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Despite the heavy drama and layers of embellishments Shima heaped onto his stories, his swooning, detailed sagas of his technological woes, the deflated bemoaning how technology is just not built to last these days, Yusaku finds that the solution to 90% of his problems is simply to defrag his PC.
Class had just ended. It’s unusually warm for March, so in an equally unusual move, Yusaku sets himself up with Shima’s laptop on a small table in the campus courtyard under a tree while Shima, who refuses to sit while the defrag process runs its course, dances nervously a few feet away from Yusaku’s chair.
“Is it going to be okay?”
“Yes, Shima.”
“Are you positive? It’s not a super bad virus or anything?”
“I’m positive.”
“My data isn’t on the dark web, is it?”
“It probably is, but not because of anything installed on your computer.”
“You haven’t opened any folders on my desktop, right??”
Yusaku doesn’t even hide his sigh. Shima has asked that particular question at least fives times already, “I haven’t, and I have no interest in perusing your files, I assure you.”
Shima pauses his pacing for the moment, at last daring to look over Yusaku’s shoulder and at the screen.
“The defrag is almost complete,” Yusaku informs him. “After it’s done, I’m going to restart your computer. I also noticed you have a few things installed that you won’t need, so I’ll uninstall those, too, and then your computer should run much more optimally.”
Faster than the activation of a trap card, Shima swings from nail-bitingly anxious to ecstatic within moments, “Aw really?! Thanks, Yusaku!”
“It’s not a problem.” Yusaku doesn’t even turn away from the screen as he says that, but it hits him, under the dappled light of the newly-sprouting leaves, how much he means that.
As Yusaku expected, the defrag completes moments later, and the screen goes dark as the PC reboots. Once it’s back online, Yusaku mutters, “I’m going to take care of those junk programs now,” and sets himself to work, quietly typing and clicking away.
“...thanks, Yusaku.”
Yusaku blinks when Shima’s voice breaks the silence, puzzled not so much by the fact he was the first to speak again, but more so by the sentiment. “I said it was no problem.”
His classmate, however, refuses to let the matter drop. “Yeah, but like… you didn’t have to, you know?”
It’s hard for Yusaku to understand what he’s getting at, “I truly don’t mind. It was simple to solve.”
Finally, Shima shrugs, “I guess…” His face twists in thought. “It saved me the money instead of going to the geek, but I feel like I should pay you back somehow.”
Yusaku scans the PC’s task manager, confirms his job is done, and closes the machine. “If you really want to do me a favor - you can stop telling me about the Playmaker conspiracies.”
At this, Shima looks horrified, “You can’t really mean that?! He’s the GOAT of all time.”
“I’m serious,” Yusaku says, but he’s unsure how serious he can really look when he knows he’s grinning. He hands Shima his laptop back, which Shima quickly stashes into his backpack. “But if that’s too hard, you can just buy me a hot dog.”
At this, his friend is visibly relieved, “I’ll buy you a hot dog!” Shima’s eyes start to go misty, and Yusaku mentally braces himself for a long ramble of Link VRAINS, “That’s perfect, because I wanted to go to the viewing plaza today anyway.”
Here it goes. “Uh huh.”
“Today Go is dueling that new upstart. There’s been so much trash talking on the forums, so even though the new guy barely has a reputation, it’s going to be hype as hell.”
“Uh huh.”
Shima huffs, pausing his train of thought. “I know the world was ending and all, but sometimes, I miss when Playmaker would really duel. Can you believe that was like two years ago?”
It’s hard for Yusaku to believe, too. So much has changed since then, and that’s an understatement. “Time flies,” he replies simply.
Shima rambles on, “Playmaker’s only had a handful of sightings since then, like even Revolver is seen more. It’s so weird that they’re the good guys now.”
If only Shima knew the full story. “Maybe they had a change of heart.”
“Well, whatever,” Shima waves the air. “Anyway, I know just the place to get the hot dog. They have good coffee too.”
Yusaku wanted to go see Kusanagi after school anyway. He shoulders his bag and gets ready to enjoy his afternoon, “Sure, lead the way.”