A/N: In a homage to my Victorious roots, this chapter features the restaurant Nozu… but bigger and with longer tables. Unfortunately nobody sings… yet. Hmm.
Anyways, thanks for the reviews! Bobby Jones. The Real One, I see where the confusion is - the "shut-in" thing was Hinata talking about Naoi since he hasn't been out and about in Mizuzaka these days (yet you're right, Noda is the series' true hikkikomori). Thanks for pointing that out, I'm glad you liked the chapter! And Zain, I hope this chapter lights up your week as well. Beware, this fic is meant to break hearts! But at least not in this chapter. Silver-Tritium-Proctractinium: I could just picture her blank stare as I wrote it; glad to hear I'm keeping her in character!
Enjoy!
[Chapter 23]: Sulk and Savor
With Fujimaki found, the group reached a compromise. Fujimaki had already made his grocery run, but he still wanted to hang out with the group and catch up, so he went with Shiina, Hinata, and Yui to the arts and crafts store while Yuri, Ayato, and Otonashi got Kanade her peaches.
Ayato was thrilled with the arrangement, but it turned out Yui wasn't kidding. Kanade ventured through the grocery aisles like a tortoise in no rush to beat the sleeping hare.
"They never go in for just one thing," Yui had texted him with an evil devil-horned smiley. "See you in five hours!"
Yuri had leaned over to read the text over his shoulder, then groaned in great horror.
"We're on a date with them, aren't we?" she'd intoned.
"I'm afraid so," he said gravely.
She'd snorted then, and grabbed him by the wrist to lead him out of the accursed produce section they'd been stuck in for fifteen minutes. If he looked at onions any longer he was sure he'd cry.
As he passively let her lead him through the aisles, watching her familiarize herself with structure and stocking changes, they both caught onto something rather quickly. A feeling, at first, then muffled whispers.
After a few minutes of this, it seemed to grate on Yuri's nerves.
"Why the hell do people keep staring?" she muttered aside to him. She ended her façade of a lingering investment in the chip bags, and cast an odd look over her shoulder until the fellow customers scurried past. When she was satisfied, she turned to him with a raised eyebrow. "Is there something so weird about me being back in town?"
"After leaving so abruptly, and being gone for several months?" Ayato mirrored her facial expression. "Yes. But it's also rare to see an estranged divorced couple shopping together."
Yuri frowned.
"Good point," she said after a pause. "It's too domestic."
"But we aren't really shopping together, are we?" Ayato said quickly, not wanting to scare her off or discourage her. He cracked a smile. "We were just… dragged here together by mutual friends, forced to get along at first… now united by a common ground of being utterly bored."
The grin returned to her face. "Is that the story we're using?" she asked, laughing.
He laughed too. "The real one is more ridiculous."
"So ridiculous I don't even know all of it." Yuri rolled her eyes, sighing heavily over the various snacks in front of her.
I can help you with that. The thought came to him again, but he didn't voice it this time. Yes, he still wanted her to know him, he wanted badly to exist to her as more than a new face in the Battlefront, but he'd made a vow to not push the hypnotism option. He always respected his vows, just as he respected her. Still, he was running out of ways to jog her memory.
Except for the walking bridge. The bridge held more sentimental value than anywhere else. He'd been thinking about it over the past week, and now he realized it would have to do. It was his best chance.
"Naoi?"
He glanced up abruptly, shattering his thoughts. Yuri was standing at the end of the aisle, giving him an expectant look. When she was satisfied she had his attention, she tilted her head, gesturing down another section.
"C'mon," she said, voice beckoning him like some kind of siren. "Last I checked, you were still out of dressing."
With that, she disappeared around the corner, her hair flying over her shoulders. He lingered for a few seconds, then snapped his fingers. He knew he'd forgotten something when he went to get Yui's stupid drinks. How did Yuri always know…? Damn psychic woman.
With a heavy huff that blew his bangs out of his eyes, Ayato followed her into the next aisle. Did Fujimaki know about her impeccable taste in dressings, oils, and sauces? Unlikely. He made sure to wipe away his smug grin by the time she turned around and shook the bottle triumphantly in his face.
Right place at the right time indeed. If the fool had showed up a few minutes later, he might've had the pleasure of shopping with Yuri Nakamura.
Despite Yui's five hour warning, Ayato and Yuri managed to navigate Otonashi and Kanade out of the store and into the arts and crafts place within forty-five minutes. Decked in devilish cat ears and a devil tail, Yui certainly looked surprised to see them.
