I really don't want to have a girlfriend.

—If it were "that version of myself," I imagine I would say this from the bottom of my heart, right?

Kasumigaoka Utaha had never been in love before, so she had no idea how a girl's heart could be bound by the threads of love for someone important.

One can only fantasize, analyze, and rely on one's own experience to make judgments.

But sometimes, she can't help but wonder—if she really became a character in a romance novel, would she change herself for a mere man and become the most foolish and ridiculous naive girl who falls in love?

Maybe.

After all, there was already a precedent of "Kasumigaoka Utaha". No matter how unwilling she was to admit it, that was still her alternate dimension counterpart.

"What if one day I truly fall in love with someone..."

What will it become?

Listening to the melody of her uncontrollable heartbeat, Kasumigaoka Utaha subconsciously tightened her grip on his hand, hiding the confusion in her eyes behind her falling hair.

……

The lights of the various machines were dazzling, and shouts filled this colorful playground.

Pulling along Ms. Kasumigaoka, whose brows were furrowed, Yuu Tenkuji exchanged a box of tokens, his eyes darting around before finally deciding to make the fishing machine the first game.

The so-called fishing machine is naturally not a machine that throws out questions like "light-year is a unit of time" to lure people in.

"After inserting the coin, press the button at the right time, and the hook will fly out. After catching the fish, turn this handle as fast as you can. If the fish is too strong, press this button to shock it. However, there is a limit to the number of times you can do this. If you exceed the limit, you will have to insert coins to renew... The number of exchange tickets you get depends on your final score."

After explaining to Kasumigaoka Utaha, Tenkuji Yu put in a coin and sat in the empty seat next to her to watch her play.

"Come on, give it a try. It's okay if you don't catch anything, use the tokens as you like, no need to save me money."

"How gentle... It's alright, Yuyu-kun, I'll show you the price of underestimating me."

With a confident smile, Kasumigaoka Utaha gracefully and dignifiedly held the hem of her skirt and sat in front of a reel that was much larger than a regular fishing rod. Her fair and slender hands gently grasped the cylindrical handle, and she gently manipulated it as if familiarizing herself with its length and stiffness.

Then, as if nothing had happened, he looked at the machine screen. At the top was an old man sitting on a fishing boat, and below were fishing hooks swaying back and forth underwater. In the water, there were many fish of different sizes and speeds, as well as trash and treasure chests swimming around.

Without his explanation, Kasumigaoka Utaha knew what to do.

"Let's try the treasure chest first."

Muttering to herself, she seized the opportunity and snapped the button to launch the hook.

...and then successfully caught a worn-out boot that happened to swim by.

"puff!"

A burst of suppressed laughter rang out from beside her. Kasumigaoka Utaha turned her head with a terrified look in her eyes, only to see Tenkuji Yu staring at the screen with a serious expression, chin in hand.

"That was close! If I had noticed that boot floating by, I could have grabbed the treasure chest right away."

"I don't need your nonsense!"

Saying this in an annoyed tone, Kasumigaoka Utaha turned her gaze back to the screen and pursed her dry lips.

One token gives you five chances to flip, so there are still four more to play. There's no rush.

"Looking back now, I was really overconfident to try and grab the most difficult treasure chest on my first attempt..."

Having reined in her carefree attitude, Kasumigaoka Utaha chose to proceed cautiously this time in order to avoid being ridiculed by the guy next to her.

With a snap, she casually spun the handle twice and caught the smallest fish.

Despite receiving a low score, she couldn't help but smile, a hint of amusement flashing in her eyes.

"Great, you've got the knack!"

Piapiapia, three fish with increasingly higher scores in a row transformed into her score.

Because fishing is different from fishing for inanimate objects like shoes, you have to turn the handle that winds the coil and occasionally use electric shock to catch fish.

So, without her noticing, she had already stood up from the chair, adjusted herself to the most convenient position for applying force, and gripped the handle tightly.

"This is the last time!"

