They have a wonderful, if a little awkward, date together.

Mukuro arrived at the movie theater a few minutes later; early to be sure, but she didn’t want to keep Shuichi waiting. But, to her surprise, she discovered that she wasn’t the only one with that idea as she walked up to the theater and saw Maki waiting there on the sidewalk beside the front doors.

“Hello there, Maki. It’s good to see that you could make it.” Mukuro bowed respectfully in greeting.

“Good to see you too Mukuro.” Maki bowed back. “How has your day been?”

“Pretty good, all things considered,” Mukuro replied, standing beside Maki so they could both keep an eye out for Shuichi together. “Things were pretty quiet at the shop today, but that gave me some time to get in some reading as well.”

“Good, good.” There was an awkward pause as Maki shuffled her feet. “That’s, uh, really pretty dress that you’ve got there. It looks really good on you.”

“Thank you. You look really good too, by the way,” Mukuro said, glancing over at Maki again. “That skirt is really cute.”

“Thanks for flattering me, but… I know I don’t look that great.” Maki nervously looked away.

“Hey, don’t sell yourself short like that! I think you’re absolutely gorgeous” a passing woman with brown hair, emerald-colored eyes, and a cutesy white dress. “In fact, I think anyone would be lucky to date such a gal like you!”

“Huh?” Maki turned to the new girl and blushed. “Er, I don’t know about…”

“Of course; I’m very lucky to be on a date with such a beautiful girl like her,” Mukuro interjected as she put her hand on Maki’s, causing her to blush even redder.

“Oh, I’m sorry! I didn’t realize that you two were together!” The girl gasped. “You two have fun at the movies, okay?”

“Huh!? Er, that’s not… I mean, we’re not…” But before Maki could finish explaining herself, the girl was gone. “What the hell was that Mukuro?! We aren’t dating!”

“Well, yes, but we are on a date here together, aren’t we?” Mukuro asked almost innocently.

“Yeah, I guess that’s technically true, but not with each other. Besides, I’m not into… I mean, I’m not sure yet if I’m into…” Maki trailed off as her face now matched her dress.

“Oh. I’m sorry Maki. I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable like that. I’ll make sure that it won’t happen again.”

“No, I didn’t mean… it’s just that it’s weird for me. With how we first met, with you winning our first fight in that situation and finding out that you also liked Shuichi, I was convinced that I wasn’t going to like you at all. I even let my jealousy get the best of me and nearly hurt our relationship with Shuichi. We managed to find common ground between us, but I haven’t really decided on how I feel about you. I’m not even sure if we’d be friends if it wasn’t for Shuichi.”

“That’s okay; we don’t have to decide those kinds of things right away,” Mukuro replied. “But maybe things would be easier to figure out if we talked about how you feel. So, what do you think of me right now, Maki? Do you think you see me as a friend or… something else?”

“...” Maki stared at Mukuro in silence for a moment before glancing behind her. “... Shuichi’s here. We should probably get ready to greet him.”

“Right; of course.” Mukuro nodded as they watched Shuichi park his convertible and walk toward them. He was wearing his best dress shirt and black jeans. “Hello, Shuichi. It is so good to see you again.”

“Yeah, it’s good to see you girls too,” Shuichi replied. “Wow, I, uh… didn’t expect you both to get so dressed up for this. You both look incredible.”

“I-it was nothing, really. I just threw on the first thing I found,” Maki replied, but Shuichi could still tell how much the compliment meant to her.

“So… do you want to tell us about what happened last night with Ruruka?” Mukuro asked, making both Maki and Shuichi feel like she just ripped a band-aid off their arms.

“Y-yeah, I suppose I should start explaining myself, huh? Okay… here I go.” Shuichi recounted everything that happened as succinctly as he could. “... and then she left, leaving me alone in the park.”

“Wow… I’m sorry to hear about that, Shuichi,” Maki said apologetically. “I can’t believe she used you like that… what a little…” Maki clenched her fists.

“It’s okay, really! I’m not mad at her,” Shuichi insisted. “Ruruka clearly has her own problems she’s going through, and… it’s my fault for setting my hopes so high like that.”

“Maybe; hope and despair are two sides of the same coin, after all,” Mukuro said before wrapping her arms around Shuichi’s body and hugging his face gently into her chest. “But that doesn’t mean you did anything wrong. You followed your feelings and decided to give Ruruka a chance because you thought you saw something special in her. And it’s that kind of hope that, well… made me catch my eye in the first place.”

