[FFML] [orig] Keit-AI! Tomoyuki x Seiko Chapter 9: The Friend Zone Harem

[Abdiel]

"Pac-Man beat Marquez in _one round_? In their first fight?" asked the
incredulous Alternate Universe Seiko Okamoto.

"That's what it says here on EBO," confirmed Tomoyuki Yamamoto, feeling
somehow put-off by Pacquiao's nickname. As far as he was concerned, the
only "Pac-Man" he knew was the one that ate power pellets and ghost
monsters. Also, by "EBO", he meant his universe's version of
Encyclopedia Britannica Online.

"Well, _our_ Wikipedia says that even though Manny Pacquiao knocked
_down_ Juan Manuel Marquez three times, they ended up getting a draw
after Marquez proceeded to whup Pac's ass."

"That's not what EBO says."

"Huh. Over here, just this month, Pacquiao knocked Ricky Hatton out in
two rounds. Mayweather is in fact facing _Marquez_ for September this
year. You know, the guy that gave Pac hell to the point that people are
saying Pac's been ducking JMM all this time?"

"So that's the reason why Pacquiao and Mayweather didn't fight on March
in your world? Because 'Pac-Man' fought Hatton and Pretty Boy fought
Marquez?" Tomoyuki supposed.

"_Money_ Mayweather is _going to_ fight Marquez as his first fight after
retiring from boxing for a few years. What about Pac's loss to..." AU
Seiko trailed off as she looked the information up on Wikipedia.
"Morales. Erik Morales."

"Pacquiao beat him both times here in my universe."

"They only fought _twice_? They fought here in my universe three times!
They had an epic trilogy! Okay, then what happened to the Oscar Dela
Hoya fight with Pac over there? It occurred in December in our world."

"We had it happen in October. Immediately after Pac got a TKO on Dela
Hoya, Mayweather issued a lot of demands for him prior to fighting. Pac
agreed to them all, including a smaller split on the purse and drug
testing."

"Drug testing?" asked an intrigued AU Okamoto.

"Yeah, blood tests done by the USADA. Both Mayweather Junior and Senior
were implying that Pac-Man was juicing."

"Oh, right! I remember during the pre-fight hype for Pacquiao-Hatton,
Floyd Senior made some nasty remarks about Pac-Man probably using
steroids to jump from one weight class to another. He claims that Dela
Hoya lost because Pac was juiced."

Tomoyuki nodded even though AU Seiko couldn't see him do so while he was
on the phone. "I guess basically, the Pac in my universe has a better
track record than the Pac in your universe."

"Our Pac is just hitting his stride! Even though he never beat Marquez
convincingly, I do hope he agrees to everything the Mayweathers asks
after September so that we can have our own Fight of the Century in the
new millennium!" cheered and gushed the AU Amazon Queen.

Who knew a girl could still act girly even when talking about a bloody
and violent sport like boxing? The contradiction suited her, according
to Yamamoto's estimations.

"Mayweather Junior knocked out Hatton and humiliated Dela Hoya like
Pacquiao did, even though at the time, Oscar was trained by Manny's
trainer, Freddie Roach! Just like how Hatton was trained by Mayweather
Senior when he faced off with Pac! I'm telling you, their rivalry looks
like it was fated to happen! You can't make this shit up!"

"Yeah, yeah. Good luck on the whole Fight of the Century thing on your
neck of the woods. I mean, universe," said Tomoyuki with a small
chuckle.

"...So are you ready to tell me what happened back in my counterpart's
apartment that led you to be thrown out?"

With a sigh, Tomoyuki straightened up his back as if to brace himself
for impact and confirmed, "Yes, ma'am."


========================================================================


Keit-AI! Tomoyuki x Seiko
An Anime-Inspired Original Story from 4chan's /a/ Board
By Abdiel
Original Idea by Hataki !WBLg6PTzh.
http://www.fictionpress.com/s/3206139/

A harem full of friends with no benefits.


========================================================================

Chapter 9: The Friend Zone Harem

========================================================================


Last Saturday afternoon, at the Non-AU Seiko's apartment in Azabu-
Juuban, Minato Ward...

"...You know, I wish Kazu-kun would stop pretending to be a delinquent
and act more like he did when we were kids," a half-drunk (she called it
"tipsy") Seiko said, referring to Kazuhito Sugata.

"Huh?" responded Yamamoto, unsure of whether or not he should humor his
drunk crush by talking to her. "What do you mean?" He then balked as
Seiko slung her arm around his shoulder, her lips smelling faintly of
beer as she flashed a crooked smile at him.

He didn't know whether to be embarrassed, get turned on, or chuckle
uncomfortably at seeing her like this, so he ended up doing all three
simultaneously as they both ended up on the beanbag chair at the part of
her small apartment that doubled as a bedroom and living room.

"Back when he was a kid, he was such a huge crybaby. He cried at a drop
of a hat. He was such a wimp. Before he had bleached hair and picked
fights on the street, he was the one being picked on. Hell, he was even
more sensitive than you are."

Tomoyuki pulled at his collar as he felt something soft and... "plush"
brush up against his arm, making him gulp. "Oh really?" he asked, his
voice breaking. "W-Well, at least his first memory wasn't composed of
him cross-dressing when he was four years old."

"What?" Seiko asked in confusion, seemingly sobering up by the shock of
Yamamoto's confession.

"What?" Tomoyuki repeated, wishing he was drunk when he said what he
said, remembering that the Seiko whom he told that secret to was from
another dimension.

To his relief (or perhaps embarrassment), Okamoto slapped his back and
laughed till her sides hurt. "You are something else, Cherry Boy.
Actually, you kind of remind me of the old Kazu-kun."

"Eeeeh?" was all Yamamoto could respond with.

Seiko then backed off, hollered, and slapped Tomoyuki's back hard.
"What's with that serious look on your face? It's a joke! A Joudan-no-
Kamae!"

Yamamoto winced at the bad pun. "Joudan" could either mean the Fire
Stance in kendo or a joke. He wished she only made such "joudan" when
she was drunk, though. 'So I guess I don't really remind her of
Sugata...'

"I wish he'd come back to his senses and become Crybaby Kazu-kun again,"
Seiko said with a wistful, faraway look at the window, so the passive-
aggressive retort that had formed at the back of Tomoyuki's throat died
in his lips.

Wait, so did she mean _he_ was nothing more than a substitute to the
childhood friend she thought she lost as they grew up? Yamamoto
represented what Sugata used to be? That was the reason why she bothered
inviting him to her apartment in the first place?

Something _else_ occurred to Tomoyuki that he hadn't asked Seiko because
he presumed she already done it. "Hey, Okamoto... Have you ever tried
_confessing_ your love to Sugata?"

He sounded bitterer (was that a word?) than he realized once he heard
himself say the passive-aggressive retort out loud. 'Calm down. Relax.
She didn't mean anything bad when she said I reminded her of Sugata.'

