Out of everyone in the theater, perhaps the only person who couldn't fully immerse himself in the movie was Natsukawa Kanade.
It wasn't that he wasn't paying attention. On the contrary, the more he focused, the worse things got.
His nerves had been on edge ever since he sat down, half-expecting his scheming Senpai to pull something sneaky. But strangely enough, Kasumigaoka Utaha had been quiet the entire time, her gaze fixed on the screen.
For a while, things were… tolerable.
Sure, there were some "artistic" scenes that pushed the boundaries of public decency, but they didn't last too long. The movie quickly returned to normal, much to Kanade's relief.
He could finally let out a breath and—
—Hold on.
Why was he suddenly hearing someone's breathing so clearly?
And more importantly…
"What do you think you're doing?"
His voice, cold and sharp, cut through the dim atmosphere.
Utaha Kasumigaoka, who had been on the verge of dozing off, opened her eyes.
A completely unfamiliar man stood in front of her.
Short, sleazy, and holding a mop—yet, for some inexplicable reason, his hand was reaching toward her.
And next to him, gripping his wrist tightly, was Natsukawa Kanade.
Her drowsiness vanished instantly as she took a step back, placing Kanade between herself and the creep.
"Are you okay, Senpai?" Kanade asked, his gaze never leaving the man in his grasp.
Utaha blinked, then nodded. "Yeah. He didn't touch me."
Although she had nearly fallen asleep, she had still been aware enough to sense someone approaching.
At first, she had thought it was her Kouhai.
But instead of Kanade, she had been met with the sight of a disgusting piece of trash.
The realization made her stomach churn.
Why are there scumbags like this everywhere?
If Kanade hadn't stepped in, she would have been dealing with a very unpleasant situation right now.
Seeing that she was unharmed, Kanade shifted his full attention to the man before him.
"Unlock your phone and hand it over." His tone was merciless. "If there's nothing suspicious, you can leave."
The man's beady eyes darted around in panic before he forced an awkward grin. "I-I was just trying to wake her up! Sleeping here isn't good, right? She might catch a cold—"
Kanade's eyes narrowed.
"You think I didn't see what you were doing?" His voice turned even colder. "You have two choices. One: I call the police, and they investigate you. Two: I investigate you."
The man's face went pale.
He started to struggle, trying to wrench his arm free—but Kanade's grip only tightened.
The more the man resisted, the more pressure Kanade applied.
Pain shot through the creep's wrist, and he finally broke.
"I-I'll give it to you! Just—just let go!" He fumbled with his phone, quickly unlocking it and handing it over.
Kanade wasted no time.
With one hand, he twisted the man's arm into a position of pure agony, ensuring he couldn't make any sudden moves. With the other, he scrolled through the phone's contents.
And the more he saw, the more disgusted he became.
Kanade's expression darkened.
No.
Calling this guy a rice weevil was too kind.
He was worse.
He was a parasite—no, a walking pile of filth.
His stomach twisted in pure rage as he snapped a few pictures of the evidence with his own phone.
Then, without hesitation—
He drove his fist straight into the creep's stomach.
"GUH—!"
The man's body folded in on itself.
His knees buckled, and he collapsed onto the floor, clutching his stomach and wailing in pain.
Kanade exhaled sharply.
"Looks like I wasn't wrong about you," he muttered, spitting to the side in disgust. Then, turning to Utaha, he said simply, "Senpai, call the police."
He didn't want to deal with this guy any longer.
The evidence was secured, the bastard was immobilized, and now it was up to law enforcement to handle the rest.
Not that it fully satisfied him.
No—Kanade wouldn't be satisfied until he knew for sure that this guy's entire future was ruined.
—
While Kanade was busy seething, Utaha was watching him with… a different kind of focus.
Something about this whole scene had caught her interest.
Her junior—usually so composed and mild-mannered—had just displayed a completely different side of himself.
A rough, intense side.
She had always assumed Kanade was the type to rely on words rather than violence.
But seeing him like this—strong, decisive, unwavering—
It was, frankly…
"Kakui!"
She felt safer than ever.
"Already called them," she confirmed, her voice light with amusement. Then, without thinking, she reached out—
And poked his bicep.
—
Kanade froze.
"...Senpai."
"Yes?" Utaha responded, her fingers still exploring his arm.
"What are you doing?"
She tilted her head. "Hm? Just touching."
"..."
Kanade stared at her.
"…Why?"
Utaha gave a completely innocent smile. "My junior doesn't look that strong, but he's surprisingly powerful~"
As she spoke, she pinched his arm experimentally, as if testing his muscle density.
"…Senpai."
"Hmm?"
"If you want to mess with me, can you at least pick a better time?!"
Utaha hummed thoughtfully, ignoring his protest as she continued her research.
For some reason, Utaha Kasumigaoka found herself intrigued. Kanade's strength wasn't just something to be admired—it was something she wanted to understand better. Not through words, but through experience.
She absentmindedly pinched his arm again.
"Seriously, Senpai, enough already," Kanade sighed, rolling his eyes. "I'm not some muscle freak, but compared to the average guy in our swimming class, I'm definitely on the stronger side. Though, if you compare me to those sports club maniacs who practically live in the gym, I guess I'd still be considered 'normal'..."
Utaha blinked. "Oh? So humble. But sure, sure, I believe you, Junior."
Her tone was completely perfunctory. Kanade could practically see the "I totally don't care" expression written all over her face.
"Yeah, yeah, whatever," he shrugged.
