OreShura: Volume 3 Chapter 7

Chapter 7 Double Date in the Movie Theater is Mayhem

—Why did you need to dress up that meticulously?

This was at the station square where we agreed to meet for the date.

When I first saw Fuyuumi, who was already waiting there, that was my first impression.

She was wearing normal clothes.

She had on a cute pale pink camisole and denim shorts, with a sleeveless lace dress on top. With slight changes in the light, the camisole occasionally became transparent, causing my heart to beat faster. She was revealing her white shoulders that were normally always hidden under her uniform, so it felt very attractive.

Why was I so energetic?

This wasn’t really a date. It’s just some friends going to watch a movie.

"Y-You’re late. I already waited around five minutes!"

Fuyuumi pouted and turned her head to the side. Great, on the inside she was still the same disciplinary committee member.

"Sorry, I was a little late leaving the library."

"Ah, really?! It’s pretty good that you’re studying! You’re such a study-idiot!"

After Fuyuumi turned to me, she suddenly lowered her head and said shyly:

"U-um, K-K-K-Kidou-kun?"

"Y-yes?"

Because she was very nervous, it seemed to even affect my voice strangely.

"What do you think of my outfit? Does it look weird? Do I look like a bad student?"

"Bad student?"

What are you talking about? That white lace dress looks nothing like a bad student’s outfit.

"Because you said before, ｢Wouldn’t it be better to wear normal clothes?｣......"

Oh right. Now that I think of it, this was something we chatted about at the family restaurant?

"Ah, it’s definitely not. It’s definitely not like a bad student."

"R-Really......?"

"Honestly, I think it’s really cute, and very feminine."

Just like the time when we were invited to the movies, Fuyuumi caught the attention of all the men on the plaza. If I arrived just a bit later, Fuyuumi probably would have been incessantly hit on.

Then—

"Fuyuumi, is something wrong?"

Fuyuumi suddenly blushed, and she even grabbed my handed tightly and started waving it up and down!

"O-outside!"

"Eh?"

"I’m, going outside, for a run—!"

Why are you bringing me too?

"Calm down, Fuyuumi! We’re already outside!"

"Really?! Then where am I supposed to run?"

"Don’t run! Kaoru’s almost here, so just wait here!"

Probably because of the effect of my words, Fuyuumi stopped shaking my hand. Ah, she almost dislocated my shoulder.

Fuyuumi lowered her head for a while, and her shoulders rose and fell with a breath. Finally, she regained her composure.

"......Hey."

"What is it this time?"

"You haven’t remembered?"

"Remembered what?"

Fuyuumi clutched my hand, and her face grew increasingly red.

......So cute.

The girl was really cute today.

"You haven’t remembered that we used to run hand-in-hand like this?"

"Huh?"

When did we do that?

Did we hold hands when we were at the family restaurant…… or when we were picking restaurants? Or when we were at the cafeteria?

I could feel Fuyuumi’s hands continuously get hotter, and while I rapidly tried to search through my memories—

"Hand-strike————!"

A cry suddenly echoed through the square!

I instantly let go of Fuyuumi’s hand!

And after only a few milliseconds, the place where our hands were at was hacked through by a rapid bamboo shinai.

Only one person in the world would do such a thing!

"Ahahahaha, Ei-kun—that dodge was beautiful—but next time I’ll aim at the chest, eh—?"

Harusaki Chiwa smiled widely and stood with her legs astride, even as she threatened to kill me. By convention, her eyes did not look like she was smiling.

"C-Chiwa, it’s such a coincidence—why are you here—?"

I suppressed my fear, and approached Chiwa as arranged in Masuzu’s battle plan.

Step 1: Chiwa ｢coincidently｣ appears at our meeting place for the date. 

Step 2: ｢I’ve always wanted to see that movie! Why don’t we go together since I just happen to have free time?｣ 

Step 3: ｢Sure, it’s better if there’s an even number of boys and girls.｣ 

Step 4: Kaoru: ｢If Eita really thinks so…｣ 

Fuyuumi: ｢Then I guess we can’t disagree.｣

—Yeah, the plan originally went something like that, but—

"Why are you here, Harusaki Chiwa?! You’re waving a shinai on the streets, you terrible maiden!"

