Saturday finally arrived for our little phone shopping trip.
"Do I really have to come along?" Ayaka complained as we made our way to the meeting spot.
"Yes, yes," I replied. "This is our first meeting with the club members. It's already rare for a non-sports club to recruit members from the other campus, so weekends are the perfect time to meet up."
To be honest, I wasn't entirely sure how I managed to pull this off. Inviting Haruka-san was one thing, but bringing a member from their middle school department was unheard of. I really wanted Ayaka to help with my operations, so I suggested the idea to Shiori-senpai. Surprisingly, she agreed and assured me that she would take care of the rest.
When we arrived at the meeting spot, I found Mocha-san along with Aria-san and her maid waiting by the bench in the town square.
Mocha-san's eyes lit up when she saw me approaching, clearly relieved to no longer bear the tense atmosphere alone with Aria-san.
"You guys arrived early," I commented, noticing that Mei had also arrived before us. We were five minutes early.
You were just slow," Aria-san retorted, though she was secretly pleased that we arrived on time.
"Sure, sure," I replied, feeling a bit annoyed by her tone.
Just then, I felt someone tapping me on the shoulder from behind. When I turned around, I felt a finger poking at my cheek. There stood Haruka-san, wearing a disguise—complete with a cap, glasses, and hair extensions, as was typical for her incognito mode.
"YaHallo~" Haruka-san cheerfully greeted, sticking her tongue out as if to say, "I got you."
"H-Haruka-san?" I exclaimed, pretending to be surprised by her unexpected appearance.
She playfully shushed me, chuckling. "That's quite a reaction."
What Haruka-san didn't realize was that I was only pretending to be surprised. By acting oblivious to the ambush, I was putting on a facade of weakness to conceal my secretly strong persona.
"Seems like everyone is here," Aria-san said as she stood up from the bench, ready to leave. "Let's go," she ordered. As she stood in front of Haruka-san, she introduced herself, "By the way, I'm Aria Tamami. Nice to meet you." She smiled confidently—a superficial smile that Haruka-san was all too familiar with.
"Likewise," Haruka-san smiled, returning the same superficial expression.
While there I was, clueless, in Mocha-san's eyes, sparks were flying between Aria-san and Haruka-san, contrasting their outward smiles. Mocha-san thought to herself, 'I hope nothing too serious happens...'
With all members assembled, we headed off together towards the shopping district.
**[At the Shopping District]**
As we approached the tech store, I struggled to choose a phone that fit my budget. Ignoring the specs, I picked up the cheapest option available. I didn't want to dip into my shadow hero funds; as long as the phone could make calls and receive messages, I was fine with it. However, Aria-san chimed in, "How about this one? Everyone at my school has this brand and model," presenting the most expensive phone in the store and emphasizing why I should choose it..
"This one's twenty thousand yen cheaper, with almost the same specs and optimized for high-resolution photos for your social media," suggested Haruka-san, keeping my budget in mind and highlighting the social media aspect of the phone.
The two somehow found themselves competing over which phone to choose, but Ayaka intervened and picked a phone for me. "This one has a powerful processor for heavy gaming, is optimized for social media, has a long battery life, and a telephoto lens that captures depth," Ayaka pitched, presenting the perfect phone according to our budget. "It's ideal—not quite luxury but bordering on a flagship phone with its benchmarks."
"Alright, then I choose this one," I said, grabbing the phone Ayaka recommended because I trusted her judgment the most.
Next, we checked on Mocha-san to see how she was doing. "Found anything you liked?" I asked, noticing she was having trouble deciding.
With a defeated expression, Mocha-san sighed heavily, "Everything is just so expensive..."
"I know, right?" I agreed, also looking defeated, as this shopping trip was draining my hero in the shadows funds.
Aria-san, who overheard our conversation, cut in and tactlessly said, "If you like something, just buy it," without considering our financial situations.
Aria-san, who overheard our conversation, cut in and said tactlessly, "If you like something, just buy it." not considering our financial situations.
Mocha-san laughed awkwardly, "Haha. I think I'll save up some more to afford a higher-end one," knowing her budget couldn't even reach the midrange options.
You could say Mocha-san could have just chosen the cheaper options, but she wasn't willing to risk buying a low-quality phone that wouldn't last long. It was a policy she had learned from her parents regarding appliances and equipment in their store.
After checking out the phone I chose at the counter, we set off, wondering what to do with the remainder of our free time.
"So, what do we do now?" Haruka-san asked, looking for suggestions on how to spend the rest of our weekend hangout.
