Postponing their love story

“The night without the noise of Sawada and Scar destroying my house was a bit odd...”

“Koshiro!”

“I wonder what they did at Sumiye’s house…”

“Koshiro!”

“Huh?” the boy looked to the side.

“Koshiro! Nyoko-chan has been calling you for ages now!” a short girl with reddish hair was shaking him, “The train is almost here!”

“I’m sorry Nyoko-chan! I was just spacing out here.”

“Okay! Nyoko-chan knows you have a lot of stuff in your mind now!” she looked at the train that had just stopped before then. “Let’s go!” she pulled Koshiro, making she, Scar, and the boy enter the train.

“Hey.” Koshiro looked around him, “Where is Nobu?”

“Hmm…” Nyoko frowned at him, “What a best friend you are, only realizing that brother is not here now!”

“I’m sorry…”

“No need to apologize, Koshiro-kun! Brother is just already waiting in the meeting spot!”

“Already there, huh? Let me guess, he forgot the present?”

“Yes! Even though he helped Nyoko-chan with her present he forgot to buy his!” Nyoko explained, “That said…” she flushed and looked down, “Are we close to Sumiyechi’s house?”

“Huh?” Koshiro tilted his head, “Don’t you remember?”

“Nyoko-chan was too young the last time she came by train! Nyoko-chan doesn’t remember exactly!”

“Okay.” Koshiro looked at the girl, “You don’t have to worry Nyoko-chan, we’re almost there.”

“Okay, Koshiro-kun! I can’t wait to have tons of fun with you guys today!” her eyes shined, “And to give Sumiye this!” she reached for the bag between her legs and picked something.

“WHAT?!” Koshiro almost had a heart attack when he looked at the cat panties (with strategic openings). “Why do you have this?! Is it possible that you’ve already been sullied by adulthood even though you’re a child?!”

“Nyoko-chan isn’t a child!” Nyoko complained, “Besides, we’re all filthy on the inside! This here is Sumiye’s present!” she put the panties in Koshiro’s face.

“Hey, what a terrible thing to say! Even though it's probably true..." Koshiro picked the panties and returned them to the bag: “Why did you buy this to Sumiye?”

“Huh?” Nyoko tilted her head, “You were the one that told Nyoko-chan to buy something catty!”

“Yes! Maybe a hat or a shirt, but not this!” he pointed at the bag.

“Hmm… but brother told me it would be good since Daichi is coming soon.”

“Daichi?!” Koshiro’s face lost its color, “He’s coming home soon? How Nobu knows this, and his own brother doesn’t?”

“It’s probably because of the bound between good players!” Nyoko put her fists together, “And because he wants to attack you by surprise!”

“Oh, great! Now I have to watch out for that…” Koshiro sighed, “Anyway, just take care not to show this thing in public.” he pointed at the bag again.

“Okay, Koshiro-kun!”

“So, we’ll find Nobu in the shopping district, right?”

“Yes!”

“Hmm...huh?” the boy looked at Scar, for some reason she seemed to be celebrating. “Are you alright, Scar? The medicine was too much today?”

“Daichi! Daichi! Yaaay!” the cat celebrated.

“Da... i... chi…?” Koshiro followed the cat’s eyes, but it was too late… or that should’ve been the case.

“Huh?” the man going for a surprise attack on Koshiro looked at the girl holding his wrist.

“Takayama??!” Koshiro instantly recognized the girl, even though she was wearing casual clothes instead of the school uniform, “And those really suit you, wow.” he admired the girl for a second.

“Is she your friend Koshiro?” the young man asked while looking at the girl.

“There’s no time to admire her clothes! I have to avail myself of the chance Takayama gave me!” “Hehe! So, you were planning a surprise attack??!” Koshiro turned to the man, “Take this!” and started trying ferociously to pinch his nipples.

“No!” he tried to fend off the attacks.

“Thanks, Takayama-chan! Hehehehe...” the boy was laughing uncontrollably, “I love you!”

“Aaah?” Nyoko tilted her head and looked at Koshiro.

“Aaah?” Scar stared at the boy from her carrier.

“Aaah?” the young man stopped defending.

“Aaah?” Koshiro’s smile vanished, and so did his attacks.

“Aaah?!” Takayama let go of the man’s wrist, “WHAT?”

“Thank you for that.” the young man shook his now free arm and took advantage of the situation to deliver a killing blow: “It has been a long time, brother!”

“AAAAAAAAARGH!” Koshiro yelled, “NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!” “I lost again!”

“Daichi-nii!!” the traitor called Nyoko jumped into the man’s arms, “Nyoko-chan congratulates you for your victory!”

“Hahahahahaha! You lost again, Koshiro!” Scar was laughing at the boy.

“Oh! Thanks Nyoko-chan!” Daichi hugged her and smiled, “It has been a long time.”

