Chapter 270 Let her come!
Because I got off work early today, the bar put up a closing sign just after 9pm.

However, because of Ichinose Shiki's invitation, Shimizu Mi had to spare a little more time before going home.

Having said that, although it was the other party who asked Shimizu to come out, she didn't seem to have any special plans and was just walking on the streets at night.

Shimizu Mi and Sakurai Haruka followed behind because she insisted on coming, but Ichinose Shiki didn't refuse.

In this case, the so-called important matter before should not be something that only two people can talk about.

Neon lights flickered on both sides of the street, and soft and bright lights shone through the windows of tall buildings.

The cold white light highlights the busy figures of overtime workers, and these spots of light connect together in the night, forming a unique night skyline of a metropolis.

After Shimizu Mi and Sakurai Haruka continued to follow behind for a while, Ichinose Shiki still did not make any move, but just walked forward quietly.

Could it be that she just got off work early today and had nothing to do so she asked him to go out for a walk?
Because Shimizu wanted to go home and rest early, he quickened his pace and came to Ichinose Shiki's side.

"Ms. Ruixi, where are you going?"

Hearing what Shimizu said, Ichinose Shiki stopped.

"Where to go... I thought Mr. Shimizu would help me think."

When Sakurai Haruka, who was walking up from behind, heard this, her face instantly became gloomy and she pouted, looking very dissatisfied.

"Didn't you ask us to come out? Why do you still want us to decide?"

"Well, I think I only invited Mr. Shimizu... Of course, if Ms. Sakurai wants to come, I don't mind."

Ichinose Shiki added politely.

"Come with me? I just want to prevent you, a sneaky cat, from doing anything weird to me."

"A stealing cat? A strange thing?"

Ichinose Shiki glanced at Shimizumi, tilted his head, and then seemed to laugh softly under his mask.

"why are you laughing?"

"No, nothing... It seems a bit cold here, let's talk while we walk."

Sakurai Haruka frowned, but then saw Ichinose Shiki and Shimizu Mi continued to move forward, so she had to keep up.

The three of them were walking on the avenue beside the street, and the city center was not far ahead.

This area can be said to be the main street, filled with various restaurants, shopping malls and amusement facilities along the way.

Whenever it is a holiday, this area will be packed with people.

However, on weekday evenings like today, you can often see many students shopping here.

Although Shimizu Mi works nearby now, he goes straight home after get off work and rarely hangs out like this, so he is not very familiar with this area.

Going straight along the avenue, you will reach the road that Qingshuijian usually takes to go back and forth home.

Facilities such as cinemas, bookstores and amusement parks are all concentrated in this area, and the entire avenue is bustling with people.

In order to prevent the incident that happened last time in Hokkaido from happening again, Shimizu Mi held Sakurai Haruka's hand and moved forward, avoiding the crowd.

After the crowd dispersed a little, Ichinose Shiki in front suddenly slowed down and came to the side of Shimizumi. Then she leaned forward slightly and raised her eyes to look over.

"Mr. Shimizu, which places do you go most often?"

"my home."

"It sounds great. It was a pity that I didn't go last time."

Shimizu Mi was just joking, but Ichinose Shiki seemed really interested.

On the other side, Sakurai Haruka glared at Ichinose Shiki, but to Shimizumi that wasn't scary at all.

Ichinose Shiki cleared his throat slightly and spoke again:

"Then let me ask you, where does Miss Sakurai usually go when she's alone?"

"……I?"

Sakurai Haruka racked her brains and began to think about the places she usually went.

"If I have to say, it's table tennis and billiards... Although bowling is also good, there doesn't seem to be any around here..."

Sakurai Haruka looked at Ichinose Shiki and asked her why she asked these questions. Then she said seriously:
"It's not the point, but I think Ms. Sakurai is not suitable for bowling at all."

"I want you to manage."

"Ah, but billiards should be a good sport for Ms. Sakurai."

"Even if you add this sentence, I don't care."

