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It starts with Takayuki and the conversation about old movies. As in, movies from two hundred years ago when he was a kid.
What should’ve easily been some short time of discussion and commentary in their general group chat grew and grew until it became an open invitation for a movie night. It’s a Sunday right after a school holiday, so there’s no piles of homework to be done for any of them unless they’re seriously devoted to staying ahead of academics.
It’s just that Noriko expects to be a few of them watching something out in the common room on this, otherwise, relatively normal night.
Fuckin’. Nope. Almost everybody is out of their room, in the kitchen, or in the common room.
Among the chatter and banter, the kettle’s being used for what she guesses is Basri’s mint tea in the kitchen, and the TV has the ‘On Demand’ section on the screen.
And a hat on the floor with tons of shredded pieces of paper in it. With Fukumoten, Ibuki, and Cain sitting around it. It reminds her way too much of the vacuum exorcism.
There’s also the blanket fort under construction far enough not to be in the way of people yet close enough to see the TV screen by none other than Chizu, Chisuke, and Shunyu, scattered with throw blankets and pillows inside.
Harokoto strolls into the room with a tray of candles plus a lighter (not Ten’s thankfully), setting them on the coffee table in front of the sectional, Mochizuki noticing the selection with starry-eyes from her spot on the sectional, and Tokukata’s seemingly tolerating Tosaki and Utone’s banter all but a foot away from him.
Just about everyone’s here, a recipe for disaster. Too fuckin’ normal for a group of people that are not fuckin’ normal.
“Is everyone here for the movie drawing?” Shi asks, looking around from their spot by the kitchen counter, mitts on their hands. When the oven beeps, Chizu heads toward the kitchen eagerly and watches Shi take a tray out.
“I think so?” Hirisha says tentatively. “Miryam said she’d be down in a bit. I think everyone else is here.”
“Everyone?”
“Hanedokubo never joins activities,” Chisuke says sadly. Noriko realizes the sound is coming from inside the fort. “And Sora’s not feeling well.”
Noriko frowns. “Does he need to go see the nurse?”
“He already went a while ago,” Tokukata answers.
“I’m passing out cookies!” Chizu gleefully announces, plate of chocolate chip cookies in hand. “They’re nice and hot!”
“Kimura, we’re watching Wall-E, I think you’d love it,” Ten says, grinning.
“We haven’t even drawn, yet,” Cain protests.
“It’s chosen by God, you should consider it already drawn.”
Soon enough, everyone settles in, and Noriko finds herself not just staying, but bringing down a hoodie and getting a snack. The room’s scented like a luxurious mix of pineapple and coconut from the candles, and everyone’s munching on fresh cookies as they await their movie night verdict.
“Kimura! Care to do the honors?” Takayuki offers.
Why does this feel like a trap?”
“Uh. Okay.” Kimura steps over to the hat, still on the floor.
“Wait, you never wrote your choice down,” Cain says. She practically shoves a notebook into her arms.
Noriko blanks on what to put. Hers won’t be chosen—it doesn’t fuckin’ matter—so she writes down the last documentary she watched, tears it into a little piece, and drops it in the hat.
Fuck. That’s Haiiro’s hat. Haiiro’s expensive-looking hat.
“Excellent!” Takayuki explains. He jumbles the folded pieces of paper in the hat. “Now do you care to do the honors?”
With all eyes on her, Noriko wordlessly kneels down, moving her fingers through all the shreds, and picks one up. “Jurassic Park?”
There’s a terrifying mixture of cheers, groans, and confused noises.
“Aww, maybe we’ll watch Wall-E next time, Fukumoten!” Chizu suggests encouragingly. She’s in the fort lying on her stomach in the entrance of it beside Shunyu.
Before anyone can get to even finding the movie to rent it (“U.A.’s already fucking paying for everything else” Tokukata had grumbled), there’s the sound of footsteps, and everyone’s eyes dart to the hallway. Hanedokubo’s there, awkwardly quiet.
“Hi, Hanedokubo!” Chisuke greets cheerfully. Others wave and pipe in, too. “Do you want to watch a movie with us?”
“It’ll be fun!” Chizu adds.
“We don’t bite,” Basri says.
Tokukata makes an unimpressed face at her.
Hanedokubo appears to consider the idea, still not speaking.
Much to Noriko’s surprise, he nods in agreement.
Chisuke gasps excitedly. “He’s joining us!”
“We got him, boys,” says Ten.
