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“Waah! Thank goodness!” Lilysa cried as she jumped onto Masamune from behind, disregarding her costume. Despite losing her chance to become her dearest Senpai’s lover, she still had a true smile on her face.
“Lilysa!” Masamune yelped as she landed on him.
“Lilysa, I’m so-” Mikari cried with a cracked voice whilst still clinging onto Okumura’s arm.
“Don’t say another word, Mikari.” She cut her off, wiping the tears from her eyes with her finger.
Lilysa stood up and walked over to the shelf, picking up the camera that sat next to the bundle of figurines of the exact same character she was cosplaying as at the moment. Then she knelt to face the precious senpai of theirs.
“I also broke our promise. There are things I never want to lose. My best friend… And as the cosplayer Lilysa Amano…” She placed a camera into Masamune’s hands.
He was stunned for a moment, looking at the camera in his hands, and then at Lilysa. It was the same camera that he used to take all the pictures of her as Lillel. In a way, it was the bridge that bound the two together and ensured they could never ever be separated.
“My place by Senpai’s side.” Lilysa finished, hugging Okumura’s other arm into her chest.
Mikari’s face changed from sad to astonished in an instant. And then to distress as she saw the way their senpai’s arm was sandwiched between two lumps of magnificent fat in the other girl’s chest.
“T-That’s, t-that’s…! You can’t!” She blurred out, pointing an accusing finger at her best friend.
“Yes, yes, he’s taken.” Lilsya laughed as she cried, shedding even more tears.
She was glad her best friend would stay in her life, even if she couldn’t become Okumura’s lover. Amano knew deep in her heart that these two couldn't be separated. Yet he would still be by her side, supporting her cosplay like always. And that was enough for her.
“I-I’ll be by both your sides forever!” Masamune shouted into the ceiling with shut eyes. His face was beet red as he spoke.
“Eh!? But you just asked me to be by your side forever!” Mikari wailed, embracing more of him by hugging up to his chest instead of just his arm.
“Hahaha!” Lilysa laughed happily as she watched Mikari act like her usual self when it came to their senpai. There was no other way she would’ve wanted this to end. For her to be able to keep her best friend and senpai in her life.
Masamune Okumura sat in peace, still thinking about the beginning of his relationship with Mikari up to this point. But not just that, the manga club itself. Everyone who was most precious to him. Mikari Tachibana, who was his childhood friend and had loved him since the start. Lilysa Amano, who first chipped away at the wall surrounding his heart. Aria Kisaki, who had a crush on him. Abe Marina, who was his first love.
Mikari also had a lot of thoughts on her mind. How was she going to explain to her parents that she wanted to stay in Japan? Where would she live? Who would take care of her? And… Okumura’s friends. Their friends. Who all happened to be girls? And all liked to flirt with him from time to time. Well… No matter. It wasn’t going to be a problem at all. Zero chance in hell.
After all, it’s not like Masamune would flirt with other girls behind her back… Willingly… Right?
Dates were scary. Especially first dates. Nervousness was standard. And anticipation was rampant. Masamune felt like his heart was going to explode and turn into a million different tiny chunks. He had done everything he could to give Mikari the perfect date today. He had researched, taken advice from friends, and triple checked everything. Nothing could possibly go wrong.
It had been months since his relationship started with Mikari, yet he didn’t feel like they spent much time together as a couple at all. Masamune and Aria even graduated during that time span. The reason being that Mikari was still settling into her new home, after being taken in by Mayuri-Sensei(former) and Eli, who became her adoptive moms. All while maintaining her career as a model and keeping up with schoolwork. It was rough, but she survived.
So Masamune stood there anxiously, gripping onto his fanny pack, in the middle of a mall with loving couples all around him. But he wasn’t alone, there was the bench next to him(that he wasn’t sitting on), the giant water fountain that spewed water, and a group of strangely masked people that were spying on him.
