Chapter Text
Asa could hardly sleep with how giddy she was. She hadn’t had a friend over in a few years, at least. Everything was planned out - the study plan, the snacks, what they would do after - it was all totally perfect. As long as nothing screwed up her plan, they would have the perfect day.
Denji, similarly, could hardly sleep. He’d never gone to someone else’s house before, not counting his new home in the Hayakawa residence. He’d heard about what friends did when hanging out, things like watching movies, playing games, or studying. It sounded pretty similar to what he did with his family, though Taiyo acted as though there was some mystical allure to him going over to a girl’s house in particular. He wasn’t sure what made it special, but it was exciting, anyway. Upon waking, he rushed his way through the morning, inhaling his morning toast with jam before rushing out the door with his bag, only stopping briefly to say goodbye to his adoptive parents and grab the lunch that Aki had made for him.
The school day was similar to the day before, only now Denji’s thoughts were more scattered than usual. He scooted his desk next to Asa’s once more, letting her quietly read out the text once more. The teacher shot them a strange look, but he tried not to pay it any mind. Asa was a bit slower reading today, as her mind wandered, similar to Denji.
The day passed much more slowly, and when it was finally time for lunch, it felt like an eternity had passed.
Asa pulled out her bento box, a small plastic container with a little picture of a somewhat ugly-looking bird printed on the top. Inside was a neatly separated, arranged assortment of rice, octopus-shaped sausages, and cooked veggies, garnished with a bright red pickled plum in the center of the rice. There was also a cheesy sticky note affixed to the box reading “For my morning sunshine! Love, Mom”, but Asa was quick to stuff it in her bag. It was embarrassing, but she still kept every note her Mom had given her.
Denji, too, pulled out his lunch from his bag. It was packed into a plain plastic bento box with a picture of a strange, round-looking dog with a chainsaw on its head in the center. According to Denji, it was a picture of a character in one of Taiyo’s GAMEKID games that Taiyo allowed Denji to play. The lunch the box held was a collection of rice adorned with nori, stir-fried vegetables, and a few pieces of karaage from the night before.
“Wow, your lunch looks so neat!” Asa said, eyeing Denji’s fried chicken. “Does your Mom make it?”
“Nah, my brother Aki makes it.” He said, fiddling with his chopsticks. He still wasn’t very good at using them, but it was probably not a great idea to eat with his hands in front of Asa. “He makes all our lunches ‘cuz Mrs. Haya- er, uh, Mom is usually pretty busy with work and stuff.”
“Is that so. . .” She mused. It was pretty impressive to be a good cook at such a young age.
“Oh, is losergirl not eating in the bathroom today?” whispered someone near the front of the class, interrupting Asa’s train of thought.
“I’m surprised the boy is still talking to her. Do you think he, you know-”
“Shush! They’ll hear us!”
Denji clenched his jaw slightly. How Asa put up with the constant, bothersome comments was beyond him. He’d have knocked some sense into them already if not for the fact that getting expelled would be a massive pain in the ass for his family.
Asa was totally stone-faced as she ate her food, having detached herself from the situation. “This is fine.” She told herself. “They’re all idiots anyways.” She repeated in her mind. Still, something caught in her throat, something that made it feel like talking was impossible, and that it took everything in her power to just keep calm and quiet. As long as she ignored it, everything would be okay. If she ignored it long enough, it would go away. That’s how it was supposed to work.
“You wanna trade?” Denji asked, snapping out of her momentary funk.
“Huh?” She blinked.
“Do you wanna trade?” He repeated, motioning to one of the remaining octopus-shaped sausages in her lunch. “You were lookin’ at my fried chicken so I thought maybe you wanted some.”
“Uh. . . sure.” She shook herself out of it, taking a piece of karaage from his lunch while he simultaneously yanked an octopus-shaped thing from hers. The chicken was perfectly crisp and juicy, with a nice blend of salt and acidity. Both of them were thoroughly satisfied with the exchange, though Denji’s remark that it reminded him of something he’d once salvaged from a dumpster did not register as a compliment like it was intended.
“Wow, two days and they’re already this chummy?” sneered a boy from the front. It was rather annoying, the way that everyone spoke like Asa and Denji couldn’t hear them somehow.
“Yeah, he definitely likes the weird girl.”
“I bet she’s blackmailing him.”
“Can you guys shut the hell up?” Denji said suddenly, a casualness in his voice that betrayed the utter annoyance he felt in that moment.
The air was still, all eyes pointed to Denji. Asa was quietly praying for everything to just be over, or that some meteor would strike the classroom so that she could be removed from the situation.
“Thanks.” He went back to eating as though nothing had happened.
Asa looked at him with fear in her eyes. They were definitely going to do something after that - like put a dead fish in his shoe locker, or graffiti all over his desk. Denji didn’t seem to know this - or if he did, he didn’t seem to care. Having his lunch in peace seemed to be more a priority.
“Hm?” Denji murmured, food still in his mouth. “What, done eating?”
“No, it’s just. . .” Her brain was swimming in thoughts, reliving every bad scenario, every ill thing that would likely befall them after an outburst like that.
“Don’t worry s’much.” He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. “I mean, if that shuts ‘em up, they probably don’t got the guts to do much.”
Asa doubted that, but perhaps there was something to learn from Denji’s lack of concern.
***
The day ended on a thankfully normal note. There were no dead animals were left in their lockers and none of their things had been vandalized, which was a miracle as far as Asa was concerned. Maybe they were too scared to do anything because he was blonde, new, and cussed like a sailor, or maybe they were just waiting for the right moment to be a nuisance to him. She wasn’t sure which, but she was glad to not have any trouble before their study session regardless.
“Well, as long as we stick to the plan, things won’t be so bad.” Asa sighed, gathering her things and double-checking that everything was on her person.
“Oh yeah.” Denji said, having forgotten that the purpose was to study and not merely to hang out. “Well, we don’t hafta study the whole time, right?”
“Oh, well, I’ve come up with a plan, so if we stick with it properly, we should have an hour to do other things, not counting dinner!” She stated matter-of-factly.
“Huh?” Was that right? Only an hour? But he was staying over ‘till curfew, right? That meant . . . “Wait, how long’re we gonna study then?”
“Hm? Roughly five hours, I believe.”
He narrowed his eyes at this figure. Studying for five hours straight sounded more like his hellish summer studies with Aki than an actual hangout. “Izzat normal? I’ve never studied at a friend’s house or nothin’.”
“I think so!” Asa smiled slightly. She’d never invited someone over to study, so her estimation of how long students spent studying at friends’ houses was completely unrealistic. Typically, such sessions turn from studious to laid-back in a matter of hours, depending on the seriousness of the friend group and the closeness of a bothersome exam period. At best, about two-thirds the time would be studying, if exams loomed overhead and there was a threat of make-up exams due to low scores. At worst, the study session would consist mostly of screwing around.
“Well, whatever!” He sighed. Either way, it was bound to be interesting.