The Boyfriend Problem

"Hey, Kuroki-san, for your class intro, you said you were in the market for a boyfriend, right?" It was the boy with glasses who spoke. Kuroki wasn't sure what his name was. He was sitting backwards in a chair in front of her desk, grinning as though pleased with himself.

"Huh? Um, yeah… Heh heh…" Feeling embarrassed, Kuroki stared at the ground. Why was he bringing that up? To mock her?

"Hey, how about me? I wouldn't mind dating you, Kuroki-san!"

"Huh!?" Kuroki was shocked. She didn't know how to respond to that. She just stared at him with a dumb look on her face. She hadn't heard him right, right? Or was he joking? Why'd he have to go and spring this on her out of the blue? Her face felt so hot she thought she might pass out.

Kuroki was in a real bind. Fortunately, Nemoto was quick to jump in.

"Hey, Yocchan!" Nemoto called out furiously, her hands balled into fists at her side. "Don't tease Kuro like that! She'll think you're serious!"

"Whaaat? But I am serious!" Yocchan smiled at Kuroki again, making her heart beat faster. "How about it, Kuroki-san? Can I be your boyfriend?"

"H-Huh?!" Kuroki turned pale, and she couldn't meet his gaze. Her mind started racing. She had thought this guy was pretty annoying, but it wasn't like she had a reason to turn him down. She couldn't afford to be choosy this late in her high school career, right? Not when she hadn't dated a single boy. And here was one just volunteering for the role. "S-Sure. Why not?"

"Kuro!" Nemoto was shocked. "He's not being serious! You can't date that guy!"

"Alright!" Yocchan cheered. "Kuroki and I are dating!"

"Stop it, Yocchan! You're not good enough to be Kuroki's boyfriend!" Nemo pouted. She was really starting to get ticked-off. If this was Yocchan's idea of a joke, he was going way too far, and being really inconsiderate of Kuroki's feelings. She cast a worried look at her friend. "And you, Kuro! Are you really okay with this guy being your boyfriend?!"

"Come on, Hina," Yocchan said. "Kuroki said yes, so it's fine, right?"

"O-Oh, in that case, um…" Kuroki twiddled her thumbs. "D-Do you want to come over to my house?" She wasn't really sure why she said it. That was just the kind of thing boyfriend and girlfriend did, right?

"Kuro!" Nemo was horrified.

"Huh?" Yocchan seemed flustered, but just for a second. He went back to his usual cheery smile. "Whoa, Kuroki! This is a major step!" He laughed. "Sure! I'll go!"

"What?! You can't do that, Yocchan!"

"But I got an invitation from Kuroki-san! I can't turn her down!" With his tone, it was really hard to tell if Yocchan was kidding.

"Grrr…" Nemoto grit her teeth. She looked from Yocchan to Kuroki, then declared, "Then I'm coming too!" Someone had to make sure Kuroki stayed safe; from Yocchan and from herself!

Their break was almost over, so Yocchan went back to his own desk. But Nemoto got up in Kuroki's face, with a scary look in her eyes that made Kuroki blanch. "Kuro… You don't know what Yocchan's like, so don't take this seriously! You'll get hurt!"

"A-Alright… So, um, I won't take it seriously?" was Kuroki's meek reply.

"N-No, I mean… You should take it seriously! Just not…" Nemoto's face turned bright red. She buried her head in her sweater's sleeves and slumped off back to her desk.

The rest of the school day, Kuroki didn't pay much attention to the classes. She just thought about what had happened. Lunch was already over, and Yocchan didn't come over to talk during any of the breaks. So it was just quiet solitude for her. It was peaceful, so she could think over her decision. And she started wondering if she should have said yes like that. She'd always thought her high school life would be complete if she had a boyfriend, but now she was getting a bit worried. Would she still have time to spend with Yuri and Nemoto or would she have to spend it all with Yocchan? And actually, wasn't Yocchan kind of a pain? Kuroki had always thought he was annoying before. He was so outgoing, it would be hard to keep up if she was going to be his girlfriend. And besides all that, she didn't really know him that well, and she was still anxious around him. What sort of person was he? Wait a minute… Why had she invited him over to her house? And he had just accepted so readily? Weren't things moving too fast? Eyes widening, Kuroki started shaking. She realized something: no amount of otome games could prepare her for having a real boyfriend, and whatever was about to happen, she wasn't ready for it!

