Once a NEET always a NEET 5
It was night time when Kazuma woke up again after drowning in a pit of sadness, despair, and unwantedness, where he saw that his roommates were going about their daily activities once they returned home from school.
"Hey Kazuma, we left you your burger on the table" said Megumin as she was playing TF2, specifically the Demoman.
Without saying a word, Kazuma grabbed his dinner before going back to his room, but as he did he bumped into Aqua who was coming out the bathroom.
Before Aqua could get in a word, Kazuma slipped passed her, but not without Aqua getting a good look of his face, where it spoke a lot more than he was willing to say to the girls, especially how he was feeling.
"Did you notice how different Kazuma has become" commented Darkness as she saw Kazuma as he put himself together now and how he remained silent.
"Girls I think we may starting to have a serious problem at hand here" said Aqua as she came into the living room.
"Is everything alright Kazuma" asked Megumin as she quit the lobby she was playing, "I don't think so, he's clearly sad and depressed, when I saw his face, it was grosser than usual with tear marks staining his face" said Aqua.
"Ignoring your blatant rudeness, that does sound like a serious problem" said Darkness as Aqua was ready to protest that's her being blatantly honest, but was right that she was just being rude.
"Ok so what should we do" asked Megumin with concern, "Well we have Subaru and his friends coming over to apologize to Kazuma today, maybe they'll have better progress in getting him out of his room and forgive us" said Darkness.
"Or at the very least get him to start forgiving us, and acknowledge that we're not just roommates or however he see's us" said Megumin, before they heard a knock on the door.
"That must be them" said Darkness as Aqua went to answer the door to see that it was Subaru and company.
"Hello everyone, pardon for the intrusion" said Emilia as everyone began to enter, including Sora, Shiro, and Stephanie, "Hope you guys don't mind we brought some extra company" said Subaru.
"Not at all, but who are you guys" asked Darkness, "My name is Sora, this is my adorable little sister Shiro, and that's Stephanie, don't mind her since she's a Steph" said Sora.
"Again, what did I do to have my name be labeled as a derogatory insult" cried Stephanie, "Shut up Steph, no one wants to see you Steph out in public" said Shiro.
"Right… anyways you guys know where Kazuma room is at" said Darkness as the group went down the halls and knocked on his room.
"Hey Kazuma, it's me your friend Subaru" said Subaru as Kazuma instantly dropped his burger before hopping in bed ad face the wall.
"Listen, I know you're mad at us for what you did, and what I did to was unforgivable as a friend, but please come on out, I miss, we all miss you" said Subaru as his words got nothing.
"This is a waste of time, might I suggest we use brute force, or better yet leave the baby to wallow alone" said Ram, "I'm gonna blow her the moment she steps out" said Megumin.
"Not when she's surrounded by our friends, but I will have a talk with her before she leaves" said Darkness as she cracked her knuckles.
"Ram, shut up, you're not helping" said Subaru as he was really getting tired to be even associated with this self centered good for nothing demon, as Emilia approached the door.
"Kazuma, it's me Emilia, I want to apologize as well for whatever harm we inflicted upon you" said Emilia as all she ever did was point and laugh at Kazuma when he felt more miserable and broken and did nothing.
Even the normally soft gentle nature that was Emilia couldn't get Kazuma to open up has he's had to many experiences of popular girls pointing and laughing at him for being himself, and the way she acted really brought back repressed and forgotten memories while ruining the image he had of her.
"Tch, that's it I'm breaking the door down. Rem do your thing" said Ram as she couldn't even bother to make an effort to break down the door, much less fake a more positive attitude.
"No, I will not do such a thing" said Rem as she had her reasons for not acting rash on her sisters behavior, especially as she has her own grievances towards Kazuma that she doesn't intend to continue to enable.
Stepping up to the door were Sora and Shiro as Sora began to knock on the door.
"Hey Kazuma, you and I never met, but my name is Sora, I came here alongside my sister so that we can talk, maybe play some COD zombies, and before you jump to any conclusions, yes your friends did talk to us about what happened, and no we're not going to defend them of their actions" said Sora.
"It's true, we want to hear your side of the story and serve as mediators" said Shiro as her words, mainly caused she sound like the ideal younger sister he wanted, and her brothers were able to reach Kazuma.
Taking a minute to dress himself up in his full on tracksuit attire, he opened the door to reveal himself to everyone the first time in days.
"Kazuma" Subaru said with hope, "You guys can go fuck yourselves and fuck off. You 2 are free to come inside" said Kazuma as Sora and Shiro made their way inside his room.