“That means we have to re-do it so it’s fair since Hanedokubo didn’t have a say before,” Haiiro chimes in, not looking up from painting her nails with Basri’s guidance. According to a conversation in chat earlier today Noriko wasted her time reading, Haiiro’s only ever had their nails painted at a salon, so they’re now finally learning how to on their own.
So, for what’s, hopefully, going to be the last time, they get Hanedokubo’s movie pick, toss it into the hat (how Haiiro is even letting this happen to their hat, Noriko doesn’t fuckin’ know), and shake it up.
Cain holds out the hat for her. “Pick a good one!”
All eyes on her, Noriko repeats the process once more. She pulls out a piece of torn paper with magenta glitter pen writing on it. “…The Princess Diaries?”
Somehow, the reactions are scarier than the last time.
The movie proceeds to be rented for way too much money for a movie rental. Any overly bright lights are turned off, and the common room becomes like their own private movie theater, topped off with comical shushing each other as the movie begins.
Weirdly fuckin’ enough, it’s kind of nice. Chizu and Takayuki say their favorite lines as they’re spoken on screen, Harokoto and Chisuke split a pack of gummy bears together, and Haiiro manages to paint their nails nicely.
So, naturally, with time to spare, they decide to watch the sequel rather than drawing a new movie. That’s when the chaos starts to seep in.
New snacks are acquired, for one, and more cookies are demanded even though everyone’s going to be stuffed if they keep going like this (no one fuckin’ cares, but Noriko’s not doing anything better, either). Utone did the responsible thing and placed a trash can for everyone to use instead of having to pause the movie and get up to throw away their candy wrappers and shit.
Wrappers still find their way to the floor. Ibuki blames Ten. Ten “God” Fukumoto claims innocence.
Tokukata’s got predictions. Predictions Hirisha politely disagrees with because it’s rational to think there aren’t, actually, any conspiracies or ulterior motives to a pretty light-hearted movie. Still, it gets to the point where Shi snatches the remote to pause it, and Tokukata gives up.
“God, I would kill to have a closet like that,” Harokoto says mid-Twizzler bite during a scene in which Mia is shown a fancy extravagant closet that now belongs to her.
“That’s such a big closet,” Shunyu comments, sitting right in front of the TV like a little kid.
“See, look at that, automatic drawers and everything—fully stocked—there’s a pair of sunglasses to go with any outfit you want,” Harokoto continues.
“Wow, look how pretty those tiaras are!” Chizu exclaims in awe.
“Those look like they’ll snag on hair really easily,” Noriko says, trying not to cringe at the thought, though they are nice to look at. “Or fall off your head.”
Takayuki raises his spoon. Noriko warned him, but she knows he’ll be feeling that ice cream in the morning. “Yes, but being a princess is about balance!”
“Like the stories where they have people balancing books on their head?”
“Precisely!”
In the movie, a door opens to more clothes in the closet, leaving Mia unimpressed. That is, until her best friend pops out from behind her, scaring her before they unite.
“I’m happy to do that any time, Kimura, just say the word.”
“Ten, if you do that to me, we’re gonna have a fuckin’ problem.”
“Yeah, don’t do that, Ten.” Noriko’s relieved at Shi’s divine intervention. “You can do that to my closet instead.”
Better them then her, she guesses.
The bachelorette slumber party is where the ruckus really goes up a notch.
Cain ponders the thought of adding ice so that it’s a “plus-ultra slide”, Eien now wants roller skates (“Not without a helmet” Haiiro sharply scolds), and Miryam points out how that’s the least realistic bachelorette party in the world for multiple reasons.
Everyone goes wild when the Queen mattress-slides like surfing on a surfboard. That time, Noriko doesn’t blame anyone.
Eventually, the movie ends, and Noriko tries wrapping her head around the scene in front of her. Chizu, way past her bedtime, is passed out with everyone trying to figure out what to do—Harokoto close to passing out sprawled on the edge of the sectional, left arm in a defensive position as if to transform at any given second. Shi and Haiiro both clean up the room together, others joining in one by one.
Hanedokubo seems content. He hasn’t said a word the entire time—that would probably cause more chaos than the entire past three hours—but he’s content, and it’s pretty damn nice to see.
When Noriko finally goes to bed, she notices that it’s way past curfew, and a lot of people are still up. She knows Chinami-Sensei is awake—she came in a couple of times—and could’ve shooed them all to bed in an instant.
Except, she didn’t. She let it slide. Probably because they were all having a good time and getting along for once, worries and everyone’s past far away.
It’s kind of like her and Daisuke’s happier moments just…on a bigger scale. Noriko keeps that warm thought with her as she drifts off to sleep.