"Ayanokouji-kun? What are you doing here?"
"Did you not mean to send this message to me?" I showed Kushida the request she had sent. 'Meet me at Pallet after school' was how it read. I don't think there's any other way to interpret this message.
"Huh, but I didn-"
"What is it?"
"…I know what's happened."
"…" Kushida looked over to Mori, who totally unbothered started to pour more and more packets of sugar into the coffee sat in front of her. That's already four, that's more than enough…
"Ah, Ayanokouji-kun. You're here."
"Do you not think you've put in enough?" I pointed towards the cup. If she put in much more, it might have difficulty dissolving.
"Oh, you're right. What am I thinking?" She added another for good measure.
"…I see. So, why am I here?"
"…Uhm, that is- What was it?"
"Kushida, it may be a good idea to not hand your phone over to Mori from now on…"
"Noted. But now that you're here, you could join us if you want?"
"…I'm grateful for the invitation. But I think I'll pass this time around." It was a café already well known for its reputation amongst girls and couples. I couldn't be more out of my element if I tried. Though the sweets were tempting…
"Eh? Leaving after the effort to come here, you may as well stay." Mori said as if it were common sense.
"Listen, you could've just invited me yourself. Or made everyone aware I might be arriving. This was clearly some sort of outing you guys planned together, I'd just be getting in the way." Mori did have my number as well, so she could've easily just sent a message. It wasn't like I would've ignored it… Probably.
"Does it matter who invites you? And at the end of the day Kushida-chan extended an invitation as well. Just make the most of it and hang out." Mori said rather flippantly.
"It could make things awkward if you keep doing this. What if Mii-chan and Kushida didn't want me to actually be here?" I would also be the only guy in our group, which I felt was awkward in a different way.
"As if anyone could resist inviting you…" Mori shifted in her chair in mock discomfort. If I didn't know any better, I'd think she was serious. But of course, I did. So I know that this woman was just trying to bother me.
"…I don't even know if I want to know what you mean by that."
"You're just so easy to tease. It's kinda funny. Because you spend more time in your head than the actual world." That might be true, but I still didn't want to be told by an airhead.
"…Do either of you have a problem with me joining?" I posed to the other two girls.
"Not at all. Mii-chan?" Kushida asked the small pigtailed girl.
"By all means, Ayanokouji-kun."
"I suppose I should order something then…" Whatever, I guess this is fine…
"Ooh, get something for me as well." Mori piped up instantly. It wasn't an invitation!
"Order it yourself."
"Don't be like that! You wouldn't be able to taste these sweets so soon if I didn't invite you, return the favour." She kind of had a point… I dislike the fact that I'm even entertaining this thought.
"I thought you said it doesn't matter who invited me?" She was quick to 180 on a previous decision.
"That was before food was involved!" Mori said whilst sticking her tongue out slightly.
"…Fine. But only one thing."
"Thanks, you're not so bad are you, Ayanokouji-kun?! I knew there was a reason to invite you." That doesn't make me particularly happy, you know. In fact it almost seems like you called me out here just to buy you something… No, I'm sure that isn't something that friends would do! I'm just overthinking it.
Approaching the counter with a cheery Mori in tow. I wonder if we appeared like a couple to other customers? Hmm… It's not like she wasn't attractive or fun, but I could obviously sense that Mori would be a lot to deal with. I don't think I have the requisite energy reserves to keep up with that. After a small interaction and the service staff cleaning a small spill, we returned with some sweet treats.
Mori had chosen pancakes and ice cream, I had strawberry cheesecake.
Ahhh. It's delectable. The cheese base was creamy. The crumbly texture of the biscuit beneath added some much-needed texture to the dish and the strawberries were very fittingly the finishing touch. I was in culinary bliss.
Mori took a large spoonful of her own dessert, thanking me for the meal. Before blurting out…
"It's almost like he's my sugar daddy!" Mori said between spoonful's of pancakes and ice cream.
