Inside a luxury sedan, Kaguya and Hayasaka sat in the back seat, holding hands.
She was wearing a black lace dress that looked expensive at a glance, but despite her refined appearance, her whole body was trembling.
"Hayasaka, am I shaking?"
"...No. You’re as calm as ever."
—That was what she said, but her eyes were darting around nonstop, and her entire body was pitifully trembling. Anyone could tell she was nervous.
Hayasaka already had a feeling today was going to be rough.
"Hoo. Let’s just stick to the plan. The plan..."
*
On the day of the date, I met up with Miyuki and we took the train together to Shibuya.
The guy, dressed in a neat black cardigan, white T-shirt, and jeans, looked pretty decent. But the clothes he had texted me about yesterday—asking, "Would this be okay?"—were a serious assault on the eyes, so I’d rushed over by taxi and lent him my own clothes.
He’d been upgraded quite a bit on the outside, but judging by his expression, he was still pretty stiff.
"Nervous?"
"Hmph. Of course not. I’m completely at ease."
tremble tremble tremble
‘Saying that while your hands are shaking...’
He was insanely tense. Well, even if we were involved, this was a date with Shinomiya.
For him, it was probably something he’d only ever imagined suddenly standing right in front of him.
Wishing them the best, the two of us got off at Shibuya Station.
When we came out through the Hachiko Exit, a cool breeze greeted us.
Tokyo in June wasn’t too hot yet, and the weather was just right. It was hard to imagine a better day for going out and having fun.
As we walked toward the Hachiko statue, famous as a meeting place, the silhouettes of two bright-looking girls began to appear from the stairs.
They must have spotted us too, because one of them waved first.
"Ah, it’s Suzuki-kun~"
Who are you?
Yellow long hair, a lively voice, a fluttery dress and shoes, and those endlessly clear blue eyes.
‘Hayasaka...?'
If I hadn’t known better, I never would have guessed they were the same person.
She had said she’d come in disguise, but for a second I didn’t recognize her at all.
Her hair, which was usually in side tails, was let down, and her eye color was different too, so she must have been wearing colored contacts.
Her alias for today was Hasaka, right?
We reached the meeting spot almost at the same time, and when we saw each other, all four of us were shocked.
"P-Pres...!? Suzuki-san? What are you doing here...!"
"Shinomiya...!? So that employer was Shinomiya?"
"......Can such a coincidence really happen? How fascinating."
"Huh..?! You knew each other?"
What a disgusting four-way performance!
We all knew exactly who was going to show up, but we were throwing ourselves into our roles as if we’d never expected any of this.
In the middle of the confusion, since Hayasaka had agreed to act as the go-between, she took the lead and moved the situation along as planned.
"You said you were Suzuki-kun’s friend, so I’ll speak casually! Hi, I’m Sumisu A Hasaka! Just call me Hasaka~"
Was today’s concept just being cheerful?
Her Hasaka mode was completely different from the Hayasaka I usually knew.
"Ah, Hasaka, then. I’m Shirogane Miyuki, Shinomiya’s student council colleague and president. Nice to meet you."
"Ah! Kaguya told me a lot about you! Like, about how..."
"H-Hay... Hasaka. That kind of story...!"
"Fufu, can’t be helped. I’ll keep it a secret~"
Hayasaka brought a finger to her lips and stuck out her tongue a little.
It looked like a routine bluff, but it must have worked amazingly well, because Miyuki’s face was twisting with desperate curiosity.
Then Shinomiya suddenly bowed to me.
"I never imagined it would be Suzuki-san, but thank you so much for saving Hasaka from danger."
"...Ah, it was nothing."
The person who had actually put her in danger was me, so getting thanked for it felt strangely off.
But that was the story the two of us had put together, so it couldn’t be helped.
"I’m glad you all know each other! I was worried it would be awkward!"
At Hayasaka’s words, Miyuki and Shinomiya both blushed and said,
"Ahem. Well, since it’s Shinomiya, I guess I do feel a little more at ease."
"...I was worried some rude man might show up, but if it’s the president, I feel relieved."
What was with these bashful idiots? Couldn’t they just start dating already?
Now that everyone knew who everyone was, it was time to head to the first stop.
"Anyway, since it’s come to this, we might as well all hang out together today. Let’s move to the next place."
"Right, you and Hasaka discussed the overall plan, didn’t you?"
"Yep, yep! You can look forward to it!"
We started walking toward our first destination.
The story of how we decided on the destination takes us back to yesterday.
*
For the first stop, we decided on Round One.
Interestingly, there wasn’t much disagreement about that.
Round One was a large entertainment center where bowling, billiards, karaoke, arcade games, and other activities were all gathered in one place.
It was a strategic choice meant to naturally ease the tension between Miyuki and Shinomiya through activities.
The problem was what to do once we got inside.
When I looked at the facilities available at Round One, my face stiffened.
"...First off, no karaoke."
"Why? Karaoke is one of the best places to score points with the opposite sex."
Hayasaka tilted her head. I answered with a disgusted expression.
"It’d be a miracle if Shinomiya didn’t look down on us. That guy’s singing ability can’t even be described as bad..."
Maybe she read the fear in my expression, because she sighed and crossed karaoke off the list with an X.
"...Then karaoke is out."
But that was only the beginning.
"Table tennis? Impossible."
"Basketball? It’d be a miracle if he doesn’t break a finger."
"Batting cages? He’d probably hit himself with the bat."
"Anyway, this is no good, and that is no good either."
Hayasaka kept crossing off options without pause, then looked up at me with a dumbfounded expression.
"How are there so many things you can’t do...?"
