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It all started when Chrono bailed on them.
Well, to be fair, needing to take care of his sick aunt was a pretty good excuse.
“So, I guess it’s just us today,” Tokoha said, setting down her phone after replying to Chrono’s text.
“Yep,” Shion replied, taking a sip of his coffee.
They were sitting in a small cafe halfway between Card Capital 2 and their school. Tokoha’s milkshake sat in front of her, barely touched, the glass glistening with condensation. Across from her, Shion stirred another packet of sugar into his coffee.
They sat silently for a second.
“Say, Shion,” Tokoha began, getting his attention, “have you ever tried a milkshake before?”
Shion looked slightly startled.
“Actually, now that you mention it, I don’t think I have.”
“Wow, seriously? You should really try one, this cafe is famous for them. Plus, they have over 80 flavours.”
“Really? Which one do you think I should try?”
15 minutes and a debate over whether or not mint chocolate chip ice-cream was an abomination to mankind later, Shion was sipping a vanilla milkshake.
(Which, by the way, it totally was. Why would anyone mix chocolate chips with frozen toothpaste and eat it willingly? Shion clearly didn’t know what he was talking about.)
“You know,” Shion commented after a mouthful, “this is actually pretty good.”
“Right? You’ve got to start with classic vanilla.”
“Huh, I never knew that there was actually such nuance to milkshakes. I thought it was just milk and ice-cream.”
“No, no. You have to consider the flavour of the ice-cream, the quality of the ice-cream, and the mix-ins at the very least. Even the glass and the straw can make a difference.”
“This has truly been educational.”
The two friends drank their milkshakes in bliss.
“To be honest, I never thought that we would get to this point,” Shion said, apropos to nothing.
“What do you mean?”
“Actually being friends.”
Tokoha laughed.
“Ha, yeah, when you first moved to our school, I thought you were a total snob.”
“And I thought you were just trying to overcompensate for being Mamoru-san’s little sister.”
“To think, this time four months ago, we’d had a grand total of what? Maybe three conversations?”
“I think two of them only happened because we’re both in student council.”
Shion started poking his straw around his remaining milkshake.
“And then Chrono comes along and Kamui-san suddenly decides that we’ll make a good Vanguard team,” he recounted.
“Then who-knows-how-many wild adventures later, we’ve defeated the reigning national champions and learned about some sort of wack plot featuring people bringing over Units from Cray using their imaginations and literally nothing else,” Tokoha added.
“Life sure has gotten crazy, huh.”
“Yep, and it’s all thanks to Chrono. Honestly, it wasn’t for him and his crazy beach trip, I probably wouldn’t even be here right now.”
“Yeah, if it wasn’t for him and that insane stunt he pulled where he climbed my estate walls in the middle of the night, I definitely wouldn’t be here.”
“True. But hey, do you ever think about Chrono sometimes?”
Shion tilted his head in confusion.
“In what sense?”
“So this guy started playing Vanguard like what, four months ago? In his first month he beats Jaime Alcaraz and both of us, and I’m pretty sure we’ve both been playing since elementary school.”
“And then he goes on to defeat a Branch Chief.”
“Right? How can he just do that?”
“It’s like he’s destined to play Vanguard or something.”
The two friends paused for a second of contemplation.
“Say, Shion, do you think that Chrono could be a shounen anime protagonist?”
Shion honest-to-god sputtered.
“What?!”
“Okay, hear me out: he’s a Vanguard prodigy, his dad is missing and involved in a plot that could literally change the world, his luck in Fights is almost mathematically impossible, and he’s got a crazy hairstyle. His imagination is so strong that last week, he summoned a Unit that punched Kanzaki off a platform. Plus, he has three Units with his name in them. It just screams shounen anime.”
Shion blinked.
“I mean, I guess so?”
“No, seriously, it all makes sense if you just think about it.”
“Whatever you say.”
“Hmph, I’ll convince you one day.”
The two finished off their milkshakes and chatted for another half hour before paying for their drinks and calling it a day.
“That was fun,” Shion commented as they left the cafe.
“We can come again and bring Chrono next time,” Tokoha tagged on.
Shion paused to consider it.
“You said that there were over 80 flavours, right?”
“Same time next week?”
“Sure, why not.”
From there, it somehow became a tradition.
Chrono couldn’t make it the next week either, something about Kamui needing him for something.
“Today we’re getting chocolate,” Tokoha declared as she and Shion sat down.
“Don’t I get a say?”
“You’ll get a say after you learn the classics. Next week it’ll be strawberry.”
“Yes ma’am.”
They were idly stirring around their chocolate shakes when Tokoha looked up.
