"IF you just come right out and tell me straight, I'll forgive you, okay?" Sudou says.
"Tell you what straight?" Ayanokouji questions
"'Are you straight? You like watching BL?' Is that what you're probably thinking I'd ask?"
"Sudou... I might be interested in her brother."
"Come on, Ayanokouji..."
"... Also, what's BL?"
"Come on..."
After we'd finished lunch, we were chatting with Sudou and the other guys next to the vending machine in the hall. All of a sudden, Ike got up next to Ayanokouji.
"Look, look! We're friends, right? Comrades that stick together through thick and thin?"
"Uh, yeah. I guess so. Depends on how thick they are."
"Ugh, be serious with me. This also applies with women, not men." Ayanokouji, after hearing Ike, stopped playing around. "So then, naturally...you would tell us if you got yourself a girlfriend, right?" he asked.
"Oh, come on! Not this again..."
"Come on. You're going out with Horikita, aren't you? I'm not gonna forgive you if you get ahead of us!"
"If any of you keep saying 'come on', I might have to strip my pants down and come on you. Got it?"
Ayanokouji noticed Yamauchi and Sudou, both eyeing him suspiciously. Actually, add me and Ike in. We were all staring at him.
"W-With that tone of your voice, you might be serious..."
"You idiot, it's just my voice. Also, we're not dating. Absolutely not. Seriously. I'm not a masochist."
"Okay, but what were you guys talking about all sneaky-like during class today? I guess it's not a story for us, huh? Were you talking about dates or making plans for dates, huh?! Ah, I could kill you, I'm so jealous!"
I thought girls were the ones who usually talk about romance, now it's the boys. How society truly changed.
"'We were talking if we can fuck under the stairwell-' no dude, we're not talking about those type of things."
"Are you sure there's isn't something happening between you!?"
"It's nothing. Besides, Horikita isn't the dating type." Ayanokouji excuses
"I agree with him, he'll probably get slapped if he told her he loves her, which is unlikely to be honest." I added on
"Which is unlikely?" Ayanokouji asked.
"You loving her. Getting slapped is likely."
"Talking back to Ike, I don't know about that. We never really talked to her before. If Kushida hadn't brought it up, we probably wouldn't even know her name. She disappears into the background, like a shadow."
He was right, Horikita never talked to anyone else other than Kushida, me and Ayanokouji.
"You wouldn't even know her name? That's awful."
"So, do you know all your classmate's names, Ayanokouji?"
Ayanokouji at this point was looking towards me, probably to get my attention.
You're on your own dude.
"So?" Yamauchi impatiently started bugging him.
"I don't know how to spell Matsushita's name."
"Want me to tell her that?" Yamauchi asked.
"Ask her to dissipate that anger to Shinjiro." Woah woah. Why me?
"She does have a really cute face though, doesn't she? That's why we noticed her."
Might as well remember every girl's name in this grade. That'll make your brain steam more than it has to.
"She has such an uptight personality, though. I don't like girls like her," remarked Sudou, drinking his coffee.
"Yeah, I know. It's like she's really snippy, yeah? I'd rather go out with a cheerful girl who I can have an easy conversation with. She has to be cute, of course. Just like Kushida-chan." Of course. Kushida was still Ike's favorite, for now.
"Ahh. To go out with Kushida-chan... or rather, do naughty stuff with her!" cried Yamauchi.
This guy only cares about looks and not personality, oh wow... that describes Kushida. Except the naughty stuff though.
"You moron! Like hell you can date Kushida-chan! And you're forbidden from fantasizing about her, too! What is it called? Thought Police? Yeah that!" Ike cried.
"You... didn't read that book dude."
"Yes, I did! It's a great comedy book!"
"... We're getting off topic! The honored one gets it! I am the honored one!"
I took out my phone .to check the weather as Ike and Yamauchi continued going back and forth about Kushida. At least Sudou isn't like this.
"What would happen if I were to be recording this conversation?" I asked them both.
"Y-You wouldn't!" Ike squeaked.
"You're right. I just wanted your reaction."
"Ugh... slick one... Hey Sudou! Who do you have your eye on? Seen any cute girls in basketball?" Ike asked.
"Huh? Oh, no one. Not yet anyway. We don't really have room for any girls on the team right now."
"... You're into boys!?"
"Stop twisting my words, you bum." Sudou violently... no roughly rubbed Ike's head. In fact...
