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⋆┈┈｡ﾟPaprikaﾟ｡┈┈⋆
𝙿𝚊𝚙𝚛𝚒𝚔𝚊, 𝚒𝚝'𝚜 𝚊𝚜𝚜𝚘𝚌𝚒𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚌𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚍𝚑𝚘𝚘𝚍, 𝚒𝚗𝚗𝚘𝚌𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚎, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚏𝚛𝚎𝚎𝚍𝚘𝚖, 𝚛𝚎𝚏𝚕𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚗𝚘𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚘𝚏 𝚌𝚞𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚎𝚜𝚜, 𝚊𝚗 𝚒𝚍𝚎𝚊 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚜𝚎𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚒𝚏𝚏𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚎𝚜. (𝙴𝚕𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚛𝚘𝚗𝚒𝚌 𝙹𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚗𝚊𝚕 𝚘𝚏 𝙲𝚘𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚖𝚙𝚘𝚛𝚊𝚛𝚢 𝙹𝚊𝚙𝚊𝚗𝚎𝚜𝚎 𝚂𝚝𝚞𝚍𝚒𝚎𝚜, 𝚗.𝚍.-𝚋)
(𝙰𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚐𝚘𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝙹𝚊𝚙𝚊𝚗𝚎𝚜𝚎 𝚆𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚗 𝚒𝚗 𝙿𝚊𝚙𝚛𝚒𝚔𝚊 𝚋𝚢 𝚃𝚜𝚞𝚝𝚜𝚞𝚒 𝚈𝚊𝚜𝚞𝚝𝚊𝚔𝚊 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙺𝚘𝚗 𝚂𝚊𝚝𝚘𝚜𝚑𝚒)
YN was loud and expressive at the age of eight. She may have held the title of the most “flamboyant” person in class, but she usually kept to herself, even with her little group of friends.In many ways, she was as average as a young kid could get—loud, messy, and annoying. The only interesting thing about her was her weird admiration for all things supernatural.Once you got her to talk about her interests, you would have to knock her out cold to get her to stop.She got off school at eleven thirty in the morning, and life was good—good as it can get for any kid with an average IQ and a vivid imagination. She skipped with glee at the thought that she’d be able to watch Avamob when she got home.The skipping girl smiled while taking the shortcut home. It often rained during the monsoon season, which prevented her from taking her usual pathway. It was always pretty to look at. The shortcut consisted of an alleyway with beautiful flora draped over the concrete buildings, often saturating her ideal colorful palette of life.On lucky days, she could catch butterflies on her own and play with the stray cats and sometimes docile dogs that went there to escape the tortuous weather that plagued the town.She would always pretend that she was in those Mobli movies that escaped the awful shackles of mundane life and that she would marry Haku, her first-ever imaginary boyfriend.Her grandmother would tell her that the only man she could love was Jesus, but Jesus wasn't Haku.She spent hours at a digital café, using the computer to go on MobTube and search up “Ways to fly and teleport to a desired reality.” And if that failed, she always tried her old technique—running at an Olympic-level speed into a wall, only to end up with a painful bump on her head when she went home.Only Peter Mob could fly and bring kids to a new secret land. People said he was just magical, but YN, the highly imaginative child, thought otherwise. Peter Mob was just a cool psychic, and Wendy Darling was his sidekick. She swore to herself that if she ever met a psychic, she would be their apprentice to learn the true wonders of life.She looked at the sky and noted how big she was, even though she was clearly small. But she liked to think that she wasn’t, while giving her leftover crackers to a little ant colony she found, crumpling the pieces into crumbs to ensure they were light enough for them to carry.She always fed the ants for some reason; if she didn’t, she felt off.Finally reaching home, she made a dash to the kitchen, waving at her mom to make some tomato soup—mentally drooling over the thought of it. Cracking her knuckles, she smiled, getting up on her stool near the stove. Anyone eating her noodles might as well grovel to get a taste. The mere thought of her noodles was enough to make anyone within a five-meter radius of her house die of desire.It was truly extraordinary.She put on a random TV channel and enjoyed the mundanity of the day, was that a word?YN didn’t push her neurons that hard to find out; the last time she did, she ended up with a soul-piercing migraine.She even hallucinated a bit, thinking about the time she forgot to feed the ants, and as their token of appreciation for her "kindness," they chewed all her toes and fingers off.She would joke about this with her friends, saying, “It was a little goofy moment. I would never think about that if I wasn’t under the influence.”But she secretly did.Tumbling toward the living room, YN enjoyed the small conversations with her mother; it was comforting.She smiled as her mother ruffled her hair, and they watched their favorite movie in comfortable silence.Things were good. Life was good.At age ten, her mother got her first "special friend." YN was confused but accepted this new development. He was a nice man, she guessed, but wasn’t her dad supposed to be her mom's best friend?YN often struggled with language class, and it didn’t help that she needed to be fluent in it, only knowing a few numbers and greetings. But he always took some time to help her.Every day, the gnawing feeling grew like a thorn, frustrating her with the ever-changing school syllabus. Numbers kept getting bigger.Words were getting longer and more complicated, and everything kept changing.A rainy day had dawned, yet instead of laying in bed and watching cartoons, she was in school.What a waste of a good day.Every day, the gnawing feeling grew like a thorn, frustrating her with the ever-changing school syllabus. Numbers kept getting bigger.Words were getting longer and more complicated, and everything kept changingTo relieve her of the frivolous thoughts, a new kid had joined the class. He introduced himself, he wasn't all that special, but YN made a mental note to invite him for lunch if no one was going to ask.In the end, he was able to make new friends instantly with his amazing social skills.Amazing might be a stretch, it seemed like he got along with everyone easily— he reminded her of a salesman, despite his slight stutter.
Putting down her notepad, filled with drawings of her making kissy faces to a character, she stared at the new kid properly so she could assess his true persona.Her gaze shifted to his bag, the real giveaway, the most accurate to see a person's true personality. It was one of those types of bags with wheels that light up when it rolls. Better yet, it was filled with characters from Pokemob.He was kinda cool, she guessed.She looked at the school clock reading noon; the kids older than nine have to go home later than usual.Groaning in annoyance, she caught the attention of a fellow student who was staring at her weirdly.YN quickly shifted her attention to their sensei, who was going on about how to minus numbers with three digits, until she felt a growing presence behind her. It was the new kid, who was this kid anyway?He was judging her for getting bored in math class! What a rude guy, him and his stupid middle-parted hair can go kick rocks.Hearing the recess bell was like hearing angels sing a hymn to her.She reached over to her bag and opened her lunch box, ravishing her slice of toast with no crust that she took too much time making in the morning.Before blessing her umami with the meal, she was interrupted by someone who stood in front of her with his hands in his pockets, seemingly to stop them from shaking.
“Hi, I'm the new kid. I don't think I need to introduce myself again," He took out one of his hands and rubbed it behind his neck, " What's your name?”Oh rats, crap, what's his name? she thought internally.Rob Araba? no, it's too cool.Reito Araba? no, it's too random.Reigen Arataka? …...no it sounds wrong.Ruben ArashiI!Yeah, that sounded like it was his name.“Uh…..names YN?” She replied, taking a nervous bite of her food.Ruben nods his head, “Great! do you like Avamob: The Last Airbender by chance?”That was that old cartoon, right? Scratching her head, it took a while to process his words before it hit her like a truck.YN dropped the crustless bread in her hand. “Hold up— you watch Avamob too? How did you even know?!” She exclaimed in shock, flailing her arms violently. Her class gave her a quick annoyed glare; she quickly took the hint and lowered her voice while still flailing her arms, just less violently. “Seriously, how did you even know?”Ruben placed his shaky fingers to his chin grinning sheepishly “Heh, well I guess you can call me a psychic”
What.The.Triple dog dare.THIS BOY COULD LIKE READ PEOPLE OR SOMETHING LIKE THE COOL MOVIES!
YN could not move with this discovery.In fact, she was melting in place. Her classmates were witnessing the death of their fellow comrade. Her body lay slumped on her desk, and her soul? Clearly ascending to another plane of reality.The entire class looked at the new kid for answers as YN slowly ascended from Earth, but Ruben looked just as confused and shocked as they were."Someone call an ambulance!” Her classmate yells petrified.The class monitor bolted into class, carrying the lifeless girl's body as fast as he could despite struggling "Stick with me YN! You must live to enter university!" He shouts at the unresponsive girl before handing her to the nurse to save her while the young Ruben looks petrified that he killed a girl with his words.Well, his mom always did say he had a way with his words, but he never would have thought that it could kill a girl, let alone his first friend who liked Avamob.The nurse's office was uneventful.She gave YN some headache patches and let her rest in the infirmary for the day and diagnosed her with a case of dramatism, the only cure was a seriousness that she was clearly totally not capable ofShe stared at the ceiling, recalling how no one in the school liked the cartoons she liked; usually, it was either UltraMob or some kind of trending band, none that she was interested in.
But Ruben was.He has officially bumped himself up in her coolness meter.He was weirdly cool for liking Avamob and YN quickly decided that she wouldn't kill the boy after she helped him achieve world domination. Was that maniacal of her? Maybe, but it's never too early to think about the future.A gentle knock came from the door interrupting her thoughts.It was Ruben Arashi.“H-hey” A meek voice spoke.He was shuffling his tiny feet towards her, his hands rubbing against each other nervously while his right leg rubbed on his left leg nervously in anticipation of YN’s reaction.Shaking his nerves away, he walked towards the infirmary bed. He was holding out something crinkly from his pocket, causing YN to tilt her head in confusion.Was this a peace offering of some kind?Regardless, the half-conscious girl accepted it with no fuss and opened the wrapper. She popped the candy in her mouth, tasting the contents to realize that it was her favorite flavor. Her hunger from missing lunch was even momentarily forgotten until the memory hits her of why she was in the infirmary in the first place.Ruben was a psychic.That had to be the most logical reason because why on earth would anyone know her favorite candy flavor without even guessing?Gathering what little energy she had, she stood on the bed and then dropped back down on her knees in a praying pose.“Ruben Arashi!” She declared, voice filled with emotion, “Would you do the honors of making me your apprentice?!”
The younger boy stuttered backward “Hu-huh? I just wanted to give you some snacks after the class monitor carried you here, and that's not my name!”The boy was sweating buckets at this point, flustered at the bold announcement yet intrigued at the girl's unexpected action.YN flicked the hair out her face trying to look cool but she ended up spitting the sweaty bits of hair out of her mouth. “How did you know I liked Avamob and what my favorite candy flavor is?!” she moved closer into his personal space, looking deep into his eyes, she was ready for him to take a step back but he stood still.Ruben was so cool to her and if he was truly a psychic, she could become his apprentice and learn the ways of becoming a true psychic herself.Maybe she could fly to ‘Mobli Land’ as she called it.She can finally be with Haku, her lover, and run away from this boring world.While YN was fantasizing about her soon departure from earth, Ruben— er…..whatever his name is, had thoughts racing in his mind: he had already given up this chunibyo dream of his becoming someone special with powers.Wait, did YN want to be special? Did she think he was special?Both children were in deep thought. The dense aura of their thoughts traveled around the school, causing a shiver among their classmates.The girl with bandages wrapped around her head stood on top of the cheap lumpy mattress, fist in the air, the pose made her look heroic like ‘SuperMob’ but only this time, she looked way cooler in the eyes of Ruben. “Ruben Arashi yo-”.“Its Reigen, Reigen Arataka”There was a moment of silence, she looked at him with an annoyed expression after he interrupted her, rolling her eyes dramatically, “Whatever, Reiben Arataba."He sighed and muttered, "Close enough." ,YN coughed then resumed, "We shall work together as a team and I, YN LN, shall work by your side as your loyal apprentice!” She shrinks a little “Only if you want to…” She said the last part rather softly, but before he could even give weight to her sudden outburst, YN clasped her hands over his and pulled the boy's hands into her, pulling him close with a sudden swift motion that made him gasp in surprise, cradling both hands into her own.‘It's sweaty’ Reigen thought, feeling the dampness, maybe it was his hands.Maybe they both had sweaty hands. Reigen thought he finally met his platonic soulmate.
They were gonna be sweat bros for life.
He was captivated by her aura and the optimistic attitude she had.The way the sun illuminated her skin, acne and all.Her words trapped him like a lasso made out of takoyaki, but only this time, it was an endless supply.Words bubbled up from his throat but never seemed to pop out of his mouth.“So what do you think about it, Ruben?” she was still holding his hands.She was so cool in his eyes.“I don't see why not,” he said in the most cracked-up, prepubescent boy voice but YN never noticed, only smiling with glee and asked for his number.
Little did YN know that Reigen only knew she liked Avamob from her Appa hair clip and as for the candy, that was pure luck, but to YN, it wasn't that simple.She just met a very cool friend that she would be definitely meeting again.This feeling of warmness inside her began to blossom with joy.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

｡ﾟ•┈꒰ა Declaration of war ໒꒱┈•
｡ﾟThe untitled dawn was here, leaves would blow past the curtains would brush past the homemade windchime she made for a school project.While the morning birds kaw for her to wake up, she shuts her eyes tighter in hopes of falling asleep again, her body unmoving.Why does she need to wake up? All YN wanted to do was go back into a deep slumber and fall back into her warm sheets from her own body heat that had the faint smell of laundry detergent from being just washed.The stupid alrarm clock beep annoyingly again. Her feet maneuver themselves over her head in an almost impossible way, just so she can turn it off with her feet but to no avail, she goes as she wraps her blanket around her to shuffle out of bed to turn it off.The alarm clock read six in the morning, but why on earth was she set it to such an absurdly early hour—She gasps realizing, that she is supposed to meet a very important person
Ruben!
She mentally scrambled as she threw on her school attire.She needed to think of something cool to say to him, so she posed cooly in the bathroom.“I" She declares "YN! Will do anything you want— no that sounds a little weird” She mutters scratching her head.“How about....'' She did a dramatic twirl, but not too dramatic to make her dizzy as she tried to rephrase “I, YN would be honored to have such a cool leader with supernatural powers” She added a peace sign for extra cuteness.Though she didn't think it was making her look any cuter, clapping her face trying to get rid of the worrisome feeling that he might reject her, maybe he was that powerful.Why would he want to be friends with someone so weak such as herself?Why did she still think Ruben was a psychic? She just could go be normal friends, but normal wasn't on her to-do list today.Not paying attention to the thoughts, she made her way towards the kitchen to make breakfast.Her mother noticed how skittish she was at the table “Morning to you YN” she said placing a glass of milk in front of her daughter “And what has you causing an earthquake to the table with all that leg shaking” YN looked up and smiled while eating her toast “I wade a mwew f—fwend”
Her mom scoffed playfully “Don't talk while chewing dear” She grabbed a cloth rubbing the crumbs from her kid's face.YN swallowed her food instantly, coughing a little at the dry bread before downing it with some cold milk “I made a new friend, and guess what” Her mother tilted her hand, signaling her to continue as she read the daily news “He can do like magic things with his freakin hands and like and...”
YN waited for her mother's reaction thinking it would be similar to hers.
Ugh, would it hurt to listen to her a little?

“Well as long you have fun then there’s no harm”YN bounces across the dining room like a deranged ferret “Maybe one day, he might be able to fly us all the way to the North Pole! Then I can finally take pictures with the polar bears, up in person!” YN practically bounces at every word, bringing the dirty dishes to the sink to wash her mother's mug as well.Stepping outside, it was glum but weirdly calming, the sky was dusted with light see-through grey that still let some light shine through.At least she could take a favorite route to school, maybe Ruben would enjoy it.
‘We could grow sunflowers together’ She ponders while imagining Ruben growing flowers with his powers so they didn't have to wait.That would be pretty freaking awesome.When she arrived at school she saw Ruben sitting down, playing with his fingers.
Damn, how much psychic powers is he saving up in that small body of his?
Seeing this as an opportunity she ran behind him and caught him off guard causing him to stumble.“H—hEY— wait it's just you”She grinned before quickly removing herself from his, striking a pose “Teach me how to fly!”
It was only seven in the morning, he wasn't even processing what had happened a week before. He stood puzzled, forgetting the girl in front of him thought he had powers when he had none.Quickly covering his panic he tries to think of an excuse “You're thinking of a different superpower YN, I can’t fly.”He thought YN would have dropped the entire ‘OhEmGee UR A PSYCHIC' act since it's been about a week since their meeting. This earned a puff from her 'Was he not powerful enough to fly? That didn't matter because maybe he was a mind reader.’
“So can you teach me how to do it?”“Do what?”
“Read minds”Ruben stiffened a little, unsure how to proceed “Listen, I can't read minds but I can—”YN cut him off once again “Oh, you must be an empath!”They reached their class, placing their bags at their respective desks before going back into the conversation “What on earth is that?”She placed her hand on her chin thinking “Well, I heard about this guy on TV, David Bowie?”Ruben shuffled in his seat sitting on the chair backward like some type of gangster even if YN thought he might rip his pants if he stretched his legs any wider“Isn't that guy an empathetic person who makes songs?” she nodded understanding her mistake, she honestly just googled the top 10 empaths, not aware of her typo, and just picked the first name she saw on the website.“I guess I’m a people person and I'm extremely lucky...I guess, but that's all” Ruben wasn't the most confident, his mother for the most part didn't really indulge in his antics, every time he wanted to give her a little magic show she would always say “that effort could be going into something more useful” or “Come on sweetie, I know you are better than this”His parents weren't necessarily crappy, they did truly care for him dearly in many ways— they just weren't useful in the real world, is what they would often say.
Even at his old school, life was mundane, too mundane.Unmoving, never changing.Everyone was either competitive nerds who were kinda lame, or social rejects who Reigen used his free time to judge.Since he was none of those, he felt a little out of loop.Like a kernel in a corn maze.They all had their circles and he was the hexagon,
but when he arrived at his new school, people weren't like that — people were odd.Then again, he enjoyed the atmosphere.
He even made friends on his first day and met a pretty weird girl who still believed that he was a psychic.
He sighed, her face was still bright as ever — he felt as if he could get a tan by just sitting by her from the sheer amount of aura and sunlight that radiated off her.But it didn't feel right to lie to her.He was caught between the struggle of trying to be more cool than he actually was “Listen I don't think I’m—” He takes a deep breath in “I mean it's not that— I mean, ugh. You know what” He suddenly slams his head on his desk, leaving tiny eraser droppings to stick on his forehead.YN jolted in shock by this new outburst by her leader, he looked rather troubled then gave her a look “I have something to tell you, meet me at lunch at the roof”
Before he walked away, he turned back once more, YN felt like a dark purple cloud growed behind him "Alone"So let's get this straight.A boy wants to meet her on the roof.Alone.This must only be one thing, she's always seen the in the movies — she can't believe it's happening to her.
He's going to assassinate her.
After she revealed his identity to her mom, did he know that!? She needed to think fastShe was going to die today if she didn't.No way she didn't want to die, what about her dreams and goals?
During the entirety of math class, she couldn't pay attention due to the thought of death she had, oh god she didn't even get to water the plants or say goodbye to the stray animals at her secret spot.Ruben was also having a similar thought process, but he decided he might as well tell YN now rather than much later, he didn't want to be some type of weirdo who tricks his friend.
What would he even benefit from his new latent friendship with YN, ugh the thoughts in his head were annoying.
Two of them were too wrapped in each other's thoughts they didn't even process the teaching calling out one of their names “YN! Would you like to try answering question number two”
Both were so wrapped up in their thoughts that they didn’t hear the teacher call one of their names. "YN! Would you like to try answering question number two?"No, she most certainly would not.She gave a shaky nod, quickly flipping through her notebook in search of helpful notes. The only thing in her notebook was a bunch of silly doodles. How was she going to get through this?She had been so preoccupied with rehearsing what she would say to Ruben once he decided to stop talking to her, that algebra hadn't crossed her mind. She had three scenarios planned out, but now she had to worry about math.Deep breaths, she told herself.In.Out.In.Crap.SHE CAN’T DO THIS. WHY DID HE HAVE TO PICK HER OF ALL PEOPLE?YN nervously pushed her chair back and strode toward the whiteboard like a model on a runway, trying to buy as much time as possible to postpone her doom — the doom of solving an equation.Ruben could sense her anxiety from his desk. Well, "sense" was a big word, but he noticed the girl sweating buckets. Was because of what he had said earlier. She looked even more frazzled than usual?She stared at the whiteboard, turning around in desperation, searching for help in the teacher's eyes, but he merely shrugged before chuckling.The teacher tapped his foot impatiently. “Any time now, YN.”The issue was, she was as lost as a mouse in a maze. Still, she managed to do half of the equation, but she got stuck at a tricky part. The class was going to laugh at her, and she would lose all self-respect. She began to mentally prepare herself to live under a highway.Before the math teacher could speak, Ruben raised his hand and called out.“Teacher, may I use the washroom?”The teacher glared at him. “Ruben Arataka, can you wait another five minutes for the bell?”Ruben, whose name was definitely not Reigen (though YN saw him as her math-saving hero), shook his head. “No, I can’t, Sir. My stomach really hurts. I’ve subtracted something too bad. I’m about to explode.”'Subtracted? Is he gonna shit his pants?' YN wondered if this kid crapped his pants, would they evacuate the class? 'Subtract" wasn’t a way to describe a stomach... Oh.
He wasn’t just faking a stomach ache. He was hinting at the math term she needed to use!The great leader wasn’t only powerful — he was brilliant.Ruben, now groaning dramatically, clutched his stomach for extra "pizzazz" to make it look serious. “It’s bad, Sir. Real bad.”The teacher sighed. “Alright, Arataka, go to the nurse’s office. Back to YN.”Ruben gave a wink and left while the teacher, flabbergasted, watched as YN finished the equation.“Wow, YN! You got that right! I knew my teaching tone was working—”She blurred out the rest of his words as she sat back in her chair. Her master's powers knew no limits, it was probably connected to his stomach! If not his stomach, there can be only one logical explanation....He was using it as a distraction! What a genius, YN would be sure to use the same excuse the next time she's in a pinch.She was definitely going to buy snacks for Ruben after this. Well, assuming he didn’t annihilate her into nothingness later.Crossing her fingers under her desk, she muttered a small prayer, “Please don’t assassinate me…”‘The time has come’They both thought instantaneously in sync as the final bell before lunch break rang.“That's all for now class, please review chapter four because we need to finish the chapter by the end of the week”Ruben was the one who went to YN’s table to casually ask her if she wanted to head to the roof before she decided to ask him, ‘Oh god leader is so cool….but I guess cool leaders want cool sidekicks’ And she was quite the opposite of cool.Begrudgingly, YN nodded and followed him to the balcony to get the dreaded news that it was over, had not yet been a day and she was already losing her friend.That’s like…..End of the world level terrible.The awkward silence was unbearable to YN, she knew he was kinda a people person, and an empath so could he feel how tied her stomach felt.Ruben let out a cough, his face scrunched up
“So I have a confession to make” He started, voice barely above a whisper.YN braced herself.“I—” Ruben continuedHow was he going to kill her? Strangle her in the air with his brain? Vaporize her with his sweat? She can only grip her own hand to calm herself down
“—may not be who you think I might be…I know you think I'm this like, psychic and all that but I'm not. I only can do a few tricks and that's it, I really enjoyed the time we had as…. friends together.”Ruben then whips himself to the opposite of her, not wanting to look at the girl's face. Why was he worried anyway, what would she do anyway? She doesn't seem like the bullying type, so why was he worried? She was a little weird anyway.YN blinked at him, shocked that he didn't outright end her there “So you're not going to kill me?”Ruben spun back to face her and a weird face when he turned around “What.”“What?” YN repeated, equally confused.They both stood there for a moment in silence, trying to figure out how the confrontation, if it could be called that, took such a bizarre turn. Ruben stares at her with a bewildered gaze, while YN was trying to figure out how she got it so wrong.YN snaps out of her dramatic thoughts “Wait, then how did you know about me liking Avamob ?”“I just thought your hairpin looked like Appa from Avamob '' Ruben says rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly."Oh, so that's why” She paused “Then why were you so nervous to tell me?""Well, I was scared that you would just...I don't know...not be friends with me? W—which is fine by the way if you don't want to be....."As Ruben rambled, YN could only think of Avamob and its weird similarities to this moment, even though it wasn't at all similar in the slightest. Was this his way of saying he might get banished like Zuko if he revealed his powers, maybe there was someone watching them? She’ll play along to this little charade.“Wait you mean this '' YN reached for her hairpin, pulling it out of her hair “Silly, it's just some cotton balls I stuck on a clip to make it look cuter— like the other girls''
Ruben takes a closer look at the pin “Wow, it really does look like Appa though”“Right!” YN beams “Literally no one in class got it, people said it looked like a huge chunk of dandruff”The orange-haired boy grinned “It does look kinda like a chunk of dead skin cells”
YN shrugs, placing her hairpin back and placing her hand on her shirt offended at how quickly the mood changed, oddly pleased by it “Well, Ruben I have news for you, they have had terrible eyesight you see” She then circled him “But you Ruben! Oh but you dear boy, clearly have a mind like no other” she gently nudged him “If ya get what I mean….Hehe.”The ten-year-olds suddenly forgot about their worries and started rambling about Avamob like it was the only thing on their minds. YN thought to herself that Ruben Arataka was the closest thing to a real friend in her class. She pondered whether she should bring him to her secret spot.Their infatuation with Avamob continued as they walked back to class together, discussing the complex characters. It was cut short when they heard the voices of two—no, three—girls laughing like hyenas. This was rich coming from a girl who croaked like a toad when laughing, but this was different.Usually, YN wasn't the type to engage in conflict, but when was YN ever usual? She quickly stopped talking, bringing her finger to her lips and signaling Ruben to be quiet as she moved to the side of the wall to avoid being seen.He quickly noticed what she was planning and shook his head disapprovingly because those girls had blue name tags—which meant they were older than them by at least a year. No way YN was trying to pick a fight with second-years, of all people. But then he noticed the girl being picked on— Hanako Yui, a girl from class 1-B with short, pixie-cut hair.YN took a small peek around the corner, her eyes widening when she saw a girl cornering Yui against the wall, making her back thump against it.“Didn't I tell you that you look gross with that haircut?” a voice scolded, and YN recognized that voice anywhere—it was the prettiest, most powerful girl in school, Komina Rintaro.“I-it's my hair... and I like it!” Yui stammered.YN jumped a little when she saw a girl with pigtails roughly yank Yui’s hair. “Who do you think you are to raise your voice, loser?”“Not so hard, Saki! We don't want to ruin her hairdo… too much.” Komina smacked the pigtail-haired girl on the head, her voice almost laced with concern before she turned back to Yui. “I don't even know why you keep wanting to have this whole ‘boy-look.’ Do you like my attention that much?”A girl with her hair tied up chimed in. “Yeah, do you?”YN felt herself move forward instinctively.“What are you doing!?” Ruben whispered yelled. Why the hell would YN want to get involved with those girls after what they're witnessing?“They’re third-years, yet they act like a bunch of toddlers when someone likes something they like,” she said, reciting her favorite action movie. Sure, they would miss art class, but that wasn't the least of their worries now.Ruben bit the inside of his cheeks, unsure of his reply. In all honesty, he wanted to run away, but his guilty thoughts were soon replaced with something else when he noticed that YN wouldn’t budge unless she did something.He turned to YN, grabbing her hand when he noticed her body slowly leaning outward as she gathered the courage to act. His grip tightened. It wasn’t like he didn’t want to help Yui, but neither of them was fit to fight. There were three tall third-years, at least 10 cm taller than them. They were basically titans.But YN was determined to help her. She lost self-control when one of the girls got close to Yui’s face, only fearing the worst that could happen if she didn’t intervene.YN jumped out from her hiding spot. “Oi! You shouldn't treat Yui like that!”The girl, who YN guessed was the leader, stood in front of her with a strong aura radiating from her.“And you are?” the leader sneered.“None of your business! You need to stop—or else!” YN attempted to say bravely, though she kind of looked like a terrified chihuahua close to a meltdown.“Or else what... first-year? Hah!” The leader called her friend over, and YN instinctively took a step backward. She definitely hadn’t thought this through.She could feel her panic rising, the urge to just screech and hopefully scare the girls away building up inside her, until a meek voice suddenly yelled from behind her.“I—I have what you did on video, a—and we’ll report y—you!” Ruben stammered from behind her. YN looked at him, mouthing ‘Nice one.’The gang of bullies looked petrified as YN spoke. “I—if the school board finds out about this…”Komina let out a hearty chuckle. “The school board won’t do anything. If you're going to threaten me, at least make it—”Ruben took a deep breath. “And it’ll be uploaded on Mobtube, and go, like, viral,” he said in the most shaky but convincing voice. It was definitely enough because the girls visibly shrank at this.The leader of the group scoffed. “C’mon, girls, let’s leave these bozos be. We’ll be back—you're not worth our time.”YN was so going to tattle on them later.After they were out of sight, YN let out a breath she didn’t realize she was holding. “I really thought we were going to die out there.”“Hello, uh, this is really sudden, but are you okay?” YN asked.Yui, who finally became aware of what had happened, spoke up. “T-thank you… You really saved me back there. I don't know how I can even thank you. Oh, I don't even know your name.”“I’m YN LN from class 1-C, and that's—” she gestured to Ruben, who gave a small wave. “Ruben Arataka. Do you think you can get up? We can get a tea—”“That is not my name,” Ruben retorted, then faced Yui. “Hey, hey, don’t worry, we just wanted to make sure you’re okay. Take your time, but we should go to the nurse’s office, otherwise, they’ll think you're skipping class.”Giving up, the duo helped her to her feet and walked toward the nurse's office.As they walked side by side, Ruben broke the silence. “By the way, YN, it’s Reigen, not Ruben.”YN tripped over her shoelaces, almost falling if it weren’t for ‘Reigen’ quickly catching her collar from behind. She looked at Yui with a betrayed expression. “Were you aware of this?”Yui, slightly flustered and confused, just shook her head. “I, uhm, just met you guys today…”The rest of the walk to the nurse’s office was in silence.Once they finally reached the nurse’s office, they peeked inside to see who was in charge that day. It was Mrs. Sawaki, who groaned when she heard the door slide open. “If you're here to skip PE, you're not—YN? What are you doing here? This is the third time this—” She quickly noticed Yui and went to her aid. “Yui again? Were those bullies at it again? I told you I can report this to the principal.”“As for you kids, how did this happen” They snapped their heads at her.YN told her the whole thing, Ruben even showed her the video he caught on his small cell phone, in its horrible pixelated quality.The nurse sighed “Let's talk outside, Yui I’ll be right back” she replied with a simple grunt before she went out“Arataka, please send me that video, here,” She said writing her email on a piece of paper “Send it to me, I've just had it with those girls, they have been torturing poor Yui ever since someone made a comment on her ‘boy-styled’ hair or whatever they called it”
YN was confused ‘Yui was bullied because she wanted to have a boy cut? That's odd. Usually, people get bullied for being nerds or people get bullied because the bully needs money she never knew people could be so petty.Mrs. Sawaki rubbed her head “I think I can handle it from here, I really do appreciate you for standing up against those girls, with this we can at least get them suspended. You’ll need a note from me for skipping… That Rintaro girl really knows how to work around my schedule.”She looked at her watch “Forty minutes of class seems to have passed, give me a minute. You guys did a good thing today. I've been trying to get solid evidence on those girls, But they seem to know what I'm doing. So they work around my teaching schedule so I can't directly catch them in the act” They did a good thing, the words echoed in Reigen's head.
Good. Thing.A good feeling arose in Reigens stomach, similar to the way he felt when he just met YN at the same exact location.YN on the other hand thought when she gave the teacher the note she would be showered with praise like in the movies and maybe their art teacher would give them money, or even better.A horse.But they were just met with a cross teacher who was ready to yell at them “Ah the two lovely students I was looking for, LN and Reigen—”YN quickly gave the teacher the letter, she waited in anticipation as he eyed both of them up and down “You got away this time LN, but next time I’ll actually punish you... And you!”He points at Reigen “Just because you're new, you think you can get away with such behavior?”Reigen froze in his place petrified, sure he won arguments among his peers, but a whole angry adult?There was no way he could win an argument but he didn't have to.
“Sir I’m the one who asked him to stay with me, a fellow student in our year was getting bullied” YN spoke up, taking a step forward.“Why couldn't Reigen come back, why did he need to stay there, did he even do anything?“He stayed there because I asked him to, I even asked him to video the entire ordeal that might get the bullies suspended"“What about my class, you’ll be getting detention—”YN cuts him short “The school says that students should stand up for others when in need, are you saying that I should have just left her to get bullied to attend your art class”The entire class went into whispers “I can't believe a teacher would say that” and “We should report him.”“C—Class settle down, I get it. But you guys are under my authority and you had no right to cut me off, as a punishment for you're poor manners, you’ll be cleaning the entire class”He gave a condescending grin as YN could not find a reason to defend herself. Well, that wasn't too bad — usually, around five people cleaned it so the job would be finished early “Only the two of you”That was the moment where YN thought if she gained ultimate power from Reigen, she would definitely misuse it on her teacher.“Goddamnit, after what we did we have to clean the entire homeroom, my mom's going to think I got in trouble for something bad” she said scrubbing the floors on her knees, it felt as if she was kneeling on rice"Also why the hell does Akane have so many snacks under her table."She placed all of the old food and a giant cooking book on the table to throw the almost molding bread and giant cookbook. Why the hell was so much bread? Was Akane planning on creating a deadly virus with that bread?Reigen wiped the bead of sweat on his forehead, coming into the class after throwing the trash out “Seriously, I feel like he just genuinely hates children, Yui was clearly in trouble!”That teacher had a knack for sending kids to detention for no reason, once there was a kid who forgot his eraser and asked his deskmate for one, the teacher yelled at the poor boy and he had to stand in the hall for the entirety of the lesson, luckily there was only ten minutes left in that class but still.That teacher was an absolute piece of work.YN was pretty sure he only had his job because of his secret relationship with the vice-principal, the drama she could create if she worked for the newspaper club, but she would never join such an absurd club that sometimes used their powers to shade students indirectly.
She wants to rant more but notices Reigen looking down to his shoes “You know the more I think about it, Yui was lucky you were there YN, I can't imagine what would have happened if you weren't there.”
YN shrugs placing her face on one of the tables to align it with the other “Well I'm sure you would have done something Reigen, you played an equally important role”He laughed somberly while playing with his fingers “I don't think so…”
She stopped what she was doing and faced him.“But you did? I'm sure you would have at least taken a photo.”Reigen felt his stomach sink, he felt guilty. Would he have helped Yui? Doubtful.He was a coward, a coward who would leave someone to die if it meant he would be left uninjured, he was weak and YN wasn't.She declared she wanted him to be her leader yet he subconsciously thought about running away while YN moved towards danger almost instinctively regardless if she was built like a defenseless Magikarp at its first evolution — she was fearless.
“Ruben— I mean Reigen, you do know without that video we wouldn't have gotten the evidence,”
YN says like he did something major
“But that's nothing compared to what you did—”“What I did? I just told them off. To be honest, I wasn't really thinking. I think I would have just gotten a beating if it was just me” She shivers at the thought of it “But you see! Without your threats we wouldn't be able to get any real dirt on them, they really do deserve a bigger punishment”Reigen doesn't look convinced and takes a step closer “Are you telling me you weren't thinking when you defended me in front of class just now?”
'"I guess? Yeah!"
"Seriously?" Reigen couldn't believe the absurdity of this girl, was her head filled with water?"Uh, I don't really know how to explain it...What matters is what I did, not what I think!"Her head was overflowing with water, her words seeping into the soles of his feet.Reigen looked like he was about to self-destruct any second, how could she say something so mindless, so mindful?YN puffed out her cheeks with an exaggerated sigh as she made her way towards him to give him a spontaneous hand on the shoulder that made him flinch in surprise “If you feel all foggy why not we go get some takoyaki on the way back home near my house. I just realized I have no idea where you live, but I’ll walk you home if it's too far. It could be like our uh... first official adventure!”
Reigen looked at YN with his eyes almost bugging out of his sockets, similar to the way she reacted at their first meeting. He never told her about his favorite food, what the loving ever hell was happening.“Are you a psychic?!” He was the one now yelling, his hands flailing violently.YN retracts her hand from his shoulder, her hands now resting on her hips “W—What? No, I’m not psychic, I just happen to enjoy takoyaki. Aren't you a psychic?” She exclaimed then crossed her hands.“Didn't we establish that I wasn't? I just notice things"YN grin widens, her eyes sparkling when she speaks
“If noticing things makes you a psychic, then I guess that makes us both psychics in a way then”
There is a soft gust of wind that enters the room, they both just stare at each other in pleasant silence, both taking in the words exchanged.They were both silent but before they could both speak they were rudely interrupted by the girls before catching them both off guard “Komi-chan they're here” The girl in glasses said, calling for the girl in pigtails to come along.Oh frick.They were going to die today.YN stood close to Reigen protectively, he looked like a scared chihuahua. Komina’s friend laughed, “So which one of you pricks broke our promise?”
She took a step forward, and every step she took closer to them felt closer to their doom. Reigen made eye contact with YN, hopeful that she had a plan like before, but she couldn't move, her eyes still, was she scared?It was weird to see her this way after what she did earlier today.He needed to think of a plan, quickly. He looked at the door, one of Komina’s friends guarding their only exit, shoot shoot shoot he could try— no that won't work Oh he could just— no.
Crap, crap, crap.The girl with pigtails cracked her knuckles while pushing her sleeves up. “You first-years think you can take one self-defense class and suspend me? Please, try a little harder.”YN gently pushed Reigen behind her and stood up straighter, attempting to face the trio of girls.“YN,” Reigen said, trying to get her to stop, but she remained still.“You think you’re a big shot, huh?” the girl with pigtails sneered, pushing a finger against YN’s collar before Komina started tugging her upwards, laughing condescendingly. YN tripped, earning another laugh, before Komina yanked her by the collar, essentially choking her.“YN! Let go of her—” Before Reigen could even reach out, the girl with pigtails kicked him against a table.“Or what? What are you going to—”YN turned her head, her face losing color. “Let him go. I’m the one who—”The girl smiled and slammed YN into the table. YN felt all the air leave her tiny lungs.The world spun.
Reigen snapped.He threw the wet cloth YN had been using to scrub the floor at Komina, who stood in shock at the absurd action.The girls were too stunned to react, and Komina ripped the wet cloth from her. "What the fuck—Oi! What are you even—oof!" Reigen threw the small bucket of water at her, causing her to squeal in discomfort and drop YN.Seeing his chance, Reigen pushed one of Komina's friends aside, then flipped the neatly arranged chairs and tables, barricading the girls on the other side of the classroom.“Get up!” Reigen quickly pulled YN to her feet, and they bolted out of the school and into the alley behind it. He had never been courageous or brave, but today, he ignored every nervous thought he had.The other girls were in shock. No one had ever done that to Komina."Ew! This uniform was dry-cleaned for me yesterday!" Komina whined at her friends, who stood still. "What are you even doing? It's just water. Chase them!"YN and Reigen ran further until they were out of the school grounds. Reigen was running at full speed, with YN slowly starting to stabilize.“YN, holy crap, are you—Oh no, the nutjobs are chasing us!”Despite her disorientation, YN noticed the girls still chasing them. She looked back and knew they had to find a place to hide. Quickly taking the lead, but still holding Reigen’s hand, she exclaimed, “I know a spot!”She led him toward her spot, one she had always wanted to show him in a more monumental way, after years of nurturing their friendship. But now was not the time—they were being chased by third-years.Left turn.Right.Straight.“Reigen, you need to crawl now!” She brushed aside the vines to reveal a tunnel.“Can I even fit in here?”“Reigen Arataka, if you don’t push your big butt in there now!”“I don't know where this leads to…..but oh what the hell” He crawls as YN follows closely behind him.She only hoped it was not too big to get himself stuck inside while the girls were still on their tail.
“H—hey no need to push, where the hell are….we” When Reigen's eyes adjusted to the bright light he was left in awe, which you were pleased by. The way the flowers and bushes complemented each other or how the sun lightly dusted across the leaves making it look like straight out of a Ghibli film — he felt at ease.
Maybe feeling a sense of enchantment, that is a sense of delight and escaping everyday life.“You come here often?”“Every other day since, I don't know,” She says proudly.Reigen and YN quickly shut up when they heard shuffling “Where the hell are those punks,” said a voice “I think we lost them, shit I swore I heard footsteps. She won't like this Keiko”“What are we supposed to do? I’m pretty sure they’re in trouble including us, her dad can only get away with so much and I'm sure there might be a nasty mark on the girl's neck, we basically fought for nothing.”YN asked Reigen if there was a mark on her neck, but there wasn't — she sighed, she got beat up for nothing.The girl named Keiko sighed "It's not like Komina would actually beat them up, to be honest, she reminds me of the stray dog outside our school?""I know right" She seems shocked "I mean we are mean to Yui but we don't actually beat her up over shit, we just kinda tower off him like apes" YN wonders if the girls had unworked issues?Keiko groans “Well who cares, we messed up their classroom pretty badly, they probs will get yelled at the next day by the teacher. Ugh, this sucks, why do we even bother with Komina and her plans. You know what Kana let's go get ice cream you seem hot” Keiko says, dragging her friend playfully as they leave.YN mentally blows them up with her mind.The pair sighed in relief as they heard the girls walk away.Reigen drops onto the grass exhausted, from the surge of adrenaline leaving him “God I've only been friends with you for what? A week or less? And you've got me wrapped up with these bullies”
“To be fair, you hit her first.”“It was self-defense,” he defended.“Next time, yell ‘Self-defense!’ to make sure it’s self-defense. I did it once in pre-school when a boy stepped on my sandcastle.”Reigen laughed. “Are you for real?” He couldn’t stop laughing.YN grinned proudly. “For realsies.”Once he calmed down from his laughing fit, he got up to take in the scenery: a bed of flowers that looked well-kept, and a mud castle with a flag that looked like it belonged to the British empire. “Could you, uh, give me a tour of England?”YN did a dramatic bow, offering her hand. “Of course, m’lady.”They walked around the arch made of flowers YN tended to by herself. “This is my little sanctuary,” she told him.“It’s lovely. Thank you for inviting me in,” he said nervously.“Well, thank you for saving me from those thugs!” She punched his arm lightly. It was kinda hard, but he didn’t mind.They talked for hours on end.Time seemed to fly by whenever they talked, spending the remaining hours pointing at the sky, calling out the weird shapes the clouds made.“That one looks like a pregnant woman,” YN observed.Reigen shook his head. “No way, it totally looks like a takoyaki with four legs.”She looked at him in disbelief. "Ugh, if you don't believe me, here." He pushed their heads together roughly, making a bonk noise, tilting it so she could see the same thing he was seeing from the same angle."Ew, Reigen, you're all sweaty—Oh, wait, yeah, you make a point, it does look like a takoyaki."The sky was dusted with a faint yellow that had Reigen reaching for his phone to check the time, his expression laced with annoyance.YN tilted her head. "What's wrong?"He sighed, gathering his things. "I can't stay long, my mom will be looking for me," Reigen sagged his shoulders, basically sulking."Well, we can come back here together then!" she tried.They exited the secret garden, and YN pulled Reigen into the main part of the park. "Alright, let's go home. See you tomorrow, Ruben. Stay safe, please."He rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah, you too, and oh—" He grabbed a piece of paper, scribbling something before handing it to YN’s palm, and then looked at his phone for a second.He yelped. "Crap, I'm going to be late! This is for you. See you, YN!" With that, the blonde—orange-haired boy ran off into the distance.She raised her hand to say goodbye, even though Reigen was already crawling his way home.YN takes the long route home, the sky looked gloomier without Reigen, she wished he was here to make a quick comment on how she looks weird when she stares off into space.Deep breaths she told herself as she opened the door, her mother wasn't home yet but her step-dad was “Hi, uh….what's for dinner tonight...and is mom going to be late”He placed his newspaper down looking at her.“Most likely, there's some instant— you know what kid, you want some drive-in ?”It was weird for him to act this way, but you don't need an excuse to eat fast food.
YN got the Junior meal and gave her toy to her stepdad as a gift, he surprisingly kept it and nudged her head, she almost hugged him when he did that— almost.Days like this she will soon love to cherish with her whole heart, they don't come so easily these days, the mundanity.She notices how she would feel lonelier than usual but will she pay attention to it?Nope.Before she heads to sleep, she packs her bag for school the next day when she finds a crumpled piece of paper. Must have been from Reigen early, unfolding it she felt a small flutter in her chest. It was a simple note, with his email and a poorly drawn Pokemob character next to it.She feels warm.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