"What a waste of time, ungrateful scum" Ram said as she clicked her tongue for the last time, before she turned her head around and was greeted by a straight punch to the nose by Darkness.
"Thank you" Subaru said to Darkness, "Think nothing of it, for you are all welcome to come back whenever you want, except for you Ram, I don't ever want you to come here, or near my friends ever again" said Darkness as she glared down at the she demon as she gripped her bloody nose.
"And if you do, Megumin has permission to blow you up" said Darkness as Ram bumped her shoulder passed Darkness as she made her way out the house, with Megumin giving the 'I got my eye on you' gesture and Aqua gave her the bird.
"Sigh, well I guess Kazuma isn't ready to forgive us yet" said Subaru as he sighed in defeat, "I hope you guys could forgive him for using such language towards you guys" said Darkness.
"Considering how we treated him, I say it was more than justified if it means that's the first step he'll take in forgiving us" said Emilia.
"Hey Emilia, don't you think we should go home and get our homework out of the way, and try again another day" said Puck, "Couldn't have said it better, pardon us everyone, but we shall be taking our leave" said Emilia as everyone could agree.
"If it be alright, I think I'll be sticking around for Shiro and Sora" said Stephanie, "We have no problem with that, until next time everyone" said Darkness, "See you in class Emilia" said Megumin as Chomosuke meowed as well.
"See you tomorrow" said Emilia as they all walked out the front door, with Stephanie alone with the girls of team Kazuma.
"So Stephanie was it, I don't we've properly met" said Darkness, "Yeah, my life is kind of busy trying to get Sora and Shiro to behave themselves and what not" said Stephanie as her words sounded like something Kazuma would say.
"So who are those guys anyway, if I didn't know any better I say they were nothing but a complete couple of NEET's" said Aqua, "Aqua" Darkness said as she thought their talk on being rude and blunt had set in.
"You're actually not wrong on that department, since it takes a lot of convincing to get both of them to come out of the house to attend school" said Stephanie.
"Wait are you saying they don't attend class that often" asked Darkness, "You kidding me, class D is almost always empty from what I hear as nearly almost all the students don't ever show up, while Sora and Shiro only come during mandatory events like tests, battle of the classes, the school play, but now that we got the Gamers Club running, they're more than willing to come in everyday now" said Stephanie.
Hearing this really was great information to know and pass along as everyone thought that maybe there shouldn't be any real dire consequences if Kazuma were to continue to miss class for some time.
However they couldn't forget, or everyone but Aqua, that the way Mr. Roswaal put it sound very ominous, especially in Kazuma's case and condition, or maybe he's just blowing it out of proportion like Kazuma said and worst case scenario he get's kicked out of school.
"Anyways back at the discussion at hand, Stephanie what are your interests and how you came to know Sora and Shiro" asked Darkness.
"Well that's a long story, my kingdom was down to its last bit of fort and settlement, since our world determines our battles in games instead of bloody conflicts" explained Stephanie.
"Of course as the leader and ruler of my people it was my duty to participate and expand and look out for the well being of everyone, of course I'm reluctant to admit I'm pretty mediocre as a gamer, and my kingdom and the history of my people would have been lost if not for the arrival of Sora and Shiro" said Stephanie.
"Let me guess, they were either teleported and reincarnated by a god into your world" said Aqua, "Yes, but how do you know that" asked Stephanie as this even surprised Darkness and Megumin.
"Allow me to introduce myself as the goddess of water, Aqua, and as a goddess I am quite familiar with the actions of what other gods and goddesses do in recruiting brave heroes in saving other worlds in time of crisis" Aqua said as she took a graceful pose.
Even now, Darkness and Megumin were skeptical in Aqua being a goddess, especially if she's in charge of that crazy ass cult from that crazy ass town they visited, but maybe they could believe the possibility, of course they'd never say it out loud less they give her an inch to a mile for her ego.
"Well, it's a pleasure to meet you Aqua the water goddess" said Stephanie, "While I don't mind being addressed as a goddess, please feel free to call me Aqua" said Aqua casually.
Before they could even talk any further, Sora and Shiro stepped out of Kazuma's room, with both of them having a dumbfounded look.
"Is everything alright you 2" asked Stephanie as all eyes fell on the siblings, "Yeah, we're good" said Sora before composing himself.
"Anyways, Kazuma is really hung up and feels heavily betrayed by not only your girls', but everyone's actions" said Sora, "We know that, what can we do to help him" asked Aqua.
