20. The Yeti's tears

"So... did you really need to close my eyes with your hands to lead me into the theater?"

Although I couldn't see the stares of the people nearby, it was obvious that they were staring at us.

I think the amount of shame in those few minutes was greater than I've ever felt in my entire life.

"I want to keep it a surprise until the end!"

Seeing Shibata's smile, I lost the strength to scold her and searched for my seat and Shibata's, which was, of course, next to me.

Positioned just past the middle of the theater in the central row, I noticed that the room was sparsely populated.

The little audience was just about our age or slightly older.

The thing that bothered me...was the gender majority.

When they noticed that Shibata was in the room, they all seemed to be nervous and did everything they could to lessen their presence, despite trying to get a glance at her every now and then.

"Ah!"

"Sorry, is everything okay?"

"You just surprised me..."

Shibata let out a small cry of surprise as I took her by the side and pulled her closer to my body.

"What's going on? Was there something on the ground?"

"You could say that..."

In doing so, I gave a scary look to the voyeurs who immediately understood my meaning and turned their eyes back to the screen that was still playing the commercial before the movie started.

Sighing, I was really thinking that it must be hard to spend time in private for someone as attractive as Shibata.

If her current appearance was getting so much attention, I didn't dare to imagine with her original appearance.

Because of that, I needed to be a little more in the spotlight if I wanted to reduce her pressure.

I really didn't want her to go back home and think that today was a tiring day.

"... Hehe..."

"? Why are you laughing, Shibata?"

"I don't mind staying like this for the rest of the day, but the movie's about to start, Fu-ji-ta-"

"...!"

Releasing her immediately, I finally realized that I was still holding her close to me.

Luckily, I had grabbed for a small portion of popcorn, so nothing fell on the floor.

"I don't mind it when you're so possessive-"

Misunderstanding the reason for my action, I panicked.

There was no doubt that I was red as a tomato and Shibata's mischieful voice wasn't helping with the current situation.

I beat in a retreat heading to my seat but Shibata was right next to me so it was short lived.

Until the lights went out, I didn't dare turn my gaze towards Shibata as I heard her humming something.

She must surely be in a good mood after seeing me so flustered.

"... Fujita, it's about to start."

"... Understood"

Shibata's voice had become more serious, as if urging me to look at the screen.

Wondering why, I remembered the night we met, her determined gaze and her resolute tone breaking through my lowered defense.

... If I hadn't been sick, would I still have been able to refuse her...?

The first images appeared on the screen.

It was... an anime.

It was about girls who received magic powers to protect humanity from evil.

It was a very long series and this was the last movie released.

Surprised by the choice, I sneakily looked at Shibata's face.

She was watching the film attentively.

... Come to think of it, her room was filled with anime posters.

It must be a passion of hers...not because she thought of me, right...?

At the climax scene of the screening, the mahou shoujos were about to be defeated, but through the power of friendship they turned the tables and prevailed over evil, saving the world once again.

This was a seen and seen plot, where the projection only had to tell a self-contained story.

Since it was also an anime aimed at little girls, they couldn't overdo the heavy themes or diverge from the main plot.

The lights came back on.

"Fujita, did you like the...?"

"? What's going on, Shibata?"

Shibata's voice was all excited, but after she turned her gaze to me, her expression seemed worried.

Quickly, she pulled out a white handkerchief with a sakura symbol on it and held it out towards me.

"For the tears."

Huh?

Without realizing it, I was crying.

Even though I was trying to wipe my face with Shibata's handkerchief, the tears wouldn't stop coming down.

Why...?