28. Goodbye

Author's Note:

Because of matters IRL, I'm going to have a short break until May 31.

I thought I could, but after writing this chapter, I felt it was a bit rushed, so I decided to stop altogether.

I'm sorry for the inconvenience.

P.S. I still haven't decided whether it's Harem or not. But my original intention to write this story was because I wanted to write something that wasn't harem like my usual story, so yeah, the probability that it's not harem might be higher.

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Extra in the Student Council

28. Goodbye

They arrived at the cinema.

"Are there any movies you are interested in?" Shuu asked when they were looking at the list of movies on air today. Sumi shook her head, but Shuu didn't immediately take her answer. Shuu pointed at her smartphone, telling her to type and reply.

Understanding what he meant Sumi sent a message [ There isn't ]

"Well, it's fine this time, but next time just show me what you type. It is not like you will give your contact information to all your clients." Shuu was silent for a moment. "You won't, right?"

Sumi quickly shook her head.

"Usually, your client chooses the movie to watch, no?" Shuu asked.

[ Yes ]

"A romance movie might be the right choice, but let's go with a comedy one, do you mind?" Sumi shook her head, and [ I don't mind ] she typed.

After the decision had been made, without wasting any more time, they bought their tickets and watched the movies.

In the middle of the movie, Sumi laughed with a quite loud voice. When she realized what she was doing, she quickly blocked her mouth with her hands and looked at Shuu, who sat beside her, to see if he heard her or not.

Watching Shuu's unchanging expression while still focused on the screen. (Phew…) Sumi sighed in relief when her guard was down.

"That's cute" She heard a whisper right in her ear. Sumi was startled and jumped on her seat. She instantly blocked her ear and looked at the culprit. Her face was bright red. I didn't know it was because she's shy, flustered, or maybe both. Shuu chuckled at her cute antics again.

***

"Now, the last one is this." Shuu and Sumi stood in front of the Arcade Center, and Shuu led her there after they watched the movie.

"No matter what kind of hobby your client has, there must be something they like here, so it's like the safe choice when you don't know where to go," Shuu explained. And Sumi was like a student beside him, taking notes. "I'm sure you won't give me any satisfying answer if I just asked what you want to play." Sumi looked away. "So let's try everything we can today," Shuu added.

They wandered around for a while, then finally chose the first one to start with bowling.

After renting one of the lanes with the necessary equipment from them, Sumi and Shuu moved to their place while ignoring other customers gasping at their looks.

"Have you ever played bowling before?" Shuu asked.

Sumi was flustered for a moment. [ I… have ] she replied.

(Why did you add a triple dot in there?) Shuu thought for a moment but decided not to mind it. "I see, It's my first" Shuu replied honestly.

"Eh?" Sumi let out a low sound, which she quickly blocked with her hands.

"Then can you let me try it for a few rounds?"

Sumi tilted her head slightly at the strange request before she replied, [ Feel free ]

"Thanks"

(I only tried it a little in my past life. It should be like this) Shuu threw his first ball. and he missed it perfectly, not even touching one of the pins.

Sumi watched as Shuu missed his first throw. and the second one also missed. (He really never played it before.) Sumi thought and regretted her behavior to act tough just now.

"Look at him! He sucks!" Sumi snapped out of her thoughts when she heard the customer beside them talking badly and laughing at Shuu. "He might have the look but is a noob, hahaha!"

Sumi was distressed by their ridicule. She turned to Shuu again and found him throwing his third ball, but only two pins from the corner were knocked down.

The laughs were getting louder and louder, and Sumi started to wonder whether they should just leave. Yet Shuu didn't flinch or even care about them, and his fourth ball wasn't that much different. Then in the third round, the fifth and sixth balls knocked half each, and Shuu got a spare on this round.

The watcher talked about how Shuu was only lucky in this round. They said every beginner did the same on their first game. but they were left speechless after that.

Out of 10 rounds, except for the first 3 rounds, the rest ended in a strike, which means one ball knocked all the pins down.

"That's about it," Shuu muttered. "Then, let's start." He turned to Sumi but found her gawking at him.

"What?" he asked.

Sumi snapped out and hastily typed something in her phone [ How did you do that!? ]

"Did what?"

Sumi pointed at the score.

