Gamers, p.54
Gamers!, page 54
“You mean Yama-san?”
“I think that’s fictional, or the guy’s only pretending-“
“I-It’s not like that!”
“!”
Suddenly, I pushed Konoha over without her expecting it and pressed her on the couch with a stern look on my face. Konoha freaked out at her sister’s sudden swift in attitude. However, I had already forgotten what I’ve said earlier and yelled at her impulsively.
“I-I won’t let you speak ill of Yama-san even if you are my little sister! Take back what you’ve said!”
“S-Sorry. Ah…t-that Yama-san is a total genius!”
“Very good!”
I’m satisfied with my little sister’s change-of-mind, and I nodded furiously…Eh?
…Hnnnnnng.
“…Ugh…ugh…”
“Uh, Chiaki, can you not switch to your weird noise-making mode after you crushed on me immediately?”
“…Ugh…”
At the end of the day, my noises kept bothering the whole Hoshinomori family until midnight.
*
Two days after the game of life gathering, early August, and the middle of the summer holiday.
“…Sigh.”
I, Hoshinomori Chiaki, is still locking myself in the darkroom where the sunlight is blocked by the filtering blinds. I wrapped my hands around my feet while sitting on the office chair as I stared at the bright PC screen.
The screen is showing…NOBE’s blog. It wasn’t frequently updated, but I tend to make a development progress report on my games once a week.
However, it’s been 10 days since the last blog update.
I felt like I should write something, so I forced myself to get up and turned on the computer. I logged into the blog…and yet all I have typed is a “Long time no see” before stopping completely.
Another reason for this could be that there’s no specific progress made for this week, so I can literally write nothing. But, if that’s the case, all I need to write is “I’m having trouble developing my game this week.” To be honest, I have written that down on the blog a couple times in the past.
This time…I can’t even do that, and it’s because of…
“…I feel like…I’m writing a letter to Keita…”
I plopped my head between my feet as soon as I realized this again.
When Yama-san is still a distant and unknown person, I can chat with him freely on the blog.
Now that I realized who Yama-san really is. Yet, I have to pretend like it’s nothing and continue writing to Yama-san…I’m not calm and resilient enough to do that.
“…Ahhh, that’s enough!”
I spun the chair around and stepped onto the floor loudly. Then, I walked out of the room.
I stepped into the bright living room and opened the fridge aimlessly, only for me to close it because I’m bored with it. I glanced at the digital clock above the utensil shelf at the corner of my eyes. 2:03pm, and the date-
“…Oh, right.”
I stood there for a moment because I realized something. Then, I decided to lighten my mood by wandering around the streets. Right, I made up my mind, let’s not hassle.
I groomed my hair in the mirror and changed to my usual clothes, not modern but good enough to take to the streets. Got my bag, put my phone and wallet in it. Then, I walked to my sister’s room, who’s very quiet, probably studying hard like she’s always has been. I knocked on the door.
“Konoha?”
There’s a loud “Bang!” coming from the room. It sounds like someone’s legs accidentally hit the table. After a moment of silence, I can hear slow yet heavy footsteps are coming my way. Then, the door finally opened.
My little sister poked her head out of the room…She’s probably tired, her breaths are out, and she looks exhausted. Looking into the room via the gap of the door, I can see that her laptop’s green battery light is blinking. Wow, she’s hard-working to the point that she needed a computer. My little sister is really different from me. She’s an elite. I would just open my notebook and copy whatever’s on the blackboard to give people the impression that I’m studying.
“W-What’s wrong, sis?”
Konoha asked. She still got the dark circles around her eyes today. Konoha looks way more worn out in the summer holiday, it’s almost like she’s a different person than the perfect student she is. However, her eyes are giving off a strange sparkle. This tells me that she’s cutting her sleeping time to do something that she’s passionate about.
“Sigh, my little sister is always giving her best, and now she’s even become the president of a great high school. Yet, I’m still here…”
Although I’m a bit depressed about the situation, I managed to muster up a smile at Konoha while concealing some of my personal information.
“Hey, I’m going to the convenience store to get some stuff, you want something?”
“Sis, you’re going to buy the Fami magazine, right?”
I just said I want to get some stuff! She saw through it immediately. My elite little sister already knew that I’m a loser that only contacts sunlight when the new edition of Fami or games is out. Oof, I’m so ashamed right now.
