Chapter 324

A slightly purplish sweatshirt, dark jeans, and white sneakers.

Seeing Renka's outfit, I locked the passenger door, thinking it was a rather refreshing look for her.

She approached the car and reached for the door, only to tug at the handle a few times. "What the...?" she muttered, glaring at me as I sat grinning in the driver's seat.

"Ah, seriously...! You wanna die? Open it right now!"

I was already having fun.

I almost felt like dancing.

I chuckled and unlocked the door. Renka pulled it open and scoffed.

"What kind of stupid prank is this? You think you're funny?"

"Sorry, sorry. Hurry up and get in."

"Unbelievable..."

Renka grumbled as she climbed into the passenger seat and buckled her seatbelt.

I watched her for a moment before speaking up.

"Isn't this almost the first time you've agreed to meet me so willingly, President?"

"...What do you mean 'almost'? It is the first time."

"My mistake."

"Shut up and just drive."

"Why are you so mad?"

"I'm not angry, I'm annoyed."

"Isn't that the same thing?"

"Don't talk back."

"Alright. What movie do you want to see?"

"Whatever's playing soonest."

"Sure."

I easily agreed and started the car.

Driving in silence under the darkening sky made for a pretty nice atmosphere.

I was actually enjoying it, but I doubted Renka felt the same.

She had to be dying of anxiety right now.

A glance at her through the rearview mirror confirmed my suspicions—she was fidgeting in her seat.

She was trying her best not to show it, but it leaked into her eyes and expression.

It was painfully obvious how tense she was.

'She should be taking the bait right about now...'

Just as I thought that, I pulled into the movie theater's Parking Lot. Right as we were about to get out, Renka cleared her throat, and I cheered inwardly.

"Hey."

"What's up?"

"Why did you suddenly ask to meet up, anyway?"

"You said you were bored, President. So was I."

"Just because you were bored?"

"Yeah."

"What were you even doing at home to be that bored?"

Her probing was getting pretty smooth.

Our Renka had really grown.

"I just watched some TV and browsed an anime community."

"An anime community?"

"You like anime too, right, President? Do you know AnyShare?"

"That site...? I know it. It's a huge community. Come to think of it, didn't you say before that you were active on there?"

"Not active. I mostly just lurk."

"Ah... Lurking..."

"What about you, President? Do you post anything on there?"

"No. I don't use it. Didn't I already tell you that?"

That immediate, overly defensive denial only made her look more suspicious.

I had just praised her for improving, only for her to completely drop the ball.

Debating whether or not to humor her clumsy attempt at misdirection, I decided to toss out a little more bait.

"I don't remember... Well, it's a good thing you don't. Keep staying away from it. It's a weird place."

"I plan to, but... what's so weird about it?"

She took the bait hook, line, and sinker. It was hard to hold back my smile.

"There's this really weird person on there."

"Weird person?"

"There's someone who posts anime reviews... I exchange messages with them pretty often."

"Yeah."

"When we talk, I honestly start to think they might be a psychopath."

"A-A psychopath?"

Renka's glare instantly turned fierce.

Because she identified as Ino-chan, hearing her get insulted sparked her temper.

Well, it wasn't just that she identified as her—they were literally the same person. But the point still stood.

"Now that I think about it, she kind of reminds me of you, President."

At my words, Renka's eyes wildly darted around before snapping back to me.

"Reminds you of me?"

"Yeah. I get that kind of vibe."

Maybe she thought hesitating would be a dead giveaway?

She immediately gave a slow, deliberate nod.

"Oh~ is that so?"

I whipped my head the other way and bit down hard on my lower lip.

How was I supposed to hold it in when she was dragging out her words like she was reading from a script?

If she wanted to test my thoughts, she really needed to act the part.

She was going to give herself away at this rate.

"I do."

"I see. And what am I supposed to do with that?"

Hm, much better. The tone was far more natural.

She should have done that from the start... Renka always had to mess up at least once before finding her footing.

"You shouldn't put it like that. I only answered because you were curious, President."

"...I wasn't exactly curious. It was just awkward sitting in silence, so I threw a question out there."

"It wasn't that quiet, though, was it?"

"Shut up and just tell me what movie we're going to watch."

"You said we'd watch whatever plays the soonest."

"Ah, right."

Her mind was clearly in such a mess that she was forgetting her own words.

She had to be worried sick. I decided to ease the pressure on her for now.

Tap.

I gave Renka's rear a light tap from behind as she quickened her pace. She whipped her head around and glared in irritation.

"Ah, seriously...! Stop acting like Trash...!"

"Why? I'm only doing it because I like you."

"..."

Renka's face flushed bright red at my offhand confession.

It was exactly because of this honest side of hers that she couldn't smoothly bluff her way out of the incredibly awkward situation with Ino-chan.

Which only made me like her more.

The earliest movie we could catch was an action-romance with a rather mature rating.

