When I reunited with my arrogant childhood friend, she had become a talented and beautiful girl – Even though she has probably forgotten about me and I don’t want to be toyed with, for some reason she keeps getting involved with me!?

The night is late for Futaba Nakano, the reclusive high school girl.

It’s currently 3 AM, and I’m lounging in bed, fiddling with my phone.

Today, I was dozing off all throughout class, so now I can’t sleep and I’m watching videos and checking social media until late at night.

Oh, I really need to go to sleep soon or it’s going to affect me tomorrow (said in a monotone voice).

“Oh, this movie looks super interesting.”

During a video, an advertisement for a movie piqued my interest. Upon a quick search, it seems that an eroge (erotic game) is the original source.

Upon searching the original, it was highly praised as a tearjerker.

While being careful not to spoil the plot, I checked the movie’s reviews and they were generally good.

Until now, I was of the opinion that movies are more enjoyable when watched alone, but recently, I’ve been starting to think otherwise.

“… Maybe I should invite Itsuki to watch it with me?”

I have watched a movie with Kazuki Sato before.

Well, not so much together, but we happened to meet at the movie theater and our seats were next to each other.

Still, the post-movie discussion over dinner was fun.

We had a heated discussion about our thoughts and interpretations, and we stayed until closing time. It’s a good memory.

…Yeah, let’s go watch it together.

If it’s with Itsuki, we can have a great time if the movie is interesting, and if it’s not, we can still enjoy complaining about it.

…Huh? That means… I have to invite him? Me? Invite Itsuki?

…How am I supposed to do that?

I shake my head as if trying to rid myself of that question.

What am I talking about? I just have to invite him like I always… invite… him…

…

…

…Wait!! I’ve never invited anyone to hang out before!!

Whenever I go out, I’m always alone. When I go to Starbucks with Akane, it’s always her who invites me. The movies we watched at my place were also Itsuki’s idea…!!

That’s right, thinking back, I, Futaba Nakano, have always been the one being invited.

In other words, I have no idea how to invite someone to hang out!!

When I think about it, it’s impossible for me, who hardly has any friends, to invite someone to hang out…!!

And besides, the original source is an eroge!

As a modern girl, I immediately looked it up on my smartphone.

“Wait, when I looked up ‘how to invite a guy to a movie’, all the results are about movie dates…!!”

N-No, it’s not a date or anything! But… the internet says it’s a date…!!

Crush. Inviting on a date. Stepping up from being friends. Going out. Techniques for instant success.

“Aaargh!!”

The more I searched, the more the words that appeared were bright and deeply piercing to me, a reclusive loner.

What!? When inviting someone to a movie, it’s not okay to rely on LINE!?

What!? Why!? Why can’t I rely on the power of civilization!? Is the writer of this article an idiot!?

Really, I was foolish to rely on the shallow knowledge of the internet…

What’s the reason then? Let’s see if I can refute it.

Hmm? Because when you use LINE, the words tend to carry more weight and the “date feeling” becomes stronger, which can make the other person more cautious? If you give them time to think, they’re more likely to think it’s too troublesome and decide not to go…

…Well, there may be some truth to that.

The next day…

“…Hmm?”

I woke up to the sound of the lunch bell.

Where’s Itsuki…? Oh, there he is.

The plan I stayed up all night thinking about is as follows:

Invite him to have lunch together. A popular, yet not too crowded spot, like the rooftop, would be ideal.While eating, strike up a conversation about movies.Invite him to the movie.

First, I need to execute step 1: invite him to lunch!! I’ve already borrowed the key to the rooftop from Akane. All that’s left is to do it.

Just like always, just like always, just like always…

“Oh, Futaba, good morning.”

Bam!!

I cornered Itsuki against the wall, making sure he couldn’t escape.

Wow, I impress myself with this improvisation.

“Um, Futaba?”

“Ah, um, Itsuki… he, hehe. How about the rooftop now?”

“Eh? The, the rooftop…?”

Itsuki’s face looks a bit puzzled, almost frightened.

Huh? This isn’t how I thought it would go…

Normally, he’d… kind of just understand and follow along, right?!

What should I do… this wasn’t in my script!?

“Ah, um… ahaha!! Well, let’s go then!”

“Eh!? Scary, scary!! Why won’t you tell me the reason!? And why are you laughing!?”

Despite Itsuki being inexplicably scared, I dragged him along to the rooftop.