[Sad News] Living Together with the Unattainable Beauty—Her Overwhelming Affection Is Way Too Calculated - 9

Chapter 9: The First Thing We Do Together: Watching Anime

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And then, the fated Saturday arrived. I hadn’t been able to calm down at all since morning. I was going to watch anime together with Fujigaya-san, just the two of us. That was supposed to be a sweet, bittersweet event that could only happen in a light novel. But in reality, it turned into a harsh trial quest to test my communication skills and mental strength. Would I even make it out alive?

Our promised time was 8:00 p.m., after dinner. For three whole hours before that, I wandered restlessly around my room, took an unnecessarily thorough shower, rubbed one out, and changed into the slightly better room wear I had bought just for today. That meant a clean T-shirt (anime merch) and a clean pair of shorts.

It was a sincere effort, like that of a maiden heading into her first date. Disgusting, even by my own standards. And then, at 7:59 p.m., I steeled myself, opened my door, and marched toward the battlefield. The moment I stepped into the living room, I was struck speechless at the sight before me.

On the low table in front of the TV, a flawless setup had been prepared without me noticing. Popcorn like in a movie theater. My favorite—consommé-flavored potato chips. Two glasses of ice-cold cola beaded with droplets of condensation. On the sofa, fluffy cushions were arranged at just the right angles.

The preparations were too perfect. It was as if she had completely predicted both my thoughts and my tastes. Was she some kind of psychic?

“Shall we get started then?”

I looked at her sitting on the sofa ahead of me, and once again I lost my words. Fujigaya-san, who was always in sweats, was wearing an oversized white T-shirt.

I couldn’t see underneath the shirt, but she was probably wearing shorts. Her healthy thighs were bare, and because the shirt was so large, it almost looked like she wasn’t wearing anything under it, which was dangerously bad for my heart.

As I stood there, overwhelmed by both the perfect living room setup and her outfit, she smiled mischievously and fiddled with the remote.

“Come on, sit down already?”

The living room lights flicked off, leaving only the dim nightlight. Was this room always this erotic? On the TV screen appeared the gorgeous title logo: Magical Girl Magical☆Ruby the Movie: Eternal Promise.

The grand orchestral music. The sparkling opening visuals. I swallowed hard and, tense to the core, perched nervously on the very edge of the sofa.

To be honest, for the first thirty minutes, none of the content actually sank into my head. All of my senses were fixated on the existence of the life-form known as Kanoko Fujigaya sitting right next to me.

The faint warmth of her body seemed to seep through the sofa. A sweet scent of shampoo tickled my nose. Now and then, I caught the sound of her quiet breathing. A glance to the side revealed a devastatingly beautiful face.

If I darted my eyes away, her huge chest came into view. If I darted them further, her long, slender bare legs were right beside me. It was too much information. My feeble brain’s CPU couldn’t process it all. My entire body stiffened like stone, and I nearly forgot how to breathe.

But by the time the story reached its midpoint and Ruby-chan, the protagonist, was cornered in a desperate pinch, I could no longer resist my instincts as a true otaku. I had been completely sucked into the world of the story.

“Damn…! Throwing two of the Four Heavenly Kings at her here is just cheating!”

The words slipped out before I realized it. Startled, I snapped back to myself and nervously stole a glance at Fujigaya-san. Was she grossed out? Was she thinking, “Ugh, what a creep”? But she paid me no mind, staring intently at the screen with a serious expression.

“It’s okay, Miyazuka-kun. Her friends will come to save her.”

“Huh?”

When I turned to her in surprise, she smiled confidently.

“Because that cool silver-haired kid who was behind Ruby-chan in the opening hasn’t had their big moment yet. Story-wise, this is obviously foreshadowing something important.”

Her words were like scales falling from my eyes. She was right. Completely right. While I had just been anxiously reacting to the events in front of me, she had calmly been reading the story’s structure.

“Fujigaya-san… That’s amazing. You really pay attention to the story.”

“Ehehe, after hearing your passionate commentary, I started to pick up on all the ‘promises’ in the story too.”

She laughed happily as she said it. That smile didn’t feel like the merciless, unattainable beauty’s smile that usually stabbed into my heart—it felt natural, warm.

The movie reached its climax. Ruby-chan and that silver-haired kid clasped hands and unleashed a miraculous combination attack. Both of us leaned forward off the sofa.

“Whoaa!”

“They did it!”

Before I knew it, we were shouting out at the same time. And by the time the end credits rolled, I had completely forgotten my nervousness, chatting naturally with Fujigaya-san about our opinions of the movie

“Man, that final combo attack was incredible! It was classic, but absolutely perfect!”

“Yeah! Their friendship brought about a miracle! I just love that kind of development!”

“Exactly! And the animation in that scene—the movie-level quality was insane. The number of effects frames was off the charts…”

The conversation didn’t stop. I didn’t stutter. I was actually talking normally with Fujigaya-san. We were sharing something we both loved and laughing together. The moment I realized that, a warm feeling spread through my chest.

When the movie ended, I turned the living room lights back on with the remote. The sudden brightness made it feel like the fun time was over, and my chest stung a little. After a slightly awkward silence, she smiled wistfully and said.

“That was fun. I’d like to watch it together again sometime.”

“…Yeah.”

This time, I managed to look straight at her without averting my eyes as I answered. For me, that was truly, truly a small step. But without a doubt, it was also a solid, huge step away from the cowardly me of yesterday.

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