CHAPTER ELEVEN – FRIDAY FUN (SayoHiro)

The last two days of the week seemed to drag on by for Akihiro. A grueling quiz for History and a pop quiz for Science had left him reeling yesterday. Thankfully, Friday decided to end on a boring but easy note with a particularly tedious discussion for Social Studies. As their professor droned on and on about sociology and humanities and other such things, Akihiro watched the classroom's wall clock tick away the school week's last few minutes.

At last, the bell rang, and almost immediately everyone seemed to be given new life. Their professor called out his last few reminders for next week's activities before promptly leaving the classroom, leaving 3-B to enthusiastically pack up their things and leave. An excited buzz of words and laughter filled the room as students began planning what to do or where to go for tonight and for the weekend. Akihiro didn't need to join any of them; Sayori already had something planned for the two of them.

A vibration in his left pocket told him that his phone had received a text message. Akihiro looked and saw that it was from Sayori.

"front door :)"

Without replying, Akihiro slung his backpack over his right shoulder and quickly walked out of the classroom, joining the throng of other students exiting the school. Just like she had said, Sayori was standing next to the school's main entrance by the time he got there. She beamed at him.

"Guess what?" she said excitedly.

"What?"

"My self-portrait did well!" Sayori exclaimed her reply as if she could no longer contain it. "They had us explain it in front of the class one by one, and our professor told me that my explanation was really good because, well, it fit what I did on the illustration board!"

Akihiro smiled. "That's really awesome to hear, Sayori. What explanation did you give?"

"Ah! Well, um. . ." For some reason, Sayori looked uneasy as the two of them exited the school together. "I d-don't remember exactly what I said," she said with a nervous laugh.

"Oh, come on!" Akihiro remarked. "I'm sure you remember at least some of it!"

"W-Well. . ." Like she always does when racked with pressure, Sayori began fiddling with her hands. "Um . . . I don't remember the exact w-words. . ."

Akihiro frowned thoughtfully at her. Sayori responded by simply smiling in a way like she had done something wrong; it was a look that he had seen before. As they walked past other students making their way home, Sayori still did not reply about anything. It only took a little more time, though, before Akihiro finally figured things out.

He looked at her with a sigh. "You used my interpretation, didn't you?"

Sayori's blush said it all, even if she began exclaiming, "Ah, n-no! What made you say that?"

Akihiro narrowed his eyes at her. "Sayori."

"W-What?" Sayori asked breathlessly.

"Sayori," he repeated.

"I didn't, I swear!" said Sayori in between more giggles.

"Sayori."

Sayori let out a long sigh as she turned even redder. "Well, I m-might have used a few of y-your ideas. . ." she replied. "Or m-most of them. . ."

"You mean 'all of them,'" Akihiro pointed out.

Sayori said nothing as she simply opted to fiddle with the ribbon on her uniform. She was still giggling, and Akihiro saw that she was sweating a little now. He sighed. "What am I gonna do with you, Sayori?"

"I'm really sorry!" Sayori cried out, grabbing Akihiro's arm as if to implore him to forgive a grievous offense. "It's just that I had to review last night for an upcoming History quiz, and I kinda forgot that I was supposed to prepare for my presentation. . ."

Akihiro sighed, patting Sayori's hand. "I get it. Besides, we also had that quiz, only it was yesterday instead of today. So what grade did you get for your self-portrait?"

Sayori coughed a little in her relief. Akihiro saw the redness on her face dissipate gradually. "I got an A. That's my first A in Art class, in fact! Isn't that awesome?"

Akihiro smiled. "Well, if you got an A out of it, that's good enough for me."

Sayori grasped his arm tighter in gratitude. "And that is why I texted you at lunch earlier and told you that we're going back downtown. Remember, I said last Wednesday that I'll pay you back for your help earlier this week, and this time, I want to keep that promise! Where do you want to eat?"