"...Tell me about it."
In a way, it was ironic that the options had been cut down so much that deciding became easier.
*
"...So this kind of place exists?"
Shinomiya looked around in amazement, as if it was her first time at a place like this.
Miyuki, who had apparently been here a few times, was excitedly showing her around.
After looking around a bit, we headed toward our first course. What we’d decided to start with was...
"Our first event is bowling~!"
Hayasaka spread her hands wide and pointed to the bowling alley.
The first event was bowling. Back in middle school, we’d sometimes go bowling together when we were bored, and it was one of the few sports Miyuki, whose athletic sense was hopeless, was actually good at.
"Oh my, I’ve never bowled before..."
"Don’t worry, Shinomiya. I’ll teach you."
"Really? If it’s the president, I can trust you to take care of it."
The two of them headed off toward the lanes, laughing and chatting to themselves, and we quietly followed behind them.
I asked Hayasaka in a low voice,
"...She really hasn’t done this before?"
"She hasn’t. But you’ll find out soon enough why Lady Kaguya is a genius."
"...Hmm."
Miyuki stood close, showing her the stance from one angle to another, then rolled the ball first as a demonstration.
"Now, like this... you roll it—!"
The ball rolled straight down the center and hit its mark—
Crash!
Nine pins fell. One was left standing, which was a shame, but it was still a solid demonstration with nothing much to criticize.
"As expected of the president. That was excellent."
"Well, this much is nothing."
Watching Miyuki puff himself up proudly, Shinomiya tilted her head, picked up a ball that suited her, and took her stance.
"Hmm, this is difficult. Like this?"
With a simple whoosh, Shinomiya threw the ball. It rolled along—
Bang!
Strike!
All ten pins came crashing down. Miyuki’s mouth dropped open in stunned disbelief.
A student who surpasses her teacher in one shot? That was definitely impressive.
Watching the two of them, Hayasaka stepped in with a suggestion.
"How about we get started soon? Let’s split into teams!"
"Teams, huh? That sounds better."
I backed up Hayasaka’s opinion and steered things toward a team match.
"How should we divide up...?"
"Since it’s easier with people you’re close to, how about boys versus girls?"
Huh? I thought Miyuki and Shinomiya were going to be on the same team. I’d been planning to lose by a hair.
"Hmm, even so..."
Miyuki trailed off, implying the skill gap might be a bit too much.
"I may look like this, but I’m an athlete at Philis Girls’ High School, so don’t underestimate me! Even Kaguya, who just started, seems better than Shirogane-kun~"
Twitch!
"......You haven’t even seen half of my skill yet, and you’re already so smug. Want to see me do it properly?"
With a cross-shaped vein popping on his forehead, Miyuki flared up. Hayasaka poured oil on the fire.
"Yep, yep! If we just play normally, it’ll be boring, so how about a wish bet?"
"A wish bet...?"
That wasn’t something we’d discussed. Oh no, this was awkward.
When I looked at her as if asking what this was about, Hayasaka suddenly winked at me.
So she was going to follow the broad plan but still grab a little advantage in the details...?
So that’s how you want to play it.
""A wish...!?""
Miyuki and Shinomiya both looked startled by Hayasaka’s suggestion.
"Yep! The representative of the winning team gets to make one wish of the representative of the losing team. Anything!"
The team representatives were, of course, Miyuki and Shinomiya. In practice, this was a penalty game between the two of them.
""Anything...?""
The moment they heard the magic word "anything," their expressions changed dramatically by the second, which meant they were already spinning up their imagination as soon as they heard it.
And the result was...
"President, what should I do...?"
"...Why, Shinomiya?"
"My wish might be a little too much for the president to handle. I just wanted to make sure you’d be okay..."
That attitude of hers, with zero consideration for the possibility of losing!
Miyuki bristled for a moment, but soon regained his composure and shot back.
"Shinomiya, I’m sorry in advance."
"......Pardon?"
"Once this game is over, Shinomiya is going to have to do something embarrassing."
"E-Embarrassing...? What on earth are you planning to make me do...!"
"Who knows...?"
Seeing Shinomiya blush and wrap her arms around herself, Miyuki acted all nonchalant.
"Ngh...! President, I absolutely won’t go easy on you!"
"Good. That’s what I was hoping for."
In the end, the two of them were burning with competitive fire. It was so hot I could feel the heat all the way over here.
While the two were busy with their war of nerves, I sat down beside Hayasaka, who was perched on the table, and said quietly,
"These kinds of surprise moves are a problem."
"...Looking only at the result, this should be better."
Hayasaka answered as if it was no big deal, twirling a strand of hair around her finger.
"For Shinomiya, maybe."
"That may be true. But it won’t be a bad result for Shirogane Miyuki either."
Even though we’d planned this together, Hayasaka was still on Shinomiya’s side at heart.
Even if her top priority was getting the two of them together, it was only natural that she’d try to leave a little of the initiative with Shinomiya.
"Well, I get what you’re aiming for. But..."
"......?"
"That’s only if your side wins, right?"
Hayasaka stared at me blankly for a moment, then burst out laughing.
"That’s funny. Should we do one too?"
"...Do what?"
"A wish bet."
".........?"
The first thing that came to mind when I heard that was, ‘Why bother?’ I didn’t really have anything I wanted to wish for separately.
Still...
‘There’s no reason to refuse.’
I wasn’t lacking in confidence, and there was nothing bad about winning and banking one for later.
"...Fine."
After accepting her proposal, I stood up and rolled my shoulders in circles.
All right. Maybe it was time to show off my sports-specialist credentials for the first time in a while.
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