"Oh! But Nemo's coming too, so it should be fine. Heh heh heh…" Kuroki let out a deep breath and calmed down, just a little. She was still panicking about being Yocchan's girlfriend, but at least today wouldn't turn out bad, so long as another girl was with her.

By the time the end of the day came, Kuroki was a bundle of nerves. She didn't even want to have to put up with Yocchan at all. "Damn it… This sucks. I just wanna go home and play games and browse dumb sites…" This whole boyfriend thing was really stressing her out. Was there a way to get out of it? But maybe Nemoto was right, and it really was all a joke. It was hard to tell if Yocchan was being serious. Maybe he wouldn't show up. Or better yet… Kuroki could just leave without him knowing. Yeah, she'd just head out the door, and from there—

"Hey, Kuroki-san!"

"Eep!"

Kuroki felt dazed. She'd tried leaving as quietly as she could, but Yocchan had been waiting right outside the school, with two of his friends. Trembling, Kuroki's gaze kept shifting between the three of them.

"Um, so this is…" One of the boys looked at Kuroki, then at Yocchan.

"Yeah, this is Kuroki-san! We're dating, right?" Yocchan put an arm around Kuroki.

"U-Um, s-so it seems…" With one hand, Kuroki clutched at her skirts, and she stared down to her left, away from Yocchan. Feeling discomforted from Yocchan touching her, she went beet red.

Yocchan noticed the state Kuroki was in, so out of consideration, he removed his arm and moved away from her. "Hey, Kuroki-san is shy, you know? So get out of here, guys! You're going to scare her away!" Yocchan said.

His friends laughed. "Alright, alright. See ya."

Yocchan beamed at Kuroki. "Alright, Kuroki-san, those jerks are gone. So, what should we do now? Still want me to hang out at your place?"

An awkward smile spread across her lips. Where was Nemoto when she needed her? Well, anyway, here was her chance to get out of the whole thing. She'd just make up some kind of excuse. Then he wouldn't come to her house. That's what she thought, but she couldn't think up an excuse, and what came out of Kuroki's mouth was "S-Sure."

"Hmm. Well, alright."

So they started walking home together.

It was really awkward. Yocchan kept trying to talk to her, but Kuroki just gave a nod or a one-word answer. She couldn't look at him, either.

She thought of just leading him in circles until he gave up and left her alone, but somehow she didn't think it would work. He'd probably get worried about her and try to take her to his home or something. Well, Kuroki didn't see much choice but to just go home like normally. What was going to happen when she got home? She was smiling, but tears were welling up in her eyes.

"Where the hell is Nemo?!" Kuroki grabbed her phone and pulled up her contacts. "She's never been over before, so does she even know where I live?! I have to make sure she's here!" She texted her address to the pink-haired jerk.

"That's good enough, right? No, wait… I have to make absolute certain she makes it! Can't leave anything to chance!" Kuroki started sending detailed instructions on which train to get on, and which roads to walk down. She easily typed out eight paragraphs in a matter of seconds.

"Hey, who ya texting?" Yocchan asked cheerily.

"Eh?" Kuroki couldn't help but feel flustered, with Yocchan being so close. "Uh, n-no one really…"

"Ohhh. Gotcha."

Kuroki looked away from him and put her hand over her mouth. Tears were pouring from her eyes. "S-Save me, Nemo…"

In the meantime, Nemoto was still in the privy at the school, where she was trying to reassure Yuri. After seeing the dark look in Yuri's eyes, she'd followed her in, but things were looking grim. Nemoto kept asking her what was wrong, and if she was worried about Kuroki, but Yuri wasn't listening to her at all. She just kept slamming her hand against the side of the bathroom stalls.

"Tamura-san, you're upset about Kuroki, right?" Nemoto asked for the umpteenth time. "I mean, what's she thinking, just saying yes to Yocchan like that, and not even considering the rest of us who want to hang out with her, right?"

Yuri shot Nemoto an angry look. Nemoto was afraid she was about to get slapped, but after a moment, Yuri returned to glaring at the side of the stall.

