“Whoa!” I let out, captivated for a moment, before coming to my senses. “Sh-Shirakawa-san, your buttons!”
“Huh?” Runa looked down at her chest.
The chest of her camouflage shirt was wide open, putting her cleavage on display. Looking at the girls beside her, I saw that the same went for Yamana-san. Tanikita-san, on the other hand, wore her shirt loose in a high-fashion style that showed off her neck.
“Hey, it’s dangerous to leave your skin exposed!” I told them.
Sure, it wasn’t like we’d be using real bullets, but a pellet fired from an electric airsoft gun would surely hurt if it hit your skin directly.
Yamana-san frowned at me. “Ehh? You realize a gyaru’ll die if she doesn’t show any skin, right?”
“I’ll button it up just before the game starts!” added Runa in a cutesy voice.
“Yep yep. We’ll wear ’em normally after we’re done taking pics, ’kay?” said Tanikita-san in a matter-of-fact tone as she took out her smartphone.
“Yay!” the three of them cheered, and the safe zone instantly turned into a selfie photo shoot.
“They sure are gyaru, all right...” Icchi uttered quietly in a daze, watching the scene.
Nisshi’s nostrils flared and he breathed in deeply. “They smell so nice...” he said, then continued to load pellets into his magazines.
“Oh, wait, I’ll take a pic from below,” said Tanikita-san. She got down on the floor with her phone while Runa and Yamana-san struck poses with their airsoft guns as though they were models posing with props. “Move your hand a bit left, Runy.”
“Like this?”
“No, like, my left!”
“Ah, you mean right?!”
“’Kay! Now show some emotion.”
“Aka-taso, thank you very Maicching!” exclaimed Runa.
“Iyaan!” they all uttered in unison.
At this point, I had no idea what they were saying. The girls all bounced around with cheerful smiles on their faces.
Until now, I had mostly spent time with Runa in private, so it was new to me to watch her with her female friends up close. Seeing her having so much fun, I grew jealous of Yamana-san and Tanikita-san. I sure couldn’t keep up with her when she was like this.
As these thoughts passed through my head, my eyes suddenly met Runa’s.
“You guys, c’mon! Join us,” she suggested.
“Huh?”
“I’m gonna get the tripod!” said Tanikita-san, and she ran off to the storage area with small, quick steps.
“Oh, thanks, Akari,” said Yamana-san.
Tanikita-san came back with a small tripod about ten centimeters high, and before I knew it, we were preparing to take a group photo.
“C’mon, Ryuto!” exclaimed Runa, taking my arm and pulling me toward the front of the camera.
“Whaaat...?!” I exclaimed in return.
My arm grew hot from her touch. That floral-or-fruity scent of hers made me dizzy for the umpteenth time.
“Wow, look at those lovebirds!” Akari said exaggeratedly, looking at her phone.
Her reaction made me feel awkward.
Suddenly, I felt hostility from nearby. Looking over, I saw that Icchi and Nisshi were glaring at me with the kinds of faces you’d find in a manga about delinquents.
“Kasshi, you bastard!”
“Go to hell, normie!!!”
“Agh!” I exclaimed in reply.
I meant no harm; please forgive me!
Yamana-san approached them. “Hey, am I not good enough for you two?”
She stood between my two friends. Nisshi was about her height, and she put her arm over his shoulders like a male friend would. As Icchi was taller, she instead put a hand on his shoulder like a fashion model posing for a photo.
The two were shocked and they completely froze up at the unexpected physical contact with a girl.
“’Kay, angle’s good!” announced Tanikita-san after checking her phone atop the tripod. She ran up to us with those same small, quick steps and then struck a pose. “Takin’ it now!”
She seemed to have a remote control for that purpose, and the phone clicked on its own as soon as she said that.
I didn’t know what face I’d made in the shot, but either way, we were done taking a group photo.
“The warmth of a demon gyaru...”
“The scent of a demon gyaru... The smell of coconut...”
While Icchi and Nisshi were entranced, Runa pulled on my sleeve.
