Chapter 32: Date Plans (2)

Chapter 32: Chapter 32: Date Plans (2)

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"You were never gone," Inosuki sighed.

Everyone knew the gun was ragged but played along even Aki. It was for the benefit of normalcy.

Sounds dumb but it’s true.

By the time Aki had used all ten shots, he’d accumulated exactly three points.

The giant dinosaur required twenty-five. He stared silently at the scoreboard. You can rematch all you want but it’s just going to be a waste of money on his part.

"...Rematch."

"You’ve been scammed," Inosuki said. He voice was slow but he was surely tired of this game.

"I’ve been challenged." He replied, he was obviously not going to give up, well not now at least.

"Like wise-man once said, give what belongs to sisal to sisal. but put in mind that once sisal comes to take what theirs, they should be prepared to go with more than they bargained for"

Wait what?

"That’s not the same thing." Inosuki added.

"Peak right?...it is to me." Aki replied.

While Aki negotiated another round with absolute seriousness, the rest of us wandered toward the neighboring arcade.

Bright machines lined every wall. Rhythm games flashed with colorful lights.Racing simulators roared, basketball machines echoed with rapid-fire thumps.

Children cheered around claw machines packed with plush toys.The entire building buzzed with excitement.

"Oota."

I turned. Shion stood beside a rhythm game, hands on her hips.

"You play these?"

"Yeah, i guess" I replied, but was a bit in surprise, she doesn’t seem like the type. Or I haven’t seem her play one before.

"Perfect."

"What do you mean, perfect?" I asked. Was she that into it? I don’t remember ever seeing her this excited about video games or anything game related.

"If you’re terrible, I won’t feel embarrassed if I lose."

"So this is about protecting your pride." I questioned sitting down close to the game.

"..." she went quiet.

"It absolutely is." I muttered, I guess I’ll join her on this fun experience. Who am i kidding? I’m interested from the beginning.

She puffed out her cheeks. "...Maybe a little."

I laughed. "Fine."

A few minutes later, both of us were awkwardly attempting to follow arrows flying across the screen.

Left.

Right.

Up.

Miss.

Miss.

Miss.

Perfect.

Miss.

The machine enthusiastically informed us we’d achieved a grade that was probably intended to encourage beginners. The both of us didn’t even try our best at all, we were like playing with game completely. I had thought she was competitive but she proved me wrong in a way. She was trying to hard to match my lower scores.

It was sort of funny to watch honestly.

Shion looked at the results."...We survived."

"Barely." I added, man it was a lot. Beginners my ass.

"I blame you." Shion muttered.

"I was watching my own side."

"You distracted me." She protested

"How?" I questioned, I didn’t see anyway I was distracting her.

"You existed." She whispered, hearing this I grow flustered a bit, cause I kinda knew what what that meant.

"I’ll apologize next time."

She tried very hard not to smile upon hearing my statement, It didn’t work.

All this aside, the Discord message is potentially the biggest clue because it implies the sender knows things about me and Shion that an ordinary stranger shouldn’t necessarily know.

In otherwords Shion was being framed, and someone knew enough about both of us to make me suspect her.

She doesn’t ask how much the treatment cost, whether the payment went through and she doesn’t even seem to know the details of the donation.

Someone close to Shion knows about her relationship with the me and is deliberately exploiting it, or that’s the first conclusion I have. They might be more.

Why would someone want the me to suspect Shion? What benefits are there for them?

Nearby, Aki had somehow discovered the basketball game.

He launched ball after ball with frightening enthusiasm.

Thump.

Swish.

Thump.

Miss.

Swish.

"LET’S GO!"

People walking past actually stopped to watch.

"You practicing for nationals?" one college student joked. It was impressive though, his physical attributes were top notch.

"Nah." Aki threw another perfect shot.

"I’m naturally gifted."

"You’ve said that after every missed shot too," Junpai pointed out. Even I was trying to make the scene seem good but man it was terrible.

"Consistency is important." Aki replied, what is bro feeling like right now?

