-Horikita's POV-
Standing by the second room entrance, my arms smoothly crossed over my chest as I stared at the conversing duo standing by the cashier counter.
I stifled a sigh. If it weren't for them proposing this little outing, I wouldn't have had to be here right now.
Having to deal with Kushida-san was one thing, but Sudo-kun, Ike-kun and Yamauchi-kun as well? It was bound to be tiring.
I'm well aware that this was done to secure Sudo-kun's cooperation, however, the fact still remains that this movie is just a waste of time that would be better spent on studying.
We've only a week until the mid-terms are upon us and with those three being behind in their studies, we needed every second we could get to ensure they pass.
Doing that is already difficult, especially considering that they aren't fast learners. Even though we have the benefit of a complete study plan, it won't matter much if they aren't able to absorb the information in time.
My index finger tapped against the underside of my elbow as I glanced around the lobby.
That aside, this movie's almost 2 hours long. Which means, I won't be able to leave until some time after 9 — if there aren't any technical difficulties, that is.
I huffed, seeing Monty-kun and Ayanokoji-kun collect the food. I just want to get this day over with and move on.
Turning on my heels, I quietly marched into the room alongside the two boys as we shuffled our way through the seated crowd. Our seats were located in the fourth row from the back left side of the movie theatre.
Monty-kun proceeded to distribute everyone's snacks and beverages before seating himself between myself and Matsushita. He took a water for himself.
"Ayanokoji-kun, Monty-kun, don't you want any popcorn?" Asking the obvious, Kushida-san leaned across slightly to whisper. She was sandwiched between Ayanokoji and Ike, with the former being seated on my left.
"No." Was Monty's curt response.
Ayanokoji's, however, was a bit more detailed. He shrugged, "Well, I couldn't choose between what was on the menu, so I settled with a water."
"Oh, alright then." Her eyes travelled across to me with a glint of apprehension seeping into them as she pursed her lips, "I take it you weren't able to decide on what you wanted either, huh, Horikita-san?"
"On the contrary, I chose not to buy anything simply because it was filled with unhealthy delights." I responded truthfully.
Even though my reply was almost immediate, I'd like nothing better than to avoid any further interactions with this girl. It might be due to my personal bias, but somehow, she always manages to put me on edge without doing anything complicit.
With a soft chuckle, Kushida-san straightened in her seat and smiled at me, "Well, you guys're definitely missing out. I can't imagine not eating anything at a movie, especially popcorn. It's one of the only reasons some people even bother coming here."
"It seems they've found you out, Chiaki." Monty-kun interjected from his seat next to me. I could make out the beginnings of a smirk as I shifted my gaze in his direction.
Matsushita-san coughed, eyes wandering to the other side of the theatre like a child caught in the act, "C'mon now, you already know that's not the case." Her shaky tone wasn't all that convincing.
"Is that so?"
Adjusting his glasses, Monty's hand slowly reached out and pried away the girl's sweets. Her eyes proceeding to widen like saucers at his next words, "Then I suppose you won't be needing thi —"
She immediately snatched it from his grasp with a vampiric hiss, "Don't you dare!" At that, Monty tilted his head with an obscure smile.
"Woah, you're really feral when it comes to food huh Matsushita?" Sudo interjected, peeking over from his seat at the end of the row next to a snickering Yamauchi.
"Now I know your weakness~" Yamauchi teased. Though he had become aware of it, I doubt there'd be a situation where he could actually make use of it.
"H-Hey, guys, it's not like that. Honest." She tried to defend herself, "I was just, um-daydreaming, yeah!"
"Oh yeah? What kinda 'daydream' was it then?" Ike probed cheekily, "It must've been pretty serious if that's your reaction."
"Won't you tell us, Matsushita-san? Afterall, It does sound pretty interesting." And with those words, Kushida-san successfully cut off her escape route.
"Yeah, spill the beans!" Yamauchi leaned in eagerly.
"Well, that's..." Matsushita gulped. A few seconds, which I assumed she took to come up with a believable scenario, passed, and yet she couldn't come up with a reply.
"Ha, I knew you were lying." Ike's apparent proudness and the others' growing laughter made the girl release a heavy sigh. It seems she's finally accepted her fate.
Peering around, my gaze found the quiet figure of Monty. The boy hadn't contributed much to the girl's distress after his first few jabs, in fact he had disassociated himself from the conversation entirely after starting it.
Had someone else done it, it would've seemed odd. But, something like this was perfectly in character for him to do as anything he deems unnecessary is almost automatically omitted from his life.
It's almost scary how efficient he is.
Just then, his head slightly lifted and shifted at an angle.
