In that simple exchange of questions and answers, Amakawa Kanade's palms quietly clenched, her heartbeat quickened, and her emotions became slightly excited.
Because what she had just said were all movie titles, while Hikari was able to immediately respond with the lines from those movies.
For Hikari, this was nothing. The reason he remembered them wasn't because he cared much about movies, but because after repeatedly adding points, he had nearly reached the level of never forgetting anything he saw.
But in Kanade's eyes, Hikari must have been, like her, someone who really loved movies.
Kanade was a girl who loved watching and studying films. Otherwise, she wouldn't have joined the Movie Screening Club, which originally only had Nishida Hajime as its sole president.
Not many of the people she knew liked watching movies. Among her friends, the topics were mostly about cosmetics and fashion, and she could never talk with them about movies, which was what she was truly interested in.
That was why Kanade thought of joining the Movie Screening Club, so she could meet more people who shared her hobby.
She had originally thought the president, Nishida Hajime, was already amazing, having seen so many films.
But what she hadn't expected was that Hikari seemed to know even more. No matter which movie she mentioned, he could talk about its content.
Even though this member still had that casual, unconcerned expression, this only made Kanade admire him more.
Discovering that no matter what she brought up, Hikari could follow along, Kanade couldn't help opening her chatterbox. Her pink lips, with a touch of light lipstick, moved nonstop as she excitedly and joyfully talked about movies with him.
The more they talked, the more Kanade realized how much Hikari knew. That indescribable sense of satisfaction filled her heart, her pulse quickened even more, and her steps grew lighter.
Suddenly, Hikari heard Kanade beside him say,."Speaking of Roman Holiday, Hikari-kun, I just realized, I've never held a boy's hand in my whole life…"
"In the movie we just watched, when they held hands, both the boy and girl blushed and their hearts pounded. I wonder if that's real or not."
Seeing her glance sideways, her eyes flickering slightly, Hikari waved his hand and said calmly, "Just an exaggerated artistic expression. How could strangers fall in love that easily?"
Hearing his words, Kanade smiled and stretched out her hand, "Mm, I think so too. Something like that is impossible. For example, if I now… now hold Hikari-kun's hand, then… uh… then… then it's totally not like in the movie at all… like that…"
"Uh… anyway, it's not the same as in the movie. Even if we hold hands, it won't… uh… mm…"
And as she was talking, Kanade suddenly stretched out her fair right hand and grabbed Hikari's left hand.
From her words, one could tell she seemed to suddenly want to test it out, whether that movie scene where holding hands made people blush and hearts race was actually scientific.
To prove that kind of movie scenario, where holding hands made people blush and flutter, was absolutely nonexistent.
But when she touched Hikari's hand, Kanade didn't notice that her face instantly turned bright red.
She didn't notice that her heart had begun pounding wildly, as if a drummer from Whiplash had snuck into her chest and was pounding her heart with full force. [T/N: Were you rushing or dragging?]
Kanade only felt her body heating up, unable to catch her breath.
The palm in her hand wasn't just a boy's hand. It felt like some super-allergen that triggered her whole body.
And hearing her words, feeling his palm suddenly grabbed by that soft, smooth hand, Hikari turned his head slightly, surprised, and looked at Kanade.
The pure, fair face of the girl was now completely red, her breathing quick, her eyes darting evasively, afraid of being caught.
Maybe Kanade herself, who had never been in love, didn't fully understand what was happening, but the experienced Hikari could already guess her thoughts.
The hero-saving-beauty bridge effect, the exciting conversation, that uncanny sense of compatibility; these were all elements that easily moved a teenage girl's heart.
Plus, Kanade's personality was the type who, when threatened with photos of being force-kissed by a blond punk, would give in… So this reaction wasn't strange.
Though they had only really interacted for less than half a day today.
'But worthy of being an 2D World heroine, she must have already fallen for me. Honestly, she is far too easy to capture…'
Hikari knew that right now, if he simply confessed, threw in some "you're my true love" type of sweet words, there was about a seventy to eighty percent chance he could win her over. If he pushed harder, there was even a decent chance he could easily drag her to a hotel for "growth."
