Episode 10 – I was involved with a friend from middle school?

“Wow, there are a lot of people here.”
It’s lunchtime and I come to the food court and there are a lot of people.
“Which one do you want to eat?”
There are various restaurants such as udon, curry, ramen, etc…
“I want a hamburger!”
“Shall we do that?”

I try to take money out of my wallet but Mirei san stops me.
“I’ll pay for it, don’t worry.”
“But…”
in the end, Mirei san pays.
Today, money does not disappear from my wallet.

“Are you sure you don’t mind?”
“I just want to see you happy, so don’t worry about it, okay? Come on, eat up, eat up!”
The reason was too cool.

“Ah, there’s mustard”
“Thank you, Mirei san”

“Hey, if a beautiful woman like that did that to me, I’d be all over her!”
“Be quiet, they can hear you. But, well, I guess so.”
It was a little embarrassing to be told that.

Then we went to the arcade.
“I want this stuffed animal.”
I wanted a stuffed toy of a dolphin. It may not be something that high school boys would want, but looking at it made me want it.
“It’s cute, isn’t it?”
Okay! I’ll take two here and give them to Mirei san!

I struggled to get it, but it wouldn’t come off even after 10 tries.
“Why can’t I get it off?”
“I’ll give it a try.”
Then she got it in one shot.
“Here”
“That’s great! Mirei san!”
“T-Thank you///”
“I’ll take one for you, too!”
“Then, do you want to do it with me?”
Together…?
What do you mean by playing crane game together? I wondered.

“Mi, Mirei san, it’s embarrassing.”
“Don’t worry about your surroundings.”
I meant that Mirei san would press the button together with the back of my hand.
“I was able to get it off. Now we’re all together.”
Then we played drums to the rhythm, air field hockey, driving a car, and other games.

“Mirei san, I want to buy something…”
“What do you want to buy?”
“I want to buy a game console.”
I can do it on my computer, but Haruto said that there are some interesting things that can only be done on game consoles, so I wanted to try it out.
“Let’s go.”

“Hmmm, which one is better?”
There are two of them, one that connects to the TV and one that is portable.
Both cost 30,000 to 40,000 yen, but it is no exaggeration to say that I have put down 300,000 for this purpose.
“Okay, let’s get two!”
“Is there a game I can play?”
“Yes!”
I bought a lot of software and a lot of games that I could play with Mirei san, and I also bought Mirei san’s controller.
I want to play games with Mirei san as soon as possible, but it may be tough because the test is coming soon.

“That brings the total to 105,000 yen.”
I’ve spent the bomb, but it’s to play games with Mirei san
“Please.”
I hear the beep of the electronic payment system, which I have heard several times today.
“What shall I do with the luggage?”
No, wait a minute.
“Mirei san, don’t you want me to pay?”
“Why?”
“Because I said I wanted to buy it.”
“I have more money than you, so you don’t have to worry about it.”
She patted my head.
“But…”
“Well, I may need you to do something for me next time, so you can do it then.”
“I’ll do anything!”
Then, SP san carried this heavy luggage for me.
I will thank him when I get back.
Well, SP san came really quickly
It was a car…I looked over the shopping mall and saw something like a helicopter flying over, but it wasn’t…?

“Did you have fun, Masa?”
I had some surprises, but…
“I had fun!”
It was the most fun I’ve ever had.
“I see.”
And Mirei san seemed happy too.
I could feel people looking at me, but it was just my imagination.
So we decided to buy some donuts at the donut shop.
“I wondered what they had.”
I was talking to Mirei san about it.

“Yo! Little guy!”
“Long time no see!”
I hadn’t heard his voice for a long time.
I didn’t want to see him.
I didn’t want to see the guy who bullied me in junior high school.
I wondered if he had gone to the same high school as me, if his friends hadn’t changed.
I couldn’t speak.
“Do you know him?”
Mirei san asked me.
I shook my head.
“We went to the same junior high school.”
“I see.”
I wanted to escape from here.
I was afraid that Mirei san might be taken away from me by that guy.
“By the way, are you his girlfriend?”
“Yes, I am.”
Then the guy was telling Mirei san how stupid and incompetent I usually am.
“So, since the little guy is not good enough for the pretty lady, why don’t you come and play with us from now on?”
He said
I grabbed her clothes.
I grabbed her unconsciously.
I thought she would leave me alone like that time.
But she took my hand in hers and said
“I have a boyfriend who is hundreds of times more attractive than you guys.”
She left.

“Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. Look, let’s go to the donut shop, okay?”
“But…”
“I’ll be fine.”
I bought donuts with Mirei san as usual and went home.