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Twenty minutes after I received my tyrannical orders, I was at the bicycle parking area, completely at a loss.
Just as Yukinoshita said, motivating Yuigahama to return to the Service Club was our number one priority. It wasn't like I had any objections to Yuigahama coming back or anything. Now that I'd already hit the reset button, there should be an appropriate distance between us. There would be no problem if I could just maintain that distance.
Now then, how could I get Yuigahama motivated?
It wasn't like I could just throw a lasso around her neck and drag her back, and asking her straight out to come back would bring out the unpleasant atmosphere from before, which really didn't appeal to me.
So now what? I thought about it for a bit. But… I didn't know. Should I apologise? Nah, it wasn't like I did anything wrong…
My fights with Komachi always ended in quite a vague sort of way. Somehow I got the feeling things work out on their own this time…
As I was scratching my head with a stiff expression on my face, I heard someone call out to me all of a sudden. "Hachiman? Oh, it really is you, Hachiman." When I turned around, Totsuka Saika was fidgeting shyly, the brilliant glow of the evening sun shining down upon him. The dust in the air turned to particles of light just from him standing there ‐ Totsuka was a total angel.
I was instantly entranced, but I decided to act as coolly as it was humanly possible to do. "Yo."
"Yo to you too." Totsuka raised one hand as if he was trying to imitate me. The brusque gesture must have embarrassed him, because he laughed sheepishly and a bashful smile came over his face. God damn it, he was too cute. "Are you going home now too, Hachiman?"
"Yeah. So is the tennis club also done for the day, Totsuka?" Totsuka, who was dressed in his jersey, adjusted the racquet on his back and thought about it for a little before shaking his head.
"Not yet, but I get coached at night so… I left ahead of time."
"Coached?" What, was Totsuka just so cute he was attending the Okinawa Actors School to become an idol? Right, I'll buy 100 of his CDs! I mean, I'd buy as many as needed so I could draw out a handshake event ticket.
"Mm, at tennis school, you see. The club here focuses mainly on practicing the basics."
"Ohh… you're quite the professional."
"I‐it's nothing to brag about, really… but… it's what I love."
"Huh? Sorry, could you say that again?"
"Um… it's nothing to brag about?"
"No, the bit after that."
"…w‐what I love."
"Okay, got it this time." I mentally pressed the save button and carved his words into my heart.
As I sighed with bliss, a bemused Totsuka cocked his head slightly and made a puzzled noise. Anyway, I had achieved my goal. Mission complete.
"Oh, sorry about that," I said. "So you're going to get coached, right, Totsuka? Yeah. Later, then." Waving casually, I got on my bike and was about to start pedalling. Yet at that moment, I felt a tug of resistance against my back.
When I turned around, Totsuka was clutching my shirt. "Um, you know… coaching happens at night. So I have a bit of time before then… it's close to the station, so… I can just walk straight there… I mean, do you want to hang out for a while?"
"Wha…"
"If you're free, that is…" I doubted there was anyone in the world that would refuse after being asked out like that. Like, even if I had to go to a part‐time job after that, I'd be confident taking a day off from work. I'd probably get sick of working and quit altogether thanks to him.
If this were a girl inviting me, I'd first check my surroundings for her friends forcing her to play a penalty game, and even then I'd turn her down just to cover my bases, but… Totsuka was a boy. …a boy, damn it.
But still. I was cushioned by an absolute sense of security because Totsuka was a boy. In his case, he could be as nice as he liked to me without me misunderstanding. If I confessed to him with my overwhelming passion and got turned down harshly, it wouldn't inflict too much damage on me. Then again, confessing and so forth to a boy would cause me no end of damage socially.
That being the case, I found I had no reason to refuse him. "Sure, it's not like I had anything better to do than read a book at home."
There was nothing really surprising about that. Read a book, do some math, worry about Azathoth, study when I was bored ‐ those were my prospects. My life was just so full of fun and games, it was my curse.
"I see, that's good to hear… s‐so shall we go to the station?"
"You gonna ride behind me?" I asked, patting my bike's seat lightly. It was not so unusual for two guys to ride on a bike together. More like it was a common sight. So I did not think there was a single thing that was strange about Totsuka sitting on the bicycle seat, wrapping his arms around me and saying, 'Hachiman… your back is so broad.'
But Totsuka shook his head. "I‐it's fine. I'm heavy, you see…"
Whichever way you squinted, he looked lighter than a girl did… I was about to say something to that effect, but I held myself back and answered only with an "I see."
