(A/N: sorry for such a long delay before updates, but work issues came up that caused me to put this on the back burner, but I'm hoping that now I'll be able to work on my writing some more now, so here's hoping you enjoy this chapter...)
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'Cell Phone talking'
Amano hadn't really been expecting much when Tendou asked him the other day if he would like to have lunch together, even going as far as to ask him to not make a lunch for tomorrow since she wanted to make a bento for him, but when she showed up the next day in his class, carrying two extra-large bento boxes, he had to sigh a little bit at his girlfriends antics once again.
"Hey, Tendou..." Amano said, staring at the two Bento boxes she had just brought into the class
"What's up?" Tendou asked, as she was turning a desk around to face Amano and eat lunch with him, "is something wrong?"
"Not really, it's just..." Amano said, looking at the boxes, "don't you think you made a little too much?"
"Well, I didn't know what you'd like or how much you ate, so I made larger portions incase there's something you like more..." Tendou said, "I worked really hard, so I hope you enjoy it!'
Amano just shook his head as he opened up the bento box, not sure what to expect when and was quite surprised to see that it was a basic Chicken Karaage bento with a simple salad, some dumplings, steamed rice, and cucumber pickles as a side, as well as some simple dipping sauces. Uehara couldn't help but laugh under his breat at the sight of the other students grumbling and mumbling about how lucky Amano was to be eating a lunch that was made by Karen Tendou, the most popular girl in the entire school, but this was cut short as he looked over towards the door to see Aguri standing there with Chiaki as they both watched Amano eating his lunch.
"I can't believe he's actually eating that..." Chiaki said, as Uehara walked up towards them, "Did she actually make those bento boxes or did someone else do the cooking for her?"
"What's up?" Uehara asked, making his way towards Aguri and Chiaki
"we heard that Tendou had made a bento for Keita, so we came here to keep an eye on him" Chiaki said, "We needed to see if he needs an excuse to run to the bathroom or something?"
"Why?" Uehara asked
"He just took a bite...and nothing happened?" Aguri said, as she stared intently at the two of them, "She probably bought those bentos on her way to school or something..."
"I know, he's so frail that I figured he'd be gagging after taking the first bite" Chiaki said, a worried look on her face, "There's no way she made those bentos on her own!"
"Why'd he be gagging and what makes you so sure she didn't make the bentos?" Uehara asked
"Tendou's...not the best cook" Chiaki said in a hushed tone, "when we do Home-ec stuff like baking cookies, everyones filled with dread when Tendou finishes her cookies..."
"The teacher usually ends up throwing them out after Tendou leaves the classroom" Aguri whispered, "One time, the baseball team ate some of her cookies and they were so bad that they had to cancel practice because none of them could practice, they were all keeled over in the locker room!"
"S-seriously?" Uehara asked, as he turned back to look at Amano, "He seems to be okay, so maybe she's gotten better?"
"Maybe-" Aguri said, before she noticed Amano staring at her and freaked, "Crap, he spotted us!"
Amano just looked confused at Aguri as she suddenly grabbed Uehara's arm and dragged him out of the classroom before sighing a bit and turning back to his lunch, as he looked back at Tendou, who now had a confused look on her face because of the sigh that just came from Amano.
"Something wrong?" Tendou asked
"I saw Aguri spying on us from the classroom door again..." Amano said, "She was standing there with Uehara and Chiaki before she saw me looking at her and pulled the two of them out of the classroom"
"I see..." Tendou said, "She's told me why she spies on us from time to time, but I told her that she doesn't need to worry about it..."
"is that so..." Amano said, "Did she ever tell you why she spies on us?"
"Her exact words were 'I'm making sure that Amano doesn't do anything stupid to upset you' and that she's only doing this to help us out..." Tendou said, quoting Aguri in a similar voice, "I think she's worried that we may have a falling out or something..."
"Funny how I'm the only one she mentioned about doing something stupid..." Amano muttered, only to look up and see a purplish aura coming off Tendou, "I-I-I mean-"
"Did you say something, Amano?" Tendou asked, flashing her beautiful, yet deadly smile at him, "I don't think I heard what you said correctly..."
