My Childhood Friend Can Actually Get Mad.

One Saturday later, I'm back at the same family restaurant, surrounded by the same people, trying my hardest to not lose my appetite looking at the same girl eating the same food in a ridiculously messy way.

This time, though, I've gotten some work done. In between studying for finals and extra practice, I've somehow had enough time to read Ayame's doujin and edit it, and read the source material. To be honest, Hero Tensei isn't bad, but I'd never admit it to her face. Once you get past how unlikable the main character is at the start, it gets better because he changes and grows as a person. I guess making him such a loser at the beginning was the point of the story.

Cozy Camp is relaxing. I never saw the appeal of manga where a bunch of cute girls do absolutely nothing, but it's a good read before bed. There's no drama, no conflict, and no injustice- it's a bunch of girls having fun going camping. Sometimes you need something light and fluffy like Cozy Camp, especially when you've been beaten down by the cruelties of the world.

Crap, I'm analyzing this way too much. I'm starting to sound like Ayame.

For the second week in a row, she's still eating like a pig, and I've lost my appetite.

After she finishes brutally murdering her poor lunch, she leans over the table, her eyes sparkling. "Alright, Haru-kun, how far did you get with your editing?"

"Clean your face off first, and then we'll talk about that."

She leans back over, pouting. Suzuran pushes the wet towel sitting in front of her towards Ayame, saying in a voice barely above a whisper, "Ayame-san, you can use my towel to wipe your hands if you'd like."

"Thanks, Suzucchi!" Ayame wipes her hands, and then wipes her mouth right at the table like she's some drunk middle-aged salaryman who's given up on life in a seedy izakaya somewhere. I meant she should go to the bathroom and clean up. Even us guys know to do that. Politeness 0/10, manners -5/10, feminine charm -10000/10.

"If you'll excuse me, I need to go to the restroom real quick..." Suzuran quickly lowers her head and ducks out toward the bathroom. See? That's what proper etiquette looks like.

"Okay. Show me what you got, Haru-kun." If even one of Ayame's five total brain cells is the slightest bit ashamed of her awful eating habits, it's not showing.

I would never have chosen to edit a doujin in the first place- I was, without a doubt, forced into it. Some might call it coercion. However, regardless of how I ended up in this spot, this is my job and it would be disrespectful to give anything less than my 100% full effort. So that's what I did. I stayed up late into the night looking it over, searching for art errors, grammatical mistakes, and character behaviors that don't match the source material. I was surprised at how long it took me- it's only 25 pages, and I thought it would take maybe a couple hours at most, but it took me 8, spread across 3 separate days. If it took me this long to edit it, it must have taken her a whole month to draw it- but if it took her that long, you would think the art would look better.

The sheets of art paper are in the backpack that's sitting next to me in the seat. I borrowed it from my dad- it's old and it looks terrible, but I'd rather wear it than carry a doujin out in public.

The pages are filled with red marks, and I point out each mistake like I'm going over an exam. "Page seven, where did Rexy's hat come from? She wasn't wearing it in the prior panels. Page eight, Rexy's arm is bigger than her body. Page nine, I'm not sure what this thing in the background is. Also on page 9, you need to use the past tense. Page ten, why is Rexy acting jealous? That doesn't fit her. Ariel and Rexy out of proportion- you drew them as the same height even though Rexy is shorter. Page eleven-"

"Hey, stop it!" Ayame yanks the booklet out of my hands. "Why do you have to be so negative? Don't you have anything good to say about it?"

"You asked me to edit it, and that's what I did."

"Yeah, but you're being a jerk about it and nitpicking everything instead of giving constructive feedback. It's gonna take so much time to fix all of this. A real editor in a magazine would respect his artists and their time and effort."

Something pounds in my head. There she goes, acting like she's already published. So I'm not a "real editor", whatever the hell that means. You could at least listen to what I had to say before dismissing it.

"I didn't say anything positive because this doujin is terrible. You really think you're ever gonna make it to a magazine when your art is this shitty? They'll throw it in the garbage and tell you to come back when you've actually learned how to draw."

Instead of the clapback I'm expecting, there's nothing. When I catch Ayame's innocent eyes, they've gone wide, and I swear there are tears starting to well up.

Beside me,Takeno-senpai mutters, "Oi, Kouga, back off a little-"

Ayame's face contorts in anger and she slams two hands on the table, before I can react. What the hell does she think she's doing-

"You're TRASH!"

Tears are starting to run down her cheeks. To the left of me, Takeno-senpai sits frozen, and Suzuran, who's just come back from the bathroom, is standing at the head of our table, her mouth open and her eyes wide.

"After everything I did...after how hard I worked...that's what you have to say?! You didn't draw a single thing...so what gives you the right to tell me all my effort was worthless?! Sorry if I don't live up to your standards, but trampling on someone's dreams like that is totally unforgivable!"

She can't finish before she keeps sobbing, with her head buried in Suzuran's chest. Suzuran is staring at me with a fierce gaze that could melt steel. Is she mad at me? She just watched an overgrown ten-year-old throw a tantrum because she couldn't take criticism and Suzuran took her side? She's mad at me for telling the truth?

Fuck, if you want to act like that, now I'm mad.

I haven't even noticed the waitress hurrying over to the table until I hear her say, "Ma'am, is everything alright-" and then her voice trails off.

"Kouga, apologize-" Takeno-senpai's taking Ayame's side too. I'm outta here. Since you two obviously think I'm an asshole for telling her no, you can take care of her today, not me.

"You know what? If you just wanted a yes-man to tell you how great you are, you should have said so in the first place. It would have saved me a lot of time. I'm leaving."

It's hot outside, and the cicadas are starting to sing their annoying anthem, which makes my sulking mood even worse.

I don't get Ayame. She asked me to edit her crappy doujin, and I did. I sacrificed my sleep and free time to do her a favor, and do it to the best of my ability, and the only thanks I got was her melting down because I didn't tell her what she wanted to hear. She acted like I was mocking her effort without even trying, even though I worked just as hard as her to meet her deadline that she set when I didn't have to do it, and everyone took her side. Screw them.

Did I go too far, though? I got mad when she blew me off without even bothering to address my criticisms, and then I called her art garbage in the heat of the moment and she got pissed.

Shit. I should have kept my cool. After what happened with my parents, I told myself that I needed to be better about being open with others and staying calm instead of letting my temper take over, and I thought I was making some progress, but it happened again.

There were a million ways I could have tactfully told her that she needed to pay attention to my edits instead of dismissing me, but instead I told her that she had no talent. Of course she'd take that personally.

My parents have changed for the better, but I haven't, not one bit.

Man, I suck.

I need to apologize, but what do I do? Do I go back? They've probably left by now-

Suddenly, my train of thought is interrupted by a roar from behind me. "KOUGA, YOU MOTHERFUCKER!"

It's as if time slows down. As soon as I turn around and see the figure charging at me, it's like my leg moves itself.

I don't have any control of my body. All I can do is watch in horror as my roundhouse kick slams into the side of the guy's head.