I Was Unreasonably Dumped By My Girlfriend And Had My Heart Broken. When I Rescued A Beautiful Girl Who Was My Former Classmate And Idol In My Class From A Group Of Yarisa, My Gray College Life Started To Shine - Chapter 63

Episode 63: How Far Have We Gone?

A rumbling sound.

Inside the bowling alley, pleasant sounds echoed. Upon inspection, all the pins had fallen perfectly.

“Three Strikes in a Row” was displayed on the screen hanging from the ceiling.

“Alright, so far it’s a tie!”

It was mid-afternoon on a Friday.

Besides the two of us, there wasn’t a soul in the bowling alley.
That’s why Hayashi’s noisy voice, clapping his hands in joy, echoes throughout the place.
“You’re really good after all.”

“Don’t praise me too much, Nogami. I won’t go easy on you anyway.”

Actually, I was planning to treat him to lunch.

It was a gesture of gratitude for sending me that video proof that Asuka dumped me.

If it weren’t for that, I wonder how things would’ve turned out by now.

So, even though I’m broke, I thought I could afford at least one Yukichi-san (10,000 yen) for some yakiniku or shabu-shabu… No, since I don’t have money, at least a Higuchi-san (1,000 yen)… or so I thought, but somehow it ended up like this.

It seems that he was very disappointed in losing in the bowling match last time.

Since then, Hayashi had been practicing diligently at the bowling alley.

Indeed, he had improved.

The translation of this passage is:

“If I let my guard down, I might lose. It’s not like I mind losing, but if I’m going to do it, I want to win.

Besides, there’s a free ramen meal on the line afterward. It was considerably cheaper compared to what I had initially planned, but I still wanted to win.

I stood up, ball in hand, and stepped up to the line, conscious of my form.

I threw the ball cleanly, exactly as I had envisioned, and it went straight, knocking down all the pins.

I breathed a sigh of relief.

Turning around, Hayashi was still seated, raising his hands in applause. I lightly tapped his raised hand, and he clicked his tongue.

“You’re too good~, you should join the bowling club, seriously”

“I’ll return the compliment right back. You’ve clearly been practicing a lot too. Maybe you should join.”

“No way. I got invited by the old geezers to go pro and all, but seriously, pass. Spending my college life on bowling? That’s impossible for someone like me.”

We chatted like this as I sat back down, and Hayashi, seated across from me, started to stand up.

Suddenly, I remembered.

I should probably tell him about this.

After all, he’s been a great benefactor to me.

“By the way, I’m dating Aoba now.”

When I said it bluntly, Hayashi lowered his half-raised hips back down.

He sank back down, leaning on his knees, showing his teeth.

With slightly tanned skin, he looked unusually pale.

“That’s great, isn’t it? Well, it’s all thanks to me, mostly.”

“Mostly? That’s stretching it. And hey, don’t go around telling everyone.”

“Leave it to me. I can keep a secret. But seriously, I was surprised when I found out Nogami was involved in that whole mess. Like solving a mystery where you find out the culprit’s identity later, right? Like tying up loose ends?”

“…Cut it out. It’s not funny.”

“Haha, well, you’d know that if you watched. But seriously, I never thought she’d be that kind of girl. It’s been a topic among some guys. Play with her once, and she’ll cling to you persistently—something like that.”

I am reminded of Asuka’s troubled SNS.

That rumor was probably spread by a guy named “Ren-chan,” who Asuka had a crush on.

He looked good, but apparently, he’s quite the scumbag inside.

“…Is that guy even coming to school?”

“What, still hung up on that old flame? You’ve got a beauty like that as a girlfriend.”

“It’s not like that. I’ve long moved on, and it’s not a big deal… I just casually heard about it.”

“You’re too kind-hearted, you know. If I were dumped like that, I’d stick pins into a straw doll and curse. Well, I don’t dislike that part of you.”
After saying that much, Hayashi gained some momentum and stood up.
Once again, he easily scored a strike and returned, so we clapped our hands together.

“Look, here we go!”

He urged me to grab the 11-pound ball and stand at the starting line.

Just as I started to throw the ball…

“So? How far have you gone? ABC?”

With that question thrown at me, my heart and my form were thrown off balance.

As a result, the ball, slightly off trajectory due to the distraction, only hit the edge of the pins, knocking down just six.

This guy, he planned it perfectly.

When I turned around in frustration, he was there, grinning with teeth exposed.

“Of course, I’m talking about your girlfriend now.”

“…You. There’s no way I’m answering that.”

“Oh, of course?”

When it comes to this, there’s no choice.

To at least get a spare, I have to throw more carefully.

I picked up the ball again, sighed, stepped back, and threw it again.

“Oh, there’s a message from your beloved girlfriend.”

Then I was tricked again.

The ball that I missed throwing even more badly than before was sucked into the gutter, just like the ball thrown by Hikari.

“You…”

And this time, when I turned around in amazement, he was smiling broadly, raising the screen of my smartphone that I had placed on top of the desk.

“Oh, there’s a heart mark. What are you going to do for the club activities the day after tomorrow? It’s hot.”

“…That’s not a heart mark. It’s a surprise mark, that emoji. I don’t think they have anything in common other than being red.”

“You’re so nitpicky, aren’t you? Isn’t it about the same?”

“If I’m nitpicky, you’re a cunning man. Are you happy to win by doing this?”

“I’m happy. I’m so happy! I can think of toppings to put on ramen with excitement.”

While sighing, I took the smartphone from Hayashi and sat down.

Actually, I had considered asking for some love advice, but it seemed too stupid to ask this guy.