Chapter 13 – The Worst Reunion

“Hyup, hah, there!”

Miina stepped elegantly in front of the rhythm game cabinet in the arcade. Shinta watched her back while sitting on a nearby bench.

Saying she would show him an example first, Miina had started playing. She really was addicted to it, just like she said. Even to his amateur eyes, her footwork looked pretty damn good.

(Man, how many years has it been since I came to an arcade with someone?)

He looked back on his memories. The only things that remained vivid were times of roughness and isolation. It had been a truly long time since he had gone out to play with someone like this after school.

(But well, I did spend a lot of time with Ichizu over spring break…)

Come to think of it, he felt like his destiny had started to change ever since he met her. If he imagined a future where he hadn’t met Ichizu, it was easy to picture. He probably would have just repeated that empty, lonely year. It would have been an idle time with no youth and no friendship.

“Hey, Shinta? Were you actually watching me dance?”

While he was looking down and lost in thought, a voice rained down from above. Looking up, he saw Miina standing there. Her game was finished. She glared at him with a pout.

“Yeah, I was watching. Even to an amateur, that was some pretty seasoned dancing.”

“Really now. Well, whatever, I guess I’ll have you dance next.”

Saying that, she pointed at a certain spot with a smug look on her face.

Looking closely, the cabinet’s screen displayed Miina’s current score. It showed a massive “Rank 3” on the screen. It seemed she was provoking him, challenging him to try and beat her record.

He was a complete amateur. However, it was this man’s nature to buy a fight when one was sold to him. With eyes that said he wanted her to just watch, he stood up in front of the cabinet.

A single woman called out to the two of them as they were getting fired up.

“Oh my, on a date, are we, Bitch-na-san~? As loose as ever, I see~”

“Eh…?”

At the unfamiliar voice, Shinta turned his head. He saw a girl dressed in a textbook gal outfit standing there.

They had been addressed, but from Shinta’s perspective, she was a complete stranger. He dug through his memories but drew a blank. Besides, the uniform she wore belonged to another school.

Unlike his bewildered self, Miina froze the moment she saw the person’s face. Judging from that reaction, Shinta figured it was an old acquaintance of hers. He tried to confirm.

“What, is she a friend of yours or something, Miina…”

“Huh? Like hell I’d be friends with a bitch like her.”

Before he could even finish his sentence, the other girl spat out a denial.

No, more importantly, he had just heard a remark he couldn’t let slide. Calling Miina a bitch was crossing a line.

“Hey, the hell are you saying, suddenly calling someone a bitch?”

Before he knew it, Shinta was snapping at her.

In response, the other girl retorted mockingly.

“Ah~ from the looks of it, you don’t know anything. Well, I guess no guy would willingly hang out with her otherwise. She and I went to the same middle school, and you just met her in high school, right? In that case, let me tell you something good.”

“—Stop it!?”

Miina, who had been completely silent until now, suddenly raised her voice to stop her. Unlike her usual cheerful tone, her voice was laced with anguish.

Shinta didn’t understand the circumstances. Realizing they shouldn’t stay here, he tried to take her and leave.

“Let’s go, Miina. She’s ruining a perfectly good mood.”

“Y-Yeah.”

Choosing not to pry too deeply, he took her hand to leave the area. The girl harassing them wasn’t about to let them off that easily. She intentionally raised her voice to stop Miina in her tracks.

“You scared me, suddenly yelling like that. As expected of a porn star’s daughter, you sure can get loud!”

Hearing the words that flew out of the girl’s mouth, Miina stopped dead in her tracks. Because of that, Shinta, who was pulling her arm, was also glued to the spot.

“Hey, you alright, Mii…”

“…”

He couldn’t finish calling her name.

Looking back, the Miina in his field of vision looked like she was on the verge of tears. She was biting her lip tightly. Tears welled up in the corners of her eyes.

Perhaps pleased by the sight of Miina suffering, the girl approached while stringing together foul words.

“Oh my, why the shocked face now? Could it be that the guy you’re with isn’t just a fling, but the real deal~?”

Miina said nothing to the girl. The gal was clutching her stomach and roaring with vulgar laughter. Miina’s mind had gone completely blank, leaving her unable to speak.

“Eh, what’s going on?”

“What are those people making a fuss about?”

Before they knew it, Shinta and Miina were surrounded by onlookers. They watched from a distance. Furthermore, if he listened closely, he noticed sickening words flying around.

“I heard them saying something about that girl’s mom being a porn star.”

“Ugh, that’s so embarrassing. Poor thing…”

“I mean, having a mom who stars in adult videos is like the worst kind of stain.”

Confirming that people had gathered around, this girl intentionally tried to continue her conversation with Miina in a loud voice. It was entirely for the sake of making sure her bad reputation reached everyone else’s ears.

Showered with contemptuous gazes and ridicule from the surroundings, Miina crouched down on the spot.

“Stop it… stop…”

“Huh? I’m just telling the truth, you know?”

“Please, just stop…”

“Heeey, what’ve you been muttering about over there, you porn star’s—”

“SHUT THE HELL UPPPPPP!!!”

“Eek!?”

The girl’s line was completely drowned out by an angry roar from Shinta. It seemed to shake the entire arcade. The onlookers who had gathered half out of amusement covered their ears. They turned their attention to Shinta all at once.

“S-Shinta…?”

Even Miina, who hadn’t been able to voice a word, reacted to the sudden booming shout. She turned her face toward Shinta in bewilderment.

Shinta gave her a small smile. He gently placed his hand on her trembling head as he muttered.

“It’s okay. You don’t have to say anything. Just watch.”

Saying that, Shinta displayed an even more unexpected action. Without a word, he walked right up to the girl and casually grabbed her by the head.

“Eek, what’re you doing!?”

The girl, who had been riding high on her own ego until now, let out a voice trembling with fear. The people around them were equally shaken by Shinta’s action of grabbing a woman’s head.

Directing his fury at every single person who now had their attention on him, Shinta spat out the words boiling in his gut.

“You bastards… does cornering a single girl make you feel good?”

As he spoke, he laid bare the face of the Demon God he had kept sealed away. He was picking a fight with every last bastard gathered in that place.

Behind him, at the sight of Shinta acting to protect her, Miina shed a different kind of tears than before.