Chapter 20: A Heroine Candidate?

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Translator: Soafp

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The arcade near the station was two stories tall, the biggest one in the area.

Once inside, Ginji casually exchanged a thousand-yen bill for coins. Sora copied him and did the same.

“Wow, this is amazing! Hey Ginji, what's that?”

“That's air hockey. Since it's your first time, let's start with a physical game.”

The first floor seemed to focus mainly on physical games like air hockey and basketball, along with crane games.

They took off their jackets and started a game of air hockey. The result was a crushing defeat—Ginji went all out without holding back and won decisively.

“…I only scored one point.”

“I couldn't lose to someone playing for the first time.”

“Isn't this the kind of situation where you're supposed to go easy to be encouraging?”

Sora gave Ginji a sharp look, and he laughed heartily.

“My motto is to give it everything, even when playing. Next up, basketball?”

“I'm bad with balls… Oh! Let's do that drum one!”

“…A rhythm game, huh.”

Ginji visibly grimaced, and Sora grinned mischievously. This time, Sora won by a landslide. It wasn't exactly a competitive game, but her score was clearly higher.

“…I'm just not good at these kinds of games.”

“Heh heh heh, Ginji's tone-deaf~”

“I'll have you know I'm confident in my singing!”

“Is that so~?”

Sora teased him with a big smile. She was clearly thrilled about finally beating Ginji at something.

“Let's go upstairs next—fighting game time.”

“Bring it on!”

The second floor was filled mainly with arcade and medal games.

After playing fighting games and racing games, the two of them took a break at the vending machine corner.

“Wow, we really played a lot.”

“It's been a while since I came here. Got pretty heated.”

“I think I could get hooked on fighting games. Maybe I'll buy a console.”

“If it's the one we played earlier, I've got it at my place. I play it sometimes with Tetsuya.”

“That's perfect. I'll bring some snacks over, let's play together. Oh, that one's a shooting game, right?”

“Yeah. Let's try it after we finish this drink.”

“Okay! I love horror games.”

They stood up and looked for an open machine to start a two-player session. They picked a game set in a Western-style mansion where you shoot zombies and try to escape.

Ginji played with practiced ease, even grabbing bonus points. At first, Sora struggled with the sensor's calibration and got a game over, but after continuing twice and getting used to it, she started to play without mistakes.

After about ten minutes, they reached the first boss.

“Ginji! Th-there's a big one coming from the left!”

“Tch, I'm out of shotgun ammo. Gotta go for a headshot or it won't take damage.”

“Ahhh, no way, no way! I think I'll just die once and come back with more bullets.”

“You idiot! Pay-to-win ruins the thrill. Hang in there like your life depends on it.”

“Ugh… actually, my arm's about to cramp. Ah, the left side's breached!”

“What?! Damn it—I'm dead! Should've saved my special rounds!”

“Yeah… Ahhh, my arms are burning.”

The two of them, satisfied, leaned their guns back onto the machine. When they turned around, a girl was standing behind them. She had wavy brown hair and big, pretty eyes.

Ginji thought she was waiting for the machine and stepped aside, but that wasn't it. She was staring directly at them—more specifically, at Sora.

Despite it being a day off, she was wearing a school uniform. It wasn't from their school, but Ginji remembered it as the uniform of a nearby girls' high school.

“…Jiiiii.”

The brown-haired girl seemed interested in Sora and leaned in close.

“Wh-what? G-Ginji…”

Surprised and maybe a little scared by the sudden approach, Sora looked to Ginji for help. She still didn't seem comfortable talking to people she didn't know.

“Hey, you need something?”

“…I knew it—it is you, Sora! It's me! Misuzu Umigami!”

The brown-haired girl pointed to herself as she introduced her name. Sora leaned in for a better look. Ginji couldn't help but think, Aren't you two a little too close for being different genders?

“Suzu-chan? Oh wow, it's been so long!”

“Long time no see! Not since graduation, right? By the way… what are you wearing?”

“Eh…? Oh, this? Well, um…”

Sora faltered, unsure what to say. Seeing that, the girl—Misuzu—turned to glare sharply at Ginji.

“You're the one making Sora dress like this?! You've got messed up taste—mmph!?”

“Th-that's not it! C-come on, let's talk over here—”

Sora clamped a hand over Misuzu's mouth and pulled her aside to explain something away from Ginji.

Watching them, Ginji's eyes lit up in realization.

A heroine candidate, huh? I'll cheer you on as your friend, Sora.

He gave a firm nod to himself, fully convinced.