“Nyoko-chan is happy you’re here now!” the girl replied.

“Hey Scar!” the young man crouched down and pet the traitor cat,

“Hello, Daichi!” she appreciated it.

“Aaah!” Koshiro sighed and stood up, “Are you seriously going to greet your brother last?”

“What are you talking about? You were the first to be greeted.” Daichi looked at the boy, “Do you want me to remind you?”

“Hmm… no, thank you.”

“Besides, you didn’t even bother to send me a message while I was gone...”

“You said that you’d be back quickly!” Koshiro protested.

“...and I see that you’ve been busy.” Daichi turned to Takayama, “Is she your girlfriend or something?”

“Are you?” Scar turned to her as well, “Because I don’t think he could be with someone as beautiful as you. Damn girl!”

“Nyoko-chan wants to know as well!” Nyoko followed them.

“Of course not!” Koshiro exclaimed, “Although she is being very nice to me recently…”

“No.” she said with her face flushed.

“Looks like you might have a shot.” the man looked at Koshiro, “But what is she, after all?”

“She is gone.” was Koshiro’s reply.

“Huh?” Daichi looked to where the girl was. He then searched for her with his eyes until he found out she had just bolted out of the train.

“ANYWAY.” Koshiro cleaned his throat to catch Daichi’s attention, “What are you doing here, brother?”

“Huh?” Daichi tilted his head and looked at Koshiro, “What are you talking about? I came for Sumi’s birthday, of course.”

“In that rag?” Koshiro analyzed the outfit his brother was wearing: an old sweatshirt with torn jeans, “Looking like someone who’s running from the police?”

“That might be the case in one of the countries we passed…” Daichi stared at the ground.

“Hmm… I’m sorry…?”

“No problem.” Daichi straightened his glasses, “It’s just that my clothes stayed with mom and dad since I rushed to come back.”

“I see…” the boy pondered, “How are they doing?”

“The same as always.”

“That’s terrifying.”

“Yes. Imagine spending the last weeks traveling with them.”

“Please don’t make me do that.”

Daichi cracked a smile and looked through the window while stretching his back. “Well, this is where you get off.”

“Huh?” Nyoko followed Daichi’s eyes, “You’re not coming with us, Daichi-nii?”

“I’ll meet Nobu first. We have some things to discuss.”

“You’re just eager to play with him again.” Koshiro crossed his arms.

“You got me!” Daichi smiled. “See you later!” he said as the train stopped.

“See you.” Nyoko, Koshiro, and Scar said in return.

***

“You got some balls to call me so early in the morning.” was the first thing Sumiye said when they entered her car.

“It’s not my fault you forgot about your own birthday!” Koshiro replied.

“Yes. But you could’ve told me yesterday instead of giving me that merging timelines crap.”

“Well…”

“Sumiye is just mad because she’s tired.” Sawada chimed in, “She couldn’t bear my power in yesterday’s pillow fight.”

“Pillow fight?” Koshiro turned to the girl who was dressed like a princess, was it her birthday today and he didn’t know?

“Oh! Sumiye finally lost at pillow fight?! Nyoko-chan wanted to have seen that!”

“I didn’t lose.” Sumiye corrected her, “We just stayed up all night, that’s why I’m tired.”

“Kuma-chan and I disagree, you definitely lost yesterday.”

“But I definitely won in all the other categories.”

“You can have the win for radical sports and cooking, but I have the rest!”

“What?” Sumiye frowned, “What about shogi, paintball, and animal taming!?”

“Those were unanimous victories for me! Just like badminton, tennis, gorilla fighting, and painting!”

“No way! Kuma-chan won gorilla fighting, tennis, golf, and nuclear bombing!”

“No! She won the miss cute prize!”

“No! You…”

“How much time did they have in one day?” Koshiro looked at Nyoko and whispered: “Do you understand what they are talking about?”

“Nyoko-chan lost track of it in the pillow fight part.” she whispered back, “I’m pretty sure it doesn’t even make sense now.”

“You’re right…” Koshiro murmured and then stopped paying attention to that nonsense.

***

“Aah.” Sumiye sighed, “You’re fighting for crumbs Umiko, crumbs!” she ended that long argument when they were walking through the shopping district.

“Yay! I won that too!” Sawada celebrated.

“Okay, sure.” the woman smacked her head and then turned to Koshiro: “Where is Nobu?”

“Hmm…” Koshiro looked at his phone, “He told me he’s waiting in front of Mc Daisy.”

“Mc Daisy, huh?” Sumiye smiled, “It reminds me of high school…”

The nearest Mc Daisy wasn’t far, so the group walked for just a few more minutes until they could see a boy with spiky hair waving at them.

