“What do you think about being called the ‘Black Beast’ by so students because of the many girls around you?”
“They are just ordinary friends. Honestly, I don’t understand why I’m linked to them in that way.”
“There was a video about a 1:50 fight that beca a topic before the sumr vacation. It’s rumored that you’re the person in that video. Is it true?”
“…Absolutely not. I saw that video, too, and my face wasn’t shown at all.”
Senior Ayabe’s questions were a mix of mild and spicy.
If I hadn’t known the questions in advance, so would have been difficult to answer on the spot.
Most of my responses to the questions had to be negative, but honestly, there was nothing I could do about it.
After all, the things I actually did were few and far between.
After finishing the interview, Senior Ayabe turned off the recorder and narrowed her eyes.
“There wasn’t as much sensational material as I had hoped.”
“I apologize for being uninteresting.”
“No, honestly, I’m just glad we could get this interview. Considering your status, the fact that the interview will be published in the school paper is enough to draw the attention of the entire school.”
“…Is it really that much?”
I asked skeptically, and Senior Ayabe nodded confidently.
“That much. Even the freshn who just started this year know about you.”
Senior Ayabe said this while looking at Hanami, the freshman holding the cara.
Then, Hanami, perhaps embarrassed, shrugged her shoulders and nodded timidly.
“President’s right. Senior Kim Yu-seong is very famous, even among the first-year students. They say he’s the man who conquered the academy with his fist.”
‘It’s like so 90’s school violence film.’
In this day and age, seeking romance through fists would likely lead to jail before college.
“Anyway, thanks for the interview today. I’ll show you the paper as soon as it’s out.”
“When will the newspaper be published?”
“Obviously, during the cultural festival. There are about two months left, right?”
“There is not much ti left.”
“That’s right for the second-year students. With the school trip, sports festival, and cultural festival, the schedule is pretty tight.”
Senior Ayabe said this and then sighed softly.
“I wish I had so free ti, but I don’t have a mont to breathe because of my parents’ pressure.”
“Which university do you aspire to attend?”
“Waseda University, School of Comrce.”
“Ah…”
I understood why she sounded so pained.
Certainly, if it was Waseda University, it couldn’t be helped.
“Anyway, let’s end the gloomy talk here. The interview is over. Don’t you want to go out and have so fun?”
“ too?”
“Yeah. It would be a sha to part ways like this. How about taking so sticker photos at a ga center to commorate the day? It’s not an opportunity that cos often.”
Senior Ayabe suggested that I join them for so fun.
Honestly, I’d rarely seen soone who treated so casually at first eting.
Maybe only Rika or Sasha did that?
Was this the power of a super socialite?
I glanced at the other two people to gauge their reactions.
Both looked bewildered.
It was clear that they hadn’t been inford beforehand.
“Wouldn’t it be uncomfortable if I joined?”
But Senior Ayabe waved her hand nonchalantly and said,
“Nah, if I cared about that, I wouldn’t have asked. Besides, when girls hang out alone, we often get hit on, so I’m asking for your help. Maybe it’s because of how I look, but people often approach .”
With her saying that, I couldn’t really refuse.
“…Okay.”
It didn’t seem like we’d hang out for long, so I could just join them for a bit and then head ho.
With that thought, I decided to join them.
Senior Ayabe led us to a nearby arcade.
“Yay! Perfect! I feel good about today!”
Contrary to her delicate first impression, Senior Ayabe was excellent at a rhythm ga, beating a Taiko drum with great skill.
The way she held the drumsticks and hit the drum to the rhythm showed she wasn’t a novice.
“Head, how long have you been practicing this?”
“I started in middle school, so roughly 4 to 5 years?”
“I can’t even do the easy level.”
“It’s not as hard as it looks. How about it, Hanami? Want to try?”
Saying so, Senior Ayabe offered the drumsticks to Hanami, who hesitantly accepted them.
She then played a song at her level and seed to enjoy it.
‘This is the positive aspect of arcades.’
Even with people you weren’t close to, playing gas together could naturally lead to friendship.
I was standing a step away, watching them, when it happened.
“Excuse …”
Soone suddenly spoke to .
“Hmm?”
I turned, wondering who it was, and saw a delinquent with a familiar face.
“Do you rember ?”
“Uh… Who are you?”
