We walked down the long street that continued to the entertainment district in the city from the front of the station.
This district could be called a portion of Chiba’s main street which was aligned with restaurants, entertainment facilities, and commerce establishments. Since it’s a weekend, there were numerous people coming and going. Students often stopped by here during their weekdays and evenings and it’s also happened to be a very familiar place to me.
If we were to continue further, we’d arrive at an area I’d usually go to that had a concentration of movie theaters, book stores, and arcades.
Furthermore, if we made a left, we’d arrive at the PARCO store, and if we were to stroll around Chiba, there’d be passing streets and then some. Today was seeing crowded pedestrian traffic as if everyone all carried the same thoughts.
Although I was used to traveling down these streets, things just felt different when you were with a girl. Walking side by side was supposed to be natural, but unless I was conscious of my hurrying feet, I might’ve ended up leaving Isshiki behind. I let out a shallow breath, regained my composure, and dropped my speed more than usual, walking a half step ahead while keeping Isshiki in mind.
As I walked ahead while avoiding people passing by me, Isshiki slightly hurried her pace from behind and walked beside me. Pitching her upper body forward by a little, she looked up at my face from below.
“Senpai, where do you usually go?”
“Home.”
“Try again.”
“R-Right…”
Isshiki’s tone turned sharper than normal and she glared at me with half-closed eyes. You’re kind of scaring me, Iroha-chan. With Isshiki’s silent intensity pressuring me, I coughed and corrected myself.
“Either the library or the book store. I can kill plenty of time and it’s typically fun for me when I go to either of them.”
“A library date…” Isshiki whispered with a doubtful look and then moved her gaze to the sky. After a moment of seemingly thinking, she promptly bowed her head.
“I’m sorry, something that intellectual seems more like something Hayama-senpai would do, so I’d like something more junk-oriented from you, senpai.”
Oh hoh, this little girl… There were plenty of things about me that were intellectual in regards to my grades, you know? Then again, it’s not like I wanted to go to the library with Isshiki either, so it’s not a big deal.
I mean, right now, I was pretty darn nervous, so even if I were to go somewhere quiet with Isshiki, I don’t think I’d be able to calm down. I felt like a dad who wanted to relax on the weekends, but was forced into taking care of the kids instead. So following that logic, it’s likely I’d be able to read in peace if I were to go to the library with Hayama. Oh my gosh! Didn’t I, like, just totally imagine going on a date with Hayama-kun to the library!? Hawawa!3 Could you imagine how problematic things would get if Ebina-san knew I was imagining something like that!? No, seriously.
But since I didn’t care the slightest about Hayama, let’s just chase him out of the corners of my head for all of eternity. I racked my brains over other general places people would go to.
“There’s karaoke, darts, billiards, bowling, table tennis… Batting centers work too, but there aren’t any around Chiba Station…”
I asked Isshiki with a look as to whether any of those options were to her liking, and she opened her mouth with an earnest countenance. “I don’t really care, but billiards don’t suit you at all, senpai.”
“Buzz off.”
“Oh, but table tennis definitely does!”
“You really didn’t need to add that…”
Actually, aren’t you being a little malicious by saying it like that…? Table tennis is awesome, you know? Ever heard of “Ping Pong”? The manga and anime were really cool.
In having that exchange, we arrived at the large Gosaro intersection and were stopped by the traffic lights.
We’d be heading to PARCO if we turned left here and we’d be going to the movie theaters if we went straight. The choice was between left and straight since there wasn’t anything to note to the right.
“…How about we check out the movies then? We can kill two hours.”
“Why are we going to kill time…? Well, you’re the one in charge here, senpai…”
“Alright, movie it is.”
Isshiki seemed a bit reluctant, but since I managed to get her consent, I moved my legs towards the direction of the movie theaters.
Given that it’s a weekend, the movie theaters were thriving.
As I looked at the movie showtimes and the seat availability, Isshiki pointed at an extraordinary, Hollywood-esque poster. It was gaudily labeled as an “Academy Award nominee.”
“I want to watch this.”
“Alright, I’ll watch this one.”
I, on the other hand, chose a movie that had no relevance to Academy Awards. Both movies ended at nearly the same time, so the both of us should be out of the theater almost simultaneously.
“Now we just need a place to meet afterwards. You okay with the Starbucks below?”
My nature didn’t place me in the habit of watching movies with other people, so I decided on something that seemed reasonable. As a matter of fact, I even took into account the length of both movies, so why was Iroha-chan making such a dumbfounded face?
“…Huh? What?” I asked.
Isshiki nodded her head, finding something convincing. “I see. So things turn out that way because you respond like that.”
I have no idea what light bulb turned on for you, but I’m glad you understand. Isshiki let out a sigh of disbelief and looked away from the display of movie showtimes. Her gaze then stopped.
When I followed her gaze, there was a bowling alley signboard. At the bottom, there were words about table tennis tables.
After checking that, Isshiki turned towards me. “Okay, scratch the movie, why don’t we play table tennis instead?”
“That’s fine with me, but won’t those shoes make it a bit hard?” I said, while looking at Isshiki’s boots. Isshiki stopped, made fixated looks at her feet, and then directed her gaze at my face.
Her cherubic appearance with her mouth agape from surprise or shock made me realize again that Isshiki was a girl younger than me.
Her curious face that was looking my way was on the verge of saying something.
“Wh-What?”
“Nothing… I just thought it was a little unexpected for you to be so observant…”
“I can tell without looking since I’m looking at a different height than usual,” I said.
Isshiki took a step towards me as if purposely confirming that and faced me. In taking a step back to open up our distance, Isshiki would raise her eyebrow and close that step again. Apparently, she was telling me to stay still. I slightly leaned backwards and Isshiki looked up at me. And with breaths spilling out through her smiling lips, she weaved her words.
“Oh, that’s true. Your height’s much closer than before.”
Due to the close proximity of our faces compared to normal, I instinctively swallowed my breath when I noticed her glossy, smiling lips.