Great Lakes and Expectations chp 9 draft

The lobby cleared as the movie was about to start, and Regina felt exhausted. 

But also, kind of curious?

[ano, regina hime.] momo said. [eigawomitaika?]

[hen na eiga desu ka?] she asked, fearing his response. 

He laughed. [chotto? Romansueigadesu.]

Oh. Was that all that amounted to perversion here? Or was the version of romance here really messed up?

[hai] Regina said, somewhat hesitantly. If this was a romcom, she was going to feel so confused. This country was very conservative.

He walked off to get drinks. 

Was it weird? She wasn’t a child. And she was curious why this was so popular. And could somehow be perverted, but also hundreds of people (and not all of them men, actually) could be willing to be seen watching it? Hundreds of people also came to have Jiraiya sign their books. She could only assume those were related to the movie. 

She considered it. 

{Regina-chan, ikimashou.] Tsunade clipped, as she sped out the door. Evidently she was only staying as long as was contractually mandated for her to receive her money. Regina sympathized. 

But Tsunade hadn’t even stopped. She was out of the theater, on the street, and heading into the nearest bar. 

Shizune sighed. 

[Regina-san… ikimashouka?] she asked, sounded like her soul was weary. 

Regina looked deep into Shizune’s big brown eyes, and predictably disappointed her. 

[Anou, kono eiga ha… omoshiroisou.] she said, looking as adorable as possible. [hen na honto desu ka?]

Shizune sighed again. [hai.] She held out her hand, as if Regina was a child that needed supervision. [ikimashou, ne]

They met up with Momo at the snack bar and Shizune’s grip tensed hard enough that Regina thought her hand was gonna pop off. 

They followed him into the theater, where he glared various people into shifting so that there were three seats in the back row together. Regina sat in the middle and felt very safe. 

The movie started off as a story about a young man who seemed remarkably like Jiraiya. He was loud and brave, she could tell he was brave because he rescued a beautiful woman (who had some of Tsunade’s mannerisms she had discerned during their brief time together. Maybe she really was related to this nerd. They were obviously cut from the same cloth.)

There were hijinks. She hated that word, but that’s what they were. Comics of misunderstandings and incredible fake sexual tension. Eventually, their mutual respect in the field of (banditry? Contract killing?) led to them falling in love with other. 

Other than an accidental ass grab, it wasn’t even that scandalous. 

Regina looked around the theater. Every single person was enraptured during the very traditional kiss on the mouth. 

Pervert number 248 was openly weeping. 

Regina leaned back into her seat and stared at the screen with purpose. 

The movie ended with a real confession under Sakura trees (was it even a real love confession if it wasn’t done with the impermanent pink blossoms falling and swirling in the background?). Now multiple people were crying.

Regina still had absolutely no idea what the main characters’ jobs were. Some sort of hired criminals who were were honorable but definitely spied and stole and killed just asstons of people who were unimportant to the plot. 

Overall, she didn’t feel scandalized. A quick glance at Shizune indicated that she wasn’t, either. She had a somewhat vacant, dreamy look on her face. 

Momo was implacable. But he was the one that paid to be here, so she could only assume he had enjoyed the experience. 

Regina finished her snacks and waited for the credits to roll. 

Momo walked her and Shizune back to Osafune’s home, where he told them good night and wandered off into the dark streets. 

Shizune sighed again. 

Either that was just a thing with her, or Regina was a particular pain in the ass. 

Regina decided not to worry about it at the moment. She was tired, and had just learned that this continent was so repressed the some light touching was considered straight-up porn. Everything about this place was a lot to process. 

Surprisingly, Shizune didn’t leave this time. 

She said something to LADY and she came back with more bedding, and some extra sets of Regina’s bedclothes. 

Shizune set up camp next to Regina, talking lightly under her breath the entire time. 

[Shizune-san?] Regina asked, above and below her fluffy futons. [is everything ok?]

Shizune paused, mid-fluffing a pillow. She dropped it to the ground and sat next to Regina on the floor. 

[Everything is ok. But, soon we will leave Iron Country.]

Yeah, but she was being a weirdly bad liar. Regina hoped lying wasn’t part of her job. 

[Did I do something wrong?] She asked. [I tried my best.]

[Iie, daijoubu.] Shizune huffed a small laugh. [Tsunade-sama is a little eccentric. So she would like to not stay here for very long.]

That, or her new beloved was going to drink out all of Iron and flee. Shizune had tried to block her vision, but Regina had definitely noted Tsunade leaving the bar next to the movie theater and going into another one.