SPARE
Next up was Nekozaki Kyo. She picked up the bowling ball and threw it forward with raw brute force. "Hah!!"
Bang!! Five pins went down.
"Ah!!!!"
(I'm seriously worried you're going to smash a hole in the ceiling.)
"So loud, Nekozaki."
"Don't break the ball."
Next was Hachimitsu Yui. She struggled to hold the bowling ball with both hands, stumbling forward step by step as if she might trip over it at any moment. Finally she lifted it high with both hands and let go. The ball landed on the lane, rolled very slowly, went perfectly straight down the middle, and then—
STRIKE
"Alright, next is me. Shiraishi-kun, watch closely. I'll do my best."
Then Izumi Yuu stepped forward and threw. The ball rolled straight down the middle at a good speed.
"Is it going to go all the way?!" Nekozaki Kyo watched Izumi's ball. Everything looked perfect, but somehow she had a bad feeling it would fail.
The ball was going smoothly at first, but right as it neared the front of the pins, it suddenly curved right and knocked down just one. "Eh?"
Izumi Yuu looked a little surprised, then threw the second one. Again it rolled perfectly straight down the middle, but just before impact it swerved right again and took out the farthest pin on the right.
Pfft.
"That's actually kind of a miracle," Nekozaki Kyo and Inuzuka Shu said, clutching their stomachs and laughing.
[Yare yare, this is a bit illogical.]
Izumi Yuu turned around looking like he wanted to cry but had no tears. "Sorry, Shiraishi. Looks like I'm not very good at this."
Shiraishi: "Uh, it's fine. You did your best."
Shikimori patted him on the shoulder. "Don't worry about it, Shiraishi. Just let me teach you."
Then Shikimori threw a perfect professional-style ball and explained, "First, grip the ball properly, then like this—hyah."
STRIKE
All pins down.
Everyone clapped.
Shikimori clenched her fist. "Yes! See? Shiraishi!"
Shiraishi: …
(Yare yare, who could learn from being taught like that?)
Inuzuka Shu and Hachimitsu Yui came up beside Shikimori and whispered in her ear, "What are you doing? We told you to hold back on purpose, to pretend you're bad. What happened?"
Shikimori scratched her head. "I forgot."
[Oh no, I got too serious without realizing it. Would Saiki think a girl who's good at bowling is cute?] Then she glanced at Saiki.
Saiki was clapping expressionlessly. [Wow, so amazing, so amazing.]
Shikimori covered her face. [This is bad. No good. I have to hold back next time. Saiki probably likes the kind of girl who's "cute" when she plays bowling.]
(It's not.)
Shiraishi looked at Saiki.
[I get it, but I'm not really good at teaching either.]
With that, Saiki picked up a bowling ball and stepped forward.
[Grip the ball with your middle and ring fingers in the holes first, then insert your thumb. If you put your thumb in first without securing the ball properly, the throw will go upward. Place the ball at the foul line.]
[Keep your body perpendicular to the lane, feet shoulder-width apart, toes pointing forward. In the approach, swing both arms while holding the ball, swing downward and backward, keep your body stable, step forward, and when your arms swing forward, take a step to create combined force. Then let the ball roll forward with spin in a straight line.]
In the end, Saiki knocked down 8 pins. Then on the second throw, he took down the remaining two.
SPARE
Then it was Shiraishi's turn. As a complete beginner, he only managed about the same score as Izumi Yuu—three pins.
In the following rounds, the first ball knocked down 8, the second took the rest. Saiki was leading. Even Shikimori, who had been able to keep up at the beginning, gradually fell behind as she "got serious."
...
The sun had already set. In the golden glow of dusk, Saiki parted ways with the others and walked home with Izumi and Shiraishi.
"The loser has to treat the person with the highest score to drinks, right?" Izumi handed two bottles of drinks to Saiki and Shiraishi.
Shiraishi: "Is this okay? You're even treating me."
Izumi Yuu waved his hand. "It's fine."
Saiki accepted without hesitation, opened it, and drank.
"Izumi…" Before he could finish, a bump in the road jolted the passing car. A fish flew out toward Izumi Yuu—only to be smacked back into the car with one slap from Saiki.
(So why is there even a fish?)
Izumi Yuu: This is ridiculous.
Shiraishi calmly took a sip of his drink, as if this kind of thing was already normal to him.
Saiki finished the rest of his drink, tossed the bottle in the trash, and looked at Izumi Yuu. [What were you going to say?]
Izumi Yuu: "I…"
Saiki [If you're about to say your bad luck got me in trouble again or something, then don't bother. Today was just an accident. No one's saying it's your fault. If I'm really unlucky and have bad fortune, would you hate me for it?]
Izumi Yuu looked down sadly. "Of course not. But today I really did cause you trouble, and I've always been a burden to you."
(Sigh～ yare yare.)
Saiki walked straight ahead for a bit, then stopped next to a puddle.
Izumi Yuu: "Saiki?"
Suddenly a car sped by and drove straight through the puddle, sending a huge splash of water flying.
"Watch out, Saiki!"
Izumi Yuu quickly ran over and stood in front of Saiki, getting completely soaked.
Shiraishi took out a handkerchief and wiped Izumi's face. "Izumi-kun, are you okay?"
"I'm f-fine."
Saiki pushed aside the person who had blocked him. [See? I'm pretty unlucky too. I just made you a drowned rat. Now we're even for this morning, right?]
Izumi Yuu froze. "Saiki…"
Saiki didn't pay attention to him anymore. They had reached the fork in the road. [See you tomorrow then. I'm heading home. Bye.]
Saiki turned the corner, instantly teleported to his apartment, opened the TV. [Yare yare, today's the newest episode of Kamen Rider 3. I haven't recorded it yet. Can't waste any more time.]
Whether in his past life or this one, Saiki had always loved this kind of show. What guy could resist the excitement of beetle knights and armored heroes? Though he really hated bugs.
Saiki went to the fridge. Only ten boxes of coffee jelly remained. He fell into deep thought—should he eat them all? But he didn't have much money left to buy more.
Although his parents and grandfather were very wealthy, that had nothing to do with Saiki Kusuo. He was already living on his own now. The money his family gave him was just enough for a normal person to live alone—exactly what he had asked for when he used the excuse of "going out to train independently" to leave the Saiki household.
[Seriously, if I finish these, I won't have any extra money left for coffee jelly this month. But how can I watch Kamen Rider without eating?] Suddenly two voices popped into Saiki's head.
One was Saiki Little Devil: Just eat them already. No extra money? Can't be helped.
The other was Saiki Little Angel: He's right. Just do it.
[Yare yare, no helping it. Since you both say so, when I run out of money later I'll just have to become the 100-Yen Hero again.]