Chapter 27: Do You Like Tailing? 4

Akaishi came out of the movie theater with a satisfied expression.

Since he basically never went to movie theaters, seeing a film on the big screen for the first time in years had excited him a little.

When he glanced at Hachiya, she was staring off in a completely different direction.

Only then did he snap back to reality — they were here to tail Sakurai.

Once his mind was clear, he began considering various things. He could even guess why Sakurai had chosen a horror movie.

Rom-com protagonists often pick horror movies for dates. Many girls are bad with horror, so after the movie they lean on the guy out of fear.

No…………

Even that was suspicious.

It wasn’t that the girl got scared and leaned on the guy after the horror movie.

Rather, by acting scared during the movie, she could create an excuse to lean on him. She could also appeal that her frightened, girlish side was cute.

“…………I’m overthinking it.”

Akaishi stopped that train of thought, deciding he was reading too deeply into it. If he kept analyzing every little subconscious detail, he’d wear himself out. He brought himself back to reality.

Sakurai choosing a horror movie, Mizushiro agreeing to watch it — he was overthinking all of it. Mizushiro walking pressed against Sakurai right now, and clinging to him every time there was a sound, were all completely innocent actions.

Really…… was that truly the case?

Going to see a horror movie on a date felt somewhat forced. No matter how you looked at it, wasn’t it strange to insert a movie that could cause problems afterward into the middle of a date? Wasn’t it odd that Mizushiro agreed to it?

Wasn’t everything going exactly as he had imagined?

Sakurai invited Mizushiro to a horror movie with ulterior motives, and Mizushiro saw through those motives but still went along with it.

And just as planned, Sakurai’s scheme was succeeding — Mizushiro was stuck closely to him.

Wasn’t that what was really happening…?

“……………”

“Shiorin is clinging to Sousuke so much because the horror movie was scary… I’m so jealous.”

Hachiya voiced her thoughts, which were completely different from Akaishi’s predictions.

He felt both envy toward Hachiya’s pure, innocent, and trusting nature, and a conflicting feeling that perhaps she should have some darker emotions inside her.

“Let’s go.”

“Got it.”

Still unsure about many things, Akaishi continued following Sakurai and Mizushiro.

“…………I wonder what Sousuke came here for.”

“Looks like he’s buying a keychain.”

After the movie, Sakurai and Mizushiro were shopping inside the large shopping mall that housed the theater.

Akaishi and Hachiya watched them from a distance.

“I can’t hear what they’re saying at all…”

The distance was too great, and the mall was noisy with many customers, so they couldn’t make out the conversation. Sakurai picked up a hairpin that was on display and brought it close to Mizushiro’s hair.

“Ah…… Sousuke is holding a hairpin up to Shiorin……”

“Wouldn’t this look good on you, Mizushiro?”

“…………What?”

Akaishi, who had been watching Sakurai, suddenly muttered.

Hachiya glared at him for speaking so abruptly.

“You can hear them?”

“No, it’s lip reading plus guesswork.”

Akaishi could read lips — though only at a very basic level.

“You can lip read!? That’s amazing!”

“No… I can only make out the vowels. I’m guessing the rest from the situation and the person’s personality. So I don’t know if I’m actually right. You could probably do it too.”

This was only possible because it was Sakurai — a person who never hesitated to praise girls and take actions that could easily be misunderstood.

Akaishi’s low-level lip reading only worked on someone whose inner thoughts were so transparent.

Hachiya did as she was told and focused on Sakurai.

Mizushiro received the hairpin from Sakurai and put it in her hair.

“Ooh, uoi…… a! e!”

Hachiya managed to pick out some vowels from Sakurai’s mouth movements, though she missed several. Akaishi supplemented the information by saying what he thought Sakurai had said.

“Ooh, it looks really good on you!”

“Looks good on her… Sousuke, you cheater!”

If it was Sakurai, that was exactly what he would say. In fact, Akaishi could tell even without watching his mouth.

Sakurai took the hairpin back from Mizushiro, held it up lightly, and tilted his head.

“Iou…… oshi, ae…… oa?”

“Since you helped me today, shall I buy it for you?”

“It’s a present!? So it really is a date……”

He was giving her the hairpin under the pretext of it being a present for helping him.

To Akaishi, it felt like an act of possessive dominance — “Mizushiro is mine.”

By giving her a tangible gift, it was as if he was claiming her. Once Mizushiro wore that flashy hairpin, people would compliment it as “cute,” which would naturally lead into more conversation about Sakurai.

Wasn’t everything meticulously planned?

Sakurai bought the hairpin and left the store.

“If your lip reading is accurate, that’s pretty unpleasant…”

With a face like she had bitten into a bitter bug, Hachiya continued staring at Sakurai and Mizushiro.

“Sakurai’s words are easy to understand. I can’t catch normal casual talk, but what he said earlier was probably pretty close. Plus, he actually bought the hairpin.”

“Maybe Sousuke is going to put it on her himself……”

“If you seriously believe that, I won’t stop you.”

“…………”

Hachiya wiped the sweat from her forehead while cold sweat ran down her back.

Akaishi’s unspoken message — don’t look away from reality — made Hachiya feel ashamed of her own escapism. She glanced at him with half-lidded eyes.

“Sakurai and the others came out.”

“Right…… let’s follow them.”

Akaishi and Hachiya followed Sakurai’s group as they left the building.

The sun had set and the area had grown dark. Sakurai and Mizushiro were walking through ordinary city streets.

Akaishi and Hachiya hid in the shadows of an alleyway and continued tailing them without being noticed.

Near a building visible from the alley, Sakurai suddenly stopped. Mizushiro stopped as well, following his lead.

Sakurai reached into the paper bag he had just received, took out the hairpin, gently touched Mizushiro’s hair, and put it on for her.

“Gu…………”

Hachiya let out a groan of agony.

Sakurai took a step back, framed Mizushiro with both hands as if taking a photo, then stepped closer again with a refreshing smile.

Akaishi watched Sakurai’s mouth and translated.

“Mizushiro, you’re so cute!”

“I could tell that much just by looking!”

Hachiya shouted, her voice filled with irritation.

Even though Akaishi was translating Sakurai’s words using lip reading, the situation was so obvious that Hachiya could tell what he said without it, and she yelled at him for repeating it.

“Sousuke…… you look like you’re having so much fun……!”

Hachiya clenched her fists, trembling with rage.

Chapter 27_ Do You Like Tailing