However, my kind-hearted little sister didn’t look down upon me even though she’s studying so hard. Instead, she asked her sis politely.
“Um…if you are going out, I might need some energy drinks. Ah, b-but, you don’t need to buy it if you’re busy! Just get it when you have time!”
She seems very sorry when she frantically asked me that. This child…! You don’t need to feel guilty when you’ve worked so hard. This isn’t a problem for your Fami-getting and lazy sister! Konoha is really an angel! She’s way ahead of the gaming otaku in front of her!
I patted my chest even though it’s not my style and answered, “I got it!” Then, I choked and coughed as I walked towards the door.
During this time, I heard Konoha’s voice again.
“Right, sis, can I borrow your PC while you’re out?”
“Huh? Um, sure, but why? How about your laptop?”
I tied my shoelaces as I asked, and then Konoha answered with a sigh.
“Right. Actually, I wanted to watch videos, but my laptop won’t behave when the video got too much action happening in it.”
“I got it. By the way, Konoha, what videos are you watching?”
“Oh, I’m watching the BALDR series’s OP-“ [Note: Not sure what that is, but probably hentai.]
“BAL…?”
Strange. Konoha just said something that a model student probably wouldn’t know. I turned my head to her, and then Konoha freaked out for some reason. She explained to me once again while blinking weirdly.
“I-I want to watch my favorite band’s new promotional video! Yes!”
“Ohhhh…a band’s promotional video…”
My little sister’s hobbies are entirely different than mine. She’s relaxing from all her hard work by watching promotional videos from a band. I feel like we don’t even have the same parents.
“A-Anyway, sis, stay safe!”
“Ah, okay…then I’m off.”
She hurried me out of the door. Right, I guess it’s hard for her to immerse herself in the world of music while there’s a procrastinating sister at home. *sobs*
Once I’m outside, the sunlight from midsummer is blasting onto me. I immediately sighed while putting on my straw hat. However, perhaps the concrete below is too reflective, I don’t feel that much cooler.
I guess this is what it feels to be on the receiving end of an attack that penetrates your DEF stats. My imagination started to run wild as I walked across the steaming concrete road slowly.
Even though it’s just a walk to the nearest convenience store, but in a remote and rural area like this, it’s going to take 15 minutes with my walking speed. It’ll be a bit faster if I’m riding a bicycle. Still, after it was stolen for once (that was retrieved back immediately), I don’t really want to go cycling anymore. This is far from emotional trauma. However, whenever I remember how depressed I was when my bike was gone, I can’t help but feel that this isn’t a situation where I need to take the risk.
“Sigh, I’m just as apathetic as I’ve always been, I hate myself.”
The game developer that wishes people to accept her by publishing her work while being extremely repulsive to intrusions in her daily life. This is who Chiaki Hoshinomori, or I am.
Anyway, I can never deal with things when I either didn’t expect or mentally prepared myself for them. This is not just things that will get me in trouble, even joyful and exciting events are the same.
For example, even when there’s a close friend that invited to me go out, I will still reject once out of my reflexes. No matter the causes, I just hate disruptions in my daily routine. However, after I think for a while, my mind will suddenly change to “Hey, it’s not wrong to go out for once…” But after my first rejection, I don’t dare to say that I want to go. I ended up being the girl that no one can invite her out.
That’s why I spent a lot of time alone. I filled up my schedule with either gaming or making games. Now that I realized it, not even I know when did I surround myself in such a towering fortress.
A fortress that I don’t know how I should walk out, both externally and internally.
My inner wall is so tall that even I’m scared of it. That one guy who shared my personalities and yet he entered my fortified heart bravely and found me, Amano-
“No! That doesn’t count! None of that counts!”
My brain is starting to go haywire under the hot weather.
I pulled the straw hat onto my head tightly once again as I walked along the road while trying to polish my ideas for a new game in my head.
I ended up not coming up with a single idea before I arrived at the store.
“Welcome.”
I was greeted by the lazy cashier and a wave of freezing wind coming from the AC unit as I walked into the store.
I turned right after a couple steps before I cheered myself up and dashed to the magazine area. The reason I’m acting like this is that this store doesn’t have that many Fami magazines in stock, sometimes it’s sold out even on the release day. There’s no way I can withstand the heat while walking to a far-away convenience store.
So, I observed the magazine shelf intensely and found the Fami book mixed between others. I reached my hand toward it.
But then, suddenly…
“Oh.”
