Bonus Short Written Story
“Hey, Shinohara. Are you, like, good with horror or something?”
Mid-August. It was a certain night as the summer break neared its latter half.
The one throwing that question at me through the phone was none other than Saionji Sarasa
herself.
It’s not exactly rare for us to have calls like this.
Since both of us are carrying “lies” on the level of bombs, there are painfully few people
we can talk to in our true selves, so we’re always craving a space for casual chats or venting. That’s
what these calls are for.
Anyway, I think for a bit before answering.
“Horror, huh… Well, I’m not that bad with it. Super intense visuals might spook me, but
otherwise, I can watch it just fine. …So, what’s up with that?”
“Well, I was watching TV earlier, and they had this ghost story special or something…
I’m not really good with that stuff, you know. I don’t get why I’d want to watch something I know
is scary. Well, that show was pretty much kiddie stuff, though.”
“…Huh? Your voice sounds kinda shaky for that.”
“Shut up, idiot. It’s your imagination, just your imagination. It’s not like I called you ’cause
I was scared or anything.”
Saionji retorts in a huff, but from the sound of it, she’s genuinely bad with horror. So, I decide
to shift the topic a bit.
“There’s all kinds of horror, right? Like ones that startle you with visuals, or ones where the
sound is super creepy, or even ones where the story itself is just plain scary.”
“There’s also the ‘it’s scary once you understand it’ type, right? Those just give me chills, so they’re
still okay, but the ones that jump-scare you with visuals? I really wish they’d stop. I mean, you
can’t even brace yourself! They just go ‘BAM!’ out of nowhere and…”
“Well, sure, but… is that okay? The Empress getting spooked by kiddie stuff like that? What if
you end up watching horror with the school crowd? What then?”
“Ugh…”
Saionji lets out a clearly displeased sound from the other side of the phone. …Well, it’s not like
such a situation would come up often, and if it did, Saionji would probably steel herself for it.
But—just as I’m thinking that, she hits me with an unexpected response.
“F-Fine, if you’re gonna say that… then help me out, Shinohara!”
“…Help?”
“Yeah! If my lie gets exposed, you’ll be in trouble too, right? So, help me. Let me practice
with you so I can watch a horror movie without screaming. …Got it?”
“Oh, that kind of… Well, that’s totally fine by me.”
“R-Really? Okay, it’s a deal then! I’ll look into the timing!”
“…?”
I tilt my head slightly at Saionji, whose voice suddenly gets all high-pitched. …The horror stuff
aside, watching a movie with Saionji?
Just the two of us?
(That’s, like, what they call a date, isn’t it…?)
I think we kept talking about something after that, but—my mind was mostly preoccupied
by something else, so I don’t remember it all that well, needless to say.
