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“Yooooo, Shokie! Over here!”
The girl in question sighs, albeit fondly, at the loud boy bellowing for her attention. It wasn’t necessary, there’s no way she’d lose a face like his in a crowd, and considering how the park wasn’t as densely populated as usual there was even less of a reason to shout.
She figured it was just something Fret did out of habit as she strolled over to the boy leaning on the trunk of a tall shady tree, eyes half lidded and a smirk playing on her lips.
”You do know people are trying to relax, right? If you’re gonna be that loud you should’ve just came to my place dummy.”
“Hey, was just makin’ sure you saw me! Though I admit, I’m pretty hard to miss~”
”Yeah, no. It’s less your appearance and more how grating you can be in short bursts.”
He feigned being struck, clutching his chest and throwing his head back in mock pain.
”Ouch! Ain’t we like best friends? I feel like I’ve been dealt a killing blow… Oh no, I’m fading out!”
Fret quickly takes out some grass from his pocket, and before she could question why he’d even have that on hand, is distracted by him throwing it up in the air, the blades scattering all around him.
”This is the end… I’m going to, uh… Where do people go when they die? I assumed heaven at first but the Reaper’s game seriously turned my view of the afterlife on it’s ass-“
Shoka gave a dry chuckle, smacking his head to clear some stray strands of what he threw up in the air.
”A+ plus on the acting, you’ll defo land a gig.”
His eyes lit up at that, beaming at her.
”For real?!”
”Yeah, a real big shot role. You’ll be a great background character on a Disney channel sitcom, might even see your side profile for half a second.”
He laughed, playfully pushing her arm.
”Man, here I thought you finally said something nice.”
”I haven’t called you a loser today, haven’t I? I think I get at least a lil’ credit for that feat, real proud of myself.”
”Hey, NOT insulting me doesn’t make you nice, just makes you slightly less mean.”
Again, she smirked.
”Real loser behavior you’re exuding right now Fret, might wanna get that checked out, heard it’s terminal.”
He just sighs and shakes his head in response, but didn’t seem the least bit phased otherwise.
There was a moment of silence as she leaned on the other side of the shaded tree, staring at Shibuya’s endless sky. Distant honks and chatter could be heard all around them, but they didn’t detract from the serenity the former reaper felt in that moment.
This was what they all fought for. What he fought for.
She felt warm thinking of her friend.
Friend… She didn’t like calling him her friend. No, that wasn’t it.
That’s what they were after all, friends.
…Maybe best friends? Sounded better, sounded closer to him, and that’s what she wanted, but it wasn’t quite there to full satisfaction. What was this feeling again…
She knew of love. She loved Ayano, and her fellow reapers- well, ex now, but the feelings she had for Rindo were different. There were similarities in certain aspects, but the diverging qualities were too different to be “love” in the way that she knew it.
Without ever turning her head, she called for her friend in the most appropriate manner possible.
“Hey, bozo-“
“Kweh?! Oh, Shokie. Sorry, I zoned out for a sec not gonna lie, the day is just so nice y’know?”
“It is.”
Fret shifted his peripheral gaze towards the girl, the lack of any demeaning yet endearing nicknames catching his attention.
Shoka inhaled softly through her nose, her left arm instinctively pulling down her hoodie to obscure her face.
“Fret… Have you ever been in love?”
He didn’t have a animated response like she came to expect of him. Instead, he toyed with a blade of grass, letting an incoming gentle breeze carry it out of his fingers and towards an unknown destination.
“Once.”
She remembered there and then who it was without him having to say a word.
“It wasn’t going to go anywhere of course. I couldn’t be me, not then. I wasn’t ready. But I still went all in, cause she’s still the realest person I’ve ever met.”
He smiled.
”Hehe, even now I don’t think I’m remotely close. It’s been what, 6 months since the game? But everyday, I think I get a little further than the last thanks to all of you. Just… hope I’m doing her proud.”
Shoka gave it some thought before answering him.
“You’re definitely not the same moron I met when I first saw you, though I already knew who you were.”
”Oh yeah, you were Swallow right? Rindude was obsessed with you, I was kinda pissed off that we were literally fighting for our lives and the poor guy was glued to your chat screen.”
She felt her cheeks warm a bit, and was immediately glad she had her hoodie up.
”He’s such a dummy, I swear… I only didn’t tell him because that game was the last one I’d ever end up playing after what I did.”
Fret was looking right at her now as she continued.
”I didn’t care though. Once I saw he had a chance, all I wanted was for him to be safe, for him to win. If I could ensure that, then it didn’t really matter what happened to me afterwards. He’d be sad, but he was so different from what I’ve known about him that I’d knew he’d be fine. Calling the shots, surrounding himself with other losers like you, facing down any challenge, doing whatever he could to get the best possible outcome even after he knew doing so would just make it harder for him… He didn’t need me anymore.”
She scoffed.
“Just got lucky in the end that I even lived.”
Fret, still not quite good with heavier subject matter, laughed, and she immediately felt venom seep into her tongue.
”What’s so funny?”
”Dude, you’re totally in love.”
Her eyes widened considerably. She ignored the burning sensation on the tips of her ears.
“What?”
He used his scarf as a makeshift hoodie and raised the pitch of his voice to vaguely resemble Shoka’s own.
“‘all I wanted was for him to be safe’ you’re TOTALLY head over heels for him, prime anime romance line material right there.”
He fixed his scarf before continuing.
“Ah, Rindo… Already has a girl on him, they grow up so fast…”
She punched him in the arm, which he took in stride, his laughter mixing in perfectly with the sounds of life all around them.
”Last time I come to you for anything requiring brainpower, but maybe I’m the moron for picking you in the first place.”
”C’mon, you haven’t even asked me anything about our little buddy yet! I open up to you and this is the thanks I get? Throw me a bone at least Shokie!”
She blew air out her nose in mild amusement at that.
”I know more about him than you do. I just needed a second voice that wasn’t my own thoughts to make sure I wasn’t crazy for feeling this way about him.”
He raised a brow, grinning.
“So you admit it then?”
Realizing her mistake, she sighed heavily.
“Just shut up and tell me what I should do about this.”
”Pretty sure that’s for you to decide, BUT if you really need the Fret-ster’s guidance then I’m ready to provide! Let’s get ‘operation: reeling in Rindude’ rollin’!”
Rolling her eyes, she listened to his game plan. He was certainly a boy of action, if nothing else.
In the middle of the explanation, her phone buzzed. They both stopped to look in, Shoka shooting a look at Fret resembling how an animal would look at an intruder on it’s territory when the message said it was from Rindo. He got the message, backing off quickly and wiping the cold sweat from his brow.
Rindragon: r we still meeting up this afternoon? u said u wanted to tell me smthn the other day
She couldn’t help her lips curling upwards as she replied.
You: you worry too much! i’ll see you soon <3
On the other side of town, Rindo smiled back.