Someone tried to reach for the Fami as well, his hand overlapped with mine.
My white and pale hand is cover with his (which is just as white and pale).
“…Eh, Chiaki...?”
“K…Keita…why are you here…?”
The rival who looked at me nervously, Keita Amano, is standing right in front of me.
“………….”
Both of us are ultra introverts with practically no social skills, so none of us know what to do besides staring at each other silently as if the time has stopped.
In summary, the scenery is a boy and a girl reaching their hands for the same book, while this seems like what you’ll see in a romantic comedy…
In actuality, it’s just two otakus fighting over the Fami magazine, what a ramshackle scene.
*
“I’ve been suspecting this before, you really have the potential of becoming a stalker…”
On the road back to Hoshinomori’s home after I quickly bought my stuff, I’m enjoying my double freezie while holding a bag with energy drinks and a magazine.
“Um, I’ve said this before, it’s not like that! You overly self-conscious seaweed girl! Ah, but thanks for the freezie.”
Although Keita spoke ill to me like he always had, he still thanked me nonetheless while chewing on the freezie I gave him.
I didn’t bother to turn my head to him before replying sulkily.
“Don’t get it wrong. I just want to try out this brand of freezie, but two are too much for me. I just had to give one to you, it’s too hot for it to last all the way until my home, anyways.”
“Yeah, I understand. Although its portion is the same other popsicles, I feel guilty to just swallow the entire double freezie. Perhaps I’m used to sharing them with my little brother.”
“Exactly! Um, ahem, you’re annoying, stalker.”
“Hey, I-I told you it’s not like that…”
Bean sprout short winter melon, or should I say bean sprout short winter melon stalker walked next to me depressingly. He’s wearing a pair of loose jeans with a polo shirt. Looks pretty casual to me, doesn’t look like what a boy will pick when he’s heading to a girl’s room…I can’t stand it.
“No, wait! I-I’m not hoping for him to dress appropriately!
That will probably just make the whole situation more awkward. From this perspective, this is the most appropriate dress code for the guy. But, I’m irritated for some reason. After all, he’s going take his dress code more seriously if he’s heading to Tendou-san’s place. No, whatever, it’s useless to be trapped in all these thoughts. He’s my rival, and he’ll piss me off no matter what he does, anyways.
Keita is holding his freezie while mumbling. I think he’s trying to explain something to me.
“It’s true. It’s just that this isn’t the best moment. Honestly, I knew that this is an unpleasant situation, so I won’t retort back. However, think about this. There’s a reason for this, just like my simplified explanation.”
“…You’re saying that you forgot something at my home from the last time, right?”
“Yeah, e-exactly.”
I stared at him fiercely. Keita started to rub his arms like he’s cold on a summer day and even looked away from me as he answered.
“Um, I get it. It’s weird for me to take something I forgot from a girl’s house without contacting beforehand. But, allow me to explain.”
“What? I’ll really call the police if I feel offended-“
“Let me ask you this. Chiaki, did you turn on your phone?”
“-Eh?”
After I heard that, I snapped back to reality and slowly grabbed my phone out from the pocket before I pressed the power button for a few seconds. No response, the battery ran out completely.
Keita let out a big sigh after he saw what I was doing.
“I wanted to contact you from the day before. I texted you at first, but I didn’t get a reply for a day. Then, I tried to call you to no avail. I thought there’s no way for a situation like this to happen, but here we are…By the way, Chiaki, I can’t believe you just left your phone uncharged for two whole days. Perhaps it’s because you don’t have any friends, but don’t you play mobile games as well?”
“Eh? Welp, um, no, how should I put it…”
“?”
Keita tilted his head dumbfoundedly when he saw I’m stuttering. While I just stared at my dead phone’s black screen, it is reflecting my startled face clearly.
“Crap…! After I realized that Yama-san and Tsucchi are both Keita, I distanced myself from mobile games entirely to try to calm myself down to the point that I didn’t touch my phone…!”
“Um, b-beauties like me has to date many boys during the summer holiday, so I don’t have time to check out my phone. I’m busy going to the mountains, to the beaches, and to the theme parks. Phew…”
“Um, your excuse is kinda bullshit.”
“Keita. D-Don’t act as if you know me!”
“Your body.”
“Wha-“
I blushed at his bluntness and nearly dropped my freezie, while Keita gave me a cold stare.