Or, rather, horrified.
"Oh God!" she said in great distress, clutching Hinata's hand fearfully. "I thought we had more time!"
Ayato and Yuri exchanged puzzled glances.
"What's wrong?" Yuri asked, furrowing her eyebrows at the little devil woman.
"Do you know what you've done?!" Yui squeaked, with Hinata and Fujimaki looking terribly amused next to her. "You think Kanade takes a long time with groceries? You haven't seen anything! Look, you've already released the beast!"
Ayato looked over his shoulder in the direction she was pointing. In a nearby aisle, Kanade was rubbing her cheek on some pastel-colored fabric.
"So soft," she said lovingly.
Yui buried her head in Hinata's chest. "We're never getting out of here."
Yuri snickered at Yui's dramatics. Otonashi simply wandered over to join his wife in admiring the softness of the available fabrics, taking a special interest in the baby blue selection.
Ayato was not so distracted. "What about you?" he said to Yui, motioning towards Shiina. "It doesn't look like you guys are ready to go anyway."
The ninja in question was in another aisle not far off, admiring a few ceramic puppy figurines. Elsewhere, Ayato could hear the rattling, clicking, and barking of some toy dogs that were tightly wound up and skittering around the display. At least one hit the ground and kept going, probably not the first and certainly not the last. He had no doubt it was Shiina's doing.
"I gave her a fifteen minute warning," Yui huffed at him. "Who knew we had less than an hour? I should've texted you: wait for us outside."
"Oh, just let her have fun." Ayato was in a good mood, and Hinata looked bored, so that made him happier. "Yuri and I are good at pushing her out the door."
"Yeah, it's no harm," Yuri said, her own good mood carrying into her tone. She glanced towards Fujimaki, checking with him. "We didn't get anything perishable, right?"
Fujimaki looked at her slowly, curiosity etching into his features. Ayato didn't like the intrigued scrutiny behind his eyes; he had to repress a strong urge to make them glow red with the reflection of hypnotism.
"Nah, but…" Fujimaki rubbed his chin, considering. "Yurippe, are you and Naoi… together?"
Ayato blanched. How the hell did he read them like that? Was he being that obvious? And what business was it of his anyway?
Beside him, Yuri flinched at first, but covered it up with an easy smile.
"That's a long story, one we apparently have time for." She nodded at Ayato. "Why don't we tell you all the ridiculous details while we look around the store, and let the others do their thing?"
"I'm fine with that," said Fujimaki, tailing her as she headed towards the beads and ribbons section. He gave a throaty chuckle. "Tell me the truth – you got drunk and woke up with a ring on your finger, right?"
Ayato rolled his eyes, watching them disappear into the aisle. He wasn't looking forward to being the third wheel.
Yui's devilish cat ears drooped in disappointment. "I was going to tell him!"
"I gave you 45 minutes!" Ayato hissed.
Yui held her devil tail to her heart, looking deeply distressed and jealous. Before he followed Fujimaki and Yuri into the aisle to keep an eye and ear on them, Ayato frowned over his shoulder at her.
Good. If she kept it just like that and added an unwavering need to hit her own head against a wall, she'd have where he was at right now.
It was just as bad as he expected. He was the one trailing behind Fujimaki and Yuri when the aisle was only wide enough for two people. Fujimaki dug all he could from Yuri, even though she was the amnesiac. The glances he occasionally threw at Ayato ranged from suspicious to smarmy.
"Why do you think it didn't work out?" he asked her. And then, in a knowing and feigned warning tone, "Naoi, did you try to make her call you God in bed?"
"No!" Ayato was mortified; Yuri busted up laughing because Fujimaki was just so funny. "You idiot, we're in public!"
"I'm just curious," said Fujimaki, stretching his arms behind his neck as if proud of a joke well done. "You're the only one who knows what happened between the two of you. And all you've got to say is 'things fell apart'?"
"We weren't the same after the concert." Ayato closed his eyes, trying to tune him out and resist a few hypnotic urges. "The rest is none of your business."
Honestly. Everyone thought they had the qualifications to be a relationship counselor.
Fujimaki gave a rich, skeptical snort, then leaned in to whisper in Yuri's ear: "You dumped him so hard."
Ayato bit back a snarl. Yuri made a sharp disapproving noise and whacked Fujimaki on the arm as she shushed him. The apologetic smile she sent Ayato afterward soothed him at first, but then he wondered if it didn't look a little… pitying.
