Everyone's Dream Goddess, Kikyo

Outside the movie theater.

Unlike the intimate atmosphere inside, the area outside the theater was hosting a meeting as solemn as a United Nations conference.

The Idiot Trio, who had watched one man and three women enter the theater, were now huddled in a circle, plotting something.

"Yamauchi, Sudo, what do you think of that pretty-boy murderer just now? He really pisses me off."

The unpleasant-looking Ike Kanji was the first to speak.

"You saw it too, right? Damn it! It would be one thing if he just spent all day hanging around other girls, but he even went after my Kikyo. He's practically the public enemy of all men!"

Yamauchi Haruki immediately spoke of Kushida Kikyo as though she belonged to him, looking utterly indignant.

"Hey, hey, what do you mean, your Kikyo? She's obviously mine!"

Ike Kanji instantly panicked at the keyword.

"Ike, what nonsense are you talking about? Kikyo and I already held hands and watched the sunrise together at the beach. She even opened her heart to me then, okay? So even imagining it is forbidden for you."

Yamauchi Haruki shamelessly countered Ike Kanji with an utterly unprepared lie.

"Idiot, what did you say?! Kikyo even invited me to her room yesterday, and then..."

"Enough, enough, you're getting off topic! Weren't we talking about that pretty boy just now?"

Unable to stand their nonsense any longer, Ken Sudo loudly interrupted Ike Kanji before he could continue.

"That's right, you got us off topic, Yamauchi!"

Ike Kanji said, slamming his fist into his palm.

"Right, right. Let's discuss how to deal with the public enemy of men first."

Thus, the three began discussing things in a circle, even pulling out their phones midway through to secretly plot something in their group chat.

"By the way, Sudo, why do you hate him too? You've been busy with the Basketball Club and don't have anything to do with him."

Halfway through their discussion, Ike Kanji suddenly asked Ken Sudo.

"That guy always acts high and mighty, like he looks down on us and can't even be bothered to interact with us."

Perhaps it was because Haruo had ignored him every time they ran into each other outside the convenience store, or perhaps because Haruo had sat in front of him for so long without exchanging a single word.

His pride had been getting in the way, leaving him constantly irritated with Kamigami Haruo. So when he heard they were going to teach him a lesson, he became interested.

"Ow... I only accidentally touched your hand. Did you really have to carry a compass around just to stab me?"

Kamigami Haruo said as he rubbed the delicate hand he had taken from the popcorn bucket.

"...So what are you doing?"

As she spoke, Horikita Suzune looked at the hand Kamigami Haruo was rubbing.

"Ah, it was instinctive. Sorry, sorry."

Kamigami Haruo pretended to hurriedly release her hand, then sat upright with a prim expression.

"Pervert."

Perhaps because people needed to stay quiet in the theater, Horikita Suzune spoke even less than usual.

Still, she was certain that Kamigami Haruo had deliberately "accidentally" touched her.

After running into a wall with Horikita Suzune, Kamigami Haruo turned his head to the left. The two cuddled together there were sharing a bucket of popcorn.

All right, he picked up the untouched bucket of popcorn on his left and placed it on his lap, enjoying it by himself.

He did not take the horror movie seriously at all. So what if it was scary? It could not scare him.

He just had to mentally prepare himself for a ghost suddenly lunging at the screen whenever the video changed perspectives.

That certain yuri-loving girl was probably having the time of her life, Chihiro.

But Kamigami Haruo was still terribly bored. He was not interested in the movie and had no idea what to do.

Forget it. Instead of watching a movie, he might as well think about where to go afterward.

By the time the movie had reached its halfway point, the bored Kamigami Haruo could only find someone equally bored to talk to.

"Horikita-san, is there somewhere you want to go?"

"Have we not played enough already?"

Horikita Suzune's voice carried impatience.

If it had been something meaningful, she might have watched it with great interest. But this was a mindless movie that did nothing but scare people, not to mention that it wasted money.

She truly could not appreciate it and had already taken out a novel to read.

"You think we've had enough?"

After shooting Kamigami Haruo a glare, Horikita Suzune continued reading, as though she had already grown accustomed to his thick skin.

"I just feel like the room is too plain. Later, let's buy some decorations or something to spruce it up."

With nothing else to do, Kamigami Haruo kept talking to himself without caring whether anyone replied.

"Besides, we still need to buy groceries later. I said before that this time, I'll cook for you all."

Hearing this, Horikita Suzune, who had been ignoring Kamigami Haruo the entire time, finally looked away from her book. The corner of her expressionless mouth twitched before she finally said,

"I refuse. That deeply ingrained memory makes it impossible for me to trust your cooking skills. Revolting, appetite-destroying, difficult to swallow—those are all seemingly appropriate yet inaccurate descriptions of your food."

"All right, no use saying more. If it tastes bad, I'll perform a handstand while eating."

"Hah... I'll trust you this once, then."

Looking at Kamigami Haruo's face brimming with confidence, Horikita Suzune could only accept with half-belief and half-doubt.

"Absolutely not... What's wrong, Honami?"

Kamigami Haruo felt someone tugging at the hem of his shirt on the left. He swallowed the words assuring Horikita Suzune that he would not disappoint her and turned left.

"Haruo-kun, can you come to the restroom with us?"

After Ichinose said that, Kamigami Haruo looked at his empty cup and suddenly felt his bladder protesting.

"Horikita-san, are you coming too?"

Horikita Suzune nodded and stood up as well, heading toward the restrooms with the other three.

Having finished first, Kamigami Haruo stood not far from the women's restroom and waited for the three girls, wondering if they should just leave the theater.

After all, aside from the scares, this horror movie was nothing but idiotic plotlines.

"I completely fail to understand these meaningless images. Watching this sort of video will only lower my intelligence. If we are going to keep watching, I will leave first."

At that moment, Horikita Suzune, who had just dried her hands, walked up beside Kamigami Haruo and tactfully expressed her thoughts.

"Let's leave together. I don't want to watch anymore either. Let's wait for them first."

Since someone had conveniently suggested not watching anymore, Kamigami Haruo simply decided to quit as well.

"Mm."

After a while, Shiranami Chihiro emerged trembling from the women's restroom while clinging to Ichinose's arm. She really wanted to stay close to her at every moment.

Seeing this, Kamigami Haruo walked over and asked the two what they thought.

Neither hesitated to say that they wanted to leave, though Shiranami Chihiro was somewhat reluctant. After all, she would no longer have an excuse to cling to Ichinose.

"Chihiro, your reluctance is written all over your face. If you don't want to part, I can cling to you too."

Kamigami Haruo could not quite stand watching anymore, especially since Ichinose already had an awkward expression on her face.

"Hmph."

At his words, Shiranami Chihiro released the arm she had been holding, turned her head away so she would not look in Kamigami Haruo's direction, and revealed faintly reddened cheeks where no one could see.