‧̍̊˙˚˙ᵕ꒳ᵕ˙˚˙　modern day communism　˙˚˙ᵕ꒳ᵕ˙˚˙‧̍̊The best day of school she approached, was Friday.What a glorious day indeed. Even though Reigen had already revealed prior to this week that he was definitely not a psychic, YN would still constantly pester him in class about his abilities after one action.
“Wait, so you're telling me you can do magic too?!”
Reigen rubbed his arm bashfully “Not magic. Slight of hand YN'' He was showing YN the many secret talents he had picked up in a span of four hours the night before to impress his new friend, he had.The current trick was 'shoving' a pen up his nose, then spitting it out through his mouth.
YN stared with her hands in her neatly tied hair “That's like, so crazy!.”“I guess it's kind of shocking when you don't know how it works” Reigen laughed nervously, he was always nervous.Class today, in particular, was boring for the pair until after school activities, that's because the school board arranged a ‘Game Day’ for the entire school to increase productivity every other Friday after lunch, they could play whatever game they chose."Hey, what do you think we could do for fun this afternoon? I've been bored out of my mind lately," YN says, staring at Reigen swerving her chair left and right. He was sure she would fall off at any moment."Well, I could go for a bicycle ride to a karaoke bar.""Really? That's what you had in mind? I mean in school right now" Reigen always wanted to go to karaoke, but he usually had nobody to go with after school.YN places her hand on her chin “What about chess? I snuck under my grandma's bed and found this fat box” She reached inside her bag, to reveal a wooden chess set that looked antique.They quickly set up the game, both of them practically buzzing in their seats excited out of their minds— But there was one problem.YN spoke first “Do you know how to play chess” he refused to make eye contact."Yeah...I guess, who wouldn't..." He replies in the most unconvincing voice.They place the chess pieces in the box according to the picture.YN picks up the horse piece, squinting at it "Ehm..This one hops or something right?"“Yeah totally…I think it goes diagonally?” They were basically playing checkers instead of chess.They exchanged uncertain glances, realizing that they both had no idea what was going on, so eventually they even made up fake rules as the game went along.
YN slammed her hands on the table “Hey stupid face! You can't just eradicate my team with that blunt sword” She exclaimed, Reigen had just gambled his entire empire to destroy YN’s queen.He laughed maniacally at her “Oh? Does thee have so little faith in me, well I guess….. I role!”A small audience had gathered around them, everyone placing their bets on who would win—most of them voted for YN, only some voted for Reigen.
Reigen takes a deep breath in before shaking the make-shift ‘dice’ they made from scribbling on a YN’s eraser the dice. Everyone held their breath as he released the dice. It spun, wobbled, and rolled to the side of the table landing on a two.“Victory is mine!” YN cried out, doing a little mini dance while Reigen was mourning the loss of his empire but it was cut short when her table— Her god-forbidden lopsided, badly manufactured stupid table tilted from the vibrations of her dance just enough for dice to roll off the edge to the ground.It landed on the floor, showing a clear six as it landed on its side.
Reigen had won by pure luck.YN's hands stayed frozen in the air, jaws dropped as Reigen abruptly stood up on his chair.“Vindication!” Reigen had won again, the girl who had lost to him several turns before was now fuming. YN just stared at him as he started to laugh with a cheeky grin"You totally used your psychic powers. No fair! You won yesterday at rock paper scissors seven times in a row also, how was that even possible? It doesn't make sense...it doesn't make any sense!—”"It makes sense when you're not a loser that's what it is" Reigen chortles like a swan, ignoring YN's mental despair to debates doing the lottery with all of his allowances after school.Only thing was, was that he saw the spectating classmates lining up to have a turn at their makeshift 'Dungeons and Dragons' game.“YN can me and Lisa get a turn?” a male voice asked politely, but this polite voice was no ordinary voice.YN looked to the side nervously to confirm her thoughts, it was none other than the Okamura Ashok.
The prettiest boy in her year that had everyone and their grannies fawning over him. And as for YN... Well, she definitely caught herself ogling over his good looks a couple of times in passing.
Only in passing! This guy kind of pissed her off, him and his beautiful face that dripped with aura wherever he went.
But gosh did the guy look prettier up close.She blinked her eyes hard to snap herself out of her stupid thoughts “W-well O-Okamura uhm… Well I and Reigen were planning to play another r-round” She stammered twiddling her fingers “So maybe give us another five min-”Before she could even finish her sentence, a wave of students from what she could assume was his fan club that was probably idly watching him from the outside, swarmed the classroom like a bunch of ducks to bread
“Hey! Why can’t you let Okumura play right now, do you even know who you're talking to?!”
They demanded, getting into her face.YN fought the urge to smack her schoolmates for their bad breath, and felt like shrinking from the amount of attention before a brilliant idea struck her like lightning.“Well” Reigen suddenly began from behind her, placing a hand on his hips confidently “If you want to play, you got to pay a fee of 5 yen.”“Hah?” One of the fan club members scoffed “Why would he out of all-”Okamaru raised his hand up, smiling annoyingly angelically which made everyone swoon “I don't mind paying actually” He reached into his pocket “Shoot, never mind I forgot my wallet.”Suddenly a boy ran to him and held out a 5 yen coin “You can take mine Okamura!”
Another voice chimed in amongst the crowd, equally as frantic “No, Okumara, take mine instead! I just sanitized it”Okamaru looked flushed and slightly agitated? “Oh you don't have to, but thank you so much for being so generous” The entire fan club was fighting for who should pay, all YN saw was a sea of overflowing coins, she felt Reigen whisper against her ear “Follow my lead leader.”
He dragged her along the sea of fans and muttered ever so loudly “We can't just have one person pay, then that means only they paid for our Lord Okamura’s enjoyment while we contributed nothing”YN caught on to his act and matched his voice “Yeah! Why don’t we all pay YN? So technically we all contributed to Okamura's game. Who knows? Maybe we might even be able to play with him!”
That's all it took for them to drain their allowance to YN to scam the entire fan club.YN could barely contain her devious smile as she faced Reigen, coins overflowing her tiny palms “We’re gonna be rich”Who knew the secret to getting rich was to just have a chessboard and a pretty boy?

Reigen and YN had earned enough money to buy themselves two extra packets of potato chips and strawberry milk which is more than they can afford on a day-to-day basis.They walked out of the school canteen, a chess piece board in her hand walking towards the school field. It wasn't that sunny so they had planned to play another round before they headed home, the whole fan club thing didn't really give them time to really enjoy it for themselves.YN was practically skipping while talking "I can't believe Okamura speaks four languages""Woah, really?" Reigen could definitely see the appeal of that boy right now, was he perfect or something?"Yeah, apparently Tamil, Japanese, and a tiny bit of Chinese. I heard he's gonna take English classes in the summer too""And how did you obtain such info?""Uh, the fan club?"They were about to sit down and start to get themselves comfortable. From the corner of her eye, YN could see a group of girls walk out, she admired it for a moment.Sequined shirts with the rippiest of jeans that her mom often rambled on how it was a waste of money saying people who wore them looked homeless. She agreed with her, but secretly thought it was cool deep down. YN felt dread creep up on her when she heard the snottiest voice ever
“Yeah, that's when— hey isn't that the chess set that got the entire Okamura's fan club paying them money for a turn”
YN shrunk slightly behind Reigen as he glanced confusedly at her as they called out to her. Seems like their first meeting was not forgotten.“Oi first years! let me have a look at that” They demanded again, stepping closer to the two of them.YN and Reigen try to ignore them by slowly looking the other way to pretend they didn't hear a thing, but they roughly grabbed the chess set away from YN causing her to stumble into Reigen who had to stable her by her shoulder, his face clearly pissed at how the most fun day of his entire life got ruined."Woah check this out, how much do you think this chess piece is worth Komi? Woah it looks so cool-” One of the girls that YN had forgotten said looking at Komina who was clearly uninterested “-I mean pretty lame. You two are so lame it's so funny like" She points to YN “Don't even know why the juniors were raving about you”Reigen noticed that they were too distracted with mocking YN, it reminded him of his peers in his old school.One of the girls opens up the chess piece to examine it like a strange artifact
By grace, he summoned up so much courage, that he barked “Oi, you guys are ruining the vibe”“The what?”“You wouldn't get it” He said trying to channel a gangster he saw on TV once, his voice wavering only slightly “It's not just a chess piece. It is sacred….It has vibes! it's more than you can ever fathom”YN nodded furiously from behind him “Yeah it has serious vibes. You guys might be right...Maybe, I am a witch! I cast a curse so whoever touches my things will, uh... Pee their pants!”Meanwhile, all three girls watch them and make excuses like they are speaking a foreign language. Finally, Komina finally shrugs rolling her eyes, and drops the chess box on the floor “I used to think the two of you were just annoying...But now? You guys are straight-up weirdos”Before anything else could happen the school nurse, the goddess Mrs. Sawaki came calling while walking down the school corridor with her heels echoing in the empty halls.
Komina seemed to perk up as she came.“Komina Rintaro There you are, your father has been looking all over for you, you have a trip to Okinawa in twenty minutes and you're about to be late.”Mrs. Sawaki’s eyes wandered around the tense atmosphere and just sighed, rubbing her forehead “Go now, and as for your first years” She stared at YN and Reigen who didn't make eye contact with her except with each other “Aren't you supposed to be home, the security guard is about to close the main corridor. Go home. Now.”

The nurse walked out from the canteen but she still stood by the door for assurance.Komina scoffed, still holding the chess queen in hand, before walking close to the drain. She then dropped YN’s favorite chess piece into the dirty drain. “I don’t even know why I bothered weirdos like you. I'm never going to talk to you again.” The girls paid no attention to YN’s shocked face, only snickering while walking away.It’s not like YN wanted to talk to them in the first place.Reigen rushed to his friend's sideYN stares down to the drain, mourning the loss of her chess piece, Reigen forgot they named every individual piece."...my chest piece...She was beautiful."
YN says it as if she lost her firstborn child, to be fair it was quite similar when her first tamagotchi pet died after she forgot to feed it when she left it at her grandma's house."I can get some gloves and try to find the piece" Reigen quickly said, hands unsure to pat her or to go searching for gloves.YN stood up brushing the non-existent dust off her lap with a deep sigh "It was just a chess piece, Reigen. I can just DIY my own one when I get home.""I know, I know” YN can tell he’s trying
“I fought that you were pretty nifty…What with them anyways?”YN walked over to Reigen, gently grabbed her chess set back, and shoved it in her bag “Dunno… All I know is that she's the daughter of our art sensei”Reigen furrows his eyebrows “You would think a daughter of someone with art genes would be, like, nicer? Or at least more…Artsy?”They make their way outside of school “I heard that she’s like this egg that’s really ugly on the outside and pretty on the inside. But I don't care about her crybaby backstory”Reigen nods his head before whipping it behind as if Komina would reappear any second and kick them into the mud.He rubbed his hands unsure of what to say so instead he said the next best thing “Want to come over to my house, I have enough art supplies… and I think I can send you back” He let the words tumble out without even checking with his mom, what was he thinking?
YN called her mom immediately jumping in the air in excitement “She said yes!” The duo did a mini dance before walking to the Reigen household.
The walk mainly consisted of them commenting on the scenery and chatting about their musical taste
“Wait, I never expected you to be a classical music type of person” YN always thought Reigen was more of a ‘ladies are on my body’ type of person because the moment you got to know him, he had pick-up lines for days"Because it's all around me and it doesn't bore me."."How can something so boring not bore you?"“Because it's just music, man."
YN and Reigen were reaching their destination but YN halted scrambling towards her school bag “That's why I love Mozart- Oi is my music taste that boring?”YN grabbed a week-old cracker that was halfway eaten stuffed in her bag “What? No way, I think your music taste is pretty special, I'm just feeding the ants”
Euphoric was the emotion he felt, did she say special?He must have heard it wrongly, all he does know is that he will never change his music taste— ever.Turning around the corner they finally reach Reigen’s house, the two teens greet Mrs. Reigen who gives Reigen a look at the unplanned guest. She flashes YN a smile, this was the first guest Reigen brought home other than a stray cat.She takes a proper look at YN, who is equally sweaty and a little disheveled.Maybe this wasn't that different compared to her son bringing home a stray cat.She shot Reigen a look that made him immediately cringe, he had to physically drag YN away from his mom who kept asking for more details on their meeting.
But YN paid no attention to this, she was too infatuated by the glowing shrine that is the latest gaming console. The one, the only grail that everyone under the age of thirty dreamed of.Reigen stopped play-arguing with his mother and quickly whisked to YN’s side “See something that catches your beasty eye?”YN didn't even spare him a glance, already mentally preparing herself to play the console while Reigen’s personality did an entire 180-shift, as he handed her the controller.He grins “You know I'm not going easy on you right?”“Oh, bring it on. You see mortal, unlike your dumb luck skills. Mobfighter requires skills and technique”Reigen fake gasps
“Skills? Oh no, I'm shaking in fear.” He clicked start on the game “Bring it on Beast”The teens played until mid-noon, Reigen’s mom was pretty sure if she hadn't stopped them from playing until their tie was broken - she would have died from old age.She pulled the plug out of the TV and clapped her hands together to bring her zombie-looking son and his friend out of their daze“That's enough TV for the both of you. Wash up. I made chicken katsu for you kids.”
Dinner at Reigen’s was uneventful, other than YN moaning in delight at how tasty Mrs. Reigen’s food tasted.
After dinner they both took showers, unfortunately for YN she hadn't brought extra clothes luckily for her, Reigen's mom had some old shirts that were small enough to look like a dress on YN which Reigen laughed at as she struck a pose.YN simply just bonked his head which had his mother laughing in delight.
The group got into the car ready to send YN back to her home “Reigen uses a push-up seat?”
A law in certain parts of Japan required children to use pushup seats if they were under a certain height and coincidently, Reigen and YN were about the same height with YN being a few cm taller “Mom come on. Do I have to?”
“Yes you do, now don't argue with me boy, remember last time…”YN raised her hand “Madame Mom what happened last time” She added quotation marks for emphasis
“Madame? Well, that's a funny name.” She laughed while starting the car after buckling everyone “Well our dear boy Arataka” Reigen huffed looking outside the window “Was throwing a fit while I brought him to get his passport picture, I was already so late so I didn't bother. That was until a police officer pulled me aside”YN looked at Reigen comically “You got your mom pulled over by an officer?”
Reigen’s face turned into a tomato
“It was one time!
“And the last time, can't believe I got out of paying a whopping bill because I talked my way with the officer, which- ah here it is” Reigen's mom took one last turn, arriving at YN’s house
She slowly got out of the car. The wind was light, and it nibbled at her skin. She finds herself staring at the ground.“Don't worry YN, we’ll see each other on Monday” Reigen said noticing how her mood changed
"Yeah" YN smiled softly, but it didn't quite look as obnoxious as it usually did "See you on Monday," She said waving him goodbye to keep thighs light, but it wasn't enough for Reigen, so he grabbed her hand and moved it so it was like she gave him a high five instead.As she laughs at him a flash of white catches your eye. YN looks at a plant on the windowsill. It's a plant her mom got for her when she came back from work one day, she forgot to water it.She waved Reigen goodbye before running into her house.What she was met with was her mother's boyfriend sitting in a chair. She waved at him awkwardly who gave her a curt nod.“Where’s mom?”“She went out, told me she was coming home late today, and…... Since it's Friday you can stay up late” Her stepfather replied, handing her the controller before he headed into his room for YN to watch the TV.YN muttered a silent ‘yus’ under her breathtaking TV remote and turned on her favorite cartoon that always showed itself at the latest hour.Her mom had done this a couple of times, coming back at late hours.It's not that she left YN home alone a lot since she was working and YN was at school, but during these days YN had secretly hoped that she could spend time with her mother and watch a movie which she rarely did these days.
The cartoon ended and it was one in the morning, YN felt a yawn creep up at the back of her throat, the world looking loopy as she was barely awake.Then, she heard something from her window, she took a chance and peeped her fat head out, it was her mother and a man?Who is this man?Why was he sending Mom home?Maybe she's just imagining things she can't possibly be doing what she thinks she might be doing…….She heard the door close and pretended to fall asleep, her acting skills were so good her mom didn't even notice— only going to her room to sleep.YN covered her mouth with her hand, no way she could be doing the unthinkable, her mom was a good person.Yeah her mom was a good person, good people don't do things like that. She concluded her debate, curled into bed with her stuffed toy ‘Greg’ and went into a dreamless slumber.The flowers by her mom’s window, the daffodils had wilted ever so slightly that night.Nobody had bothered to tend to it thinking it was just a one-time thing.Everyone says that.

╔═══°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:YN's status log❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･═══╗
YN: dude i think i drank tooo much milkReigen: Yeah dude, i think im gonnaexplode on the toilet laterYN: DIS IS UR FAULTReigen: nU UH, IS UR FAULTYN: maybe its our karma.....Reigen: i don't care, we earned a weeks worthof vending machine snacks,if that means shitting myself to death,so be it
╚═══°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:

❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･═══╝

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

‧͙⁺˚*･༓☾ You're my toothpick　☽༓･*˚⁺‧͙

Reigen sat in bed looking at the glowing stars he and YN made last week smiling at the fond memory, she had gotten glow-in-the-dark paint all over him.Feeling felt too guilty, she poured paint all over herself.It had him laughing until his belly ached— until she had gotten paint in her mouth, his mother had to rush the poor girl to the nearby clinic just in case she had ingested anything poisonous.Thankfully she didn't, but her mouth glowed the entirety of dinner which Reigen couldn't hold his laugh at the angry girl.He was about to close his eyes and sleep before he saw a text from the devil herself.
YN: Hey

>>> hey /╲/( ͡° ͡° ͜ل͜ ͡° ͡°)/\╱\
YN: Bitch that scarred me, teach me how to send that :0
>>>YOU TOLD ME IT WAS A WASTE OF TUNA TO LEARN IT
>>>*TIME
YN: Well i change my mind duh
>>>Ugh you suck so much yn
YN:yea yea and you…‘dont you dare make a dick joke….’ before he could press send, he was disappointed at the replyYN:blow
>>>i hate you
YN: sure ya do~~YN:can we call…..
>>>why so sudden
>>>
not that i mind or anything

The sound of his PokeMob ringtone played, it was YN.He picked up his phone reluctantly “YN it's like what... Eleven in the evening on a school night? Why are you up?”He heard her chuckle, it sounded nasally “I could ask the same of you too”
“You okay? You sound like you're sick. I can ask my mom to send some medicine-”“No!” He hears the line become static for a moment from YN’s quick to decline the help, so fast that her voice lagged a little “I-I mean….. You don't need to do that! I'm not sick…Uhm…I have dust allergies! Yeah, I got a dusty nose”He didn't believe that in the slightest but decided not to push it “If you say so..”YN quickly deflects after sensing his apprehension “Enough about me, how was your day?” Her voice was overly bright, usually, she was doing more of the talking not the other way around. Not that it was bad…But still, sudden.
Reigen stares at his phone before dropping whatever he wanted to say “Well, I was looking into this game I saw at the game shop called Psylent Hill, I think it’s horror. We should definitely watch it when I learn how to pirate things”“What's pirating, is it like pirates? Do you want to be a pirate? Reigen we are too old for this nonsense, get help”
Reigen snorted walking towards his window and staring at the sky, he wondered if YN and him were looking at the same stars.He hears YN blow her nose then replies “Not that type of pirate you wet sock, I mean it's like something people do to get things for free”“But why?”“But why not?”YN quickly replied with “Answer me ‘taka, why”“Capitalism of course” He replied watching the cars pass by his house “I’ll con the rich, feed the poor”
YN's laugh was muffled, probably buried in a pillow “Is that a savior complex I’m sensing??”"More like ‘I don't want to pay for snacks’ complex" They both laughed at this.“Well as long we made people feel good in the end, I don't suppose it matters”"Exactly... Now go to sleep we’ve been talking for what, shoot— two hours""Really?" She yawned tiredly before speaking again, her own eyes drifting to her window to look at the sky—
it felt like bricks being lifted from her chest, a feeling that she would get after an exam “Thanks again I needed this”

He held his phone with his shoulders closing the windows finally to get ready for bed "Why? I mean, we call all the time. What's the difference?” He heard the shuffling of her bedsheets on the other end.“Nothing, I just….Really enjoy our chats a lot and…” He wants to say more, but the girl is already cozying into her blankets.“Gwood wight Weigen Wababaka” She slurred her words, drifting off to slumber without bothering to hang up.Reigen sighed at her negligence in leaving her phone turned on next to her as he whispered a silent
‘Good night’ before hanging up.
Curling up into bed, the thought of watching game strategies instead of studying Mobfighter strategies tugged his mind before slowly drifting to slumber.

“No, I will not go ghost hunting today with you YN”
YN whined into her phone response “But Rubennnnn , it’ll be fun”
She had been begging Reigen to do something fun with her all summer but never got the time to do it since he always had to go to math camp or whatever study program his mom signed him up to keep his grades sharp.
Reigen sighed in defeat “Ugh, why do you even want to go ghost hunting now, it's literally half past one in the afternoon. No ghost would be out" He was actually also a little lazy "I quite frankly want to lie down on the floor and do nothing”He was about to invite YN over to watch it but decided not to after something unpleasant happened recently. Reigens’s mom wouldn't let YN come over often these days, Reigen wasn't sure why the sudden change after they had met up spontaneously the previous year.So what was different from this year? He just assumed his mom wanted him to study more and brushed it aside.Reigen stared outside his window, still not in the mood to go out. He had just finished helping his mom with a mountain of chores and wanted nothing more than to just lay on the sweaty ass floor, and watch TV.
He eventually caved in after fifteen minutes of bargaining with himself, before bargaining with his mom.

