(A/N: Seriously...eff this chapter.
Chapter prompt: "I can't do this anymore")
"Man...I can't do this anymore." he muttered, lowering his head onto the textbook in front of him. It had been a few days since he took his entrance exams and did the television interview with Hifumi. Now that the threat of entrance exams were no longer hanging over their heads, his classmates were once again falling silent whenever he entered the room. Even though he hadn't given his name during the interview, people spread who he was online.
Still, he couldn't help but feel burnt out. With finals quickly approaching, he was trying to study as much as he could in what little time he had left. All it was doing, however, was making concentrating harder to do. His mind kept wandering to Hifumi, to his friends, even to Narukami and his group.
"Eff this." he muttered, pulling out his phone.
SKULL: Anyone else tired of studying for finals?
ORACLE: What is this "study" you speak of?
QUEEN: You really should put more effort into studying, Ryuji.
QUEEN: You made a lot of progress over this past year. It would be a shame for it to end now.
ORACLE: Team Mom has spoken! Back to studying, Ryuji!
PANTHER: I agree with Ryuji...as much as it pains me to admit.
SPIRIT: Seriously, the last time I heard someone complain this much was...
SPIRIT: ...actually, it was still Ann.
SPIRIT: And Ryuji.
SPIRIT: Some things never change, I guess.
ORACLE: lol
JOKER: Maybe you just need Hifumi to cheer you on.
SKULL: I mean...I wouldn't be opposed to that, I guess.
EMPRESS: I am not opposed to being your motivation, Ryuji.
JOKER: Pretty sure he likes maid outfits, if you want to go in person.
Ryuji felt his face flush at that. He also tried to ignore the fact that part of the reason was because he instantly had the image of Hifumi wearing a maid outfit pop into his head.
SKULL: DUDE! What the eff man!?
ORACLE: I love late-night entertainment.
ORACLE: *eats popcorn*
JOKER: I don't hear a denial.
PANTHER: *steals popcorn*
QUEEN: I'm done. I'm can't do this anymore.
QUEEN has left the chat.
SPIRIT: *also steals popcorn*
SKULL: Seriously, dude?
SKULL: Wait...Queen left!?
ORACLE has added QUEEN to the chat.
ORACLE: You can never leave, Queen.
EMPRESS: Is...is that something you would like to see, Ryuji?
Ryuji dropped his phone. He stood up and walked into the attached bathroom and splashed his face with cold water. Taking a deep breath, he walked back to his bed and picked up the phone, quickly reading through what they had posted.
ORACLE: I think Empress broke Ryuji!
JOKER: I guess he would like that, Hifumi.
PANTHER: Honestly, not surprised one bit.
SPIRIT: Same.
ORACLE: Same.
QUEEN: ...same.
EMPRESS: I suppose I will have to remember that for the next time we play a game with stakes.
SPIRIT: So...Ryuji?
SPIRIT: Wait...what?
PANTHER: So...that game from a while back when we added you...
EMPRESS: It was just a friendly match with the evening plans as the stakes.
EMPRESS: I tried to distract him, but only ended up distracting myself.
PANTHER: I...think that's enough of an explanation.
QUEEN: I was just thinking the same thing.
JOKER: So...guess Hifumi really did break him.
SKULL: No, I'm still here. Just had to take care of something.
JOKER: "Something" huh?
JOKER: Pretty quick for "something" isn't he, Hifumi?
SKULL: DUDE!? WHAT THE ACTUAL EFF MAN!?
ORACLE: Joker! Not in my Christian Minecraft server!
SPIRIT: He actually said that, didn't he?
QUEEN has left the chat.
PANTHER: He did! What the hell, Akira!?
EMPRESS: He is not "quick" with anything, Akira.
PANTHER: Also, Makoto noped out again.
SKULL: HIFUMI!?
ORACLE: She can check out anytime she likes...
ORACLE has added QUEEN to the chat.
SKULL: Thanks for defending my...uh...but they don't need to know that!
ORACLE: ...but she can never leave!
PANTHER: Nice reference, Futaba.
SPIRIT: I have some of the most screwed up friends...it's great!
QUEEN: Part of me wants to know what Ryuji was responding to...
QUEEN: ...but I'm pretty sure I'll regret asking.
ORACLE: Hifumi said that Ryuji wasn't a quick shot.
QUEEN: ...
QUEEN has left the chat.
SPIRIT: To believe that all this started because Ryuji was complaining about studying.
PANTHER: To be fair, this is mostly how our in-person study sessions used to go.
JOKER: Yep.
SKULL: Truth.
ORACLE has added QUEEN to the chat.
ORACLE: I told you, Queen. You can't leave. You are one of us. Resistance is futile.
QUEEN: Damn it Futaba! I blocked your number! How did you do this!?
SKULL: Oh yeah, Joker, I meant to ask.
QUEEN: ANSWER ME FUTABA!
SKULL: You ever find that dress you were looking to buy Queen's sister?
QUEEN: Wait
JOKER: Ryuji.
SKULL: You know, the one like her Shadow wore.
QUEEN: WHAT?
JOKER: ...touché...
QUEEN: Akira...you're looking for a...
ORACLE: And once again, has stopped responding.
JOKER: I'm just glad she's not at Sae's right now.
JOKER: I really don't want to hear about how you broke her again.
JOKER: Now, before she comes too and decides to kill us, maybe we should get back to studying.
SKULL: I suppose you're right.
Ryuji dropped his phone on his bed and leaned back. He closed his eyes and ignored the buzzing of his phone, noticing it died down after a few moment. He knew he needed to get back to studying, and in all honesty he actually wanted to do well on his finals. If nothing else, he wanted to see if he could actually do it. He knew he would need it should he actually manage to get into a university and work toward being a gym teacher.
Just because he knew he needed it, though, didn't mean he felt like it would happen.
"Damn it...I can't do this anymore." he said, sitting up. He walked over toward his desk and sat down at it, quickly finding his place again.
He didn't have much time left to continue studying.
(A/N: This chapter was originally supposed to be posted yesterday. However, I had such a hard time writing this one, it got delayed. I must have rewritten and tried different ideas three or four times before we got to what's been posted. Anyways, I'll probably get caught up this weekend with posting, most likely posting one chapter Saturday morning and one chapter Saturday night.)