Instead of showing off to him triumphantly, Kasumigaoka Utaha focused intently on the treasure chest and the school of fish swimming above, calculating the speed at which the hook would sink and aiming for that exact moment.

Dive the hook!

With a crisp snap, the fishing hook flew downwards at high speed, as if it had a life of its own, precisely avoiding all the fish's mouths in the way, heading straight for the treasure chest at the very bottom.

Kasumigaoka Utaha's pupils contracted. She had barely inhaled or exhaled when she saw the fishing hook probe onto the giant sea bream above the treasure chest. A struggling sea bream instantly filled the entire screen.

But she was neither discouraged nor surprised. Instead, she narrowed her eyes confidently, her beautiful and voluptuous figure tensed instantly, and she began to vigorously turn the fishing line handle.

"That's it... Stop struggling and get on top of me! Hahahaha—"

An unnatural, maniacal smile crept across her face. Amidst the commotion of the children nearby who shrank back in horror, Kasumigaoka Utaha stepped onto a chair and finally managed to reel in the big fish.

She had no time to pay attention to the reactions of the onlookers around her. Looking at the score that had suddenly increased by a large margin on the screen and the redemption tickets that started to appear below, she wiped the sweat from her forehead with satisfaction and shook her hand, which was sore from exerting too much force.

"As expected, this game is designed so that you have to catch the fish before you can fish for the treasure chest... Are they trying to get people to spend more money with such a trick?"

It's unrealistic to expect to reach the top in one step. Even a genius and beautiful girl like her needs to be familiar with the swimming patterns of fish, the speed at which the fishing line is lowered, and the feel of reeling in the fish before she has the confidence to attack the most difficult treasure chest.

Unfortunately, it was defeated by the cunning of the game developers. I guess even if they managed to catch the big fish guarding the treasure chest, there would be other things blocking the way and preventing the player from getting it so easily.

Kasumigaoka Utaha was quite satisfied with having achieved this much with just one token—she hadn't forgotten that she was still a novice.

"Want to try a few more times? We still have plenty of tokens." A voice whispered from the side.

Kasumigaoka Utaha, oblivious to anything amiss, excitedly sat back down in front of the screen and casually stretched out her hand to the side: "Let's start with five. That should be enough to get this treasure chest."

"I didn't expect you to have such a talent for games." The token was cast, and the fishing hook swung again.

Kasumigaoka Utaha proudly tossed her flowing hair over her shoulders: "Of course, that'll show you not to underestimate me..."

Before she could finish speaking, she paused, her smug expression freezing on her face. Like a rusty machine, she slowly looked toward the direction from which the sound came.

Tenkuji Yu took her wrist and massaged the spot where she had twisted it a little from exerting too much force, while looking into her eyes and giving her a warm smile.

"It's pretty fun, isn't it?"

"..."

"Don't be shy, many girls like to play this kind of fishing game... The only difference between you and them is that they don't get too excited and stand on chairs to frantically reel in the line."

"..."

As Kasumigaoka Utaha's face grew redder and her skin hotter, her previously frozen expression became as vivid as a volcano about to erupt; her pupils contracted and her eyes widened so much they almost popped out of their sockets.

"That expression is really funny," he thought.

It was much more natural than when she was flirting with him and saying those affectionate words.

To be honest, Kasumigaoka Utaha, who's having a blast, is more attractive to me than the dignified, elegant, beautiful, quiet, and refined Utaha...

Is this the opposite of a static beauty, a "dynamic beauty" who only looks good when in motion?

When she is immersed in the game, she will subconsciously forget the worries that are lingering in her mind and show the purest and most cheerful side of a young girl.

Yuu Tenkuji wasn't sure, but at least he thought bringing her here was the right choice.

A few tokens and a few minutes are enough to bring a genuine smile to her face... There's no better deal than this.

"Shiyu, you really don't need to worry about that. You were so cute just now that I almost wanted to take out my phone and record it. There's nothing embarrassing about it!"