I bought the tickets while Renka complained about why this was the only movie left, then turned to her.

"You're going to eat Popcorn, right?"

"Yeah."

"Let's head to the School Store, then."

"Alright. But... hey."

"What?"

"That gift you mentioned... did you bring it today?"

Even in the middle of all that inner turmoil, she was still curious about that?

I wasn't going to use it until Ino-chan's identity had been fully exposed.

"I didn't bring it today. Why? Are you looking forward to it?"

"Looking forward to it, my foot...! I'm anxious because it's obviously going to be something awful."

"I told you you'd like it."

"That's just what you think...! Anyway, I don't want a gift or anything, so don't bring it next time, either."

"Why are you rambling so much today?"

"Ah, what...!"

"You're so irritable, too. Did you do something wrong to me by any chance?"

"Would I be acting like this if I had?"

"You say that like you know there's a problem with your attitude right now."

"Just shut up and let's go buy Popcorn."

It felt like looking at the Renka from our early days.

But the mindset I had while taking it all in was completely different.

No matter how much she lashed out, it didn't faze me in the slightest.

It just looked like she was throwing a tantrum out of a desperate need to keep Ino-chan's identity a secret.

"You're cute."

A compliment thrown entirely out of nowhere.

Renka's eyes doubled in size.

"Wh-Wh-Wh-What...?"

It wasn't empty flattery; seeing her so flustered was genuinely adorable.

Coming so bluntly from someone as stingy with compliments as me, those words completely wiped away the sharp tension surrounding her, replacing it with a soft, fuzzy atmosphere.

"Let's go."

Enjoying Renka's reaction, I patted the small of her back and gestured toward the School Store with my chin.

At that, her face turned bright red, and she dropped her head to stare at the floor.

Was it because she had spent so much time with Chinami? The current Renka felt quite a bit like her.

This wasn't bad, either.

With that thought, I headed toward the School Store alongside Renka, who was trailing at a snail's pace.

"Ah...! Too easy...!"

The protagonist, his face covered in blood, looked at the extras sprawled out around him.

Suddenly, a woman in a ninja costume popped up right in front of him.

"Ugh!?"

"I like you."

She confessed to him out of nowhere. Rather than being engaging, the timing was so completely out of place that it was just funny.

Still, it had some intensity to it. Not that it changed the fact that the movie was total crap.

Renka must have been thinking the same thing; unable to focus on the screen, she just picked at her Popcorn.

"Boring, isn't it?"

"Yeah. Exactly what I'd expect from a movie you picked."

"Who was the one who said we should watch whatever was playing soonest?"

"There was another movie starting just ten minutes later."

"Then you should have said we should watch that one instead. Why are you blaming me?"

"Just because."

"Just because? For no reason?"

"Right. You hit me for no reason, too."

"I didn't hit you. That was an expression of affection."

"There's no such expression of affection in this world."

Seeing Renka bicker like this, it seemed like a lot of her tension from when I mentioned Ino-chan had faded.

Deciding it was time to drop a little more bait, I leaned over toward Renka's seat.

"President."

"What."

"..."

I called her name but then just stared at her in silence. Her expression turned slightly... very slightly bewildered.

She had sensed something suspicious.

"Why aren't you saying anything...? Did you call me for no reason...?"

She raised her voice just enough not to disturb the other people in the Screening Room.

After dragging out the pause a little longer, I suddenly thrust my face closer to hers.

Then, taking advantage of the moment she pulled her chin back, I muttered in a doubtful tone.

"No matter how much I think about it, the way you act is so similar..."

"Wh-What's similar?"

"You're not, right?"

"I'm asking what...!"

A hint of instinctive whining slipped into her voice.

She probably found me mean for constantly teasing her like this.

Judging by that reaction, I could tell she knew exactly what I was getting at.

Deciding I'd tested the waters enough, I spoke quietly.

"Ino-chan."

"...Who is that?"

I had only mentioned there was a weird person without giving out the nickname, so I'd planned to pounce if she immediately denied being her... but she'd evaded it pretty well.

Should I praise her? Or should I punish her for constantly playing dumb?

"That weird person."

"The one you called a psychopath? Are you insulting me right now?"

She was much calmer than before.

But her eyes were shaking.

It would be so much easier if she just gave up... Did she really hate the idea of getting caught that much?

I wondered how she planned to handle the fallout if she kept feigning ignorance and eventually did get caught...

Not that I minded, but it was a little concerning.

"No. That's not what I meant."

"Stop spout...ing nonsense and just watch the movie...!"

"How am I supposed to watch something this boring?"

"Then leave... Hyak...!?"

Renka let out a soft yelp right in the middle of her grumbling.

Because I had placed my hand on her thigh.

Leaving when I could get away with touching her like this in a relatively private place... That was completely out of the question.

"Why do you always do this without any warning..."

Ignoring Renka's stream of complaints, I kept a completely deadpan expression as I stroked her leg.