Chapter 80 – The Day of the Date (Noon 1)

We had quite a lot of fun messing around along the way, but we hadn't accomplished our original goal yet.

Watching a movie.

As planned, we got off the train at the nearest station and went to a large building near the station. The cinema was inside that building.

I thought we left earlier than scheduled, but we actually missed the train we planned to take. By the time we got to the cinema, the movie was about to start. I guess we lost track of time while we were goofing off.

"Uh, we're going to watch a romance movie?"

"Yeah. It's been blowing up on social media recently, it seems interesting. They said that a high school girl like me shouldn't miss it."

The movie we were going to watch was a movie adaptation of a popular TV drama. When I looked it up and saw the reviews, they were filled with things like; 'I'm so moved!', or 'I can die happily now…'. There were even some comments that praised the main actors.

I didn't particularly like romance, but this was our first date, so I felt like I should do something special with her. If we were to watch a B-movie like we normally did, it wouldn't feel special, would it?

The cinema was crowded with students trying to watch the same movie as us. Most of them were a group of girls, but I could occasionally see some couples like us here and there.

I quickly glanced around to look if there were any of our classmates here, but I found none of them. Thank God.

We showed the clerk our student IDs and bought the tickets with the student discount before going to the snack counter.

"Maki, what do you want to drink?"

"Melon soda or ginger ale, whichever."

"Alright. What about the popcorn?"

"I'll take the caramel."

"Same."

Normally, I would have a coke and salted or buttered popcorn, but in a place like this, I think it'd be better to go with something different. Also, since we were having lunch after this, I ordered the small sized popcorn, but it was still expensive.

The trailers were already playing by the time we entered the theater. We took our seats located in the corner.

Since the movie had pretty much started already, we tried to refrain from playing with our phones and talking.

For the next two hours, our attention would be focused on the movie.

Or at least, that was the plan.

*  *  *

This is so boring…

Around thirty minutes in, I was struggling trying to keep myself awake.

The popcorn and melon soda I bought had disappeared in the first ten minutes and when I tried my best to focus on the movie, the drowsiness got to me because the movie was so boring.

This was an adaptation of a TV drama, so I roughly knew the plot of it. It was a romance with a school setting, which was a common plot. But, this movie's script felt really off and the story was really hard to follow. For example, there was a scene where the main heroine fell ill and they said she only had a few months to live, but they dropped it so suddenly and provided no further explanation. Then after she died, there were times when she mysteriously appeared for some reason, it was so weird. Currently, the scene being played was a confrontation between the main heroine and the main character's current girlfriend.

Well, to be fair, there were quite a few interesting things to take note of. Also, if I were to turn my brain off and not think too much, I might be able to enjoy it, but seeing everyone else in the room watching the movie seriously, I couldn't bring myself to do it.

The ending will probably have the main heroine say some corny things and disappear because of plot.

That was what I thought while watching the main character crying on the screen while having an emotional music being played in the background.

Around an hour and a half left.

I couldn't enjoy this movie, now how should I spend the rest of my time?

Since I'm on a date, I don't think it's appropriate for me to fall asleep now. Also, I paid for this, so it would be a waste if I were to sleep through it.

I took a glance at Umi.

I didn't know what she thought of the movie, but from this position, I could tell that her eyes were glued to the screen. She didn't seem to notice me staring at her though.

Since Umi had the same taste as me, I thought that she would find the movie boring too, but I guess a girl like her would enjoy something like this, huh?

Anyway, I tried to motivate myself since Umi was watching the movie properly, but at that moment the scene that showed on the screen switched to a bed scene.

Do they really need to add something like this?

The two actors who had been acting rather reservedly up to this point suddenly gained their vigor in this particular scene. Their exchanges were surprisingly violent, but since this was a PG-12 movie, they tried to tone the scene down a little.

Do people really enjoy this kind of scene? I thought as my drowsiness started to invade my consciousness again.

"…Mm…"

I felt something on my shoulder. 

"…Umi?"

"…Makii…"

Umi hugged my arm while replying to me with a sweet voice.

The scent of her shampoo and the soft touch of her arms pressed against mine were enough to make my heart skip a beat.

"Uhh… Umi?"

Did the scene trigger something in her? This was the first time that she rubbed her cheek against my arm. Rather than aroused, I was actually confused.

I held her hand, but I didn't know what would be the right thing to do in such a situation. This place was dark but, it was still a public place, excessive flirting should be a no-no. But, not responding to her was a bad move too.

Ugh, as expected, I have to control myself now. It would be different if this was my home, but this was a public place. I felt sorry for her, but we really shouldn't be doing this kind of thing in a place like this.

"Oi, Umi, at least wait until we get back home…"

I leaned toward her to warn her.

"…Fuuh…"

"…"

She was actually sleeping.

This girl was using my arm as a hugging pillow and slept peacefully.

I guess she was struggling to keep herself awake too and she reached her limit faster than me, huh?

…Come to think of it, she woke up way earlier than me…

Now that I realized that she was actually sleeping, I felt ashamed for thinking of strange things like that.

"…Maki… Ehehe…"

"…This girl, what the hell is she dreaming about?"

I gently wrapped her scarf around her mouth so people wouldn't hear her sleep talking and resigned myself to being her hugging pillow until the movie was over.