chapter 13

It looks like I’m a little late as the movie already began by the time I arrived at the theater. I take my seat next to Rinka.

Rinka whispered to me, asking if I was okay.

She looked really worried.

Even though she’d been looking for me for over 20 minutes, she doesn’t look the slightest bit angry.

“I’m sorry, I made you wait alone…” I apologized to Rinka.

She smiled as if to say, “Don’t worry about it.”

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「Let’s leave this country together, Gilnelese-sama!」

「I will follow you wherever you go, Tim!」

At the end of the movie, the noblewoman resolved herself to elope with her servant, so she took his hand and together, they ran away from their mansion.

She ran away from her home and overbearing parents, to pursue a love that was impossible due to their overwhelming difference in their social statuses.

Then, the theme song I sang, 『Standing alone with you』started playing loudly in the theater.

Sounds of sobbing and weeping could be heard all over the theater.

I gave a handkerchief to Rinka.

It looks like she’ll be needing more handkerchiefs though…

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When the movie ended, the audience cheered and applauded.

Rinka was in tears, clapping her hands as hard as she could.

As embarrassing as it might be, I had also cried at the ending. It was dark in the theater, and I wiped my tears with my sleeves, so no one would notice.

“Ahaha! Your eyes are so red! Crybaby~”

“I don’t want to hear that from the person who cried more than one handkerchief’s worth!”

Yep, she found out immediately.

By the way, I cried even though I had already seen the movie several times before today.

I tried to act tough, but all I could do was talk back like some kind of middle schooler.

And, I’m also wearing women’s clothes right now.

I have to be careful with my tone.

Everyone around me was talking excitedly about the movie. Looks like their enthusiasm hasn’t died down yet, even after the movie ended.

“The movie itself was good, but I think Shion’s song was the best part of it!”

“The song started right when both of them ran away from the mansion! How could I not cry after that?”

“What’s more amazing is the fact that the movie started with Shion’s song 『So alone』, AND ended with his new song,『Standing alone with you』too!”

“From ‘completely alone’ to ‘being alone with you’! The director did such a great job on this movie!”

[TN: The person here just translated the English titles of the song into Japanese so it looks different from earlier]

Woah… they noticed that too?

That’s why I was a little shocked when Rinka mentioned my previous song 『So alone』earlier today.

Because her favorite song just so happened to be remade for the movie.

And this new song is somewhat of an answer to my previous song.

“There must be someone out there who is lonely just like you. When 2 lonely people come together, they can become an unstoppable force.”

That is what my song is trying to convey.

The fact that Rinka was crying so much must’ve meant that my song helped her in some way.

I didn’t really care about everyone else’s thoughts on the movie. I was more relieved to know the girl next to me had enjoyed the movie and my song.

“Shion’s surprise greeting was incredible, but the movie was also just as great!”

We could hear someone in the crowd talking about stuff like that.

Since I came late, it’d be weird if I started talking about the surprise event now.

“So a surprise event happened, huh? I heard that even Shion made an appearance?”

I asked Rinka about the event, trying to play dumb.

The surprise event she couldn’t join because she was looking for me…

“Ehehe, that’s right~. Too bad for you, I even got an autograph from him!”

“What the hell? That’s not fair!”

“Haa~. Shion-kun was so cool…”

“……”

I expected Rinka to complain about the fact that she couldn’t join the surprise event because she was looking for me, but that didn’t happen at all. In fact, she didn’t say a single word about it at all.

It seems like she doesn’t want me to worry about it.

I made up my mind and tried to make amends.

“Nevertheless, I did make you wait by yourself, and I’m very sorry for that! I promise I’ll make up for this soon!”

“Eh?! N-no, you don’t have to do anything! It isn’t your fault you suddenly became sick, right? It could happen to anyone after all.”

“No, this happened because I didn’t take care of my body well… Please, you can ask anything you want from me to make up for this!”

At the very least, I’d grant Rinka any request she would make of me.

Even though I lied to her, she had believed me and was genuinely concerned for my well-being.

She missed the surprise event, just to go and look for me.

She even pretended that none of it ever happened so that I wouldn’t be worried.

An autograph alone isn’t enough to make up for her kindness.

Rinka did something commendable and I really want to do something to pay her back.

“Hmm~. If that’s what you want… Then, here!”

Suddenly, Rinka hugged my arm tightly.

What…?

“Ah… You want me to give you one of my arms?”

“What?! Are you still that scared of me?!”

“Isn’t this more like a reward?” I thought as I left the theatre together with Rinka clinging on my arm.