The Struggles Of Scary Movies

EARLY RELEASE FOR ALL MY PATRONS!!

Didn't have a specific Halloween fic this time around, but I wanted to do something still with horror/getting scared in it! This probably could just go into Healing Kisses, but it was longer and I wanted there to be a Halloween-esque fic this year.

Disclaimer: I do not own Shoujo Kageki Revue Starlight.

---------

							The Struggles Of Scary Movies

After a week's worth of classes and training, her own self-led extra practices, and a morning's worth of completing all of her assignments for the weekend, Maya has chosen to enjoy the remainder of her Saturday on a couch in the lounge with a book in her lap. Rather than sit in her room and read in absolute silence and solitude, she actually prefers to sit here instead where the occasional chatter from other passing girls can reach her and let her remember she is surrounded by friends.

She reads at her leisure, pausing every now and then to look up and smile at Mahiru who enters to grab something from the kitchen, or Junna who asks her if she's seen where Nana went.

Where Maya would normally be using this free time to train and practice more - most likely with Claudine - they had both already come to the agreement to use today to rest, as they'd put in many extra hours this week already. Claudine had mentioned she would be spending some time with Futaba today, so Maya relaxes to know her other friends will prevent Claudine from sneaking off to train alone to the point of exhaustion.

Maya reads for nearly two hours that afternoon, getting up only a few times to use the restroom or grab a small snack. It's definitely the most peaceful and relaxing Saturday she can recall having in the past several weeks.

And then, just as she's nearing the end of her book, her ears tune in to the sounds of familiar voices down the hallway. She pauses in her reading, hoping they're coming her way. She could use a little something to spice up her afternoon.

And sure enough, just as she marks her book and lifts her head to the threshold, none other than Saijou Claudine herself struts in.

"Tendo Maya!"

She enters with her arms crossed in exasperation, already with her eyes hard as she locates her partner on the couch. She then blinks and blushes, quickly unfolding her arms.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't know you were reading."

Maya very nearly chuckles, but stops herself at just a smile.

"It is quite all right, Saijou-san. Can I help you with something?"

Claudine walks in with soft stomps, clearly befuddled by something, but also guilty about interrupting Maya's quiet reading time. She struts right up to Maya with a huff.

"I have a proposition."

"Oh?" Maya tilts her head with interest, placing her book aside on the couch and giving her partner her full attention. "Do tell."

Claudine seems to consider how she wants to word this for a moment before she comes to a decision.

"Are you free tonight?"

Maya's interest level rises ever higher.

"Why yes, I believe I am."

"Good. Then you won't mind watching a movie with me, right?"

Maya can't stop the smile from spreading further and further across her lips.

"Saijou-san, I would love nothing more than to-"

"Hold on a second." Claudine puts her hand up to stop her. "There's a catch."

"A catch?"

Claudine huffs, but for once Maya doesn't think it's directed at her.

"It has to be a scary movie."

That revelation admittedly has Maya paling just a little bit. But so long as Claudine is at her side, she'd endure any number of scary movies for as long as she could possibly handle.

"I believe that's doable," she says. "But why do you seem so agitated to come and ask me this?"

Claudine crosses her arms again, and for some reason Maya feels like she can imagine her hair bristling a little, not unlike an agitated cat.

"I made a bet."

"Oh?" So Claudine's feisty energy is stemming not solely from annoyance, but also from the prospect of a challenge. "A bet? With Isurugi-san?"

"And Kaoruko, too." Claudine nods. "We were just talking about random things and eventually got to talking about how fall is coming, and that we'll likely be putting on some more Halloween-like plays in a few weeks. One thing led to another and we started talking about scary movies. Then Futaba made a bet that I wouldn't be able to sit through even one of the movies she had in her closet. I couldn't take it lying down."

"Of course not," Maya muses. "I have never known you to back down from a challenge, Saijou-san."

Claudine makes another huffing sound, bit it seems more satisfied than anything.

"Naturally, I took her bet. And then Kaoruko added on that we should make it more 'interesting.' So the terms we agreed to were that I'd have to watch the entirety of the film Futaba chose in complete darkness, with all the curtains closed and all the lights off at nighttime. And I have to give her a detailed summary, including specific lines from the characters to prove I watched the entire thing and didn't just look up a summary online somewhere."

