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"I refuse!"
Kirino crossed her arms in front of her chest: "Big one, what you said sounds like a death flag! And shrines, they probably require climbing mountains or stairs, right? I'm wearing high-heeled sandals today, and I have no interest in challenging something that will make my feet hurt."
Asakura, who originally wanted to object, was a little surprised. He didn't expect this sharp-tongued girl to be quite rational.
Although he couldn't be sure how credible the ghost story Saori provided was, it was better to be safe than sorry. If possible, it was best not to involve ordinary people—after all, in many ghost stories, the condition for those strange entities to become stronger was for enough people to die...
"You're right, I was inconsiderate, my apologies."
Saori generously admitted her mistake. She put away her phone and waved her hand: "Then since it's a rare opportunity, let's go shopping in Akihabara. Where do you all want to go first?"
"Animate (Anime merchandise store)!"
"Toranoana (Manga and doujinshi related store)."
Gokou Ruri and Kirino said in unison.
"At a time like this, we should definitely go to Animate first, right?"
Gokou Ruri turned her head and looked at Kirino discontentedly: "Doujinshi and such, you can buy them during the holy war."
"No, no, no, precisely because it's such a rare opportunity, that's why we should go to Toranoana!"
Kirino glared back at her, unwilling to show weakness.
"I see, Kuroneko-shi prefers orthodox otaku players, while Kirino-shi longs for Toranoana because she usually doesn't have the chance to go...?"
Saori pushed up her glasses and said thoughtfully.
"Hey, big one over there, don't just jump to weird conclusions on your own!"
Kirino, whose secret was exposed, became angry out of embarrassment.
"Then where does Kitagawa Marin plan to go?"
Saori laughed, ignoring Kirino's sharp tongue, and asked Kitagawa Marin.
"I won't be joining you all, because I plan to go to a Cosplay specialty store to take a look..."
The blonde hot girl sighed a little: "Because the characters I like are very niche, if I don't pay close attention to those specialty stores, I can easily miss the release dates of merchandise... Custom-made ones are also especially expensive, although I've also taught myself tailoring and such, my hands aren't skillful, so it's hard to do well..."
At this point, Kitagawa Marin seemed to remember something and asked Gokou Ruri: "Speaking of which, Kuroneko-shi, where did you buy your clothes? 'Maschera' is a popular show, but it hasn't been on air for long, so you shouldn't be able to buy the Night Witch Queen's Cosplay outfit yet, right...?"
"Of course, it's a treasure woven from the endless shadows by the power of the night sky."
Gokou Ruri said coolly.
"She made it herself..."
Asakura translated: "My young lady says so."
"Amazing! Kuroneko-shi can even make her own clothes!"
Kitagawa Marin stared at her as if she had discovered a treasure: "She's small and cute, her cat ears look super adorable, and she can even make her own Cosplay outfits! Just marry me, Kuroneko-shi!"
"Pfft, pfft Just give in to her, Kuroneko."
Kirino said with a giggle.
"Absolutely not."
Gokou Ruri, blushing furiously, said through gritted teeth.
"Now, now, everyone, don't argue~"
Saori ran out to mediate again: "How about we go to the arcade first?"
"Why?"
"Speaking of which, isn't your reaction time a bit slow?"
Kirino and Gokou Ruri once again spoke in unison.
"Because that way we can decide where to go based on who wins the game, how about it?"
Saori suggested.
"Oh? That's not bad. Do you need me to give you a handicap?"
Gokou Ruri looked down at Kirino.
The two of them seemed to have played games online in the community as well.
"No way, wouldn't that completely favor this black one!"
It seemed Kirino had lost badly.
"Actually, there are quite a few games in the arcade where Kuroneko-shi doesn't have an advantage, such as basketball shooting and air hockey..."
Saori explained in a low voice.
"If you're really afraid to fight me, then let Taku... my butler do it."
Gokou Ruri's wine-red eyes were full of mockery.
"Is his skill level the same as yours?"
Kirino asked cautiously.
"Unfortunately, although I do watch anime, I barely play games, and I've almost never been to an arcade."
Asakura answered on behalf of Gokou Ruri, "But just to declare beforehand, even so, if it's a fighting game or other games that test reaction speed, I don't think I'd lose."
"Such an arrogant guy..."
After Asakura said he had little gaming experience, Kirino seemed to relax a lot, but her eyes darted around. She probably thought it would be too embarrassing if she really accidentally lost to Asakura, who barely played games, so she continued: "But I won't take advantage of you. My stinky older brother will fight you instead!"
Although in her impression Kosaka Kyosuke wasn't much of a gaming expert, he did occasionally go to the arcade after school, and he had a computer and game console at home. No matter what, he should be stronger than that guy who barely played games, right?
She gave her older brother a fierce look, which in text probably meant: 'If you can't even beat an opponent like this, you'll be in for it when we get home!'
Since things had come to this, Kosaka Kyosuke could only respond with a wry smile.
The group—including Kitagawa Marin, who had just said she was going to a Cosplay specialty store—all moved grandly to the Akihabara arcade.
Kirino and Gokou faced off for a long time before finally deciding that their battle would be the fighting game "True Sister Annihilation": Kirino liked the various sister-type characters in it, while Gokou was quite fond of its relatively hardcore fighting mechanics for a fan-oriented game.
Kosaka Kyosuke's face was full of resistance to this: almost all the selectable characters in "True Sister Annihilation" were young girls, and they would even have their clothes torn off if they took a certain amount of damage. If his classmates saw him playing this, his life as a normal person would probably be over...
And Asakura, after much deliberation, uttered two words.
"Whatever."
"This is forward, this is backward, press A for light attack, B for heavy attack, X for kick, Y for throw, the move list is here."
On the other side, Gokou briefly introduced the basic operations of the arcade machine to Asakura, then said confidently: "Alright, you've learned how to play 'True Sister Annihilation'. Now go and finish off that guy whose eyes are practically dead!"
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