36: All the Friends I Need

"Ayumu…"

We found her sitting in an alley, arms around her knees, sobbing, tears streaming down her thighs.

"Ayumu-chan…" Yu and I crouched down next to her. Her tiny sobs racked her shoulders, and the sorrow that she felt wrenched at my heart.

"Yu…" Ayumu said squeakily, looking up at her, revealing her tear streaked face.

"Ayumu-chan, it's okay…" Yu hugged her tightly, and began to cry as well.

"Why… why did he have to do this to me?!" Ayumu said in agony. "Did I do something wrong!?"

"You didn't do anything wrong, Ayumu! It was all Takeshi's fault. It's all because of my stupid brother!" Yu shouted. "I- I tried to warn you, but, but I wanted you to be happy, Ayumu-chan!"

"I know…" Ayumu breathed heavily, trying to gulp the air. "I- I know you were trying to warn me. But I- I thought i was smart! I thought I knew him. I thought he was different."

"Well… at the very end, I thought so too. I thought you had changed my brother. That's why I began to give up trying to stop you. Because I believed in you, Ayumu." Yu held her hand.

"But you were right all along." Ayumu sighed. "I was so naive. I should have known better."

"Well, now that you do, forget about him, okay?"

"B-but it hurts so much!" Ayumu clutched her heart. "It hurts so much!"

"Ayumu…" I put a hand on her shoulder. "Here… we threw out the dirty ones…" I held up one of the chocolates that Ayumu had in the handbag she had dropped.

"Th-thanks, senpai," she whispered, managing a weak smile. "I guess I don't have any need for those anymore, eh?" She stuck out her tongue and I placed the truffle on it. As she chewed, she began to cry again, so I lent her my sleeve.

"If only there was a world without heartbreak," Yu said, stroking Ayumu's hair. "If only there was a world where the people who deserve love got it. Why do good girls like Ayumu have to suffer?!"

"I'm not a good girl," Ayumu said, taking another chocolate. "I was so easily entranced by Takeshi, I'd forgotten everything else! He- he was all I was thinking about for the past couple months. During Love Live, all I could think was to make Takeshi proud. I never thought about trying my very best for all of us. For you, for senpai, for the third-years… for Setsuna-chan." She brushed fallen strands of hair out of her eyes. "Maybe if I didn't have my head in the clouds, we could have gotten first place at Love Live."

"D-don't say that," I disagreed. "I'm sure you did your very best. Don't go looking for blame, Ayumu. We all did our best. And it's fine. I'm sure you'll find someone else out there."

"Derrick-senpai, I know you're just being a sweet talker again! You don't know if things could have been different at Love Live. You don't know if I'll find someone else!"

"Yes! I don't know!" I replied, hugging Ayumu and placing my face in her hair. "But that's why we can't dwell on it! That's why we have to let it be!"

Ayumu didn't reply, and continued to weep.

Suddenly, I received a phone call.

"Hello?" I said, standing up.

"Hey… this is Setsuna…"

"H-hi, Setsuna-chan!" I said.

"How is everything going? Are you free right now?"

"Oh… I'm sorry, I'm actually… busy…" I looked at the two crying girls next to me.

"Really? That's too bad… I- I wanted to stop by and… let you borrow some manga I read that I really think you'll like… but if you're busy, I'll just come by another time…"

"Yeah… sorry, Setsuna-chan…"

"Wh-what's that sound?"

She must have heard the sound of tears.

"Oh…"

"Ayumu-chan? Is that her? What happened!?"

"I- Ayumu-chan... Setsuna… wants to know what happened…"

"Setsuna-chan!" Ayumu bawled. "Takeshi's a moron!"

"Wh-what?! Derrick, what happened?! I- I'll come over right now!"

"No, we're in the middle of an alley right now… how about we meet somewhere near school?"

"Is Yu there? Tell her to bring you guys to my house; she knows where it is. I need to hear everything!"

"Okay, Setsuna. I'll see you soon."

"Setsuna-chan wants to help? Mm. She'll probably be the only one who can lift Ayumu out of this sadness," Yu said, as she led us down into a neighborhood I had not been to before.

