I woke up from a nice little dream. I had a dream where I- is that a giant spider in front of my window? That thing could devour me, what the hell? Halloween is coming again, which means the monsters are waking up from their sleep. Every year, it's the same thing, a bunch of monsters going crazy on All Hallow's Eve. And I guess this humongous spider is one of them.
Luckily, a random flying superhero punched it, which made it fling away. Thank you, hero, because I don't want to deal with a giant spider inside of my apartment. The news was talking about how the Halloween festival is also being set up. Honestly, Halloween might be one of the deadliest events in the year. With all these monsters crawling around, horror stories achieve a peak.
I heard there was an event last year in a different city, where everything became legal. That ended in a huge tragedy, so I hope it doesn't happen here. Oh, but what happened here last year? It rained ectoplasm. There were ghosts going around everywhere. It was by no means comfortable, I was being stared at while sitting on the toilet.
Nevertheless, it's time for school.
"To survive another day," I said after preparing and tightening my headband.
Now, walking through the streets of Varion City is no joke, I've explained it before. But it was even crazier right now. Some homeless man started yelling, "It's the end of the world! They're coming for us!" Take that as you will. I don't know if the world is truly ending but at least I won't have to deal with Gregory anymore.
Hold on.
OH HELL NO
There's a spider behind me, I have to run. I'm not planning on getting eaten today. In fact, not even today, I just don't want to be eaten. And now, I've finally gotten to school.
"Hey Henry!"
"Yo."
Nello ran over to me and smiled like usual. Even though we didn't even get a single victory yesterday, he was still optimistic. Not like I'm suddenly more pessimistic, I already knew this wasn't going to be easy.
"I was thinking.. Maybe we should talk to Gregory himself! Who knows, maybe he will change his mind?"
Talk no jutsu? He's a protagonist, that's for sure. But I doubt talk no jutsu will work on someone like Gregory. Talk no jutsu is an ancient technique harnessed by anime protagonists to turn their enemies into allies. It's a very powerful technique, but it's also dependent on the context.
"Yeah no, that isn't going to work."
"Awhh."
"We're going to need a new plan."
"Henry."
"I was thinking of maybe following Gregory-"
"Henry."
"What?"
"Behind you."
I turned around, only to see a very excited Emma standing right in front of my face. Her eyes were wide, I've never seen them this wide before. Her pupils were so dilated, you'd think she used belladonna. And that smile on her face, it was a little unnerving.
"Henryyy," Emma said.
"Hi."
"You called me 4 times!"
Oh crap, I should've known this wasn't going to end well.
"Uh, mista-"
"Did you miss me that much?" she said, getting even closer than she already was.
I had to take a step back.
"Look, you can ign-"
"Nope! 4 times is a lot, you really really wanted me to pick up!"
"Henry, you called her 4 times?" Nello asked.
"I did, I was a little desperate."
This is so embarrassing, I feel exposed.
"Desperate for whaaat?" Emma asked.
"Allies, Nello and I kept on trying to get allies."
"That's true! We couldn't get any, Gregory is scaring everyone away!"
"Oooh, so that's why you called me. I thought you finally fell in love with me!"
Please stop. Please just end this.
"Well, I'm willing to help!"
"You don't have to. It's dangerous," I responded.
"Yeah! You don't have to, but we'd love it if you do!" Nello yelled.
"Then, it's settled, I'll help!"
"Great!"
"But under one condition," Emma said with a devious smile as she pointed at me, "You're going to go on a date with me. And you'll plan everything."
"Oh crap."
"If I think the date is good enough, I'll help you!"
"That's awesome, you hear that Henry?! All you have to do is go on a date!"
What part about that is awesome? Also, am I really sure of having her as an ally? After all, it is quite dangerous. But on the other hand, she's a literal social nuke. Having her on our team would be good. Considering Emma's not a dumb girl, I think she understands the consequences. Oh well..
I guess I'll go on this date then.
"Fine, I accept."
"Oh and one more thing!" Emma yelled while getting too close to my face again, "No farting."
"Understood, no farting."
"I mean it!"
"Farting?" Nello asked.
"Long story-"
"This guy farted during our first date, and then made me pass out in my own apartment!"
"Pff…" I could see Nello holding in a huge burst of laughter.
"Not funny! I thought I was going to die!"
