The last meesage was sent exactly 5 minutes after the previous one.

After confirming that it had been read, I bring up the keypad on the screen and tried to write a reply immediately.

“Oh, you’re going out to play.”

The moment I touch the screen, a voice came from near my head.

Satsuki Shijouin is looking at the screen with a cheerful face, putting her rich breast on the back of Kyouichirou’s head.

“Don’t you know to not peek at other’s phone without permission?”

Kyouichirou stared unapprovingly at Satsuki while putting his mobile phone in his pocket.

“What is this elementary schooler saying. It’s supervision of course, supervision. I don’t know what kind of misconduct you might be doing elsewhere.”

Recently, Satsuki seemed to act more and more dubiously. She talked and laughed a lot more, and she even stroked Kyouichirou’s head while grinning.

You probably won’t be able to imagine that she is someone who had been trying to push a dildo into her ass hole a while ago, just looking at her appearance. Her completely disheveled appearance from earlier is now back to that of the respectable student council president.

“But, it’s a bit surprising. You have a friend you could play with on a holiday with. Tsubasa-kun, He’s a good boy I’m sure,”

“I have lots of friends you know. Why, do I look like a lonely person to you?”

Kyouichirou hesitates to move his head away when he felt the weight of Satsuki’s chest coming down from on top.

“That’s not it, I simply think that you’re a little precocious, and cunning, not exactly the right definition of an elementary school student. Just think about it.”

“Oh, I got to know them through bokemon. This one. I have a lot of friends.”

I exaggeartedly push up Satsuki’s chest with both hands. Satsuki, who is starteld by the action stand up straight to excuse herself.

“Bokemon? Oh, that game is still in service. It’s been there since I was in elementary school. What’s so interesting about it?”

Kyouichirou also stood up straight. He looked back while his breathing gets a little rougher.

“It’s takes time to do it really well. You have to carefully select your monsters, and it requires about half a month before one becomes strong enough.”

“In other words, it’s a complete waste of time. Well, you are an elementary school student. I am someone who believes a student should be studying. And playing outside is also a study for you so, all is well.”

My hobbies are laughed at right in front of me and I feel annoyed about it. Kyouichirou knew from experience, however, that it is useless to say anything to a girl like her.

What this Satsuki, a junior high school student, is saying is like one you would hear from a nagging mother.

“I’m ignoring you. Wait, what do you usually do after school?”

Speaking of which, I do not know of anything about the girl named Satsuki Shijouin. Kyouichirou thought so and suddenly became interested.

“After school? Well, the student council work usually goes around till 6 o’clock. Sometimes, I’ll take a break with you, but I usually went straight home. That’s usually how my days goes.”

Satsuki puts both hands on her chin and tells him that as if it’s the most natural way to spend one’s time after school.

“Eh? Then what did you usually do on your days off?”

Notwithstanding, Kyouichirou continues to ask Satsuki. He had a bad premonition about it though.

“I had some lessons outside until second grade, but I quit when I was third grade. In addition, it is important to go out sometimes, so I visited the library to study there. Sometimes I go to a coffee shop. But I never stayed too long, and after grabbing a snack I’m back at the library again. ”

Kyouichirou is listening to Satsuki’s words as if it was completely incomprehensible. That’s how incredibly stupid he though her story is.”

“Isn’t that stupid? The spring of your youth, you junior high school days are almost over you know.……Wow, I feel a little sorry for you President. I’m appalled.”

Kyouichirou move away a little from Satsuki as he suddenly wondered if his attitude might irritate her, and yes, he most certainly do.

“How rude. What are you saying to a girls? Get this. How hard you worked as a student will determine what will happen to you in your life. Those who are playing around will have have an appropriate future too. Remember that.”

Bursting out without a pause, as if a parent is scolding her child. Kyouichirou saw Satsuki pride, and noticed something obvious he should have notice earlier.

Satsuki is still just a junior high school student.

“…Haa. That’s not true President. Of course it’s important to study. However, what heights you reached in your life depends on how much you do, and what you can actually do.”

