They took the subway and moved several stations. Even until entering the building, Esperanza didn't tell him where they were going. Since she was clearly hiding it on purpose, Cider didn't bother to ask either.
"Isn't it about ti you told
where this is?"
It was a space with flashy lighting and even more flashy music. The fact that there were so many unidentifiable machines caught his interest. People were grabbing onto machines one by one and operating sothing earnestly.
'Ga machines?'
The ga console he had made at Esperanza's request was much simpler than these, but the structure was definitely similar. If they had more personnel, they could probably make things like this too...
"It's an arcade. Literally a place to play gas and have fun."
"Ah. Shall I make sothing like this for you?"
"I ca here just because I wanted to play. And to get revenge."
"Ah, revenge."
Cider chuckled. It was exactly the kind of thinking Esperanza would do.
"You arbitrarily broke all my records. Surely you can't beat
here."
"I don't have to let you win, do I?"
"Just try it!"
The first ga machine Cider encountered was none other than a racing ga.
"You're going to beat
at driving? You can't even drive."
"I can play gas."
At her attitude of telling him to stop talking and just sit down, Cider shrugged.
"I have nothing to lose."
He had good reason to be confident despite having almost no real driving experience. Esperanza was quite good at this ga. Moreover, Cider struggled with the controls due to the arcade ga machine's characteristically unfriendly instructions. He also hadn't expected the chair to shake. He didn't fall over, but it felt unpleasant.
But after trying it a few tis, this was manageable too.
When the score tilted from 2:0 to 2:4, Esperanza took her hands off the ga machine with a fed-up expression. Cider stared blankly at the screen with exploding fireworks, then leaned back.
"The screen is nice. Our screen is quite bland. I wonder if there are people researching things like this?"
"There might be if you go toward photography technology. Or maybe stage effects."
"Hmm, I should look into it."
"Isn't this your area of interest?"
"How long am I going to make everything myself?"
Even though that's what he'd been doing until now. But it was a valid point. One person can't do everything, and shouldn't either.
"Well, anyway, you lost. What's the next challenge event?"
"Don't call it a challenge!"
Esperanza, getting fired up and grabbing Cider's hand, headed toward a basketball ga machine.
"Have you tried this before?"
"I haven't tried it, but you just throw this ball..."
Cider picked up one of the balls gathered at the bottom of the ga machine and threw it while continuing:
"Into that basket, right?"
When the score went up, he looked at Esperanza as if to say 'see?'
"Good thing I don't need to teach you."
It was a bit underhanded. Bringing a young master who had never even played basketball to play a basketball ga. But the world of competition is cold. The thought that underhanded tactics and coldness were different things—she decided not to think about that right now.
Both were serious about a ga with nothing at stake. Esperanza wasn't particularly talented at basketball, but she was naturally good at anything physical. Cider had good reflexes too, but above all, he learned quickly. He instantly picked up posture and techniques by watching the person next to him.
The ga that had started leisurely beca busier for both as ti ran out. Esperanza even started throwing with both hands, and despite her ssy form, sohow the balls went in.
"I won!"
It was close with just a 2-point difference, but it was a victory nonetheless. Cider stared at the scoreboard, then took out a handkerchief from his inner pocket and wiped Esperanza's forehead.
"What do you want to do next? There's not much ti left, so this might be the last one."
Sothing caught Cider's eye as he quietly looked around.
"Then, shall we do that?"
Esperanza's eyes widened as she walked with large strides toward what Cider was pointing at. She hadn't seen wrong.
"Are you serious?"
"Of course."
"You're going to beat
at shooting?"
"That's impossible. But with sothing like that, if I'm lucky, I might be able to win, don't you think?"
Cider knew he was quite an excellent marksman, but he also knew that no matter what, he couldn't beat Esperanza.
But what if the difficulty was extrely lowered? What if it was a match where truly only luck determined victory or defeat? The odds weren't completely hopeless.
Esperanza reached the sa conclusion. She still thought she would win though.
"Well, fine."
The gun was as heavy as a real one. Standing side by side, the two gripped their guns and pulled the triggers toward the screen. The scores climbed rapidly.
If there was anything similar between two people with different personalities and aptitudes, it was that once they started concentrating on sothing, they beca frighteningly absorbed. Only the targets in front of them and the guns gripped in their hands beca everything, and everything else was pushed to the periphery of consciousness. They couldn't even hear the loud clattering noise of the arcade.
It was quite so ti later that they realized people who had been casually watching while passing by had gathered one by one.
"Ah, sorry!"
Cider, whose concentration was broken when a spectator bumped into him, straightened up. A low score that had never appeared before was displayed on the screen.
Since they had decided to test their luck, this was as far as it went. Cider put down the gun without regret and ended the ga.
"You won."
"Ah, already?"
Esperanza, who had put down her gun, blinked. When the ga ended, people scattered as if they had never gathered at all. A few were still glancing from not far away, but they didn't approach to talk.