“... thank you, Mukuro. That means a lot to me.” Shuichi hugged Mukuro back, enjoying the soft warmth of her body. Maki simply watched for a few moments, unsure of what to do, before Mukuro pulled her into the hug as well. They both silently thanked her for it.

“A-alright, I think that’s enough for now,” Shuichi eventually broke off the hug. “We shouldn’t spend so much time worrying about my problems anyway. I came here for you girls, after all!”

“Ah, right; you were supposed to help me better understand movie jokes,” said Maki. “I almost forgot that.”

“Yeah; have you guys decided on which movie you want to see yet?” Shuichi asked. The girls both looked at each other and shook their heads. “Oh… well, that’s fine. I suppose we can still take a look at what’s playing.”

They went into the theater and began looking at the posters that lined the walls. There were quite a few movies available but they were almost all action, adventures, or dramas, with one exception; 28 Days of Love, starring Yuki from Snow White.

“What about this one?” Mukuro suggested, pointing toward Yuki’s smiling face. “I heard that one had good reviews, and the star… I don’t know what it is about her, but she gives off a very inviting air about her.”

“Yeah, but… I already saw that one,” Maki pointed out.

“Well, I’m sure we can find something else here that’s funny too,” Shuichi interjected. “Like… that movie there! I think it’s about an assassin who has to deal with a cartoon rabbit sidekick while he tries to kill the- er, actually, maybe we should avoid anything action-related.”

“It’s okay; I don’t mind watching the movie again,” Maki sighed. “I didn’t really get the full experience the first time anyway.”

“Alright; I’ll get us our tickets.” Shuichi went to approach the ticket counter but was stopped by Maki’s hand on his shoulder.

“No, that’s okay; I think I’ll pay,” Maki said, taking out her wallet. “You probably wasted enough money over the last few days, after all.”

“Yeah, I guess so,” Shuichi replied.

“How about we both split in paying for the ticket Maki?” Mukuro suggested. “After all, you shouldn’t be the only one that’s paying for the date.”

“Right… of course.” Maki nodded and, together, they counted out enough bills to pay for the three of them. After that, they went into the theater and found their seats; fortunately for them, the room wasn’t packed, but there were still quite a few people in there eager to see Japan’s new #1 movie.

“Okay, so this is how this will work; I’ll do my best to explain the jokes as they happen,” Shuichi whispered over the previews as he sat down between the two girls. “And if you’re ever confused by something, then just tap my hand to get my attention or something.”

“And what if we can’t hear you over the movie?” asked Maki.

“Then, I’ll, uh… I’ll figure something out,” Shuichi assured her.

A few minutes later, the previews ended and the movie proper started, opening with Sayaka’s character stuck in traffic and bored out of her mind. However, Yuki started to sing a song to pass the time, and before anyone knew it she left her car and started singing and dancing in the middle of traffic, with everyone getting out to join her.

“Alright, so the opening scene of the movie shows that Yuki is living a normal life, but it might be too boring. So, in her mind, she imagined herself doing something spontaneous, like sing and dance, to make life more fun and interesting for everyone.” Shuichi explained in a whisper.

“… but why would anyone want to do that in the middle of traffic?” Maki asked. “It seems to me like it’d just be a good way to get run over.”

“W-well, that’s the fun part. It’s all in her imagination; it’s something she wants to do but she knows she can’t. Kind of like how you secretly want to scream at the top of your lungs about how great your day has been,” Shuichi explained, all while he’s also watching the movie. “Oh, and here she is with her friends at their place. They’re singing and convincing Yuki to go to a big party with them. Yuki doesn’t want to go at first, but ultimately decides to join her friends anyway. Living her life to the fullest.”

“But… how did she get dressed and refresh her makeup so fast, and still managed to catch up with her friends going out the front door?” Maki asked with confusion on her face as she watched Yuki joining her friends in a beautiful blue dress. “What kind of universe is she living in?.”

“Uh, well… it’s just a movie, so we’re not supposed to question things like that,” Shuichi tried to explain, sweating. “If that was the case, we probably wouldn’t have any movies, let alone comedies.”

“Speaking of which; how exactly is any of this supposed to be funny?” Mukuro cut in. “I haven’t seen anything that even remotely resembles a joke so far. It’s just been singing so far.”

“In musicals, the laugh-out-loud jokes are kept for mostly the in-between scenes,” Shuichi answered. “Plus, it’s supposed to be funny in a much broader sense. Like, you know how there’s sweet like sugar, and then there’s sweet like milk?”