Totsuka didn't really like being treated like a girl. "It's a bit of a hike to the station, but let's walk there together." With a bashful smile, Totsuka started down the path.
I followed a step behind, pushing my bike along. Along the way, he would look up at me from time to time, as if he was peeping at my expression. He took five steps and peeped at me, and then at eight steps he peeped again. Um, he really didn't have to worry so much about whether I was actually following him.
Without saying anything to each other, we turned at the corner of the park adjacent to Saize and advanced onto the path past the pedestrian bridge. Like a middle school couple on a date, the right opportunity to open our mouths slipped away in front of us, even as we exchanged furtive glances.
There was a sweet agony to it. My heart throbbed so much I thought I would die.
The bridge crossing over the national highway was a two‐layered structure; the automobiles were on the top layer and the pedestrians were on the bottom one. As the wind blew the exhaust fumes away, a cool breeze carried over to the shade.
"What a nice breeze, Hachiman." As if on cue, Totsuka turned around on the fifth step.
I wanted to take a photo of that invigorating smile of his and save it as a JPEG ‐ it was that kind of beautiful early summer scene. "Mm yeah," I said. "This would be the perfect place to have a nap."
"Hachiman, you sleep so much during recess and you still want to sleep now?" Totsuka said with a giggle ‐ although he was wrong about me. I didn't have anyone to talk to in particular, and since there was nothing to do but worry about being watched by the many eyed god I decided I'd rest my eyes.
"You know, in Spain they have a tradition called the siesta, and depending on how you do it, your sleepiness and sluggishness go away and your work efficiency rises in the afternoon. I heard it's common over there."
"Wow… you really put a lot of thought into your sleeping habits, Hachiman."
"Er, I guess." Of course, I didn't intend that at all and just made up a whole lot of bullshit, but he lapped it all up anyway.
That threw me off a little bit. I was kind of baffled over how much faith Totsuka had in me, judging by easy it was to pull the wool over his eyes. He could get taken advantage of by a bad guy one day, which was worrying. I had to protect him!
Once we finished crossing the pedestrian bridge, it wouldn't be long until we reached the station. The two of us progressed on the path straight ahead at the speed we had become accustomed to. As the station came into view, Totsuka's walking pace slackened somewhat. He seemed to be torn about where to go.
"Where are you going?" I asked.
"Um… somewhere to relax for a short time."
"…so you've built up some stress, I take it?" What was this paralysing sense of guilt that came over me? Oh, yeah, it reminded me of that one time our cat only hung around me and I pestered him so much I ended up getting scalped… and thanks to that, our cat still wouldn't let me hold him in my arms to this day.
When you pestered these domestic pet‐types too much, they really built up stress, you know. It was best to step lightly when it came to Totsuka.
"Er, uh, it's not about me…"
"I don't really understand what you're getting at, but you could go to karaoke or to the arcade, I guess."
"Either one is fine?" Totsuka asked me in indecision.
That got me thinking for a while. Karaoke was bound to be relaxing. It felt quite good to silently go on inputting songs by yourself and to sing your heart out on a superb song. Only, your throat and your spirit were already wrecked by the fifth number, and when the shop assistant came in with the drinks and saw you like that, words could not express how disheartening it felt. And that feeling of 'What am I doing with my life…?' after you finished was just awful.
The arcade was similarly relaxing. The fighting games were monopolised by the veterans, and any plebs who came in were just easy pickings. You could have fun playing the quiz games. Since internet competitions were all the rage these days, national‐level challengers and tournaments had also popped up too. It certainly feels good to whisper "Heh, ignorant fools" as you wipe the floor with your opponents. It would take me three hours to realise I was aiming for something on the scale of conquering Shanghai or the Great Wall of China and that it was a colossal waste of time. That feeling of 'What am I doing with my life…?' after I finished was also strong.
Which was why I didn't go to the arcade or do karaoke that much. I just studied my heart away and thought about scary things. Like dying. The fact that either way it would end in me wondering what I was doing with my life was quite a problem.
Karaoke or the arcade ‐ it was in the vein of the Dotch Cooking Show where you were forced to pick one. That was Chiba for you. I came prepared for moments like these.
"Well, if we go to the Big Mu, it has both those places."
The Big Mu was a multi‐purpose amusement park, so naturally it came equipped with a karaoke bar, an arcade and even a bowling center, billiards room and tavern. Well, the gaming areas were populated by all the usual suspects, so in the event we did go I wanted to take enough self‐defence measures beforehand.