“Hey, whatcha think about this outfit?” she asked. “Does it suit me?”
“Huh...?” I then realized that I hadn’t properly told her my thoughts earlier.
Perhaps her current getup didn’t feel right to her because she normally dressed in a completely different way. She looked at me with her upturned eyes, but they seemed slightly nervous.
“Um...” I began, looking her over once again.
My eyes stopped on the open chest area of her partially unbuttoned camouflage shirt. I then brought my gaze back to her face in a hurry.
“I-It suits you well... Y-You look cute,” I said falteringly.
Runa smiled in relief. “Really? I’m so glad!” Next, she switched her handgun from a one-handed grip stance to a two-handed one and pointed it at me. “My performance today’s gonna hit a bull’s-eye on that heart of yours, Ryuto! Bam!” she said and giggled bashfully.
Her cuteness made even my ears burn.
“Weren’t you just told you shouldn’t point that at people?” I complained in order to hide my embarrassment.
“Oh, you’re right!” replied Runa, bringing her hand to her mouth as a serious look appeared on her face. “Sorry, Ryuto!”
“It’s okay this time,” I bashfully replied. My heart pounded violently as I recalled how she’d been a moment ago.
“My performance today’s gonna hit a bull’s-eye on that heart of yours, Ryuto!”
You sniped my heart long ago, though...
Runa stared at me, seeming to find me strange. “What’s wrong, Ryuto? Why’re you grinning like that?” she asked. “Ah! Were you...looking?” she asked, pushing up her chest to accentuate her cleavage.
“I-I wasn’t!”
So much for all my efforts to keep averting my eyes in hopes that she wouldn’t get the wrong idea and take me for a pervert.
“If you fess up, I could show you more...”
“Like I said, I wasn’t looking!”
With the face of a prankster, Runa teased me by trying to direct my attention to her cleavage. Somehow managing to dodge her attempts, I went back to getting ready for the game.
Once we’d finished our preparations, we headed from the safe zone to the combat area in order to start the game.
“Whoa!”
“Holy crap!”
Icchi and Nisshi sounded mesmerized.
“Isn’t this like Apax?!”
“More like POPG, dude!”
They were louder than they had been at any point earlier in the day, bringing up names of famous battle royale shooters.
Naturally, the arena we’d rented wasn’t as spacious as an outdoor field. It might have been more like a conference room in terms of size, but there were walls and obstacles set up all around, so its visibility was poor, like a maze. It felt fitting for a group of our size.
It was decorated with things like artificial ivy and tape that read “KEEP OUT,” giving it the feel of a battle royale video game—something that I was secretly hyped about. Icchi, Nisshi, and I had started talking about airsoft a while back precisely because we’d admired those games’ worlds and wanted to experience them in real life.
We hadn’t hired a game master to run the game since it would’ve cost money, so it was just us players. After splitting into two teams, we got to our starting areas.
Team Red was made up of me, Runa, and Tanikita-san. Team Yellow had Yamana-san, Icchi, and Nisshi. The teams had ended up like this for no particular reason after the photo shoot. To avoid any friendly-fire accidents, each of us wore an armband with our team’s color over our camouflage uniforms.
“Begin!” we all yelled out, marking the start of the game.
For a while, we all waited to see what would happen. There was no time limit and the game would only end when all members of one team were eliminated, but things would no doubt be decided quickly because there were so few of us.
We—Team Red—stuck together as we waited. Then...
“I’m gonna go take a look,” said Tanikita-san all of a sudden. She took advantage of her small build to hide behind the barricades as she moved forward.
“Be careful, Akari,” said Runa.
We both followed Akari. And at that point...
“Die, normie!!!”
The shout was followed by a pellet whizzing past my ear.
“Whoa!” I exclaimed.
Looking over, I saw Nisshi off to the side, his upper body visible behind a barricade as he aimed in our direction.
“Get down!” I told Runa. Stepping in front of her, I used another barricade to cover half of my body as I readied my rifle.