"N-no, nothing at all!" Amano said, catching himself, "I just was thinking how delicious this bento you made me is!"
"Really? I'm happy to hear that you liked it" Tendou said, as the aura went away as she kept smiling, "By the way, are we still on for today after school?"
"Yeah, I'll take you to that game store I've been talking about" Amano said, "I've been going there a lot more than our usual place because of the variety of games there"
"Sweet! I've always wondered where you're able to get all those games you find so easily!" Tendou said, as she suddenly felt her breast pocket vibrate, "One sec, my phone just went off!"
Tendou pulled a cellphone out from the breast pocket of her shirt and checked the text, only to discover that her fellow Gaming Club member, Gakuto Kase was texting her to inform her about some remaining paperwork that needed to be filled out before Summer Vacation began or the Gaming Club could be placed on the chopping block if any other clubs wanted to become an official club in the school.
"Seriously?" Tendou groaned, "I'm positive I took care of all that paperwork earlier this week!"
"Something wrong?" Amano asked
"umm... We're gonna have to put a rain check on that store visit today, Amano" Tendou said, "Kase just told me that I still have some unfinished paperwork to complete for the Gamer Club, it has to be done before summer break starts otherwise the student council could choose close down the club."
"How long do you think it'll take?" Amano asked, "I can wait for you to finish it and then we can go?"
"I appreciate that, but honestly, It'd be better if we just re-scheduled" Tendou said, her voice holding a hint of annoyance, "The student council...isn't really a fan of our club, they see the gamer club as a waste of time, as well as school resources due to the fact that we have a clubroom, but since we meet school requirements and keep up on our academics, they can't just shut down the club for no reason..."
"Are you worried that they'll see the paperwork not being completed as a reason to shut down the gamer club?" Amano asked
"Yeah..." Tendou said, "It's one of the reasons that I was trying to recruit you earlier in the school year..."
"What do you mean?" Amano asked
"I-it's nothing, we can talk about this later" Tendou said, "Let's just finish our lunch. okay?"
"Alright, I guess..." Amano said, before smiling at Tendou, "I can take you there later on during our summer break, okay?"
"Thanks.." Tendou said, smiling back at Amano, "I appreciate this, okay?"
Later that day
Tendou still felt bad about having to cancel her plans with Amano because of school paperwork, but she knew that if she didn't get the club paperwork turned in as soon as possible, she'd have an extremely difficult time once summer break was over having to deal with the student council. Tendou walked into the clubroom to find that Gakuto was already there with an envelope in his hand as he looked up at Tendou and sighed before handing her the envelope as she made her way into the clubroom and to an desk to sit down.
"Sorry about this, I know you had plans today..." Gakuto said
"I thought I had already finished the paperwork earlier this week?" Tendou asked, "Why'd we get more?"
"the student council found out about the gaming tournament that Eiichi and I took place in a few satudays ago and are claiming that since we're members of the gaming club, it still counts as a club activity and needs to be documented" Gakuto said, "It doesn't matter if we just did it on the spur of the moment or the fact that it was on a weekend apparently, so we need to get this paperwork filled out and turned in by Friday otherwise-"
"jeez, this isn't the first time they've done this move before..." Tendo said, sighing, "if we fail to turn in the paperwork, they'll recommend that our club gets closed down due to failing to report club activities..."
"I know, it's just that it sometimes seems like we're the only club the student council goes after..." Gakuto said, as the clubroom door opened and he saw Eiichi and Niina walk into the room, "I was only informed of this because one of the members of the school's disciplinary committee came over and gave me the paperwork, telling me to pass on the information to you today."
"Something wrong?" Eiichi asked
"Not really, just some more paperwork that needs to be done before summer break" Tendou said, "Anyways, anything interesting going on with you?"
"..." Niina remained silent as she reached into her book bag and pulled out a game
"Is that...Road Brawler V?" Eiichi asked, "They just released that game last night!"
