CH 10

Chapter 10:

Title: Game Center vs. Mitsumine

It had been drizzling since the day started, as if the weather was trying to drown out the heat from yesterday. It was quite humid.

“Oh–! Mitsumine, nice—!!”

“Just shut up and watch! It’s embarrassing!!”

Mitsumine had recovered from her cold and came back to school, and, after class, we ended up going to a game center. Well, I guess, to be accurate, it’s more like a leisure facility.

Outside of just having a game center, this place, which was only 2 stations away from our school, also had a batting cage, ping-pong tables, and other sports related facilities.

To understand why the two of us that generally only ever stayed in the empty classroom after school came to a place like this, we’d have to go back to what I said a few minutes ago.

“I’m bored.”

“……Huh?”

“Bored of pop-up pirate.”

Yes, I was starting to get bored of playing pop-up pirate. Obviously, it was because I would always win, and, each time, I would feel sorry for her. Each time we met in this empty classroom after school, we would play at least one round, but pop-up pirate isn’t the type of game you play everyday in the first place.

“So you’re trying to quit while you’re ahead? Coward!!”

“Huh–? I’m not trying to quit while I’m ahead nor am I a coward~~. No matter how many times we do this, I’ll be the victor anyway~~”

“…….Sorry, I hit you.”

“No way, an after-the-fact report…..!!”

She struck me right in the back. Isn’t she becoming more and more rude with each passing day? Is it just me that thinks that? Is it just me??

“So what do you want to do today then?”

“I’m saying I’m bored ‘cause I have no plan. Let’s decide on something together. I feel like I asked you something similar before, but is there anywhere you want to go, Mitsumine?”

I decided to ask Mitsumine what she wanted to do. 

This was an all-or-nothing gamble for me. If she said that there was nothing to do so we might as well go home, then today’s mission would have basically been over. The fact that she didn’t instantly tell me that implies that she’s willing to hang out with me after school.

I was unable to hide my happiness as I looked at her with a smile, waiting for her to answer the question. Eventually, she hesitantly opened her mouth.

“Maybe…..A game center…or something.”

“……Huh?”

“I said a game center!! Is there something wrong with that?!”

“There’s nothing wrong with that, but–! Have you actually never been to one before!? You’re actually a hardcore lady, aren’t you!”

“…….I used to go when I was a child. But I didn’t stop going because I was a “lady” or anything like that. I just stopped going because I didn’t have friends that would invite me to go. I guess it’s because I don’t have the image of someone who goes to places like that.”

“………..”

Mitsumine responded casually. She responded so casually that she almost made me believe that what she said wasn’t a big deal. Isn’t that a pretty painful experience?

That isn’t something you should bring up so casually, you know?

Or is she just trying to get me to gloss over it?

“Well, if you’re against it, it’s fine…we don’t have to go–”

“I’m not against it, okay. Actually, it’s perfect, since I wanted to go too. Let’s go to the game center today~!”

She looked a bit embarrassed and seemed hesitant about actually going, so I chose to speak up instead and began browsing my phone for one we could go to. More people should make it their motto to immediately execute when they get an idea. Life is short, after all.

“Oh, this place seems good. Not only does it have a game center, but it says you can do all sorts of sports related things here too!”

The place seemed fairly close as well, so we waited for a time when there weren’t many of our classmates around and hopped on the train to get there.

“Yeah, Mitsumine! That’s it!!”

“You don’t have to tell me, okay!”

Immediately after getting to the game center, we went to play the game that Mitsumine said she wanted to play the most, which turned out to be a gun game. We had started the co-op mode, but I had ended up dying on the very first stage to a zombie, so now Mitsumine was in the midst of battle solo.

Despite the fact that the stage was intended to be played by two people, Mitsumine continued to advance with overwhelming strength. 

And then there was me cheering from the side.

The way she played felt almost mesmerizing. I felt like I could genuinely watch her play forever.

“Oh, nice—!”

“Pewpewpewpewpew”

“Huh? Are you a genius?”

“Boom, boom boom!”

“Oh~~that’s so cool!”

“~~Can’t you just shut up and watch!? And there’s no need for you to make gunfire noises!”

“O–kay, I’ll be quiet—”

She got angry. Man. I was having fun cheering and making noises.

Mitsumine glanced at me before turning to the line of racing games and rhythm games, seemingly encouraging me to go ahead.

