Chapter 96: Kushida Kikyo: No, What Is the Situation With You Guys?
The first ball.
She followed the calculated angle and force with strict precision as she released it. The basketball traced a perfect parabola and accurately... slammed into the front of the rim, bouncing back and nearly hitting Elsie.
"Whoa!" Elsie dodged nimbly. "Suzune-chan, are you shooting hoops or throwing hidden weapons?!"
"My apologies." Horikita Suzune bit her lip, looking slightly embarrassed.
"It seems you aren't very skilled in the basketball department, Suzune," Katsuragi Keima commented while playing his handheld.
"Be quiet!" Horikita elbowed Keima and immediately prepared to shoot again.
The second ball finally went in. Horikita stared at the hoop expressionlessly, as if to say, "As it should be."
But then—the hoop suddenly began to move.
"What?" Horikita froze. She hadn't expected such a change.
"What's wrong? Can't adapt?" Keima chimed in. "This tests instantaneous judgment and execution, and of course, prediction skills."
"I know."
The fourth ball hit the backboard and popped out. The fifth ball didn't touch anything. The sixth ball slammed directly into the edge of the backboard with a loud thud. Everyone in the Game Center looked over.
"..." Horikita's face flushed for a fleeting moment.
Elsie analyzed seriously from the side: "Suzune-chan, are you treating the hoop like an enemy? Your expression is terrifying."
"I have no expression," Horikita's voice seemed to tremble slightly.
"But the way you shot just now looked like you wanted to eat the hoop."
"..." Horikita's expression turned even colder. Since her brother had just been here, she had to prove herself to everyone. She remained silent for two seconds before picking up the seventh ball. "I can do this."
She aimed, shot—the ball went in.
The eighth went in. The ninth went in. The tenth went in.
"Wow, that's incredible..." Karuizawa Kei was left utterly speechless.
Sakura Airi whispered: "Horikita-san... is so amazing..."
Only Elsie was clapping wildly: "Suzune-chan is great! Suzune-chan is number one in the universe!"
"Please do not address me that way."
"Okay, Number One in the Universe Suzune-chan!"
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Stage five, stage six, stage seven—
When the final ball went through the net, the numbers on the screen settled at... [Current Score: 234].
Horikita looked at the number, frowning slightly. "Lower than expected."
"..."
"You call that low?!" Karuizawa Kei couldn't hold it in.
"This score really isn't that high. I wasted a lot of time at the start, and it seems an average person's score is around 150. I'm not that much higher."
"I only got 102! Airi only got 87!"
Horikita fell into silence, looking at Kei and then at Airi. ...It seems those aren't scores a human being should be able to throw...
The topic was a bit awkward, so Horikita turned to Keima. "The record is 511... was that you, Katsuragi?"
"Correct," Keima nodded.
"I didn't expect you to know how to play basketball."
"I actually don't know how to play basketball."
"Huh?"
"Then where did your score come from?"
"From playing games."
"Ha?"
"Many Galges have those insane, reaction-based mini-game segments. I've long since grown accustomed to such things. You could even say this basketball machine is the simplest and most relaxing movement."
Horikita bit her lip, her mind recalling Keima's words.
'Could it be... that playing games can really improve one's level?'
Since her brother chose to come here, perhaps it proved she was right.
Horikita vowed in her heart to further improve herself. "Then starting next week, I will come here for an hour every day after school to practice."
The entire place fell into dead silence again.
"Are you serious?" Kei was incredulous.
"Of course. Since it's helpful for studying and has clear room for improvement, there's no reason not to practice."
Airi weakly raised her hand: "Um... Horikita-san, does this... really help with studying?"
"Hand-eye coordination, reaction speed, focus under pressure—these are all skills needed for exams," Horikita said matter-of-factly. "From this perspective, the training value of the basketball machine is higher than running."
Everyone looked at each other. Keima's words had successfully convinced Horikita.
Kiryuin Fuuka laughed: "Interesting. This is only the second time I've heard someone speak so high-mindedly about playing games."
"It's not high-minded, it's a rational analysis."
Katsuragi Keima was undoubtedly the first person.
"However, in a sense, that is indeed true," Kiryuin said with a smile. "What started as a date for two has more and more people now."
"This was unexpected."
"It truly wasn't your fault. I noticed most of these people seemed to have followed us on their own. But Katsuragi, surely no one else will show up now?"
"Probably not—"
Just as Keima was speaking, the automatic doors of the Game Center slid open again. A sweet voice carried over:
"Oh my, it's quite lively here~"
Everyone turned at once. Standing at the door was Kushida Kikyo. She wore a light pink dress and carried a delicate small bag, her face wearing that signature, lovable, sweet smile. But when she saw clearly who was inside, that smile faltered subtly.
"Kikyo?!" Kei spoke in surprise. "How did you get here?"
Kushida's brain worked at high speed. How did she get here? Naturally, it was because she had heard the rumor about "Kiryuin-senpai and Katsuragi Keima dating."
Earlier in the classroom, Kushida had heard about them. she thought she could use this opportunity to perhaps become friends with a senior student. Of course, more than that was her curiosity toward Keima.
Lately, her curiosity regarding Keima had become stronger and stronger. She felt she should hate him, yet why... did she frequently think of his face? And the words he had said to her that night.
