LIGHTNOVELWORLD Chapter 16_ Movie Date
The overcast day meant that waiting outside was slightly less pleasant.
I had purposely left the details of the date vague. As a result, Miyazaki-san had messaged me several times in the last few days, anxiously confirming the specifics. I needed to keep her on her toes. A prideful celebrity like her wasn’t going to just let me get whatever I wanted.
I didn’t think of any specific date plan to give myself freedom when it came to altering the day to suit her liking.
The meeting place was set relatively close to a bus stop so I could conveniently arrive.
Standing outside of a clothing store on the outskirts of the mall, I waited for her to arrive.
…
I saw Miyazaki-san walking over to me, dressed casually. An oversized sweater with a mini skirt; it was quite a contrast to her outfit during the dating show. Still she still had on a mask and beanie, although she was missing the sunglasses.
“Hey, Miyazaki-san.”
“H-hi… Mizutaka-kun.”
She looked down at her hands, twirling them under her long sleeves. I moved a little closer to her, gesturing for her to enter the mall with me.
“How’ve things been going?”
She looked up at me with an angry expression.
“You ask me how I’m going after turning my life upside-down?!”
“Hey, you’re the one that went on a sketchy dating show.”
“The show wasn’t that sketchy! You’re the sketchy one!”
She laughed a little.
I led her over to a small cafe by the entrance. It was one that was quite popular on Instagram. The prices were a little steep, but Yoshikawa-sensei had offered to pay some of the amount—in exchange for my aid.
Untitled—was the name of the cafe. It was quite a tacky name in my opinion, but what works, works, I guess.
The shopping centre was a little busier than I would’ve liked, but it mostly wasn’t a problem. I made a booking earlier, so there shouldn’t be an issue with seating. Presentation was all that mattered, anyways.
“Here, let’s go to Untitled.”
“Oh? Not a bad choice, I guess.”
She followed me inside without much concern. It seemed that she still wasn’t comfortable making eye contact with me. Oh well, we were still in the early stages.
The two of us took a seat.
“Choose whatever you want.”
She bashfully glanced up at me a few times before looking down at the menu. Her cheeks were slightly blushed, but the conversation wasn’t flowing as freely as I would’ve liked.
I needed to make conversation whilst leading it away from anything related to her status.
“I hope you’re not struggling with your schoolwork.”
There was a brief moment of silence.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“You seem so busy with acting things these days. How do you fit in everything else?”
“I’m very organised, I’ll have you know! I always get in at least an hour of homework a night. You’re lucky I made this time in my schedule to come on this… date…”
She looked down at the table.
“Well, your outfit is cute. I’m glad you took time to prepare for this.”
“W-when did I say I prepared for this?! Anyways, I have to keep up my appearance, you know? To not embarrass myself outside…!”
“You’ll be happy to know that I’ve also been preparing for today.”
“All you did was book this cafe, wasn’t it? I’ve got things planned for today as well. You’re going to see how much you missed out on!”
“How much I missed out on?”
“Never mind! How about you? You were the guest star on Sweeping Love, weren’t you? What do you do for a living? Are you an actor?”
“I don’t really do much. Like I said, I’ve been trying to live a normal life. Still, getting into the acting business might be inevitable.”
“Oh?”
The waiter brought our food over.
The conversation died down as we ate.
…
I made my way over to the counter and paid for the meal. After tapping my card, I noticed that Miyazaki-san had some sort of ticket on her phone.
“What’s that?” I asked.
“L-like I said. I’ve prepared something for the two of us!”
Grabbing my arm, she began pulling me toward the cinema.
I already knew what was going to happen.
Generally, I’d be pretty against watching a movie on a first date. In terms of impressions, movie dates don’t give a deal of opportunities to talk with each other. However, this was different, I was pretty sure that she was going to show a movie with her in it. In particular, I assumed that she was going to show me Summer Tomorrow—it was likely the movie that she was most proud of.
Well, let’s see what she’s thinking.
“So Mizutaka-kun… you said you liked movies, right?”
“I did.”
“Well, I’ve got a movie for us to watch.”
We made our way to the clerk. Miyazaki-san was making extra sure not to accidentally show her face to them.
Unlocking her phone, she got us entry into one of the Gold-Class rooms.
When we entered the room, I could clearly see what movie it was—Summer Tomorrow—as I suspected.
“Y-you probably know already, but I’m in this movie…!”
“The host did say something about that. I’m excited to see you.”
I couldn’t really see in the dark room, but she was covering her face with her sleeve.
“Eh… now that we’re actually in here, it’s pretty embarrassing…”
“Well, I’m just really happy to see a movie with you, Miyazaki-san.”
“Really…? You’re happy?”
She seemed surprised for some reason.
“Yeah.”
“W-well, that’s good…!”
The movie began to play.
…
It wasn’t too bad. It was weird watching a movie with the lead sitting right next to you. She seemed to be having fun, which was good.
Now… how was I going to progress this?
I guess I’d have to make a few more large gestures.
I needed to keep her attention, after all.