"Stop roughly rubbing Ike's head. It might be too much for him!"
"Yeah, just because of that, I'll stop. Consider yourself lucky."
"... For the rub-"
"No, Shinjiro. No."
Sudou, himself, placed me into a headlock. This position was pretty uncomfortable, so I started tapping his arm quickly. "Stop it! Stop it! I surrender! I'm at your mercy!" Thankfully, he stops while doing a laugh.
"Sudou! If you do have a girlfriend, though, you better not be hiding it! You have to tell us! You have to!"
"Yeah, sure." Sudou said. Despite how disgusted he seemed by the conversation, he nodded.
"Oh, yeah, isn't Hirata dating Karuizawa now?" Ayanokouji asked.
"Yeah, you're right. Hondou saw them holding hands just the other day!" Sudou
I get friends but dating within a month...? Of meeting?
"Yeah, they're dating. No mistake about it. They were walking together, shoulder to shoulder." Ike commented.
"They were, huh? I wonder if they've already done naughty stuff together." Yamauchi theorized.
"Oh, 'come on'." I spouted out my annoyance as well as making fun of Ayanokouji.
... The man in question glanced and stared at me before looking down at his pants. Oh no... "I retract my statement!" I pleaded.
"I was ready to become a sexual offender."
"Please stop joking."
"... Oh."
"It's a joke."
"Wow. Amazing. So.... Ike," Ayanokouji started talking. "You seriously think they... you know."
"Of course, they have! Ah, I'm so jealous! I'm too jealous! It should've been ME, damn it!! IT SHOULD'VE BEEN ME!"
It was way too early for them to have sex when they just started dating, it would mean that they only care for sexual preferences, of course, that was not the case, it was something else.
Cough.
And even then, why would 2 students who just came out of middle school have sex? That's just...wrong.
And weird.
And illega-
Wait, isn't the age of consent in Japan 13? Or is it actually 18? No, it's basically 18, most prefectures have it 18... Why am I thinking of this?
"Yo, Shinjiro! You good? You're kinda shivering right now." Yamauchi asked.
"No... I'm fine, I just feel kind of cold right now."
"Eh? The temperature's normal for me. Are you having a fever? Are you shivering because of my presence?"
"No. And don't worry, it's probably my body temperature..."
"Oh~ Must've been feeling angry that Hirata was banging Karuizawa? Listen to me, mortal. I've got the most experience with sex and stuff," said Yamauchi, sprawled out on the hallway floor.
"Thanks for the info..."
"Hey hey, I think it'd be better to ask Hirata for that kind of stuff." Ike said.
"Do you honestly think that Hirata would give us the details? Like, if we asked about her breasts, or if she were a virgin, or things like that? Do you really think he'd tell us? Come on." Ayanokouji said.
It still feels weird for him to say that even knowing his fake persona...
Ayanokouji walked over to the nearby vending machine to buy something to drink.
"Get me some cocoa!' Yamauchi called.
"Ew Cocoa?"
"What wrong with that!?"
"Nothing. Look, if you want something, buy it yourself." Ayanokouji states
"Hey, I politely ask for some lemonad-" I tried asking Ayanokouji, but I get interrupted by Yamauchi.
"Can't. I've already almost used up all of my points. I have about 2,000 left."
"Yamauchi, you used up around 98,000 points in three we- wait why am I surprised? Of course, you'll do that." Ayanokouji retorts
Come on, man! I bought stuff that's cool! Here, check it out. It's awesome!" said Yamauchi, taking out a handheld gaming device.
"I bought this with Ike. It's a PS Viva! A PS VIVA! It's amazing that a school sells this kind of stuff." Yamauchi continued
...PS Viva? Oh yeah China's on a roll recently.
"How much did it cost?" Ayanokouji asked
"About 20,000. With the optional stuff included, it came to about 25,000."
"Dude..."
That's almost around 200 to 260 US Dollars... or just 25,000 yen...
"I don't usually play games all that much, but now that I'm living in a dorm, I figured I could play with friends. Oh, you know that Miyamoto guy in our class. He's really good at video games."
Yeah, you don't usually play games, sure.
"You should buy one too and join in. Sudou said that he'd get one with next month's allowance."
Yamauchi hands Ayanokouji the handheld console, Ayanokouji shakes it a bit, from what i see, he was trying to see if it was light. He then looks at the screen.
"Honestly, I'm not really that interested. What...is this, anyway? Some kind of fighting game?"
