I Was Caught up in a Hero Summoning, but That World Is at Peace (WN)

Chapter 2466 - Movie Watching with Kaori ②

<Author’s Notes>

Happy New Year. I look forward to working with you again this year.

Kaito and Kaori returned to the shop after stocking up on snacks and immediately began preparing to watch a movie.

[Can’t you project it like a projector?]

[That’s possible too, but we can also bring up a kind of sci‑fi-looking monitor in midair. So we’ve got a fair amount of freedom.]

[Ah, then how about using this table here? If we project it on the other side, it should look pretty good, right?]

After some discussion, they decided to use a four-person table. While Kaori arranged the drinks and snacks on top of it, Kaito got everything ready for the movie.

He powered up the device he’d received from Canalis and set up the film they’d chosen together…… a romance movie that had come up in conversation while they were out.

[I’m all set on my end.]

[Same here.]

[Alright, once you sit down, Kaito-kun, I’ll turn off the lights.]

They turned the lights off to make the screen easier to see. Of course, it was still daylight outside, so the room didn’t become pitch-dark, but without any large windows, the izakaya-style interior grew dim enough to feel pleasantly close to a movie theater atmosphere.

Kaori took the seat beside Kaito, and before long, the movie began.

(……Even being alone together in a dark room with the opposite sex, he doesn’t seem flustered at all. If anything, he even feels relaxed, like he’s used to being in this kind of situation. S- So this is what a romance pro looks like……? Or maybe I’m just overthinking it.)

She let her thoughts wander briefly like that, but soon found herself absorbed in the movie. It was something she’d wanted to see for a long time, and for her, it was her first film in well over a decade, which made the experience all the more moving.

The story was a romance between a widow who had lost her husband at a young age and a college student. In terms of the age gap, it might even be somewhat close to Kaori and Kaito’s situation.

(Hmm, this is really good. Total jackpot. I like how the heroine’s age is close to mine. I can relate to her in so many ways, and it really pulls you in. And a romance with a younger guy has that youthful, coming-of-age feeling, it’s the best.)

Since it perfectly matched her tastes, Kaori watched with a cheerful smile on her face. Then, at one point, she casually glanced over at Kaito beside her.

His profile, lit by the glow of the screen, showed him completely engrossed in the film, unaware of her gaze. That serious expression looked somehow gallant, and she felt a faint flutter deep in her chest.

(……Life really is unpredictable. Being able to sit like this and enjoy a romance movie…… when was the last time again? Middle school, maybe? Back then, I used to think, without any real reason, that once I became a high schooler, I’d naturally get to live a sparkling, wonderful youth…… but that never happened.)

Kaori had lost her parents shortly after entering high school. After that, she’d been rejected by relatives and passed around, swept along by rapidly changing circumstances, with no room in her life for something as leisurely as watching movies.

(After losing Mom and Dad, there were days when I didn’t even understand what was happening around me. I was rejected everywhere and even thought it might be better if I just disappeared…… Then, just when it was almost decided that I’d be sent to a children’s care facility, I was summoned to this world, and spent years traveling. I never even had the luxury to think about “youth”.)

Looking back, even she herself felt she’d lived a remarkably strange life. She didn’t regret her choices. There were things she felt she might have handled better, but even so, she genuinely felt that the life she’d arrived at now was a happy one……

(Seriously…… you never know how life will turn out. I never imagined that the youth I’d completely given up on after all that would come rushing back to me at a time like this.)

Kaori continued watching the movie, occasionally shifting her gaze toward Kaito sitting beside her and letting out a small, wry smile.

(……Still, maybe I was born under a weird star? In this belated youth, the person I end up liking…… is someone just as weird, definitely not easy on the stomach. What a troublesome boy.)

Her days had already been fairly fulfilling, having found things she wanted to do, but since meeting Kaito, life seemed to have gained even more color.

Her happiness had grown larger, but with it came more chaos, more times being thrown about, and her stomach had ached more than once.

Yet even so, she didn’t feel that her current days were bad…… On the contrary, there were many moments when she felt like she was truly living her youth.

(……Well, maybe love and youth are meant to not go as you wish. There are still so many things I don’t fully understand, but…… for now, hard on my stomach you may be…… My cool and dreamy belated youth, please continue taking care of me here on out.)

<Afterword>

Serious-senpai : [R- Right…… Come to think of it, this one also has a heavy past, and even with how she has been depicted, her potential as a heroine is pretty high……]