Chapter 4 : I absolutely do not want to do that.

“A—ahahahaha.” I was still nervously scratching the back of my head, desperately trying to look anywhere but at Ruri and Airi, when a dark shadow passed by our table.

He slumped into a chair at the empty table right next to ours. I glanced over.

Satono.

“Oi, Satono,” Ruri called out casually.

He slowly turned his head, his eyes half-open. “Ah… Ruri… Nao. A—Airi?” The exhausted look on his face briefly vanished, replaced by genuine confusion. “Nao and Ruri make sense, but Airi?”

“Huh? Is there a problem with that?” I snapped defensively.

“Haha, Ruri invited me! They’re both actually super nice,” Airi replied cheerfully.

“Yes, sir,” Satono mumbled, sounding entirely drained. He turned his attention back to his lunch tray, his head hanging low. He mechanically picked up a piece of food, but his eyes were staring blankly at the wall, completely zoned out. I quickly looked away.

“Let’s move to his table,” Ruri threw out the bait.

I absolutely do not want to do that.

“Oh, good idea! Let’s go,” Airi agreed, standing up instantly with her tray.

The two of them immediately started moving. I watched them walk away, my internal panic warring with my intense fear of missing out. The FOMO won. Ugh. Defeated, I grabbed my drink and awkwardly shuffled over, taking the seat next to Ruri. Airi sat directly next to Satono, who didn’t even seem to register that our entire group had just migrated.

“Uhhh,” Airi blinked, poking Satono directly in the shoulder. “Satono, you good?”

Satono jumped slightly, his soul finally returning to his body. “I’m dead.” He blinked, looking around at the three of us surrounding him. “Wait, why are you all sitting here?” He suddenly slapped a hand over his face. “Ah, man. My head is spinning.”

Idiot.

But as I looked at him—his messy black hair, his sharp, narrowed eyes, the intense focus slowly returning to his expression—he looked… slightly cool.

Ugh, what am I even thinking?!

“Can I uninstall my brain and reinstall it?” Satono groaned.

“Sure,” Ruri replied smoothly. “What heavy object do you want me to hit you with to initiate the reboot?”

“Haha.” Satono gave a dry, empty laugh that sounded exactly like a typed emote in a chatbox.

I kept my mouth shut. I just wanted to be a silent reader in this conversation.

Satono sighed heavily. “Seriously though, what are you guys doing here?”

“W—Why? Is it a problem, Eriko?”

Satono’s head snapped up so fast I thought I heard his neck crack. His eyes were wide, staring at me in pure, unfiltered horror.

Ruri slapped a hand over her mouth to muffle a cackle. Airi’s jaw dropped.

“—!!” Satono looked around frantically like he was being pranked. “You never call me that! Am I actually dead?! Is this a different level of the afterlife?!”

"Shut up, you're so dramatic!" I snapped, my face instantly catching fire. “I literally just learned your first name two minutes ago! And so what if I use it?!”

“N—Nao?!” 

“What?!”

“Pfffttt… haa…” He let out a breathless laugh, covering his face again. “I guess that’s fair. I’ve been calling you Nao since we were kids.”

“You’re making no sense,” I muttered, crossing my arms. Seriously, he makes no sense. Beside me, Ruri smiled her sweetest, most terrifying smile, and calmly took another sip of her drink. Satono looked at Ruri. He didn't get mad. He didn't make a face. He just let out a long, deeply exhausted sigh.

"Anyway," Airi leaned forward, her face turning serious. "What did Mr. Bahliel say? Is it about the midterms?"

Satono groaned, burying his face in his hands again. "It's over. If I don't pass the makeup exams next week with at least a sixty-five, he's freezing the Internet Club's activities. It’s nonsense! Just because I’m the president?! We only have five members… wait, no, we have more on paper, but only five active members—"

He was yapping.

Airi gasped, clutching her empty matcha cup like a lifeline. "Freezing?! Like… no more relaxing club hours?! No free coffee and AC?!”

Oooooh. So that’s why this girl joined the Internet Club. 

"Wow, so that's your real reason for joining," Ruri noted dryly. "To be fair, their club room is very nice."

“A—haha, not entirely like that!” Airi frantically tried to dodge the bullet. “Uhm, I mean, we have another tournament coming up, right? How are we going to spar with other schools?!”

“It’s an online game, Airi. We can just play from our own houses and use Discord,” Satono pointed out.

Good point. Wait, what is Discord?

“Good point. Um, what is Discord?” Ruri asked, echoing my thoughts.

Airi immediately pulled out her phone. In a completely flat, robotic tone, she began to read: “Discord is a free, popular social communication platform designed for creating communities, quote ‘servers’, to chat via text, voice, and video—”

I leaned over to look at her screen. Is she reading an AI summary?!

“Are you literally reading an AI review?” Ruri asked in disbelief.

“Ruri, be quiet for a second,” I snapped.

“Ehhhh?? Why?!”

Because she kept stealing the exact words right out of my brain! It was infuriating!

“Huft…” Satono let out another heavy breath. The chaotic energy drained away, leaving him looking incredibly small. “Please… teach me how to study. Nao. Ruri.”

Bam—

My heart skipped a beat. His voice was so painfully sincere. He even looked away, staring at the table, completely unable to meet our eyes.

Airi’s eyes filled with desperate, sparkling anime tears. “Pleaseeee Nao, Ruri, help him! If I try to tutor him, it’ll be the blind leading the blind!”

“Nope,” Ruri replied effortlessly, not an ounce of pity in her voice.

Then, Ruri hummed thoughtfully, swirling the leftover ice in her cup. "Wow. That is quite a dilemma. If only we knew someone who was ranked Number One in the entire school." She turned her head slowly, her sharp eyes locking directly onto me. "Someone who gets ninety-fives without even trying."

I froze. "Don't."

Airi's eyes slowly widened. She turned to me and reached across the table, grabbing both of my hands. Her grip was surprisingly strong.

"Nao! Please!" she begged. "Save our club! Save my chill palace!"

"I am not tutoring him!" I panicked, desperately trying to pull my hands away. "He's too loud! I hate loud things!"

Satono sighed, slowly pushing his lunch tray away. He didn't yell. He didn't beg anymore.

"It's fine, Airi," he said quietly, aggressively scratching the back of his neck. He looked away, staring blankly at the cafeteria wall. "You don't have to, Nao. I know I'm annoying to deal with. I'll figure it out myself."

My breath hitched.

There it was again. That careful, quiet distance. That invisible wall he was building between us, safely boxing me out of his problems so I wouldn't have to deal with him.

I hate it.

I hated that tone more than I hated the loud gamers, the brain rot, or the stupid AC temperature.

Before my brain could logically process what I was doing, I slammed my hands down on the table.

Satono jumped. Airi squeaked.

"Bring your stupid books to the library after school," I snapped, glaring at him with everything I had. "But if you mention stupid gaming things even once, I am leaving. Got it?"

Satono blinked, completely stunned.

Beside me, Ruri smiled her Evil Goddess smile and winked at Airi.

"This is what you should call Absolute Cinema, Airi."