Chapter 166: Arcade 1
When they arrived at the arcade, Shishio understood why this place was fairly quiet since it was located at a fairly deserted place, but he had to admit that the size of the building was quite huge, and the building was fairly new.
"Should it be three or four years?"
Shishio thought while observing the building outside and wondered whether the people who built this arcade were only for a hobby and didn"t care about the business at all, but he didn"t care much as long as the game inside was good.
On the other hand, Shiina looked at the arcade quietly, wondering what kind of games were inside since it was her first time to be here.
"Well, let"s enter!" Nana smiled while leading everyone inside.
Everyone nodded and entered the arcade together.
The automatic door was automatically opened, and they entered the arcade"s corridor. Inside the corridor, there were several benches lined up on the right side, and there were also several vending machines on the left side.
Shishio could tell that this corridor was intended to be used as a rest area for the customers. It might be small, but he didn"t feel that much surprised since the land in Tokyo was very limited, so the architects of this country had always tried their best to optimize the use of every s.p.a.ce within a building.
"Let"s get something to drink before the battle. I"ll treat all of you," Shishio said.
"Huh?" Everyone was surprised.
"Are you sure, Shishio?" Miu asked since she felt weird, after all, before Shishio asked whether their activity on the arcade could use the money from the club, but now, he suddenly said that he would treat everyone.
"It"s alright. I have just gotten a bonus from my part-time job," Shishio said since the money that he won from gambling in the Kengan Match before had been sent to his holding company account.
"Part-time job?" Everyone was surprised again since they didn"t expect that Shishio would also do a part-time job.
Saki looked at Shishio weirdly since she knew what kind of part-time job he did and how much money he had gotten from that fight, including the gamble he had put on himself. Even if he treated everyone to a beverage and played in the arcade together, the amount of money on his account wouldn"t decrease at all.
"What kind of part-time job?" Ritsu asked.
"Programming," Shishio said simply.
"Programming?" No one was sure what to say at the time. They thought that it would be some kind of service work, even Mea thought that this guy might become a host, but no one expected that he would be a programmer.
"Anyway, what do you want? I"ll treat all of you here," Shishio said. He then looked at Saki and said, "Saki, help me to get their drink."
"Un." Saki nodded and also helped Shishio. She also glanced at him, who lied without blinking her eyes, which made her speechless, but she didn"t say much. After all, there was no way she would tell everyone that he was a fighter in the underground match, right?
"....." Everyone was looking at Saki and Shishio and felt that their relationship was so close, right? After all, it was their first time meeting Saki. Unlike Nana, who was very close to Saki, the rest didn"t know much about her.
Shishio then chose a "Pocari," opened the bottle, and drank it immediately. He tasted mild grape-like and felt that the taste was quite similar to the drink that he often drank in his previous life, which somehow made him slightly nostalgic.
Everyone who hesitated for a while decided to accept Shishio"s treat. After all, they had offered to treat them, and it was too rude to reject him, especially when he said that the price of the beverage on the vending machine was very cheap.
"How come that I have never heard that you can do programming?" Nana asked curiously while drinking cola.
"It isn"t an interesting job, all you need to do is just write a code in front of the laptop, and rather than talking about this, how about we have a match here? We haven"t had a chance to have a match in the fighting game before," Shishio said while looking at Nana.
"Good!" Nana became spirited and said, "Let"s do this!"
"Only one game. Everyone is here after all," Shishio said.
"The loser becomes a dog! Let"s do this!" Nana said and pulled Shishio directly to the fighting game machine on the arcade.
"..." Being pulled, Shishio looked at Nana and wondered whether this girl would lick him once she became a dog.
---
"Alright, let"s do it here." Nana then sat on the stool while rolling her sleeves, facing the game machine in front of her.
"Good." Shishio also did the same and rolled his sleeves, but then he was patted.
"Shishio."
Shishio turned and looked at Shiina. "What"s up, Mashiro?" He looked at Shiina, who suddenly said something outrageous, but then he nodded and agreed to her request.
---
Nana, who was ready to play, was all fired up since she wanted Shishio to act like a dog, acting docile while licking her cheek and neck? Well, she wasn"t sure, but she was going to pat him like a dog later, so while she was in her imagination, the game was about to start, and she was also getting ready.
"Watatatata!!!" Nana was full of excitement, giving various combos to Shishio"s characters.
Mea and Maiko, who were behind Nana, nodded and thought that Nana was as strong as usual. They had been together with Nana for a long time, and they knew that there was no one who was better than her, which was why they didn"t think that Shishio would win, but...
*Baam!*
"What the h.e.l.l?! He inputted that super move into just one frame and followed up with a combo?! His reflexes are beyond those of ordinary humans?! And on top of that, a fatality?! Give me a break!!!" Nana was dumbfounded when she saw her character couldn"t even do anything against Shishio"s character.
"....." Nana, Mea, and Maiko.
