Chapter 60: It’s Not a Date

Chapter 60: It’s Not a Date

Finishing the payment to the store, Rio and I exited the premise, of course without Concealment spell active since a customer that just went in disappeared without anyone noticing would draw suspicion, which unfortunately ends up with the spectacle of a guy in his thirties and an underage girl walking side by side, and at that point, I couldn’t even think of what society will think of us.

At best, they’ll think we’re just siblings with our ages being far apart, and at worst, they’ll think I’m a sugar daddy.

I thought of casting Concealment once more, but then we’ll have to think of where we could and couldn’t go, since an invisible man lifting things up will make headline about poltergeist events, and if we can’t go places to buy things and eat good, Rio’s mood is going to sour even worse.

Alright, I’ll just…man up and deal with this.

“Uh…Rio…”

“What is it?”

“Holding you is definitely out of the question, but I’ll do anything to fix your mood, how about that?”

“Really? Then…can I hold your hand?”

Thinking if she could think if my actions would be suspicious or not, I glanced at her visage. She look more mature compared to her age…she even bothered to put on make ups. If push comes to shove, it wouldn’t be weird for her to look like someone in her twenties.

Thus, hoping that I don’t look like a weird old man dragging a JK along, I stretched my hand, and in response, Rio’s slender fingers tangled themselves against mine.

It’s just…I’m just giving her a helping hand. I’m just cheering a girl up, okay? I’ve no ulterior motive, so I’m good.

All the justification I can come up with flashed through my head as I moved my legs forward.

“Anywhere you wanna go?”

“The arcade.”

“Fair enough, you always hang around those places, huh.”

“Can you not say I “hang out” around there, you make me look bad.”

“Because it is bad. Imagine the regular punks chilling in front of a convenience store and you are the only girl around them.”

“You’re rude! I’ll admit I’ve done that though.”

“So you have, huh. What makes you think that’s any good?” I added the last remark casually.

“Is that what you would say to a girl concerned with interpersonal relationship!?” she yelled noisily, but despite that, she was laughing as well. She reacts so well that it feels like we’re just good friends.

“You know, the usual cheeky attitude of yours suits you best.”

Come on now…that dispirited face of yours look way too similar to Elza’s…and I guess that’s why I am determined to brighten her up.

“Nakamoto-san…are you possibly a masochist? Are you one of those people who gets turned on by aggressive women?”

“That’s not it. It’s got nothing to do with you” I said, before changing the topic. I started talking about the weather and about that trend of eating whole ehoumaki during setsubun.

Just like that, we began chatting without clear directions as we trudged through the wintry townscape.

I don’t really care, but I’m not gonna lie, I am a great advocate for that whole ehoumaki thing. I hope the trend continues and sticks into the Japanese culture as a whole, while I assume Rio would be the type that would get bored of it after some years. Our opinions couldn’t be further apart.

The two of us glared at each other with intense sparks rippling between us.

“Look, Ehoumaki is great, to the point that I wouldn’t even mind eating only those things for a whole year. It’s definitely gonna be a custom.

“Really? I’ve seen lots of them being thrown away from a convenience store the other day.”

“I’ll bet they just mistook the number of orders. Besides, I can just buy three times the amount of other people if they’re overstocked.”

“As if they’ll figure it out just by you overconsuming them…Besides, don’t you remember that Valentine’s Day is also in February? People would obviously invest more in chocolates instead of sushi rolls.”

“I think Valentine tradition is gonna be the one that’ll die out though” I replied.

Every year the scale keeps getting smaller, and the person you’re giving obligatory chocolates will soon grow into someone you’ll hate.

“Think about it. Those chocolates are just traps set by the producers. It’s definitely made with their interests instead of regular Japanese people.”

“Huuh? Valentine is immortal! They definitely won’t disappear! Even if they die out they definitely gonna have a sequel!”

“They’re not movies you know…”

Clenching her teeth, Rio asserts her childishness once again. How I wish to tell her that she’s making herself look like a high school girl by doing that and I want her to stop.

“Girls love Valentine’s Day huh.”

“Got a problem with that?”

“Personally I wouldn’t want to get any chocolate except if it’s supposed to convey a certain feelings, so I think obligation chocolates are just a waste of resources and it’s a bad custom.”

“…it might look like obligatory but it could be a real deal, you know?”

Thus comes the bittersweet opinion of an active high school girl.

“…o-oh…I guess that makes sense…”

“Obviously. Do you think the courage of giving a chocolate filled with your heartfelt confession grows on a tree or something?”

“Have you ever given somebody a chocolate?”

“…”

She’s blushing, which I can assume to be because I was right.

“Oh, you have? Your first love? Or was it your ex now?”

“No! I’ve never had a boyfriend before, but…”

“But?”

Rio took a deep breath, and perhaps because she was embarrassed to get to the point, she started with a prologue.

“When my previous, previous foster father ran out of the house, I remember giving him one while crying…begging him not to divorce my mom.” Wow this went deeper than I thought. “Leo was just beginning to go to high school back then, so like the tuition fees would be tough for a fatherless family. I…managed to cheer him up with that, but with my mom’s host club mess, all that effort went down the drain.”