“Hey, A-kun, why don’t you go play another game?”

“Huh, am I that much of an annoyance?!”

“……You aren’t an annoyance. But you aren’t actually doing anything fun. You’re just watching someone else play.”

“No, I’m actually having a lot of fun doing this, okay.”

“Huh–, I see. You’re strange, A-kun.”

Boom. The sound of Mitsumine firing a rocket launcher rang out loudly.

“Then I guess you can stay here.”

After that Mitsumine’s gameplay became even more flashy. I wonder if she’s trying to make it more entertaining for me to watch. As I thought about how happy I would be if that were the case, I stole a glance at her profile, trying to make sure that I didn’t get found out.

(Well, what’s really fun about watching is Mitsumine’s expressions, though.)

I wonder if she realizes that her eyes are practically sparkling as she shoots down the enemies. I wonder if she realizes that the corners of her mouth are turned upwards.

I feel like this is the first time I’ve seen Mitsumine show such a happy expression. Recently I feel like I’ve seen so many new aspects of Mitsumine that I hadn’t seen before. It makes me happy.

“Let’s go, a high score!!”

While I was busy admiring Mitsumine, she seemed to have defeated the boss.

There was a large “YOU WIN” displayed on the screen along with some text saying “RANKING 1.”

Huh, isn’t that crazy??

“Hey A-kun did you see that?! I’ve never gotten first place before! Isn’t this amazing!?”

“Well duh that’s what this screen is trying to tell you isn’t it!? You’re amazing! Quickly, let’s take a picture!”

“…It’s fine. I mean it’s just the rankings of people who’ve come here.”

“It doesn’t matter if it’s the store’s ranking or anything else. You’re still amazing! I’m going to take a picture!!”

“Why are you taking a picture, A-kun?! It’s not like you’re the person that set the score, you know?!”

“Ehhhh, but isn’t this one of Mitsumine’s important records? ……Okay I took a picture. I’ll send it to you by airdrop. Now we have photographic evidence, so you’ll always have something to write in the “special skills” section!!”

“No, there’s no way I would ever put that down.”

So she doesn’t want to list it, huh.

“You really should….I mean you looked like you were having so much fun doing it.”

“…….But aren’t you weirded out?”

“Huh?”

“As I said before, I used to go to game centers in the past. Everyone found it surprising that I was good at gun games.”

“Why would I be weirded out? Also, it’s not like “surprising” necessarily means weird or anything. Gap moe is a thing, and I also think it’s super cool that you’re good at gun games. It made me like you even more.”

As I spoke, I thought back to Mitsumine’s sparkly expression from earlier.

Yep, it definitely made me like her more.

Her expression while having fun was the cutest thing in the world.

“……….”

Suddenly, I realized that Mitsumine’s face looked awfully red.

Huh? Did I say something weird….

────”It made me like you even more”

Uhhh, I said that. I did say that. That was something I certainly did say, but–.

(But I didn’t say anything wrong.)

As I thought this from the bottom of my heart, I met Mitsumine’s gaze and stared back at her. At this point, even her neck was slowly reddening.

If I was the me from just a little while ago, I would’ve gone into full panic mode and tried to deceive her. The reason I can do this with dignity now is because I had come to the realization that, at some point, my feelings for Mitsumine had shifted from feelings of admiration to feelings of love.

I mean, at this point, it’s fine. I’ll admit it. I’ve been desperately running away, but I guess it’s time for me to pay up. Whether it’s wanting to share a beautiful scenery with her or worrying endlessly because she caught a cold or cheering up just because of her smile, all of it is basically an admission of my love. On the other hand, I wonder why it took me so long to try to name this feeling of mine. Maybe it’s because I unconsciously felt that, if I did, I would be even more desperate for her to stay alive.

The superficial “perfect” and “extraordinary” parts don’t matter to me anymore.

I like how she sometimes innocently smiles, how there are things that she can’t do, how she sometimes makes frustrated faces, how she spits words with her poisonous tongue, and even how she sometimes gets angry. 

I like this imperfect side of Mitsumine. 

I want to spend my days with her, talking about stupid things, sharing good food, and talking about how happy I am.

I want to spend time with this ordinary Mitsumine, who isn’t forced to be perfect, extraordinary, or special.

—-Which is why listening to her say “I want to die” makes me feel uncontrollably scared.

