Corpse Bride || Haitani Brothers/OC

36 - back to you (ii.)

"wow, back together already?" Koko teased an approaching Hikari and Ran as they entered the restaurant.

Hikari's face lightly turned pink, her arm hooked around Ran's. she didn't know the others—Koko, Mikey, and Kakucho to be specific—would be here. Ran took her near their table as she was met with questioning looks.

"really, Hikari?" Mikey says with a frown.

"what?" she whined.

"could've made him suffer a month more."

"you folded so easily, babe," Koko says, grinning up at her.

Ran rolled his eyes.

"you should all just mind your business."

"Hikari can do better, definitely better," Kakucho remarks.

"why do better when she can do me?" he grinned. 

and that was her cue to drag Ran away. she was laughing as she waved the other men goodbye, telling Ran something as they walked over to a far off table.

"do you think there's anyone better than me?" he genuinely asks; she couldn't help but laugh.

"maybe."

"who would that be?" he bitterly mutters as he pulls out her chair for her.

after he sat across the girl, Hikari ignored his unanswered question as she scanned over the menu. Ran set his cheek on his palm, looking at her in half a daze. no one on earth might just deserve her, but no one could possibly love the girl more than he did.

"what do you want?" he softly asks.

Hikari couldn't resist looking up at him. she missed the soft-spoken Ran. as she meets his purple eyes, she found a new expression of affection right then. his gaze was too warm—almost dreamy.

"which steak was it they served in the opening nights ago?"

"hmm, give it here," he says as he takes the menu from her hands.

he flips through the pages then rotates it so she could see. with a long, bony finger, he points at a dish that priced too high for her liking—though everything was bound to be expensive.

"alright, I'll have that—what about you?"

"I'm not that hungry," Ran mutters as he runs his eyes through the menu once more.

"you need to eat," she lightly scolds him.

"I'll order pasta, is that okay?"

as she nods, Ran called for the waiter and started to tell him their order. Hikari noticed then, as she scanned her eyes around their surroundings, that everyone else had been looking at Ran. it reminded her how half the people here had seen him collapse that night he got poisoned, and probably most if not all of that half had mocked him for it.

having an unsettling inkling, she scans past the heads of people and finds familiar faces. the two married couples she almost killed in the elevator were here, flashing them worried and almost terrified looks. it was understandable. Sakura Sato was also there with someone who looked like her sister.

it was bugging how many eyes were ogling Ran.

"Hikari, dear," a smooth voice calls out to her. she looked back at Ran who touched her hand.

"what?" 

"do you want ice cream?"

her eyes lit up.

"I think you'll like their ice cream," Ran urges.

she nods. Ran cracked a small smile—Hikari eating her precious sweets was always a good sign.