>>> So where do we meet up?
YN: Oh nowwwwwwwwwwwwww you wanna hang. We can maybe meet up at the broken stop sign behind our school
>>> the one with graffiti gang symbols on it?
YN: no dingus, the one with dick symbols on it
>>> got it, i’ll be there soon

He placed his flip phone into his fanny bag and packed some snacks for their little adventure.PokeMob cards, checked.Water, checked.A flashlight that's powered by potatoes from a failed science project that was supposed to be an alarm clock, now glows.
Radioactive potatoes, checked.Reigen said his goodbyes to his mom who stopped him from the kitchen “Young man, where do you think you're going.”
“To see YN?” He said running in place, unable to hold his excitement.All she does is sigh “Not that I don't mind you getting some fresh air, but maybe just lessen the times you go out with her”He stopped running in place, face becoming serious “Why? We always hang outOnce Reigen's mom placed the clean plates down, the room suddenly felt smaller. It wasn't like her to disapprove of his friend, not like he had a lot to begin with, but she’d never voiced her opinions like this before. Not to mention when that friend was the one that she was fussing over with for her crinkly collar.It was not sudden for Reigen's mom, she noticed her son was, happier and more outgoing—
he even joined the debate club, which was something even his mom approved of after YN insisted on building up his confidence and getting rid of his stutter. So why was she so uneasy?Reigen also became a little more adventurous than usual, he used to be worried about talking about things other than school with his mom, but that all went away with YN. He didn't care if some of the things he said were silly.
“Reigen” She begins softly “I don't have anything against her and she's been good for you...But sometimes…” She paused looking at him, as if she was tiptoeing around a minefield “Sometimes friendships can be intense…And with school, I know you're keeping up your grades….I'm not stopping you, but I don't want you losing yourself in other people's problems all the time”Reigen frowned at her “That's mean. Friends are supposed to help each other if they have a problem”His mom spluttered, her message clearly not getting across the way she intended “That's not what I meant” She began again but stopped when her son’s frown deepened “….Just come home by dinner… Make sure to ask YN if she wants extras”Reigen doesn't bother replying to her, already making his way out of the door.
What brought the sudden change?
He thought ‘Well she was acting strange but now she's actually commenting on it’ he went deeper in thought and then slapped himself.No.But he doesn't care what she thinks.
If I want to be with YN, then I'll be with her.

Reigen finally reached the stop sign with the graffiti dicks just as planned.It's been about 30 minutes, YN should have arrived by now, she was never late for things she planned on her own. What's taking her so long? he was about to call her when he saw a figure running towards him, it was YN. She looked drained, but not physically, eyes puffy
“YN over here” He called rushing towards her “Are you okay? Do you need some water? Gosh, you look like you've run a marathon” He quickly rummaged through his fanny bag and passed her a water bottle which she gratefully chugged, looking the opposite way shaking a bit. Not knowing what to do, Reigen patted her back to calm her down, it worked to an extent.
“Just had a lot of dust in my room last night— couldn’t sleep well, and— hah— I really hate running.” She looked at him, eyes a little puffy but a smile on her face with a quivering voice.“Is your room that dirty to the point I need to help you clean your room now? He jokes, but concern is still present on his face “But seriously, you don't look so good”
YN tries to look him in the eye but looks away quickly, taking a breath in “Let's sit down, I can't feel my legs from all the running”They walk towards a dry soil patch with daisy flowers, YN fidgeting with the hem on her shirt showing her growing frustration as she speaks “Well, what happened...what..., Ugh! I hate talking about this because it's annoying…. but, I've been having some not-so-cool and fun thoughts about my mom.”
He gestured for her to continue, he couldn’t tell where she was going with this.“She didn't do anything wrong” YN defends hastily “I just spoke out— and I guess...I guess I’m bothered about it, I don't even know why”Reigen didn't know how to feel as she continued “She...she well yells some mean things. Really, mean” YN took a big breath, it was like her throat was clogged “I know it's true sometimes..But it hurts. “I don't know why I feel like this.”
Reigen turned to YN, the twinge of sudden anger making him grip the concrete side of the road
“But that's...Totally mean! Moms shouldn't be saying that to you”
He wanted to say more and get angry more, but YN didn't want to talk about this any longer.
She just stared blankly at the side of the road, her silence, telling him that she didn't want to delve into the topic any deeper but couldn’t help himself from asking "You sure you're fine?"
"Yeah, I'll be fine" She replied immediately standing up, one hand on her hip and the other pointing upwards to the sky like some exaggerated superhero pose
"We’re wasting daylight!"
The sudden energy surge was a little jarring, one moment she was in deep thought as if she was on a faraway planet, and the next thing she was springing to her feet like nothing. He almost couldn't catch up with her"Wait, go where?" Reigen reaches to hold her hand, walking in the opposite direction of the dick signboard “Do you still want to go ghost hunting?” He asks as YN bounces to her kneesShe shakes her head “Not today. I heard that there's this new shop selling takoyaki on a stick and fried mochi. You know how I feel about mochi and fried food”
He swings their arms up and down “Fine, I hope they have red bean paste mochi”They walk hand in hand as YN recounts her weird vivid dreams of her being a talking cat and almost wetting the bed.Even if it was weird, the duo felt at ease.“The contents of this takoyaki are so good…” YN savors her food in delight, head reeling towards Reigen as snatched his food into his chest knowing what to come next
“Reigen let me try some of yours”
“What? No way YN, we literally ordered the same thing”She groaned and reached for his serving with her toothpick leaning on him “Come on Mr.Weigwen, gives me one pwease” He knew he wouldn't be able to resist those ugly eyes of hers so he blew a breath on his takoyaki “Hah, now it has my germs on it— Oi what are you doing!”This girl was insane, he thought.Just as she snatched one takoyaki with her stick and ate it, Reigen stared at her disgusted “You are a monster”YN was pleased with the discomfort she gave him.“A monster that just outsmarted you”“With what? I put germs on that takoyaki, literally my own germs”“Puh-lease, you don't scare me. It was like the other time you told me that the green mushy candy was mashed mochi, it was wasabi Reigen!”“Now that was hilarious, that, on the other hand” He pointed to YN’s empty toothpick “Is vile”YN tilts her head and scrunches her nose in frustration “Vile? Stop using big words to confuse me! We both know you barely know what it means!”
“You dare question my vocabulary, I have, wait for it, two dictionaries at home”“You just wait, I'll be replacing your peanut butter jelly sandwich with tomato sauce”Reigen fake gasps dramatically “Are you threatening me with a flavour sabotage?”“Only if you don't give me your extra takoyaki” YN declares her flavor warfare with pride, nothing could stop her now.While YN’s attack was upfront, Reigen took this as an opportunity to probe a little— a booby trap. He took a deep breath before placing his bargain “YN, if I give you my takoyaki…. Will you tell me what's going on with your mom”Her expression is unchanging from the one before, she tilts her head confused, it kind of reminded Reigen of a dog
“Huh? If this was because of before, then you got the wrong idea”He crossed his knees together, slightly nervous “No, that's not what I meant...Ugh, this is a really hard topic to get around but. Is she always like that?”She fidgeted with her toothpick, she didn't want to talk about it- but her love for food was stronger than her will to keep a secret.“She treats me normally, she doesn't hit me Reigen!” She blurts out like she's been caught in a crime she didn't commit “She just gets aggressive and like, throws my stuff around….But it's not the way you think! It was usually when I spoke out of line you know? plus it's not like I got bruises or anything.”Reigen looked at her with a sour expression “Sure….but explain why you were all teary earlier”
He couldn't help but let his distaste for her mom seep into his voice, he’s never met that woman before, and YN never talked about her much, so it just never really occurred to him what type of person she was.
He didn't need to know her to not like her.Reigen couldn't help but try to think of things that could help YN, to seek some help maybe later and curse her mom while he was at it.He was going to suggest it, though not right now, not while he can only
thing he can feel is frustration.YN takes a breath in “I was crying because she told me that I dress like a hobo. I got really hurt and told her I didn't care— Why are we even talking about this? I told you I don't like it” YN didn't want to come off as annoyed but she did, Reigen was making this a bigger deal than it was supposed to be, and her mom did care.
She did care.
“That isn't your fault YN!” He says firmly “You not liking what she said to you is not your fault. As mad as she is, she had no right to do what she did to you. You need to stand up for yourself, like you told me remember?''
She does remember, that she had told him to stand up to his mom about his interests saying ‘It's your life Reigen! Don't let Mrs.Mom say that to you!’ but how he wishes she could take her advice.“Yeah..” YN says, almost a whisper

“That was mean!”

“Is it because I'm a bad mother?”

Guilt and fear coursed through her body as her mom left her room, slamming it on the way out.

The sight of her messed up room, her ‘neatly’ folded clothes were flooding the floor, and her books were thrown across the room.

YN thought about the way her mother treated her ‘I think reigen is right’ Mom can be wrong sometimes...“Okay Arataka….. I’ll maybe take your advice” She gives in.Reigen gripped her hand tightly clasping it in his “Promise me to try to talk to the counselor for advice and I’ll be there for you if she does anything rash”
YN laughed “Will do, but she does not have a rash”Reigen rolls his eyes
“That's not what I meant”“Then what did you mean”Reigen lets go of her hand, groaning. YN just had to ruin this moment for him “I mean like a knight in shining armor to save you, dimwit”YN fell on his lap dramatically like she had been shot “Oh dear knight, do I need to remind you… Who saved thy royal bum when he saw a roach in his school shoes”He stretched her cheeks playfully, really hard— making her squirm under his playful grip “Hey, my precious cheeks!”“Don't hey me. You were totally screaming too… The only difference was that you kept flailing your hands violently and hit the roach, killing it” Reigen says crossing his arm, letting go of her puffy cheeks.YN smiled proudly remembering the heroic act she did, rubbing her reddening sore face “I was so cool”Reigen played with her hair instead, groaning “Cool is a little stretch, you kept bothering Sawaki sensei to get you disinfectant”“And your point is?”
Reigen tugged on her hair tighter
“I’m going to go bald if you keep doing that!”
He just looked at her, smiling stupidly, “Heh, at least with your bald face I can see you’re stupid expression more often. You should clip it” he brushed her hair aside gently, his fingers grazing her face before resting it on her cheeks.At times like this YN felt as if nothing mattered but Reigen. He always knew how to make her happy even when she didn't want to, finding comfort in the teasing.It's not like she couldn't live on her own— she was fully capable but there was something about this friendship she made it feel…. So magical.She was pretty sure Reigen felt similarly towards her.
Reigen didn't think he would want to be friends with a weird, loud, messy, annoying prick that he would eventually cherish so dearly in such a small amount of time.She opened up new doors for him. He became more outspoken than before, more stern with his mom whenever she wanted him to be bleak and boring.He couldn't believe he was actually going to listen to her, he was going to become his own person.
YN felt bubbly when she leaned into his touch, the world had never been so bright— it was warm….He was warm.
╔═══°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:Text log°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･═══╗°KoolFeret (YN): u know ur potato clockFlamioKoolMAN (Reigen): Ya?KoolFeret (YN): do u think i could make aclock out of a tangerine?FlamioKoolMAN(Reigen): Goodnight YN
╚═══°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:

❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･═══╝

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

☆.｡.:*Wife warfare*.｡.:*☆This morning YN’s mom seemed more agitated than usual, she does this thing where her stomps would be louder than usual, and the air would grow thicker.When she skipped it up to say hi to be greeted with a scowl. YN noted that today was one of her cranky moods, she needed to be cautious, quieter.
“Morning Mom”“Morning YN” She replied without looking at her.
Geez woman, talk about rude.
The small talk wasn't going anywhere, so she just walked to the kitchen cabinetto get some milk for her cereal only to realize that there was none “I think we might have run out of bread…” YN doesn't know why she’s nervous ”Could I have some extra change to buy some?”Her mother sets down her cell phone and looks at her like she had just asked for a new outfit “What? I don't have enough money for that today. I'll get some on the way back later”
YN nodded, grabbing some water instead.Her mom doesn't cook much, most of it being left overs that YN got sick of eating, leaving YN to improvise with her food combos whenever she felt adventurous.One time she ate cereal, with get this, pickle juice. Safe to say sweet and savory do not mix.Reigen often brought up the word neglected, he even brought out his hardcover dictionary to show her he wasn't bluffing like a total know it all endearing nerd. Nerds could still be wrong though, thing is, her mom still gave her some pocket money so it wasn't like she was being fully neglected.It was just her being spoiled.
Yeah, she could probably save money and buy important stuff like milk on her own. That is if she doesn't splurge all of it on steamed pork buns in school again….Maybe.Before YN headed out to school, she stared at her mom and ‘step-dad’ in the hallway acting all lovey-dovey. It was a sight that felt foreign, if not rare. Her chest tightened, totally not jealous— She didn't feel sad exactly, no. That would be selfish of her.She lingered a little at the door, but quickly shook her head remembering she had Reigen to see, and couldn't leave him waiting all alone—he probably was waiting for her with his Pokemob cards in his shoes to avoid random spot checks in school from getting his cards confiscated.
Her deep thoughts were sometimes overwhelming, she should be able to process these emotions. After all, she was ten, life was going to be this way with her teenage hormones, but was it really all hormones or her own emotions?
“YN! Come on we're going to be late”Reigen.She was going to be with Reigen, no hard emotions were involved with him, she didn't need to pay attention to his moods - he always was and is her light.With open arms, she runs to him.“Reigen, YN, It's the last day for your punishment decided by your art teacher, make sure to replace the chalk and throw the trash out before heading to your clubs. That is all class”
Everyone said their thanks to the teacher while Reigen and YN slid out of class like ninjas to buy some snacks from the canteen before actually cleaning so they could skip role-call assembly for the extra-curricular activities.
Reigen licks the red bean paste off his fingers, savoring the sweetness “YN, these steamed red bean buns taste like...”“Heaven, I know” She took a chunk out of her bun, mouth burning from the freshness of the bun. The cafeteria is required to make fresh food when after-school activities are done.
Reigen and YN managed to use their ‘punishment’ as a green light to sneak into the canteen to get their hands on the freshest of snacks.
YN takes a long slurp of her strawberry milk “Guess the lunch ladies love you or something…Free strawberry milk? That's like top-tier favoritism”“Please” Reigen scoffs, drinking his own packet of milk “It's just my extremely good charms”The duo finish their meal down the halls carefully, taking the longest route to skip class and make their way to the storeroom to collect a fresh box of chalk.“I told you for the fourth time this week YN, I am not watching the show with the weird green men with masks”“Come on dude, Teenage Mobtant Ninja Turtles is so good! I just binged the entire first season yesterday!”“You’ll have to try harder to convince me to watch a cartoon with walking legs”“First of all, it's ninjas with skateboards, boys and skateboards are like…..So cool. Secondly, I think they use some 3D magic tech to make it look……….” YN ponders trying to find the words to describe the magnificence of technology “Radtacular, did I mention that the turtles are dashing?”“Uhuh, in what world would you find Turtles attractive— Do you hear that?”They suddenly stopped in their tracks when they heard a noise that could only resemble………. Kissing?YN’s eyes widened looking over to Reigen with pure disgust “Do you perhaps hear the sound of lips clashing…”“I think I do…” They gave each other a face of disgust when they heard pants, as disgusted as they were - they were also teenagers.They were curious, per say, to get the latest gossip before the newspaper publishing club got it.
They saw a door, it had a small hole that they peeked intoWas that- The principle?! And a man who looked familiar
“R-Rintaro, we can't do this here, what if a student catches us”
Reigen held his disgusted look while YN was about to pass out from this revelation, she poked Reigen's arm and whispered “W-what is our art teacher's last name?”“I think it was Rintaro” Reigen's eyes widened in horror as the piece clicked together “You don't mean…”YN nodded slowly, still whispering
“Our art teacher, Sensei Rintaro…Komina’s last name is Rintaro…”“Komina’s dad”“What in the triple dog dare?" YN gagged "I think I
just connected the dots, and I want to unconnect them immediately”
This made so much sense, why Komina could work around the teacher's schedule, the reason why there were no teachers conveniently when the three seniors were terrorizing the both of them that day in class.God this was infuriating to know, yet mildly interesting, totally gossip material…only thing was.“We can never bring this up to Komina or anyone who might start rumors…As much as I want to. Like ever. That crazy chick finally left us alone, when we have some dirt on her, this sucks eggs”“No kidding” Reigen mutters, eyes still fixed on the principal and sensei Rintaro “I think I'm gonna be sick”Before they could ponder any longer the two adults seemed to be doing the ‘devil's tango’ which was their cue to leave and wash their eyes with bleach.The two looked at each other with disgust, losing their appetite from the horror they had to witness, two adults kissing, yuck.YN spoke first “So, can we not speak of this unless necessary”With that, they quickly tried to forget what happened, instead, they cleaned the disordered classroom in silence.
“No I don't get it, run me over your plan again”
“All...I'm saying h-hah god...is that we should participate in the twin bicycle competition f-for our hah school, I hate the stairs”“YN….you are literally out of breath as we speak. We would lose immediately”The school cultural festival was starting soon, everyone was getting ready to make their fair buck for their own booth. They had walked past the school bulletin board while taking out the trash and saw the sign.
Come to all students, let's all participate in the once-a-year school canteen program !! where you show off your class’s hidden talents

You can sell food, open cafes, and many more (with terms and conditions)

YOU CAN ALSO COMPETE IN OUR ANNUAL WRITING/BAKING/COOKING COMPETITION THAT WILL BE HELD IN OUR SCHOOL’S AUDITORIUM

YN didn't spare it a glance while Reigen's eyes zeroed out on the reward.

Students can win prizes such as a

-10000YEN

-5000YEN

-Second-hand camera

He totally wanted one of them, Reigen grabbed one of the posters, ripping it from the school board. It might be vandalism but nobody was there to see so it's not technically vandalism.Reigen then shook YN who was beside him “Check this out!”He shoved the piece of paper in her face to which she said “I can't exactly see anything if you keep shoving it in my face!” She comically exclaimed back, snatching the piece of paper from his hand to read it before replying back boredly "Okay...and?”
“See!?” He wasn't getting a reaction so he placed the paper in his hand pointing “Idiot, look at the prize.”YN rolled her eyes before letting them wonder about the paper “So?” She gripped the paper and started glowing.“Don’t you want to try it? We might have some like, I dunno, hidden talent that we have yet to unlock”“Good at snacking? Maybe. Everything else? No” YN hands Reigen back the paper
The school’s way of competition was going to be super rigged. She overheard when she was throwing out the trash that Komina was going to participate in all three competitions. Which was not allowed and illegal by the way, but of course she did anyway.
“Komina’s going to win anyways….It's like running a race but the finish line is moved to her backyard” YN puffs
a breath, her bored face resembling Stonehenge "You can do it, but I'm not"
Reigen crossed his arm and pouted “C'mon YN…I know you want to participate”She giggled looking at him, her stone expression from before crumbling “Was my tsundere look that convincing?”
“Please, you couldn't even fool a fly” In reality, Reigen was totally fooled by YN’s acting skills and did in fact get worried.
YN and Reigen walked down the halls, skipping club activity to hide in a secluded part of the school where no teachers would walk since it was deemed ‘haunted’ but the two teens lived for the unknown and just went along.This was a routine for Reigen and YN, skip club, hang out, and gossip. They would smuggle PokeMob cards inside the sole of their shoes to get away with bringing what the school likes to call ‘contraband’. How was joy contraband? Are they going to ban smiling next?“Anyways….Are you serious about this?” YN quipped taking a right down the hall“Yeah, I am. I was thinking you could participate in the writing competition and I do the debate—”
“Since when were you deciding my plans Arataka?” YN interrupted smirking “We’re not even married yet”YN thinks she sees steam from Reigens head when he trips on his own feet “W-what?! I didn't mean it like that!…. You always talked about how your grandma made soup, so I thought… we could y’know…. Do that”
They reached for a door that was loose enough for them to squeeze their tiny bodies quietly without alerting anybody.YN looked at him thoughtfully, she did like writing. But it's not like it was anything show-stopping or worth doing a competition for. Why bother…Well, she could participate in something else “Well, I do love making soup…But it's not that often..” She hopes he doesn't push on writing.“I pay attention...when you ramble”
YN grins “Cute”“Shut up” He gently shoved YN and reached to the inside of his shoe to get their Pokemob cards ready to play.YN removed the plastic wrapped around the cards before shuffling her deck, pondering if she were to participate in the competition, she would have to ask her mom for money for the ingredients since she highly doubted the school could prepare the ingredients for that.She’ll think about it.She placed her fully evolved card down to eliminate Reigen's legendary extra shiny card “You may win with luck my friend but…..never underestimate me at a card game.”Reigen laid his head on the wall, hitting it in the process “Dangit! I thought I had this one”
Every time they would play Pokemob, YN had instantatioly won every game she played, the game was more on intuition than luck— which normally would work in Reigen's favor, but sadly, YN was a Pokemob deity.She grabbed a deck of cards, holding it as if she was a news reporter “Incoming news, Reigen effing sucks— And I rule” She shoved all her glory in Reigen's face, which to be fair was quite an amusing sight.The school bell rings cutting her gloating.They packed their belongings and made their way carefully towards the main school grounds, fortunately, all the teachers were zombies to notice the teens make their way out of the closet together “I have made my decision Arataka” she stopped mid-walk also made Reigen stop in his tracks.“I’ll be participating in the pie competition. One would definitely be my grandma and the most important reason in return, if I do— ”
“Huh, what do—”
She shushed him with her finger “Shush it dear boy. I mean, if I win at least third place…. You’ll be my wife”
Reigen’s jaw dropped, he shook his head frantically “Wait what? No way, nope” He said popping the ‘p’ in emphasis “What do I even get out of this?YN grins mischievously “Simple. If you win, then I’ll be your wife”Reigen did not just blush, he was absolutely not embarrassed.He was now shushing her with both his hands leaning up against the wall “D-Don't say that type of thing without thinking!” God, why was YN so shameless at times like this?“Psh, c’mon Juliet~ I want to teach you something today, let's go” She smiled sheepishly pushing his hand away.They walked out of school, Reigen knew YN didn't think much when she made comments like that. Once the girl had casually said something about a bowl, and her classmates misconstrued it thinking she had bowel, some of her classmates misheard her over recess they thought otherwise and showed up at her table with flowers and goodbye cards.They walked out of school, Reigen knew YN didn't mean much from what she said, knowing the girl she could accidentally tell a student she had a pole and everyone would think she actually had polio which was completely off - but since some of her classmates would mishear her over the recess they thought otherwise and showed up to her table with flowers and goodbye cards.This may or may have happened last month, they don't talk about it.The duo set their way towards the local market before heading to their little spot, scanning the foods YN decides not to buy anything as Reigen reaches out to one of the fridges for his soft drink.Setting it on the counter he looks at the girl “You not buying anything YN?”It hurts YN not to buy a sweet treat for herself after a long day of school and slacking off, but she tries to practice self-restraint “Nah, I wanna save it for another day”
Reigen shrugged, a little suspicious of her action, he really did know how to read people after all.He grabbed a chocolate bar and placed it on the counter “Hey, I just said I'm not buying anything-”“Uh-huh. You say that now but your grubby hands are going to come steal my food later” YN looked slightly guilty but did not reject the offer, Reigen pulled out his velcro wallet
“Don't worry about it. It's on sale anyways”
They both skipped to the garden chowing down on their snacks only to get stomach cramps on their sides, causing them to crouch on the side of the road

“We should not have skipped— ow” YN clutched her stomach as Reigen and her limped their way to a dry flower patch to sit downAfter a while, Reigen questions “So, what do you have in mind we do today?”
YN reached into her pocket pulling out a small packet “Well, I thought maybe since I've been here for what six to nine years we should— ”“Sixty-nine years?”“No, six to nine years—”“YN, that is not possible— ”“Hush boy, as I was saying…. I always respected this place, watering the plants, and stuff and maybe I want to leave my mark here. Hence, this” She jiggled the packet of seeds in front of him proudly.Reigen squinted his eyes “Your mark is tomato seeds?”
YN called him over to the soil patch “I heard that they are super low maintenance, and look” she pointed at the sidewalk of the entrance
“Why do you even have seeds in the first place?”“Dunno, I went through the school gardening club and they were throwing out some stuff. So I just grabbed this and— oh!” She digs in her pocket for something “I got daisy seeds too! They're even more low maintenance than the tomatoes, they can even grow on concrete. It's like, indestructible”Reigen shrugged his shoulders “Sounds weird but I guess that's nice. We should decorate this place with some of our things anyways” Reigen grabbed the daisy seeds from YN, talking out loud “Woah daisies are pretty rough, huh, the government should use them for war and….stuff”
They both thought about bombing Komina’s house at that moment with daisy seeds. The idea lingered, but they didn't fancy the thought of cleaning up Komina’s body. Well at least YN thought about this, not Reigen.YN digs a small hole trying to loosen the soil a little, Reigen then places the seeds in before covering them in soil “I think that ought to do it” She says admiring her handicraft “Ugh, now we have to water it every day”“Dude we come here like...almost every day”“True……” YN leaned on him with her dirty soil-filled hands, Reigen was about to say something before he heard a notification on his phone “You good?”He just looked away, his face scrunched up “Ugh, I didn't want to say this now but it's about my mom...”YN didn't move, still on him “Oh yeah madame Mom! What did she have to say about me? I hope I get more leftovers… Im so sick of microwave food, I want Japanese curry!”A sigh left his mouth, it was dry despite him drinking his soda only a minute ago “I don't...don't know if we can hang out after this month a lot…”
YN got up “If you want space I can just go— ”Reigen is quick to follow her to her feet, frantic “No, That's not it!... It's…..It's about me and you changing….” YN can’t tell what he’s about to say, it was almost like he looked like he was between a burp and fart “I…..I don't wanna miss watching Ninja Turtles! Yeah, Ninja Turtles. Uhm… I won't be able to record it and watch it for myself?”
It was a lie but he couldn't tell her, not yet— another time, not when their friendship was on the line.YN sighed in relief, she knew he might be hiding something but maybe he wasn't. She was being a little too paranoid. She slaps Reigen on the back laughing “Ahah! I knew you couldnt resist the calling of the greatest franchise! You still scared me though, getting all serious faced”Reigen tried to laugh, but it came out sounding like a choking frog “H-ha ha, totally..” Now he has actually watch that freaking Ninja show, ugh, changing the topic he chirps in “So you're participating in the soup-making competition?”“I probably am. You're doing the essay one right?”The knots in his stomach grew “Yeah, I'm a little worried about it”“Why? You're on top of the class for your amazing essays and math, I'm sure you can write an amazing story about the heroic adventures of the pyro-whatever theorem and pie formula”The way she worded it seemed so easy. “Yeah but….what if..”
What if he was unable to fight back? What if he’s on the opposing end for something like child soldiers? Even worse…Animal soilders! What would he even—A gentle hand stroking his hair gently pulls him out of his thoughts “Hey ‘Taka, if anyone were to win that competition and make me their wife. I'm sure it's you”The way she so shamelessly said it made Reigen not react, he was going to make her proud.He leaned into her touch, taking a deep breath while taking her hand in his, playing with her fingers in an awkward position— his face melting into a smile.“May the best wife win”
╔═══°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:Text log°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･═══╗

Reigen (NightwatcherRulez): Dude, i Justfinished the show..YN (Leo'sGF): Ninja turts? OMGReigen (NightwatcherRulez):YEAYN (Leo'sGF):OMG YEAHHHHHHHHHH,WHOSE UR FAV??Reigen (NightwatcherRulez)::i'TS BETWEEN RALPHAND DONNIE, alsoi searched up ninja turtles andsomething about the last ronin showed upYN (Leo'sGF):WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA,N DONT EVEN READ OR LOOK INTO IT !!its way too depressingTTits meant for grown ups only, i hate itReigen (NightwatcherRulez):Hmmmm okiedokie,,,,also my dad's comign back from Americathis week so I asked him to get theseason two DVD.Get this, its officialso we get photo cardsYN (Leo'sGF): w a t ( ˶°ㅁ°)!!Reigen (NightwatcherRulez): Laminated,holografic cards.YN (Leo'sGF): dude, this is so hardcore( ◡̀_◡́)ᕤReigen (NightwatcherRulez): We hard bro,everyone'sgonna be so jelly about it
(¬`‸´¬)YN (Leo'sGF): Theyre gonna scream just to have aGLIMPSE of the glorious card(¬`‸´¬)
╚═══°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:

❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･═══╝

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

☆.｡.:*Fat fish .｡.:*☆Today was a public holiday, YN and Reigen had decided to spend the day for themselves instead of meeting up. It's not that they fought with each other or anything, they simply just enjoyed their appreciated time alone.
YN had trudged down her staircase, she stayed up all night to binge a new cartoon that showed up only during late hours.A familiar aroma of coffee hit her nose when she walked down, it was her mom watching the news rambling to her friends about some prime minister and hiking prices on cereal or something. YN briefly wonders if the price rise would cause the fried mochi to stand to increase, even worse, what if takoyaki becomes more expensive? The world would truly crumble.Besides that, YN was excited to tell her mom about her upcoming competition at school, sitting down on the dining hall's chair, she rambled on about it.At first, her mother seemed happy that her daughter was participating in something until she brought up the need to buy ingredients, “No, I don't have money to buy you the ingredients. YN think about it….I'm working hours on end while you're just lazing around going out”YN hadn't even thought of bringing it up but her mom continued her lecture
"I pay for the house. I pay for the food…. And you? Please don't be funny with me, money doesn't grow on trees y’know"

She sat there clenching her fingers, regretting even mentioning it. Asking for grocery money had clearly been a mistake. Why was she so dense? Her mom was clearly working hard, she knew that. So why did she have to mess up her mood by asking her something so simple?“You can go to the market or something during the weekend on your own” She didn't exactly have a week and her mother would forget her own words. “Other kids your age are working already. I’m trying…YN, I’m doing the best I can.”That's right, her mother hated it when she talked about money.She stopped herself before the words left her mouth “Nevermind, I'll go with Reigen this Saturday since he doesn't have tuition”
Her mother gave her a hum and placed her hand on YN’s shoulder “Please understand where I’m coming from YN…. I have a lot on my plate right now and I can't afford a lot of things. Be a big girl and stay safe okay? My phone is just a ring away” Her mom took a sip of her coffee before heading out the door waving with an absentminded smile.Why was every day the same, and so disappointing?Why was she even sad? Her mom wasn't making rude comments to her, or yelling at her this time.
So then why did it feel so empty?‘Stay safe okay?’ It lingered in her mind.
It was a normal thought right? For a normal emotionally stable person. Non-emotionally stable people can't recognize their own thoughts right?
They usually don't even understand what they're going through. But YN definitely
understood herself, right?She didn't want to go out today, what could she even do?
Oh, that's right. She could just talk to Reigen.

>>> Reigen BARABABABABABABABABABABBABABABABBABABBABAB
Reigen: what u wan>>> U free TM?
Reigen: ermz..I guess yea. Why?
>>> Awesome sauce, I was thinking maybe….I forgot
Reigen: How can you forget mid text?
>>>Hush
Reigen: . . .
>>> Ok got it, where do you think we can get groceries for free
Reigen: erm maybe a we could farm?

Actually thats a little unrealistic,
OH we could fish at a lake??
YN got too lazy to type with her keypad, so she just rings him instead
“Dude why would you call me when I'm in the middle of-”“Good morning to you too” She heard Reigen puff out of the line and chuckled “Back to my plan, I was thinking maybe to not participating in the competition—”“No way! Why!” he said yelling into his phone
“Geez you're loud,” Yn says pulling her phone away from her ear “I mean I don't think I can afford it”“I’ll pay for it” He said it without thinking“No Reigen, plus it's fine. I shouldn't waste my money on a competition”“You know it's not just a competition right?”

She let out a sad sigh “Yeah…..I thought maybe, I could be..Ugh seriously Reigen it's fine'' It wasn't really fine but she knew deep down that there was no benefit, she was mediocre at best when it came to baking “Let's go buy ice cream instead, it's so freaking hot out here”
He knew YN really wanted this, but he also needed to accept reality.Whenever he pushed on things with her mom she would act annoyed and the entire mood of the atmosphere would change, to say it was— was pretty odd.
“Fine, meet me at the tree-lined street near the dick-signboard. I heard there's a new new convenience store selling cheap snacks and toys”Reigen greeted YN with a smile and offered her some cookies which she gladly munched down on like a duck reacting to bread being thrown at them. They both looked around the store to check for their favorite ice cream.The old man at the register smiled at the two when he scanned the ice creams “Hello young ones, what brings you and your money to my lovely store”“Hi, Mister,” Reigen said while getting out some cash “Dunno. We wanted to try out a new store, plus your prices seem cheap and this place looks so cool”
Cool was an understatement. The shop had also sold flowers that had vines growing on the walls — assuming that this place didn't exist in the first place was rather odd, but the most interesting part was the building itself. Considering it never existed in the first place, they didn't question it since the adults didn't.“You know what?” The old man said, reaching towards an old box “Just because I like you too, I'm going to give you this” He handed them a packet of seeds.YN accepted the gift confused while Reigen mumbled something about the old man being a potential pervert
“Mister, what is this exactly? Not that I mind or anything”He smiled softly ignoring Reigen’s weird stares with his hand on his chin “These are snapdragons”
“Snap-what? So is it going to grow into a dragon?”
He wheezed at her assumption, “Close but not quite YN, but imagine that! These are very low maintenance and could ward off mosquitoes” YN glanced at the dots on her knees, woah this man was like some kind of wizard. “Or it even could give your garden that pizzazz”
Reigen, who was previously contemplating booking it out of fear of a pervert immediately dropped his thought process, mind fixated on the word pizzazz, “Mister. You are cool” He said in adoration, he was already thinking about incorporating the word into his daily vocabulary.The old man gave him a pat giving him back his money, flattered by the short boy “You know what Reigen? Take the ice cream for free, I think I might just close up early”YN's eyes glowed in adoration “Really mister?”“Really, real. Now scram out of my shop before I actually charge you”The teens would scram, but their eyes couldnt help but ogle at the corn that man was eating. Noticing this, he waggled the snack to see if their eyes followed. Like dogs, their eyes follow it.“You kids want the elote?”They didn't know what it meant, all they knew was that they needed itHe hands the two kids the glowing powdery corn on a stick, and when the words free left Rui's mouth, the two kids immediately ran out waving goodbye. The old man sighed and sat down on his dingy chair taking in the ambiance of the peaceful shop.