"…Kkh-!" Poor Mii-chan nearly choked on the chocolate mousse she was delicately spooning.
"…"
Mii-chan and Kushida looked shocked for a brief moment, though didn't say anything in rebuttal. Did they not think it was funny?
"What?" The other two girls turned deadpan towards me.
"Why aren't you surprised?! It almost looks like you expected her to call you that?" Coughing a few times, Mii-chan asked. Well Mori had already told me that joke when we were ordering, I didn't want to take the punchline. I was many things, but a thief was not one of them. The joke must have been particularly funny because the staff serving us had spat out whatever they were drinking.
"Yeah, she said that joke to me earlier. I'm providing a sweet to her like a parent would. Like a caregiver of sugar. Therefore, sugar daddy… What? Why are you looking at me like that?" Ah, I was ruining the joke, wasn't I? That was one of the tacit rules of comedy, explaining it made it no longer funny… I should apologise to Mori.
"Sorry, Mori. I don't think I can be your sugar daddy anymore." I was unfit for the role by ruining this joke. Though the more pressing issue was that I didn't want to buy her anymore desserts. I'm sure given the opportunity Mori would bleed my account dry.
"Pfft… I can't!" Mori keeled over banging on the table and wiping a tear from her eye. She was really broken up over that joke, huh? I must be a bad friend…
"Mori-san, please stop corrupting Ayanokouji-kun…" Mii-chan requested whilst resting her face against the table surface.
"Aww, but it's so fun! And easy." What exactly had been corrupted about me… I didn't feel any different. Was it such a gradual change that even the individual doesn't notice it? Was the introduction of those words joined in my lexicon enough to change a man?
If anything I should be thanking Mori, it was the hat she had recommended to me that I had bought. That was still the first and only item decorating my room… It's just unfortunate that this trip is a miss, I couldn't very well preserve a cake and leave it as a decoration. That was a quick way to get an ant infestation or worse… That's a shame.
"That's why you should be ashamed! He isn't even second guessing what you just said… What are you going to do if he repeats that joke to another person?!" Mii-chan admonished Mori. Well, now I'm definitely not going to do that…
"I dunno, probably laugh." Mori replied without missing a beat.
I was entertaining the thought of using a similar play on words. Stealing jokes was supposedly bad etiquette. But if I changed a few things… I'm your father of sweets… Grandfather of gooey delights… Cousin of confectionary… Maybe the alliteration is a mistake.
No, nothing's quite as striking as sugar daddy. I guess I just don't have the chops for comedy.
What a bitter thought.
My mouth was filled with sweets yet all I could taste was sorrow.
We continued talking in that animated tone for a while. Until the time eventually come to leave. It was a nice albeit unnecessary outing. And expense, thanks to Mori.
But… Well, I wouldn't mind doing something like this again. Even if just for the sweets.
[Civil War]
"Yeah, what is up with you two? You've been getting a lot closer recently, at least compared to before." Oda asked from the opposite side of the table.
"You're just imagining it." He wasn't. Though he certainly was imagining my reciprocation of the affection.
"…Nah, clearly not." He said as Manabe sidled up to me, shifting a space up the bench so that she was practically hung over my shoulder, the hot breaths from her mouth collided against my ear bringing a small tingling sensation.
"I can't help it if people haven't learnt to respect personal space." Truly, I was the victim of this terrible crime. Oh no, please help. There's an attractive girl hanging onto me… Aww, the voices in my head can't hear my pleas for help… There's nothing else to do but grin and bear it. Really such a pity.
"Hmm? You didn't seem so against that invasion of personal space in gym. Could it be? Are you such a cold man, Kiyotaka-kun? Just using me for my body, how tragic." I couldn't get rid of you because of your persistence, no other reason. As I have already doubtlessly proven I am a man of strict convictions. I have never once deviated from them. Not even a single time. Not a single glance or glimpse of such temptations have entered these eyes. Not your glistening thighs, your hair wet from the pool or even the smoothness of your skin… None of them.