Akihiro sobered up. Again, though he always humored Sayori when it came to her promises, he never really felt sure about letting her keep them, especially if it involved repaying him on any favors he might have done for her. "Sayori, it's alright if you don't—"

"No, I insist!" Sayori exclaimed, and somehow Akihiro felt a slight pain on his arm as she gripped him tighter. "You always help me a lot, and I don't want you to think that I forget all that! B-Besides, you agreed to this last Wednesday!"

"T-That's . . ." Akihiro sighed again. "Okay fine, I may have said yes, but you know that I don't exactly force you to pay me back for the stuff I help you with, right?"

"I know that!" said Sayori. "But it's alright with me if I have to repay you, especially because I said I would! Now where do you w-want to go?"

Akihiro looked around and realized that, while arguing, they had unwittingly already entered the streets of downtown. He didn't know whether Sayori had steered him here intentionally and secretly by holding on to his arm, though he sensed that Sayori likely didn't even notice.

"Okay, okay, I'm going to let you get through with this," said Akihiro, and it was only at that moment that he felt Sayori's grip on his arm ease a little. "But on one condition."

"Yes?" asked Sayori, her face becoming expectant.

"You decide where we're going to eat."

Though they took around fifteen minutes to choose a suitable place, Sayori finally decided on a small diner named Starlight, which was deeper in downtown. According to her, she had heard quite a few of her classmates discussing the place's cozy ambience and good food, and that she had considered going there to eat, though not alone. Akihiro thought the place looked neat enough; whitewashed walls accentuated with pink formed much of its exterior, while neat little rows of potted flowers and plants served as additional decorations.

The interior looked just as well-ordered as the diner's outside look was. There were sets of white tables topped with red tablecloths, and matching chairs adorned with checkered poufs. The walls were decorated with cream-colored wallpaper as well as several paintings and posters, and the whole place was lit up by contemporary-looking wall lights. There were only a few people eating inside, and soon the two of them found a good place near one corner of the diner. Sayori was beside herself with awe as she glanced around at everything with her eyes wide open in wonder. Akihiro knew that she really liked the diner's predominant color mixture of white and red matching the paintings and lights.

As usual, the two of them left their things at their chosen table and went to the counter to order. As they were both unfamiliar with the Starlight's menu, they took their time choosing. Akihiro had to smile at the way Sayori was looking at the menu like it was a particularly close game of chess; her seriousness with food was not immediately made known in her average build, but she could eat twice more than he could at times.

After they had finished ordering and paying at last—katsudon for Akihiro, ramen for Sayori, and a small platter of sushi for both—the two of them went back to their table and began discussing what had happened at school. Almost immediately, Sayori began bemoaning the History quiz she had earlier, and she became even more worried when she shared what some of her answers were compared to Akihiro's. Akihiro assured her that she seemed to have gotten a good deal of the answers right, and that she had no need to worry about getting at least a B.

"Why aren't you carrying your self-portrait, by the way?" asked Akihiro when their food had arrived. Earlier that day, when he walked with Sayori to school, she had been carrying the self-portrait in her arms; she had wrapped it entirely in what looked to be a garbage bag to avoid drawing too much attention to it, though with her choice of material Akihiro knew that she only accomplished the opposite of what she wanted.

"Oh, the teacher wanted us to submit them all first," replied Sayori. "She said we'll be getting them back by Monday."

"Really proud of you getting that A," said Akihiro, grinning as he dug into his katsudon bowl with a spork. "Told you that you'd do fine."

"Hey, if you didn't help me with your interpretation, I never would've gotten that A, okay?" said Sayori. She took a deep breath of the ramen in front of her and sighed happily. "This smells really, really good."

Akihiro shook his head in amusement as he watched Sayori eat. Like what he often teased her for, Sayori was prone to spacing out whenever she ate something particularly good—that is, unless she chooses to try talking with her mouth full. Without anything else to say right now, Akihiro decided to join her and chow down on the katsudon. The first bite came as a pleasant surprise, for the tender pork cutlet with its scallions and egg yolk practically melted in his mouth.

"Well, your friends weren't wrong," Akihiro mumbled as he chewed. "The food here is awesome. Look, it even made me talk with my mouth full, like you do."

Sayori frowned. "I don't always do that," she responded.

