Knitting Fate (Canon Patchworking with Uchiha Ren Part II)

Sixty-Eighth Thread

This chapter has been beta'd for you by hestia8693.

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!WARNING!

Despite Ren and Hibiki being both recognized working, self-sufficient adults by and in the world they live in, by our world's standards, they're still underage (both 16), so I'm putting in a warning for underage intercourse. It's only mentioned, but there are no doubts left if it happened, so I'm putting the warning in.

***

"Dating should be less about matching outward circumstances than meeting your inner necessity."
― Mark Amend

0

The first thing they do is go to the showing of Princess Gale, which surprises Ren—the movie has only just premiered, and the showings are very limited, so getting the tickets would've taken way more time and effort than the day that he'd had to plan. On top of that, their seats are really damn good. He must've gotten the tickets weeks, if not a month, in advance.

"I was going to invite my ex," he explains with a shrug. "She had the audacity to ask me to give her the tickets when we broke up, so I held onto them, if only to be petty. You're a lucky coincidence but at least they won't go to waste."

"Thanks," Ren chuckles. "I don't mind. I'm actually quite interested in the movie."

"But not enough to bother to get tickets shortly after premiere?"

"Yep."

The movie is—fine, actually. A lot like a Chinese wuxia she sometimes read, but in actual, digestible, concise form, instead of ten thousand chapters, with a female lead, and no romance. The plot is very basic and predictable, but the characters are decently written and acted. If Ren were to judge it through the prism of Chinese storytelling, which it resembles the most, the movie is actually very good. If she were to judge it by the standards of the rest of the world—it isn't that bad, she supposed. Okay-ish. Not worth its price, that's for sure, but she doesn't want to claw her eyes out and tug at her hair, unlike the many Chinese novels and TV shows she used to inhale out of boredom.

It's almost ten by the time they're done, and Ren has to remind herself that it's okay for pioneer movies to be this long, because people usually have no idea what they're doing when they begin something that wasn't really ever done before.

But the movie is over, and it's time to eat a late dinner. And there is one place Ren has been aware of for years now, but never had a chance to try.

"Hasegawa's Hibachi?" Hibiki questions, and Ren nods.

"I've been craving teppanyaki for a while, and it's a steakhouse, too. I want meat."

"I've heard about it. It's very expensive and high-end," Hibiki says with a sour look, and Ren chuckles, putting her arm around his shoulders.

"That's why I'll be paying."

"But I'm the one who asked you out!"

Ren rolls her eyes. He obviously wants to go, judging by the way he is fidgeting, so she brings out the big guns.

"They serve wagyu. Have you ever had it? I haven't, and I want to try. Besides, it's not like I'm low on money."

She can see Hibiki's thought process plain on his face. Hesitation, consideration, a bit of anger, and then acceptance. He hangs his head down.