“Damn it! I’m gonna send you both to hell!” exclaimed Nisshi, his sights still set on us after his misses.
It felt like his persistence was fueled by hatred. Fortunately, none of his shots had landed, so I pulled the trigger a few times myself.
“Augh, I’m hit!” he announced.
It appeared I’d managed to get a shot in. Nisshi raised his hands in frustration. The rules said that those who’d been hit had to leave the arena immediately.
“One down...” I said, relieved to have won the firefight.
Then...
“I’m gonna avenge you, Nisshi!” came a voice from not too far away as I heard another pellet fly past me.
“Oh, crap!” I exclaimed.
That was close.
Hiding behind a barricade for a moment and peeking through a gap, I saw Icchi pointing his rifle in my direction.
“You okay, Ryuto?” asked Runa behind me, concern in her tone.
“I’m fine. Stay down.”
With that, I once again peeked over my cover and readied my rifle.
“Take this, Kasshi!” shouted Icchi, unleashing a massive stream of pellets at me.
“Whoa!”
It didn’t seem like I had time to take aim before he’d get a hit on me, so I was forced to duck behind the barricade again.
“Die, normie!!!” shouted Icchi.
Wow, this guy’s not messing around. Honestly, I can’t match his fighting spirit.
But as I started to panic with those things on my mind...
“Take that!” came a voice from another direction along with the sound of flying pellets.
It was Tanikita-san. She’d gone on ahead of us and was now shooting at Icchi from up close.
“Whoa!” he exclaimed, stopping his barrage at me. When he saw Tanikita-san, he hid behind a barricade to reset the engagement.
“I missed! Wah!” whined Tanikita-san.
She had sneaked up on Icchi, but missed her perfect chance to take him out from up close. At the moment, she was behind a crate only as tall as her knees, so if someone were to shoot at her, she’d be in danger.
But as she started to run toward another barricade, Icchi pointed his rifle at her back.
“Ah, Tani—” I began.
“Watch out, Akari!” exclaimed Runa from behind me, rushing out from behind our cover.
“Shirakawa-san?!” I exclaimed.
I wasn’t the only one her play had caught by surprise, however. Icchi was confused by a new target suddenly revealing herself in full, and it threw off his aim.
Now’s my chance!
I peeked over the barricade and aimed at Icchi. Before he could fix his aim on Runa, my pellet struck his shoulder.
“Argh, what?! Damn it! I’m hit!”
Icchi’s end came all too quickly as he was caught off guard.
I immediately called out to Runa and Tanikita-san. “Take cover, quick!”
I’d taken down Icchi and Nisshi, but Team Yellow still had one more member to take into account—Yamana-san.
The moment I thought about that, a figure appeared in the corner of my vision.
Runa had given up the nearest barricade to Tanikita-san and was working on returning to my position. However, Yamana-san was suddenly behind her. Pointing her handgun at Runa without a word, she was about to pull the trigger.
I didn’t have time to call out to her. With that in mind, I rushed out from behind my cover...and got in front of Runa.
“Ngh!”
And that was it.
“I’m hit!” I announced, raising my hands, and started to leave the arena.
Having made it safely to a barricade, Runa watched me go. “Ryuto!”
But even before she had finished saying that, Yamana-san made her move.
“Ahh! She got me!” yelled Tanikita-san, leaving her barricade as well. It appeared she’d been shot while trying to shoot at our opponent.
Yamana-san then spoke for the first time this game. “All right, it’s just you and me now, Runa.” Hiding behind a barricade, she wore a daring smile.
“Nicole...” uttered Runa, seeming to have mixed feelings. She gripped her handgun tight. Then, after glancing at me as I headed toward the exit, a newly determined look appeared on her face. “You won’t get me that easy! I’ll make up for Ryuto too!”
The engagement that followed only took mere moments.
Runa peeked out and pointed her gun at Yamana-san. Then, Yamana-san rushed out from behind her barricade and took cover right next to Runa’s. Once Runa took a shot, Yamana-san peeked out and fired back, which Runa responded to with more shots.