As she speaks, Maya listens to all of the criteria with a serious expression. It certainly has her muscles tensing to think about watching a horror movie in the dead of night with no lights allowed, but she supposes if she were approached with the same challenge, she wouldn't back down either. She and Claudine are equally stubborn to prove themselves in any regard, after all.

"However," Claudine continues. Now, she lowers her gaze to the carpet and shuffles her slippers a bit. "They never said I had to watch it alone… so…" Her pride won't allow her to say anything more.

As Maya puts the pieces together, she straightens up and feels a tingle in her chest.

"I see," she smiles. "So that is why you've come to me. I am honored-"

"Are you in or not, you infuriating woman?"

Maya dips her head. "I would be very glad to accompany you for this movie date, Saijou-san."

"It's not a movie date! It's a bet, and I'm going to prove to those two I can do it."

"Just not alone, yes?"

"Be quiet."

Maya obeys for the moment, running it all over in her mind; she will be watching a scary movie tonight with Claudine in total darkness. Honestly, the thought of it has her chest feeling like it might implode until she remembers 'with Claudine,' and then all she feels is excitement. Only Claudine's presence could ever make Maya feel half as eager to deal with what was definitely one of her least favorite things in the world.

There's a conflicting swirl of eagerness and dread in the pit of her stomach, but the former outweighs the latter due to how absolutely infatuated she is with her partner.

Claudine seems a little more at-ease now that she officially has Maya on board to do this with her. She puts one hand on her hip and extends the other to Maya.

"So then, do we have a deal? Or would you prefer I call it a date?"

Maya accepts her hand with a determined nod.

"Whatever it is, you have my support and participation with it, Saijou-san."

Claudine seems to breathe a little more easily at hearing those words. Maya knows she's hardly any better with the horror genre than Maya herself is. They've sat through scary films before, but it was usually with their other friends and without restrictive criteria about no lights. But either way, Maya is up for the challenge, especially if Claudine will be by her side all the while.

So with their agreement made, Claudine joins her on the couch to inquire about the book Maya had been reading.

They stay together for the remainder of the afternoon, until their friends all begin to trickle in to start helping with supper. As soon as Futaba and Kaoruko enter, Maya doesn't miss their amused smirks as they approach Claudine.

"So, Kuroko," Futaba grins. "You chicken out or what?"

Claudine turns to her with an air of poised confidence.

"In your dreams. I'm going through with our little bet."

Futaba blinks, clearly a little surprised.

"Whoa, you sure?" She loses the air of playfulness now and becomes her usual genuine self. "Y'know, Kuroko, we were just teasin'. You don't really have to do it. I know you're no good with horror and stuff. We were just messin' around."

"As if!" Kaoruko butts in. "Kuro-han agreed to the deal, so now she's going through with it. Isn't that right?"

Claudine gives a surefire nod.

"Oui."

"For real?" Futaba asks. "But seriously, Kuroko. I don't want you gettin' nightmares and stuff. It was just a dumb bet."

Claudine smiles sweetly, putting an arm around her friend's shoulders.

"I appreciate your concern, Futaba. If I really can't handle it, I'll stop. But that won't happen." She gives a toss of her hair over her shoulder. "I'm going to watch the entire thing, as promised."

It's clear that, unlike Kaoruko, Futaba is a bit worried that this little bet might be pushing Claudine a bit too far outside of her comfort zone. She doesn't want Claudine to get frightened out of her wits and end up crying or unable to sleep or anything like that.

Maya can tell Futaba is a worried this might be going too far, so she decides to step in to ease her classmate's mind.

"Worry not," she announces. "For Saijou-san will not be alone. I will be joining her."

"Ehh?" Kaoruko blurts out. But Futaba seems relieved.

"Yeah, that's good! After all, we never said she has to watch it alone."

Kaoruko pouts, but says nothing.

Both Maya and Claudine can tell Futaba is still a bit unsure about all of this. But Claudine reassures her with a side-hug.

"Don't worry, Futaba. We'll be fine. It'll be a good way to keep trying to overcome our fears, I'd say."

"You sure?" Futaba asks. "I mean it though, if it's too much, it doesn't matter if you finish it or not. I don't need you guys losing sleep over a bet."

"You have my word," Claudine says. "We'll stop if it's too much."

There's a brief moment of silence between her, Futaba, and Maya, one that says they all know this is all in good fun and that this bet wasn't made so anyone could get hurt or badly scared.