"What are you trying, Fuyuumi Ai?! You’re even holding hands with Ei-kun! Dirty! Dirty!"

Eh—

It already felt like the plan was in a ｢total mess｣?

"W-what’s dirty? You actually dare say that to a disciplinary committee member?! The Jien-club has no qualifications to say that to me!"

"You have nothing to do with the Disciplinary Committee in the summer! That being said, what are you wearing? Wasn’t that outfit just published on ｢Pachi Lemon｣?! Ah, so studious! So studious!"

"W-who studies for that—?! Stupid—! This is obviously an outfit that Ai-chan spent a lot of effort to come up with—!"

It was already a children’s quarrel.

Because it was summer time, there were a many families in the plaza. To kids passing by, these two must have seemed like a joke.

Please, someone stop them…….

"So sorry I’m late—Hey, why is Chihuahua-san here?"

When Kaoru appeared five minutes late, Chiwa and Fuyuumi were already pinching each other’s faces.

Chiwa seemed to finally remember the battle plane, and she abruptly left Fuyuumi and forced an unnatural smile:

"Hey, uh, Kaoru-san, hello! I heard you were going to the movies?"

"Yeah, we’re going to see an action movie called ｢Mayhem Battle｣."

"Great—I always wanted to see that movie—Hey, can I go with you?"

"Huh?"

Fuyuumi and Kaoru cried out almost simultaneously.

They were really surprised.

Well, it was no surprise that Fuyuumi, who was the complete opposite of Chiwa, acted like that. But even Kaoru who was supposed to have a good relationship with Chiwa reacted in the same way.

"A-Ah—but we only have three tickets—"

"Of course I’ll pay for the ticket myself."

"R-Right—ah, this is really complicated……"

Kaoru scratched his head while looking at Chiwa and Fuyuumi’s faces.

Then—

"A-chan, can you come over hear for a moment?"

"Huh? What is it?"

"Well, just come over here."

Kaoru pulled strongly on Fuyuumi’s hand, took her a little further away. It seemed like he was whispering carefully to Fuyuumi.

While I was guessing what he was saying, Chiwa pulled on my ear and said:

"Ei-kun~? Why were you holding onto Fuyuumi’s hand?"

"Ouch, that hurts that hurts! It was nothing! It just happened because of that which made it become like that!"

"If you are serious...... I will ｢kill you｣. I said that last night, right?"

"No you didn’t! You didn’t say you would kill me! Still, I wasn’t even serious! This was the battle plan!"

"Battle plan?"

"Masuzu’s battle plan to make Fuyuumi fall in love with me, and seize her weaknesses!"

Even though what just happened had nothing to do with the battle plan, lets just say it was the same thing.

Chiwa finally left go of my ear and said:

"But when I see Fuyuumi’s face, I don’t see that."

"Even if you tell me that, it bothers me too."

Fuyuumi’s expression was definitely unusual.

It felt like a very serious and thoughtful expression, with a very profound air.

What did she want me to remember anyways?

—At this point.

｢Can you hear me? Eita-kun, Harusaki-san?｣

Masuzu’s voice came through earpiece.

Chiwa and I brought the microphone installed in our sleeves to our mouth to speak:

"No problem, I can hear."

"Same, I can hear—"

"Good. From now on I will give commants like this…… And Harusaki-san, please do not suddenly make a ruckus. The plan was nearly ruined several moments ago."

"Hey, you saw that? Where are you?"

"Behind you on the right side of the station, I’m sitting next to the fountain."

We looked in the direction that she described, and Masuzu dressed like a detective from a TV show waved slightly. Her conspicuous silver hair was hidden in a hat, and her blue eyes were covered with sunglasses.

At this time Kaoru brought Fuyuumi back, and Chiwa and I hurriedly cut off our communication.

"Sorry to keep you waiting—so is Chihuahua-san coming with us?"

"It’s okay? I’m so sorry for showing up uninvited."

"We can go in pairs, so it was perfect when we thought about it. How should we match up?"