Ugh.
Why did everyone think one person had to have dumped the other? They were both sensible adults with the capability of coming to a mutual – albeit rushed – decision. They'd made it with muddled minds during a hectic night, but he still clearly recalled suggesting it and her angrily agreeing. He remembered the looks she'd given him when everything came rushing back. Disbelief at first, then sheer unease. Even though she'd thrown a fit when he started calling their bluff, he knew what he'd seen. Uncertainty – the likes of which he had felt in volumes that night.
He wished he could personally thank Fujimaki for the reminder.
The good news was that Yuri changed the subject; the bad news was, it changed to Fujimaki. Ayato returned to third wheel status while Yuri asked their newfound Battlefront member all sorts of questions about his new life in Mizuzaka, where he'd been before, and how he'd seen the concert. Ayato lingered over crafts here and there, doing his best to act just as invested in paints and paintbrushes as Yuri was in Fujimaki's every word.
Fujimaki, the considerate person that he was, let his booming voice carry throughout the store so that Ayato didn't miss a single detail. He regaled Yuri in tales of his home life growing up in Nerima, just him and his older sister Satone. He'd stayed around as long as he could to make sure her boyfriends didn't harm or disrespect her, but when an opportunity came along for him to move up in his career, she told him off and sent him packing. She said she could take care of herself, and that he hadn't been the same since he went to the concert with her. He was more ambitious and restless, like he was missing something. Satone told him she knew he'd find what he was looking for in Mizuzaka.
"She was right, as always," Fujimaki said, regarding Yuri fondly.
Shrugging, Yuri gave an enigmatic smirk as she walked ahead of him. "She's a big sister. What do you expect?"
The topic transitioned, thankfully, to Fujimaki finding a place. Ayato was grateful for all of two seconds, and then Fujimaki playfully tried to call him "roomie" again, and he had to find a respectful way to tell him exactly how funny he thought that was. He settled on saying, "I'll think about it," in a tone that suggested keep looking, simpleton.
While Ayato slowed to a stop to inspect some clay and tools in the pottery aisle, Yuri nicely helped Fujimaki keep his options open.
"Ryou has a guest bedroom," she said absently, picking up a bottle of lavender glaze. Then she shook herself out of a trance. "No, what am I thinking? A guy, staying at her place? You'd have Sunohara on your ass in seconds."
"Are you kidding?" Ayato snorted. He could already hear squeaks of terror – hypothetical music to his ears. "Fujimaki could punch that pipsqueak into dust."
Fujimaki beamed at him. "Thank you, Naoi."
Oh no, he'd paid him a compliment. Well, whatever. It was true. "I mean... would you? It'd be funny."
"For one night's lodging, I'll punch whoever you want."
Ayato rubbed his chin, mulling it over. Fujimaki wouldn't be that bad of a roommate. "Well…"
Yuri looked appalled at both of them. "You, stop putting a hit out on Ryou's boyfriend! You, stop considering it!"
Fujimaki and Ayato laughed uproariously.
Before Yuri could unleash any wrath, Hinata rounded the corner and interrupted the scene. He folded his arms across his chest, eyeing the trio with masked impatience.
"Alright, Kanade's actually burnt out so Yui wants to get out of here before she gets a second wind." He looked at Fujimaki and Ayato, frowning for some reason. "Are you rowdy kids finished loitering?"
"Sure," Fujimaki said, picking up a stray green ribbon that had been left among the clay scrapers. He held it up to his hair, looking very serious. "But I'm coming back later to look at more of these hair ribbons. Yurippe's not the only one who can pull off this look."
Hinata rolled his eyes. "Okay, weirdo, no one's denying that. Come on, Yui and Shiina are checking out."
Fujimaki, obviously pleased with himself, dropped the ribbon on the display shelf and was the first person to obediently walk past Hinata, followed by Yuri. While Ayato grazed the ribbon absentmindedly, noting its similarity to her Afterlife headband, he overheard her say, "You can borrow the hat sometime."
"White and pink aren't my colors, Yurippe. You know that."
Ayato frowned, but fell into step behind them. Flirting in front of the ex-husband should be considered bad form. He was a little irked with Hinata for starting that up again. Speak of the devil – Hinata followed alongside him, arms still crossed as they headed to the front of the store. Kanade was waiting outside the glass doors with Otonashi, staring in at them and happily satisfying her peach craving.
