"A horror movie?"
Cold sweat drenched his forehead. Imamura Kohei's eyes were sharp, staring fixedly at Yuu who had intruded into his vision, radiating a bloodthirsty aura like a lone wolf facing a grizzly bear.
"Why?! Is the Galgame not fun enough, you bastard?!"
"Well~ after all, there are so many of us but only one computer. It's a bit much for you to monopolize it, don't you think, Kohei?"
With a calm expression, Miyazawa Yuu didn't strike a combative pose against Kohei's hostility.
On the contrary, he simply flexed his arm muscles slightly, and Kohei immediately shuddered as if a strange remote control had been pressed! His eyes were filled with uncontrollable terror!
"Ah... that is indeed a good idea! Let's watch it then!"
"Mm-hmm, what a good boy~"
"So hurry up and take your hand off! I haven't saved my game progress yet!!!"
He finally broke down completely. Seeing that this bastard Yuu was getting increasingly careless with the power button he was pressing, Imamura Kohei could only save the progress he had just made at the fastest speed of his life!
It proved that for Galgames, having an auto-save feature was absolutely necessary!
Otherwise, having all that painstakingly achieved progress wiped clean would be scarier than being ready for action only to find out you can't get it up anymore!
"You guy! Do you know you almost killed my cute little sister just now?!"
"Wake up, Kohei. You're just an only child who doesn't have a little sister and isn't even liked by middle schoolers!"
Stabbing Kohei right in the heart without mercy, Miyazawa Yuu let go of the power button and restarted the computer, then kicked the blood-spitting Kohei into the corner to wallow in self-pity.
"Hiss... that was brutal. But Yuu-kun, is your way of driving Kohei away really just horror movies? Boys aren't usually afraid of that stuff, right?"
Placing a finger under Kohei's nose, Kiyoko Kamio was surprised to find that the guy was barely breathing—he looked like he wasn't going to make it!
Sister-complexes are truly terrifying; they can be easily annihilated with the words "only child," just like a slug melting into water the moment it encounters salt.
And Yuu's method was a bit too primitive. She felt that putting a "Only Children, Begone!" talisman on Aina's door would have been more effective than a horror movie.
"Ho ho! Is Kiyoko unfazed by horror movies?"
"Are you kidding? I'm super brave! I could binge-watch horror movies at home all day by myself!"
"In that case, please enjoy this film. It was filmed under my direction in high-school and hasn't been released yet!"
Turning around with a sinister look, he pulled a USB drive he always carried from his "chest" area. No joke—Aina's friend group had planned this for a long time, so how could the well-informed Miyazawa Yuu be unprepared!
Due to cultural reasons, horror movies on the Japanese market leaned more toward American slasher films, but he was a transmigrator!
While he didn't make a living through plagiarism, letting these guys taste some "fine dining" from another world was more than enough!
"Yoshi! Everyone, please sit tight! The phenomenal blockbuster is about to begin!"
...
"Kyaaaaaah!!!"
"Turn it off! Turn it off! Turn it off right now, you bastard!"
"I can't take it, I'm going to pass on to the next life..."
"???"
In the apartment above Aina's, the beer on the table hadn't been touched for a long time. Five Izu male college students sat around the table with grim faces, their bodies covered in Araki-style shading lines.
After a long while, once the shouting downstairs finally subsided, the man with the buzz cut spoke with a dark face: "How long has it been?"
"It seems to have started gradually an hour ago, reaching a peak ten minutes ago?"
"..."
Another long silence. All five present suspected that the people downstairs were playing with some strange equipment—otherwise, how could they make girls scream for so long!
In short, from the moment this thought was first proposed, this brotherhood drinking party had become one in name only.
The girls' screams were right in their ears; how could they drink and act eccentric in peace!
"No!"
As a new round of screaming broke out, the owner of the room finally couldn't take it anymore and slammed his hand on the table, standing up. Under the expectant gazes of his brothers, he spoke firmly: "This is a serious violation of noise pollution regulations! I'm going downstairs to demand an explanation!"
"Oh! Such spirit!"
"As expected of you, Souta! Go get justice for us!"
"Glug, glug, glug!"
He downed another bottle of beer to find that "tipsy" feeling, and Yamada Souta marched out the door with high spirits, quickly running to the source of the noise.
Looking at the door where screams were still coming from, he bravely raised his arm... and then tapped gently with two fingers.
"Hello, is anyone there?"
Creeeeak...
Almost simultaneously with the knock, the door was slowly opened. A small blue-haired head with dark circles under her eyes and very poor spirits poked out weakly.
"You're... Souta-san from upstairs, right?"
Her voice was exceptionally raspy from all the screaming. Aina Yoshiwara looked up listlessly, the corners of her mouth—still stained with a bit of drool—twitching slightly. "Is something the matter?"
"Yes! Well, we heard a lot of noise upstairs. Could you turn it down a bit?"
"I see..."
Aina's brain, which had been dazed by fear, slowly processed this. She realized the apartment building had poor soundproofing; screaming loudly would indeed affect the neighbors' rest!
Releasing the doorknob and turning around, she loudly condemned the people in the room: "Did you hear that? You're affecting the neighbors!"
"Ha?"
