Chapter 25: Chapter 24

Yuuji brushed aside a strand of hair as he scratched his face, desperately avoiding the spotlight stare of a nearby group of housewives who gave him lingering looks while passing by the busy street.

He was waiting in the centre of Helios’s shopping district, which was one of the most crowded areas on the island, but also a popular hub to meet up with friends - and for dates, it seemed.

He had thought it unnecessary when Ayumi produced the shopping bags filled with clothes she’d bought for him on her most recent outing after stating ‘I can’t believe you don’t own any casual wear, Yuuji-nii!’, but now that there was a sudden need for it he felt very grateful. At first, he had grabbed an assortment of items he felt looked quite nice together, but embarrassingly had to rely on his sister’s judgement as she claimed he was ‘fashion blind’, so the outfit was one she’d picked.

His lightweight leather rider jacket was open, and a matching black tight-fitting t-shirt peeked out from underneath. His shirt was tucked into his dark grey skinny jeans which were adorned with a stylish silver frame belt buckle, and on his feet were slim trainers that were monochrome except with a vivid red cartoon heart on either side.

Ayumi had even insisted he wore the expensive-looking argent bracelet to go with the buckle and jacket zippers, which he had reluctantly agreed to despite never wearing accessories before.

He shook away the thought of the price she’d paid after he insisted on compensating her, and made sure to focus on the day at hand. Somehow, from circumstances that he hadn’t quite pieced together yet; he was on a date.

It was the first he had ever been on, as he’d never had time to date before, and even when he did the locations he was staying in had strict rules about relationships.

That is to say, he was totally clueless.

The night before he had tried researching what exactly people would do on dates and what kind of attitude was appropriate, but that ended up confusing him more as the guidance he found was all over the place and contradictory.

In the end, he relied on the one person he felt he could rely on for this situation. The only one he thought he would be able to ask without the situation spiralling further out of control with gossip or misunderstandings.

Wang Bao.

With a pearly grin and a powerful thumbs up, Wang Bao proceeded to send him links to blog posts, helpful videos, and even an excessively detailed breakdown of restaurants and cafés on Heliopolis apparently written by ‘The Pink Gourmet’, who seemed somewhat familiar.

The skill at which the reserved giant highlighted key do’s and don’t’s earned his neverending respect and admiration as a true romantic, and his sensei in matters of the heart. Thanks to his intensive crash course, he knew to arrive at their meeting spot early, but he’d underestimated the iron nerves required to go on a date, as his anxiety felt at an all-time high.

“People who go on dates are really something to be feared…”

It was just as he mumbled some nonsense that he first caught a glimpse of her through the crowd.

She wore a chestnut brown turtleneck with baggy sleeves that reached slightly past her elbow. A long, pleated beige skirt hung around her waist, and two mid-calf tan leather boots peeked out of the bottom.

Around her shoulder strung a small crossbody handbag that hung by her side, bearing a fashionable quilted black design with a slight violet hue. The colour closely fit the silky shoulder-length hair that she’d pinned back on one side with a pretty flower clip, and even from a distance, her wide lilac eyes pulled his gaze like a magnet.

His breath was stolen from his lungs as he blinked dumbly.

As Yuuji stood stunned, she caught his stare and returned a wide cheerful wave, causing a ripple of blushes from the nearby onlookers who turned their heads hopefully.

He squeezed out a subdued wave in return as Hibiki skipped over to him with a twirl.

“Yuuji! I’m sorry, did you wait long?”
“...No, I-I just got here too.”
“Oh, that’s good!”

His mind scrambled to regain the thoughts that vanished from his head as she laughed merrily, her cheeks flushed a faint pink.

“You look… incredible. That outfit suits you.”
“Thank you. Y-You too! You look really cool.”

She lowered her head bashfully as his brain entered red alert, desperate to continue speaking as they normally would but unable to form any reasonable and coherent words.

“...S-Shall we go?”
“Un!”

He awkwardly gestured to the side as they started walking, and the date truly started.

******

“Hmm~, you really do have a knack for fashion as I thought Ayumi! Side by side like this they make an impressive couple.”
“I-I didn’t buy him clothes so he could go on dates!”

From beyond the nearby bushes, two girls spied on the flustered duo with hushed voices. Hema wore a mischievous smile, while Ayumi pouted beside her.

“I was surprised when Hibiki asked if she could join us shopping so suddenly. Maybe she’s quite the carnivore after all?”
“Don’t say it like that! It’s my brother that’s the issue.”
“I thought you said she was the one that asked him on a date?”
“Every time I see him he’s surrounded by pretty girls. He’s a natural-born playboy.”

Hema giggled at her partner in crime’s cold words. Ayumi shook her small fist vigorously as they watched the couple exchange pleasantries and set off in the opposite direction.

“C’mon, c’mon! We gotta follow them!”
“Yuuji-nii, if you lay a hand on her…”

Darting from hiding place to hiding place, they attracted many odd stares, but thankfully no notice from the ones they were trailing as they were too absorbed in their current situation to recognise the world around them.

“They’re going in… the arcade?”
“Wha-! I never thought he would be interested in something like that!”

Hema held her chin lightly while Ayumi tried frantically to get a better viewpoint to see through the open entrance.

Helios only had a single arcade for the whole island, but it was gigantic. Private companies had bid huge amounts to get the lot while it was being built, so the victor made sure to make the most of their investment and go all out.

The population of the island was only in the hundreds, but many families of key staff had children and the entertainment industry’s capitalist heart beat strong even in the remotest of areas.

