[FFML] [orig] Keit-AI! Tomoyuki x Seiko Chapter 11: The Second Fight

[Abdiel]

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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 different Seiko will be helping Tomoyuki out with his Seiko-related
love problems: The Seiko of his own universe.


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Chapter 11: The Second Major Fight

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On Tuesday night, Tomoyuki Yamamoto had a lot to tell AU Seiko Okamoto.
However, she wouldn't pick up her phone. He kept getting a busy signal
and her voice mail prompt.

Damn. Was she still angry about the "Segata Sanshiro" thing (not to be
confused with Tsuneo Tomita's "Sugata Sanshiro" novel series or the
Akira Kurosawa film)?

What a baby. Then again, it was just as well.

He didn't quite know how to explain why he somehow got an "innocent"
peck on the cheek by Miku "Class Rep" Machida because the twin-tailed
ditz known as Yukari Goto... the one indirectly (or maybe directly)
responsible for his "Cherry Boy" moniker... almost stole away his first
kiss.

Maybe AU Seiko was busy making amends with Tomoyuki's other self, AU
Tomoyuki. Even though she wasn't able to ask him, Yamamoto, what to do
with her crush, AU Yamamoto, perhaps she was able to figure out
something on her own.

Hell, maybe like Tomoyuki's shenanigans with Seiko, Miku, and Yukari
earlier, AU Seiko was able to almost kiss (or actually kiss) his "alter
ego", even though he was enamored by his "childhood friend", AU Miku.

Or maybe she accidentally called the AU Tomoyuki "Cherry Boy" and was
desperately trying to call him back to apologize or explain herself.
Who knew what happened to her?

'Pick up the damn phone, AU Seiko-chan,' thought the tired Tomoyuki.
'There's so much I want to tell you.'


====


That Wednesday morning, because he barely got any sleep again and he
was no longer afraid of meeting up with a certain ditzy, twin-tailed
girl, Tomoyuki decided to go to the late train one more time.

This wasn't going to be good for his attendance record, but...

His "sacrifice" was for naught, for Yukari was nowhere to be found in
that train. 'Is she taking an even later train?' he thought before
slapping his forehead. What the hell was he thinking? So much for him
never pursuing Yukari because she ruined his social life!

Meanwhile, _obviously_, Goto couldn't care less what time she came in or
whether or not she'd end up meeting with him.

Wasn't he supposed to go after Seiko? Did he want to go back to Yukari
instead, the girl who made him look like a total loser with no game with
women (she only exposed the truth, but still...)? Perhaps he was now
considering to date Goto instead because Okamoto proved to be "a bridge
too far" for him.

Their almost-kiss was an accident, but Machida's kiss was... Aargh.

He was doing it again. He was presuming things again. A kiss on the
cheek meant nothing. His grandmother gave him kisses on the cheek. It
was a grandmotherly thing to do.

Nevertheless, he'd be lying to himself if he didn't admit that a part of
him wanted that almost-kiss from Yukari and the cheek-kiss from Miku to
_mean_ something romantic, if only for his ego.

Which one was the ideal mate? Was he, like Machida explained to him one
time, idealizing the both of those girls and being blind to the possible
fact that neither of them had much in common with him as he thought?

Then again, he'd been burned before. He got an outright _confession_
over text, of all things, that turned out to be nothing more than a
misunderstanding. He would not be fooled again. She was always a huge
flirt even before the mistaken confession, so it was hard to gauge her
intentions.

Also, fuck Goto. Not literally make babies with her, just... _fuck_ her.
She was the one (partly) responsible for why he had such a terrible
reputation among women. Sure, it was also his fault why he never got a
girlfriend, and he already forgave her for the "false love confession"
incident, but even if she did come whistling for him to come back, that
didn't mean he'd immediately go to her like some sort of... Oh.

'Dammit. I'm obsessing about her again. When will I learn?'

He should face facts. The only reason Yukari got his number was out of
obligation for ruining his reputation. When she got his "love
confession" from him (he just forwarded the message she sent him that
started the whole "Cherry Boy" mess), she wanted to make things up for
him. She cried out of guilt, at most. However, to misunderstand her
intentions even then showed he had a lot of growing up to do still.

He would've believed she was after him too were he still the Cherry Boy
from first year whom she rejected. For good or for ill, he had turned a
new leaf. He'd prove to the Seiko in his dreams that he had the resolve
to pursue a girl and make her fall for him instead of taking advantage
of her feeling sorry for him.

He'd use what he learned from AU Seiko and make the real Seiko regret
turning him down, little by little. Inch by inch. For the long term. By
the time he was through, the "real" Okamoto would be as much in love
with him as AU Okamoto was.

Besides, he remembered how Yukari swooned when Kazuhito Sugata swooped
in to save the day. Even though she claimed that the delinquent rejected
her advances (one of which caused him to gain the reputation of Cherry
Boy), that didn't mean she dropped the torch he was carrying for him.

Nevertheless, he had to admit, this was all partly thanks to AU Seiko.
He wouldn't have discovered so much about his dimension's Seiko without
her. He would've given up on Okamoto like he did Machida or Goto had he
not gotten access to her AU self and, subsequently, her own engaging
personality.

Why was he willing to go the extra mile for Okamoto? What it was about
Seiko that set her apart from all the other girls that friendzoned him
(aside from the fact that he got into contact with her other self from
an alternate dimension)? Why not go woo Goto again, or even Machida?

The answer was simple. The more he knew about Okamoto, the more enamored
and entranced he ended up with her, warts and all. Her closeted otaku-
like obsession about sports, her competitiveness, her athleticism, her
tomboyishness, her femininity, her "masculinity", her temper, her
_everything_ made him fall in love with her over and over again.

Besides, he had no chance in hell with his other friendzoned "love
interests" anyway, despite their friendliness and familiarity with him
as of late. They were too entrenched in the friend zone for anything
remotely romantic to happen at that point.

By the time he arrived at the classroom of Section 2B (he'd been late
three days in a row now thanks to various circumstances), a curious
event occurred inside the classroom of Section 2B's neighbor, Section
2C.

There was some sort of commotion inside, as though 2C's students were
replaced with Hanshin Tiger fans and the team just won the national
championship finals, playoffs, or whatever major event baseball had (he
didn't watch baseball, so he had no idea).

"Hey! What's going on? Is there a party in there?" he asked a random
student from Class 2C as he exited the classroom to go to the john or
something.

"Oh, there's no party! Um, do you know Goto from our class?"

"Uh, yeah... You could say that."

"Well, she's always been the last one to arrive in our class, so it's
become a running gag of sorts for us to tease her about it. However,
today, hell froze over and she ended up right on time!"

"Really? You don't say?" Tomoyuki blinked. No wonder he missed meeting
with Yukari on the late train. She took the early train this time.

