Chapter 11: Meeting up
The trip to the arcade was over in no time.
As soon as we entered, flashy music resonated in our ears, tickling the male heart.
However, it seemed to apply to my childhood friend as well.
“This song really gets me pumped up. It’s perfect for starting my medal-collecting life. Now, how much should I save up?”
“That sounds exactly like a gambler. Are you sure you’ll be okay in the future?”
“What are you talking about? Saving is healthy, isn’t it?”
“I’m talking about your mindset of saving with arcade medals!”
Remi seemed unable to find a comeback and, unusually, grumbled in frustration.
“Whatever, let’s hit the medal games!”
…Come to think of it, Remi has always loved medal games.
“I’m surprised you’re still into medal games. I thought you’d quit long ago,” I teased, remembering the past.
Remi furrowed her brow.
“Huh? Ryota, did you quit? Even though you dragged me into this?”
“Oh, did I?”
Realizing I had completely forgotten, Remi seemed even more displeased.
“…Yes, when your dad took you to the arcade, you invited me along. It’s awful to drag someone into a swamp and escape alone!”
“Hey, don’t phrase it like that!”
Back then, Seira wouldn’t play any competitive games with me, so I had intense matches with Remi in various games instead.
The last thing we got hooked on was medal games, and I suppose you could say I dragged her into it.
At the end of each day, we used to compete based on how many medals we had left.
“Thanks to you, I still get the urge to play. Take responsibility! For some reason, people think you’re a delinquent if they catch you playing alone. Even though you can’t exchange medals for money!”
“It’s probably the situation of a girl alone in an arcade that makes them think that. Plus, you’re wearing piercings, Remi.”
I glanced at Remi’s ear, where blue piercings gleamed.
At my words, Remi snorted.
“piercings are fine, aren’t they? I heard Kita High was lenient about dress codes, so it’s strange that no one wears piercings.”
“Well, our school is pretty relaxed about that stuff, and there’s even a girl with flashy hair in our class. But piercings are still a high hurdle, I think. They make you look kind of tough.”
“I wear them to be fashionable!”
“I know that, but I’m talking about how others see it.”
Remi already stands out just for her good looks, but the piercings double the impact of her appearance.
I decided not to say that out loud, knowing Remi wouldn’t like that kind of thinking.
Besides, Hanazono probably wouldn’t approve of such thoughts either.
“But you know, people who can pull off piercings look really cool.”
“Huh?”
Remi let out a small voice.
Then, she stopped in her tracks.
Without turning to face me, she asked again.
“Say that one more time?”
“Uh, well… I said people who can pull off piercings look cool.”
I could see Remi’s eyes widen.
A few seconds of silence fell between us.
Just as the background music started to feel overwhelmingly loud, Remi’s expression softened.
Her smile, revealing white teeth, was something I hadn’t seen in quite a while.
“…I see. Hehe, thank you.”
“W-What’s with you all of a sudden?”
“Nothing. I’m just happy.”
“I-I see.”
…Since when did she start honestly enjoying compliments?
Her carefree smile, so unlike her usual self, left a strong impression.
I averted my gaze and walked towards the medal game area.
Still feeling slightly nervous, I asked Remi a question.
“So, what medal game should we start with?”
“Anything is fine. There are quite a few types, right?”
“Even if you say that, it’s been a long time since I quit.”
“I haven’t played much recently either.”
“…The fact that you say ‘much’ means you really wanted to play medal games, huh?”
As Remi pouted and said, “Shut up,” about to add something else, we noticed something.
“Huh?”
There was a familiar figure in front of the UFO catcher.
Remi seemed to notice too, and stopped abruptly.
“Isn’t that Yuzuha-san?”
“You think so too?”
About five or six meters ahead, a girl was crouching down.
Although her face was partially hidden by a cap, her strong-looking profile and hair color were distinctive.
As we closed the distance to about a meter, our guess turned into certainty.
It was Yui Yuzuha, the central figure of our class.
“…It really is Yuzuha. Why is she at this arcade?”
“This place is quite far from our meeting spot, right? I thought we were supposed to run into each other while shopping.”
“Yeah. Well, I guess this place meets the conditions too…”
The conditions for our meeting place were that it should be somewhere people wouldn’t immediately notice if we split up.
Initially, the shopping mall was designated because we could move around easily between stores, but an arcade works for that too.
“…But Remi, you wanted to play medal games, right?”
“Hmm… I do, but we don’t know when Hanazono-san will arrive. It might be safer to wait for another opportunity.”
…But there might not be another opportunity, that’s why I’m saying this.
For me, the fact that this might be the last time was important.
“Anyway, I guess my girlfriend time is over now. …It was pretty fun.”
“No, let’s go to the medal area now.”
“Huh? Wait…”
I quickly pulled Remi’s hand and let go. Remi looked a bit confused and spoke in an unusually small voice.
