After three days of part-time work, school, and part-time work, the long-awaited day to go to Satsuki Emerald Park arrived, although it is a little embarrassing to say.
“It’s only a short train ride away, but it still feels like my ‘hometown’ over here.”
I muttered to myself as I walked out of the station and looked around.
I still come here from time to time, but every time I do, I feel like I’ve come home. I’ve lived in this area longer than in the other one, so it’s only natural.
The bus would take us from here to Emepa, so we decided to wait in the shade for the bus to arrive.
“It’s a vacation, maybe we’ll meet someone.”
“Yeah. I guess so.”
If someone finds me when I’m alone, I don’t think anything of it, and I’m sure they don’t think anything of it either, but today, in addition to Keiichi, there are two beautiful girls with me. I am notorious for my dislike of women, and if my male friends find out about it, they will make fun of me.
“You don’t want to be discovered too much, do you?”
Saejima asks me, tilting her head with a vacant look on her face as Keiichi and I talk. Next to her, Kohinata was also staring up at me.
Both of them were dressed in clothes that would not be a problem even if they were running around, and they looked like they were ready to have fun. They had put on sunscreen, too.
“Well, ……, I don’t know. Anyone I know who is halfway decent enough to speak ill of me has probably forgotten about me and is probably not interested in me.”
If they are at the same school, they might start a rumor, but they can’t get excited about a guy from another high school they haven’t seen in a year. They were listening to me with a satisfied look on their faces, and I continued, “But,” I said.
“If a good friend of mine finds out, some people will come in and attack me. It’s an unusual situation for me to be with a girl.”
It’s sad to say myself, but it’s true.
Especially if Kaoru or Kaoru or Kaoru or Kaoru or Kaoru finds out about it, I’ll be shoved
And Yu, who would be working with Kaoru, is not the kind of guy who would stop that.
Keiichi also had two people I was picturing in my mind, and he muttered, “Kaoru and Yuu, huh?”
“They both said they’d like to see Kohinata and Saejima, so they’ll definitely get involved.”
“Huh? Did you already tell him about Kohinata and the others?”
“That’s right. The two were also helping Tomoki overcome his difficulties, so they would want to know the progress. When I told them that the four of us were going to Emepa, they were very surprised.”
I thought, “I’ll just tell them when I see them,” but apparently Keiichi had already reported it without my knowledge. I didn’t mean to keep it a secret, but I’ll send a chat …… later to explain myself.
Kaoru and Yu, like Keiichi, have been friends since elementary school and are still close friends who come to my apartment to play. The reason I have four controllers in my house is because of their visits, and most of the games are brought to me by Yu. The last time I saw them was before I moved up to second grade, so I haven’t told them about Kohinata yet.
As Keiichi had said, they were very supportive in helping me overcome my difficulties, and in junior high school they even defended me when I was about to be surrounded by several girls.
When I was in elementary school, I was in the opposite position, so I assume they are trying to repay me for that.
“Well, as you can imagine, I won’t be seeing them once I go to Emepa. I’ve never heard of them having girlfriends, and it’s hard to imagine two guys going to Green Park by themselves.”
I said in a matter-of-fact tone, and Saejima said, “That’s true!” and Kohinata nodded her head in approval.
However, only Keiichi
“Ah, yes. Probably. If those guys weren’t worried about what to do on their day off, ……”
He was saying this in a lowly, unsure tone.
☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆
A bus ride away and we came to Emerald Park.
We paid the 100 yen admission fee and walked through the entrance gate with several other families.
I knew that we were the only group of high school students. Most of them were families with kindergarten and elementary school children.
The population density is not that high due to the large area of the site, but there are still quite a lot of people. Some of them even brought their own play equipment, leisure sheets, and even a big parasol.
“It’s not hot or painful, so you can hold it like a normal person.”
I say this to Kohinata, who is pinching the little finger of my right hand. She hesitates a little, but squeezes my little finger just like before. Neither Keiichi nor Saejima said anything in particular, just looking on as if it were a matter of course.
“For now, let’s find a nice shady spot, spread out the leisure sheet and put our luggage on it! It’s bad that you have to carry my stuff all the time.”
I was carrying a set of playthings, and Keiichi was carrying the lunch boxes that Saejima and the others had prepared. Kohinata is carrying a leisure sheet and Saejima is carrying a water bottle, so it’s not like we’re the only ones who have to carry the load.
Feeling Kohinata’s pinky finger twitching, I spoke to all of them.
“Yes, that’s right. Let’s eat the food that Saejima and the others have cooked for us and decide what to do first. It’s impossible to play everything in one day, so we’ll have to make some choices.”
“If we play too late, we won’t be able to see the ball or anything, so we’ll have to think about the order in which we play.”
“Yeah! That’s true!”
“………… (kokukoku).”
While talking like this, the four of us walked on the lawn, looking around and keeping our eyes peeled for a good spot.
Hmmm, I guess the shade of the trees is popular, or the places are already occupied. It might be difficult to get a shady spot – I thought as I walked along,
“Noooooooo–Uu, Geho geho-Nooooo!!”
I could hear children shouting in a choked voice.
It wasn’t really noisy because there were many children screaming, but I couldn’t help but be drawn to the sound of a very loud voice mixed in with the high pitched voices before the voice change. It sounded familiar, but it must have been my imagination.
“…………”
Ahead of my eyes, I saw a man about 6 feet tall and very stout, running around with a piece of octopus string. On the end of the string was a huge octopus with the words “I have conquered my weakness!” was drawn on the end of the string, and a huge octopus was flying around in the sky in all directions. Behind the man, several children were running with him, laughing and giggling.
The man’s hair was bleached blonde, and his disheveled clothes and hair color gave him the appearance of a delinquent. Nearby was a small, dark-haired man who was laughing and filming the scene with his phone, as well as what appeared to be the children’s parents.
I want to …… turn around and pretend I didn’t see them. I glanced at Keiichi and saw that this guy was also looking at me and had an awkward expression on his face. Then Keiichi scratched his cheek and chuckled, saying, “Sorry.”
That’s the kind of reaction I’d expect.
It was you who leaked the information to Kaoru and Yu that we were going to Emepa!
