Chapter 196 Our Second Movie Date

Our Second Movie Date

I get up early in the morning and wait in front of the station.

On Saturday, I would’ve liked to sleep in a little longer, but thanks to my appointment with Ichijo-san, I woke up easily. As expected, too much has happened this week. I think this is the most intense two weeks of my life.

“I’m looking forward to the movie.”

Today is our movie date. I’ve been looking forward to it for a long time too.

I heard that Ichijo-san watches movies and reads books in her spare time. So she knows a lot about interesting movies and books. I’m familiar with novels, but movies are not my specialty, so I’m grateful for that.

The last movie I watched with Ichijo-san “Forrest Gump” was interesting, and I learned a lot about American history. The Cold War, the Vietnam War, black racism, political scandals. It was very interesting to see the method of reproducing the great flow of history from the perspective of ordinary people. I think I can apply this to my own creative work.

The movie I’m going to see today is called “Kotonoha no Niwa” (The Garden of Words), an animated love story between a teacher and a male student set in Shinjuku Gyoen. It’s the director’s (Makoto Shinkai) previous animated movie, which is famous for its personality-swapping (Kimi no Na wa/Your Name), and it is being shown in a revival at a theater in Tokyo. (Zeus: I think you should try to see it, Kotonoha no Niwa. It’s very interesting and will probably become one of your favorite movies)

“It was a movie that was shown when I was little, so I wanted to see it in a real theater. I collect the director’s movies on Blu-ray.”

She looked like a little girl her age. It is nice to see Ichijo-san put aside her heavy “baggage” and give me a carefree smile that is typical of high school girls.

Things are going very badly at school. The investigation into the Literature Club is in full swing, and the teachers told us that they have discovered that the manager of the Literature Club, Tachibana, was the main mastermind along with Kondo. They told us that the school will show no mercy to the perpetrators of bullying, assault, and theft.

(Eiji, don’t worry. We’ll take care of the rest.)

Mom said this out of concern for me. I decided to use her words. Instead of resenting others forever, I wanted to look forward to writing novels and working with Ichijo-san and the friends who helped me. I wanted to do something for my future self.

“Senpai, thank you for waiting. I look forward to working with you today.”

Ichijo-san was wearing a quiet white dress.

The screening starts at 10:00 a.m., so we gathered about two hours before. It seems Ichijo-san wanted to think carefully about the leaflets, juice, and popcorn for the movie, so we came early.

Without a word of greeting, she got on the train right away.

She looked very excited.

“Are you that excited?”

“Yes, I am! Movie theaters are very special to me. In the theater, I can forget about many things. I can be immersed in everything and forget about time. I can choose my own snacks and juices in a movie theater.”

She could really be a young lady. That’s probably why there are so few places where she can be free.

“Oh, are you laughing at me? You thought I was childish, didn’t you?”

She is a bit sulky but sweet, she seems to be enjoying herself more than ever.

“No way.”

She laughs at my lame excuse. It’s fun, it’s really fun, I can’t help it. It was such a girl’s smile.

“Well, anyway. I guess I’m childish myself. But you know, Senpai. Until the other day, I had never watched a movie with people from my house. So the last time we watched a movie together was the first time. It was a lot of fun. Watching a movie with someone I like.”

“I’m happy. I’m looking forward to it too. Ichijo-san has good taste in movies.”

She turns away, trying to hide her blush of happiness and embarrassment.

“Oh God, you always catch me off guard like this. It’s not fair. It makes me too happy and embarrassed to be praised for exactly what I like…”

“Is there anywhere else you would like to go today?”

“I would like to go on a pilgrimage to a holy place to see a movie, and I would also like to go to a cafe that looks delicious. Also, if you have time… it’s a little far away… but there’s a place I’d like to visit with Senpai. I have a lot to tell you.”

Her face suddenly becomes serious from the relaxed expression she had before. She seemed to have decided to say something difficult.

I don’t think I need to ask her. I think it’s okay if we continue to have a good time together. But considering her serious nature, I think it would be hard for her not to tell me. Then I’ll just let her tell me at her own pace.

“Oh, let’s go. Wherever Ichijo-san wants to go, I’ll follow her.”

She smiles, a little relieved.

Our fun weekend date has just begun.