"I thought it would be rude to run away from you as if you had the plague. But if that's what I have to do to get the message across, I may just do it."
"Relax. I was just teasing. Same as these guys, right?" If things were the other way around, I'd already be detained.
"…Personally, I don't think it's appropriate to be acting like that around people. They're going to get the wrong idea." Tokitou said in a matter-of-fact tone.
"My thoughts exactly." Thank you, Tokitou. The voice of reason. As expected of him, he didn't seem the type to support this kind of behaviour. He seemed to have more conservative values. Oda on the other hand, was probably the opposite… The only reason he was standoffish was… well he clearly didn't like me much. And was probably somewhat jealous… Oda was the most excited to exchange contacts the first time we all had lunch together.
"Let 'em think what they want, I say! Friendships depend on the people in them, they aren't all the same, are they? Friendship isn't something so cut and dry! Don't you agree, Kiyotaka-kun?" The same girl that was utterly demeaning and degrading the notions of friendship and love just a few days ago was now professing their importance to me.
"Exactly Shiho-chan! No one thinks it's weird that me and Saki-chan are so close, right?" Yabu said whilst hugging up to Yamashita.
"No, not that. That's definitely weird." Manabe replied in all seriousness.
"Cruel! Hold me, Saki-chan!" I mean… It's nice they're so close?
"There, there." Yamashita slowly patted Yabu's head at the table.
"Putting those two aside… I mean I'm not the only one, right? It just seems like you guys are dating… Or at least coming up to that stage." Okabe asked as if threading a needle. This was the one flaw with Manabe's plan. She can act like it's just flirtatious or on the cusp of romance but as soon as its brought into conversation it crumbles.
"I mean maybe it seems that way, but I haven't thought about it that far. How about you Kiyotaka-kun?" She said with a warm gaze.
So you want to throw the ball into my court? I suppose if you were assertive, I could just shut you down, however if you think I'll care about the backlash from something like this…
You are sorely mistaken.
"I'm not interested. At all."
The table seemed to shift immediately. The air was slowly becoming less hospitable.
"…Eh?"
"Wh-What do you mean by that?"
"I'm not at all interested in Manabe, in that way." I took a sip of the drink by my side.
"I mean like… you can't say forever, right?" In reality… No, even I couldn't predict that.
"No, I mean it. She's beautiful and we get along but I'm 100% not interested in her romantically. It'll never happen."
"Oi, there're some things you should be more delicate about in front of the other person…" Oda stood up.
"I think, in this case anything less than brutal honesty will just hurt the other person. If not, she might continue pursuing me romantically and wasting both of our time."
"I-I'm sure that's just a joke. Haha…"
"I'd go a step further and say that it's a fundamental disagreement of what we both want in life…" How about it Manabe? Allow me to continue and that trap you worked for is useless. I don't care about the picture, nor do I care about your goals. Though, I am thankful to you. It served me well, in my own plans.
Now be done with it. If you don't, you'll share the same bad reputation. The more words I spread the less your story will be believed.
"I think you should treas-" That was the last word I needed. It worked as a trigger for her, I knew even on the roof that she couldn't stomach that idea. It contradicted her lifestyle.
SLAP! The rest of the cafeteria came to halt. Every other table stopping their conversation as my reddened cheek was the new centre of attention.
"You… You bastard! Is that what you say after trying to woo me all the time? Were you just trying to get in my pants?!" Manabe erupted in mock anger. More surprise than anything else, her face was flushing crimson.
"I don't have any memory of trying to get in your pants, at least not as much as you taking them off yourself and acting like a dog in heat…" Manabe was assertive, not that it was an issue. If anything at times I found it flattering, though she was perhaps a bit desperate. Or maybe that's just the aura that promiscuous girls give off…
"That's it! Outside. Right. Now. Ayanokouji!" Oda was fuming. But that didn't matter.
