"Alright! Let's hang out!"
After school, me, Ryo, Shingo-kun, Kaede, Rin, and──.
"Please take care of me today, everyone."
──Kaori, the six of us went out to have some fun.
It started with a talk about me not having a backpack or anything else necessary for the field trip, and then they decided to hang out with me while I was shopping.
"I-I never thought I'd be able to hang out with Kaori-san…"
Then Shingo-kun said that with a bit of trepidation. I also invited Akira to join us, but he had some business to attend to, so he's not here. And while the five of us were about to go out, Kaori was nearby, so I asked her to join, too, and she accepted it.
"I was surprised. I didn't expect Yuuya to be acquainted with Kaori-san…"
"Mm-hm. Kaori-san is the daughter of the chairman of this academy, and more importantly, the aura she wears is too noble!"
Kaori chuckles at Ryo and Rin's words.
"I'm not like that. It's my father who has that position. Please feel free to call me Kaori, too, everyone."
"R-really? Well then… Kaori! Nice to know you!"
Just like that, Kaori got used to Rin and the others without any problems.
The destination we went to was not the area around the school where Kaori and I ate crepes before, but a department store that is a little far away. Since I left it to Ryo and the others who are familiar with this area, there is no need to worry about many things.
Along the way, Kaori told the story of how she met me and how I came to the school, and everyone listened to it with interest.
"How should I put it… Yuuya is amazing."
"Y-yeah. If it were me, I'd be too scared to help…"
Shingo-kun is a little shaken when he hears about the first time I met Kaori. She didn't tell them about the fact that I was beaten up by the delinquent, it seems she's considering my feelings, so they all praise me for it. W-well… that's embarrassing, you know.
While having this conversation, we arrived at our destination.
"Let's go shopping here. There's also a game center inside."
I was led to a department store, which probably had about eight floors. When looking at such a building, Kaori was a little impressed and said, "This is my first time hanging out in a place like this with friends!"
"Oh, yeah, me too."
"Wait, what did you say?"
It's not just Kaori, I've never played with this many friends in the first place. Despite that, I've had my grandfather take me to the game center before, even though it was only a few times.
Hearing our words, Kaede and the others were surprised with their eyes wide open.
"I-I can't believe there are two such endangered species…"
"Endangered species…"
I couldn't help but laugh at Kaede's words.
"Well then, the two of you should have some fun today."
"That's right. Kaori, Kaede, we will go look at some clothes later."
"That sounds great, Rin-chan!"
"Hey, come on, first of all, we'll start with Yuuya's backpack."
"Okaay."
As Ryo said, we quickly went inside the department store. Since I don't have any special preferences to begin with, I can easily find and buy the backpack.
Then, after getting advice from Ryo and the others, I bought the other recommended items, and then we finally came to the floor where the game center is located.
"This whole floor is the game center, huh?"
"Yeah…"
"It's amazing!"
It was a place with a UFO catcher, arcade games, other medal games, and various other gaming machines.
"Hmmm… although we often go to the game center, it still looks amazing."
"Well, whatever. Let's just have some fun."
Just like Ryo said, we wandered around the game center. Then Shingo-kun stopped in front of one UFO catcher.
"T-this is…"
"What's wrong?"
"Ah… N-no, I just saw a figurine of my favorite character from the anime I watch, so…"
A figurine of a girl that looked like a magical girl was placed at the end of Shingo-kun's gaze.
"B-but I'm not very good at this type of crane game… I don't have much money this time, so I'll do it another time."
"Really? Then, since we're here, let me try it."
I've never played a crane game before because I don't have any of the things I want, but because Shingo-kun said he wanted that figurine, I decided to try to get it.
"Oh, you're going to do it, Yuuya?"
"I'll do my best!"
I was nervous about my first ever crane game in my life, but I was able to control the crane and move it to the desired location. For my first time operating the crane, I was able to move it the way I wanted to, but I guess that was thanks to my improved body.
Here it is! My hand moves at the right time, so there's no problem. Besides, I also used my [Weakness Detection] skill in order to find out where on the figure to aim, so it will make it easier to get at, as well, so it won't be a disastrous result. [T/n: Uwakimonooo!!]
I seriously stared at the crane and the box of figures and determined where to aim. And as I stared at the box, a part of the figure box seemed to be vaguely glowing. This shining place is the weak point of this figure box, and if I strike this spot, its balance will slip off, and It will fall as it is.