Ayaka's eyes lit up as if she had an epiphany. Our gazes met, and we simultaneously exclaimed, "The Arcade!" pointing at each other with enthusiasm.
**[At the Arcade]**
Wanting to show off to everyone, I chose a a game that includes swords, and if you guessed Beat Saber, then congratulations, you're right.
Choosing the hardest song possible, I swung the two virtual swords, not missing a beat as the continuous blocks came at me. So fast and numerous, but I flawlessly hit every box without missing a beat.
Haruka-san, Mocha-san, and Aria-san watched in awe at my impressive performance and swordsmanship. After the song finished, I took off the headset, noticing that people had started to gather around, clapping for my achievement of beating the hardest song in the mix. With the cheers flooding in, I glanced at my friends and gave them a smug look.
We then enjoyed a crane game, a racing game, a shooting game, basketball, whack-a-mole, and many more attractions to savor the moment. If there was a leaderboard, I would be in first place, Ayaka in second, Haruka-san in third, and Mocha-san and Aria-san battling for the last spot.
As we wandered through the arcade, trying to decide what to play next, Haruka-san passed by a specific game. "Dance Dance Revolution?" I remarked, noticing it had caught her attention.
"How about it?" I taunted her, feeling that this was the game she secretly wanted to play.
"No, no. I shouldn't," Haruka-san declined, thinking it's inappropriate for a pro to showcase her talents in arcade games. Plus, she was incognito right now, so she didn't want to draw too much attention to herself.
"Chicken," I teased, as if encouraging her not to overthink it.
"Okay, maybe just one," she finally agreed, giving in to my playful provocations.
The music started, and we both showed impressive footwork. Every command and turn was executed in sync, and not a single beat was missed. Haruka-san found herself enjoying every step she took, and I was glad for the competition.
We both finished with perfect scores displayed on our screens, ending in a draw.
"That was fun," Haruka-san smiled in satisfaction as she sat on a bench, and I handed her a bottled water.
"Wanna try Beat Saber next?" I asked, noticing her interest in rhythm games.
"Sorry, I'll pass," she declined, thinking our group had already gathered a decent amount of attention.
Before we knew it, we all felt hungry. It was already lunchtime.
...
As we headed off to a nearby fast-food chain for lunch, Ayaka and I went up to the counter to place our orders while Haruka-san and the others saved our seats.
"It's nice spending time like this," Haruka-san murmured to herself, reflecting on the fun we were having in the moment.
"Me too!" Mocha-san quickly added, eager to join the conversation after having been quiet for a while.
Out of nowhere, Aria-san boasted, "Just so you know, I won the crane game!" She sounded as if it were a competition.
"Eh~ But Aria-san kept pouring in money until the claw finally dropped something," Haruka-san teased, downplaying Aria-san's minor victory by pointing out her many attempts.
A bit offended, Aria-san flustered and argued, "A win is a win! It doesn't matter how much you spend; it's about how much you tried and succeeded!" She defended herself.
Mei-san chimed in, "Aria-sama, that sounds like something someone with gambling problems would say."
"S-Shut up! This just shows how resilient I am!" Flustered, Aria-san turned to Mocha-san, who was quietly sitting beside her. "Hey, you! Back me up."
"Eh?! Um. How?!" Mocha-san replied, flustered and unsure of how to respond to the sudden request.
"I don't know. Just say something," Aria-san muttered, equally at a loss for words.
Mocha-san's mind went blank, and she blurted out, "S-Something!"
Looking a little annoyed, Aria-san retorted, "Oh, suddenly you're a comedian. Ha."
"N-No, that's not what I meant—" Just as Mocha-san started to make excuses, Haruka-san giggled from the corner, catching the attention of the two.
"What's so funny?" Aria-san frowned, feeling like she was being laughed at.
"Ah, no, it's just that you two seem so close," Haruka-san clarified, trying to ease any misunderstandings.
"Ha?" Aria-san raised an eyebrow, wondering what Haruka-san could be talking about.
Mocha-san seized the moment and boldly proclaimed, "O-Of course we are! W-We work in the same café... We, we're friends!" In her mind, she thought, 'This way, I can change my label from rival to just friends,' as she confidently delivered her words.
Aria-saan, going bashful with those words. "Friends, huh"
Mocha-san noticed that Aria-san had gone silent and was unable to look her in the eye. 'Could I have offended her somehow?' she thought.
Soon after, Ayaka and I returned to the table with our orders.