Fuyuumi was inexplicably twitchy, and Kaoru pushed her back towards me.

"W-Why is Fuyuumi and Ei-kun a pair?"

When Chiwa made the complaint, Masuzu’s voice immediately came through.

｢What are you saying? This is perfect for the plan.｣

"Well...... I guess that’s true."

Chiwa reluctantly kept her mouth shut. Great, it seemed like she still had some bit of rationality left in her.

"Well let’s go then, Chihuahua-san ♪"

Kaoru casually pulled on Chiwa’s arm and started off.

"Whuu, Ei-kun, don’t stay so close to Fuyuumi."

Even though Chiwa looked back several times, she was still led away. Ah—Kaoru was so impressive. He can even steer Chiwa.

"Then let’s go too?"

"I-I guess there’s no choice. I will accompany you!"

"Oh, thanks."

Many people tend to start off their sentences with ｢Ah｣ or ｢Eh｣, but I only know one person who says ｢I guess there’s no choice｣, and that is Fuyuumi AI.

And I’ve become completely used to it.

♦

｢Mayhem Battle｣ is adapted from a bestselling novel of the same name and an American film.

The male lead was a young businessman named Eiji (age 25). It was about a month after he was married to his childhood friend, Gina (age 25). However, when the former lover Amy (age 25) who was presumed dead at sea a few years ago appeared, their fates completely changed. Amy and Eiji had once vowed to marry each other, so Eiji’s heart was unsteadily torn between the two beloved women—

Reading the synopsis would make one think it was a romance film, but it was actually classified as an ｢Action Film｣. Gina and Amy could use supernatural powers, and their fights could make the earth shake and sea torrent. Eiji can only clutch his head and worry. Not considering the budget for the CG and martial arts scenes, it seemed like it hit a blockbuster record since it was released last week.

In either case, the most interesting part of this film was—

"Eh, shouting is allowed?"

I couldn’t help but ask at the ticket office. Kaoru nodded with a smile on his face.

"It’s the same as when you attend a sports competition. It’s okay if you laugh, cry, or shout in the middle of the movie; I even heard there were people who cheered for some of the characters in the film."

Such a ground-breaking idea."

This activity really undermined the idea of going to a movie from the past.

"Of course, for people who want to watch a quiet movie, there’s another section for that screening too. But this is a rare opportunity, so let’s try this one."

"Ah! I want to try! I want to try this one! It seems very interesting!"

Chiwa’s eyes sparkled with excitement, probably because she was a sports-loving person. This kind of activity seemed to go well with her.

"Well, I’m alright too...... Fuyuumi?"

"I-I don’t mind either!"

Fuyuumi lowered her head like usual and said shyly.

As to why she was so shy, it was probably because the boys around us were staring at her. There was even a couple that came together, but the boy kept staring at Fuyuumi, causing his girlfriend to pinch his face. When Fuuyumi wore her uniform, she wasn’t nearly so attractive, but it her appeal when she was dressed up was clearly humongous. If the people at school saw Fuyuumi right now, she would probably equally ｢popular｣ as Masuzu.

Incidentally, speaking of Masuzu, she was in the nearby concessions stand, wolfing down a large bucket of popcorn. She must be venting and overeating, probably because she was surrounded by lovers everywhere.

After the staff exchanged our pre-sale tickets with seat tickets, we entered the theater. We sat in the middle of a theater of about four hundred seats, in the order from right to left facing the screen: Kaoru, Chiwa, Me, and Fuyuumi. Although I didn’t know where Masuzu’s seat was, she was probably sitting somewhere she could see us.

Just when I was thinking this—

｢Eita-kun, why are you just staring blankly? Say some things to Fuyuumi.｣

I whispered:

"What should I say?"

｢Of course you should chat to make Fuyuumi fall in love with you.｣

…….Chat to make her fall in love with me......

｢Make Fuyuumi absolutely deranged and crazy, and also don’t do anything I would consider cheating. Very simple, right?｣

"That’s too difficult—!"

I couldn’t help but cry.

"What’s wrong? The movie hasn’t even started yet."