“Your unhealthy and pale skin doesn’t look like someone who’ll play everywhere during the summer at all…”
“W-Why are you so sure about that!”
“…It’s because I’m proud of having the same skin as well…”
The friendless, bean sprout boy looked at the far-away clouds.
“I feel like…I should apologize.”
I apologized, no matter how fierce our rivalry is. We just chewed our freezie depressingly while walking silently for a minute.
I tried to make small talks again.
“Let’s move on from my phone! To be honest, I have no idea what did you forget at my home.”
“Hmm?”Oh, about that. I initially thought that you’ll realize what I’ve left behind immediately when you’re at home…But after a while, maybe this is not the case.”
“You mean you forgot something tiny? Like a 1:1 Keita Amano’s stand board or something like that.”
“You just had to insult me whenever you got the chance. You’re wrong, it’s not tiny.”
“An object with a medium volume that I’ll miss…what is it? Don’t tell me it’s your sealed devilish magic remnants in your body that can only be seen whenever you opened your third eye.”
“You don’t insert some half-assed edgy settings in me. Is that a new way of messing with me?”
“Actually, I think it’s almost time for you to prepay for some simple little magic.”
“Prepay?”
“Isn’t this what people kept saying? If you are still a virgin by 30 years old-“
Keita slapped my head lightly when I said that. To be honest, tis but a scratch since he managed his force very well. However, I’m still pissed at the fact I was just hit. So, I slapped my hand on his weak arms as well. Keita Amano turned unhappy as he armed himself with his tricky theories.
“I slapped you because I wanted to quickly halt you from saying something nasty in public. I don’t understand why I should be hit by you.”
Keita quibbled as he gently knocked my head, this is pissing me off.
“Yeah, while I can tolerate you picking on me verbally, there’s no need for me to tolerate your violence as well.”
I slapped his arm as I spoke. His face twitched for a second.
“The only rather violent thing I did was touching your hair. Comparatively, you just violently contacted my skin.”
“But, a girl’s life depends on her hair.”
“Your’s are just dry seaweed.”
“The short winter melon next me, you’re really violating the taboos now. This is sexual harassment. Sigh, what a pain in the ass. This is what a bean sprout little winter melon stinky otaku that talk down a girl looks like…”
“I think that’s fictional, or the guy’s only pretending-“
“I-It’s not like that!”
“!”
Suddenly, I pushed Konoha over without her expecting it and pressed her on the couch with a stern look on my face. Konoha freaked out at her sister’s sudden swift in attitude. However, I had already forgotten what I’ve said earlier and yelled at her impulsively.
“I-I won’t let you speak ill of Yama-san even if you are my little sister! Take back what you’ve said!”
“S-Sorry. Ah…t-that Yama-san is a total genius!”
“Very good!”
I’m satisfied with my little sister’s change-of-mind, and I nodded furiously…Eh?
…Hnnnnnng.
“…Ugh…ugh…”
“Uh, Chiaki, can you not switch to your weird noise-making mode after you crushed on me immediately?”
“…Ugh…”
At the end of the day, my noises kept bothering the whole Hoshinomori family until midnight.
*
Two days after the game of life gathering, early August, and the middle of the summer holiday.
“…Sigh.”
I, Hoshinomori Chiaki, is still locking myself in the darkroom where the sunlight is blocked by the filtering blinds. I wrapped my hands around my feet while sitting on the office chair as I stared at the bright PC screen.
The screen is showing…NOBE’s blog. It wasn’t frequently updated, but I tend to make a development progress report on my games once a week.
However, it’s been 10 days since the last blog update.
I felt like I should write something, so I forced myself to get up and turned on the computer. I logged into the blog…and yet all I have typed is a “Long time no see” before stopping completely.
Another reason for this could be that there’s no specific progress made for this week, so I can literally write nothing. But, if that’s the case, all I need to write is “I’m having trouble developing my game this week.” To be honest, I have written that down on the blog a couple times in the past.
This time…I can’t even do that, and it’s because of…
“…I feel like…I’m writing a letter to Keita…”
I plopped my head between my feet as soon as I realized this again.
When Yama-san is still a distant and unknown person, I can chat with him freely on the blog.
Now that I realized who Yama-san really is. Yet, I have to pretend like it’s nothing and continue writing to Yama-san…I’m not calm and resilient enough to do that.
“…Ahhh, that’s enough!”
