The Beautiful Girl Who Asked Me to Pretend to Be Her Boyfriend Didn’t Want to Break up With Me for Some Reason - Chapter 63

Chapter 63: Prize

“This is my first time eating a chocolate banana, but it’s really good. It’s so sweet and covered in chocolate that I’m a little scared of the calories, though.”

After a bit of snacking while walking around, Shirafuji was munching on a chocolate banana as her dessert.

Even though she said she was worried about calories, she wasn’t stopping. She really does like sweets.

People say that sweets go into a separate stomach, and apparently, that applies to festivals too.

“Festival sweets are usually super sweet. But out of all of them, chocolate bananas are probably one of the better options in terms of both calories and ease of eating. Candy apples are basically just chunks of syrup, and cotton candy is literally sugar.”

“That’s exactly why I chose the chocolate banana. Candy apples are pretty big, so I wasn’t sure I could finish one. And cotton candy melts if you don’t eat it quickly. In that sense, chocolate bananas are just right.”

Saying that, she finished her chocolate banana and threw the trash into a nearby bin.

Seeing how the trash bin was already almost overflowing, I realized just how many people had come to the festival.

“I’m completely full now. I could probably fit in a little more if I really tried, but wearing a yukata, it would probably look weird.”

Shirafuji rubbed her stomach over her yukata, but from my perspective, she looked just as flat as when we arrived.

Still, maybe the tightness of the sash was making her feel uncomfortable.

“That’s fine. If you’re still hungry, we can buy something on the way home.”

“Let’s do that. But first, I want to do something that feels more like a festival.”

“The stalls where you can play games are mostly shooting galleries, yo-yo fishing, goldfish scooping, and shape-cutting. There might be others if we look around, but that’s about it.”

“That’s quite a variety. Since experience is important, let’s go through them one by one as long as we have time.”

The first game we chose was the shooting gallery, since it was the closest.

Most of the people gathered around the stall were younger kids, but there were also a few people our age, so we didn’t stand out too much.

Well, I did feel like we were getting stared at for another reason.

With her hair and eye color, Shirafuji had the kind of mixed-race look that stood out, and wearing a yukata just made her even more eye-catching.

Plus, she looked ridiculously good in it.

Anyone who saw her would probably call her beautiful or at least cute, and with her standing next to a rough-looking guy like me, it was no surprise people were looking.

“Shooting games work by knocking down prizes with a toy gun, and if you knock one down, you get to keep it, right?”

“Yeah, that’s pretty much it. The better prizes are placed in a way that makes them harder to knock down, so it’s best to decide what you’re aiming for beforehand.”

“I see… By the way, Hakuto, are you good at this?”

“I wouldn’t say I’m good, but I used to play a few times when Tansui asked me to. I can get the smaller prizes pretty often, but the big ones are mostly luck.”

Tansui was always happy when I won her a prize.

That brings back memories.

I hope she’s having fun without getting caught up in anything weird.

“Also, since it’s a toy gun, it has its quirks. The shots don’t always fly straight, so if you don’t read the trajectory and adjust, you won’t even hit the target.”

“That sounds difficult. Though, watching others, I think I get the idea.”

In front of us, a student missed their shot and groaned in frustration.

Yeah, I get it. It’s tough.

While we were talking, our turn came up.

I paid for both of us and received two toy guns from the stall owner.

We each got three shots.

It felt like a lot, but also not enough.

“What prize are you aiming for?”

“I’ll start with the candy on the lowest shelf. If I can knock it down, I’ll go for the biggest teddy bear.”

She probably wouldn’t be able to get the teddy bear, but she had a decent chance with the candy box.

Looking a little uncertain, Shirafuji held up the toy gun and closed one eye.

I still don’t know whether it’s better to keep both eyes open or close one for aiming.

I always end up closing one just because it feels right.

Shirafuji quietly lined up her shot and pulled the trigger.

The cork bullet shot out with a light pop and veered slightly to the right, hitting the red curtain at the back instead of the candy box.

“So this is what you meant by quirks. I’ll hit it on the next one.”

She reloaded and adjusted her aim, compensating for the rightward drift by pointing the barrel a little to the left.

She fired again.

The shot grazed the corner of the prize, causing it to tilt slightly but not fall off the shelf.

“I hit it… but since it was the corner, it didn’t fall.”

“Almost there.”

“I’ll do my best.”

Third time’s the charm.

Shirafuji quickly reloaded, steadied her aim, and fired the final shot—

A clean hit.

The box tipped backward and tumbled off the shelf.

The stall owner picked up the fallen prize with a grin.

“Congratulations!”

“I did it!”

“Nice.”

“Now it’s your turn, Hakuto.”

“Hmm, what should I aim for…?”

Since Shirafuji won something, I didn’t want to be the only one who failed.

I wanted to at least put on a decent show.

I didn’t have any particular prize in mind, so I decided to start with the easy target: the candy on the bottom shelf.

With people waiting behind us, I quickly took aim and fired the first shot.

I had a bad feeling I’d miss, but surprisingly, I hit dead-on and knocked the candy off the shelf.

“You’re pretty good at this.”

“That was just luck. The gun barely had any quirks.”

The shot had flown straight.

If the gun stayed this accurate, I could aim properly.

My next target was the teddy bear Shirafuji had wanted.

It was about 15 centimeters tall, which made it one of the larger prizes.

Knocking it down would take both skill and luck.

I took careful aim and fired my second shot.

The bullet flew straight and hit the teddy bear—

But it didn’t budge.

“I figured it’d be too stable.”

“Maybe if you hit the head, you could tip it over?”

“Let’s give it a shot.”

I loaded the final bullet and lined up my aim.

I hoped I could knock it down, but—

The last shot hit the bear’s ear instead of the head.

The bear didn’t move an inch.

“Too bad, big guy. Here’s your prize.”

The stall owner handed me my candy with a cheerful grin.

We left the stall.

“The teddy bear didn’t fall.”

“I hit it, though… Guess it really was tough.”

“…But was it even possible to knock it down? It felt like the bullets didn’t have enough power.”

“They probably wouldn’t scam people that hard… I think. Maybe they expect multiple people to chip away at it, pushing it back bit by bit until someone finally knocks it down.”

“If it’s like a ‘last-one prize,’ that makes sense. Well, I had fun, so it’s fine.”

“Yeah.”