As I was thinking about this, I remembered the words that had been passing through my mind when I had stopped Mitsumine from committing suicide. Maybe these feelings have been present all along. 

Because of course you don’t want the girl you like to die. Obviously, you want them to live beside you, and obviously you want them to be happy!!

“What? Did I say something strange??”

How could I just stand idly by?

Anyway, I didn’t tell a single lie. There’s no reason to cover up what I said.

Also the fact that Mitsumine seems embarrassed is making me sort of expect something…!?

I looked her in the eyes and found her staring right back at me. In her large eyes was the reflection of bright lights particular to game centers, making them shine like stars.

(Uwaa, she’s too cute.)

After becoming aware of the fact that I liked Mitsumine, my emotions started bugging out. I was always aware of the fact that she was cute, but now the mystery correction was making her appear 1867 times cuter than I felt she was just 15 minutes ago.

If I was called a creep right now, I’m sure I would just die on the spot.

As these thoughts ran through my mind, I squeezed my hands.

Mitsumine was the one who looked away first.

“…….Not really?”

Her voice sounded fragile, as if she was desperately trying to suppress something. Although she had only spoken 3 syllables, the tension was palpable and my heart felt uncomfortable.

“…….Thank you. If I feel like it, I’ll add it to the “special skills” section next time.”

“Ohh, great.”

I felt like if I kept staring at Mitsumine I would end up liking her more(well actually that had already happened), but I also felt that some irreversible words like “cute” might escape my mouth in the form of a mutter, so I chose to look away as well. What are we even doing?

“What are we going to do next? I want to try the purikura booth!”

“A-kun,  it’s half a century too early for you to try taking photos at the purikura booth.”

[TLN: I tried leaving purikura as photo but there were too many things that didn’t make sense. Anyway, just look it up]

“Oh, seriously? Well, I am the guy that’s half a century ahead of his time, so I’ll take the challenge.”

“There’s no way you can be that ahead of your time, you know? I mean, A-kun, the best you can do is probably making a peace sign.”

I chose to speak only light-hearted fluff. I was afraid that if I spoke seriously things might end in disaster.

I would be happy if she returned my feelings, but I wonder how she actually feels.

However, there was no way I could ask her directly, so instead we had a conversation that was even more pointless than usual and went to the purikura booth.

“Insert the money, choose a background, and we’ll take the pictures.”

“Oh, okay.”

As expected of a true highschool girl. Of course she’s already used to taking pictures with a purikura booth. I followed her instructions and inserted the money. Then, I went inside and regretted it immediately.

“We’ll be taking pictures now! First, sit back to back and then form a finger heart together! The goal is to show that you’re really close~!”

…….You’re joking right? Is the distance between highschool girls so close nowadays??

I looked at Mitsumine, asking for permission…..!?

“…….The pose assignments are absolute, okay!”

She forcibly put her back against mine. I could feel the pleasant warmth and softness from the body contacting my back.

“Okay, I got it!!”

For the time being, I had agreed to her. I had, but–

Mitsumine is right there. This distance is so close–. My heart began making a sound I had never heard before.

Huh? Is today the day that I die…..?

“Next make a heart with your hands!”

“…….A-kun, give me your hand.”

I have no clue what’s happening anymore, but if Mitsumine is telling me I guess I have to. I can barely remember what happened after I timidly stuck my hand out, but I did remember enjoying it. 

After that, Mitsumine dragged the dazed me to the booth where you could add on to the pictures. I, for the time being, sat down on a chair outside the booth. I think the idea is to add the date and some text to the picture you just took, but I honestly don’t know much about stuff like this, so I just left it to Mitsumine. That being said, I guess the current trend isn’t to add too much, as she came out of the booth quickly, so we sat around talking while waiting for the finished product.

“Mitsumine, do you still have some time after this?”

“……Why?”

“I mean we’ve already come, so I figured we might as well try out some of the sports stuff.”

“Sure, that’s fine. What do you want to do?”

“How about batting? It doesn’t seem like something you’ve tried before, after all.”

“Yeah, I haven’t. Then let’s try that. …..Oh, they’re done.”

Mitsumine crouched down, took the page of purikura stickers, broke them apart, and handed me a chain. I guess the recent purikura are made so that you can separate them easily.

(……Wow, I look really happy in this.)

The me in the picture had a giant smile and looked a bit too happy. I see, I was this happy. Like really happy. It’s a bit embarrassing that Mitsumine can also see this, but I guess it’s too late now.

