Chapter 1
On a certain Sunday morning in September in front of the Statue of Liberty in Odaiba...
“I’m Tanikita Akari.” A petite girl introduced herself to us and gave us a quick bow. “Wait, we should already know each other ’cause we’re all in the same class here except for Nishina-kun, right? And Nishina-kun was in my class last year too.”
“Nishi...!” exclaimed my friend beside me and started to fall over.
“Wh-What’s wrong, Nisshi?!” I called out. I instinctively held him up by his arm.
Icchi propped up his other arm so Nisshi could just barely manage to keep standing.
“A... A girl...said my name...twice...” he quietly uttered. He looked upward, looking thoroughly discomposed.
“I know exactly how you feel, man!” exclaimed Icchi, sympathizing (?) with him. He couldn’t hide the look of excitement on his face.
I too understood how he felt, and painfully well.
“This is looking to be one hell of a day...” I said.
And Nisshi was already in a critical condition.
Propping him up, I looked over the people in front of me once again.
The girl who’d just introduced herself was Tanikita-san from my class. She was Runa’s friend—the one she called Akari. Particularly short among the girls in our class, she was energetic and stood out a fair bit, even among the extroverts.
As one would expect from Runa’s friends, Tanikita-san had a pretty face with large eyes. Her hair was cut into a wavy bob that was dyed a lighter color—typical of a sunny type—and adorned with a large ribbon. Below that, she wore a loose-fitting top and shorts. Her style seemed to be a unique variation on gyaru fashion. Even when I’d seen her in her uniform, there had been something fashionable about her. Girls like her were the ones who made me lose my nerve the most.
“It’s time, right? We gonna go in or what?” asked Yamana-san, folding her arms. She was standing beside Tanikita-san.
Today, Yamana-san was wearing a top that sat below her shoulders, a tight miniskirt, and tall boots—a rather hard-core gyaru style. Her casual look was just as I’d pictured it in my mind.
“You’re right! Let’s go, let’s go!”
And standing next to Nicole—and to me—was Runa. The top she wore today exposed not her shoulders, but her midriff. She also had a zebra-print miniskirt on.
Sometimes, I carelessly let my eyes wander to her waist, and I ended up looking away in a hurry.
Ahh, she’s so cute... I want to touch her... Wait, what am I thinking at a time like this?!
Even though it was still the beginning of September and the temperature exceeded thirty degrees, the girls kinda looked dressed for autumn. That was probably part of being fashionable.
The guys, on the other hand... Icchi and Nisshi had typical everyday summer getups on—T-shirts and jeans. The same went for me, of course.
As we all faced each other, forming a sort of circle, I once again felt horribly out of place.
“C’mon, Ryuto! Let’s get going already!” said Runa. She wrapped her hand around my arm and started to walk.
Without really meaning to, I started moving as a result too.
“R-Right... W-Wait, Ru— I mean, Shirakawa-san.”
“Ehh? Why’re you calling me by my surname again?”
“Er, well...”
It was too awkward for a guy like me to act like the boyfriend of a beautiful girl who made heads turn from every direction—especially in a place where there were so many people around.
Also, I didn’t want to antagonize Icchi and Nisshi by being too intimate with Runa in front of them. But as I thought that and checked behind me, it appeared that my friends had other things to worry about. They were close behind me with stiff faces, cautiously looking around as they walked. The two seemed like they were trying to make themselves small and were sticking to each other like glue.
On Sundays, Odaiba was alive with families, couples, and young people in general. Of course, I was young too, but all those people directing their cheerful smiles at the blue ocean under the kind of clear skies you’d expect from the height of summer? They were all so dazzling that I, like Icchi and Nisshi, kinda felt awkward.
Runa stretched her arms toward the sun. “Mmm, it’s the perfect weather to play airsoft!” she said with a smile. Her fair armpits peeked out from under her shirt, along with her smooth, exposed waistline. Her features were sexy and dazzling.
“Y-Yeah, true... The play area is indoors, though,” I replied.
During summer break, Runa and I had stayed at her great-grandmother’s place. When she’d cried at the summer festival, I’d wanted to invite her to something that we could do together that would be the first time for both of us, and this had been my suggestion. I’d thought of airsoft because I’d suddenly recalled that Icchi and Nisshi had mentioned how they wanted to play.
And that brought us to today, where we had all gathered here to do so.
Airsoft commonly refers to a game that involves players armed with airsoft guns. Players split into two teams and shoot at each other. However, the place we had reserved for today was geared toward groups like ours—smaller parties with no experience. It had a dedicated indoor arena inside a commercial building. The minimum number of players required for a reservation was six, and there was an ample selection of rentable gear.
While we’d be using airsoft guns, the game still involved shooting living people, and there were only so many arenas and pieces of equipment that minors could use. It was scary to fight seasoned adults with bulkier, rugged gear. This arena was pretty much the only one that suited us.
Icchi and Nisshi trembled as they talked among themselves.
“Wish this was in Akihabara... Akiba would accept us...”
“Well, what can you do? Akiba’s arenas are for the hard-core folks.”
“Normies are real scary...”
“We’re normies too, just for today... We’ve got girls with us and all.”
“That just freaks me out even more!”
When I’d invited the two of them, they’d been like “Say what?! Airsoft with girls?!” and got all hyped up. But ever since we’d met up today, they hadn’t uttered a word to said girls.
“What’s wrong, you two? You look kinda down today,” Yamana-san asked them.
“I-It’s the demon gyaru!”
Icchi and Nisshi then froze up, going speechless for a moment.
“She sure pulled a fast one on us at that Bacchus izakaya...”
“‘Caplis Soda’ my ass...”
The two brought their faces close together, speaking quietly. They’d previously said things like “I’m gonna cut her head off with a Nichirin sword!” behind her back, but now that they faced the girl herself...
“I didn’t think you’d hold on for so long,” said Yamana-san, sounding impressed.
The two guys looked taken aback.
“I thought you’d be worse off than you were. It’s pretty amazing that you managed to get home on your own.” Then, she winked at the two. “I’ll be counting on you today. ♡”
Icchi’s and Nisshi’s faces flushed instantly. They couldn’t say anything for a while, but their breathing became rough.
“A-All right!” shouted Icchi and ran ahead of us.
Nisshi followed him. “Man, demon gyaru really are the best!”
“I’m taking a bullet for a demon gyaru today!”
They both shouted energetically as they hurried ahead. It appeared they’d temporarily stopped caring about the eyes of the sunny types around them.
“How simpleminded can they be...?” I wondered aloud.
This, too, was the sad nature of gloomy types.
Because it was our first time playing airsoft, when we arrived at the venue, a member of the staff gave us a lesson about the basic rules, the etiquette of the game, and how to use the airsoft guns. After that, we split up into gender-segregated changing rooms, got changed into the camouflage uniforms that were included in our rentals, and started getting ourselves ready for the game.
“Ta-da!”
As we guys had finished changing first, we’d been messing with the airsoft guns and their magazines in the safe zone. However, when that voice called out, our hands froze and we all looked up.
The three girls had just left their changing room.
“Whatcha think?! Does it look good on me?” Runa, clad in a camouflage uniform, struck a pose with her unloaded airsoft gun.
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