Wednesday, October 5- Makoto's Side
Naegi jolted awake at the sound of a dog barking at him. A dog? He didn't own a dog… What was going on? The luckster rubbed his eyes and groaned as he saw the husky happily barking at him.
"What are you doing here, Mochi-chan?" He asked sleepily.
"Naegi-kun, I believe you asked her that question already." Kirigiri replied as she stepped out of the bathroom, putting on her jacket as she did.
"I did…. Didn't I? Huh… that was one weird dream.."
"..." Kyouko said nothing in reply as glanced at the mirror, looking at herself to see if everything was in place. Realization struck Naegi as he watched her.
"KIRIGIRI-SAN?!" He shouted and nearly fell off of the bed.
"Yes, Naegi-kun?" She asked as she strode towards her desk to get her bag. The luckster followed her movements with his eyes once more and noticed the bojobo dolls that were hanging above the desk.
Wait... so that wasn't a dream, the luckster pondered. He gave her those dolls and Kirigiri had really kissed him. She kissed him. It was just on the cheek, but still! But wait, but he went back to his room, right? What was he doing here, and sleeping her bed as well… did he actually- His eyes went wide as he processed his thoughts. Kyouko picked up on this as she observed the luckster and replied.
"You fainted right after I agreed to go out with you on Thursday, so I let you stay here for the night, or morning, rather." Naegi could feel his face burning with embarrassment at what the detective told him.
"I'm sorry.. But, were you able to get any rest, Kirigiri-san? After all I was occupying the bed.." He said sheepishly while scratching the back of his head.
"Well," She paused for a moment before continuing. "I followed your suggestion and slept beside you." Naegi didn't think that it was possible for him to get any redder than he already was.
"Anyway," Kirigiri suddenly continued. "You'd better get dressed or you'll be late for class. Your uniform is over there along with your things." The detective gestured to the chair near her desk, which had Naegi's school uniform neatly folded in a pile.
The luckster's eyes widened. Was he… naked? What happened?! He immediately looked under the covers and checked. He was still indeed, fully clothed, wearing his work uniform. He sighed in relief but missed the amused look in Kyouko's eyes when he freaked out. After that, Kirigiri walked towards the door, ready to leave until Naegi had spoken up all of a sudden.
"You aren't in your uniform, Kirigiri-san." The luckster noted.
"I'm not going to attend classes today, Naegi-kun." She replied neutrally, as if skipping classes wasn't anything of concern.
"Why not?" Naegi tilted his head as he asked, concern evident in his tone.
"I have more important matters to attend to." She answered back and left the room, leaving the luckster rather curious and concerned. What was so important that she had to skip school? Was she working on a case? Before he could ponder more on what the detective had said, Mochi-chan barked at him.
"Right, I'm going to be late! Thanks, Mochi-chan!" Naegi said before rushing to get his school uniform. He would have to thank Kirigiri-san later for preparing his things… Wait.
"Kirigiri-san went in my room!?" The luckster panicked. That place was an absolute mess! The husky barked at him again, which snapped him out of his thoughts once more.
"Right, sorry!" He replied to the dog whilst feeling somewhat stupid for doing so. But hey, Mochi-chan was a smart dog, much like her owner who had probably trained her to be this perceptive. Naegi, after that brief thought, quickly changed his clothes and stuffed his work uniform that he had worn the night before into his backpack. Adjacent to his backpack was the paper bag that contained the luckster's birthday gift for the detective. He felt relieved at seeing the paper bag intact and in a sealed state. He was pretty sure he dropped it that night… morning. Well if it did fall and remained sealed, it must be because of his good luck. With that last thought in mind, he grabbed his things and dashed out of the room.
Naegi was panting as he rushed into the classroom, but he arrived just right on time. Relieved by this, he plopped onto his seat tiredly.
"Ha, ha, ha! Good to see you making an effort to arrive at the designated time for class, Naegi-kun!" A loud and authoritative voice boomed.
"Yeah… I was almost late, wasn't I?" The luckster looked at Ishimaru with tired eyes as he replied.