"So," Hinata said carefully, "what's all this talk about you and Fujimaki being roommates?"
Ayato threw his head back and groaned.
Fujimaki had to go drop his stuff off at the hotel, but he made a raincheck to meet up with the group at a restaurant called Nozu's for lunch. This gave Kanade time to take a power nap in the guest room, while Yui tried to dig into Kanade's peaches out of playful revenge for taking so long. Two peaches in, Shiina swiped the second fruit from her hand while Hinata pointed out that she'd just make them have to go back for more.
Somehow that dissolved into Yui wrestling Hinata on the floor, while Yuri, Otonashi, and Ayato had to dodge the flailing limbs. Ayato nervously kept watch over the furniture, but Otonashi was unimpressed after a moment and went into the kitchen to make coffee. Yuri eagerly followed after him to help him find the coffeemaker.
When did his TV room officially turn into the Battlefront Headquarters and all of its tumultuousness?
Ayato decided to take a page out of Yuri's book. He went into the kitchen and fetched a spray bottle from the pantry, then returned to the room and spritzed them mercilessly. "Break it up!"
Yui squeaked, hissed, and freed Hinata's neck before rolling away. Then the couple started laughing, falling back onto the carpet together and snickering into their hands like they hadn't just attacked each other. Ayato lowered the spray bottle in disbelief.
Otonashi peered out at them from the kitchen. "That's 92%," he said in passing.
Yui and Hinata laughed even harder. Ayato spritzed twice more at them, annoyed, and plopped down on the couch with a sigh. His friends were weird – but the affection he felt for them was downright baffling.
He let them do their thing for a while. Yui had brought her guitar this time, so she practiced a few Girls Dead Monster songs he vaguely remembered – "Thousand Enemies" and "Alchemy" – along with her own song "Storm Song," which he could admit wasn't that bad. Kanade had to be a deep sleeper like Yuri because Otonashi didn't seem too concerned by her playing.
In the corner, Shiina listened half-attentively, enjoying it in the background while she permitted Hinata to chat with her and admired the ceramic puppy she bought. Ayato hoped she wouldn't drop it. Not that it mattered, now that he thought about it – going by her track record, she'd probably catch it anyway.
Yuri came back into the TV room with a mug in hand and made him move his legs, which he'd perched on top of the armrest that wasn't occupied by his head. Placating her, he slid them aside and scooted over to make room. Appeased, she dropped down next to him and nursed her drink.
He did his best to be subtle as he looked at her out of the corner of his eye, considering. She really had no idea what had transpired between them the last few times they'd been on this couch together. Otonashi, the great friend that he was, sent him an inconspicuous headshake that made him realize he was borderline leering. He nipped that in the bud quick – just in time, too, because Yuri turned her head at that moment to meet his eyes.
"Don't tell Otonashi," she said under her breath, smirking, "but you make coffee better."
Otonashi frowned from the pass-through, looking mildly offended. Ayato smiled back at him shamelessly. Saturdays were officially his favorite day of the week.
Nozu wasn't close enough in terms of walking distance for Otonashi's comfort – apparently even after her nap Kanade wouldn't have the energy for it – so they piled into two cars and drove there. Hinata took Yui and Shiina in his car, while Ayato took Yuri and the Otonashis in his. Yuri teased him in the front seat about how hard he gripped the steering wheel with both hands like he was stressed out (she was one to talk). Little did she know it was his way of making sure he wouldn't grab her hand out of impulse.
Honestly! She kept putting her left hand in the middle like a little minx!
Hinata, Yui, and even Shiina were singing Girls Dead Monster songs at the top of their lungs when they pulled up beside them. Interestingly enough, Shiina had a good voice when she used it, and it didn't miss Yui and Hinata's notice. Ayato was pretty sure he saw both of them giving her the same damn moony eyes that Otonashi always gave Kanade. As it was, he thought he'd happily said his goodbyes to Hinata's singing voice during their Afterlife graduation. God help him. If he wasn't God himself, then God help him.
He felt himself grinning anyway, teasing Hinata all the way into the restaurant. So had he finally learned how to keep up with a song's tempo after all?
Fujimaki already had a table for eight reserved for them, with him sitting in the middle grandly like he was posing for a The Last Supper painting. Kanade took the seat to his right, across from Otonashi, while Yuri took the one to his left, and he looked too smug to be surrounded by women so Ayato snagged a seat next to Yuri. Of course, it planted him right in front of Hinata, who had made another Yui sandwich with Shiina, but it was a small price to pay to make sure Fujimaki's head stayed deflated.