"I-I mean, you two usually walk home together, right? So it was probably upsetting for you when she just changed her plans like that. And you're worried, right? That she won't have time for you since she's dating Yocchan. But I don't think we have to worry about this whole thing. I doubt Yocchan will get serious about Kuroki, of all people. If anything, he'll get pretty disturbed if he sees the real Kuro. It takes some pretty special people to put up with her, like you and me, right?"

Grimacing, Yuri hit the stall again. She really did seem intent on killing someone. But who that was, whether it was Kuroki, Yocchan, or Nemoto, was anyone's guess, since she wasn't saying anything.

"T-Tamura-san… D-Don't you have to go to Tanaka-san, at least?" Nemoto wanted Yuri to feel better, but she was almost at her limit of patience. Plus, she really didn't want to get hit. So maybe she could get Mako to help.

"Huh?" Nemoto's phone buzzed from a text, so she checked it. The message was comprised of only an address, so Nemoto thought it might be spam at first. Until she saw who it was from. "Eh? Is this a distress message from Kuro?" She started sweating as she thought of what it could mean. Kuroki wanted her to come to her house. She was sending her the address because… "Crap, they've left already? Yocchan, I'm going to kill you!"

Immediately following her text, Nemoto called out, "Sorry, Tamura-san! I've really got to go!" and dashed out the door.

There wasn't even time to get her things from the classroom. She'd already broken out in a cold sweat from worrying, but once she was outside, running down the street, she started sweating even more. "Crap, crap, crap! Kuro, why didn't you wait for me?!"

About five minutes later, Nemoto got another text.

"Ehhhh?! The heck is all this?!"

Trembling, Kuroki stood before her home. Never before had she been so scared of that entryway. Home had always been a safe place where she could get away from her noisy classmates, and just relax doing whatever she wanted with no worries. No matter how she looked at it, that sacred space was about to be violated by the intrusion of Yocchan. She couldn't help but feel a tinge of betrayal from Nemoto. She hadn't even gotten a reply back. Did that mean she wasn't coming? Was she mad about everything, so she was abandoning her to her fate? "Probably, she'd say, 'You brought this on yourself!' Tsk! Damn her!"

"Wooow. So this is your home, huh, Kuro?" Yocchan asked.

"Huh?" Smiling nervously, Kuroki stared at the ground. "Y-Yeah, I suppose you could say that… heh heh heh"

"I'm all nervous to meet your parents! Did you tell them about me?"

"Huh?" Kuroki wondered how she was supposed to have told her parents about Yocchan when they'd just started dating that day. What was this idiot's deal? Oh wait… Kuroki glanced at the boy, just to be sure. He was smiling at her. So it was some kind of joke, right? Should she make a joke too?

"W-Well, they might not be home though," Kuroki replied.

A jolt went up his back, and Yocchan tensed a little. He went on smiling, but Kuroki felt some satisfaction, knowing she'd finally gotten to him. Wait, was scaring him a good thing? He might get freaked out. Better rectify this…

"I-It was a joke," Kuroki said.

"Ohhh! You got me, Kuroki-san! Ha ha ha…" Yocchan was back to his old cheery self. "Well, should we go in, then?"

"Yeah…" Kuroki paused a moment. She wanted to stall as long as she could for Nemoto. But just standing there for any longer than thirty seconds was probably pushing it. With no choice left, she opened the door and headed in. Inside, it was strangely quiet.

"Mom?" She couldn't really call out with Yocchan there, but Kuroki poked around the rooms a bit, and didn't find anyone. But there was a note on the kitchen table. With an ominous feeling coursing through her, she picked the piece of paper up and read it.

"Kuroki, we had to go check in on your grandpa again. He's okay, but we won't be home until later."

Kuroki felt her world implode. "Crap, crap, crap! Little Bro's probably at soccer practice, so we really are all alone here?! And it'll look really bad since I told that joke!"

Kuroki stood there holding the note without saying anything for a long time. Even a nice guy like Yocchan must have been feeling the awkwardness.

"Umm… So your parents aren't here? Just you and me, huh, Kuroki-san?"

Kuroki, eye twitching, turned around and uttered, "Y-Yeah."

"You… want to go somewhere else? Maybe karaoke?"

Kuroki got a buzz on her cellphone, and she immediately checked it. It was a reply from Nemo! Emboldened, Kuroki looked right at Yocchan and said, "Nah, Nemo's coming over, so we should wait here."

