Chapter 15

The lobby of the movie theater was more crowded than Kana had expected it to be on a Wednesday night. A long line of people snaked towards both the ticket booths and the concession counter. She began to worry that the movie she and Naoya were planning to see was going to be sold out of tickets. At least until she noticed a poster that explained why there were so many people there. A poster on the wall advertised that tonight was this theater’s first screening of Ginzo Hoshina’s newest release: an action film called Feeling Lucky about a man who infiltrates a gang-operated casino to take back the life savings he was cheated out of. Kana breathed a sigh of relief that she and Naoya were luckily not seeing that movie.

Her next task was to actually find Naoya in the crowd. She stood up on her tiptoes trying to see over the crowd to find him, cursing her body’s aversion to height. Fortunately, she quickly spotted Naoya across the room due to the fact that people with stark white hair tend to stand out—a fact she herself was painfully aware of. He was leaned up against the wall and it appeared that he had already been through both the ticket line and the concession line. In one hand, he held two tickets, presumably for the rom-com that they were planning to see. In his other hand was a large bucket of popcorn with a tray with two drinks precariously balanced on top of it. Kana decided it would be cruel to make him wait any longer and began pushing through the crowd.

Naoya’s face lit up when he spotted her ducking between people in the crowd. He waved her over with his hand that wasn’t holding on to their snacks for dear life. With one final squeeze, Kana burst through the crowd to the side of the room where Naoya was and approached him, slightly breathless from effort.

“Hey, Naoya-kun. Sorry again for the short-notice invite. I just wanted to spend some time with you before I left on my work trip on Monday.” Kana admitted. She reached down to straighten her skirt only to be reminded that she’d elected to wear pants to this date when her hands awkwardly patted her legs. “You know, since I won’t get to see you for at least a week.”

Naoya gave her a warm smile in response. “I don’t mind. To be honest, I’m glad to see you too. I wanted to see you. Especially…after last time.”

They both just stood there for a few moments, awkwardly waiting for the other to continue the conversation and not quite meeting each other’s eyes. Kana was still somewhat embarrassed at how bold she had been by kissing him on the cheek on their last date, so she found it hard to look him in the eye. She suspected that Naoya was just as surprised about it, and had a similar reasoning.

Finally, Naoya held out one of the tickets for the movie they were seeing to Kana. “Here, I went ahead and got the tickets for us. I got you a soda too, if you want it, that is.”

Kana took the ticket and the drink from Naoya, allowing him to reach up and grab his own drink so that it wouldn’t spill as soon as he started walking.

“Well, shall we get going?” Kana asked as she began walking towards the hallway that held all of the individual showing rooms. She wanted to be bold again and hold Naoya’s hand, but the fact that his hands were full forced her to resign herself to waiting for a better opportunity.

The showing room where the rom-com they were going to watch was being shown was fairly empty, which was to be expected considering the blockbuster that was being shown just a few doors down. A few people were scattered around the room, each in spots they had deemed the best place for them to watch the movie. The large screen hung taut against the far wall at the front of the room. The glimmering star of the projector shined from the projection box window at the back of the room. Perhaps the most notable thing about this room though—at least to Kana—were the reclining loveseat couches that made up the seating arrangements for this showing room. She had chosen this movie theater precisely because of these seats, specifically so that she could get closer to Naoya during the movie.

Kana’s hopes were dashed, however, when Naoya placed the bucket of popcorn between them as they sat down. Being thwarted by a simple popcorn bucket of all things was a serious blow to her pride. One that wouldn’t be forgiven until she had emptied it of its last buttery kernel Regardless, she brushed it off and leaned back into her seat to get comfortable, making quiet conversation with Naoya until the previews began.

None of the previews particularly grabbed Kana’s attention. Most of them just looked like cheap remakes or uninventive slop. At least, until a trailer for No Matter How Far began to play. Kana stiffened as she saw her and Junichiro’s faces on screen. She took a glance at Naoya—who was happily munching on popcorn—and Junichiro’s fever-drunk remark from Monday tugged at the back of her mind. She tried her hardest to focus on Naoya instead of the trailer that was on screen. She focused on how she felt about him, how he made her feel safe and warm inside whenever he was around. She thought about the feeling of floatiness and the butterflies.

Suddenly, the trailer seemed a million miles away. The only thing Kana could focus on was the cute, awkward white-haired guy sitting next to her. She wanted to laugh at how stupid she’d been. The answer had been right in front of her this whole time. She was in love with Naoya. She wanted every day of her life to be filled with the joy and warmth that she felt when she was with him. The realization gave her the courage to take the leap she had been so afraid of taking and reach over to take hold of Naoya’s hand, just in time for the movie to start. It was soft and subtle, but he intertwined his fingers with hers, telling her he felt the same.

The movie they came there to watch passed by in a blur. Kana barely remembered anything about it with how focused she had been on Naoya. The only things she remembered were his laughs at the cheesy jokes and the taste of the buttery popcorn. Nevertheless, when it finished, she found herself wanting to watch it again and again. They left the theater a short while later, still holding hands. Kana didn’t let go until they got to the station, and even then she didn’t want to. She hugged him before they parted, and even though he was caught off guard at first, Naoya returned it.

“I hope to see you again soon,” he said softly.

“I’ll be back before you know it,” she replied.

With that simple exchange of words, they parted and Kana went home. She was still excited about the trip to Okinawa in a few days, but she was suddenly looking forward to coming back even more.