The pops of pellets being fired came from both girls’ locations several times.
“Ah!” The first one to speak was Yamana-san. “Tsk... I’m hit!” Clicking her tongue in frustration, she raised her hands.
Thus, the winner was decided.
***
“Damn iiit!!! Why couldn’t we bring down those normies?!” Icchi exclaimed in exaggerated frustration once we’d all returned to the safe zone and let him know the outcome.
“Next time, then! Next time, we’re gonna focus fire on that couple!” announced Nisshi, who was just as worked up as his friend.
“Ehh, don’t you think that’s a little cruel?” Tanikita-san asked.
Nisshi froze up from her reproach. He was, in truth, easily hurt.
Yamana-san approached him. “Hey, can I have that for a sec?” Taking Nisshi’s rifle, she aimed it at the wall. “I knew it. This thing’s way easier to aim.”
Out of the airsoft guns they had to rent, the guys in our group had chosen rifles while the girls had gone for handguns. This was partially due to the staff’s recommendation. The reason was that while rifles were easier to aim, they were heavier too, so they’d be unwieldy for girls who weren’t quite as strong.
“Thanks,” said Yamana-san, returning Nisshi’s gun and heading toward the reception area with her handgun. “I’m gonna go swap this for a rifle.”
She sounded so bold that I figured she wouldn’t take no for an answer.
“Hey, Ryuto,” said Runa, approaching me. “Sorry about that back there. When you got shot...you were protecting me, right?”
She lowered her eyebrows and smiled. It was so cute it made my heart flutter.
“Y-Yeah... Don’t worry about it, though. I’m sure it would’ve been more impressive if I shot back instead...”
“Not at all.” Runa shook her head. “You looked really cool,” she quietly said, her cheeks turning rosy. She bashfully averted her eyes. “Thanks, Ryuto.” After that, she looked at me once again. “That’s why I did my best and won.”
“Yeah... Thanks. You were great out there,” I replied.
It had been such an impressive and intense gunfight that I’d involuntarily stopped to watch for a moment while returning to the safe zone.
“Ehe he.” Runa smiled happily at my praise. Then, suddenly, she looked around.
“Something wrong?” I asked.
Taken aback, Runa shook her head. “It’s nothing.”
I was puzzled by her behavior.
As we chatted, Yamana-san came back. Now, she had a rifle in her hands.
“Ah, Nicole! What happened to your nails?” asked Runa in surprise upon seeing Yamana-san’s hands.
“Hm? I borrowed a pair of scissors and cut them. It was hard to pull the trigger earlier because my nails got caught,” Yamana-san explained.
Checking her hands, I saw that her nails, which normally boasted some hard-core decorations, were indeed short now. I didn’t remember how long they’d been before, but I was sure she’d had them long on a regular basis.
“Your nails were so cute, though...” said Tanikita-san.
“Thanks. It’s fine, though. I can just grow them out again. I can also make them longer with sculpting,” replied Yamana-san, concentrating on aiming her rifle at the wall as practice. After doing it a few times, she smiled confidently. “Okay. I feel like I’ll shoot better next time.”
She wasn’t kidding—in the next game, Yamana-san was on fire.
“Come and get some! Who’s first?!”
“Ahh, I’m hit!”
“Nicole, you’re too good at this!”
We couldn’t really play as teams anymore because the game would end in an instant, so we tried playing battle-royale-style with only one winner.
But even then...
“That all you got?! I eat chumps like you for breakfast!”
“Augggh, it huuurts!”
“The demon gyaru got me!”
Yamana-san really was invincible.
Despite everything, we still had fun. We played about ten rounds in all, fully using up the two and a half hours we’d rented the arena for.
As we all got changed and prepared to leave the safe zone with our belongings...
“Huh?” Runa sounded troubled as she searched inside her bag. “My earring’s gone... I put it in a case when I first got changed.”
Tanikita-san looked at Runa’s ears. “Huh? You’ve got earrings in both, though.”