“Teenagers” The old man had known the teenagers ever since they came there for takoyaki and he always obliged by giving them extra tako-balls because of the looks they made on their faces when they took a bite of them. He never knew someone could enjoy his homemade Mexican dishes as much as him.

He should properly introduce them to chimichangas when they visit next time.
Of course, he was happy every day to see the kids, so full of joy — even if they just ran by his place to go to their secret garden or something. He was happy to see the little girl smile again with warmth.“Reigen you noticed anything weird about that old guy?”“Huh? Other than it's a cool shop or the fact that he could be a potential pervert?”
She shook her head looking at Reigen with cheezy powder all over face “Ew dude, ew. But it's that, I never told him my name...Also, wipe your face, you're all messy”Reigen groans as he brushes away the yummy powder “It's a small town. People know literally everyone here”
YN was still wary about the entire thing but just glanced at Reigen smiling with the seeds in her palm “Yeah, it was probably a good guess. Anyhow, enough talking about old guys. Want to plant these seeds?”They walked to the garden ready with the gardening tools they kept in a waterproof box. Ready with her tools, nothing could prepare YN for the level of incompetence she was about to bear witness to.“Yup, so we just have to loosen the soil— Reigen Arataka, what did you do to my babies!" She saw the corpse of her dear daffodils that she had planted with Reigen last month, dead and shriveled.Reigen, who wasn't far behind her, winced and kept quiet “What. Did. You. Do. Reigen. Arataka”“I-I uhm, watered them,” He said stammering.YN's look was cold and unmoving “With what exactly?”“...With Mobsi''
“ Mobsi ?!” She snatched the can out of his hand, taking a gulp herself before she shifted her focus back to him “Reigen? Mobsi ?!”He tried to explain himself, saying something about the nutritional sticker on the back, mostly on how it was yummy and the plants were bored of water. The words of the naive stupid boy fell deaf to YN’s ear as she kept shaking the boy like a ragdoll by his collar. It was Reigen's turn to water the flowers for a week, well the boy might have done more than a week.YN took a breath in before letting go, “Seriously ‘Taka, you just killed the easiest flowers to take care of. They literally grow in concrete and you killed them!”
He let out a quiet “Sorry..”
YN slapped his back, “No worries Rei-Rei, I'm not mad. Just confused at how bad you messed up. I gotta teach you some proper gardening skills” She rolled up her sleeves, digging out the dead flower roots and discarding them in a small plastic bag. She then grabs Reigen by his shoulder, pulling him close, “Reigen my boy, pay attention and help me this time.”She spent an hour explaining how flowers are not human and even if he felt guilty of ‘Neglecting our poor kids, why would we just give them plain water with no flavor’ or something? Plants are plants, and do not need that.“So, I have no idea how to maintain these, but let's hope for the— Reigen stop watering the apple tree with seven-day-old apple juice. it is not going to grow more apples"They were both two halves of an apple, a stupid one.But they were going to make it, stupid bruised apples or not.The two went home in the evening making jokes about the ants but still feeding them because of YN’s weird habit she never grew out of. Going home, the parallels between the two were slightly uncanny.YN’s mother was home early for the first time, she was watching some crime show on the TV that played in English called “Friends.” the twist was, all the friends kissed at least once, even the brother and sister!
Sounded gross, like the last time she went to the city with her mom, she saw some old guy with foam on his upper lip at a restaurant.
He was drinking what she could only assume was beer or adult apple juice. He kind of looked like her when she drank hot milk. The only difference was that YN was adorable, while that guy looked like he had rabies.
With that in mind, YN still greeted her mom.Her mom glances at her, nodding to tell her to heat up the leftovers if she’s hungry. She doesn't want to seem rude, so she has them anyway.
Reigen's mother, on the other hand, pesters him about his dirty hands and tells him to take a warm bath in case he gets sick. She had dinner ready with his father sitting next to him eating some kind of chicken feet soup his mother made. Reigen ate in silence, not daring to say how his day went because..He knew if he did say anything other than school…….If YN did say anything other than hello to her mother…………Their parents’ reactions would be all too familiar.Just like the competition, in no way was she going to win, so why should she put effort into it? It's completely bogus, she could use the money spent for ingredients to buy more snacks, or even go to the arcade to play the dance machine that she often saw those cool teenagers with V-necks play at.The competition was a waste of time she decided, there was no point in trying for something with the odds turned against her.The morning came the next day and YN woke up feeling a little funny. She did feel like the takoyaki made her feel all warm and fuzzy, but that's because she couldn't be bothered to blow it to cool it down and ate it while it was steaming hot.She then suddenly sprung onto her legs to reach towards her phone to call Reigen with a brilliant idea that came out of left field. They were both going to go to the fish market that was a twenty-minute drive away from their houses.The problem was that they both didn't have a car and YN didn't own or know anyone with a bicycle, so that was one option out of their idea infected brain whose spot was filled immediately.“What if we walk…..To fish market…..” YN blurted out, immediately regretting every syllable. What the freak was she saying!? She could barely even walk up a flight of stairs without falling like a 19th-century Victorian maiden, was she possessed!?Why were the words spilling out of her mouth?“Uh…Sure, let's walk to the market… that's super far away.….” He said with the same amount of uncertainty as YN, it was like a double possession by the exercise gods.They were totally not going to collapse after fifty steps….Whatever! They decided to fulfill their impulse to tell their moms and for some weird reason, they said yes to allowing their two barely teenagers to go on a trip, twenty minutes, by car! away from home, only said to be home before six o'clock.The moms felt as if the words coming out were not theirs, but shrugged it off for some weird reason.What a strange day indeed, must be the work of something devious in the universe.The two made sure to pack a copious amount of water and wear their best suspenders, for that ‘Fisherman look’. But before that, they stopped by their local store to get some well-deserved snacks before heading on their long adventure, after passing it by, they noticed half of everything was on sale.Maybe they were possessed because they ran into the store without a care in the world.YN reaches for her purse, slightly confused remembering the conversation she had with her mom before leaving the house. Her mom actually passed her some money and she even encouraged her to buy a couple of snacks before going to the farm. Maybe the exercising gods had some mercy on her.
The bell chimes when they enter the store, the old man seems to be drinking his morning coffee before the two greet him with a smile “Morning Reigen, YN. What brings you here on an early morning? Did my sale sign work?” He says, putting vinyl into the record player.YN shrugged and went straight to the drink aisle, grabbing the biggest can of energy drink she could find.
“Woah YN, don't you think getting the smaller ones is better?” Reigen says, nervously eyeing the gallon-sized monstrosity of a drink.YN shook her head, hugging the can close to her, “But these are a better deal”“Yeah, but you do realize we’ll be walking back and forth…Unless you want to carry it all the way there”
The old man quipped from behind Reigen startling him “Oh, are you kids packing to go on a trip or something?”
“I guess we are? It's more like fishing”
The older man seemed to be thinking about something before a lightbulb appeared “If you kiddos are going fishing, you’ll need tools''
YN waved her bucket in the air, showing her flimsy stick that seemed to be taken from the outside of the unswept floor, with a singular string attached “Mister. We already have fishing tools. It’s a matter of choosing the right bait. Mobgles will totally catch the most fish”“No way, gummy fishes work better” Reigen argues.The man let out a laugh “With that? Oh please tell me you're joking right now. I'm pretty sure you’ll end up breaking those twigs!”Reigns and YN were just planning to use their own fishing tools but they soon realized their own mistake.For some light fishing at the pond for anchovies, it would do, but now with the excitement of the trip wearing down, they take a look at their tools. It was clear that the ‘tools’ were better off being used at a puddle than actual fishing.YN put two and two together and let out a disappointed sigh, putting her precious discounted gallon of energy can back on the shelf, “I don't think we should go then Reigen, the old fishermen at the dock seem a little uptight anyways—”“Nonsense!” The old man exclaimed, “Fishing trip right? Stay right there, I've got just the thing!” He went stumbling into a backroom behind the register.Reigen tapped YN on her shoulder, “Don't you think the old man is acting weird?”“Weird how? The fact he’s helping us, or that his shop is super cool?”“You know I can hear you two?” They both heard a loud thump from the room.
“Old man! Are you okay? do you need me to—” Reigen called out, it sounded like a bunch of bells and some clattering
“N-No, thank you boy but I just got things ready” He said nervously carrying something heavy with a cloth on it “Now, I will show you children real pizzazz”He pulled off the cloth that revealed a red wagon that had one huge adult-sized fishing rod, a big bucket, and a small container “Tadah! Is this enough pizzaz for you or what?”
The two were exploding eternally and had the look of what the old man could only describe as a ‘Holy-shit-how-did-you-just-do-that” type of face.
Reigen looked at him with awe, “Is this for us?”“Sure is. Also” He grabs the small container and opens it “These are actual bait, don't think fish would eat fish candy”
YN and Reigen hold their gag.The man pointed at the old cat clock “You children better run to whatever dock now, or else you won't be able to catch any fish” The two paid for their snacks and this time, avoided skipping.-YN trotted on the sidewalk, hands up in an attempt to balance on an invisible tightrope, “So all we have to do is just charm the workers to help us?”Reigen pulled the wagon behind him groaning “I guess so, this old man should clean this dingy piece of crap. It's so squeaky” a loud creak followed, earning a laugh from YN. They sit near a tree to catch their breath, legs tired but not too wobbly from walking.YN wipes the sweat from her forehead, opening the cap of her water bottle for a sip. They were just a little over halfway to the market and they were already tired. This was a drag, and she was ironically enough dragging Reigen with her. What if she burnt her? fish during the competition? All the trouble for nothing “How far is the fish market? God, why are we even doing this competition?”Reigen squints his eyes to look at his map “About ten minutes? Also, shut up, we talked about this already. We. Are. Doing. It. Why would we walk for so long? To just get fit?”YN puffs, “Says the one who’s also the same”He ignores her, placing his map back into his fanny bag “Whelp” He claps his hands pulling YN up, ignoring her wallowing self
“Let's get going, the faster we arrive there, the faster we can finish”-At last, they arrived at the seaside dock, where the fish market was bustling with fresh catches. The birds flew above them, circling the lovely corpses and rancid smell of dead salty fish that were being dried out.
Reigen set his chair down, stretching his arms and grabbing the fishing rod and the tupperware of bait. YN herself watches the waves for a brief moment. Since they left their home before sunrise, there was only the sound of old grannies haggling from the distance that came from the wet market shop. It was oddly relaxing.She then glances back to Reigen when she hears the tupperware open, who was still staring at the tupperware at hand.YN poked the frozen boy, “Erm…Earth to Reigen?”“I just…I can't do it…” He mumbles, eyes growing wide.“What?”“I can't do it!” Reigen suddenly splutters, shrieking at a frequency only dogs could hear “It's so gross! I can't!”
Before YN could even respond to his outburst, he accidentally flings the Tupperware in her direction, making the contents fly everywhere.One of the squirming worms lands on her shoulder.YN stays frozen and for a second Reigen was sure she was going to jump into the ocean before she starts shrieking “Ew! Ew! Ew! Get it off me now!” YN proceeded to shake her entire body, and before she knew it, all the fish bait flew into the ocean.They both calm down after glaring into the water, the empty tupperware once filled with bait, chucked into the trash.YN, still staring at the water, speaks “We should use you as fish bait”“My bad….”Reigen ponders for a moment before asking “Wanna try using gummies?”“No way, that's like our lunch remember” YN refutes, like he’d just said the most offending thing.Silence again.Reigen suddenly has an idea “The fish market!” He jumps in place, it looks a little silly “We could go to the fish market and buy bait, it would be cheaper than buying the actual fish so it would work just as well…I think!”“That a great idea” YN jumps just as ridiculously as Reigen, dragging him to the market. Upon entering it's loud, so loud…. And scary! The noise resembles the sound of tortured people haggling, not to mention the slightly blood-stained floors — it’s like a haunted house! “Reigen, are you ready for the most harrowing quest of our lives?”YN thinks she hears the sound of someone lowering the price for a bag of dried mackerel.
As the two shimmy their way into the market, an old lady suddenly approaches the two children standing at the entrance near her stall “What brings you two kids here eh? Keen on some salted fish?" Her sudden appearance made the two kids jump, remembering what her mom would do so she just yelled out “Lower prices!” out of impulse.The old lady finds her amusing and lets out a loud chortle before repeating her question with a snort, “Lower prices? Good luck with that!” The lady wipes her eyes YN’s boldness is almost endearing, “Y-You cracked me up good”YN had no idea what she did but Reigen, who was still recovering from his shock, nudged her “I think you charmed her”YN, unsure how to reply, spots a girl with short hair suddenly appearing from the lady's behind.“Yui?!” YN exclaims suddenly, happy and filled with energy “You work here?”
Yui plays with her gloves and blushes, not replying. The lady stops laughing and checks behind her “Oh Yui, are these your friends?”
“Well, not really-”“Yui don't be so shy, why didn't I hear you talk about them?”

Reigen coughed into his hands “Actually we're here wondering if we could buy some bait” he twiddles with his fingers “We lost all of our bait to fish. We don’t mind paying and definitely won't haggle—”The old lady cuts him off “Of course boy! Anything for a friend of Yui’s” She heads to her stall, quickly rummaging through boxes before handing a smelly box to them. It wasn't worms— thankfully. But it smelled horrendous, Yui didn't react to it though, she’s probably used to it.
She did notice YN and Reigens faces scrunching inwards like they just ate a lemon, so she grabbed a plastic bag and wrapped the small box with another bag to conceal the stench.“That should be enough. Say..” Yui’s assumed mom pulls her from where she was standing at the back forward “Could Yui tag along with you?”“But it's not my day off—”“It's your official day off! Plus I'm sure they don't know how to fish” Her mom replied curtly, leaving no room for arguments. Her expression changes sweeter now, before gently nudging her daughter to the two kids “Enjoy your day kids— Hi yes? 750 yen is too expensive? Let’s try 745 — No I will not do 700, 735! Final offer is 745…Sold for 740!” Her mom went straight to haggling mode as the tweens exited the market to the fishing dock.-YN parked the red wagon to the side, beginning to pull out the rod and… hooks? Weren’t those supposed to be on the rod already? “Don't worry Yui, we came….” She looked at the small package as Yui skillfully began cutting line and tying the hook, “...prepared?”
Yui was shy for the most part, they mostly expected her to help only sometimes, but this display of knowledge was beyond any of their expectations. She quickly finished rigging the pole before putting some bait on the hook. Once it was set up properly, she then handed it to Reigen who struggled holding the heavy rod.Since there was only one rod, they all kind of just sat in silence, staring at the bobber riding the light currents. YN notes how she would have never expected Yui to work at the harbor in her free time. She wonders how many times she had gone to this market but never noticed her, blending into the scene. It makes her wonder how many people could slip through the cracks of life without realizing it.This was too deep for the break of dawn.“Hey Yui” YN decided to start a conversation with her
“O-oh, yes?”
“Sorry if this is awkward for you uhm….You like cartoons?” She gave an awkward smile to her.“No, not really. But I do enjoy books…..Have you heard of No Longer Human?”YN did not know anything about no longer being human, nor did she read books.Did she want Yui to talk to her? Yes.So she just said “No, not really? Want to explain it while we wait?”
Yui’s eyes lit up suddenly and all the nervous energy around them seemed to disappear, a fun and talkative girl emerged. YN spent the
listening to her, it was lovely and mesmerizing to hear her talk.YN couldn't believe why that gang of girls would bother her, she was a sweetheart.“YN?” Yui called out, she must have been daydreaming too much
“Oh! Sorry Yui, I was just thinking about the things you said”“That's fine, Dazai Osamu makes me think a lot too,” Yui says with an exhale.
Once again the silence enveloped them, unsure of what to say to each other, but Yui voiced out again “So, why did you guys suddenly want to come to a fish market?”YN itched her hand a little and continued “Well, at first I— well we came here to help get some fish for the competition that's happening in school next Friday”“You mean the all-in-one competition, one?” The school's titles were uncreative.“Yes Yui, the all in one ‘in one of the one’, thingy” A snort left Yui, it sounded so angelic, how could someone's snort be that angelic? “But yeah, I came here for that at first, but I think I am enjoying my time here. It's much more fun compared to what I do at home”Yui asks “At first?”
“It's nothing really. I’m happy that I got to know you, can't believe I just let an interesting person slip under my nose”They both enjoyed the atmosphere, then Reigen abruptly got up from his chair, it falls “I think we got one! Lets reel it in” he grabs the rod, YN and Yui stop talking to watch before Reigen blinks at them, “How do we do this...Uhm…Maybe I hold this thingy and— Whoa!”
Before he could figure out which thing to hold, the rod jerked violently forwards by whatever beast that took the bait. He was most definitely going to take an unplanned swimming journey, and he hadn't even brought extra clothes!Reigen was well on his way to falling into the ocean, but before YN could react, Yui instinctively grabbed Reigen by his stomach to pull him back, YN following right after her actions, looking like a ridiculous human chain.With one hard yank, they manage to pull Reigen back to solid ground. The sheer force was so strong, that YN fell back onto her hands.
“What the fuck…….It's a tire, I almost died— for a tire!” Reigen was currently cursing out to the sea. YN got up a little dizzy from her fall, Yui stretched out a hand to help YN.YN reached out to only realize that one of her hands that cushioned her was scratched not to the point it was bleeding, but it felt like a bunch of red paper cuts.“Y-Yui, what about you, I'm completely fine trust me—”She shook her head, while Reigen cursed the world out, Yui dragged YN to a nearby tap to wash YN’s hand. When he did finally notice, YN waved her hand down as a little signal that she was okay and to stay in place.
The way she held YN’s hand under the tap washing it for her, it felt so close in ways YN couldn't describe. Yui was shy, right? She kind of resembled those types of princes who are shy, but came out dashing. YN couldn't help but feel her face go warm.
After Yui inspected the small wound, she grabbed a small tube from her pocket.
“What's that?”Yui let out a sad chuckle “Oh this?” She showed YN the label that said antiseptic cream "I keep it on me at all times""Do you carry it around a lot?" YN curiously asked as she unscrewed the cap
She applied the cream to YN’s hands "Yeah, I guess I do""Why, if you don't mind"“Well” Yui’s face blushes as she gently applies the cream onto YN’s hand
“I’ve been begging my mom to let me shuck clams recently. I was really excited to do it, but then….This bird… ..It stole it from me, I got scared then I accidentally cut my finger. Since then I just thought of carrying it around.” She turned off the tap, wiping YN’s hand on her own shirt.“To be honest…” Yui’s voice grows softer “I was so glad you stood up against those girls, I…I could never do that…I just get so worked up that my mind goes blank”“You make it sound like I was brave. I was a completely scaredy cat. See these flabby spaghetti arms!” YN tries to make a point by slapping her arm jelly, it wiggles in reply “I swear I was this close to dead when they came to the classroom—”“What?!” Yui’s face paled “They came to the classroom!” She exclaimed, squeezing YN's hands, meanwhile, YN stuttered trying to explain herself as Yui kept rambling over her “God, I'm so sorry for getting you involved. Was my voice that loud in the hallway? I can be quiet the next time it—”
In sudden panic, YN slaps Yui across her face with the cloth from her neck, they both stare at each other with a silence that’s almost deafening.“Yui I'm so sorry I didn't mean to slap you—” YN explains, well shouts.“No, it's okay I was getting too emotional!” She shouts back.YN grabbed her hands shaking her head left and right “No Yui don't say that! You gave, I just saw you panicking and you should never think of yourself as a bother!""But I have become a bother!"The two girls went back and forth apologizing to each other before Reigen popped up from behind them. He had grown bored and decided to snack a little early.Reigen could hear the squabbles from where he was which was arguably not that far but went to see what was wrong, to his relief. It was just the two getting to know each other better, in a weird slappy way?
“That's enough children” Reigen then bonks both of their heads from above with a plastic bag.They both stare at him ready to kill, with more emphasis on YN and more shock from Yui “What was that for Reigen—”Reigen interrupts her by pointing to a shady tree, one arm resting stylishly on his hip “It's time to eat bone head, Yui you can join us too” He takes out
tupperware “Oh, and I made YN an extra Onigiri that you could eat”
Yui blushed slightly and smiled “O-oh, YN, is that okay?”
YN smiled widely “Of course you can have it, I have chips from last week! Totally edible by the way, it's in my bag so—”“That's why my mom told me to pack an extra cup of ramen. Yui do you know where we can get hot water?”
“Sure Ruben..” Yui trailed off, seemingly confusing his name.“It Reigen”“Sure, Reigen. Follow me” She led him somewhere to collect the water while YN waited patiently and set up their little picnic over the shady dock. When the two arrived back they seemed to be closer, Reigen laughing at Yui’s straightforward humor and awkwardness, it felt so familiar. She missed school already, it's not that she enjoyed school or anything.
It was kind of lonely at home, there were people. But she felt cold, at least at school it was fixed in a weird way. Assembly, recess, dreaming about being a millionaire, Reigen, and now hopefully Yui.This daydream was cut short when one of the workers approached YN as she sat alone waiting for her friends to return with her food “Hello you must be the kid that Toki was raving about— Wait a minute, YN?”She squinted her eyes at him “Yes?”“Hah, I knew it. Don't you remember me? I held you at your hundred-day anniversary party”No, she did not remember the man she apparently met at her 100-day anniversary “Yes? Of course...” She said unsurely trying to run away from the conversation.“Knew it, anyways how are things with your mom?” Not good, but why should he know?“Good”“I’ve heard things from your grandmother, apparently she isn't all that good” Why does this man need to know this?The world stops momentarily “What..”
He sighs, why do people sigh after hearing her grandma's side of the story “I can't say much other than you're handling it well, your dad lives in another state. You can’t possibly run to him even if your mom is an ass”YN’s heart rate spiked “Hey! I don't know who you are, it's rude. Please do not call my mom that” This guy is much as a stranger than Komina is to her, he had no right to be commenting on her like he knew her, like he was in the house with her…Why did he keep having that stupid look on his face? Maybe his mom was the real ass for not teaching her son some manners, probably even kicked her stupid son's face while she was at it.The worker held his hands up in defense “Woah, woah kid. don't worry. I just heard things from your grandma that's all” He placed his hand on YN which she flinched at.“Anyhow I'm not too keen on the family drama”
He thankfully got the message and rubbed his neck nervously “You're a good kid is all I'm saying, most kids can't handle this type of stress. Looks like your friends are coming back”YN’s eyes try to find Reigen.“My name's .̵̱̎ ̵͍̈́.̶̫̃ ̸͍̓.̷̭͌, I’ll give your mom a ring. There's something I think you might enjoy joining”
He finally left, YN felt like puking. Why did he speak to her? What was the point of that? She wants to go home—All the negative feelings left her the moment she saw Reigen and Yui together, calling her down. As soon as they entered the picture, it was as if there was no room for these frivolous, tiresome thoughts.YN heard a little of the two’s conversation “That's why she might not be able to participate, but after walking to the market, she really hit it off with you though. So coming here might not be so bad— Oh hey YN totally talking about like, normal things” He suddenly stops talking after she sees her, YN was too hungry to question his weird change of voice.YN squints her eyes at him but stops when her eyes zero on something far more interesting “Is that sashimi!?”Yui grinned “My mom came out and saw me and Reigen just eating gummies and well….This” She picks up the huge gallon of energy drink “She freaked out and brought this to us on the house”
YN can't fathom a thought so Yui awkwardly, with some pushing from Reigen, places the raw pink-ish meat into her mouth. Tears well up in her eyes and she bows to Yui’s feet “You. Are. God”Reigen, unbothered by this behavior, continues munching on his food, even trying out some flavor combos with his sashimi and gummies as Yui splutters in place, face scarlet for probably the tenth time that day “I-Its just sashimi….”After finishing the sashimi and gummy feast, YN got up from their picnic slash lunch spot, determined to catch a fish this time. Yui had even taken extra precautions to make sure the rod was secure and gave them some lessons on how to reel a fish.
“It’s all in the hips” Yui said with a serious look in her eyes, her hips moving left and right in a way that couldn't stop Reigen from cackling.“Wow Yui, you a belly dancer or something?” Reigen jokes, gyrating dramatically back and forth.YN ignored him, even though she was sure he was making a fool of himself and would totally want to get in that hip action— but she needed to focus“So pull back, then release” Yui instructs just as focused as YN, standing beside her.YN abides and the reel bobbles for a moment before, BAM—!
something bites down and pulls. She can’t believe she ever made fun of Reigen almost falling into the water when she couldn't even hold on her own.The other two gather around YN in a frenzy “Oh god, it’s heavy” She grunts, the rod pulling her forward.“It must be really fat!” Reigen grunts, grabbing the back of YN’s shoulder to steady her.Yui held onto her waist “Okay, okay. Now move your hips like I showed you, and pull”All the noise they were all making traveled to the market and had a few passers-by, watching the trio in awe at their determinants. Fueled with expensive fish and energy drinks, YN gathers enough strength and channels her inner pro-wrestler Antonio Inoki.
With one final yank, they fall backward like before.
Only this time, no one was injured from them cushioning each other from the fall. It was like the heavens were smiling at them because a fish flew out of the water with a loud splat, landing on the ground.All three of them stared at the big fat floppy fish for a second, then exploded into chaotic joy.“We did it! We are fishermen!” YN yelled, grabbing Yui’s and Reigen's hands. The three begin jumping around in their shared joy, going in and out of sync with each jump.
It slowly turns into a ritualistic dancy circle when Reigen and Yui connect hands. The ritualistic circle looked a little demonic, but the crowd cheered them on.Just as YN was glowing at their shared victory, a bird swooped down and with one swift gulp, swallowed the fish whole.YN releases both of their hands, dropping onto her knees “No! You stupid bird! That was our fat fish!” She scrambled on her knees, ready to beat the feathery beast.Reigen is quick to hold her back “This isn't you YN! Let it go— Yui! A little help here please?” Reigen says to Yui for assistance to prevent his friend from committing animal cruelty but Yui just stares blankly at the bird, eyes unreadable, almost a flashback.Yui however does not move, staring at the scene monotonously “No,” She says ever so elegantly-softly as Reigen struggles to keep the raging YN in his grip
“The bird deserves this”
Reigen’s sweet girl image of Yui shattered in his mind. “What?!”She shrugs “Clam karma.”Reigen has no idea what Yui was going on about, so now, half panicked, he uses his foot to gently shoo the bird away as he lets YN go.As the bird flies into the sunset, YN points a finger to the sky “You’ll pay for this! I’m going to eat so much fried chicken, your entire bloodline's gonna feel it!”A loud chortle is let out and another cheers, it was Yui’s mom and a bunch of other people that are working at the wet market. “You kids sure are something!” She said, wiping a tear from her eye, “I haven't seen my Yui this active since pre-school. You even got the old uncles betting on the fish you’d catch”YN gives her a shy bow, becoming slightly shy “We did all of that for nothing though…”“Not for nothing” An uncle says, holding up two sizable fishes “Say what, you kids worked hard today!” He places the fish in his bag and hands it to the two kids, “Have this, it's on the house”“Woah really?” YN’s eyes sparkled as they both accepted the bag.“Of course” He gave her a little playful wink “To be honest, I was rooting for you to throw hands with that punk bird.”Reigen shakes his head “Animal cruelty is wrong sir!”The uncle lets out another loud laugh before coughing and returning to the dock. Yui had to help her mom close up shop soon after, which meant it was their unofficial goodbye because Yui would have to also go home immediately after.Before bidding each other goodbye, Yui passed YN her antiseptic cream saying ‘It's always good to have these types of things on standby’. They were sure to eat with her the next time they crossed paths with each other and hopefully bring her to the garden they so adore.
Reigen and YN bowed and thanked the small wet market and concluded that she absolutely despises birds from today and forever.“Bye Reigen and YN!” Yui waved with a newfound glow. Her demeanor seemed completely different when compared with the shy girl in the hallway. Her face had been lit up with endearment as she turned back and walked off with her mom.YN also concluded one more thing today, Yui was an absolute darling.The two made their way home after a long day of hard work. YN pulled the creaky wagon down the road.“Reigen do you think we could be the reincarnation of ninja turtles in real life?”“Dude we don't even have enough friends to consider a team of four”“We totally do! Yui is Donnie, I’m Mikey, and your uh Ralp— ”“No fair, why do you get him? I wanna be Mikey!”“I called dibs first”“Says who”“Says the person who introduced you to Mobant Turtles ”YN was gearing up for a heated argument with the boy, but there wasn't a reply. She looked back to check on the contents of the wagon but was met with a very deflated-looking Reigen.
After she saw how tired Reigen was, she knew she had to offer him a ride. When Reigen was wobbly with his steps, she couldn't help but speak up “Y’know, we can take a break. I can't read a map, but I'm like….. Eighty percent sure we're only ten minutes away from your house.”YN noticed how his eyes were drooping, his head bobbing forward mumbling something incoherently, practically sleepwalking. So she had an idea “Hey big baby”“I am not, a baby” He grumbled back.“Okay baby, but do you want me to pull you home?” He was too tired to process what she said, taking this as an opportunity, she guided his tired body to the wagon.
“H-hey what are you doing?” He protests but his body just sinks into the wagon more.She chuckles and places the food items on him “Here, hug on this. Try not to squish the fish while I pull you” No protests were made from the sleepy boy other than the clear confusion from the tiredness he had been experiencing.This fishing ‘trip’ was a good idea, even if YN and Reigen sucked at doing physical labor. They got to have a real conversation with Yui and found joy in her presence.Though Reigen would disagree to an extent, she was snarky around him, not in a bad way or anything— it was honestly quite charming, Reigen ought to learn from her someday. If Yui was more ‘outgoing’ He’s sure she could out-charm even the school's self-proclaimed bachelor Okamura Ashok.YN finally reached his house, she was greeted by a worried Ms. Reigen who offered YN a ride back and told Reigen to take a shower.
The car ride home was a little awkward with just the two of them “YN dear”“Y-yes ma’am?”“How are things at home, with your mother I mean”“Well things are okay for the most part I think”
She takes a right turn entering YN’s neighborhood “You can tell me if anything is bothering you dear,”This conversation makes her uncomfortable, and she twiddles with the hem of her shirt “It's fine you know….”
She sighs, staring at YN when she arrives at her house.Did Reigen snitch on her?Reigen’s mom tapped on the steering wheel nervously, taking in a deep breath “I... I may not be the best person to be saying this to you but… You're a very mature girl for your age”
Did that mean she was doing good?“Oh” Was all she said to Reigen's mom in response and left.“Your uncle from your dad's side and aunt called me, they want you to participate in some church thing? It might be a good idea, you don't do much on Sundays”“Alright” was all YN said before walking awayYN makes her way to the couch and tries to relax after the day’s events. She stares at the mind-numbing cartoons on TV. These same programs that would bring her so much joy now merely play in the background of her thoughts.“YN” Her mother called once more from the kitchen counter, finally looking at her, “How was the trip?”
YN guesses life can be good sometimes.
That night, YN was having her usual dreams. It started off pretty normal, squaring off with the bird that had stolen their hard-earned fish. The crowd roared as she prepped to do her signature move, the spinning tornado. Just as she’s about to deliver her final blow, the dream shifts.

A shadowy figure appeared at the edge of the ring, his voice was low and muffled but she could make out some of his words about her mother. This made her heart drop as she backed herself away from him, but was stopped by a woman.