"I take it that was the reason you were late this morning?" Gakuto asked, as he saw Niina nod, "...jeez, you know it's dangerous to go to midnight releases on your own, especially on school nights, right?"
"..." Niina remained silent as she nodded before looking at Tendou and pointing at her and then the game
"You want me to play with you?" Tendou asked, only for Niina to nod, "I'll play in a bit once I finish this paperwork up, okay?"
Classic Games 'n Cards
"You know you don't have to come with me, Uehara..." Amano said, "besides, isn't Aguri gonna be upset if you ditch her or something?"
"nah, she had to go home because she ordered some clothes online for the summer and wanted to try them on once they got delivered" Uehara said, "...besides, I've honestly been wondering where you manage to find some of those crazy games that you have in your collection"
"It's right here..." Amano said, as Uehara and him stopped in front of a store front that had a classic/retro controller for a display sign in front of the store that said 'Classic Games 'n Cards' and in the windows of the store, they had different game character displays, as well as displays for many different trading card games, "This is my secret gaming store, Classic Games 'n Cards!"
Amano and Uehara opened the store door and began to make their way inside, but right as they entered the door, a voice called out from an older man that was standing at the register welcoming them to the store, "Welcome!"
"Hey, Nanz" Amano said
"Hey Keita, you haven't been here in a few weeks..." Nanz said, smirking, "I take it school work got invovled in some way, as well as this supposed 'girlfriend' of yours?"
"S-shut up, I had exams to finish!" Amano said, flustered a bit, "...and not that it matters, but she's not a 'supposed' girlfriend!"
"Sure, whatever..." Nanz said, chuckling under his breath, "Let me know if you guys want to buy anything, okay?"
Amano and Uehara slowly made their way into the game store and began to look for anything that might catch their eye when Amano saw a sign at the register counter that showed the latest video game console coming out, The NintCom Flip and informing customers that the store was not only taking pre-orders for the console, but they were also holding a midnight release event for the console that night.
"You guys are holding a midnight release for the Flip?" Amano asked
"Yeah, people have been asking about it non-stop so the boss decided to do a midnight release, especially since we've gotten so many pre-orders for the system" Nanz said, "..by the way, I shouldn't be saying this to customers, but we do still have a few open spots for pre-orders for the Flip"
"You still have pre-orders?!" Amano said loudly, as Uehara immediately heard him and walked over, "I thought everywhere was sold out!?"
"I'm pretty sure you know that there are some people who make money off of these systems by buying them at launch and then selling them online for an insane price because someone is willing to pay for it, well we had one of those buyers do that with three different pre-orders" Nanz said, "He had them almost completely paid off, but then he lost his job and had to cancel the pre-orders so he could use the money he had reserved for them to handle other bills and such, so we have three pre-orders available right now."
"Damn, if people found out that there were still a few Flips available for pre-order, then this store would be swamped with customers" Uehara said, chuckling, "I'm kinda tempted to buy one myself, even though I'm not really a NintCom fan"
"I'll take two of them!" Amano said, as he slapped down two $5,000 yen bills onto the counter, "I'll be back tomorrow with the rest of the money to pay them off!"
"A-Amano?!" Uehara exclaimed, shocked at Amano's sudden surprise, "Why are you buying two of them?"
"I have my reasons.." Amano said, as he handed over some identification to Nanz, "The most important is that I want a Flip!"
"Moreover, how do you even have over 60,000 yen to spend on two of these consoles, I thought your family didn't make that much money?" Uehara asked, "I can't imagine your family giving you over 60,000 yen for two gaming consoles..."
"I got one of those part-time catalogues from a train station a while back after Tendou and I fixed things between us..." Amano said, "I wanted to be able to do things for Tendou as well, so I got a part-time job working at home that pays quite well."
"Oh, I get it..." Uehara said, nodding, "The other one's for Tendou, right?"
