Amamatsu “Um, would it be okay if I held your hand?” from the Romantic/Fluff starters list for Anon! So, I know that it’s only August, but my mind kept drifting to October and Halloween, so I figured I’d write a Halloween fluff one-shot for them involving haunted houses and just cute moments in general. I also did incorporate the childhood friends theme in this, but now I’m wondering if I incorporated it enough XD
I hope you like it and let me know if you would like anything changed/edited! :3
*Based off of this request*
Title: Catching Feelings
Prompt: “Um, would it be okay if I held your hand?”
Summary: Kaede and Rantaro go trick or treating at a Halloween festival being held at their school and decide to go through the haunted house attraction. Kaede tries to reassure Rantaro that she isn’t scared, but recalling the many times they’ve gone through haunted houses together over the years, he’s not so convinced.
One-shot Notes: Rantaro’s dressed as a zombie and Kaede is dressed as Rapunzel; I also sprinkled in some implied Saiouma (because why wouldn’t I XD)
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One-shot is under the cut!
Kaede and Rantaro left the costume cafe that Shuichi’s class did for the festival after having Halloween-themed crepes and milkshakes.
“Those crepes were so good!” Kaede gushed, recalling the pumpkin and chocolate crepe that they had while they were there.
“I agree. They did a pretty good job with the menu.” Rantaro commented.
Kaede dug through her orange Jack-o-Lantern bucket, pulling out a small-sized chocolate, unwrapping it, and popping it into her mouth.
“Not to mention that the costumes look nice. Saihara-kun’s one suits him!” she said, recalling the detective costume that Shuichi had on.
“It sure does.” they began to head downstairs to the first floor. “Come to think of it, as we were leaving, I saw Ouma-kun in what looked like a phantom thief costume. He looked like he was flirting with Saihara-kun or something.” Rantaro commented.
“Really?” she then gasped. “Phantom thief and detective...do you think...?!” she trailed off before she could finish her sentence.
“I would be surprised if they weren’t dating, to be honest.”
Kaede blinked her eyes twice at this.
“What do you mean?” she asked.
“I mean, it was quite obvious that those two like each other.” Rantaro pointed out.
“Was it really...” she wondered out loud.
They arrived at the bottom of the steps and they walked down the crowded hall. Rantaro glanced at Kaede, his eyes falling on the long wig she wore for her Rapunzel costume.
“Do you want me to hold that for you?” he asked, nodding at the long trail of hair that Kaede had dragging behind her.
“Huh?” she turned, glancing at the golden blonde hair that was on the floor. “You don’t have to...” she trailed off.
“I’m just worried that people might step on it.” Rantaro said.
He bent down and began grabbing up the hair, holding it in a bundle in his arms.
“There, that’s better.” he said.
Kaede’s cheeks turned a light shade of pink as she lowered her gaze.
“Thanks...” she trailed off as they continued walking.
A few minutes later, Rantaro came to a stop. This made Kaede eye him in confusion.
“Rantaro? Why did we stop?” she asked.
She followed Rantaro’s gaze, quickly realizing that they had stopped in front of a haunted house attraction that the freshmen had set up for the festival. A chill immediately ran down her spine.
Don’t tell me...does he actually want to do it, she asked herself.
Ever since they were young, Rantaro had always liked scary things. He watched a lot of horror movies, indulged himself in reading creepypastas, and got excited when Halloween came around because that was when he could go to haunted houses and get “spooky,” which was the complete opposite of her. She couldn’t stand scary things. Every time she watched a horror movie with him, she would be unable to sleep at night, fearing that something might get her in the middle of the night. However, she tried to tolerate it and deal with it because he was her childhood friend.
“Rantaro...do you want to go in?” she asked.
“I do...but, I know that you wouldn’t want to go in with me, so I think I’ll pass.” Rantaro replied.
Kaede bit her lip as she looked at him.
This stuff terrifies me, but he looks like he really wants to do it. I’ve been dragging him around to do things that I want to do and we haven’t done a single thing that he wants to do yet. It’s only fair that I do something that he wants to do, no matter how scary it is. So, I’ll suck it up for today and do it, she told herself.
“You don’t need to worry about me! I’ll be willing to go with you!” she told him.
“You would?”
“Yeah!”
Rantaro narrowed his eyes at her.
“Are you sure?” he asked.
“Yes, I’m sure! Come on, let’s go!” Kaede said as she ushered Rantaro along.
Rantaro furrowed his brows, but decided not to say anymore as he followed her inside.
The inside of the attraction resembled that of an abandoned warehouse with boxes strewn everywhere along with caution tape and warning signs everywhere they looked. The floors and walls were coated in dark red paint to resemble blood and creepy music played in the background.
Fear began to creep up inside Kaede.
I know I said that I’d suck it up and go into the haunted house with you, but this is way too creepy! I think I might pass out before we even leave this place, she thought to herself.
The floor creaked a little under their feet, causing Kaede to let out a startled yelp. Rantaro turned at the sound.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
Kaede looked at Rantaro in his zombie costume, the eerie lighting making him look like a character straight out of a horror movie. She wanted to scream, but the sound wouldn’t come out.
