The Day After I Told My Shut-In Genius Childhood Friend, Who’s Highly Dependent on Me, “I Got Confessed To,” She Showed Me a Hypnosis App - Chapter 23

We took the train to the movie theater.

The theater inside the shopping mall was crowded. There were lots of people, especially families. Maybe it was because it was the first weekend of the Prikle movie.

But there were tons of little girls dressed like the characters, and almost no high school boys.

What should I do… What if they think, “Why is that guy watching a girl’s movie?”

While I was worrying about the invisible little girl, Momose-san gently tugged on my sleeve.

“Honamin, honamin, what flavor of popcorn should we get?”

She pointed at the menu on the counter with a cheerful look. Unlike me, she didn’t seem to care about anyone around us.

I decided I should just do the same. Worrying was useless.

“There’s a Prikle combo set. Do you want to get that?”

“Eh, really? Then, let’s do it!”

We picked the popcorn in the cup with the cute heroine on it. The flavor was caramel. We both liked sweet popcorn, so that was easy.

◇

We went into the theater and sat next to each other.

By the time we got there, most of the seats were already taken, so we ended up near the back.

Since there were so many families, maybe each group used more seats than usual.

Momose-san stretched her neck and looked down.

“I think this is the first time I’ve sat this far back. It’s pretty high up.”

“Yeah… and there are really a lot of families here.”

We didn’t see anyone our age. Maybe other teens watch at different times because the afternoon is crowded.

“Honamin, how do you think people see us?”

“Huh?”

Momose-san said it playfully, like she was teasing.

“Are we like a family?”

“No… not really.”

“Then friends?”

“…Um.”

I could tell she wanted me to answer, but I got shy, and my words got stuck.

Momose-san giggled and took some popcorn from my lap.

“It looks like a date today, Honamin.”

“Y-yeah…”

“Thank you for coming with me, Honamin.”

“No, I should be the one thanking you…”

I felt both grateful and a little embarrassed.

“Honamin, open your mouth.”

“Huh? Ugh.”

Suddenly, she pressed popcorn into my mouth.

“Ugh, what?”

“Hey… that was sudden.”

“Here’s another one.”

She kept feeding me popcorn. I could eat it myself, but somehow it felt like I was a little animal being fed. And she kept giving me more before I could finish!

With my cheeks full and me mumbling, Momose-san leaned close to my ear.

“Um… have you decided on your answer to my confession?”

My heart jumped. Right, today was the day I had to answer. I wanted to say something, but my mouth was so full I could only mumble.

“If possible, let’s do it at the end of today.”

I nodded while chewing. I understood why she wanted to wait. If she got refused early, it would be awkward.

(Wait… did she feed me popcorn so I couldn’t guess her answer?)

If I saw her answer too soon, I might figure out how she felt. By stuffing popcorn in my mouth, she made it impossible to tell. Probably.

“Can I also take a photo of you now, Honamin?”

“Mumble!?”

Maybe she wasn’t thinking that far ahead. She happily took pictures of me struggling to chew all the popcorn.

A little girl dressed like one of the characters nearby said, “That looks fun!” and tried to copy us, but her mom stopped her. Upon seeing that, we blushed and finally stopped too.

◇

The lights in the theater went down.

On the screen, a man in a suit with a camera for a face was being arrested by the police.

The movie was about to start. I leaned back in my seat and put my hands on the armrests—

Then Momose-san’s hand covered mine from the side.

“Mo-Momose-san?”

“Shh… Honamin. It’s about to start.”

Before I could ask anything more, she pressed a finger to my lips. A quiet shh gesture.

“Because it’s a date.”

That single sentence said it all. She turned her body to face forward, keeping our hands together. It was dark, so I couldn’t see her face clearly, but somehow it felt a little awkward compared to usual.

…Oh. So this is what a date feels like.

The hand on top was warm. Actually, it was Momose-san’s hand that was hotter. Her palm was warmer than the back of her hand.

We watched the movie with our hands still together.

…And somehow, just thinking that this was only the start of our date made my heart feel like something incredible was happening.