Those were probably his friends. But it would’ve been too awkward to call them out on it, so he decided just to let them watch.
“Senpai!”
He heard a female voice, snapping him out of his thoughts, Okumura looked up from the floor to see Mikari waving at him as she joyfully jogged towards him.
“Mikari!” Masamune waved back, his face lighting up.
She was dressed in a white and beige-colored top that exposed her shoulders, a silver necklace, a dark red mini-skirt, and white heels. The girl definitely looked like she had the fancy sense of a model. It honestly made him feel underdressed. Which was a real shame since he was wearing the nicest clothes that he owns, excluding a suit.
“Did I keep you waiting, Senpai?” She asked with an innocent face as she looked up at him.
“Not at all, I was just settling in.” He said with a straight face and stupid smile.
A group of strangely masked individuals snickered from a safe distance, as the ones who had been watching him the entire time, they could safely say that was a big fat lie. Or at least one that he wasn’t aware of himself. Afterall, the entire commute from his house, it’s like his mind’s in outer space.
“I see… And you’re telling the truth?” Mikari asked, eyeing him from head to toe. She did so with suspicion, narrowing his eyes as she continued to look him up and down. Perhaps it was a woman’s intuition.
“Would I really need a reason to lie?” Masamune said without wavering, not another thought in his mind.
“Alright! Then let’s get going!” His girlfriend accepted the answer, smiling sweetly as she took his hand and began guiding him.
“Yeah!”
The first stop was the arcade. Dark atmosphere with bright neon lights, arcade machines everywhere, and a whole crowd of people. The couple stood in front of the entrance, observing everything that was happening. So many attractions, prizes, and people laughing. It was quite amazing. Okumura had been to the arcade before, but rarely; the number was something below a dozen.
“It sure is lively today,” Masamune commented, holding onto her hand.
“This place usually doesn’t have so many people at once…” Mikari muttered in a hushed tone.
“You frequent here?” He asked out of curiosity, raising an eyebrow.
“O-Only a bit.” She answered, also reaching into her bag, taking out a plastic card with the gaming arcade’s logo on it. “I should have enough points to play for the two of us.”
Without another word, the two entered the establishment filled with children and adults alike, though, definitely more children. A group of strangely masked strangers also lurked into the arcade, quietly tailing the ordinary-looking couple.
“Hey, let’s try this one.” Masamune pointed at the machines that attracted his gaze.
There were two arcade machines side by side, just like him and his girlfriend right now, decorated with colorful lights and futuristic-looking patterns. Both the machines had four buttons on the front with shaped symbols on them. And they were practically begging to be played, as the pair was the only one currently unoccupied.
“A rhyme game?” Mikari looked shocked for a brief moment before she cocked her head at Masamune, “You’re on.” She smirked as she dug into her bag to retrieve the game card.
“Confident?” Masamune looked at her excited expression.
“Of course, I happen to be an expert player, Senpai.” She spoke confidently and huffed her chest, eyes sparkling with her self-proclamation.
An idea popped into the boy’s head. He thought about it for a moment and decided to put his faith in his body’s coordination for rhyme games. After all, luck favors the bold. Masamune glowed with a positive mindset.
“Then how about a wager?” He asked suddenly, causing his girlfriend to pause.
“Like what?” She shot back with a wry grin.
“If I get a higher score, you have to stop calling me Senpai and call me by my first name for the rest of the day if I get a higher score.” Masamune continued with his idea, waving a finger next to his head.
She swiped her card on the two machines, a slight expression of shock on her face as she heard that was what he wanted. The girl didn’t think much of it as there was no possible way she could lose… Right?
“Then if I win, you have to do whatever I say for the rest of this date,” Mikari said with a bright smile, holding back her laughter. The conditions were obviously unbalanced, but her dear senpai didn’t object, much to her delight.
The two players stood at their respective machines, hands hovering over the buttons, as they took some time to agree upon a stage, song, and difficulty… And begun!
