...
In a room.
Two young women sat in the living room watching TV, drinking coffee.
Everything was perfectly calm when the TV suddenly filled with static snow, then went black.
The long-haired woman asked in confusion: "What's wrong?"
The short-haired woman set down her coffee: "Probably a TV malfunction."
Right after, all the lights in the room went out, plunging everything into darkness.
"Seriously, a power outage…? Right when it was getting good."
The long-haired woman complained, but then strange noises came from the ceiling.
"Click, click…"
The short-haired woman swallowed: "That came from the second floor…"
Behind the two women's perspective, a pair of eyes seemed to be staring at them.
The scene shifted. The two went up to the second floor. The short-haired woman used her phone's flashlight to search the room.
"What… what is that sound…?"
"It seems to be coming from the ceiling."
The long-haired woman opened the closet to keep going: "Wait, what are you doing?"
"Of course I'm going to figure this out!"
The short-haired woman wasn't giving up. Just as the two argued,
"Ah!"
The long-haired woman cried out in shock. A dog suddenly jumped out of the closet and knocked her to the ground.
The long-haired woman turned to look where the dog went: "That scared me half to death!"
The short-haired woman let out a relieved breath, just turned back and stood up.
"Seriously… don't scare me like that…"
Inside the closet, a doll-sized creature stood on the upper shelf.
The short-haired woman seemed to notice something, instantly turned her head, but the figure on the closet was gone.
"What's wrong?"
The long-haired woman saw her friend's strange behavior and asked.
"Nothing."
The short-haired woman shone her phone flashlight carefully on the upper shelf but found nothing.
But she didn't stop there. She opened the wooden panel connecting the upper shelf to the ceiling, looked up, and shone the light.
Just as the short-haired woman poked her head up to the ceiling, she saw two pinwheels spinning…
Weirdly, those two pinwheels were stuck on someone's head. The person was lying flat on the ceiling floor, mouth open, eyes hollow with no visible pupils.
"Ahhh!!!"
...
"Ah!!"
Shiina Mahiru, sitting beside Saiki, cried out and threw herself into Saiki's arms, grabbing his right hand tightly, turning her head and burying her face in his chest, refusing to look at the TV.
"This… this is too scary…"
Shiina Mahiru was still trembling.
Umaru on Saiki's left wasn't doing much better either. She pulled a small blanket over her head, trembling and unconsciously scooting closer to Saiki.
(Even though both are scared, why are they insisting on watching?)
Saiki looked at the two beside him, their faces full of fear.
Yes, they were watching a horror movie.
[Should we turn on the lights or what?]
"Sa… Saiki-shishou, are you scared?"
Umaru asked while trembling.
(You're the ones scared!)
[No, but let's turn on the lights anyway. It's bad for the eyes, and it's still afternoon.]
"Ah! Then how are we supposed to get the full horror movie atmosphere?"
[Who cares about that.]
Saiki was just about to get up to turn on the light, but Shiina Mahiru was still clinging tightly to his right hand.
[Shiina-san, if you keep holding me like this, I can't go turn on the light.]
Shiina Mahiru said nervously: "I-It's fine…"
Saiki: ...
(It is not fine for me.)
No choice, Saiki had to ask Umaru to do it.
"Ah, make me go? Can't you do it, Saiki-shishou?"
Umaru sat in the living room looking at the switch a dozen steps away, unconsciously pulled her legs up onto the sofa, then back down, showing smooth legs as she leaned against Saiki.
(Stop leaning toward me.)
[Didn't you say you weren't scared?]
"I'm not scared, but…"
[If you're not scared, then go turn it on.]
Umaru [Seriously, why is that switch so far away?]
(It's not far at all.)
Umaru stood up, still wrapped in the blanket, and walked step by step toward the switch.
"Ah!!"
A scream from the TV rang out. Umaru heard it and quickly sped up, turned on the light, then rushed back to the sofa, covered herself with the blanket again, grabbed Saiki's remaining left hand, and curled up.
"Why is it not scary at all?"
(You have zero credibility saying that.)
Saiki saw it was already 3 o'clock, quickly pulled his left hand out of Umaru's arms, patted Shiina Mahiru—who was still closing her eyes and refusing to look at the TV.
[Shiina-san, the lights are on. The movie's almost over. Don't be scared anymore.]
"R-Really?!"
Shiina Mahiru opened her eyes, looked around—the lights were bright, she felt much safer—and saw she was still gripping Saiki's hand tightly. Her face turned red as she reluctantly let go.
"S-Sorry, Saiki~"
Saiki flexed his arm but didn't say anything.
Umaru saw herself get shaken off, looked at Saiki, then at Shiina Mahiru whom he personally comforted. Feeling the unfair treatment, she gritted her teeth.
Umaru [Damn Saiki-shishou, so biased. Curse you to never find a wife.]
(Heh, rebound ╭( ˙º˙)╯)
Saiki checked the movie progress bar—only a few minutes left.
[Since the lights are on and there's no atmosphere anyway, and this movie's almost done, let's not finish it.]
"Ah!"
Umaru looked a bit disappointed, but the next second,
"Okay, anyway this movie isn't scary at all."
Saiki directly called her out.
[You were curled up earlier.]
"That was because I was cold."
[Oh, so you're super brave? You really aren't scared?]
"Really. Umaru is super brave."
Umaru forced a smile and said: "Umaru isn't scared of ghosts or anything at all… Even if one really appeared, Umaru would use martial arts to beat it down."
[Ghosts aren't weak to fighting types, you know.]
"I-Is that so?"
The scene on TV ended.
Finally [It's over.]
Umaru pulled out a second disc.
"I heard the sequel is really good. Let's watch it."
[You're still watching?]
"Why not? It's interesting, right? Shiina-san."
"Um…"
Shiina Mahiru hesitated a little.
[Don't force yourself.]
"No, it's not exactly forcing. If we're all watching together, then it's fine. Even though it's pretty scary, the memory of everyone gathering to watch a horror movie sounds kinda nice too."
(What kind of memory is that supposed to be good for?)
Shiina Mahiru [And if I'm scared, it gives me a reason to hold onto Saiki-kun. His arms felt so safe earlier. I kind of want to get closer to him more and more.]
(This is seriously going to be trouble. It must be the suspension bridge effect.)