"Ayumu-chan, cheer up, alright?" I patted her on the head.

She looked at me with puffy red eyes.

"I hate boys," she said, trying to keep her composure. "Why do they always have to lead girls on and break their hearts!?"

Um… isn't that what girls do? Literally every time I like a girl… I thought.

"It's not just boys, Ayumu, girls do that too," Yu said, coming to the rescue. "Not all boys are bad, okay? Just because you had the unfortunate opportunity to meet my brother doesn't mean all boys are like that."

"But we were so close!" Ayumu wailed. "Don't you remember all those times back in elementary school, when the three of us would play together!? Where did all that go?!"

"T-times change," Yu replied, looking pretty sad herself.

"I… guess…" Ayumu looked down at the sidewalk. Then she grabbed my arm.

"But you're different, Derrick. I don't hate boys like you. And you're the last one I know." She smiled, releasing more tears.

"Ayumu…"

We had reached Setsuna's house, which was quite spacious, sitting behind an adorned black gate.

"Wow, this is Setsuna's house? It looks so big!" I remarked.

"Yeah, Setsuna's house is really pretty," Yu answered.

"Ayumu-chan!" Setsuna's voice resounded, and we saw her running towards the gate dressed in a soft white dress.

"Setsuna-chan!" Ayumu cried, and Setsuna opened the gate, embracing the stricken girl.

"It's okay, Ayumu! I'm here, okay?" She stroked Ayumu's back, her long, dark locks trailing over her shoulders.

Overhead, it was cloudy, and a slight drizzle had begun to fall.

"Let's get inside, okay? I've cooked something up for all of you girls, okay? We also have a pretty large bath, so feel free to make yourself comfortable!" Setsuna took Ayumu's hand, then Yu's and began to lead them back towards her house. She turned around and smiled at me, motioning with her head for me to follow.

Setsuna's house was huge, and had multiple living rooms and a spiral staircase that led to a sprawling wooden maze of ornate doors, lined with intricate lamps in the form of candle holders. A scent of cinnamon permeated the halls, and outside, the drizzle had become a downpour, its muffled pattering a background to the whispers between Setsuna and the girls.

"This is my room," Setsuna said, opening a door and letting Ayumu and Yu in. When I was about to enter, she shut it and blocked it with her body. "Ehe…" She looked up at me awkwardly.

"I- I can't come in?" I asked, confused.

"W-well, you are a boy," she said, looking to the side and pressing her fingers together.

"It's not like I'm gonna do anything weird! Come on, I've slept with both Ayumu and Yu, multiple times! Nothing weird ever happened! You can ask them yourself!"

"YEAH, WEIRD THINGS HAPPENED EVERY TIME," Yu and Ayumu said in unison, opening the door and poking their heads out.

"See?" Setsuna smiled shyly and shrugged. "Y- you can wait out here… maybe you can talk to my mom! She's down in the kitchen…"

"Bruh…"

"Sorry!" Setsuna went in and shut the door, leaving me standing by myself in the hall.

I stood there, unsure of what to do, so I just sat down on the ground, staring at my phone.

After five minutes, the door opened again.

"Oh, you're still here?" Setsuna said, stepping out. "Y-you can come in now." I looked up at her, noticing that she had changed into a pair of pink pyjamas with white polka dots. She blushed when she saw me looking at her outfit. "You coming or not!?"

"Y-yeah! Hold on!" I jumped to my feet and entered the room.

Ayumu and Yu were sitting on Setsuna's large bed, reminiscing about good times and giggling while looking at pictures on their phones.

"Wow, this is a nice room," I remarked, looking around at the spacious open space, and the rows of drawers, a desk, couch, and TV.

"Th-thanks," Setsuna replied, twirling a strand of hair. "Don't touch any of the drawers, okay?"

"I won't, I won't!" I assured, going over to sit on the bed.

"Don't sit on the bed in those dirty clothes!" Setsuna said, blocking my way. "I- I let those two borrow my pyjamas."

Yu laughed.

"Looks like you'll have to strip down," she teased. Ayumu giggled.

"I- I'll go see if my dad has any spare pyjamas, okay?" Setsuna stammered, leaving the room.