"Sorry it's just- I didn't expect Henry to do that!"
"Well I didn't either! And getting attacked while it's least expected hits harder than anything else!"
"Yeah, sorry about that," I said.
"You're not sorry at all! So apologize by going on this date with me."
"I will."
"Good!"
Emma walked away, hopping happily. I swear, for that girl, life is all sunshine and rainbows. We're in the middle of a revolution against the king of the school and she casually ordered me to go on a date with her.
"Henry, you got a spider on your head."
I'm so done with everything.
Now that was a disastrous morning. But it was time for class. Emma was staring a bit too much at me, this is going to be hell. I had to think of a date.. I guess the standard option is to just go to a restaurant. But is Emma content with that? She was content with just a stereotypical movie date, I think she'd be okay with a restaurant date too.
Female romantic fantasies.. Yeah I think I'll have to dig deeper into that. Don't girls like someone who's still relatively masculine but has a soft feminine side to them? The amount of stories I've seen about a bad boy and Y/N being together makes me believe my assumption is somewhat correct.
What is a female?
Oh that's a bit philosophical. Sorry readers, that's just what happens when I'm sitting in class, absolutely bored out of my mind. If this wasn't written but instead an audiobook or any other media, you'd also hear the music playing in my mind. Needless to say, I need to get this date right.
And in order to do that, it's time for me to binge read this fanfic story of a vampire and Y/N. Oh and for those of you who don't know what Y/N means, it means your name. This is used by writers with the purpose of, well, you can guess what.
As I thought about romance, I glanced towards Sakura and Makoto. Those two are supposed to be in a romance story too, yet I barely see them interacting. It's always Kuro. I wonder what's up with that? Well, either way, that's none of my business.
Class ended, I was asleep while everyone already left. But I woke up because a spider bit me. Sadly, I didn't get any powers, it just hurts. I smacked that thing away. Wait, for how long was I asleep?
The sun was setting. And I'm going to be honest, I loved the scenery. Not a single person in class, just the sun in the west shining its yellow - orange light through the windows. That's beautiful.
I got back home and dropped onto the bed. Reading this fanfiction, I was literally facepalming with every paragraph. That's not how male biology works! Why do these writers often exaggerate so much?
But oh well.
Should I kidnap Emma then? Put a bag over her head, drag her into a cave and then think about what to do from there. Nah, that's just not how I do things. Maybe it's best to stick to my initial plan, going to a restaurant with her. But that means I spent all this time reading this whack for no reason.
My brain was fried, so I slept.
Time passed and the date arrived. I came to pick up Emma at her apartment. What I wore was just plain and simple, my black hoodie and black sweatpants. These things felt ultra comfortable, so I had to use them. I'd rather wear this than some silly fancy outfit.
I knocked on her door.
"Oh hey, you're here!" I heard her yell from inside.
She opened the door, scanned me up and down before smiling. She was dressed beautifully. She chose a good dress, had makeup on and was definitely ready for a fancy date.
"Come in!"
"Yuh."
"One second, I'm almost done," she said while entering the bathroom.
So there I sat in her apartment, just gazing through the window. Why's that thing staring at me? You know what I'm talking about, that massive spider outside on the other building. It's just standing there, menacingly. Why are you aiming for me, what did I do to you?
"There!" Emma said, coming out of the bathroom with..
No dress, just gray sweatpants, a white t-shirt and a gray jacket. Her make up was gone too, she washed it off. Now, why would you do that? I mean I don't mind, but is she trying to mimic me by doing this?
"I didn't know what you were going to wear, so I made sure to be ready for anything!"
"You look pretty."
"A-"
I walked over to her and looked her up and down too. To me, she really did look pretty. I think it was less about the physical features actually, but the idea behind it. That's what makes her more attractive in my eyes. Although she was traditionally attractive too, her behavior's the thing that I admire.
"Let's go."
"Yes sir! Show me what you got!"
It was sunset when Emma and I walked towards the restaurant. People were doing their own things on the streets. Countless lives, countless amounts of stories, all taking place at once. It's actually quite incredible when you think about it, so much is happening in the world, and we aren't even aware of 1% of it.
Who knows what else is out there in the world?
"Hmmm, so what restaurant are we going to?"
"Somewhere cool."
"Oooh, cool by Henry standards?"