"I see… then let's go to the Big Mu."
At Totsuka's urgings, I pushed my bike out of the traffic circle at the station and stopped it at the bicycle parking area at the Big Mu.
Once we reached the top floor on the elevator, we walked to the arcade, having decided to check that place out first. When I put my foot in the hall, it was as if I was dragged into a flood of sounds as a whole different world opened up in front of me in a flash: twinkling decorative lights, tobacco smoke rising on end, the cries of laughter that refused to be drowned out by all the cacophony.
Right in front of me, there was a crane game corner.
The instant I saw a couple operating the crane, making a god awful noise with their laughing, I wanted to go home. Damn it, Delinquent‐san, what was taking you guys so long? Please hunt down these plebs already, and while you're at it, please do the police a favour and beat each other up…
The boy seemed to be having a tough time with the crane game, since he was negotiating with one of the employees and having one of the soft toys moved for him. It looked like getting the toys for your customers was part of the service these days. Sure was getting more slack these days…
Slipping past the couple, Totsuka and I turned to the video game corner.
"Whoa, this is so cool…" Totsuka blurted out.
It was a sight I wasn't well accustomed to either, but it seemed for Totsuka it was shiny and brand new. There were fighting games in front of me, and at the heart of the arcade, there were tabletop‐type games like puzzles and mahjong, with the shooting games squeezed in between. To my right was the card games table. It seemed in this arcade, card games were particularly successful.
The fighting games and mahjong were reasonably popular, while only a couple of people were scattered here and there for the quiz game. Where you really couldn't let your guard down at was the shooting games and the puzzle games. Sometimes, you came across zombie‐ like people who didn't seem to have any life outside of getting stupidly high scores, and sometimes a crowd gathered around them to watch as they played.
"Hachiman, what do you usually play?"
"Uh… the quiz game and Shanghai, I guess."
As you'd expect, I wasn't able to say strip mahjong.
Anyway, if it was just the two of us playing around, the quiz game was a safe option. The Quiz Magic Academy game I usually played was tucked away near the fighting games.
"Totsuka, over here," I said, waving as I spoke because of our noisy surroundings.
Totsuka nodded, and then he clung to the sleeve of my shirt. Well, uh… I guess since it was Totsuka's first time coming here and all, he pretty much had to do this so he wouldn't get lost.
Yep, there was nothing unnatural about it at all. It was the very epitome of natural. It was super natural. Then, as we were passing through the fighting games corner, I caught sight of a familiar coat‐wearing figure.
His arms were folded imperiously and he wore power bracers around his wrists, and every time he cackled in laughter, the bun tied at the back of his head wobbled a little bit. He was standing with a bunch of people gathered around the fighting game players, and occasionally, he'd whisper something to another person and they'd make friendly chatter.
"Um, Hachiman…" Totsuka's expression had confusion written all over it. "Is that Zaimo‐?"
"That's someone else." I interrupted his question.
Sure, he looked familiar. But we didn't know each other.
There was no one among my acquaintances who could talk so comfortably to another person. After all, he was that guy who had no friends.
"Oh, I see… I thought it was Zaimokuza‐kun…"
"Damn it, Totsuka, don't call out his name."
"Hmm? A voice speaketh my name… my oh my! If it isn't Hachiman!" …so he noticed us, huh.
Zaimokuza, who had at some unknown point in time made up his mind to hang around the two of us, went on wheezing until his shoulders shook. He wiped his sweat with his sleeve, as if he had no time to spare for my lazy objection.
"Hey, Zaimokuza, was that guy from before your friend or something?"
"Nay. He's an Arcanabro."
"Uh, I wasn't asking to know that guy's handle name, you know."
"Hm? That's not his handle name. His handle name is Ash the Bloodhound."
"How cheesy…"
"When he finally knocks his opponents out in Tekken, they get furious and punch and kick the machine and the ashtray, but the ashtray part really caught on and made him infamous. He's a veteran at the Big Mu. His real name's a mystery. Everyone calls him Ash‐san, you see."
"Oh, I see…" Wow. That was probably the most useless information ever. I could not think of a single occasion where knowing the origins of Ash's name would come in handy.
"Okay, so what's an Arcanabro?" Totsuka, who had been listening to the conversation, asked the exact same question at the exact same moment I did. Seriously, Zaimokuza, stop assuming we understand your jargon. (Not that I was exactly dying to know.)
