CH 27

Chapter 27: Don't Let The Mood Get The Better Of You!

TL: Akabane

***

It was when we entered the cave. Yuzuriha opened her mouth happily.

"I've been thinking, frankly! Enoshima is kind of like a game stage, isn't it!"

"Ah, I understand very well! Certainly the street of souvenir shops at the entrance, the pathways and approach along the cliff, and this cave. It's just like a game town and dungeon."

I totally agreed with this opinion. Enoshima is so compressed in so many ways that I never get tired of just strolling around.

"So, Izumi! Please cooperate with us!"

"What do you want me to do?"

"We're playing an old RPG! Kanata, please take a video with your phone! Ayashiro! Izumi! I'm coming!"

"Yes! The Demon King is in the back here!"

"What? The Demon King? Well, I don't really know, but I guess we should just follow them!"

The three of them walked in a line with Yuzuriha in the lead. When Yuzuriha turned in the middle, Ayashiro walked as Yuzuriha walked, and izumi walked in the same way. As I was taking a video, I murmured to myself,

"Ah, I've seen this before! In old video game parties, when you're in the field, the lead character's movements are mimicked as they walk!"

I can't help but start to have fun. I followed Yuzuriha. Yuzuriha jumped a little on the spot on the way. Then Ayashiro and Izumi also jumped there after walking to the same spot.

"There it is! This kind of extremely unnatural movement!

Then, Yuzuriha walked toward me and lightly touched my shoulder. Yuzuriha starts humming a sound that sounds like a sound effect and a mysterious song.

"Shuwaaaaahhhh. Dedēn ♪ dedededededen ♪ dede ja jajan ♪"

The three of them line up side by side in front of me. They're posing cutely, as if they're each set to hold some kind of kabuki.

"Gyahahaha! There it is! Old games used to line up in front of the enemy! That was really mysterious from the perspective of today's games!"

Yuzuriha came up to me with some kind of scuffling, huffing motion, and made a sword swinging motion toward me.

"Oh yeah! The guy who uses melee weapons kind of slides along the ground! It's really funny when I remember!"

The girls laughed individually as they remembered too.

"Hey everyone! Let's go for the special move! That's it!"

The three of them came up to me at the same time and each tickled me.

"Oh...your hands! Wait! That tickles! Ahyah! Ahyahahahahahaha!"

Tickling is a mysterious sensation that feels so good and yet so hellish. I couldn't take it anymore after being tickled by the three of them and fell to my knees.

"Teeny, teeny! Yuzuriha's level went up!"

"Tat-tat-tat! Himena learned magic!"

"Cha-la-la-la-la! Milan has learned a new skill!"

""""The demon king Kanata is dead. Chooooooon.""""

"I'm the Demon King, huh! Put me in the heroic party!!!!"

The girls giggle. I get caught up in the giggles and laugh too. This was the first time I'd ever seen this kind of tomfoolery, and it warmed my heart. I was having a great time.

**** (On A Date!!!) ****

Then the sun went down and we came to the tower. From here we could see the whole night view. The lights of the city on the other side of the river were beautiful. Milan and I were looking at it together, arm in arm.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?"

"Yes, it is. It's so beautiful."

"Today was very interesting. I don't know. I think I understand a little bit about why people seem to fall in love and their feelings. It was a good experience for sure. It was definitely a good experience. I'm okay now. I'm sure I can make a good play."

Milan said with a very nice smile. Maybe it is easier than you think for a person to fall in love with another person. At least I didn't have a great reason to fall in love with my wife. I remembered the moment I fell in love with her while watching the night view of the city.

The moment I fell in love with her.

It was in my third year in the previous world. I was in my third year in the previous world, and the reality of job hunting was starting to dawn on me. I sat on a rock by a pond on the Hongo campus and drew pictures in my sketchbook with a pencil to distract myself from the reality of being an empty person with nothing to show for it. I am good at sketching. I think I'm good at sketching. But I failed the art school exam for the production assignment. I had no talent. But I couldn't stop drawing. That's when it happened.

"Hey, is that you? Isn't that my classmate, Tokiwa?"

When I came to my senses, my wife was by my side. We had been in the same department at the same university for three years, but that was the first time we talked. I was so flabbergasted that I couldn't respond.

"Are you drawing? Can I see it?"

My wife was peering at my painting. There is someone who looks at my paintings intently and seriously. That made me very happy and embarrassed.

"It's not very good. It's not something I can show to people."

I was despising myself. A shadowy botch who couldn't live well in a gray world. A weak man who can't recover from setbacks, can't learn anything, and only shatters when he hits a new wall again. It was miserable to show such a figure to my wife, who was also shining brightly on campus.

"Really? I think this is a nice picture. See? The shading here. It looks much prettier than the real pond. This is how you see the world. I wish I could see it like that."

The part what my wife praised was the part I put a lot of effort into writing. As is often the case with people in the shadows, just because someone is a little kind to me, I assume that this person is someone who understands me. I really feel like an idiot now that I think about it.

"The architectural model Tokiwa was making the other day was cool too. People were slamming it, but it wasn't. It was a very, very beautiful building. It's the kind of house you'd want to live in. It's the kind of house that makes you want to be a pretty wife. Mm-hmm."

They had such beautiful, cute smiles. That's all. That's the only reason I fell in love with her. That's what I wanted. I wanted it very, very much.

--- "Hey! Riri! Let's go!"

I heard a man's voice from far away. Her boyfriend at the time was calling my wife.

"I have to go. See you later, Tokiwa."

She waved and left. I was the only one who still there. I didn't talk to her at the university after that. But I remembered her praise for a long time. I took that as encouragement and worked hard. A famous architect who saw my architectural models and designs introduced me to the architectural design department of a large company, and I got a job. If my wife had not praised me, my future would have been sh*t. My life was given to me by my wife. That's why I loved her. That was the only story.

I couldn't help but smile as I remembered the love that now had no trace left in this world. It was a very good memory. That's why the betrayal was so painful.

"You have such a beautiful smile... show me more of your face..."

Milan put her hand on my cheek and brought her face closer to mine.

"I liked the savage king's face then, too. I liked the forlorn look you showed during your silly fooling around. But the smile on your face right now is the most beautiful..."

Milan's face comes closer and closer. Then she meditates and comes closer and closer until her lips almost touch mine, and then....

"Yes! Pippi! Milan player red card! You are ejected!"

Ayashiro put his index finger on Mi-Kai's finger.

"Huh? What on earth am I doing?"

"You're too much in the mood. You should have your first kiss when it's just the two of you and no one else is around. It will be much more memorable."

"No, no, no, no...! I'm not going to kiss him! I'm not going to do that!"

Milan covers her face with hands and turns over. The skin that could be seen through her fingers was stained bright red.

"Atmosphere is scary...I should be careful too...I don't want another tragedy like that drinking party...ahaha..."

Yuzuriha seems to remember that she was almost swept away and taken into a love hotel. She looks gloomy.

"Well! That's the end of our date! What do you think, Milan? Did you catch anything?"

Milan looks up and smiles confidently.

"Oh! Of course! I've got it! I'm going to make it a great play for sure!"

There was no hint of anxiety in her voice. I was sure she was going to be fine.

"Well then, let's take a commemorative photo and go home! Sorry. Can you take a picture with this!"

Ayashiro asked someone nearby. The four of us lined up with the night view in the background and posed for a picture. The moment was captured in a photograph. I will never forget this day.