The protest that day ended without any major incidents. I felt a little uneasy, as if I had been toyed with entirely by the Student Council President, but hey, what can you do? If you think about it, it wasn’t all bad for Nana and Hina, so I decided to just let it slide.
…
Actually, even if we didn’t let it slide and protested to the Student Council President, it probably wouldn’t change much anyway.
The bingsu we had promised to eat was unfortunately postponed. Since we were affiliated with the rival academy, we would have to go all the way back to D.U. from the protest site just to have it. Hina suggested that it would be better to just pick a day to meet up and hang out instead.
But the topic that followed, of all things, was about horror movies, which was highly bothersome. I really can’t understand why we would want to watch those terrifying films.
Hey Hina, do you really have some grudge against me or what? For someone like me, who hates jump scares (or sudden surprises in layman’s terms), I can’t watch horror movies, let alone play games that involve them.
The only horror-related thing I can somewhat tolerate is urban legends, but horror movies are just too much of a hurdle, Hina…
[July 18, 20XX, 9:38 PM][…Just this one time, right?]
But why did I agree to that again? Even thinking about it, there’s no one crazier than me.
While watching the movie, I would probably flinch, shut my eyes during jump scares, or make weird noises that would be obvious to Hina. And yet, I don’t even know why I agreed to this; it’s almost comedic.
If I remember correctly, I said I wasn’t into horror themes at the escape room cafe, so what on earth made me change my mind?
Is there possibly an unknown conspiracy to trick me? That’s a reasonable suspicion. Maybe Aco, the bloom of Hina’s love, secretly resented me…
Nah, that can’t be. There’s no way Aco has the talent to find out that I can’t handle horror and concoct this kind of plan. Sorry, Aco, for making you the scapegoat of my conspiracy theory…
“Mika, what flavor of popcorn do you like?”
“Huh? If I had to pick one, I’d say caramel, but I don’t mind butter either.”
“Hmm, if you say so, let’s go with caramel for the flavor.”
“Well, I’m fine with whatever flavor Hina wants.”
“Knowing your personality, you’d probably just want to give in all the time. If you’re going to keep doing that from now on, it’s better to choose what you prefer at times like this. Plus, you don’t know what you want yet anyway.”
“Haha, I don’t think I’m that considerate of others… but sure, I won’t refuse☆”
It seems Hina thinks I’m just some pushover who gives in to everything. Little does she know, I try to think of what’s in it for me in every situation, no matter where or what happens. It’s a bit absurd for her to mistake me for a pushover.
“Let’s see… F seat in row 3…?”
“…Is there a problem with the seats?”
“No, uh… Nothing at all.”
It’s a great seat. In fact, it’s almost too good.
As we moved towards the screening room, I checked the title of the movie Hina had booked. If I end up watching a movie that’s ridiculously scary without knowing the title or the plot, I might just die.
[Academy Horror Story]
…What is this? The title sounds quite familiar. Please tell me the content isn’t similar.
With those thoughts, I entered the screening room.
P row. O row. N row.
I made my way toward the seats in F row, which were practically in the center of the theater. If it were an action movie, this would be a perfect spot to be excited about, but as the genre changed, I couldn’t help but feel dread.
“…Mika, should we just forget about this now?”
“No way, one time should be manageable. So hurry and sit down, Hina!”
Did Hina see my distressed face? She couldn’t hide her worry as she gently asked me. But even so, leaving now after coming all this way would be too embarrassing… Ugh, I should have just said let’s leave.
Since we entered just in time for the start, the lights in the theater went off immediately. As the surroundings went dark, I flinched and glanced at Hina, who was staring at the screen with her usual serious expression and arms crossed.
Damn, I wish I could sit as confidently as our Leader and watch a horror movie without flinching once.
Honestly, one Mika punch would send any ghost back to peace. The unfortunate part is that it’s beyond the screen, so my Mika punch can’t reach them. It’s the cowards behind the screen that can escape my punches.
I raised the armrest between us and set my popcorn on it. Hina flinched and looked my way for a second before quickly turning away.
How can I surprise someone like Hina, who probably wouldn’t change her expression even if a ghost were right in front of her? Maybe I’m scarier than any ghost?
Dully, I watched the advertisements while sipping my cider. It’s way better to sip on something small than to share a big drink when you lift the armrest up. I had convinced Hina to switch to a small drink when she wanted to buy a big one, but I’m not quite sure why she felt disappointed at that.
“Um… How long do you think the ads will last?”
“They should be ending soon… Ah, right! I need to put my phone on silent.”
By the way, isn’t there something oddly satisfying about watching ads? I think I might even find the ads more entertaining than the movie that follows.
Especially the ad for the Kaiser Corporation’s firearms seemed to catch Hina’s interest as well. I guess that’s just an unavoidable shared interest among military-trained high school girls, huh?
Anyway, my stocks are skyrocketing…! Go Kaiser Corporation!
“Ah, it’s starting.”
The movie began with four high school girls clearing out all the objects in a club room. It seemed like they were all members of the Occult Research Club. It was the kind of club that might have existed in schools back in the day.
But from what I gathered, it sounded like these four were the entire student body. It was clear they borrowed the setting from Abydos, and if so, shouldn’t they have incorporated something from Abydos into this? And if the entire school is just four students, isn’t the setting a bit weird?