Wait, why would Miss Eleventh Hour, of all people... who probably had a
record for the most number of tardy warnings for a second year Maehara
High School student, he reckoned... take the early train? It didn't make
sense.

"It must be because this is the day that 2B's Sugata was supposed to
return from his one-day suspension!" said the Class 2C student,
seemingly reading the Cherry Boy's mind.

Yamamoto blinked. "Oh yeah. Sugata's suspension is over. I almost forgot
about that."

"Say, aren't you classmates with the Yankee of 2B? You're Cherry Boy,
aren't you? The one who Goto...?"

"...Uh yeah. Sure. Um, that's me!" said Tomoyuki as he laughed weakly,
bowed, and thanked the random bespectacled Section 2C student.

To himself, he concluded, 'Huh. How about that? I was right. Goto came
in _early_ to school than usual because she was doing it for Sugata. The
Yankee Playboy strikes again.'

Just as Yamamoto was about to slide open the door to his classroom and
apologize to the teacher for being late, the girl on his mind at the
moment (of all people), got out of the 2C classroom and said as soon as
she spotted him, "YOU."

"Oh. Hey, Goto. Yeah, it's _me_. What's up?"

Yukari sauntered towards his direction with bobbing twin ponytails and a
neutral expression.

"Uh, good morning? I heard the good news! For once since first year, you
finally arrived to school on time!"

She then kicked him on the shin. Without another word, she turned around
and went straight back to the celebrating class while Tomoyuki hopped on
one foot and demanded, "OW! What the hell was _that_ for?"


===


Class 2B wasn't having as big of a celebration as the neighboring Class
2C and its more lackadaisical homeroom class.

Tomoyuki would later learn it was probably because even though Sugata's
suspension from school for unnecessary violence on a promising rookie
basketball player was only supposed to last for one day, he didn't come
to school the following day.

Yamamoto smirked as he rubbed his leg. Served Goto right. It looked like
it wasn't just his sacrifice that was in vain; so was hers. 'She didn't
need to vent her frustrations on _me_, though.'

As Tomoyuki predicted, even though the Amazon Queen, Seiko, was keeping
her cool about the situation, she was probably livid with "Furyou-kun"
for skipping an extra day of class.

Yamammoto discovered this info through their 2B advisor, Miss Juri
Kitamura, who "coordinated with Okamoto so that she could arrange a
teacher's visit with the Yankee's parents, only to discover they lived
somewhere far away from Roppongi.

While the idea behind an Eikichi Onizuka (a gangster delinquent turned
the greatest teacher who ever lived from the manga "Great Teacher
Onizuka") might sound cool in comic form, teachers like that come once-
or-never-in-a-lifetime in real life, and there was no "GTO" out there to
rehabilitate Kazuhito. Most teachers didn't give a damn.

Seeing that his parents stayed all the way back in Hiroshima and he
lived alone somewhere in Minato, Tokyo (like Okamoto did, come to
think of it), Sugata probably felt invincible, or at least free from the
influence of his teachers. Even the attempts of their homeroom teacher
for contact was limited to, "Please call him for me, you're his friend,
right?"

Regardless, it was hard for Yamamoto to make his move on Seiko because
she probably _still_ had Kazuhito on her mind right now more than ever
(and usually, she couldn't stop talking about him anyway).

Paraphrasing a famous Albert Einstein quote (which, according to the 2B
Class Rep Machida, Einstein never actually said), the definition of
insanity was to do the same thing over and over again while expecting
different results.

It was foolish of Tomoyuki to expect that simply talking to Okamoto
would enable him to get her mind off of Sugata. He needed a different
approach. He had to be creative. He was already in the friend zone,
sure, but at least now that meant he could approach Seiko without her
being on guard all the time.

"Yo. What's up, Cherry Boy?" asked the Amazon Queen as Tomoyuki gathered
up the courage to move his seat "temporarily" near Okamoto's after
homeroom was over so that he could talk to her.

Thanks to Matsuda... Tomoyuki's merciless bully... also being absent for
today and their classmates still abuzz over Kazuhito's antics more than
anything else, no one cared or even batted an eye at the Friend Zone
King's sudden boldness when it came to talking to one of his "friendship
conquests".

He did catch Miku starting holes at the back of his head, though.

"Do you want me to go with you in finding Sugata after school? You know,
so that we can make sure he gets to school tomorrow," suggested
Yamamoto. It would've been a perfect excuse to hang out with Seiko more.

"I'm sure Kazu-kun will come back to school by tomorrow without us
saying so. He's going to be psyched to know you're worried about him
too, though," said the Amazon Queen as she patted Tomoyuki's head like a
pet.

Even though he resisted the urge to heave as he said the words, Yamamoto
managed to ask, "Worried about him _too_? So you're worried about him
after all, Okamoto?"

Predictably, like clockwork, as anyone who'd seen the "Yankee and Amazon
Queen Manzai Comedy Act" every day in Class 2B, Okamoto harrumphed with
practiced ease and said, "As if. It's not like I'm worried about him or
anything. He can take care of himself just fine. Why should I care?"

'Uwah. She's a natural-born tsundere,' thought Tomoyuki. All the same,
his suggestion was shot down. He tried another approach. "So what
happened yesterday with you, Machida, and Goto? I didn't expect to see
you up in the roof with them before I got there! What did you three talk
about?"

This time around, the Amazon Queen's temper flared. "I should ask you
the same question! Miku-chin was on the verge of tears when Yuka-chin
asked for my help! What did you do to Yuka-chin to make Miku-chin almost
cry?"

Yamamoto raised his hands in defense. "I didn't do anything! It was a
misunderstanding! My lips never touched hers...!"

"You sound just like Kazu-kun! Always shifting the blame! Man up for
once, Virgin King!"

'And you're always shifting the subject back to Sugata somehow.
Amazing,' thought Yamamoto with a sigh.

Seiko continued. "And what's this malarkey about lips? If you didn't
_intentionally_ kiss Yuka-chin, then how did you end up _looking_ like
you had kissed her in Miku-chin's eyes?"

"Uh, Okamoto..."

"What!?"

"Could you raise your voice any higher? I don't think they heard you in
_Timbuktu_!"

"...Oh. Sorry."

Sure enough, it wasn't only the Amazon Queen but the rest of Class 2B
who wanted to learn more about whatever it was that the Cherry Boy did
in order to look like he had kissed 2C's perennially tardy student,
Yukari Goto.

"Let's talk about this later at the usual place," hissed Okamoto while
the rest of the class composed themselves because the next teacher for
the first period had already arrived.

Tomoyuki moved his seat back to its original position. On one hand,
there was probably another terrible rumor about to fly around and
besmirch his already ruined reputation. On the other hand, he managed to
"intrigue" the Amazon Queen enough to talk to him at their "usual place"
(probably in front of the boiler room).