"Indeed you were! If you arrived here a minute later, I would have to tell the teacher to mark you late! Speaking of which, I will have to call for our teacher. As the instructor of the class, it is mandatory for him to be on time as well. He must be a good example to his students after all! Now, if you'll excuse me, I will have to go look for our teacher and remind him of his duties." The Super High School Level Hall Monitor said loudly as he left the room. Naegi waved goodbye and then rested his head on his desk. He might've heard Togami say something, an insult directed at the Hall Monitor maybe, but he ignored it. He was too tired to care at this point.
"Woke up late again, Makoto-kun?" A melodic voice suddenly asked. He raised his head to see that Maizono was right in front of him, sitting on Kyouko's seat as she asked. The luckster silently missed the detective's presence when he noticed that Maizono was using her seat.
"Yeah… something like that." He said sheepishly as he scratched his head.
"Hey, can I ask-" As the idol was talking, their homeroom teacher, accompanied by Ishimaru, entered the room. Quickly mouthing a goodbye, Maizono then returned to her original seat. The luckster wondered what she was about to say since she looked quite curious before their teacher arrived.
Naegi had dozed off during class once again and the idol's unasked question was forgotten by the luckster as he left the classroom almost robotically. It had become a habit for him to not stay there for long because the classroom just emanated this feeling of stress and tiredness to him. Naegi was originally supposed to just go back to the dorms since he didn't have a shift after classes today, but he found himself in front of the maid cafe he worked at. He brought himself to the cafe without realizing it… It was too far and tiring to go back to the dorms now, Naegi thought. Perhaps Ikki-san could help him and give him some advice on what to do on Kirigiri-san's birthday... After all, he was known to be a ladies' man.
As the luckster entered the cafe, he saw one of his schoolmates seated at a table near the window, busy playing games on whatever handheld device that was. Naegi had never seen anything like it before, but it didn't matter. He approached her, curious as to why she was alone.
"Hey Nanami-senpai, what are you doing here all alone?"
"Just waiting for Hinata-kun. He said he'd play some games with me today." The gamer said as she continued to play.
"Ah, I see." The luckster replied casually and asked if he can stay with her for the time being. She simply nodded and he settled down on the seat in front of her. The luckster didn't know who this Hinata guy was, but Nanami-senpai has been doing this same thing for days. The luckster knows because he had been the gamer's server quite a few times last week. This guy had never even showed up on any of the days she was there! It was frustrating and heartbreaking to see Nanami do this every single day.
"You seem bothered, Naegi-kun.. Is something the matter?" Chiaki asks while she presses buttons at a rapid speed. Naegi silently wonders how she was able to sense how he felt when she seemed so concentrated on her game.
"Well, you see—" Before the luckster could finish his sentence, someone had approached the two of them.
"Welcome, my masters. What would you like to have today?" A courteous voice inquired. Naegi looked to his left to see Ikki. Chiaki didn't bother looking up at him as she ordered.
"A maiden's handmade parfait and water please." Naegi's eyes had slightly widened at that. That was their most expensive dessert on the menu.
"Would you like to request a specific server to-" The gamer interrupted the waiter as he inquired.
"I'd like Mine-san to, if she's here." The luckster tilted his head and wondered why she wanted Mine-san of all people to do just that. Some of their other customers would kill just to be served by Ikki-san himself.
"Of course, my master. Anything else?" He asked the two of them in general, but it was evident that it was directed more towards the gamer who was busy tapping away, fully concentrated on her game. She completely missed the look of concern directed towards her.
"No, thank you. But Naegi-kun might want something… I think." Nanami remarked.
"Well um, Ikki-san, can I talk to you later during your break?" Naegi asked suddenly.
"Of course, my master. If that is all, I shall be taking my leave. Please enjoy your stay." The silver haired butler then bowed then left the two of them. The gamer, after a short while, had set down her device and looked at Naegi who looked rather lost in his own sea of thoughts.
"If you needed Ikki-san's advice, it must mean that you're having problems with a girl… probably." Chiaki stated and Naegi is quite shocked at her deduction. He actually wanted to talk her out of waiting for Hinata first but the gamer had picked up on something else that was on his mind.