Sakurai Haruka and Ichinose Shiki were bickering all the way until they came to an intersection that branched into five roads, and the three of them were stopped by a traffic light.

"Anyway, let's go watch a movie first? It can kill at least two hours."

While waiting for the traffic light, Ichinose Shiki looked up at the night sky and thought for a while, then lowered his head and returned his gaze to Shimizumi.

"Why should killing time be a prerequisite?"

Never mind. Watching a movie is more relaxing than going shopping with girls.

Although Sakurai Haruka was somewhat dissatisfied, she did not deny the decision.

“Then it’s decided to be a movie.”

So, Shimizu followed Ichinose Shiki and continued to move forward towards the cinema.

As expected, it is located in the city center. Even though it is not a holiday, the cinema is packed with people.

When confirming the movie's release schedule and theater vacancies, Shimizu discovered that the sequel to the movie that Sakurai Shio was currently filming seemed to be scheduled to be released during the New Year of this year.

Although I already know part of the plot, I will definitely go to watch the movie when it is released.

At this time, Ichinose Shiki next to him raised his hand and pointed to the poster of a Hollywood blockbuster, with the annotation "Oscar Award Nominee" on the side of the poster.

“I want to watch this one.”

“I choose this one.”

On the other hand, Sakurai Haruka chose a movie that had no chance of winning awards like the Oscars, and the two movies had almost the same running time.

Qing Shuijian could already foresee that neither of them would back down.

But since the movie screening times are almost the same, the time it takes to leave the theater after watching the movie should not be too different.

"Then let's decide on a meeting place. How about the Starbucks outside?"

In order to avoid unnecessary disputes, Shimizu decided to let the two of them go watch their favorite movies separately and then meet up after the movie was over.

This should be a win-win solution, but for some reason, Sakurai Haruka and Ichinose Shiki both looked worried. "…What's wrong?"

Sakurai Haruka heard Shimizumi's question and said:

"So, which one are you going to watch?"

"No need, I'll just wait for you outside."

Although intuitively most people go to the cinema with their lovers or good friends, Shimizu Mi does not have the habit of watching movies with others, and there are no movies released recently that interest him.

On the other side, Ichinose Shiki also nodded, as if he understood something.

"I see. That's why Mr. Shimizu only makes decisions like this."

Although Qing Shuijian was not sure what she understood, he was still grateful for her understanding.

Then, Ichinose Shiki turned her eyes away from the electronic signboard showing the movie showtimes.

Then she stopped looking and stared in a certain direction.

Shimizu Miya looked in that direction and found that it was the sign for the bowling alley.

Not only that, there are also promotional words related to ball sports such as table tennis and bowling under the billboard. I think they should be promotional posters set up by the ball sports hall in the shopping mall.

After confirming the promotional words at the bottom of the signboard, Ichinose Shiki turned and looked at Shimizu.

"Mr. Shimizu, why don't we stop watching the movie and go play table tennis?"

Ichinose Shiki seemed to be interested in ball sports because Sakurai Haruka mentioned them just now.

Although Qing Shuijian doesn't care, but...

"I'm fine with either, but are your boots okay?"

Shimizu looked at the boots on Ichinose Shiki's feet and asked.

Ichinose Shiki paused for a moment, then lowered her head to check the high-heeled boots she was wearing, then looked up at Shimizumi.

Her expression was a little surprised and confused, and her slightly dazed look was somewhat cute.

Ichinose Shiki seemed to have something to say, but was hesitant.

"what happened?"

"Nothing... I just didn't expect Mr. Shimizu to pay attention to such small details. It's quite unexpected."

"Because when I look at you, my line of sight is a little different than usual, so I can tell without paying special attention."

Ichinose Shiki probably wore these high-heeled boots because there was a lot of water on the ground due to the typhoon and heavy rain in the past few days, so she didn't want to get her shoes dirty.

So when looking at her, Ichinose Shiki's eyes would be higher than before.

After hearing Shimizu Ken's answer, Ichinose Shiki took a step forward and moved in front of Shimizu Ken, as if he wanted to confirm whether it was true.