[Huff, finally cleared everything. Now! Let’s each go stand in a corner. I’ll close the door and windows.]
One girl, presumably the club president and a fox-eared girl, busily went around closing the windows and drawing the curtains. After the last girl closed the door, she gulped and turned off the lights in the room.
[You need to whisper your name three times while facing the wall. Then when I count to three, move left to the next corner.]
[Got it, President!]
[Fufu… This should be fun.]
[Hmph, as if a ghost would actually show up!]
Ah, I’ve heard of this kind of urban legend before. Wasn’t it called a corner game urban legend? I remember something about a ghost potentially crashing the game mid-way.
[Hayami Chitose. Hayami Chitose. Hayami Chitose.]
As soon as the lights were off, the club room became so dark that nothing was visible. It felt like even the halo light was swallowed by the darkness, and the girl exhaled softly as she started counting.
[One, two, three.]
In the deep darkness, the girls continued to move from corner to corner of the club room. Even though the same situation kept repeating without anything happening, the background music began to build…
[One, two, three.]
Suddenly, the perspective switched. One girl with black cat ears moved away from the corner to sit in the center of the club room, looking bored.
[Hmph, nothing’s happening anyway. There should be limits to how ridiculous this is.]
The girl’s monologue flowed out, only to be covered up by another girl’s counting voice.
[…Huh? What’s this gust of wind…?]
As the center girl started to shiver from the sudden breeze, the scene switched to another girl’s perspective. Just then, reaching for a few popcorn pieces to eat, I touched something with my hand and jumped back in surprise, only to find, of course, that it was Hina’s hand.
In a typical romance scene between two people, you would expect to see them blush at sudden skin contact. But here we were, two girls watching a horror movie, simply awkwardly smiling at each other while grabbing popcorn.
And then, the background music abruptly stopped. In the corner that should have been empty, someone was standing.
[If someone is supposed to be in an empty corner, never acknowledge them or call them out. Freeze in place, close your eyes, and wait. When everybody gathers behind that person, whisper your name again against the wall, and then move to turn the light on.]
Remembering the warning from the ‘president,’ the girl held her breath and stood still like a statue.
[One, two, three.]
Fortunately, the president and the other two girls also remembered this warning, and when they gathered, they all whispered their names against the wall three more times.
Then they slowly turned back to where they had come from to turn on the switch.
At this point, the background music began to play again. The kids… no, the cat-eared girl didn’t know that she had moved to the center.
Click!
The switch turned on.
Feeling relieved that the game ended without any incidents, the president suddenly realized one thing. There were supposed to be four girls in that club room, but there were only three left.
The girl who had moved to the center was nowhere to be found.
[Kya-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!]
As that chilling laughter echoed, the closed windows and door of the club room flew open wide.
[…What went wrong?]
Only then did the three girls notice the horror laid out in the center of the room. The floor, as well as the items they had cleared away earlier, was stained with blood. All of it was fresh, flowing blood.
[Th-this is… bad. We need to find Yuu-chan quickly!]
What should have been a simple game turned into unleashing a ghost in the academy.
“…Huh.”
How should I put it, without the expected jump scares, it was easier to watch than I thought. If the rest of the movie continues like this, maybe I can make it through safely.
Of course, given the nature of horror movies, that possibility is approaching zero.
Regardless, feeling relieved that I got through the early parts, I slowly turned my head and blinked my eyes. Still not believing what I saw, I closed my eyes again and opened them.
“…Hina-chan?”
“…Hik.”
It seems our Leader is even weaker against horror films than I am. I honestly wonder why she suggested watching this.
*
“President, you like Mika, don’t you?”
“…Huh?”
“My sharp, observant eyes never miss obvious facts like this! Normally I’d be full of ideas on how to scold the thieving little cat who flirts with you… but for Mika, maybe it would be okay? So, I shall help make your love with her come true!”
“…”
As Akko hit the nail on the head, Hina’s face reddened as she lowered her head. The impudent angel who had bewitched her president was unfortunately too strong for her to handle and was far too kind a person to want to be reprimanded. Surely such an angel could make her president happy, right?
Thus, Akko decided to help the two get together after giving it a lot of thought.
“President, what you need is an event that can advance your relationship. Something to build mutual liking… It’s not exactly a date, but essentially, it is! And the perfect choice I recommend is watching a horror movie. It’s a classic date course that’s bound to inspire feelings.”
“Wait a sec. Horror movies are…”
“Eh? Is there an issue, President?”
“Oh, no… I thought I heard Mika say she dislikes horror movies.”
“That’s actually good for you, President! If you embrace a frightened Mika, her affection for you will surely skyrocket! This aligns perfectly with our goal, so where could you find a better plan than this?”
Akko remained oblivious to Hina, who was frozen with a blank expression. How could Akko know that the Student Council President actually didn’t want to watch a horror movie but hid that from her subordinate by using Mika as an excuse?
“Muahahaha… Once you set the date, I’ll meticulously review and reserve the movie for you! All you have to do is reap the ripe fruits!”
Hina was now in a dreadful predicament.
And that was the crux of the entire matter.
