Want to Watch a Movie...?

Toru Hasegawa answered honestly. "Would you believe me if I said it was to get a girl?"

There was no helping it. When students were part of a group, going after the group would inevitably lower their individual opinion of him.

Suzune Horikita's situation was ultimately a rare exception.

"That's a pretty good reason, if you hadn't put it that way." Ran Morishita's world-weary expression was as unchanged as ever.

Toru Hasegawa shook his head. "It has nothing to do with how I said it. I really do mean it. This afternoon, I'm going to the movies with students from Class D. If you don't believe me, come see for yourself. It was the same thing earlier, at the entrance to the dorm. You just happened to show up and call me over."

"So that's why you wanted to borrow my phone?"

"Yeah. I've already made plans with someone else, so it'd be a real pain not to have a phone to contact them."

Toru Hasegawa wasn't lying, so Ran Morishita fell into thought.

"Looks like I'll have to change my adventure plans a little today. As a knight of Class A, it's my duty to find out what kind of person Toru Hasegawa really is."

After openly declaring her intent to spy on him, Ran Morishita handed Toru Hasegawa her phone.

"Phew, you've been a huge help."

The whole process had been bizarre, but Toru Hasegawa had gotten his hands on a precious phone.

He took it carefully, prompting a strange look from Ran Morishita. "What are you doing?"

"I just broke someone's phone by accident, so I decided I should be careful with this one," Toru Hasegawa lied without batting an eye.

"You really are a strange person. Hehe."

"Not at all. And you really shouldn't be saying that to me."

Toru Hasegawa was starting to seriously wonder if the other girl's hobby was observing people. He'd said something similar before, but the circumstances were obviously different.

With some time to spare before one in the afternoon, Toru Hasegawa waited outside the dorm and met Airi Sakura. The number above her head had disappeared.

As soon as Airi Sakura saw Ran Morishita behind Toru Hasegawa, she reacted like a startled rabbit.

"My phone broke, so I borrowed her phone to send you a message." Toru Hasegawa briefly explained why the other girl was there. "Just think of her as a guardian spirit hanging around behind me—or at least, I'd like to say that, but I guess I can't, can I?"

So this was the owner of that number... Airi Sakura raised her head slightly to look at Ran Morishita, only to meet her gaze directly.

"..."

Then she lowered her head again.

Toru Hasegawa noticed and turned to Ran Morishita. "Don't scare her. Sakura is really shy around people... or so I'll say, anyway."

"No, it's okay." Airi Sakura raised her head. "I'm Airi Sakura from Class D. Pleased to meet you."

"Ran Morishita, Class A."

Looks like introductions were something she could manage just fine.

Toru Hasegawa filed that information away.

But Airi Sakura had probably changed a little, too. Usually, she would have spoken much more haltingly in a situation like this.

Was it because she'd prepared herself in advance? After all, she was going to the movies with someone she didn't know.

"There are quite a few unexpected people here."

Manabu Horikita and Akane Tachibana entered the first-year dorm building. Seeing two people there besides Toru Hasegawa, they looked a little surprised.

"Things just sort of ended up this way because of a few things," Toru Hasegawa said with a smile. His earlier memories flashed through his mind. "What about you? Are you dating Tachibana-senpai now?"

"Eek!" x2

Two people reacted dramatically at the same time: Akane Tachibana and Airi Sakura.

"Nothing like that is going to happen for now," Manabu Horikita replied calmly.

"I see..." Toru Hasegawa neither agreed nor disagreed. "Anyway, let's wait for the last person to show up."

"There's someone else?" Airi Sakura asked timidly. Even she knew the famous Student Council President standing in front of her, so she was extremely nervous.

"Yeah, she's from Class D, just like you. Oh, there she is."

Just as he spoke, with the time nearing one in the afternoon, Suzune Horikita appeared in the lobby.

She paused when she saw five people waiting for her, but quickly walked over with a cold expression.

"So this is what you meant by going to see a movie?"

"Yeah. Just tell me, is President Horikita here or not?"

"..."

Suzune Horikita could only fall silent.

Even she wasn't so foolish that she couldn't tell this was a setup aimed at her. And yet, she'd walked right into it.

The six of them arrived at the movie theater in Keyaki Mall. The place got extremely busy whenever school was out, and Manabu Horikita undoubtedly attracted a lot of attention.

People greeted him along the way, casting curious glances at the others.

"I didn't expect you to do something like this during the break, Senior Horikita."

The person who approached them was unexpected—or, rather, entirely expected.

It was Miyabi Nagumo from Class 2-A.

Manabu Horikita's expression didn't change. As though he'd expected this, he gave a slight nod.

"He's a junior I value highly. There's nothing wrong with watching a movie once in a while."

"Let's say that's why." Miyabi Nagumo looked with interest at the people beside Manabu Horikita. "Can I join you?"

"I'll shoot you on the spot. I'll take responsibility," someone whispered from behind them. Toru Hasegawa was a little speechless.

Shoot him? Take responsibility? Toru Hasegawa didn't believe a word of it.

Fortunately, Miyabi Nagumo hadn't heard, and Manabu Horikita agreed to his request.

And so the group grew again, bringing their number to seven.

Miyabi Nagumo bought a movie ticket on his own. It was a theatrical release based on an anime that had been popular in recent years. Its box-office records kept climbing, but its reputation kept falling.

It was a movie aimed more at fans, but it was still easy enough for someone who'd never seen the series to follow.

More or less.

But watching the movie was just an excuse. Toru Hasegawa was really keeping an eye on Suzune Horikita.

She kept turning her head toward Manabu Horikita, and Toru Hasegawa guessed she probably wasn't paying much attention to the movie.

Those two hours must have been a real ordeal for her.

Even so, Suzune Horikita held out until the movie ended.

"I swear, I'm never going to the movies with you again."

As soon as the movie ended, Toru Hasegawa said this to Ran Morishita.

"You heard me? But I got it right, didn't I? Both the plot and the ending." Ran Morishita looked completely unconcerned.

"No, that's not the point." Toru Hasegawa was at a loss for words. "Anyway, I can't imagine what kind of environment could have produced someone like you... a talent."

"Oh, oh, thank you for the compliment. Actually, I used to live somewhere similar to Academy City."

That was an outright lie. Toru Hasegawa had stopped expecting anything she said in that state to be true.

"The movie was great. I'm heading out," Manabu Horikita said, then left with Akane Tachibana, as if they really had only come to watch a movie.

Miyabi Nagumo looked like he couldn't believe it. "He's leaving already?"

Then what had been the point of watching a movie he'd already seen again?

"I was the one who invited him yesterday, Senior Nagumo."

Toru Hasegawa had more or less figured it out. Miyabi Nagumo seemed to have an unusually strong fixation on Manabu Horikita.

The way he'd kept an eye on him along the way, his pretending to run into them at the movie theater, and how happy he'd looked the first time Toru Hasegawa called him by name...

A little twisted, perhaps.

Miyabi Nagumo glanced at Toru Hasegawa and casually asked, "He seems to be spending more time with Tachibana-senpai lately. Do you know why?"

"Weren't they already spending a lot of time together?" Toru Hasegawa judged based on what he'd seen before.

"No." Miyabi Nagumo's gaze passed in turn over Toru Hasegawa, Airi Sakura, Ran Morishita, and Suzune Horikita. "They're even closer now."

"Maybe he's finally warming up to her. You're a little too fixated, Senior Nagumo, if you're monitoring President Horikita's private life, too."

At that, the atmosphere, which had been fairly friendly until then, turned dangerous in an instant.