It’s just one of those days

“You gatekeeper…. How dare you do this to me, Nao-chan… I thought we were the best of buddies…"

“Hey! I said what I said, nothing happened when we were on the phone yesterday. EXCEPT FOR THE FACT THAT YOU CALLED ME TWENTY TIMES?” Naorin raised his voice.

“Whyyy?? Your wife is concerned, you know? I was so worried that you might be in trouble or something. In fact, I was crying when you hung up. I went wahhh wahhh Naooo-kuunnnn.”

“Bro, you’re not my wife. Do you really need to worry about me when I’m at a concert and not at war? Shouldn’t you be more concerned about me impressing some huzz or something? About my rizz-o-meter and my max-level aura being enough to intoxicate some fine shyts?”

“First in my bloodline to hear this, bro. Pack it up, the door’s over there.”

Ayaka pointed to the entrance at the bottom of the auditorium classroom, dedicated to his own craft. He tried to stand up and playfully follow along with what she had in mind, but Ayaka ended up standing and pulling him back into his chair.

“I think bro might be bipolar or something, pulling me back in. Ladies, one at a time I guess.”
“Go kill yourself.”

Her tone was so deep it made Naorin’s jaw drop from the absurdity of her reaction. He thought there wasn’t a single chance she would react like this. I guess you could say he hit the jackpot, not necessarily a good one.

“Damn, I’m glad she didn’t overreact. Next time, put a jumpscare warning or my heart won’t take it.”
“I was joking, silly. Anyways, would you please tell me about your concert experience? You’ve been gatekeeping it from me, you know? Let me guess, is it about the woman?”

“Ngh… Well, not really. Ayaka, you’ve known me for a long time. Try to guess based on my body language.”

“Nao-chan, the grass is green.”

“Fine, you win. Her name is Eimi Yui. I don’t have pictures of her, but I can show you the pictures I took before the concert started.”

“I wanted the ones during the concert, why the gatekeep?”

“I already told you yesterday, bro. Holy Alzheimer’s.”

Ayaka got off her seat and stood beside Naorin. As he scrolled through his photo gallery, she leaned over his left shoulder to get a better view. From an outside perspective, the closeness between the two caught many of the students’ attention.

“Nao-chan, these angles suck, but hey, effort is effort. I’ll give you that. I’ll commend you.”

“Bro, these are for shoot-taking purposes, and there’s no need to unnecessarily add fancy compositions aside from using the rule of thirds.”

“You don’t understand. My brother, my favorite guinea pig. A good shot will always please the eye. Take, for example, a good-looking person. No one would bat an eye if he didn’t have juice, which is someone like me who doesn’t have that. Nor do I care enough to care.”

“You do have a point, I can agree with that. But that last line of yours is the part I disagree with.”

“Which part? The thing where I said I didn’t care enough to care?”

“No, not that. You can probably tell where I’m going with it. Actually, you know what, never mind.”
“Ohh!! Aww, Nao-chan, you’re so sweet. You’re making my heart dance, I appreciate it!!! Here’s one reward from me!”

She wrapped her arms around his neck. Ayaka was so close to Naorin that he could hear her breathing near his ears, but he didn’t mind since it was Ayaka after all. This part of her pretty much hadn’t changed at all.

“So, Ayaka. Can I breathe now? You’ve lowkey been squeezing the breath out of me.”

“Oh my bad, gang.” She removed her arms from him and stretched before sitting back down at her desk. “So Nao-chan went on a date?” Ayaka said bluntly.

“Bro. No, you know full well I can’t commit to a relationship yet considering my current situation, man.”

“Fair enough. Call my jokes a plane with how they flew over ya.”

“My bad, all me.” He scratched the back of his neck.

Speaking of which, he remembered something considering it was that time of the month. Winter KetKomiK, which is a month from now. He was close to graduating after Winter KetKomiK. All he had to think about now was his future.

Figured he’d want to spend the next month with Ayaka and Seiji. Who knows what may happen in the future.

“Ayaka, do you wanna attend Winter KetKomiK next month? You know, we’re literally graduating two months from now.”

“What’s this? Getting all emotional now, eh? I’m joking~~ Sure. It’s still two months away, but no problem. Including Seiji?”

“Of course, mate,” he exhaled. “Well, for now. Do you wanna hang out after this lecture? We’ll go over what we left off.” Naorin narrowed his eyes.

“….? Ah, haha. Bring it on, loser. I have many things to say about you, pretty boy.” She smirked smugly. “Who’s gonna be paying though?”

Oh right. Flashback to yesterday, where he spent all his remaining money on ramen.

