A Late Bloomer's Powerful Restart ~My Second Life Starts at a Prestigious School Where the Gender Ratio Is Totally Off, and for Some Reason, All These Talented Girls Get Attached to Me...!?~

Chapter 23: The Fateful Squall

The day before the holiday weekend began, I received a call from Grandpa.

It seemed there had been some progress regarding Rimona, and because of that, he wanted to speak with me directly.

I wasn’t sure whether this was something someone like me—who was neither an employee nor the official successor—should even know about, but apparently Grandpa himself was willing to come to my side. He said he wanted to talk at a traditional Japanese restaurant near Teimon Academy.

When someone goes that far, I couldn’t exactly brush off Grandpa’s kindness.

Normally, he isn’t the type of person who would offer such consideration to others, but maybe the incident where I showed him Rimona’s defect had raised his opinion of me.

The appointed day was Sunday. Since he’s a busy man, I figured there must be a proper reason behind choosing this particular day, so I mentally prepared myself.

Or perhaps… this was just his own way of trying to connect with me as family. He seemed to carry some guilt toward Mom, after all.

And so, on the first day of the holiday, I decided to head toward the area with game stores, using the information I had about Kagurazaka.

I had visited this neighborhood during a school trip in my previous life, so walking here again brought back a wave of nostalgia. Actually, one of the famous Western-style pastry shops in Kagurazaka had been part of that trip too.

Ever since I enrolled in Teimon, I had planned to come back and take a proper look around once things settled down.

Sasa didn’t seem particularly interested in Kagurazaka, but… on the street near the game stores, a new fast-food chain had just started its pre-opening.

The location had good access from the nearest station, so in the near future this street would probably become a lot more lively.

“Well… I wonder if I’ll run into Shika today?”

I wasn’t really expecting it. Today I just wanted to wander the city and refresh myself a little.

I didn’t want her to notice me first and then avoid me, so I let my bangs fall forward, returning to my original plain appearance.

As a stylist, I had also developed a special skill over time: “incognito coordination techniques.”

I never had the chance to use it on celebrities… but for disguises, it worked perfectly.

“Since it’s a precious day off, maybe I’ll just enjoy it alone today.”

For someone who was living their second life, most of the entertainment from this era already felt old. That’s why I had no real interest in the regular game stores, but the arcade located deeper inside—accessible through a certain door—was a different story.

In my original life I had no talent for anything, but strangely enough, I had a real gift for medal games.

Of course, I’m not talking about slot-machine types that are almost 100% luck. What I was good at were pusher games. I never managed to topple the big tower, but steadily building up medals little by little was incredibly addictive.

Today I planned to withdraw the bare minimum number of medals from the vendor and try to recapture that old feeling… or at least that was the plan.

“Eh, seriously…!”

——Zazaaaaash! Jyararararara!!

The tower that I had never once knocked down in the past fell almost immediately.

I never imagined I had talent even in something like this, but at the same time, what I felt was emptiness.

The excitement I had imagined wasn’t there. It was almost disappointing how easy the game felt.

“Come to think of it, I was always terrible at fighting games…”

I left the medal games behind and walked toward the area where the fighting game cabinets were lined up.

Even after my talents started blooming in my previous life, I still had a mental block against them, so I had avoided playing. There were plenty of other things I wanted to do anyway.

But maybe now I could actually enjoy it.

With that thought, I quickly sat down at one of the machines.

The format—facing an opponent across the cabinet—hadn’t changed even in the future. NPCs with fixed patterns were laughably weak and useless for practice, so playing against real humans was the only way to truly test your skill.

“Match start〜〜〜! Hey bro, you’re weak!”

I lost normally. To a middle-school boy, no less.

And to the kind of brat who taunts you after winning just once.

“Hey… one more round.”

After that, I was repeatedly humiliated by this damn kid.

Even after the kid left, I kept losing to the next opponents too.

But strangely, I could clearly feel myself improving.

Little by little, the character movements were starting to sink into my hands… and that actually felt fun.

Gradually my win count increased… and before I realized it, I was completely absorbed. When I finally checked my watch, it was already showing 6 o’clock.

One last match… With that in mind, I threw everything I had into the final round and managed to win in a really satisfying way.

“…I lost, huh. Thanks for the match.”

“Eh…? Ah, y-yeah.”

A girl…? I couldn’t see the other player’s face because of the cabinet between us, but the voice definitely belonged to a girl.

She was so strong that part of me wanted to challenge her again, but I figured I should head back to the dorm soon.

I decided to leave the arcade as planned.

But an unexpected event stopped me from going home.

“No way… the weather forecast was wrong!?”

The sound of a sudden downpour—zaaaaaash—came through the arcade doors. It was pouring.

In this era, wearable devices that let you check the weather on your watch still weren’t widespread.

That’s why I never skipped the morning weather forecast… but today my luck just ran out.

No matter how good my memory was or how many memories I carried from my previous life, there was no way I could remember the precise weather for a specific area I didn’t even live in.

“When is this going to stop? This is a problem…”

Since I had promised to meet Grandpa tomorrow, I regretted not being more careful with my plans the day before.

Still, it was just a passing shower… Going back to the dorm would take longer, but all I had to do was wait it out.

Just then, the phone in my pocket vibrated.

[Sasa: The light novel you lent me was really interesting! It looks like the next volume is already out—do you have it?]

She had gotten completely hooked on light novels. Since then I had lent her several more, but it seemed she had already finished them all.

I hadn’t bought any of the volumes released after my return, so I didn’t have them.

Well, I’d just stop by a bookstore after the rain stopped.

[Taiki: I’m out right now. I’ll buy it on the way back.]

[Sasa: Really!? You absolutely can’t forget, okay!!]

I hadn’t read it in a while either.

I still remembered the story, but there was something irreplaceable about the actual experience of reading it.

Besides… in my previous life, I had always thought how nice it would be to have a friend like Sasa. Being able to geek out together over the same things was something so simple, yet completely out of reach for the old me who was always focused on things I couldn’t do.

So, while waiting for the rain to pass, I stood by the door and gazed out at the weather—

“Um…!”

Suddenly, someone called out from behind me.

I immediately realized it was the person I had just played against and turned around.

“Thank you for the match earlier. You were really strong… I had so much fun… If you don’t mind, I’d love to play again sometime.”

“…!?”

Her identity was completely beyond anything I expected.

She had her hood up, so I couldn’t see her eyes… but glossy silver hair spilled out from beneath it.

It matched perfectly with the appearance I had imagined from the information I’d heard.

—I never thought I’d actually meet her.

My unforgettable first love.

She carried an atmosphere she never showed in the classroom, but there was no mistaking that face.