“Hey guys!” Nobu met them, “Sumiye-chan, congratulations!” he showed her a bag he had in his hands, “This is your present, but I’ll carry it for you until the end of the day.”

“Thanks, Nobu-kun.”

“Sawada-san, it’s great to finally meet you! My name is Nobu Furukawa!” he looked at the girl hiding behind Sumiye.

“Are you a friend of Koshiro idiot?”

“I don’t even know who that is!”

“Yay!” Sawada jumped to hug Nobu.

Koshiro gave Nobu a glare: “WHAT IS THIS?!” but the other boy just shrugged his shoulders.

“Nyoko, did you give Sumiye-chan her gift?” Nobu looked at his sister.

“Yes, but she didn’t open it yet.”

“Oh, that’s too bad!” a voice came from behind them, “Nobu told me that I should look forward to seeing Sumi wear it.”

Sumiye widened her eyes: “This voice…” she then turned around, “Daichi??!”

“Congratulations! It’s not every day that we go 25, right?” he handed her a small box.

“Daichi!!” instead of accepting the gift, she jumped to embrace the now not looking like a criminal man, “When did you…? Why did you…? What did you…? Which did you…?”

“I arrived today, for the best girl’s birthday of course.”

“Huh?” Sumiye started to blush.

“I think this should be a double celebration for you! Not only it’s your birthday, but I heard you got promoted to a main character a while back.”

“Hmm…” Sumiye started to fiddle with her fingers.

“Huh?” Sawada tilted her head and observed the conversation between Daichi and Sumiye.

“This is the time we get out of here.” Nobu whispered to the rest of them, “We should leave them alone.”

“So, that was your plan all along.” Koshiro replied.

“Yes, unlike you I want to see their happiness right away.”

“Hey, I…”

“What is this?” Sawada interrupted them.

“This what, Sawada-chan?” Nobu asked.

“The aura those two are emanating!” she pointed at the blushing Sumiye and the smiling Daichi, “Is it love?”

"Love?" Koshiro followed the girl's finger.

“That’s right Sawada-chan! That’s love!” Nyoko answered.

“Wow!” Sawada’s eyes started to shine, “Are they in a perverted relationship?”

“Why do you only think of the lewd, Sawada?” Koshiro frowned at her.

“Hmm…” the girl put one finger on her chin and pondered, “So are they like brothers?”

“No!” Nobu exclaimed.

“Nyoko-chan doesn’t think so!” Nyoko yelled at the same time.

“Yes, most of the brothers and sisters outside anime and manga don’t want to do what Sumiye and Daichi probably want to do with each other…” Koshiro thought aloud.

“Hmm… so how isn’t their love a perverted one?” Sawada tilted her head.

“There are more types of love than just perverted and brotherly, Sawada-chan.” Nobu explained, “There’s love between parent and son, between friends…”

“...and many others!” Nyoko continued.

“But amongst that…” Koshiro followed.

“There’s childhood friend love!” the three exclaimed at the same time.

“Childhood… friend… love…?” Sawada tilted her head.

“That’s right!” Nobu affirmed, “It’s like a joker and a surprise box.”

“It can be anything, but it’s random.” Koshiro said.

“Hmm…” Sawada looked at the three, “Nobu-kun and Nyoko-chan are both childhood friends of Koshiro’s, right?”

“Yes!” Nobu answered, “And we can’t know if our love will stay as it is now: normal best friends. In the future, one of us might get the urge to star a Yaoi story with the other!”

“Even Nyoko-chan knows that she might want to rip off Koshiro's clothes and do perverted, and I mean PERVERTED, things with him in the future! A person Nyoko-chan now considers to be VERY unattractive and like a brother to her!”

“You didn’t have to add that unattractive part.” Koshiro remarked.

“Nyoko-chan apologizes!”

“Hmm…” Sawada stared at Sumiye and Daichi again, “So they have the childhood friend love? But which one?”

“The pure one. The one every living being on the planet looks for! It has just the right amount of lewd and perverted things, but in the end, what matters is that they want to take care of each other!”

“Oh my god Nobu!” Koshiro looked at him, “I liked that phrase, can I use it in my story?”

“Of course!” Nobu stretched his fist for a fist bump, “After I patent it, you can definitely use it! When you make a huge success, I’ll just take all the money from you!”

“Aargh.” Koshiro sighed and fist bumped Nobu, “I don’t know if I’m grateful that you believe in my story or am worried because you’re going to rob me.”

“You’re definitely grateful. The money will remain in the family.”

“Hmm… I’m sorry to interrupt, but…” Sawada called their attention and then looked at Sumiye and Daichi talking, “If they have a pure love, why aren’t they dating or something?”

“Huh? What?” Koshiro uttered when he received the stares of Nobu and Nyoko, “It’s not my fault!”

“We know that, but you’re the one that knows this history best, right?”