“If I’d known… I would have asked him to go…”

Ayumi’s mood dropped as her face turned sombre. They couldn’t see the pair from where they were anyway, and entering after them was too risky, so Hema patted her companion on the shoulder with a big grin.

“You should ask him to go with you next week! If he owed Hibiki a date, it’s only fair you get a day together too.”

“...Yeah. Yeah! You’re right!”

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She perked up and made a confident pose as her eyes burned, gaze firmly locked on the flashing lights of the arcade.

******

*DING DING DING*

“Congratulations miss, you’ve won our grand prize!”
“Wow! Yuuji, I won!!”
“Incredible…”

He had held his tongue when she’d asked to play the giant claw game that sat in the centre of the room. ‘It’s designed to fail’, he thought to himself. ‘The claw is probably only strong enough one in a thousand times’.

Now, the nearby employees gave them a round of applause as she received a gigantic fluffy teddy bear almost as tall as she was, with a smile like morning sunshine.

It was surely the first time she’d ever touched the operating stick, and while her movements weren’t masterful she was cheering the crane on gleefully as if her words of encouragement would make it work that much harder - a point which he himself was having trouble denying now.

“Here, this is for you!”
“Wai-!?”

After spending hardly a moment in her hands, the grand prize was passed to him before he could react.

“-Don’t you want to keep it..? It’s cute.”
“It sure is! That’s why I thought, ‘Wouldn’t this be nice for Yuuji?’, and I got it like that!”
“...Thank you. I’ll treasure it.”

He would never have picked it out at a shop, but seeing her pure beam he couldn’t turn down her kindness. It was definitely adorable, and even though it would surely seem out of place in his barren room, he was happy to have it.

As they continued, he made sure to stop by any machines that he felt her gravitate toward, in an attempt to win a prize in return. It wouldn’t be anything as spectacular as what she’d given him, but he’d seen a lot online about winning and gifting prizes and felt it was a necessity.

*woo woo*

The claw game chimed sadly as the prize slipped through his grasp once more, leaving him distraught. He laughed it off as he saw Hibiki’s curious eyes staring at him, feeling bad he’d made her wait without getting the reward he was secretly trying to win for her.

“Haha, no luck here, either.”
“...”

Her silence bore deep into his skin, as his stomach twisted. She hadn’t spoken for some time now, and he couldn’t keep dragging her along in his selfish want to win something she hadn’t asked for - he had to cut his losses and move on.

“H-How about we check some of the other games? There are some we can play together, over there.”

He quickly marched on to something more interesting, hoping that some of the multiplayer games would raise her spirits.

“I think this one is popular. It’s a racing game, but with lots of fun items to play with as well. Do you want to try it?”
“...Un!”

She was still somewhat reticent, but her eyes sparkled slightly, making him feel relieved. She looked the large seat up and down before he gestured for her to sit, taking the chair beside her and booting up the game.

“So to play together I think it’s this… and then this-”
“Aha, Yuu~! I knew it! And Hibiki too?”
“Nn? Oh, Ji-Hye!”
“Ji-Hye!? What are you doing here?”

One thing he knew for sure from his research was that involving another girl in their date together was considered a faux pas. It was somewhat confusing, as he figured the more the merrier when it came to social situations, but this was one point almost every resource firmly agreed on.

“Me? I come here whenever they have new stock to fill my collection. What brings you two here?”
“We’re about to play this game!”
“Hoho, it’s a challenge then! You’re both going down!”

Before he could even blink she was in the third seat alongside them, furiously navigating through menus. Somehow in just a moment the worst-case scenario had come to pass, but asking her to leave now would make things awkward, so he decided they’d play a round and quickly move on.

*3* *2* *1* *GO!*

He shot off the starting line, but even still Ji-Hye was somehow faster. If he didn’t know her he would surely accuse her of cheating, but she vehemently bashed cheaters in multiplayer games, claiming it ‘Ruined the experience for everyone’.

Even so, he raced his heart out and battled for first place with her neck and neck. At first, it had been just to finish the race as fast as possible, but now his competitive spirit was heating up, and he leaned with his turns as if he could shift the in-game weight and give him even a tiny edge.

He drifted around the last corner, entering first as the finish line came into sight! It was only moments away from sweet victory when his world came crashing down.

“BLUE SHELL! NO!”
“Hehe~, thanks for taking that for me, Yuu~.”

Inches away from the finish, he exploded in a glorious mushroom cloud, and the “2nd” text filled his screen while he sat lifeless. Defeated, he turned to his side-

“Ah.”

Only to find Hibiki struggling with the controls, still on her first lap of the race. It wasn’t long before “DNF” lit up her machine, and she tilted her head in confusion.

Not only had he been wrapped up in the game, but he had also done the exact opposite of what he planned, and left his date alone while he played with another girl. The full weight of his stupidity slammed into him and he froze, clueless as to how he could possibly recover from this.

None of the advice he’d read online was applicable after screwing up - they were generally tips on how to avoid doing the precise mistakes he’d hit every step of the way.

“Ahaha! Rematch!? Rematch!?”
“S-Sorry, Ji-Hye, I think we’ll check out some other games, let’s chat again soon.”
“Huh!? Yuu~!”

First things first, he needed to get away from Ji-Hye, so he jumped to his feet, and after grabbing his gift he took Hibiki’s hand to lead her quickly to another section of the room.

“Whew… That was, I mean, i-is there anything you want to do?”
“U-Um, what’s that there?”

His heart sank as she didn’t even look his way, simply pointing at what appeared to be the first thing she saw - a zombie shooter arcade game.

This was in fact a blessing in disguise for him, as he thought back to his notes. His final chance: show off his fearless nature and protect her in a moment of terror.

“Alright, let’s do it!”

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