Vol. 1 Chapter 18 – First Date? (3)

Walking for about two minutes from the front of the store, we arrived at our destination, the arcade.

I’d heard the industry had been struggling for a while, but perhaps because it was the evening of a long holiday weekend, it was bustling with a large number of customers.

“Ooh… This is a pretty serious arcade!” (Hikaru)

Being part of a major chain, it had numerous types of arcade cabinets lined up.

Near the entrance were the prize corner and photo sticker booths meant to attract customers, and slightly further in were casual family-oriented games and motion-controlled games for cooperative play.

Deepest inside were rhythm games and fighting games for the core audience, as well as large network-compatible cabinets.

“Yeah. Do you come here often, Asahi-san? With your classmates… like Hino-san, for example?” (Reiya)

I raised my voice slightly so she could hear me over the layers upon layers of electronic sounds.

“Hmm… Ayaka doesn’t really come to places like this much. I might take Purikura with other girls sometimes, but I almost never actually play the games.” (Hikaru)

“Huh… Conversely, I sometimes go to arcades with Kazama or Kaneda from Class C, but I’ve never taken Purikura in my entire life.” (Reiya)

‘We really are polar opposites in every way…’ As I was thinking that—

“Well then, since we’re here, wanna try taking some?” (Hikaru)

She suggested it with the same casualness a PC gamer might request a refund for a crappy game.

“…Take what?” (Reiya)

“Purikura.” (Hikaru)

“…Who?” (Reiya)

“The two of us.” (Hikaru)

“…I see.” (Reiya)

After that, before I knew it, heavily processed stickers of us had been generated.

“Ahaha! This face is hilarious! Look! Aren’t we both ridiculous?” (Hikaru)

Holding the resulting sheet, Asahi-san giggled uncontrollably.

“I feel like my human dignity has been toyed with…” (Reiya)

“Sorry, sorry. I got carried away and overdid the editing. Here, let’s split this.” (Hikaru)

She handed me one half of the sheet, cut down the middle.

Pictured there were versions of us with ridiculously large eyes and pure white skin.

“Pfft… hehe…” (Reiya)

I had intended not to laugh, but I couldn’t help myself.

“Ah! See, you’re laughing too, after all!” (Hikaru)

“No, but… this is just too much…” (Reiya)

“As punishment, I’m sticking this on your phone…!” (Hikaru)

“Please, seriously spare me from that…” (Reiya)

If anyone saw something like that, it would be a catastrophe in two different ways.

After a brief period of playful back-and-forth, we moved on to the game corner.

In the motion-controlled game section we visited first, I was once again reminded of her high human specs.

Starting with gun shooting games, she effortlessly cleared games that were fundamentally designed assuming players would use continues, achieving it on a single coin thanks to her innate dynamic visual acuity and reflexes.

I was doing my best just not to drag her down.

As for the air hockey where I tried to somehow show some pride, I don’t even want to talk about the results.

No matter how crowded the place was, she always emitted a radiance that stood out.

“Hey, isn’t that girl super cute?”

Perhaps because of that, I occasionally heard such comments from the surroundings several times.

“Whoa, seriously. But she’s with her boyfriend.” “Nah, they clearly don’t match. Probably a relative or something.” “Well then, you go talk to her.” “No way, my policy is not to fight battles I can’t win.”

I couldn’t help but be bothered by such voices, but she paid them no mind at all.

“Let’s play that next! C’mon, hurry, hurry!” (Hikaru)

Just like when we were playing games in my room, she pulled my hand, scattering light.

After thoroughly exhausting ourselves playing, we proceeded to raid the prize corner.

“Ahhh… Seriously, this claw is too weak…” (Hikaru)

As the grand finale, we were aiming for the star prize near the entrance: a ‘Dekkawa’ stuffed toy.

It was a character boasting immense popularity, mainly among female middle and high school students, and as was often the case, Asahi-san apparently liked it too.

However, we had already invested two thousand yen between the two of us, yet there was still no sign of us being able to get it.

We’d somehow get it to what seemed like a promising position, but due to exquisite adjustments, the final step remained out of reach.