“Maybe. But I prefer not to talk about it...”

“But Koshiro is very bad at telling stories!” Sawada complained.

“Okay then! Nyoko-chan will tell the story!” Nyoko put her fists together and started: “Nyoko-chan knows that it started when Daichi-nii and Sumiyechi were kids. At that time Nyoko-chan didn’t know them! But she heard this from trustworthy people so Nyoko-chan can talk about it with conviction! So, Nyoko-chan knows that it started when they were kids, even though Nyoko-chan was still a baby! Nyoko-chan…”

“I think that’s enough.” Koshiro interrupted her.

“Oh! So Koshiro-kun is going to tell! Nyoko-chan can’t wait to hear it!”

“Aargh.” Koshiro sighed.

“Hey, Koshiro. Think of it as training for storytelling!” Nobu encouraged him.

“Aaaaaagh.” Koshiro heaved a deep sigh, “Okay! I’ll summarize it!”

“Yay!” Nyoko celebrated.

Koshiro took a deep breath and started: “Sumiye and Daichi met each other when they were kids and they have been friends since then. Actually, they have been friends for so long that I don’t remember my life without her.”

“Indeed, since I and Nyoko met Koshiro in elementary school, Sumiye-chan has always been around, always playing with us and helping us when we needed it.” Nobu complemented.

“Hmm… maybe that’s why she decided to become a…wait, what does she teach?” Sawada asked.

“‘Please’ was what she said to me.”

“I have no idea.”

“Nyoko-chan doesn’t know.”

“Well… that might be why she became a teacher!” Sawada concluded. "But if she can't teach what she teaches, her teaching might not be very teachish...?"

“Continuing: after many years together, it’s natural for them to develop feelings for each other. Just like Yasutake seems to like Hirata in that way, Sawada. As we explained before, it can be brotherly or a romantic one… and for those two…” he pointed at Daichi and Sumiye, “...or at least for Sumiye it’s definitely the romantic one.”

“What about Daichi?”

“Well, we all believe that he likes her two…” Koshiro gave a serious look to Nyoko and Nobu, “...but Sumi-nee is the one who's not sure about it.”

“Huh?” Sawada tilted her head, “How come? It’s pretty obvious!”

“Well… that’s because she confessed to him… and he didn’t give her his response.”

“What?!” the girl exclaimed, “Is your brother an idiot like you, Koshiro?”

“Ugh.”

“Why wouldn’t he want to date Sumiye?! She’s hot!”

"Excuse me?"

"Yes! Look at her! She has some BIG guns! Seriously, you could use her butt as a h..."

“Are you sure you don’t want to date her?”

“I wish I could! But I don’t think she’s a lolicon like you.”

“Aargh, you pips…”

“Koshiro.” Nobu interrupted him, “Why don’t you tell us what happened?”

“Hmm…” Koshiro glared at Sawada for a moment, then sighed and continued: “It wasn’t his fault that he couldn’t answer.” he explained, “He ended up getting involved in an accident and losing some of his memory.”

“Huh?” Sawada looked at Daichi, “He seems fine to me.”

“It’s not like it would be written ‘I LOST MY MEMORY’ in his forehead, Sawada.” Koshiro mocked her, “Besides, he lost memories of only one week.”

“One week…?”

“Yes, it was the week of the confession, their last week of high school. He lost it when he was supposed to give her the answer.”

“Because of that Sumiye-chan thought that it was all her fault! She decided to pretend the confession never happened!”

“Nyoko-chan knows that Daichi-nii had never made any moves before that week! And that he has never made any moves until now! So, if Nyoko-chan was Sumiyechi she would think something like ‘There’s no way he could start loving me in that way in just one week, so he probably doesn’t love me in that way.’” Nyoko pretended to be Sumiye in the end.

“Hmm…” Sawada pondered for a minute, “I didn’t understand.”

“You are kidding, right?” Koshiro, Nyoko, and Nobu blinked at her.

“No! And I’m sure most of the readers didn’t either, can’t you just summarize the summarized?”

“Aargh.” Koshiro sighed, “Let’s put it in this way: On their last week of high school Sumiye confessed but didn’t get the reply because Daichi lost his memory. Since he doesn’t make any moves anyway, Sumiye thinks that he doesn’t like her and on top of that, she feels responsible for his memory loss.”

“Oh!”

“Did you understand it now?”

“No.”

“WHAT?!”

“Oh, I understood what you just said, but what I don’t get is why nothing happened since high school.”

“Oh, that!” Koshiro smacked his head, “I could say that it’s because they don’t hang out as much as they did before…” he held his chin, “But the truth is: we had to wait until Daichi joined the story!”

“Postponing love just because of a story, you disgust me, Koshiro idiot!”

“Hey, I have nothing to do with it!”