As the sun set on Osaka, the Hep Navio building sparked to life as swarms of customers entered, queuing up to see the latest films on display at the cinema within. Far from the long queues, Jurou sat at a small round table of a café and watched.
Wow. He thought.
It wasn’t the long lines that captivated his attention. A girl with short black hair with pink strips stood behind the counter of the snack bar. With a bright smile; she welcomed each customer, greeting every member of a group and even making sure to attend to the children’s requests when a family was present.
Akatsuki-san is really talented when it comes to dealing with people. She has a confidence that puts each customer at ease. Jurou marvelled.
Though, all she does is give my heart palpitations.
A smile slowly snuck across his face, growing wider as he continued to watch. If asked; there’s no way Jurou would be able to tell how much time passed as he sat there, watching, but it moved fast as soon there were no lines left. Not too long after the lines had disappeared, Niko made her way to him.
“Sorry for making you wait for so long…”
“It’s okay, I, uh, just played games on my phone so the time flew by.”
Niko looked at Jurou’s untouched cell phone on the table next to a, now cold, full cup of coffee.
“Right…” she responded looking at him suspiciously. “Well, it’s almost time; just wait a little while longer.”
“-For what? I still don’t know why you brought me to your workplace?”
She grinned, “I told you, it’s a surprise. Just do as I say and don’t think too much, I’ll have you know, you have Osaka’s greatest adventurer at your service! Trust in me.”
Jurou watched Niko stand at the snack bar for a few more minutes, looking at her wristwatch every so often, anticipating something. A few moviegoers began trickling out of the cinema auditoriums from the left and the right, passing the snack bar in the centre as they began their commutes home.
Suddenly Niko began waving frantically, catching Jurou’s attention.
What is she…? Before he could finish the thought, he recognised the gestures she began making. Beckoning him to her; she waved back and forth with an excited, wide grin.
I’m definitely going to regret this.
Jurou approached, nearing the counter, but Niko suddenly began walking to her left and his right causing him to naturally veer his course.
What is she up to?
She slipped behind a door and popped out in front of him in a corridor that led to the cinema halls on the right side of the establishment. He walked up to her.
“What are you doing?”
“Shh!” She said not looking at him, “Follow.”
He followed as she walked passed a few auditorium entrances. She raised her hand, gesturing a halt - which he responded to, before opening a door on the left and peering inside. She began waving her hand again, beckoning him, as he approached he saw the sign on the door; ‘Staff Only.’
Before he had time to fully grasp the events unfolding before him, she grabbed his hand and pulled him inside.
“Wha-“
“Shh!”
She led him through the staff locker room to her locker, quickly stuck a key in and opened it.
“In.” She said, gesturing to the locker.
He looked at her clothes inside the locker, then back at her.
“Eh? Akatsuki-san I-”
She moved behind him and began stuffing him into the narrow locker. He turned to face here, trying to fight for his freedom;
“What. Are. You. Doing?” He asked, straining.
Behind gritting teeth, Niko responded; “Just. Get. In!” Whilst using all her might to get him inside.
Finally his trembling arms gave in and she managed shove him inside, panting, she held the locker’s door;
“Trust in me, you’re going to love this, I stake my reputation as Osaka’s greatest adventurer!”
Then shut the door and locked it.
After some time, a man entered and opened the locker across from Jurou. Through the tiny slits, Jurou could just about see Niko’s colleague.
A phone rang and Jurou’s spine jerked! The man reached into his locker and pulled out the ringing phone and answered.
Phew! Luckily it wasn’t mine. Jurou thought.
“Ah, Chiaki, my darling, I will be home s-“
The man paused. Jurou perked up.
“Ah, sorry Chiharu, n-no that was just a mistake…”
This feels too invasive! Jurou thought. I shouldn’t be listening in on this.
The man’s phone buzzed, giving Jurou a fright.
“I’m sorry to put you on hold, I have another call…”
There was a beep.
“Ah, Chiaki, my darling,” the man continued, “I was just going to ca-“
The man paused. Jurou leaned forward in anticipation mere inches from the locker door.
“Ah, sorry Chinatsu, n-no that was just a mistake…”
GAH! WHAT?! Jurou thought, flabbergasted. Doesn’t this man ever look at the caller I.D? And who the hell is Chiaki?
The man’s phone buzzed, snapping Jurou back into the present.
No way.
There was a beep.