Tenkuuji Yu gave a thumbs-up and smiled sincerely, offering encouragement:

"So let's keep going, we have to fish up the treasure chest!"

Then he was stomped on eighteen times by a girl wearing black stockings and flat shoes.

Chapter 112 Please type "high EQ" in the comments.

This wasn't the first time Yuu Tenkuji had gone on a date at the arcade.

Putting aside the real-life experiences I haven't yet recalled, during the year I dated Isshiki Iroha, he took her to all sorts of places... no, all sorts of positions.

Concerts, beaches, hiking, camping, aquariums, zoos... Iroha Isshiki has a lively and playful personality, and many times when we passed by an arcade on our dates, I would go in and ask him to help me win a couple of plush toys.

With his wealth of experience, even with a troublesome woman like Kasumigaoka Utaha, Tenkuji Yuu can use various methods to make her enjoy the game and gradually forget her initial disdain for the arcade.

So, after she had stomped on him eighteen times in a deadly series of kicks.

What's next?

Having successfully caught the treasure chest, Kasumigaoka Utaha, amidst the envious gazes of the surrounding children, obtained a large stack of exchange tickets. Naturally, she had her butler, Tenkuji Yu, put them away while she got up from the fishing machine and looked around.

"Are there any more challenging games, not the gambling kind?"

"The gambling machines are all in the adults' area; we minors can't go in there." Yuu Tenkuji pointed to an entrance in the far corner, where you could see the pachinko machines through a glass window.

The legal age of adulthood is twenty. Even if she is a nineteen-year-old college student with a better figure than most adults, as long as she shows her ID, Kasumigaoka Utaha still cannot enter.

"If you want a challenge, you can play basketball, rhythm games, or Taiko no Tatsujin. If you want something more fun, you can play frisbee, claw machines, or even whack-a-mole. It just depends on which one you prefer."

"Hmm... let's drive there first." Kasumigaoka Utaha thought for a moment, then didn't choose any of the games he had mentioned. Instead, she found a Mario Kart arcade nearby and gestured for him, who was like a bodyguard, to sit down. "It's no fun playing alone. Don't just stand there watching."

“Then I shall respectfully accept your offer.” As he sat down at the machine next to her, Yuu Tenkuji caught a glimpse of the girl’s sly smile out of the corner of his eye.

He was momentarily stunned, then came to his senses.

"You're not thinking of using Mario Kart to get revenge for what you just did, are you?"

"Is it that obvious?" Kasumigaoka Utaha, having her thoughts read, didn't deny it and smiled smugly. "It's too late to refuse now, isn't it? To tell you the truth, although this is my first time playing Mario Kart at an arcade, when I went to my editor's house to discuss the novel's plot, I thoroughly crushed Ms. Machida in three rounds and made her shorten my deadline by two weeks on the spot."

"That's really impressive." Tenkuji Yu clapped his hands enthusiastically and handed her three tokens.

Sensing the nonchalance and disdain in his movements, Kasumigaoka Utaha frowned, snorted, and tossed in a token: "You can only be arrogant for this long. Mario Kart isn't just about skill, it's also about luck!"

Yuu Tenkuji casually remarked, "My luck isn't too bad, in the game."

"Very well, then bring it on!"

In terms of skill, she might be at a disadvantage, but in terms of luck... Haven't you heard the saying that beautiful girls are blessed by heaven?

The two quickly chose their characters. Kasumigaoka Utaha chose Luigi, who wears a green hat, while Tenkuji Yuu went straight for the first character, the familiar red-hatted plumber Mario. The two characters prepared behind the starting line.

When the green light came on, the word "START" appeared on the screen, and the two cars left the lane almost simultaneously, crashing into the first row of random item blocks.

—Two thousand words of the racing process are omitted here.

"Yay!"

As the little red-hatted figure laughed and sped across the finish line, while the green-hatted figure could only chase after him in helpless rage, Yuuya Tenkuji lowered his hands and stretched happily.