In the afternoon, Madara and Seira visited the temple. The New Year atmosphere at the temple was lively. She bought a lot of things which Madara carried for her. It was quite fun visiting the temple as there were a lot of things to see but what amazed her the most most was how many people knew Madara.
She found that on the way to the temple, in a short span of fifteen minutes, eight out of ten people they met knew Madara and affectionately greeted him.
K City was not large nor was it small. It was a surprise how much people were familiar with him so she asked if he knew them.
"No, I don't know them" he answered frankly. He calmly added maybe it is because his parents reputation is very good, seeing that her head was tilted in confusion.
She later on found out that the real reason was because of his reputation and his accomplishments.
K City is a very small city where education is relatively backward. If there is a child that can be admitted to T University, the elite university, it was sensational. Furthermore, Madara was the top student for the provincial college entrance examination during the sessions he sat for and was considered the provincial college entrance examination champion.
*Timeskip later that day
The four sat happily in front of the TV and watched the Evening TV program. After watching for two hours, she was getting tired and yawned.
Madara's parents wanted to welcome the arrival of the New Year, so she restrained her desire to sleep. Madara noticed and pulled her closer to rest her head against him, completely ignoring the merry look on his mothers face. Seira was too tired to care at the moment and used him as her pillow.
At this moment, he suddenly said "This winter evening is boring isnt it?"
Mother and Father-in-law both nodded their heads in agreement. His father suggested they watch a film, Madara and his mother agreed. She peered up at him asking "What film?"
"Horror film" he calmly replied.
All the lights in the house were turned off. The four people sitting on the sofa were watching the TV with faint blue light falling on their faces giving out an exceptional eerie atmosphere.
The chilling music coming from the TV made her tiredness from earlier completely disappear.
She was not a fan of horror films. If she had watched this film before, it would be no problem. But because this film was a new release, the two elders were reluctant to watch the film on their own and used the chance that their son and daughter-in-law were with them to watch the film together.
As a small child he was exposed to horror films so she did not fault him for his abnormal character, she sympathised with him...
Suddenly a bloody head popped out of the screen, she unconsciously grabbed something with her hand and clutched tightly. When that 'something' squeezed back at her hand, she found that she had actually clenched Madara's hand.
She didn't let go of his hand, as the film played on from time to time she would squeeze his hand.
As the show progressed, in the middle of the night, the heroine went to her garden. Surrounded by faint dull light, the garden was very dark and quiet giving out an eerie feeling that made the suspense heavier. It was as if......waiting for something to happen.
The heroine slowly walked deeper into the garden, step by step.
She stared at the TV without blinking...someone was going to appear...
At this time there was a hand, moving slowly on her shoulder...
She suffered a fright and out of reflex wanted to jump from the sofa to avoid the hand that was tightly pressed down by that hand.
She had no time to react when she was pulled by that hand into the owners embrace. He held onto her tightly and laughingly whispered into her ear, "All these are false, why are you so frightened?"
"Nonsense, I know but the graphics are horrifying...why did you scare me?" She unhappily demanded.
Madara did not let her go, instead lifting his chin towards the TV and said "Look, that headless corpse is making an appearance"
In response to his words, she turned her head around to look at the TV screen and saw the headless corpse quietly appear behind the heroine and then raised his hands to gently hold her head...
She quickly held onto Madara tighter, burying her face in his chest unable to continue watching the film. She really was not fond of these sort of films.
While buried in his chest, she felt some movements from him...he seemed to be...laughing?
She was lying in his arms, only realising that they were cuddling each other and their position was very ambiguous. She felt a sense of security within his arms and chest, she carefully looked up and saw him looking at the TV screen without any expression. His arms were still embracing her, without any intention of releasing her as if this was a natural occurrence.
It dawned on her that she seemed to like him if not just a little bit.
Seira nestled against him, finding a comfortable position to rest. She used the opportunity to rest for a while, it didn't take long for her to succumb to sleep, probably because his embrace was very warm and comfortable.
She was regretful she did not get to witness the passing of the lunar new year nor the fireworks display at midnight. When she woke up, it was already late in the night. By the bedside was lamp with an orange light, warm and quiet.
She woke up to use the lavatory.
Seira woke up in a daze, feeling a weight on her waist with her back leaning against something hard. She subconsciously reached out to her waist and touched a hand.
Instantly realising the hand belonged to Madara, whose arms she was sleeping in.
Currently they were lying in bed. She was leaning against his chest, his chin resting on top of her head and he was hugging her waist in a very intimate position, just like a loving couple.
After some time, her heart felt strange...why did he hold her while sleeping?
She broke free from his embrace, got up from the bed and went into the bathroom.
Later, when she returned to the bedroom, she lay beside him, just a distance away from him.
Just as she lay down, he pulled her into his arms and hugged her again.
"Don't move, just sleep" Madara muttered dreamily into her ear.
"Madara?" She called out to him.
He gave a monosyllable answer.
"Why do you want to hug me when you sleep?" She asked.
"Kisaragi Seira, do you really want me to freeze to death?" Seira felt somewhat disappointed, she didn't know why but it was not the answer she wanted...but then what did she actually want to hear?
Thanks for reading 💛