“... you think milk is sweet?” Mukuro asked.

“Uh… maybe, I should have used a different metaphor.” Shuichi put a hand over his hand for a moment as he thought. “Have you ever-”

“Sssssh!” a man in front of Shuichi shushed to try and get him to quiet down.

“Er, I’ll explain it later…” Shuichi whispered, going silent for the next few minutes of the movie. “Oh, and here you can see that she drives a Pumpkin branded car, which is funny because, uh… well, you see, in the story of Cinderella, this girl-”

Shuichi was interrupted by a barrage of shushing, this time coming from multiple directions. Shuichi swallowed nervously and sunk down into his seat.

“I, uh, think I should have thought this plan through some more…” he whispered, his voice just barely audible to Maki and Mukuro.

“That’s okay, Shuichi.” Shuichi felt Maki’s hand gently embrace his hand through the darkness. ‘“To be honest, just being here with you… that’s enough for me.”

“Me too,” Mukuro added, taking Shuichi’s other hand. “So let’s just enjoy the movie, okay?”

“Yeah… let’s.” Shuichi smiled and sat back up in his seat to keep watching the movie. He had to admit that the movie was pretty good, even if it was Sayaka’s first foray into acting. There were a lot of impressive moments, finely crafted music, and it was clear a lot of heart went into the whole project. There were also some extremely clever jokes hidden in there too, but sadly neither Maki nor Mukuro were able to appreciate it.

About halfway through the movie, Shuichi felt something on his left shoulder and he turned to see that Mukuro was resting her head there. She was still watching the movie, but it was clear that she cared about getting closer to him a bit more.

Smiling, Shuichi leaned down and kissed Mukuro gently on the top of her head. In response, Mukuro turned her head and kissed Shuichi on the cheek, to which Shuichi kissed her back. The two continued to trade kisses back and forth until their mouths finally met, at which point they held their lips together for what felt like forever as they enjoyed each other's taste and texture.

“Thank you so much for taking us out like this, Shuichi,” Mukuro whispered when the kiss finally ended. “I know it must have been a little hard for you after what you went through yesterday.”

“Hey, it’s no big deal; it’s not like I could just keep feeling sorry for myself about that forever,” Shuichi whispered back. “And I wouldn’t have missed the chance to hang out with you for the world.”

“Maybe, but I still want you to know how much I appreciate this… and how sorry I am for letting what Ruruka did happen to you.” Mukuro kissed Shuichi again. “If you ever need emotional support like that again, or if you ever feel like someone is taking advantage of you again, please let me know. I promise to be there for you.” Mukuro turned her face down and pressed her teeth lightly into Shuichi’s neck as if to show her strength. It felt oddly comforting. “I’ll protect you no matter what.”

“Thank you, Mukuro; I promise I won’t forget that,” Shuichi replied before he felt something rest on his other shoulder.

“Hey… not that I care that much, but… isn’t it my turn for a kiss?” Maki asked, staring up into Shuichi’s eyes.

“Right, of course. Shuichi leaned down to kiss Maki and together, the three sat in silence for most of the rest of the movie, only occasionally breaking it to laugh at the movie or to exchange even more kisses. By the time credits began to roll, the three had kissed each other over a dozen times, which embarrassed many of the moviegoers around them but none had the bravery to make them stop that time.

“Well, I have to say that movie was pretty good overall,” Shuichi said as they all left, arm-in-arm with Maki and Mukuro. “Not really laugh-out-loud funny but still very enjoyable.”

“It was okay, but I honestly thought your explanations of the jokes were funnier than the movie itself,” Mukuro commented.

“I still don’t think I understand movie humor yet… but I kind of liked how trivial the conflicts were,” said Maki. “It was a nice escape from things.”

“Yeah, I guess so,” Shuichi said with a nervous laugh. “A-anyways, I’m sorry that things didn’t turn out like I said they would. I really should have had us watch a comedy movie at home.”

“It’s okay; we still had fun, and there’s always next time,” Maki reassured him as they stepped outside. “So, what do you plan on doing now?”

“Well… I actually don’t have anything planned for the rest of the night,” Shuichi replied. “What about you girls?”

“I told my sisters that I might be gone for a while, so I don’t need to be back home anytime soon,” said Mukuro.

“And I had a pretty generous John yesterday, so I was planning on taking the whole night off,” said Maki. “So if you wanted to do something else tonight, I wouldn’t say ‘no’.”

“Uh, if that’s the case…”