I couldn't ascertain whether he was looking at the screen or somewhere else due to his glasses being tinted green. Though, from his upturned lips, it was clear something had caught his attention.
As I went to probe him, Kushida's voice wandered into my left ear, "Is something the matter, Horikita-san?"
I bit back a scoff as I turned to address the beige girl two seats to my left.
Now that I was back in her sights, there's no use trying to question Monty as she'll simply inject herself into the conversation and find a way to involve the others.
"It's nothing." I huffed, staring at the blank white screen.
"I see..." She muttered, and after a while, she posed another question, "Hey, guys, why do you think this movie is called Edge of Tomorrow? I heard it went by another name originally and was a Japanese novel."
"Maybe they changed it cuz the novel name sucks or something." Ike, though ignorant, tried to provide a plausible answer to Kushida's query.
Sudo shrugged, leaning back in his seat, "Dunno. But the new name does sound pretty badass not gonna lie."
"I'm definitely with you there." Yamauchi nodded in agreement.
The rest of the time until the movie began, the three idiots, Kushida-san and Matsushita-san continued with trivial conversations to pass the time.
Occasionally myself, Ayanokoji-kun and Monty-kun, would join in, but only for brief periods.
As the lights dimmed and the noise level dropped, the projector started playing and after what felt like an hour of waiting, the movie began.
-.-
-Monty's POV-
"Where the hell am I?"
"Get up maggot!"
"When you wake up, come find me."
"Get up maggot!"
"Who said you could talk to me?"
"Coward!"
"Again!"
"Get up maggot!"
"It's not there. Or maybe it wasn't there in the first place."
"We have three hours."
"You're a good man Cage... I just wish I got to know you better."
"Welcome to London, Major."
"Yes? What do you want?"
As the end credits began to roll, the occupants of the movie theatre watched them go on by in a long, uninterrupted silence. It was a rare sight, seeing so many students sit in one place without so much as a singly peep from any of them-
"UOHHHHHHH!!!!"
"EY, AUTHOR RUN IT BACK!"
"THAT WAS THE BEST MOVIE I'VE EVER SEEN IN MY LIFE!"
"Oh, Rita-sama!"
Their silence was extremely short lived, however. The crowd burst out in a chorus prior to sectioning off into jumbled up individual shouts of celebration and praise.
"THAT.WAS.AMAZING!!!" Ike beamed, practically trembling with excitement. His fist clenched with an ever growing smile, "Man, who knew Cage would become such a total badass by the end!"
"For real! I thought I was scammed outta my points since he was so cowardly in the beginning, but when he absolutely wrecked those mimics I was so hyped!"
Sudo supported Ike's statement with evidence. Our resident delinquent shouted at the top of his lungs, clearly they had all enjoyed the screening just as the rest of us.
Even Ayanokoji felt a need to voice his thoughts, "I agree, it was incredibly entertaining how well the story came together by the end. The contrast between Cage before and after his death was like night and day."
"Mhm! I'm honestly excited about what'll happen in the next movie!" Our class angel's slender fingers came together in a cute steeple as she said that, mirroring Ike's happy expression. Only, it felt more pleasing to the eyes when she did.
"Right?!" Chiaki chimed in with a gleeful giggle, "But we'll probably be getting more romantic development with the main duo though so it might not be as action packed as this one." She noted.
Her box of candies had already emptied out halfway through the movie, but despite that, her hand found itself wandering in on a few occasions before immediately stopping when she registered what she was doing. She seemed embarrassed by it each time which was quite amusing to see.
I'd learned that people tend to mindlessly snack on whatever's infront of them whenever they're focused on a TV Show or a Movie. However, this was the first time I've been able to see it firsthand. Even though she hadn't any food, she was still emulating that act of eating.
It was more intense in this case since action movies had a marginally higher distraction factor than other genres. This heightened their crave for food even further.
"Bah! If an action movie doesn't focus on action then why bother watching it?" Yamauchi voiced his displeasure at the prospect of the sequel being more romantically inclined.
"Y'know, Haruki, it'll still have fights and things like that right? It just won't be the main thing."
"Ken, don't bother answering him, he's just jealous the MC might get a girlfriend before him."
Flustered by Ike's surprisingly accurate deduction, Yamauchi tried to lie his way out. "A-Am not! I just—don't wanna watch it if it isn't focused on action, that's all."
Kushida chuckled at the trio's interaction, "Your reactions are so cute, Yamauchi-kun. And I agree with you," She said, "Even though I'm not against the idea of romance, I think the level of action should remain as the focal point for the sequel as well."
