"Um… sir, what did you just say?"
"I want every seat booked—except G-13."
"Uh…"
"Is that a problem?"
"No… it's just…"
The attendant looked a bit flustered.
He was alone, yet he wanted to book over a hundred seats. If it were a movie showing in a few hours, that might be normal. But this was ten minutes away—and he clearly didn't have a group behind him.
Some customers book first and refund later. Maybe Rinji was just here to cause trouble?
Rinji glanced toward Shinomiya Kaguya. If she picked a random seat right now, the plan would completely fall apart.
With that in mind, Rinji quickly pulled out his wallet and slapped a black credit card down on the counter.
"Shut up and take my money!!"
"Ah—yes, sir!"
Startled, the attendant hurriedly began processing the request.
Every seat except G-13 turned red on the screen—marked as taken.
After the card was swiped, Rinji gave the president a hand signal from afar: "All done."
Shirogane Miyuki: ???
He had no idea what Rinji had just done—only that he picked a seat, paid, and walked off.
'Wait, did he buy all the seats around mine, then plan to swap a ticket with Kaguya? Isn't that too risky?'
Shirogane had assumed Rinji would somehow discreetly let Kaguya know his location—not… whatever this was.
Meanwhile, Shinomiya Kaguya was still staring at the seat selection screen, stuck in her dilemma.
'Let's assess the situation. My goal today is to sit beside the president during the movie… maybe our hands touch, and I get to enjoy his flustered expression. But if I pick the wrong seat, I'll end up watching a romance movie alone! No way!'
Kaguya started analyzing the seat layout.
'If I were the president, what kind of seat would I pick…?'
Ding~
Suddenly, the screen changed—all the blue seats turned red.
Except one.
Only G-13 remained blue, floating like an island in a red sea.
"Eh! Eh eh eh eh eh eh eh!?"
"I'm sorry, miss," the attendant said. "It looks like someone just reserved all the seats while you were selecting. Only G-13 is still available."
"Wait…"
"If you'd prefer another time slot, there's another showing in thirty minutes."
"…"
'Another time slot!? That means I won't even be in the same showing as the president!'
"No! I'll take this one!"
"Understood."
She handed over the voucher and received a ticket in return.
Kaguya stood frozen, clutching the ticket, feeling devastated.
'All this planning… ruined just like that…'
"Shinomiya, you got your ticket?"
"Yeah… I got it."
"Where are you sitting?"
"…"
Kaguya pursed her lips and reluctantly handed over the ticket.
"Huh? G-13?"
Shirogane was confused. That was right next to him.
"President… where are you sitting?"
"I'm in G-12—right beside you," he said with a forced laugh. "What a coincidence."
"Eh?"
Kaguya's gloomy face suddenly lit up.
The only seat left just so happened to be next to the president? What were the chances?
Of course, she had no time to question it. She simply smiled brightly.
Kaguya: "Today's my lucky day."
Shirogane: "Just what did Rinji do…?"
---
"Everything's handled. I didn't keep you waiting too long, did I?"
"Not at all~"
Fujiwara Chika waved it off and smiled as she held up her voucher. "Let's go exchange ours too! The next showing is in ten minutes."
All of their vouchers had come from Fujiwara Chika—so they were all for the same movie.
"Let's do the one in thirty minutes. I checked—tickets for the one in ten minutes are sold out."
"Really? I didn't expect the movie to be that popular."
"Who knows?"
Rinji said it with a shrug, mainly to avoid running into Shirogane and Kaguya. They'd go in first while he and Chika stayed in the lobby, and by the time they were seated, the first pair would be finishing up.
Of course, Rinji wasn't lying either—the showing was sold out.
The two of them walked to the counter and exchanged their vouchers for tickets to the later screening.
The staff member who helped them was the same one Rinji had earlier overwhelmed with his credit card. She opened her mouth to speak—only for Rinji to silently press a finger to his lips: Shh.
"The tickets are set. Chika-san, can you wait here a moment? I'll go buy popcorn and drinks."
"Ooh~ Thanks a lot~"
As Rinji walked away, Chika sat on a bench in the lobby.
"Huh? Isn't that Fujiwara-san~?"
"Oh?"
Hearing someone call her name, Chika looked up and saw a girl in a sweater waving with a smile—it was Hayasaka Ai.
"Hayasaka~ What a coincidence!"
Chika got up from the bench and jogged over to her.
"Wow, you're here for a movie too?"
"Yeah."
Hayasaka nodded thoughtfully, putting on a mildly troubled look.
"But I haven't decided what to watch yet. Did you already get your ticket, Fujiwara?"
"Mhm! The 'Love Refrain' screening in half an hour. Got the ticket right here~"
Chika handed the ticket to Hayasaka to show her.
Hayasaka's eyes narrowed as she noted the seat number.
'F-17… So Rinji must be in F-16 or F-18.'
"You're watching it alone today?"
"Nope~ I'm here with Takamine-kun," Chika said cheerfully. "You probably don't know him—he's Takamine Rinji, a first-year in the student council, handles the finances."
'Know him? I know him better than you do!'
Hayasaka's smile didn't waver for a moment.
"Then you two came here together—aren't you worried people will say it's a date?"
"Oh, but it is a date."
"!!?"
Hayasaka Ai's expression finally changed.
"You two are already… dating?"
Even she wasn't sure how she felt when she asked that.
All she knew was—it didn't feel good.
"How could that be~"
Fujiwara Chika laughed.
"It's just because I lost a bet, so we're hanging out today~"
"I see…"
Upon hearing that, Hayasaka visibly let out a breath of relief.