Akihiro chewed and swallowed. "You're doing it right now, dummy."

Sayori paused for a moment, and Akihiro couldn't help but laugh at the image of her staring at him with a long string of noodles dangling from her mouth. In response, Sayori poked his nose lightly with her spork.

"Ah!" Akihiro cried out, rubbing his nose. "That could've gone up my nose, you know?"

"Serves you right, meanie," said Sayori as she wiped the spork with a piece of napkin.

Eating took a bit longer than Akihiro had expected, primarily because Sayori would often punctuate her bites of food with praises about how good everything tasted. Used to all this, Akihiro decided to just nod alongside her as he ate, though he privately agreed with everything Sayori was saying about good quality ingredients and noodle texture and the right degrees of taste. After all, he didn't want to be rude by cutting Sayori off in the middle of her monologues, especially when he was also prone to droning on about Lost Souls or Dungeon Delvers at times.

Sayori finished around ten minutes after he did. She put down her now-empty bowl and let out a satisfied sigh. "We really should come back here next week," she remarked immediately.

"Well, can't argue with that," said Akihiro, tapping his spork lightly against his katsudon bowl. "That's the best resto meal I've had in a while."

Sayori looked around the place once again. "Hmm. . . This place seems like a good spot for a date too," she said with a small smile.

"Eh? What do you mean?" asked Akihiro.

"The ambience," said Sayori. "The food, everything. It's just a little . . . romantic. I think the reason a few of my friends eat here is because this is where they have dates." She said the last part with a childlike giggle.

"Ah, well, you might be right," Akihiro replied with a shrug. "Pretty good place to eat out and cuddle up, it seems."

Sayori leaned a bit closer towards him. "Have you e-ever gone on a date, Akihiro?"

Akihiro stopped midway in lifting his glass of iced tea towards his mouth to drink. Struck by the suddenness of Sayori's question, he scratched his head as he suddenly felt nervous. "Of course not, dummy!" he replied. "W-What the heck made you say that?"

"Ah, nothing!" said Sayori, who for some reason looked nervous as well. "I just figured that you might be going out with . . . er, you know, someone. . ."

Akihiro stared at her. In all the years that they have been the best of friends, Sayori had never opened any topic that was connected to either of them seeing anyone. In all honesty, even if he had to bet up his leveled-up characters and progress in Dungeon Delvers and Lost Souls, Akihiro never mingled with any other girl extensively except Sayori. Naturally, he had a few friends here and there, both gamers and classmates, but no one came as close as Sayori did.

"Sayori, I'm an average guy who's also an occasional slacker and addicted gamer," he replied firmly. "It's tough for someone like me to ever socialize, let alone be really close to a girl. I'm practically stereotyped as a no-lifer once people get wind of my hobbies and interests."

"Eh? That's not true!" Sayori cried out, looking appalled. "I don't think you're that much of a slacker! And I'm s-sure that other girls would say as much!"

"I know, but the thing is, you know me better than anyone else does, so I guess that's a given," Akihiro went on. "Besides, I don't even go out that much, so I never meet anyone new."

Sayori stared at him for a long while. Her expression was mixed; in Akihiro's eyes, she seemed to have warring feelings of concern and embarrassment on her face. It was enough to make him even more anxious about the conversation.

"You should t-try going out more, Akihiro," Sayori finally murmured with a smile. "It's good to meet new friends, you know? It's a refreshing change of pace from any stuff you might find boring now."

Akihiro blinked. Was it his eyes, or did Sayori's smile seem to be a bit . . . sadder this time? And even the tone of her voice indicated that she was saying her words rather halfheartedly. Akihiro started to frown, trying to read beneath Sayori's expression and statements.

"Are you saying I might be starting to find you boring?" asked Akihiro.

Adding to his surprise, Sayori didn't react violently to his statement. She merely looked at him with the same sad smile she was wearing. "W-Well . . . Don't you find me boring already, Akihiro?" she said quietly.

