omiai | blue lock

三十九

"Hey! Have we met before?"

Tears begins to trickle out the corner of Misa's eyes, her shoulders drooped down on each side as she held onto the popcorn holder by the bottom with her hands. The grief poured out and traced down to her cheeks, the heartbreak the movie brought onto her made her unable to control her hold. Her lower lip trembling as she cries.

"I thought so too!"

The way Mitsuha asked for Taki's name was Misa's final straw. A flood of tears gushed down to her cheeks, her eyes already welled up with hot tears. Perhaps even her eyes would be red and swollen but nevertheless, it is a good movie. Maybe when her parents are home and her older sister Anri would be home for dinner, she'd tell them all about it. But for now, she is caught on being choked by her sobbing.

Reo, who was no longer interested in the movie ever since it started, had his eyes only for Misa. He watches every facial expression she made throughout the movie, her face illuminated by the various bright colors brought upon the big screen of the movie. He has always seen her look so beautiful, as he did the first time he lays his eyes on her. On that very fateful day, Reo saw her sweet smile, wavy midnight blue colored hair. When they passed by each other, he stopped on his tracks and turned his head back to look at her; he had never felt so alive in his life at that moment.

He knows that her family are affluent enough to send her to an elite private academy, but all the money invested and saved on and by Misa will be deemed useless. By all means, he will not allow her to spend a single cent for anything she wishes - everything will be provided by him. He wants to be the very first one who welcomes her into his family. Under his name, there is already seven hundred five billion yen - or five point three billion dollars - in his assets. He longs for the day when he gets back to their humble home, tired from training, and he'd see her in the middle of the room, clad in an apron with a sweet smile on her face, speaking to him with her sweet voice. 

"Welcome home!"

He will never let Misa go; he will always have her heart.

Fishing his handkerchief out, he leans in to gently dab away the tear stains from her face. "It's okay." He whispers, "Did you enjoy the movie?"

Misa lets out a small sound of chuckle, nodding her head at his question. "It's really my first time seeing it and I had a lot of fun."

A bright smile then paints over his lips, his expression beaming at her. "That's good." He answers back. He knows that Misa did not have many friends to go with; in her situation, excluding her friends, the rest of the girl population in the academy either dislikes her or strongly dislikes her. Which, Reo thinks, is fine because there a lot of aspects that all the girls need to be jealous of. Among them are her kind and polite personality, unrivaled intelligence; including his own, and despite her mature choices in life, she is still innocent.

A bright idea popped into his mind - he and Nagi could keep her company. No doubt, he would be more than delighted to enjoy her and Nagi's company, no one else included. His treasures.

Nagi, on the other hand, seemed to have spaced out as the movie progresses. Though he spaced out, he is left wondering - how did two people like Misa and Reo manage to interest him? A bum like him would be unnoticeable; a wallflower among the crowd. But they did. What he and Reo shared is more of a partnership when it comes to soccer and he especially finds himself wondering how could Misa be so appealing to him. As Reo had told him before, Misa is not only pretty but a smart and cheerful individual as well.

Misa, as pretty and smart and cheerful as she is, could have gotten many of the boys within the Aoi Private Academy, but here she is, spending her time to watch a movie with them. As he darts his eyes to the left, he watches Reo lightly damp his handkerchief against Misa's cheeks; what were they talking about? He doesn't know. But perhaps it was about the movie or something. There is no need for Nagi to feel jealous or any sort against Reo. The two of them did come to an understanding and therefore all bitterness is pushed aside and agreed to share the girl they strongly harbor feelings for with each other.

Perhaps it was a good decision that his parents enrolled him to Aoi Private Academy. Although the tuition is on the much heavy side, the students who walk amongst the halls are children of either coming from powerful families in the political and financial world. Reo comes from a family of the financial world while Misa comes from a family of the sports industry, and there's him who comes from neither. If he hadn't come here, he wouldn't have met them both. If anything, he would like to thank his parents for deciding so.

A soft sigh escapes Nagi's lips as he shifts in his spot. Moving to lean on his left to rest his head on Misa's right shoulder. "I'm sleepy." He spoke. And with that, he is out like light.

Both Misa and Reo stare at Nagi with wide eyes before their faces relaxes.

"Is Nagi always sleepy?"

"All the time."

Just like Nagi, Reo moves to rest his head against Misa's free shoulder. A gentle sigh escapes him as he closes his eyes, eyes fluttering close as he relaxes. Leaving Misa to lean back against her seat, a soft smile painted on her lips as the three of them relax as the movie's ending credit rolls.

The lights in the school's theater room goes on and five pairs of eyes lands on their sleeping figures. As much as they hated that it wasn't them, they vowed for their turn. It wouldn't end like this, it definitely will not be ending this way.

"Did you have fun with the coupling event?" Tao asks.

It is eight in the evening and the three girls are walking home after working on a homework together.

"You could say that." Misa replies.

"What did you and Niko do?" Himari asks, leaning into Misa with a small grin on her lips. "Did you two watched a movie then kissed when the ending credit rolls?" 

"No way!" The blue haired girl remarks, a small blush creeping onto her cheeks. "Actually...Niko never returned..."

"Huh?" Tao and Himari choruses.

"But...it's okay. Because they came to watch the movie with me instead!" Misa beams. "At first, Niko and I were at the coffee shop before we decided to move to watch a movie. We ended up picking Your Name."

"Your Name?" Tao repeats, blinking her eyes twice. "Misa, you mentioned 'they' but who are they?"

The blush on Misa's cheeks deepens, jutting her lower lip out. "I don't want you two to think I'm easily swayed but I went to watch the movie with all seven of them!" She bursts. "When Niko disappeared, they came into the theater room and watched it with me." Misa adds.

As Tao and Himari blink their eyes in front of Misa, they comprehend her words.

"All seven...as in..." Tao lets her go off

"I'm surprised you got all seven!" Himari remarks. "But did you say which movie you all watched?"

"Your Name!" Misa beams

"Huh?" Himari and Tao chorused once more, louder this time.

"What's wrong?" Misa asks, eyes blinking twice.

"There's a rumor about watching Your Name with your date." Tao begins to say. "Rumor has it that you and your date will end up together."* 

* - the rumor varies per person. nevertheless, it can be bound to happen.