I spun the chair around and stepped onto the floor loudly. Then, I walked out of the room.
I stepped into the bright living room and opened the fridge aimlessly, only for me to close it because I’m bored with it. I glanced at the digital clock above the utensil shelf at the corner of my eyes. 2:03pm, and the date-
“…Oh, right.”
I stood there for a moment because I realized something. Then, I decided to lighten my mood by wandering around the streets. Right, I made up my mind, let’s not hassle.
I groomed my hair in the mirror and changed to my usual clothes, not modern but good enough to take to the streets. Got my bag, put my phone and wallet in it. Then, I walked to my sister’s room, who’s very quiet, probably studying hard like she’s always has been. I knocked on the door.
“Konoha?”
There’s a loud “Bang!” coming from the room. It sounds like someone’s legs accidentally hit the table. After a moment of silence, I can hear slow yet heavy footsteps are coming my way. Then, the door finally opened.
My little sister poked her head out of the room…She’s probably tired, her breaths are out, and she looks exhausted. Looking into the room via the gap of the door, I can see that her laptop’s green battery light is blinking. Wow, she’s hard-working to the point that she needed a computer. My little sister is really different from me. She’s an elite. I would just open my notebook and copy whatever’s on the blackboard to give people the impression that I’m studying.
“W-What’s wrong, sis?”
Konoha asked. She still got the dark circles around her eyes today. Konoha looks way more worn out in the summer holiday, it’s almost like she’s a different person than the perfect student she is. However, her eyes are giving off a strange sparkle. This tells me that she’s cutting her sleeping time to do something that she’s passionate about.
“Sigh, my little sister is always giving her best, and now she’s even become the president of a great high school. Yet, I’m still here…”
Although I’m a bit depressed about the situation, I managed to muster up a smile at Konoha while concealing some of my personal information.
“Hey, I’m going to the convenience store to get some stuff, you want something?”
“Sis, you’re going to buy the Fami magazine, right?”
I just said I want to get some stuff! She saw through it immediately. My elite little sister already knew that I’m a loser that only contacts sunlight when the new edition of Fami or games is out. Oof, I’m so ashamed right now.
However, my kind-hearted little sister didn’t look down upon me even though she’s studying so hard. Instead, she asked her sis politely.
“Um…if you are going out, I might need some energy drinks. Ah, b-but, you don’t need to buy it if you’re busy! Just get it when you have time!”
She seems very sorry when she frantically asked me that. This child…! You don’t need to feel guilty when you’ve worked so hard. This isn’t a problem for your Fami-getting and lazy sister! Konoha is really an angel! She’s way ahead of the gaming otaku in front of her!
I patted my chest even though it’s not my style and answered, “I got it!” Then, I choked and coughed as I walked towards the door.
During this time, I heard Konoha’s voice again.
“Right, sis, can I borrow your PC while you’re out?”
“Huh? Um, sure, but why? How about your laptop?”
I tied my shoelaces as I asked, and then Konoha answered with a sigh.
“Right. Actually, I wanted to watch videos, but my laptop won’t behave when the video got too much action happening in it.”
“I got it. By the way, Konoha, what videos are you watching?”
“Oh, I’m watching the BALDR series’s OP-“ [Note: Not sure what that is, but probably hentai.]
“BAL…?”
Strange. Konoha just said something that a model student probably wouldn’t know. I turned my head to her, and then Konoha freaked out for some reason. She explained to me once again while blinking weirdly.
“I-I want to watch my favorite band’s new promotional video! Yes!”
“Ohhhh…a band’s promotional video…”
My little sister’s hobbies are entirely different than mine. She’s relaxing from all her hard work by watching promotional videos from a band. I feel like we don’t even have the same parents.
“A-Anyway, sis, stay safe!”
“Ah, okay…then I’m off.”
She hurried me out of the door. Right, I guess it’s hard for her to immerse herself in the world of music while there’s a procrastinating sister at home. *sobs*
Once I’m outside, the sunlight from midsummer is blasting onto me. I immediately sighed while putting on my straw hat. However, perhaps the concrete below is too reflective, I don’t feel that much cooler.
I guess this is what it feels to be on the receiving end of an attack that penetrates your DEF stats. My imagination started to run wild as I walked across the steaming concrete road slowly.
