As I stood there unable to say anything, even Isshiki was bewildered by our close distance and looked away with slightly red cheeks. Then, she looked at me timidly and acted shy to play it off.
“…Well, I guess you can just rent some shoes then.” I averted my eyes from Isshiki and took a step towards the bowling alley. Isshiki let out a short reply in affirmation and followed me from behind.
Jeez, just how sly can this junior of mine be…?
But along with that slyness of hers, Isshiki was more or less cute, so that made it even worse.
Because truthfully, she had a cute face. Her gestures were sly, but cute. Her personality… well, there were plenty of issues with it, but the way she’d act sly and innocent could be considered cute.
Crap, what the heck? She sure is cute. She’s like the school academy’s idol! It’s Iroha-chan, you know! It wouldn’t be unnatural if that actually happened… No, it definitely would be.
That slyness and cuteness, however, was directed at Hayama Hayato, and not me, so I was able to stay composed. I’mma pretty darn sure I’d fall for her first trap had I been the same as my pure and younger self, ya know…?
By intentionally thinking in a different accent, I faced my identity as a citizen of Chiba, solidifying my love for my hometown and was able to calm down. Phew, close one. If it wasn’t for my love for Chiba, Irohasu’s slyness would’ve completely annihilated me. Thank you, Chiba. I love you, Chiba.
Now that I took back my composure, I also recalled today’s objective. My assignment was to design a date course for Isshiki’s outing with Hayama.
When we got onto the passage of the shopping area of the station, I turned around to Isshiki when the bowling alley was visible and checked with her. “Actually, does Hayama even play table tennis? Wouldn’t something more stylish be better?”
“That’s exactly why table tennis is good! I won’t be able to differentiate myself from others if I just take Hayama-senpai somewhere he’d normally go, right?”
“Makes sense…”
When she mentioned it, that’s true. Isshiki’s current rival Miura wasn’t likely to invite Hayama to something like table tennis. So in that sense, Isshiki could distinguish herself that way. Though, I wasn’t sure if she’d come off positively or negatively. Then again, I doubt Hayama would even care either way…
Well, this was for my cute junior and all, so let’s do the best I can.
× × ×
We headed to the bowling alley near the movie theater, checked in at the reception, and went to the table tennis tables towards the corner.
We took a seat on the nearby leather sofas and changed our shoes.
Isshiki took a seat next to me, took off her coat, and began changing out of her boots.
The pink-knitted sweater underneath her coat was moderately slender while emphasizing her feminine curves, her high-waist skirt showing her waistline. When she uneasily removed her boots with her hands, I could tell the fineness of her calves through her tights.
I ended up directing my gaze towards her seemingly immature gestures. When our eyes met, she bended her head to side with a “What is it?” But there’s no way I could tell her that I was taken in her by the unbalanced qualities between her alluring charm and her childish behavior, so I shook my head and quietly handed her a racket.
After Isshiki bowed her head and accepted the racket, she trotted to the front of the table tennis table while fanning herself.
“I haven’t played table tennis since middle school.”
“You can pick it in P.E. when you become a second year.”
I stood across from Isshiki on the other end of the table. Isshiki rolled up her knitted sleeves and pointed her racket at me. She then made a… knitted a smile in determination!
“So if I win, can you treat me to lunch?”
“We’re betting lunch, huh? Well, I guess that’s fine…” I answered, and tossed a table tennis ball to Isshiki. I guess there’s no better way to hype up the match than putting down a wager. After bouncing the ball on the table, Isshiki grabbed it and readied her racket.
“We’re decided then…! Okay, I’ll start first. Ey.”
Isshiki flatly grunted when she weakly rallied the ball to me.
“Hoi.”
I returned the ball that came straight at me without any extra strength. The return skillfully dropped in front of Isshiki and bounced to a perfect height for her. Isshiki grunted with a weak voice, “Toh!” and rallied the ball back.
The ping pong ball noisily bounced back and forth for a while.
Every time the ball made a bouncing noise, a sense of nostalgia would well within me. It reminded me of the time when I played with Komachi at the hot springs we visited as a family. Thanks to that, I was proficient at rallies for fun. My style more or less incorporated the playstyles of Mario Kart and Puyo Puyo. I mean, every time Komachi lost, she’d get a little upset…
I used my times as Komachi’s opponent as a basis for the continuing rally of the balls to places that Isshiki could easily hit back.
“Tah.”
“Hoi.”
We rallied the ball back and forth while letting out flat grunts. It seems that one of my one hundred and eight onii-chan skills, “Entertain the little sister” had yet to go rusty.
At first, Isshiki had returned the balls nervously, but it looked like she had gotten used to it. Looks like she’ll be able to have fun now… At the end of my thoughts, a suspicious glint appeared in Isshiki’s eyes.
Isshiki gave a focused stare at the ball that bounced up, stepped in, did a large backswing, and smashed the ball.
“Dieeee!”
“Uh, why would you even say that…?”