EXTRA: Could You Make an App for Me?

One Saturday afternoon, Tsumugi was making a phone call.
The person on the other end was not Haruka, but a classmate from her school — Tatsuhi.

Unlike the athletic Tsumugi, she was comparatively quiet and somewhat prone to staying indoors, making her stand out slightly in class, yet she maintained good relationships with her classmates.
That was because she excelled in programming skills and would create smartphone apps requested by her classmates to earn a bit of extra pocket money.

That said, even if she was skilled, it was only at the level of a third-year middle schooler’s hobby.

After a slightly longer ring than usual, the call connected.
“It’s been so long since my phone rang that I forgot how to answer it. So, what’s up?”
It sounded like she was in the middle of something, the typing of a keyboard mixed into her voice.

“There’s an app I’d like you to make.”

“For now, I’ll hear you out. What do you need?”

“I want a slam-hang-up app.”

“…What kind of app is that supposed to be?”
Perhaps surprised, the sound of typing stopped.

“You know how, when you slam down the receiver on a landline, it goes “slam!”? I want an app that can recreate that.”
Tsumugi explained it matter-of-factly, but after a brief silence, Tatsuhi asked, “Do you even have a chance to use that?”

“Of course I do. Every day.”

“Probably… it’d be faster to just block the number.”
The sound of typing started up again.

“No, it’s not like she’s a bad person… except for that brain of hers.”
She said it with a sigh.

“Then just say ‘slam!’ out loud, or smash your phone against something before hanging up.”
In response to Tatsuhi’s voice laced with laughter, she shot back, “Wouldn’t that just make me look like an idiot?”

“Since it seems like you’re not aware, Tsumugi-chan, I’ll tell you — from my perspective, you’re saying some pretty stupid things. Anyway, I get the idea. I’ll call you when it’s done, so give me two or three days,” she said with a laugh.

Tsumugi replied with a simple “Alright. I’m counting on you,” and hung up.

The next morning, though it wasn’t exactly early, a call came in at an hour when Tsumugi was still asleep.
Reflexively assuming it was Haruka, she answered without checking who it was. “What the hell… that’s loud.”

However, what came through the receiver was someone else’s laughter.
“Tsumugi-chan, You’ve got quite the mouth. The app’s done.”

“Oh, Tatsuhi… Sorry, I thought it was a friend from back home—”
In the middle of her sentence, there was a loud “slam!” and the call was cut off.

Startled by the sudden sound, she pulled the phone away from her ear and stared at the screen.
—Did I do something to piss her off?

Feeling a little uneasy, she immediately called back. The line connected without even a ring, and Tatsuhi was laughing. “So, how was the app?”

“…Oh, I see. I thought it was—”
SLAM!

At the sudden sound, she froze with the phone still away from her ear when a call came in from Tatsuhi.
She switched to speaker mode and answered, and Tatsuhi was still laughing.

“So? Did it tick you off?”
“If anything, I had no idea what just happened.”

“Still want the app?”
“No, I’ll pass.”

“Good choice. You’ll lose friends like that.”
After that, she voiced a few complaints about Haruka, Tatsuhi laughed and said,
“Isn’t she a good friend, laughing off your foul mouth? You should treasure her.”

As soon as her call with Tatsuhi ended, her phone started ringing again.
When she looked at the screen, Haruka’s name was there.
Tatsuhi’s words — “Isn’t she a good friend?” — crossed her mind, and she answered with a slightly calmer mood than usual.

However, a few minutes later, she had already hung up with a, “How the hell would I know, idiot!”

Letting out a long sigh and thinking for a moment, Tsumugi called back from her recent call history.

“Hey, Tatsuhi? Actually… can I get that app after all?”