'Shit! All day shooting geese, and today I got pecked in the eye by a goose.'
Kaito really hadn't expected that there would be a day when he'd be tricked like an idiot by the foolish Anon.
The world's upside down, the pink dragon has devoured its master.
[Anon: I saved the evidence!]
[Anon: Kaito, you wouldn't want people to know you're such a two-faced person, right?]
Maybe because she didn't get a reply in time, the pink-haired girl on the other end quickly sent another obviously cropped screenshot, no context, only the single message: [Go see a movie together?] which looked especially misleading.
To quote out of context, excerpted from Don't Quote Out of Context.
Kaito was silent for two seconds.
'That once-innocent, naive Anon, when exactly did she become this scheming little vixen?'
No, that thought didn't make sense.
He thought a moment, then typed and asked, [Are you free tomorrow?]
———
[Chihaya Residence]
Looking at the message on her screen, the pink-haired girl shot upright like a fish springing, flipped herself up on the bed, crossed her legs, and couldn't help but shout.
"Yay!"
Things were going even smoother than she'd imagined.
So Kaito didn't refuse, asking if she had time wasn't that basically admitting he'd go to the movies with her?
'I must get up and reply!'
She typed excitedly: [Yes, of course I'm free!]
[Kaito: The day after tomorrow?]
[Anon: I'm free then too!]
As a member of the Going-Home Club, Anon lacked many things, but she certainly did not lack free time after school.
Besides, the Chihaya household was open-minded; as long as there was a reasonable excuse, like visiting a classmate's house, it was fine for her to occasionally stay out overnight.
[Kaito: How about yesterday?]
'Hm?"
The girl was a little confused, 'What kind of question is that?'
Although she didn't quite understand what Kaito meant, she obediently replied.
[Anon: Yesterday I was pretty free too… but yesterday's already over, so even if I was free it's useless, right?]
[Kaito: Right.]
[Kaito: I originally wanted to ask you to see a movie yesterday, but unfortunately yesterday's already over.]
Anon: "..."
Anon: "?"
———
The next day—
[Shuka Private Academy]
Walking into the classroom with the morning light, she casually put down her shoulder bag. Before she'd even sat properly, a resentful glare shot straight at her.
Kaito seemed not to notice, only gave a slight nod and calmly said, "Good morning, Chihaya-san"
'Not. Good. At. All! (•̀⤙•́ )'
Anon couldn't help grinding her little sharp tiger teeth; her pink cheeks puffed slightly, looking like an inflated pufferfish.
She sprang up, walked over to Kaito's desk in a few quick steps, planted her hands on the desktop, leaned forward a little, all swagger and pressure.
It was indeed an imposing pose; if Soyo had done it, the visual effect would probably be earth-shattering.
But alas, the one standing there now was a filing-tool monster.
So Kaito felt no pressure at all, casually took out the textbook he'd need later, without looking up, "What is it?"
"Kaito."
There were forty minutes until class; the classroom wasn't crowded, but Anon still instinctively lowered her voice.
With a stern face she said, "About that 'date' yesterday, I think we need to talk."
Kaito raised his eyes slightly, "Oh?"
"About saying you wanted to ask me to see a movie yesterday, but yesterday was already over… that kind of excuse is just teasing people, right?"
She expected him to be smooth, to at least huff and bluff a little.
But the handsome boy in front of her paused for two seconds, then nodded in agreement, "Sorry, you're right. That was rude of me."
"Eh?", Anon froze.
All the comeback lines she'd rehearsed in her head jammed.
Before she could reply, Kaito raised an eyebrow, "But Chihaya-san, didn't you consider that when I said I wanted to ask you yesterday, it might have been just a joke, and actually I'd already bought tickets for tomorrow?"
"Eh? Eh? Eh?"
The pink-haired girl's face flushed; her clever little brain raced and she stammered for a while before managing, "Th-then did you really buy tomorrow's movie tickets?"
Kaito smiled, "I didn't."
Anon: "? 💢💢"
Chihaya Anon was unusually angry.
With her icy brilliance, she naturally guessed she'd been toyed with and played with her feelings.
Twice over, no less.
This was a humiliation she, Anon-chan who always strategized and swept the field, had never experienced.
'You little inherently evil brat, Anon-nee will correct you!'
She put her hands on her hips, trying to force an "angry" expression, but that bright, sunny, lively nature made her look adorably hammed-up instead, like an angry little lion with no dignity.
"Ka! E! To! I'm going to be mad—"
Before she finished, the boy calmly pulled two tickets from his bag and lightly waved them.
"Actually," he said with a small smile, "I bought tickets for today."
Human emotion is a strange thing.
It can change utterly in a matter of seconds.
The girl's dreamy, sakura-pink hair fluttered in the sunlight; joy shone in those gray, deer-like eyes, like scattered starlight.
"R-really?", She leaned closer, her hair swaying with the motion, "Today? What time? Which theater?"
"Six this evening, but…", Kaito showed a perfectly timed puzzled look, "Chihaya-san, were you just angry a moment ago?"
He paused, then considerately suggested as if about to take back the tickets, "If you don't want to go, I can find someone else."
"Wait! Wait! Wait!", Anon hurriedly grabbed his wrist, then realized the intimacy and yanked back, ears red, "Um… I was just joking earlier! I wasn't angry at all!"
"Really?", Kaito considered, "But you did say 'I'm going to be mad'…"
"That was a slip of the tongue!", Anon put her hands together, swore solemnly, "I couldn't possibly mean it! Yes, that's right! I didn't mean it!"
Coming from a humble family is not shameful.
To be adaptable and yielding is the mark of a true man!
'Endure for now; when I catch you, I'll make you carry my bag for a hundred years. A HUNDRED YEARS!'
Thinking a joke should be tempered, and not wanting this girl to really explode, Kaito said no more and simply put the tickets on her desk, "See you at the school gate after class."
"Hehe!"
Anon took the movie tickets like a treasure, smoothing over nonexistent creases with care, unable to stop a smile from rising.
Only—
"'Javier's Moving Castle'?", she read it aloud, syllable by syllable, looking a little bewildered. [T/N: LOL!!]
'What a strange name.'
"It's said to be an uplifting, positive anime movie," Kaito glanced down at his phone, "The director Miyazaki Hidetoshi also did 'Mimi's Delivery Service,' which is well received and rates highly online."
"If you don't like it, we can pick another one."
This wasn't the type of film girls would typically like, was it?
If you watch a movie with a crush, even if not a horror, it should at least be a delicate, sugar-sprinkled romance to set the mood.
But—
"Since you bought the tickets… I'll watch it properly!"
A breeze brushed the curtains, dressing the morning perfectly.
Sunlight through the branches cast warm patches on the desks. The pink-haired girl lay on the desk, murmuring to the tickets "at least it's a date," the blush on her cheeks lingering.
═❀═❀═❀═❀═❀═❀═
patreon.com/AmbitiousTranslator
🥳Joining Patreon keeps me motivated and eager to work diligently, so please consider joining.🥰 You can access upto 20 advance chapter through Patreon.