Understanding what she means Shuu thought for a moment before replying, "Let's see, to borrow the words of a certain friend of mine, it would be, I got the perfect throw once, and I just have to reproduce the same movement. Hitting is only the result."

"But well, unlike her, I don't really believe in coincidence, so I just set an upper and lower boundary and slowly narrowed it down to get the first perfect throw. Anyway, why don't you give it a try?"

Sumi flinched when she heard that, but not wanting to let the cat out of the bag, she went ahead anyway. She tried to remember and mimic Shuu's movement just now. At first, she wanted to observe the other players from the other lane, but they all stopped playing at the moment, still in a daze with the magic-like performance from Shuu just now.

She took a step forward, swung, and threw…

Her fingers stuck for a moment, which made her lose her posture and fall down.

"...." Shuu was speechless while watching her. (Why did you even think you needed to lie?) Without any choice left, Shuu went to teach her personally. Although he didn't know the ideal posture, at least he knew how to throw correctly.

After that, their date continues, however, at each and every game, Sumi fails spectacularly, yet she is also stubborn enough not to give up easily, so at the end of the day, she is somehow able to do it like a normal beginner.

On the other hand, Sumi didn't know what to say, looking at Shuu. There are some of the games that he already knew and could do perfectly, but the others that he used the first time he used the same way as bowling, and at the end he mastered them all. The word 'Monster' is only a step away from appearing in her thoughts.

When they had more or less tried everything available and it was already sunset on the outside, they took a moment of rest before going back and officially ending their date.

"I didn't know why you chose this part-time when you were fully aware you didn't fit in it." Sumi became gloomy when she heard that.

"But the you right now was enough, I guess. A rental girlfriend who conversed with a message and also always acted tough is unique." Shuu added, "We've rested enough. How about we get going now?" Shuu asked.

Sumi quickly flails her hand, attracting his attention. [ Katsuragi-san, I can't stay like this ]

"What do you mean?" Shuu waited for her to type her reason.

[ I joined this part-time job because I wanted to improve myself. I didn't want to stay the way I was. I wanted to become like my admired Mizuhara-senpai. That's why I can't just become a unique rental girlfriend like this. ] After she showed that to Shuu, Sumi waited for Shuu to react, but his reply didn't come no matter how long she waited, so she peeked at him. She was shocked in an instant.

Shuu was also flabbergasted by her reason for becoming a rental girlfriend. He's looking at her as if she were an extraterrestrial being—an incomprehensible being. After a moment of calming himself, Shuu sighed….

"I didn't know why you told me this. I am even more confused why you chose this way to improve yourself. Of all the choices you had, you chose the one with the most risk. But you're also an adult. It's your choice."

"However, if you truly don't know the way you should go to improve yourself, why don't you make a lie a character?"

[ A lie? ] Sumi tilted her head slightly.

"Yes, people commonly have three layers to their personalities." Shuu explained, "The first one, the outermost, is the personality they showed to strangers. The second one is the one he showed to their close friends and family, and the last one is the personality only they know, the secrets they will bring to their grave."

"So, you just have to make a new layer above that fourth layer," Shuu told her gently and slowly, yet Sumi could feel there was enough density, power, and conviction in Shuu's words.

When Sumi felt that a question suddenly appeared in her mind.

"T, then… h, how many layers does K, katsuragi-san h, have?" For the first time, she spoke to Shuu.

Shuu wasn't even shocked when Sumi suddenly started talking. He only smiled at her with lifeless eyes "Who knows?"

***

"I had fun today," Shuu said. He and Sumi were in front of the station where Sumi would take her train home. "Goodbye"

Sumi nodded and waved her hand.

Shuu turned around and walked away….

"Katsuragi-san!" Shuu was turned around by the sudden call. He saw Sumi shout at him, "Goodbye." Sumi smiled as she waved her hands again.

Shuu nodded at her and also waved his hands at her before he added, "You don't have to be polite to me. I'm two years younger than you, Sakurasawa-san."

Sumi froze instantly at his words, to which Shuu let out a chuckle loud enough for Sumi to hear him.

Then, the moment Shuu turned away from Sumi, his expression also turned flat instantly, as if his smile and chuckle from before were only other imaginations.

(I've done your request, Ichinose-san.) He talked to himself. (In this world, there's always give and take, now it's my turn to take.)

Shuu walked away without saying any more words.