I moved the crane further to the location of the box of figures I was aiming for and pressed the button at best possible time. And then…
"Eh, no way!"
"Incredible…"
What a surprise, I was able to get it off in one shot. I didn't expect to get it off in one shot. Because I thought the arm of the crane was weak, so I should do it at least twice. But I guess the part I aimed for was weaker than I expected.
"Ooh, you got it in one go!"
"Wait, wait, wait, isn't this a probability machine? But that's amazing!"
I don't know what a probability machine is, but I managed to get one, so I gave it to Shingo-kun.
"Here you go."
"E-eeeh? I-I can't accept it!"
"But I only did it because I wanted to give it to Shingo-kun, so… ah, how about we trade it with 100 yen? If so, I'll get my hundred yen back too!"
"I-if Yuuya-kun's okay with it, then…"
Shingo-kun looked very happy to trade the figurine for a hundred yen with me, but then Kaede, who was watching what had happened with the others, pulled me along.
"Y-Yuuya-kun! Can you get this one?"
"Eeh?"
Kaede pulled me to a large stuffed animal of an adorable cat. When I look at it again, I can see that she has already put her money in it.
"Wait, you have already put money in it, and if I fail…"
"I don't care about the money, just try it once!"
I felt sorry if I failed with someone else's money, but Kaede permitted me to do it, so I'll just try it, I guess. Of course, I'm using the [Weakness Detection] skill as well. And just like when I took the figurine earlier, I moved the crane's arm towards the shiny part of the stuffed animal, and accurately hit the weak point of it.
"Ah, I got it!"
"Really?"
The stuffed animal came off without a hitch.
"Yay! I've always wanted this stuffed animal! Thank you, Yuuya-kun!"
Kaede said as she hugged the stuffed animal. Maybe it's because I succeeded twice in a row, but everyone, including Ryo, takes me to the thing they want.
"Y-Yuuya! I've always wanted this game! Can you get it?"
"I want this stuffed animal."
"I… I have never seen any of it before, but I think this stuffed animal is adorable!"
As a result, I was able to get it all in one shot. H-huh? Is the UFO catcher really that easy? No matter how much I'm using [Weakness Detection], it's too easy to take it out, so when I think about that, Ryo opened his mouth with a look of admiration.
"No, it ain't a coincidence when it gets to this point. This is the first time I've ever seen someone take the UFO catcher prize so easily…"
"I-is that so?"
"That's right… it's my first time in a game center, but I can see how amazing Yuuya-san is."
Apparently, it's unusual even from Kaori's perspective, who's a newbie to the game center like me. W-well, it's okay. I'm not losing anything! After enjoying the UFO catcher like that, we played a certain car racing game.
"Uhm, is this the right direction?"
"No, it's backward! Kaori, go back as fast as you can right now!"
"Move out of my way! I'll come through!"
"Wha-! Yuuya's too fast! What kind of driving technique is that? Can you move like that in this game?"
"I-is that so?"
"Yuuya-kun, that's amazing…"
In the end, I am in the first position, and the bottom one was Kaori, who was new to the game like me. Then, after also enjoying various other shooting games, we decided to take a break.
"Phew… it's been a while since I had a good time like this."
"M-me too…"
"Now that I think about it, isn't Yuuya amazing?"
"Right. he got a high score on the shooter game too…"
"Shingo's drumming was pretty intense too. I couldn't follow it with my eyes anymore."
"A-anyone can do that if they know the music."
"No, that's impossible."
As everyone takes a breath, Kaori smiles gently.
"I've never hung out with so many friends like this before, so… it's a lot of fun."
"Kaori…!"
Kaede's eyes turn moist at Kaori's words, and then she and Rin made Kaori stand up.
"Alright, then let's go look at some clothes now!"
"Eh? C-clothes?"
"Yes, that's right. High school girls like us have to take care of their appearance. So, we'll go upstairs to look at some clothes, so let's meet up here later."
"Hmm? Aren't we also coming out with you?"
Ryo says that to Rin and the others, and Kaede grins at him.
"Are you sure, Ryo-kun? Girls shopping takes longer than you think, you know?"
"…Then, I'll pass on that."
So we parted for once, and the ladies went upstairs to look at the women's clothing section.
"Well then, should we go downstairs and have a look?"
"Yes."
"Alright."
And thus, we headed off to look at the other floor, which was different from the ladies.