The upbeat music matched the speed of the rhyme lines coming towards them. The two players outright slammed the buttons in a frenzy; they comboed as they never had before, as neither of them wanted to lose. At first, they were evenly matched, but as it went on, it was clear Mikari had the upperhand as her combo score was much higher than his. When the music ended, and there were no further lines to hit, both their scores lit up the screen at the same time…
And…
“I won?!” Masamune let out, looking shocked at the screen, and his pupils widened.
“Huh?” Mikari quickly snapped to look at the scores, as she hadn’t before due to her hubris.
Somewhere in the back, a group of strangely masked strangers snickered- but not out of malice.
“One point!?” She almost shook the machine as she gripped onto it.
Her dear senpai smiled, one who could say a thousand all-knowing words. But he wouldn’t rub it in too much. She was his dear girlfriend after all.
“Remember the promise.” He said simply.
“Y-Yes… M-Masamune.” Mikari mouthed, eyes darting away as her cheeks flushed as red as tomatoes, and she began playing with her brown hair that was tied into twin pigtails.
While they were in their own trance, a young boy and his mother walked by, both holding a vanilla ice cream cone each.
“Mommy, those people are flirting!” The small child observantly pointed at the two.
“Yes, they are sweetie.” The mother said indifferently, not paying the couple any attention, unlike her kin.
That snapped the two out of it. And when they looked around their surroundings, it seemed like the arcade was livelier than before, and lines were beginning to form at the machines. It must’ve been a good few minutes.
“I think… We should get going.”
“Yeah.”
School festivals were always fun. Especially when you don’t have to put any work into it yourself. Stepping on his old high school’s grounds again after so long felt so surreal, new and familiar faces mixed, yet the atmosphere and number of people were still the same. Even the weather was nice today. Masamune and Mikari were walking together, hand in hand, almost like a date.
Most of the school watched with envy as their beloved senior, who was almost the most popular girl in school, was beaming with her boyfriend, who was already a graduate of the school. The dozens of gazes were noticed by Masamune, unlike Mikari, who either didn’t notice or simply didn’t care.
The pair walked happily until their ears picked up on a faint sound… Was that an earthquake? Turning around, they saw a huge group of students chasing Taki, the Student Council President. For what reason? He did not know. But he did know they were about to become collateral as they were hit by a flood of students.
Their hands were separated.
“S-Senpai!”
“Mikari!”
Mikari screamed as she extended her hand out, trying to grab onto Masamune, who similarly reached out for her. Yet the crowd didn’t matter as they were swept away like fish on a waterfall. He ended up being ejected from the stampede and fell flat on his ass.
“I wonder what that was about…” He spoke to no one in particular, being left alone with his thoughts on the floor.
But no matter, he had to quickly reunite Mikari and-
“Senpai?”
A familiar voice rang in his ears. Quickly, he turned around, seeing Lilysa in an idol cosplay- that originated from a character’s skin in a mobile game. It was actually the same costume that he was helping her with last week, and even photographed.
“Lilysa!” He blurted out her name loudly, glad to see a familiar face. He quickly stood up from the ground and patted himself down.
She was the girl who fell in love with him through cosplay.
“I didn’t expect you to visit our booth so soon, Senpai,” Lilsya said happily, her confused face quickly began to radiate with joy. She clutched onto her notepad and pen and relaxed her posture.
“Soba noodles?” Masamune looked past her and looked closer at their booth, seeing a picture of the buckwheat floor noodles.
Aria and Noa were also in cosplay, working in the back with kitchen utilities, Lilsya was working the front, and Tsubaki…
“Where’s Tsubaki?” He asked as he did a small wave directed to Aria and Noa, who were also in cosplay, and the two waved back as well.
“Oh, she’s passing out flyers and advertising around the school. We’re doing a cosplay food stall collab!” She answered energetically, then handed him a copy of said flyer with the list of foods they were selling.
