Root Beer Float (Kaito x Meiko)

Seven

I walked with a little spring in my step.

I had an office job with a large company who managed all the land for sale. A hotshot executive had seen all the potential for buildings in our small town and so they had built a location out here. And at work today, my boss announced that a new restaurant was being built in town. Our division didn't handle the heavy duty, just the paperwork. But the restaurant was said to have spent a lot of money to get a good location and we ended up all getting a small bonus.

Anyways, I was excited because the movie theater had tickets half price this Thursday, and Haku had told me about this funny movie she had seen. I decided to treat myself, because I hadn't been to the movie theater in a long time. Between five people, it had gotten a bit pricey.

I proudly walked up to the woman who was selling tickets. "One ticket for Sunny Rain, please."

She blew a bubble with her gum and it popped. "'Kay," she said in a surprisingly low voice. From the looks of it, she was just a teenager who wanted a summer job. She had short hair that was almost a white color, with dark patches of... purple, I think? I'll never understand the fashion kids go for these days.

She began to ring it up and I saw the price on the cash register. "Um, excuse me, weren't the tickets half off today?"

"I'm not sure, ma'am," she sighed. "Fukase, are tickets half off today?"

A boy with red hair looked over. "Yeah, for children twelve and under."

"Oh, gotcha," she said. "Well, sorry, but it'll be full price for you."

What was I supposed to do now? I wanted to see the movie, but not that badly. I had lots of more important things I could spend that money on. But if I left now, I would just look like an idiot...

"Mei-chan, silly, I've already got the tickets!" Out of nowhere, Kaito took my arm and pulled me over to the side.

"What are you doing?" I hissed.

"Shh, just play along," he whispered before raising his voice again. "I told you I would get them since you were stuck in traffic!"

I guess he was trying to save me from embarrassing myself. "Uh... well, I guess I forgot!"

We quickly hurried through the door and I let out a sigh. "Thanks. That could've been really embarrassing."

"No problem!" He smiled. "Although I do have an extra movie ticket if you want to see it with me."

I raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure you're not stalking me? It feels like you're stalking me."

"Nah, I'm not," he chuckled. "Today the ice cream shop is closed for cleaning so we have the day off. Gakupo was supposed to come with me, but he ditched me at the last second for a date."

"He has a girlfriend?" I asked as we started to walk through the lobby.

"Nope. Some random chick from a dating app. Things haven't gone so well with his past dates, so he's getting desperate," he said. "I think it's better to get to know someone in person before going on a real date, you know? Become friends first and all that stuff."

I stopped walking. "If you think this is a date, then you're wrong. I am only accompanying you since you offered me your extra ticket. Just a friendly outing."

"So what I'm hearing is..." he grinned. "You're my friend?"

I didn't dare look him in the eye. "Sure, I guess you could say that."

"I'm so excited!" He laughed. I swear he was like a little kid. "Next thing you know, we'll be besties!"

"First of all, nobody says 'besties', and second of all, Luka is my very best friend. You can't top her." I said, following him again.