"Alright." Yocchan smiled. "Then what should we do?"

"Eh?" Was that some sort of… No, no, of course not! He just meant normal activities, like... What was there to do? Watching television, or… "Oh, that might work…"

"Uhm… Well…" Kuroki intertwined her fingers. "W-We could play video games in my room."

Yocchan was quiet for a moment. "Sure."

"Ack! Why'd I invite him to my room?!" Kuroki's mind was in a flurry as she headed up the stairs. "Even if Nemo's coming, it could be too late by the time she gets here…" Struck by a new thought, Kuroki's eyes widened. "No, wait! There's an even bigger problem! All the weird stuff I've got in there, like my otome games and posters! If he sees my room, he's going to think I'm a total weirdo! He could just dump me for it, but I doubt it'll stop there. After seeing all that, there are only bad outcomes for me, no matter whether he stays my boyfriend or not. He could tell everyone and make fun of me, making the remainder of my high school life a living hell. He could also blackmail me..." Kuroki could imagine that one:

"Kuroki-san, you're not allowed to have games like these!" Yocchan would say, still smiling like always, but with an evil glint in his eyes. "Heh heh heh! Now do whatever I want, or I'll tell the whole school!"

Well, maybe he wouldn't go that far. Still, Kuroki shivered from the frightening images conjured from her imagination. And she still thought that no good would come from anyone, least of all Yocchan, seeing her room.

Kuroki swallowed. "Yeah, I have to keep him out at all costs. In that case, there's really only one option…"

She crept over to her little brother's room and opened the door a smidge so she could peer inside. As expected, he wasn't there. Kuroki exhaled. Actually, this worked out anyway, since the game console was still in here. She opened the door all the way and stepped inside.

As Kuroki set up the game console, Yocchan glanced around, noticing the soccer posters and memorabilia. "Eh? This is your room, Kuroki-san? I was expecting something a lot different. So you like soccer?"

"O-Oh, it's actually… Um, it's my little brother's room. I remembered that the console was in here."

"Oh! Gotcha."

Sitting on the floor, Kuroki felt her anxiety flaring up again. She felt like she was sweating a lot. Was Yocchan going to notice that when they were playing a game? There was no helping it now. She'd just have to put maximum distance between them. On another note, Kuroki checked the disc in the console. Knowing Little Bro… Yep, it was Pro Evolution Soccer. Perfect. That was a nice, normal game they could play. And all boys liked sports and sports video games, right? Especially soccer. Right? This is what Kuroki's instincts told her, but she couldn't help but feel her lack of experience might be misleading her right now… Well, for the moment she didn't have the courage to ask Yocchan if he was okay with it, or if he wanted to play something else.

Actually, why was she worrying about that so much?! Furious, Kuroki bit down on her lower lip. If that jerk didn't like it, he should just say so!

Without saying a word, Kuroki started up the game. She set down a second controller for Yocchan, and went into an exhibition match. Yocchan, for his part, took the controller and sat beside Kuroki in front of the television.

"Wow, you're pretty good at this, Kuroki-san!"

"Eh? Crap…" Though she'd known better than to use her mod team, Kuroki had chosen one of the better teams, and Yocchan's team was getting destroyed. But now that she thought about it, wouldn't a boy get pretty upset if he lost at this kind of game? Little Bro sure had… "I'll let him get a few goals. Got to make it look good, though…"

Through careful and subtle manipulation, and a few slide tackles for red cards, Kuroki managed to clear up the field enough for Yocchan's players to break through and shoot on the goal. But he missed. Irritated, Kuroki did it all over again. That's pretty much how the rest of the game went. Yocchan never caught up, but he did get a few goals in. And then the game was over.

"Ah, crap! What do we do now?! And why is Nemo still not here?" Now that the game was over, Kuroki went into a panic. She checked her phone, but there were no new updates from Nemo. What should she do? It wasn't like they could keep on playing this boring game indefinitely. But if they didn't, then…

Without a word, Kuroki reentered the exhibition match menu and started another game up.

"Alright, let's go again, Kuroki-san! I almost had you in the end!" Yocchan cheered.

At least it didn't seem like Yocchan was getting bored yet. Good, this could work. Just have to keep Yocchan entertained for a while longer.

