17 - An impromptu meeting is a tension-free experience (Patreon)

RAW

When I came to the city for some reason, Nakano-kun was there.
And then, he invited me to hang out, so I agreed for some reason.

Everything happened ‘for some reason’, but at the same time I feel like it’s inevitable. It probably wasn't just a coincidence that I was in that donut shop in this city today.

...

Is this what they call a date?

Hiuri and I are still just friends in real life. Therefore, I hesitate to call this a date just because we are a man and a woman hanging out together.
However, if people look at us now, they would probably see it as nothing other than a date. At the very least, when I see what appears to be a high school boy and girl walking around the city together, I would think they’re on a date.

“So, do you have somewhere you want to go?”
“Eh? Aah...”

The truth is, for this opportunity, I asked Hiuri in the dream where she would like to go on a date.
Actually, I probably should have thought about it myself, but since it’s my first time, I don't want to fail. In the dream, with a slightly wry smile, Hiuri told me.

“How about the arcade? I have the impression that Sakura-san doesn't go there very often though.”
“...It'll be my first time. Let's try going there.”

The first destination is an arcade. It’s the place I went to with Tadashi the other day.

According to dream Hiuri, she had always wanted to go to an arcade, but she had always held herself back because she didn’t want to be thought of as weird for having fun at an arcade with her attitude and personality at school.
It’ll be fine because I'm here... I can’t actually say that, but at least Hiuri won't be the only one to be thought of as weird. Well, at that time, they will just doubt the relationship between me and Hiuri.

“So this is an arcade. It's not as noisy as I heard.”
“That’s because this arcade doesn't have many music games. I think a more central arcade would be more noisy.”

The only music game they have here is that taiko drum thing. That washing machine-like thing, that piano-like thing, that thing where you raise and lower your arms, you won’t find those things unless you go to an arcade in the city center.

First of all, we’ll play the safe crane games.
When I came with Tadashi, the prizes were all big, but today they changed them to smaller prizes such as earphones and music players.

“One hundred yen... that’s expensive isn’t it.”
“If you can get it in a few tries, it's a profit.”
“I know, but... the store set things up to make sure that doesn't happen, right?”

How cold... well, that’s how it actually is.
Some people seem to be able to win the prize in just one try, but neither Hiuri nor I are that skilled, so we'll definitely need to many tries.

“But, well, it's my first time, so maybe I’ll try it just once.”

What Hiuri challenges, is the earphone. There is a loop attached to its small box that you are supposed to hook onto.
I've never been able to get this...

Although Hiuri is unfamiliar with it, she does her best to operate the crane and bring it on top of the prize. Arm, grab it strongly!

““Aah””

But ruthlessly, the arm did not grab the loop.
I've never seen anyone take a prize in this type of crane game, can these really be grabbed?

“Nakano-kun, you should try it too.”
“I wonder if I can...”

Nothing special. I failed.

“This isn’t worth it.”
“Well, that's how it is... there's a lot more here than just crane games, so let's take a look.”

Hiuri and I walk through the slightly spacious arcade. Since it’s summer vacation, there are many student-like figures in the arcade.
The boys see Hiuri for a moment, but when they see me next to her, they turn their heads back with a resentful look on their faces. I'm sorry.

What caught Hiuri's eye was a game with a slightly large cabinet.

“Gun shooting...”

It was the game I was good at.

I can't really imagine Hiuri fighting with a gun, but I think it would look good on her.

“Nakano-kun, this is?”
“It's a game where you shoot enemies with that gun-shaped controller over there. Is this... a zombie one?”

The demo movie shown on the screen shows the player being attacked by a large number of zombies.

In this type of shooting game, there are several types of enemies. From the standard zombies to machine-like enemies, and depending on what you're looking for, it seems like there's even a war-type shooting game.

And among these, when it comes to Hiuri, zombie is the...

“Nice, let's do it.”

Genre she’s best at.

There are people who are good at zombie games and people who aren't, Hiuri is the former. According to dream Hiuri, even though they’re human-shaped, she doesn't need to hesitate and can mercilessly kill them.

