"Recently, it seems Yuria has been going alone to the arcade in the neighboring town on Wednesdays. She's always so dull on Wednesdays!"
Upon hearing from Airi about the timing when Ichinose would be alone, I took the train to the station in the neighboring town after school.
I didn't particularly care about the meaning behind Ichinose's words. Still, Airi seemed to dislike the strained relationship between me and Ichinose.
Well, it's uncomfortable to be disliked by Ichinose in class like this so I wanted to clear things up.
"Yuria always wants to be with someone, so it's unusual for her to go alone. I wonder what she's going there for. I'm a bit worried."
(But honestly, I don't care about that…)
Could it be that Airi is cleverly trying to scout out what Ichinose is doing alone, using me…?
(Am I overthinking this?)
With mixed feelings, I made my way to the large arcade inside the commercial facility near the station in the neighboring town.
(Man, this arcade brings back memories.)
I used to come here a lot when I was in elementary school.
Since my mother used to go to the neighboring town weekly, I would accompany her and often play a certain arcade game here.
Although there are many memories here, if Ichinose is here, I want to find her quickly and accomplish my goal.
(Well, why would a gyaru come to the arcade? Probably just for the Purikura photo booth, right?)
With such prejudice in mind, I first headed towards the area where the Purikura booths were gathered.
"Is this… the Purikura corner?"
Recently, "cosplay photos" are popular among high school girls, so the Purikura Corner not only had Purikura booths but also a rental corner for cosplay.
Even though I often visit the local arcade, but maybe because the neighboring town is more urban, I didn't know there was such a corner.
"Wow! This pose is hilarious!"
"Let's cosplay next!"
"Okay, okay!"
The purikura corner was filled with bright-haired gyaru high school girls.
(This feels totally out of place for an introverted guy like me.)
But Ichinose should be here…
For a while after that, I wandered around the purikura booths like a pervert, keeping my eyes peeled.
… But.
"She's not here…"
I searched around the purikura corner, but there was no sign of Ichinose.
Come to think of it; she wouldn't enjoy the Purikura booths alone.
(If she just wanted to take photos at the Purikura booth, wouldn't she invite Airi or Kuroki?)
If Ichinose is lonely, she would be even more likely to invite those two.
Thinking like that, Ichinose must be at the arcade alone because there's something she can't talk to those two about, right?
"Ugh… I don't get it."
Why do I have to think so much about this?
Whatever. I'm done. None of this matters anymore.
I'll tell Airi tomorrow that she wasn't here.
(I came to the neighboring town and paid 160 yen for the train fare. Let's play around and then go home.)
Thinking that, I left the Purikura corner and headed to the UFO catcher corner.
"Come to think of it, I heard on SNS that a new figure of a pretty JK was in stock…"
Since I'm here, I'll get that figure from the UFO catcher and then go home—huh?
Just as I was about to turn the corner to the UFO catcher section, I noticed a familiar figure from behind.
Bright brown hair and a well-proportioned figure.
The moment I saw her ample chest and thighs peeking out from under her skirt, not inferior to Airi, I realized who she was.
(There she is! That chest and those thighs are unmistakable. It's Yuria Ichinose.)
Ichinose was playing the UFO catcher.
Coming to the arcade alone and playing the UFO catcher… Isn't that just like what an introvert would do?
I hid behind another UFO catcher and observed her.
"…Darn. It's not going well at all." She murmured.
She seems to be having quite a hard time.
After a while, Ichinose took a 1000 yen bill from her wallet and went to the change machine.
(I've been watching her for about ten turns since I found her. What does she want that badly?)
After Ichinose left to exchange money, I could see the prize of the UFO catcher she had been playing for...
"Huh? No way… This can't be true…"