Nana then stood up and became annoyed. "Shishio, I"m a girl! You should give me some handicaps!" But then, she was dumbfounded when she saw the one who sat on the stool wasn"t Shishio.
"..." Shishio, Saki, Ritsu, Usa, and Miu were dumbfounded, looking at Shiina, who was sitting on the stool and won against Nana in "Perfect KO."
"...That was you, Mashiro-chan?" Nana asked with a shaky voice.
"Un." Shiina nodded gently.
Shishio looked at Shiina and had to admit that this girl was a genius since she could remember a lot of things and learned a lot of things easily as long as she wanted.
"Nana, let me play against her," Mea said without hesitation.
"No, let me, I"ll avenge you, Nana!" Maiko said.
Mea and Maiko somehow couldn"t accept when they thought that Nana would lose against Shiina so easily and thought to avenge her, but they didn"t know Shiina"s power, so they didn"t know how scary Shiina was.
"..." Nana looked at her two friends and knew that both of them would lose instantly against Shiina, so she didn"t agree with their request. Still, their friendship moved her. She knew that she promised to play one game with Shishio, but this time, she had lost against Shiina, who was a beginner who had never ever entered the arcade to win against her, who was a veteran, and somehow she couldn"t accept it for a while. She took a deep breath and said, "Saki-senpai, change with me! Avenge me!"
"Eh?" Saki was dumbfounded.
Shishio shook his head and then looked around. He saw Miu, who was walking toward the crane game curiously. He looked at the rest who were still busy with the fighting game and decided to walk toward Miu. After all, there were a lot of games on the arcade. He still wanted to try all of them, right?
---
Miu walked around the arcade curiously since, in truth, it was her first time to be here, even though she had heard about an arcade she had never been to, after all, with her personality and her circle of friends, most of them had never been on the arcade. As a curious girl, she wanted to see what kind of games were inside this arcade, but the cute dolls in the crane game attracted her.
"What"s wrong, Senpai?"
"Ah, Shishio-kun!" Miu was slightly surprised, but then she looked at the cute dolls inside the crane game. "Shishio-kun, there are just so many cute stuffed animals here," she said while looking at the cute stuffed animals, especially the rabbit one.
"Well, there"s a ton of prizes these days," Shishio said while looking at the crane"s games and saw that it was mostly dolls, snacks, toy figurines, and unique pajamas?
Miu touched the crane game and asked, "Can you really get these, Shishio-kun?"
"Do you want me to get them for you?" Shishio asked.
"Eh?" Miu was surprised.
Shishio moved forward and asked, "Which one do you want?" He put the money then looked at Miu.
Miu blushed and wanted to stop him, but it was too late. "I - I"ll repay you later." She was wondering whether Shishio could read her mind. After all, she felt that he really understood her.
If Shishio knew what this girl was thinking, then he could only say that Miu"s mind was too simple, which was why he understood her.
"It"s alright, you don"t need to think too much, and rather than that, which stuffed animals, do you want, Senpai? If you"re not in a hurry, the time is going to end," Shishio asked.
"Eh? There"s a time limit?!" Miu was startled then quickly said, "Then the rabbit!"
"Ok." Shishio then moved the crane, used his "Enhanced Balance" and "Enhanced Vision" to the limit then caught a quite huge cute rabbit doll in one go. When the doll dropped on the hole, he took it and gave it to Miu. "Here you go."
"Th - Thanks!" Miu blushed, lowered her head shyly, then accepted the huge rabbit doll from Shishio"s, hugging it tightly, hiding her face, since she couldn"t face him at this moment, but she was very happy since she received her first gift from him.
"Should I get one for your little sister too, Senpai?" Shishio asked.
"Eh?" Miu was surprised.
"Anyway, since we"re here, I can get one of them easily after all," Shishio said.
"The - Then, can you get me the hedgehog one? By the way, here"s the money," Miu quickly said and took out her money since she couldn"t let herself be treated by Shishio again.
Shishio wasn"t going to be hard-headed, so he accepted Miu"s money then caught the hedgehog doll. He grabbed it from the machine and gave it again to Miu. "Here you go."
"Thank you, Shishio-kun!" Miu said with a sweet smile.
Shishio wanted to say something, but...
"Cough! Cough!"
Shishio and Miu turned their heads and saw Shiina, Nana, Ritsu, Saki, Mea, Maiko, and even Usa were there, watching them in silence.
Miu blushed and became shy when everyone stared at her, so she hid behind Shishio subconsciously.
"...." Shishio saw their expression and asked, "Should I catch them for you?"
"Yay!" The girls quickly became happy, but Nana and Saki glanced at each other and made a nod.
"Mashiro, which doll do you want?" Shishio asked.
Shiina looked at Miu for a bit, then said, "Cat."
"Then is it?" Shishio put the money in, then caught the cat"s doll easily. "Here you go."
Shiina received the huge cat doll from Shishio and hugged it directly. She looked at him with a smile and said, "Thank you."