Akihiro couldn't believe his ears. "Sayori, we've been best friends for . . . for, um . . . see, I can't even remember exactly how long we've been best friends, but it's been years and years! We've known each other even before we were in elementary school, and our parents even know each other! Even now, we're still really good friends, and suddenly you're asking me if I find you boring?"

Sayori let out a sigh and bowed her head. Her pensive smile never left her face. "It's just that . . . a t-thought that came into my head, Akihiro. I'd be lying if I said I didn't think about it a few t-times before already. . . I know I'm your best friend, and I'm really thankful for that. Just . . . don't let me s-stop you from meeting new friends and having fun with others, alright? I might be, um, holding you back, or I might be just dead w-weight to you right now. . ."

"Sayori!"

A few people in the diner raised their heads at Akihiro's exclamation, but he couldn't help it. What he was hearing just kept startling him, just as his cry startled Sayori a little. That Sayori would suddenly open up such sentiments to him and say such things, it made Akihiro feel like he had done something horribly wrong for her to suddenly feel so sad and guilty. When he spoke again, Akihiro decided to tone down his voice, though he kept the firmness in it.

"You're not dead weight, alright? I never thought of you as dead weight o-or inconvenient or anything like that. I've always seen and treated you as my best friend, the one who knows me best, the one whom I've had fun and good times for years now! I may like joking around about your behavior and quirks, but you know I never mean any of them! I never joke around just to show you that you're being annoying or distracting or childish or anything! If any of my jokes ever made you feel bad, then I'm really sor—"

To his surprise, Sayori reached out and patted his hand. Her touch felt warm, though Akihiro could feel her fingers trembling against his. "You don't have to apologize, silly," Sayori said softly. "It's not your fault or anything. In fact, I think it's more of my fault for always taking up a lot of your time."

"You're not," Akihiro muttered sternly. "I'm glad you're taking up a lot of my time. If you didn't, I'd be wasting everything on my games and anything that will help me slack off! I have more fun spending time with you than I do leveling up my characters!"

Sayori bowed her head, as if she didn't want Akihiro to see her face completely. "I don't t-think I'm that fun to be with. . ." she murmured very softly. Her hand never left Akihiro's, but it was limp and almost lifeless except for the way it still trembled. Akihiro stared at her, his mind racing furiously. Wordlessly, Sayori began to withdraw her hand from his, but Akihiro had had enough. He reached after it and grasped it.

Sayori's eyes widened, and Akihiro was glad that his touch made her look up. He could see patches of red intensifying on her cheeks. To reassure her, Akihiro grinned at her. "You say you're not fun to be with?" he said. "Well, let's find out if that's true, shall we?"

Determinedly, he stood up and practically pulled Sayori along with him. With his free hand, he picked up both of their school bags and marched her out of the Starlight, quickening his pace with every step. Though he was careful not to drag her behind him, Akihiro made it a point to convince her to follow as quickly as he moved. He looked back and saw Sayori practically holding onto her hair bow as they moved. She cried out, "What on earth are you doing, Akihiro?"

Akihiro smiled at her again. "We're going to go have fun."

The arcade was the first place Akihiro decided to take her to. It was a bit noisy and crowded, and Sayori expected Akihiro to just go to one of the arcade machines there to play and keep playing while she watched. But instead of doing that, Akihiro once again turned to her and asked her what she wanted to do. When she couldn't answer, Akihiro took her for a tour around the arcade, showing her all the colorful machines and games that many people of varying ages were eagerly and happily playing on. Though she had never ever tried playing any type of video game or arcade game in her life, Sayori could not help but be stirred by the excitement and joy inside the arcade's lively environment. However, her shyness began to combat her own thrill, so she wondered in the end whether Akihiro would settle for several trips to the claw machines as her idea of "fun."

To her mounting wonder and elation, not only did Akihiro take her to bag a prize at the claw machines, but he did so by helping her with all of them instead of simply standing by and watching. It took a bit of time, and Sayori found herself giggling every time Akihiro buried his face in his palm in mock frustration when he failed to bag a prize. By the time they exited the arcade, though, Sayori already had five extra stuffed toys to add to her collection at her apartment, all hard-won thanks to Akihiro. Two of them went in Akihiro's backpack, while two went in Sayori's bag; Sayori carried the last one in her free arm as they walked out, with Akihiro once again holding her by her hand. Sayori could not help but smile as she looked at him. Meanwhile, Akihiro simply took the lead as they entered their next venue: the night market.