"Yeah, but-"
"Who is she?" She asked as she leaned forward, obviously curious as to who the luckster was infatuated with.
"It's..uh, Kirigiri-san.." The luckster replies with a prominent blush on his face as he looked away from Nanami.
"Oh, was it that girl from yesterday with lavender hair? She's really pretty, but not as pretty as me of course." A voice had suddenly said. Naegi immediately looked for the source of the voice and blushed even more when he discovered who had overheard them. The luckster covered his face with both of his hands. Naegi's phone had suddenly vibrated from his pocket.
Sayaka Maizono: I almost forgot to ask you but kirigiri-san's birthday is tomorrow, right?
The luckster read the message and quickly replied to it.
Makoto Naegi: Yup! :)
Sayaka Maizono: Thanks, Naegi-kun! good luck with your date tomorrow! just be yourself. :)
Naegi's eyes widened at that. But before he could even type out a reply, Maizono had sent him another message.
Sayaka Maizono: I know bc im an esper :)
Sayaka Maizono: just kidding. Junko-chan told me haha. she also said that you guys should really just keep it down bc she couldnt sleep last night
Naegi wanted to die of embarrassment right there and then.
Makoto Naegi: ITS NOT LIKE THAT I SWEAR
Sayaka Maizono: of course it isnt :) have fun tomorrow and tell me alllllll about it!
Sayaka Maizono: anyway gtg ttyl :)
The luckster sighed in exasperation as he looked up from his phone. Mine-san was currently making Nanami-senpai's dessert in front of her (as this was supposed to be done when a customer orders for the maiden's handmade parfait) while idly chatting. When the pair noticed that he was back, they started talking about his crush once more. Although Naegi felt embarrassed more than half of the time, their advice was quite helpful, even though Nanami-senpai had mentioned that her advice might not help as much because was terrible at dating sims or anything of the sort. Ikki-san also briefly gave him some helpful tips during his break, but he wasn't sure he had the confidence to even be able to do any of the things he suggested. The luckster wasn't even able to clarify some of the things the silver-haired man had told him because girls had swamped him when they noticed that he wasn't on duty. (Waka-san, their manager, had disallowed Ikki's fans to interact with him while he was working unless he was serving them since they had a tendency to be very, very disruptive in the cafe whenever they'd see him.)
It was late in the afternoon when Naegi decided to leave the cafe. Mine-san's shift had ended a while ago and Chiaki was still concentrated on her game, which Naegi discovered was actually a dating sim that she couldn't finish. The gamer corrected him and said that it was a visual novel and not a dating sim, but she seemed to have a hard time completing it either way. After all, she had somehow obtained four bad endings within the span of ten minutes.
"I'm gonna go now, Nanami-senpai. Thanks for the advice!" The luckster said happily as he got out of his seat.
"You're welcome, Naegi-kun." She said while briefly looking at Naegi, then quickly shifting her gaze to the screen. Naegi then walked towards the exit of the cafe. As he did, however, he had bumped into someone.
"Sorry!" The luckster quickly said and got out of the way before the person was able to say anything in reply.
"Another bad ending!? Awww, doesn't Ukyo have at least one happy ending?" Chiaki had suddenly said out loud to no one in particular due to her frustration. Ikki had passed by the gamer and spoke.
"His route has seven bad endings, my master." Chiaki huffed and then pouted in annoyance.
"I know!"
"Nanami…?" The person just entered approached Nanami as he heard her voice. The gamer's eyes widened.
"Hinata-kun!"
AN: A THREE PART BIRTHDAY FIC FOR OUR BEST GIRL KYOUKOOO (three part just because i had way too much ideas lmao) (im so sorry its late & written poorly/rushed(its around 12 am of oct 7 in my timezone)) anyway I recommend you guys read my other fic called 'Multitasking' first because it continues from there and you'd be quite lost if you read this without reading the previous fic first. Also, If you guys enjoyed the first, I hope you guys enjoy this one as much too. :)
OH OH OH and if you guys can guess (which someone actually did (you know who you are :) ) (I cross post on AO3 and ff . net, but I'm usually more responsive on the former site.) the visual novel/game ive been referencing from multitasking from here i'd be really amused haha