"Have your feelings changed since... you know...?" she asked, changing
the subject to something even more awkward.

"...W-What?" Yamamoto sputtered again, immediately picking up on what
she meant. "Uh... no."

Of course not. His feelings hadn't changed since he first confessed his
love to her. Why should they?

"I see." And so the elephant in the room was finally addressed, although
he couldn't read the expression on her face after doing so. Was she
being pensive? Melancholy? Annoyed? Disappointed? Bored? He had no idea.

Did he have a chance to steal her away from the guy who didn't even want
her in the first place? Yamamoto's mind raced as his eyes traveled
everywhere but Okamoto's direction.

As he looked away, he saw an exercise machine folded up on the side,
barbells, dumbbells, autographed memorabilia, posters of sports figures
he'd heard from her alternate self but couldn't recognize by face, a TV
and DVD player plus stacks and stacks of "Best Of" matches from PRIDE and
the _UFC_ (with an "F", not an extra "C"), and so on and so forth.

"I-I'm not the person you think I am, you know," said a reddened Seiko,
the sight of which gave Tomoyuki palpitations. He would've had a heart
attack then and there if he were prone to the disease.

The stars then aligned, his passive-aggressive jealousy over being
compared to Sugata forgotten, as he leaned over, smiled, and remembered
AU Seiko as he told the "real" Seiko, "Maybe I know you better than you
think."

That was the smoothest line he'd ever deliver in his life. It was also a
bit cheesy, but he loved saying it because it was also the truth. Thanks
to AU Seiko, he really did know about his universe's Seiko better than
she thought.

"What made you fall in love with me?" was the second bombshell that
Seiko dropped on him that had him reeling. Nevertheless, he persevered.

This was the perfect opportunity for him to make up for his earlier
"UCC" flub and his total ignorance of the Pacquiao-Mayweather
super fight. It was now or never. He'd be the clutch hitter... a
baseball analogy he learned from AU Seiko herself... this time around.

"I'd have a harder time coming up with things I _don't_ like about you!
You're a super-athlete! You know more about combat sports, ball sports,
and anything related to sports than some guy friends I know! You speak
your mind and you call things the way you see 'em, and while other
people might find that off-putting, that just made me fall for you more
and more. I couldn't help myself. You're the strongest, most charming
woman I've ever met."

"...So you think I speak my mind and you love that about me, huh?" said
the completely sober Okamoto with a wan smile and downtrodden eyes. "Is
that really what you like most about me? You don't regret liking me?"

"Of course not! I would never...!"

"Because it's this big mouth of mine that turned Kazu-kun into Furyou-
kun," Seiko revealed as she cut Tomoyuki off. "I was so stupid! I was in
so much denial that I said I didn't love him at all, even though the
reverse was actually true."

"Huh?" Tomoyuki had no words to spare as his mind went blank. She was
talking about Sugata _again_. She couldn't take her mind off of him.
'Please tell me it was her drunkenness that made her say that,' he
begged to no one in particular.

However, she continued, and Yamamoto ended up kicking himself for again
getting his hopes up when he had no hope to begin with.

"Back when I was confronted by my classmates about whether or not I
loved Kazu-kun, around the time I stopped teasing him and started
beating up his bullies, I... I... told them that I didn't see him as a
_real_ man! That he was a little brother to me!"

Yamamoto began to get dizzy even though he wasn't the one who took
entire swigs of alcohol. He felt a sinking feeling at the pit of his
stomach.

"So I'm sorry. I don't want to be _that_ girl who keeps stringing guys
along even though she has no intention of dating them. I _hate_ bitches
like those. It's been almost three weeks since you confessed to me, and
I... I just want to be friends."

The Virgin King shut his eyes and sighed. At long last, he had another
friend zone conquest. Then again, didn't he expect this from the start?
Or maybe not, since he initially thought this was a date, but still...

"So if you don't mind, let's talk about... us. I should've known you
still had feelings for me when I last talked to you on the phone. I
tried ignoring it, but it bugged me. I swear, I didn't mean to give you
false impressions! I only wanted to be your friend, but you wanted more
than I can give. I'm so..."

"GEE, YA THINK?" He apparently didn't take the second rejection well,
even though it came from a drunk Seiko.

"Wha...?" it was Seiko's turn to stammer. "W-What's gotten into you,
Cherry...?"

"WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME? I've tried... _tried_... to forget about you,
plus I even cleared up that misunderstanding from the class regarding
you and I, and then here _you_ are again with your mixed signals!"

What was he getting worked up for anyway? Didn't he enter this little
faux date fully aware of the Amazon Queen's platonic intentions? Wasn't
he supposed to use this opportunity to become her "friend" as opposed to
her "boyfriend" because he already resolved to be together with AU
Okamoto?

So she was telling him that they should stay as friends. Wasn't this
what he wanted?

There she was, telling him a speech he'd heard practically a million
times before. Even though he knew in advance it was too early to
expect _anything_ from her, why did he feel so betrayed?

'Bullshit. You don't tell someone you remind them of their crush or
whatever without realizing how loaded of a sentence you're saying!' was
the issue he realized had irritated him the most.

That, and how badly their frustrating conversation was going. Maybe
Seiko wasn't intentionally jerking him around, but as far as he was
concerned, she could at least _get a clue_, dammit.

"...Look, if you don't like me, fine, I get it. I've heard the friend
zone speech before. This is nothing new. But most of the people that
rejected me... Machida  included... had the _decency_ to tell me
from the beginning I'm not in their league instead of stringing me along
for the sake of mending your broken heart because you couldn't bring
yourself to be honest with Sugata!"

"...E-EXCUSE ME? I just told you I didn't want to string you along!"

There was absolute silence as both of them simply stared at each other,
their eyes wide open, Seiko's eyes bloodshot, Tomoyuki's eyes quivering.

Did he go too far?

"Get out."

Apparently, he did.

"Um. Please, Okamoto...!"

"Get. Out. I said GET OUT. GETOUT! GETOUT! GETOUT! GET THE FUCK OUT OF
HERE!" the last statement was actually said in Japanese-accented English
for added emphasis and use of the word "fuck". Tomoyuki would've found it
hilarious were he not, for lack of a better word, "fucked".

He wished he could take back what he said. Instead of playing things
cool like Sugata... _present_ Sugata... would've done so, like saying,
'I'm fine with being friends... for now. But I'll find a way to change
your mind one way or another. Or make you regret your decision,' he said
something more Cherry-Boy-like.

Never mind getting to first base or getting a homerun (more baseball
analogies he got from AU Seiko). He had just struck out.

On the other hand, at least she didn't give him another black eye. Cold
comfort, but it was something.


===


Monday morning, back at Maehara High School...

Yamamoto should've realized that AU Seiko wouldn't take his side this
time around.