And then Kaoruko wriggles her way in again.

"All right then," she says. "Since Kuro-han is going to have Tendo-han with her, we should be sure to give them the scariest movie in your collection, Futaba-han."

Futaba looks up at Maya and Claudine.

"That okay with you guys?"

Maya flashes Claudine a glance and gives her a nod. Claudine does the same.

"Bring it on."

"All right," Futaba grins. "You asked for it."

By now, the other five girls have come to realize something is going on between the four of them.

"Oh! Oh!" Karen says, tilting her head curiously. "What's this, Kuro-chan? Futaba-chan?"

"You guys made a bet about something?" Mahiru asks.

"Yup." Futaba sweeps her gaze to everyone else in the room. "Tonight, Kuroko and Tendo are gonna be watchin' a scary movie. But they can't have any lights on."

"Oh, that sounds kinda fun!" Nana says with a clap. "Junna-chan, we should to that too, sometime!"

"Y-You think?" Junna considers the idea for a moment before shaking her head. "In any case, I assume they'll be watching it here, right? So everyone else should try to avoid the lounge tonight so we don't interrupt them."

"Or scare them," Hikari offers. "I think if I was watching a scary movie in the dark and someone came in the room unexpectedly, I would get scared."

"Oh~ Now there's an idea, Kagura-han!"

"Forget it, Kaoruko." Futaba flicks her roommate's forehead. "It was a simple bet. We're not pranking them."

"Aw, you're no fun at all…"

"Would you guys like me to make some snacks?" Nana offers.

"I think we'll be all right," Claudine replies. "Merci."

"Watching scary movies with the lights off… Maybe we should all do that together for Halloween or something!" Karen blurts.

"W-We'll see, Karen-chan," Mahiru chuckles, trying to get her under control.

Now that everyone knows about their little bet, they all agree to stay out of the lounge tonight to let Maya and Claudine experience their movie.

Maya has to admit her excitement is mounting, which surprises her a little. She must want to be with Claudine so badly for a movie date that the kind of movie doesn't matter.

Or so, that's how she feels at dinnertime when all the lights are still on.

But once everyone has finished eating and cleaning their dishes and had their showers for the evening, the sun begins to set and disappear.

By the time Maya and Claudine arrive back at the lounge after their showers, there's almost no sunlight left, and the only brightness comes from the lights in the room.

Maya flashes her partner a glance, finding Claudine running fingers through her drying hair, humming casually, likely in an effort to keep herself calm. Maya, for one, is already beginning to feel a bit jittery.

After a few moments of silence, Claudine finally straightens up.

"All right. I'm going to go fetch the movie from Futaba."

Maya dips her head.

"Very well. Perhaps I will prepare some snacks after all. Having something to eat and drink while watching will help ease our minds."

With this decided, Maya heads into the kitchen area to pull out a large bowl, then paws through the cabinets until she finds a bag of microwaveable popcorn. Claudine leaves to go get their movie.

And even though the lights are still on, Maya can't help but scan the lounge in search of any potential ghosts that may want to conveniently pass through at this exact moment.

But she can't go back on her word now. She and Claudine have a bet to win.

Maya turns back to the microwave as she hears the soft sounds of popping, and tries to ignore how her knees are already beginning to wobble.

----------

As Claudine struts stiffly down the hallway toward Futaba's room, she starts to feel a few surges of guilt come over her.

Of course she'd asked Maya to join her tonight because she wanted to be with her, but it was also sort of because Claudine knew she'd felt better if she was sitting and watching this movie with someone who was even more terrified of horror than she herself was. She feels a bit bad for using Maya as a source of comfort at Maya's expense, so Claudine vows to provide her the same comforts tonight if necessary.

Who was she kidding? When necessary. She already knows they're most likely both going to be scared out of their wits throughout the entirety of the film.

By the time she arrives at Futaba's door, Claudine has to draw in a deep breath and steel herself before knocking. When there's no response for a long moment, she tries again.

"Futaba? Kaoruko?"

She tries the door and it gives. But just as she gives a push, something pops out at her.

"Boo!"

"Kyaa!"

Claudine staggers back as Kaoruko keels over cackling in front of her.

"Oh-! Oh, Kuro-han! You should've seen your face! Ahaha!"

Claudine recovers from the scare in a second and gets to growling.

"Why you… Kaoruko-!"

