"This is Point B. Target has appeared."
"Target is heading toward Point C."
"This is C parking lot. Target parked their bike and is walking toward the theater."
"Milady, please wait here."
"Understood."
After ending the comms call, Shinomiya Kaguya stepped out of the car, dressed in a pure white dress.
She had arrived at the cinema lobby.
A person pretending to be a passerby casually walked past her and whispered, "Target is closing in. Estimated encounter in thirty seconds."
And just ahead of her, Shirogane Miyuki was walking this way.
The moment he saw Kaguya, he paused slightly in surprise.
"Shinomiya?"
"My, President, what a coincidence," Kaguya said with feigned surprise.
"Didn't expect to run into you here."
"Right? This is a pretty well-known theater in the area after all—running into someone isn't too strange." Kaguya grinned.
But that was a lie.
This seemingly coincidental encounter was entirely premeditated.
A few days ago, when Takamine Rinji was absent from the student council office, Fujiwara Chika had handed the movie ticket vouchers to both Shirogane and Kaguya.
Both of them had hoped the other would make the invitation—but in the end, neither did. So Shirogane picked a day without any council duties and decided to go alone.
But Kaguya wasn't about to leave it at that.
She used her resources to find out Shirogane's likely schedule, had people lying in wait at the theater, calculated the time he'd arrive, and then showed up herself to stage this "chance" encounter.
Flawless execution.
Kaguya had planned this cinema outing with Shirogane for quite some time. Even that ticket voucher Chika received from that so-called "prize" had actually been distributed through channels Kaguya arranged—because she knew Chika would naturally share tickets with other student council members.
After this series of elaborate maneuvers, Kaguya succeeded in "accidentally" meeting Shirogane at the theater.
And since they had met, the two of them naturally walked in together.
As they passed a cheerful high school girl on the phone, Kaguya whispered, "You can stand down now."
"Understood."
The girl pretending to talk on the phone was none other than Hayasaka Ai, in casual clothes.
As Kaguya's personal maid, Hayasaka had of course participated in this whole operation, helping to set up the "encounter" between her mistress and Shirogane.
After getting the signal, Hayasaka exchanged tired greetings with a few other Shinomiya house servants stationed nearby and began to leave the theater.
"Seriously… even on my day off I have to do stuff like this."
Expressionless, she stretched and decided to wander around for a bit.
Then she saw a familiar figure.
One of them was Fujiwara Chika, from the neighboring Class 2-B, someone she recognized. Chika was at the theater too—and seemed to be waiting for someone.
'Chika's here too? If she finds out about this with Kaguya and the president, things could get messy. I should steer her away…'
Just as she was about to go say hi, Chika suddenly started waving frantically at someone.
'She's meeting someone?'
Hayasaka looked in the direction Chika was waving—and her eyes went wide.
"...Rinji!?"
Walking into the theater was none other than Takamine Rinji.
As soon as she saw him, Chika ran over.
"You're right on time, Takamine-kun… but hey, why aren't you wearing the outfit I picked for you yesterday?"
"I figured sportswear suited me better."
"Huh… Didn't think you'd be such a stickler about that kind of thing," Chika laughed. "You brought the voucher from yesterday, right?"
"Yeah." Rinji pulled out the movie ticket she'd given him.
From a distance, Hayasaka frowned as she watched them. She couldn't hear their conversation clearly, but...
'What are they talking about? Why is Chika here with Rinji? And the voucher in Rinji's hand—it looks just like the one Kaguya-sama's using…'
While still chatting with Chika, Rinji suddenly paused and looked in Hayasaka's direction. She instinctively ducked behind something.
'Did he see me? Wait, why am I hiding!?'
But Rinji hadn't noticed Hayasaka. His gaze had gone past her—to where Shirogane Miyuki and Shinomiya Kaguya were standing at the ticket counter.
'Not bad, President. You move fast.'
He smiled and pulled out his phone to send a message.
—
Buzz~
Just as he was about to redeem his voucher, Shirogane felt his phone vibrate. He looked at it—it was a LINE message from Takamine Rinji.
[President, impressive. You already scored the Shinomiya heiress?]
"Wha!?"
Startled, Shirogane looked around but didn't see Rinji anywhere. He quickly typed back.
[Rinji, you're at the theater?]
[Yep. Just got here and saw you with Shinomiya.]
[It was a coincidence, I swear.]
[Sure, sure… If you need anything, just hit me up. Chika's here too, by the way. I'll try to keep you two from running into each other.]
[You're a lifesaver.]
Shirogane let out a breath of relief, handed his voucher to the clerk, and turned around—only to find Kaguya wasn't behind him anymore.
"...Where'd she go?"
He looked around and saw Kaguya frozen at a different counter, staring blankly.
"...Oh no."
Kaguya had always watched movies in her private theater at the mansion—she had never been to a public theater before. She had no idea how ticketing or seat selection worked.
'Dammit… Kaguya doesn't know what seat I picked. If she chooses at random, we won't be able to sit together. But if I tell her directly…'
——[Now imagine something dumb and dramatic]——
"Ara, did the president go out of his way to tell me where he's sitting because he wanted me to sit beside him? How adorable."
——End of mental dramatization——
'Absolutely not. I just "ran into" Shinomiya. If I go that far, it'll make it look like I wanted to sit with her or something.'
He did want that, actually.
As Shirogane Miyuki was caught in this internal struggle, his eyes suddenly lit up. He pulled out his phone.
[Rinji, you're still at the theater, right?]
[Yeah.]
[Shinomiya doesn't know how to buy tickets or pick seats. Figure out a way to let her know where I'm sitting.]
[Why not just tell her directly?]
[We're supposed to have just bumped into each other... I can't say it myself.]
Takamine Rinji: "..."
He really couldn't understand what the president was thinking anymore.
Still, since he had agreed to help, Rinji would of course come up with a solution.
[Where are you sitting?]
[G-12, for the "Love Refrain" screening in ten minutes.]
[Got it. Leave this to me.]
[Thanks a million.]
Rinji put his phone away and said to Fujiwara Chika beside him, "I'm heading to the ticket counter for a bit. I'll be back soon, wait here."
"Oh, okay."
Without any hesitation, he jogged over to an empty ticket counter.
Shirogane spotted him and gave him a look. Rinji responded silently with an "OK" hand sign.
At the farthest counter stood Shinomiya Kaguya, completely lost.
She had already taken out her voucher, but was stuck at the seat selection screen.
Kaguya wanted to sit next to Shirogane. Going to see a romance movie alone—surrounded by couples and crying aunties—would make all her planning pointless.
Rinji, of course, had no idea what Kaguya was thinking. His job was simply to get her seated next to Shirogane.
"Hello, sir. Can I help you with something?" the ticket attendant asked politely.
"'Love Refrain,' the screening in ten minutes."
"Certainly. Which seat would you like?"
The seat map popped up. Red meant taken, blue meant available.
Rinji pointed to G-12, which Shirogane had booked.
"See this G-12? The seat next to it, G-13…"
"You'd like G-13?"
"No," Rinji said. "I want every other seat booked except G-13."
"...Pardon?"