"Yeah. I totally understand where you're getting at." Ike gave Yamauchi a spiteful pat on the back. He was clearly irked by Kushida's description of his companion but tried to hide it with a smile.
Yamauchi smirked, "H-Ha, really?! I mean, ofcourse you do! I'm never wrong about these things." He proudly declared with yet another useless lie. Somehow he took Ike's malice driven action as him successfully deceiving him.
His lack of awareness was almost pitiful to witness.
"I'd beg to differ." For the first time in this conversation, Horikita's voice was heard.
They all looked over to her. She had her arms crossed whilst regarding the group with as sharp a gaze as ever, "I'm more inclined to support Matsushita-san on how the story should progress. Afterall, it is quite obvious that the main character has developed feelings for the heroine."
"While action is a necessity to the plot, I think it would be the right approach to explore their relationship in further depth rather than ignoring it." She provided a solid reason behind her thought process.
The movie was building up their relationship from the moment Rita appeared on screen. And with how Cage's expression looked after finding her again in the latest loop, there's a high possibility that the sequel will go in a more romance oriented direction than this one.
But I doubt they'll actually end up together regardless of the plot direction.
"Ehhh," Kushida's head tilted slowly, her tone curious, "I didn't know you were interested in romance, Horikita-san."
"I'm not. I was simply stating an observation." She immediately clarified.
"Oh, I see. That makes sense." Kushida nodded. Her lips rose into a smile as she spoke once more, "But, I don't think romance should be the main focus in the movie prequel because Rita-san herself seems to be against the idea of mixing love and war."
Raising her index finger, she quickly stifled Horikita's rebuttal before she could air it, "She only kissed Cage-kun in the end because she was convinced that they would both die trying to take out the nexus."
"However that doesn't deny the fact that she does also harbor feelings for him does it?" The black haired ice queen responded smoothly, "Additionally, seeing as Cage-kun has reset to the first day multiple times, he can easily rebuild their relationship and end up being together in the end."
Kushida shook her head, "Still, I'm convinced they won't end up together under the current circumstances. The war has to end first for Rita-san to progress their relationship..." A solemn look draped over Kushida's face, "But with how they barely managed to destroy the nexus last time..." She trailed off.
"It does seem quite bleak." Ayanokoji finished the sentence on her behalf.
Even though it was only a movie, it appears Kushida's emotional investment was high enough that she seemed saddened just recalling the scene.
After a while of thought Horikita sighed and continued the conversation with reluctance, "I see your point. Though I suppose we'll know who's correct after the prequel aires."
"So, does that mean you'll be watching it with us?" Ike asked, causing Horikita's brow to raise in apparent confusion.
"Why else would I bring it up?"
My eyes slowly shifted to Kushida.
Disbelief spread across her face as she attempted to wrap her head around not only the fact that Horikita even bothered to entertain Ike's question, but also that she suggested watching another movie with them of her own volition.
Her lips pursed just a tad at the discovery.
"Huh, I definitely thought you wouldn't bother with something like this again." Sudo shrugged, "Guess I had the wrong idea about you."
Upon hearing Sudo's words, Horikita stiffened. She's finally realized, "Don't misunderstand. I'm only watching it to prove a point."
"Aww, don't be such a tsundere, Horikita-san~" Yamauchi snickered, "There's no need to hide how you're feeling. Ofcourse I get it if you're too dazzled by my looks to show them." He puffed out his chest proudly with a confident smirk.
It seems he misheard Kushida's words. He probably thought she'd referred to him as being cute and used that to justify his severely watered down Koenji impression.
If not that then his delusions were just as pathetic as his lies.
"I'd rather fall ill than admit to something so degrading." Horikita's face conveyed disgust equivalent to her tone.
Yamauchi shook his head, wagging his index finger from left to right with a constant tut as he regarded her with a pair of salacious brown eyes.
"There's no use playing hard to get so let's skip the pleabiantries or whatever they're called and get to the real meat of the discussion."
As if sensing the boy's immoral thoughts, Horikita snapped to her feet and regarded him with a crimson death stare, promptly wiping the whimsy off the boys face as she practically towered over him.
A thick blanket of silence befell our group as everyone's eyes lifted to the girl standing in the middle, "I'm leaving." She declared.
"Wha- h-hey, I was just joking! Don't be such a stick in the mud!" Yamauchi tried to clear up the misunderstanding, but it was futile.
Horikita proceeded to exit the theatre along with the gradually lessening crowd of students without batting so much as an eye in his direction.
It might seem as though she misunderstood Yamauchi's intentions, but she didn't. She was already aware that he simply wanted to continue the conversation via teasing.
