Chapter 10

The promised time was 10 AM.

For a college student, being this active in the morning is pretty admirable.

I left way too early.

Waking up early meant I left way too early.

The meeting spot is in front of the amusement park.

Is it about 9 AM now?

It’d be a pain if I were late and she complained, so coming early is the right call.

Still, what should I do for an hour? Guess I’ll look for a cafe.

“Senpai! Over here!”

But, it looks like that won’t be a problem. Apparently, she was already here.

The park opens at 9, so maybe she was hoping to get a head start and go in early.

“You’re early. Did I keep you waiting?”

“Nope, I just got here.”

“Oh, really? What time did you get here?”

“Just three hours ago. Time flies when I’m waiting for you, Senpai♡”

“…”

Calling three hours ago ‘just got here’ is a bit of a stretch, isn’t it?

It’s 9 AM now. Three hours ago was 6 AM.

Considering where her nearest station is, she must have taken the first train.

Yep, this girl’s nuts.

Why the hell are you on standby four hours early when we agreed to meet at 10?

Even Hachiko would be put off by that.

“Ah, well, okay. In that case, since we’re here, shall we go in?”

Get in early, get out early. Nothing better than that.

“Senpai, want to go in the haunted house?”

She’s just scheming for a way to cling to me, isn’t she?

Whatever. I can’t go home until she’s satisfied anyway.

I’ll play along.

“Sure.”

And so we went into the mansion-style haunted house.

“Ooooh, the misery…”

“Eeeek♡”

Piggybacking on the ghost’s “Eeeek♡”, Sora-chan clung to my arm as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

So this is your game.

“Get off me.”

Still, though.

It’s not that I want to complain to the cast members, but…

This isn’t scary at all.

There’s no sense that they’re actually trying to kill you.

There’s an escape route, and the weapons are just props.

Above all, there’s no realism.

You can just feel that even if they chase you, you’re not actually going to be killed.

For me, someone who faces something scarier than ghosts on a daily basis, this was a piece of cake.

No, the haunted house isn’t bad.

Rather, let’s focus on her.

Couldn’t we put her talents to use?

Like, by making a Psycho-Lover House.

It’d be scarier than this place. They’d use real knives, so there might be casualties, though.

“Would you like to buy a photo? You’re such a cute couple!”

As we exited, we were hit with a sales pitch.

“No, we’re not a couple. We’re siblings.”

“Oh, is that so? You two seem so close.”

“No, we’re siblings who get along exceptionally poorly.”

Like hell I’m buying a picture. It costs 2000 yen, to begin with. I wouldn’t get one unless it was a special occasion.

And besides, the fewer pictures I have with the girl I’m cheating with, the better.

I politely declined the photo.

“Senpai, you were just shy calling us siblings♡”

“Shut up. Little sister.”

“But, I get that you want to do sibling things. I’m getting a little hungry, so why don’t we grab a quick bite?”

I am getting a bit hungry, that’s true. I didn’t eat breakfast. It’s too early for lunch, so grabbing a light snack would be good.

“…Yeah, you’re right. Let’s get something to eat.”

If we hang out for three hours, that should be a passing grade for a date.

Hurry up and end. Before she wakes up.

Chapter 11

Since we were getting hungry, we headed for a food court area.

This amusement park caters to a wide variety of customers.

It’s a popular date spot for couples, and it has a good reputation with families, too.

Which is why…

“Senpai, there’s a seat open over here♡”

…they have these “lovely” seats that look like they were made specifically for couples.

They’re studded with an almost ridiculous number of hearts.

Isn’t it painfully bright?

We’re supposed to eat in a place like this?

“Isn’t that one over there fine?”

The seat I pointed to in the spur of the moment… wasn’t “lovely,” but…

It was clearly for kids. A giant plush hand formed the back of the chair.

In the center of the table was the face of the kaiju, ‘Daikaijuu.’

Well, duh, a kaiju is gonna be big.

There’s no way food could taste good here.

…In any case, it was a seat that families would probably love.

Honestly, I don’t want to sit there either.

But it’s better than this lovey-dovey chair.

If we sit at the “lovely” seat and I get cornered by Sora-chan in a “lovely” mood, it’ll be a huge pain.

No, it’d be great if it was just a pain.

If she manages to get even more evidence of my ‘cheating,’ it’s checkmate.

“Hehe. Senpai, you’re surprisingly adorable.”

“No, uh…”

Don’t tell me she thinks I’m some kind of huge ‘Daikaijuu’ fan?

No way in hell.

Sorry, but I’m well over the target age range.

In fact, I’ve barely even seen the show.

But… maybe this is a chance.

—Should I throw a tantrum?

If I can get her to be disillusioned with me, it’ll kill two birds with one stone.

A strategy where I make her sick of me by clinging to the kids’ booth feels better than just sitting at the heart seat.

There are times when a man’s gotta do what a man’s gotta do.

“No, no! I wanna sit over there!”

I cast aside something precious to me as a man.

…But if it protects something else, it’s a small price to pay.

The area around us started to murmur.

See? You’re disillusioned, right?

I’m the kind of guy who’ll do embarrassing stuff like this.

Honestly, you don’t want to be involved with me now, do you?

As a college student, I paid a heavy price.

…By doing so, there should have been something to gain.

However, her reaction betrayed my expectations.

“…Senpai, you’re so cute♡”

She looked at me with an ecstatic expression.

She placed both hands on her own cheeks.

…Why did you react like that?

Be disgusted already.

I put my body on the line like this just to get you to back off.

When I averted my eyes from her in an attempt to escape reality…

“Ah.”

…Our eyes met.

A little boy clutching a soft vinyl kaiju toy was staring at me.

And then, he slowly shook his head.

“…’Kay. Let’s sit over here.”

I scurried over to the heart seat.

Only one of each was left: the heart seat and the kaiju seat.

I cast aside my shame and put myself on the line.

And yet.

I gained absolutely no results!