She told herself it was just curiosity. Pure curiosity. Nothing more. Absolutely nothing. But when she realized her feet had uncontrollably walked her to the Game Center, it was too late.
Could she say that? Of course not!
"I—I just happened to be passing by~" She immediately adjusted her expression, smiling even more sweetly. "I saw it was so lively, so I came in to look. I didn't expect everyone to be here!"
Her gaze swept over everyone, her heart filled with surprise.
'Isn't this supposed to be a date between Keima and Kiryuin? Why are there so many people? Airi, Kei, Elsie... and this girl.'
Finally, her eyes landed on Horikita Suzune. Why was Horikita in a place like this? The vibe was completely wrong!
Horikita was standing at the basketball machine, still holding a ball, with fine beads of sweat on her forehead. Her expression was one she had never seen... serious?
"Passing by. How interesting," Kiryuin remarked with a meaningful smile.
"Suzune-san is here too?" Kushida maintained her smile. "How rare. You'd come to a Game Center?"
Horikita glanced at her expressionlessly. "Katsuragi called me here."
"Katsuragi-kun called you?" Kushida's smile froze again.
'Keima called Horikita to a Game Center? What does that mean? Are they... close enough to hang out? With Horikita's personality, she shouldn't be the type to be invited out, especially to a place like this...
It's illogical! Totally illogical! And Airi and Kei are here too... what is the situation?'
Her inner thoughts were a raging storm, but her face remained perfectly smiling. "I see~ everyone gets along so well!"
Keima looked up from his handheld, glanced at Kushida, and immediately guessed her likely thoughts. Her affection for him was already low enough, but that didn't mean he should
brainlessly make her hate him. At the very least, he needed to make Kushida feel that "she was special."
Keima spoke up immediately: "Airi and Kei just happened to be passing by, so we played together."
"Just passing by?" Kushida looked at Airi and Kei with suspicion, already guessing something.
Kiryuin Fuuka chuckled softly: "Another one who 'just happened to be passing by.' There are already several here who 'just happened to be' in the neighborhood."
Keima looked up. He looked at the people around him—Horikita was shooting, Airi was cheering for her, Kei was heckling from the side, Kiryuin was observing everyone with interest, and Elsie... was doing god-knows-what.
This situation was messy enough. Adding one more Kushida Kikyo... didn't seem to make a difference. He lowered his head and went back to his game.
Kiryuin looked at the new girl, a flash of realization in her red eyes. "She," she whispered with obvious delight. "Today is truly... a harvest season."
"What did you say, Senpai?" Kushida didn't hear clearly.
"Nothing." Kiryuin curled her lips. "Since you're here, want to play together?"
Kushida blinked.
'Play... together? With these people?'
Her instinct was to refuse—being in the same space as Horikita was painful enough, and now she had to play games with her? But if she refused, wouldn't it look strange? And Keima was here too...
"S-sure~" she revealed a sweet smile. "But I'm not very good at games, you all have to teach me~"
"It's fine," Karuizawa Kei responded immediately. Looking at Kushida, she had also guessed a few things. That day she had eavesdropped—both Kushida and Airi liked Keima. Kushida coming here was probably no coincidence.
The girls smiled and chatted, appearing perfectly harmonious. However, in their hearts, every one of them was constructing a grand drama.
"Kikyo-chan!" Sakura Airi suddenly spoke. Her voice was still small, but firmer than usual. "D-do you want to shoot hoops together? We can be a team!"
Kushida was stunned.
'Airi... is inviting her? The girl who "declared war" on her a few days ago is now proactively inviting her to play?'
"S-sure..." she answered reflexively.
She walked to another basketball machine and picked up a ball. Her posture was elegant, her smile sweet.
Then—Clang!
The ball hit the rim and flew off, nearly hitting Elsie nearby.
"Whoa! Another hidden weapon!" Elsie dodged. "Are you guys here to assassinate me today?!"
The room went quiet for a second. Then Karuizawa Kei burst out laughing: "Hahaha! Kikyo, you're like this too!"
Kushida's face flushed slightly.
'She... was actually in such a pathetic state? And in front of Horikita Suzune?' Kushida rarely visited such places, so she wasn't good at games.
However... it seemed Horikita wasn't very skilled either? This might be an opportunity. An opportunity to best Horikita. Horikita beat her in every other aspect. So Kushida always wanted to step over her just once. Even just once.
"One more time." She took a deep breath and shot again.
This time the ball spun twice on the rim, wobbled... and went in.
"It's in!" Airi clapped sincerely. "Kikyo-chan, you're so amazing!"
"Thank you, it was just luck!" Kushida said, secretly observing Horikita. But the latter was playing with such intense seriousness that she didn't notice Kushida at all.
Kushida's small movements were all seen by Kiryuin Fuuka. "I really did come to the right place today." She looked at Keima. "Katsuragi-kouhai, is this your usual daily atmosphere?"
Keima looked up. "No."
"Oh?"
"Usually, I only have games. I just want to play games alone," Keima answered.
Kiryuin froze, then laughed even harder. "So today is because of me?"
"...I suppose so."
"Then I'm truly honored."
Kiryuin looked at Keima as if thinking about something, but she soon shook her head, stood up from her seat, walked over to the others, and joined in the fun.
The afternoon passed quietly like this. It wasn't until the sky grew dark that the group finally left the Game Center.
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