"Yumiko, is there anywhere you want to go?"
Miura was about to say no, but she figured if she did, Mio would definitely take the chance to tease her again.
So after thinking for a moment, she tentatively suggested: "How about we catch a movie?"
"Sure~" Mio had no objections.
Decision made, they got up from the restaurant and headed straight to the cinema upstairs.
Miura scanned the movie posters on the wall. "Mio, is there anything you want to see?"
"I'm fine with anything. I'll watch whatever Yumiko watches. But if this is a date for two, I'd suggest horror or romance."
"I get the horror thing—I'm supposed to act scared, right?" Miura leaned closer to Mio and said in a spoiled voice: "Mio, I'm scared~"
Demonstration complete. Feeling pretty good about her performance, Miura smiled smugly. "How was that?"
"Not great. Too over the top. Anyone can tell you're faking it."
Mio closed her eyes to get into character. When she opened them again, the tender look in her eyes had transformed into fear. She reached out and lightly tugged at Miura's sleeve, her voice trembling: "Yumiko, I'm scared..."
"That's... incredible!"
Watching Mio's performance, Miura couldn't help but exclaim. She even felt the urge to pull Mio into her arms and protect her.
"Something like that." Mio rubbed her cheeks and latched onto Miura's arm again, reverting to her little-devil persona. "Let's go with horror then. I'm usually too scared to watch these kinds of movies, but with Yumiko beside me, I definitely won't be afraid."
As she said this, she even made a cute little fist pump to cheer herself on.
Mio's act was obviously just that—an act—but somehow Miura felt it was different from her own.
So strange.
With a light shake of her head, Miura gathered her thoughts and bought two tickets for the next horror showing.
Less than ten minutes later, they walked into the theater with popcorn and drinks.
The moment Miura sat down, she heard a familiar voice: "Hayama, trust me—you won't regret watching this movie!"
"Tobe, you're clearly terrified of these things, yet you always want to watch them."
"It's because I'm scared that I need these movies to train myself!"
"I feel like you just didn't want to watch it alone, so you dragged us along?"
Just then, Hayama suddenly felt something familiar. He instinctively scanned the theater but didn't notice anything unusual.
"Hayama, what's wrong?"
"Nothing. Probably just my imagination~" Hayama smiled and took his seat.
Meanwhile, in a corner seat toward the back, Miura carefully peeked out.
She really hadn't expected to run into Hayama here.
Normally, she would've walked right up to say hi—maybe even joined them. But not now. Mio was right beside her. And yesterday she'd said she had something important going on. If she and Mio were spotted here together, it might cause unnecessary misunderstandings.
Thank god she'd reacted fast enough and pulled Mio down to crouch with her.
Otherwise, with their distinctive blonde and white hair, one glimpse and they'd definitely be caught.
"Isn't that Hayama-kun?" Mio also curiously peeked over, looking at Hayama's group in the front rows.
"Careful, don't let them see us."
Miura was even considering abandoning this showing and switching to a later one.
As if reading her mind, Mio squeezed Miura's hand. "Don't worry, Yumiko. As long as we're careful, we should be fine."
"Besides, don't you think this feels... exciting?"
The person you like is sitting right there, while you're on a date with someone else—Mio suddenly felt her creative juices flowing.
"Exciting?"
"Ahem, never mind. If you really think it's necessary, let's switch to a different movie."
Better not let Miura know what she was thinking. Otherwise, she'd definitely freak out.
After a moment's hesitation, Miura shook her head. "Forget it. There's nothing going on between us. Even if they see us, it doesn't matter. Besides, these seats are so far back, we're not easy to spot."
Despite saying that, Miura still slid down in her seat a bit to stay hidden.
While they talked, the movie started.
Even during the film, Mio maintained her role as the timid girl, leaning most of her body against Miura.
Honestly, having a soft, sweet-smelling girl like Mio leaning on her felt pretty nice—even for Miura. She even had the strange urge to hold Mio while sleeping.
But thankfully, Tobe's occasional screams kept snapping her back to reality.
Coming to her senses, she couldn't help but sigh internally. If she could really be like Mio, she'd probably have won Hayama over long ago.
The movie was just under two hours—not long, not short.
The second it ended, Miura grabbed Mio and made a dash for it.
"Didn't Yumiko just say it wouldn't matter if we were seen?" Mio said with a smile as she let Miura pull her along.
"Of course it's better to not be seen if we can avoid it!"
Just as Mio was about to say something else, a familiar voice suddenly rang in her ear: "Ara ara if it isn't my cute little kouhai? Running into you here must be fate"
Mio—who'd just been teasing Miura—froze. Before she could even turn around, the System's voice chimed in as well.
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