“You know, Nao-chan, I can tell from your face. You don’t have money, right?”

“Well…. Yeah, for some reason.” Naorin began sweating. His gentlemanliness took the lead and made him forget he had been trying to save up his salary. He said this would be the last time he spent tickets on concerts until his financial status was stable. It would take him two months before he could continue his weird hobby, and by then he’d already have graduated.

“Hahahaha. Rejoice, Nao-chan. For I have the legendary items.” Ayaka raised her voice like a hero who had just slain the Demon King. “Your legendary heroine has arrived to rescue you.”

Naorin’s eyes widened, his jaw dropped. It can’t be… He didn’t want to believe it, nor did he want to accept it.

His heart began to race, his mind flooding with emotions and anxiety… No, it can’t be…. His mind was filled with dread. This feeling… Please no….

“YOU HAVE A JOB???!!!!” he screamed calmly.

☆

Inside a kitty café hidden between tall buildings.

“I can’t believe this, I didn’t think you’d be capable of getting one.”

“What can you expect? I was pretty surprised to find out they took me in. I have a full-time job now, yet I’m still in college~” she exhaled.

“But how do you get to work? I’m guessing the institute must’ve given you a special pass to enter campus at any time, because it’s the same for me every night shift at my part-time job.”

“Yep. I informed the high-ranking uncs and asked if they could allow me to enter past curfew because my shift is in the evening. Thankfully, they gave me special privileges, so unless it’s work-related, I can come back at any time.”

“Same profile, eh? Truly a character development.”

“Of course, my dudeskies.”

The light from the window where they were seated shined across the marbled wooden table, snow falling outside the café. Both sat on opposite sides. The interior was fancy all around, beige wood marbling, warm orange lighting, and top-notch decorations, which caught Naorin off guard.

“How’d you even find this place? This is way too good-looking to be in this district.”

“Simple, laddy. I spotted this place while walking around the area. It’s well hidden, comfy, and not too rowdy like other cafés.” Ayaka picked up the white cat beside her and hugged it, rubbing her face against its cheek. “There’s cats!”

“Very straightforward answer. Either way, thank you for this. Never would’ve thought you’d be treating me.” He straightened his lips, apparently feeling guilty.

“No biggie, I’ve always wanted to treat you, but of course I didn’t have a job at the time. It’s pretty funny how I kept asking you for extras, I don’t know why you’d agree to it anyways.” She gently put the cat down.

“If you really insisted, I didn’t want you to be hungry. Seiji too. So I figured I’d just get the money back in a month.”

“Then thanks to that, I owe you big time. That makes me the big sister now!”

“Huh??!! Who decided that???”

“Haha, I’m just kidding, again.” Ayaka removed her ponytail and stood up. “Your choice? I’ll get two strawberry cheesecakes, or do you want an almond croissant?” she tilted her head.

“Black coffee. It’s enough for me. Feel free to pick whatever you want, thanks Ayaka.” Naorin averted his gaze, guilty. He wasn’t used to being treated rather than being the one treating others. Must’ve been quite the unexpected change and development.

“Ehh~~ Nao-chan, this isn’t for free. You’ll now become my baggage slave~~”

“….!??? Oh god, the Demon Queen is back,” he jolted. He felt the presence, his instincts kicking in like he’d just seen the Demon Queen reincarnate after her defeat.

“Ehehe~ Just a joke~~” she skedaddled away to the cashier.

Naorin exhaled, relieved that the Demon Queen had not truly returned. It had been a while since he’d seen Ayaka act like this. Probably the effects of having a job now. But it really couldn’t be just that. It wasn’t too significant, but it did have an effect.

Or more like—

Oh, is she also worried about graduation? Or is she worried about me and Seiji? Based on her reaction, it could be those kinds of reasons. The last time she acted normally like this, something serious came up. Naorin planned to ask her about it, so this was the perfect time.

He exhaled before looking over at the cashier to see if she’d finished ordering. From what he could tell, she was pointing to the almond croissant in the display case, so he knew what she’d ordered for dessert. As he continued staring longer than expected, her blonde hair caught his vision, reflecting the sunlight.

In his mind, Naorin remembered the time he saw her blonde hair swaying over the grass fields, giving him a strange sense of nostalgia. Good old times. Feels like yesterday. Can’t believe I’m getting older now, he exhaled. He was only twenty years old, yet he already felt like he was going through a midlife mental breakdown.

After twelve minutes, Ayaka came back with their order, placing the tray on the table. She plopped down into the soft chair and handed him the black coffee.

“Thank you, Ayaka. The first time this has ever happened, it almost feels like I’m in a fever dream.”