"You've heard about Hunter Watch, right? It's sold more than 4.8 million copies worldwide, man! I've had an incredible knack for games ever since I was a little kid. Overseas professionals constantly scouted me. I always turned them down, though."
4.8 million copies worldwide aren't bad, it's not bad at all. But compare it to the 8 billio-
Oh, wait a minute.
"Hey Ayanokouji, how many people are on this planet right now?"
"I don't know, like around 7.7 billion?"
"I see."
So, we went roughly back to 2019? Weird, the monologue of this volume mentions 2015. I suppose it's the author talking to us by using Ayanokouji. Or it was retconned. But 2019 with all of this technology? Well... it's not out of the realm...
"Anyway, how in the world can such a delicate girl wear such heavy equipment? Is her armor plastic or something? If it were iron, even someone with Sudou's physique would struggle with it." Ayanokouji asked.
"Ayanokouji, you really want an element of realism in your games? What, are you a foreigner? People who say that kind of stuff are usually okay with games where you can automatically regenerate your life. Are you one of those? Do you want some Western-developed game where you shoot guys, then hide somewhere and get all of your health back? Because, if you ask me, those games are unrealistic!" Yamauchi cries,
Well...he has a fair point, for once...
"Anyone who says I have a fair point are subjects to me! Obey me world!"
"Dude..." You're not him, nor are you smart like that.
"Well, you know what they say: 'seeing is believing,' right? Just try it. When you start playing, we'll help you farm for materials. Collecting honey is hard work, you know? So, you can buy me some cocoa, then."
Sheesh, Yamauchi is one demanding spoiled kid, huh?
"For crying out loud..."
"Ah, friendship is such a blessing! Thank you!" Yamauchi said.
Self-interest isn't friendship...
"I didn't even say anything, Yamauchi."
"I know! It just seems like you gave up."
"What are you, a cruel being?" He said as he brought the cocoa and tossed it up to Yamauchi. He catches it, though he does say "What the hell, dude!" due to Ayanokouji straight up beaming it at him. Did he want to headshot Yamauchi?
"I'm a friendly person. Anyone would want to be friends with me!" Yamauchi argued.
Why would I like to be friends with you? That seems impossible, you know Yamauchi.
People who want to reach for the impossible are interesting, you know, like.
You getting a girlfriend or what not.
"Oh, so they have this, too."
Ayanokouji looks over to see a button dedicated to mineral water.
"Mineral water? I don't know which one's better. Sprinkling water or mineral water?"
"Mineral." Sudou says.
"Mineral." Ayanokouji says.
"Mineral." Ike says.
"Sprinkling." Clown says.
"Yeah... so Yamauchi, does the cafeteria offer free food?" Ayanokouji asks.
"Oh, you mean like the vegetable meal set? Ugh, there's no way I'd want to go through school with only vegetables and water."
Yamauchi cackled as he drank his cocoa. If you used up all of your points, then you'd have no choice but to take the free stuff, like vegetables and water. Vegetables and water are healthy for you, so I don't see a complaint. As long as I don't eat vegetables every single lunch I have, I'm fine.
"There are quite a few people who eat the vegetables, actually," Ayanokouji said.
"It's not because they like it. It's probably because it's the end of the month." Yamauchi explained.
"Well, that might be so." Ayanokouji says as he presses the button for milk, and it came tumbling down.
"Sorry Ayanokouji for bothering you, but may you press the button for the lemonade? Tell me how much it costs, and I'll repay you later. If I forget, just remind me. Again, sorry for the inconvenience dude." I asked him,
"Yeah sure, it costs...245 yen-er, points."
"Over 200 ye-points? Alright sure, I'll pay that." Damn it. He influenced me almost saying yen because of that.
Ayanokouji presses the button for the lemonade and grabs it. He walks over to me and hands it to me.
"Thanks, oh by the way, here's the points."
I sent him 245 points as promised as a notification rang from his phone.
"Thanks, Shinjiro.""
"No problem-"
"Hey hey! How come you hand it to Shinjiro, but you tossed it over to me!" Yamauchi cries
"If you asked nicer and offer to give me the points, I would've hand it to you."
"Come on man! I thought we were friends! Ugh, I wish the next month would come by faster so I can forget this ever happened!"
Yamauchi and the other guys laughed as me and Ayanokouji sighed internally while drinking our drinks.
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Word Count: 1703 Words