"Haha, you could wear Setsuna's pyjamas!" Yu joked, standing up and going to the drawers.

"Stop, Yu-chan!" Ayumu warned. "Remember what she told us to do?!"

"Oh, I forgo-" Yu opened up the top drawer, and suddenly, a massive pile of manga, body pillows, figurines, and wall scrolls exploded and fell all over Yu, sending her toppling atop a large pillow with the picture of a tall blonde anime husbando, complete with shirt unbuttoned and tie askew.

"Uhhh…." I stood there in shock and amusement, wondering what just happened.

Setsuna came back just in time, and stopped in the doorway at the sight of Yu amidst the mountain of anime merch.

"Y-Y-Yu! What did you do!" Setsuna said frantically, rushing to pick up the body pillow and stuff it back into the drawer, but it wouldn't go in.

"I-I forgot!" Yu replied, trying to help hide the contraband materials.

I laughed.

"Setsuna-chan, you don't have to hide anything." I placed a hand on her shoulder, and she gave up trying to fit the large cotton blob into the drawer. She turned to me nervously.

"I- I'm not- not that crazy about this stuff, o-okay?!" she flustered. "I- I was just about to sell them on ebay! Yeah! Heh heh…"

"You don't need to make excuses either." I grinned. "It's fine, Setsuna, I won't judge you! I'm just like you after all, so you can be yourself around me, okay?"

Setsuna seemed to calm down for a split second, then shook her head, pressing a pair of pyjamas into my face.

"H-here! Put them on already!"

"Uhh… where am I gonna change?" I asked, looking around.

"We're not gonna look, okay?!" Setsuna said, and Ayumu and Yu nodded vigorously. They all went on the bed and turned their backs to me.

I quickly took off my clothes and was putting on the pair of pyjamas when I suddenly caught Setsuna red handed, her face turned towards me. Our eyes met, and I just froze, pants pulled halfway up my legs.

"I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I'M SORRY!" Setsuna squealed, covering her bright red face with her hands.

"Setsuna-chan, you pervert!" Yu said. Ayumu laughed.

"Uhhh… Setsuna…? What the hell?" I said, pulling the pants all the way up. "You really just did that?" I laughed.

"It was an accident, okay?!" Setsuna blurted, hitting the floor and smashing her forehead. "I'M SORRY! I- I'll do whatever you want in return, okay!?"

"Hohoho!" I replied, putting my hands on my hips. "Let's see…"

OMG, I'm in one of those amazing anime harem situations! The things I could make her do!

"He's gonna make you do something perverted," Yu remarked.

Well, yeah, I was thinking of something like that. But….

"Don't forget me when I'm gone, okay?" I said, kneeling down and lifting Setsuna up by the shoulders. I gave her a smile.

She looked confused for a second, as if she was expecting a completely different request, then her expression changed to that of realization, realization that yes, I was going to be gone sooner than later, and that all these silly encounters we shared would become precious memories lost in the sea of time.

"O-okay!" Setsuna affirmed, with a blushing, teary-eyed smile.

We spent the next couple of hours chatting and laughing upon Setsuna's bed, sharing sad and happy stories, talking about our dreams that we hoped would come to pass and those that have already gone to die.

"You guys hungry yet?" Setsuna asked, and we all voiced our agreement. We went downstairs to a large dining room, and sat around a long table.

"Hey, children!" Setsuna's mom said, carrying platters of honey-glazed ham and mentaiko pasta. "I'm glad you could join us for dinner tonight! My husband's always out, so it's usually just Nana-chan and I! I'm so happy I could cook more food tonight!"

"Ohhhh, thank you so much! It looks delicious!" Ayumu said.

"Yeah! Thanks, Mrs. Nakagawa!" Yu piped, admiring the palette of delicious fare.

"Nakagawa? Oh, so that's your actual family name?" I asked Setsuna, sitting across from me.

"Sh-shhhhhhh!" Setsuna put a finger to her lips.

"Hmm? You didn't know Nana's name?" Mrs. Nakagawa said.

"O-oh, yeah, of course! I just never really paid attention… heheh…" I said, remembering that Setsuna used a fake name to hide her idol activities from her parents.