“I’m the guy who ca to your place before, asking for help with Kazu.”
“Oh!”
Then I rembered his face.
Indeed, that had happened.
It was such a long ti ago, that I montarily couldn’t recognize him.
“What are you doing here?”
“I was just hanging out with friends, and when I saw you, I thought I’d co say hello.”
The blonde delinquent bowed deeply as he spoke.
“Uh? What?”
I glanced around in confusion.
Fortunately, the three from the newspaper club were engrossed in their ga and not looking our way.
“Wait, don’t do that.”
I quickly stopped him from bowing and earnestly requested.
“Why are you doing that?”
“I’m not really Kazu’s elder brother. Actually, we are the sa age.”
The blonde delinquent scratched his head with a naive look and said,
“Still, you are older than , so isn’t it proper to call you ‘elder brother’?”
“What? How old are you?”
“I’m in my third year of middle school.”
“……”
His appearance didn’t match that of a middle schooler, but knowing such cases were common in the manga world, I chose not to comnt.
Besides, it wasn’t really my place to say anything.
“Anyway, nice eting you. Now go on. I’ll say hello to Kazu for you.”
“Ah, yes. Take care, elder brother.”
“I told you, I’m not your elder brother!”
I let the politely bowing delinquent leave first, then leaned against the wall, whistling nonchalantly.
In the anti, after finishing their ga, Senior Ayabe approached and asked,
“Who did you et? I heard talking from behind.”
“Oh, I just ran into soone I know. We just exchanged brief greetings and sent him off.”
“Hmm, I see.”
My intuition told , that I shouldn’t give this person any reason to misunderstand.
“If we’re done here, shall we move on to sothing else? How about a shooting ga?”
“That sounds good, but let’s do what we talked about earlier.”
“What did we talk about earlier?”
“Taking a commorative photo. When else will I get a chance to take a picture with you?”
Saying so, Senior Ayabe looked at the two juniors and asked, “You guys will take it too, right?”
Of course, it seed like they didn’t have a choice since it was more of a compulsory participation.
“Alright! Let’s go then!”
We followed Senior Ayabe, entering the sticker photo booth one by one with the expression of cows heading into a slaughterhouse.
Sticker Photos.
Typically, it was a machine reserved for social butterflies, sothing soone like wouldn’t normally use.
I had recently taken one, but that was under Minami’s strong persuasion, and this was definitely my first ti taking one surrounded by people I wasn’t close to.
“Kim, you’re the tallest, so you should stand in the middle.”
I obliged to Senior Ayabe’s instructions, taking my place as the central figure.
Senior Ayabe took the front, and the other two, due to the tight space, clung to my arms like cicadas on an old tree.
“I-I’m sorry for clinging to you like this.”
Hanami, seemingly unaccustod to skin contact with a guy, kept muttering apologies with a flushed face.
“Huh, huh. Not bad muscles, huh?”
On the other hand, Takagi, my peer, casually comnted while fiddling with my forearm.
Was this small space indeed too cramped for the four of us?
While we were all squeezed together, breathing heavily, Senior Ayabe, operating the sticker photo machine, stepped back and announced it was ready.
“Alright, say cheese! Cheese!”
Hearing that, I reflexively smiled.
Reacting to the words ‘kimchi’ and ‘cheese’ in any situation must be the sad fate of a Korean.
Click! Click! Click!
The sounds of the cara clicking, taking a series of photos.
Senior Ayabe picked out the best one, showed it to us, and distributed a sticker photo to each.
After that, we all erged from the cramped space and took a breather on a bench.
“Ah, I’m thirsty. Who wants to go buy so drinks?”
“Let’s decide with rock-paper-scissors.”
“Agreed!”
“M- too.”
The rock-paper-scissors that followed, unbelievably, ended in my defeat.
It seed the rule of the person who suggested it ends up losing still holds.
I approached the vending machine corner in the ga center to buy the ordered drinks.
Unlike Korea, a good point about Japanese vending machines was that most drinks were uniformly priced at 100 yen.
For soone like who preferred sodas and sports drinks over water, this was quite appealing.
Clunk!
With four cans of drinks for everyone in hand, I returned to where we were seated.
“Ah, co on, play with us. Don’t be so standoffish.”
In that short while, I saw the three of them being hit on by so guys.
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