"Ever since it was revealed and a release date was set, Tendou's been going on about the Flip and how she wants to get one so badly, but she was unable to find a place that still had any pre-orders available," Amano said, "I figure that I'd surprise her with one on release as a present of sorts"
"That's...one hell of a present, Amano..." Uehara said, "I imagine that Tendou will probably freak out about it"
"Alright, I got you down, Keita Amano for two NintCom Flips!" Nanz said, before he suddenly reached down below the counter and pulled out a white envelope, "Oh yeah, you also won last week's raffle prize, two free tickets to this sunday's showing of StrikeForge!"
"StrikeForge?" Amano asked, as he took the envelope from Nanz, "Isn't it a movie based off of that old PC game series that evolved into the largest MMO franchise in the world today?"
"Yeah, I heard that people have been lined up outside the theater for days now for the midnight showings..." Uehara said, "I also heard that a certain female gamer that you happen to be dating is a major fan of the series from back in the day..."
"...so Tendou's a fan of this series?" Amano said, as he closed his eyes for a second before pulling out his cellphone, "Let's see if she'd be interested..."
Gamer Clubroom
Tendou was currently sitting in a chair near the tv inside the Gamer Clubroom watching as Niina Oiso proceeded to school Eiichi Misumi in the fighting game that she was playing, Road Brawler V, the very game that Tendou had wanted to try out and had lied to Amano about finishing club paperwork for after the summer break so she could try the game. She had already played the game for a while and lost to Niina before stepping aside to let Eiichi get a chance to try it out and was just watching when she heard her phone ring and pulled it out to see Amano's name on the phone.
"Hey, Amano!" Tendou said, answering her phone as she stepped out of the classroom to lessen the noise, "I'm just finishing up the paperwork, so what's up?"
"I...well-" Amano began, clearly nervous as his tone suggested over the phone
"Something wrong?" Tendou asked
"N-no, it's just..." Amano said, "Are you busy this Sunday?"
"Sunday?" Tendou asked, confused, "I should be free this Sunday, why?"
"I was curious because I wasn't sure if the Gamer Club was meeting during the Summer or even having tutors helping you study over the Summer-" Amano began
"No, we tend to remain apart during the summer because of our families differing schedules" Tendou said, interrupting Amano, "I also don't have to deal with tutors coming over during the summer, so I'm should be pretty much free throughout the entire break, at least I hope..."
"then..." Amano said, stalling for a second before blurting out the last part, "Would you please go out on a date with me this Sunday?"
"A date?" Tendou asked, surprised, "what kind of a date?"
"I was kind of thinking about going to see a movie" Amano said, "maybe even getting a meal afterwards if we're hungry..."
"No, I mean who's all going to be there?" Tendou asked, "The last few times we've done something before our breakup, it's either been the as a group with everyone in the meetup club or a double date with Aguri and Uehara"
"Chiaki and Konoha are supposed to be going out of town to visit their grandmother in the countryside, while Aguri and Uehara are going to the beach" Amano said, lying, "so it'd just be the two of us-"
"YES!" Tendou literally screamed into the phone, her excitement overcoming her as she realized she was FINALLY going to have another date with Amano with just the two of them and no one else interferring before suddenly composing herself, "I-I mean I'm not doing anything, so I should be able to go on a date with you this Sunday..."
"That's good, I'm really glad you said yes because otherwise these tickets would go to waste" Amano said, "I don't play MMORPGs so I don't know much about StrikeForge or anythin-"
"Did you just say StrikeForge?" Tendou said, suddenly cutting off Amano, "You're talking about the movie, StrikeForge, the one based off of the game series that I've played since I was a child?"
"Yeah, I have a pair of tickets for any showing this Sunday" Amano said, "I won them in a raffle-"
""YOU HAVE TICKETS?!" Tendou shouted again before composing herself, "What time?"
"Hold on..." Amano said, looking at the tickets, "They're comp tickets with no time, so we should be able to see the movie around any time this Sunday"
"Perfect, then let's meet near the movie theater around 1 o'clock on Sunday, alright?" Tendou asked
"Alright, then" Amano said, as he hung up, "I'll see you this Sunday!"
