They left as soon as they decided.
The three departed the classroom together and headed toward the school gate.
All the students they passed were entering school. Only Natsuki's group of three was going against the flow, inevitably drawing many curious looks.
"Oh my, it feels like we're skipping class. How exciting."
Chika looked left and right. Her steps were light, her eyes lively—like a little deer about to leave the zoo for the forest.
How is this exciting?
Come to school without wearing underwear tomorrow—now that would be truly exciting!
"Kaguya-chan, have you ever skipped class?" Chika looked at her friend beside her.
"No."
Kaguya had already calmed down. Her hands were folded and placed over her lower abdomen. Her walking posture was quite elegant.
The aura of "Ice Princess Kaguya" was fully activated. Wherever she passed, everyone retreated to give her space. No one dared approach.
"Huh, I heard that a school life without ever skipping class is an incomplete life."
Kaguya's tone was cool. "Has Fujiwara-san skipped class?"
"Hmph hmph hmph." Chika put her hands on her hips and proudly lifted her chin upon hearing this. "I skipped one P.E. class. It was last summer. The P.E. teacher had us running laps on the field. The weather was just too hot. I only ran one lap before hiding in a corner."
Kaguya looked at her friend beside her. A smile of caring for small animals appeared on her face:
"Fujiwara-san is so cute~"
Natsuki nodded in agreement, then silently increased his distance from the two girls.
Scientific research has shown that stupidity is contagious.
Spending too much time with an idiot won't turn the idiot into a smart person. Rather, you're more likely to be assimilated into an idiot yourself.
"Natsuki, why are you so far away from us?"
Chika quickly noticed Natsuki sneakily increasing the distance and hurriedly asked.
"Because Fujiwara-san is too popular."
"Huh?"
Natsuki's tone was eerie: "Walking with Fujiwara-san, I'll immediately get secretly photographed, then end up on tabloid headlines. After school, boys who secretly admire Fujiwara-san will corner me in an alley. I'll end up with broken bones in the hospital. So I need to keep my distance."
"That's way too exaggerated!"
"..."
The three soon left the school.
Ten minutes later.
Natsuki brought the two girls to a game center and stopped, saying:
"This is the place."
Japan was the birthplace of arcade games.
In the 1980s and 1990s, arcade games exploded from Japan to take the world by storm. Unfortunately, with technological progress, the glory of arcade games quickly faded. They were now in their twilight years, about to be swept into the museum of history.
However, in Japan, the arcade game industry hadn't completely died out. Though it was similarly in decline, it still had a large player base.
"The game center is on the second floor."
Natsuki pointed at the nearby stairway and led Chika and Kaguya up the stairs.
Reaching the second floor and turning the corner, they were greeted by various game posters covering the entire wall—a dazzling array of games of all types. On both sides were many claw machines and gacha machines.
"It's unexpectedly clean." Chika curiously observed the environment. "I thought there would be lots of people, with the room all dark and scary like a little black room."
That's a stereotype. The gaming industry is part of the service industry. The basic requirement is cleanliness and hygiene. A dirty, messy little black room wouldn't attract any customers.
Because it was still early, there were very few players in the game center. It was quite quiet.
Passing by a gaming area, Chika's eyes suddenly lit up. She looked at a girl wearing a helmet and holding motion controllers. On the large screen in front of the girl was an underwater treasure-hunting game. Chika asked curiously:
"Ooh, what game is that?"
"That's the VR game experience area." Natsuki looked over. "The equipment at game centers is much better than home VR. The experience is quite good."
"I want to play."
Chika clasped her hands before her chest, eyes sparkling.
"We'll talk about that when we have time." Natsuki led the two girls to an arcade cabinet and started the machine. "There are many types of games here—adventure, racing, cards, music, Taiko no Tatsujin, and so on... Our target is fighting games."
The machine successfully started, displaying the classic Street Fighter 4 screen.
"To be safe, it's best if both players choose the same character." Natsuki explained the basic button functions and controls, then stood up and moved the stool aside. "Give it a try."
Kaguya and Chika sat down on either side.
"You can insert coins now." Natsuki reminded them.
"Insert what?"
"There's a coin slot by your legs. Put coins in there. One hundred yen."
"Oh."
Chika lowered her head and began rummaging. "Huh? Where's my wallet?"
Kaguya said flatly: "You left it in your bag at school, didn't you?"
"That's right." Chika made a fist and bonked herself on the head, then looked over with big, dewy eyes like a little deer. "Natsuki, I left in such a hurry I forgot my wallet."
"..."
Natsuki sighed and silently handed over a hundred-yen coin.
Seeing Kaguya staring straight at him, Natsuki couldn't help asking: "Did you forget your wallet too?"
"I didn't forget." Kaguya crossed her right arm over her chest, her voice cool. "I never bring money when I go out."
As expected of a super-rich young lady. She actually goes out without even bringing money!
"Then how do you get to school?"
"The driver picks me up and drops me off."
"What about lunch?"
"The chef specially delivers a bento at noon."
"..."
Truly an evil capitalist.
Natsuki silently handed Kaguya a hundred-yen coin. "Please accept this, milady."
The corners of Kaguya's pink lips curved upward for just an instant. She accepted the coin and inserted it into the machine.
With Natsuki's help, the two girls quickly finished selecting their characters and officially entered the battle screen.
"Kaguya-chan, let's duel!" Chika sat up straight, her expression serious. "I won't hold back."
"Bring it on."
"..."
For fairness, both girls chose Cammy. After Natsuki explained the character's combo techniques, he stood behind them to spectate.
Both girls were playing an arcade game for the first time. With zero prior experience, their gameplay was naturally quite clumsy. Watching them, Natsuki silently gave them a rating of "kindergarten-level combat."
Without exaggeration, he could take on ten of them.
"I lost..." Watching her character cough up blood and collapse on screen, Chika let out a soft breath. "What an exhilarating battle."
Exhilarating it was not, but it was certainly entertaining to watch.
"How did it go?"
Natsuki looked at Kaguya.
A clear spark of brightness appeared in the ice sculpture girl's beautiful eyes. She nodded slightly. "The hundred kills successfully gained one point of progress."
"We can finally complete the task." Chika became happy along with her, her voice bright. "Kaguya-chan, let's keep dueling."
A moment later.
"The task progress is still at one percent." Kaguya lightly propped her chin on her right hand, analyzing the possibilities. "Each person can probably only provide one point of progress. Repeated defeats don't count... Natsuki, you play."
Natsuki's tone was peculiar. "You really want me to play?"
"What?"
"You'll lose."
"Natsuki's confidence is admirable."