"Well, you are a foreigner, so that's understandable. My husband always messes up the names of his business clients too! That's why Nana-chan is going to study English hard and help with our family business, right?!" Mrs. Nakagawa remarked, looking at Setsuna, who stuttered, "Y-yeah…"

"A-anyway, thank you for the food!" I said, and we dug in.

"Ahhhh, that was so delicious!" Ayumu sighed, as we headed back to Setsuna's room. "I wish I could eat food like that every night!"

"Heheh…" Setsuna chuckled. "Those were some of my favorites. I helped to prepare them earlier today!"

"But about your parents…" Yu said. "Do they still hate on idol and anime stuff?"

"Well… I'm pretty sure they know about it by now… but they're still very against it. I don't want to get into a fight with them, so… I just go along with what they say." Setsuna sighed. "But anyway, yeah, if you don't remember, Derrick, my actual name is Nakagawa Nana. Actually, that's what everyone calls me, except for you guys!"

"Oh, so that means we're special," I joked. "Setsuna Yuuki. Hahaha!"

"What's so funny?!" Setsuna retorted, puling a few towels out of her wardrobe. "Anyway… let's go take a bath, girls!"

"Yeah! Setsuna's bath is huge," Yu remarked. It can fit like ten people!"

"But we're only fitting three, right?" Ayumu suggested.

"Y-yeah," Setsuna replied.

"So what am I gonna do? Sit here and wait?" I asked.

"I guess…"

The three girls left the room, and I just sat there, bored.

Ten minutes later, I got a text on my phone.

Setsuna: Do you promise not to do anything weird?

Me: Uhh… yeah… okay…?

Setsuna: Fine. Yu and Ayumu said it's fine. You can come over here, but make sure to bring a towel and DO NOT peek at any of us!

Me: I should be telling you that HAHA

Setsuna: :( shut up! ANyway, the towels are in the second drawer. Don't touch anything else

Me: Okay, okay haha

I got a towel (I made sure not to touch anything else) and went out to the hallway. I had no idea where the bath was, but I found it when I heard the sound of giggling girls emanating from a certain door. I went in and found myself in a changing room. Gosh, this is almost like a public bath!

I stripped down and put the towel around my waist, entering the bathroom.

"Hey… y'all…" I said, blushing, as the three girls stopped mid discussion and stared at me, their bare shoulders visible above the water. They were seated in a large, square shaped bath, and steam rose to the ceiling.

"Hi…" The three girls replied, gulping.

"C-come on in, after you wash yourself down," Setsuna beckoned timidly.

After, dumping some water on myself, I slowly inched over, and the girls covered their eyes while I got rid of the towel and sunk myself into the water.

"Th-this bath feels nice," I remarked, and the silence was deafening, as all the giggling of earlier was gone with my entrance, the girls shrunk into themselves and sitting closer to each other than to me.

"Um, so… how's it going guys?" I asked.

"Um. Pretty good," Yu piped, grabbing onto Sesuna's arm.

"Oh. Nice."

And that was how it went, the most awkward few moments of my life.

"Y-yeah, I think I'm about done now," I said, eager to leave the bath. Yeah, sharing a bath with girls is not really a good idea….

I covered my waist with the towel as I rose, and stepped out of the bath, heading back towards the changing room.

"S-senpai!" Setsuna called after me. "Sorry… for calling you over… and we made it so awkward… I'm sorry!"

I turned back around.

"No, it's fine… I should have just waited until you girls finished first…"

"Yeah… I just didn't want to leave you out… and I thought you would enjoy it…"

"It's all good! Thank you though." I went back into the changing room and put my clothes on. I left back into the hallway.

Gosh, I need to work on my socialization skills! I literally had such a lucky opportunity, and I screwed everything up! Why!?

I suddenly remembered that I left my towel in the changing room, and opened the door to retrieve it.

I was greeted by an amazing sight: Ayumu, drying her body with a towel, completely bare, back arched and bottom exposed, slick and shiny. Yu, also naked, in the process of putting on her shirt, and Setsuna, wearing nothing but a pair of red lace panties pulled halfway up on her knees.

I stopped in horror, as did the girls, who all stared at me stricken with embarrassment.