"Holy shit. You oversensitive, loudmouthed idiot!' was what AU Seiko
told Tomoyuki last weekend when he related his love problems to her
regarding her other self. 'You blew it! Apologize to _me_ immediately!"

"Sure. Fine. I'll apologize to Seiko-chan on Monday."

"...No, apologize to _me_ for telling my other self something so
insensitive! How can _you_ be so sensitive when the things that are
coming out of _your_ mouth are so insensitive? I wasn't even the person
you said those things to, and even _I'm_ pissed off!"

AU Okamoto was right. He fucked up. Like she said, he blew it. He
thought he was going to have Seiko end up as his girlfriend? Ha. Pigs
would sooner fly. He was lucky if she'd end up talking to him again.

Maybe it was over. Maybe he did go too far. What if the Seiko in his
world never talked to him again? What if AU Seiko followed suit? Was he
going to end up forever alone? How was he supposed to make it up to her?
To them? Augh, why was everything always so complicated?

Somehow, the thought of him losing AU Seiko... the one Seiko in the
multiverse that was in love with him... put him in panic and despair,
even though he couldn't have her.

Because the distracted, miserable Tomoyuki wasn't paying attention when
he was going through his morning rituals prior to getting to school
(brushing his teeth, bathing, putting on his uniform, and so forth), he
ended up taking the late train from Akasaka to Shiba (a 30-minute ride).

Come to think of it, he wasn't actually the most punctual of early birds
when he was in his first year. He was always taking the late train last
year.

He wasn't classmates with his neighbor Miku Machida back then, but even
the on-the-dot Class Rep's reminders for him to get up by the outside of
his window didn't help out much.

She wasn't one to yell, so she could _at most_ only muster a stage
whisper for him to rise and shine every morning.

What made him take the early train instead of the late train from second
year onwards again? Wasn't he avoiding something... or someone... by
becoming unusually, uncharacteristically punctual in second year?

"...I'M LATE, I'M LATE, I'M LATE, I'm so LATE!"

"!?"

The answer to that question bumped right into him. A 90-pound-when-wet
twin-tailed girl that was shorter than even him tackled him like she
were the quarterback of an American football team (he at least knew that
much about the sport, aside from what he watched from Eyeshield 21).

"Owie..." said the girl as, by reflex, Tomoyuki helped her up. "I'm so
sorry! I didn't want to be late for class, but late Sunday night, I
couldn't stop talking to Aya-chan about K-On's episode last Friday!
They were so cute, they were dressing up as animals, and Aya-chan keeps
reminding me of Mio-chan with how much of a killjoy she is! And then...
Eh?"

Yamamoto's eyes blinked as it finally registered in his mind who it was
that was in front of him. "G-Goto?"

"Ch-Ch-Cherry...!" Yukari Goto of Section 2C stammered before stopping
herself. Incidentally, even though Tomoyuki had a fresh start in Maehara
High as a freshman, he ended up getting a worse reputation there than in
middle school thanks to the girl before him.

Yes, Yukari was _the_ ditz who accidentally sent a text message to him
confessing that she was in love with him (she meant to send it to
someone else).

Goto bit her lip in panic, looked around, dusted her skirt off, and then
with a crooked smile asked, "G-G-Good morning, um..."

God. Dammit. She didn't even remember his real name. She continued, "Um,
hey there... _you_! How're you doing today? It's been a while since we
talked, hasn't it?"

Sighing, he turned around and left, but not before saying, "If you want
to call me Cherry Boy, then just call me Cherry Boy. I don't mind. You
were partly responsible for that nickname, after all. Be proud of it."

He caught the girl with twin ponytails bow her head low, which brought
him a measure of satisfaction followed by remorse. He wanted to kick
himself for thinking that!

What was his problem? What was with that mouth of his? It was because he
kept mouthing off that bullies had made him a constant target (among
other reasons). They kept making bets on who'd piss him off first.
"Look, Goto, I..."

"I'M SORRY, OKAY?" exclaimed a concerned-looking Yukari. "I'm so stupid
sometimes, and I couldn't help but mess up! I didn't mean to turn you
into the Cherry Boy of 1A and 2B! I wanted to apologize, but you started
avoiding me, and it hurt, because it feels like I've lost a friend...!"

Wow. Awkward.

Well, he _wanted_ to apologize to her, but now people were gathering,
and it looked _he_ was the bad guy in the scenario. He nevertheless held
his tongue and kept his peace before things got worse.

'Arrgh! What am I thinking? I should totally apologize! I'll only look
worse to everyone else... just like before... if I don't find a way to
make Goto stop crying!' he thought as he resolved to make amends.

He'd feel sorry for her if he didn't know her well-enough to be aware
that she cried at the drop of a hat. Or an ice cream cone.

"I'm sorry too, Goto. It's also my fault why I misunderstood," he began,
reciting by verbatim his spiel whenever he and one of the girls who
friendzoned him got into a fight because of the friendzoning.

This wasn't the first time that Yukari apologized to him either. She did
so the first time rumors spread about his momentous rejection from her.

He accepted the apology, but by then, he resented her so much and felt
betrayed by her actions that he never once came late to school ever
since. This was literally the first time.

"Well, well, well. Lookie what we have here..."

Tomoyuki groaned while the tears from Yukari's eyes stopped flowing in
an instant... like a faucet that had been turned off... as she looked
over the Cherry Boy's shoulder to see who had spoken up. It was
Matsuda, Yamamoto's "most favorite" bully (or was it technically "least
favorite"?).

The humongous basketball club "rookie" (he only joined in his second
year, when he had his growth spurt and turned into an asshole at the
same time), put his arm over the shorter Tomoyuki's shoulder and leaned
over him. "Are you two lovebirds getting back together or something?"

"Sh-Shut up! Me and Cherry Boy are just friends! Stop bullying him, you
mean bully!" Yukari stuttered in a redundant manner and stuck her tongue
out at the "mean bully".

Not only did she add insult to injury by confirming that, yes indeed,
Yamamoto was in the friend zone, but she _still_ couldn't remember his
name. As he felt the blood drain from his face, Tomoyuki turned in time
to see the rest of the 2B jock trio... Kanemoto and Ishiguro.

However, for some reason, as Ishiguro was about to join in on another
crowd-gathering romp involving Yamamoto, the Judo Club Captain stopped,
pivoted on his heels, and walked the other direction.

Strange.

"Hey! What's up, Donkey Teeth?" the Neanderthal-looking Ishiguro (who
really was one to speak in terms of looks) greeted Matsuda as he slapped
his comrade's shoulder hard.

"Cherry Boy is getting it on with the girl who texted a love confession
to him back in first year. Remember that, Gori?" informed the wise-ass,
big-headed Matsuda. Sometimes, he'd call Ishiguro "Akagi" if he was
feeling particularly witty (as in Takenori Akagi from the series Slam
Dunk).

