Fallen from the Top Group Due to Cheating and False Accusations. The Only One Who Stood by Me Was My Little Sister’s Best Friend, Who Had Always Adored Me.

Chapter 21: To the Game Center.

After finishing our taiyaki, we headed straight to the amusement facility located near the center of the shopping district.

At first glance, the entrance looked modest, but inside it had a spacious underground layout packed with rows upon rows of UFO catchers, arcade games, medal machines, and photo booths. As expected, there were still no other students around, making the entire floor feel almost like a private rental.

“Somehow, coming to a bright and lively place like this naturally lifts your mood, doesn’t it?”

Yuuka gazed at the neatly lined UFO catchers and their prizes with sparkling eyes, murmuring with clear interest.

“It does. It’s been a while since I last came to a place like this.”

“Really? That’s a little surprising. I thought senpai’s circle in middle school was full of cheerful people, for better or worse. I assumed you were more used to this kind of thing.”

“You’re not wrong. I never really suggested coming myself, but Hayato would often say ‘Come with me’ after soccer practice, and we ended up going together dozens of times.”

“Just the two of you…?”

“Not at first. We’d usually go in a big group of five or six, but as it got later, the others would head home because of curfew. In the end, it was always just me and him left.”

“You two never went home like the others? Even though you must’ve been exhausted after club activities…”

I hesitated for a moment at her question, but I didn’t want to hide anything from Yuuka, so I continued, recalling the past.

“Hayato’s family wasn’t very well-off. He grew up in a single-mother household, so he was often home alone late into the night. Of course he was dead tired after practice, but I always stayed and played with him until he was the one who said it was time to go home.”

“I see… Senpai really has always been kind to a fault. Even so… that person…”

Perhaps thinking about the recent events soured her mood, because Yuuka clenched her fist and looked down. I gently wrapped my hand around her balled-up fist.

“I don’t expect him to feel any lingering gratitude at this point. I did it because I wanted to, and more importantly, because it was fun. Even now, those memories aren’t so bad.”

Back then, having seen Yuuka often staying home alone since she was little, I genuinely felt a sense of sympathy for Hayato, who was in a similar situation. Unlike Yuuka, he was a guy, but spending quiet days alone in his room couldn’t have been easy. The fact that he kept inviting me along proved he must have felt lonely.

“But even then… that doesn’t give him the right to betray and hurt someone out of jealousy or envy. You treated him with as much kindness as you could, yet he turned around and attacked you. Anyone would be hurt by that. If it were me… I might not have been able to recover…”

Seeing Yuuka bite her lip with such a pained expression, I realized I had let the conversation drift too far. This was supposed to be a date. I had brought her here so she could enjoy herself.

“Alright, let’s put the heavy talk aside for now.”

I pointed at the UFO catchers spread out in every direction and asked her brightly.

“What do you want, Yuuka? Snacks, figures, plushies—anything. You helped me out so much today. Let me win something and give it to you as a present.”

“Eh…”

Her gloomy expression instantly switched to one of surprise. She froze for a moment, glancing around the store. After about ten seconds, she seemed to snap back to reality. She shook her head vigorously and turned to me, her cheeks flushing with embarrassment.

“No… I’m not a child! I don’t need anything!”

“You don’t have to hold back. You were clearly hesitating just now. Go on, tell me what you want.”

“I wasn’t hesitating! Really, I’m fine!”

“Haah… If you won’t decide, I’ll just pick something myself based on my own tastes. For example… something practical like that over there.”

I grinned and pointed at a particularly tacky plate designed for curry rice. It was modeled after an old-fashioned Japanese-style toilet. Obviously, no one would want to eat curry off something so vulgar, but I thought it would be funny and help lighten the mood.

“Should I put in a hundred yen?”

The moment I took out a coin and pretended to insert it, Yuuka panicked.

“Wait, senpai!? Are you serious?! No! Absolutely not…! Anything but that—!”

She grabbed my arm with all her strength to stop me. Her desperate face was so adorable that I couldn’t help but laugh.

“Haha, I’m just kidding.”

“…Geez, what’s so funny? You’re so mean, senpai…”

“Sorry. You’ve had such a tense look on your face since earlier, so I wanted to see you smile again.”

At that, her face turned an even deeper shade of red, and she covered it with both hands.

“E-Even so… do I look more energetic now…?”

“Hmm… I’m not sure. Maybe just a little.”

“I… see. Well, if that’s the case, I understand. But senpai, even as a joke, you really shouldn’t give a girl something like that…”

“Haha… I’m well aware. I’m not that clueless when it comes to the opposite sex.”

“…Are you sure? Somehow I can imagine you casually gifting something like that for a birthday with zero ill intent, so I’m getting a little worried.”

“I definitely won’t. Sorry for teasing you.”

“Fufu… Honestly, you’re such a handful, senpai.”

Despite her words, Yuuka looked like she was genuinely having fun. Good. I wanted to keep this momentum and make sure this date left her satisfied.

With that decided, I smiled and asked her again.

“Then tell me properly this time—what do you actually want?”

Otherwise I really will choose with my own biased taste? When I added that, Yuuka finally gave up on being reserved. She smiled as if a weight had been lifted and pointed at one of the prizes.

“In that case… I’d like that one.”

She had chosen a small bear plushie keychain, the kind you could attach to a bag. Unaware that this choice would later cost me five thousand yen from my wallet, I cracked my knuckles and answered confidently.

“Leave it to me!”