"No thanks, I'm a pacifist. Not to mention the fact that this isn't any of your business, Oda."
"It's happening right in front of me, so I'd say it's my business alright. You shouldn't be talking to girls like that… And you shouldn't be throwing them aside like that!" I couldn't tell… Was it jealousy? Authentic rage? Actual chivalry? Or did he just want to appear as the morally good person?
…That didn't match up with the Oda I had become acquainted with so far.
"You're misguided. I only turned her down, there's no proof of anything else. If anything, I've made my stance pretty apparent for a while now." Even if I didn't visibly push her away, they should realise that I've never made a reciprocal action during this dinner. That only leaves one avenue for Manabe…
"Even if that's the case… Some things just aren't acceptable!"
"You're saying you believe her instead of me, without any proof. Sounds ridiculous."
"…T-There is proof!" The girl herself finally leapt at the bait.
"Manabe?"
"…I took this picture of us on the roof, thinking it might be a nice memory. But then this happens!" She wasn't quite crying yet, but she was on her way. Building up to the crescendo. I wonder how much of this was acting or if she felt genuinely betrayed by my admittance. Manabe did say she thought she found a kindred soul… Certainly not in the way she surmised. We might be hollow in a similar way, but our actions were different.
I didn't want to embrace and embody that hollow visage anymore, I wanted to do my best to change it. Give some substance to it. Or in the very least become accepted despite my own inhumanity. Whilst Manabe had become fixated on living out this hollow existence and proving its validity, I wanted to find something else.
"Mind explaining, Ayanokouji-kun?" Tokitou took on an unexpectedly harsh tone after taking a look at the 'evidence'.
"What's there to explain? That's that, this is this. They have no relation to the other. I simply am not interested in you. The sooner you understand that the better. Though, if you still want to be friends then that's fine. But romance is out of the question." I stood slowly from my seat.
"…"
"L-Like hell I'd want to be friends with you! Get out of here!" That's a shame she could've used that opportunity even further. If her main goal was to increase her own social standing it would be better to take that offer and pin more unreasonable behaviour on me…
I suppose the ego was ever present.
I wanted to let her know. Upon passing I whispered a few choice words into her ear.
"That worldview of yours, Manabe. I'll shatter it." To the one embraced in nihilism, disillusioned with the beauty of this world. I want to break through that curtain. Because maybe that will change me.
I don't want to embrace the world that was decided for me, I want to travel beyond that cold white surface and reach into the unexplored. That which was denied from me at birth.
Where status and other such superfluous things don't matter.
I want to find the equal.
The necessary essence of the human condition. That which everyone holds yet remains special all the same.
For that; I'd give any number of 'friends' or status or money, even power.
I just wanted to know if I could be…
Though, I could never truly know that answer if I didn't reveal myself…
A certain girl flashed through my mind. Along with a smattering of other characters shortly after...
It would be a shame to lose them. But in the face of my long-term goal, it's more than acceptable.
All I needed was one. The answer that would eventually roll off their tongue, what would it be?
Still a ways off…
I've never been impatient before.
It's only a matter of time when I'll appear before her once again. Then and only then, can I finally start.
---
Word count: 3103
Payoff for the Manabe altercation on the roof. Ayanokouji is more than fine with this, he had already warned her prior, so it was kinda her mistake to doubt it.
At the end of the day Manabe is more concerned with her own perceived status than getting Ayanokouji, thus why she had no problem with showing the picture. Which will no doubt spread about the school through word of mouth and other such avenues.
Who's to say how his friends and acquaintances will react to such information?
Was that interaction with Kushida, Mori and Mii-chan his last taste of a friendly interaction? Whatever Ayanokouji's goal let's wish him luck along the way.
Hopefully you all enjoyed the chapter, let me know any of your thoughts in the comments below.
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