Both Tomoyuki and Yukari blushed as "Gori" and "Donkey Teeth" wolf-
whistled at them, wishing that the earth would swallow the both of them
whole (whether "them" referred to "Matsuda and Ishiguro" or "Yamamoto
and Goto" didn't matter, either was fine).

Yamamoto then realized what a self-centered asshole he himself was when
he saw how Goto squirmed from where she was standing. Did he really think
she sent him that embarrassing message without feeling mortified later
on?

She must've tried her best to stay friends with him even after her
mistake. Even though she herself didn't want to see him again out of
mortification.

"What the heck do you think you're doing there?" a stern voice that many
people would've mistaken for a teacher's demanded as Yukari's head
snapped up in attention. Her eyes began to tear up (again) as she
exclaimed, "AYA-CHAN! WAAAH! SAVE ME!"

'What now?' was all that Tomoyuki could think of as the duo of Matsuda
and Ishiguro walked right in front of a cross-armed, feisty, and raven-
haired beauty that looked more like a class representative than Miku
did.

She was Aya Fubuki, Yukari's classmate. The Cherry Boy then winced in
remembrance. This was yet another girl who friendzoned him... well,
_technically_.

"Hey, I know you! You're the 2C Class Rep, aren't you? Fubuki Aya-chan,
if I'm not mistaken!" said Matsuda with a sneer as he elbowed Ishiguro's
ribs and whispered something to him.

"Yeah. What's it to you, you boys from Class 2B?" said Aya in an icy,
all-encompassing glare that reached Tomoyuki and made him feel like he
was in cahoots with his classmates in bullying poor Yukari from Class
2C.

"Weren't you yet _another_ girl that Class 2B's very own Cherry Boy had
his eye on?" brought up Matsuda as he grabbed hold of Yamamoto's
shoulder again just as the Friend Zone King was attempting to escape.
"There were quite a lot of rumors about you two ending up in dates all
over Minato! You were even spotted in Tokyo Tower and Shiba Park!"

"I-Is that true, Aya-chan?" asked Yukari with doe-like eyes.

"O-Of course it's not!" Aya all but shouted as her mask cracked.

The stern facade of Fubuki shattered at the mention of "Cherry Boy". As
she shot a dirty look at Tomoyuki yet again as though he himself were
responsible for the rumors, she practically shrieked as the two
knuckleheads before them melted in a fit of giggles.

"I did NOT date any Ch-Ch... that boy! I've never met him before, he is
_not_ my type, and I would never... NEVER date a two-faced, no-good
liar like him who makes up ridiculous lies!"

Meanwhile, Matsuda mimicked Fubuki's tone, but this time said, "I did
not have sexual relations with that man," paraphrasing in English the
infamous quote of U.S. President Bill Clinton.

Why yes, the Monica Lewinsky incident of 1998 also happened in
Tomoyuki's universe, barring several details (like First Lady Hillary
Clinton divorcing Bill Clinton and reverting back to her name of
Hillary Howell Rodham).

Tomoyuki's ego shrunk smaller and smaller after every denial as he
willed himself to forget what had happened (or didn't happen) between
him and Aya.

What the hell kind of bad luck did he have today? It was like he
assassinated the Emperor of Japan in his past life, and this was karmic
retribution! This Monday was getting worse and worse! He couldn't
imagine how much worse it could get!

Afterwards, the unlikeliest of saviors came in and dragged Tomoyuki out
of this hell he was in with a simple, "Yo! Cherry Boy! I've been looking
for you!"

Yamamoto didn't know whether to groan or let out some other disgruntled
noise. It was "Furyou-kun" himself, Kazuhito Sugata, waving at him
cluelessly as his hair got tossed around by a stray wind. Maybe he
didn't know him all that well, but in Tomoyuki's opinion, Kazuhito was
too much of a goofy dork to live up to his reputation as a ladies man
and delinquent, as far as he knew.

"Sugata-kun!" Yukari swooned a little too dreamily for Yamamoto's
tastes. Then again, dorky as he was, no one could deny that Sugata was
blessed in the looks department.

"...And what are you doing here, you bleach-haired delinquent?"
harrumphed Aya with a toss of her hair and an upturned nose. "It's not
like I asked you to interfere on my behalf or anything. You shameless
moron."

"Well, hello to you too, Fubuki-iincho," said Kazuhito with an aside
glance.

Shyly and quietly, Tomoyuki asked in a small voice, "Really? You were
looking for _me_? Why? What do you want?" as Ishiguro and Matsuda
recovered from their laughing fit, their hands on their sides.

"Not me. The Amazon Queen. She wants to talk to you," said Kazuhito as
he pointed behind him with his thumb. "Also, it's already time for
class. You're already late."

Yamamoto let out a deep breath he didn't realize he was holding back.
The moment of truth had finally arrived. He _hoped_ his record of
making friends out of the girls he wooed (excluding Fubuki, but the
circumstances behind that friendzoning were quite... complex) would
allow him to _at least_ end up as friends with Okamoto.

Then again, he dreaded facing Seiko right now, so maybe he should hang
around with his bullies, "Twiddledum" and "Twiddledee" a little longer.
At least their teasing wasn't as personal and deep as Kanemoto's.

"OMIGOSH! Aya-chan, we need to go back to our class! I'm so sorry I've
gotten you late because of me... again..." cried Yukari while Fubuki
patted her head to calm her down.

"I'm way ahead of you, Yukari-chan. I got an excuse letter from our
advisor so that I could pick you up and make sure you'd go to class.
We're going to be okay," said the 2C Class Rep.

"You always got everything covered! That's why I _wub_ you so much,
Aya-chan!" cheered Goto, much to Aya's annoyance.

As Yamamoto steeled himself to leave and face Okamoto, Matsuda grabbed
hold of him and pushed him back. "Where do you think you're going,
Cherry Boy?"

To Sugata, Matsuda said, "Hey, _Yankee_. Why don't you get your
_girlfriend_ and have her talk to Cherry Boy here? If memory serves me
correctly, the Amazon Queen is the latest in a long line of 'conquests'
for Cherry Boy's _Friend Zone Harem_!"

Tomoyuki clenched his fists. Matsuda actually _went_ there, didn't he?
In his anger, he neglected to realize that there was more to the jock's
statement than his little "Friend Zone Harem" potshot.

The smiling Sugata blinked at Matsuda, as if he just saw something
incredible but he wanted to take a closer look so that he could confirm
it. "Pardon me, Donkey Teeth?"

With a hushed tone, Ishiguro hissed, "Hey, Matsuda! What the hell do you
think you're doing? That's our class's resident delinquent bad boy!"
reminding the basketball player of the fact as though he were in front
of a live studio audience and he was introducing the premise of the show
through exposition.

Matsuda towered over Sugata and grabbed hold of his collar. "You _used_
to be hot stuff back in first year, but lately you've grown soft. A
pretty boy that's all bark, no bite. I don't buy that you were the one
who busted Kanemoto up. I bet the Amazon Queen did that while you hid
underneath her skirt. You have no killer instinct anymore. You're
nothing but a toothless tiger."