Runa shook her head. “I had one more on when we got here.”
“Ah, with a moon and a star? The one-sided one you wear with casual outfits,” asked Yamana-san.
Runa nodded. “Yeah, that.”
“It’s important to you, right? You said you don’t wear it to school ’cause you don’t want it confiscated.”
“Mmhmm...”
“It’s that precious?” I worriedly asked and started to search the floor around me.
“Oh, I found it!” Runa sounded cheerful now. “Sorry, it was in my bag. Looks like it fell out of its case. I should’ve looked harder for it before bringing it up...” she said with an awkward smile.
I smiled back at her. “As long as you found it.”
“Yeah!” she replied.
“’S all good,” said Tanikita-san.
With everyone watching her warmly, Runa put the earring she’d found back on. Dangling on a chain below her ear was a crescent moon and a star. The earring stood out quite a bit.
“The one-sided one you wear with casual outfits.”
I recalled what Yamana-san had said. I might not’ve had any interest in fashion, but I was ashamed to realize I’d never noticed that my girlfriend had an earring that was precious to her. Normally, I hadn’t looked at her earrings much—partially because her hair was often in the way.
But why only one? Aren’t earrings normally sold in pairs, for both ears?
While that thought bothered me a little, I figured it might’ve simply been a trend among girls and disregarded the matter at the time.
***
We headed to a restaurant after that.
“Gotta say, though, I never thought the demon gyaru would go winning everything by herself...” Icchi said quietly to Nisshi, sounding very serious. “Guess the ‘demon’ part isn’t just for show...”
“She closed in on us three times as fast as a normal person could move,” said Nisshi.
“She stayed several steps ahead of us too.”
“We really had no idea, did we...?”
“Still got lots of levels to grind in this life...”
Since we’d booked the airsoft arena for the morning, our games had ended just in time for lunch. Nobody had suggested going home, so the six of us ended up going to an Italian restaurant in the same commercial building.
The seating was similar to what you’d find in a family restaurant. There were many teenagers and families here too, but the interior design and the lighting felt somewhat stylish—it wasn’t the kind of place we’d go to if we didn’t have girls with us.
We sat at a six-person booth facing each other—guys on one side and the girls on the other. It felt like we were at a mixer, which made me feel a bit awkward. Incidentally, Tanikita-san was sitting across from Icchi, Yamana-san was opposite Nisshi, and Runa was in front of me.
“Gotta say, airsoft was pretty fun...” Tanikita-san said quietly with a smile as she drank the iced chocolate she’d gotten at the self-service drink area after we’d eaten lunch.
“You mean it? I thought you’d say that—that’s why I invited you! Good thing I was right!” replied Runa with a happy smile.
“Yeah. Different kinds of airsoft guns fire pellets in a different way, right? Like, how far or how fast they go. It might be fun to buy a bunch of this stuff and try it out for myself.”
“Exactly!” Icchi said suddenly, sounding excited. “These guns are probably what gets people hooked on airsoft. I thought this stuff was really fun too. It made me want to try shooting different kinds. You know how the ones we rented today were electric, since they used batteries? They’re easy to use ’cause you only need to pull the trigger to shoot, but some airsoft guns out there use gas and springs and stuff like that. Apparently, they all handle differently, so it’d be cool to be good at all of them.”
This was the first time Icchi had spoken to a girl of his own accord today. I was pretty surprised on the inside.
However, since Tanikita-san was an extroverted girl that Runa hung out with, she didn’t find herself at a loss for an answer. “Oh, really? Don’t airsoft guns cost a ton, though?”
“Well... There’s high-end and low-end stuff. Low-end guns cost about five thousand yen.”
“Some go for as low as three,” added Nisshi, taking the opportunity to join the conversation. Perhaps he didn’t want to be left out.
“What about the high-end stuff?” asked Tanikita-san.
“Well, they’re something like fifty thousand.”
“Dude, some of them cost a hundred thousand.”