“Alright, you can stop now. I’ll buy you anything you want for today, alright?”

“Let’s go!” said Rio, her face beaming with joy.

Yeah, this is not good. Her sad expression is legitimately a copy of Elza’s. Can you blame me though? A poor girl’s face that practically begs for a lifeline would definitely make you cast one, right? Call it a hero’s wish, but since I had that back then, that’s what led me to Elza in the first place. Through wear and tear and with age, that feelings began to dull, but at the same time, old habits die hard. I swear though, if I find someone in hard times and she’s an onee-san type with overflowing motherliness, I’m done for.

That’d be exactly just like Elza or Sanae. Of course, one of them is just a figment of my imagination, but clearing those requirements are just not an easy task. No matter how similar Rio and Elza is, both in appearance and situation, I still think that Rio is still mentally too green.

I’m a proudly firm person myself, so I’m sure I won’t fall for her.

Thus, while I put on airs, we reached our goal. It was an arcade, smaller than the one in front of the station, decorated with lots of red. The hustle and bustle of the place escapes the premise as we could hear all of its glory even several meters off the front door; the electronics, the children’s cheering, and the high-pitched announcer voice all jumbled together. Next to the automatic door was a life-sized 2D anime girl pop-up stand, giving a vibe of an anime goods store.

I guess arcades have come a long way too. Back in the days, it looks like a nest for hoodlums, but now it looks like the gathering hubs for otakus across the country. That’s why I start to think people like Rio is becoming a minority in this kind of place. If it’s around the photobooth corner of the arcade, I can understand since I saw some gaudy girls loitering around there, but not anywhere else.

What kind of games a punk would be interested in in this sort of arcade? I decided to ask.

“What kind of games do you play?”

To my question, Rio answered nonchalantly.

“The type where you get to kill stuff.”

Maybe her brother’s been influencing her. It’s that type of girl that would enjoy and know a lot about boyish game like that. The moment we went in, we immediately head for the shooting game corner.

I inserted hundred-yen coins and picked up the raygun-looking controller to play alongside Rio. The girl flashed a smirk, and the game begins.

“Do you play games like these often?”

“Not at all. There’s a 17-year gap in my knowledge.”

“…that bad?”

“How should I say this…I lived outside Japan in that period. There’s no arcades there, and when I got back here, I’ve only visited arcades to borrow its toilets, so it’s my first time playing since that time.”

“Huh…and that’s where you get to know Angelica, huh?” Rio asked between her accurate and rapid alien kills. She’d make a reliable gunwoman.

Me, on the other hand, couldn’t shoot the broad side of a barn from inside, resulting in the aliens snacking on my health bar bit by bit.

I swear I won’t lose if I have a sword! Give me a sword!

Thus, with my sore loser attitude, I was herded towards a game over.

“Man, that’s refreshing.”

“…should I teach you how to do it?”

Just like that, the two of us held onto one controller. Rio aims for me, and I pull the trigger.

“Woah, this is getting interesting.”

“Why are you so skilled bare-handed yet you’re trash with a gun?”

After we’re done thrashing extraterrestrial lives, we went for the crane games, which I had a surprising edge at, giving me a bear plushie (that had a collab event with my hometown) in just some minutes. “Why aren’t you a master at this game” quipped Rio, before I put the toy on her hand.

“Huh? It’s for me?”

“It’s way too fancy for a boring old guy to be carrying around anyways.”

“…thanks…I’ll treasure it for life.”

Why’d you have to be so extra in your thanks? Though looking at her acting like a proper girl, I couldn’t help but to slacken my cheeks.

But then the terrifying reality hits me: I look just like an older boyfriend pampering her younger girlfriend.

This…aren’t we just…going on a date at this point?

Is this okay? It’s still okay…right?

With my head busy processing this thought, I took a step back from Rio.

“I’ll get us something to drink. Just stay here.”

I’m not a lolicon. I’m not a lolicon. BEGONE THOUGHTS!

Muttering my prayers, I made a dash towards a vending machine.

Alright good, the wicked thoughts are gone now. What a hero…so abstemious…so austere.

“Damn…her tilted face is a carbon copy of Elza…I swear she’s too cute…” I muttered mindlessly, buying two bottles of warm tea as I did. I then realized that I got something that a young girl would love.

Well, no matter. Pampering a younger person is no sin of itself. It’s the same feeling as that I would show towards a kitten or a puppy. It’s my duty to not hold any sort of lust towards her.

With the tin bottle on both hands, I returned to where Rio was, only to find her…not there.

It was barely a minute since I left, but the girl was nowhere to be found. Did she leave to play by herself? Where’s her sense of cooperativeness?

With incomplete understanding, I went around to look for her, and I stopped right in front of the restroom. Perhaps she suddenly needed to go while she waited, so I decided to stay there, sure she would come out eventually. Since waiting in front of the toilet would look weird, I decided to go back where I left her.

That’s when it happened.