Chapter 26: Chapter 25

*Pew* *Pew* *Pew*

He was in his element at last, blasting horrifying monsters with cool precision.

As the game had booted up, shambling zombies leapt at the screen, causing Hibiki to jump back in the curtained booth with an ‘Awawawa!’ before he skillfully took them down with a single digital bullet each.

His sharp eyes scanned from side to side, and at the slightest movement, he aimed and fired, vanquishing huge creatures like the expert he was. While rarely used, he was trained in the use of firearms for the sake of taking down demons, so their fake counterparts were nothing special.

*Pew* *Pew* *Pew*

His gun blasted non-stop, as he knew Hibiki was too terrified to fire herself. He’d display his ability in defending her, and finally stand a chance at redeeming his terrible one-sided date.

‘Hmm?’

As he rapid-fired at the boss, a thought stuck in his head.

‘Isn’t this also one-sided, just in another way?’

*YOU WIN!* *P1 - PERFECT SCORE!*
*P1 - 2,000,000 points* *P2 - 0 points*

His jaw dropped once again. Had she asked to be protected by him? Had she wanted to sit and watch him, as he played a game alone by her side?

What a complete and utter failure this had been.

Sure, a day or two ago he hadn’t known the etiquettes and expectations for dates. It’d never been something he looked into, and previously he didn’t have any friends to ask about it. But his selfishness today couldn’t be explained away with ignorance alone.

He slumped back in his chair silently, unable to turn to look at the girl beside him. Part of him hoped she’d have left without saying anything, so she at least hadn’t been made to sit through the vanity of his one-man action movie, but he could still make out her silhouette in the darkness of the booth.

Words choked in his throat, but he knew he had to say something. He had to apologise.

“Hibiki-”
“Wow!! You were so awesome, Yuuji!”

He turned to her, only to find her face was bright, and her lilac eyes glittered with excitement.

“They were scary at first! But you went *Pew Pew* and *Zap Zap* and they were gone!”
“I… Huh?”
“Especially that huge one at the end! You didn’t even flinch!”
“...”

He wasn’t sure how to react. This was exactly what he had hoped for at first, but it didn’t change the fact that he’d continued to act selfishly all throughout the day, and this was no exception.

“But… didn’t you want to play?”
“Oh! Was this one I could play too?”
“Haha… I didn’t even tell you, did I?”

He laughed wryly as he chastised himself once again. He’d been so blinded that he didn’t even explain the game before booting it up to show off.

“Sorry, Hibiki. Since we got here I’ve just been doing whatever I felt like without considering your feelings.”
“Hmm? But it’s been fun!”
“Fun..? Did you… enjoy today?”
“Of course!”

She beamed at him once again as his heart thumped in his chest. He felt even guiltier - he wanted her to at least scold him a little, or sulk at his thoughtless, self-centred actions.

“But, you know…”

Even in the blackness, he could see her cheeks flush slightly as she turned away.

“I thought it was nice.”
“Nice?”

She shyly looked towards him and their eyes locked.

“Seeing you like this today. Maybe it’s a little mean but, it always seemed like there was nothing you couldn’t do. Like you were perfect at everything.”
“That’s…”
“So I wanted to see this side of you. The side that tries again and again at little claw games. The side that gets competitive and doesn’t like to lose. The side that forgets small things, and gets embarrassed.”
“...”

She leaned towards him ever so slightly. Her words were soft, but they echoed clearly in his head.

“I’d only read about dates in books and stories so I didn’t know what they were really like. Hema told me I should just enjoy myself, so I decided I just wanted to spend time together with you - no matter what we did.”
“...But I was acting selfishly all day.”
“We all act selfish sometimes though? I was selfish when I asked for a date when you didn’t want to.”
“That’s not-... it isn’t that I didn’t want to…”

He trailed off as her eyelids fluttered gently.

“Did you… want to go on a date together?”

His heart was thumping in his chest so loudly it almost drowned out her voice. As his eyes adjusted to the dark, he could see her beautiful features from up close in this isolated booth, and her soft, glossy lips were only inches away as she spoke.

“I…”

The silence stretched on as they faced each other; both waiting for the other to be the first to move.

‘Kiss her’
‘Kiss her’
‘Kiss her!’
‘Kiss her!’

Every thought he had rung out the same…

…Except for one.

At his side, he pinched his thigh silently and returned a bitter smile.

“...I had never been on a date before either, so it’s hard to say. But today has been eventful - I’m really glad I didn’t ruin it for you.”

She blinked twice back at him, before straightening up with a jolt, and quickly turning away.

“R-Right! Yes, I had a lot of fun!”
“Next time we’re out we’ll play some games together and I’ll show you how to play properly. Sound good?”
“Next time..! Yes!”