“I guess? I can’t afford them anyway, so I never looked into the expensive ones.”
“Figures... It sounds fun, but I’m hooked on enough things already...” replied Tanikita-san.
“You’d be surprised how much of a geek Akari is. Though the same goes for me,” said Yamana-san.
At those words, Icchi’s and Nisshi’s eyes lit up.
“What?! For real?”
“What kind of geek?!”
They must’ve never expected the word “geek” to be used for a sunny gyaru. Feeling like there was a connection here, Icchi and Nisshi took an interest in her at once.
Tanikita-san happily answered as though she’d been waiting for someone to ask. “I stan VTS! Every time they drop a new album, I always have to buy multiple copies to get all the extras. That stuff sucks you in and there’s just no end to it! I’m learning Korean too!”
“Vee...what...?”
Seeing my confusion, Runa explained. “It’s a K-pop boy band. Akari’s always gushing about them. They’re all the rage right now—you haven’t heard of them?”
All the guys present—myself included—only had blank looks on their faces.
Tanikita-san continued energetically as if someone had flipped a switch inside her. “I used to be hooked on Disney stuff—I got an annual pass to Disneyland one birthday and used it a ton. And I still play soshage. And I like making accessories out of resin! Actually, I like clothes and fashion in general, which is why I’m planning to go to a school specializing in that after I graduate!”
“And I’m a nail geek,” added Yamana-san, bringing up her own obsession. “Gel and accessories are cheap on their own, so at some point, I got a hell of a collection and now I don’t know where to put it all.”
Presented with a ton of stuff they had zero interest in, Icchi and Nisshi went silent. A playboy might’ve been able to come up with some shallow response to keep the conversation going, but this was the limit for introverted virgins like us. I could easily tell how they felt since I was no different.
“I think it’s amazing how you two can get so deep into something...” However, Runa’s natural way of continuing the stalling conversation was a big help.
Yamana-san smirked at her. “You’ve got something you’re crazy about yourself, don’t you?”
“Huh...?”
Feeling Yamana-san’s gaze on me, I started to fidget.
Once Runa noticed it too, she instantly turned red. “What? Are you talking about Ryuto?! Come on!”
“Watching you two today sure was something. Frankly, it’s pretty hard to swallow all that PDA when you’re single,” said Yamana-san, poking fun at us.
“I’m so jelly of how well you get along!” added Tanikita-san with a smile.
At that point, Nisshi muttered something beside me and I focused on listening to him.
“Hey, does the demon gyaru actually not have a boyfriend...?”
“Ah, yeah,” I said. “So it seems. It’s pretty surprising, right?”
Runa had mentioned it at the summer festival.
Hearing that, Nisshi looked at me with astonishment. “You knew?! You should’ve told us sooner.”
“Huh? Nisshi, you’ve got a thing for...?”
“That’s not it! It just changes the value of some things!”
I wasn’t sure if I understood what he meant or not. Incidentally, we were speaking in hushed voices, so only Nisshi and I should’ve been able to hear it.
“Couldn’t you two get boyfriends whenever you felt like it?” Runa asked Nicole and Tanikita-san.
“Well... My head’s full of Jaemi right now, so honestly I don’t need a boyfriend or anything,” replied Tanikita-san.
Wondering who this Jaemi was, I looked to Runa in front of me, and she explained he was a member of VTS.
“There’s a lotta things I wanna do, so I’m having fun even without a boyfriend,” continued Tanikita-san. “And if you’re gonna do your hobby with somebody else, isn’t it easier if it’s with someone of the same sex?”
I can agree with that, I thought. Nisshi and Icchi beside me nodded deeply.
“Do you two have any preferences when it comes to boyfriends?” I asked nervously to keep the conversation going.
Sure, I’d gotten used to speaking to Runa, but it still took a lot for me to speak to other sunny girls. I was doing it as a favor to Icchi and Nisshi.
A shadow appeared on Yamana-san’s face. “I still can’t really think about that.”
I’d never seen her look like that before. Something about her expression was sad and bittersweet.