Sayori had only ever gone down to the night market once, and that had been with her classmates. She had never tried going there alone, mainly because of the distance between her apartment unit and downtown, so going there with Akihiro seemed like a whole new experience for her. Even Akihiro himself admitted that he had never gone down to the night market that often. Sayori took the time to observe everything that seemed to make the night market beautiful as the sunset faded: lanterns of different colors illuminating the area, stalls with multicolored tarps and decorative signs bearing shop names, neat little rows of wares and toys on display for prospective buyers, and the sights and smells of hot food and refreshments enticing people to stop by and indulge. Before Sayori could even say or do anything, Akihiro asked her if she was already hungry again.

At first, Sayori shot a sullen look at him, thinking that he was once again making fun of her, but Akihiro had told her resolutely, "Sayori, I'm not here to make fun of you, I'm here to make fun with you. I know you wanna eat again, so we're gonna do just that if you want!"

In fact, Akihiro didn't budge until Sayori finally—and honestly—admitted that she was hungry again. In response, Akihiro toured her around every food stall in the night market and let her pick what and where she wanted to eat, something that took them a good ten minutes. Sayori was once again startled when Akihiro began taking money out of his own pocket to pay for everything. In the end, she managed to force him to split the bill between the two of them by telling Akihiro that she wouldn't feel too happy if he shouldered everything on his own again—that, and also with the indirect help of what Akihiro called her puppy-dog eyes.

They spent a good thirty minutes eating takoyaki, yakitori and korokke, with Sayori enjoying every little bite as she watched Akihiro eat as well—though he did so a bit sparingly. Though she was trying her best not to make Akihiro feel left out or forced to be with her, Akihiro insisted that he was fine with just watching her enjoy herself. Soon, Sayori began to feel even more lighthearted than she had been at the end of their meal at the Starlight. In spite of what she had said earlier there, she felt at peace with everything.

Her only regret was that the day had to end.

"Well, here we are." Akihiro's voice made her blink, and Sayori realized that they were already at her apartment unit's front door. Quickly, she retrieved her apartment key from her skirt's pocket and opened the door.

"Holy crap," said Akihiro as he looked around. "You . . . actually cleaned up everything."

True to what she had started last Wednesday, Sayori had taken the time to start cleaning up her room and keeping it that way. Her bed covers were now neatly made, and her pillows occupied only the bed and not the floor. Her other school things—books, notebooks, papers and other such things—were arranged in their respective areas on the bookshelf next to Sayori's desk and laptop. Her stuffed animals, instead of being scattered across the room, now sat neatly on the windowsill next to the desk. Even her small kitchen, which was usually littered with food wrappers and empty plastic cups, felt the effects of her cleaning, and both the countertops and the sink were wiped clean.

"Well?" asked Sayori excitedly. "Didn't I tell you I would do it?"

"I'm speechless," Akihiro mumbled. "Not to mention really self-conscious about my own apartment unit right about now."

Sayori blushed. "Well, it took a lot of time and effort, but it was well worth it!"

They both set down their bags, and Sayori began adjusting the old stuffed animals she had on the windowsill to make room for the five new ones she had won at the arcade: a penguin in a top hat, a wide-eyed brown bear, a sea lion in a tutu, a grumpy-looking bulldog, and a chubby giraffe. Sayori beamed at the sight of them on the windowsill; there were now eleven of them all in all.

"Now they're gonna keep watch and make sure you don't mess your room up again," said Akihiro. He took on a high-pitched squeaky voice and began crying out jokingly, "Yes, Miss Sayori, please don't mess us up again! Akihiro told us that we won't last long on the window! Please don't punish us anymore! We like it here!"

Sayori poked his side with her finger, but she laughed nonetheless. She turned to the stuffed animals and spoke in a very motherly manner. "Don't worry, my fluffy friends. I won't forsake you! The window is your new home!"

