"So the movie you've been looking forward to for so long is a romance, kouhai?" Mio said, reading the details off the ticket.
"Mn. A lot of people have been saying it's really good, and it's got one of my favorite actors in it." Maybe it was thinking about said actor, but Iroha looked unusually excited just then.
Mio gave a soft laugh and glanced around. "Feels like just about everyone here for this movie came as a couple."
"Right? When do I get to have a sweet little romance of my own?" Iroha said, wistful.
And right then, the System's voice cut in: "Host, did you not hear that? Isshiki Iroha says she wants a sweet little romance. Time for you to step up~"
"Task: Before noon today, make Isshiki Iroha feel what it's like to be in love. Success may reward an Isshiki Iroha series card or an item reward. Failure draws from the punishment deck."
"Can't you sit still for once? A precious day off, and it feels like you've gone and ruined it."
"You know how it is—tasks aren't something I control, so quit griping and hurry up and figure out how to clear it, yeah?"
"I know that without you telling me." Mio pursed her lips, then turned to Iroha and said, "No need to be envious, kouhai. If you want, your senpai here can play your girlfriend for a bit."
Iroha looked over at the girl beside her—that silver-white hair, that lovely face, that figure with all the right curves in all the right places—and thought, honestly, that might not be so bad.
But she quickly shook the strange idea out of her head.
Look, she was a straight girl. How could she start having weird thoughts just because Mio happened to have a pretty face?
The two of them didn't have long to sit before it was their turn to get their tickets checked and head in.
Since the movie had only just released—and it was the weekend on top of that—the turnout was huge. "Not a seat to spare" wasn't an exaggeration in the slightest.
Most of the crowd here for the film were couples, and Mio felt like the air was practically thick with the smell of other people's PDA.
While the movie hadn't started yet, Iroha turned to Mio and said, "You're gorgeous, Senpai, and you've got a great personality—you must have tons of admirers at school, right?"
"A fair few, sure. Why the sudden question?"
"Are any of them, like, really good-looking?" Curiosity sparkled in Iroha's eyes.
"Couldn't tell you—never paid attention. Probably. If you're after someone good-looking, kouhai, you could just come straight to me. What, am I not good-looking enough?" Mio pointed at her own face, dead serious.
Iroha faltered for a second—it suddenly struck her as weirdly reasonable—but then she caught the smile on Mio's face and realized she'd probably just been teased.
She was usually the one teasing other people. Getting teased herself, for once, was a novel experience.
Just as Iroha was gearing up to fire back, the movie started.
She turned her attention back to the big screen.
The film's good reviews were well earned; even Mio, who normally had little interest in the genre, found herself watching with real absorption.
As the movie moved into its emotional reunion scene, Mio noticed Iroha beside her had actually been moved to tears.
Looking at Iroha, all tear-streaked and delicate, Mio pulled a tissue from her bag and started dabbing away the other girl's tears for her.
"Hey now, don't cry, kouhai. Keep it up and you'll ruin your makeup."
Between the gentleness in Mio's voice and the softness of her touch, Iroha quickly got her emotions back under control.
"Thanks, Senpai." Iroha sniffled, saying it to Mio.
"It's nothing." Mio smiled, then turned back to the screen.
A movie of just under two hours—not exactly long, not exactly short.
As the leads finally overcame every obstacle and ended up together, the film came to a close.
When the lights in the theater suddenly came up, Mio and Iroha both squinted in unison.
Since it was so crowded, the two of them didn't rush to leave, staying in their seats to talk over the plot they'd just watched.
Mio thought for a moment, then closed her eyes and adjusted her mood.
When she opened them again, her whole aura had abruptly shifted into something like the movie's male lead.
Mimicking the leading man's performance, Mio looked at Iroha with soulful intensity and said, "I've been in love with you for a very, very long time."
"Huh?"
Iroha froze, a faint blush spreading across her fair cheeks.
She didn't quite get why Mio would suddenly confess to her—what was the right way to react in a moment like this?
Going along with it didn't actually seem so terrible; with looks like this white-haired senpai's, even as a fellow girl, Iroha figured she could stare at that face for a hundred years and never tire of it.
And on top of that, Mio had gently wiped away her tears and comforted her when she'd been crying.
Wait—she wasn't into girls. Why was she starting to think about all this nonsense?
While Iroha was spiraling into confusion, she suddenly heard Mio laughing.
Looking at Mio's flower-bright smile, it finally clicked—she'd been teased again. No, wait—Mio had just been imitating the male lead from the movie. She was overthinking it, that was all.
Already red in the face, Iroha now went red in the ears too.
Mio had half a mind to tease her a little more, but decided against it. Push any further and Iroha might really blow her top.
Once most of the theater had cleared out, the two finally rose at a leisurely pace and walked out side by side.
Mio checked the time, then said, "Kouhai, you treated me to a movie, so let me treat you to a meal."
"N-No need, really. That ticket would've gone to waste if you hadn't come anyway."
"Come on, let's go."
Mio just took Iroha's hand and started scouting the nearby restaurants.
Feeling the warmth of Mio's palm, every line Iroha had just prepared went clean out of her head.
When she was with anyone else, she was always the one holding the initiative. Why was it that around this white-haired senpai, she kept ending up on the back foot?
Ah, whatever. Being around the white-haired senpai felt pretty nice, after all.
And most important of all—this white-haired senpai was gorgeous.
Iroha's gaze drifted back, once more, to Mio's face.
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