Chapter 93. Christmas Eve, Operation: To Kill A Mockingbird’s Love (5/8)

“Hey, Ran, a little while ago you said you didn’t like this movie, right?” Alicia suddenly asked.

“Uh… yeah. What about it?”

“Was there anything else you would be interested in watching?”

Hmm… was this an opportunity to play another card?

I thought it over a bit and tried to think what sort of show would turn a popular girl like Alicia off. Would anime work? Hmm… I definitely didn’t want to choose a movie though. I suppose a series would do. But which one?

I’d seen just about every anime up to this point in time. 

Honestly, I didn’t like rewatching anime unless it was really good. But picking a good one might backfire. But… I really don’t want to watch a shitty one if I have to research one. If I fall asleep while watching it, it will be obvious I didn’t actually enjoy it either. Hence, my best option was to show it was something I especially liked and freak her out with my obsession over it.

After I thought about it long enough, my ideal anime to watch that always got me excited was no doubt Attack on Titan. It was considered pretty normy shit to like this series in the future, but during these times when it was still quite new with only the first season out, it was still pretty niche. I doubted she’d be interested in it as a popular girl.

With my mind made up, I found the first season online then connected my phone to the TV and played the first episode.

“Is this… an anime? I’ve heard of them from friends in the past, but I’ve never watched one before… I’m always busy with other things...” Alicia asked a bit uncertain when she saw what I’d selected.

“It’s really good. In the future, this series will blow up when the following seasons are released.”

“What! You like this anime too!” When Chris turned his head to the TV after he heard his sister’s mention of anime, he shot up to his feet excitedly with sparkles in his eyes.

“Hmm… so Ran likes this sort of thing? Even I wasn’t aware of that.” Rosa quietly mumbled to herself off to the side. 

Well, I hardly watch anime these days after all so it wasn’t something she’d catch me watching. I’m always reading novels these days in my free time. Plus, I’ve already watched everything this time period has to offer. For the next forty years in fact. Maybe there would be some new ones here and there that weren't in my previous timeline, but the odds of them being any good was pretty low.

As you kept watching more over time, the bar was continually raised higher and higher until the old stuff you watched in the past that once got you excited, turned into third-rate trash. So if a series came out in the future and only reached the level of something that got you excited in the past, you’d end up seeing it as being bad. It’s not that it was necessarily bad, it was simply that your expectations and bottom-line had raised too high.

Unless you could forget everything you ever watched, this was a problem that faced every industry. The thirst for good content was one that could never be quenched.

As the first episode played out I kept a close eye on everyone’s reactions.

Outside of my expectations, it seemed everyone was enjoying it. Even Irene, the adult in the room, seemed genuinely interested in the way things developed by the end of the episode. 

The main protagonist and his sister were carried away as he watched his mother’s final moments, slowly picked up by the Titan. The Titan’s mouth opened, the mother’s body bitten into. The splatter of crimson droplets of blood as it flew out in all directions in slow motion. The mother, eaten before their very eyes.

The despair, helplessness, powerlessness. All combined with the soundtrack that fit the scene all too well.

Then finally, the narrator’s iconic words, which let everything sink in.

“On that day, mankind remembered…”

“The fear of oppression under them…”

“... and the humiliation of being caged like birds.”

At last, the final image portrayed to the viewers was the dreadful look of the son’s trauma-stricken face carried away on a man’s back as they fled for their lives. 

Fury. 

Rage. 

A desire for vengeance. 

All sorts of emotions could be seen in that boy’s eyes. But the most prominent... was his despair over his inability to protect his mother.

Everyone had chills the instant that one iconic scene played out. There was excitement in their eyes. Their hearts raced at that single moment. 

The studio had done a marvelous job with that scene. It was a scene I remembered from the day I first watched it. To me, it was a scene at the pinnacle, the peak. It was engraved in my memories for years to come. I never forgot it. That single experience.

“It’s still so good no matter how many times I see it!” Chris jumped up excitedly from his seat. Even as someone who had seen it before, it still got you every time. Just how much time and effort went into that scene? It was a masterpiece in my eyes.

From the sound design, music, voice acting, narration, visuals, effects, lighting, background, everything meshed together so well. 

When it was over, everyone let out the breath they’d held in for that instant in time.

They all started to excitedly talk about that scene while I watched on in an overly satisfied manner. Wait… what the hell am I doing? This was the opposite reaction I was looking for. Damn it! What the hell is with this? You’re supposed to be weirded out by my selection…

Like, it’s Christmas Eve you know. Don’t you think I’m weird for picking this of all things?

I don’t know how it happened, but everyone remained glued to the TV and watched more episodes all the way until I had to go to work. We were over halfway done with the first season by the time I left and they continued to watch long after I departed.

It was honestly depressing.

What’s with this? They weren’t supposed to actually like it.

When I got to work today, I was all alone. Yuna had requested today and tomorrow off. I’d get paid time and a half, so I was personally fine working the holidays.

Though while I was at work today, someone showed up I hadn’t expected to show up. It was at 8:30 PM when she appeared. Irene.

When she saw me behind the counter she was surprised. She naturally recognized me, she’d previously seen through my disguise after all. Though I had my hair styled differently to that time, she easily saw through the decorative colored contacts instantly.

“What a surprise, so this is where you worked.” She said when she saw me.

“Uh… yeah.”

“Was it busy for you today?”

“No. Not really. Most people are spending time with their loved ones and family after all.”

“I see. By the way… what happened with Rosa? It doesn’t seem like you two have broken up. Are you having a hard time doing it?” It was the first time we’d been alone together since that night.

“Well… things didn’t exactly play out the way I’d intended.”

Seeing as no one other customers were in the store, Irene leaned closer over the counter and whispered, “So… you told her you cheated on her and she forgave you?” 

“It’s a bit more complicated than that.”

“By the way she’s interacting with me, it doesn’t seem like you told her who you cheated on her with.”

“She… knows.”

“You told her?”

“She figured it out herself. It’s not like there are many suspects I had the opportunity to cheat on her with. When she asked if it was Alicia I naturally denied it and she already was certain it wasn’t her anyway. Naturally, the only other suspect would be you.”

“Certainly. But how is she perfectly fine interacting with me like normal?”

“Well… it seems my girlfriend is… very competitive but also… a bit strange?” It was hard to put it into words.

“Competitive and strange?”

“Well, she grilled me on the specific... details… and her objective for the future was to… beat the bar you set.”

“Pfft. Hahaha! What?” Irene burst into laughter when she heard that.

“5 in 40… she said she’d beat it.”

“Is there something wrong with your girlfriend? Is that the normal reaction for girls in my daughter’s generation?” Irene looked a bit worried that her own daughter might turn out the same way.

“No, it’s definitely not a normal reaction. My girlfriend’s the strange one here.”

“Strange? You said that before, but what did you specifically mean by that?”

I raised one brow in uncertainty and said, “I’m worried she might be a nympho.”