It was a Saturday and there were no classes for Akane, however, she has a date with the other boys. This time she's going out with Nishinoya and Tanaka. She took her time dressing up in a comfortable yet safe outfit. The day was cloudy yet it was perfect for their date, as per Tanaka's words.
Glancing at the mirror, she admired the reflection of a healthy bodied young lady. She almost never took notice (and appreciate) of how her hair sways on her back, how her body curved along gracefully with her age, how her smile makes her eyes crinkle too. She sighed and wished she could have the strength to look at her body with appreciation instead of getting malicious flashbacks.
Setting those things aside, she grabbed her scarf to finish her look. She was wearing a turtleneck and jeggings to keep off from exposing her skin. She kept her hair in a high ponytail, again. There was never a day where she goes out with her hair left untied. Somehow, she thinks her hair makes her more vulnerable to man's hunger. So she keeps it up to look as unappealing as she could.
However, she was never unappealing. She has her own charming way of being beautiful in whatever she wore and show. This was evident in the way Tanaka and Nishinoya dropped their jaws open when she showed up.
"Akane-san, you look pretty." Nishinoya smiled and flashed her two thumbs-up.
"Oy, Tanaka! Nishinoya!" Keishin called from inside the store, carrying new boxes of liquor. He eyed them dangerously, passing a warning message. The players only stood straight and stiffly saluted their coach.
Akane waved her uncle goodbye as she was dragged away by an excited Nishinoya. Today, they are going to try out arcade gaming. Tanaka engaged in a long conversation that neither Nishinoya nor Akane noticed they were now in the mall where they were supposed to play out.
"I've chosen the mall arcade because I want us to be able to eat when we get hungry without going too far out." Tanaka explained, puffing his chest, proud at his decision.
"You chose this because it was cheaper." Nishinoya muttered. Right then and there, the two bickered amongst themselves. Akane could only laugh at the two. She thought of how she was probably burning holes on everyone's budget as they all try to help her.
Wincing at the thought, she took a mental note to treat everyone once this whole program is over.
"Are we going to play or are am I just going to enjoy this bickering show you've got?" Akane called out, attempting to sit on a bench.
Nishinoya quickly stood her up, "No, no, let's play!! Come on!"
He dragged her to the escalators and stood before Akane and Tanaka who was behind the girl, an attempt of creating a secure space. Nishinoya, having the height advantage with the steps, took out his phone and captured selfies. Akane could not catch up with many poses as Nishinoya took too many shots per second.
"We're here!" Nishinoya jumped. Tanaka and Akane marveled at the bright lights and enjoyable atmosphere before them. There were not a lot of people yet since most of the malls get filled up around the afternoon. It was still 11 in the morning, the arcade was only occupied by a few teens enjoying a peaceful gaming time.
"Tanaka-san! Wait up!" Akane laughed as Tanaka rushed inside. Nishinoya held out his arm for Akane and together they went in.
"I want to play every games." Tanaka said at the counter as he bought tokens. The cashier looked at him crazy so Akane had to rescue her senior.
"We'll get a hundred, for each of us." Akane said in a rather more formal way than Tanaka's childish way earlier. Akane shook her head and thought of how it felt like she's babysitting instead of being taken out on a date.
They rushed to sit beside each other on a racing game, hollering at each other as they crashed. Then they went for the drop-ball machine, taking turns with each other as they tried their luck. They took turns screaming at the ball as it bounced closely to the jackpot hole, only for it to fall for the "1" hole. They laughed as they grabbed their single tickets.
After that, Tanaka and Nishinoya opted to go for the dancing game. Nishinoya chose the track to be played. Tanaka focused solely on the big screen not even minding how his feet is not synching with what he see. Nishinoya, on the other hand, had no problem dancing lightly as his eyes-feet coordination was so fluid. The former groaned in defeat as he saw his score. But what is there to expect when all that reflected on his screen were "missed".
"Why don't you try, Akane-san?" Nishinoya smiled, proud of the almost perfect score on his screen. Akane initially shook her head, but deep inside, she somehow missed dancing too.
Her dancing had been subject to a lot of those comments so she laid low from dancing again. However, to dance again... In public... With Tanaka and Nishinoya...
She shook her head. She can't.
"We'll keep you safe. We have our eyes peeled open." Tanaka smiled and gestured for her to get on the platform.
"Do your best, Akane-san!" Nishinoya cheered on, "Don't worry and just have fun!"
"Easy for you to say." Tanaka grumbled taking a seat from a random game.
Akane wiped the sweat from her hands as she inserted a token and started to choose her track of choice. As she heard the beat and felt herself bopping along, she took one last glance at her companions. They gave her an encouraging thumbs-up plus smile, so she allowed herself to be engulfed in the music's embrace. She stepped on every tile perfectly and her hands moved in sync with the music. Without any choreography, her body hit the beats of the music and a smile plastered on her face.
Tanaka nudged his friend who was already filming. They exchanged warm smiles and proud swelled in their hearts. Another point for the Karasuno team.
The music ended and, as expected, she got a perfect score on her screen. Nishinoya cheered away and pointed his phone at the screen and back to Akane. Akane felt comfortable enough to be filmed by Nishinoya so she flashed a peace sign and a bright smile.
"I would've never guessed that you've got such good moves, Akane-san." Tanaka said as they approached a game of shooting at the screen with plastic balls.
"It runs in the blood, I guess." Akane replied with a hint to drop the topic. It was her mother who taught her how to dance early and it was a sensitive topic to hold. As slimes crawled across the screen, they grabbed the plastic ball and just hit randomly across. They didn't mind about getting points, anyway what's the point of being too serious in playing at the arcade?
They chose to let their childishness run free and they had big smiles across their faces. Akane enjoyed being a celebrity with the trio yesterday, but there's a freeing sense of happiness in being able to be a child with no one to be afraid of.
They finished off around lunch time. They went to the counter to exchange their tickets with some goodies. From all their games, they could only reach up to the food row. They chose to get some candies and small packets of energy bars.
As they decided to have lunch, they put the treats aside and chose where to eat. They wrote the possible places on a piece of napkin that Akane was bringing. Then they rolled them into tiny spheres, and jumbled them in their hands. They sprawled out the options on the floor and had Akane choose one. She had picked up having a full lunch at the food-court.
Stomachs rumbling now, the three of them left the arcade.
YOU ARE READING
Moonlight
Hayran Kurgu[Tsukishima Kei fanfiction] With her haunted past, she tried to get back to society. With his cold demeanor, he tried to help her. Wrapped up in a story that is both cliche and not, get to know Akane and Kei.