Akihiro laughed as he picked up Sayori's favorite stuffed toy—a fat panda holding a microphone—and began waving its arms around like a puppet master would. He resumed speaking in that same squeaky voice, this time with a sad tone. "B-But Miss Sayori, Akihiro told us that we'd be back on the floor by tomorrow, cold and neglected! He told us that you'll soon start messing up your room again like before! Is that true?"

Sayori giggled even louder, and while she tried her best to keep this skit going, she was having difficulty holding back her laughs. She snatched the panda from Akihiro and patted its head softly. "Don't listen to anything this big bad meanie says! I will protect you, and I'll make sure that you and your friends won't have to go back sleeping on the floor!"

For a long while, the two of them laughed and poked fun at one another, and Sayori could feel her doubts earlier begin to evaporate. She looked at Akihiro warmly, and time seemed to slow down a little as she did. Here he was, her best friend, a friend who always teased her for her blunders and mishaps, but also a friend who was ready to help her with virtually anything and everything. Her fun evening with him was but another testament to that, and Sayori was incredibly touched at the initiative he had taken just to show her that he indeed appreciated her company.

Like their downtown adventure, though, their apartment fun had to end as Akihiro readied himself to go home. "You'll still be online tonight, right?" he asked. "Besides, it's alright if you oversleep this time. It's the weekend!"

Sayori frowned petulantly at his remark about oversleeping. "Yes, I'll be online. How about you?"

Akihiro shrugged as he slung his backpack on his shoulder. "I might be playing Dungeon Delvers again, but I dunno. I'll be online one way or another, though. Count on that."

Sayori clasped her hands together and bowed her head. She let out a sad sigh. "Thanks, Akihiro. Thank you so much."

Akihiro patted her on the arm. "You're welcome," he replied. "I really hope you had fun. I know I did. If you wanna do this again, well . . . all you have to do is ask," he added with a wink. "Chat you later!"

And with that, he was gone again. Sayori looked up at the door, her lip curling as she held back the urge to cry then and there. She wanted to say a lot of things, but she couldn't bring herself to speak of them, not after what she had said at the Starlight. Fear and anxiety had gripped her then as she felt that she might have been saying more than she should, and it was nothing short of a miracle that Akihiro responded to everything the way he did. The gratitude and happiness she had from her day with him never left her. It was a memory that she would treasure forever, and undoubtedly dream about.

Now, though, it was back to normal for the two of them. Why does everything have to end with you closing my door, Akihiro?

She turned her head towards her stuffed toys, which were all watching her innocently from their spot on the windowsill. With a determined sigh, Sayori walked over to the window, picked up the brown bear she had won from the arcade, and ran out after Akihiro.

"Akihiro!" she yelled as she bolted down the stairs and out of the apartment's front door. "Akihiro, wait!"

Akihiro was only a few meters down the street when she whizzed past the front gate of her apartment. "Akihiro! Wait!"

Thankfully, Akihiro stopped and looked behind him. Even from a distance, Sayori saw his eyes widen in surprise. "Sayori?" he called out.

Sayori quickened her pace, and she was grateful for Akihiro running back to meet her. She skidded to a halt before she ran full speed into him. Before Akihiro could say anything, she held out the stuffed bear with both of her hands.

"Please take it," she said breathlessly.

". . . W-What?" Akihiro seemed at a loss for words.

"Take it."

"Sayori—" Akihiro began, but Sayori looked at him imploringly.

"You won this as m-much as I did," she said in between her gasps for air. "Take it. Please. It's a gift from me to you."

"B-But—"

"No 'buts,' Akihiro, p-please!" Sayori exclaimed. "If I could give you everything else, I would!"

Akihiro's expression softened even further, and Sayori once again saw that he was blushing—a very rare sight indeed. In spite of everything, Sayori was determined to give the bear to him. He stammered, "B-But . . . you know that I won that for you."

Sayori felt her heart flutter a little. "I k-know that," she said, smiling. "But I really want you to have it, okay? B-Besides . . . he matches your hair."