"Oy, oy, easy!" Futaba appears just in time to yank Kaoruko aside and put a hand up to Claudine to stop the attack. She sighs. "Sorry, Kuroko. I was getting the movie for you and this one was left to her own devices for all of five seconds."

"That was priceless~" Kaoruko giggles.

"Can it, would ya?" Futaba elbows her away, presenting Claudine with the DVD. "Here ya go. It's a classic." She lowers her voice a little. "Kaoruko wanted me to give you the scariest one we had, but I managed to avoid givin' you Japanese horror."

Claudine relaxes a tiny bit, thankful for that much. She looks down at the DVD in her hands. The cover is all black, save for the title, which is written in English letters, splattered with a faint red hue.

"I think I've heard of this one…"

Futaba nods.

"Yeah. It's pretty old but the way it was filmed was super unique and it blew up and got totally famous. I'd recommend watchin' it with subtitles, cuz the Japanese dub just isn't the same. You can really feel their emotions with the English audio. Apparently the producers even did some stuff without tellin' the actors so they'd get reactions of genuine fear from 'em."

Claudine gives a nod, but her face must already be a bit pale, because Futaba lowers her voice a little.

"Oy, like I said, you don't really have to do this. We were just messin' around about a bet."

"No. I want to give it a shot." Claudine straightens up again. "I'm seriously going to try and sit through the whole thing."

"All right. And I'll make sure to keep Kaourko locked in here so she doesn't sneak out and try to mess with you or somethin'."

"Merci."

So with a small wave, Claudine takes her leave, DVD in-hand.

She makes her way back to the lounge, where she can already smell fresh popcorn. The lights are still on, and Maya is seated at the couch in front of the TV, with a bowl of popcorn on the coffee table in front of her.

"Welcome back." Maya smiles at her, but Claudine can tell it's a little forced. She's going to have to be certain to be mindful of her throughout the night.

"Are you ready, Tendo Maya?"

Maya dips her head.

"Indeed. I will be enjoying this movie date with you to the best of my abilities."

Claudine puts the DVD in first before returning to the doorway and turning off the lights.

The room is immediately engulfed in darkness. Even the hallways are dark, as the nearest lights out there are a bit farther away. The only light comes from the TV now as Claudine retreats to the couch and picks up the remote.

Maya pulls the decorative blanket from off the back of the couch and drapes it around her shoulders, then holds one side open invitingly to Claudine. After picking up the bowl of popcorn and settling it into her lap, Claudine slides close to her.

"This will be easy," she says confidently. "It isn't even Japanese horror."

"My, that was quite merciful of Isurugi-san, I suppose." Maya reaches over to pick up a few pieces of popcorn to being chewing on.

By now, the DVD has started. The main screen is that of a dark, dead forest, with a camera lying on the ground and only the words Play and Menu in pale white letters. Rather than music, the only sounds coming from the TV are like howling wind and rustling leaves.

The girls stall for a moment, swallowing popcorn as an excuse to swallow in general. Claudine instinctively pulls her legs up onto the couch, feeling as though if she leaves them over the edge, something might grab her ankles from underneath. Maya swiftly mimics her, and both of them huddle a little closer.

"Well…" Claudine says thinly. "Here we go."

"Very well…"

Claudine clicks Play, and both of them bite back shrieks as the screen suddenly shifts and blacks out to begin the movie.

Normally, Claudine might try to put on a brave face. But with both herself and Maya equally bad with scary things, this is no time for pride.

She presses up as close to Maya as possible, clutching the popcorn bowl for dear life. Maya loops both hands around one of Claudine's arms and clings.

The movie actually starts out in a bright and normal-looking American town on a sunny day. In fact, the screen is so bright in contrast to the darkened room that Maya and Claudine have to squint a little bit.

"Well this doesn't seem so bad," Claudine says, crunching on another piece of popcorn. She can feel Maya, who had been stiff and trembling beside her, loosen her grip a little.

"Yes... I believe you're right. It actually looks quite pleasant."

The two of them relax a little bit against one another, pulling the blanket more comfortably around themselves.

They flick their gazes between the movie and the subtitles as the characters are introduced and the plot is gradually laid out.

"All right," Claudine clarifies. "So these high schoolers are going into the woods to try and film evidence of a witch. What's the worst that could happen? She flies in on her broomstick and turns them into toads?"

Maya chuckles, putting Claudine at-ease as well.

