They completed the mission without too much trouble. A short exchange of fire had occurred, but it was a run-of-the-mill job for the Lycoris from Café LycoReco. Overall, it was easy… Well, it would have been if it weren’t for the self-imposed time limit.
Normally, when carrying out a mission of this sort, Kurumi, Mizuki, and Mika would provide support while locating the target. The team would lure the target into a safe capture location or wait until the target moved somewhere more suitable on their own, then Chisato and Takina would engage them. This time, though, it was more like a demented game of tag or hide-and-seek.
Once the girls found the man, they pulled no punches, and once he was down and they were waiting for the cleaners to arrive, they secured the data and weapons. Anyone who stumbled upon the scene probably would’ve mistaken them for muggers. They packed the “loot” into a bag and mailed it to Kusunoki at the DA’s headquarters using a convenience store courier service.
Then they provided the badly battered target with some first aid, wrapped him up with duct tape (making sure to stay as inconspicuous as possible), and handed him over to the cleaners. It was all done in a terrible rush. Their methods that day weren’t just a bit slapdash—they were bordering on reckless and irresponsible.
By the time they were finished, it was five PM.
“All right! We’ll make it with time to spare if we hurry!” Chisato shouted, breaking into a run with Takina next to her.
The screening was at five thirty. They would probably start letting people in ten minutes before. They should have been able to make it even if they walked from Yokogawa, but it was always best to have some extra leeway just in case. Running was smart.
The movie theater they were going to was in Olinas Mall, a stone’s throw from LycoReco. The girls would have to slow down to a walk inside the mall, so they were running as fast as they could while still outside. The theater was on the fourth floor and the elevator would take her there faster than the escalator. Chisato knew that from firsthand experience, so she immediately made for the elevators. There were two: One stopped on the second floor, and the other on the third. Unfortunately, they were both going up. Chisato and Takina might have to take the escalator after all…
Chisato touched her index finger to her narrow chin, looking sharply at Takina.
“Takina, we must make good use of every moment we have.”
“You’re going to the restroom?”
“Bingo!”
Nothing was more upsetting for a movie fan than having to miss out on a part of the screening to go to the bathroom. So Chisato hurried down the corridor next to the elevators. She returned just as an elevator arrived. The two girls got on and went to the fourth floor. From there, it was less than a minute’s walk to the theater’s entrance. Chisato went to get their tickets. Takina followed, seeing as she didn’t have anything better to do.
“I really want to show you how awesome going to the movies is, so I’ll treat you to popcorn and a drink.”
“Wait, aren’t they pricey?”
“You don’t get it, Takina! Popcorn is a part of the experience! It’s tradition! Like drinking bottled milk after bathing in a public bathhouse! Or getting instant noodles from a stall in winter! Or churros at a theme park!”
Chisato mimed drinking or eating each of the items she mentioned, looking terribly serious.
“I have never personally done any of those things, but I assume that, under certain circumstances, they add value to experiences.”
“Sure, why not! That sounds about right. Wait, you’ve never done those things? I’ll help you fix that! We could start with a visit to a bathhouse… Anyway, back to popcorn for a second…”
“Ah, so you weren’t finished…”
Chisato went on about how, if you really thought about it, popcorn isn’t well-suited to be a movie theater snack. While not as bad as potato chips, it was noisy to chew, it rustled in the bucket, and it had a strong smell. But movies and popcorn, and theaters and popcorn, had a long history together. They simply couldn’t be separated anymore…
Her hand hovered above the ticket machine’s screen as she carried on at length, explaining that it all started during the Great Depression, when cheap, delicious popcorn was sold on the streets. It was popular with the masses, who then brought it inside theaters. The theater staff were actually happy about it since, in those days, guests would often throw whatever they had been eating at the screen if they didn’t like the movie, and popcorn—even thrown with a lot of strength—was highly unlikely to fly all the way to the screen. Even if by some chance it reached it, it wouldn’t cause any damage. Over time, people began associating popcorn with movies. Theaters selling poor-quality popcorn (or, worse, not offering popcorn at all) began to lose customers. And so popcorn and movies became inseparable.
“That’s very informative, but please get the tickets printed already.”
“Hey, I wasn’t finished! I’ve got to tell you about how much food and beverage sales contribute to theater revenue, and—”
“I understand. Popcorn is very important. Please get the tickets printed.”
“Well, someone’s crabby.”
“How much patience do you think I have? Please hurry up.”
“Okay, okay. Now, the booking confirmation number… Huh? Why isn’t it…? What? ……………Oh!”
Takina hadn’t been partnered with Chisato that long, but she knew her well enough to understand immediately that those words were the sort of thing Chisato uttered when there was real trouble.
“What’s wrong?”
Chisato had frozen in front of the ticket machine.
“Takina… What time is it?”
“Five-twenty. I imagine they’ll be letting people into the theater soon. You need to hurry if you want to buy popcorn… Chisato?”
“There’s been a bit of a mix-up.”
“Is it not today…? No, this is the last day they’re showing this movie, isn’t it? What could have gotten mixed up…?”
“It’s today…but not at this theater.”
“What?”
“It’s in the other one! On the south side!”
There were two movie theaters in Kinshicho, both belonging to the same chain, so they used the same website for bookings…which sometimes led to tragic mistakes.
Forty-Nine Golden Days was about to be screened in the other theater. Usually, mistakenly going to a different movie theater in the same area wasn’t that much of a problem, as theaters tended to be next to or opposite each other, but that wasn’t the case in Kinshicho. One was in Olinas Mall north of the Kinshicho Station, and the other in Rakutenchi, a shopping mall to the south of the station. Between the two lay the expansive Kinshi Park. They were seven hundred meters apart.
Takina finally realized the gravity of their predicament. The distance was significant, the streets near the station tended to be crowded, and the route led them through a narrow footpath under the railway, which was bound to slow them down.
“We won’t be able to get there before the movie starts. How many minutes after the start do they allow people to ent—?”
Takina stopped abruptly when Chisato grabbed her hand.
“Okay, partner. Let’s go!”
“Wait… What?!”
Chisato pulled her, forcing her to run back to the elevators. She mashed the call button. The elevator arrived almost immediately.
“Chisato, I think we should just—”
“No! We’re not giving up!”
“But why hurry? It always starts with commercials anyway…”
“The previews are part of the movie experience!”
“You can just watch them on YouTube later.”
“No, it has to be at the theater! Loud! Intense! It’s! The! Best!”
Takina wasn’t convinced that loudness and intensity made advertisements and movie trailers any more worth watching.
“I…see.”
“Trust me! Okay, first floor. We’ll take the shortest route from here. Through the park!”
They speed-walked through Olinas holding hands… Rather, Chisato was holding Takina’s hand in a vise-like grip, forcing her to keep up.
Kinshi Park was adjacent to Sumida Gymnasium and its sports grounds, which included a tennis court and a baseball field. There was no shortage of people exercising in the park, but the two Lycoris in their “school” uniforms, running at the speed of professional track-and-field athletes with their skirts fluttering in the wind, made for an unusual sight. Not put off by the unwanted attention, Chisato—with Takina in tow—ran through the park at breakneck speed, managing to wave at a large dog they spotted on the way. They passed the train station and charged into the shopping mall, where the other theater was located. The elevator had just stopped on the first floor, so they jumped in and rode it to the sixth.