“Okay,” she began, conversationally, “can we talk about how Chrono brought Taiyou-kun back from the dark side with The Power of Friendship? Because that is the most shounen anime protagonist move to ever exist.”
Shion sighed.
“You’re not going to let this go, are you?”
They went back again the next week.
This time, they didn’t even bother asking Chrono.
And they went back the week after that, too.
It became their weekly tradition:
Every Tuesday after school, Shion would wait for Tokoha by the school gates. Then, they’d head off to the cafe, try a milkshake flavour, and talk about whether or not Chrono was a shounen anime character.
(Tokoha was getting through to Shion, she just knew that she was.)
They consistently went back every week all the way until the day Shion lost everything.
They didn’t go back that week, or the week after that.
Tokoha was a bit disappointed every time she didn’t see Shion leaning by the gate, waiting for her, but she understood. She would give Shion all the space that he needed.
Even if that meant losing their little tradition.
She almost forgot that it was Tuesday the next time she saw Shion by the school gates, the week after the Zoo Branch Quest.
“What are you doing here?” she asked.
Shion smiled.
“Well, it is Tuesday, isn’t it? Besides, weren’t you going to educate me on classic milkshake flavours?”
Tokoha grinned back.
“That’s right. What were we on, watermelon?”
“It’s almost winter, why would we drink a watermelon milkshake?”
“I told you, it’s a classic! Plus, we have to talk about Chrono’s match at Zoo last week.”
“The one against Daigo?”
“Yeah, he won against the Legendary Fighter Daigo! How is that even possible? There is only one explanation: anime protagonist powers.”
“...you really won’t drop it, will you?”
“I mean hey, hanging out with Chrono literally shaves years off my lifespan. Like, remember that time he had to pass that exam to get points for the regional tournament and he spent the entire time rolling his pencil? And every time he bets everything on pulling multiple Triggers? What about that time when he literally made us all fall off a cliff?”
“I guess you have a point.”
“See, what we need is a support group for people like us. People who have to suffer from the emotional and psychological trauma that comes with having a shounen anime protagonist for a best friend.”
“Is that what this is? Your weekly therapy session?”
“Well, that and to rectify your abysmal lack of milkshake knowledge.”
“You know what that was?”
Shion looked up from his milkshake at the sound of Tokoha’s voice.
(It was banana fudge this week. A bit too sweet for Shion’s liking, but overall not bad.)
“Chrono’s Fight against Ibuki last week. When he pulled that Heal Trigger. You know what that was, Shion?”
Tokoha leaned across the table conspiratorially.
“Plot armour.”
“Tokoha-chan, I’m so happy for you!”
Tokoha glanced over at Kumi.
“What for?”
“I’m so happy that you and Kiba-kun got back together!”
“What?!”
“I was super worried when you guys didn’t go on your weekly dates after the problem with Kiba-kun’s company, but I’m glad that you guys started going out again!”
“WHAT?!”
“You guys are so cute together!”
“Kumi-chan, no. Please don’t tell me that’s what you actually think.”
“Well… it’s not what I think.”
Tokoha groaned.
“But it’s what everyone at school thinks, isn’t it?”
“Yeah. You should stop getting Kiba-kun to wait for you by the school gates, that’s such a cliché romance anime move.”
Tokoha barely resisted the urge to scream.
Later, when she got home that night, she texted Shion.
19:49
Let’s just meet at the cafe next Tuesday.
19:51
Someone told you too?
19:51
Yeah
19:52
Why are people like this
“If Chrono is a shounen anime protagonist, what does that make us? His companions?”
Shion deliberated this for a moment.
“I’d say that we’d at least be deuteragonists.”
“Actually, now that I think about this, we’re in pretty deep. Not as deep as Chrono, but definitely deep enough.”
“Are you saying that we’re also shounen anime protagonists?”
“...did we start a support group against ourselves?”
“Well, I guess it’s time to add Suzugamori Ren to the list of incredibly famous Fighters that Chrono’s defeated.”
“To be fair Tokoha, you defeated Yahagi Kyou and Narumi Asaka. That’s nothing to scoff at.”
“Yeah, but you saw how they were playing. They were all saving their good cards for Suzugamori Ren anyway.”
“I mean, I’m just saying, you also did amazing. If anything, I did the least during that match.”
“Oh please, you did great! You set up your hand perfectly for Chrono to finish him off. Besides, it’s not your fault that you had to go second.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Everyone knows that the main protagonist always goes last.”
“Why didn’t you tell me earlier?”
Shion peered up from the drinks menu at Tokoha’s voice.