“You’re overly exaggerating…. I’m not that bad of a person, you know….” she sulked.

“I didn’t mean it that way… More like a comfy change.” He took a sip from the cup. Ayaka’s eyes narrowed. Usually she’d be unserious here, yet her alarm bells were going off.

“Reo. You don’t usually drink black coffee. Did something happen?”

…..? Did she just call me by my first name? Oh god, she’s angry. I was calling it. I made a mistake ordering black coffee.

“Reo. I know you can’t fool me, we’ve known each other for a long time.” Ayaka’s expression turned cold.

“…..No? I just felt like ordering black coffee.” His face started sweating. Of course, that wasn’t enough to convince Ayaka.

“Reo.” Her tone hardened.

“Okay okay. Uh, I have a night shift…” Naorin exhaled, looking down.

“That’s it? Then why are your grades going down? Your eyebags don’t help either. I know it’s about graduation, what’s really happening?” she crossed her arms, brows furrowed.

“…..Yeah, since we’re on this topic. I wanna talk about it.” Naorin set his cup down, his expression hardening. Considering this was a serious topic.

“My mental health’s been going downhill. I’ve been struggling to find a full-time job, and my part-time jobs don’t pay that much, so as you know I take multiple shifts to support myself. And because of that, I’ve been skimping on homework and exams. Considering we’re graduating in two months, I’m not confident I’ll find a stable job to support myself,” he paused.

“And honestly, I’m worried that once we graduate, we won’t be able to see each other much. The three of us, we’ll all be busy with our own lives and have less time to spend together. That’s just life itself.” Naorin scratched his temple and exhaled.

Ayaka stayed silent, her expression still frustrated.

“That’s what you’re worried about? THEN WHY DID YOU MAKE A BIG DEAL OUT OF IT, SILLY!!” She loosened up, her expression returning to her usual bright self.

“Huh???” Naorin’s expression turned confused. “What do you mean, Ayaka?”

“Did you forget something? First, the reason why I enrolled here? Second, you can always rely on me if you need help now that I can volunteer. As for your homework, ME and Seiji will handle that for real. Yes, I meant WE,” she smiled.

“Really? Oh my goodness, now I feel embarrassed after saying all that.” He covered his face jokingly.

“But in all seriousness, Reo. We can always meet up after graduation, even if our places end up far apart. I’m confident Seiji would be down for meetups too.”

Looks like Naorin didn’t have to worry too much. Having friends like these who truly cared about each other was something he was proud of in this group. Maybe the stress and work had bloated his mind with anxiety about the future.

“To be honest, out of the gang, you really work harder than the rest of us. I’m always worried about your state of being, so if I wasn’t there to monitor you, then who knows what would happen.” She placed her elbows on the table and rested her chin on her palm.

“ーYou’re kind of hopeless without me, aren’t you? Like the old times,” Ayaka spoke softly, reminiscing.

“No comment. Well, sorry for yapping too much. The atmosphere got way too serious here. It’s been a while since I’ve seen you act like this, Ayaka.”

“Hmm? I’ve always acted like this when it’s only the two of us. You haven’t noticed? Could it be that I was born with a poker face?”

“I don’t think I noticed. I could just be dumb and stupid.” Naorin eased his shoulders. What started as a short talk had become a therapy session with Ayaka. His mental state and body had been declining rapidly, so it was understandable why she wanted to cheer him up.

“You were always like that, lol,” she said bluntly.

“….” He stared at her dead in the eyes in disbelief.

“I’m joking~~~ I’m joking~~~ Don’t look at me like that. Just a little meme.” Ayaka waved her hands.

“Oh well, Ayaka. Since we’re at it, wanna go to Winter KetKomiK next month? Since I’ll get my salary by then, I’ll buy tickets for both of us.”

“Woah!!!! Wait, what about Seiji? Can we bring him or not?”

“I don’t think he’s really interested. Maybe we can all do something else together another time, we’ll try to convince him. Winter KetKomiK is still a month away anyways.”

“I want to go! I’ll pay for the pass. I don’t want you spending more than what you can realistically afford. Instead, I’LL help YOU finance it. It’s my job anyway.”

“…..Butー”

“Nao-chan, simmer down. Lower tiers aren’t supposed to talk down to their superiors… Just kidding~ Just let me handle this one, would you?”

Naorin stayed silent. He deeply exhaled before nodding in defeat. This was quite a massive change for a Demon Queen like her. Maybe this was one of those “The Demon Queen Who Works a Full-Time Job” things.

“Now with that out of the way, describe to me in FULL detail what that woman looked like. Don’t leave any crumbs,” Ayaka said eagerly.

“……..Huh.”