I’m currently watching a movie at the cinema.

Originally, as an indoor person, I think that if a movie is released for rental, I can just watch it online, but there are times when there’s a movie that makes me want to go all the way to the cinema to see it.

Series and sequels are usually like that for me.

This time, I came because I wanted to watch the latest movie in a certain supernatural battle anime series.

It was a revival made to attract new viewers—using the original concepts but rebuilding the setting into something completely new. While some of the veteran fans threw around their usual “this isn’t the same” complaints, it still received high praise from many viewers and successfully pulled in a huge wave of newcomers.

Even with that prior information, I avoided spoilers as much as possible and looked forward to watching it, but honestly, deep down, I didn’t think it would be that interesting.

Even if it reused the original concepts, the worldbuilding was so different from the source material that, as someone who’d been a fan from the beginning, I wasn’t sure I’d be able to accept it so easily.

But… it ended up being genuinely entertaining.

And apparently, I wasn’t the only one who felt that way.

“Whoa, that was so good! This anime is seriously amazing, right?”

“Huh? You thought it was good too, Sakurada-san?”

“Uh, hello? What part wasn’t good? Yuki and Mei helping each other and slowly developing their romance was totally heart-fluttering, and you can’t predict what the characters will do at all, so it keeps you hooked! It was super good!”

“Oh wow, really?”

“Seriously—you have good taste! To know such a great anime! Do you have others like this? Tell me!”

I-is this what they call a gyaru who’s nice to otaku…?

A gyaru casually destroying my preconceived notion that gyaru always look down on otaku without even realizing it—this is some serious firepower… what the hell!?

After finishing the movie, we moved to the large open area with the ticket machines and food court.

There, Sakurada-san, still excited, was talking about her impressions of the movie with sparkling eyes.

It must have been really interesting for her.

Seeing her react so positively makes me feel good about recommending the work to her.

“This anime is actually a spin-off. There’s an original series, you know? It’s pretty good too…”

“Seriously!? I want to see it! Can I go to your house right now? I want to watch it!”

“Whoa… seriously? Gyaru really have insane impulse power…”

Just as I was slightly overwhelmed by Sakurada-san’s forwardness, I was called out from behind.

“Ara? Isn’t that Sakurada-san and Majima-kun?”

“Eh……fu, Fuyunagi…-san!?”

“Shi…Shizuku…?”

“What are the two of you doing here?”

When I turned around, there was Fuyunagi Shizuku and Sado.

“Eh……um…”

“…Th–this has nothing to do with you, Shizuku, right?”

“It does have something to do with me. My friend is hanging out with a boy she normally has nothing to do with. It would be strange not to worry.”

“Relax, okay? We just happened to end up together. And he’s not the kind of guy you think he is.”

“……………Is that so…”

What’s with that pause…?

And seriously, why show up right at this moment…?

Also… she’s kind of scary… Is she mad?

“Uh… wow, what a coincidence, Majima! Running into you in a place like this—what an amazing coincidence!”

“Eh…? Ah, yeah. So you came to watch a movie too, Sado?”

“Yeah! There’s this soccer-themed movie playing! The latest hit by the popular director, Geets!”

“Oh…I don’t know about that…”

“Ah…so you don’t know? Well, it can’t be helped then!”

“I-I know it! Sado-kun!”

“Oh? You do, Sakurada?”

“U…un! I’ve seen all the other series too!”

“Seriously!? Which work is your favorite?”

“Um…the second one…”

Sakurada and Sado start talking about the soccer movie.

Knowing how Sakurada feels about Sado.

She probably prepared herself with knowledge of the movie beforehand.

The conversation seems to be progressing relatively smoothly.

Sakurada is smiling brightly, as if in bloom.

That’s a very good thing.

“Majima-kun. I need a word with you.”

“Huh…?”

No, seriously—her face is scary.

She has an expressionless face with a forced smile plastered on it like a mask.

And when a beautiful girl gets angry, the higher “resolution” of her features only makes it that much more terrifying.

In other words, she’s terrifying.

“Eh……um, Fuyunagi-san?”

“Why are you here with Sakurada-san? Is this what they call cheating?”

“Huh!?!”

“To be with another woman while I’m here…what else would it be called but cheating?”

“I…no, no! Sakurada-san just said it was a coincidence! We ended up watching the movie together by chance!”

“A first-rate girl like Sakurada and a lower-caste guy like you?”

“Is it okay for you to even call your boyfriend ‘lower-caste’?”

“As your girlfriend, there are things I’m allowed to do.”

“Do you know? There’s a saying: ‘Even close friends should be polite.’”

“So? Why are you here, Majima-kun?”

“…Ignoring me, huh…”

“And?”

Her eyes aren’t smiling at all.

Scary….

“…It was supposed to be our home-date day, but Majima-kun got ditched, right? So the poor ditched Majima-kun came to the mall to watch a movie to kill time, and then Sakurada-san happened to be there, so we ended up watching together!”

“I didn’t ditch you!! I couldn’t help it! I have to go out with Sado-kun too or it won’t prove our relationship, right!? And besides—meeting Sakurada-san by coincidence and watching a movie together? No way! That doesn’t happen!”

“I can’t help it! It did happen!”

“Uuuuuugh—no, no, no, no, nooo!! That’s impossible, impossible, impossible!!”

Fuyunagi-san starts stomping her feet and screaming on the spot.

Sakurada-san and Sado also came back over here, noticing her abnormality.

“Wha-what’s wrong? Fuyunagi-san?”

Sado calls out to Fuyunagi-san with concern.

However, she either doesn’t notice or can’t hear him, as Fuyunagi-san silently lowers her head and mutters something to herself.

But that was only for a moment, then Fuyunagi-san abruptly raised her face and stared intently at Sado.

“…Uh… Fuyunagi-san?”

“I’ve decided… Sado-kun.”

“…Huh?”

“Please… break up with me.”

“………… Wh…at?”

“Huh…?”

“…Eh?”

Everyone’s thought process stopped.

All three of us standing there… none of us could understand the words that Fuyunagi Shizuku had just spoken.