She had blonde hair, repeating the same phrases. It was overwhelming and she kept spiraling, each word getting heavier and heavier.
She wakes up in a cold sweat.Her breathing was shaky as she sat up in bed, pulling her hair in an attempt to forget the dream. She needed to clear her mind. Sneakily, she opens her door and makes her way to the kitchen, but stops in her tracks when she could make out the gentle glow of the TV.
There on the couch, her mom is fast asleep with the TV on. She quietly turned it off, carefully positioning herself near her mom. She leaned on her mother who stirred in her sleep, leaning closer towards YN.Maybe her uncle was wrong, why did her grandmother even tattletale on her, she only told her grandmother once about how she felt lonely.Did this also mean she would have to sacrifice cartoon Sundays for church? She hopes not. YN wakes up with her mom no longer with her.YN curls up in the warm spot left by her mom.
╔═══°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:Text log°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･═══╗
BooyakaBomb (YN): REIGEN plzzzzzzzzFearlessLeader$ (Reigen): I dontknow how many timesi HAVEto say this butNO,,,I am NOT larping with youBooyakaBomb (YN): whats larping?harping?FearlessLeader$ (Reigen): Larping is roleplaying,
something that we areway too old for itBooyakaBomb (YN): We're nevertoo old to do anythingFearlessLeader$ (Reigen): r u telling me,you would willingly larp withme even if we're thirtyBooyakaBomb (YN): of courseFearlessLeader$ (Reigen): ....only if I can be MikeyBooyakaBomb (YN): Ugh Fine,but only for ten minutes!FearlessLeader$ (Reigen): Deal╚═══°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:

❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･═══╝

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

｡❅*⋆⍋*∞* The fourth Ninja turtle*∞*⍋⋆*❅｡“PokeMob gods, if you exist…..please send me home” YN thinks to herself, looking at the tall building. Instead of a magical rainbow taking her home, all she gets is a gust of wind to her face as a reply.The grass was soggy when she arrived, she was very super reluctant when her mom dragged her out of her bed and forced her to wear a frilly 80’s dress. She looks at her mom who waves her goodbye.
YN finds herself calling for her mom, though her voice sounds shaky and like she’s in a panic.
Going to a new place, meeting new people on a Sunday morning that’s supposed to be for sleeping in, it made her frustrated. Frustrated at how she was basically forced here, frustrated that her mom wasn't joining her. She couldn't tell who she was frustrated at.“Mom, hold on!” Her mother stops the car, waiting for her to continue. YN tries to think of a stupid excuse to go home, maybe constipation! No, she wouldn't believe that. So YN twirls with the end of her skirt between her fingers “Do I… actually have to go?”Her mother rolls down the window, reaching her hand out to ruffle YN’s hair. It felt pretty fluffy that day. “Yes YN, I already said I promise to get you that strawberry mochi you kept raving about down the street if you go. Now, I think their sermon is starting now, run along. I promise to pick you up first, before everyone leaves just wait outside and don't go anywhere.”
YN waved her goodbye and took a deep breath.This is totally fine, she only needs to come here for one month. A whole month without her morning cartoons, in a place that looked pretty eerie and...Oh em gawd! Is that a ladybug!? The ladybug flew around and settled itself on her nose before flying away. She loses herself and runs after the only bug thing she can look at without physically puking.But not red ants, never. Those can go burn in a fire because they quite literally burnt her butt after she sat on a colony once.
That ladybug, on the other hand, was a cutie. It had a little scrawny body and had purple dots for some reason, maybe stuff for the little ladybug wasn't perfect. But what was perfect? It was as subjective as people’s decisions on life, just like her parents when they decided to live in separate houses and get roommates.She poked her newfound friend and smiled, staring cross-eye at her nose before gently maneuvering the bug onto her palms
“Awe what a cutie” She gave it some extra fruit she had after feeding nearby ants.YN fed the ladybug with her hand, she mentally wanted to shoo it away but how could she? It was too cute, she wondered if she could embody such greatness herself.She declares the name of the ladybug as Billy.
Her eyes drift towards the fence, she could skip church and run to Reigen's house— if she was fast enough she could even catch the morning cartoon with him. But no, it would be futile actually. Reigen was at cram school today, and practiced self restraint to not bother him this week.
A man with a cloak steps into her personal space abruptly out of nowhere, what a weird aura.
YN still kneels on the ball of her knees, she’s nervous at older people but stays put. The older man chuckles with a deep earthy voice “Young dear, why are you not in the chapel?”YN finally gets up “Oh, haha… I didn't know the church thing was starting..sorry”
He smiles, leveling with her, “Young child, you must be new? Before we go into the chapel may I know your name? I don't think I've seen you around here before” The man shoos cute a bug away from his face, it's most likely Billy.He stiffened his model-like smile and whips his shoe on the grass beside the tiles “I’m YN LN, uh it's kinda my first time here so you wouldn't know anyways…”“Well, it's scary is it not?”

What is this dude yapping about?

YN tilts her head “I don't follow”“It can be scary, trust me I know” He looks to the side, a little unsure on how to follow up with his statement before clearing his throat “But if we don’t try how will we know?”While she was still hesitant, the words had some meaning that spoke to YN, it didn't swell like it would when she watched Ash from Pokemob die— nothing could beat that. Still, it made her less tense.The paster smiles when YN stands up “Great The sisters will be pleased to take care of you” He calls for a woman ‘Sister z̵̛͖͛j̷̯͍͉͛̉͘n̶̛̳̱̅̓̉̕ç̵͉͑̋̈̄̾k̴̼̙̲̫͕̍͑̓̑́͘’ or something to drag YN into the cold building.
The sisters were so sweet, they looked sweet also. They greeted YN with care and assured her inside, she glanced at the priest once more and waved him goodbye as he stared at YN with the doors closing.YN was not excited in the least.
New people.
New building.
What could go wrong?So far nothing was wrong, the air in the room smelt like incense and holy bread to her delight. That bread was sourdough. The choir sang as she sat down at a chair near a sister. Even if she wasn't religious, she could always appreciate good vocals.
“Good evening dear, I heard from Pastor Chikara you're new. I’m Sister Miwa”
YN couldn't help but gape at the figure in front of her. Her name was so pretty, even her face was just as pretty. How was that even possible? YN nods along and smiles at her, her voice reminds her of Yui in a way— a little less rough and more holy.
Suddenly the choir finished and a boy around her age went up to the podium to announce something. He was tall— way taller than the rest of the other boys in the same dress. A boy with brown skin, that glowed in the soft lighting. Eyes a golden brown, and the hair that most shampoo commercials try to fake with CGI— only this was real life.As the boy speaks, YN physically sits up straighter and cranes her neck forward.Wait a minute, she knew that voice from anywhere.No way.Was it really?Okamura Ashok?
To say YN was shocked to not see his underground fan club anywhere was a surprise. To be honest, she had no strong opinions on Okamura at all. Well, she had a few but they weren't anything bad or controversial.Okamura grabs the mike to continue his announcement “Today, we will be having our final sermon slightly later than usual since we have a newcomer for the youth. We’ll be doing a greeting amongst one another before we proceed with the closing sermon” He spoke liquid smooth, with no hesitation. If it were YN, she would already make herself a fool of herself.A few auntys spoke at the back of her seat “What a nice young man, so kept together and pristine” and “Oh I wish my daughter spoke to him, he seems to be well put together” It seemed like Okamura had his fan club with old ladies admiring him, it was a little weird but it always seemed like a crowd followed him wherever he went. Not only that, he looked well respected amongst everyone—
YN could hear praises in whispers whenever he walked past anyone.So tell her why when he walked past YN, he had a little look in his eye that she couldn't put her finger on. Whatever, she was too busy thinking about her lady bug friend to care about him, he looked kinda rude anyways.
Probably has a stick up his butt for all she cares.Rich pristine boy and all.
YN walked into one of the halls one of the sisters led her to, where she was placed with all the kids her age. The halls and doorways in the building were ornate and stood around her in an imposing fashion. This architecture and atmosphere were gorgeous, every time she stared at a different spot of the room, she found herself staring. Though, it felt almost fake in a weird sense.Too clean. Too pure. Too orchestrated.
She was led into a room full of the other children who were supposedly her age and should be friendly, but their faces seemed anything and everything other than kind to her.
People.A lot of people.She could just make friends here, right?YN took a seat behind the ‘class’ and crossed her legs, she reached into her bag to get her trusty Tamagotchi. The old man from the store gifted her after seeing her visit him to chat about her favorite cartoon whenever Reigen and Yui were too busy, he always appreciated the company.
YN was about to play a mini-game before being rudely interrupted by a boy who snatched her precious toy “Hey! I’m using that” It was that darn Okamura, sure YN found him extremely attractive in some circumstances because who didn't? But no one grabs her shit and just gets away with it.He scoffs “You're supposed to pay attention to her teachings”YN rolls her eyes so hard, that she feels them sting a little “So? Stop paying attention to me , and pay attention to her then”“Are you provoking me at church?”
YN stared at him in defiance instead of replying to the annoying pretty boy.“Fine, don't reply. I’ll make her confiscate this ” He dangles the toy in YN’s face. She rolls her eyes again in response, clearly frustrated from being forced to be here, now she has to fight a church boy to get her things back.YN crosses her arms lowering her voice when the teacher glances their way “You wouldn't” He snarls like he’s wolfing out during a full moon, and raises his hand. YN immediately snatched his hand down admitting defeat “Fine, fine. Do you have to be such an ass about it?'' This Okamura was different from what she saw at school, more pissy and most importantly— bitchy.
She was about to just call her mom and fake an illness until the teacher said “Oh before we end the class, would anyone like to give a testimony?”
This made YN confused, Okamura looked at her similarly “Do you not know what a testimony is?” She just kept quiet, it pissed her off to know he knew more things than her, but she guesses it was fair he gives her an explanation of how everything goes “Uh, I guess I can give you a rundown on how it works. To talk about how God helped you and stuff, I personally don’t have one but. Oh, there goes one, listen.”
So she listened to the girl in the yellow skirt talk, who had curly hair and spoke with pride.The girl went by the name S̶̝͓͛.̵̮̮̤̅̈́.̷̛͈̏.̸͍̠̬̓y̶̪̗̓̽͘.̵͕̞̀̋̈.̷̛͈̏ . She spoke about how her parents were divorced which immediately caught YN’s attention. S̶̝͓͛.̵̮̮̤̅̈́.̷̛͈̏.̸͍̠̬̓y̶̪̗̓̽͘.̵͕̞̀̋̈.̷̛͈̏
talked about how her family was breaking apart for the longest time and after seeking some divine blessing from the pastor and after many prayers, her family got back together.Was it that easy? To get her parents to get back together?YN loved both her parents dearly even with the mishaps of the relationship. Seeing them apart hurt, it confused her. Did she just have to pray to get them together? She was also pretty sure she didn't need to pay the pastor for prayers.A voice came close to YN, “Oh you must be YN right? Would you like to give a short testimony?”“O-Oh I’m pretty new at this s-so I don't think I should—”
“Oh don't worry youngling, we’re all open and non-judgemental” Okamura's face showed no remorse as he led her to make her big debut speech as a member of the church, she whispered into his ears “What do I even say?!”He let out a laugh that should have sounded demonic but it was angelic “Just start with your name and go on” He patted her on the shoulder, it was a weird pat, more like he was wiping his sweat on her back
“Good luck”
YN stood like a statue, peers watching her.Deep breath it's alright.
Calm.
Can she just go home.̵̧̛̥͇͈̟͔̯͙̱̩̒͜.̶̩̯͍̻̳̽ͅ?.̶̧̩̯͍̻̳̪̽ͅ
Wait no— That bastard is smiling at her. Is he getting a kick out of this? Oh he better not, YN could not let him get the last laugh.That's all the motivation YN needed to start her speech “Hi, uhm everyone, I’m YN LN. I like fried mochi and flowers, I’m pretty new to all of this church stuff. I h-hope you all can treat me well… and I hope we get along” She prays to whatever God that speech was okay. To her surprise they all clapped and accepted her with open arms, it was like school. But more religion and less math.Okamura raised a brow and handed her back her Tamagotchi as she went back to her seat, somewhat proud “Gosh, thanks for the very encouraging look you gave me”
He packed his books into his bag “Well, you looked like you needed it.” She indeed did need it, she would have just stood there if it weren't for that smug ass look she gave him.The sisters called for the children to eat their afternoon snack before the final sermon, YN grasps her plastic with bread ready to find an empty spot to occupy, and daydreams about laying down on her bed with a soda pop.
Okamura notices her bag of bread and looks at her, astonished.
YN mentally wants to beat him up at every look he gives her, she never knew what it was like to absolutely want to beat the shit out of a classmate other than the bullies before— she slowly started to have controversial thoughts about him.“What? Gonna insult my bread now?”
He didn't reply, instead reaching towards his bag pulling out a luxurious Tupperware, and opening it dramatically with two hands. It was bread and jam, no it was no ordinary bread and jam.It was bread and jam.With no crust.“You're just like me” YN suddenly lost all urge to beat the boy up with her spaghetti-like arms, she wiped a non-existent tear from her eye “People called me weird and ungrateful when I did that”Okamura raised his brow, he looked offended “They clearly miss out on the complexity of the flavors when combined. It's scientifically proven by my umami's that the crust disrupts the flavor in various ways”
YN nods intelligently as if she knows what disrupts meant, “That's what I've been saying for ages! I even give the extra crust to birds and ants so they can appricieate it instead of me throwing it out”
He inspects her crust and nods “I see you've taken the time to cut it off properly”“I even used the scissors with each slice!” They both snapped their fingers in agreement, like some slam poetry meeting. This guy was alright, she should ask how he eats his peanut butter and jelly, it totally has to be eaten separately—
Wait a minute, this guy was a jerk for snatching her Tamagotchi! Okamura looked over his shoulder leading YN to the hall “If...you don't have anyone to eat with, we can perhaps sit with each other” He smiled in a way that was supposed to be kind, but it looked more to YN like a sly kind of smile.
Nonetheless, it was pretty convincing.YN wanted to definitely do that. “No”Okamura smiled delightfully, “Alright we can sit— Wait what?”“Just kidding, I always wanted to do that. By the way, can I steal some of that chocolate milk in your bag?”

“No”“But I need the sugarrr ” YN groans making grabby hands to the sky.The two eat in silence, not a word coming out other than a few remarks about the rich boy’s bread looking super tasty. YN was totally not drooling over his bread.YN kicks her legs together on the bench to start a somewhat wordy conversation “So…… I always thought since you know, you're popular and stuff you would be really uhm, proper. I didn't know you were that bitchy in real life”
The boy choked on his sandwich “I’m going to—
Ahem'' He took a deep breath to calm down “LN, please watch your language when the sisters and, you know, God is watching us eat”“Is he really watching us?” YN clasps her hands together in a praying pose, praying out of nowhere “Dear father, please make my bread taste tastier and make Okamura’s nasty, like mold. Amen” She shakes her sandwich and takes a bite out of it to see if it changed, it hasn't. Nor did Okamura’s change “Eh, it was worth a shot”
He groaned annoyedly, already regretting his decision to allow her to eat with him “You're not supposed to pray to god about that type of thing”
YN whipped him a look, “Then what am I supposed to pray for, oh I know, happiness. ” She twinkled her tired eyes at him.“I mean...Yeah I guess”
Happiness huh? YN wonders what she could do with that wish, probably ask for unlimited money. She stops eating for a moment and asks hesitantly “Does it really work? Praying I mean”
He also stops eating to reply, thinking hard.
Wait, why was he thinking so hard?This was just a random girl from his grade, not the littlest ounce of intellect came from her.She was rude, scatterbrained, and pretty weird.Then why did he eat lunch with her knowing this beforehand? He could just easily just get up and sit with the pastor, but he stayed in his seat talking to her.
Sure maybe he was slightly embarrassed at the way she acted but he was also mildly amused.YN leans on her hand “So I guess your mom didn't force you to come here?”“Well, no. I had my interest before coming here and I have some time to kill”YN snickers at him “It looks like you're killing something more than time”He looks at her flabbergasted “What?”
“You kill the old ladies here with your killer looks and attitude”“I kill old ladies” YN stops mid-sentence when she notices Okamura’s soul ascended to heaven, he shoves his face into his hands “I’m going to hell”“No, that's not what I meant!”
The bell chime ran across the lunch halls signaling the kids to stop their shenanigans and move themselves to the main hall. The most boring hall as YN calls it but at least after this, she could go home.
The service was a little boring but Okamura tripped a little over his long dress that he kept insisting on how it was not a dress before he sat. Which YN was totally going to bring up whenever she had the opportunity.
He snarled at her and sat quietly in his chair, sulking like a wet cat. YN never noticed how he had longer lashes than most boys which were definitely not pretty and did not make her wonder about his eyelash routine for the entire sermon.
Reigen had similar ones, she never stared at them long enough without being caught. If she ever did get caught, she would throw a handful of dirt to his face to maintain her dignity.Once the sermon ended, YN let out a sigh of relief when the doors were opened. She stepped on the grass happily, seeing if her mother was there to pick her up early.She went over to see her little friend Billy making who made their way into her palm.Thankfully Billy had distinctive spots because she was about to smack the shit out of the object that was flying around her ear.Okamura bumped her shoulder and coughed loudly enough that it made YN reel back to rub her ear “Ew are you trying to spread your germs on me or what?”
He slicked his hair back, rubbing his face from what she could assume was blush, his brown skin made it hard to tell— but YN remembered Reigen talking about body language once.“W—what, no. I was trying to do that thing where you cough in your mouth…Like on those American shows”“Like this?” She coughs in her hand as an example.“I think so? Let me try” He tries, this time not spitting his germs at her. Instead, he starts coughing loudly now like an idiot, totally uncool, but this humanizes him to YN.Even beautiful people have problems, the world was fair.She pats his back signaling he can stop acting cool because maybe it was “Dude, you're going to die. If you want to grab my attention, you can just call my name”“Oh, you make a valid point…What was your name again?”YN coughs, proving a point that she’s better than him. It doesn't work because he’s taking mental notes to get ready for when she says her name “YN LN, young lad”
“Okamura Ashok” He extended a hand for her to shake, she slapped it in a weird handshake type of way, which pleasantly annoyed him. He was about to chat with her for a while before a car came by, “I do not enjoy cutting this conversation short, but I have to go. Are you coming here next week?”
She didn't want to.But why not?“Sure, see you next week Ashok!” He was about to say something back before he noticed his father calling himHe waved her goodbye before walking into his black car “Bye..”
Well, maybe she judged this place too quickly, other than the talks about if you sin you burn in hell for eternity with no return— it went pleasantly well.She even met a new friend, could she call him a friend? He seemed pretty different from at school, like a cat you bring home thinking it will appreciate you from saving you in the rain but nooo , it runs away— that was too specific.Maybe he just found her entertaining.
Was that a possibility?There was no way she wasn't funny enough for him.Everyone left, YN was alone at the church bench with Billy waiting for her mother.The sky was starting to turn grey.It was eventually going to rain and YN’s mother told her to wait outside for her, so she waited in the rain as it came down heavily.
She decides to entertain herself by counting cars after her tomodachi pet decides to sleep. Was it five yellow cars? Seven? It didn't matter because the rain became heavier, the only thing she could hear was the loud ‘whoosh’ from a car running into a puddle every now and then.Why wasn't she here yet? Maybe she got lost in the rain, like how she had lost count of the cars. YN shoes get squishy in the water, it feels so cold.
She rang her mom for the fifth time that hour but still, she didn't pick up.It's cold.YN noticed a small car, it was her stepfather. She quickly waved him down and ran into the car shivering. He quickly turned on the heater once he saw her, “Oh geez, why are you so wet”“O-oh uh I was waiting for mom, s-she was supposed to be here an hour ago”He grabs a random shirt from the back of the car and gives it to her so she can try to dry herself “Seriously I can’t believe her— Oh, I just came here after I saw a text on your mother's phone from you” He had a worried look on his face, but it seemed more like a worriedness for a stray cat. The rest of the car ride was mostly silent save for a couple of rougher brakes due to a slippery road.
Finally home. YN immediately bolted to the showers, and even though the water was so hot steam was coming off of it, she still felt cold. When she turned off the water she wore an old jumper her mom had kept in storage. It still smelled like her mom's laundry soap, which made her feel a little more at ease.Once she curled up into bed, she immediately whips out her phone to text Reigen about her day. They texted for ages, mostly on the new episode of Mobbemon. YN types on how it's a total rip-off of Pokemob. Like who were they trying to fool? Not her.She had so much more to add but her eyelids felt abruptly heavy and her nose felt funny. Sniffly. Before sinking into her warm duvets even further, she tells Reigen she’d talk about the new boy she met at church the tomorrow despite him getting excited about this ‘New Friend’.
She sends him a sleepy emoticon as her goodbye and brings her blanket to her face, falling into a slumber.YN woke up with a small pound on her head gradually building up. She tries to drown out the feeling by closing her eyes tighter, but it still would go away—
Her room door creaked open, and a gentle voice spoke from an arm's length “YN, dear, are you awake?”
Oh, it was just her mother “Yeah, hi mom”“Oh gosh, you're burning up” Her mom placed her hand on YN’s forehead, “I heard you were in the rain, I'm so sorry I had some stuff to do and—”YN shivered and nodded dizzily “It's fine mom, I got to make a friend there, so it was cool I guess—'' She sneezed into her arm, the funny feeling in her nose from before was being stuffy. Her mother grabbed a cloth and left it by her bed. She didn't sleep next to her that night, but she still checked up on her in the morning.Morning came, it was Monday. YN could barely get out of her bed that day and texted Reigen beforehand so he didn't need to wait for her. She was worried about the fresh ingredients that she and Reigen had earned two days ago because coincidentally the school announced that the competition was getting pushed two weeks forward— now that was bad news.But now YN was sick, like the ‘My pee is warmer than my own body’ type of sickness.Two days in, YN isn't feeling better, she needs medicine.“Mom, do you have any headache pills?”“No, don't take them it's bad for you”“But, it's been two days and I don't feel so—”
Her mom gave her a look, a look that meant to not argue,
“YN, listen to me, just rest, you’ll get better soon. It's probably because you don't exercise”
YN scoffed inwardly at this, she had been sick for three whole days, three whole days without going to school.
Normally this would make her jump for joy, but normally she wasn't stuck doing chores at home.YN went up to her room to call Reigen. He talked about the homework they had that day and ran her down the basics of the math class. They eventually trailed off into him talking about Yui who had grown more confident with being friends with Reigen. YN drooled at the thought of Yui bringing rice balls filled with fresh sashimi for Reigen.Being sick sucked major eggs.Not long after Reigen's mom found out about the girl's condition, she offered to send her son to deliver some soup.Reigen stopped by the old man's shop before going to her house, telling him all about YN being ill and being scared the fish they worked so hard to catch would be spoiled before the competition. Mister Rui looked at the boy with sympathy and went over to grab a rock grinder.The old man grabbed random pink flowers to ground them into a fine powder and told Reigen to dust them on the frozen fish, saying it would keep them better for longer.
Reigen reluctantly agreed to this weird request, he had to make sure he hid the powder from his mom because it looked a lot like that drug that they had at drug-prevention talk at school. Cocaine?

Uh, sure whatever.
YN thanked Reigen for the soup when he sneakily dropped it off at her house, slipping away her window like a night vigilante, although it was day.She was getting tired of the same leftovers each night.She just hopes she gets better soon.YN did not get better soon, her body felt weaker and weaker. How was she even going to do the competition or go to school?YN hobbles herself to the fridge and takes out some tomatoes, nothing a good tomato soup cant fix!
She holds onto the tomato, readying her fingers to dice it into little cubes before setting everything aside. Cubed tomatoes tasted way better. She grabs garlic cloves and an onion from the basket to peel them above the sink.
Every layer of the onion she peels, she feels its tear-jerking aroma seeping. A little annoyed, she ran the onion under the water from the tap to hide its odor, but unlike every other day, its aroma pierced her eyes.The more it pierced through the water the more angry she got.Stupid onion making her cry!She’s just a sick girl and this onion decides to be a total ass!It’s not fair how it makes her cry regardless of how hard she's submerging it in water.How it still managed to seep out into the air despite her efforts.It's not fair that she’s not making her soup—
YN stops scrubbing when her hands feel like raisins.She looked at her hands once more, they were blurry, she was crying and the air felt suffocating.The room felt small.This was okay.She was okay.
Tomato soup.Yeah.YN places the onions and garlic to brown a little in the oil before placing the tomatoes in the pot.Her soup was going to taste good.It was going to be okay.She was okay.She can take care of herself.Stop
s̵̨͎̫͇̖̯͖̤̣̟̄̒̇͂̊͐̐̅̿̑͒̎͒̊̃̆̂̉̈̊̇͒͌͆̕͝͠ͅt̵̥̙̞̯͉̝͙̝̪̰͓̖̹̫́̾̈́̔͜o̵̧͉̠͕̥̗͔̣͔͎͓͔͎̲͋̃̐̉̆͐̋͊̊̊͌̕̚͝͝͝͝͝p̵̧̧̡̜̪͙͉͈̯̭̣͍͖̝̙̰̪̮͕̥͓̮̘̻̄͒̈̓̃̈̿͐͆̓̓̿̆̉͋́̈́̓͘͜͝ͅ

A chime, her phone was ringing. Reigen Arataka, that silly goose. She didn't pick the phone up, instead texting him saying she was still sickly. She didn't want him to hear her, so she said a little prayer before deciding to wash her face and go to sleep.This was patheticShe was pathetic.Another slow heave left her, at least she felt slightly better to go to church the next day. God forbid she needed to see Reigen. It was bad enough that he kept questioning YN worriedly and always gave her the look, it was as if it were his psychic powers that made her realize her worries on him.But not today.YN prays that night.The drive to church that Sunday with her mom was strangely cheery, did she feel bad for not being home much?“Are you sure you're okay? You're actually keeping still in youth class”YN looked at him, all she wanted to eat was something sweet “What? Oh, I'm just sleepy…”
Testimony time had come, people told stories about good things happening to them with their parents after arguments, she prayed and nothing changed, she had been praying.
Maybe not as hard as the others.She’ll have to pray harder then.YN barely registers that she's in the cafeteria with Okamura by her side, he pushes his drink towards her which she barely reacts to.“I’m fine Okamura, have it”
Okamura looks at her like she just slapped him across the face for denying his offering “Hey, are you—”“Have you had a prayer come true?” She asks out of the blue
“Wha...What brings this to the table?”“Just wondering…”
Ashok slides his drink towards her forcefully nicely “Drink this, it has some probiotics in it… I carry it a lot, just in case” YN didn't fight it and just drank it, she felt slightly better after that.YN thinks she hears something wrong when she hears Ashok mumble something beside her “You know what, cǎo” She hears him spit out in such a harsh tone, she almost forgot the boy knows more than one language “YN look at me now”
YN turns her head to face, waiting to see what's all this fuss about
“Do you want to skip church?”“What?” She was genuinely shocked at this development.“Yes or no, do you want to skip the last sermon with me”They both jumped the fence, almost getting caught by a sister when Ashok tried to do the weird coughing thing he tried to do to act cool. Luckily for her, Billy who was around the park was buzzing in the sister's ear to distract her.YN did a victory dance, wiggling her arms and gyrating her hips. Ashok on the other hand was doing to Waltz, because he was that cool but she could never tell him that.They laughed and walked over to the shady tree at the church “God, tell me why you have a plan on why we’re here?”
He shrugged “No plan at all, just thought that maybe you might want this”YN looked at him skeptically “Your acting awfully nice today for no reason”
He raised his hands in defense “No, no reason at all”
Okamura fiddled with his thumb as YN spoke “Y’know I find it funny how you don't even know your own fan club”“Well I do, they just kinda exist? It gets annoying sometimes but they mean well” Okamura was definitely different when alone “I’m a little jealous of you”He laughed “Jealous? Of my crustless bread?”
YN shifted in the grass “Well that's for sure, but other things. You just seem to have everything sometimes”
YN didn't mean to sound rude, but Okamura was the kind of kid who had his life sorted out. He was smart, he had friends, and he always had people whisper about him being the bestest of boys.
“I’m not all great..Sure I have that going on for me but..” He pulls on his hair “What am I if things go bad...You get me?”YN shook her head
“It's like...Okay imagine yourself now, you have friends right?”YN nodded.
“Why are you friends with them?”“Uh, ‘cause I am?”
Ashok snapped his fingers “Exactly! Do you know why people are friends with me?”
YN ponders for a moment “Because you're hot?”“Of course, but that's....” She now looks at him properly “You know forget it...I don't know why telling you this. Let's just go back to church”YN gets the message and holds his hand to drag him down “W-wha—”“I think….You helping me ditch church for a couple of minutes was pretty cool…” He can barely hear her but he mentally records everything she says "Would you like to eat with me and my small group of friends for lunch..."She was asking her to sit with him? Like he didn't have friends, the nerve this girl has is astonishing. He had friends, why did he have to sit with them? He wanted to decline, but maybe some change would be interesting.He agreed to her request.The two of them sneakily went back into the church, their white attire dusted with dirt.YN checked off the days left for the competition, a little less than a day left. She went to school so she could chit-chat with Yui, who was voted for some reason to be the prince because of a certain someone.“Ashok you did what?” Reigen asked, with his mouth wide open.“Well I thought Yui would fit the role quite nicely”Yui's face heats up “You know I’m shy right Okamura…Why would you— Well, I’m not totally against it. I’m more worried about Komina playing the princess.”The whole play’s roles were randomized amongst all the school students, the third years got the lucky draw for the sisters, of course, she would play the female lead.She always got the role, thanks to her dad. Hopefully, Komina wasn't a girl kisser hater for the sake of it.Reigen stared at him leaning on YN and asked Yui
“Since when did you and Ashok get so close?”
“We are?” Ashok questions
“Yeah, you kind of are? I don't think ratting out your shy friend to do a lead love interest for a play is the best option.Especially when Komina is playing the main love interest” Yui raises her hand at YN, reassuring her friend it's alright, Yui secretly wanted that role but didn't say anything— having someone actually vote for her was something else.Especially the popular boy, she got everyone's vote of confidence to play the lead role even if they wanted to see Ashok play the prince.
YN thinks, wait if Ashok isn't the prince but is still part of the play then who is he?
“Ashok-shok, who are you playing then?” YN chirps.He takes a bite out of his cheese naan “The fairy Godmother, of course,”
Reigen spits out his water that acted as a fountain for YN
“Ew! Gross Reigen!” He ignored her and wiped her face with his sweaty t-shirt.
Ashok was weirdly amused at how those two interacted “What about it Reigen? You think a boy cant play a role typically played by a girl?”“Don't pull the sexist card on me, pretty boy, I'm just shocked. YN you look really funny with your messy hair right now” He said patting down her hair trying to even out the pieces of hair sticking out.“Shut up before I do the same to your hair” She barks back.Ashok would love to watch those idiots act domestically but he had other thoughts on his mind “So you guys are doing what competition again?”YN pushes Reigen off her and replies “Well, I'm planning to do the cooking competition while Reigen’s doing the writing one. But I don't think I can participate anymore…”
Ashok straightens “What do you mean?”“The fish we got from the dock are probably spoiled by now-”“They're still good” Reigen answers.YN gawks at him “Mine started smelling so I ate them, they were really good Yui”
Reigen shrugs his shoulders, forgetting about the whole old man situation “I dunno, maybe because I charmed them too much hehe”He had been secretly talking to his fish in the fridge and begging them to not spoil, even taking the initiative to bribe them saying he would set them free into the ocean which was clearly a lie that the frozen fish believed because they looked just as new.His mother did not question her son talking to a frozen fish.Yui beams “That means our fish markets fish must be super long-lasting! I'm sure my mom will be proud to hear that you two love the market's fish so much”
Ashok wiped his hands off, enjoying the exchange, and offered his extra milk to Yui.
YN looked at Ashok in shock and offense. “You give Yui milk but not me? I had to convince you so many times to give me just one milk. Ashok, we are unfriending right now”“You always steal my milk at church anyway and unfriending is not a word”“Yes it is”“No, it is not”“Yes it is, come on Reigen back me up”
Reigen went over to YN pointing his hand while leaning on her, looking at Ashok “It is a word, Doofus”Ashok felt like he was talking to idiots. “No, and Doofus isn't a word, chi-bai” He looked at her pleading for support against the world's dumb and dumber duo. "Yui, back me up"YN hisses and glares at Ashok "Wow, cursing at me in Chinese? This is a new low!" She turns to Yui making puppy dog eyes "Don't believe this chew uh, bye""That's not how you say it!" Barks Ashok."Well, I wouldn't know unless you teach me!"
"Maybe look it up erumai"Yui, who was caught in the crossfire between the beautiful prince and rabid animal “I—uh, uhm….”Yui felt her eyes turn lopsided.It wasnt helping that YN was violently shaking her, giving Ashok a look of pure agon “Ashok you absolute lady killer! She's definitely unfriending you now. It's all over for your modeling career now pretty boy" The girl continues to shake the already broken short-haired girl "Don't you dare die on me Yui, you are too sexy for this world! Whose gonna provide us with free expensive fish!”
The school bell rang, mercifully ending everyone from their shenanigans. To Yui’s relief, everything went back to normal after the few slaps to the heads she gave each of them from causing her brain to short-circuit.
Everyone kind of got along in the bunch thankfully to YN’s relief. She had been secretly worried that Yui and Ashok wouldn't get along.But it was proven quickly wrong.They talked for a while more before departing to their separate classes when the lunch bell rang.As they walk to their respective classes, Ashok and Yui seem to be really interested in whatever they were talking about.
Interesting. The entity watches as his hands become more translucent by the second, it could be from the surplus of energy used. As long as he didn't use too much in a short amount of time, it should go undetectable. Supposedly, this was his retirement, suck up some low-grade curse and feed stray animals, the dream life really. Still, watching those kids have it rough— it wasn't fair. It could end him in his grave.
‘Sure, why not’
“Reigen come here, I just downloaded an illegal music playlist that has the Smiths” YN brought her phone close to her dingy flip phone decorated with glittery holographic stars and a Mobpanman sticker. They both shared a love for the Smiths. They both conspired about how the reason they had to pay for music was because the government was a ploy to secretly fund bomb-making. Then they both remembered artists needed to be paid fairly, still, what a scam.They were watering the camellias. YN was replanting some daisies and making sure Reigen wasn't killing off her secret spot.The two of them finished up their daily work and made their way back home.“So that's why I think Michelangelo is one of the best-written characters in Teenage Mobtant Ninja Turtles,” YN says with pride.“Isn’t he always the goofy one though? What about the other brothers, like the hot one?”
“Leonardo?”“Yeah him”Reigen spun his body around, now walking backward making a face “Why would you find a turtle hot?”YN raised her hands in defence “Hey man, I just said hot one, you said the name…Anyways, you were talking about romance?”His hands were all over the place getting more erratic by the second “YN I'm glad you asked for an explanation” She did not ask for one but let the boy continue.“You see the the writers really suck at writing romance you get me. Like they make April the center part of Donnie’s character, but she never really grows outside that. Then in later seasons, she’s just ‘I love you bae’ and even kissed him! Then in the later season, she’s all dismissive, like huh? She should have ended up with Leo! It’s like when the writers don't force a relationship, it's so much better,
you get me YN?”
She did not get him “Totally. Like I never thought of it that way”The way Reigen loved to ramble about cartoons always burned its way into her heart, she always knew he had the knack for making things up on the spot, which is why she kept pestering him to do the competition.
He always dismissed her, saying she’s the one who should try it out. YN wasn't like Reigen though, she didn't have the same confidence, tact, or creativity to properly pull it off. It didn't mean much to her to begin with, so why bother?Just as Reigen was about to go on another ramble he tripped on a pebble on the road. He fell sideways on the rocky road, the tar ripping his school pants and making its way to his skin“Reigen!” YN dropped her school bag and rushed to Reigen who was clutching his leg in pain
“Don't worry YN, I’m the jet black wings. I’ll be alright— ouch” He tried playing it off but the pain kept seeping out of him.YN was panicking but quickly remembered something in her bag, she carefully maneuvered him to the sidewalk gently. She quickly demanded Reigen for his water bottle and proceeded to pour the contents onto his leg.She watched as he winced and held his hand and squeezed it, then dug into her bag shortly after to find the antiseptic cream Yui had given her along with a bandage.
YN unscrewed the tube, carefully eyeing Reigen “This may hurt, a lot”“Wow, I feel so reassured” He replied, voice full of sarcasm.“Well, you'll have to feel it for yourself” YN hesitantly applied the paste to his leg. He flinched and squeezed back at the hand that was already holding his own.
YN was ready to apply the bandaid when she saw Reigen still looking uncomfortable. It made her tummy twist in a weird way, so she did the only thing that came to mind— She blew the wound gently, somehow easing the pained expression he had.Reigen stared at YN, and thought how she was an angel sent by heaven that day.Reigen grabbed YN’s hand in an attempt to stand up, but he unfortunately could not walk from the pain “Damn it, I should call my mom—”“You don't need to do that, I can just give you a piggyback ride”“What, no way. I'm too heavy for you””I’m pretty sure I'm taller than you, so I’m pretty sure I weigh more than you. Don't trouble your mom too much ‘Taka. I don't mind carrying you home” He reluctantly accepted the offer, YN was a whole five cm taller than him which she often teased him for.Reigen blushed the entire walk home, he knew this was a new feeling, a weird one. Ignore it, he told himself. YN was just a person who adopts sad little children, you're no different or special. What if I wanted to be special? Something more. No, this was totally normal, YN wouldn't think of me like that. Reigen should know better than to assume such frivolous things.YN reached his house and carefully carried him inside, Reigen was glad his mom was at work, he would not enjoy hearing the end of her getting worked up over a small graze.She set Reigen on his couch, grabbing him some snacks so he could eat them before his mom came home. When she opened the freezer to get ice cubes for the juice she noticed how Reigens fish looked as fresh as the day it was given to them. How on earth were they in good shape?Maybe Reigen was truly a magician to make such a thing happen.Or maybe Reigen’s Mobasonic ergonomic fridge was that amazing.Reigen bid his friend farewell with a faint blush dusted across his ears.When Reigen’s mother did return home, he got an earful from her on the importance of walking straight, which turned into a lecture about sitting too close to the TV.
She did however change up when she heard that YN carried him all the way home with her noodle arms. She was sure to make YN her favorite soup.The dinner that day was mostly quiet other than the small chatter of his dad that just arrived home from a work trip. Reigen’s thoughts went wild with his newly found emotions from this afternoon.“What's on your mind, please don't tell me it's cartoons or that psychic you saw on TV that day”Reigen played with his soggy broccoli, “No, it's not that...Mom, what do you call an emotion for feeling bubbly?”“Happy?”
Reigen shook his head “Like when I do this thing..” He didn't want to say “I feel so warm and I want to become a better person?” His mother laughed at him, assuming he was just admiring his father “That my boy, is adoration...probably. I felt the same with your father, was this because he taught you how to hunt for forest mushrooms?”Reigen placed the broccoli in his mouth and nodded “Yeah, dad was so cool when he went pew pew pew at the ships, I didn't even know those old controllers had cheated. I'm so using it against YN when she comes over”“Not all the time,” she said barely a whisper then continued “I never knew you adored your father so much, he ought to be rather flattered when he hears about this. You must look up to him”He finished his broccoli soup. His mother re-patched the wound with new plaster and bid the boy to sleep, giving him a gentle kiss on his forehead. Reigen stared at his ceiling, thinking hard about feelings and stuff.
The word adored echoed in his mind, was what he felt complex or just a simple feeling?PINGIt was a message from YN posing with a small slice of grilled salmon with creamy drippy sauce. She had been practicing in her free time with as few ingredients as possible to save them on the big day and at the same time experiment with pie crust combinations.
Was just being friends such a hard thought? No, he simply just liked being YN’s go-to buddy, but was that all?Nah, too much thinking, Reigen thought, replying to YN with a smiling face. He thinks he might have figured it out when YN replies “I saved some coins so we can buy some takoyaki tomorrow on the way home from school :p”He made up his mind when he saw that text.He adored YN.
╔═══°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:Text log°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･═══╗
Reigen (PyramidHead): dudewhats that word ashok callled youYN (KaraiXme): uh was it erumai?I just googled it, it means buffulough!SO RUDE, BUT idc its chill broThey lowkey cute
Reigen (PyramidHead): He also called us chibai?Let me google itYN (KaraiXme): probably means likepig or something,or maybe a monkey.Reigen (PyramidHead): ....YN (KaraiXme): ???Reigen (PyramidHead): HE CALLEDUS A VAGINA !!YN (KaraiXme): A
W H A TReigen (PyramidHead): I KNOW,I DONT EVEN HAVE ONE
╚═══°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:

❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･═══╝

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

✼　 ҉ 　✼ Dashing prince, smoother me in butter ✼　 ҉ 　✼
𝙰𝚗 𝚞𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚛𝚕𝚢𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚎𝚡𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚜𝚑𝚊𝚖𝚎 𝚘𝚏𝚝𝚎𝚗 𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚒𝚏𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚜 𝚒𝚗 𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚝 𝚊𝚗𝚐𝚎𝚛. 𝙸𝚝 𝚒𝚜 𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚒𝚎𝚛 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚙𝚎𝚘𝚙𝚕𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚏𝚎𝚎𝚕 𝚊𝚗𝚐𝚛𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚗 𝚝𝚘 𝚏𝚎𝚎𝚕 𝚜𝚑𝚊𝚖𝚎. 𝙻𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚛𝚢 𝚘𝚏 𝚊𝚗 𝚒𝚗𝚏𝚊𝚗𝚝 𝚠𝚑𝚘 𝚒𝚜 𝚒𝚗 𝚍𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚜, 𝚊𝚗𝚐𝚎𝚛 𝚌𝚊𝚗 𝚋𝚎 𝚊 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚝𝚘 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚍𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚎𝚖𝚘𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚊𝚕 𝚙𝚊𝚒𝚗—𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚜𝚑𝚊𝚖𝚎. (𝚂𝚑𝚊𝚖𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙰𝚗𝚐𝚎𝚛 𝚒𝚗 𝙿𝚜𝚢𝚌𝚑𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚊𝚙𝚢, 𝚗.𝚍.)

The class has never felt deader than today. All the students were slumped on their desks. Somehow, the teacher didn't call any of them out, seeming to feel the same as she blabbered on some tangent. Tangents?YN felt like choking on a dying breath would be more exciting than math.Suddenly, another teacher walked in. The class let out a silent sigh of relief, thinking it was a disciplinary spot-check to save them from boredom.Those who were relieved were the lucky few who were goody two shoes and followed the rule of conduct book that YN used as a cup holder for her iced drinks.Unfortunately, YN was not one of them, regardless if she had two shoes.YN quickly makes eye contact with Reigen, his eyes silently screaming knowing they brought their Pokemob trading cards and Mobtendo-DeeEss for streetpass.Thinking fast, she clasps herthing
hands together, sending a silent request to the most powerful being that she knew— Okamura Ashok.Instead of a disciplinary teacher, it was Ms. Sawaki in her nurse uniform?God was real.Ms. Sawaki caught YN staring before she could give her speech, she gives the girl a little tired wave and straightened herself to give her speech “Sorry to interrupt the class but I’m here to give a quick announcement”She passed the tiny stack of paper to the class monitor to hand out to students “As you all know the school festival is close and you all also know that the class ‘themes’ are limited to a limited amount of classes” She pushed her glasses up noticing a few students losing interest before continuing “After some debating, class 2-C has been voted for an open themed classroom of your choice”Theres a silent caw of a bird that cuts through the defeating silence of the class, no one genuinely cared for schools 'patrotism' of being 'Active Students' Like, what were they getting out of this anyways—"There's free pizza"Everyone in the classroom suddenly sat up, giving Ms. Sawaki all the enthusiasm she hoped for. She coughed into her hands trying to get the classroom to calm down,
“Now that I've gotten your attention I'll call your homeroom teacher to make the decision on your theme.''There was no prize for their hard work other than a pizza party, but who the hell gave a shit?
Pizza was pizza.
YN glanced over to Reigen who was ecstatic, even more than usual. He might be having a seizure in his chair, she pondered on bringing him to the nurse's office.Their homeroom teacher entered the classroom waving Ms. Sawaki away with a gentle smile before explaining the rules, “So the class monitor will decide on a majority vote on the class theme. Make sure everything is organized before deciding… And I'm not having this class just sell one cup of coffee and call it quits. We have to make Sawaki proud!”YN swore they could see the determination in her eyes as she called for the class monitor to start the debate immediately.
“According to the teacher we have to pick a majority, so let's have maybe five suggestions before deciding on a vote?” Takeuchi, the class monitor, explained. YN remembers him carrying her lifeless melted body to the nurses office that one time.
"Someone call an ambulance!” Her classmate yells petrified.

The class monitor bolted into class, carrying the lifeless girl's body as fast as he could despite struggling "Stick with me YN! You must live to enter university!" He shouts at the unresponsive girl before handing her to the nurse to save her while the young Ruben looks petrified that he killed a girl with his words.
A girl behind YN raised her hand.“What about a high-tea type of thing?”
Takeuchi nods, writing it down on the board.Another hand rose, “Is that a little costly?”
Takeuchi nodded his head agreeing sadly as he crossed out more of their options, the class was uh, how should she put this in the nicest way.....kind of broke.Being the third class among five classes doesn't mean they can get equal funding from the school, as much as they preach equality. The first classes always got the best, this was classicism personified in middle school! YN tries to focus on the topic at hand.
The class gave up after that, too lazy to try, too lazy to lose.
Sure, pizza could be bought outside of school, and the pizza they would receive from the school would be probably cheap and worst.....Cold. Pizza.The idea alone made her disgusted her.2-C wasn't the brightest class, they just kind of went with the flow with average grades and average participation. Teachers love to compare them to sloths, too bad sloths are cute so the class just agrees with them— proving their point.But the homeroom teacher, Lee Jiayi was having none of this, she needed this.For Miss Sawaki.A ferocious air filled the classroom, the once ‘boring ass teacher’ had suddenly placed slicked her messy bangs away from her face, her other hand clenched to her chest.
“Class!” Everyone stared at her with a disbelieving expression, “Is this the attitude Miss Sawaki would have wanted? I will let you know, she has high hopes for this class.” The class did feel a little guilty, maybe a little, “Don't you guys want a Pizza party?” The class eyes went wide. “Miss Sawaki told me if you guys win, she might buy the entire class pizza. And! She will even eat with us”A yell emerged from the classroom, a student yelled “Is Miss Sawaki really going to?”“You bet she is!”
A battle cry was sung.“Not only that…” The suspense sends shivers to almost the entire class.“She's making her famous uh…. Red-velvet cake” YN was sure she heard a small 'I'd have to beg her to do it' under hear breath but the sound of her classroom roaing in excitement drowned it out “Do it for her love!— I— I mean! respect ” Teacher Jiayi caught herself before the class could notice, and carried on “What do you say, class?”“For Miss Sawaki!”
“I can't hear you!”“For Miss Sawaki's respect!”Reigen was too busy folding the corners of his paper airplane to annoy YN with, uncaring to what was unfolding before him.
YN and her classmates chanted this for twenty minutes before the principal came in to check on them. They got off with a warning that offended her teacher for just a moment before she cleared her throat and apologized.
The classroom finally calmed down after a while.The monitor goes back to the blackboard, even with all of their enthusiasm - they can't seem to come up with an idea that doesn't rely on the school's funds. No one could really come up with anything beyond pizza and cake at the moment.That's when it hit YN, what if they didn't do a cafe? What if they did something that didn't involve any decoration, with minimal effort?Something to get people to feel good at the end of the day for good reviews and votes.Something only a true business person would think.Bazinga!YN raised her hand shakily, she had never wanted to participate in anything that required things that didn't benefit her, but she was young. This might be the only meaningful thing she’s done in a while.
“YN! do you have any ideas?”She tapped her fingers around the desk trying to form words trying not to
freeze up “What if we do…. an occult club type of thing?”One kid at the back who kept a ridiculous amount of bread under their desk named Akane spoke up “Why? I mean, we’re all open for it but I don't a haunted house is—”
Uhm rude, who told you to talk? YN quickly raised her hand again, trying to speak “Well it's not really that… I thought we could involve the occult club members of our class to do a tarot card reading….or something like that”The class seemed interested, but suddenly all eyes were on YN.She was actually going to piss herself if they stared at her any longer, all she could do was look at her fingernails with loose skin that she's been picking at.Normally she would refrain from participation of any kind, she rather just blend into the background if that gave her some peace. Today was different though, could be those weird puberty things that the school gave them the talk about.After some silence the class monitor snaps his fingers, “Actually that might be one of the most doable, after this class, it's Teacher Jiayi’s period again so we can discuss more about this right?” He looked at the teacher for approval, and she nodded with a smile.“Well that settles it”

Phew, that went better than expected.
The bell for recess rang, Reigen and YN were grabbing their lunches for break time. They walked out side by side, she practically shoves Reigen with her shoulder aside as Takeuchi approaches them.Unfortunately, YN did not have the bulk, or the breakfast fuel to run away from him.“YN! I was totally blown away by your speech from earlier, like show-stopping dude. I was wondering if we could do a mini-speech together. To discuss the entire plan with the class!” He gave her those darn puppy eyes.She glanced at Reigen, shocked at the proposal.
There was no way she would do this, even with his sparkly fiery fueled eyes.YN stood strong— She struck a power pose she had been practicing when denying people that she saw online, there was no way she could accept such an obviously horrible social idea. She’s going to firmly say no!“Sure why not”
Takeuchi smiles “Great! Knew I could count on you LN”What.This has to be some prank right? YN LN, a participant in modern society? She’s possessed by a demon for sure. That demon could only be one thing—With her fist in the air, YN curses out Okamura Ashok that day.“So what exactly do you have in mind?”
YN groaned at being judged by Ashok’s judgment at the girl’s initiative “I didn't know class- C could be so...active?” He said almost in a taunting voice.“Can it pretty boy, I have enough on my plate already.” She clutched her pencil trying to come up with a speech in less than twenty minutes, Yui and Ashok were debating amongst themselves on the stage play they would be performing while YN tried her hardest to not jump off the building to get out of this.Reigen notices her eternal monologue and grabs her pencil from her clammy grasp “Hey! I don't know if you noticed but I’m struggling here—”
He shushes her, and she almost breaks his finger “We can just use the computer room to get some inspiration you know?” That was actually a good idea, YN sparks up and starts grabbing her things.“Sorry to interrupt but do you guys want to cut lunch short and head to the computer room?” Ashok nodded helping Yui up, almost slipping on the wet floors onto her but luckily, caught by Ashok.The group started the trek to the computer room, walking through the halls with nervous laughter. They went kind of hurriedly, walking just fast enough to not be caught for running. The school was somewhat empty, save for some teachers and a few couples doing… things… in the hallway. They sped even faster by those people and eventually found themselves in the computer lab.“So this is modern technology huh”YN slaps on the computer as they browse Mobtube for occult club activities “ Oo what about that video?”
It was in fact, not a video on occult clubs. It was a video of a panda doing a cartwheel. One video led to another before they all got lost in the furry cuteness of different types of pandas for the next ten minutes. Like YN did not know that pandas come in red, how was that even—Yui gently smacked all of their heads with a notebook YN had long forgotten about, “Guys, not to sound rude but...We’re running out of time” YN whipped her head to the clock to show, in fact, she was running out of time.Damn, those fat pandas.“This looks promising” Ashok says, pointing towards the first interview video that showed up when YN typed ‘Cheap occult club near me’
They clicked on the video to reveal a man, in an interview talking, they didn't have time for this, but time was thinking and YN couldn't give a shit.
The lady interviewing the man smiled as she praised him “How do you do it?”

“Well honestly, I can connect with spirits and see them, if I try hard enough I can command them”

“That's indeed a wonderful gift you have, according to your many fans and reviews. You’re the real deal”

The man moves uncomfortably in his chair like he’s got some wedgie, “Ah yes, my customers, they’re all so wonderful” The interviewer seemed to like his answer, moving closer and closer to him “Tell us Mogami Keiji, what do you have to say for your younger audience who want to become like you?”

He stared into the camera with a sincere smile.

“Well, you should always start off with tarot readings, it's always an easier way to connect with spirits as long as it's done in a healthy environment. If you need more help, my office is always ah”

YN looked at Reigen for approval but he gave none because he was slightly dozing off.YN thought to herself, we can maybe actually pull this off. Mogami Keiji was pretty popular and getting mainstreamed, people want to feel good when they buy things or ask for help.She gathered up all of her thoughts in a quick manner before violently shaking Reigen.“I have a plan!”
She did not have a plan.The classroom's eyes were basically peeling her alive, god she needed to run away, why did she even suggest an occult club? Oh right, because she was being impulsive— it was going to be the death of her one day.Deep breathesIn.Out.For pizza.“So, uhm, I did a quick research on the class. It looks we have about five members of the occult club, could they raise their hands” All the five members raised their hands to YN’s delight, allowing her to use her speech “I was thinking we could use some input from you guys?”A boy with his hair slicked back went up to YN quietly, and surprisingly went up to her. She was taken aback when he went too close to her face, she thought he was about to kiss her but he just whispered into her ear “What was that?”“I can read palms…..” Oh, he had such a hoarse voice.YN walks over to his desk, murmuring back softly, voice gruff as it managed to be
“I think that would work, thanks!” He smiled at her and went back to his seat. YN waited for any protest, she was thankfully given none.“I can do tarot cards!” A classmate said, well yelled from behind.“Yes! We can do that!” YN suddenly was getting more comfortable with public speaking.A girl beside Reigen raised her hand and stood up “My uncle owns a crystal mining business, we could maybe s-s-sell s-some but-only-if-you-want-it” She almost couldn’t hear that last part, but YN drank some adult juice from Ashok, otherwise known as coffee, and luckily her brain caught up with the light speed sentence.YN sent the nervous girl finger guns with the same energy “Sure-lets-do-it”
The class teacher clapped her hands together “Well that settles one thing, be sure to prepare and discuss this with the people in charge. YN, I trust your intuition on this”Oh god, the pressure was now going to be the death of her.“Reigen kill me now”“No, I will not. It's a Saturday, and I need a player two to fight the boss”

“Yeah YN, I don't want to see you go leave so soon” Yui said, sipping on the apple juice Mrs. Reigen made. Reigen had decided to invite Yui over, Ashok not being able to make it. They played some video games, but also needed to brainstorm some ideas for the classroom to do.
Clearly, the three of them were doing anything, but that.YN groaned in her seat and slinked down from the couch “The one time I answered a teacher, they put me in deep doo-doo. I can't do this. Yui pretend I’m an alien and murder me with anything in your hands right now”“My juice box?”“Yes, it's a juice box crime scene. I disagreed with the use of plastic straws to save the turtles, so you stabbed me maliciously in the eye with your flimsy and might I add, useless!— Excuse of a straw” YN said falling on Yui’s lap.“That's a little too….” Reigen stopped her before Yui got any more confused at YN’s shenanigans, holding a hand out “What she means, is that she wants to give up”YN scoffed poshly “Whatever do you mean Sir ‘Taka”He sighs looking at Yui “And the British accent comes out when she knows she's losing, which now she is. I think?”Reigen and Yui watch as YN walks across the room, burning holes into the floor because of how fast she is walking. She didn't have many ideas to make the class’s wow factor more ‘Wow' than the other classes, she just knew her limit was near.And it was reached.Then she got it.“I got it!”“Got what?”She smiled grabbing her shoes, “The biggest Eureka!”Reigen had to convince his mom that they needed to go out for a group project which he hoped she would say yes to. She was about to question her but a weird bug that looked like a ladybug.“Sure why not”They've been hearing that phrase more than usual, Reigen starts to wonder if they were maybe cursed or something...Meh, probably cursed for greatness!He gave his mother a thumbs up and ran out of the house just in case she changed her mind last minute.“Reigen, get your bubble butt over here, it might close soon” What on earth did this girl have floating around her head? Sawdust probably.YN pulls out her handheld flip phone and types in the location she saw on Moggle Maps. She drags both Yui and him all away across town not even double checking the location they were heading. So when they arrived at the dingy part of town, Reigen didn't think twice to pull her back.“Dude, why are we going across the shadiest part of town?” He asked, hands seconds away from dragging them back home to play games. The alley reeked of a mix of YN could only be described as mixed-up medication and moldy food that's probably developing a new deadly virus.Was she trying to kill him and Yui?If so, he would save Yui while he could, then kill YN himself.Metaphorically of course.“YN where exactly are we going?”“Oh, remember Mogami Keiji?”Reigen perked up at the mention of that name “Him? I thought for a famous guy, his office would have been better than around the alley” The video of the interview had been shot at his office from what he could recall.“That was apparently two years ago, trust me. I double-checked on the location, trice”
When they finally reached the location, a run-down sign read
‘Mogami Keiji’s inquires, 300 YEN per person'
Yui had been almost quiet the whole time and leaned into Reigen closer, slightly unsure of going inside. Yui isn't one to be judgmental, but has to physically has to stop herself from gagging at using the smelly old escalator YN was about to step into.Seeing Yui’s discomfort, Reigen pulled YN back, causing her to jerk on his chest “Hey! A little warning blondie would be great”“I think the escalator smells like shit” He says daring his eyes back and forth Yui.“Reigen—” YN was about to protest until she saw Yui's expression. She was so caught up with her own agenda, she hadn't considered how carelss she was being Yeah, stairs might be a better option”
She gives a hand to help Yui up the stairs which she gladly accepts “Escalators are overrated anyways” YN felt slightly rude at that moment, she had been dragging them all this way. She turned around before they reached the final stair “I know it's a little too late to say this but, I have 400 YEN and if you just want to go I would be totally fine—”Yui interrupted her “It's fine! It's a little scary but if we can get the best results for your classroom, I’d do anything to help”Reigen and YN had momentarily entered what adults would call a fever dream. Ascending to space never to return at this moment, Yui was their angel from far beyond.
Only the sound of a man coming out of the door managed to snap them back into reality.“I told you I’m not accepting— What's got you kids here? I’m not too fond of games or pranks” The Mogami Keiji was currently speaking to them.
Stuttering to get her script she had practiced to recite to him she took a shaky breath “Hi S-sir, we uh wanted to come here for a-advice?”
He looked back at his office “I don't do it for free you know kid, if you need your parents to pick you up I can just ring them—”YN brought out her wallet shoving it into his hand “No sir! Please it will only take a minute” Mogami sighed and reluctantly let them in.Reigen stared at the man, was he some type of child kidnapper? Or was it a human trafficker?
Mogami sighed money was money, just entertain the brats and they'll be out. He led them in and sat them down, asking them if they wanted a cup of tea which Reigen denied on behalf of the three of them. It's not that he judged his living conditions but it was a little weird. Mogami sat down on his desk grabbing a pen and paper “So, kid. What's got you worked up about”“Well, it's what we’re working on. Well, Uhm...I saw your interview on Mobtube and thought ‘Wow this man is super cool, he can help people’ and since our school was having a thingy…… I was wondering if you have any tips”He sat there looking at her, almost in disbelief “Let me get this straight, you came all this way, across town— just because you want tips?”“Yeah and?”He always knew kids were stupid.But not this stupid.Sighing he was about to decline if he wasn't already in debt with his mother's bills. Accepting the simple job couldn't cause that much trouble right?Plus he could just spout some random advice you can just search up on the internet and they would be satisfied with it “Well, you okay listen closely and grab a paper while you're at it”Mogami went on about the ways they could exorcize school myths. There was one school myth that the school's sports closet was haunted, so they wrote down every word he spoke.
“You got all that? I'm not supposed to actually tell you my secret but since your kids. I'll let it slide this once” He glanced at their paper, only for the first time in months, to almost have a laughing fit.YN’s writing was practically chicken scrap, did she draw him in a cool beard? He should ask her if he could keep the drawing.Reigen’s paper was at least a little readable, though it looked like he was also doodling.Yui’s was the only neat one.Mogami then noticed something about Yui, her aura in particular— He kind of understood what was going on, so he gave in to his own theories “Well, I hope your school ‘thingy’ goes well” He got up and went to his computer “Before you go and pay, do you want me to give you guys a free service”
Reigen thought he was about to get killed at that moment, firstly he was going to distract Mogami by crying. Then when he checked on him, he was going to kick his balls. After that, it might buy them enough time to—“What type of free thing, are you going to kill us, sir?” Damn it YN.“What! I— Gosh— Of course not! It's bad for business anyways” He handed them the papers "It's just a small diagnosis of your personality and shi-stuff”Reigen confusingly said, “You could tell just from talking to us?”Mogami turned around already typing away on his computer “Well, I am psychic after all boy. You would know” He was definitely one of the cooler weirder adults, Reigen might have believed him at that moment “You short-haired boy, I'm assuming you want one too?”
Was he talking to Reigen?
His gaze was on Yui.“H-huh Sir you must be mistaken. I’m not a boy, i-i'm ... .a girl” Mogami seemed amused at the answer “B-but yes. If it's not trouble”“No trouble at all, sorry if I got confused. I'm about done” He handed out the papers to all of them, Yui's for thicker for some reason.Before YN could peek into Yui’s paper Mogami coughed into his hands “I don't recommend you kids read this out loud here, it's just a diagnosis about your personality service I do for fun for customers. Reading it alone helps you understand more about your MBTI”He leads the children out, locking the door behind him “Are you closing up?” Reigen asked.“I guess? I’m just going to stop by a shop to get Takoyaki”“Mister, you should definitely try the takoyaki near our house—” Reigen immediately smacked YN on the head pulling her into a neck lock “You idiot, you don't just tell strangers where you live”YN wailed uncle as they continued to argue, Yui trying to pull them apart as Mogami rubbed the back of his neck, unsure on how to handle the weird group of children “You can stop trying to kill her boy, uh… you can just write the address on a paper and pass it to me. It is a little weird to tell strangers about places like that girl, if I wasn't a good guy you would have been in big trouble”Reigen finally let go of YN “See, he isn't a bad guy”“Did you not just listen to him— You know what forget it”Yui chimes in “He does seem like a nice guy Reigen”“Not you to Yui, I thought you were at least sane enough to not side with YN”Mogami got the address from the kids and gave them a shortcut home since the directions YN was giving her friends made them walk an extra ten minutes. YN was going to get the lecture of her life when they got back from Reigen.As they chatted in the garden, Yui couldn't help but think about what she saw on that paper when she opened it. Yui was definitely going to read it when she got back home, it made her scared that the words on the paper could see through her like glass.
Yui didn't believe in the supernatural for personal reasons, but after today— she needed to re-think her image.She was way too obvious.YN sprung up from her bed to turn off her alarm clock. She was practically destroying her toothbrush from how rough she brushed her teeth. Today was the day, the day that was in every cartoon where romance blossomed, and friendships bloomed.The school festival.
YN carefully walked downstairs to greet her mom who was already out of the door.
Would be nice if she said bye back.
She was probably late for workYN quickly placed all her vegetables for her fish dish in her bag making sure to remind Reigen to bring the actual fish.She was way too giddy to not call Reigen “Reigen hi!” She practically screamed through her house phone.“Are you ready for the thingy?!” He yelled back with the same amount of enthusiasm.
“Of cour-” YN cleared her throat from her words getting stuck in her throat, literally “Cour— Wait I'm choking! Help!” The slice of bread bounced around her throat.He sighed at the phone, “This is why I betted you would die early”