“You knew, didn’t you? You knew for so long, so why didn’t you tell me earlier?”
“Tokoha, what - ”
“You know who I saw earlier? Luna and Am.”
“You saw Am? Where?”
“Does it matter? She’s gone now, and so is Luna. They’re both gone. I let them go.”
Tokoha’s fists clenched as tears threatened to spill down her face.
Shion shifted over to Tokoha’s side of the table, sitting down next to her.
“Tokoha, it’s not your - ”
“I know it’s not my fault but I still could have tried! I spent so much time with Luna and Am that I could have done something. I was so close to them, but I still let them walk away.”
Shion reached over and hugged Tokoha as she started sobbing into his jacket.
Patting her back, he consoled, “There wasn’t anything either of us could have done, they both made their own choices.”
Tokoha sniffed.
“I know,” she mumbled, voice muffled by the dark cloth, “but I still could have done something.”
They stayed like that, for a while. Around them, the lively cafe bustled on.
“She told me everything in the end,” Tokoha said, after a few minutes, “she told me why she did what she did.”
“Am did?”
“Yeah. She said that she was happy that you fell into her trap, that a rich kid who knew nothing about reality like you deserved it.”
Tokoha felt Shion’s arms stiffen around her.
“Did she now?”
“Direct quote.”
Tokoha shifted her head up a bit.
“Shion, is it wrong of me to still want to save her? I want to save both of them, Luna and Am.”
Shion’s mouth twitched almost imperceptibly as he looked away from Tokoha.
“Well,” he answered, “I guess that’s the good part about being an anime protagonist.”
“What do you mean?”
“You are the changer of destiny.”
As Ibuki walked away, tracking device in hand, Tokoha turned to face Shion.
“Just so you know, I’m still really mad at you, but tracking him was smart.”
Shion snorted.
“What can I say? The main protagonist getting kidnapped is such an overused trope.”
Tokoha gave a small smile.
Above them, the street light flickered.
“Shion, do you think we’re ever going to need real therapy?” she asked, after a beat of silence.
“What do you mean?” he questioned.
“Our best friend was just kidnapped. You spend your nights in seedy pubs and shady alleyways trying to get blackmail material. My brother almost died saving my life. Not to mention, we’re actively involved in a fight to literally save the world.”
Shion shrugged.
“Such is the life of anime protagonists.”
Shion looked up as Tokoha walked into the hospital room. She was holding a plastic bag with two drinks.
“So,” she said, slotting a straw into one cup and handing it to Shion, “it’s Tuesday.”
Shion gratefully accepted the cup and took a long sip
Oh, sweet vanilla. How he’d missed this.
“Yep,” he affirmed, feeling more energized than he had in days, “it is indeed Tuesday.”
Tokoha poked a straw into her own cup.
“How are you doing?” she asked.
Shion gestured to all the medical equipment around him.
“As you see, I could definitely be better.”
“Does it hurt?”
“Not as bad as in the beginning.”
Tokoha hummed, and the two drank their milkshakes quietly.
“You know, Chrono visited yesterday,” Shion remarked, playing with his straw.
“Yeah?”
“And he brought an actual baby, who he said was Myoujin Ryuzu?”
“Right? Okay, you have no idea how much I freaked out when I first saw him. Shindou Chrono, and a baby. Those two concepts do not belong together.”
“So, Chrono somehow turned his mortal enemy into an infant?”
“To be fair, I think the Stride Gate did that, but still.”
“I can’t believe that the truth of the universe decided that in the ideal future, Chrono has a baby.”
“So, what you’re saying is: Chrono adopted a moody teenager, you manipulated your senpai and your school board, and now you’re both entering the U20 championship.”
“That’s the gist of it, yes.”
“Can’t say I’m particularly surprised.”
“Yeah, well, you haven’t missed much. Things are just like they’ve always been.”
“Bizarre and resembling an anime plotline?”
“Pretty much.”
Tokoha laughed. On screen, Shion chuckled too.
“Still, I can’t believe you recruited my brother to help you coerce Hashima Rin into joining your team. Were you really that desperate?”
“Hey, it was efficient, and you know she’s definitely strong.”
“Makes sense I guess. So, same time next week?”
“Sure. Considering Chrono’s new team, we’ll definitely have something to talk about.”
“Looking forward to it!”
(They didn’t end up video-calling the next week. Instead, Tokoha was waiting by Fukuhara’s gates after school the next Tuesday.)
(They got Tokoha’s favourite salted caramel milkshakes that day.)
“Hi Shion! I brought Taiyou-kun today, hope you don’t mind.”
“Pardon the intrusion, Shion-san!”