Meanwhile, Junpai’s attention wasn’t entirely on the games. Every few seconds his eyes drifted toward Nanami.

"...Are you having fun?" he asked. He was a bit close to both me and Shion so yeah, we could hear their little conversations.

She smiled warmly. "I am."

"...Really?"

"Really."

"...You’re not just saying that?"

Nanami tilted her head.

"If I wasn’t enjoying myself, I’d tell you."

"...Right."

"..."

"..."

Watching them talk like this, is something on its own actually.

"You’ve asked me that five times." Nanami uttered.

"...Sorry."

She laughed softly.

"It’s sweet."

Junpai immediately turned bright red. Aki glanced over while still throwing basketballs.

"Ooooh." Aki voiced out walking closer to them. Abandoning his previous activity to come terrorize the dude.

"Don’t start." Junpai muttered.

"I didn’t say anything." Aki replied playfully, bro had something on his mind.

"You were about to." Junpai immediately added.

"I absolutely was." Aki admitted. Everyone laughed.

Even Junpai eventually gave in with an embarrassed smile.

A little later we wandered toward the prize corner. Rows upon rows of claw machines stretched across the room.

Aki stopped walking.

Slowly...

Very slowly...

He looked upward.

There it was.

The same oversized mascot he’d seen earlier. Only this one somehow looked even bigger. It resembled an enormous blue bear wearing a tiny park uniform.

"..."

"I can win that." For the second time today he uttered. I had given up on any logic behind this guy.

"You cannot," Inosuki answered immediately.

"I believe." Aki protested.

"The machine doesn’t." Inosuki shrugged, totally giving up. Yeah, I feel you.

The attendant explained the rules, three tries. This time the attendant was a female foxy girl, yeah I know it sounded weird but come on her eyes were like that of a fox. I felt immediately that Aki was going to get played.

Aki nodded confidently. "This is all I need."

The claw descended.

Grabbed the mascot.

Lifted it halfway.

Dropped it immediately.

"..."

"So close," Aki whispered.

"It moved three centimeters," I said. Trying to encourage him even if it’s hopeless at this point.

"Progress." Junpai inserted.

Second attempt.

The claw grabbed one ear, The plush rotated dramatically then fell back exactly where it started.

"That’s strategic." Aki said as if he had just blurted out his master plan of some sort.

"It looked accidental." Junpai corrected.

"Psychological warfare?" Inosuki inserted, we all turned to him. I’m guessing this was his attempt to make a joke. I mean does any of this correlate with anything we are saying?

Third attempt.

The claw completely missed.

"..."

"..."

"...The machine fears my potential." Aki said in a cold tone mimicking that of a protagonist or a antagonist in a webnovel.

Shion laughed so hard she had to lean against me to steady herself. "I-I can’t..."

"You alright?" I asked, obviously flustered.

"He actually thinks it was scared..."

"....." Aki claimed mentally, he was quiet but it obvious, what he was thinking.

"It wasn’t..not even in the slightest, wait why are we even debating with him?" Junpai protested.

"It definitely was." Aki crossed his arms.

"Someone please restrain this madman" Inosuki muttered in silence completely tired of the drama.

"I’ll return stronger. ....well....i wished i could say those lines and actually mean it" Aki said ignoring Inosuki commentary.

"That’s what every defeated protagonist says," I muttered. This was how it all played out for me honestly.

"Doesn’t that mean that i like...I’ve gotten a training arc now." Aki replied smiling brightly, the amount positivity his emitting was overwhelming.

By the time we finally stepped outside again, the morning sun had climbed high above the park.

The smell reached us first.

Fresh churros, Caramel popcorn, Fried chicken, Sweet crepes.

The warm scent of baked bread drifted through the open plaza, carried by the breeze.

"I vote food," Aki declared immediately.

"You’ve been voting food since breakfast," Inosuki replied.

"And?"

"...Fair." Inosuki gave in immediately.

And like that it was a tripe to the food stalls.

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"We do not remember days, we remember moments."

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