No wonder a blond punk like Matsuoka Reiji targeted Kanade, thinking she was so easy to get.
Her personality really was that easy to win over.
But Hikari wasn't that kind of punk. He had no intention of taking advantage of the situation with sweet talk to deceive Kanade.
After all, while she was indeed very good-looking with a great figure, truly a top-tier beauty, the type who often got love letters at school, Hikari had seen far too many beauties. To be honest, Kanade wasn't particularly outstanding among them.
So, immune as he was, Hikari didn't directly shake off her soft, delicate hand, but neither did he plan to confess and take her down.
If he let go right away, it would seem too cold, making the atmosphere awkward.
And honestly, Kanade's soft hand did feel pretty nice. Letting her hold it didn't cost him anything.
But for a girl at Kanade's level, Hikari had no thought of confessing.
To put it bluntly, her pure face and curvy body might stir a bit of interest in any man, but her overall charm was still far from the level needed to make him actively pursue her.
More than capturing Kanade, his original purpose in approaching her was to use her as bait for hunting down cuckolds around her.
Rather than tricking her into a hotel, it felt more fun to transform this girl, who could be threatened into submission with just a photo of a kiss, into a normal, rational human being.
Hikari studied her pure, sweet, somewhat silly face, thinking through his plans.
But Kanade, unaware of his brainstorming, still had her heart racing.
The moment the topic of holding hands came up, she had impulsively grabbed his hand. Now, realizing what she had done, she almost wanted to dig a hole to hide in.
Luckily, Hikari hadn't pulled away. That only made her heart beat even faster.
But seeing him silent, occasionally casting her odd glances, she grew nervous again, not knowing what to do.
Kanade was pretty, and she knew her body was good. Her chest was big. Plenty of people had confessed to her.
There had been many pursuers like Reiji, though he was the first so disgusting.
Still, Kanade had a general awareness of her feminine charm.
But this charm didn't seem to work much on Hikari.
Out of some womanly intuition, she truly felt Hikari was different from other men. Since she had known him, she had never sensed any kind of covetous look from him.
That kind of gaze, never mind from Reiji, who was nauseating just by looking, she had even occasionally felt from people she thought weren't bad, like Nishida Hajime.
Maybe her heavy chest was just too easy to draw men's attention.
But Hikari never seemed to care about it. He treated her like an ordinary female classmate. That left Kanade with mixed feelings.
Because at the very moment she had grabbed his hand under the excuse of testing a movie scene, her own heart had started racing. But she noticed Hikari's expression was always calm.
'Could it be that Hikari-kun… dislikes me? No… at least, he didn't shake my hand away.'
'But does he really feel nothing at all?'
'My heart's pounding so fast. I don't look ugly. My chest is big too…'
Her maiden's heart thumping wildly, Kanade suddenly felt a little disappointed, not knowing what to say.
On the other side, Hikari also didn't say much.
The two walked in slight silence, occasionally exchanging a few words.
Under the excuse of "experiment," they held hands for six or seven minutes.
Until their palms grew sweaty and Hikari pulled his wrist away, making Kanade reluctantly release her hand. Her fingers still curled slightly.
Noticing him let go, Kanade quickly smiled and asked, "Hikari-kun, how does it feel? Just as expected, it wasn't like in the movies, right? No blushing hearts racing?"
Hikari nodded, "Mm, no."
Her smile froze, but she forced her lips into a grin, "Me… me too! I knew it, movies are all made-up. How could holding hands really make hearts race? Haha…"
Hikari seemed not to notice her awkward look. He glanced at the street sign, pointed at the fork ahead, and said, "I'm going this way home. Goodbye, Amakawa-san."
Coming back to herself, Kanade realized they were about to part ways. She raised her hand with some effort, waved, and smiled, "Mm, goodbye, Hikari-kun."
"Today was fun, watching the movie with you," she suddenly added before he left.
"Mm, I enjoyed it too," Hikari replied politely.
"Then… maybe next time, we could come watch again? As a… club activity," Kanade asked hesitantly.
"Mm, maybe, if there's a chance," came Hikari's polite voice without turning back.