"Get out!"

All of a sudden, the door to the room was thrown open, and Kuroki's little brother stood there, looking peeved. Kuroki was feeling pretty jumpy, so she got a jolt out of that. But her brother, Tomoki, looked surprised too when he saw Yocchan. Yocchan, though, didn't miss a beat.

He stood and offered his hand. "Hey, you must be Kuroki-san's little brother! I'm Yocchan, Kuroki-san's boyfriend! She said it was okay if we played games in here."

"Uh…" Tomoki took Yocchan's hand. He looked puzzled as he looked from Yocchan to his sister. "You're joking, right? You're really her boyfriend?"

Yocchan laughed. "Why does everyone keep saying that? I mean, I did just ask her today, but we're totally going out. Right, Kuroki-san?"

Tomoki looked at her for confirmation too. Kuroki, cheeks burning red, muttered, "S-So it would seem…" Tomoki still gave her a funny look, so she averted her eyes.

"It's nice to meet you, uh…" Yocchan paused. "Well, I guess you're Kuroki-san too!"

"Uh… It's alright. You can call me Tomoki."

"Alright, Tomoki!" Yocchan beamed.

"What the hell?!" Kuroki was furious. "Little Bro's already on a first name basis with my boyfriend?!" Wait, that gave her an idea!

She stood up and pulled her little brother aside for a moment. "H-Hey, you're good at this game, so why don't you play Yocchan?"

"Whaaat?" Yocchan laughed in a teasing way. "No way, I don't need to face someone better! I was already losing to you, Kuroki-san!"

Tomoki looked sheepish. "Yeah, and I have to do my homework, so…"

Kuroki shot her little brother a furious look. "I'll help you with your homework later!"

Ordinarily, Tomoki probably would have shot back with a retort of his own, but the whole situation was too bizarre for him, and he didn't want to say anything in front of Yocchan, who seemed pretty normal in spite of everything. On top of all that, it didn't seem like his sister was going to leave his room.

Kuroki sat on her little brother's bed and exhaled. With Little Bro and Yocchan playing games together, she could relax a little. Nothing was going to happen while he was here. And she didn't need to worry about talking with Yocchan, since Little Bro would keep him entertained. Though it did kind of tick her off how they seemed to be getting along so well. Now if only she could slink off to her own room, and just leave these two here, everything would be great. But she supposed that was asking for too much. Yocchan would definitely think she was weird if she just dumped him on her little brother and then disappeared.

Tomoki and Yocchan kept at the game for a bit. And pretty soon, Kuroki heard some movement downstairs. It seemed her parents were home. She got a bit worried about that. How was she supposed to explain this to them? They didn't seem to care much about her ero games, but weren't they likely to get mad if they found out she brought a real boy home while they were away?

"Oh, is that your parents?" Yocchan asked when he heard. "I should go introduce myself to them! Take over for me in the game, Kuroki-san?"

"O-Oh! Y-Yes, I will do that…" With stiff movements, Kuroki took the controller from Yocchan as he headed downstairs.

"Hey…" Tomoki glanced at his sister. Now that they were alone, he could ask what he wanted to. "What's this guy's deal? And is he going to be leaving anytime soon?"

"Um, well…" Kuroki twiddled her thumbs, uncertain of the answer.

Tomoki was silent for a second. "I've got homework, so could you go to your own room?"

Kuroki looked at her brother with teary eyes. "Y-You've got to help me!"

Tomoki scowled. "Like hell! He's your boyfriend, so go to your own room! Don't drag me into your problems!"

"B-But I don't know how to deal with him! Wait, you're a boy, right? Why don't you do all that primal male-bonding stuff your species is famous for!"

"I have no idea what you're talking about! If you don't want to deal with him, then you shouldn't have let him be your boyfriend!"

"Well, I know that now!" Kuroki raged. "But at the time, it didn't seem like there was any choice!"

"You're not making sense! Just hurry up and get out of here before he comes back!"

"Nooo!" Kuroki wailed. As her Little Brother tried to push her out, she clung to the doorframe, holding on with all her might. "Oh! I think I hear him coming back!"

"Damn it!"

Tomoki released his sister, and she scrambled back into the room, just in time for Yocchan's arrival.

"Your folks are super nice, Kuroki!" Yocchan said.

