16 - You'll figure me out eventually

In the library, Komiya-kun handed me a box. I had already heard whispers of people talking about it.

“Shake it,” he urged.

I gently did, hearing quite a lot going on inside of it.

“Great, right? Let’s hope there’s some good ones.”

“How long has it been since you put it up?”

He leaned backward on the back legs of his chair, “Like a week or two? I even had to refill the envelope with the empty pieces of paper.”

I handed it back to him. Without wasting a second he ripped it apart, spreading the questions over the table.

“What’s the strategy, director? Do we grab them at random?”

I gave the suggestion a second to process. “That would be a lot more natural… Let’s go with that. If you come up with a better answer than the original one, we can always do a second take.”

“Gotcha.” He stood up from his chair and sat down on the one in between bookshelves. On the shelves opposite of him stood my camera.

“Ready?”

“Sure am.”

I dragged the table closer, then clipped the microphone onto his shirt, then one on myself as well.

“First question: If you could do any teach—” I crumbled it up and tried to throw it in the bin, missing horribly. “First question: Top three Boushi girls…” I threw this one away as well, only piling on the mess I have to clean up later.

“The bin is so far out, try throwing with your entire body.”

I took a random question card, crumbled it and used my entire body to fastball it against his face.

“Ouch…” He picked it up. “‘Who is your favourite teacher?’ This is a good question! Why did you throw it?” He lobbed it my way.

“The random bit is not really needed for the one asking the questions, is it? Let me sort out a couple of good questions, you stay seated.”

Eventually, we got the ball rolling, making actual funny moments to use for the king of Boushi promotion.

* * *

“All done!”

It’s been about a week since I made a habit out of editing before going to bed, and I could finally put that to rest. I stretched my arms over my head, in doing so I pictured Miori who always does so as well. “I should apologise to her tomorrow…”

I realised that all too well, yet I could tell there was still some hesitation within me. The only one I could count on to drag me out of my comfort zone won’t have much time to waste on me tomorrow… So I should act today.

With shaky hands, I reached for my phone and called him up before I gave my brain the time to backpedal.

He picked up on the first ring, “Evening, Noriko. Is something up?”

Too fast, too fast! I hadn’t even thought of what I would tell him.

“Uh… I wanted to say I finished the video.”

“Way to go! I can’t wait to see what you’ve made of it.”

This is not the first time we called on the phone, but never has it been this late at night with his voice entering my ears when I’m laying down in my bed.

“Oh, right. My sister said she’ll handle the hijacking.”

“No way! She’s the one you had in mind?”

“Mmhmm. One more task for you, try to subtly spread the word that a surprise will take place at the film club’s cinema. That way more people will show up.”

“Leave that to me! Make sure you get to bed early, alright? You’ve played your part.”

“I will, mom.”

I heard him chuckle over the phone. “Well, goodnight, Noriko.”

“One more thing…”

“Yeah?”

“I had a fight with Miori a while ago… and I’m going to apologise to her tomorrow.”

“That’s good. Being at odds with someone drains much more energy than just making up, right?”

“I don’t know if we’ll make up…”

Confused, he asked, “Didn’t you just say…?”

“Those are two different things, Komiya-kun. I’m going to apologise, because I truly do feel sorry for what I did. But we can only make up if she’s sorry as well. If she’s not, then, well… The two of us will be left at that.”

“Wow… That sounded mature.”

“Don’t I usually sound mature? When you say it like that, it doesn’t feel like a compliment.”

“Cheap compliments won’t do, genuine ones don’t either. You’re hard to please, Noriko.”

“Am I now? Even so, if I had to place my bets on anyone, I’m sure you’ll figure me out eventually.”

“Of course,” he said, confident as ever. “Maybe I’ll make that my next goal after I’m crowned king of Boushi.”

“I can hardly wait. Good night, Komiya-kun.”

“Good night.”

* * *

The school festival has been well underway. Komiya successfully managed to stir up some rumours into existence about the secret of the film club’s cinema.

That’s exactly where I’m headed now. A little early on schedule with my sister’s USB stick in hand. I still don’t know how she’ll manage to get my video to play instead of the movie, but when she says to leave things to her, she hardly ever disappoints.

It would be too suspicious if I walked up there myself, so instead I handed the stick over to our advisor, hoping he hadn’t heard anything about the club’s situation.

“Here you go, Sensei. Could you plug this into the laptop, please?”

“Finally I’m put to use,” he joked. “Thanks Ishiwata.”

I sat down on one of the chairs in the back and waited for Komiya-kun to join me.

When the lights got turned off, I felt a tap on my shoulder and nearly shrieked in surprise before that same hand covered my mouth.

“Barely made it, sorry, Noriko.”

When he let go, I could finally say, “No worries. Let’s enjoy the show.”

“Even in the dark I can sense your evil smirk.”

“Hehe~”

The club president’s voice announced the cinema’s opening, “Hello students of Boushi High and visitors alike. All the film club members are glad you decided to spend some time with us, watching our handpicked short film.”

“They’re making it sound like they did something. They didn’t even provide movie snacks,” I complained.

“Here you go,” out of thin air he pulled two chocolate bars. “It’s not super salty, nor super sweet popcorn, but will this do?”

“You’re the best.”

“—Without further ado, let’s enjoy the film!”