Fuyuumi couldn’t help but ask with her head tilted and puzzled from next to me.

"S-sorry, uh......"

I racked my brain to find something to talk about:

"What kinds of movies does Fuyuum usually watch?"

"Ah—I rarely watch movies."

"I see—"

"............"

"............"

My chat to make Fuyuumi fall in love with me already ended!

Masuzu immediately made contact:

｢What are you doing? Is your chatting ability that terrible?｣

"Even if you say that, I just can’t think of anything to say!"

｢In these situations, the topic you chat about doesn’t have to relate to the movies. Any topic is okay, so come up with something.｣

Any topic was okay……

If that’s the case, then there’s only this.

"Fuyuumi....."

"What?"

"Did you see yesterday's ｢Magure Punishment Extreme｣?"

｢Why are you doing it again————?!｣

How surprising, Masuzu could actually tsukkomi.

On the other hand, Fuyuumi nodded her head:

"Mh, I guess you could say I saw it."

"Really! Then you know the story!"

If that’s the case, it’s time to charge!

"Yesterday, in the episode called ｢Manabe Returns｣, it focused on police protagonist Yasuura’s boss and section chief named Manabe. I think this episode was the best emotional drama in the entire second season. Although Manabe-san is typically someone just chatters with his subordinates and really dislikable, this time he was completely different than usual. Normally, he pushes everything off to Yasuura so he can drink tea, but this time he personally set out to investigate a criminal who attacked a child in the street. He even took the initiative to set up an ambush, the reasoning being ｢my only daughter was killed in a traffic accident｣. It was really interesting! It’s something really rare in this contemporary structure of drama, and it’s simply godly—a god level drama!"

I finished in one breath, and finished the coca cola I bought from the concessions stand.

Whuu—so happy! Just so happy!

I didn’t realize carbonic acid after talking about ｢Maguke｣ was that refreshing!

—Well, with regards to Fuyuumi’s reaction:

"Kidou-kun."

"Y-Yes!"

"Manabe-san isn’t the section chief. He’s the division chief, right? Wasn’t he promoted at the end of the first season?"

"......Oh, right."

Fuyuumi said softly:

"I think that Manabe-san was portrayed as a pretty honorable person the past. For example, in the third episode of the first season, when Yasuura was locked in solitary confinement as he searched for drugs, Manabe-san turned a blind eye and even shielded Yasuura in the hallway."

"......That really happened……?."

"Also, it wasn’t the first time that the plot point about Manabe-san’s daughter appeared. ｢Maguke｣ used to not be weekly show, and when they stilled broadcast the episodes in special programs, they explained this plot point once. Maybe because many recent fans don’t know about the content from the specials, they re-explained it."

"A-Amazing! Fuyuumi knows a lot! I’m really impressed!"

"Really? For a fan, this is common sense though."

"............"

"............"

My chat to make Fuyuumi fall in love with me ended!

Then Masuzu contacted me again:

｢Wahaha—so funny, so funny—｣

"You’re so annoying! I’m going to cry————!"

At this time the sound informing that the movie was about to start echoed through the cinema.

"We’ll talk later, Masuzu."

I hurriedly turned off my phone. Although shouting was allowed, it wasn’t good to have phone calls during the film.

After about five minutes of advertisements of notices, the main feature began.

The screen started with a closeup shot—a closeup of a very scary zombie. Although it was an action movie, this was a really confusing opening.

"Wuahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"

The sounds of four women’s screams in the audience pierced through, and their noise actually scared me. I see. This was the reason they allowed shouting.

Then, Fuyuumi’s fingers touched my left hand.

I whispered:

"Are you afraid, Fuyuumi?"

"O-O-O-O-Of course not. This isn’t scary at all."

Although she said this verbally, she tightly gripped my left hand.

I felt it was a little embarrassing, but at this time another set of small fingers touched my right hand.

"Wuahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh Ouch————"

Chiwa had clenched my hand with all her strength, and suiting a person from the Kendo club, she had an incredible grip.

"Chiwa, what are you doing?"

"I determined it was cheating! What? Such infatuated behavior."