“I see. I’ll take a bowl of Soba then.” Masamune gave a sharp nod, deciding it was a good idea to get the signature.
“Coming right up!” The cheerful girl wrote something down on her notepad, presumably his order, before fidgeting around with her pink-colored pen. Sometimes, she really gets into acting like an anime character while in cosplay.
Wordlessly, she tore a piece of paper from her notepad and slid it across a wooden table to Aria, who rolled her eyes but merrily played along, scooping a good amount of soba noodles out of a simmering pot and placing them into a bowl. The bowl was then passed along to Lilsya, who presented the bowl of soba, along with a pair of chopsticks, to Okumura gracefully with both hands.
“Made with love, chu!” The girl said in an over-the-top voice, making a heart gesture with her hands toward the bowl of noodles.
“Hmm, it tastes good,” Masamune stated, closing his eyes while savoring the taste as he slurped his food.
“Wait, you weren’t supposed to eat it yet!” Lilsya broke character and began waving her hands in front of his face frantically.
“What do you mean?” Masamune flinched at the sudden outburst, which caused his grip on his chopsticks to loosen and let the rest of the noodles slide back into the plastic bowl.
“Come closer!” She shouted, waving him over as she reached for something behind the counter.
When he approached close enough, she suddenly grabbed his back and pulled him closer to her, and she leaned over the counter herself, standing on her tiptoes.
“Say cheese!”
It was only then that he looked up to see that she was actually holding a camera and doing a peace sign towards the lens. Quickly, he managed to throw on an awkward smile and throw up his own peace sign with his hand.
A quick flash.
“Now you may dig in.” The younger girl said as the photo printed and she handed it over carefully, with both her hands, again.
“So that was the cosplay part, I’m guessing…? Thank you. This is certainly quite a unique idea, Lilsya. This is a nice selfie too.” He commented, tilting his head as he gazed at the pocket-sized picture. It was definitely a nice photograph, that was for sure, but the angle it was taken from made him look smaller than he actually was.
“You're welcome, Senpai. I might not be as good as you when taking photos, but the manga club you left behind is still going strong!” Lilsya threw both her hands up, enthusiastically grinning
He guessed she must’ve wanted him to stop worrying about the manga club, now that he's attending college. After all, he has been rather noisy, visiting them even more than Marina with flimsy excuses.
“Haha, I’m not exactly your senpai anymore, I’m-” Masamune shut his eyes as he talked, yet his words were drowned out by yet another stampede of students. Though thankfully, he wasn’t in the middle of it, somebody bumped into him, which pushed him forward…
A warm, delightful feeling graced his lips, like the softest things in the world. He slowly opened his eyes to see Lilsya’s face close up and saw her face beginning to blush under her makeup.
Realizing what had happened, Okumura quickly got off of her and, embarrassingly, stumbled backwards. Both their faces quickly turned red as they neared Noa and Aria, giggling in the back. It was just an accident. The accidental kiss didn’t mean anything, or so that was what he told himself.
“I… Ugh-” Masamune stumped with his mouth as he thought about what to say.
Play it off as a joke? Apologize? Ask her to please forget it? Or maybe pretend it never happened?
“...” Lilsya hid her face behind her notepad, not allowing him to see her expression.
Was that a bad thing?
Masamune was really starting to panic.
“Awawawawawawawawa…” Mikari made inhuman sounds as she stared at her best friend and boyfriend. The sounds snapped Lilsya and Masamune out of their trance as they focused their attention on her. Okumura, internally, began to panic even more.
They had no idea she was in the crowd and witnessed it. But in the end, they were able to resolve it as a misunderstanding after a brief back and forth, and a little shaking. Mostly thanks to Mikari seeing the entirety of what happened herself.
Being sick wasn’t fun. If he had a wish, Masamune would seriously consider wishing away all sickness from the world. It was right up there with ending world hunger and ensuring world peace.
