/

"There can only be one thing you want to say if you've summoned me this way. And that is…you want me to call you by a pet name, don't you?"

/

Those are the real origins of his nickname, Wakamatsu knows. But for some reason today all his senpai are feeling extremely punny, and he's being mercilessly targeted. It's just as well for them that he isn't very aware of Mikoshiba's (way more embarrassing but less easy to pun on) nickname, or the sense of injustice in the air right now would be immense. The torture began in the morning by the shoe lockers, and has lasted all through the day. He supposes he should be glad that none of them are fellow first-years so he doesn't see them all that much in the corridors, but when they do cross paths – god, they're so awful he can't stand it.

"Ara? That's Wakamatsu."

"Oh, Waka. Wonder how he's doing?"

"Wakanai yo…"

"Hey, that's wrong. It should be 'shiranai' instead. Wakarimasen?"

"Wakarimashita!"

"Ahaha, Waka's a nice guy."

"But you know, he's so naïve and trusting that it's stupid. And that shoujo manga dependence he has?"

"We should totally call him bakamatsu instead."

"Nah, Seo only wants to call him Waka."

"Yeah, we should play along, huh? Safer. Don't wanna end up being given a pet name too, do we?"

Muffled snorts of laughter can be heard. "You think you're so funny."

"Well, you are laughing…"

"Say, now that I think about it, isn't waka a name for young masters too? Like, retainers of a samurai lord use it. Or something."

"Ah, yeah! In Gintama, right? That Yagyu household weirdo."

"LOL. Can you imagine them in period costume?"

"Who, Yuzuki and Wakamatsu-kun? OooohhhhHHHHHH MY GOSH."

"That idea's kind of cute."

"…"

"Don't use it in your manga, Nozaki-kun."

"Yeah, Don't."

"DON'T. SERIOUSLY, DON'T."

That's about all Wakamatsu can take, fleeing the scene with his hands over his ears and an unhealthy pallor to his cheeks. Seo is the one who discovers him morosely hiding out on the roof, when she runs up to get a tennis ball she accidentally fired all the way up there. As he dispiritedly flicks the fuzzy yellow ball at her, Wakamatsu wonders if his Seo-senpai has a nickname, since she gave him this one that's causing him so much grief.

And in actual fact she does, although he will probably never know – for her nickname is Lorelei.