Chapter 8:

Two Creepy Idiots Get Kicked Out Of A Mall

Why Does Nobody Find Us Attractive?


It was a sunny weekend afternoon at Nikko's house, as Juzo, Reina, and Nikko lounged around on various furniture. There had been nothing to do the last few days, and the boredom stole all energy from the three. Nikko laid on the floor, staring at the ceiling as entertainment.

"Ughh… isn't there anything better we can do than this?"

Juzo laid sprawled out over the couch.

"You tell me, you're the one who invites us over here then proceeds to do nothing."

"Can't think, brain stopped working."

Reina suddenly sprang up from the chair she was slumped over in.

"Oh, I actually got to stop at the mall today. You guys wanna come too?"

Nikko sat up from the floor.

"That's something to do, let's go there."

Nikko and Reina got up to get ready to go, but Juzo remained on the couch. Nikko turned to him and shouted.

"Hurry up, you lazy ass! We're going to leave now."

Juzo grunted, then rolled off the couch onto the floor. His body slammed against the mat in a reverberated thud.

"Oof."

"Dude, what the hell is wrong with you?"

Reina was having none of it.

"We're not waiting for him, Nikko. Let's get going. See you later, Juzo."

The two opened the door and started to leave, and Juzo realized they weren't bluffing. He started flailing around, trying to wake up his sleeping limbs.

"Woah, just wait a bit! I just need to get up!"

His pleas were ignored. By the time Juzo had gotten to his feet and out of the door, Nikko and Reina weren't in sight. Running a few blocks towards the bus stop, Juzo closed in on the others enough to see them waiting at the stop. Unfortunately, the bus arrived, and the two boarded. Juzo began to sprint full speed to try and catch the bus, but he had no such luck. Not willing to run for a few more kilometers, Juzo decided to wait for the next bus, which luckily would arrive in 10 minutes. Leaning against the bus stop sign, Juzo took the wait to catch his breath. Eventually, the bus arrived and he was on his way to the mall. Juzo took a seat near the back, relaxing into his spot to try and enjoy the ride. As the bus left the stop, Juzo decided to close his eyes for a bit, but started to hear some muttering.

"Isn't that Juzo Kawahara? I think he's that goon who was in my first year class."

"Really? That guy? He seems pretty chilled out."

"He does look like that, but he is a scary guy. He nearly killed some of my classmates."

"Wow, that's pretty extreme."

Juzo opened his eyes and saw two vaguely familiar girls sitting several rows ahead of him, turned around and staring at him. Once he made eye contact, the two reactively turned away.

"Oh my god, do you think he heard us?"

"Just be quiet and mind your business!"

Juzo slumped over and sighed.

"I can't even catch a break outside of school?"

Juzo arrived at the mall a few minutes later, but his task now was to find his friends. After shooting some texts out to them, he started to wander around while waiting for a response. He didn't have to wait long, as Nikko was hanging out near the front.

"Hey, Nikko! I finally found you!"

Instead of replying, Nikko stuck his hand out to stop him. Juzo complied, confused about what was happening. A girl then appeared from a nearby store, and Nikko approached her. He said a few words, but the girl shook her head before scampering away from him. Nikko sombered over to a nearby bench and flopped down, so Juzo went to go check on him.

"What are you doing?"

"What do you think? I'm trying to score a date."

"Are you serious? You look like some pervert trying to find a victim. Please, stop, before something bad happens."

"Something bad? Like what?"

Almost on cue, a police officer walked up to the two boys.

"Can I have a word with you two?"

Juzo turned to Nikko with a murderous glare.

"I swear, if I get dragged into trouble because of you…"

Nikko cut him off.

"It's fine. Let me handle it."

He turned to the officer.

"Of course. What's the problem?"

The officer scratched his head.

"Well, I received a complaint from a girl saying that you tried to harass her as she left a store. May I ask what exactly you're trying to do?"

Nikko rose up from the bench.

"You see, I saw what looked like a nice girl, and I thought that I should just try and take my shot. I'm really sorry if I made her uncomfortable."

The officer stuck his hands into his belt.

"Kid, I know you're young and do these kinds of things, but I can't let you be doing this. Just look at the people inside the store; they're all staying in there because they're scared of you loitering out here. I'm sorry, but you two need to leave for today."

Juzo pointed at himself.

"Wait, me too!?"

The officer nodded. Juzo looked at Nikko.

"I hate you."

Nikko didn't hear Juzo's statement, as he was arguing his case to the officer.

"I'm not doing anything illegal! Why do you think I need to be kicked out for that?"

The officer had no patience to listen to Nikko's objections.

"You are causing a public disturbance, so I need you to leave. If you fail to obey my directions, I will have to arrest you."

Nikko was about to complain more, but Juzo grabbed his arm and began to drag him away.

"Hey, what are you doing!?"

Juzo swiftly jabbed Nikko in the stomach.

"Shut up! You've already caused so much trouble, stop trying to make things worse."

The officer saw Juzo's little outburst.

"Hey! Don't be hitting people."

Juzo waved back at the officer.

"Sorry."

The two boys started to walk towards the exit in complete silence. They were halted by a shout from behind.

"Hey, where are you going?"

The two turned around to spot Reina, who walked towards them.

"What's going on? Are you leaving?"

Nikko was staring at the floor in shame, so Juzo answered.

"Well, this idiot was harassing girls outside of a store, so now we've been kicked out of the mall."

Reina pressed her palm against her forward.

"Are you serious? God dammit, why are you such a pain in the ass!? I left for 15 minutes to pick something up, and you've gotten yourself kicked out. Ugh, whatever, let's just go."

The three of them travelled back to the bus stop, waiting quietly for the bus to arrive. Once the bus showed up and they grabbed their seats, the silence continued for several more moments.

"Sorry."

Juzo and Reina, who were sitting in the same row, turned backwards to see Nikko, who was sitting by himself behind them.

"I didn't want to ruin the trip."

Reina accepted his apology.

"Yeah, whatever. I got what I needed done, so I'm not too upset. But still, what did you think would end up happening? No girl goes shopping at the mall hoping that some random dude hits on them."

Nikko fiddled his fingers around.

"It's just been frustrating lately. Both you and Juzo have had someone show interest in you, but not one girl has even come up to talk to me during this entire time. I just wanted to try and find someone who would give me a chance."

Reina was not impressed by Nikko's thoughts.

"Are you stupid? First of all, my whole incident with Ogara was instigated by me, not him. It completely blew up in my face. I was being impatient and reckless when I thought of asking him out, and I don't want you to do something irrational like that."

Juzo backed her up.

"Yeah, you can't try and force anything too careless. Keep your head up, eventually something good will happen."

Nikko was cheered up by his friend's support.

"Thanks, guys."

Juzo turned back around to face the front.

"Yeah, it's all good. But you did make me waste some money on bus fares, so you owe me lunch now. I believe you also owe Reina as well."

"Ooh, thanks Nikko!"

Nikko sighed.

"Fine."