"What's with that look, like you've seen a ghost? Oh, are you with your girlfriend? Sorry, did I interrupt?"
Unlike when she was at work, with her hair down and in her uniform, she seemed brighter than usual, her voice pitched a little higher than normal.
"She's not my girlfriend. Still, this is the first time I've run into you at school."
"Right? So Aoyama-kun really does go here."
"That's my line. So, did something else happen?"
I asked with a sigh. Yumekawa, who was beside me, said, "Hey, you know her?"
"Oh, sorry. Uh, she's my senior at work."
"Asou desu~ Aoyama-kun is always taking care of me."
"N-nice to meet you. I'm Yumekawa Arisu."
The two bowed to each other in greeting.
Right after that, Asou-san answered my question.
"Nothing unusual since then, I guess. But today, my parents dropped me off just in case. If you'd stayed at my place, we could have walked to school together, huh?"
Saying that, Asou-san glanced over at Yumekawa.
"Wait, your place?"
"Well, anyway, thanks for yesterday. That's all. See you at work."
Cutting off Yumekawa, who looked like she wanted to say something, Asou-san hurried off ahead.
"...Damn."
"Hey Minato, what was that about?"
"I'll tell you upfront: there's nothing going on. She was being stalked by her ex-boyfriend, so I just walked her home."
"O-oh, that scared me. But wow, Asou-san's really pretty, huh?"
"I've never looked at her that way. She's just my senior at work. Come on, let's go."
"R-right."
There was no point in letting her get more suspicious about Asou-san. Knowing that woman, she probably just wanted to mess with me for going home early yesterday.
"Anyway, I'm going to the bathroom."
On the way to the classroom, I said that and parted ways with Yumekawa.
Then I headed to the bathroom, sat down on the toilet seat, and sighed.
"Haa... I'm tired."
Another unexpected plan had come up for today.
But I couldn't count on Yumekawa conveniently telling Beni about today's events again.
I'd better finish this quickly before that girl comes over to my place.
Here's the correct English translation of the provided Japanese text:
---
"Wow, look, look at that stuffed animal, it's so cute!"
"Is that what you want? Then—"
"Geez, don't rush me so much. Since we came all the way here, let's take our time."
After school.
I came to the same arcade as before with Yumekawa, but she was just having fun without even telling me what prize she wanted, and I was getting a little restless.
Can you hurry it up?
I need to get home soon...
"Hey, Minato, do you have plans after this?"
"Huh? No, not really. Why?"
"Because you've been checking your watch this whole time."
"Oh, that's..."
"Is it Asou-senpai?"
"What?"
"You said it wasn't like that this morning, but I knew it seemed suspicious. Well, I guess it's no wonder you fell for her, she's that pretty."
"Wait, wait, don't jump to conclusions. I never see Asou-san outside of work."
"Eh, really?"
"That's what I've been saying from the start."
"Hmm. Then why are you so fidgety?"
"That's... I'm expecting a package in the evening."
"Oh, sorry about that. By the way, what did you buy?"
"Does it matter? Come on, just tell me what you want already."
"Fine, fine, I got it."
Yumekawa headed over to an area with smaller claw machines packed together.
Then she pointed at a familiar rabbit keychain.
"There it is, Lover Rabbits."
"Huh, you actually know the name. I really want this keychain."
"This looks easy enough to get."
"I tried yesterday too, but I totally failed. Come on, give it a shot."
Yumekawa put in a hundred-yen coin and said, "Please?" again.
"Haa... let's see."
Unlike before, I focused a bit more on the prize, looking for gaps between the bundled keychains. A good place to hook it... maybe there.
Click, click, I finely adjusted the arm's position.
Then I pressed the button.
"Oh?"
With a rustle, the claw's prongs dug in and scooped up two keychains hanging from it.
Then it carried them right over the hole.
Both of them dropped into the prize chute.
"Wow! Amazing, amazing! Minato, you really are a genius, aren't you?"
Yumekawa was overjoyed as she picked up the prizes, but I was dumbfounded that she couldn't get even one after trying all day.
"You just have no skill."
"Ah, that's so mean. But you can really aim for those tight gaps—your eyesight is good, Minato."
"I wonder."
I used to hear that a lot, long ago.
That I had good eyesight.
I thought I'd have no use for good eyesight after I quit baseball.
But here I am using it for something this trivial.
"Hey, hey, look, isn't it cute?"
"I wouldn't really know. But hey, good for you."
"Hehe, I'm happy. Here, take this."
"Huh?"
She held out one of the two keychains to me.
"No, I don't—"
"It's fine. I only needed one anyway. Besides, it's thanks for protecting me the other day."
"...I'm not going to put it on anything."
"Hehe, I know."
"Here."
I took one keychain and shoved it into my pocket.
"Well, let's go home. I'll walk you."
"No, it's okay. I'm fine here. You need to get home early, right?"
"...Yeah."
That consideration made me uncomfortable.
There's no way I could tell her the real reason I'm in a hurry.
We parted ways in front of the arcade, Yumekawa and I.