“Huh, Mitsumine, why is there a stamp over your face? Was that a mistake?”

The first picture of us being back to back.

In that photo, there was a large heart stamp covering her face.

“…….There was an accident in that photo, so I hid it!”

“Why—That’s such a waste! You’re already way too cute, so, even if there was an accident, you’d just go from the cutest to the cutest.”

“D–, don’t say such embarrassing things! I just hid it because it didn’t look good enough, okay!!”

“Huh–!? If that’s your reasoning, all my faces in those pictures would be accidents ! ! !”

“No, those faces wouldn’t be accidents!! I mean that’s just…..that’s just how you always are!”

“No, by your measure, these pictures are on the same level as a pileup of cars, okay!? If that’s the case I’m sorry for being a disaster by default!!”

I want to cry. Our faces are on a different level, that’s all.

Mitsumine is kind enough to say “that’s not what I meant” and is desperately trying to come up with some sort of excuse, but I honestly don’t care that much. It’s fine.

I’m just glad that I now have a tangible representation of our experiences together. If anything, I’m even thankful because now I’m back to being able to speak lightheartedly.

If we continued in that tense atmosphere from before, I would’ve forgotten how to breathe and died.

I thought about this and carefully put the purikura away before talking to Mitsumine.

“Okay, we should go batting now. Mitsumine, you haven’t batted before, right? In that case, you should probably start with the slow ball…..”

“I’m fine. I want to hit at the speed that you always hit at, A-kun.”

“Seriously? I think it’ll be a bit difficult for a beginner, though.”

“Well, I just have a feeling that I can do it!”

“Just where in the world is this confidence coming from.”

Still, it’s amazing that I can almost believe she can do it just because she says so.

That being said, I wanted to make sure she didn’t get injured, so I chose to serve as an example first. I gave a simple lecture as I hit the balls flying by.

“You want to keep your right hand on top. Then, when the ball comes flying over……hit it!! That’s the lecture!”

“What, this doesn’t seem that hard after all. If that’s all it is, I might actually be able to do it.”

“In that case, how about you get started immediately?”

I finished hitting my balls and passed the bat to Mitsumine. Then, she stood in a gracious pose and attempted to hit the ball—

“A-kun?! Hey, wait, ahh?!”

She missed. Completely. What happened to the confidence from just a moment ago?

After that, she attempted a few more times, but she continued to miss. She wasn’t very good at this.

The current Mitsumine was a far cry from the really cool Mitsumine that had appeared while playing the gun game.

“Woah. Mitsumine,you really suck at this!”

“I–, I had confidence! Confidence!!”

“Just confidence means nothing. I’ll be taking the title of batting genius! What do they mean by “perfect girl.” There’s still so many things you can’t do!”

As I said this, I couldn’t help but laugh.

Oh—this is great. If she was better than me at batting as well, I would’ve been at a complete loss. There’s finally something that I am better than Mitsumine at that isn’t solely luck-based. 

Just that makes me happy because it makes me feel one step closer to being qualified to be by Mitsumine’s side.

Mitsumine probably doesn’t care about this at all, but this had significant meaning to me, so I couldn’t help but smile.

“Hey, is that the reason you brought me to the batting area!? That really pisses me off! Next time we come, I’ll definitely, definitely hit a homeru–…..Oh”

“Huh, what did you just say~? I thought you said you didn’t care about stuff like this because you were going to die soon anyway~?”

“Shut up already! Don’t say anything!!”

She swung the bat in frustration. She missed again.

“Why……!”

Mitsumine got into position again, an even more serious look in her eyes. That being said, the key to stuff like this is really just experience. She continued to brilliantly strike out, and the amount of balls she had dwindled and dwindled in number.

“Well, just watch me for a bit. This great me will serve as your role model.”

I couldn’t just stand around in front of a beginner. After watching Mitsumine bat a bit, I went to the neighboring booth and moved to hit. On my first try, I beautifully hit the ball right in the center of the bat, and the ball flew straight out. It was a home run.

“Let’s go!! Did you see that just now, Mitsumine!”

Mitsumine was staring at me, flabbergasted.

Ahaha. Oh—I’m so happy.

Getting to show the girl I liked my cool sides made me feel so happy. I could feel the corners of my mouth curving up.

This makes all the money I spent when I was addicted to this worth it. Thank you, past me. Thank you, God.