Even though it’s just a walk to the nearest convenience store, but in a remote and rural area like this, it’s going to take 15 minutes with my walking speed. It’ll be a bit faster if I’m riding a bicycle. Still, after it was stolen for once (that was retrieved back immediately), I don’t really want to go cycling anymore. This is far from emotional trauma. However, whenever I remember how depressed I was when my bike was gone, I can’t help but feel that this isn’t a situation where I need to take the risk.
“Sigh, I’m just as apathetic as I’ve always been, I hate myself.”
The game developer that wishes people to accept her by publishing her work while being extremely repulsive to intrusions in her daily life. This is who Chiaki Hoshinomori, or I am.
Anyway, I can never deal with things when I either didn’t expect or mentally prepared myself for them. This is not just things that will get me in trouble, even joyful and exciting events are the same.
For example, even when there’s a close friend that invited to me go out, I will still reject once out of my reflexes. No matter the causes, I just hate disruptions in my daily routine. However, after I think for a while, my mind will suddenly change to “Hey, it’s not wrong to go out for once…” But after my first rejection, I don’t dare to say that I want to go. I ended up being the girl that no one can invite her out.
That’s why I spent a lot of time alone. I filled up my schedule with either gaming or making games. Now that I realized it, not even I know when did I surround myself in such a towering fortress.
A fortress that I don’t know how I should walk out, both externally and internally.
My inner wall is so tall that even I’m scared of it. That one guy who shared my personalities and yet he entered my fortified heart bravely and found me, Amano-
“No! That doesn’t count! None of that counts!”
My brain is starting to go haywire under the hot weather.
I pulled the straw hat onto my head tightly once again as I walked along the road while trying to polish my ideas for a new game in my head.
I ended up not coming up with a single idea before I arrived at the store.
“Welcome.”
I was greeted by the lazy cashier and a wave of freezing wind coming from the AC unit as I walked into the store.
I turned right after a couple steps before I cheered myself up and dashed to the magazine area. The reason I’m acting like this is that this store doesn’t have that many Fami magazines in stock, sometimes it’s sold out even on the release day. There’s no way I can withstand the heat while walking to a far-away convenience store.
So, I observed the magazine shelf intensely and found the Fami book mixed between others. I reached my hand toward it.
But then, suddenly…
“Oh.”
Someone tried to reach for the Fami as well, his hand overlapped with mine.
My white and pale hand is cover with his (which is just as white and pale).
“…Eh, Chiaki...?”
“K…Keita…why are you here…?”
The rival who looked at me nervously, Keita Amano, is standing right in front of me.
“………….”
Both of us are ultra introverts with practically no social skills, so none of us know what to do besides staring at each other silently as if the time has stopped.
In summary, the scenery is a boy and a girl reaching their hands for the same book, while this seems like what you’ll see in a romantic comedy…
In actuality, it’s just two otakus fighting over the Fami magazine, what a ramshackle scene.
*
“I’ve been suspecting this before, you really have the potential of becoming a stalker…”
On the road back to Hoshinomori’s home after I quickly bought my stuff, I’m enjoying my double freezie while holding a bag with energy drinks and a magazine.
“Um, I’ve said this before, it’s not like that! You overly self-conscious seaweed girl! Ah, but thanks for the freezie.”
Although Keita spoke ill to me like he always had, he still thanked me nonetheless while chewing on the freezie I gave him.
I didn’t bother to turn my head to him before replying sulkily.
“Don’t get it wrong. I just want to try out this brand of freezie, but two are too much for me. I just had to give one to you, it’s too hot for it to last all the way until my home, anyways.”
“Yeah, I understand. Although its portion is the same other popsicles, I feel guilty to just swallow the entire double freezie. Perhaps I’m used to sharing them with my little brother.”
“Exactly! Um, ahem, you’re annoying, stalker.”
“Hey, I-I told you it’s not like that…”
Bean sprout short winter melon, or should I say bean sprout short winter melon stalker walked next to me depressingly. He’s wearing a pair of loose jeans with a polo shirt. Looks pretty casual to me, doesn’t look like what a boy will pick when he’s heading to a girl’s room…I can’t stand it.
“No, wait! I-I’m not hoping for him to dress appropriately!
That will probably just make the whole situation more awkward. From this perspective, this is the most appropriate dress code for the guy. But, I’m irritated for some reason. After all, he’s going take his dress code more seriously if he’s heading to Tendou-san’s place. No, whatever, it’s useless to be trapped in all these thoughts. He’s my rival, and he’ll piss me off no matter what he does, anyways.
