“…Can I eat now?”
“Ah, yes, please go ahead.” Isshiki replied nonchalantly while checking over the pictures on her cellphone. Hoping that my face wasn’t red in the picture, I ate my gelato I was forced to wait on to cool down my face and head.
…Damn it, it really did melt a little.
× × ×
I left the store after we paid the bill and it was already getting dark. While we were lethargically chatting over pointless things and enjoying our sweets, we were apparently sitting inside for too long.
Now that it was night time, the wind got slightly stronger and chills seeped through the small openings of my loosened scarf.
As I adjusted the collars of my coat and wrapping myself with the scarf again, Isshiki came out the store a little later.
“Sorry for the wait. I almost forgot to get the receipt.”
Isshiki bonked her head with a “teehee, oops” ☆. How sly… Then again, I wonder what she’s going to use the receipt for? We paid the bill together earlier, too. Speaking of which, after playing table tennis and eating ramen, she also kept those receipts… Was she going to file an income report or something?
“Alright, I guess we should head to the station.”
“Okay.” Isshiki nodded and we both began walking.
There were people heading to the station and people who were likely coming from the station at this very moment. With the mingling of human traffic, the townscape was showing its after-hours face. Given that it’s a weekend, the town was even more showy and lively.
It wasn’t that late yet, but I yawned which could’ve been because of the table tennis match we had. It spread to Isshiki who had been walking beside me on the sidewalk and she yawned as well.
When Isshiki noticed I was watching her yawn, she looked a little embarrassed. She coughed to play it off and took half a step closer.
“Well, I suppose you get about ten points for today,” Isshiki said, abruptly.
It sounded like she’s giving me the points I earned from her test exam for date courses.
“I guess I’ll ask, but out of how many points?”
“One hundred, of course.”
“Why the heck is it so low…?”
I thought I tried pretty hard, you know? Yeah? Aren’t you being just a little unfair? I gave Isshiki a discontent look and she raised both of her hands that were covered with mittens.
They formed the shape of paper and she began counting with her fingers. “First, you lose ten points for not being Hayama-senpai.”
“An unreasonable guideline right off the bat, huh?”
Are you Nayotake no Kaguya-Hime8 or something? Not to mention you’re doing a system of subtracting points. When you’re raising people, I personally think it’s better to use a system of adding points. Let’s develop our good points, yeah!
But the screams of my soul weren’t able to reach Isshiki as she counted while folding finger after finger of her left hand. Please stop, the more you fold your fingers, the more you’re folding my heart.
“And if we include your behavior and conduct, that’s a total of minus forty points, okay?”
“I guess that’s fair.” I nodded back naturally. If anything, the fact that I lost only that much points meant I did well. Though it might’ve been more due to Isshiki’s lenience than my hard work.
“So you were aware of it…”
Her sighing voice was mixed with resignation. Oh, you’re not going to give me a free pass, after all…
Now then, Isshiki-sensei’s scoring continued. Isshiki abruptly squeezed her right hand into a fist and lightly punched me in the side. “You lose fifty points for accepting a girl’s invitation so easily.”
“You’re the one that called me… Wait, now my points are at zero.”
I didn’t feel an ounce of pain in my side from her punches, but strangely enough, something pricked at my chest. A person I recalled in that casual instant oddly weighed on my mind.
After poking my side, Isshiki went a step ahead, stuck up a finger, and coughed with her chest out. “Well, I had fun, so I’ll give you ten points as a bonus.”
“…Gee, thanks for that.”
In total, ten points. The evaluation was occasionally harsh, but the final allotted points were a little more forgiving. The breakdown of my own scoring was similar, so I was more or less convinced with it.
As we chatted, we gradually approached the station.
From here, I’d take the Sobu Line and Isshiki would likely take the monorail home. So that means we’d be parting ways at the front of the station.
“So how was it for you, senpai?” Isshiki asked modestly when we arrived at the rotary that continued to a short flight of stairs. Since she was facing down, I couldn’t see her expression, so I didn’t understand her question for a moment.
However, it shouldn’t have strayed all that far from what I had been thinking from earlier.
“Well, I guess it’s like that for me… I’m a little tired, though.”
“Do you have to be that honest about how tired you are…? I mean, it’s fine and all. It just means you were actually being a proper partner for me!”
Isshiki’s raised face had an energetic smile. I ended up making a stiff face to her typical slyness. When Isshiki saw my wry smile, Isshiki puffed her cheeks in displeasure.
“What’s with that super pain-in-the-butt face of yours…?” Isshiki’s cheeks swelled and she briskly walked ahead turning away. She stated in a passing and sulking voice, “There’s no girl that’s not a pain in the butt, you know.”
Ahh, that was surprisingly believable. I lightly shrugged my shoulders and increased my pace after Isshiki.
“…I can imagine. There aren’t very many people who aren’t a lot of trouble.”
“Wow, you’re such a pain, senpai.” Isshiki turned around, making an annoyed face that was far beyond what I had earlier. This girl’s cruel.
Our walking pace must’ve dropped due to the both of us thinking how much trouble we were. But the concourse in front of the station was just right in front of us. After avoiding the flow of people from the ticket gates, we arrived at today’s meeting spot, the front of Vision. Isshiki stopped and I did so as well.
“In any case, today turned out to be a good learning experience. Thank you very much.”
Isshiki lightly bowed, honestly expressing her appreciation. Taken aback by her earnest and mannerly behavior, I replied back awkwardly in a fluster. Isshiki lifted her face and laughed in amusement.
“…Senpai, make sure to keep today in mind, okay?”
She had a kind gaze, tinged slightly with strictness.
“…Yeah. Well, you know, thanks for today.”
It certainly did feel like I learned a few things today. Of course, this was up Isshiki’s alley, so I don’t think she’d get much out of it. After all, everyone had a different specialty from someone else.
“Okay, I’ll see you again at school.”