“Kaede?” Rantaro called out, brows knitted in concern.
“Huh? Oh, Rantaro! Yeah, I’m okay.” she replied, immediately shoving her fear down.
Gosh, what am I doing?! I shouldn’t be getting scared now, she told herself.
“Are you sure? Because we can always turn back and go do something else, if that’s what you want.” Rantaro suggested.
“No, no, we don’t need to turn back! I’m fine, really!” Kaede gestured to the path ahead of them. “Let’s keep going!” she said.
Rantaro held her gaze, his eyes slowly narrowing. Kaede swallowed as he continued to stare at her. It felt like he was peering into her soul. She could hear her heart pounding against her rib cage, her cheeks growing warm and butterflies fluttering about in her stomach.
Something about the way Rantaro looked at her stirred something within her.
He finally looked away after a few more seconds.
“If you insist. Let’s keep going.” he said as they resumed walking.
Kaede released a shaky sigh of relief.
Thank god he didn’t catch on...now, all I need to do is keep my cool. I can do this, she quietly told herself.
She looked at Rantaro’s back, her eyes tracing the figure of his body. Her heart continued to race as she brought her bottom lip in between her teeth.
I never used to feel this way in the eleven years we’ve known each other...just what is going on with me, she asked herself.
Something brushed against her leg, causing her to nearly let out a scream. She bit down harder on her lip to prevent it from coming out and alerting Rantaro. She immediately looked down and released her lip with a sigh, realizing that it was just the skirt of her dress.
Oh my gosh, I really thought that something touched me, she thought to herself.
She tried to clear her mind as they turned left.
As they continued further inside, signs warning them of the danger ahead and telling them to turn back popped up. Loud shrieks and cackling could be heard as the lights began to flicker eerily.
Something is telling me that there’s going to be a jump scare coming up soon, she thought to herself.
As soon as the thought occurred to her, a zombie-like creature coated in red jumped out at them. At this moment, she knew she couldn’t keep it in any longer.
She let out a loud scream, clinging to Rantaro’s back as if on instinct. She swore she felt Rantaro stiffen, but decided she was imagining things as the creature hissed and cackled.
“K-Kaede?!” Rantaro asked, surprise evident in his voice.
The creature scrambled away soon after. Kaede trembled, burying her face into Rantaro’s back as tears pricked the corners of her eyes. The familiar scent of eucalyptus and sandalwood soothed her just a bit, but she was still terrified by the sudden jump scare.
“Kaede, it’s okay. They’re gone.” Rantaro slowly turned, holding Kaede as he stroked her back. “Nothing’s going to come out at you again. And if they do, you have me. I can fight them for you.” he spoke reassuringly.
Kaede choked out a sob.
“Rantaro...” she mumbled out.
“I knew we shouldn’t have come in here...” he gingerly tilted her head up and he proceeded to swipe away at her tears with his thumb. “You should have told me that you were scared, Kaede. I would have turned back if that was the case. We could’ve gone somewhere else.” he told her.
“But...” Kaede sniffled. “We’ve only been doing things that I wanted to do and I figured...that maybe we could do something that you wanted to do for a change, no matter...no matter how scary it was...” she trailed off.
Astonishment was evident in his gaze as he stared at her. Mauve eyes sparkled with tears and the edges of her eyes had grown red and puffy.
He had to fight the temptation to kiss her tears away (and also kiss her lips, but he showed that thought away before it came to fruition).
“Well...I’m glad you were thinking of me, Kaede. But for me, I’m happy when you’re happy. It doesn’t matter whether or not I like doing scary things like going into haunted houses. If it’s going to make you cry, I don’t want to have any part of it.” he said.
Kaede hiccuped, her eyes on him as he looked over his shoulder.
“Based on that jump scare, I’m going to assume we don’t have much longer before we’re out of here.” he withdrew his hand. “Let’s hurry on out here so that we can go do something else.” he said as he turned to continue walking.
Before he could, though, Kaede grabbed for his shirt. He turned, watching as Kaede averted her gaze.
“Um...would it be okay if I held your hand?” she asked hesitantly.
Her cheeks turned red as she slowly rolled her eyes up to meet Rantaro’s. If it wasn’t for the way the colored lights painted Rantaro’s face, she would’ve assumed that he was blushing as well.
“Uh...yeah, you can...” he trailed off in response.
Kaede nodded her head as she moved to place her hand in Rantaro’s. Then, Rantaro gripped her hand and laced their fingers together. The action made Kaede’s heart leap into her throat.
“Let’s go.” he said.
The two of them began to make their way out of the haunted house. Kaede’s gaze fell to their clasped hands. His hand was big compared to hers, which was petite and small. There was a warmness exuding from it that helped her to relax.
However, it did nothing for the butterflies that continued to flutter in her stomach incessantly and the reddening blush on her cheeks.
She ran her tongue along her bottom lip as she tried to figure out what exactly was going on, not realizing that her feelings for Rantaro had begun to develop into something much more than friendship.