Ignoring Matsuda even though his collar was still being gripped by a man
who outweighs him by several pounds, Kazuhito bent sideward and told
Tomoyuki, "You better go find the Amazon Queen quick or else she'll be
angry with you again, Cherry Boy."

"LISTEN WHEN SOMEONE'S TALKING TO YOU!" screamed Matsuda as he walloped
the back of Sugata's head with a slap.

This silenced everyone else who had gathered, which included Yamamoto
and Ishiguro from 2B and Goto and Fubuki from 2C as well as several
late students who stuck around to see where the hubbub was all about.

"Matsuda, have you lost your mind?" asked Ishiguro as the boxing club
member grabbed what little of his cropped and gelled hair he could grab.
Meanwhile, the grin on Kazuhito's mouth only grew wider, his eyes
glinting with... anticipation? Yamamoto wasn't sure.

The basketball newbie cackled. "I'm just horsing around, Sugata! No need
to be upset." With a grin that reflected Kazuhito's own, Matsuda said as
he pulled the blond delinquent closer, "We both know our places, don't
we? Or you do, at least."

As Matsuda let go of Sugata and fixed his shirt, Aya (of all people)
strode in front of the huge brute and slapped him. "You're despicable,
picking fights on school grounds like that! You're nothing but a
shameless coward."

"Jeez, lay off, lady!" His huge head probably filled with testosterone,
Matsuda ended up shoving Fubuki away.

"AYA-CHAN!" cried Goto as she ran and caught the unbalanced Aya from
falling on her butt. "You bully! I'll tell the teacher on you!"

Meanwhile, Matsuda turned to Kazuhito and said, "So you're going to hide
under another skirt, aren't you? Mister Bad Boy Yankee...!"

Or he would've said that had the demented Sugata not took him down and
pounded his head into the pavement with both fists. As Yamamoto and the
rest of the student body stood there, mouths agape, the Cherry Boy's mind
realized that according to AU Seiko, this was called the "Ground and
Pound" in MMA.

"Oh boy. I've been waiting for this for a long time! I've missed this!
It's gotten kinda boring to have every bully in this school bowing at me
and turning away! Good thing there's still dumbasses like you around,
Matsuda!"

Kazuhito smothered the bigger, taller guy with punches, and instead of
punching himself out (like Matsuda hoped would happen), he didn't let
up. The "younger" subordinate lion challenged his authority, so as the
leader of the pride, he needed to demonstrate his dominance (this was
something that Machida taught Yamamoto; either her or the National
Geographic Channel).

Tomoyuki gulped. This was not the easygoing, goofy Sugata that happened
to be Seiko's childhood friend whom he was used to. Instead, this was
more of the Yankee Kazuhito he'd heard so much about even back in his
first year, when they were classmates and he was too afraid to approach
the bleach-blond bad boy.

"Sugata-kun, please! Have you no shame? You're going to kill him!" Even
the girl Sugata "rescued", Fubuki, was begging for him to stop. "You
two! You're his classmates, aren't you? Stop him before he kills that
guy!" she told... or rather, ordered... the dumbstruck Yamamoto and
Ishiguro.

The sweaty, cowering Ishiguro was about to complain to the 2C Class Rep
when a cautious Tomoyuki inched his way into the brawling Matsuda and
Sugata. Rolling his eyes, he picked Yamamoto by the collar and dragged
his away from the brawl like a stray cat. "I'll handle this, Cherry Boy.
You go stand there with the rest of the girls."

A minute later, and down goes Ishiguro after suffering a kick to the
nuts (the Yankee was probably thinking, "He's a boxer, therefore doesn't
know how to kick," when the boxing club member tried to stop the brawl).

Speaking of nuts, that was exactly what Kazuhito was at the moment. He'd
gone completely insane, grabbing hold of the swollen, beaten, and
bruised Matsuda while demanding, "Say my _name_. Who am I?" repeatedly.

"KAZU-KUN! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?" Seiko Okamoto finally arrived
on the scene, seemingly waking Sugata up from his madness before he did
permanent damage on Matsuda's gigantic head.

With a chuckle, Kazuhito let go of Matsuda before the teachers,
specifically the rotund Miss Juri Kitagawa (the Class Advisor of 2B)
arrived along with a concerned Seiko.

Sugata wiped the blood off of his fists on Matsuda's uniform as several
of the faculty... grown men, at that... restrained him.


===


"...And I swear, that's what happened, sir," Yamamoto told the balding,
glasses-wearing vice-principal his side of the story. On his way there
to the faculty room, the beaten-up Matsuda, who was seated on the
waiting lounge, gave him a dirty glare.

Or maybe the bully wasn't actually looking at him at all. Tomoyuki
couldn't tell; Matsuda's face was still swollen.

Was it bad for him to feel a measure of pleasure ("Schadenfreude", as
Machida would say) over seeing that stupid jock get his comeuppance,
even if it wasn't by his hand?

"So you're still being bullied by everyone and being called names, huh?"

"Yessir."

"Man up, boy. You won't last a second in the real world if you keep
letting people walk all over you."

"Yessir."

...Then there were the insensitive authority figures that couldn't care
less about the wellbeing of those under their care; those so-called
adults who were willing to blame the victim instead of the real culprit
because they didn't give a damn either way, thus bullies could get away
with even more of their bullying.

"All right, get out and call Fubuki-kun over."

"...Yessir."

As Tomoyuki opened the door to the faculty room (which contained both
the offices of the principal and vice-principal), he called the Class 2C
Representative Aya Fubuki over and told her she was being summoned
before he ended up sitting beside her best friend (and his former
crush), Yukari Goto.

"Hey."

"Hey, uh... Yamamoto-kun?"

"Oh. So you finally remembered who I am after the teachers called out my
name, huh?"

"...I'm really sorry."

"It's okay. It doesn't really matter."

Yamamoto looked away. He wasn't in the mood to talk to her anyway. As
for both Sugata and Matsuda (Ishiguro was let go after Kazuhito
personally apologized to the lug and assured the vice-principal that the
boxing club member had nothing to do with the schoolyard brawl), they
were currently being shouted at by the Principal of Maehara High School.

"What a crazy day, huh?"

"Yeah."

"People suddenly punching other people around after girls have been
shoved and friendzoned virgins have been teased..."

"U-huh."

"I'm wearing pink panties today."

"Okay... WHAT?"

Tomoyuki grabbed hold of his mouth as a nearby teacher shushed him
quiet. Meanwhile, a beaming Goto said with an impish grin, "Oh good, I
thought you weren't paying attention. By the way, I'm just kidding."

Yamamoto heaved a sigh as he rolled his eyes and turned away from the
crazy lady that was once the girl of his dreams. Even when they shared
the late train together, she was always like this.

That was why he was convinced that when she sent her love confession
text to him, she was confessing her love for him for real.