Just how should I explain this so she understands? Stupid things, nice things, good, bad, things you don’t even know if they would ever come in handy. It is the child’s task to experience various things and learn from them. This includes studying, of course, but that’s just one out of many things to do.

“Now, now, don’t talk about things you don’t even understand. You’re so twisted at such a young age already that I’m worried about your future.”

It seems, however, that Kyouichirou’s heartfelt words do not reach Satsuki. No wonder. It is difficult to change the minds of a girl her age, and not only that, Kyouichirou’s current looks is not all that persuasive.

“……Nー alright then! President, would you follow me for a bit after school today?”

Kyouichirou clapped his hands and stared at Satsuki. Satsuki looked back at him with her eyebrows raised in mild approval.

_______________________________________________________________

“Where are you taking me? I’m in my uniform too. Besides that, you and I are neither lovers nor friends.”

Satsuki was pouting her lips while looking around the area.

Currently, Kyouichiro and Satsuki are walking in an arcade district near the school. In this age, it is still a vibrant shopping street. There were students in various uniforms here and there.

“So you’re saying we only have a physical relationship? That’s cold. I’m hurt.”

Kyouichirou makes a disappointed remark, spreading his hands out exaggeratedly. In fact, his heart really does hurt a little.

A month has already passed since he had been with Satsuki, but the number of times he had unravel Satsuki’s elementary school years like today is surprisingly few, despite the passionate time they spent every time that is.

To Satsuki, her interactions with Kyouichirou is purely just to distract herself from reality. For this reason, she avoid investing more than a certain amount of emotion in ther relationship.

That’s fine and all, but Satsuki is already a candidate for Kyouichirou’s harem. He wants to cherish his everyday interactions with her, and so, he absolutely can’t overlook the fact that she’s thinking too simply of their relationship.

“…I’m grateful to you. You keep up with my antics and didn’t tell anyone about it. However, I don’t think it’s good for us to get too close. I like the current relationship we have.”

Satsuki muttered while walking in the crowd.

“I thought otherwise though. I want to get closer to President. I’m already doing that, but I think I want to be more than a friend to you.”

Kyouichirou does not turn around. He understand what Satsuki is saying and he can understand her feelings.

“Here it is. You’ve never been here, right?”

However, he is worried about her.

_______________________________________________________________

“Is this a game center?”

Satsuki’s eyebrows rose.

“I’ve been wondering where you’ll be taking me… Unlike you, I’m in my uniform. You can play here but……wait, wait?”

He push on Satsuki’s back as she just stood at the entrance.

“You’re overthinking. Look, there’s a lot of people in uniform. It’s okay.”

Should I say, ‘as expected of a student council president?’ Her inflexible way of thought is really troublesome.

However, once inside, Satsuki lost her adult-like demeanor. She walks with a bright face, and looks around brimming with interest. After all, she had never been to a place like this.

“It’s a more decent place than I’ve heard. I was imagining a place with ashtray and an unfriendly clamour all around.”

Satsuki looks like she’s a bit out of touch. How many years ago is the arcade store in her head from?

“It’s not like in the Showa era. There is a healthy community here.”

Kyouichirou cared for his favorite shops. There doesn’t seem to be anyone he knew here, so it is just the right place to bring the President on a date.

“Oh, I know this. UFO catcher. You get the prize if you can grab it.”

Satsuki stared into the glass box near the entrance.

“It’s pretty cute. Why did they give this stuffed animal a strangely crushed face? I don’t get it at all.”

In front of Satsuki, several stuffed animals like a yellow kappa lay. Certainly, it won the character popularity poll in a local area. Was it in Ehime prefecture? Kyouichirou won’t know about it if he haven’t watched TV more often recently.

“So, want this. Why don’t President-san try it? Look, it is about to fall conveniently.”

It seemed that it will drop easily given its current position. So, it seems that the prize can be scored in just one try.

” …You’re right. I’ve here anyway, and I’d feel bad for the store to leave without doing anything.”

