The next morning, I was awoken by the sound of someone knocking on my door. Making my way over, I slid it open. Standing bashfully on the other side was Kinoshita Chitose. She was dressed in light casual attire, an oversized white t-shirt and a small skirt.
"You're popular, aren't you, Mizuhara? Girls just can't seem to get enough of you," teased Kimura.
"Eh...!?"
ƥαṇdα-ηθνε|·ƈθm Kinoshita stared at me, concerned by Kimura's statement. Staring right into my eyes, she looked at me with a stern expression.
"He's just making fun of me. It's not like that."
"Re—ally?" Kinoshita pointed at me.
"Yes."
"Well, if you say so..."
"Anyways, what are you here for."
"W-well, I don't have anything to do on my day off, so I was wondering..."
Suddenly, another girl poked her head around the corner. Confused, she looked at Kinoshita and me. This was a bit of an awkward situation. It didn't help much that Kimura made that comment before. Joining the scene was Fujiharu.
"Eh? What are you doing with Ayato, Kinoshita."
"A-ayato? W-when did you two get so close...?" She was surprised that Fujiharu was using my first name.
"Well, we've been friends for a while, so, of course, I'd call him by his first name~"
It wasn't exactly as simple as that, but that was close enough. Fujiharu had a smug face which was somewhat concerning. Kinoshita suddenly turned and grabbed my arm.
"U-um... can I call you A-a-ayato... as w-well?"
"I guess if you want."
Kinoshita's face was bright red.
Fujiharu made her way to the door.
"The arcade is open. Do you want to go with me?" she asked.
"Sure."
I didn't exactly have anything else to do. I also wanted to have a look a the new building since it'd give me some insight into the future of the school. However, before I could continue, Kimura called out from inside the room.
"...I'll come!"
"Huh? Was that Kimura?"
"Yes," I replied.
A few muffled footsteps later, and Kimura was standing in the doorway beside me.
"How's it going, Fujiharu?"
"It's so so. I heard you've been spending a lot of time with Hamasaki."
"Ah, man, that's already out?"
"You're the talk of the town..."
"Well, just to let you know, we're not actually dating."
"Let's see how long that lasts."
"Come on, have some faith in me."
"I'm concerned by that sentence for various reasons."
Trying to find a way into the conversation, Kinoshita was prodding Fujiharu's back. After a few taps, Fujiharu couldn't ignore her. Turning around, she looked toward her.
"What's the matter, Kinoshita? Do you want to come as well?"
"Y-yes..."
"Ah, well, I had planned to just go with Ayato but the more, the merrier."
In the end, we formed a group to go to the arcade. Making our way through the yard, I could hear the loud chatter of many students gathered in big groups. We weren't the only ones who had the idea of visiting the newly-built arcade. In fact, there were so many people that it was almost impossible to see the signs that were displayed out the front.
The arcade was much bigger than I expected. It was definitely the largest building in the commercial area by far at the moment. From large numbers of claw machines to carnival games to racing games, it was a full-sized arcade—one that you'd expect to find in a mall. I was surprised to see that the school had committed so much of its budget to this. Albeit, the school had been lacking entertainment for quite a while.
Nudging past some of the students gathered around the entrance, we were finally able to make our way inside. There was loud music blasting into our ears the moment we walked in. Filled with sounds from a conventional game centre, it was rather obnoxious. Fujiharu pointed at a sign near the counter.
GRAND OPENING OFFER - Deposite 1000 points and receive 500 free (Limit one per person)
It seemed almost predatory. 1000 points was an immensely large number of points for most students out of classes A and B. I assumed that most students would stay out of the arcade for the purpose of preserving points. However, I noticed that there was one section of the arcade that was almost packed to the brim.
It was called Point Games.
Basically, instead of receiving tickets that you could exchange for prizes at the counter, you received points. This meant that you could theoretically gain more points in the same way as you would in a casino.
I guess lots of students thought that they could beat the system.
"So what's the plan, everyone?" asked Kimura.
"I guess we'd all put 1000 in. We all have that much, right?"
I knew that Kimura, Fujiharu and I were all relatively wealthy in terms of points. I wasn't too sure about Kinoshita, but she was in class 2-B, so she was probably doing alright. Everyone looked at each other for a little as we all agreed.
We made our way over to the counter.
The employee took out some cards and added our points to them. After a few moments, he handed them to us, with 1500 points in each.
"Alright, I guess we'll just try some stuff out."
We had a walk around the arcade to see what there was to play. There were a large number of students standing around, awkwardly looking over the shoulders of others who had more disposable income. Before long, Kimura stopped at a basketball game, gesturing for us to go over.
"Mizuhara, you good at sports?"
"Probably not as good as you."
"Come on, let's have a go at this."
Fujiharu walked over.
"Hey, don't leave us, girls, out!"
"Alright, you think you stand a chance against me, Fujiharu?"
"Tennis isn't the only sport I play, you know."
Kinoshita subtly sneaked across, standing on the other side of me. She swiped her card in the machine beside me. Before the others had begun, she was quietly practising by herself. Fujiharu and Kumura were still throwing quips at each other.
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