"...They're actually white."

"You shameless...!"

"Ah, now you sound just like Aya-chan," said Yukari as she pouted and
made the sides of her cheeks balloon like a blowfish.

The two ended up laughing at each other (and along with one another)
before they were ordered by a teacher to wait outside the faculty room
instead of inside the lounge because of how noisy they were being.

"Oh, man. Now I'm _really_ late for class!" Goto said.

"Look at the bright side. At least you'll be excused for all the classes
you've missed thanks to the incident," Tomoyuki said as nostalgia made
him remember the time when they were still the best of friends.

Kind of like how he and Machida were at the moment, actually.

"So I heard you've found yourself a girlfriend," she brought up from out
of the blue.

"You're still quite the gossip, aren't you?" he chided and chuckled as
she pulled her lower eyelid and stuck her tongue out at him.

"Well, have you?"

"Which girl?"

"So you're now a _Playboy_ instead of a _Cherry Boy_?"

"Hardly. I'm just asking because maybe you got your information wrong
and the girl in question probably friendzoned me like you did."

"...Oh. Yeah, that makes sense." Yukari blinked. "So who is it?"

"Who do you think it is?" Tomoyuki returned. "Are there still rumors
about me and Okamoto?"

"HAH! As if _you_ have a chance with Seiko-chan!"

"Hey, take that back! I have as much of a chance with the Amazon Queen
as you did with Furyou-kun!"

"...Oh. I guess you're right."

"I-I'm so sorry..."

"Don't apologize. I kind of deserved that, huh?"

"I didn't mean to...!"

"Really, it's okay."

Oops. Yamamoto did it again. When would he learn to stop putting his
foot in his mouth? They were having such a wonderful conversation! _Of
course_ the person she intended to give her love confession to back in
first year was Sugata. Every girl loved a bad boy.

At the time, since Yukari didn't know if what she was sending to
Kazuhito was appropriate or not, she sent it to her fellow "tardy buddy"
Yamamoto first, with a follow-up question on whether or not the message
was too cheesy.

However, Tomoyuki never received that follow-up message. Instead, all he
got was the love confession without a disclaimer or clarification on who
it was for.

And so he presumed Goto was confessing to him, he got _humiliated_ by
Matsuda when it was revealed that wasn't the case, and he ended up being
called "Cherry Boy" all throughout first year.

Deciding to give his "former" best friend... his "dawg"... a bone,
Tomoyuki said, "It ain't over till it's over. Maybe you still have a
chance with him."

With shining eyes and bobbing twin tails, she asked him, "Do you really
think so?"

"Sure. Why not? You're sweet, kind, a bit of a klutz, but altogether...
cute. I should know. I had a crush on you once."

Suddenly finding the laces of her indoor shoes interesting enough to
bore her gaze at them, all Yukari could do was nod. She repeated, "So
you think I have another shot? You believe in second chances?"

"Yeah. Sure. Go for it. Ah, but _after_ Sugata is out of hot water," he
reminded.

"Yamamoto-kun, to be honest, I...!"

"YAMAMOTO-KUN! There you are!" a third voice said in time. "Oh! Yukari-
chan! You were involved in the incident too?"

"...Miku-chan?"

Tomoyuki swallowed his heart back down his throat after it almost jumped
right out of his mouth. What was _that_ all about? "Machida! What are
you doing here?"

"The teacher told me to fetch you. I guess someone forgot to tell you to
go back to class after all the commotion. You're free to go," Miku
explained while adjusting her glasses.

"Ah. Okay! Well, um... See you, Goto! Apologize to Fubuki for me! She'll
know what I'm talking about!"

His mind going a mile a minute, he resisted the urge to read too much
into what Yukari was about to say.

"Okay, bye!" was what Yamamoto definitely heard Yukari from 2C said. The
follow-up statement, "So I guess the rumors were true," was something he
wasn't sure he heard Goto mumble or something his imagination wished she
said.


===


Later that Monday afternoon, during lunch...

"Sugata-kun was _suspended_?" the 2B Class Representative, Miku Machida,
repeated while at the back of Tomoyuki's mind, he wondered what she said
to the Yankee after he tried asking her out (presumably). Probably
something related to Boy's Love.

"W-ell, he _did_ throw the first punch. Matsuda wasn't supposed to get
away with a light punishment either since he was the one who shoved a
girl off of him and started shit... pardon my French," Yamamoto said,
even though he should know better and Machida was perfectly fine with
expletives.

He just couldn't help but do so with a girl that somehow reminded him of
his own sweet little grandmother minus the wrinkles and diabetes. "In
any case, Sugata insisted he started the fight and told the teachers not
to have Matsuda suspended from the basketball team. His coach still
swore to the vice-principal he'd discipline the big lout, though."

"...Wow. Even Matsuda-kun's basketball coach was involved?"

"Yeah, the whole fight raised a huge stink. Miss Kitamura was so
disappointed in Sugata. She could've sworn that he was a _rehabilitated_
delinquent by now. Also, in a way, by taking responsibility for the
incident, Matsuda kind of _owes_ Sugata for the save."

"I can only imagine what Seiko-chan is thinking right now..." trailed
off Miku with a wistful sigh.

'Seiko-chan...' Tomoyuki repeated in his mind, realizing that he'd
forgotten all about making amends with the Amazon Queen.

"Actually, this is perfect. One suspension is a small price to pay
considering few people will ever start a fight now that they're assured
that good ol' Furyou-kun lives up to his reputation," said a familiar
tomboyish voice.

Speak of the devil, Okamoto chose that time to join Yamamoto and Machida
together on the table. "Hey, guys. What's up?"

"EEEEH?" chorused Miku and Tomoyuki.

"Oh, relax. This isn't the first time that Furyou-kun got suspended
because he went overboard," Seiko reassured, although Yamamoto could
still remember the look in her eyes as she saw Sugata almost _murder_
Matsuda in cold blood, for lack of a better term.

He would've said, 'I'd say he went overboard,' but then he remembered
how protective the Amazon Queen was of her childhood friend, so he kept
silent instead. It was Machida who brought up, "But didn't Sugata-kun
go too far?"

"Yes. Yes, he did. And that's why he hsd been suspended. He's lucky he
wasn't expelled! But as far as I'm concerned, Matsuda and the others got
it coming to them. They only needed a bit of a reminder of who Kazu-kun
is."

Tomoyuki half-expected her to pull out a cigarette, light it, and smoke
it. "Did you see the fight?"

"I saw Matsuda shove Aya-chin before Furyou-kun unloaded on him, and
Aya-chan herself confirmed what I saw. I make no excuses for him
starting the fight, but Matsuda was asking for it, and you of all people
should know it."

Yamamoto gulped and backed off. Once Seiko made up her mind, then that
was that. "I'm not implying anything. I'm just asking. I'm thankful that
Matsuda got what was coming to him. I'm just worried about what's going
to happen to Sugata, that's all. His measures were a bit... extreme for
the crime committed."