“You still can’t let go of your ex?” asked Tanikita-san after a pause.
Yamana-san nodded. “Yeah. I mean, he was really cool.”
“Like his looks?”
“Nah. His attitude, I guess? He always wore earbuds, and when I asked him what he was listening to, he was like, ‘Sutras.’ Like, how crazy is that?”
“That is pretty crazy...”
While I was speechless, I looked around and saw that Tanikita-san had a blank look on her face.
Nisshi then burst into laughter. “Sounds like that guy’s got a real bad case of chuunibyou!”
However, Yamana-san instantly shut him up with a glare. “You say something?”
Apparently, she sincerely liked her chuuni ex. After sitting there with a faraway look in her eyes for a bit, she suddenly returned to her senses and gave us a faint smile.
“It’s so stupid, right? Being hung up on a guy I dated for just two weeks in my second year of middle school. It’s just, he was my first love, so...” Nicole trailed off there.
This was really unexpected.
“Two weeks...” uttered Nisshi beside me, surprise in his voice.
I know, right? I never would’ve thought that either.
It seemed like she’d never dated anyone else since then. And I couldn’t imagine that a relationship from your second year of middle school could’ve progressed too much in just two weeks.
Does that mean that despite how she may appear, Yamana-san is actually...?
“You’re a vir— OWWWWW!!!” Nisshi began to say something, but he suddenly cried out in pain and held his leg.
“Ahh? What the hell did you just say to me?”
Yamana-san was glaring at him with an even sharper look in her eyes than usual. The expression on her face and her threatening tone were exactly the sort you’d expect from a hard-core delinquent.
“I’m a what? I’m a ‘virtuous’ girl? Or maybe you think I’m ‘virtually’ perfect? Say it again!”
“Ahhh! It’s nothiiing!!!”
Faced with hellish lines from the poet Nicole-sensei, Nisshi took back his words and he began to tear up.
“Y-You okay, Nisshi...?” I asked as he still held his knee in pain.
He gave me a fine smile. “Dude, I got to taste a pure demon gyaru’s ten-centimeter heel... I’m so grateful...!”
It appeared Yamana-san had stepped on his foot under the table.
Well, as long as he’s finding joy in the pain.
“Just so you know, I’ve gone all the way,” said Yamana-san, giving us guys a menacing look. Her tone suggested she was stifling her embarrassment and was particularly displeased. “All the way...”
Really? She has? She did the deed with her first boyfriend from middle school over the two weeks they spent dating? Guess I should’ve expected no less from her...
But as I thought that...
“...right through the kissing part,” she quietly added, blushing and turning her face away from us.
Silence fell over the table.
Y-Yamana-san might be a bit cute...
With the way she alternated between soft and scary, she was a bit of a walking emotional roller coaster.
Taking a glance at Runa, I saw her watching Yamana-san with a gentle smile. She seemed to already be aware of what we’d just learned—which was to be expected, given they were BFFs.
“As for me, I’d wanna go out with someone tall!” Tanikita-san announced cheerfully.
That seemed to be her reply to my question about her preferences for boyfriends. Though I’d asked it myself, Yamana-san’s revelation had been so shocking that I’d forgotten what the topic was for a moment.
“W-Wait, how... How tall are we talking?” asked Icchi, showing an interest in Tanikita-san’s answer. It must’ve been because he was aware of his own height.
“Well... I’m small, so I think even Jaemi is big. But a guy as tall as Jungwoo would be real hot!”
I didn’t need to ask Runa this time to figure out that all the names Tanikita-san mentioned belonged to members of this “VTS” group.
“Wait, Ijichi-kun, you’re pretty big. How tall are you exactly?” asked Tanikita-san. It seemed like she had only just noticed it.
Telepathically sensing Icchi’s turmoil, I looked at him.
He panicked as he struggled to open his mouth. “A hun...hundred and eighty-one...”
Hearing that, Tanikita-san’s eyes went wide. “Wow, that’s the same as E-Joon! That’s, like, so hot!”