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She gave a cheery laugh as they pulled open the black curtain around them and climbed out of the booth. It felt like forever since they’d entered, but the thought made both of them blush faintly as they returned to the world of flashing lights and whirring sounds.

“...I think I might be all arcaded out for the day. I’ve just got one stop first, but after that do you want to grab something sweet from a food stall on the way back?”
“Ooh~! Let’s do it, let’s do it!”

She had the face of a child in a sweet shop as she listed off some of the snacks she’d seen when out shopping with the girls, and after a brief delay, they made their way outside to find a bite to eat.

They had been together for a few hours, and as they munched on sweet crêpes they watched the day turn to evening. At one point when they shared a taste of each other’s food Yuuji was convinced he’d heard a familiar voice from behind a nearby tree, but he simply laughed it off.

They wandered along the streets enjoying each other’s company before they found themselves at the foot of the student dorms once more.

“Come to think of it, did we need to meet up in the shopping district? Couldn’t we have just met up here since we walked in the same direction?”
“Boo~! It’s not the same!”
“Haha, you’re right, you’re right.”

Even though he thought it seemed a much more logical decision, he let it go with a chuckle - dates weren’t only practical, supposedly the mood was important as well.

“Hibiki, before you go-”
“Hmm?”

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a neatly wrapped paper bag.

“Here. I couldn’t win anything in the end, but the staff let me buy these.”
“Oh!”

In his hand were two miniature phone charms in the style of feline mascot characters; the very same ones that had covered the walls of the arcade earlier.

“They come with these little straps so you can tie them to the phone Ji-Hye made… O-Or you can just put it somewhere for decoration…”
“...”

She quietly reached out and plucked one of the charms from his hand. It was a black cat with a cartoonishly large head and a sulky, disinterested look on its face, but she grasped it close to her chest with a gratified expression.

“Yuuji…Thank you!”
“It’s- hey, wait!”

Before he could reply, she gave a hasty bow and dashed up the stairs towards the girls’ floor in a flash. He caught only a glimpse of her beet-red face, but he felt the tactful approach was to leave her be for now, and they could both mentally recover from the eventful day they’d had.

He rolled the other charm around in his palm and held it up. It was another cat with a similarly unbalanced design, but this one was mauve in colour with purple stripes along the back, and much cuter, feminine features. He had to admit that he preferred the other one, but he was still happy with the outcome.

“-And what’s that grin for!?”
“Oh, Ayumi.”
“Don’t ‘Oh’ me! You were thinking something strange, weren’t you!?”
“Hmm? What’s that supposed to… no, it doesn’t matter. Thanks for today.”
“...Eh?”

The wind was taken right out of her sails as her prepared lecture was quashed before it even began.

“You were looking after me, right? I know your brother is hopeless when it comes to these things, so I wanted to give you this as a token of my appreciation.”
“Eh? Ah? Huh?”

He reached back into the paper bag and produced a palm-sized plush cat. It was part of the same series as the phone charm mascots, but this one was a pouty-looking calico and was designed to fit on a desk or table, so he felt it was perfect for her when working in the library.

Yuuji thought it was best not to mention that he immediately thought of her when he saw it, but each of the characters was popular in their own right, so he figured it wouldn’t go amiss.

“Heh?”
“...Sorry if you don’t like it. I just thought it might be nice?”

He scratched his cheek awkwardly, as her reaction wasn’t quite what he expected. All things considered, they hadn’t been close for too long, so it was very possible he’d misjudged the situation and jumped the gun.

“A-a-a-a!”
“A…?”
“AAAAAAAH!”

She, too, grabbed the gift and sprinted away at record-breaking speed, leaving him stunned and alone.

“What…”

He made a mental note to ask Master Baozi about the etiquette of giving presents to girls, before sighing gently and returning to the immediate task at hand.

“...Now, where the hell am I going to put this?”

Witness to the entire exchange was the giant stuffed bear he’d left propped beside the wall, staring judgmentally at him with beady button eyes.

******

“Phew, that was more work than expected.”

He’d carried the plush animal for most of the date, so it wasn’t particularly heavy, but it felt out of place no matter where he put it, which caused him to go through multiple redesigns of the room layout.

It was now tucked into the back corner of his new bedroom, out of the way but in a clear line of sight. He dusted off his hands lightly in self-admiration, before slumping down into bed as he recalled the happenings of the day.

Moments replayed in his head as he smiled softly until his mind drew back to the time in the shooting game booth.

“...”

His grin faded into a frown and he sat up restlessly, before clapping his face to clear his thoughts.

“Get a hold of yourself…”

He shook his head in frustration and rose to his feet with a sigh.

“...Why couldn’t it just be simple..?”

His complaint fell on deaf ears in the lonely room, and for that night the solitude he knew well felt just a little colder.

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