Chapter 560

"One couple's set, please. And I'd like to swap the hot dog for nachos."

Miyuki ordered the couple's Popcorn without a moment's hesitation, took the ticket with their queue number, and looked at Matsuda.

He was staring right at her. Catching his gaze, Miyuki felt suddenly self-conscious and quickly offered an excuse.

"What? It's economical. Does it bother you?"

"Not really."

"Then what?"

"It looks more like you're the one bothered by it."

"What makes you say that?"

"Are you not?"

"I'm not."

"If you say so."

"That kind of attitude is..."

"Yeah, yeah. It's no good. I get it. I'll restrain myself."

He treated her like a dead-tired father coming home from work and humoring his daughter's whining.

It was surprisingly not a bad feeling, making her wonder if she should pick these annoying little fights more often.

Their ordered set arrived while they were chatting.

Miyuki asked Matsuda to carry the Popcorn and nachos. With a cola in each hand, she trailed right behind him into the Screening Room.

There were hardly any people inside the Screening Room.

The middle seats with a good view of the screen were not even half full.

Even so, Miyuki and Matsuda went and sat in their reserved corner seats.

The sparsely seated corner was Matsuda's favorite spot.

Influenced by him, Miyuki's own preference for center seats had completely flipped.

Because of that, this was the perfect spot for both Matsuda and Miyuki herself.

"Shall we review what we learned today before the movie starts?"

Matsuda's brow furrowed sharply at Miyuki's words as she settled into the plush seat.

"Are you serious?"

"No. I'm joking."

"Good grief..."

Letting out a hollow chuckle, Matsuda flopped into his seat and laid his entire arm across the armrest.

Spotting another chance to tease him, Miyuki spoke up.

"I want to use the armrest too."

"Use it then."

"How can I use it when Matsuda-kun is taking it all up?"

"Then rest it on top of my arm."

"Do you think I won't?"

"Yeah."

If he genuinely thought that, Matsuda was a fool.

Well, he was a fool to begin with.

When she boldly placed her arm over his, Matsuda slowly turned his head.

Did he feel a little thrill? Words once spoken could not be taken back, and she fully intended to stay like this until the movie ended.

"What? Matsuda-kun told me to put it there."

She tossed the words casually at Matsuda as he stared right at her. He let out a soft snort and shrugged.

"Who said anything? But how are you going to eat Popcorn like this?"

"Eat it with your other hand."

"Could you not dig your elbow into my arm?"

"Matsuda-kun chose this. It's not my fault."

She tried hard to act like it was nothing, but Miyuki's heart was racing.

She used to throw herself into his arms without a second thought, but now that she was back, those vivid memories were rushing in and making her feel like she was losing her mind.

Aggressively coming onto Matsuda was completely out of character for her anyway, so the sheer tension was partly to blame for her pounding heart.

In any case, she was thrilled overall, but a sliver of regret lingered.

She still had many events left to enjoy...

But to relieve this constantly building urge, getting closer to Matsuda like this was definitely the right move...

These conflicting thoughts clashed in Miyuki's mind, soon causing a shaky, tension-filled breath to escape her lips.

"Hah..."

And there was no way Matsuda wouldn't hear that sound.

"Why are you doing things that don't even suit you?"

"Huh...?"

"Getting all nervous..."

"Wh-who's nervous... It's just because Matsuda-kun is acting so inconsiderately..."

"Look at you rambling. You're a mess."

"What are you even saying...! You're making some weird misunderstanding... Ah, forget it...!"

Under Matsuda's relentless teasing, Miyuki's firm resolve to never move her arm vanished completely.

This was a huge loss for both of them, but Matsuda didn't seem to realize it.

"Put it back up."

So he did know.

Then she would play hard to get for a bit before putting it back down.

Except, Matsuda's personality was a bit of a hurdle for that.

He was the type to just accept it and move on if she refused once. Especially in their current relationship.

Should she just give up on touching arms altogether to play a little push-and-pull?

Or should she just swallow her pride and put it back up?

Caught in this dilemma, Miyuki briefly debated which choice to make. When Matsuda pulled his arm off the armrest, she looked at him.

"What are you doing?"

"So you can use it."

"Me?"

"You use it."

".... Okay."

She had been agonizing over her two options, but seeing Matsuda surrender the armrest so easily actually made her feel disappointed.

It was a shame, but well... she supposed it couldn't be helped.

Taking over the entire armrest between them, Miyuki consciously rested her arm on it, finding it somewhat uncomfortable as she watched the movie.