“Ah, Chiharu, my darling, I’m sorry to put you on hold-“
The man paused. Jurou peered in so close his nose rested on the cold steel of the door.
No way.
“Ah, sorry Chiaki, n-no that was just a mistake…”
GAH! This is the world’s worst womanizer! Chiaki-san, Chinatsu-san, Chiharu-san – please run away!
The man made his way out of the staff locker room a few minutes later and after half an hour had passed, Jurou heard someone enter. A security guard looked around then made his way back out, switching off the lights and locking the door as he left.
The lights of the snack bar shut off and the security guard pulled a large steel gate to shut off the cinema from the rest of the establishment. He locked the fence and went off to do his rounds around the rest of the large complex.
A black figure popped up from behind the snack bar.
Could this night get any stranger? Jurou pondered in the dark locker.
He heard keys jingle, the staff room door unlocked and light footsteps approached. The keys jingled once more, the locker door was unlocked and a panting Niko swung the door open. Even in the dark, her wide grin was so infectious that Jurou was captivated for a moment.
“Alright, c’mon.” She whispered, reaching out her hand.
He held it and followed her out of the locker room and into the hallway. It was dimly lit by the posters of the films outside of the individual auditoriums.
Wow. Has her hand always been so small? It’s soft too-THIS ISN’T THE TIME TO BE THINKING ABOUT THIS!
“What are we doing?” Jurou whispered, trying to gain control of his thoughts.
“Follow.”
Niko led him to the entrance of the furthest cinema hall; they began to enter but deviated into a hidden passage culminating with a door titled ‘Staff Only.’ She unlocked the door and they slipped inside.
Jurou had seen rooms like this in movies, high up above the auditorium lay the projector booth.
“Cool, right?” Niko said taking in the room.
“It’s incredible. That’s a film projector right? It’s huge! And look, there’s film inside these steel casings right?”
Niko watched Jurou bounce around the room; from the rolls of film hanging from the ceiling, to the old projector and finally to the centre where he stood in awe. Jurou finally caught her staring with an oddly innocent smile.
“W-What?” He asked, fearing the worst.
Niko’s response was odd; she suddenly blinked and cocked her head back, searched the room aimlessly whilst taking in a deep breath and then looked back at him.
“Uh, I didn’t know you liked films this much…” She responded in her best attempt to change the awkward mood.
Jurou pondered; “I…guess I did not know either…”
She smiled and approached the large projector.
“In the digital age, projector booths like this one are not necessary so many theatres don’t have them. Luckily, there is still one here and I brought a couple of film reels from the rewind room.
There aren’t any cameras in the auditorium but we probably shouldn’t make any noise, that’s why I thought perhaps you might enjoy old silent films. The first adventure on the task was ‘Night at the Museum.’
It’s not exactly a museum, but I figured that if we spent the night here, the history within this room might be able to transport us to the past.”
She looked back at him;
“What do you think?”
Awe.
Jurou couldn’t bring himself to explain that he had meant to watch the film titled ‘Night At The Museum’ as he had failed to watch it growing up, and read on some website that it is a must watch for children.
He couldn’t even muster the sensibilities necessary to feel the fear being caught. The only thing he felt was awe.
Without thinking, he spoke;
“Akatsuki-san, you’re remarkable. This is…”
He chuckled to himself, “Maybe you really are Osaka’s greatest adventurer.”
“Right?” She said beaming with pride.
“What’s more,” he continued, looking through the small window into the auditorium;
“I feel comfortable. I’m not afraid, I’m just here. Present. Thanks to you, I feel…liberated from all concerns.”
She fanned her hand dismissively;
“If you keep giving me all those compliments I might just believe them.” Niko returned playfully and then began loading film into the projector.
Jurou looked back and watched her operate for a moment.
“Good, because it’s all true.”
Two dusty, plastic seats had already been prepared and from behind them Niko pulled two buckets of popcorn she had stored and handed one to Jurou as the projector fired up and the countdown began on the large cinema screen in the auditorium.
The movie began playing; black and white flashes filled the screen as the old story unfolded before them.
“You know, this counts as two activities…” Jurou started, eyes fixated on the screen.
“Oh?”
“Number one: ‘Night at the Museum’ and number eleven: ‘Watch a movie with a girl.’”
“Oh? I never noticed.”
From his peripheral; Jurou caught Niko trying, and failing, to suppress a smile.
“Liar.”
She giggled.
“I’m amazing, aren’t I?”
“You truly are.”