Keita is holding his freezie while mumbling. I think he’s trying to explain something to me.
“It’s true. It’s just that this isn’t the best moment. Honestly, I knew that this is an unpleasant situation, so I won’t retort back. However, think about this. There’s a reason for this, just like my simplified explanation.”
“…You’re saying that you forgot something at my home from the last time, right?”
“Yeah, e-exactly.”
I stared at him fiercely. Keita started to rub his arms like he’s cold on a summer day and even looked away from me as he answered.
“Um, I get it. It’s weird for me to take something I forgot from a girl’s house without contacting beforehand. But, allow me to explain.”
“What? I’ll really call the police if I feel offended-“
“Let me ask you this. Chiaki, did you turn on your phone?”
“-Eh?”
After I heard that, I snapped back to reality and slowly grabbed my phone out from the pocket before I pressed the power button for a few seconds. No response, the battery ran out completely.
Keita let out a big sigh after he saw what I was doing.
“I wanted to contact you from the day before. I texted you at first, but I didn’t get a reply for a day. Then, I tried to call you to no avail. I thought there’s no way for a situation like this to happen, but here we are…By the way, Chiaki, I can’t believe you just left your phone uncharged for two whole days. Perhaps it’s because you don’t have any friends, but don’t you play mobile games as well?”
“Eh? Welp, um, no, how should I put it…”
“?”
Keita tilted his head dumbfoundedly when he saw I’m stuttering. While I just stared at my dead phone’s black screen, it is reflecting my startled face clearly.
“Crap…! After I realized that Yama-san and Tsucchi are both Keita, I distanced myself from mobile games entirely to try to calm myself down to the point that I didn’t touch my phone…!”
“Um, b-beauties like me has to date many boys during the summer holiday, so I don’t have time to check out my phone. I’m busy going to the mountains, to the beaches, and to the theme parks. Phew…”
“Um, your excuse is kinda bullshit.”
“Keita. D-Don’t act as if you know me!”
“Your body.”
“Wha-“
I blushed at his bluntness and nearly dropped my freezie, while Keita gave me a cold stare.
“Your unhealthy and pale skin doesn’t look like someone who’ll play everywhere during the summer at all…”
“W-Why are you so sure about that!”
“…It’s because I’m proud of having the same skin as well…”
The friendless, bean sprout boy looked at the far-away clouds.
“I feel like…I should apologize.”
I apologized, no matter how fierce our rivalry is. We just chewed our freezie depressingly while walking silently for a minute.
I tried to make small talks again.
“Let’s move on from my phone! To be honest, I have no idea what did you forget at my home.”
“Hmm?”Oh, about that. I initially thought that you’ll realize what I’ve left behind immediately when you’re at home…But after a while, maybe this is not the case.”
“You mean you forgot something tiny? Like a 1:1 Keita Amano’s stand board or something like that.”
“You just had to insult me whenever you got the chance. You’re wrong, it’s not tiny.”
“An object with a medium volume that I’ll miss…what is it? Don’t tell me it’s your sealed devilish magic remnants in your body that can only be seen whenever you opened your third eye.”
“You don’t insert some half-assed edgy settings in me. Is that a new way of messing with me?”
“Actually, I think it’s almost time for you to prepay for some simple little magic.”
“Prepay?”
“Isn’t this what people kept saying? If you are still a virgin by 30 years old-“
Keita slapped my head lightly when I said that. To be honest, tis but a scratch since he managed his force very well. However, I’m still pissed at the fact I was just hit. So, I slapped my hand on his weak arms as well. Keita Amano turned unhappy as he armed himself with his tricky theories.
“I slapped you because I wanted to quickly halt you from saying something nasty in public. I don’t understand why I should be hit by you.”
Keita quibbled as he gently knocked my head, this is pissing me off.
“Yeah, while I can tolerate you picking on me verbally, there’s no need for me to tolerate your violence as well.”
I slapped his arm as I spoke. His face twitched for a second.
“The only rather violent thing I did was touching your hair. Comparatively, you just violently contacted my skin.”
“But, a girl’s life depends on her hair.”
“Your’s are just dry seaweed.”
“The short winter melon next me, you’re really violating the taboos now. This is sexual harassment. Sigh, what a pain in the ass. This is what a bean sprout little winter melon stinky otaku that talk down a girl looks like…”