Icchi was stunned to hear that.
I know how you must feel, buddy.
This was a crazy thing to hear. I already knew what he would be doing whenever he remembered those words after he’d gone home.
When Tanikita-san had said, “That’s, like, so hot!” she’d probably had this “E-Joon” in mind. But even then, to a gloomy virgin, being told something like that was like receiving a medal of honor.
“Ah... Eh... Um... That...uh...”
As expected, Icchi’s face was beet red. He was so discomposed that he couldn’t continue the conversation.
After an unexpected, lively, and fun (?) chat about love over lunch, we didn’t really have a reason to stay in the commercial building anymore. We all left and headed toward the train station. The time was half past two—a bit of an odd hour.
“I gotta run. I have work after this,” said Yamana-san.
“And I’ve got a live stream concert to watch, so I’ma go with Nikki here,” added Tanikita-san.
“Thanks for today!”
“This was fun!”
Yamana-san and Tanikita-san each waved a hand at us as we stood there and then walked away. As if taking their cue to leave next, Icchi and Nisshi took a few steps toward the station as well.
“I should go too...”
“Same... I gotta join KEN’s six-hundred-player Yourcraft server...”
The two of them looked dazed. It seemed they still had the day’s events on their minds. I could hardly blame them—the past several hours had been way too intense for introverted virgins.
Thus, Runa and I were the only ones left.
“Shira— R-Runa, what about you?” To this day, I still felt a little nervous when I called her by name.
Runa gazed at my face, her spirits seeming a bit on the high side. “I’m still good. Whatcha wanna do? Wanna go on a date here in Odaiba?”
My heart fluttered at the sight of her coy and cute upturned eyes.
“Y-Yeah, sure. Let’s go, then...” I replied.
But just before we got going...
Tanikita-san, who was already heading to the station with Yamana-san, suddenly turned around.
“Oh yeah, I forgot!” she exclaimed and came running toward us. “Kashima-kun!”
“Y-Yes?!” I asked.
I’d been sure she’d wanted to talk to Runa, so I froze up in astonishment when she stopped right in front of me.
After looking at me and then to Runa beside me, she spoke up. “Okay, so, remember how back when I didn’t know you and Runy were dating, a friend sent a pic of you and Nikki eating together to our group chat and I wrote back ‘lmao’?”
After thinking for a bit, I recalled what she might’ve been talking about.
Nicole was on a date in McDonalds with some plain guy from our class lol
For real? Lmao
Did she mean those LINE messages Runa had once asked me about? The ones with the photo of me and Yamana-san after the latter had told me to come with her and we’d met in private.
Apparently, that’d been Tanikita-san. Naturally, I hadn’t taken a close look at the names.
“It’s true that you’re not the kinda guy that stands out, but you’re kind and you’re considerate of your girlfriend, so you’re a good person. After spending some time with you today, I think you’re a good match for Runy,” she said, hanging her head a bit. Then, she lifted her face. “Well, that’s all I wanted to say. It felt like I dissed you before and that bothered me a bit. A’ight, see ya!”
Looking relieved, Tanikita-san waved to me and Runa and left again. Had she really come back just to say that?
“Tanikita-san kinda does things at her own pace, huh? She’s funny,” I remarked.
Runa, who was still waving to Tanikita-san, smiled at me. “I know, right? Akari’s funny like that. She’s not easily swayed by people and pushes forward to get what she wants,” she said, with a hint of admiration in her voice.
Runa then nimbly twined her hand around my arm. The sight of the shiny ring with a natural gem on her right hand made me bashful and happy.
“Okay, let’s go,” Runa then suggested.
“Y-Yeah,” I replied.
That floral-or-fruity scent mixed in with the salty sea breeze as it reached my nostrils. As the afternoon temperatures remained high, Runa’s skin felt hot to the touch. It brought me back to the mood this summer’d had as we’d spent it together in that seaside town.
Unbeknownst to anyone else, my heart was pounding.
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