He checked his email on his phone for any new messages. AU Seiko hadn't
sent him any, although like before during his freshman year, Goto had
again started sending him all sorts of email forwards (yes, she was
that kind of texter).

Of course, these were all sent last night (and he had the courtesy to
send several forwarded messages himself back at her for good measure),
which meant that she might not send any more messages to him in the
near future after she became angry at him earlier.

What a day this was shaping up to be.


===


Around recess, in front of the boiler room full of trees and circular
concrete seats...

"...." the Amazon Queen and the Cherry Boy shared the same sentiments as
the front of the "usually empty save for custodians" mechanical room of
the school had more people around there than usual.

'Don't they have anything better to do? Like gossip about Sugata or
something? Jeez,' thought Tomoyuki as he hoped the students gathered
around that area (and most of them _were_ from Class 2B) weren't simply
eavesdroppers.

"Seiko-chan! Yamamoto-kun! Come with me!" as out-of-breath Miku tapped
the shoulders of both Okamoto and Tomoyuki as she beckoned them to
follow her through the milling students before any of their classmates
noticed.

A few minutes later, they ended up deep into the corner of the school
water tank, in front of the auditorium, right behind the bleachers
facing the quadrangle, and near the tree-covered playground, the
underground library, and the lower-level canteen.

"This is where I go when I want to be alone. Most of the people in the
bleachers are too distracted by whatever games that are happening in the
open yard court to pay attention to you," explained the 2B Class Rep.

"Alrighty then. Now that we've somehow ended up in Miku-chin's 'secret
garden'," said Okamoto with her hands on her hips while Machida gave her
a miserable look, "I want you to spill the beans, Cherry Boy. Did you
really kiss Yuka-chin or not?"

Yamamoto grumbled. "...No."

"Then what happened? Why did Miku-chin think you kissed Yuka-chin?"

"I... made up with her. We hugged it out, and from a distance, our heads
looked like we were kissing. I swear to Buddha that was what happened."

Tomoyuki, Seiko, and Miku breathed collective sighs or relief. "What
horrible thing did you do to call for you to hug it out with Yuka-chin?"
Okamoto then asked.

"It wasn't about what _I_ did. _She_ apologized to _me_. Don't you
remember? She's the one who ended up getting me the nickname 'Cherry Boy'
in the first place by sending me a love confession that wasn't meant for
me!" Yamamoto defended himself.

Machida tilted her head to the side. "The one who did that was Yukari-
chan? Oh my goodness! I didn't realize!"

"We were only able to kiss and make up... uh, _figuratively_ speaking,"
he reassured as the heads of Miku and Seiko snapped back up in
attention, "this Monday. When the incident with Sugata and Matsuda took
place. When... I thought you were still mad at me, Okamoto."

"Oh." Seiko scratched the back of her head as she gave Yamamoto's back a
hard slap. "You were worried about that? Didn't Furyou-kun tell you that
I don't hold grudges? You worry too much."

The Cherry Boy raised an eyebrow at that claim. She might not hold
grudges, but she had a short enough temper to make her do things on
impulse, like give him a black eye and add injury to insult when she
first dumped him.

Yamamoto then asked Machida, "How did you and Goto meet? I know Okamoto
met her during remedial tests, but what about you?"

"Uh, I met her there too. And Seiko-chan as well," said Machida.

"What," said, not asked, Tomoyuki.

"Yup, both Yuka-chin and I met Miku-chin at the same classroom in order
to take the same remedial test, Cherry Boy," said Seiko while Machida
went red (or perhaps, "which made Machida go red").

Yamamoto couldn't believe his ears. He could only imagine the look on
his face the moment he asked, "No way. _You_ took remedial tests? How is
that possible? And why? You never fail a test!"

"...It's a long story, Yamamoto-kun," said Miku, her shoulders slumping,
her smallish hands brushing away her bangs, and her bespectacled eyes
looking away from him.

"T-There was a time when I missed a question and I ended up filling in
the multiple choice answers on the wrong items, so I got many of the
answers wrong by mistake."

"...Seriously?"

"YAMAMOTO-KUN!" she cried and pouted with wide, watery eyes.

Grinning wide, Okamoto brought her arm around Machida's shoulders and
said, "Even the smartest student of the second year can't help but act
like an adorable klutz from time to time," as she pinched the Iincho's
cheeks.

Miku then whispered something to Seiko's ear that made the Amazon Queen
blush and back of. "Be grateful..." was all Tomoyuki could hear from
their secret exchange.

"'Be grateful'? Be grateful for what?" inquired Yamamoto, but Machida
reassured him that it was nothing and he shouldn't worry about it. Even
though Okamoto looked worried for a minute, her Cheshire grin reformed.

"You better drop the subject, Cherry Boy. No girl would ever want to
look bad in front of someone they like," Seiko teased while the 2B Class
Rep called her a meanie.

"Okay. Fine." As for Tomoyuki, he resisted the urge to roll his eyes
even as Okamoto again paired him up with Machida (because he didn't want
the Iincho to misunderstand his eye roll).

"Ever since good ol' Miku-chin helped me and Yuka-chin out with our
remedial exams, we never had to worry about failing ever again. She's a
good teacher and cheat sheet maker!"

"Hey! I didn't make any cheat sheets! They were _reviewers_! You should
stop using them to cheat and actually study, Seiko-chan!" said Machida
as she (gently) struck the Amazon Queen on the shoulder with (adorable)
balled-up fists.

"No way! I'm no egghead! Er, no offense."

"W-What's wrong with being an egghead?" Miku pouted as she adjusted her
glasses. "Are you too cool for school?"

"Nothing, nothing! I just ain't one, okay?" Seiko raised her hands up in
surrender. "And don't say 'too cool for school'. Just... don't, Miku-
chin. No one actually says that seriously."

'Oh, so they've all met before,' thought Yamamoto as even AU Seiko (who
still hadn't texted him or answered his calls since Monday) admitted to
being friends with the Student Body President, Otonashi. Or rather, the
(apparently) nicer, less bitchy AU Otonashi. 'Small world.'

"So are we all cool with the Goto thing?" Tomoyuki then asked the two.

Miku nodded before the more unwilling Seiko nodded along with her.
"We're sorry we had to open up old wounds of yours, Yamamoto-kun." The
glasses-wearing class representative did a low bow.

The tomboy said with a shrug, "Fine. Whatever. If Miku-chin is all right
with it, then so am I."

Tomoyuki joked, "What's the matter, Okamoto? Jealous?"

"...Not really. I have nothing to be jealous about," returned the Amazon
Queen with a grin of her own as she touched the tip of Cherry Boy's nose
with her finger.

