Bazdmeg.

Classes pass and it’s already the end of the day. Takemura Eiji, Ishida Masato, Furuya Dai, Mihara Tamotsu and Noguchi Jun were walking out of the classroom while talking.

– Just tomorrow and the first week’s finally over… – Eiji thought to himself while walking ahead.

– Slow down, Eiji, where are you going in such a hurry? – Masato quickly noticed him.

He slowed down but was still slightly ahead of the guys.

– I just hate walking this slow… – he muttered.

– What did you say? – Dai narrowed his eyes.

– He was just mumbling to himself, but let’s get back to the issue at hand. Are you free now? – Masato quickly interjected.

– Yeah, I think we’re all free. But why? – Tamotsu was curious.

– I thought that if we’re not going to have a club meeting today anyway, we could go out, eat something. – Masato suggested.

– Just like a date, huh. – Dai said in a sarcastic tone.

– Just like that, only that we’re just going to be five dudes. – Masato replied while putting his arm over Dai’s shoulder.

– Get off me! – Dai tried to pull away, but Tamotsu also put his arm around Dai from the other side.

– Just calm down Dai. – he then looked over at Masato. – Where are we going?

– I don’t know, do you know a place? – Masato scratched the back of his neck.

– I know a place. – Jun was walking by Masato.

– Oh? Tell me more. – Masato put his other arm around him.

– I just saw it when I went home on the second day of school and ate there. The food was good.

– Nice, let’s all eat there, then! – Masato exclaimed.

Dai suddenly broke free from the hold of the two guys.

– Who said that I’m coming? – Dai snapped.

Masato and Tamotsu were surprised for a second, then looked into each other’s eyes and smirked.

– We did. – they both said as they put their arms around him.

– Just let me go! – Dai was struggling to get out.

– Eiji, why don’t you come back here too? – Masato looked forward just to see Eiji already about 5 meters ahead.

– I’m going home, you can have fun. – he said without looking back.

– What are you talking about? You come back here too! – Dai’s irritation burst out of him.

Masato suddenly let go of him and put his index finger up to his lips.

– Shh. I have a plan. – he whispered.

Eiji’s pace sped up even more.

– What is he planning now… – he thought, uneasy.

Dai raised an eyebrow.

– And what is that?

– More like who is that. – Masato smirked knowingly.

– What? – Dai scratched his neck.

– She’s just arriving, it seems. – Tamotsu smirked and looked at someone passing them.

– Oh, I get it now. – Dai followed Tamotsu’s gaze and smirked too.

– I see… – Jun looked a bit down.

Masato let go of the guys and walked a few steps forward.

– Araki-san, Satou-san, could you come here for a second? – he asked the two girls that just passed them.

– What is it now? – Satou Shiori had a slightly annoyed expression.

– Oh, come on, Satou-san, don’t be so cold to me. – he then leaned closer to her and whispered. – Otherwise I might not call you cute anymore. – he smirked.

– Just tell us what you want, okay? – Shiori delivered a light elbow to Masato’s ribs, but her bright red face betrayed her.

– Okay, okay, no need to get so aggressive. – he leaned back. – I was about to ask you if you’re free right now.

He then mumbled to himself.

– I might have a painkink… – he then looked back at Shiori. – Could you elbow me again?

– We’re both free… but what’s that about me elbowing you again? – Shiori was confused.

– Just wanted to test something out… But we can do that some other time, now it’s all about Eiji. – Masato looked at Araki Yuuka.

– Did something happen to him? – she asked with concern.

– No, but I will tell him that you care about him. – Masato smiled at her. – It’s just that we were planning on going out to eat with the guys, but this stupid Eiji told us that he’s going home. Unforgivable! – he said in a dramatic tone.

– And what’s that got to do with us? – Shiori narrowed her eyes.

– I just thought that maybe if Araki-san asked him to come, he would be more eager to. – he then looked at Yuuka. – You know, hold his hand, look into his eyes and say “I would be really happy if you came along, Ei… I mean Takemura-kun!”. Something like that.

Yuuka instantly froze as her whole face turned red.

– I-I could never do something like that… But I can try my best… – she looked in Eiji’s direction. – Would that really help?

– No it wouldn’t, let’s just go away Yuuka-chan, don’t listen to him. – Shiori grabbed Yuuka’s hand and pulled her away.

– Oh come on, you’re invited too, Satou-san! – Masato caught up to them.

Shiori froze.

– Me too?

– Yeah, of course, but I would like to go with just the two of us sometime too… – Masato winked at her.

Shiori’s face turned red.

– Then I guess I could come today…

– So, Araki-san, could you ask Eiji to come? – he looked over at Yuuka.

– I-I guess I could… – Yuuka nodded, glancing over at Eiji.

He was already almost at the shoe locker area, about 10 meters away.

– You really shouldn’t – he thought to himself as he sighed. – Now I’m gonna get dragged into this whole thing…

But then he stopped and shook his head.
– What the hell am I thinking? I’m me. I can just say no. – he thought to himself as he turned around, being face to face with Yuuka who just caught up to him.

They both froze as they saw each other so close.

But then Yuuka broke the silence.
– Uh… Takemura-kun, Ishida-kun told me about how they’re going out to eat today and he also invited me. I was… wondering if you’d like to come along. – she said as her face reddened slightly.

– I… didn’t really plan on going, so… – he responded as he turned around to leave.

Yuuka’s heart skipped a beat. For a moment, time seemed to slow around her. She stretched out her hand but stopped for a moment, just before reaching his sleeve.

And then she grabbed it.

Eiji almost dodged on instinct, but forced himself still, his arm going rigid.
– Wouldn’t want to do the same thing to her as I did to Noguchi-kun… – he thought back to how he tackled Jun on his second day of school (Chapter 4).

He turned back to face Yuuka.

Yuuka’s face was bright red, one could almost see steam rising from her head.
– Takemura-kun, I just wanted to say that I… I’d be happy if you came too… – she whispered, looking up at Eiji.

Eiji’s eyes widened as his face reddened and his throat tightened.

– Bazdmeg.

The word slipped out before he could stop it.

When she heard that, Yuuka subconsciously tightened her grip around Eiji’s sleeve.

Eiji quickly shook his head, his eyes got back to their natural state, but the redness in his face persisted.

– How the hell do I say no to that? – he thought. – Damn you, Masato!

He looked down at Yuuka’s face, all sorts of feelings swirling around inside his head.

For a heartbeat, the world around them fell away.

Jun stared from a distance as he sighed.

Then, Eiji looked away.

– I mean… – he began, but his words froze when his gaze shifted back to Yuuka.

She was still looking up at him with a flustered expression.
– I… I guess I could come… – he said, arranging his collar with his other hand.

– Thank you, Takemura-kun!