I’m a Loner, Gloomy Guy Who Accidentally Witnessed the Moment the Top Girl in the Class Got Dumped. I Didn’t Know What to Say to Comfort Her, So I Just Gave Her a Cola and Somehow We Started Having Lunch Together~ - 43

Chapter 43: The Place We Used to Play

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The final exams ended safely (Amamiya-san avoided make-up classes in every subject, and on top of that, my grades even improved compared to the midterms), and it was a Sunday morning with only a little time left until summer vacation.

I was walking through the stiflingly hot city, wrapped in air that made it hard to breathe. However, I wasn’t alone. Beside me was my childhood friend who hated me, Hina. She had suddenly shown up at my house and said, “We’re going out right now.” 

This was the result of going along with that, but it wasn’t like I nodded obediently. I did resist, at least a little. I didn’t want to go out alone with someone who hated me, and more than anything, there was this brutal heat. Going out of your way to head outside in this scorching weather was insane.

On days like this, the best thing to do was to relax in an air-conditioned room. For those reasons, I simply told her I didn’t want to go, but…

“Just come with me.”

Hina didn’t back down at all. In her mind, going out was already a done deal, and there was no way she intended to listen to my opinion from the start. Looking back on it, it was ridiculously unreasonable. She was way too cruel. But even so, I didn’t have the courage to complain.

Still, today was seriously hot. Being with Hina was already awkward enough, and this heat was just piling on the misery. Between the melting heat and the discomfort, my mood was at rock bottom. I wanted to go home and cool off as soon as possible, even one second sooner.

At this point, I should just get whatever this is over with and go home.

“So, what’s your objective? Let’s hurry up and get it done.”

“There isn’t really one.”

“…Huh? What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

Apparently, Hina had come all the way into town in this scorching heat with no purpose at all. And she had dragged along me, whom she hated. Coming to wake me up every morning, suddenly showing up at my house on days off… Lately, Hina’s actions had all been baffling, but today’s took the prize for being completely incomprehensible.

“I just wanted to go out with Masaki—n-nothing!”

She froze mid-sentence, then suddenly turned her face away with a huff.

This seriously makes no sense… There’s a limit to how emotionally unstable someone can be.

“Ah… That place… How nostalgic.”

Hina stopped walking. In her line of sight was a game center. For us, it was a familiar place. Me, Hina, and Mai. When we were in elementary school, the three of us came here often and played until it got late.

“Hey, let’s go in. It’s been a while since we came to this place, after all.”

“…Yeah, sure.”

I wondered what we were even going to do in a place like this, but at least the inside of a game center had air conditioning. It was far better than staying outside in what had become a blazing inferno.

When I entered the shop together with Hina, an almost excessively cold blast of air welcomed us. Feeling the pleasant chill seep into my body, we headed farther inside. It really hadn’t changed that much. There were differences, like machines I’d never seen before or old cabinets updated to the latest versions, but overall, there weren’t many major changes.

The layout was almost the same, and even the atmosphere felt just like back then. Walking through the arcade like this brought back memories of elementary school, filling me with a faint sense of nostalgia.

“This game is still here.”

Hina’s hand brushed over a cabinet shaped like a car’s driver’s seat. It was a racing game. Back then, we played all kinds of games here. Among them, the one we played the most was this racing game. We played in versus mode and we always made a huge fuss while playing.

“Let’s have a match. Same rules as back then.”

“The loser buys snacks from the convenience store, right?”

“Exactly! You remember really well!”

Hina’s voice sounded more lively than usual. It felt like it had been a long time since I’d seen her in such a good mood. I still didn’t know why, but it was better than her being grumpy.

Thinking that, I still gave her a dubious look.

“I don’t mind competing, but you were terrible at this game, weren’t you? You never beat me or Mai even once.”

“That was when we were in elementary school. It’s different now. If you underestimate me, you’ll regret it.”

“…If you’re going that far, I won’t stop you. But I’m not going easy on you. Don’t complain if you regret it.”

“I’ll say those exact words right back to you!”

Hina and I climbed into the cabinets and put in our money. A match we hadn’t had in years was now beginning.

“Why… This has to be wrong…”

‘WIN!’ ‘LOSE…’

Those words were displayed on the screens of my cabinet and Hina’s, respectively. Of course, ‘WIN!’ was mine, and ‘LOSE…’ was Hina’s. And this was already the third time that screen had appeared.

We had raced three times so far, and I had won all three. Hina’s skills had definitely improved compared to back then. However, the improvement was minimal.

The gap between our abilities was obvious. It was wide enough that I was confident I’d win all hundred times out of a hundred. Hina slumped her shoulders, but still pulled money from her wallet. It seemed she wanted a fourth match.

“You’re still going?”

“Of course! Next time I’m going to win!!”

She really hasn’t changed at all from back then.

It was the same in elementary school. Hina challenged me and Mai over and over again in this game. Even though she never won, she never once tried to give up.

That’s just how Hina is, a sore loser to the extreme.

That part of her had never changed. Compared to those days, our relationship had changed drastically. It had been completely smashed to pieces, broken beyond recognition, beyond repair. But even so, there were still things that hadn’t changed.

I think that realization made me happy. Because before I knew it, a smile had naturally formed on my lips.

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