"That would make for more of a comedy than a horror, I would think," Maya says.

"I am enjoying the filming technique," Claudine says. "Futaba told me this movie became quite famous, and that was one of the reasons why. It really immerses you."

"I agree."

They share a glance, smiling a little nervously before pressing close together once more.

As they observe the characters making preparations to enter the forest, the girls take turns eating popcorn. Having something to eat and an excuse to move their hands helps to distract them a little bit from the film's gradually-shifting tone.

But by the time the characters are just entering the woods, the girls find they're out of popcorn.

With nothing left to eat and no more reason to hold onto the empty bowl, Claudine cautiously leans forward over the dark chasm between the couch and the coffee table to put the bowl down. Maya clings to her arm and pulls her back right away.

With the bowl now out of the way, they can at least huddle closer, tightening their grips on the blanket or on each other.

"This is all right so far…" Claudine mumbles. Maya doesn't respond, either because she didn't hear or because she can't remember how to use her voice. Claudine wraps an arm around her back and pulls her closer. "Come now, Tendo Maya. The movie hasn't even gotten scary yet."

"I suppose so…" Maya rasps. "But that in itself is quite scary."

By now the group of teenagers has entered the dead autumn woods, chattering casually and excitedly as they go. The camera's point of view is wobbly and unfocused, making it feel like a legitimate teenager filming instead of a professionally-produced movie.

Little by little, their daylight fades and the TV screen darkens.

Claudine is suddenly aware of a bright green glow coming from the corner of her eye. She jolts, gasping outright and startling Maya at the same time, making her scramble to pull Claudine closer.

"C-Claudine? What-?"

Claudine's heart is in her throat and nearly about to leap out of her mouth. Panicked, she looks to the small green light across the room, only to find it's the time on the microwave. She slumps in relief.

"Oh, thank goodness…"

"Claudine-?" Maya's voice is still tight with terror. Claudine turns back to her with a sigh.

"It was nothing. I just… The clock over there looked like a pair of eyes for a second."

Maya timidly peers around her shoulder to look, then breathes a sigh as well.

"I see… Are you all right?"

"I'm fine. I just spooked myself. What about you?"

"I am all right as well."

The two of them share a calming look of relief; neither is cruel enough to tease the other for her fear of horror when they're both equally terrified.

But before they can fully recover from the scare, one of the girls in the movie screams, which causes the two of them to do the same. They cling to one another, and if the popcorn bowl hadn't already been put elsewhere, it definitely would've ended up on the floor just now with how much they're thrashing.

"Quelle? What's happening-?!"

"I-I'm not sure-"

They both hide their faces in each other's shoulders, willing the other person to look up first. In the end, Claudine remembers this was her bet with Futaba and Kaoruko, so she dares to open her eyes.

It turns out one of the characters was just messing with the others and trying to scare them as they set up their camp sight for the night. She gives Maya a few pats on the back.

"It's fine. Nothing happened."

As they ease apart a little bit, Maya lifts her head slowly.

"A prank… that girl reminds me of Hanayagi-san."

"You're right."

They settle back down for the moment, though keep their hands locked together tightly.

The campers are left in darkness for the night and the camera is shut off. When it next turns on, the girl filming is in a panic, having found dolls made of sticks dangling from trees all around the camp site.

Claudine feels a bit nauseous at the foreboding warning sign and she has to remind herself this is all a movie.

"Wow. Their acting is rather convincing. Then again, Futaba did say the staff did some things without telling them…"

She can only assume Maya is too petrified to find her voice, because the only response is a whimper.

Claudine pulls her eyes away from the screen for the moment to look over her partner. Maya is shivering a little bit, and with how tightly she's clutching Claudine's arm to her chest, she can feel her heart pounding. Claudine reaches out her free hand to touch her cheek gently.

"Hey, Tendo Maya? If this is too much for you, we can stop. Or I'll at least turn the lights on."

But Maya gives her head a shake, looking up at her in the darkness.

"That won't do. Your bet with Isurugi-san and Hanayagi-san was-"

"The bet doesn't matter more than our mental health. And since I'm the one who invited you to watch this with me, you're my responsibility." She says it matter-of-factly, dead serious.

Maya's grip on her arm lightens just a little bit. When she speaks, Claudine hears a small smile in her voice.

"Thank you, Claudine. But I am all right for the moment."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"Don't just say that because you want to have a movie night with me."