Yamamoto winced with a smile that looked slightly more crooked than
before thanks to his quibbling mouth. It was times like this that he
wished he could text or call the Seiko who loved him back.


===


Around lunchtime, because Seiko had no "Furyou-kun" to talk to for the
second day in a row, she ended up hanging out with Miku and Tomoyuki
instead. Predictably, she looked glum, but if anyone dared point it out
to her, she'd either glare at them for daring to do so or laugh and act
like nothing happened.

The athletic Okamoto might be a woman of many talents, but an award-
winning actress she was not (in the eyes of director wannabe Yamamoto,
anyway). She had a starring role in his heart, but she'd be a "flop"
anywhere else involving acting ability.

So far, AU Seiko's advice of keeping it cool and playing hard to get was
working, despite Tomoyuki's (at times) inability to apply that
recommendation, like the time when he asked her (even though jokingly)
if she was jealous of Yukari. He still had a harder time conversing with
her when compared to AU Okamoto, though.

Without AU Seiko's advice, he was kind of lost at how to approach the
"real" Okamoto. The other Amazon Queen was the one who kept him from
considering last weekend's failed meeting as a date (although it still
ended in disaster), and she was also the person who demanded he
apologize to her other self when he screwed up.

He wouldn't even have the _balls_ to talk to the Amazon Queen after that
falling out without AU Seiko's help. Hell, he would've stopped talking
to Seiko altogether as soon as the first rejection happened, just like
what he did to Goto when he was humiliated by the "latecomer" girl's
gaffe.

The Yamamoto of old would've given up on Seiko altogether on the first
try, embarrassed beyond words, never mind actually having the
wherewithal to get rejected twice.

Of course, third time's the "charm", but it was also three strikes and
you were out (two baseball references he got from AU Okamoto), so he'd
make sure the third time he confesses to Seiko, it would count and it
would be in his favor.

A lot had changed in the past four weeks... and it was all thanks to AU
Seiko and her support. 'Dammit, please answer the phone.'

He gave a stab at talking to Okamoto again in order to cheer her up, if
only to make that uneasy, plastered smile on her face seem a little more
genuine in his eyes. At the back of his mind, he realized her smile was
the brightest when Sugata was around.

"So I heard that Sudo Genki is part of World Order, the musical group.
Is that true, Okamoto?"

He crossed his fingers, hoping that the information he remembered was
from his world's Genki Sudo instead of AU Genki Sudo in AU Okamoto's
world. He also didn't want to do the embarrassing thing and look up the
info on his phone.

Seiko rolled her eyes while smiling. "Aw, come on, Cherry Boy. Not
again. Please. You don't want to look bad in front of Miku-chin too,
right?"

"There you go again, Seiko-chan! I didn't even say anything, and you're
back to teasing me and poor Yamamoto-kun!" said Machida.

"What do you mean?" asked Tomoyuki before taking a bite out of his bento
prepared by his mother, his intonation more aggressive than he intended.
The sting of how much he embarrassed himself last week had disappeared
because he had other things in his mind.

Seiko patted Yamamoto's back. "Let's stop. With all due respect, don't
embarrass yourself. Let's not have a repeat of the UCC incident."

"UCC incident...?" inquired Miku, totally lost in regards to what the
two were talking about.

Tomoyuki gestured towards Machida, reassuring her it wasn't important
while hoping to allay her fears of being a third wheel. He then turned
towards Okamoto and said. "Aw, come on. Sudo Genki _exists_ right? And
he retired in 2006. He decided to get a musical and TV career
afterwards."

"Yeah, sure. You're right, but World Order hasn't released anything
except maybe press releases on an upcoming album. And I'm not sure I
want to hear a mixed martial artist sing," confirmed Seiko as Yamamoto
breathed a sigh of relief. "And where did you get all that information
from? EBO?"

"No. Wikipedia," deadpanned Tomoyuki. To himself, he laughed at his own
in-joke. This only made him miss AU Seiko more.

"Tikipedia? What is that? Is that an encyclopedia for tribal culture?"
asked Seiko.

"Like National Geographic Online?" piped up Miku. "You're not watching
naughty things there, are you?"

"...N-No, never mind. I'm talking nonsense," Tomoyuki said.

He resisted the urge to sigh in disdain... partly because he had roughly
the same reaction back then when AU Okamoto revealed to him the
existence of a user-editable encyclopedia. Come to think of it, he also
said, "Tikipedia".

Seiko guffawed. "Stop trying so hard, Cherry Boy. You don't need to make
stuff up or force yourself to talk to me about sports you couldn't care
less about. Just talk... naturally. About what you want to talk about.
If I can keep up with Miku-chin's... strange interests, then I could
keep up with yours."

"I'm not forcing anything, jeez. I just thought you'd be interested to
know about it. Come on, Amazon Queen."

Tomoyuki thought about AU Seiko again. There were things he wanted to
talk about that only she could understand. For one thing, she didn't
have this condescending tone whenever they talked about sports, even
though they both knew Yamamoto couldn't care less.

Just recently, he discovered that NicoNico Douga did exist in his world,
_but_ as a means of putting Japanese scrolling comments over YouTube
videos. They never hosted their own videos. It never took off like it
did in the other Okamoto's world.

The Nico in his world died into obscurity when YouTube blocked access to
its videos. However, it did exist in his world, he wanted to tell AU
Seiko about it so that he'd blow her mind.

Also, further research from EBO showed that the Friendster social
network in his reality really got traction in its popularity (like
YouTube did) after it was bought by Google for $30 million in 2003. It
was now called "Google's Friendster" among certain circles, mostly in a
mocking way.

He simply loved talking to the other Okamoto whatever the topic might
be, he realized. Did he feel the same way when around the "real" Seiko?

He should pull himself together. He killed their conversation, Seiko
looked even more miserable with her forced smile, and Miku was looking
at him with a doe-eyed stare that melted his heart.

Then his beloved neighbor again saved the day by bringing up, "Is this
'Wikipedia' the EBO of an alternate world? I mean, like from that
screenplay you're writing?" Now _that_ was a nice segue.

Even Seiko took that opportunity to reengage the conversation. "Oh
yeah! I remember you talking about that story of two lovers who are
separated across dimensions and stuff! They can only communicate through
cell phones, right? That story was awesome! Anime when? What has
happened so far?"

Both of his classmates looked at him expectantly. He didn't know what to
say to meet those expectations, though. Was he going to admit that his
screenplay was actually real? _Fuck no_. Or how about the lead girl
being based on the Amazon Queen (kind of)? _Hell no_.

So he decided to make the descriptions of his "screenplay" as vague as
possible, disclaiming, "I'm actually in a bit of a writer's block."

"What do you mean?"