YN drank her water and gasped dramatically at her friend who had just betted on her death “Reigen! How dare you bet on such a horrible thing?”“Wel…l you were kinda dying right now”“I'm hanging up”“I'm kidding! Now hurry up, I don't want this fish to stink up my cooler bag. What if my ice cream tastes like carp…” He replied, shivering at the sheer thought of the awful flavor combo, shuffling in the background to get his shoes on.“Wow, now that I think about it, that doesn't sound half bad. I kind of thought you wouldn't pick up. Y’know from our call last night”
Reigen was in fact awake since 5 am from the adrenaline of the festival, and also from researching multiple debate tactics.
While Reigen and YN had been reluctant to participate initially because well, they were edgy teenagers. Teenagers who thought blending in the crowd would be weird.In reality, it was pretty fun sometimes.The two met at Uncle Rui’s shop on the way to school. She giggled as she pranced towards Reigen who was in his ‘adult’ suit.YN stopped and stared at him for a moment— she didn't recall that there was a dress code for the competition, should she have worn her unicorn blow-up costume? Then again, the costume was way too fancy for this occasion. If she had worn that, it would’ve made Reigen’s suit look like rags in comparison.She decided to question the fashionable man himself “Why have you dressed up all fancy without telling me? We could have matched” YN had been wearing a simple shirt and skirt. She felt a tiny pang in her chest when she caught her own reflection in the window as she walked by.It was a little hard to look at herself in the mirror for a weird reason, it felt almost……Disgusting.Snap!That was a complicated thought, wasn't it? She needed to stay focused and not make the day about herself.Today was Reigen’s day, the school's day.No time for big feelings.She needed a distraction.Luckily for her, she had the biggest distraction next to her.Reigen fiddled with his tie that has been tied like a noose that usually would worry YN but she knew he was just being a stupid dork that can't tie a tie for shit. He scrunched his face up, thinking of a reply, unsure if she was joking or genuinely upset
“Like I would think of doing that, but no. Did you forget that our class was doing the occult club thing before the competition started?”
Oh right, YN snapped her fingers.She had completely forgotten about last week's idea. Definitely should have dressed up as a superhero with cool powers instead of a lousy plain skirt.
Reigen glanced down to looked at his shoes, noticing her hands clutching on her skirt. He knew she disliked it when he went gushing about her, he didn't really know why and that frustrated him. She would light up but immediately turn sour, saying ‘Stop joking!’ or something, but he wasn't joking!It bugged him, but wait. Why was she fidgeting even about the outfit? “Hey, your outfit isn't that lame. You look like… you sell bread”She lightly laughed and continued walking feeling a little better “Is that supposed to make me feel better?”Reigen nods unsurely “Depends on how you view people who sell bread”“Relax...It's no big deal, plus you look pretty ravishing yourself if you didn't look like you were trying to hang yourself with your tie” She waved her hand pointing to his suicidal tie “That”Reigen reached to his neck trying to fix his interesting tie method to only have YN sigh and stop in her tracks to fix it “Geez what would you do without me?”“Probably die a horrible death”YN fixed the final knot and admired her handy work like a proud father sending her son to war, “Yeah you would”“Yeah, I wo— Hey! you're supposed to disagree with that and, uhm, and...Don't walk without me!”
She had already sneaked herself away walking towards the school gate snickering.She seems to giggle and snicker a lot these days.Once they made their way into the school, taking note of the decorations that had been put up by her upper classmates, this year their theme was “Origami”
So naturally the halls were decorated with various types of origamis, such as a crane, boat, and even a frog that had googly eyes attached to it. They couldn't be more proud of their school for the first time in forever.Well until they stumbled across an Okamura Ashok origami that was being worshiped by an alarming swarm of girls and boys.The two decided to ignore itReigen and YN make their way to the school canteen to store the baking items. The lady working there greeted them, well Reigen “What’cha here for— Oh why don't you look adorable?” Reigen was slightly offended at being called adorable when an old lady tried his best to smile.
“We're just here to drop off some stuff”YN went to the fridge to place the stuff to the back, as one of the canteen ladies continued to speak, “Little boy Reigen, am I correct?”“Y-yes ma'am”“You look so adorable,” Well that was odd she already said that. He preferred manly after all, isn't that what people like?
“Thank you?”“Did your father help you tie your tie? It looks really well done”
“Uh, I guess”The lady was a little very nosy, but he needed to tolerate it to use their fridge to store YN’s groceries. “Ah, it reminds me of my own son. He threw his own in the trash after a couple of tries because even I couldn't learn it…. You're lucky to have someone do that for you”
Reigen nodded to himself, everyone needed a YN once in a while.Before the conversation could get any more awkward someone came running to him “Well that's all Now-We’re-Going-To-Go-Now-Bye~ ” As if she was a savior, YN grabbed Reigen’s arm and rushed out of the awkward situation dragging him to their classroom “Man I never knew how nosy old ladies can get”She nods her head agreeing “You would be surprised”“Yeah…. Oh, snap! I need to go to the debate club for something”“Kay, I need to help out with the class anyways”Reigen parted his hair feeling a little nervous “Thanks, I need to help them real fast to set up the papers for the other clubs joining us” He said, straightening his tie.
“Wait, they're going to debate with other clubs?”
The debate club always had a weird superior vibe to YN but she couldn't put a finger on why.“They'll be debating on why Mozart might not be a part of an Illuminati with the sci-fi club”Oh, that might be it.They would never turn down an opportunity to debate on even the most idiotic topics, well they are nerds— she was just surprised Reigen talked about them so nonchalantly like it was an everyday thing.But hey who was YN to judge? After all, Reigen had somehow gotten more confident because of it.
A whole lot more, it kind of scares her. The other day she caught him debating.No, bargaining — with Mr.Rui on the prices of chewing gum. Saying it was only a short-term treat, hence the price should be lowered! Mr. Rui gave him the stanky eye when they left the store that day.
So when he went running to the debate club, YN let out a tear like a proud husband sending her wife to see her in-laws.YN should tell him how nice he looks in the suit.
Adorably manly, is what she could describe it as.She should tell him later— right now she has to organize an entire class, something she sucks at considering she can't even organize her own life. The journey alone to class was cut short when her breath was taken from a tall boy with a perfect physique.“Oof, Ashok? Don't you know not to stand….in...the middle….” She trailed off as her eyes finally noticed what had frozen him in the middle of the hall.It was Yui.Like a god, she stood there in all her princely glory, completely dripped out in her prince outfit. Hair slicked back, eyes glimmering like a shooting star in all of her glory. She looked like a prince in those cheesy American movies that Reigen showed them, but like, a million times better.YN quickly took out her phone.She snapped a picture from every angle.Then in her usual dramatic fashion, YN collapses on the floor.Sobbing like a proud parent as her kid goes for their first recital “S-so, dashing” she whimpered at the beauty in front of her.Ashok could only stare her down in complete awe.Yui bashfully tries to hide her face with her hands “Oh YN… You don't have to take that many pictures….” She says but is posing in the direction of YN's camera.She shakes her head “Nonsense Yui— or should I say, Prince Yui~ You totally look dashing, like a true gentleman!”Yui's face lit up and without thinking, she pounced on YN, squeezing her tight “Y—You really think so?!”
“Yeah!” she strains out. Yui is definitely stronger than she looks. Her dainty face is a total lie. “You look even handsome... mer? Than...uh... Ashok!”
The indian boy scoffed at the comment, but did not hesitate to nod his head “Handsomer is not a word YN, but...she is correct” He turned away to hide the massive blush that sent his face ablaze, he was done for with his friend group.There was a nagging thought that blossomed at the back of his mind, it bothered him more to stay silent on it. Why couldn't he just haven't talked to YN about feelings at church? He looked back at the two, smiling softly at the outrageousness of the scene.Yui on the other hand kept on beaming at the compliment, still holding YN in her grasp. Meanwhile, YN looked like a deflated balloon.Ashok managed to rip his eyes away from Yui’s shining presence to collect his thoughts into words after staring at Yui ominously at a safe distance “Well this was fun YN, but Yui we need to get ready for the rehearsal”Yui finally snapped out of it, dropping YN, and gave Ashok a nod “Oh yeah, sorry YN we have to go”“Aw man, well good luck anyways my prince,” YN gave a bow to her now idol of beauty and grace. Yui went close to her ear before she left. “I'm not supposed to tell you anything but, I saved you front-row seats for the play. Don't be surprised at the surprises it has” Without another word she ran away, YN would chase after her like a fangirl if only she didn't have things to do.Well, she had to do one thing before she went.“So you've been staring?”Ashok stood back flabbergasted “Excuse you?”“No...just testing a theory”He sighed “Well, your theory sucks, a lot”“There, there sweet rich boy— Please run along to catch the prince before another man sweeps him off his feet….I did see another pair of eyes somewhere....”
“What where?!” He says panicked looking around, before noticing YN squinting at him “You're making that weird cat face again, I'm leaving!”
Mission accomplished, teasing Ashok? Complete.
Ashok tries to compose himself, reaching into his bag to pass YN a small bag, and looking at him oddly, “Just accept the bag, and share some with Reigen alright? I gotta go, see you at the play YN” She sent him a goodbye middle finger goodbye and opened the bag, it was milk, the expensive kind. Ashok always knew he had a soft spot under all that layer of a moody emo boy with beautiful face layers.A milk gift-giving softie.With no one left to bother, she skipped over to her class to see how things were going. To her dismay and low expectations, things were going well.
To think the occult club members could organize an entire classroom without being passive and even asking the teacher to use the bathroom was a surprise, a good one nonetheless.
The ceiling was decorated with cobwebs that she could only assume were handmade, each one had its own intricate design that you could only notice if you paid attention, which YN did. She had been staring at them for some time.A girl with rounded glasses whose name she had forgotten approached her, “Do ya like it?”“Like it? Please… I love it! Don't need to come to me for approval to say it”
The girl hid her head behind her bookbinder “T-that's great. Everyone for some reason got inspired to get things done, even the cool boy Okamura Ashok came by to help us motivate the students”“Wait Ashok helped?” Well was she getting surprised every minute, YN could have sworn he didn't like to involve himself with others.“Yeah, he kinda did? He just came into the class last week during extra clubs and overheard someone talk, I'm not too sure about the details of what compelled him to help. But he was pretty cool.” She seemed to forget more, drifting more and more when talking about him.He must be a real charmer to get everyone to listen to him “Say, Mui. What exactly did Ashok say to get the class up and running” She might as well get some notes for future charming use.She started daydreaming with no trace of her shy demeanor “Well he just came into the class and everyone was at his heed, it was pretty charming if you asked me.”No, that sounded terrifying.If Ashok wasn't a good person she swore he would become an evil dictator instead. That boy could instruct polar bears from Antarctica to do backflips and they would listen.“Yeah, charming….Well, I would love to see the person who made the decorations, they look so intricate and amazing”
Mui whipped her head at YN, hands shaking while looking at her with a shaken figure “You really think so?”“Why wouldn't I think so, for a class with almost zero funding I think we pulled off better decorations compared to other classes”“I...I did them”YN shot up, she would never guess her classmate was so capable “Mui, I didn't know you were so talented. I'm definitely putting you in my book of ‘The coolest people I know’ book”
“You have a book for that?”“Nope, but I’m thinking of making one after today”There was a small silence between the two, YN was quick to resume the conversation after sensing the awkward air, “But seriously Mui, these patterns are amazing. I'm sure Ms. Sawaki would be proud regardless if we win or not” YN takes in the gorgeous diy decorations again before facing Mui smiling “I’m really glad you were in charge of this”
YN was about to ask about the scary kokeshi dolls made from toilet rolls when she saw Mui holding her hand over her nose, her face absolutely flushed. Her hands were dripping with blood? Was that part of the experience? Mui was a genius in the making.
YN was about to ask if she could bring the dolls home after the event but Mui was already running out of the classroom she guessed she could just wait for that another time.She double-checked on everyone's duties for the class, the tarot card readers seem to all be ready with their incense to cleanse the air. YN took a quick sniff, that made her kind of look like a dog trying to find a pee spot. It was peppermint! So far so good, the teachers ought to praise the classroom for all this hard work.
With everything in check, YN stands outside the busy corridors to greet potential customers when she spots a businessman in all his glory, coming to check on their class.“Araba over here!”Reigen perks up, walking over to the girl “Why do you even say that”“Because I like it of course”Reigen looked around at the classroom, an expression similar to YN’s when she first saw the place “They really outdid themselves on this one”YN leaned on him as she dawned on the hard work done, her not really helping other than a speech and planning. She was truly satisfied, like a piece of pie...Pie?Pie.She could feel her tummy rumbling, with something lingering in the back of her mind—OH CRAP THE COOKING COMPETITION!She scrambled herself together, running in place. YN had almost completely forgotten she was on a schedule, luckily for her, she could make it if she ran. Reigen was about to follow her before she stopped him, “Rei Rei you have that debate competition too don't you? You gotta scramble, like now ”“Wait shoot” He pulled out the itinerary pamphlet that everyone got “I was about to go with you...Ugh okay fine, I'll see you later” He was about to go before he stopped mid-way. YN stares at him confused, tilting her head sideways. Did she have something to give him? Because he looked a little nervous.Then, in a weird movie-like moment— he clutched her hand. It's not sweaty, it's probably because of the amount of perfume lotion he was wearing. “You're going to do great, just keep calm,” he said hyperventilating as if he went on a marathon to Mount Fuji and came back gaining weight.“You too, and you don't look that calm,” she snickers.His face grew a little red, totally not from blushing, and was totally because of how pale he was “I am not worried!” Reigen defends, voice cracking a little. “Ahem. Well, just a little bit. But! I’m trying to be encouraging here”Yep, there was comforting sweating in the atmosphere.YN squeezed his hand back “I’ll save you a slice when I get back okay? Now go my little boy, and run” She declares pushing the boy before running away from herself. Knowing her, she knew she would have been later than she would ever be holding his hand, which she may or may have not wished they would do often because Reigen's hands were pretty soft but rough?
Is it weird to find your best friend's hand comforting?Beats her, Reigen was just that cool. He should be a professional handholder, based on her rabbit hole of research she’s done on Mobbit, they get paid really well.Alright, the time has come, for the ultimate British bake-off, not really? But British she shall choose to be.“Alright students, enter the class's tastiest competition. The culinary competition! Cook to your heart's delight” There the announcer spoke.YN looked around to access the competition— seems like only three students would compete. Sounds reasonable, but the thing was… The three students who were competing were Komina’s friends, and by the Takoyaki lords, she hopes she gets out of this competition in one piece.With a deep inhale, she tried to listen to the rules of the announcer though it was slightly muffled to her, and her hands were blurry.Stop it.She needed to focus.If she won she could get a present and bam! Best happy day ever, and win the bet ‘Forget about them, I'm going to show them who watched the most Gordan Ramsey episodes’ “Cooks, are you ready? If so, we'll be starting in three..”It's totally going to be fine, just a little cooking won't hurt anyone.“Two”No, she couldn't do it. YN thinks about running out of the cooking classroom they were in, maybe she could even throw the frozen fish she had into the pond to feed the ducks. Could ducks eat fish?YN was unknowingly spiraling in place when she noticed something, a girl.Wait, was that Komina in her seat? Is she going to laugh when she fails, hell no.“One”She's going to win that prize.“Cooks, you can start...NOW”YN slumped her head on the wall, oh god this was embarrassing.Turns out she used mixed salt and sugar, it would be funny but she's losing herself a little.The judges deemed her dish more sweet than savory so she technically would have won if it was a normal baking competition. She was surprised when they announced she got last, but got a consolation prize that never existed.
The judges wowed at her dish, saying it was some type of flavour combo that they've never tasted before. It was almost comical how one of the teachers ran to her purse to fetch something with such speed.It was a coupon for
a Tesmob gift card, well losers can't be choosers.Well, rats…What’s she going to tell Yui? After her mom gave her all those ingredients— for nothing, just to lose. Not to mention Reigen, who had wasted his time helping her, hyping her up. Did he know he was friends with a complete failure?
No YN, stay positive.She didn't exactly know where all this negativity was coming from, she was so happy earlier— she just needed to clear her head. Yeah, probably all the fumes from her candied fish.The trip to the bathroom was relatively normal, lucky for her, no one was there. The icy cold water splashed onto her face. When she looked up her face was blurry—
was that her face? It looked horrible.She brought her hand up to her face to double-check if it was actually her face. Her finger dragged across her cheek, yes this was her face.
She wanted to break the mirror.
‘You look like a maid dressed up, you sure you don’t want me to help you pick something?’
Her mother's words echoed in her head.She might as well call her ugly.
When she looks back at the mirror she stares at it.She knows she isn't ugly.
But what if people around her found her distasteful?A pool of something unsettling arises in her stomach.YN looked at her cheeks, should she rip them apart?
‘A boy could dress better than you’’
YN glanced at her feet, they were not ladylike— she hated them.Did Reigen and everyone think that? No, they couldn't, they like her.Right?YN rose to her feet, did a twirl, and walked out with the biggest smile on her face. Phew! Luckily that whole ‘thing’ lasted shorter, it could be longer sometimes.She practically skipped down to the hall, trying to push down whatever all the embarrassing thoughts were or what she calls ‘Teenage stupids’. YN sighed, leaning against a wall when she got tired of skipping. She flicked her semi-wet hair behind, rubbing her two feet against each other, helping her scratch her itchy ankles. Scratching feet with feet always felt way better than scratching with hands anyway.

She stared outside the window, trying not to focus on her own reflection, but instead on the clouds.Why did she feel so bad about herself?“YN where are you!”
Ah, the strawberry blond she wanted to see.Reigen comes up running towards her, a big smile on his face. He must have won. His eyes narrow to her damp hair and points at it, a little confused-looking “Why is your hair wet?”
“Just, checking out my hair if there are lice..” Reigen retracted his finger from her hair.“Ew, gross!”“Just kidding, if I had lice you would've gotten it a long time ago hermano”
Reigen flicks her forehead “Quit messing with me, anyways how was your competition?”She luckily had a plan to tell him she didn't win. “They said all the dishes were great, so we all great so we all got prizes. Equality!”“Oh man that's so cool, I just got third..” He slumped on the wall, she might have been better if she had just told him she lost .“W—what Reigen don't feel bad uhm” She pulled out the coupons from her pocket “They ran out of prizes so they just gave me this”“What the hell! After your amazing pie, they just give you That?! Did Komina do this to you—” His sadness washed away immediately.
“N—no, she didn't actually, this is just...It's fine! plus we can spend it later with the guys”
He looked at her skeptically, then gave up “Sure… if that's up to you”“It is up to me”“Okay?”“Okay, what?” Why was she getting pissed at him?
The room suddenly felt tense.Reigen let out a breath and broke the silence “You know what, forget it. Want to go catch the play?”
She just nodded, smiling at him a little, he knew that smile could be bigger “We should get going because…” He trailed off, reaching into the tiny compartment at the back of his tie to pull out, of all things— a packet of butter “Butter late than never”“Did you just…”“Pull butter out of my tie and make an amazing pun? I know I'm amazing. I learned a few tricks from the manual Mogami gave me for the occult club, which makes you think about what they actually do there. Speaking of… Did I really learn tricks…. or did I learn— Treats!” He threw a handful of random candies on YN that made it look like celebratory confetti as they rained down.“Where do you even…”“Don’t question me pleb” Reigen says, striking a pose.She blinked, completely stunned by the instant change of mood. Maybe losing wasn't that bad, she was planning to spend the coupon on her friends anyway, which was definitely a better idea than moping around.YN grabbed the candies from the floor to inspect it, it was sour candy. Reigen must have had psychic powers to tell she loved sour candy. Was she in shambles that she lost? Yeah, more than ever. Was that going to bother her? Not really, Reigen seemed pretty okay with her loss.
It’ll be alright.She kicked the sadness away and snatched the butter from him.“Hey! That's my low-fat salted butter!”YN checked the time ignoring the tantrum from Reigen, the play was starting soonReigen crosses his arms “And I think you should be grateful for eating such a high-quality butter”“It says it expired two years ago”“Psh…. That's what they want you to think, it's like cheese the longer you keep it the better it tastes”“Reigen…. I think that only applies to cheese and wine” He snatched the moldy butter from her, cradling it like his precious baby— he did truly love his butter.
Comically pissed at her, he grabbed her hand and dragged her to the auditorium where they would watch their friends play.The walk consisted of bread puns and a mini-debate with YN asking “Do you think I should yell when Yui shows up? Or should I cry?”“Cry, I want to scream.” He replies deadpanned, completely serious.YN grabbed the milk from her bag once they were seated, handing something to Reigen “What the heck is this? Is this a prank?” The boy was still traumatized by the explosive ketchup the girl gave him last week, his mother thought he got beat up by YN who had to pledge her innocence for the obscene scene.“It's just milk, trust me”“I don't think I do,” He said, crossing his hands on his chest looking at the opposite side.“ Come on, Ashok will have me in unrealistic debt if you don't accept this”
His expression changed at the mention of their beloved probably millionaire friend, grabbing the milk out of YNs hand, “Give that to me” He gloried the rich milk sucking on it with a straw when he noticed the curtains closed, YN scooted closer to him from the coldness of the auditorium.She leaned close to his ear whispering the words “A god will appear anytime now”“What are you on about” Reigen makes a grossed face “All I see is friking Komina in her stupid dress”She smirked “You’ll see”“I do not want to see”“Are we seriously doing this right now?”“Yes, also you smell kinda sweet? What type of fish dish did you make—”YN quickly interrupted him “Oh look haha, It's Yui” Reigen could question her later, right now— he was completely enamored by the school's new idol, Yui.She wasn't an idol, but god damn she seemed to be getting quite a reaction from the audience just by walking across the stage to greet snow white. It seemed like even Komina was entranced by her beauty, or it was the fact she was amazingly good at acting.Regardless, the audience was screaming at Yui, which left YN and Reigen and YN the only possible reaction option: sob. The crowd didn't mind their cries because they inside felt the same way.Komina was played as Cinderella who pranced around the audience and kept looking over the audience for some weird reason— like she was searching for someone.Her looks did not falter though, no wonder she even won over Ashok for the popularity poll in the school paper. Though, he didn't really care about the polls since he didn't even know they existed in the first place.The play ended with Komina thankfully not strangling Yui on the stage, it seems like she was slightly entranced when they had the ballroom dance. YN and Reigen couldn't tell if Komina had actually fallen in love with Prince, or if she was plotting some secret murder scheme.The crowd went wild, throwing flower after flower aimed at Ashok: he who got hit in the face but continued smiling with a vein-popping from the side of his head— that may or may have not encouraged the crowd to scream louder.Could you blame them?
Ashok was a born star.That could also be a possible war criminal demanding people into his palm with ease with just a flick of a finger.He's still the most gorgeous person nonetheless.Once the curtain went down Yui let out a yelp of relief, thanking everyone for their hard work- she made her way to get the eyeliner out of her face in the dressing.There she sat, in the dressing room.The mirror was there, her friend had said she looked dashing.Another had said she looked handsome.
Handsome.Yui looked into the mirror, hands around her chest. No, she couldn't, she simply just enjoyed looking more boyish than usual. Isn't that what people call tom-boy, did tomboys want to always have a flat chest?
It's not like she didn't enjoy being a girl, she actually loved the feeling of makeup on her but...There was a lingering thought.It was speaking softly but the base was ramping up louder and louder. She knew she couldn't ignore the thought anymore. She walked towards the door to see her friends, she saw a figure sitting on the other side of the door. Oh god, she wishes she stayed in the room longer.“You did fine for your first time” The princess spoke.Still, she carefully turned around “Y—yeah you did great yourself too” Yui looked around to make sure Komina didn't plan a sneak attack.
Feeling compelled to run, Yui walked away. It was an odd feeling to have Komina not outright insult her on the spot, maybe she had a little compassion in her after last week during rehearsal.
She didn't really expect what she said would have an impact on her, after months on end of torment, she felt slightly more at ease in her presence.As Yui walked out, she glanced back one more time. Only, she was looking right at her.
This time, her features showed something that resembled the look when they were initially friends. When she wasn't mean….She thinks she sees Komina mutter a two-syllable word of something that she could make out as an apology, but Yui can only bow her head slightly and walk out.Yui was greeted by Ashok, giving her a nudge well done at her performance. Maybe she was imagining it, but there was a blush that could be seen on his ears, it was faint. But present.He must have been sweating a lot in that dress.YN was the first to topple over Yui, followed by a shy Reigen at the side taking a picture at the scene with his camera. That's when YN stilled, she had forgotten something clearly more important.“Where did you purchase that cheap camera, Reigen?” Ashok asks.Reigen rubbed then slumped his shoulders “Oh, I won third. A teacher came up to me when YN was fighting the bodyguards to get backstage”“Yeah…” YN says looking away.“Oh?” Yui probes as YN pulls her up “Why do you sound so disappointed though?”“Reigen’s supposed to be my wi— Uh guys forget about that look!” YN quickly distracts them by waving her coupon around “I have a coupon for the best grocery shop in town”
While Reigen and Yui were mesmerized by this, Ashok was unamused “I would never in my life try the peasant mall food. Count me out—”“—It has a great deal on sourdough and jam”“Count me in, I will call a car to bring us”“What no, let's walk”
Reigen watched the exchange feeling slightly dazed, he had forgotten something, something that even a doofus like YN would remember. He was going to definitely question her later, but for now.He wanted to go get some discounted food.“Holy shit, are you and Komina like cool now?” Reigen said, his mouth stuffed with food."Not particularly?”
The gang was sitting in the garden, eating the sourdough and takoyaki with plastic utensils they stole from the cooking club, even the Ashok stole.Well helped, he distracted the entire class outside by doing a signing with Yui while Reigen and YN got the green light to sneak some stuff out. Anything for clean fingers.Yui smiled looking over the garden, taking note of all the little fairy lights around “I don't know, she just doesn't feel the urge to end my life anymore?”“She might have been entranced by your handsomeness” YN jokes.There it was again, that word. Could she be that word that Mogami gave her? Was it a good time to tell them?Yui opened her mouth to speak but closed it.She watched as her friends play with water guns Ashok bought, YN was clutching onto Yui’s pants as she was shot “ Yuiiiiiii save me you angel, and grant me life to kill the bastards myself”
YN wouldn't judge, would she? You can never know for sure with people, but she trusts YN and Reigen.Yeah, she’ll tell them soon, or at least hint at it.“Guys, uh can you come here for a moment”
They stopped playing and gathered around a nervous Yui who played with her fingers.Alright, now or never.“I was wondering what were your opinions on people with…..well on people who don't like being their own gender…”“What about them?” Ashok sits down, next to her.“Well nothing much, just wondering….”YN quirks up “Well I haven’t heard much about people like them, but I guess I don't care. Not that type of way of course” She coughs trying to explain herself “What I mean is that… It’s their life and I can’t judge them, as long they are not bad people,
I don't really bother”Reigen nods “Same, I just go with the vibe. I like people who are nice”“Reigen don’t ever say vibe again,” Ashok replies.Yui let out a sigh of relief, she was hoping for a worse answer, way worse. The little group she has is surprisingly nice, she wonders how her family would react the same— Maybe she wouldn’t tell them, they were pretty old-fashioned, so she doubts they would have an open mind and that’s okay with her.
She didn't need their approval, she loved them but it is how it is.
“Thanks, guys”
YN rolls on her back “What brings this up?”“Uh….just curious that’s all..heh” She rubs her arm nervously, luckily, they didn't press on with the matter.
Reigen suddenly bounces to his feet “Do you guys want to get ice cream? Ashok’s treat”
Ashok reached out and grabbed Reigen by the back of his collar “Who said I’m paying?”“Uhm me? Duh. Or are you just going to leave us to starve”
“I think I might” Ashok replies unimpressed.Reigen stares at the absurd reply, then leans into Ashok’s chest— making exaggerated wailing noises. Ashok felt he might go to death from the ugly noises that pierced his ears. To make matters worse, YN joined him.
He now had two imbeciles ruining his fairy godmother’s dress with tears “Fine, fine. Let’s go, but. We’re only getting the discounted ice cream”
They all secretly knew he would buy the most expensive one for all of them, big softy couldn’t resist.With that said, they gathered their things to make their way to the nearest ice cream parlor. Yui was walking slightly behind them though, YN noticed “You guys go ahead, me and Yui want to chat a little”The boys nodded, feeling uneasy having to talk to each other now.Once they were at a safe distance away YN pulled Yui into an unexpectedly warm hug “Y— YN?”
She lowered her voice as she spoke “Hey, I don't know what’s going on with you. But just remember we’re all here for you. I’m here for you”Yui didn’t know how to react, YN pulled her closer into a tighter hug “Yeah, I’ll tell you all about it one day but for now, let’s drain Ashok’s credit card” She snickered, pulling herself away from the best hug of her life. Yui wonders if YN was a psychic that day.
YN smirks at her devious-looking friend “Since when did you talk like that?”“Dunno, picked it up from you”
YN did somehow make people more confident, maybe rude was the right word.
Whatever, she just smiled as she dragged Yui back to the boys who were getting along, talking about a book they enjoyed.Telling them and figuring herself out might be hard, but at least she had the assurance that they wouldn’t become like Komina.
Yui knew YN was different, Reigen was different, and hopefully…. Ashok was different.There were words on her mind that she was too scared to vocalize, the thoughts of maybe she was a little malfunctioned—But she now knew.That she had people by her side.She would be accepted.

╔═══°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:Text log°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･═══╗
RestlessDremur (Reigen): dude, i cfantbelieve that thekraang somehow managed totake over all of new yorkXxAngelOfDarknessxX (YN): reigen i knowi got u into the show,but like its 11pm,,,,tell me tomorowRestlessDremur (Reigen): BUT IM DEVASTATEDXxAngelOfDarknessxX (YN): we watched it togetherlikelast Saturday and cried,ur mom had to literallyconsole us with cookiesRestlessDremur (Reigen): I DUN CARE !!EFF THE SHREDDER,LAMEASS WEINERXxAngelOfDarknessxX (YN): ....RestlessDremur (Reigen):I BET HE HASA SMALL WEINER,BUT NOT AS SMALL AS HIS MOMS WEINER !!XxAngelOfDarknessxX (YN): Goodnight reigen╚═══°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:

❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･═══╝

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

∞ ₒ ˚ ° 𐐒 Deep dew dew 𐐚 ° ˚ ₒ ∞The epic rendition.It starts with YN getting out of bed sighing, today was going to be shit.She should get up from bed, not.
YN proceeded to stay in bed for an extra fifteen minutes staring at her ceiling blankly, everything went as usual.Or kids walking around the park, judging old people on their sense of fashion.
That is what YN and Reigen would be doing if only they didn't need to attend an after-school cleaning activity they were forced to do by their class teacher, something about ‘Needing to be near that goddess or something.’YN groans at the thought of adults falling in love, a bunch of weirdos in her opinion.“Aren’t, you a little weird?” Reigen spoke, handing her the broom, was she talking out loud again?
“Yes, yes you are”“Reigen haven’t you heard it’s rude to interrupt someone's eternal monologue”
He opens the door, signaling for her to step out to get ready to sweep the halls. “No, but I do hear if I see a person talking to themselves— Excuse me, I mean ‘monologuing’ to call the nearest hospital”YN scoffs, sending the boy a middle finger which he laughs at. She didn't use her thumbs when she flipped him off so it looked like a weird decapitated goose. Adorably stupid is what he could describe YN as. He ponders whether he should ever teach her how to flip him off properly. It would probably end up with Yui and Ashok not ‘not’ holding back from laughing every time YN did it.He thinks he might not teach her.He is happy with his decision.“Reigen, can we like, ditch the school pretty please”“No.”YN pouts “Since when were you so responsible?”Reigen looks at the moldy pizza on the floor and rests his hand on his hips “Wow I don't know, maybe it's because you decided to have a pizza fight with Ms. Sawaki and got her riled up— No, the entire class riled up and a food fight”
YN shoves the corpse of the smelly pizza into a plastic bag, trying not to barf at the putrid smell “It wasn't that bad!”“Wasn't that bad? YN, you made the janitor slip on one of the pizza slices, and broke their ankle”“Well when you put it like that, I may have gone too far….”They finally finished cleaning the halls with pizza, the only thing left was to spray the class with air freshener and they could go home.“You’re lucky Mrs. Sawaki took the blame and took the blame on behalf of you”
She had told the principal she misunderstood a student’s action and acted out of the profession, which was half true. YN did technically trip on herself and the pizza did fly to a maybe intoxicated Ms. Sawaki’s face, which shocked the entire class.Ms. Sawaki also only defended YN because she accidentally ate the chocolates Teacher Jiayi gave her without reading the label ‘Contains alcohol’ and just thought YN wanted to have a food fight which involved some of the nearby classes— including Komina’s class which she actually participate in, throwing jelly very hard at YN, which felt like a sticky rock.The party was cut short when a janitor came and slipped on one of the thrown pieces of food, which leads the duo here.Surprisingly, Reigen felt bad about the whole ordeal and forcefully lured YN to his house as an illusion to drag her to school to clean.“Can you at least buy me a snacky-wacky Weigen Wababaka?”Reigen smacked her with the broomstick, a technique that Ashok taught him at Shoulin Kung-Fo class which was useful when YN and he wrestled. She always had the upper hand with Reigen, being taller than him and all. At least Reigen got to also win some fights with the extra training.Emphasis on some.Reigen reaches for his wallet and sighs looking at the vending machine, his mom would definitely not approve of him eating more junk food. Using the allowance his mom graces him with to buy snacks didn't sound like a good idea.He sighed, getting ready to break the news to YN that they were not getting snacks today.“Sure why not! Uncle Rui promised us anyways to get us snacks to help him get more customers.”He’s not sure why he impulsively said that but didn't question it because he was in no way going to say no. Why was he like this? Before he could regret it, YN jumped on him like an excited puppy, knocking them both back. Then with her noodle arms, she picks him up, spinning him around like a fidget spinner.Maybe it wasn't so bad.He sighs in her hair when she puts him down, grabbing the trash bag from beside her “Hurry up then. If you want to get there before lunch, I’m starving”YN saluted him “Honky dorrie Sir!”
They managed to get everything cleaned before the school closed. After that, they made their way to report their progress to Ms. Sawaki before leaving but stopped hearing mummers from the other side.“Jiayi, I’m sorry for my actions in class that day—”“What? No, don't w—worry Aki’, It's pretty uh… fun spending time with you like this”Ms. Sawaki smiles fondly at the other, bringing them into a hug, “You do? I never expected that…Say, want to go eat some food later? You can swing by my place if you want and watch a—"Reigen toppled over YN on the floor, they both scream leaping to their feet and speaking so fast their words almost slurred together:
“if you guys date we don't care we promise not to tell!”
“It’s okay to be a girl kisser!”“W-we are n-not girl kissers?!” Teacher Jiayi pulls away from the hug in utter shock
“Y-you guys shouldn’t eavesdrop on your teacher, it’s rather rude!”
Ms.Sawaki uncharacteristically nods, looking away, face red for not being able to say anything for once, keeping quiet and only agreeing.She sighs, rubbing her temples, looking at the fearful children's frantic chants of ‘sorry!’
Teacher Jiayi rubbed her temples, letting out a heavy sigh “It’s okay, we shouldn’t be discussing this under school property anyways. Plus, you kids were here to help also….Gosh, this was stupid”Ms. Sawaki who kept quiet, finally looked at the kids, with one hand on the other shoulder, “Jiayi these kids won’t say a word, will you kids?” She gave a playful glare through her mortification at the kids who nodded wordlessly.“And since they’re good kids, you know what?” She grabs a five thousand yen note from her purse and hands it to the kids “Buy something nice for yourselves, you cleaned the classroom well enough,” Ms. Sawaki said, finally regaining her tack. She gave their heads a ruffle before ushering them out of the room.Reigen and YN walked out of the school, very slightly dazed. “Did we learn nothing from the principal situation?” They both thought at the same time, disgusted with the thought of having two coupled teachers in the schools.But they didn't mind Mrs. Sawaki and Teacher Jiayi being girl kissers, it was kinda cute.
The traumatized children made their way into Uncle Rui’s shop; they were snapped out of their daze when they noticed Yui sitting on the sidewalk with Ashok eating ice cream.“Yo” Ashok said nonchalantly waving them over to the store, he sounded a little like a gangster if she was being honest.Yui shuffles close to YN, pulling the other from Reigen which he shrugged off and walked into the store to chat with Ashok.YN makes a confused face when Yui pulls her down to whisper, “I have something to tell you, do you have time alone?”
YN nods and calls for the boys, “I’m going to take a pee! With Yui! Behind the tree. Don't come and get us.” The boys share an unphased look, clearly used to the weird YN behavior, unlike the shocked Yui. “What? Now they won’t come”“You’re a genius”YN pats, well it was more like she dusted Yui on the head, resembling what she would do to a dog, “I know young one” YN pridefully soaks in the compliment “Now let’s go before they start gossiping!”They sit behind a patch of daisies that grew behind the building. YN wonders if Uncle Rui replants the flowers— every time she visits the flowers seem to change.Yui inhaled as she got comfortable on the grass, shimmying her butt left and right. She was basically making an imprint of it on the grass.YN sits criss-cross facing Yui “You good?”“Yeah….. just nervous”“Take your time, I’m sure Uncle Rui is letting them use his mini TV to watch some cartoon or something” As if on cue, they hear laughter from the building, easing the slight tension, probably Reigen laughing at the dad jokes told by the old man “So we can talk at your own pace.”
Yui finally blurts out “Have you ever wondered if the moon wanted to be the sun?” She said firmly, no stutter to be heard.That was a funny analogy, the world would totally end if that happened... Was Yui saying she wanted to end the world? “Well…That would most likely burn the whole world and die, but I get you hypothetical so continue”
She stiffens and looks YN in the face “What if the moon didn't care if people didn't want to see the Sun, even if it was a pain to see— the moon didn't care if people hated it, t-the moon” YN felt compelled to say something but stopped to think hard.Yui was words kept tumbling and melding into each other, making it harder for YN to understand. Whatever she was saying must mean a lot to her, and it must be important enough for her to pull her aside to talk privately without Reigen.YN leans on a stuttering Yui and says “Maybe some people might hate the moon for changing and sure some people might not like them, even hate them”Yui looks up, unsure where YN was going with this. “My point is, who cares? Sure some people may not accept it at first, but is that so bad? There will always be people who care about the moon—”“I think I might want to be a boy!”
Yui blurts out suddenly, she slaps a hand over her mouth, eyes wide, ready to run.“Y—Yui don't go!” YN grabs her hand, “That’s….”Yui expected a lecture, an insult, anything.But she forgot one major thing.“That’s so….cool! Like how is that possible? I mean I’ve heard of it but I didn't expect you… Dangit I feel so stupid now”Disbelief was the only emotion that could be read on Yui’s face “Y-you don't….. want to stop being friends?”“Why would I not want to?" YN says completely seriously,Yui nods her head “Yeah… What did you think I wanted to tell you?”YN scratches her head looking away, trying to avoid eye contact. “Well, I thought that maybe you were some type of spy, or cool esper….”
Yui lets out the loudest, snortiest laugh ever that scared YN a little. She stops laughing and wipes a stray tear from her eye, “I….I’m so happy we’re friends”YN opens her arms out invitingly for Yui to hug which she does “How did you find out?”Yui lets go of the hug to reach for her bag to grab something “Remember when we saw Mogami? Uh, he might have figured me out before I did myself” He hands the paper that Mogami gave to him to YN “Wait are you telling me he was an actual psychic?!”
“Yeah? I don't know, maybe I was kinda obvious but yeah”
‘Psychics can be anyone, Reigen still might be a psychic’

