Prerhythm Arch

[Memory] (Part 4)

"You met Luz-senpai?!" Urata exclaimed, sounding astonished.

  MafuMafu looked up from his food and tilted his head questioningly. "Yeah, why? Is he someone special or something?"

      "Luz-senpai is the guy I was telling you about earlier, MafuMafu-kun. You know, the one that's the source of all those rumors recently," Urata responded.

      "Eh? Really?" MafuMafu said, surprised. "To me he kind of just seemed like some guy that was trying to be cool when he really wasn't..."

      "Sometimes I really wonder how you manage to say such harsh things with such a plain face..." Sakata muttered.

  MafuMafu looked over at him and blinked, clearly not realizing that what he just said was harsh. Due to having always been taught at home where he was the only student, MafuMafu was used to just saying whatever he thought. He had been told by his friends on multiple occasions that he should learn to have a filter, so MafuMafu was currently trying his best to consider what other people might think before speaking. Sometimes, though, it just completely slipped his mind.

      "I actually like how honest MafuMafu-kun is all the time. You never have to worry about him hiding something from you, because he's a terrible liar," Un:c commented.

      "Hmm, I guess that's true," Sakata hummed thoughtfully.

      "Um... th-thanks?" MafuMafu wasn't sure whether or not to take that as a compliment.

      "Anyway, back to the topic at hand. What were you and Luz-senpai talking about?" Urata asked, a little too eager.

  He's totally going to use this as extra information for his rumors... MafuMafu thought to himself.

      "We didn't really talk about much, I just asked what he was doing out in the courtyard all by himself and he told me he was skipping class. Had I known he was a second year, and the super popular guy everyone's talking about at that, I would've never approached him..." MafuMafu muttered.

      "Why did you approach him, anyway? Aren't you really shy?" Un:c pointed out.

      "W-Well, since it was lunchtime, I thought maybe he didn't have any friends and that's why he was sitting out there all by himself. I was going to invite him to sit with us just to be nice, so..." MafuMafu trailed off in a mumble, nervously playing with his food.

      "Kind of like how we first met, huh?" Urata said with a small smile.

  MafuMafu nodded. "Yeah, that's what I was thinking... I mean, we became friends because of something like that, so I figured maybe it'd work again..."

      "Aw, look at you, trying to make friends with the big kids. This is a big step for you," Un:c poked MafuMafu with a joking grin.

      "Un:c-kun, stop it! I was just trying to be nice!" MafuMafu whined, squirming away from the blonde-haired male.

      "Hmm? But isn't that the same thing?" Un:c questioned, continuing to pester his poor friend.

  He poked MafuMafu again, this time on his side, causing the white-haired male to yelp and stifle a laugh. Un:c's face broke out into a mischievous grin at this, an idea hatching in his mind.

      "Aha! I've found your weakness!" Un:c exclaimed proudly, before beginning to relentlessly tickle MafuMafu.

      "Un:c-kun! Haha... stop...! Hey- haa... c-cut it out!" MafuMafu managed to get out between fits of laughter.

  Sakata and Urata, who were seated across the table from them and were safely out of reach of the chaos, watched the two with amusement.

      "They sure do get along well, huh?" Urata commented, looking over at his red-haired companion.