Aspiring to be a girl in a band

So Aine only saw Arakawa Kirika seemingly searching for something on her phone, and then holding the phone screen in front of her.

On the phone screen, there was a large Chinese character.

"fear?"

Aiyin whispered the pronunciation of that word.

"That's right, it's 'fear'. Aine, look closely, don't you think the characters for 'fear' and 'ghost' actually look a bit similar?"

amount……

Ai Yin felt a bit overwhelmed. She stared intently, trying to make out the difference, but she couldn't see any similarity between the two words.

But seeing Arakawa Kirika's unprecedented enthusiasm for research, Aine could only nod blankly in agreement.

"Hmm... I guess so."

Seeing that Aine's tone was perfunctory, Arakawa Kirika felt a little disappointed, but since she was really interested, she would feel very uncomfortable if she was interrupted and not allowed to finish speaking.

Arakawa Kirika sighed and continued.

"According to that book on Chinese characters, the word '畏' (wèi) in ancient China meant 'mother monkey.' And '鬼' (guǐ) evolved from the word '畏'... which means..."

Arakawa Kirika suddenly stopped talking for some reason, which made Aine, who wasn't particularly interested before, curious.

"So you mean?"

Aine blinked blankly, waiting for Arakawa Kirika's next chapter.

"In other words, people in ancient times probably saw some kind of large primate, such as monkeys or mandrills... and people instinctively felt fear towards these things that were somewhat like humans but not human, which is called 'fear'. And these things that caused people to feel fear were gradually collectively called 'ghosts'... So from beginning to end, there were no ghosts with supernatural powers that we think of now... What's with that expression?"

Arakawa Kirika was enthusiastically delivering her long speech when she noticed that Aine was looking at her with a pitiful expression.

Aine's thoughts at this moment were quite simple.

She didn't want to listen to any of that nonsense... She chose to come to the haunted house simply to get closer to Wuhua...

What people are expecting is a sweet, pink, sparkly, and happy atmosphere of love... She had no desire to hear Wuhua's enthusiastic discussion about "ghosts."

Ai-yin sullenly rested her chin on her hand... She never expected that Kirihana, who should have been "perfect," would have such a potential for being a "straight man with a steely personality."

Although she already knew that Wuhua was very capable, so much so that she was even reading purely academic books like "Chinese Character Research," but... Wuhua, you should at least consider the atmosphere.

Who would discuss the origin of "ghosts" with their partner on a date...? It's really ridiculous.

Arakawa Kirika finally realized what was going on when she saw Aine's aggrieved little expression.

Well… she admitted that she was indeed a bit oblivious to the atmosphere.

So she coughed twice to ease the tension, and then continued.

"Then forget what you just said. Oh, by the way... I have a way to help you get rid of the troubles of the ghost."

Here we go again...

Aine pouted, "Didn't we just say we wouldn't talk about ghosts...?"

Aine was initially a little dissatisfied, but after hearing the second half of Arakawa Kirika's sentence, she suddenly became interested.

"Hmm? What method?"

This time, Aine was genuinely curious; she wondered what method Wuhua had that made her unafraid of ghosts.

Hmm... Although Kirika had just proven that ghosts don't exist, and Aine really wanted to believe Kirika's words, her long-standing muscle memory still made her unable to help but feel afraid.

Looking into Aine's curious eyes, Arakawa Kirika spoke slowly.

"Aine, all you need to do is think that the ghosts you are afraid of are actually someone's beloved in this world, and that will be enough."

Aine was stunned...

The ghosts I fear are all someone's beloved in this world...

She silently repeated the sentence to herself.

...Huh?

Really...

Aine was surprised to find that... this sentence really seemed to have some kind of magic.

Just thinking about that phrase really lessened my fear of ghosts.

But is this... the power of words, or the power of the mist flowers...?

Ai Yin blushed, somewhat unwilling to think about it further.

Just then, they finally reached the front of the line.

They successfully entered the haunted house.

The adventure in the haunted house... is actually not important at all.

Because the two of them completed the entire journey without any obstacles in no time.

As for the reason...

Arakawa Kirika shrugged helplessly.

"See, I told you haunted houses are boring, right?"

But Aine's face still wore that aggrieved expression.

She really wanted to say...it's all Wuhua's fault, but...in the end, she didn't have the courage.

What happened between the two in the haunted house?

it's actually really easy.

When the first staff member dressed as a ghost appeared in front of the two, Aine was naturally startled.

The staff were also very happy, after all, it's not easy to catch a girl who is genuinely afraid of ghosts these days.

So the staff member mustered all his strength and began to limp toward the two of them.

But when the staff member got close enough to see Arakawa Kirika's menacing, predatory gaze... for some reason, this experienced haunted house staff member seemed to feel...

The other party was the man-eating demon, so he turned around and fled in fear.

As for the rest of the journey, it was smooth sailing all the way... No staff member dared to appear in front of Arakawa Kirika again.

This haunted house trip was completely ruined by Arakawa Kirika, leaving no gaming experience whatsoever.

Volume 1: Chapter 212 Aine begins to sweat profusely

No... If this continues, this hard-won date will end abruptly... Since we can't create sweet memories with Kirika... let's try a different approach and try to create some unforgettable memories.

For example... bullying Wuhua until she begged for mercy?

Wait, wait...

A very bold idea suddenly popped into her mind, which startled even Aine herself.

She was very puzzled as to why she had such a... terrible thought.

Could this be considered... some kind of rebellious mentality?

Because Kirikawa is always aloof and superior, this only fuels Aine's desire to see... the frustrated, or rather, pitiful expression on Arakawa Kirikawa's face when she is defeated.

So... how can we make the mist flower [fail]... that's a big problem.

I'm here to fight the mist flowers? Are you kidding me?

Even if Aine racked her brains, she couldn't figure out how she should defeat Kirika.

Ok?

Just as Ai Yin was about to give up, a flash of inspiration suddenly appeared in her mind.

It seems... there really is a project that I'm very confident in, but that Wuhua would never do.

Moreover, this project is located inside the amusement park.

……

Arakawa Kirika silently watched Aine's ever-changing expressions, one moment frowning and the next revealing a... smug smile, like that of a petty person who had achieved their goal.

Looks like this idiot has come up with some crazy idea again, but... well, I already promised to spend the day with her, so bring it on, Ai-yin.

Arakawa Kirika smiled dismissively, completely unconcerned about what kind of trick Aine was playing.

No matter how much Aine struggles, she can easily throw out a line.

We will win.

……

This time, Aine brought Arakawa Kirika to... an arcade.

In Aine's opinion, a classical young lady like Kirika would never play video games, so... she would use arcade games to save face.

Even... if I could break through Kirika's defenses, I could actually see Kirika's defeated and pathetic expression.

The plan is in place.

……

Oh... so that's what you were thinking.

Arakawa Kirika also knew Aine's plan in an instant.

Even she had to admit that Aine had indeed come up with a very good idea this time.

She... had never been to a place like this before, and her knowledge of video games was practically zero; she had never even played a mobile game.

But... Arakawa Kirika's pride wouldn't allow her to back down at a time like this.

Even in areas she had never ventured into before, she was confident that she would not lose.

Because she is [Arakawa Kirika].

……

Upon entering the arcade, Aine enthusiastically pulled Arakawa Kirika to sit down in front of the arcade machines.

What she wanted to play with Kirika was, of course, arcade fighting games.

At this moment, Aine couldn't help but blush a little, because this practice of dragging a newbie to play arcade games was simply shameless to the extreme, basically equivalent to writing "I want to beat you" on his face.