Chapter 58: Damn Straight Man!

Chapter 58: Damn Straight Man!

When Yatsuno Gen pushed her out of the overcrowded subway station, he lowered his head and smiled at the girl.

“Isn’t the outside world not that scary?”

Kiyono Mitsuki’s face was a little red, but she refused to admit defeat.

“Then what were you about to do just now? Were you going to teach that child a lesson?”

“If it’s a spoiled brat, then of course I have to teach them a lesson.”

Yatsuno Gen answered as if it were only natural, then revealed a regretful expression.

“What a pity. It was a rare chance to save a beauty like a hero. Why did he have to be a good kid?”

“Pfft... You’re even feeling sorry about it. Alright, why did you bring me here?”

After they left the subway station and saw the crowded streets, Kiyono Mitsuki also knew where Yatsuno Gen had brought her.

Natsuhara District.

The entire street was filled with fashionable young people, along with countless anime merchandise and derivative shops.

Arcades and game centers were naturally indispensable too.

Everywhere, staff members wearing mascot costumes of iconic anime characters could be seen greeting customers.

It would not be an exaggeration to call it the most youthful and energetic district in Shoujitsu.

Yatsuno Gen looked around and said, “Mm, let me think. Where should we start playing...”

“What can I even play like this?”

Although what happened on the subway had made her lower her guard and temporarily open her heart,

looking at so many youthful, beautiful young men and women still made her feel ashamed of herself.

“What’s wrong with how you are? I’m not going to make you play Dance Dance Revolution.”

“Dance Dance Revolution? You really thought of that! Why not have me go clubbing in my wheelchair?”

“Do you want to go clubbing?”

“I want your head!”

“Then do you know how to play arcade games?”

Yatsuno Gen asked.

“Arcade games?”

Kiyono Mitsuki froze for a moment.

“I played before... My dad used to take me to play Street Fighter and things like that. At first, he played with great enthusiasm, but later, he couldn’t beat me anymore.”

When she spoke of her father, a trace of nostalgia appeared on Kiyono Mitsuki’s face.

Some things had passed long ago, and some people were no longer here, but forgetting was the true disappearance. She was very glad that she still remembered those things clearly.

“Street Fighter? Interesting. Come on, spar with me for a few rounds.”

Kiyono Mitsuki raised her head and looked at the boy.

“If I beat you, won’t you lose face?”

“Are you planning to go easy on me or something?”

“Maybe I really will need to go easy on you.”

“Come on! If you can beat me, I’ll give you my head.”

“Who wants your head?”

“If you don’t want the big head, do you want the little head?”

“What’s the little head?”

Yatsuno Gen directly pushed Kiyono Mitsuki forward at full speed, making Kiyono Mitsuki remember the time when she had gone to an amusement park to ride go-karts as a child. Who pushed a wheelchair this fast? There was no seatbelt on it either!

But there was no danger at all. Yatsuno Gen’s control over his strength was perfect.

Not only did he quickly push the girl into the game center, he also snatched a seat with sharp eyes and quick hands.

“Playing games only needs both hands, not both feet. You know that, right?”

When the boy held the controller and turned his head to look at Kiyono Mitsuki,

Kiyono Mitsuki narrowed her eyes.

“What do you mean?”

“Very simple. In games, you’re not disabled. I won’t go easy on you.”

“Do you think I’ll be happy with you saying disabled over and over?”

“I’m giving you desensitization therapy. Desensitization, understand?”

“I haven’t heard much about desensitization, but I have heard that boys really like saying they’re sensitive and things like that...”

“...Wait, what you write is light novels, not erotic novels, right? Hey! Why did it start already? Sneak attack, huh?”

“Hahahahaha, falling for such a little trick. What an idiot!”

In the game center, it seemed no one played more enthusiastically than this young man and woman. It even made people wonder whether, if not for the wheelchair, this girl would have jumped up.

And reality proved that Yatsuno Gen really did not treat her as a disabled person.

He did not even treat her as a person.

The boy, who picked up everything quickly and whose life seemed easy enough to hold in the palm of his hand, used all kinds of different characters and executed all kinds of dazzling moves, beating Kiyono Mitsuki until she could no longer tell north from south.

In the end, the girl clutched her chest.

“Wait, wait... You’re about to give me high blood pressure. I’m not playing, I’m not playing anymore!”

“Noob. You couldn’t beat me even when I let you sneak attack. Now you know how strong I am, right?”

Kiyono Mitsuki glared testily at the boy who seemed very excited.

This damn straight man!

He was usually so gentle, so how did he not know to go easy on a girl when playing games?

Did bullying me give him that much sense of achievement?

The passersby watching from the side could not help giving Yatsuno Gen a thumbs-up and sighing emotionally.

“Bro, you’re really something.”

If nothing else, this was their first time seeing someone treat his girlfriend like an enemy when playing against her.

As Yatsuno Gen pushed Kiyono Mitsuki out of the game center, he was still boasting.

“Without exaggerating, I feel that if I focused on arcade games, I could conquer the entire Natsuhara District in two days.”

Kiyono Mitsuki said testily, “Fine, fine, fine. You’re amazing, okay? Where are we going now?”

The fact that she said this naturally meant she did not want to go home yet. It was not only because the time she spent with this boy was precious, but also because she had finally felt that appearing in other people’s sight like this did not seem like anything particularly special.

Some things seemed serious if one only thought about them without doing them. But once she truly experienced them, it seemed there was nothing to fear.

Besides, being beside him felt very safe.