Because the opponent came so close all of a sudden, Shimizu Ken subconsciously took a step back, but Ichinose Shiki also took another step forward, probably telling him not to move.

Shimizu Mi had no choice but to lean his upper body back slightly, and Ichinose Shiki also raised her head, staring at Shimizu Mi's face with her watery eyes.

"Ah, really, it feels closer than usual."

Because of the contact while working in the bar these days, Shimizu Mi and Ichinose Shiki have always been on the same level, so they can feel the gap very directly.

Because Ichinose Shiki's face was too close, Shimizu couldn't help swallowing when she saw the curled eyelashes in front of her shining with a charming luster with her breathing.

At the same time, the gaze from Sakurai Haruka at the side made him feel a chill.

Shimizu didn't know what to do for a moment, but fortunately, Ichinose Shiki himself seemed to notice that the two of them were too close. A hint of shyness flashed in his eyes, and he looked away.

Then, Ichinose Shiki looked towards Shimizu cautiously and said:

"…It's okay. You can borrow the shoes when you get to the site."

After saying this, Ichinose Shiki turned and walked towards the stadium.

Qing Shuijian gave a brief "hmm" and followed behind him, staggering.

Although he didn't know how to describe it, Shimizu always felt that things seemed to be heading in a bad direction.

Because under normal circumstances, at a time like this, Sakurai Haruka would definitely pull him back and stop him from playing basketball with Ichinose Shiki, but now she said nothing and also followed him towards the gym.

Then, Shimizu saw a blazing flame effect in Sakurai Haruka's eyes as she looked at Ichinose Shiki's back. This should be an illusion, right?

Ah, I almost forgot, Sakurai Haruka is particularly good at sports...

……

After crossing a shopping street, the three came to the stadium near the cinema and bought tickets at the entrance.

Tickets are charged according to the entrance time, 1,200 yen per person per hour.

Ichinose Shiki directly paid for the two-hour ticket for each of the three people.

In terms of time, it was almost the same time as watching a movie. It seemed that although she didn't have a specific plan to do anything, the estimated time should be two hours, and it would be around eleven o'clock in the evening when it ended.

In this case, what's the point of leaving get off work early at 9 o'clock today?
Just when Shimizu was feeling helpless about this, Sakurai Haruka and Ichinose Shiki had already walked towards the ping-pong table in the corner of the hall on the right.

Sakurai Haruka sat on the leather sofa beside her and changed into indoor shoes. Ichinose Shiki also sat beside her, took off her sweater, and reached for her high-heeled boots.

The white sweater that Shiki Ichinose is wearing is a more fitted type, which subtly reveals the body curves of a girl. The skirt on the lower body also emphasizes her slender waist.

She crossed her legs and took off her boots like a child in a posture that would make anyone sweat, revealing the lines of her calves through her stockings.

Shimizu's attention was attracted by her childish action of taking off her shoes, but he accidentally met her eyes. He saw Ichinose Shiki tilted his head and looked at Shimizu, as if asking "What's wrong?"

Although the contrast between the other party's seductive curves and innocent behavior was very charming, Shimizu was certainly not so easily mesmerized, so he just shook his head silently and handed her the ping-pong racket on the table.

Ichinose Shiki bowed slightly to express his gratitude, took the racket, waved it around like a fan, and walked to the table and stood still.

"The last time I played table tennis was during physical education class in junior high school."

So, in Shimizumi's impression, he seemed to have only played it a few times when he was in elementary school.

Compared to other ball sports, table tennis is indeed a good sport. Even if you don’t have friends, you can play it alone against a wall.

Shimizu moved to the opposite side of Ichinose Shiki, rolled up her sleeves, raised the ping-pong racket and tapped it against her palm a few times, with a confident smile on her face.

Although I haven't played for a long time, it shouldn't be a problem if it's just for entertainment.

While thinking, Shimizu threw the ping-pong ball in his hand into the air, preparing to serve.

However, a hand suddenly reached out from the side and caught the flying ball.

"I come."

(End of this chapter)