After some thought, Satsuki took out her wallet from her bag. It is a pink leathered wallet.

“I just need to grab that doll. It will be easy.”

She spends a hundred yen and looks at the crane that has begun to move along with a cheerful music.

“This makes the arm go left, and this is makes the it go forward.”

Satsuki pressed the button surprisingly familiarly and moved the crane right over the stuffed animal.

“Look, it’s right on. This is easy.”

Satsuki looks back at Kyouichirou. She’s proud about it now but nevertheless, the prize hasn’t fallen yet.

“Look! I got it! Look! Look!”

Satsuki points at the stuffed animal that is yet to be won. Kyouichirou imagined what Satsuki’s expression would be like a few seconds later, and flashed a slightly mean smile.

Gakun.

The crane made such sound on impact as it reached the top. As a matter of course, the stuffed-doll fell straight back down.

“Wait, what the hell! It’s a scam! This isn’t right!”

Satsuki failed to catch the prey right in front of her. She’s terribly upset. Until a second ago, she had a very joyful expression too. Now she’s prattling like a child who just realise how cruel the world is.

“Ah, isn’t the strength of the arm too weak? It seems impossible to just raise to up.”

Then he called out to Satsuki while desperately trying to hold his laughter.

“The store obviously intenden for this. It’s a scam. There’s no way to get it ……You, what’s so funny? Right in front of you, right here, I just lost a 100 yen to a scam!”

Satsuki stares at Kyouichirou, who eventually leaked his laughter because he can’t hold it anymore. If he wait any longer, it seemed that she will go to complain to the store’s employees.

“No, no, President. Please, take a look.”

“Hey, stop it. You’ve seen it don’t you. It’s a waste of money.”

He put in a 100 yen coin right under Satsuki’s watch. Ahー Satsuki screams, but his attention is already on the controllers.

“Where are you aiming at? You’re too far left. You’re worse than me.”

“It’s fine, it’s fine.”

The crane stopped before the stuffed animal. It stood in a position where only its right arm will be hooked.

As expected, the crane grabbed the right arm of the stuffed animal.

Just like that, the it is dragged all the way into the goal.

“Eh, no way. Is that okay? It’s not a foul? It wasn’t lifted.”

“You just have to make it fall into the goal. You don’t have to actually lift it. Right, you can have this.”

After fetching the stuffed animal from the outlet, Kyouichirou handed it to Satsuki.

“Uh ……thank you.”

Satsuki receives it a little grumpily. However, she didn’t hide her joy and shyness about it.

“Even in this place, you have to use your brains. Everyone can play safely and happily.”

“And yet, they try to wring money from clueless beginners. It’s really ridiculous.”

Satsuki says grumpily at Kyouichirou’s declaration, and he stares at her as if imploring something of her.

“……I get it already. I’ll go out with you today. Let’s enjoy ourselves thoroughly.”

Satsuki gave up as if she could not bear the silent gaze of the little boy.

_______________________________________________________________

“Ahー that was fun, but now I’m hungry. It’s about time for dinner, right?”

Satsuki looked back at the arcade center where she had been playing so far, and stretch out her arms.

After all, they have been playing for the last two hours. Not only crane games, but also experiential games such as shooting and racing games.

He wanted to commemorate their day with a shot in the photo booth, but that was posponed for later when another opportunity arises as Satsuki proposed. Kyouichirou cared about the opinions of his women, so he abide.

“If President is good with it, let’s go eat. My treat.”

While walking side by side, Kyouichirou suggests to Satsuki. They were holding hands.

“I can’t afford to let an elementary schooler pay for me. Or rather, you have a lot of pocket money.”

Satsuki’s eyes as she stare at Kyouichirou contain a hit of suspicion. But there’s no way he can say he’s making money using his foreknowledge about the future.

That said, there isn’t much that can be done by the current Kyouichirou. At best, he can collect cards whose prize will go up in future. Most of them are still waiting for that, and are far being cashed out.

