Ayaka and Sakura were old best friends.
She could tell at a glance that the latter didn't mean it, but…
She couldn't be bothered to care.
Speaking of which, would Sakura be interested in this kind of movie? As far as she knew, Sakura was so old-fashioned she usually didn't even watch TV, right?
Being interested in people was more like it.
"Then, Ayaka-senpai, would you like to come along?" Hayato asked.
"No, it's too childish." Ayaka brushed her long, dark hair that rested on her shoulders, and said indifferently, "Besides, unlike you two, I have many social gatherings to attend on weekends."
"Damn it! Why can't it be a solo date? If it were a solo date, I would definitely agree! You and Sakura, plus me? Do you want me to be a third wheel, damn it!" Ayaka thought to herself.
"Then Masafumi?" Hayato asked.
Although Sakura and Masafumi currently had no substantial progress, perhaps this was their opportunity to break through their relationship.
Upon hearing Senior Hayato's question, Masafumi's expression instantly brightened. His admired senior, and his revered senior, going to the movies with them would be like two joys stacked together…
He was about to answer.
"Masafumi, your swordsmanship has been getting increasingly unstable lately," Ayaka said, narrowing her eyes, a reproachful light in her slender gaze.
"Huh?" Masafumi was startled.
"Train properly!" Ayaka reprimanded, "When you become a 'senior' yourself, you'll have plenty of time to play!"
"Masafumi, I usually think you're pretty sharp, how can you be so oblivious?!" Ayaka thought to herself.
"…Y-Yes!" Masafumi stood at attention and answered loudly.
"'When you go to college, you'll have plenty of time to play'—what a Japanese-style parental education," Hayato muttered.
"That's not right, is the plot until Hatsumi appears still that far off? Masafumi and Sakura, let alone a relationship, it seems their frequency of talking has recently dropped to almost nothing."
"And for him and Sakura to go to the movies together, is that appropriate?"
"Let me check the showtimes—"
Hayato thought about various random things while opening his phone to search for movie showtimes.
Then he saw the promotional slogan for the film "Alpaca Princess the Movie ~ The Princess Who Won't Be Stained by Turbidity."
"From zero to one, pure friendship, noble family love misunderstood by the world, and love that comes like a tide, in Eos, a plain located in the western part of the Cernun Continent, with the weakening of the Dark Queen's power as an opportunity, the story of the alpaca princess and the blonde prince restarts!!"
Ah, just looking at the slogan already felt incredibly exciting; it must be a very passionate and touching pure love story. But the place Hayato was most concerned about was the small print below:
"This film is a family-friendly animated movie. Couples, friends, siblings, father-daughter, mother-son are welcome to watch together. If two people attend, you will receive two 'Alpaca Princess' keychains."
After looking at the image of the keychains, Hayato turned off his phone.
"It's just watching a movie together, what's so inappropriate about it? And it's a pure love movie, purely for future 'safety' education."
"Damn it! I want it!"
"That keychain!"
"Then let's meet at the usual spot afterwards," Hayato said.
"Okay." Sakura nodded obediently. "Then the time…"
"I'll contact you then." Hayato shook his phone.
Sakura smiled even sweeter. "Yes, I have his phone number now, I can contact him anytime~~~"
…
So, when would be the best time to send a message?
After returning home, Sakura fell silent at the dinner table.
Tomorrow was the start of the weekend, and she had agreed to go to the movies with Hayato-kun, but…
Even now, Hayato hadn't told her the time.
At times like this, she should bring out the technological artifact she had recently acquired, the "phone number," to get the answer.
But, when would be the best time to ask?
Sakura was so conflicted.
Her upbringing had been very strict since childhood; she wasn't even allowed to watch much TV, so she had always been a high-tech illiterate.
Her phone was the kind that wouldn't even turn off after three days without charging and could still be used normally.
Normally, only Ayaka would text or call her to talk about things or chat.
In short, Ayaka was always the one taking the initiative.
But now, this "Ayaka" had become "Hayato"… Sakura felt she should take the initiative herself, but she didn't know when to do so without making the other person uncomfortable.
Sakura thought, if Hayato-kun was busy right now, calling him or even texting him would be disturbing him.
"Would that be bad?"
After all, Hayato-kun didn't seem to like her much to begin with, and even her phone number was given after Akane's…
The idea of asking Hayato-kun to go to the movies was a sudden impulse of Sakura's.
Of course, she rarely had such impulsive moments; even thinking about it afterwards, Sakura felt it was a bit unlike herself.
She just felt that Hayato-kun said Akane was like her, both friends with him.
But in Sakura's heart, she still felt there was a slight difference.
For example, Akane got his phone number earlier than her.
So, to be ahead of Akane in the "watching movies" category, that's what Sakura considered barely being the same.
A little bit of competitive spirit.
Sakura rarely showed such competitive spirit, except when it came to winning or losing in kendo.
"Sakura? What's wrong?"
The graceful woman sitting next to her was Sakura's mother, Tsubaki.
She was nearly forty, but her appearance was dignified, maintaining the beauty of her youth, while also gaining a certain depth accumulated over the years.
Especially her chest, it was particularly full.
At the Miyajima family dinner table, the rule of "no talking while eating" was always observed.
This time, Tsubaki broke the silence, but Sakura's grandfather said nothing. He, too, had noticed his granddaughter's absentmindedness.
"Have you encountered a bottleneck in kendo?" her grandfather asked.
"No, I haven't." Sakura smiled and shook her head. "Recently, I've gained a lot in kendo."
And all of this was thanks to Hayato-kun.
"Then what are you thinking about?" Tsubaki asked. Her daughter, aside from being devoted to kendo, rarely cared about other things.
"Hmm, nothing," Sakura said, reaching out to pick up some food. "Oh, by the way, Mom, I'm going out to see a movie with a friend this weekend, so I can't stay home with you."
Upon hearing this, her grandfather raised an eyebrow but remained silent.
"It's alright, young people should go out and have fun with friends," Tsubaki said with a smile. "Is it with Ayaka again?"
"No."
"…Not Ayaka?" Tsubaki was a bit surprised. "Then is it that girl who went grocery shopping with you last time?"
"No."
Tsubaki stroked her face, smiling contentedly, "It seems Sakura has made many new friends recently. Are they new members of her club?"
"Mm." Sakura nodded and said, "I went out earlier to accompany him to buy a wooden sword, and then he accompanied me to get the special-priced meal."
"Hm?" Tsubaki was a little confused; didn't she just say…
"But he's not a girl; he's a boy," Sakura said.