He was currently bedridden, having experienced a minor fever yesterday that exploded this morning, and prevented him from attending two of his classes that were today. Marina was definitely going to notice he was missing from class and scold him the next time they met. The freshman had already missed multiple classes this semester, and it was definitely going to start affecting his grade soon if he missed any more.
Or that was what she told him as a sophomore.
But being stuck in bed really did suck. He couldn't watch anime, play video games, read manga, or even work on his own manga club at his university, which still needed a lot of work(collecting otaku goods). Nope, just resting in bed for him.
Okumura felt a wave of exhaustion wash over him as he shut his eyes, hoping for a good few hours of sleep.
Yet as he did so, he could hear the faint sound of his door rattling as it opened, and then a pair of footsteps that were closing into his room. Strange, his dad and sister didn’t tell him they were going to visit anytime soon.
The door to his room opened, and he could see the faint figure of a woman coming towards him, handbag hanging on her arm.
“Mikari…” Masamune muttered out of habit. But that wasn’t quite right; her chest definitely wasn’t that big.
Then he wiped the sleep from his eyes, now able to see who the person really was, and he quickly began to curse his past self for jinking it. She was dressed maturely, yet her casual clothes were still able to show off her great figure; the intruder was easily recognizable.
“Huh… Mari-nee…?” Masamune groaned, his words came out more weakly than he liked them to.
“Right here, Maa-kun.” Abe announced herself happily, standing over his bed now.
“How did you get in my apartment?” Masamune questioned in a tired tone, which matched his eyes shutting in defeat for a brief moment before opening them again.
Yet she didn’t start giving him an earful or berating him for missing school; it seemed like the older girl was actually here to check up on him.
“You really shouldn’t keep keys under your doormat. It’s the first place a burglar would check.” Abe answered cheekily, briefly taking a moment to take the spare key that he had hidden out of her bag, and shook it from its metal ring.
“Haha… Like you right now?” Masamune said in a joking manner, managing to crank out a sly smile.
Abe suddenly began laughing loudly, and her body jolted as she pondered it. It startled Okumura as it happened so unexpectedly.
“Ah! Ahahaha! Graduate Senpai NTRs’ kouhai by stealing first love incestuously!" She shouted with a flustered face, her mouth beginning to water, and wrapped her arms around herself.
Sometimes, he worried about her future. And they weren’t even related by blood, so how would it even be incest?
“Mari-nee!” Masamune yelped as the abrupt reminder of his girlfriend came into his mind.
“Hmm… Just kidding. For now.” Abe slowly drew out her words, which did not lessen his worries at all.
She put a hand over his forehead to check his temperature. He felt her touch and flinched a little, squinting his eyes. For him, her hands felt colder than ice on his forehead, which wasn’t confusing since it’d been a rainy and windy week.
“Your forehead’s drenched. Have you eaten anything yet?” She asked with a tone of concern in her voice.
Masamune shook his head without raising it, indicating his answer wordlessly.
“Wait just right here, your big sister will make some delicious okayu and tea for you!” Abe gingerly smiled at Masamune, leaving her jacket and handbag on an unused chair in his room.
His childhood friend exited his room, shutting the door behind her gently. He could hear the work being done in the kitchen as he thought about the remaining groceries he had. The college student hadn’t had the chance to go shopping for the last two weeks- busy schedule and all.
“It’s not like I can leave anyway…” He murmured, shutting his eyes as he paid no attention to the background noises of Abe making food in his kitchen.
Masamune was awoken once again by the sound of his door creaking open, and in came Abe again, now carrying a tray with food, water, and a warm towel on it. He caught the delicious scent of okayu, which helped him wake up even further upon the realization that there was food.
“Maa-kun.” She called out into the room and noticed his opened eyes. “Oh, I suppose you’re awake now.”
Abe left the tray with rice porridge on the nightstand and retrieved the wet-warmed towel. She gently wiped his face, the warm towel getting rid of the oil and sweat of his face, and then rolled the towel back up, and left it on his forehead.