Hearing this, though she felt there was more she wanted to say, Kanade didn't know what, and only lowered her head slightly, disappointed.
But then Hikari, already several steps ahead, suddenly turned back, "By the way, if Reiji bothers you again, remember to tell me. Or if anyone harasses you, make sure to tell me."
Hearing this, seeing his earnest eyes, Kanade's heart skipped a beat. She quickly lifted her head and couldn't help but smile.
"Mm! I'll definitely tell you, Hikari-kun!"
'So this is what being cared about feels like. So warm.'
"Goodbye, Amakawa-san"
"Goodbye, Hikari-kun!"
Clutching her sweaty palm, Kanade watched his back until he disappeared, then turned onto another road herself.
———
Hurrying home, Kanade didn't even bother taking off her socks. She reached under her shirt, pulled off her oversized bra, tossed it into the laundry basket, and collapsed face down on the bed, expressionless.
Her huge bust instantly flattened into two fried eggs.
Though it felt a little uncomfortable pressed like that, they seemed to sense their master's complicated feelings and made no sound.
Kanade was still replaying today's events.
Suddenly being attacked by Reiji after his intentions were exposed, almost being force-kissed, Hikari's sudden rescue, then watching a movie with the good-looking him, even holding hands, and then…
Her thoughts were cut off by a string of notification chimes.
She looked up to see her phone screen glowing on the bedside table. Someone had messaged her.
Her face instantly lit up. She quickly grabbed the phone.
"It must be Hikari-kun, home already, wanting to talk about the movie?"
Excited and full of expectation, she unlocked her phone.
But when she saw who had messaged her, her rising smile froze and fell back.
It wasn't Hikari.
It was the one who had suggested the movie club activity, then bailed on it today, the president of the Film Research Club, Nishida Hajime.
The content was simple:
[Nishida Hajime: Amakawa, how was the movie? Be careful of Matsuoka, I just heard he might be frivolous…]
Kanade rolled her eyes.
'So Nishida really didn't know what kind of person Reiji was? Hasn't he noticed any of his sleazy behavior?'
'No wonder he invited him along, even considered letting him join our club.'
And now Nishida was only sending a message telling her to be careful of him.
If not for Hikari appearing earlier outside the theater, she didn't even know what might have happened to her.
And only now, after so long, Nishida sends such a message? Kanade was speechless.
If something really had happened, she'd already be sticking her tongue out making peace signs in heaven.
Thinking of how she had almost been assaulted by Reiji today, and remembering that it was Nishida who had insisted on inviting him despite her refusal, Kanade typed a reply:
[Amakawa Kanade: That disgusting guy Reiji didn't watch the movie with us. It was just me and Hikari-kun. It was a love story, and the interactions between the leads were interesting and sweet.]
[But what's disappointing is that the male lead wasn't as handsome as Hikari-kun. It would've been better if Hikari-kun played him instead.]
On the other end, Nishida immediately grabbed his phone when he saw her reply. After reading her words, his expression shifted several times. He silently rehearsed what to say, then finally typed.
[Nishida Hajime: Mm, Hikari-kun is indeed very handsome. By the way, I'm sorry I couldn't go with you today because something came up…]
[Amakawa Kanade: It's fine, Nishida-kun, no need to apologize. Hikari-kun and I had a good time too. He was very considerate, bought me popcorn and drinks. It was too much, I couldn't finish it all (＃cover-mouth smile).]
[Nishida Hajime: I… I see. Hikari-kun is thoughtful. As long as you're happy, I'm… relieved.]
[Amakawa Kanade: By the way, after spending time with him today, I realized he's really a great person. Not only good-looking, but also with such a good personality. No wonder he's so popular at school. He looked so handsome in casual clothes today. It's hard for girls not to fall for him…]
[Nishida Hajime: …Mm, hehe, true…]
After that, Kanade kept praising Hikari from different angles.
Nishida's face grew darker and darker as he read. His mood sank, his hands trembled as he typed, and his replies became more and more perfunctory.
And on Kanade's side, sensing his displeasure, she stopped after praising Hikari for a while.
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