“…Geez, don’t pull me so suddenly.”
“Sorry, sorry.”
Even if we played until the last minute, God wouldn’t be angry.
So I thought it would be okay to spend a little more time here.
Just as I was about to leave,
I noticed Yuzuha turning around in the corner of my vision.
“Huh? Whoa, Yoshiki?”
READ THE ORIGINAL TRANSLATION AT gadgetizedpanda.net
…We’ve been spotted.
If I was alone, I might have been able to avoid her, but with Remi here too, there’s no way to pretend we didn’t see her.
After hesitating for a moment, I gave up.
“I guess this time is over now.”
“Yes. …That’s what I was prepared for.”
Nodding at Remi’s words, I started walking towards Yuzuha.
“H-Hey. What are you doing here?”
“What do you mean? We’re just hanging out… Oh crap, we ran into each other here!”
Yuzuha slapped her forehead.
Come to think of it, this is the first time I’ve met Yuzuha on a day off.
Just like with Remi, seeing girls who usually wear uniforms in casual clothes has a powerful impact.
The thin white shirt was predictably unbuttoned to the second button, with a silver necklace resting on her chest.
This much I might see even in her uniform, but in this casual outfit, the shirt was tied at the waist, revealing her belly button.
The damaged-style short pants were even shorter than Remi’s, and with holes in them, it was quite difficult to know where to look.
Despite all this, her perfectly applied makeup made her eyes sparkle brilliantly, and even just making eye contact required some courage. If Takeru were here, it would have been even worse.
As I mouthed “act” to her, both as a reminder and a rehearsal, Yuzuha quickly looked around.
Then, she raised her voice conspicuously.
“Heyyy, Yoshiki! I’m trying to make a fortune with the UFO catcher. Wanna join? You might become a millionaire!”
Despite her obvious acting, her usual energetic smile remained intact.
I guess her usual smile just comes out reflexively.
That said, her terrible acting skills are concerning.
“You’re not gonna be a millionaire with stuffed animals. That kind of ambition is for medal games at least. And your acting is way too obvious!”
I whispered the last part, but Yuzuha didn’t seem to care, replying, “I know, I’m just practicing!”
“If you know, then please care about it?”
“Okay! But Yoshiki, don’t crush my millionaire dreams. That’s just my current character setting.”
“Why is everyone a gambler at this age…”
Yuzuha puffed her cheeks, then quickly deflated them. She seemed to have noticed Remi behind me.
“Oh, sorry, Nikaido-san! I got caught up talking to Yoshiki. Hello, nice to meet you today!”
“Hi, nice to meet you too. Don’t mind me, Yoshiki-kun is the type who never looks at me anyway.”
“Hey!?”
I turned to look at Remi, who had completely switched to her public mode.
Yuzuha gave me a exasperated look at Remi’s comment.
“Yoshiki… Well, I guess that’s safer considering what’s coming up…”
“Shut up! If anything happens, I’ll explain properly!”
“Hmm. Well, I guess it’s counting your tanuki before they hatch.”
“It’s ‘chickens’, not ‘tanuki’. Is that really the part you forget? Normally people would forget the ‘counting’ or ‘before they hatch’ part.”
Yuzuha frowned and said “Shut up!” before turning back to Remi with a smile.
“By the way, I didn’t know you came to arcades, Nikaido-san. It’s a nice gap!”
“Yeah, Yoshiki-kun insisted on coming here before we meet up.”
“Oh, so it was Yoshiki’s idea. Yoshiki, you really need to shape up. Can you protect Nikaido-san if she gets in trouble with some creep?”
“There’s no one more troublesome than you, Yuzuha.”
“Huh? Did I hear something?”
“Did you? Remi, did you hear anything?”
“I heard you saying something terrible about Yuzuha-san.”
“Don’t sell me out so easily!”
The girl who was so eager to play medal games earlier was now acting completely composed.
If she hadn’t pinched my back, I might have let slip not only about the medal games but also about my childhood friend’s personality. Ouch, that hurts.
“By the way, Yoshiki, this is the first time we’ve run into each other on a day off, right? It’s hilarious that you can go out on weekends!”
“Don’t make me sound like a shut-in!”
Yuzuha laughed while slapping my shoulder repeatedly.
Also check out my friend Localizermeerkat for more LN translations!
BUY THE SOURCE MATERIAL TO SUPPORT THE AUTHOR !!!
Kindly click on the green button above and contribute to filling the green bar if you’re interested in having another LN from the request page translated. Also, every donation is being used to purchase the source material and to fund more English translations.
Please consider joining my Ko-Fi membership. By becoming a member, you’ll also gain access to 2-10 additional chapters of all of the novels from this site translated into English. Last but not least your support will also assist me in upholding the translation quality and speed. For more information, please follow the link.
Donation for faster release is always welcome
Additionally, I am now accepting translation requests.