"W-Well, not all the time…" Kuroki said. "Heh heh heh…"

He scratched the back of his head. "Well… I've been here a while, so I guess—"

"I'm heeere!" Nemoto, drenched in enough sweat to have run a marathon, and with a crazed gleam in her eyes, suddenly dashed up to the top of the stairs. She leaned over, out of breath, and huffed after everything she said. "Kuro, your mom let me in!"

"Wow, Hina!" Yocchan laughed. "What's with you? And what took you so long to get here?"

Nemoto shot a crazed look at Kuroki that made the other girl shrink. The way she huffed between each word just made it scarier. "I got… lost... heh… Someone sent… me… confusing… directions… heh heh." She brandished her cellphone, which displayed the text Kuroki had sent.

"O-Oh…" Kuroki blanched. "S-Sorry, I thought…"

"Well, I'm here, so: What's going on, Yocchan? What have you and Kuro been doing together?"

"Uh. Nothing much really," Yocchan answered. "Just meeting Kuroki-san's family."

"Oh, reaaaaly? Nothing? Then you won't mind if I join, right?" Nemoto asked.

"Sure…" Yocchan said. "We were just playing video games together with Kuroki-san's brother."

"Alriiiight." Still slumping a bit from exhaustion, Nemoto entered Tomoki's room and stood by Kuroki. With an apologetic look at Tomoki, Yocchan returned inside as well.

Kuroki gaped at Nemoto. She couldn't believe it, and she wanted to scream at her friend, "B****! He was just about to leave!"

"Eh? What's this, Kuro? You're playing a soccer game? That's not right." Nemoto still had a scary gleam in her eyes.

Kuroki knew what Nemoto was getting at, and she wished the girl would just shut up. "If all you're going to do is try to embarrass me, then you shouldn't have come at all!" But in front of Yocchan, all she could muster was, "O-Oh, well, you know, I play this one too…"

"No, no, Kuro. It really doesn't suit you at all! Where are your ero games?" Under her breath, she muttered, "Show Yocchan just how much of a pervert you really are so he'll break up with you!"

To Kuroki's horror, Nemoto started rummaging around Little Bro's room, looking under the bed and opening drawers.

"Hey!" Tomoki yelled. "What are you doing?! Stop going through my stuff!"

"Eep!" Face turning beet red, Nemoto slammed shut the drawer she'd been looking in, and looked at Tomoki. "Y-Your stuff?"

"Oh…" Kuroki could feel Nemoto's pain. Though she did kind of deserve it. "Uh. Well, this is my little brother's room, actually…"

Nemoto bowed her head. "S-Sorry! I thought this was her room!"

"Y-Yeah… Well, it's okay…" Tomoki had dealt with worse before.

Yocchan didn't want to contribute to this conversation. He just stood by the door, an apologetic smile on his face.

"Hmm…" Nemoto had gotten pretty flustered after looking through that drawer. Kuroki knew it was just her little brother's sock drawer, but she couldn't help but wonder if there was something weird in there. So she strolled over and checked it herself.

"Hey!" Tomoki yelled. "Knock it off!"

"Just socks." Kuroki said sadly.

"The hell?! Drop dead?!"

"I-I'm sorry…" Nemoto said again, even though nobody was talking to her.

Though there was a moment when Kuroki really thought her kid brother was going to try and throw her out of the room in spite of the audience, Tomoki stopped, and there was nothing but a dead silence for a full minute.

"Ah, well…" It was Yocchan who broke the silence. "It's been fun, but I've really got to go. Places to be, people to see, ya know?"

Nemoto was still sniveling, but after hearing Yocchan, she snapped back to psycho Nemoto. "Oh, I know. Yocchan's a popular guy, so it doesn't surprise me that he'd abandon Kuroki!"

"Ha ha!" Yocchan chuckled. "Kuroki-san knows I'm not doing that! We spent a lot of time together today already! Well, see ya, Kuroki-san!"

As Yocchan left, Kuroki, mouth agape, waved at him. She went on waving for a while after he'd gone. During that time, Tomoki unplugged the console and nearly threw it into Nemoto's arms.

"Eh?!" Nemoto didn't know what was going on.

"I've got homework, so you and Sis can go to her room."

