Philophobia | Shin Soukoku (slow updates)

15.

Elise was holding Atsushi's hand as they walked down the street towards the arcade with Higuchi and Akutagawa. The young had refused to wipe the make-up off of her face and was now humming softly with glittery eyeshadow on her eyelids.

“Elise-chan, you don't have to pull my arm so hard. We're almost there,” Atsushi said as the small girl gripped tightly onto his fingers.

The blonde girl looked up at him with furrowed brows before slowing down. “Fine but then you'll have to carry me,” she told him with a small pout.

Nakajima stared at her nervously, mildly surprised by her request. “Uh, don't you think you're a bit too old for me to do that?”

“Atsunī-san, I'm only 10 so that makes me a child, right?”

“Well, I guess...” Elise smiled and held her arms out, the older boy picking her up with a sigh.

Akutagawa frowned at the siblings and shook his head. “She's gonna become more of a brat if you keep doing what she says.”

Atsushi turned to him with a smile and laughed awkwardly, “I think it's a little too late for that. Besides, I don't really mind.”

Elise looked at the dark-haired boy over her brother's shoulder, sticking out her tongue. Ryūnosuke scowled at her making the girl hide her face against Atsushi's neck. 

They reached the arcade, the inside illuminated with fluorescent lights. Atsushi looked around excitedly, his purple-yellow eyes scanning the place curiously as Elise slipped out of his arms. Higuchi followed after her and the two of them looked at the prizes together.

Nakajima didn't realise how long he had been staring at the games until someone tapped his shoulder. “Oh, sorry I guess I zoned out a bit...”

“That's okay.” The two boys walked towards Higuchi and Elise, Atsushi casually looking around again. “Have you never been to the arcade?”

Atsushi almost seemed to think about it before shrugging absently. “No, I just never had the chance to when I was younger. My childhood was...complicated.”

Just as Akutagawa was about to continue their conversation, Higuchi's voice caught their attention. They went to the front where the prizes were and Elise quickly pointed to one that she liked.

It was a fairly sized orange octopus plushie with a smile and the blonde girl was looking at it excitedly.

“Atsunī-san, I can have this one, right?”

Atsushi crouched beside her and stared at the plushie before glancing at the tag next to it. “Yeah, of course, you can. Which game do you want to play first?”

Elise looked around before pulling Nakajima up to his feet and leading him to the air hockey game. “Ichionē-san, you should come play too.”

Higuchi smiled and walked towards them, standing on one end of the table. “Well, your brother should know that I'm totally going to beat him in this game.”

The white-haired boy laughed nervously, knowing full well that she would since he had no experience in the game. Akutagawa just decided to watch the two and refused to participate in the following rounds since he knew how competitive Higuchi could get.

About 30 minutes later, the Ichiyō was cheering happily due to the large amount tickets she had received. While Atsushi was fairly proud of his own pile–only having won 5 out of the 20 games that they had played.

“Hey, Akutagawa how about you play a game?” The dark-haired looks like he was just about to protest he was cut off. “If you say 'no' I'll just pick one for you!”

“Ugh, fine I'll play,” he grumbled under his breath and walked to the skee-ball machine. Higuchi handed him a token which he put into the slot and began to play.

Atsushi watched with wide eyes as Akutagawa got a perfect high score and picked up the tickets that were dispensed onto the floor. “There. Are you happy?”

“Very,” Higuchi said with a bright smile. “Now, come on. Let's go see what prizes we can get.”

He nodded in agreement and glanced over at Atsushi who was looking at him with a childish glee. “Why are you looking at me like that?” Akutagawa snapped in annoyance, his ears tinted red.

“I just... I never thought that you would be so good at playing games,” he replied with red cheeks. “You don't seem like the type.”

“Well, Nakahara-san used to force me to come here a lot so, I guess I got good at some point.”

Nakajima nodded to what he said but paused to think after hearing the familiar name. Nakahara-san? Isn't that Dazai's—

“Atsunī-san!” Elise shouted, gaining his attention. “Come on, you're taking too long.”

“Oh, sorry.”