"Mhm."
"Now I'm curious!"
There was a bit of silence between us. I know that Emma was thinking about what to say right now, meanwhile I didn't know what to say either. Usually, Emma is the one taking the lead in the conversation, so I expected her to do so again. But this time, the silence stayed longer than it should've. I had to take initiative.
"Hey Emma."
"Hmm?"
Quick Henry, think of something to say.
"Do you have any hobbies?"
"Oh! Glad you asked! Well, I like reading, writing, gardening, art, I like a lot actually."
"Reading and writing?"
"Yeah!"
"What do you write then?"
"Romance stories."
"Oh."
I hope it's not those romance stories I read just a while ago.
"What's one of your stories then?"
"Ah, I get that question a LOT. And well.. It's a work in progress."
"Oh, nice. Can I know more about it?"
"Well, um, you see.. Well, yeah!"
What? Is she becoming nervous? Should I use this? There has to be a reason why she's nervous. Romance.. Nervous.. Work in progress.. Is she writing a story about us? Is she writing a fanfic about us?
"Did you want me to kidnap you and drag you into a cave?"
"W-what-?"
"My bad."
"HENRY, WHAT WAS THAT?"
"I had to check something."
"Check something?! You- What- Henry did you read those.."
"Yup."
"Let me guess, you were trying to get inspiration for the date?"
Again, she's good. She managed to catch me like this, that's actually impressive.
"Yeah, I thought I'd have a better understanding of girls if I read what they read," I said while scratching my head.
"That's super cute, Hen. But to answer your question, I do want you to kidnap me."
I knew it, no way in hell would Emma answer like a normal person. She's always like this. Whenever the opportunity presents itself to act out, she takes it. Not like I'm any better.
"Maybe next time, I didn't prepare anything right now."
"Hmm, but Hen, I'm a bit curious."
"I'm not answering everything."
"Eh??"
"Go on, ask."
"Well, don't you have parents?"
".."
We arrived at the restaurant.
"Hen?"
"I told you, I'm not answering everything."
"Oh come on! Wait, where are we?"
It was a magnificent sight. On the boulevard of Varion City, many restaurants were stationed. But one of the most notable ones was Tropic Top, the restaurant I brought Emma to. It was a two storey restaurant with a tropical theme. There were palm trees, there was sand, it truly seemed exotic.
"Oh woah, you really picked a nice spot."
"Tay and Tan introduced me to this place."
"It's REALLY nice."
We went to the top floor and sat down by the balcony. Surprisingly, the air was hot, despite it being fall. That was one of the specialties of this restaurant, it is unable to be cold. The view from the balcony was absolutely perfect, you could see the ships at the dockyard and in the distance, heading towards the sunset.
"Coconut juice.. I think I'll take that!"
"Okay then."
"What about you?"
"I'll take a papaya shake."
"Ooh!"
While we waited for the waiter to bring our drinks, we talked.
"So what are your plans?" she asked.
"Against Gregory?"
"Yeah."
"I think I'll follow him around with Nello."
"I don't think that will work.. You know, with his Terrors and all."
"That's true, but we don't have much else we can do."
"He's no easy opponent," Emma said while drinking the coconut juice that had just arrived, "I wouldn't even know how to start."
"Yeah, although, I do believe it's doable. His captains aren't as much of an issue as one might think, instead it's his Terrors. Nello can't even handle one of them, let alone all of them."
"Would you like to order any food?" the waiter asked as she gave me my papaya shake.
"Yeah, can I have this shrimp thing?" I pointed at the menu.
"I'll have the chicken adobo!"
The waiter nodded and left.
"All this gangster stuff is really annoying!"
"Yeah."
"But I'm positive that you and Nello can do it."
The sun went down and the lights of the boats turned on. Emma and I were enjoying our food and talking about her friends. You can see how passionate she was about her friends, how excited she was to talk about them.
"Honestly it's so weird, although we've been in the same class for a while, we never really talked."
"Not that weird."
"How so? I've talked to nearly everyone in the class!"
"But I haven't."
"Right.."
It's normal, I didn't like talking to anyone. At first, I was afraid of talking. After a while, talking just became a chore. I don't like talking, it's usually a waste of time. For example, you have those people who could talk about something for ages, something that could be explained in maybe a few sentences. But no, they feel the need to talk about it for centuries and still get the same amount of quality.
