Spirited Away: The Wait [ORIGINAL]

Extra: Pick-Up Lines

A/N: Note: The following extra does not have any relation to the story plot.

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     “Haku said he was going to come in 30 minutes, but it’s been nearly an hour,” Chihiro frowned at the floorboards.

     “He’s usually very punctual; I wonder what’s holding him up?” Shou replied with a wry twist of his mouth.

     Chihiro hummed in response and kept silent, boredom poking at her incessantly. She was getting restless, and the humid weather was not helping to ease her frustrations in any way. Beads of sweat trickled down her neck and back, leaving her skin uncomfortably sticky. Opening the windows had not helped; only hot air was coming in.

     Any more of this and she would be well-roasted; crispy on the outside, soft and squishy on the inside.

     Eyes wandering about looking for something interesting to look at, they rested on Shou who seemed to be deep in thought. It was rather rare to see his quiet and serious demeanor, with his eyebrows furrowed and thumb stroking his chin meaningfully. She felt like teasing him, except she did not quite know what to say.

     And then Chihiro could not help but notice that he seemed to be perfectly cool, as if the heat was non-existent and not draining the energy out of him like it was for her. Slight envy welled up in her. A small huff of breath left her nostrils as she looked out the window at the glaring sun. Chihiro glared back pettily, and wiped a drop of perspiration off her cheek with the back of her hand.

     Then suddenly Shou jumped up excitedly, exclaiming proudly, “Ah! I’ve got it!”

     Puzzled, the girl snapped her head in his direction. “Got what?”

     “Something to pass the time, duh.”

     “And what might that be?” Chihiro shifted away from him slightly, already feeling wary about the possibility of a prank. In her mind she began listing down the things that he would do, which was non-exhaustive seeing his rather dangerous creativity at times.

     It would not be far-fetched for him to set the room in flames at all.

     She shuddered at the thought, but was unable to mask the apprehension that had slipped onto her face.

     “Oh this is going to be fun!”

     Oh boy, she gulped.

     “Are you sunburned?” he asked, eyes lighting up as he expectantly gazed at her for her answer.

     The woman furrowed her brows, more confused than ever. “No—”

     “Or are you always this hot?” he wriggled his eyebrows suggestively for effect while realization took its time to sink into her.

     Rolling her eyes but unable to suppress the smile on her face, replied, “That was really lame, Shou.”

     “Wait, wait, I’ve got more! Do you know where the airport is? Because my heart took off when I saw you.”

     Chihiro flushed a little in amusement. She slapped his arm playfully. “How many pick-up lines do you have?”

     “A lot,” he grinned, “so let’s make it more interesting.” That being said, he scooted closer to Chihiro, so that their arms were touching.

     Chihiro blushed at their proximity and tried to shift away, but Shou slyly grabbed one of her shoulders to hold her in place. She was very sure he was enjoying her embarrassment. That jerk.