“Oh and Mitsumine I feel like you try to do too much on your own. People can’t be perfect at everything. Like that stuff about being a “perfect girl.” People like that don’t exist. Don’t get the wrong idea.”

“………..What?”

“Uhh, well…um, I meant that in a good way?”

—-It’s over. I’m going to be killed. I got carried away.

“In order to aim for perfection, you need to pair up with other people. For example, you in the gun game division and me in the baseball division. I mean the division of labor is really important in the workforce right? And think about Samegon, remember what he did. We live in an era where even sharks are helping each other out.”

[TLN: Go back to like chapter 7 or wtv if u forgot]

As I continued to desperately spit out words, I saw Mitsumine’s eyes widen for an instant. Immediately after that, she burst out into a fit of laughter, seemingly unable to hold it in anymore.

“Fufu, fufufu. Ahahaha.”

As I stared at her in shock, the sound of her laughter grew louder and louder.

“Um, what part of what I said was so funny….?”

“All of it! It’s because you were saying weird stuff, A-kun!”

“Weird stuff…..?”

“…….Well, it is true that there isn’t really anything special about you A-kun, but, as far as I can tell, there is stuff that is special about me! Let’s be honest, if we divided up labor, what could you even do outside of being a part of the batting division?” 

Ouch, that hits a nerve.

“I guess the cleaning, resting, and manual labor divisions…..?”

“Fufu, well, in that case, I would have to carry nearly the entire load.”

“By just being around people, I light up their world~. So make me the guy in charge of the sun division~~!”

“You’re really an idiot, huh. Well that’s okay, though!”

I didn’t really have anything to say in response to her harsh burn, so I just made my usual careless remarks, but, despite that, Mitsumine had an expression on her face that indicated she was very much enjoying this, and she just kept on laughing.

No, this isn’t good. You should be playing the straight man here.

I know I said it myself, but what the hell is the sun division? There is no such thing!!

“Then I guess it’s about time we head home.”

After that, we waited for Mitsumine to calm down and then went to the front to receive my prize for a home run before heading back.

It was almost 6pm.

It was still bright out, but it would be dark in no time.

“Haaa, that was fun. It’s been a while since I’ve been able to release so much stress.”

“That’s good.”

“Thanks to you I even got a cola. Today was a great day–!!”

As I stared at Mitsumine walking happily beside me as we made our way back to the station, I thought back to what had happened earlier.

Most batting centers have some sort of prize for when you hit a home run. Of course, that was the case with the batting center we went to as well. The employee in charge had passed me a box and told me to “feel free to pick something from here.”

Within the box, there was a matching pair of keychains clearly meant for couples. Remembering this, I stroked the top of the matching pearl pinky ring in my pocket.

Even though our school’s rules are very lax, I still think it’s strange to go to school with a ring clearly on, so I just keep it by my side. To some extent, I also felt that it was simply too precious to wear.

I wonder if Mitsumine is also treasuring the pinky ring.

Pearls are also said to symbolize tears. That’s why people bring pearl accessories to a funeral. Even though I know looking stuff like this up will make me feel suffocated, I still do anyway.

I think Mitsumine has finally revealed to me a bit of her true feelings. That’s what I think, but I still don’t know whether or not she’s given up on the idea of suicide.

That’s why I chose to reach for the consumable two-pack of cola instead. I’m sure this isn’t a bad choice. As the remaining days dwindle away, I find myself getting more and more cautious.

I’m worried because I don’t know if I can save Mitsumine like this.

“……..”

I didn’t know what to say, so I just tried a sip of cola. It was very cool and refreshing for my brain, which had fallen victim to the heat and humidity.

Repeating these actions countless times, I reached the station where we were supposed to part ways.

“Hey, Mitsumine.”

“What?”

“……See you tomorrow.”

“Yeah, see you tomorrow.”

She responded to my shaky farewell with a smile. She waved, still smiling. Just with that, I felt like my worries and gloom from just a second ago had been blown away. I’m a simple guy, huh.

“‘See you tomorrow,’ huh.”

Even after I got off the train, I kept repeating those words to myself. After all, this was the first time that Mitsumine ever took the initiative to talk to me about a “tomorrow.”

[TLN: Sorry, been busy & this chapter was long so i wasn’t motivated to do it. The chapter’s been mostly done for like a week but finally finished editing it. Anyway here ya’ll go]