"W-ell, in my story, the main character discovered that just because he
can _ask_ the alternate version of his crush what her interests and
dreams are, it doesn't necessarily mean he has her 'in the bag', so to
speak."

Okamoto considered that point as she finished up her octopus wieners in
her lunchbox she made herself. "I don't get it. Unless her alternative
self..."

"_Alternate_ self. I imagine your 'alternative' self as someone with
acid-washed jeans and a flannel shirt."

"Whatever... is someone _completely_ different from your character's
love interest, then she should be able to know how her other self
behaves, right?"

"Well, _yeah_, but knowing that the love interest, for example... loves
cosplay or MMA or is always late or whatever doesn't mean the guy using
that info can take advantage of it. W-What if he stumbles with his words
and makes a fool of himself trying to talk about unfamiliar topics?"

Seiko shook her head and palmed her face as she chuckled. Uh-oh. So much
for being "subtle". She might've figured out that the love interest of
the protagonist was "based" on her, if not her outright in the literal
sense.

"If _that's_ the case, then the main character should be advised by the
_alternate_ version of his crush that he's trying way too hard to be
someone that he's not and he should relax a little more when talking to
his _unrequited_ crush. Isn't that right, Miku... chin?"

Tomoyuki and Seiko looked around. Sure enough, the Class Rep had made
herself scarce. On her napkin, written in ketchup, were the characters
that meant, "Do your best!"

Okamoto growled, "That sneaky little...!"

"Maybe we should look for her?" asked Yamamoto.

Seiko considered Tomoyuki's words before relenting with a snort. "Fiine.
I wouldn't want poor Miku-chin to feel like she was left out off the
conversation or anything..." Just as the Amazon Queen was about to
stand, the Cherry Boy steeled his nerves and said...

"Okamoto. Wait."

"Hmmm?"

"I have one last question for you. Or maybe two or three more questions.
No, a topic. I have one last topic to share."

Slowly, without leaving her gaze on Tomoyuki, Seiko sat back down.
"Okay. Is this serious? You look serious. Buck up, Cherry Boy. You're
kind of creeping me out with that face you're making."

Yamamoto licked his lips, inhaled, and asked, "Going back to my...
screenplay. If, hypothetically speaking, _you're_ the love interest and
I'm the main character..."

"...Then I'd be very _flattered_ but I would strongly suggest using some
other female as a basis for your love interest. Someone like Miku-chin,
for example."

"Indulge me for a minute. It's just a story, after all."

Seiko raised her hands in surrender and looked away. "Fine, fine. I get
it. I'll 'indulge' you all the way... Wait, that sounded dirty. You know
what I mean. What did this girl based on me do to the MC based on you?
Punch you in the eye?"

"MC?" he asked.

"It's 'main character', Cherry Boy! Jeez, and you call yourself a
writer," she answered.

'It's actually 'protagonist' but whatever,' he thought before
continuing. "Thing is, the problem isn't you. It's the other you. I...
the 'main character'... might've said something to anger her in her
quest to make my other self fall in love with her, and she's not
answering any of my calls or emails currently. What should I do?"

"What should you do?" Okamoto repeated, confused. "I don't know, dude.
It's your story. Just write that she forgives you the following day."

"Well, _yeah_, but that's where my writer's block comes in," came
Yamamoto's white lie. "I don't know how to resolve it believably. I
don't know  what's going to happen next. From a woman's perspective,
what would've set her off?"

"Wow. I didn't realize we were in Lit class or something." Seiko laughed
again while her eyes darted everywhere but Tomoyuki's direction. "I
don't really know. I mean, I like the _twist_... the alternate version
of the girl is angry at the guy and the guy is more concerned about her
than his own crush... that's really sweet. But..."

"Whoa, whoa. Wait a minute. I didn't say that the protagonist doesn't
care about his crush, it's just that... he's afraid of losing the only
version of her that actually cares about him, you know? Anyone in his
position would panic."

"Okay, Mister Wannabe Writer and Director. I need more information. What
bad thing did he make fun of about the alternative, alternate, or
whatever girl that he thinks made her angry?"

"She called the movie 'Sugata Sanshiro' as 'Segata Sanshiro' in front of
my... the protagonist's other self, and the protagonist laughed at her
gaffe too," he revealed.

It took a minute for the Amazon Queen to register what was wrong. "Why'd
you replace Segata's name with Furyou-kun's?"

"You don't _know_ who Sugata Sanshiro is either? That's a novel-based
movie that those commercials about Sega Saturn were based on! It's a
homage for a Kurosawa Akira movie! His _first_ one ever! His directorial
debut!" the nitpicky Tomoyuki all but yelped at Seiko before he knew it.

'Damn it. I did it again.'

"...Well, I can see why my other self would feel so _insulted_, Cherry
Boy!" said an indignant Amazon Queen. "Whenever it comes to discussing
those old-timey movies you love, you blow a gasket."

"I'm sorry," said Yamamoto. "So you think that's why she stopped texting
me and answering my calls? I mean, in the story."

"I don't know. Why don't you tell me? You're the one writing the story.
You can make the characters do whatever they want, can't you? Or are we
talking about a real person here?"

"But _realistically_ speaking, would this be what you think your
alternative self is doing?"

"SEE? You're calling her _alternative_ too! You're unbelievable, Cherry
Boy! Stop being a hypocrite!"

"Okay, fine! Either alternative or alternate is fine! You know what,
let's just call her AU... the AU Love Interest."

"Well, _presuming_ that the AU Love Interest is exactly like _me_, I
_might_ stop answering several of your texts after irritating me with
the Segata thing. How should _I_ know it's about some movie that was
probably shown when my parents were born?"

"But that's so shallow! It's just the name of the film! Why would she
go to these extremes?"

"You're the one who's overreacting about film names, buddy." Okamoto
brushed her ponytail and bangs back. "If I were her, I would ignore you
for a little bit, but not longer than that. Just give you a bit of the
cold shoulder."

"Will it last all throughout the entire day, though?"

"Well, if you annoy me too much with your texts and calls, then yeah.
Maybe you should leave that alternate or alternative version of myself
alone for the time being."

"I can't even make missed calls?"

"Especially those. What are you, a creeper? Have you apologized to her
through text, at least?"

"Yes. A thousand times. In every text. I even called her outright
several times because I wanted to apologize to her personally. I don't
even know what I did wrong."

"You just _told_ me what you did wrong, Cherry Boy."

"That's it? She won't talk to me because I laughed at her saying Segata
Sanshiro? Surely, there must be a better explanation...!"

"Look. Maybe I'm... she's... embarrassed about how she's acting and she
is trying to find a way to call you and you won't let her because you
keep calling her. It's her way of saving face."

"So I should just... stop calling her?"