Although Emma is a master at yapping, it doesn't feel like she's wasting my time. Instead, I do find myself being interested in her words. I don't mind hearing Emma talk. Maybe it's because of the way she talks, or maybe it's because of the information she's providing me. Either way, it isn't that bad.
"Let's have a dessert!"
"Sure."
"How about you and I share a banana split?"
".. Sure."
The banana split arrived, Emma's eyes were ready to feast. It did look delicious, I have to admit. I was about to dig into the banana, only for my spoon to be pulled away. I glanced over at Emma, the spoon thief.
"Can I get that back?"
"No!"
"Don't tell me.."
"Exactly."
She pulled out her own spoon with a devious smile. I knew it, she's going to make me share a spoon with her. That girl is crazy. I sighed. Of course, I'll have to agree. If I didn't agree, I'd either have to skip out on the banana split or take that spoon from her. But that's too troublesome, and the banana split is too attractive.
"Fine."
"Say aaaaa!"
No way she's doing the plane technique on me. I opened my mouth in utter embarrassment as she placed the spoon inside of my mouth. The banana split was delicious, but obviously I felt a little ashamed. Not like I'm going to let that show on my face.
"Open your mouth," I ordered after digging the spoon into the dessert.
"Aaaaa," she replied.
She closed her eyes. Look how defenseless she looked. With her eyes closed and mouth opened, I could easily place something else in her mouth. I grinned and picked up the pepper.
"AAAGHH WHAT THE-!"
And as she yelled, I stuck the spoon in her mouth.
"MMMMM-," she pulled the spoon out of her mouth and yelled, "HENRY I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!"
"My bad."
After going back and forth with the spoon, we finished it. Emma looked satisfied and my stomach definitely was too. Personally, I believe this date is a success.
"Henry, want to go for a walk in the park?"
"This late?"
"Mhm."
"Sure."
After paying, we both walked out of the restaurant towards the park. Varion Park is notorious for being a criminal camp at night. Thousands if not millions of horror stories spawned from this place, and nearly every one of them took place at night. Emma's quite brave for suggesting this.
I think there's something stalking me. As we walked into the park, I turned around and saw a huge spider in the trees. Despite the fact that the entire park was now decorated for Halloween, I could tell that wasn't decoration. We locked eyes. That damn arachnid is following me around EVERYWHERE.
"Hey Emma."
"What?"
"Let's run."
"Wait, why?"
"Huge spider."
"Hm?" she looked behind me and saw that huge thing, "EEEEEEEEEEEEK!!!!"
She grabbed onto my wrist and we ran. Why is that spider following me?! Is it targeting me? Why are these spiders going after me? Am I the only one getting terrorized by them?
We arrived at a nice little area with flowers and grass. There weren't any lights, so light pollution was close to nothing. The clouds were gone, the air was chilly and the stars were bright.
"Woah.. The stars!"
"They're beautiful, aren't they?"
"Mhm! Let's lay down!"
The grass felt a bit wet. I'll definitely have to clean my clothes after this. But, the sight was worth it.
"Emma," I said, taking the initiative.
"What?"
"Why do you like me?"
"Hmm.."
I looked at her, she looked at me. Our eyes made contact.
"You're not afraid of anyone that's bigger than you, you're always in your thoughts and I like the way you discreetly care about things.. You're just awesome!"
"I see."
In her eyes, I saw my own reflection. She was looking at me with the same face as when she talked about her friends. I guess she really does like me. And although we've hung out quite a few times, and she's obviously trying to get into a romance story with me, I still question whether or not she's romantically into me.
"Let's go home," I said.
At her apartment, I dropped her off.
"It was an awesome date, I really loved it! Sooo, I'll help you!"
"Glad you liked it."
"One more thing."
"What?
"Can I have a hug?"
"Sure."
She hugged me. But what I didn't expect was for her to kiss me on my cheek.
"Have a nice vacation, Henry!"
"You too, Emma."
As she entered her apartment and closed the door, I walked back home with a weird feeling. In fact, I didn't know what I was feeling. That kiss took me by surprise. Today was actually a fun day. But for some reason, I felt quite empty right now. Though I'm used to being alone, walking back home alone right now felt different. Nevertheless, the mission was a success.