Luckily, Ayato didn't find it too difficult to hog Yuri's attention. Fujimaki, who hadn't had a lot of experience with good Angel, looked at Kanade with interest as she cooed happily over the menu at a salmon entrée. He said something to her that made her giggle, and it was Otonashi who had to issue a good-natured "don't woo my wife" warning. Kanade held his hand over the table in reassurance.
Fujimaki smirked knowingly. "So that's why you always wanted her to join up with us."
"She turned out to be a great ally, didn't she?" Hinata said with a shrug, and turned to order green tea when the server popped up next to him.
Kanade leaned forward to beam across the table at him, misty-eyed. Ayato wasn't sure why she got so emotional from the sentiment. Hinata was practically her and Otonashi's neighbor back in Shibuya – yes, he was still jealous about that – and he apparently knew her enough to tell the server that her drink order was water with lemon.
Meanwhile, Fujimaki was shaking his head as he looked from Otonashi to Yuri.
"You two," he said, scoffing. "Otonashi. Yurippe. You accepted our enemies into the Battlefront at the drop of a hat." He swept a shit-eating grin around the table at everyone, though Otonashi was too busy giving his drink order to notice. "I guess now we know why."
Yuri fumed indignantly and buried her face into her menu. "I have no idea what you're talking about."
"She really doesn't," Ayato affirmed, vaguely amused.
By the situation, that is. He was already quite used to coping with her amnesia through humor. But even after the server passed and got the rest of their drink orders, Ayato found himself frowning over Fujimaki's comment. It implied that Yuri had been interested in him during their time in the Afterlife, which was of course completely unfounded. Why on earth would she have liked him back then? He was ruthless and bloodthirsty on his worst days, insolent on his best.
And yet… that did raise a question that had long been at the back of his mind. He'd raged a horrible, bloody battle against her group one rainy afternoon, and was sitting comfortably on her headquarters' couch reading a book the next. Why did she accept him so quickly?
Thinking back, it was probably for Otonashi's sake. He'd always figured as such, anyway. When she'd first sought him out to recruit him, he'd prided himself on the speculation that she had either recognized his superior battle tactics or been persuaded by Otonashi to let him join. Then she'd enlisted in his help to hypnotize Otonashi, and he chalked that one up as another possible reason.
Unlike what Fujimaki seemed to insinuate, he really didn't think there was more to it than that.
He tuned back in when the server placed his tea in front of him. Yui was ranting excitedly to Fujimaki about her not yet dead ambitions of seeing Girls Dead Monster brought back together, especially if she had to do it herself. Seconds after the group's collective "kampai," Yui had already downed half her soda, and was talking at him even faster. He actually seemed to be following along, grinning at her like he'd missed her animated chatter. Or he was a bigger fan of Girls Dead Monster than Ayato had thought.
"—and if Iwasawa's music is magical on her own, think of what GlDeMo could do together!" Yui glowed, her hands shaking around her third refill, and Ayato presently thought that maybe she didn't need a charm, she could power a devil tail just as efficiently on caffeine. "Hinata says that he always knew the band was enchanting. If we got them together for a live performance, everyone else would have another chance to remember everything! I think—"
"You're breaking my heart here, Yui," Ayato said gravely.
She twisted her features at him like he'd caused her great pain. "But we want you around because we like you, not because we're just using you."
"I see." He heaved a theatrically dejected sigh into his tea. "Nobody wants my hypnotism, is that right?"
Yui whined at him and kicked his leg. Indignant, he looked up and kicked back, only for Hinata to snarl in pain instead.
"Hey, that was my leg!"
"Even better," said Ayato, smiling.
Otonashi sent them a cross look from the other end of the table. "Boys," he said sternly.
Ayato frowned repentantly while Kanade giggled. Otonashi didn't have to be such a dad about it. It wasn't like he and Hinata were Hayato and himself, trying to push each other out of the plum tree. Though he felt guilty even slightly comparing Otonashi to a monster like Kimito. He wondered how his mother was doing…
"Anyways, Yui, we can't choose who we find next," said Hinata, draping an arm around his wife. He cast a sideways glance behind her. "Right, Shiina?"
"Correct. Fate decides the order."