"Well, it refers to someone playing the same game as you. You can use it for titles and regions. For instance, you could say, 'Among Arcanabros, the Chibabros are the biggest trash of the lot.'" Chibabros, trash… I liked that word ‐ Chibabro. Mainly for the Chiba part.
"Soooo, was he your friend?" I asked.
"Nay, he was an Arcanabro."
"So you're saying he's not your friend…" Talking to Zaimokuza tired me out. We were both Japanese, but we didn't speak the same language. What the hell? Seriously, what language was Arcanabro even from? Did the bro in Arcanabro come from brother? Well, I guess that word was used to refer to people in your in‐group.
Zaimokuza pondered slightly over my question. "Hm, I wonder. We talk when we meet up and we text each other battling tips. We go to events outside the prefecture together too… and yet, I know naught of his true name, nor of what he does for a living. I speak only of gaming and anime to him." He paused. "H‐hey, would you call Ash‐san my friend?"
"Don't ask me… didn't they teach you not to answer a question with a question at school?"
"Hmm, I feel more comfortable calling him my gaming comrade than my friend. To me, that is a word I can place more faith in than 'friend'."
"Gaming comrade, huh… I like how it's easy to understand. It's got a nice ring to it." It sure beat the vagueness of the word 'friends', so I was kind of partial to that expression. There are many things in the world that cannot be defined but are so easily used in conversation. Like, instead of saying marriage or love or romance, it would be easier to comprehend if people said they wanted a relationship of mutual gain, or they wanted your money, or they wanted to look good in the eyes of society, or they wanted to have descendants, and so on. Saying you want someone for their money is really horrible, though.
"Indeed," said Zaimokuza. "In other words, you could say you and I are gymbros, Hachiman."
"Huh, you think?"
Somehow, he made that sound distinctly unappealing, which kind of turned me off. Basically, he was saying that among Soubu Highbros, the gymbros are the biggest trash of the lot. Still, I had to thank Zaimokuza for clarifying that we were not friends. We just had to talk to each other since we were gymbros.
"Okay," said Totsuka, "so if I get paired up with you in gym class, Hachiman, we're gymbros too."
"Oh, y‐you think…?" So Totsuka and I weren't friends, huh… that came as a shock. I needed only to wait, though. If we weren't friends, the possibility that we could be lovers still remained, after all. Yeah, baby! Crap, I was screwed either way.
"Still, it's amazing how you make so many acquaintances through gaming," Totsuka remarked.
"Hm. I‐is that so?" Zaimokuza answered tremblingly.
"Oh, I think that's pretty cool too," I said. "Here I was thinking it was more of a loner thing."
"No, that is by no means the case. There are national‐level team battle tournaments for fighting games like Gekido. They're quite intense. At the old tournaments there were also events where warriors would duke it out for the sake of their fallen gaming comrades. Everyone in the hall would get so emotional. It was enough to make me shed a tear too."
"Sounds like Koshien."
"Mm, I suppose it is."
Well now… so even this guy had a community he fit right into, surprisingly enough.
"Whoa, that's so cool…" Totsuka clapped his hands together in praise.
With that, Zaimokuza started getting carried away all of a sudden. As soon as a topic we loners knew a lot about came up, the blabbering would start right away. It was a bad habit of ours. "Indeed it is so! Games are marvellous things in general, not just fighting games. To begin with, fellow gamers make games together, which are then enjoyed by other fellow gamers, some of whom will go on to create the next generation of games. Is that cycle not beautiful? One day, I too shall stand among the creators."
"Huh? You're gonna be a game creator, Zaimokuza‐kun? How cool!" said Totsuka.
"I‐indeed! Ohohohohoho!" …um, what?
"What happened to your dream of becoming a light novelist…?"
"Oh, that. I quit," he declared readily without any hesitation whatsoever. "So you switched careers yet again…?"
"Well, a light novel author is self‐employed, after all. There is no insurance if you fail and one must continue writing for countless years on end. Earning money is no guarantee regardless of how much you write, which is a terrible concern. A game company is preferable in that regard, for just being at the office would guarantee you a salary."
"You're just out to make yourself feel good, you piece of trash!"
"Hmph! As if you can talk, Hachiman!" He had a point. I didn't really consider my studies work so I was little better than a house husband.
"But you don't have any game making skills," I pointed out.
"Hmph. In that case, I will be the game scenario writer. That will make use of my ideas and my literary prowess. I will live a stable life making the things I love with the company's money!"
"I‐I see… good luck…"
I didn't give a shit anymore. I felt like an idiot for thinking about that guy's future seriously for even a moment.
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-WG