‘That’ Side Character Chapter 54: Balloon Art Date

“Is this where we get attacked? I don’t have the energy to get attacked. Maybe if I lie down already they’ll just walk away and leave us alone,” Kenma thought with a depressed look on his face.

“Is this the place?” you asked brightly, not reading the room- so to speak. Your happiness was super out of place right at that moment.

He nodded.

“Let’s go then!” you said excitedly, taking the lead and walking down towards the gang of guys.

The members of the small gang stopped talking to each other as you approached and raised their chins in the air a bit so that they could look down at you.

“Hi!” you said with a friendly little wave, “we need to get past to go on our date.”

“Get past, eh?” one guy, with some kind of stick or something in his mouth, said, as he stood up off the upturned crate that he had been sitting on, and took a step towards you.

To Kenma it looked like a threatening gesture but you were just so excited about the balloon art that you just held your ground and smiled at the gang member- completely unaware of the potential danger you were in. 

“Yeah! I have a date with my boyfriend and we’re doing balloon art,” you said joyfully.

The guy laughed loudly, his mates joining in as well.

Kenma was starting to feel like this was a bad idea and took your arm so that he could pull you back. He was still tossing up between playing dead or making a run for it.

His desire to run heightened when some of the other gang members stood up and came over as well, hands in their pockets to show how unfazed they were- they definitely weren’t threatened by you two.

“Is it through that door?” you asked, still completely blaise to the situation as you nodded past the leader to the door in the side of the building.

“Who says I’m gonna let you and your dweeb get past, eh?” the leader asked.

“Because we’re on a date and we’re going to make balloon art?” you replied with confusion, “why wouldn’t you let us past? Unless you want to do the balloon art instead of us… and in that case you might have to check to make sure the person running the place has enough seats for you all?”

The guy just blinked at you. He had been trying to intimidate you, but you just weren’t scaring like he thought you would be.

“What if I knocked your head off your shoulder?” he asked you directly, to see if that made any difference to your carefree demeanor.

“That’s not nice,” you said firmly, “now move aside so we can get to our date.”

Kenma’s heart sank. 

This was it.

This was where your bodies would be found the next morning. He was convinced you had just sealed both your and his doom. 

“Oi,” the Leader now addressed Kenma, who flinched, “your missy here doesn’t have any fear, does she.” He asked.

Kenma shook his head.

“I respect that,” he said with a smirk, taking his hand from his pocket and placing it on your shoulder to give you a firm pat, “ok, fearless-chan, and blond hair paint- kun, you can pass. Let it be known that you are now respected by the Tokyo Raider Gang.”

“Oh! Thanks!” you said happily, your happiness still not matching the vibe that was there- as you could have ended up being pummeled by these guys.

The rest of the gang chuckled and mumbled to themselves as you and Kenma walked through the path they had made for you both, to the door on the other side, and you knocked. 

“They were nice,” you commented to Kenma, who was still trying to recover from the stress of that situation.

“I hope this place is legitimate,” he thought as he waited for the guy to open the door.

An older man came to the door and greeted you both, confirming that this was the right place to learn balloon art and you grinned from ear to ear.

“I’m so excited!” you exclaimed, walking in ahead of Kenma and looking at all the awards that this guy had hanging on his walls.

By the looks of it, he was very good at his craft and also dabbled as a magician; the pictures of him on the walls, mid show, telling of his life as an entertainer.

“Wooow! You know how to do lots of stuff, Balloon sensei,” you said to the man, who laughed at your nickname for him.

“Yes. I guess I do,” he said, reaching into his sleeve and pulling out a balloon rose that was expertly made.

“Oh!” you exclaimed, taking it and looking it over, “this is amazing!”

“Thank you,” he said with a smile, “And I am going to teach you how to make these for your date today. How long have you and.” He looked at Kenma who was hanging back a bit. “Your… boyfriend, been together?”

“Umm…” you looked at Kenma, “I think about 3 months?” 

Kenma nodded, “yes, about 3 months.”

The guy then quickly tapped his head and when he pulled his hand away a small ‘3’ shaped balloon was in it.

You squealed with delight and took it from his outstretched hand.

“That’s so cool! How did you know to have a 3 done?” you asked.

“A good magician never tells,” the man said with a waggle of his finger.

“Well, can you teach us the balloon art still?” you asked hopefully.

“Yes, of course,” he replied, gesturing for you and Kenma to sit at a table nearby.

You did so, and the tutorial began.

It was the most fun you had had in a while and although you stuffed a lot of your balloon making up, you still managed to make a few good ones.

The lesson went for one hour and a half, but to you it felt like it was 10 minutes long.

“Awww,” you hummed sadly as the man wrapped up the lesson, “I was just getting used to doing the twist and twist.”

“Practice!” the man said, “go and buy some balloons and practice more until one day you too might be the next balloon entertainer!”

You were hyped, and so promised him that you would keep practicing.

Kenma thanked the man for his time and discretely paid for the lessons then you and he left the place.

<<< ‘That’ Side Character Chapter 53: First Time

‘That’ Side Character Chapter 55: Date Done and Dusted >>>