Why had so many people gathered in the first place? Esperanza, who had been pondering briefly, turned her gaze toward Cider. It was pointless pondering.
"What's wrong?"
"...I didn't think about it."
A young, blonde, handso man in a suit playing a shooting ga in an arcade couldn't help but stand out. Anyone would stop walking at least once.
"Should I put a hat on you?"
"You said you wouldn't wear a hat."
That wasn't what she ant though.
Well, let them look. It's not like anything will wear out. Esperanza firmly grasped Cider's hand and led the way.
"We had fun, so now let's go buy gifts."
??????°??☆????°??????
The year-end shopping center was splendid. Large trees and decorations reaching the high ceiling, special packaged products sold for Christmas, children lingering in front of them unable to leave. It was full of lovely things.
Moreover, the place they headed to was the toy section. A place where all the happiness in the world was gathered and wrapped in red and green wrapping paper. They had thought they would just look around briefly, but the cart was already full of dolls, blocks, hero figures, and spinning top toys.
"He's probably outgrown dinosaurs, so robots would be good, right?"
"That seems fine. Does it move when you assemble it?"
Passing a little child who was lying on the floor crying for toys, the two who ca to the robot section reached for the biggest toy without hesitation.
"Let's buy it first, and if there's too much, we'll have soone bring it to the house."
"No way. That wouldn't be fun. I have to give it directly."
"Hmm, then we'll send these, and what we'll take directly... that would be good."
Cider led Esperanza to a section full of large model cars. Compared to the toy robots they had seen earlier, these had an extra zero in their prices. They were as elaborate as real cars and even ca with remote controls. The large arena where samples could be tried was bustling with children.
"...You're the one who likes it."
However, unexpectedly, Cider didn't show much interest in the toys themselves. Esperanza kept glancing at him, but he focused only on coldly selecting appropriate gifts for a 7-year-old boy.
"A seven-year-old should be able to handle this much."
"Don't think based on your standards. It says 12 years old here."
"These things are usually written conservatively low."
"Don't talk about being conservative when you can't even see ankle socks."
There was slight disagreent, but the two decided to buy one large, elaborate model car and one model airplane each.
"Which one would you like, sir?"
"Give
the most expensive one."
Esperanza, surprised by her own words, pressed her lips together tightly. She could feel Cider laughing behind her.
"Ah, don't laugh. I've always wanted to say that at least once."
"You should have done it often there. You had plenty of opportunities."
"There and here are different. I wanted to do it here."
Cider tilted his head with an expression of complete incomprehension. The clerk who had been glancing at him finished the calculation with slightly trembling hands.
"Now, we're going to have a al here and drink coffee."
"I'd like to stop by a bookstore first."
"I'll leave you at a cafe and you can go there alone."
"You're saying it wouldn't be fun to go to a bookstore with ?"
That was exactly what she ant. He would definitely buy a bunch of difficult books she couldn't understand.
The two had their al at a suitable restaurant near the departnt store. Since they had had enough new experiences for today, they chose sothing that would reasonably suit their taste.
"What are you thinking about?"
"I'm thinking about what kind of cafe would be good to take you to."
"Take
sowhere you like."
"You'll hate the places I like."
"I'm not that picky."
"You'll hate it, you know? But if that's okay with you."
Esperanza dragged Cider to a franchise cafe near the subway station. Low tables and a chaotic atmosphere, carols so loud you couldn't hear voices. Cider frowned but didn't complain.
"You're not surprised?"
"Don't you think too many things have happened for
to be surprised by just this much?"
"But it is chaotic, isn't it?"
"It's as chaotic as a flower market."
"That's how it is originally. But there's at least one thing you might like."
Esperanza, who had seated Cider by the window and ordered two drinks, held out a vibration pager.
"How about this?"
After briefly explaining how to use it, Cider looked at the vibration pager as if he might disassemble it, turned it over, then quickly put it down.
"We could make sothing like this with our technology too. But it's certainly not sothing I would make. A restaurant where custors have to go get their own food..."
"Because you don't like it."
"Because there's no reason to go unless it's a very special situation."
It wasn't that he had never been to such places. All the restaurants inside train stations were like that, and they too had eaten at such places when they had to catch any train and move around. But still, there was no reason to particularly prefer them.
He refrained from evaluating the drinks. If asked, he probably would have given a harsh review. Starting from the fact that it ca in a disposable cup. Still, he drank all of his drink.
Rather, Esperanza left about half of hers. She had greedily ordered a drink with lots of cream and chocolate syrup, but it wasn't really to her taste.
"You make tea well though."
"I'm honored that it pleased you, my lady."
"I'm worried you might steal Mrs. Lux's job."
"Oh my, are you trying to get
hired as a housekeeper?"
"I might. Though you can't beat Mrs. Lux's nagging skills."
"Sandwiches too."
"Ah, of course that too."
The low giggling was drowned out by the loud carols, but the smiles on both their faces were clear.
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