"I assure you that is only half of my reasoning."

"And the other half being?"

"The same as you; pride, I'd imagine."

Claudine grimaces, but sighs in admission.

"You're not wrong…"

So with their support for one another now made clear, they hug close and continue watching.

The students leave the area with the stick dolls and continue hiking, only to realize their map is now missing. As the camera swings around between the group members, everyone is arguing and accusing one another with mounting hostility. The confusion, frustration, and fear is almost palpable, as is that forced air of confidence and calm.

Claudine gets immersed once again, feeling as though she is part of that group, lost and trying to remain level-headed in cold, unfamiliar woods.

In the next scene when the camera turns on, someone is yelling. Claudine and Maya whimper, hearts hammering as they tangle themselves together beneath the blanket.

It's the dead of night in the movie, and people are shouting. There's a violent rustling sound, and it's clear someone is being dragged out of his tent by force. The panic and chaos emit from every swinging, frantic shot of the camera, every disbelieving curse and breath uttered by the other teens.

Claudine utters a few curses of her own in French as her entire body is gripped by a seizing fright. And then, another short scream, only this one is much closer.

"Ah-!"

"Kyaa! What- what-? T-Tendo Maya-?!"

The next thing she knows, Maya is all but throwing herself into Claudine's arms, curling up into a tight ball as the screams continue on the TV.

"I saw something-" she wheezes. "Someone is here-"

"Where?" Claudine demands, pulling her close. She casts her eyes wildly around the room, but can't make out anything more than the faint outline of furniture from the lack of light. Maya stifles herself in Claudine's collar.

"Outside- in the hallway-"

Claudine is so caught up in the panic from the film and the panic wafting off of Maya in terrified heartbeats that she forgets where they are for a second, but then logic sets back in.

Logic. Something that doesn't typically happen during horror films.

"Hey." Claudine gives Maya a tight squeeze around her shoulders. "We're in the dorms, remember? Of course there are people walking around in the hallways. It was probably Karen going to brush her teeth." The thought puts her at ease a bit as well, though her heart is still racing.

Maya burrows into her neck until the scene of the movie changes to daytime again as the remaining group members search for their friends. Slowly, Maya eases back.

"You're… You're absolutely right…"

"See? It's not like some random person just found their way in through security. We're fine." Saying it out loud makes Claudine feel better as well.

Both girls breathe a shuddering sigh of relief, but their hold on each other doesn't loosen much anymore. They stay locked in a tight embrace, both in an effort to calm themselves and protect each other. Their pulses jump rampantly between them, but once Claudine's begins to slow, so does Maya's.

But it isn't for long.

The next scene is the remaining students discovering a bloody patch of their missing friend's shirt wrapped around several teeth, and surrounded by more dolls.

Claudine closes her eyes for a second, hiding her face into Maya's hair. Likewise, she can feel Maya tensing up, her arms shaking from how tightly they're holding to her back.

Somehow the two of them manage to keep watching, shrieking and screaming together whenever something jump-scares them, and otherwise clinging to each other during the more psychologically-thrilling scenes.

And oddly enough, it's actually a little fun at times, just to be scared together.

But after another hour or so of the movie, once things have become more and more terrifying by the minute, Claudine can feel that poor Maya is nearing her limit. She hasn't even screamed at the past few jump-scares, but has resorted to quiet, strangled whimpers instead.

Claudine knows Maya is holding out for her sake, and she has to admit she's impressed they've both made it this far for the sake of the bet.

But the next scene when the remaining teenagers enter a dilapidated old shack with bloody handprints on the wall is just too much. Claudine feels Maya's withering breath against her neck and hears a soft, helpless whimper.

"Claudine…"

Claudine's heart flutters, and for once tonight it's from affection for Maya, and not out of fear. Claudine won't let this go on any longer - not now when Maya's finally reached her limit. She fumbles for the remote within the blankets at her feet, pulling Maya close to her chest, letting her hide.

"All right," she murmurs gently. "We're done."

Claudine stops the movie and immediately switches to the animal channel, where a litter of fluffy white kittens is bumbling around a colorful playpen, and several gleeful children are watching and laughing.

Claudine hugs Maya close to her chest, sinking back against the couch cushions with her while running both hands up and down her back. She can physically feel the tension drain from Maya's body as she goes limp with relief.

