仮面の裏へ - (Kamen no Ura e - To The Hidden Side of The Mask)

Ride

After work, Chie waited outside the office, fidgeting with her clothes.

She tried to not look too excited when Seiji pulled up in front of her.

Seiji popped open a container on the side of his bike and pulled out a shopping bag. He handed it to Chie.

Chie blinked a few times, opening the bag to see a helmet, jacket, and gloves. Her eyes widened. "For...me?"

Seiji nodded, averting his gaze, then looked back at her. "Try it on. I wasn't...entirely sure what your sizes were."

Chie did as he told her, zipping up the jacket and giggling when she had the helmet on.

"What's so funny?"

"Uhh..." She cleared her throat. "Well, we umm...match now."

Seiji was quiet, until he started to laugh as well. "Matching aside, I can give you a ride home now."

Chie folded her arms. "Just home?"

Seiji shrugged. "Can't wear my new shirt anywhere else, now, can I?"

To this, Chie simply nodded. She wasn't wordless in disappointment, but rather in happiness that she might not have to ask him to take his helmet off anymore.

Seiji then motioned with his head. "Hop on!"

Chie did so carefully, embarrassed when she grabbed Seiji's shoulder for balance.

Once she was on the bike, she looked for something to hold onto.

Seiji cleared his throat. "Sorry...you're gonna have to grab onto me while we ride."

"Oh..." Chie didn't mind – or rather, she tried to hide her excitement by gently grabbing his sides.

"Hang on as tight as you need to, okay? I'm gonna need you to lean with me, too, so..."

Chie nodded, but when the bike started to move, her embarrassment died and she wrapped her arms around his chest.

The experience was...a little terrifying, but holding onto Seiji made her feel somewhat safe.

When they made their first stop to pick up dinner, Seiji stifled laughter when Chie's legs trembled when she was on solid ground.

Inside the restaurant, Chie noticed that while they got more looks, they weren't as worried or suspicious. She looked between herself and Seiji and smiled. Rather than him standing out by a potentially hidden identity, now there were two bikers, and he was just the one too lazy to take his helmet off.

At home, Chie pulled her helmet off and looked at the bike.

"You can leave your gear with me if you want."

Chie smiled "Thanks. I'm not sure if the helmet would fit in my locker at work..."

When they reached the apartment, Seiji took his own gear off.

Seeing Seiji remove his helmet, Chie was reminded of something Mei had said a while back.

"...Can I get your picture?"

Seiji gave her an incredulous look. "Wh...y?"

"Well...I don't...have a picture of you." Chie fidgeted. "...You have one of me."

Seiji looked doubtful, but then glanced down at his phone. "Huh. True." He looked back up at her. "...But I still don't get why. ...You wanna be more popular at work or something?"

Chie's cheeks burned with frustration. "I want a picture of you! I want to see your face when I look at my contacts list, when I think about sending you a text, or maybe if you ever call me!"