"Yeah, you think? I _guess_ that's a good start. Leave her alone for
now. Stop overreacting. She'll call you when she's good and ready, if
she's anything like me."

Yamamoto slapped his forehead. Wasn't it AU Seiko who said that playing
hard to get at the right place and time was the best way to get Seiko's
attention? Why didn't it occur to him that the same tactic could be
used on AU Okamoto?

"So I'm presuming your writing block's gone and you've figured out how
to properly write the MC and AU Love Interest getting back together?"

"If only it were that simple," he murmured with a smile so wide, he
almost felt his face get ripped by its seams. The answer _was_ simple!
And it took Seiko, of all people, to point it out. "But still, I don't
understand why she'd be so angry about a simple mispronunciation."

"A better question is, 'Why is your MC so angry about a simple
mispronunciation?' Also, you're the one who wrote this scenario, and
you don't know _why_ she's acting this way? Your MC is the person who's
overreacting to everything, as far as I'm concerned!"

"I'm trying to figure things out as I go along, okay? Do you think this
is something you yourself can feel irritated enough to make you stop
talking to the person who did it to you?"

"Weren't you listening earlier? A girl would never want to humiliate
herself in front of a boy she likes. Didn't you say that the AU Love
Interest is in love with your MC? Or rather, the AU MC?"

"Yeah. So she's doing this because she loves the MC's other self?"

"Maybe she doesn't want to look dumb in front of _either_ of the guys
she's _both_ in love with."

"Wait, she's in love with the both of them?"

"In your story, sure. That's how you wrote it, right? Whatever you
wrote, goes. Or did I misunderstand something?"

Tomoyuki scratched his chin. "...Yeah. I guess that _is_ how I wrote it.
But is it _believable_?"

"Well, if you keep reacting to your characters like they're real
people, then it's as believable as it can get, Cherry Boy," said the
Amazon Queen with a friendly punch on Tomoyuki's arm, "Have you thought
of an ending for your story yet?"

Yamamoto shook his head, unable to discuss with Okamoto what he
discussed with Machida. There was a possibility of everything ending
happily or tragically, especially if...

"You know, it almost sounds as if your MC knows more about his AU Love
Interest than his actual crush. Like Miku-chin says, it's like a
matchmaker romance, isn't it?"

Tomoyuki remarked, "If the protagonist... the "MC"... makes his crush
fall in love with him while his AU Love Interest made his alternate self
fall in love with her, then that's a happy ending right there.
Everything will be honky-dory. Every conflict is resolved."

"Yeah. Sure. 'Honky-dory'. But is that really a happy ending? They'll
end up separated from each other."

"Isn't it the same thing whether he ends up with his crush or the AU
version of his crush since they're basically the same person?"

"...Well, is it? Is that really the same thing, Cherry Boy?"

The bell rang. Lunchtime was over. "We better head on back to class,
Okamoto," beckoned Yamammoto while he thanked the lucky stars for the
impeccable timing of the bell.

Seiko gave Yamamoto a look he could not describe, as though she wanted
to say more to him. She eventually answered, "Yeah. Sure. Let's go."


===


Inside the empty 2B classroom sat Yamamoto on the chair at the back right
beside the furthermost chair (it wasn't his seat, though; it was the
seat of the absent Sugata)...

In accordance to Seiko's advice, for the rest of that Wednesday
afternoon, he stopped texting and attempting to call AU Okamoto. Time
then slowed to a crawl, as though he were waiting for the bell to ring
and classes to end because vacation time was just around the corner.

However, this time around, even after classes were dismissed the various
school clubs were attended to, he still felt like he was trapped inside
the classroom, listening to a boring lecture that wouldn't end.

After apologizing to her for leaving her out of the conversation (she
said she didn't mind), Tomoyuki told Machida to go on ahead home without
him while he waited in vain for AU Okamoto's text that never came.

Four weeks. A mere four weeks of nonstop texting and talking with the
other Seiko had made the lack of her presence feel like torture to him.
Which was sad, because she was in many ways his closest and most distant
companion at the same time.

So he clung on to his proposed "happy ending": The closest thing he had
to AU Seiko, the Seiko in his universe. He watched, sitting beside the
window overlooking the open grassy field as the Karate Club shared half
of it with the Football Club.

The rest of the members of the Karate Club were doing repeated drills
before they paired off in a miniature competition of sorts to see which
of them would team up with the Amazon Queen to compete in the Inter High
Karate Club Tournaments with her.

Over his shoulder was another Seiko he could never have, shining
brightly in her natural environment of athletic competition, with every
kick and strike of hers done in perfect rhythm and strength, her spray
of perspiration exploding from every movement.

It was because of her strength and her agility (as well as height) that
made her a favorite in the tournament. A proud Minato Ward
representative. She was so good she could take down grown men by
herself. Oh how Tomoyuki wished the Okamoto in his world would share
secrets with him the same way the Okamoto from another world did.

Something touched Yamamoto's cheek just then. "AH! That's cold!"

"Hey, there. Cherry... kun. Cherry-kun. Yamamoto-boy. Boy-kun. Yamamoto
Cherry," said Yukari Goto as she held up a cold can of fruit drink in
Tomoyuki's face.

Yamamoto's attempts at resisting laughter failed at hearing that last
name. "Who the hell is Yamamoto Cherry?"

"Your long-lost twin sister. You can add that to that screenplay I kept
hearing you rant about in front of Seiko-chan."

"Oh, so you've overheard us, huh?"

Instead of answering, Yukari wiggled her can of juice in front of
Yamamoto's face. "Here. Have a drink. I don't have alcohol, so you'll
have to settle for this."

"...Is this your idea of an apology for the shin kick earlier?"

"No, you _deserved_ that. I'm giving you fruit juice not because I'm
sorry, but because I _feel_ sorry for _you_, sitting on the chair at the
back of the classroom near the window like you're the MC of your own
light novel."

"MCs don't get friendzoned by everyone in his so-called harem. Also, you
can't drink any of this inside class. Food and drinks should only be
eaten at the cafeteria. You're breaking school rules."

"You're not the boss of me! I'm a rebel. I don't come to class on time
and I drink canned juices inside classrooms when the teachers are away."

Yamamoto chuckled again as he took Goto up on her offer. "Do you jaywalk
too? Or pirate music and movies off the Internet?"

"Yep! I'm a hardened criminal!" she flexed her arms like a body builder
before drinking her can of juice all the way down as though it were a
bottle of milk tea after having a bath at a public bathhouse.

After she was done, like a barkeeper cleaning a shot glass, she said
using a terrible impression of a gravelly voice (which sounded more like
a young boy attempting to sound grownup):

"Speaking of light novels, what's on your mind? Were you dropping meteor-
sized hints on Seiko-chan's head by saying you're writing a 'screenplay'
about her and she doesn't get what you're really trying to say? She can
be quite dense, you know."