Never mind the fact that she regretted making her (supposedly) gentle
childhood friend into a juvenile delinquent. This time around, she
seemed quite proud of the (otherwise scary) Sugata for saving Fubuki's
honor and, come to think of it, what was left of Tomoyuki's self-esteem
(albeit indirectly).

"Kazu-kun will be okay. He knows how to take responsibility for his
actions, even back when he was still a crybaby." Seiko smiled at Yamamoto
and did a light punch on his jaw. "Now let's meet in front of the boiler
room, just you and me. We have a lot to talk about."

With a large dollop of sweat forming at the side of his temple, Yamamoto
nodded while from behind him, he could _feel_ Miku's jaw unhinge itself
from their sockets and drop to the table.


===


Outside the school mechanical (boiler) room, near the football field and
a cluster of trees...

"Do you remember what happened last Saturday?"

"Of course, I do. I wasn't drunk, I was tipsy! Didn't I tell you?"

Yamamoto winced and rubbed his shoulder. This was yet another apology
he had to hand over, but he should be used to it by now. If she wasn't
going to accept it, then so be it. "So..."

Seiko headed Tomoyuki off the pass by saying, "No need to apologize. You
were absolutely right, Cherry Boy. I should be the one apologizing to
you."

"...What," said Yamamoto flatly.

"I've been going about this all wrong! I've always sent mixed messages
to people around, that's why I ended up telling Kazu-kun I never saw him
as a man and why I told you that you reminded me of him when he was
younger! I kept pushing him away while making other people fall in love
with me by accident... No offense."

"N-None taken," Yamamoto said in all honesty, because he was feeling
half-relieved that Seiko was still talking to him and half-bewildered at
whatever it was she was talking about. "...Can you run that by me
again?"

He had two ways to take this. First, he could see this as a sign that
everything was over. Seiko would never see him as a man, much less a
potential boyfriend, and he'd end up with _at least_ an alternate
universe counterpart of hers that loved him back. Second, he could dust
himself off, be her friend in the meantime, then _make_ her fall in love
with him.

The danger of the second option was that as a "veteran" of the so-called
relationship status known as the "Friend Zone", that almost never works.

It never works. If you were a friend, you were either a friend for life
or a friend in name only. You were like a brother or a toaster... like
a non-sexual item or life form. Nothing short of a personality
transplant could change that.

If all else failed, then at least he had AU Seiko to comfort him. Kinda.
Unless, of course, she ended up successful in getting the _other_
Yamamoto to date her, unlike him with the Seiko of his own world.
However, that was a bridge he had yet to cross, so never mind that for
now.

"So what do you think?" asked the Seiko of his universe that was
_definitely_ not in love with him. The Friend Zone King, hoisted by his
own petard, had his shoulders slumped as he said, "Okay. Good luck."

An idea then hit him like a bolt of lightning. What if, like in the
light novel "Toradora", he helped this universe's Seiko out with her
crush with her childhood friend (and ex-convict-in-the-making) Sugata?
Then they'd somehow fall in love with each other as he played
matchmaker for her! It was the perfect plan!

If AU Seiko's experiences were anything to judge by, Kazuhito and Seiko
were completely _wrong_ for each other, and the Yankee should end up
dumping her if she ever tried to confess to him.

All Tomoyuki needed to do was give Seiko exactly what she wanted and
"help" her confess her love to Kazuhito. Meanwhile, AU Seiko was going
to actually assist him in learning more about the inner workings of
Seiko's heart, thus when she got (inevitably) dumped, she could run
into _his_ waiting arms instead.

What could possibly go wrong?

"All right, _buddy_. I'm game," he said.

"What'choo talkin' 'bout, Cherry Boy?" she asked.

"I'll help you out confess to your beloved, uh, 'Kazu-kun', and..."

"Stop right there, _friend_. You ain't helping no one."

Tomoyuki didn't anticipate _this_ particular circumstance. "Don't you
need help confessing to him?"

"W-When did I say I was going to confess to him? Stop presuming things!
A-As if I'd want to do anything with that delinquent poser!" She punched
Yamamoto's stomach hard.

"...E-Eh?" As his body reeled, Tomoyuki remembered that "tsundere" was
the otaku term Machida used for seemingly bipolar girls like the Amazon
Queen. "But aren't you two...?"

"W-Well, you're wrong! What gave you that idea?" Seiko exclaimed, just
as minutes earlier, she swore she'd stop sending mixed signals to
people.

Sighing, he asked the contradictory girl, "Then what did you call me out
here for?"

The Amazon Queen looked at Yamamoto for a few seconds before shrugging
and saying, "Well, yeah. I already dumped you back in my apartment,
right? I just wanted to tell you that I wasn't mad."

He grit his teeth and winced at the verbal assault. "B-But you were
drunk then! That didn't count!"

"...I told you, I wasn't drunk. I was _tipsy_. Big difference. Stop
being such a big baby about alcohol. I'm not a lightweight drinker like
you."

"I didn't drink any! What makes you think I'm a lightweight? Besides,
Sugata himself _was_ a big baby before he overheard you talking behind
his back, saying you didn't see him as a man!"

"_Was_. He isn't anymore."

"...What are we even talking about?"

"I don't know. Is it the UCC, the MMA organization even I wasn't aware
existed?" She giggled.

Dammit. He didn't have a rebuttal for his UCC flub. "Fine. I give up.
Uncle. You win, Amazon Queen."

Seiko's smirk widened, as though she felt like rubbing her victory on
his face. "You give up too easily, Cherry Boy. If it were Furyou-kun,
we'd go on for hours."

"...That sounded dirty."

"Shut up. Get your head out of the gutter."

"OW! Stop hitting me!"

If this were professional wrestling, she could've raised his leg and
pinned him for a three count, and he wouldn't be able to budge.

He was too exhausted to complain. For now, he had no choice but back
down, even at the risk of entering the Friend Zone _forever_, like what
happened with him and Machida or Goto.

Dammit, now he was applying sports analogies to his thoughts. He'd been
talking to AU Seiko for far too long, that he was starting to think like
her.

At any rate, he didn't expect his world's Seiko to accept his foot-in-
the-mouth moment in stride. It kind of hurt his feelings, actually.
Nothing said, "I don't see you in a romantic way," quite like this.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm not Sugata. I get it."

"So? That's a good thing! Who the fuck wants to become a moron who gets
suspended because he wants to appear tough and play the hero after being
such a crybaby in middle school?"

"...Yeah, sure, but he did everything I wanted to do to Matsuda and more
in just a few minutes. He even protected Fubuki like a knight in shining
armor! Are you sure he was a crybaby when you were kids? Maybe you
mistook him for another kid the both of you were bullying. It might've
even been _me_!"

A guffawing Okamoto slapped Yamamoto's back so hard, he'd later find a
red handprint on his shoulder blade.

