Chapter 8

The clock showed seven thirty in the evening. Starbeach would remain open until eight, but they no longer accept orders.

“Thank you for today. Have a good night.”

“Have a good night, Sir.”

After their last guest left, Amaya could finally flip the board to 'close'.

It was already on 'close' before. She forgot, flipped it to 'open', then flipped it back, while pretending none of that happened.

“What a satisfying day!” Amaya stretched her limbs, while Tsukiko let out a sigh.

It had been one week since she arrived unconscious on the beach. The work she went through this last week differed from her previous work. She learned a lot of new things in such a short time; no wonder she felt tired.

“Alright, let's get the tidying done and head home.”

“You make it sound like home is far away.”

“Technically, it is,” Amaya said. “Ah, I dread the walk home.”

“We’re just crossing the street,” Kenji spat.

When Tsukiko first came here, she thought their house was on the third floor, but they used the third floor of the cafe for storage. Besides, even if that place was empty, it didn’t have enough space for all three of them.

To get home, they needed to follow the road a bit to the north, then turn left at the next intersection. Their house was the second from the intersection.

The three quickly finished up cleaning and headed back. Kenji always enjoyed the night breeze.

“We’ll need to begin preparations for next week. There’ll be a lot of visitors,” Amaya said. "Even more than today."

Kenji checked his calendar. Next week will be the start of summer vacation for some schools. This meant tourists would start coming to the island.

“But well, next week is next week’s trouble. We don’t need to worry about that.”

“You’re right. I wonder what I should do tomorrow- !” Amaya gasped, stopping in her tracks.

“What is it?”

“Will you be bringing another girl in?”

“It’s not a weekly occurrence, you dumbass!”

“Such a playboy. Ck ck ck.” She clicked her tongue and exaggeratedly shook her head.

Before long, they arrived home, a simple two-story building. The first floor had the garage, which housed Kenji’s white truck, the living room, kitchen, dining room, and bathroom. All three of them slept on the second floor. Amaya took the main bedroom, the largest one, while Kenji and Tsukiko had the smaller secondary bedrooms.

“I'm going to go take a bath first,” Amaya said, heading straight to the bath.

Kenji and Tsukiko sat down on the living room sofa. While they waited, Kenji turned on the TV. With the remote, he looked through the channels.

“Anything you want to watch, Tsukiko?” he asked, his eyes glued to the screen.

“Me? Not really.”

“Anime?”

He didn’t watch them himself. Not to his liking. But Tsukiko did enjoy such shows in the past. Maybe she still had an interest in them.

“What's currently on?”

Kenji handed over the remote. Tsukiko pointed at the TV and pressed its buttons.

“No, not this one. Not this one either. Yeah, there's nothing good currently.”

She returned the remote.

“I see.”

It didn't take long for him to turn the TV off. There was simply nothing interesting at the time.

“I mean, you can watch most stuff online nowadays,” Tsukiko said, hugging the light brown pillow on the sofa.

She had grown fond of that pillow. Every time he saw her on the sofa, the pillow would be next to her or chilling on her lap. Kenji couldn’t deny that he was slightly envious. Just slightly.

He shook his head, shooing the thought away.

Amaya said it looked like poop. Kenji argued that it looked way too light for poop. Amaya never hugged it. Luckily, she had enough tact not to make fun of Tsukiko when Tsukiko hugged it.

“Well, technically, everything you can watch online, if you want to go through illegal methods.”

“Yeah.”

Despite having turned off the TV, Tsukiko continued staring at it. It wasn't an antique TV. A regular modern TV, like the ones found in most households. Could she have noticed something interesting?

“By the way, Tsukiko?”

“Yeah?

“Want to play a game?”

“What do you have?”

Kenji moved forward, kneeling in front of the TV. On the cabinet underneath the TV, he stored several of his consoles.

“Wait... Do they all work?”

“Of course.”

“I thought some were just decorations.”

Not many people had seen so many consoles from different generations under the same TV.

“Do you not use emulators?”

“Not really. I feel like playing on the original hardware is more fun.”

Kenji had tried it before. One could create an emulator similar to the original console, replicating everything from the graphics, sound, and even the vibes. Yet, he could still feel the subtle differences between an original and a fake.

Certain consoles may be more difficult to obtain compared to others, and some are pricier. But Kenji could find and repair the consoles on his own, hence why he had a lot of consoles, all stored neatly underneath the TV.