“Since it’s for two people... it would be 200 yen. Since it's probably your first time, let’s start with the tutorial.”
“Please do.”

The controls are simple. Move the controller to aim and press the trigger to fire, and point it off-screen to reload.
There are three weapons to choose from: handgun, machine gun, and shotgun. I chose the machine gun because it feels exhilarating, and Hiuri chose the handgun.

First, a short video will be played. It's a cabinet game, so it has no deep story. The game begins with a man and a woman walking around carrying weapons somehow facing off against zombies that have appeared somehow.

“This is... nice!”

Hiuri keeps racking up points. Her aim is so good that I can't believe it's her first time.

On the other hand, I take pride in being good at this genre, so I easily defeat my enemies. This is not my first time playing this game, so I’m not surprised even when there are explosions effects and the like.

“It’s the boss... where should I shoot?”
“For this one, aim for the legs first. After a while, it will start to flinch, that's when you should aim for the head.”

As someone with experience, I give her smooth advice.
Hiuri, hearing my words, immediately aims her gun at its feet and fires continuously. I can fire continuously by holding down the trigger.

The boss flinched and lowered his head.

“Hiuri, now!”
“Yes!”

The two of us attack all at once. Before long, the boss was defeated.

This game has three stages. The second stage has a divergence, so I leave it to Hiuri and proceed to the next stage.

In the second stage, the difficulty level jumps up in one go. I also support her, but it’s still too difficult for Hiuri, a beginner, and we get a game over before we could reach the boss.

“It's amazing that you made it to the second stage as a beginner. Good job.”
“...Well, that’s how it is. It was interesting."

Hiuri looks satisfied. I wonder if she surprisingly likes gun shooting.

“I'm tired. Let's take a break.”
“All right.”

We left the arcade.
Hiuri and I were quiet while excessively shooting during the game, but we still used our bodies, so we ended up getting tired.

We stopped at a cafe near the arcade. I wonder if there is a cafe so close to the arcade because there are people like us who get tired from playing there.

“Nakano-kun, what do you choose? Is it the same as before?”
“Nn—, I think I'll have iced coffee today.”
“Then I'll have an iced cafe au lait.”

Furthermore, Hiuri also ordered a small cake. Apparently she tries not to eat sweets too much when she is outside, so is this okay?

“Itadakimasu.”

Hiuri starts eating the cake. She looks happy.

“For some reason, when I'm with Nakano-kun, I feel like eating sweets...”

I think that's probably because you're eating sweets with me in the dream.

“Also... didn't you call me by my given name earlier?”

...Ah.

Earlier, I was so absorbed in the game that I didn't notice, but I do feel like I called her by her given name when I called her out.

Due to the combination of being in a place where there are no acquaintances around, and the fact that I was concentrating on the game, I called out to Hiuri as if we were in the dream. Apparently, she didn't miss that.

“You always call me by my surname, don’t you?”
“No... that’s... ahaha.”

When I told Hiuri about the dream in the past, she looked coldly at me. So I don't want to give that explanation anymore.

“...Well, it's fine if it’s Nakano-kun.”
“Eh?”
“Somehow, being called by my name feels right. If it's just the two of us, you can call me by my name.”

Eh, I got permission? That's... unexpected.

The reason why it feels right is definitely our interaction in the dream. Soon after dream Hiuri and I became lovers, we started calling each other by our names. So, if we only look at the dream, I've been calling Hiuri by her name for almost two months.

“Um... Hiuri?”
“Yes. I wonder if I should call you by name too?”
“That's, up to you...”

It’s not like I forced her to do anything in the dream. Before I knew it, she started calling me by my name.

“Then... Kazuki-kun.”
“!!”

I'm a bit surprised. She just said it frankly without any hesitation.

“When it's just the two of us... by name, okay?”
“Ye, yeah.”

The smile Hiuri showed me made my heart flutter.

Thus, Hiuri and I had a little secret.

――――

Previous | Next