Meaning, she left for a different reason.
She probably realized that she had let her guard down and ended up being too casual with them.
So much so that she suggested they attend another outing like this one, in the undesignated future, without much thought.
While it was for the purpose of proving a point, the fact that the thought even crossed her mind was enough of a convincing factor for her to leave.
She just used Yamauchi's perversion as her way out.
At any rate, she's still got a ways to go before she fully sheds that useless isolationist mentality of hers.
And what better way to do it than orchestrating a direct clash with the very embodiment of the opposing ideal?
My gaze flickered from the door and back to the group.
"Well done, Yamauchi." Came Ayanokoji's deadpan commentary, "You've managed to get on Horikita's nerves in less than a minute. That's quite the accomplishment."
"Yeah, man, I gotta say it's pretty impressive how you managed to fumble the bag before you even got ahold of it." Ike chirped, nudging the irate boy with his elbow, "It makes me wonder why you even bothered trying."
Despite the clear mockery in his tone, Kushida seemed to take it as harmless banter between male companions.
The beige beauty got up from her seat with a light giggle, her off the shoulder top swaying with each subtle movement, "Guys, stop teasing him. You all know Yamauchi-kun didn't mean anything bad by what he said, Horikita-san just took it the wrong way."
"K-kushida-chan..." Yamauchi regarded the busty beige as if she were a shining deity. His blush deepened the longer he stared. Ike was visibly displeased.
"Tch, lucky bastard." He mumbled under his breath.
Returning my gaze to the class angel, I finally decided to speak, "I agree." I said, motioning to get up, "I'll go talk to her and clear things up before it becomes an issue."
"That's good then. Atleast now we won't have to worry about any problems arising within the study group. But I think you should hurry Monty-kun, she's probably on her way to the dorms right now." Kushida advised cutely.
For a brief instance, her smile had lessened considerably upon hearing my proposal.
She must be dissatisfied that I not only stole her idea, but am taking away the perfect opportunity for her and Horikita to be alone together even though I'd agreed to help her beforehand.
Yet despite that she still hides how she feels behind that mask.
Slipping both hands into my pockets, I bit my lip while stepping out into the isle.
Suddenly, Chiaki shot up out of her seat and immediately clutched me by the arm with a pout.
"Hey, don't think you can wiggle your way out of buying me those snacks." She uttered, loud enough for the group and a minority of the passing crowd to hear.
She was as quick on the uptake as ever.
I struggled against her grip, "I don't know what you're talking about, Chiaki. You received a box of candies earlier."
Her smile took a forced turn as she tugged at my limb and stared into my eyes wryly.
"That's a delight not a snack, so your argument is invalid."
"Wrong. It would also pass for a snack too since it's usually eaten between meals."
"Grr..." Chiaki growled, her face tinted red. Falling short of effective counters, she chose to be more direct in her approach.
"Either way, I want a real snack. So buy me!"
Stop it, Chiaki, people might get the wrong idea about us.
With a huff, I eventually stopped resisting, "Fine. But only one item."
"Hehehhh~" She wore a triumphant grin.
As we were about to leave, however, I was stopped yet again. This time, by a male.
"Monty, hold up." Ayanokoji stepped in, his monotonous voice reverberating in my ear.
I turned a half step to regard him and he continued, "Why not let Kushida handle it? I'm pretty sure it'll take a while for Matsushita to pick something out. And by then, Horikita might already be in her room."
"Also, since it's so late, it might seem a bit salacious for a boy to be alone with a girl, don't you think?" He proposed a solid argument.
The current time was 22:01 so the school definitely would assume we were engaging in certain... inappropriate acts if I were to enter her room this late at night.
"What does salacious mean?" Sudo asked dumbly. His query, however, brought more questions to his mind when he saw Chiaki look away with red cheeks and Kushida chuckling awkwardly.
"It would be best if you didn't know." Yamauchi pat his back with a wise expression.
"So you know what it means?" He turned to him.
The brown eyed boy smiled intensely with a proud proclamation, "Nope, not a clue."
Sudo had a dead look in his eyes, "Of course you don't."
Ignoring the duo's back and forth, I accepted Ayanokoji's proposal with a nod, "You raise a valid point. Kushida, I'll leave it to you."
Upon the utterance of my words her expression seemed to brighten like a star in the night as she clapped her hands together, "Well in that case I better get going then!" She chirped, energetically bounding out of the room.
After observing the remaining students, I left the movie room with Chiaki soon after.
Due to her earlier stint, there were still a few lingering gazes following us as we made our way down the hallway.
Some were merely amused, while others were seemingly skeptical of the nature of our relationship.