“So, which one do you want to play?”

“Can I try the Swap?”

“Sure.”

When they played together throughout the week, they played the older generation consoles. Kenji had managed to get her to try half of the line-up he had. All part of his plan to get her to fall in love with the old-school consoles that paved the way for the modern, high-tech ones. He also owned a current-generation handheld, though. It would be a waste not to use it.

“Carts seemed fun.”

“Ah, the classic.”

He gave her a controller. Kenji then connected the Swap to the TV, the TV showing a duplicate of the handheld’s screen.

They went through the menu, heading straight for multiplayer.

“Now that I think about it, do you have Orim Party?” Tsukiko asked after the familiar characters popped up on the screen.

“Hmm? I do. Want to play that instead?”

“No. It should be interesting to play together when Amaya is around.”

Kenji smiled wryly. “Amaya could be rather… passionate in that game.”

Tsukiko looked at him, surprised. Anyone who saw Amaya from the outside wouldn’t take her for a gamer. Well, he wouldn’t call her a hardcore gamer, but she could get very passionate about a few games. And when she gets passionate, she gets really passionate.

“Just how passionate?”

“You’ll see. By the way, select your character.”

Kenji had gone for the classic. The red-clothed man with a large hat. She scrolled through the options.

“Do you have any game consoles back home, Tsukiko?” he asked to fill the air while he waited.

“I don't own anything that's not important.”

“... Is it that bad?”

Tsukiko nodded. “A lot of things are expensive, and I don't get a lot of extras. I put most of it into my savings.”

“Then you use that to buy a ticket- wait, you didn't buy a ticket here.”

For a moment, Tsukiko’s expression darkened.

“Please don’t mention that.”

Kenji shivered, gluing his eyes to the screen. After looking through the characters, she finally settled on the pink queen.

The game then gave them map options. Both of them decided to go with the randomize option. A large, sprawling cityscape appeared on the screen, with many shortcuts scattered throughout. A countdown began, and after three seconds, the game started.

“I still can’t believe that happened…” Tsukiko murmured, clenching the controls.

“What… happened?”

Despite telling him not to mention it, she explained anyway. Maybe she just wanted someone to talk to. 

“I ran out of fuel, then the wave threw me at the rocks. It's a miracle I didn't die.” She let out a dry laugh, throwing a mushroom at Kenji.

Kenji's character flipped and lost positions because of it. Kenji wouldn't let her go just like that, though. He activated the boost he gained from a bonus pad and quickly caught up with the rest of the pack.

“Why take a boat in the first place?”

“That was grandfather's boat.”

“... Why?”

Was he being obnoxious? Should he have just nodded and stayed silent?

Tsukiko continued talking, “Don't know. Never asked him.”

That wasn’t what he meant. Still, Tsukiko's grandfather never told Kenji about owning a boat. Granted, the fact that Tsukiko could use it meant it might not be in Kurantoro at the time.

“He enjoyed fishing, didn't he?”

“Yes. Regardless of the reason, all I know is that he had it parked in the marina.”

“And you didn't have a license?”

He remembered driving her around to various places as she dealt with the aftermath. Amaya complained about them skipping out at work, although she did allow them to go.

“I genuinely didn't know I needed them. I thought small boats were like bicycles. Uh, take this, for reminding me of the fines.”

She poured ice on the road, which Kenji swiftly dodged.

“You do know you can just take the bus or a ferry here, right?” he asked to make sure.

“I can see the rather massive bridge clearly. It’s just, I already have my grandfather’s boat, why not, I thought.”

“That ended up being a disaster.”

“Yeah, remembering the fines made me want to cry, and I pretty much destroyed Grandfather’s boat.”

Kenji had assisted with the cleanup and managed to take some parts back home. Many parts were missing, but he found quite a significant portion. He had no experience fixing a boat before, though, and he wasn’t sure if he could.

Back in the race, Kenji got close. He could overtake her any moment now. Just need a good bonus to take her out.

“I'm not letting you past me.”

“As if I need your permission.”

The two raced, switching positions, back and forth. Kenji looked for an opening, while Tsukiko tried her best to block. Kenji passed her in a corner, Tsukiko overtaking him not long after. Eventually, though, he received a mushroom, which he immediately tossed at Tsukiko, causing her character to spin out.

“Bye-bye!” he teased as he drove past.

“I’ll come for you!”