“Mari-nee… Thank you.” Okumura mouthed his gratitude.
“No need. I’ll always be waiting for you.” Marina said with a flick of her elegant hair.
Abruptly, Abe lost her footing, and she began to fall backwards as the girl slipped. Masamune, seeing this, unexpectedly gained a source of strength as he quickly grabbed her arm and pulled her towards the bed. Then… He saw it, yet could do nothing but accept his fate. A catastrophe happened.
“Ah!”
“Mari-!”
Their lips made contact, plump, smooth, and sudden are all words that flooded Masamune’s mind as he was overtaken by the sensation. Marina’s weight pushed him down towards the bed again. From an outsider’s point of view, it would’ve looked like she was forcing herself onto him.
Both their faces blushed as their mouths separated, and they continued to look into each other’s eyes.
And at the doorway stood the one and only, Masamune’s girlfriend, who happened to see everything. She dropped a plastic bag from a convenience store, which she was carrying, letting the contents of medicine and snacks fall out. It also caught Okumura and Marina’s attention.
“Awa… Awa… Awa… Awa…” Mikari began to make inhuman sounds again, as if her brain had broken, and she was on the verge of tears.
His childhood friend quickly got off of him as they both looked at Mikari with panicked faces.
“Wait! I didn’t mean to NTR you!” Abe quickly yelled, reaching out with her left hand for Mikari.
After a pack of gummy fruit snacks was thrown at Masamune’s face, the three were able to resolve the misunderstanding, with Mikari joining Abe in nursing him back to health for the day. Though there was a mood of tension the entire time.
Sleepovers. The thing where friends gather and all sleep in the same room together for the night, all after having the time of their lives, of course. Which currently means watching a movie silently at Aria’s house(her mom was traveling). The group of friends, Lilsya, Mikari, Noa, Aria, Abe, and Masamune, all sat on the couch, huddled up next to each other. However, more importantly, Mikari was hanging onto Okumura’s right arm, naturally, as she was his girlfriend, while Aria sat to his left, their thighs touching.
Though it was five girls and one boy, they all swore to Aria’s mom that nothing was going to happen while she was gone. So they sat silently, watching the horror movie, while dressed in their comfy pajamas.
There were also three bowls of popcorn in the room. One between Lilsya and Abe, another for solely Noa, and the final popcorn bowl was sitting on Masamune’s lap, being shared by him, Aria, and Mikari.
The movie itself was rather boring to Masamune, he’d rather be watching an anime instead, but the majority wanted to watch some classic horror, so he settled for it. It wasn’t that he was unscaryable, but something as… Outdated as this movie just didn’t compare.
But everybody else did seem to be enjoying it, though, the university thought to himself as he grabbed a fistful of popcorn and shoved it into his mouth.
“Maybe we should play a board game instead. This is kinda boring.” Aria said, as if she could read his mind.
“Do you even have any board games?” Masamune asked out of pure curiosity, because she definitely didn’t seem like the person to own anything more than playing cards.
They talked quietly as they watched the movie, eyes stuck to the screen. The main character was hiding behind the bathroom door, with a hand over her mouth, and eyes closed as a pair of footsteps came closer. It was obvious what was going to come next.
““AAHHH!”” Mikari and Noa screamed at the same time, due to said jumpscare from the movie, causing some popcorn to go flying into the air.
A classic jumpscare. A knife through the door that narrowly missed the head. The main character of the movie began screaming while running in no time, hopping through the bathroom window.
“You guys okay? Maybe not so boring.” Aria asked as she covered her mouth, giggling uncontrollably.
“Do you want me to get some water?” He asked compassionately, looking at both Mikari and Noa, who were on the right side of the couch.
“There’s juice in the fridge, I’m sure you guys will like that more,” Aria added after calming herself down.