"Okay, bye!" Tendou said, as Amano hung up, "See you Sunday!"
Tendou was suddenly overwhelmed by her emotions as she began to make her sparkly eyes with hearts in her eyes at the thought of her once again having a solo date with Amano, completely unaware of the fact that her fellow Gamer Club members had opened the clubroom door when she shouted 'Yes' and had seen the rest of her conversation with Amano and were now watching her making the sparkly eyes with hearts as she remained in her own imagination.
"I guess someone has a date this Sunday..." Eiichi said, rubbing the back of his head
"Geez, whenever she gets like this, she loses her ability to focus and completely sucks at games.." Gakuto said, sighing as he shakes his head, "I was going to see if she wanted to do a ranked match with me in Cross of Glory..."
"I'll play with you, Sempai!" Eiichi said, "I've been working hard and getting better at Cross of Glory recently"
Classic Games 'n Cards
"well, she said yes" Amano said, as he put his cellphone back into his pocket only to be spun around and have Uehara look at him with a annoyed look on his face, "Something wrong?"
"What's this about Aguri and I going to the beach?" Uehara asked, "...and I doubt you'd know if Hoshinomori and her sister were going to visit family."
"She asked if I this was going to be a double date with you guys or a meetup event, so I kinda...lied" Amano said, "I have no idea what's going on with Chiaki and Konoha on sunday and I told her you two were going to the beach so she'd think everyone was busy and we could..."
"spend some time alone?" Uehara asked, finishing Amano's sentence before sighing, "I guess I'd better live up to my 'commitment' now and see if Aguri's interested in going to the beach on Sunday."
"I take it you don't like the beach?" Nanz asked
"Pretty much, I hate dealing with the crowds there at the beach, especially with summer just starting and school ending, the crowds are going to be MUCH worse" Uehara said, "...There's also the fact that my girlfriend likes to wear the latest clothes and knowing her, she bought a specific bikini for the beach, so I'll have to deal with guys constantly hitting on her right in front of me."
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"The beach?" Aguri asked, confused, "You want to hang out at the beach this Sunday?"
"Yeah, I figured it would give us some time to spend by ourselves without having to deal with anything 'Video Game' related" Uehara said, as he walked home only a few moments after splitting up with Amano, "Besides, I know you were bragging about having some new Bikini that you wanted to show off to me, right?"
"Oh, so that's what this is about?" Aguri said, teasingly, "You just want to stare at me in a bikini and oogle all the eye candy you can get..."
"Maybe..." Uehara said
"...or maybe you're just doing this to hide something else that's going on, Tasuku!" Aguri said, "You hate going to the beach because of all the crowds there, as well as 'the idiot guys who spend their time trying to hit on my girlfriend' and I do believe that those were your exact words you told me once, Tasuku."
"R-really?" Uehara said, stumbling a bit after being caught by Aguri, "Maybe I'm just trying to be nice and take you there because you enjoy going to the beach?"
"...come on, Tasuku" Aguri said, sighing, "What's the real reason you suddenly asked me?"
"...Fine, Amano asked Tendou out on a date and specifically told her that I was taking you to the beach and Hoshinomori was going to over to her grandparents so she'd think that the two of them were alone together" Uehara said, "He wants to spend some time with her without having everyone else around, just the two of them..."
"What kind of a date?" Aguri asked
"They're just going to see a movie and maybe have a meal afterwards, I think..." Uehara said, "He also asked us to leave him alone during it so Tendou and him could have some privacy, so we can't make it a double date or even show up there, I can already tell you that Amano won't be happy about it and Tendou's slowly started to forget about the underwear incident a few weeks ago, so we'd just end up upsetting her once again."
"...then we'll just have to stalk them and help from the shadows!" Aguri stated
"Wait, what!?" Uehara blurted out, "What do you mean by 'help from the shadows'?"
"heheheh..." Aguri chuckled, "just leave the plan to me, Tasuku..."