Nemoto went into the hallway, but Kuroki just stood with her feet planted, her hand still raised. "Get out!" Having had enough of his sister and her crazy friends for one day, Tomoki shoved Kuroki out into the hallway.

"I think I've made your brother hate me…" Nemoto said once they'd made it to Kuroki's room.

"Don't worry about Little Bro. He gets harassed by girls all the time. That Komi-something once rolled around in his bed."

"Komiyama?! She did what?!"

Kuroki and Nemoto played some games on the console, though just normal stuff. Even had Kuroki been inclined to show Nemoto her Ero and Otome games, she didn't think the girl needed any more stimulation right now. After a while, some of the tension and embarrassment faded away, and it got to a point where Nemoto and Kuroki could relax.

"So, Kuro, what do you think of Yocchan?"

"Eh?" Kuroki got a bit timid again. "W-Well, I don't know…"

"But do you really want him as your boyfriend?" Nemoto asked.

"I-I think, maybe, I can't deal with his kind?"

"'His kind'? But that means you don't want to date him, right Kuro?"

"N-Not really…"

"Great! Then you can dump him!" All of a sudden, Nemoto was smiling and back in high spirits. It really ticked Kuroki off.

"O-Oh, but… What if I hurt his feeling or something? I don't want to do that…" It wasn't like she disagreed about dumping him, but she didn't think it would be as easy as Nemoto said. Yocchan might be the clingy type, and wouldn't let her go. Plus, there was her reputation to think about. If she dumped a boy after only one day, what were the chances anyone would ever try to be her boyfriend again?

"Don't worry, Kuro! I'm sure he won't be upset about losing you as a girlfriend!"

Kuroki's eye twitched, and she felt a surge of anger.

Nemoto beamed at her. "Know what? I'll help you! Tomorrow, we'll find him and tell him you're ending it! You can leave most of the talking to me!"

"Huh?"

Tomorrow came sooner than expected. Thinking about what was to come made Kuroki want to stay home sick, but Nemoto probably would have killed her, especially since she knew where she lived now. So she swallowed her fear and headed to class.

"Hey, perfect, Kuro! Yocchan's all by himself, so let's tell him!" Nemoto grabbed Kuroki's hand and dragged her over to Yocchan's desk.

"Hey, Yocchan! Kuro's got something to tell you!"

"Oh? What is it, Kuroki-san?"

Yocchan smiled at Kuroki. Kuroki couldn't meet his gaze. She just stared off to the side. Anyway, Nemoto was the one who was supposed to say it.

"Kuro wants to break up with you, right?" Nemoto said.

"O-Oh!" Kuroki dug her hands into her skirts. "Um, it's just, I don't think I'm ready to have a boyfriend."

"Oh. Gotcha." Yocchan, unfazed, turned to Nemoto. "Hey, you seemed super jealous the whole time, huh? Maybe you've always wanted to be my girlfriend, Hina?"

Nemoto's cheeks turned red from the teasing. "As if! I wasn't jealous, I was worried about Kuro!"

"Ha ha ha! Sure you were!"

Kuroki grit her teeth. Flirting with another girl right in front of her, seconds after their breakup? Yocchan really was scum, after all.

"Come on, Kuro!" Nemoto grabbed Kuroki's hand and dragged her off to the corner of the room. "Well, that's dealt with! Don't you feel better without that guy to deal with, Kuro?"

"Oh… Yeah, thanks, I guess…"

Nemoto smiled. "Don't worry, Kuro! I'm gonna make sure you never have to deal with boys again!"

"Eh?!"

Nemoto laughed, but Kuroki could tell from the crazy gleam in her eyes that she was serious about this. Nemoto seriously intended to block all communications with the opposite gender. She wanted her all to herself. Despairing, Kuroki wanted to cry. But if she did, there was a chance Nemoto might kill her.

Extras

Crk!

"Ack!"

Cowering inside the small bathroom stall, Minami, sitting on the toilet, pulled her knees up and threw her hands over her head. As a series of blows struck the side of the stall, tears welled up in her eyes and her whole body trembled. Minami didn't know why, but Yuri Tamura was on the other side of the stall, repeatedly punching it.

"Crap, crap, crap! What's Tamura's problem?! Is she like, really bullying me right now?!"

Crk!

"Eep!"