'Oh, so that's what she thought we were talking about,' thought Tomoyuki
before he played along, opened his can of citrus drink, and downed it
like alcohol. "Yep. She makes lead look like onion paper with her
denseness."

"And now you sound like your ex-girlfriend Miku-chan."

"Huh. _Ex_-girlfriend? I'd like to know when she broke up with me. Or
when she agreed to date me, for that matter. Was it a quick combination
yes-no? Was she my girlfriend for a fraction of a second? Is she a
Schroedinger's Girlfriend instead? She's my girlfriend and she's not my
girlfriend at the same time? Did she...?"

Goto proceeded to slap the spit out of Yamamoto's mouth. "Better?"

"Yes. Very much so. Thank you."

"As I was saying, _usually_, people would think that you two are a
couple. However, you didn't go home with her to the Go Home Club like
usual. You instead chose to stick around and lovingly stalk Seiko-chan
instead, even though you have tough competition in the form of _the_
ultimate childhood friend and LN main character, Sugata Kazuhito-kun."

"So it's just like old times with you, me, and Sugata, huh?"

The can Goto was holding made a hollow thunk sound it made contact with
Yamamoto's head. "No low blows. No hitting below the belt. Repeated
violations will result in instant disqualification."

"So you're a referee _and_ a bartender now?"

"Wouldn't you rather run after the girl who actually kissed you or even
the girl who _almost_ kissed you instead of the girl whom I recently
discovered gave you a black eye after confessing to her?"

"Actually, would you believe it's not really Okamoto I have in my mind
right now? Kinda?"

"Oh wow. Does your Friend Zone Harem extend all the way to other schools
or cities? How many other women have you befriended, you Friend Zone
Valentino?"

All this talk about friend zones was making Tomoyuki thirsty. He downed
the entire can of fruit juice in one gulp and said, "She's the first
girl who didn't friendzone me, so she's technically _not_ in the Friend
Zone Harem."

"OMIGOWSH!" said Yukari while squeezing her cheeks together in mimicry
of a certain doll-like companion of a famous fictional unlicensed doctor
named after a card game. "Is it really possible? The Virgin King made a
_girl_ fall for him at last without getting friendzoned?"

"You'll have to take my word for it. I don't have any proof otherwise,"
he said as he looked out the red skies and the bright orb of yellow that
turned the clouds into gold like King Midas did.

"It's a long distance relationship. We could only talk through phone,
but we stayed in touch all the time. However, one day, because of my
careless words, she stopped talking to me altogether. And now I can't
get her out of my mind. What do I do?"

The twin-tailed girl nodded her head sagely, even though there was
nothing really sage-like about her as she bobbed her head. "Long
distance relationships are always tough, because you'll never know what
will happen. Temptation is all around you. You might end up hurting
each other more by clinging onto one another when there are many other
fish in the sea."

"...You really think so?" he asked as he considered whether or not
letting go of the angry Seiko was the best course of action.

"I know so, Cherry Boy," she reassured before she pulled a chair right
beside Yamamoto. "I was actually wondering if..."

Yukari was about to sit beside together with Yamamoto when, right on
cue, a timely interruption happened, this time in the form of one 2C
Class Rep known as Aya Fubuki pulling Yukari out of (what she probably
perceived as) "harm's way" by her collar. Like a stray kitten.

"I've been looking for you! Where have you been? I was done with the
photocopies ages ago! And what happened to my drink? We're going home
now." As Aya's eyes alighted upon Tomoyuki, who was caught "red-handed"
with "her" drink, she scowled and sneered.

Even though he really had no reason to feel guilty, Yamamoto ended up
hiding the empty can of fruit juice anyway as he began, "Look,
Fubuki..."

"Save it. I don't want to hear another word from you, you shameless,
three-timing scum bucket," she said before tossing her long hair over
her shoulders and letting it billow behind her like a cape, her ditzy
best friend in tow.

"_Three-timing_? How...? Seriously, what?"

"AYA-CHAN! I have something important to discuss with Cherry Boy! He's
having one of those fake Internet relationships, and he's probably being
led on by a fat, hairy man bear pig pretending to be a girl! I'm trying
to wean him off of his deluded infatuation so that he'd have a healthier
love life!"

"Leave him to rot with his fake or imaginary girlfriend. He doesn't
deserve a healthy love life. He's a shameless pervert who probably has
one of those creepy hug pillow cases with female anime characters
printed on them! He's probably like one of those otaku freaks from Class
2D, I bet!"

Just then, the door slid open and the bizarre sight of a sweaty, tall,
and gi-wearing Seiko sporting a duffel bag appeared right in front of
Aya, Yukari, and Tomoyuki.

She then spouted off gibberish words he'd sooner expect Goto to say
instead of her.

"FEDOR EMELIANENKO!"

"...G-Gesundheit?"

"You wanted to talk to me about MMA, Cherry Boy? Then let's talk MMA.
Let me tell you about Fedor Emelianenko, the Last Emperor of Russia and
the greatest living mixed martial artist legend of our time!"

"Uh, okay... Who is he again? Is he a UFC champion? Why is he so great?"

"Walk with me," Seiko commanded and Tomoyuki obeyed as the two of them
left the 2B classroom. All the while, Tomoyuki silently waved goodbye to
both the girls from 2C.

"For one thing, he has one of the longest winning streaks in MMA
history, rivaled only by pound-for-pound king Anderson Silva. For
another thing, he's a pop culture icon. You know the latest Street
Fighter game? Street Fighter IV?"

"Y-Yeah. I've played a little of it at the arcade."

Actually, he _saw_ it at the arcade, and the one time he played it, he
wasted lots of money without ever passing the third stage because all he
knew to do in arcade-style play was button mash and rotating the
joystick in a clockwise motion.

In fairness, he massacred disgruntled gamers who called him a noob when
playing Tekken and using Eddie Gordo or Tiger, though.

"The big, hulking guy from France that looks like an MMA fighter,
remember him?" asked Seiko.

"Oh, _that_ guy. Abel, right? Yeah. Of course. What about him?"

"He's based on Fedor the same way M. Bison is based on Mike Tyson."

"Really? Wow. That's pretty cool, Amazon Queen." Yamamoto blinked.
"Wait. Really? The boxer from Street Fighter is based on Mike Tyson?"

"...."

Tomoyuki snickered. "Nah, I'm just kidding."

After punching his arm, Seiko continued. "...Point is, Fedor is fast
becoming a bigger cultural icon than even Chuck "The Iceman" Liddell!
And the UFC is already making preparations for him to face Brock Lesnar
from the WWF this year or next year for the World Heavyweight
Championship! It's going to be one of the biggest and richest fights in
MMA history!"