Currently his fund mainly comes from Bokemon. He raised strong characters and sold to the boys at school for around 500 to 1,000 yen per character. Kyouichirou is not likely to be banned from doing so because his area of activity is very localised.

“Well, that’s because I didn’t use my new year’s money at all. There’s still quite a bit left over too.”

“Hmm. Well, it’s good that you didn’t waste them. Use it with care.”

Satsuki was convinced by that, and she did ask any more about his money.

“It can’t be a place that’s too expensive, so why don’t we go to a store I frequent?”

“Fine by me. I don’t know this area well. So I’ll leave it to you.”

When Kyouichirou heard that, he pats his belly as it was about to release a growl.

_______________________________________________________________

“Oh, Kyou-kun. You’re with your sister today?”

The spirited voice of the shop owner echoes from over the counter.

“No way. Just look at us, we aren’t alike at all.”

Kyouichirou sat on the fixed red round chair and shouted, looking at Satsuki.

The store interior is quite greasy. with damp air, and the characteristic smell of something that’s boiled down.

Kyouichirou brought Satsuki to a certain ramen shop in the shopping district.

“Ooh, so this child, is this Kyou-kun’s girlfriend? No way, I really can’t underestimate you at all.”

The shopkeeper, who tied his head with a towel, laughs brightly and seriously appraise Satsuki.

“No, I’m just Kyouichirou-kun’s senpai.”

Satsuki sat down, confused as she suddenly got swept up with the flow of the two conversing.

“Well, that’s how it is. Shop owner, two bowls of ramen.”

Looking at Kyouichirou who ordered ramen so familiarly, Satsuki askes him in a low voice.

“Hey. Do you come here often?”

Satsuki looked around the store from a while ago, and was somewhat restless.

“It’s quite here. And has a nostalgic feel. What’s the matter President?”

This is one of the few places available for Kyouichirou to feel his previous life. He came here many times during his junior-high school and high school days. His joy when he found out that the store is already open now cannot be conveyed to anyone else.

“It’s not that. I’ve never been to a ramen store before. The shop has a nice feel to it.”

Satsuki stared at the shiny floor, and put her bag on her laps as she sat down.

“Eeーeh? You’re serious? You’ve never eaten ramen before?!”

Kyouichirou exclaimed in surprise while the shop owner seemed to have heard him.

“How unusual! I’m glad. To think this uncle’s ramen would be your first bowl of ramen. I will will make extra sure you would be delighted with it.”

The owner looks back at Satsuki with surprise in his eyes. Satsuki stared at Kyouichirou, worried if she had said something strange.

“Is it that unusual? I don’t go out from home often. I’ve never been to a ramen shop either.”

“Wow, that’s an ojou-sama for you. You shouldn’t talk too much like that outside.”

Kyouichirou is still staring at Satsuki with his mouth wide open.

If he went out to play, ramen. When he’s feeling lonely, ramen. Hanging out with friends, ramen. Getting a lecture about life from papa, ramen. For Kyouichirou, who has lived with ramen, Satsuki felt like an alien.

“Well, then it’s a good thing that you came here today. Never having eaten ramen is like losing half of you life. Dangerous, dangerous.”

“Really? I’m getting meek about eating it somehow.”

While talking about that, the ramen bowl was offered in front of them. One of the good things about going for ramen is that they are ready quickly.

“Here. Being this girl’s first ramen bowl, I added extra char siu (roasted pork fillet) as a service.”

Comparing their bowls, Satsuki’s bowl clearly has a large number of char siu. It feels like they contain more meat than noodles even.

“Eh, Thank you. And I’m sorry to bother you.”

When Satsuki receives the donburi (Japanese rice bowl dish), she cast her gaze on a bowl of ramen for the first time in her life.

Whiteish soup. Bright green onions on the steamed noodles. The char siu, even protruding out from the bowl, bending a little as if to show off its softness.

A unique smell wafts through Satsuki’s nose. Oddly, to Satsuki, ‘smell’ have always been simply another feature of her physiology. However, for some reason this same smell now stimulate her appetite. It is another first for her.