“Then let’s keep walking around. I can give you another chance.”

“What chance?”

“There are claw machines over there. Want to see who can grab more?”

“But from my angle, I feel like I’ll be at a disadvantage compared to you.”

“Oh, earlier you were terrified of others treating you as disabled, and now you’re already using this to negotiate?”

“Hmph.”

Kiyono Mitsuki’s cheeks reddened slightly.

“I’m just emphasizing fairness and justice.”

“Then there’s no helping it.”

Yatsuno Gen sighed in distress.

“How about I hold you while you grab dolls?”

“...No need. Sitting in the wheelchair is very fair.”

The girl, who soon experienced the claw machines, proved that her skills were quite good. At the very least, she was at the level of an ordinary person. Her angle did not create any problem.

But when it came to Yatsuno Gen, things became somewhat ridiculous.

His frequency far surpassed that of ordinary people, and the packed claw machine was almost half emptied by him.

Yatsuno Gen had not been operating for long before the claw machine shop’s staff came to check the machine three times.

Damn.

Was something wrong with the claw?

Why did it seem like it was a strong claw every single time in this boy’s hands?

When Kiyono Mitsuki saw more and more staff members standing around the two of them, she felt a little embarrassed.

She tugged at Yatsuno Gen.

“Alright... Stop grabbing. That’s about enough.”

Yatsuno Gen did not seem to feel it.

“What do you mean, about enough? The claw machine still isn’t empty.”

Kiyono Mitsuki:???

This person was rotten from head to toe!

After much persuasion, she finally got Yatsuno Gen to leave the claw machine shop while hugging a huge bag of plush toys. The faces of several staff members, especially the manager’s, had nearly turned green.

The manager scrutinized the staff members who seemed to want to explain and said,

“I suspect a traitor has appeared among us. Otherwise, explain to me what’s going on with the claw. If not, tomorrow I’ll put you in the claw machine as dolls.”

At first, Kiyono Mitsuki had thought that if Yatsuno Gen pushed her through streets and alleys like this, his enthusiasm would gradually fade and he would feel tired. But nothing like that seemed to happen at all.

He pushed her forward at a brisk pace. Their passage through the streets could not even be described as strolling. It was practically street sweeping.

It seemed he wanted to take her into every shop to see what was inside.

He charged without restraint into anime shops filled with gloomy otaku, chubby otaku, and sunny otaku. Whether it was light novels, manga, or photo books, he could pick them up without any scruples and take a look, even asking for her opinion.

But precisely because Yatsuno Gen behaved without caring about other people’s gazes, she saw another side of these groups who seemed to be described by the outside world as very gloomy.

They did not care whether she was sitting in a wheelchair, or what hidden circumstances she had.

They would only walk over shyly and cautiously, then carefully ask, “Does this big sister have a livestream or anything like that? Could you tell me the livestream address? I’ll become her loyal fan! Can we take a photo together?”

Yatsuno Gen would tell them with righteous seriousness, “Sorry, she’s my diehard fan. You can take photos with me, but forget about taking them with her, because I’m worried you’ll use her photo to do strange things.”

“Handsome guy, you’re really funny, hahahaha... If that doesn’t work, the three of us taking a photo together is fine too.”

“Men stand on my side for the photo. Girls can stand beside her.”

Kiyono Mitsuki did not know where Yatsuno Gen came up with these outrageous moves. The key was that when he had something to say, he really dared to say it.

He did not worry at all that others might feel offended.

But thanks to Yatsuno Gen, the girl, who did not want to make this weekend seem so interesting, never stopped smiling, and even both sides of her cheeks were slightly sore.

At noon, Yatsuno Gen even pushed Kiyono Mitsuki to a maid cafe.

Kiyono Mitsuki asked Yatsuno Gen curiously, “If you came to a place like this alone, wouldn’t you be able to enjoy all the services more?”

Yatsuno Gen told her with righteous conviction, “How could I come alone without feeling embarrassed? Only by coming with you do I have a proper reason, and I won’t make people think I’m a sexually repressed otaku.”

Kiyono Mitsuki:???

Why did she want to curse so much? She could not stand up, but that did not mean she was a tool!

In the end, in front of a figure shop, after repeated requests from a staff member in a Pikachu mascot costume, they took a group photo.

And it was also at this moment that Kiyono Mitsuki took the initiative to take out her phone and hand it to that staff member.

“Could you help take one of us?”

This seemed to be the only thing missing from this outing, and the boy did not refuse.

He stood beside Kiyono Mitsuki, holding the handle of her wheelchair, with a warm, sunlit smile.

And at this moment, Kiyono Mitsuki also forgot the fact that she could not stand up. Her smile was clear and clean.

She thought that in the future, she would surely forget many things. Perhaps in the future, her legs would recover, and perhaps they would not.

It was even possible that this boy would not remain by her side either, and would instead run toward a better life.

But she should remember this day forever.

The little happiness found in days of suffering was not merely finding joy amid bitterness.

When they went through the long subway ride and returned to the entrance of the residential complex in the afternoon,

Kiyono Mitsuki, who had already been talking and laughing, her mood relaxed to the point of feeling somewhat tired, saw a figure standing beside a car at the entrance of the residential complex.

As they approached the person, she gradually recognized him.

“Uncle Sato?”

This middle-aged man in a suit and tie, wearing a pair of gold-rimmed glasses and looking very refined and proper, walked over with a smile.

He seemed to directly ignore Yatsuno Gen behind her.

He only looked at the girl, his expression gentle and amiable.

“Mitsuki, long time no see.”