They found seats together on the metro, near the door.
The carriage was full, the evening crowd packed in around them.
Hana had her bag on her lap.
Kaito had his on the floor between his feet.
She put her arm around his shoulder and shook him once, side to side. "You tried. That counts."
A few passengers nearby glanced over. Nobody said anything.
One of them smiled.
He sat with her arm still loosely around him and looked at the floor and tried to arrange his face into something less embarrassed.
It didn't fully work.
"What if I treat you to dinner tomorrow?" she said. "To make up for laughing."
The carriage noise dropped away for a second. Just for a second. Then it came back, all of it at once.
His heart skipped. Once, clean, and took the next breath with it.
"I—" He cleared his throat. "Yeah. Sure."
"Great." She smiled at him, easy and completely unbothered.
"I'll take you to the best chicken place near mt place. It's close to both our stops."
"Right," he said. "Yeah."
"It's really good chicken."
"Okay."
She looked at him with her head tilted slightly. He looked at the floor.
She removed her arm from his shoulder and started gathering her things.
Her stop was coming.
The train slowed.
The doors opened.
She stood, stepped toward the door, and turned back once.
"Yes," she said simply. "It's a date."
The doors closed.
He stared at where she had been standing.
The platform moved past the window.
She appeared in the glass for one second, one hand raised, still smiling, and then she was gone and it was just the dark of the tunnel.
Kaito sat back.
He looked at the seat across from him, empty now.
He looked at his hands.
He looked at the window.
His ears were warm.
His face was warm.
The train was loud and full of people and he was sitting in the middle of all of it with a completely stupid expression on his face and he couldn't do anything about it.
A few seats down, an older man in a work shirt looked over at him.
Looked at his face.
Raised his thumb slowly when their eyes met.
Kaito gave an awkward smile and pressed his face into his bag.
The train continued toward Kasuga park.
.
The sun had set down by the time Kaito reached home.
He came through the gate with a grocery bag in one hand and his keys in the other.
"Kaito."
He stopped walking.
The voice was behind him.
Flat.
No sweetness in it.
No warmth.
Just his name, stripped of everything she usually dressed it in.
The hair on the back of his neck stood up.
He turned around slowly.
She was standing in the middle of the path.
Right there, closer than she should have been without him hearing her move.
The street light sat wrong on her, the shadows around her slightly deeper than they had any reason to be.
Her red eyes were fixed on him.
Her jaw was set.
Her hands were at her sides and very still.
This was not Shizuka being dramatic.
"What was today about," she said. "The singing place. The dinner plans for tomorrow."
He kept his voice level. "Casual social time. With a classmate."
Her eyes didn't move. "Just a classmate?"
"Yes."
"A classmate?"
"Yes."
"Lie."
She crossed the distance before he finished the word.
His shoulders hit the door.
He hadn't seen her move.
One moment she was in the path.
The next her hand was around his throat.
His back hit the wood.
She lifted him slowly, until his heels left the ground.
He was on his toes with both hands clawing at her wrist.
He could feel immediately that her grip was nothing like a human grip.
No give in it.
No leverage anywhere.
His fingers scrabbled over her hand and found nothing.
Her face was close to his.
Her eyes were calm.
Completely, terribly calm.
He could feel her energy pressing out from her.
Heavy. Ancient. Vast.
It pushed against his chest and made his lungs work harder for the next breath.
A choked sound came out of his throat.
"Gh—"
"What is she," Shizuka said quietly.
"H— ngh—" His fingers kept scrabbling at her wrist. Nothing moved.
Her grip tightened.
Just slightly.
"Ok— ok." The words came out broken, pushed through a narrowed airway. "I like her."
She released him.
He bent forward, hands on his knees, pulling in a full breath.
His throat ached.
He stayed like that for a moment before straightening up and looking at her.
Her expression had changed.
She was smiling.
Wide, easy, the pointed teeth visible at the corners.
"See," she said. "That wasn't so hard."
He stared at her. "That's it?"
"What else?" She tilted her head, the smile not moving, "Were you expecting something?"
He looked at her face.
The smile was there.
The eyes were calm.
Whatever was underneath stayed underneath.
His neck prickled.
"So. Now... Are you not going to invite me in?" She looked from his face to the grocery bag and back, a low giggle just audible in her throat.
He looked at her for another second. Then he turned and unlocked the door.
"Fine," he said. "Come inside."