His curiosity piqued, and since the door had drifted open a bit further due to inertia, Yamada Souta took the chance to peer inside curiously. Then, he locked eyes with a pair of terrifying eyes!
It was hard to describe what kind of person the owner of those eyes was. In his understanding, those eyes with inverted black and white pupils could only belong to a slasher movie killer!
Add to that a physique so muscular that a bonobo would have to kowtow twice before leaving, and who would believe he wasn't part of a criminal syndicate!
"Sorry about that. Did we really affect the neighbors? It's all because Kiyoko was screaming too loudly..."
Releasing Kiyoko, who was struggling and howling about smashing the computer to escape the fear, a smile of apology (or so he thought) appeared on Miyazawa Yuu's face.
Stepping past Kanako and Keiko, who were huddled together in fear under a blanket they'd pulled off the bed, he spread his hands to show he meant no harm and walked toward the door.
"I'm truly sorry. Please don't report us to the apartment manager, okay?"
"Ugh—!"
The light faded from his eyes. Yamada Souta's soul practically drifted out of his mouth.
If a muscular Spartan who was just "mistreating" girls (?) and was likely suspected of illegal confinement walked toward you, what would a normal person's reaction be?
"So-sorry! I didn't see anything! Please don't kill me to silence me!!!"
"Eh?!"
He reached out to try and stop him, but before Miyazawa Yuu could explain, the man who had come to demand justice was already running so fast his legs were a blur!
Helplessly, he could only pray the guy was truly just a coward. Otherwise, if the matter was reported to the police or the apartment manager, Aina's home might be taken away.
"Kiyoko! Look at what you've done! Didn't you say you wouldn't be scared?"
"Are you kidding?! That kid hiding in the closet with his neck twisted was too terrifying! If you want to scare me to death, just say so!"
Tears welled in her eyes as Kiyoko Kamio unhesitatingly closed the video player and began to vent her grievances to Miyazawa Yuu.
Even if she was wrong to brag about not being afraid of horror movies, she should be punished by the eighteen levels of hell, not forced to watch a film so scary she might actually wet herself!
"Seconded!"
"This thing is a bit too scary. By the way, Aina, can you open the wardrobe? I felt like it moved just now..."
"Don't say such scary things in my house!"
Looking at her own wardrobe in terror, Aina Yoshiwara took advantage of the "strength in numbers" and quickly slapped two strips of tape over the wardrobe doors. Only then did she feel a bit more at ease.
"Yuu! Now! Immediately! Take your damn USB drive and get out!"
"Eh? Didn't Aina say she wanted to drive Kohei away? Why are you driving me away now?"
"Do you even have to ask?!"
Driven to an angry outburst for the first time, Aina Yoshiwara pointed at Kohei—who was perfectly fine and even looking a bit bored—and grabbed Yuu's pants, questioning him: "Does he look like someone who was so scared he developed a psychological shadow and will never dare to come again?!"
"Actually..."
Shaking the USB drive in his hand, Miyazawa Yuu threw a wink~☆ and explained reliably: "I have a third horror movie about someone being under the bed!"
"NOT NECESSARY!!!"
"In that case, let's end the activities here, Aina... we're preparing to head back too!"
Supporting each other as they stood up to say goodbye, the three girls tremblingly ran behind Miyazawa Yuu, grabbing corners of his pants from different angles.
It was already time for the last round of trains. If they missed this "salaryman special" train, the three would likely have to make do in Aina's room for the night—and they absolutely did not want that!
"Wait! Are you all leaving?"
At this moment, Aina Yoshiwara suddenly realized something was wrong—Kanako lived with her sister, Keiko lived at her own home, and Kiyoko had a boyfriend. In other words, these three each had someone to rely on!
By contrast, if they all left, wouldn't she become the "stray idiot" in a horror movie? Those characters are always the first to get a "Game Over"!
"Yeah, see ya, Aina!"
"Bye-bye~"
"Hurry up and move, Yuu-kun! You have to take responsibility for us!"
"Don't make it sound like I'm some scumbag who's abandoning you!"
His underwear was being pulled so hard it was becoming ventilated. Miyazawa Yuu crossed his arms and refused to accept the "scumbag" label, then quickly took his leave with the girls.
"We'll leave the clothes here at Aina's for now. We'll come get them when we have time!"
"No! Is it that hard to put your clothes on before you leave?!"
In the time it took to complain, Aina realized Yuu was already out of sight, and not a single one of her best friends had stayed behind.
She was so angry her cheeks puffed out, and she cursed them for their lack of loyalty. Then, she heard a calm voice from behind her.
"In that case, I'm heading out too. Aina, remember to lock the door..."
"WAIT!!!"
Snap! She grabbed onto her last lifeline. How could Aina let Kohei escape as well? If she did, she really would be all alone!
However, to her surprise, the seemingly upright Kohei was pulled down into a clean and decisive kneel by her tug!
...
One high, one low. After a few seconds of silent eye contact, Aina Yoshiwara felt she had discovered the truth— "Kohei, you... aren't you scared too?"
"Eh? No such thing! How is that possible! How could a mere ghost movie scare me, Imamura Kohei! Hahahaha!"
"Whatever the case..."
With a click, she locked the door and pulled the chain. Aina Yoshiwara used her body to block the entrance and started acting like a brat: "I am absolutely not letting you leave today! You must stay over, Kohei!"