"U-uh…." I stepped forward slowly. "I- I just forgot my towel… heh heh…" I reached for the towel, which was hanging next to them. "Excuse me…"

The next thing I knew, I was crumpled up on Setsuna's bed, two tissue plugs stuffed up each of my nostrils, and my face red with multiple hand marks.
"Ughh…" I moaned in pain. Well, it was worth it.

"What do you have to say for yourself!?" Yu asked, as the three girls stood around me, arms crossed.

"Nice butt, Ayumu," I chirped, and Yu punched me in the face. "Yeaaooooowwwwww!"

"Ehh?" Ayumu blushed, covering her butt with her hands. "Th-thanks…"

"Ewwwww! Really, Derrick?!" Setsuna said, exasperated.

"Also, nice choice of panties, Setsuna-chan! Although that's kinda what I expected!" I added.

"Wh-what!? You thought about what type of panties I wore!?" Setsuna leaped on the bed in anger, straddling my body and lifting an open hand, as if to slap my face again.

"No, please! I'm sorry!" I wailed, holding up my hands in defense.

Setsuna couldn't bare to hit me again, so she lowered her arm, cheeks pink with embarrassment and anger. I realized what sort of position we were in, and my heart started to race.

"A-are you really sorry!?"

"Yeah. Trust!"

Setsuna looked down.

"Well, if it really was an accident… I guess this is repayment for what I saw earlier," she mumbled. "But it's not happening again!"

"Yeah! If you ever violate any of us again, I'll give you a triple nosebleed next time!" Yu said, balling her fists.

All of a sudden, Ayumu burst into laughter, so hard that she was clutching her sides. We all stopped and looked at her in confusion.

"Ahahhahaahah! Y-you guys are so funny!" Ayumu laughed, struggling to breathe.

"Wh-what do you mean, Ayumu-chan?! We're handling a criminal right here!" Yu protested.

"It's just- It's just that, it's the first time I've ever had friends with whom something this crazy can happen- and we're still friends!" Ayumu leaped on the bed and hugged me.

"Yeah, why are we even friends with Derrick?! He's literally such a weirdo; how did this happen in the first place?!" Yu pondered. "Right, Setsuna?"

"Well, I don't know how, either. But… we are friends, after all… and I guess I'm grateful for that." Setsuna's lips turned upward into a smile.

Among the two smiling girls, Yu couldn't help but do so herself, and soon all four of us were laughing until we cried.

"Now that you've seen everything, you better take responsibility as a gentleman, okay?!" Yu said. "We're literally closer to you than anyone else, so treat us well!"

"Next time, Derrick is gonna be the one giving us a show!" Ayumu joked, and I rolled my eyes.

"By the way," Setsuna added, "Ayumu- wanna go to the amusement park with us? With our entire club?"

"Huh? Really?"

"Yeah! The others are totally down."

"I- I would love to!" Ayumu hugged Setsuna. "Let's gooooooo!"

"Alright!" The rest of us cheered.

"Okay, I'll make the plans!" Setsuna looked at me. "It's getting pretty late. Ayumu and Yu can stay over, but you, Derrick, you're gonna have to go home! Sorry!"

"Yeah, yeah." After everything that happened today, I couldn't ask for anything more, could I? I got changed back into my own clothes (no peeking happened this time) and prepared to leave. "Alright, girls, it's been fun. See y'all!"

We forgot the original reason we came, which was to help Ayumu get over Takeshi. Well, we had so much fun, I'm sure she's feeling great now! We didn't want to bring it up, but hopefully, her heart was healed.

"Hold on, senpai!" Ayumu said, grabbing me by the hand.

"Hmm?"

"Setsuna, Yu!" She grabbed Setsuna's hand, and directed Yu to hold mine. Ayumu led the three of us, all holding hands, and opened the door leading to Setsuna's balcony.

When we looked over the railing, thousands of lights glistened in the night, both above and before us.

Ayumu took a deep breath, and screamed into the dark.

"Goodbye, Takeshi-nii-channnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn!"

She turned to us, smiling through her tears, then looked back into the distance.

"I have all the friends I needddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddd!"