Kichi found himself out in public with his sister. There were dozens of people surrounding them as they walked down the sidewalk towards the more entertaining part of town. It seemed that he was usually spotted in town alone with a girl more often these days. He wondered if anyone who had seen him multiple times during these outings might think he could be dating around and playing with a bunch of girls’ hearts. Though at least this time he was with his sister, so he could use that as an excuse.

What was he thinking? Calling that an excuse? There’s nothing to hide when he’s with Kougi. They’re just family and there’s nothing wrong with family spending a nice summer day together.

“You know, we should hit the beach one of these days.” She commented, putting up a hand to shield her eyes from the sun’s blinding rays. “Wouldn’t you like that?”

“I can tell you’re trying to bait me and I’m not falling for it.” He quickly retorted. Obviously she wanted him to say that he’d love to see her in a swimsuit. Particularly a bikini which showed off a lot of skin and only covered the important bits. While he would admittedly like to see it, there was no way the boy would tell her that. Especially not out in public where some people can overhear him.

Even though crowds didn’t bother him. The thought of whatever she might do to him caused the boy to feel anxiety in the middle of this open area. They were out for the world to see, so being what could be center stage was concerning. Especially in the world of social media where someone could snap a photo or take a video and share it online to millions of people worldwide.

Yes, this was completely blowing the situation out of proportion. Most people around them did not care about them. The ones who did would likely not film them and even if they did. The video would garner a couple dozens of views at most and no one would know their names anyway.

“Hmpf, fine.” She pouted at his unwillingness to play along. He was on guard and it was going to make it challenging to have fun today in her eyes.

“Anyway, what’s the plan here?” He asked. “I don’t want to waste all day just walking around.”

“First off, there’s nothing wrong with just walking around.” She defended the idea of doing something simple. “If you’re with someone you love, isn’t that good enough on its own?”

“Don’t remind me…” He crossed his arms and tried to look uninterested. The meaning was worse when he understood the truth. Just what could they possibly do here in public that would make her happy? It almost seemed like a better idea to stay home. Even though it would make him uncomfortable. She could probably pull a similar stunt as to what she did to him on the couch the other day.

“But don’t worry, I got somewhere I can take you.” She took him by the hand and guided the boy along the sidewalk. Their pace picked up as he could tell this turning into something more serious. There was always something Kougi when she was serious that invoked a sense of bewilderment to him.

Normally she was as he would describe as a goofball. Someone who didn’t take life very seriously and had no real reason to either. People trusted her and generally respected the girl. He would considered himself a part of the second without sharing along with the first. After all, of all the people she interacted with. He was the one who took the brunt of her trickster identity.

Maybe it was a teasing because of her feelings for him. Though that didn’t feel right to the boy as he knew she had basically done that his whole life. Unless she was in love with him when they were five, which he seriously doubted. Then all this was simply due to her nature. “You like movies, don’t you?” She said as they approached the theater.

“I like some movies, yes.” He answered. Despite having an interest in some of the films currently airing. Kichi knew that none of those were going to be an option for him today. “W-what are you going to make me watch?”

“Hmm, I think this one might be enjoyable.” She pointed out one he really wished didn’t exist. It was one based on a long running manga series about some girl who had to deal with the romantic interests of her step siblings. A series and film called, ‘Kiss x Bro’.

“Only a sick person like you would like that.” He commented through gritted teeth. Under normal circumstances, the boy would wholly object to watching such trash. Unfortunately he was stuck with doing her bidding for the day due to her helping him out earlier. “But fine, I guess we can watch it.”

It was the complete definition of awkward as they waited in line. His ears burned with fire just hearing her say out loud the name of the film they wanted tickets for at the booth. Kichi could’ve sworn that she did that so that everyone would know exactly what they were going to watch. The silent judgment killed him as he attempted his best to avoid eye contact with every single person not also going into this theater section.

“I think this will make for some nice spots.” She led him high up the steps as they reached the back row of the theater. Particularly towards the back corner where it would be difficult for people to see them unless they really tried. “Get away from the crowd, that’s what you wanted, right?” Kougi commented on his not so subtle attempts at avoiding social contact.

“I think we might be too far away from everyone.” This wasn’t a crowded room by any means. Most of the fans of this series were here sitting closer to the front row. Probably to get a nice close look at what he expected to be some real quality shots of the men in this story. How could people be so bold, he wondered? Then again, he was also here. So everyone either thought he had gotten roped into this because of his girlfriend, and thus they were ignorant of his real relationship with Kougi. Or they thought he might be swinging for the other team, which would be bad as well.

“I think this is the perfect distance from everyone.” She responded with a sly tone. Now he was beginning to think she wasn’t merely just joking around and making fun of him. Kichi believed in this moment that she had created a trap for him and now he was stuck in a worse position than simply having to watch a bad movie.

“Wh-what are you talking about?” He responded, taking a nervous sip of his soda. “We’re just watching a movie together.”

“It’s a pretty interesting movie.” She said. The word interesting would not be how he’d describe it. It also wouldn’t be how she’d describe it either. However, there was not so subtle hinting that even someone like him couldn’t miss. “Watching it… I think I might get a little hot just seeing everything.” Said Kougi, tugging on the neckline of her dress pretending to cool off the imaginary sweat on her body. “Do you promise to ‘take care’ of me when I need a little help?”

“I don’t know what you mean.” He made a strict statement, closing his eyes to try and pretend nothing weird was going on. “It’s your fault we’re watching this movie. I don’t have to be the one to take responsibility.”

“Hehehe.” She giggled. “But you have to do what I ask today. It’s only fair since you have to pay me back.” Then Kougi took his hand and began pulling it towards her body.