"But what if I'm not talking about the charm!" Yui looked aggrieved, tapping her painted nails on her glass. "What if we take a break to find GlDeMo first? Since Iwasawa's the reason we remember each other in the first place? Or what if I go find them the way you guys found Naoi and Yurippe? I know I can!"
Otonashi shrugged. "Where's the fun in that?" he said with a chuckle. "I thought you were the one getting so passionate over charms lately."
"Because I thought maybe there'd be some stuff in there about magic in music," Yui sniffed. "And there was. A little."
"And now you're thinking about ditching us." Fujimaki did his best to sound betrayed.
Hinata looked unworried, but still curious as he studied his wife. "Haven't we been over this? Why are you so eager to run off to GlDeMo?"
"It's quite simple, really," said Shiina, impassive. "She likes Iwasawa better than us."
Yui looked badly conflicted, and made some upset noises at her while Hinata covered up a grin. She turned and buried her head into Hinata's shoulder, squawking something about the group being "so manipulative." Ayato resented the comment, as well as the leg kick from before, so he decided to wait a while before telling her about his theories on betting on someone and being the one to enact the charm.
"If it makes you feel better," Hinata said, lovingly patting her head, "you can do the charm the next couple of times."
While Ayato seriously contemplated betting on GlDeMo, Kanade hummed happily like she liked the idea. "That way you'll know if and when you're meant to meet her."
Reluctantly, Yui pulled away from Hinata, and mulled over the group's words.
"If," she scoffed, but she looked mollified.
When that was settled, and Yui was back to her old sunny self, Hinata shifted his gaze to Ayato's right with inquisitive eyes and a nosy grin.
"Yurippe, you've been staring down at the table quietly all this time. What are you studying so intensely?"
Yuri, who'd snapped her head up at the mention of her name, glared at Hinata defensively as a rosy tint colored her cheeks. "I was reading the menu!"
"Can't wait to hear the book report," Fujimaki said cheerfully.
She kicked him under the table and turned his laughter into a wounded grunt. Ayato picked up his own menu to disguise a grin; his ex-wife could be so vicious.
The server came back around and took their orders, and Ayato suppressed the urge to predict Yuri's order to her in the spirit of her little amnesia trivia game. He would have been right, by the way, but he didn't want to appear too smug. Coming on too strongly hadn't worked out well for him in the Afterlife when he was vying for Otonashi's affections. In fact, he regularly got the feeling that he was exasperating him, what with his eye rolling, blank looks, and unimpressed silences.
He didn't want that to happen with Yuri, so it was better to play it cool for now. In this life, he'd won her heart with subtlety and solidarity, and long-established, deep-rooted trust. And a little teasing thrown in here and there, because he never could help himself. Maybe if things weren't as different as he thought, he could do it again.
Kanade plowed through her salmon entrée at a terrifying speed and Yui drank two more refills of soda and broke the sound barrier rushing off to the bathroom twice. In her absence, Shiina and Hinata seriously discussed encouraging — or enforcing — caffeine-free alternatives. While Otonashi and Fujimaki laughed about a soccer game against Yui that Ayato was apparently never invited to, Yuri and Kanade chatted across the table over whether or not they should get dessert.
The server returned; Yuri and Kanade got two dishes and split a cake. Yui lingered hopefully but indecisively around the karaoke machine on her way back to the table, Hinata and Ayato kicked each other in the leg four and five more times respectively (Otonashi scolded them again but Ayato prided himself in having gotten the last jab), and Yuri knocked her elbow against his two more times than he considered accidental, which was curious but he gave her the benefit of the doubt.
Fujimaki repeatedly asked everyone if they dared him to go up and sing, only to be met with preemptive booing from Hinata, Otonashi, and Yuri. Kanade ventured in a soft voice that she thought he'd sound good, and Fujimaki broke into a heartfelt speech about how she was his only true friend.
All in all, an unsurprising lunch with the Battlefront. They all paid and moved on to the next adventure. Fujimaki, who had apparently walked to Nozu, hitched a ride with Hinata back to Ayato's place.
On the way home, Ayato clearly heard boisterous singing once more from Hinata's car. Fujimaki's voice was the loudest of them all.
(He rolled down the window and booed; Yuri roared with laughter.)
Preview:
"Tell her I said hello."
"Are you looking for a younger man?"
"Please give him a hard time for me."
"We still haven't taken our group photo yet."
"Don't tell. Show."
"What are you doing here?!"
"There is more than one way to inflict pain."
[Chapter 24]: Connection Breaks.