"...WWF? World Heavyweight Championship? So it's going to be a fixed
fight? Will they be using tables, ladders, and steel chairs? Is it
extreme rules?"

And then Seiko put Tomoyuki in a full nelson as she dragged him out of
the school.

"URK! Sorry! That was a joke too! A joke!"

Yamamoto still had no idea what just happened even long after he summoned
the strength to take the train back home, after the fuming Seiko left him
lying in a street corner like a homeless person.


===


Back in the Yamamoto residence in Akasaka, Minato Ward...

It was already past eleven o'clock in the evening... a little over
twelve hours since he stopped texting and attempting to call her... when
AU Seiko finally called him back.

"...Not another word about Segata or Sugata or whoever," was the first
thing she said.

Contrite and humbled, all Tomoyuki could mutter was, "Yes'm." He treaded
the conversation with caution, not wanting to provoke AU Seiko in any
way.

"...."

They were left in silence for several minutes before AU Okamoto said,
"Say something. This is awkward."

"Huh? Um..."

"Are you going to apologize again?"

"...N-Never mind, then. Sorry for all my sorries in text."

They paused for a second before they burst into laughter.

After recovering from his laughing fit, Yamamoto said, "Listen,
Okamoto..."

"Please, call me Seiko-chan like you usually do."

"O-Okay... S-Seiko-chan."

"...Thank you."

"Did something happen?"

"You know, I was wondering a while back what you meant when you said it
was easier to talk to me than it was to my other self. I think I get
what you mean now. The same thing happened to me and Yamamoto-kun."

"Oh. Hence the... you-know-what incident."

"Yeah. The you-know-what incident. I guess I was just being defensive
when you laughed at me the same way _he_ did. I thought you'd be
different somehow, which was kind of stupid of me to think, in
hindsight."

"You think I'm different than my other self?"

"Yeah. Because I can talk to you and I couldn't talk to him." She paused
and he waited for her to continue with bated breath. Just as he was about
to urge her to go on, she continued.

"You were the guy who's kind of like Yamamoto-kun but isn't him. You were
supposed to be on my side, and... you made fun of me like he did. I know
it sounds shallow, but in my defense, I only meant to stop talking and
texting you for a little bit. Until you apologized. And when you did
apologize, it was in a way that didn't make you sound sorry."

"Okay. Why'd you think that?"

"You know, you kept sending messages like, 'Whatever it is I did, I'm
sorry,' like it's my fault that I'm upset and what you weren't at fault
at all."

"I _so_ didn't mean it that way. I swear."

"It's not that big of a deal anymore. I was only a little miffed by
that. I kind of went overboard too. Thing is, when Yamamoto-kun made fun
of me, IaccidentallycalledhimCherryBoytoo."

"...What?" said Tomoyuki. "Come again?"

With an exhale, she said slowly this time, "I accidentally called him
Cherry Boy too."

"Oh." Soon, the full implications of Seiko's actions dawned on him.
"Waaaait, he didn't have that nickname back in your world, did he?"

"...Didn't."

"Eh?"

"He has that nickname _now_. Just today, people everywhere were calling
him that behind his back. It spread across the school, and now there's a
nasty rumor saying that we went to a love motel and 'Cherry Boy'
finished too soon before... y'know, 'entry'... because of his
'inexperience', so to speak."

"...Oh."

AU Seiko's voice became muffled. She was probably covering her face in
embarrassment. "I snapped at him, and now I ended up ruining his
reputation in school the same way your reputation was ruined by Yuka-
chin!"

"H-How did the other Tomoyuki react to it?" he asked, although he had a
feeling he already knew the answer.

"He's not talking to me, Cherry Boy! I mean, Yamamoto-kun! He wouldn't
return my hellos and he went back to talking to Miku-chin only, all
because my stupid mouth couldn't pronounce Sugata Sanshiro right and I
accidentally called him by your nickname!"

"Well, I can see why you're upset with me too..."

"It wasn't really your fault, though. You were apologizing to me in
every which way, and I'm sorry for not answering back. I was too caught
up trying to make amends with Yamamoto-kun that I ended up blaming you
for everything."

Seiko was a strong woman. Tomoyuki realized he had never heard either
version of her cry. AU Seiko, however, seemed at the verge of doing so,
as hinted by the edginess of her panicked voice (or so Yamamoto
thought).

"I'm here now. I'm on your side. You know that, right?"

"I'm so sorry! I almost pushed you away! I'm so stupid sometimes. I'm
not as smart as Miku-chin, you see. I was so afraid when you stopped
sending me text messages and calling me that I'd made you angry like I
did Yamamoto-kun! I'm so sorry for being stupid..."

"You're not stupid. It's not a big deal. I stopped because I was afraid
you were getting annoyed by my messages and calls. That's what Okamoto
said, anyway."

"...My other self knows about us?"

"In theory, she does. She wouldn't believe me if I told her I have the
number of her other self, of course. I only told her that I'm making a
screenplay about lovers from different dimensions and stuff."

"Oh. O-Of course."

Wishing to change the subject to something more cheerful, Tomoyuki
brought up, "What happened to Fedor Emelianko in your world?"

"...Emelia_nen_ko. With a 'nen'."

"Fine, fine. Emelia_nen_ko. So what happened to Street Fighter IV's
Abel?"

"Oh, you noticed that Street Fighter reference too, huh? He's... been
around. He's undefeated save for a doctor's stoppage and a no contest.
What about him? What's happening to Emperor Fedor in your world?"

"He's facing all comers in the UFC. There's this fight between him and a
WWF champion that's really getting hotter by the minute, or so I've
heard from Seiko. Some guy named Lesnar."

"God. DAMMIT."

"What? What's the matter?"

"In our universe, out of all the PRIDE alumni, from Shogun Rua to Dan
Henderson, the only _major_ star who didn't sign up for UFC was Fedor! I
heard he hates Dana  White's guts or something, I dunno."

"Ouch. Sorry."

"...Mayweather-Pacquiao _then_ Lesnar-Emelianenko? What the fuck, man?
I'd _kill_ to go to your dimension and watch those fights! I want to
live in your world, Cherry Boy!"

Tomoyuki chuckled as he didn't dare say, 'You and me both,' because it
would've made the conversation awkward.

They'd later talk about how she could make it up to the newly dubbed
"Cherry Boy" in AU Seiko's world. For now, he believed they were simply
glad to at least have each other's shoulders to lean on again.


===


Next: Sugata returns.

Seiko: FEDOR EMELIANENKO!

The first _major_ fight between Tomoyuki and Seiko was when they first
confessed to each other over the phone and they "stood" each other up
for their fated date, not realizing they had access to _alternate
universe_ versions of their respective crushes.

Farewell,
Abdiel
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