"Claudine-"

"It's all right. We watched more than enough." She gives Maya a squeeze and slowly moves her legs off the couch. When Maya senses she's going to leave her she whimpers, and it sends a pang like an arrow through Claudine's heart.

"Don't worry. I'm just going to get the lights. I'll be right back, I promise."

She pulls herself away from Maya's outstretched arms and hurries across the room to flick on the switch, and the room floods with light. Her legs are a bit stiff as she rushes back to the couch and collapses again, pulling Maya in to her.

Claudine pets through her hair for a few moments, waiting until the pulse between them begins to slow.

"Are you all right?"

Maya nods against her shoulder.

"Yes. I apologize. I was just feeling a bit overwhelmed-"

"You don't have to apologize. If anything, I shouldn't have let it go on so long when I knew you were scared."

"But I wasn't," Maya protests. "Not until the very end there. Before that I was… actually rather enjoying the movie with you, Claudine."

While Claudine is glad to hear that, she's still a bit upset to think Maya had been holding out for her sake. But Maya must sense her guilt, because she eases back now, looking into Claudine's eyes with a tender smile.

"Claudine? I do hope you aren't blaming yourself for something silly."

"It isn't silly," she huffs. "If you were really scared-"

"I informed you," Maya says gently. "And as soon as I did, you stopped the film for me. And I feel better already."

Claudine lifts her gaze back up to hers hopefully.

"Are you sure?"

It's Maya's turn to pull her into a hug now.

"I am positive."

Claudine exhales a little shakily; she'd really been worried she'd pushed Maya too far.

Maya comforts her for a moment, leaving small kisses in her hair.

"I am all right, Ma Claudine. I truly did have fun watching it with you. To have both of us reacting like we did was quite amusing. And I feel I could learn a bit about different techniques of how to stir up feelings of fright in the audience."

Now that Maya's put her at ease, Claudine slowly moves back, though she keeps her arms around her.

"You're sure you're all right?"

Maya kisses her lips.

"Ma Claudine, how could I be anything but all right in knowing you would so readily do whatever it took in order to preserve my comfort? Even go so far as losing your bet? If you'd not been with me, I'm certain you would've been able to finish the film, and for that, I must apologize."

"Are you kidding?" Claudine scoffs. "If you hadn't been with me I never would've made it through the first half hour. It was… reassuring to know I had someone just as scared as I was." Here, she lowers her gaze again. "And… it was nice that it was someone I could hold onto…"

Normally, she'd probably never say something so forward, but considering Maya had shown weakness tonight, Claudine is willing to be honest.

Maya smiles again, delighted to know Claudine hadn't just chosen her because she was a classmate, but of course something more.

They come together for another kiss, then keep the embrace for a little while as they flash glances at the TV and the kittens chasing after a feather toy. The sounds of mewling and happy music, combined with the lights now fully on does wonders to clear the images of spooky black trees from their minds.

After a short while and a good amount of kisses, they come to the mutual agreement to head to bed.

Claudine removes the DVD from the player and puts it back into the case to return tomorrow, already mentally preparing herself for Kaoruko's goading that she hadn't managed to finish it. But Claudine is just proud both Maya and herself had made it as far as they did, and enjoyed themselves for the most part while watching.

For now though, she takes Maya's hands and leads her down the hallway back to her bedroom.

Once inside, she flicks the lights on and keeps them that way, deciding they'd both sleep more soundly like this tonight.

Claudine leaves her at the bed, then goes to her music player to turn on some classical tunes before joining her.

They lie down beneath the blankets, and Maya wastes no time in pulling Claudine close to kiss her again. Claudine kisses her back until they both begin to yawn.

"So…?" she murmurs. "No nightmares tonight, I hope?"

Maya hums happily against her neck.

"I've already forgotten about the film," she confesses. "All that fills my thoughts is you, Ma Claudine."

"Mechante va."

Claudine gives her a tight hug and closes her eyes, feeling Maya's hands curling around her waist. She leaves a kiss on Maya's head and feels one on her collar in return.

Their night is warm and bright and filled with thoughts of kittens.

--------

A/N: The only movie I could think to have them watch was Blair Witch because it's one of the only scary movies I've seen because I, too, am a wuss when it comes to horror films haha. Just wanted to do something sweet and hurt/comforty~ They scream together and cling to each other and enjoy being scared out of their wits, but they'd never let it go too far.

Happy Halloween!