"I was not infatuated!"

Then Kaoru ｢coughed｣ loudly and cleared his throat:

"Although they don’t prohibit chatting in the movies, you should still probably try being quiet."

Chiwa and I both hurriedly shut up, and nodded to those around us in apology. However, everyone was already looking forward to shouting, they didn’t notice.

And just like this, the story continued to develop.

Precarious on the edge of life and death, Amy had returned from her accident. However, because her former boyfriend was stolen by Gina, she erupted in anger and the battle finally started.

"Get rid of her, Amy!"

Ai-chan shouted with her fist held up.

"Gina this short women isn’t your equal! Your looks, brains, and personality are all superior over hers! Superior! Superior! The childhood friend is so pretentious, you should just beat her up!"

On the other hand, Chiwa was also screeching at the top of her lungs:

"Go Gina! That woman called Amy is the worst! She’s actually taking advantage of her position and trying to steal him! Don’t argue with her, just hit her already!"

It seems like Fuyuumi was with Amy, and Chiwa was with Gina. They both empathized with those characters.

The two of them began fighting in the center of a large city. Amy fired lasers and burned buildings, while Gina’s beam sword cut open the earth. In between them, their beloved Eiji kept rushing about back and forth in panic. His behavior made the audience laugh.

From the middle of the laughs, I could hear the taunting voice of one woman.

"You’re such a good for nothing, Eiji. Can you actually be considered a man? Like this, you get excited for your ex-girlfriend’s ass, you pervert! Women’s bathroom vibrator! Ejection serenade! Joking! Kidou Eita!"

"That last thing was my name, wasn’t it?! Hey, who gave me out!?!"

I turned away from the screen, and shouted into the audience, but I couldn’t see a trace of Masuzu. Damn! Where was she hiding?

On the other hand, Chiwa and Fuyuumi were becoming more and more intense.

"It’s your chance, Gina! This is your chance to defeat Amy! Show her that the bonds of childhood friends are the strongest!"

"Amy won’t lose! If it’s the bonds, you have them too! What’s important is the depth of the interaction, not the length!"

"Whether it’s the length or depth, of course the childhood friend has the advantage!"

"That’s your own misconception!"

I felt the situation had developed very strangely.

Although they were watching the screen…… they obviously weren’t arguing for one of the characters on the screen.

"IT’s not my misconception! Because we were always together, and we always lived together every day!"

"So every other girl has to step back? We have to give up?"

"Hmph! What do you understand about childhood friends?"

"—You're so unreasonable, of course I don’t understand."

Fuyuumi’s tone suddenly changed.

I couldn’t help but turn around, and I saw Fuyuumi’s eyes slightly tearing.

"When even the childhood friend can’t become the girlfriend, it’s something you don’t understand!"

Chiwa stared at Fuyuumi, stunned.

Kaoru also stared at Fuyuumi with a strange expression.

"W-What is it, all of sudden?"

I timidly asked her, but Fuyuumi coarsely wiped her face with her arm.

And then she returned to her original unyielding expression:

"Right there! Amy, give her the final blow!"

—Fuyuumi acted as if nothing happened, and again began to cheer.

Chiwa stared at the side of Fuyuumi’s face for a while, and as the battle scene of the plot ended, she then looked back at the screen; Kaoru did the same.

I also turned back to the movie screen—but I couldn’t remember what happened in the movei after that.

However, Fuyuumi’s words, ｢When a childhood friend can’t even become the girlfriend｣, lingered in my ears.

♦

So after all this—

After saying farewall to Fuyuumi and them all, I met with Chiwa and Masuzu in the nearby café. I asked if she had an photographs that could be used as ｢Fyuumi’s weakness｣—

"When I thought about it, it’s forbidden to take pictures in movie theaters, right?"

"......"

"......"

With nothing to say in front of us, Masuzu knocked the side of her head and said:

"Masuzu-san epic fail, hehe ♪"

"Are you kidding————!?"

Seize the disciplinary committee member’s weakness! Heartbeat? Heartbeat! Date battle!

Epic, Failure!

---

Notes

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