"Frankly I think you guys are all a couple of assholes for what you did to him, but Sora will tell you what to do" said Shiro as her cute innocent voice uttering that insult really hurt the girls.
"In my honest opinion there's really nothing you can do in terms of garnering his trust again, other than time, but even then it'll only tell if he decides to forgive you" began Sora.
"However, Kazuma seems like a responsible man who's got his shit together than anyone I've known so far since we came to this world, so while I can't give you a time when he will go back to school if he decides to, I've no doubt that some time in a month he'll be going back to work" said Sora as this brought in some form of relief to the party.
"Now that our job here is done, me and my brother have a date with Kazuma playing some MVM on TF2" said Shiro, "I've heard about it, where can I access to play it and get new weapons and hats" asked Megumin, as she lifted her controller and was the home consoles front page.
"Get it on PC you scrub" said Shiro as Megumin felt a little more insulted today, "Come on Stephanie, let's go home, you promised us a nice steak dinner" said Sora.
"I did" said Stephanie as they waved their friends goodbye, before they stepped out and walked back home.
"So you guys are going to tell me what was up with those weird looks when you stepped out of his room" asked Stephanie as both siblings jolted.
"We… lost" said Sora, "I'm sorry what" asked Stephanie, "Me and my brother lost playing a game for the first time" said Shiro as Stephanie draw dropped in dumbfoundedness as well.
"Are you 2 being serious" asked Stephanie as she walked in front of them and looked them both dead in the eye, "Dead serious" Sora as they walked passed Stephanie.
Truth of the matter they didn't say how they lost or what game it was that made them lose.
While they all did play some 1V1 COD rounds, where Sora and Shiro were proven to be unbeatable against Kazuma, it wasn't until their conversation was over did they decided to end things in a simple game of rock-paper-scissors.
In spite of using Sora's cold reading skills or Shiro's calculation and logic to normally win them victory, they lost to Kazuma, especially when he proposed he'd take them each on a 3 consecutive win battle where if he loses one round, they win.
To the siblings shock he did it flawlessly against all odds, and while they were grateful not to wager any major penalties or anything like that at all, who know what would have happened should they did so from the start.
"Ok, I have to ask, who is Kazuma in general" asked Stephanie as she was both curious and worried over what capabilities Kazuma has in store.
"He's a good man who's had a cruel and unforgiving life, and a fellow shut in, difference is that at some point he woke up one day and decided he needed to grow up, something I can say neither I nor or Shiro will ever do in this life time" said Sora.
"He's in a lot of pain definitely, and while he may seem a bit lecherous, reality he seems to be the shell of the man he once was as he feels he efforts, desires, and whatever bit of happiness was nothing but a lie that was toyed with and to think of himself as a lesser human being" said Shiro.
Hearing this really painted an interesting picture for Stephanie, and wondered that maybe if she would've applied and taken initiative to have befriended and introduce themselves to Kazuma, they would've stand up for him no questions ask.
"With that in mind, he needs some friends, which oddly enough are pretty important in life" said Sora as they were entering their home, "He maybe a scrub when it comes to gaming, but he's our scrub and he needs people he can trust and who better than his new gaming and fellow shut in friends" said Shiro as Stephanie could smile how in spite of what they said, both siblings did actually grow up in their own way.
"You know this doesn't excuse you guys from not attending class after the hard work I put in to start that gaming club of yours" said Stephanie, "Steph quit being a Steph" said Shiro as a tic mark grew on her head.
"Call me a Steph again and instead of that nice steak dinner, you can both eat nothing but a salad without dressing or croutons" said Stephanie as both siblings cringed at the thought.
"Aw crap titties" said Sora as they begrudgingly promised to continue to attend school, but promise to keep close to Kazuma.
Meanwhile back in casa de Satou, Kazuma was readying himself to play some MVM with Sora and Shiro, and was content in knowing that while maybe as a gamer he wasn't as hot shit as he'd like to believe, but he still had his luck on his side and his ability to improvise on the spot.
While he was anything but willing to talk about his friends, he did so to Sora and Shiro as they all had a lot more than common than anyone else did, and while he wouldn't call them friends yet, they were fellow shut-ins and gamers.
So he was more than happy to finally play with some people who could conversate with that aren't people he has no intention to talking ever again.
While nothing was a win for anyone of his old friends, it was for Kazuma as he got to meet some new people to chat with for the time being.
And that thought alone was enough to satisfy the minds of Aqua, Darkness, and Megumin as they readied themselves for a new day tomorrow.
...What, I don't always have something witty or interesting to say this time, so yeah, later-gator