.

Before they knew it, almost 2 hours had passed, and the lights came back on in time with the credits. In the end, although the movie had a silly premise, the execution was great and the small studio that directed it could certainly be proud of themselves.

As the handful of people who joined Shuna and Reo in the theater, stood up to leave and continue about their day, the young couple followed along in satisfied silence.

❖ ⚽ ❖

“Mhmmm, that was fun!”

Shuna smiled contentedly as she stretched, while Reo disposed of the huge bucket of popcorn he had to finish all by himself.

“Why did you order so much if you weren’t going to finish it?” He grumbled, holding his stomach.

“It’s the feeling of having an abundance of something, even if you’re not going to finish it.”

“That’s either overeating or a complete waste…”

“I know, I’m just joking. The movie just made me forget all about it.”

Reo recalled how engrossed she looked, and simply nodded in memory. The movie really went great. The only thing he regretted was not being able to hold her…

Hand.

The same hand that he could now go for.

He stretched out his palm, without thinking, and gulped as their proximity got closer and closer.

“Hey let’s try those!”

But before he could reach, that same hand pointed down the road.

Damn it.

Reo thought, but pulled himself together and followed his girlfriend. Now where was would she take him?

He felt found himself excited for the unknown, as long as he was with her.