After a Heartbreak, My Bitter Childhood Friend is now Sweet Like Sugar - Chapter 2.3

Chapter 2.3

TL: Devxtt

ED: Shish

“Hey, hey, let’s go to the game center on the way home today.

Kasugai suggested this during lunch break.

“I don’t mind, but…”

I looked at Kazama and Kokoa, who were eating their lunch too.

“Ya sure. I’m bored anyway.”

“It’s fine. But why the game center?”

Our seats were joint together and Kasugai, Kazama, and Kokoa were sitting in a circle around me.

This style is always used for eating lunch these days. It’s a familiar lunch scene.

“No, it doesn’t mean much. But I want to go out with all of you. Now that we’ve gotten to know each other, why not? If I had to say, Sawatari-kun and Kazama-kun both seem to know a lot. Kazama-kun is both a delinquent and an otaku, right?”

“Hey Kasugai, are you picking on me?”

Kazama snapped at her like a delinquent.

I heard that Kazama has a bad personality, but I ignored it without a second thought. Though, I don’t deny that I’m also a shady person.

“So you don’t know much about it?”

“Haha, who do you think I am? The game center is my territory.”

You do know a lot.

“But what’re you gonna do in the game center?”

“It’s a game center, what else do people do there other than play games. But I don’t have anything specific in mind. I’ll figure it out when I get there.”

“You’re just going through with the momentum.”

“Because I~ wanna play with everyone.”

I guess it doesn’t matter where we go.

I’m not sure why she wants to hang out with us, but it seems she wants to deepen our friendships.

I wonder why Kasugai has become so involved, let alone Kazama, who I’ve known since the beginning.

So, we came to a game center. There were a lot of cabinets flooding the scene with a lot of noise.

Even though it’s a game center, it’s a big one with a bowling alley, billiards room, and karaoke box.

In a book I read once, it was explained that each of these facilities, which were popular in the past, were weeded out with the flow of the times and came together as if they were huddling together.

“Hey, hey, Wind~Man(Kaze no Hito). Would you like to join me in the Washing Machine?”

“Wind Man? You talking with me? Don’t talk to me like I’m some kind of stranger, okay? Also, that’s a rhythm game cabinet, not a washing machine, okay?”

“Wow, Wind~man got through. You’re a delinquent, but you know a lot of strange stuffs, like an Intellectual Yakuza.”

“Don’t just take the “Ma” out of “Kazama” and give it such a flamboyant name. I may be a delinquent, but I’m not a yakuza, okay?”

Kazama, like a tsukkomi, followed Kasugai to a game cabinet shaped like a washing machine. It looks like they’re having fun.

And that’s when I noticed that Kokoa wasn’t here.

I looked around and found her at a place where crane games were lined up, looking intently into a case.

“Is there a stuffed animal you want?”

There were many stuffed toys with loose characters.

“No, I was just thinking there’s so many types. Did you get the stuffed animal at this game center that you gave me as a birthday present.”

“How could I’ve remembered…? Did I ever tell you that I got it from this game center?”

When I was in elementary school, I once got a stuffed animal from a crane game as a birthday gift to Kokoa .

I keep quiet that it was a prize from a crane game, but I do remember that she used to like this character a lot.”

I thought if I told her that I won it from a game center, her mother might throw it away. She’s a difficult person to deal with, and that’s why the two of them didn’t get along well.

“I did… It was a long time ago, so I forgot about it.”

“Is that so?”

Well, it was almost ten years ago. So I guess she won’t get mad at me.

“Hey, hey, let’s take some pictures.”

As we were talking about this, Kasugai, who seemed to have finished playing the game, came back and pointed her finger towards the machine that takes pictures and prints them out as stickers.

“I came here with a friend and found a Print Sticker Machine. It’s nothing to be so excited about.”

“Don’t be so gloomy. Let’s go.”

Kasugai grabbed our hands and dragged us to the Print Machine.

“W-wait, Kasugai-san! I can… walk on my own…”

“Hehe, I know that.”

“Kasugai, it’s only the three of us and what about Kazama?”

“I actually invited him, but he said he hates photos. He said he didn’t want to because it would suck his soul. Now he’s over there playing video games.”

“He’s sensitive despite his appearance.”

“He’s like a maiden, and a really strange one at that, isn’t he?”

The three of us entered a small photo booth. The room was too small for three people, so we had to push ourselves a little.

“~~~~u!”

All of a sudden Kokoa was trembling.

“What’s wrong, Kokoa?”

“I-it’s nothing. It’s more crowded than I expected.”

“Oh, you’re worried that I’m too close to you? Maybe I should try moving a bit——”

“N-no, w-wait. You can’t fit it in the frame if you move. Besides, Kasugai-san is on the other side. It’s… fine as it is.”

“I hope so.”

Although I tried not to think of it, I could feel Kokoa’s body heat through my uniform, which was bad for my heart.

“Geez— The two of you are so lovey-dovey. Well then I’m going to press the button. Click!”

After that, we heard the machine’s tune and finished taking the picture.

When I checked the sticker that came out of the machine, I saw that Kokoa’s face was bright red, probably because she didn’t want me to be so close, or maybe she was just embarrassed.

***

ZETROTRANSLATION