"You know what, Cherry Boy? When you aren't trying so hard to talk about
sports, you're a pretty cool guy to talk to. No wonder all the girls
you've wooed ended up being your friends."

"...Shut up. Is that your idea of a compliment?" trailed off the
sheepish Tomoyuki as Seiko chuckled some more.

Feeling as though Okamoto was about to bid him adieu as the school bell
rung, he asked, "Did Sugata tell you  anything about what happened
between him and Machida last Saturday?"

Seiko raised an eyebrow and purred, "Why? Are you... jealous?" It was
then her turn to raise her hands up in surrender after Tomoyuki gave her
a cross look. "Fine, fine. I'll lay off teasing you about your true
Juliet, Romeo."

"Don't compare us to Romeo and Juliet, those two die in the end."

"See? You two even sound alike! Nitpicking details normal people don't
care about!"

"Okamoto..."

"All right. Sheesh. Furyou-kun said something about Miku-chin talking
about her gay fantasies involving you and him together. Aside from being
creeped out, he could barely make heads or tails out of that
conversation," disclosed Seiko.

Tomoyuki further queried, "Well, I mean... did he ask her out?"

Okamoto's face became unreadable. "Yeah, sure. He did. And her answer
was... uh, she only loves the two-dimensional realm, and um... something
about 'normals.' Whatever that means."

"...No shit? Wow."

Using his "Miku Machida to Japanese Translator" he "installed" in his
head, Yamamoto deduced that Sugata the Yankee Playboy had been dumped by
none other than the shy wallflower 2B Class Rep Miku, of all people. 'So
much for opposites attract.'

It couldn't be helped. She used the same line to dump him, Yamamoto,
after all. They were no match against the tapered-chin, hairless, tall,
lanky-bodied pretty boys of her fictional dreams.

"Ah, I like that look in your eye, Cherry Boy! Don't you want to confess
again to Miku-chin and see if the reason why she rejected Furyou-kun was
because she'd fallen head-over-heels hopelessly in love with you, her
next door neighbor?" asked Seiko.

Now for _that_, he had a rebuttal.

"Ah, I like that look in your eye, Amazon Queen! Don't you want to
_finally_ confess to Sugata and see if that rejection by the Class Rep
has made him fall head-over-heels hopelessly in love with you, his
childhood friend?" asked Tomoyuki.

"...Oh, you!"

They both laughed heartily before the violent barbarian captain of the
Karate Club punched him in the gut.


===


As the school bell rung and signaled that lunch was over, Yamamoto
noticed Machida hiding behind one of the bushes near the back of the
boiler room.

What was she doing there?

Perhaps she was only paying him and Seiko back when they eavesdropped on
her and Sugata on the rooftop last week.

Yamamoto's heart skipped a beat after remembering the false confession
Machida gave him at the time. It might have been a joke, but it felt
real _to him_, god dammit.

'I should really cut down on my calls with AU Seiko,' he realized as he
was about to tap Machida's shoulder and call her attention. 'She's a bad
influence. I don't even like pro wrestling, and here I am, quoting stuff
about it in my mind!'

She didn't seem to notice him or the fact that the bell had rung. He
then stopped himself, opting to stare at the distracted, fretting
Miku much longer.

She looked like a worried mime. She hand-gestured everything that was
going on in her head, all the while with her eyes closed. She wagged
her finger and shook her head at herself as she rubbed her chin. It was
hilarious. Tomoyuki had half the mind to record her and send the video
to the Internet. Or even to AU Okamoto.

But he wasn't that evil.

Miku then mimed herself moving forward with puckered lips, which had
Tomyuki yelp out and tumble down in surprise (his face was close to hers
at the time), thus breaking her daze. They then both screamed.

"AAHH! Yamamoto-kun! What are you doing here?"

"EEEH? I should ask _you_ the same question! Were you eavesdropping?"

"...Just a little."

Tomoyuki couldn't stay "mad" at someone with such a cuddly pouting face
(not that he was mad in the first place). "I know why you did it."

"Y-You did? W-Wait, did _what_?"

"You eavesdropped on me and Okamoto because you panicked when Sugata
asked you out and told him some very otaku things you shouldn't be
telling any 'normals'. You were simply afraid that word would get out."

"...Oh. _That_." Machida seemed depressed by his answer for some reason.
Was it not the answer she was expecting?

Yamamoto continued. "You also thought you're indirectly responsible for
him being suspended because he was probably pissed off after you dumped
him, so he used Matsuda as a heavy bag to vent his frustrations. "

Miku then did a double-take and asked, "Wait, you think Sugata-kun was
suspended because of _me_?"

"No, of course not! He's always been a bit of a... punk, we just saw
the 'theme park version' of his delinquency while we were in class.
We... well, I... got a sneak peek at him being a real furyou, and it
wasn't a pretty sight at all."

Tomoyuki helped Miku up before they headed to their classroom side-by-
side. However, just as they were about to join the milling crowd,
Machida asked, "Should I not have rejected Sugata-kun?"

"Hey, if you love 2D fictional characters more than 3D flesh-and-bone
ones, more power to you. You know that at least _I_ won't judge you."

"Thank you, Yamamoto-kun. That means a lot to me."

"Not a problem."

Miku smiled in a way that made her eyes crinkle and her face a hundred
times cuter than her 2D vocaloid namesake that her AU counterpart
regularly cosplayed as back in AU Seiko's dimension. '2D is better than
3D my _ass_,' thought Yamamoto.

Machida then queried, "What if I told you that I don't mind dating
Sugata-kun? How would that make you feel?"

'Here we go again with the loaded questions.' Yamamoto hated second-
guessing those. He'd been dumped multiple times because he misread the
question being asked of him. Problem solving using paragraphs was also
his weakness during Math class.

He answered the best he could. As honestly as he could. "Obviously, I'd
feel jealous."

"Really?" asked Miku as she became pinker than usual. As usual, she got
embarrassed way too easily.

Yamamoto told his palpitating heart to hold its horses. This was an
awkward conversation, after all. "Yeah. I mean, didn't you dump me for
2D bishonen too? If you end up dating him and betraying your bishonen
fetish, then where does that leave me? What am I, chopped liver?"

Machida giggled as they climbed up the stairs. "You have a point." She
then stopped cold at the final flight as she spotted someone familiar
atop it.

Tomoyuki also recognized the long, platinum-haired girl... the
Fashionista of Maehara High School who was popular (and responsible)
enough to become its student body president: Mana Otonashi.

Yamamoto then cringed, remembering that here was _yet_ another girl that
was part of, as Matsuda called it, his Friend Zone Harem.


===


Next: Bad boys, bad boys. Watcha gonna do?

Finally, Kazuhito is acting more like the furyou I envisioned him to be
instead of being labeled a Yankee yet barely doing any delinquent stuff!

Farewell,
Abdiel
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