0𝙁𝙇𝙐𝙊𝙓𝙀𝙏𝙄𝙉𝙀ˢʰⁱⁿˢᵒᵘ

𝕔𝕠𝕨𝕒𝕣𝕕ᵗʰⁱʳᵗʸ

COWARD —

chapter thirty

"Toshi! Look, there's a fair coming soon!" Korei cheerfully exclaimed as she grabbed the flyer from the counter at the convenience store. She always stood there staring at other things while Shinsou paid, he never really let her pay him back either. "We should go to it! Wouldn't that be fun?"

"I don't know, Korei. The fair usually means expensive games and food...and the smell of vomit. I don't know if that's as romantic as you think. And if it is, we could go to the bowling alley and do the same thing." He shrugged, grabbing his bag of items from the clerk before nodding to them and heading out. Korei followed, taking one of the many fair flyers with her because it had a free ticket on it.

"The bowling alley doesn't sound that bad, Toshi. I'm fine with either. Also, I'd like to go to the arcade with you if that sounds like a good date?" Korei hummed, slipping her hand into his and closing her eyes happily. Shinsou's ears went red when he heard that word, his heart racing in his chest. Every time he heard it, all he could think about was what happened after their first date. "Or we could go window shopping!"

"I don't know, kitten. I'm not really interested in like...dates and stuff? Can't we just hang out in my room and call that a date?" He asked, too nervous to admit to Korei that dates made him more flustered than necessary. Despite technically having had one with her, he couldn't really think about it.

"Sure!" Korei chirped happily though she was a little disappointed that Shinsou didn't want to go on a date. However, if she wanted to be with him then she had to respect his boundaries! "After we finish up today, I have to go back to my Gran's. She said she needed me home to take care of some things."

"Okay," Shinsou mumbled, trying his best not to care about it. He had gotten so attached to having her around that he didn't know what it would be like without her. He didn't want to know what it would be like without her. "Maybe I can go and...meet your Gran?"

"Oh, uh...do you want to? I don't see an issue with that! I doubt she'll let you sleep in the room with me but then again, she might." Korei rambled, nervous about Shinsou meeting her grandmother but excited about having him in her room! "She's not like your mom. My gran isn't very friendly. She's kind of...mean?"

"Oh well," he shrugged, swinging their arms back and forth between them. Korei giggled at the action, her eyes flickering over Shinsou's side profile. She wondered if her side profile was as attractive as his...probably not.

"Hitoshi..." She began, stopping herself as she tried to think about what she was going to say. The purple-haired boy looked down at her, confused but not showing it. "I-i..." She stuttered, her heart racing so fast, breathing starting to pick up. Was she really going to do this? Did she have the guts? "Thank you...for everything." No. Of course not.

"I-uh-" he stopped himself, the response nearly tumbling from his lips. He thought she was going to say something else and he was ready to return it...but she didn't say it. "You're welcome, Korei." Coward.

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