But when was she supposed to trace words on his hand?

At this rate, there was no sign of Matsuda's arm coming up...

She should try yielding a little.

Pondering how to get Matsuda's thick arm back onto the armrest, Miyuki rested her elbow at the very edge of it and laid the rest of her arm across her lap.

She figured this might naturally prompt him to rest his arm next to hers.

But contrary to her hopes, Matsuda kept his eyes locked on the screen.

He even crossed his arms as he concentrated on the movie. It made her want to dive into his mind just to see what on earth he was thinking about.

It was so frustrating.

She should have just shamelessly kept her arm right on top of his when they were bickering earlier... Her regret was immense.

'This is ridiculous.'

It was ridiculous how much she was fretting over something so small, and it was ridiculous that she was obsessing over an arm... The whole thing was just ridiculous.

Whatever. She decided to just sit still.

Considering their relationship always seemed to progress better when she simply did nothing rather than actively trying to force things, she figured something would happen eventually if she just let time take its course.

With that sense of enlightenment... no, sheer resignation, Miyuki practically buried herself in the seat.

Just then, Matsuda shot her a sidelong glance and grabbed a few pieces of Popcorn from the tub she was holding.

Then, he rested his arm on the empty space of the armrest.

Bump. Matsuda's elbow lightly touched her arm, which was pulled close to her body.

At this, Miyuki turned her head away from Matsuda and broke into a silly grin.

See? Doing nothing worked.

She should have done this from the start... Well, no, from now on she would just pace herself properly.

Just as Miyuki made this firm resolve—flinch.

Matsuda suddenly grabbed her wrist and lifted it, causing her to jump in sheer surprise.

"Wh-what are you doing...?"

"Your arm is a bit thin."

"I said what are you doing...?"

"I'm touching you."

What kind of answer was that?

He could have commented on her skin, or told her to take better care of her health...

Shouldn't he at least say some cliché line like that if he was going to touch her?

Blatantly answering that he was touching her... It was very like Matsuda, but it was still flustering.

'P-pacing...'

It seemed the concept of pacing didn't apply to Matsuda at all.

Stroke, stroke.

Now he began to softly stroke her arm with his fingertips.

A slight tickle accompanied a massive wave of pleasure rushing into her brain, causing Miyuki's throat to bob as she swallowed.

What was Matsuda thinking, acting so aggressively all of a sudden?

She couldn't understand it. Being touched felt good, of course, but her surprise overwhelmed everything else since she hadn't expected him to be this bold.

Or was it just her own lack of experience? If she thought about it that way, it made sense why she couldn't comprehend it.

"Ah...!"

Feeling as though he were tracing every single invisible vein, Matsuda's fingers slid past her wrist and moved up to her palm.

Eventually, Matsuda's index finger began tracing incomplete circles in the center of her palm, going round and round.

Gulp.

The action felt intensely obscene. Swallowing so heavily that the sound rang clearly in her own ears, Miyuki turned to look at Matsuda, desperately wanting an explanation for why he was doing this.

"What."

But the only answer she got from him was that single, blunt word.

How could a person be so shameless? Did he think she was already a caught fish?

Of course, he wasn't wrong... but she suddenly felt a surge of competitive spirit.

"L-let go...!"

Putting strength into her arm to shake Matsuda off, Miyuki instantly realized she had made a huge mistake.

She had yelled loudly enough for the other people in the Screening Room to hear.

It happened because she had been too flustered to keep her voice down.

"I'm... sorry..."

Under the gazes suddenly directed their way, Miyuki apologized several times in a voice quieter than a mouse, then glared at Matsuda.

She was sure something similar had happened in the past too... This was driving her crazy.

"It's because of Matsuda-kun...!"

"Why are you blaming me?"

"Because you touched me, I panicked..."

"I touched your neck yesterday too."

"....."

She was rendered completely speechless.

Why did she keep getting so easily swayed by Matsuda?

Was this the result of her motivation getting ahead of her? Nothing was going right.

She had thought she was fairly smart, but maybe she wasn't after all.

When it came to romance, she was nothing but an absolute fool.

If you lacked experience, it was definitely best not to try playing push-and-pull.

She had gained a great realization.

"Can I eat some Popcorn?"

Matsuda dramatically pretending to ask for permission was absolutely infuriating.

Apparently, Inoo-sunbae always used to tell Matsuda to drop dead.

At first, Miyuki had thought her words were too harsh... but now she understood perfectly.

It felt like the exact right thing to say in this situation.