“S-Sure.” Noa chirped in, embarrassingly covering her mouth. It seemed she spat some half-chewed popcorn out.
Masamune looked at Mikari, who understood and loosened the grip on his right arm, then he stood up from his seat on the couch and headed towards the kitchen area of the Kisaki house. As he walked, he noticed at the corner of his eye that Aria was also up and silently following behind him, holding her arms behind herself, which reminded him of a mischievous child.
“Just in case you have trouble.” She stated as she noticed his eye on her. Well, it was her house after all, and she probably didn’t want him accidentally breaking anything.
They entered the kitchen together. There wasn’t exactly much to see, it was like any other household’s kitchen, so he went straight to the fridge. He rested his hand on the handle, with Aria behind him, and pulled.
A snake flew at his face, he backed up instinctively in a panic, and fell on the floor. He felt his heart skip a few beats before he realized it felt soft, like a plushie. And it wasn’t moving as the ‘snake’ sat on his head. Masamune’s face of terror quickly faded, and he grabbed the stuffed toy, then looked at it. Now it didn’t look very scary. Then he turned to Aria with a blank face.
“Surprised?” She sounded bubbly, no doubt having enjoyed seeing his frightened face.
“Seems like you lost this guy, nice prank.” Masamune handed the plushie back to her.
“I was looking for Mr. Snake. Must’ve lost him this morning.” Aria accepted.
“Haha, very funny.” He spoke as he grabbed six juice boxes, one for everybody, and another just in case someone wanted more.
“Well, it got more of a reaction out of you than that ancient movie.” The Kisaki looked into the stuffed toy’s eyes, holding it high up as she twirled, and smiled cheekily, “Mad respect, Mr. Snake.”
“I guess that’s true. Speaking of, do you actually have any board games?” Okumura asked again, carrying the boxes of juice while looking at her with a curious face.
“I was thinking we could just play poker or something. Or maybe borrow my mom's set of mahjong.” Aria answered after studying his expression.
He sighed in response, his previous assumption being proven half right, and Aria merely pouted in response.
The two friends began making their way back to the living room, silent as the movie was still playing, and they could make out what was happening in the movie based on the audio. Then Aria spoke up.
“Disappointed?”
“A bit.”
Juice boxes were handed out once they got seated on the couch, much to Abe and Noa’s delight. And so they were watching the movie silently again, semi-focused because it was near the end. Yet Masamune still found himself back to the boardgames idea, feeling a strong urge to play poker for some reason, he automatically turned and leaned forward to ask Aria, and…
His mouth was met by her lips. As they collided, they could feel each other's lips; the soft texture, unique saliva, and exotic feelings that came with it. They accidentally stayed in their kiss for a few seconds as everybody turned to look at them, one with a jaw dropped, and most with guilt-ridden faces. Then Aria snapped out of her trance, realizing what they had done, pulling away first.
“Y-You weren’t supposed to turn your head! I was going t-to give a peck and then ask if you were still disappointed afterward and then tease you!” Aria screamed in an embarrassed and panicked fury, cheeks like red apples.
“How was I supposed to know!?” Masamune defended himself with flushed cheeks as well.
They both turned to Mikari.
“...” Mikari merely stared silently, a face with dead ruby-pink eyes that looked like it’d stared into a thousand-meter hole. At this point, she’d seen it all. Tachibana wasn’t even mad, not at all.
Thankfully, it didn’t exactly take much to resolve the misunderstanding, as Mikari was already expecting a similar reasoning to the previous disasters. Yet she was moody for the rest of the movie nonetheless, and (very)tightened her grip on her dear senpai. They also decided to play poker for the rest of the night after finishing the horror movie.
Five friends sat together at their local dinner. Abe and Masamune on one side of the table, and Lilsya, Mikari, and Aria on the other, in that particular order. It was near midnight on the lovely Saturday, yet it was going to be a life-changing moment for a certain few young man and women, much to the annoyance of the separate patrons.