“……Mmm. The ramen here really is the best. The first branch will be out within ten years. Shop keeper, I can guarantee that.”

The fellow customer right next to him has already begun to stuff her mouth with ramen and was having an emotionally wonderful time.

I wonder if it will be really delicious? A small doubt passed by Satsuki’s head.

Satsuki was a bit reluctant to eat it at first, as Kyouichirou already raised the bar of her expectations really high. He flatter them so much already, almost describing them as something only found in the heavens in advance, that it almost seemed impossible to reach her expectations.

However, if they are even half as good as he describes, then there won’t be anything better. Satsuki grabbed her chopsticks resolutely, and have her first bite of the dish.

“ーーーーUm!?”

The moment she put it in my mouth, a sensation Satsuki had never felt before ran all over my body.

“――mmmn!?! ……Slurp.ーーーーーmnnn!?!”

Her mouth takes the next bite before she even realises it to convey the emotion that cannot be put into words.

Delicious. Satsuki can only give that impression due to her lack of vocabulary. No, the words to perfectly describe them couldn’t possibly exist, she thought.

“They’re good you know. This thick pork bone soup. It is called Kurume Tonkotsu. It’s has a little odour here, but the real smell is more intense. The pork is simmered in a large pot and carefully turned at the right time to get this juicy sensation. It’s awesome isn’t it, look at this backfat (fatty upper part of roast pork), I’m arguing that this isn’t enough. How sinful. It is done so to make it healthy, but I don’t think that a ramen is something that can have a bad impact to its eater’s health. If I’m not eating ramen, then I’m probably doing bad things somewhere right now, maybe shortening my life even. Such accidents are called the ramen’s purge. So……”

Kyouichirou, who had a strange mood next to her, was talking long and hard, but none were registered in Satsuki’s head.

Her chopsticks never stopped. As Kyouichirou put it, she ate this ‘destructive’ taste for the first time. The impact of the taste was as if a fist is driven right into her brain. It is a taste she can’t even compare all the things she’s ever had.

“So, President, that is where the greatness of ramen come from ……Don’t you know that we can get seconds here?”

Kyouichirou laughed at her.

_______________________________________________________________

“Aah, I ate well, I ate well. I’m really is the best, the ramen from there.”

“You’re right. But you know, won’t adding garlic enhance the flavor even more? I want to try it. Really greedy, aren’t we.”

Two people walk on a dim street.

Satsuki turned down Kyouichirou’s offer to send her home. The direction of the nearest station and his home are different, and he would be home too late then. Kyouichirou is also a ‘weak’ elementary school student. So she shouldn’t show such obstinancy.

“How was it? We simply played around all evening. It’s fun isn’t it? This city is nice too.”

On the way back to the station, he couldn’t make out the exact expression Satsuki has against the dim backlight.

“Yes……it was fun.”

Satsuki looked back on today as she match her steps with Kyouichirou’s.

“I think, I understand a little bit now, about what you said then.”

Marching straight ahead, their feet continued to move towards the station. There is no faltering in her steps.

“There are a lot of fun things everywhere. Just step out and you’ll get right to them.”

Kyouichirou silently listen to Satsuki mulling over the evening’s events. Somehow, they felt more gentle than usual.

“But, it’s impossible for me. I still have to live the same life I’ve lifed before.”

Satsuki’s feet stop. They have arrived at the station. The bright lights literally takes Satsuki to another place.

“Don’t be sad. And cheer up. I’ve always know that there were ordinary-everyday life and stuff, like today. And I’m fine with that. I’ve never been interested in the life I cut myself off from, but I’m glad now that I knew of them.”

Satsuki took out the pouch containing the pass from her bag. By the time the machine rings and the gate close, their separation will be eminent.

“Let’s hang out again some time. There are many more places I want to take you to.”

Kyouichirou called out from Satsuki’s back as she headed for the ticket gate.

“…Yes, see you next time. I’m looking forward to it.”

Kyouichirou keeps staring at Satsuki’s back as she gradually walk away.