What did Tamura want? What was she going to do to Minami when she left? Shaking worse than before, Minami went silent, too frightened to leave the stall. "S-She has to leave eventually, right?"

Crk, crk, crk!

"Eaaaaaaahhhh! Leave me aloooone!"

"No, Yuri! Don't!"

Mako, hands around Yuri's waist, tried to hold the other girl. Yuri, for her part, held a bucket overhead with both hands, and was struggling as hard as she could to reach the classroom door. She was overpowering Mako, one step at a time.

"Eh?" Nemoto arrived at that moment and happened upon the scene. She sized up the situation, and, drawing from her knowledge of anime, pretty much got the gist of it. When Mako pleaded for help in stopping Yuri, Nemoto replied, "She just wants to prank Yocchan, right? It's not a big deal, so just let her do it, Tanaka-san."

"N-No, Nemoto-san! P-Please!" Mako pleaded whilst she struggled to hold Yuri back.

"Just let her do it," Nemoto said again.

"N-No, Nemoto-san! You don't understand!"

"What?" As far as she could tell, Yuri was just trying to do the old bucket of water over the door trick that she always saw. Though, now that she looked at the bucket… There was no water inside.

"Hey, I'm here early today!" Yocchan announced as he poked his head through the door.

Yuri's scowl intensified into a snarl.

"Eaaak!"

Unable to hold Yuri back any longer, Mako fell to the floor. At the same time, Yuri stepped forward and brought the bucket down on Yocchan's head. The blow instantly knocked him to the floor, and knocked him out cold. But from the way Yuri got on top of him and raised the bucket again, it didn't seem like she was satisfied with that.

"Eaahhh!" Realizing her mistake, Nemoto rushed in and grabbed the bucket. She managed to pry it away and threw it over her shoulder. Then she and Mako each grabbed one of Yuri's arms and dragged the crazy girl away.

"Oh, Kuroki-san!"

Struck by a heavy dose of self-consciousness, Kuroki immediately tensed up when Yocchan came over to sit by her. She started trembling, and could only manage an awkward "Heh heh…" as a greeting.

"Sorry I haven't been over to talk to you much, Kuroki-san! Man, I've been getting pranked all day. Someone stole my shoes from my locker and buried them in the dirt. Then after that, I found my umbrella all ripped up. Oh! And get this: I actually found tacks in my desk! Ha ha! That might've really hurt! Guess it's probably guys who are jealous of me dating you, Kuroki-san."

"O-Oh. Yes." Kuroki smiled and nodded.

"Plus, every time I was going to come over to talk to you, Tamura-san struck up a conversation with me! That's never happened before, not even once! But she spoke to me five times today! Heh heh! I must be getting popular, huh? Oh, but don't worry, Kuroki-san. You're the only one for me."

"H-Heh heh heh…Y-Yuri, huh?"

Just out of reflex, Kuroki glanced over in Yuri's direction, but she got a shock: the girl was glaring daggers at her right now. No, wait… It wasn't at her. She was glaring at Yocchan like she wanted to strangle him.

Kuroki felt her trembling and palpitations intensify. With jerky movements, she turned her gaze back upon Yocchan, as he continued prattling on. But looking away did no good. She couldn't forget that glare, and she could still feel that murderous intent, even from this side of the room. Between Yuri's hostility and Yocchan talking to her, Kuroki couldn't relax at all.

"Did ya hear, Tamura-san?" Nemoto asked, leaning in with a cheery grin to talk to her sulking neighbor. "Kuroki and Yocchan broke up. It's great we won't have to worry about that anymore, right? Kuroki will still have time for us now."

In a matter of seconds, Yuri's twisted-up snarl faded into a half smile.

"You're happy, huh? Huh?" Nemoto said.

"Hmm…" Nemoto was getting pretty annoying, so Yuri looked away. She was happy, but something still weighed on her mind. "But… what happened with him going to Tomoko's house?"

"Huh? Oh, well. It's not like Yocchan even saw Kuro's room. We just sort of hung out in her brother's room… For some weird reason."

"Heh." Yuri grinned for a half-second.

When she happened to bump into Yocchan later that day, she donned a condescending grin and said, "I've seen her room."

"Huh? What was that, Tamura-san?" Confused, Yocchan just smiled at her as Yuri, still looking smug, walked by.