“Of course not, the more the merrier. What’s your favourite milkshake flavour, Taiyou-kun?”
20 minutes later, with three mango milkshakes sitting before them, Shion turned over to Taiyou.
“So Taiyou-kun, what brings you here today?” he asked.
“Well, the other day Chrono got kidnapped by this gang leader because Kazu - ”
“Chrono got WHAT?!”
“I know! Kazuma-san said that they were actually looking for him and kidnapped Chrono-san by mistake. But instead of just escaping, Chrono-san just took on the kidnappers. Was he always like this?”
Tokoha patted Taiyou’s back.
“It’s okay, Taiyou-kun,” she comforted, “this is what the ‘help, my best friend is a shounen anime protagonist’ support group is for. We’re here every Tuesday if you need us.”
As they walked away from the riverside after she defeated Verno Fahrenheart, Tokoha turned to Shion.
“Oh yeah, what did you want to talk to me about?”
“The Diffrider situation mostly, but I don’t have too much to do today.”
“Me neither.”
“You know, the cafe has a few limited edition milkshake flavours out right now.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, apparently they have pina colada.”
“I can’t decide if that would taste really good or really bad.”
“Want to find out?”
Tokoha smirked up at him.
“It’s not Tuesday.”
“Chrono is facing an undefeated Diffrider with unknown motives in the final. I think an emergency support group session is in order.”
“And a third place match for the U20?”
“But of course.”
“Kiba Shion, I swear, I’m going to need to have a support group for you, too! Do you have any idea how I worried I was when you and Chrono both went unresponsive on the same night? And then I saw on the news that the Kiba Estate had been attacked with over 20 injuries. Please stop doing this to me!”
“You too! Do you have any idea how I felt when I saw that text from Okazaki? Facing an Apostle in the middle of the street, just after we got Chrono back? Really, Tokoha? I literally warned you about Stand Play last month!”
Tokoha huffed.
“Then again, neither of us can top Chrono. Falling into a different dimension is really on another level.”
Shion raised his glass of red velvet milkshake.
“Here’s to living to see Chrono pull off another stunt that almost gives us both a heart attack?”
“I’ll cheers to that.”
“Sheesh, he always needs someone to look after him.”
“Were we being meddlesome?”
“Maybe a little. But we came all this way, so I wanted to give a little helpful push, you know?”
“Yeah.”
Shion gazed up at the sky.
Above them, the purples and blues of the galaxy swirled the stars into a fantastical mélange, enveloping Cray as it hung just above the peak of the mountain.
“You know,” he said, still not making eye contact Tokoha, “it’s Tuesday today.”
Tokoha tilted her head, considering.
“And in Japan, it would be around the right time, too,” she noted.
“Too bad we can’t get any milkshakes.”
“Eh, we don’t need milkshakes to talk about how surreal it is that our friend is here trying to project his consciousness onto a different planet.”
“Hey, isn’t that the cafe you guys wanted to drag me to in middle school?”
Tokoha looked in the direction that Chrono was pointing.
“Yeah, it is. Everyone used to go there after school all the time,” she replied.
“Do you want to go today then? It’s not like you’ll have the chance after you go back to France next week,” Chrono suggested.
Tokoha shrugged.
“Sure, why not.”
Once they were inside, Tokoha automatically sat down at the same table that she always did.
Shion automatically took the seat opposite to her, just as he always did.
Chrono didn’t seem to notice as he sat down next to Tokoha, flipping open the menu.
“Wow, how many milkshake flavours do they even have here?”
“Over 80,” Shion answered, then paused to think, “or, I guess it should be over 90 now. This cafe is famous for them.”
“Okay, I might as well try one then, I guess. Maybe… cherry?”
Shion gave a light grimace as Tokoha winced.
“That one just tastes like artificial flavouring.”
“Uh, tiramisu then?”
“Tiramisu is fine, but it’s really sweet.”
“Red bean?”
“That’s a pretty good choice, but the texture is a bit weird for a milkshake.”
“Mocha?”
“It’s nothing special, but it’s definitely a classic for a reason.”
Chrono stared at Tokoha, then Shion.
“How many of these have you guys tried?”
“Well,” Shion said, contemplating, “I haven’t tried kiwi, fig, or key lime pie yet. Tokoha tried fig, but she hasn’t tried kiwi or key lime pie either.”
“Oh, and I haven’t tried coconut because I’m allergic,” Tokoha added.
Chrono blinked.
He looked down at the lengthy milkshake menu, then back to his friends with a mix of awe, horror, and confusion.
“When did you guys drink so many milkshakes?”
Tokoha and Shion exchanged a glance.
“It’s a long story.”