When My Younger Brother Stole My Girlfriend, I Began Living Together with My Beautiful Childhood Friend Almost As If We Were Married - Chapter 25

Episode 25: Movie Watching

After finishing lunch, while Reina was doing the dishes, I sat on the sofa, staring blankly at the LCD monitor.

Lately, I haven’t been able to watch any anime or movies at all. It feels like if I don’t engage with content for more than three days, I’m wasting the VOD subscription I pay for monthly.

Especially since I haven’t watched any movies in over two weeks, I wondered if there was anything interesting. I started casually browsing through the tablet, which served as my remote control.

“Wanna watch a movie?”

“That’s the plan, but I’m wondering if there’s anything interesting.”

“I see… Oh, this one isn’t on my subscription list.”

“Anything catches your eye?”

“A few things.”

With that said, I handed the tablet to Reina.

Excitedly, she operated the tablet, and the LCD screen displayed a massive shark emerging from the depths, along with the title of the movie.

“Huh, this?”

“You don’t like it?”

“It’s not that I dislike it, but… I have a certain image when it comes to shark movies.”

I deliberately kept my words vague.

“Don’t worry. This movie is a shark movie, but it was really entertaining!”

“I know the synopsis, but… really?”

I recall the introduction that went something like, ‘An ancient giant shark discovered in the depths of the ocean goes on a rampage, attacking and devouring people.’ But that was just from the official website’s description. Reviews on review sites described it as an action-packed movie with Hollywood actors battling giant sharks, which made no sense to me. So, I suspected it might belong to the B-movie category.
But well, I’ve seen the trailer once before, and for a moment, I considered going to see it in theaters, so maybe it’ll be interesting to watch it here.

Reina wants to watch it, so I’ll join her.

“Let’s go with this one then.”

“Yeah! Oh, there’s popcorn in the cupboard, so I’ll grab that along with some juice.”

Quickly getting up, Reina fetched a bag of popcorn from the shelf and brought two bottles of juice.

She asked if I preferred grape or orange, so I took the grape and pressed the play button.

As the production company’s logo appeared, I opened the popcorn bag. Suddenly, the hatch of a submarine burst open.

“The unmistakable scent of a B-movie…”

“The interesting part is coming up!”

Is it really? I couldn’t help but wonder.

A scene featuring what seemed to be the protagonist heroically rescuing the injured played out. This guy must be the rumored Hollywood actor.

Is he going to fight the giant shark, or will the movie take some crazy turn? I’m starting to get curious, drawn by the suspense.

The radar of the rescue ship picks up a large shadow, and the handsome actor looks confused and hesitates before abandoning his comrades and leaving the submarine.

Then, the shadow crashes into the submarine, and it explodes into smithereens.

“The unmistakable scent of a B-movie…”

“I know! But it’s just the beginning!”

I don’t like it when a shark rams into a submarine and blows it up. It’s too fragile.

Years pass from the opening scene, and they arrive at an ocean research facility built on the surface of the sea, exploring an unknown trench.

Somewhere along the way, an accident occurs, and there’s a consensus to call the aforementioned handsome actor.

“By the way, Reina, do you often watch shark movies?”

“I do. I watch various movies, but I might have a preference for monster panic or action movies like shark films.”

“Oh, we might have similar tastes.”

“Really? Then, we might not argue much during movie dates in the future.”

“That’d be helpful, huh?”

To be honest, watching movies in genres I’m not interested in, even with someone I like, often makes me feel bored. When I went to see a movie with Anna, and it turned out to be about rats, I ended up falling asleep during the screening. It was tough when I was asked for my opinion after the movie ended.

In that regard, I feel like Reina and I have overlapping tastes, so we won’t end up in such situations.

As the movie progresses, the protagonist, who has landed on the sunken ship, rescues the researchers and tries to leave when a giant shark attacks.

A young female researcher tries to attract the shark’s attention using a small boat… Oh, she got eaten.

“Isn’t it kind of fun to eat popcorn while the shark eats people?”

“Sorry, but I might not agree with that. In fact, I’ve never seen anyone enjoy it like that.”

Reina’s unexpected statement surprised me. Is she focusing on that in fiction?

There’s a big difference between how people used to talk about Reina in junior high and her current self, and it makes me smile.

“Did you really expect the child to be eaten?”

“That’s not it.”

I wasn’t laughing at the shark because it failed to eat the child, hit the reinforced glass, and fled. And it hit the reinforced glass and the glass is fine, but if it hits a submarine, it explodes, I still can’t accept it.
Although it has received moderately high reviews, it is still a B-grade movie, which made me think of the same question I have asked myself many times today.