Chiaki, of course, seemed completely unfazed by this development. If anything, she looked rather pleased with herself.
Even though she was aware of how people might perceive us, the fact that she had managed to inconvenience me overruled her embarrassment quite easily.
In fact, I'd argue that she wouldn't mind doubling down further to annoy me.
"You seem awfully happy." I noted as I languidly adjusted my glasses with a thumb thrust.
"Why wouldn't I be? I just got you to buy me something." Her arm linked with mine as she regarded me with an irritatingly smug expression.
"And now people might start to think we're dating because of how you did it." I drawled as I watched a head of blue quickly shuffle past me.
"So what? It's fun!" She justified her actions with a giggle.
"For you, maybe."
Chiaki and I's limbs remained entwined I gaze ahead. The whispers had somewhat intensified after we entered the lobby.
A mischievous grin found its way up her face, "Oh, come on, Monty. Where's your sense of humor? Don't tell me you're embarrassed~"
I exhaled through my nose and turned my head away, "...Let's just get this over with."
"Why of course my good sir. Your wish is my command." She released my hand and promptly lowered into a partial curtsey.
"Then how about you—"
"Not a chance." She swiftly declined before I even properly voiced my command.
"Weren't my orders irrefutable?"
"Well, what isn't said can't exactly be refuted now can it?"
"It can if it was implied."
"Well, fortunately for me, I'm too dense to pick up on such subtleties." She sported a proud grin at her timely rebuttal.
"I don't think that's something to be proud of..."
I pressed my palm against her forehead, measuring from her brow to her hairline, "Though, with this level of cranial density I can definitely see why you'd think otherwise."
She giggled. "My head's not big."
I let a smirk grace my lips, "Denial won't make it any smaller, Chiaki."
"Shut up!" Whisper yelling, she pinched my cheek, pulling me down to her level, "I'm not in denial."
—Is what she said through gritted teeth.
"Sho you shay."
She released an exasperated sigh at my reply as she let go of me before sticking out her tongue.
"Nn!"
Cute.
The concession stand was currently crowded and it didn't seem like it would lessen any time soon so I settled for the second best option.
The vending machine.
Walking a few paces from the theatre entrance, I scanned through the available options.
Chiaki leaned slightly closer, peering at the selection with an exaggerated expression of deep contemplation, "Hmm... I think I'll go with—oh! That one!" She pointed excitedly at a particular snack, her tone childlike in its enthusiasm.
I followed her gaze.
"...Pocky?" I questioned.
She nodded. "Yup! Oh, but I also want—"
"One." I reminded her.
Her eyes rolled, "Tch."
Ignoring her grumbling, I placed my card on the machine scanner and pressed the button. The package dropped into the retrieval slot, and I handed it over to her.
She held it up triumphantly. "Yes~" Humming before tearing it open, she waved one infront of my face as she stared at me, "You want one?"
I merely gave her a telling look.
Shrugging. "Suit yourself." She popped the stick into her mouth.
As we resumed walking, I noticed her stealing glances at me in-between bites.
I sighed. "What now?"
She smirked. "Nothing~ Just thinking about why you didn't bother going after Horikita-san."
Her sharp yet mischievous gaze only seemed to narrow further the higher her lips lifted, "You started second guessing yourself after thinking about it didn't you? A boy and a girl all alone in the middle of the night, oh, how scandalous."
She was partially correct. I did intend on approaching Horikita.
It would've been a good chance to influence her thoughts myself, though I thought it better to have Ayanokoji help Kushida accomplish her goal of getting closer to her after the latter showed her displeasure to being denied the chance.
Kushida's reason for being so desperate to get close to Horikita must really be important. Enough so that I had a strong feeling to allow such a situation to play out.
Hence the lip bite and all my subsequent actions afterwards.
I'd already expected Chiaki to use food as a way to bail me out since I had already made it known that she could be quite the foodie beforehand.
And that was the opening Ayanokoji needed to steer the situation into the outcome we both desired.
Due to that fact, no one would suspect that this scenario was planned.
To our group members, it would only seem as though Chiaki wanted to get back at me for earlier while I was trying to avoid it by using Horikita as an excuse.
To outsiders however, it would seem like idle flirting.
I snorted. "Think what you want."
"Pfft, y'know what I think? I think you—" Sidestepping her playful elbow nudge, I smirked.
The brunette caught herself as she went to stumble and looked at me with an expression that said, "Were you really gonna make me fall?"
I nodded to her unvoiced query and after a few seconds, she giggled to herself before quickly matching stride with me once more and popping another Pocky stick into her mouth, "You're such a douche."