As if they were in their own world, the two continued chatting, utterly ignoring the sorry state of the pervert still kneeling on the ground. Not that he deserved any sympathy. The guy didn't even try to run. He knew it was game over.
Soon, a pair of police officers arrived, responding swiftly to the reported incident. Their eyes swept over the scene, quickly piecing together what had happened. With Kanade providing solid evidence, their job was all too easy.
Rather than scolding Kanade for his "violence," the officers actually gave him an approving nod.
"Good work, kid. Courageous of you to step in."
Kanade simply nodded, uninterested in the praise. He didn't do this for recognition—he just couldn't stand scum like that walking around freely.
The officers swiftly apprehended the suspect and prepared to take him in. As they were about to leave, one of them turned back to Kanade.
"If you have time, drop by the station to give a formal statement. We'll also be sending a letter of appreciation for your assistance."
"Yeah... I'll pass on that," Kanade waved them off. The last thing he wanted was to be in the spotlight over something like this.
With the mess finally over, Utaha turned to Kanade with a sly smirk.
"Junior, that was seriously cool. If I were to rate your chivalry today, I'd give you... a perfect 10!"
"Oh? That's rare, getting full points from you." Kanade raised an eyebrow, feigning indifference.
In truth, he was pleased—not because of the praise, but because he had personally dealt with that trash.
"But," Utaha continued, a mischievous glint in her eyes, "you still have 90 points left before you reach perfection."
Kanade immediately facepalmed. "...Wait, so it was out of 100? What kind of messed-up scoring system is that?"
But considering the person in front of him was Utaha Kasumigaoka, this kind of nonsense actually felt pretty on-brand. He decided to let it slide.
Checking the time, he nudged her lightly. "It's getting late. If we don't hurry, we might miss the last train."
Utaha, however, shook her head, looking completely unbothered. "No worries. I checked earlier—the last train is in two hours. That means we have time for a proper dinner first."
Her stomach let out a faint growl, as if to emphasize her point.
Kanade stared at her. "So that's the real reason, huh?"
"Obviously," she said shamelessly.
"Fine, fine." Kanade wasn't particularly hungry, but he figured he might as well go along with it. Pulling out his phone, he began searching for nearby restaurants.
Utaha, instead of taking out her own phone, casually leaned in to look at his screen.
Kanade raised an eyebrow. "Senpai, don't you have your own phone?"
"Oh, it's almost out of battery, so I'm saving power," she replied without missing a beat.
Kanade glanced at her skeptically. That was a lie. He was sure of it. Utaha barely touched her phone the entire evening—there was no way her battery was that low.
"...You just don't want to do the work yourself, huh?"
Utaha gave him an innocent smile. "How could you say that? I'm simply relying on my dependable junior."
Kanade sighed in defeat and continued scrolling. Eventually, the two of them stopped at the same listing—a well-rated family restaurant just a short walk away.
They both pointed at it at the same time.
"This one looks good," Kanade said. "It has great reviews. We shouldn't get scammed."
"Agreed," Utaha nodded. "And it's close by, too."
A brief silence fell between them. Then, they exchanged a glance.
"...Wait a second."
Something felt off about this situation. Shouldn't the guy be the one picking a restaurant while the girl hesitates over choices? Why did it feel like their roles had been reversed?
Shaking off that strange thought, Kanade and Utaha quickly confirmed their belongings before setting off according to the map.
However, just as they began walking, a sudden realization hit Kanade like a critical strike to the soul.
"Wait... my popcorn!"
Utaha blinked at his sudden outburst.
Kanade sighed dramatically, clutching his forehead. "Damn it..."
He had completely forgotten about his nearly untouched bucket of popcorn and the large cup of cola sitting in the movie theater. The very same popcorn he barely got to enjoy, and the cola he had barely sipped before being dragged into an unexpected battle against a degenerate.
"What a waste…" he muttered, looking genuinely regretful.
Utaha, who had been walking beside him, suddenly stiffened.
"H-huh? You haven't finished your drink yet?"
Kanade turned to her, arching an eyebrow. "Yeah, I only had a sip or two, I think…"
Utaha's eyes twitched slightly.
Oh. Oh no.
Her mind replayed her brilliant plan from earlier.
She had secretly taken a few sips of his cola while he was in the restroom, hoping that when he noticed the drink was a little less, he'd realize the indirect "kiss" they shared. Maybe he'd get all flustered, maybe he'd awkwardly avoid eye contact—maybe, just maybe, she'd get to see that rare, priceless expression of his.
But now?
He hadn't even noticed!
Utaha felt like she had just taken psychic damage.
If he wasn't going to realize it on his own, what was even the point?
Regret gnawed at her heart. If only she had been bolder! If only she had held onto the drink and taken a sip right in front of him!
Ugh… what a waste of a perfectly good romantic setup!
Meanwhile, Kanade, seemingly oblivious, continued processing the situation in his own way.
So… she definitely did something to my drink.
His instincts weren't screaming at him, so he was fairly certain it wasn't something ridiculous like mustard or wasabi. The taste had been completely normal, after all.
But knowing his senpai, there was definitely some kind of scheme involved.
He cast a brief, unreadable glance at Utaha.
Utaha, catching his gaze, immediately turned away, pretending to be very interested in the distant streetlights.
Yep. Definitely guilty.
Kanade didn't say anything, though. He simply stored this information away for now.
Seeing his usual expressionless face, Utaha was convinced he hadn't noticed a thing.
Ugh… what a loss!
She clenched her fists slightly, frustrated by how the situation had backfired.