"It"s alright." Shishio patted Shiina"s head, then looked at the Maiko, Mea, Nana, Saki, and Ritsu. "So, who is next?"
"Me! Me!" Maiko and Mea said at the same time.
"Senpai, let me catch them for you!" Usa said when he saw Ritsu seemed to be attracted by the doll on the crane game.
"I don"t want to." Ritsu was surprised when Usa suddenly said those words, but then she shook her head. "I don"t have an interest in this kind of thing." But then her eyes stared at Miu enviously, and somehow she started to regret saying those words. She knew that this way, she wouldn"t get the stuffed animal anymore, which made her sad somehow.
"...." Usa.
"You don"t want the stuffed animal, Senpai?" Shishio asked strangely.
"Ah, um..." Ritsu nodded, and she felt very regretful, then glared at Usa, who was the cause of everything.
"....." Usa
---
Shishio gave an eagle and a fox for both Mea and Maiko, respectively.
"Shishio, can you get me for my sister too?" Mea asked.
"Sure, tell me which one that you want?" Shishio asked.
"That one!" Mea said while pointing her finger at the deer doll.
"Good." Shishio caught the doll easily and gave it to Mea. "Here you go."
"Thanks," Mea said with a smile.
Shishio looked at Nana and Saki and asked, "How about you, Nana, Saki?"
"I - I don"t want to," Saki said, but after she said those words, she started to regret them since, in truth, she wanted them.
"If you don"t want to, you can give it to your little sister, right? Don"t your sister love this kind of thing?" Shishio asked.
"We - Well, that"s true!" Saki nodded with a red face, then said, "If - It"s for my sister, don"t misunderstand, alright?"
"Alright, alright, which one do you want?" Shishio asked with a smile.
Saki looked at Shishio, pouted, then said, "Then the wolf and the shark." Even though both animals were fierce, when they were made into stuffed animals, they were so cute.
"Yes, yes." Shishio nodded, then caught both the wolf and the shark for Saki. "Here you go."
Saki, who received both dolls from Shishio, couldn"t help but hug it since it was so soft. She also couldn"t help but smile, but then she realized that everyone was looking at her.
"......"
"It"s for my sister!" Saki said and raised her voice slightly.
"Yes, yes." Everyone nodded with a smile and thought that this girl was very cute, right?
"...." Saki then glared at Shishio.
Shishio only smiled then looked at Nana. "Nana, how about you?"
"I want Shishio (lion)!" Nana said with a smile.
"....."
"You mean a lion, right?" Shishio asked, but the corner of his mouth twitched.
"Un, I want Shishio (lion)!" Nana smiled mischievously at Shishio.
Shishio looked at Nana amusedly, then took the lion doll for her.
As for the girls, they looked at Nana, and somehow their expression was quite strange at that moment.
"Here you go." Shishio gave the lion doll to Nana.
"Thanks!" Nana said with a sweet smile.
"Cough! Cough! How about we continue to play now?" Maiko said.
"Oh!!!" Everyone nodded and tried other games on the arcade, but only one person was unhappy.
Usa looked at Ritsu and felt a bit helpless at that moment, but then as a young boy, he wanted to try some of the game in this arcade since it had been a while since he came to play.
Ritsu looked at everyone who walked to try various game machines in this arcade and sighed, but suddenly she felt something on the top of her head. "Huh?" She looked up and saw an owl doll, which made her dumbfounded.
"It"ll be unfair if you don"t have one too, right?" Shishio said and gave the owl doll to Ritsu. "If you don"t like it, I can get a different one, Senpai."
"...No, no, this one is alright, thank you, Oga-kun," Ritsu said, and she didn"t realize at this moment that she was smiling at this moment. Looking at the owl doll in her hands, she also couldn"t help but hug it as everyone did with their doll before.
Shishio was a bit stunned when he saw Ritsu, who showed such a reaction. He then looked at Usa, who seemed to be having fun, playing a game, and could only shake his head. "Senpai, you should smile more. This way, you"re more beautiful."
"Wh---?!" Ritsu"s face was stunned before a blush gradually covered her face and neck.
"Shishio, come here! Let"s play this!"
"Yes, yes." Shishio looked at Nana speechlessly, then looked at Ritu. "Let"s go, Senpai."
"Un." Looking at his back, Ritsu somehow wanted to reach it, especially when she saw him smiling with Nana, Saki, and Shiina, and here she was just standing there, looking at them from afar. She then couldn"t help but recall Mayumi"s words before.
"... so if you don"t move, it is better for you to retire quickly rather than feeling heartbroken." Ritsu was silent.
"Senpai, let"s go there and play!" Usa said with a smile.
Ritsu looked at Usa for a while and nodded, then walked toward Shishio.
As for Usa, he smiled and thought that it was great that he could play with Ritsu together, but then he noticed the owl doll on her hands and felt weird, wondering whether she got it by herself before?