“Aaahhhhhhhhh! I can’t take it anymore!” Mikari shouted into the air, grabbing the attention of the other customers. She also did so while ruffling her hair.
Masamune continued eating his plate of spaghetti as everybody else stopped to listen to Mikari, who was holding up four of her fingers.
“I’ll give permission. I can’t take the tension or accidental transgressions anymore. It’ll just be easier if you all dated him as well.” Mikari said in a firm tone, as if she were negotiating, “25% each!”
The girls stared at Mikari as Masamune dropped his fork. He looked at Mikari to see if she was serious, which she very much was.
“Huh?”
“Ahhh, netorase…” Abe began to drool as she blushed red.
“Please knock yourself out,” Masamune said simply.
“So you’re letting us have a way with him?” Aria had widened eyes and her jaw open, practically down to the table.
“Don’t I get a say in this!?” Masamune tried to interject, but he was mostly ignored.
Mikari ran the question in her mind again, like it was a daunting sword that was falling right on top of her.
“Yes! I mean no! I mean… Maybe?” Mikari averted her gaze from Aria and the rest as she somewhat answered the question.
“Mikari… Do you really mean it?” Lilsya questioned her best friend, putting a hand on her shoulder. Mikari inhaled deeply, now looking at Lilsya.
A few seconds passed.
“I won’t go back on my word.” She responded firmly after what seemed like the entire night itself had passed.
“You’re not going to make us do a blood oath, are you?” Aria asked jokingly, slightly lifting the mood.
“N-No!”
“Maa-kun… Do you remember our promise?” Abe asked as she cupped Okumura’s cheek.
He thought about it for a moment. About these irreplaceable women in his life, their current relationship, their future life paths, and what all of this would mean. If it’d even matter in a few years. Whether success or failure.
“Lets… Let’s give it a shot.” Masamune gave his reply with his eyes closed.
That night, after finishing their food at the dinner, they all went to Okumura’s apartment and slept together. Not on his bed, of course, it didn’t have enough space for everybody, but on the floor with multiple futons laid out. And really, all they did was sleep together.
Omake:
Tsubaki stepped onto the university campus. That Mikarin, as she was called, the next generation one, as the previous model under that name retired shortly after starting university, like an inherited title. After asking around for the manga club, she made her way towards an unsuspecting complex, spotting a door that could also be seen after truly focusing on it.
She slowly creaked open the door… And saw the people she was looking for… Everybody on the sofa… Except Noa, who was on her phone… And holding onto Masamune’s arm. Not in the ‘friend’ way, but in the very ‘we kiss each other on a daily basis’ way.
“Hey Baki-” Masamune tried to greet.
“Human scum. Filthy womanizer. Enemy of female-kind.” Tsubaki’s face turned dark and disgusted as she spat. Though her face also had a hint of fear in it.
Her words were like a spear piercing his fragile otaku heart.
“I DIDN’T MEAN TOOO!” He screamed whilst reaching out to her to no avail, falling from the sofa to his knees.
“Are you all fine with this?” Tsubaki turned to question the women.
The said women all looked at each other, and then turned back to Tsubaki.
“It was the only solution…” Mikari said with an unreadable face as she loosened her grip on Masamune’s arm.
“This is just like anime.” Lilsya simply stated, tightening her grip on her dear senpai’s arm.
“I don’t see the problem here,” Abe said honestly. After all, everybody was happy since they got what they wanted.
“I’m cool as long as I get a piece of him,” Aria said with a straight face.
After a second of thinking and rubbing the bridge of her nose, Tsubaki came to the final conclusion.
“Love is scary…” She practically whispered.
Noa looked up from her phone, an innocent smile on her face.
“I’m going to keep talking to Gabby.”
The girl went back to her phone, chatting with her ‘AI.’
“Well…” Tsubaki took a deep breath. “It’s… Been so lonely without all of you.”