As expected of a popular prize meant to draw customers, the difficulty was quite blatantly cranked up.

“Okay, my turn next…” (Reiya)

“Please! If I don’t get it, I feel like I’ll dream about it tonight!” (Hikaru)

Switching places with Asahi-san, I inserted a coin.

Initially, we were competing to see who could get it, but now it had become a battle between the two of us and ‘Dekkawa’.

Thanks to my part-time job, I had ample funds for a high school student, but if I didn’t clinch it soon, my wallet would seriously be in trouble.

Carefully judging the distance, I first maneuvered the arm horizontally.

“…Alright.” (Reiya)

I had gotten quite used to the controls and managed to stop it exactly where I intended.

“Huh? Isn’t that a little too far?” (Hikaru)

“No, it’s fine… This is exactly what I was aiming for…” (Reiya)

Through more than ten previous attempts, I understood that a direct approach wouldn’t work on this thing.

The arm’s power was clearly insufficient to lift it.

Taking a deep breath, I pressed the button for vertical movement.

Along with the cheerful BGM, the arm moved downwards.

The target wasn’t the main body… but the ring-shaped tag!!

The moment I released the button, the open arm descended.

The tip of the arm, adjusted with more brainpower than I used for my high school entrance exams, slipped smoothly into the tag.

“Ah… It went inside…!” (Hikaru)

Beside me, Asahi-san let out a voice of admiration, but I couldn’t relax yet.

The arm, having reached the bottom, closed and began to ascend.

‘Now, if the tag catches nicely on the protrusion of the joint… Yes, it caught!’

The giant stuffed toy floated in mid-air.

It was carried directly over the prize outlet…

—Clunk.

With that sound, it fell into the retrieval slot.

“…Yessss!!” (Reiya)

I instinctively struck a full-strength victory pose.

“You got it! Amazing! That’s awesoooome!” (Hikaru)

Asahi-san, also excited, grabbed my arm and jumped for joy.

I felt like I had finally, somehow, shown a man’s pride.

Basking in the afterglow of victory, I retrieved the spoils from the outlet.

“Here, this.” (Reiya)

“Eh?” (Hikaru)

I handed the stuffed toy I held directly to Asahi-san.

“Well, you seemed to want it…” (Reiya)

“…Is it okay?” (Hikaru)

“Well, it’s no use if I have it… Think of it as thanks for clearing your schedule for me today on short notice, I guess…” (Reiya)

Words completely out of character for me came out.

Perhaps the excitement of victory achieved after a hard struggle was causing strange substances to be secreted in my brain.

“If that’s the case, I’ll take it! Ehehe, thanks~!” (Hikaru)

It was just as Asahi-san said that and buried her face in the stuffed toy she received.

—Clap clap clap…

The sound of faint applause echoed from the surroundings.

Glancing around, I saw that several other customers, not quite a gallery, had been watching us.

Apparently, without us noticing, a situation had developed where people were watching us battle the popular large prize.

“Look at that. Isn’t that super heartwarming?” “They’re really living their youth.” “They’re definitely in that newly dating phase, the most fun time. I hope they don’t become cynical…” “Seeing stuff like that makes me want to go back to my student days.”

Being looked at as if we were something heartwarming caused a surge of shame to well up inside me.

Even Asahi-san seemed embarrassed, blushing beside me.

“M-Maybe we should get going…” (Reiya)

“Y-Yeah…” (Hikaru)

Feeling unbearably awkward, we gave a slight bow to the people who had applauded and left the spot.

However, we were still unaware of the true impending threat approaching us.

As we started walking away as if fleeing, something stood blocking our path.

Long, straight black hair, and behind glasses, blazing Fire Attribute eyes.

The boss I was supposed to have skipped using a bug exploit—Hino Ayaka—was somehow standing right there.

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• Purikura: Japanese photo sticker booths popular among young people, known for extensive automatic editing features (enlarging eyes, smoothing skin, etc.).
• Dekkawa: The name of the popular fictional character plushie they are trying to win. Combination of “dekai” (big) and “kawaii” (cute).