“Do you want to tell them?” YN says gesturing to the guys who were screaming bloody murder, apparently, Uncle Rui was scaring them with an old Halloween mask.“Maybe…. but I read about something online about people.. like me” Yui stretches his arms “It feels good to say it out loud.”
YN isn't really sure how to show her support, so she flashes him a big thumbs up, two thumbs for extra support!“Should we call Reigen over also?” Yui asks nervously.YN feigns a gasp and yells in a whisper, “Not Ashok? I mean... Actually, don't worry I understand if you’re worried about him being square-brained—”Yui hesitates but interrupts YN, straightening up with newfound confidence. “You know what? Call him here too. I-if he wants to hate me, I want him to do it now”YN didn't know why he was being so bitter about Ashok all of a sudden. The two of them bonding was an odd sight, especially with how close they’d gotten when she introduced both of them. It wasn't like Yui cared about what Ashok thought…Right?YN nervously tilts her head, trying to figure out if she said anything wrong to upset Yui “We d-don't have to Yui—”Yui takes a breather, placing his hand on YN’s shoulder reassuringly, “It’s fine YN, I thought about it for a while, if Ashok hates me after this, t- then maybe at least…. I could spare myself this aching feeling” Yui grips his chest, YN wonders if the aching feeling is chest pain. Yui shakes his head, this time smiling a little “But forget about that, I want to get it over with anyway. I feel my toes curling, like this” He removed his boot to show his indeed, curled toes.YN understood in a sense the distrust Yui had for this, Ashok wasn't from Kewpie district. He was from yes, from Kamakura Mayo. But he was mostly raised in the Margarine district, a place known for its fixed and traditional mindset. It makes them get…scared, offended maybe with the littlest of changes.
Yui seemed determined to get this over as soon as possible, YN was praying to the ants that Ashok would be cool with it.She can only hope so.YN and Yui walk inside the shop, seeing the boys play a card game with Uncle Rui, both clearly losing to an old man. Now that she thinks about it, did he always look that old?
YN gives Yui a determined nod before placing her hands over her own mouth like a megaphone, “Uh, guys and I guess Uncle Rui….” She awkwardly looks at him” Can you go like..behind the counter? Kinda personal—”Uncle Rui was already making his way to the back room “Got it kid, I’ll just go and prepare the cupcakes!”
Before they all could question the weird old man, he was gone. Yui took one quick check to make sure he was out of sight, then inhaled deeper than before, all the nerves were back. He felt so scared yet determined to get this over with, he knew things would be harder from this point onward.Should he just not say it?Would he lose the only friend group he had in a long time?What if—The room’s tension for Yui seemed to be cut short when Uncle Rui started burning some incense in the back, it was...calming, to say the least. All nerves slowly flowing, but not away. They were still there, but it seemed to calm down. “Before I, uh, start…. I want to say it’s been great being friends with you all”
Reigen and Ashok seemed confused but let him continue.“As you know, I like being called handsome sometimes and really enjoyed the role of the prince…. Whatever— I want to be a boy!” he said, giving up on stupid analogies.Reigen is still for a moment, before walking close to Yui, calmly putting his hand on the other's shoulder proudly beaming with a light that looked like Buddha.“Oh, that’s not expected but cool you know. If you want to be called handsome more, anything else?”
Yui was shocked at how calm he was and flushed “And uh, can we have the na-name we had at the play. One more, m-maybe I want to be referred to as a guy!?” He yelled with full power.Reigen also jumps, matching Yui’s enthusiasm
“Heck Yeah! Do you want the Prince charming one!?”“Something like that...if that’s okay” Yui says finally calming down from his high.“Heck yeah, it is,” Reigen replies, giving a thumbs up.So they spent the entire evening discussing names to give Yui, YN suggested the name God because Yui was a ‘God’ in her eyes which earned a smack on the head from both Reigen and Ashok for being ridiculous. Reigen suggested an American name like ‘Henry’ which actually sounded nice if he was actually from America.Ashok mostly stayed silent during the discussion, it worried Yui a little but he noted YN telling him once that they went to church together so he might be a little hard to—“What about Haruki? It’s a combination of sun and moon. You all like Pokemob right? So it's also a game reference—” Ashok hid his face in his hands realizing what he just said “Or don't take it, It was a mere suggestion”Yui stepped forward and went up to him, gently bringing his fingers down
“It’s perfect”Ashok felt like he might combust at this rate with how much fanservice was given to him.Reigen ruined the moment by yelling, “Group hug!”Uncle Rui walked out of the weird room, from the back, with cupcakes. “Here you go son, happy acceptance day,” he said, placing the cupcakes on the table decorated with pastel colors. “I just want to say, I always knew kid.” He ruffled his hair “Don’t worry, I ain’t gonna snitch on your parents, I made you cupcakes for a reason—”
Haruki was now sobbing into Uncle Rui’s raggedy shirt, he was so worried he couldn’t even fall asleep because he kept thinking of a backup plan if Reigen and Ashok left him.
He loved his friends so much.As the evening came down on them, they bid farewell to Rui and made their way to drop Haruki off home.
Upon reaching his home, YN let the name Haruki slip in front of his mom. YN was quick to cover it up, saying it was a nickname seemed to not be enough to convince anyone, though. She eventually caved in when Haruki switched the topic to fish bait.It’s not that he was worried about his mom being square-minded, it's just that the topic was rather…..complicated, not to mention that his mom was pretty old, so he immediately dropped ever bothering to mention it again.
Haruki knew deep down his mom cared for him, regardless of anything.What he does know now though, regardless if he wanted to be the sun or the moon……he would always have friends that would stay by him as the clouds.“No way I’m doing that”“Come on Reigen… It’s just down the tree line street where we can look at cool insects”YN was playing rocks with Reigen when she got bored and suggested they go exploring the abandoned tunnel just past this one factory that got abandoned, it was rumored to have a bunch of people getting injured whenever they walked through it. It was a little far since it was near the church that was basically a different district, Tonkatsu specifically.Reigen rolled his head back, feeling a little reluctant to follow “Nuh-uh, I don't want to moveeeee ” he said, dragging his words.“But I heard it’s haunted and stuff though… Pleaseeeee” YN begged, pulling his arm.“No I don't want to—”“Meow meow”“What are you—”“Meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow!”“This is not working on me!”YN managed to pull Reigen to his feet, the meowing clearly acting as a distraction, and dragged him all the way to the bus stop, then to the pathway to the ‘haunted tunnel.’
A tunnel that their parent so very strictly told them against venturing into.To say the tunnel was a little scary was an understatement, well there was a sign saying it was out of order, but people still walked through it since it was shorter, of course getting injured in the end. “YN if people get injured here, what’s stopping us from getting injured?”“Tsk tsk, what a typical question. I knew you were going to ask that, so I brought this.” She whipped out a bag and posed with her hands in a peace sign.Reigen flashes his flashlight in the dark tunnel to read the label of the bag, “Let me get this straight. You brought….. a bag of salt, but not your own flashlight?”
“Because!” She said simply like it was a known fact to everyone.There was no point trying to make sense of the girl's logic, so they made their way into the tunnel slowly, holding tightly onto the bag of salt for dear life.
Reigen had to keep a hand on YN because she managed to slam into the wall not once, but twice in six seconds.The more they ventured into the tunnel, the air seemed to thin as if devoid of oxygen. The air they took in had no noticeable odors apart from a hint of some earthy, mossy scent. It made sense, considering the abandoned tunnel was blanketed with a thick layer of moss and decaying plants.Out of nowhere a rat, no— A deformed fluff ball, scurries past them with a roach in its mouth. Talk about ugly.Reigen let out a yelp and instinctively clutched YN’s hand.
A mix of green and red mixed the hallway, YN didn't know how she could describe it but there was definitely a hint of a green flicker. She almost missed it when she blinked, but she was sure she saw it. Reigen was getting impatient and gently shook the hands that he had been holding looking at her.
“Reigen...maybe let's go home”“Now you want to go? I thought you were brave. Plus we still haven’t found this so-called spirit, I call buffoonery”“The only buffon is you—”“Enough, let’s go, I’m getting the chills”
YN agreed immediately, the goosebumps running up her arm felt a little too weird for comfort. It was almost like they’d been walking for longer than they were, but that couldn’t be it. Especially since the only way they should be getting the breeze would be from their backs since they were walking in a straight line forward.Suddenly they both trip, on seemingly nothing, at the same time "Ow, my butt hurts…. Did you forget to tie your shoelace or something?""No, I didn't. I use velcro shoes, the most efficient type for shoe holding." He replied with an accusatory huff as he walked forward without holding onto her— straight into a wall.YN went to check on Reigen’s nose, snickering slightly as he rubbed it.“Wait...” He said seriously, stopping YN from making any jokes “Didn't we walk in a straight line………..”
She opens her mouth, getting ready to call shenanigans before it hits her. They hadn't been taking any rights, lefts, junctions, spoons or forks— and yet, they find themselves hit by a wall, quite literally for Reigen’s nose.
Her heart rate picked up as she looked around her surroundings after grabbing the flashlight from Reigen. YN didn’t recall the club saying that there were more tunnels…in a tunnel.Maybe they did say it but she was too busy thinking about the plot twist that Karai was actually Splinter’s dead daughter in Ninja Turtles— what a plot twist! How can Shredder be so cruel?Amidst her daydreaming, she realizes her situation was far scarier than the Shredder being her father when she and Reigen looked back, they couldn't see the beam of light that was once reflecting the afternoon heat.
This was wrong. Like, horror movie wrong. They took a left and saw a straight path, sighing as the thought of getting out of this weird place finally settled the uneasiness that had been building up.
For only a moment.A hole that went unnoticed with the flashlight’s dim beam caused them to fall into it. Reigen groaned trying to find his flashlight, he used his hands in a claw way, trying to grab onto the walls. Instead, his fingers grabbed onto a very, very , annoyed YN’s nose. “Reigen, stop pinching my nose! I’m— crapsicles, I can’t move”YN’s leg was not budging. The ground only dug further into her leg the more she shifted.She bit back the urge to shout. If some nearby cops knew two teenagers were wandering a restricted area, they would be done for. Her mom would ground her for life and make her do the worst thing possible: clean her bedroom.YN tried wiggling her legs to get out, but it only made whatever was making her leg lodged under the hole pierce her. “Well, I got goldfish if you want to play.” She was giving up on life, well if that were the case— she would die trying to beat Reigen at goldfish, apparently in the dark with a damaged flashlight.“YN you—”A thud could be heard nearby, but there was not a breath that could be heard in the echoed tunnel. Reigen felt a small shiver when he realized that someone was there. He pulled on YN again trying to get her leg out, but it seemed to only sink her deeper.
The more he failed to help her out, the more panic seemed to grow bigger in YN— she was never fond of small spaces and hated the feeling of being trapped.She would voice out her discomfort if she didn't feel a tinge of shame since she got them in this mess in the first place, so she had no choice but to shut her mouth.They couldn’t see daylight since they had fallen down an unknown hole but he needed to calm down, for the sake of YN and himself. “Ugh, Reigen… I didn't want to drag you into this... I know your mom would be mad if she came to pick you up at the police station."Sighing, he stood up, trying to find a way out. Too bad he was too short to climb out. “It’s fine, I mean I would love to say I told you so to make you learn your lesson, but I’m sure you’ve already learned it by now,” Reigen gestured to her stuck position.
He grabbed onto the surface but skidded to the side, the ledge was too slippery for him to get up on his own “I can’t see you, but you’re clearly struggling.”“I just can’t reach this ledge!”“Is it the fact that you’re a shorty—”
“Shush it, we’re like the same height.” Reigen tries to reach on his tippy toes, but he still can't reach it.“I’m literally taller than you”“By one centimeter!” Reigen huffs out before giving up, “That’s not the point… I don't think even you can get out of here unless you grew taller”YN ponders wordlessly in the dark. If they were to get out of this hole cop free, they needed to be at least semi-smart at this. It didn't really matter if she couldn't get out of here. While it scares her to think of another rat king, a disappointed Ms. Reigen was worse. She was sure as hell will get Reigen out. “Get on my shoulders.”“Get on your what now?”YN steadies her hand on the wall beside her, “You said to get out one of us needed to be taller right?”He stared at her dark figure, confused. “Yeah?”“How tall do you mean, wall-wise?”“I dunno…Like a couple of inches taller than Ashok type of tall.”
She readied herself, “You can climb on my shoulders and get out, then you can call a nearby cop on duty and say you heard a scream and let me out—”He interrupted her, “What type of bonehead would do that? Just think of another way!”“We can’t mind you, we are in deep, dew-dew.”
“No we not, why not we both yell for help then? I don't even think kids like us can go to jail, what about all the other people that came here and got injured?”“They got fined Reigen”“Then why did we even come here?!”“Because you said you wanted an adventure right?!” YN suddenly yells out “Didn't you tell me to find something fun we could do? Since we didn't get to go adventuring at the abandoned factory where that one guy died”
He forgot that YN would go the extra length for these types of stupid things and he also agreed to this. “Yeah? God, I’m— Why am I so confusing?”While Reigen’s tsundere side was chirping up, YN was more concerned with the noise of someone muttering in the distance. It was gruff, something she’d heard before.“Dude, did you hear that?”“Do you think it's a monster?” YN quirks up, fiddling to get her disposable camera to take a picture.Reigen grimaces “Even worse, a man”YN drops her bag to the side “A man that's a ghost?! We’re doomed……”Obviously, Reigen knew the ghost didn't exist, still, the alarm bells rang in his head. Was this a cop or a stranger? Didn't the occult club also say people went missing here? What if this was some psycho killer?! Reigen quickly got the memo and turned off his flashlight as he leaned down to whisper “If anything happens, just sing.”“What?” She whispered back in a panic “This isn't little mermaid!”“Just do it!”The footsteps grew louder, a dark figure bent itself down the hole “Do you need—”“Get back man-demon!” Reigen screamed, hurling YN’s unopened bag of salt in the direction of the voice, making him tumble into the hole, hitting the man square in the man's solar plexus, the part near the lower part of the chest. It’s the S part of the whole S.I.N.G fighting defense thing Ashok trained him for, it finally came in handy for an actual life-or-death situation.
The ‘I’ stands for instep, Reigen slams his tiny foot down on the person who doesn't seem that phased by it. They would probably have to skip the ‘N’ for the nose. Judging by the tall dark figure, their short asses wouldn't be able to reach the head of the figure.
Now for the finishing move, all YN had to do was throw the flashlight or her bag at the man's groin—“The itsy bitsy spider went up the water spout! Down came the rain and washed the spider out! Out came the sun and dried it all away, and the itsy bitsy spider went up the spout again!”Reigen stopped mid-groin backup punch “I said SING, as in the acronym! You know, the self-defense SING? like the one Ashok taught us after his Shaolin class?!”YN drops her itsy-bitsy hands “Well sorry for not understanding your unspecified nonsense!”Before they could continue arguing, the figure groaned, “Ouch! What the— I thought I cleared the place… Wait, The weird kid that drew me with a mustache?”YN blinked in the darkness as he picked up his lantern “Mister Mogami?”Mogami sighed and stood up, grabbing his lantern from the side, turning the brightness up to better see them “What are you kids doing here?”Mogami tried to pull Reigen out before noticing YN’s position. “Kid uh, can I, uh, pull you up from the pits?” YN just made grabby hands as a response which he took as a yes. Without wasting time, he pulled her out from the armpits up, Mogami was a very strong man despite being skinny.That’s when YN smelt it, the smell of something rotting on him. She was not in a position to call someone stinky when she herself tended to have a body odor, so she didn't comment on it.He checks for injuries on her, fortunately, there were none other than a few scrapes. He pulled out his bag to find some ointment to help, “Shoot, sorry kid, I don't have anything on me but firstly…” He laid his hands on his hip, looking a little sassy, well Reigen thought that.
YN thought for a moment before answering, “We thought we could find Leonardo from Ninja Turtles!” That was totally the most intelligent thing she had said all day.
Mogami, once again, was too shocked at her answer to say anything but just go along with it. Was YN psychic or something— always misdirecting people like it was a normal thing for her.Reigen bent down, signaling YN to get on his back to give her a ride home, but she declined it. He sighed knowing she wouldn’t agree, so he grabbed her hand to make sure to catch her when she fell, no protests were made this time.
“We could go Mister Rui’s place to get you patched up, his herbs always seem to help you.”“Heck yeah, we can also get Takoyaki on the way back. That is if we can find a way out…”
This time Mogami spoke, “A way out? You mean that?” He pointed towards the dimly lit pathway out.YN and Reigen were both dumbfounded by this, “No way, we walked in a straight line and I kept hitting a wall— why do people even consider this as a shortcut?”
Mogami let out a hearty laugh, “I think you kids took the wrong turn and fell!”“How’s that possible we walked—”“In a straight line, I get it. That's what all the people who come in here say until they go missing” Mogami slows his pace to monitor the two kids, “But you also might have taken the left path without knowing. It’s known for its weird perspective because of its latitude and positioning relative to your internal compass. Whoever told you about this place missed out on one important thing: this place can get you in big trouble not only for trespassing. But it's practically like walking into a minefield for its weird supernatural stuff, scientists even come here every now and then to test something about an electromagnetic field…… are you kids listening to me?”They stopped listening at the latitude part and started bickering.Reigen rolls his eyes “What source did you even find the tunnel on?”“I got it from the most legit source of course. The occult club” She scoffed in his face.“You can’t be serious…...YN they’re not even a proper occult club!”
“Uhm no? Then explain how they solved the toilet myth of Hanako in the school?”
“The pipes were just clogged and started to make weird noises, the teachers couldn't afford a proper plumber that month.”
YN was distraught by this revelation. “T—then explain why are they even a club? They must be a little reliable with sources—”“The teachers love them because they always find ways to repair the school by solving myths. And didn’t Naoki tell you about this the other day?” The conversation was pretty boring, to be honest, the both of them going back on the legitimacy of the occult club. YN obviously lost this debate to Reigen, the renowned best debater in his clubOccult clubs aren’t even allowed in schools in Japan, because of rituals and all that jam, speaking of which— the occult club actually occasionally makes jam. It’s kind of a mix of every other club with the exception being emo kids. Their club is only called ‘occult’ because they keep saying that, the school board didn't argue with it since they help with school repairs occasionally and make the best jam.YN quips, having a lingering thought in her mind, "Hey why were you here Mister Mogami anyways?"His face contorted into something that resembled when Ashok had asked her if she ate his sandwich, to which she replied no, but she had totally eaten it. She felt bad when the boy looked a little sad about it, saying it was meant for her. It felt… shameful.Mister Mogami grips his own arm nervously, "You know me and spirits….Just doing my daily patrol of the place."
Reigen perked his head up, "Patrol an abandoned place?""Listen, if you kids don't stop asking questions I'll bring you to the cops."YN and Reigen continued their bickering as usual with no further questions.As they reached the building, Mogami stopped behind them and inhaled— a little too creepy to be normal. YN was rambling on to Mogami about psychic powers.Reigen watched the way his body swayed, that’s when he realized the creepy feeling in the tunnel. The smell, the weird air, and the actual way Mogami looks right now…..Was probably him.“Ah YN and Reigen, just in time for some extra—” Uncle Rui’s breath hitched, “Who is this man?” Uncle Rui spoke deeply, the air felt intoxicating and YN was choking on it. That aura she sensed, it wasn't normal— she couldn’t feel it earlier but now it was clear, so very clear. Something she should have noted before bringing him here.Mogami scratches his beard impatiently “Ah, are you the owner by chance?”“What’da bout’ it. YN, is that a scratch on your face?” He rushed over to YN even if his body begged him to not go any closer. He inspected her wounds, taking small notes at her small cuts, then he looked over to Reigen who had a scratch on his forehead from the mini fall and a red spot on his nose from his faceplant to the wall.Uncle Rui brushed his forehead gently and held both of them near before shifting his gaze to the other man “Did you do this?” His voice dropped so many octaves.“No, the kids fell down an alley,” Mogami replied, followed by another creepy inhale, “I was just coming here to try some great takoyaki she recommended.”YN beams at this, oblivious to the growing tension, “Don't worry uncle he’s nice! He even helped me and Reigen out!” She didn't know why everyone was tense, didn't he just want takoyaki? Also, why was he inhaling so many times?Did the place smell bad or something?Unmoving, Reigen couldn’t feel it, but YN felt the room become slightly darker, Uncle Rui looking calm, but when his hands were shaking— the way the air grew made YN want to throw up.

She looked at Reigen to check on him, he was mostly confused at the weird stare-off.Uncle Rui slowly stands up, “I’m going to get some ointment for the children, sit tight—”
“Don't try to move away or try anything, you know what I’m capable of Rui”“Why are you guys talking like that…” Reigen asked. He was trembling slightly for an unknown reason, but he knew he felt uncomfortable.When YN first met Mogami, she didn't really think much about his appearance. She actually found him pretty normal, but when he finally faced Reigen, she got a good look at him. His mouth was wide open, like it was frozen between a half smile and a cynical laugh.Mogami let out a chuckle, his smile widening as he spoke “Oh that? Me and Mr. Rui are rivals from middle school, I was only talking about that time when I won at racing. Isn’t that right Rui?”
Something about the way Mogami spoke lost all the trust points YN had given him. She didn't understand where the weird nice man went, all that was left was a condescending voice and a tired glare.
Uncle Rui just nods, though the worry in his voice seeps out, “That’s right, Keiji. Rivals….Sit tight kids. I’m going get something to help with that scratch”YN looked at Mogami. “I’m guessing you don't want those Takoyaki’s….”
Mogami returned the look she gave him, smiling softly— his old demeanor only for a moment came back, “Not now, thanks for asking though. Maybe after you kids go.” YN opened her mouth to speak but Mogami was quicker, “Say….when did you meet this old geezer?”YN didn't know where all the formalities went, “Well...he was always here...he sells herbs...He helps all of us…..a lot” She didn't know why she was so nervous to speak to him.Mogami looks away sorrowfully, “Is that so, I’m so sorry YN... I don't want to do this, but..."“Huh sorry for what?”Reigen doubles on YN’s question “Mister Mogami, you’re scaring us… Are you really okay? Uncle Rui can get us some snacks or medicine if you want….”“Oh Reigen, don't worry. I didn't mean anything malicious to you, of course.”
Uncle Rui returned with a bandage in hand, so YN and Reigen quickly shuffled behind the counter, Mogami following closely behind. For some reason, Uncle Rui was tracing dots on Reigens face in weird sigils as he rubbed the ointment on his head.Reigen’s eyes dart back and forth nervously before asking, “Uncle Rui…”
“Yes, boy?”“Are you mad? Is it because we brought a stranger here?”“What? No, the more the better you rascal.” He finished with Reigen's wounds “That should be just it, YN, come here, I need to do your knees.” She stepped forward to Uncle Rui as he repeated the same thing to her injury but to her face oddly.She moves her head a little, “I’m not hurt here Uncle Rui, what are you….”He rubbed her cheek, staring at her. “I can't,” Uncle Rui murmurs under his breath, he's shaking.Mogami tapped on his feet impatiently, looking more fidgety by the second, “Can we please get this over with? I don't want the kids—”“Mister Mogami, If you don't feel well we can back another, maybe we can come back another— "“Fuck it.” Mogami yanked Rui from YN’s side, “I don't like playing the bad guy, I need to do this...and absorb.” Reigen squirmed in his hands “Listen, kids, I really like you, especially that drawing you drew of me……But this is a private business. I’m going to let you go, don't come back.”But Reigen and YN were stupid teenagers with the most angst, no way could they leave now.“It’s okay kids, just go. Me and Mogami are having a little disagreement”“B-but— ”“Just go play outside. I promise I’ll be okay”Mogami groaned into his arms “Fine if you want to watch your Uncle get consumed, by all means, go ahead— ” Rui threw some white powder at his face when he was distracted causing him to stumble back into the shelves, suddenly he was floating in the air holding onto his neck like he was being choked.
Then Mogami fell.Uncle Rui scrambled on the floor to go to the children, “He’ll wake up anytime soon, hurry over here!” They didn't question it and followed his lead to the backroom, shutting it quickly. The kids could only watch the shop owner rummage through his cabinets to find something. “I didn't expect to go out this way, but listen to me.”
He grabs their shoulders, “I’m going away for a long time, promise to water my plants and take care of that pesky bloody dog that comes here for food, never feed them chicken bones. Only either dog food or shredded meat.”“Uncle— ”“Don't go out after eleven, I don't think human medicine can fully heal your wounds but you won’t remember it. Tell Haruki that if he ever gets confused, to read articles on the internet to help him understand things more” He rubbed more ointment on Reigens wounds. “Make sure you all take care of each other even if I can’t help— Damn it, I’m losing my juice. You have to go now boy— Reigen, I— ..... You’ve been such a great customer”He hands Reigen a plush Takoyaki keychain and a ramen voucher that’s been expired for seven years, “I was planning to give you this on your birthday, but I guess we’ll have to do it now.” Reigen had a very bad feeling about this; his chest was hurting.“Uncle Rui, what's this prank all about….You can come out Ashok, I’m totally fooled— ”There's a glow in Uncle Rui’s eyes before he gripped Reigen tightly, “You always had more pizazz than me boy…” With that, the sigils on Reigen’s face glowed, then the young boy fell limp on Uncle Rui. He sets Reigen down to get something under the desk.YN is lost in a flurry of confusion and racing thoughts. “Uncle...What’s going on? I’m so sorry I messed up so much. First I brought Reigen to the haunted alley and got him hurt, and now you—”He gently rubs YN’s head in a rush, “No, don't apologize, not ever. I always knew he was going to find me, with the amount of energy I was carelessly releasing probably also intrigued him. Plus it was inevitable-” There’s a faint groaning sound from outside that makes Uncle Rui sweat more. “I care for you, Reigen, Ashok, and Haruki very much, It….It hurts me to do this to your memories, to make you forget..”He hands YN a book which she grabs briefly and shoves away, “I don't understand! Can’t I just kick Mogami in the balls until he dies?”
Uncle Rui lets out a nervous laugh, “That would be first-degree murder”“Isn’t he going to do the same to you?!”“Right, but please YN…. He might wake up, and then I truly can’t help you remember a single thing about our encounter.” She doesn't answer, staying quiet. Rui can only rub circles on her back, this might be the last time they ever share the same air.
She thinks Mogami gets up from the sound of the footsteps.“I don't want to forget.”
He hugs YN tighter.She felt all of the encounters they had with him flash through her mind: the time he lent them fishing supplies, when he gave her the Tomodachi when she came to the store feeling glum, the time when they all came to the store for takoyaki.Was now going to be gone.“You have to….For your own sake if not the spell won’t work.” Spell? YN had so many questions, so many things she wanted to tell him—
but there was no time.Rui knew what he had to do, using all his energy, he let the kids forget he existed and ultimately wiped Mogami’s memory of the kids to prevent him from going on a revenge journey on the kids. He doesn't look like a child murderer, but who knows……This meant he had to use all of his power with no cool-down period that might, no, it will erase him.YN feels like the world is collapsing on her, she isn’t going to be a whiny brat and cry. Well, she tries at least.Rui can sense her worries and sighs “Hey, knock-knock”
“...Who's there?”“Tank”“Tank who?”“You're welcome”
It takes YN a couple of seconds to process the very badly timed bad joke. “That was terrible.”He laughs, snot in his throat, “Worth a shot kid.” He pulls the unconscious Reigen close to hug both of them.She hugs back, fighting sleep as he dusts her with some powder, she wants to remember everything about him. This makes her hug the old man like a baby koala, Rui heaves a breath as the markings on her face glows.“I’m sorry.”The epic rendition.It starts with YN getting out of bed and sighing, today was going to be shit. She should get up from bed, not. She stayed in bed for an extra 10 minutes looking at her ceiling, everything went as usual.Only this time she felt tears in her eyes. Did she have a nightmare? She can barely remember a thing for some odd reason. Going to the bathroom she notices a cookbook that seems to be filled with Mexican dishes.As she flips through the pages, she notices the owner of the book’s name.Weird, that name felt so familiar, like it existed once.Well, it was a pretty cool book.Then why was she crying?
╔═══°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:Text log°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･═══╗
Fearless4me (YN): can I come overand cook somethingAprilNardoReal (Reigen): ?? Thats sudden, i feel foggy for some reason, so give me an hour to get up.My mom said she'll pick u up btwFearless4me (YN): I found this cookbook,,n like for some reason im craving this corn with cheese called an elote?AprilNardoReal (Reigen): woah, I'm pretty sure that I've never tried it before but i am soooo craving it now. StrangeFearless4me (YN): right, it is strange..........╚═══°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:

❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･═══╝

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

༄ؘ ۪۪۫۫ ▹The last ronin◃ ۪۪۫۫ ༄ؘ ˑ
𝘠𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘩 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬
“Reigennn, did you know if you hold your fingers up you can see them?”“YN, did you know if you close your eyes it's dark”“Reigen, did you know if you shit your pants, you shit you— ”
Reigen rose to his feet to go water the plants, definitely not giggling, “That’s enough fun facts for today.”
YN pouts grabbing a water bucket, “You're no fun!”
“Says the one who makes fart jokes”
She puffed her cheeks, “Pshh, you laugh at them all the time though""Yeah, but that's because you slipped on a banana peel when you were telling the joke”
“Well how was I supposed to know you could actually slip on the peel, I thought it fake. Like landing on the moon fake!”“The moon landing did happen though…”Reigen and YN started wrestling on the floor, and a crinkle was made from Reigen, to which YN immediately jumped back, "Ew! did you poo your pants?"
He pushes her back, "Ew, it's just my bag of chips" YN makes a face practically saying 'please let me have some' but not even YN's ugly cute puppy face could convince him to share it. It was the legendary Mr. Mobtato chips: special edition. Why was it a 'special edition' you may ask? It was Yakisoba-flavoured, limited to Seasoning city all the way in Tokyo.YN gave up after a short minute and lay on the grass.There was something, something in her thoughts, lurking in her brain. Jumbling the words, over and over like she couldn’t think of anything but fog. Reigen walked over to her, plopping down on the grass next to her with his knees to his face.
He peers over at a dazed YN. “Got something on your mind?”It takes a moment for her to register his voice, “Just thinking about how you’ve improved your gardening skills.”“S’just watering,” He looks away, a little embarrassed, “You’ve also improved”“On what?”“U—uh, you did your hair today?”“Are you saying this because you feel awkward?”She hears a silent, maybe, stifled laugh.
A good day in the garden, as a way to get away from certain things in their oddly busy lives, always worked.The sky was blue, but not too blue to the point the sun was piercing their delicate teenage skin. God knows how sensitive it is. Ashok was at church helping out with the new convention but of course, Reigen and YN knew no boundaries just to let him be, they would hunt the boy down to his death if needed.-“Hey guys,” Haruki walks into the garden with a bag. “My mom and I went fishing by the dock today, and caught some baby tuna. I made some onigiris after cleaning the puppy out. And! I didn't cut myself this time!”YN dribbles her body behind Haruki, flipping her hair back—
she has waited for the perfect opportunity to use this, and it just shows up in front of her. She loves life.
“You know what’s puppies without the eye?” YN starts, setting the bait, with gyration.“YN please don't— ” Reigen says from behind, he needs to stop this.But Haruki has already been hooked. “Huh?”“Pupp-pee’s” YN is on the floor, hollering.Reigen suppresses the urge to headlock her.Haruki faces her, expression blank, “Why would puppies without eyes be funny? That's like— animal cruelty, do you know how many dogs have died this year from animal abuse? Too many to count—
Why are you looking at me like that?”Reigen does not suppress the urge to headlock her.
Haruki separates the two, laughing. “That’s a joke, my mom jokes a lot with me so it’s okay!”“Why did you—
Haruki…..I expect this type of humor from Ashok, not you” Reigen sighs, releasing YN.Haruki grins at him, “Actually, Ashok was the one who taught me this. I think he calls it sarcasm ”“It would be sarcasm, but you probably need to work on your tone” YN yowls on his shoulder, still in a headlock. “Look at you, jumping to conclusions”“Shush it”“Don't shush me”“Well I just did”“Then un-shush me”“You’re still shushed so no can do ma’am”“No, but— ”“But no, under the law of shushing you need to shush and— ”
"Your middle part sucks— ""Don't make this about my hair!"Haruki proceeds to drag the two idiots to the church.
They all peeked inside; mass was still going on, so they sat on the chairs behind the pews. Reigen and Haruki grabbed a pencil and a pamphlet that was supposed to be about joining the church. Instead, they played tic tac toe silently.
Haruki is always one move away from winning before Reigen retaliates with an amazing comeback to destroy him— YN feels for Haruki, she also can never defeat the great and powerful Reigen. He should definitely join a competition for it, he would be an unstoppable force to deal with.A nun YN recognizes sits next to her, so she smiles widely. Sister Takemi was really sweet; she offered YN an extra helping of candy once when she was getting sleepy. Instead of a mini-lecture she got from other nuns,
she got a little chuckle instead and a nudge.She smiles back at YN, “Fancy seeing you here YN! And you brought friends…who are playing tic tac toe…”
YN leans back nervously and scoots closer to her, “We just came here to wait for Ashok,that’s all”“Awe that sounds sweet!” Everything about Takemi was sweet to YN, she never liked any adult more than she liked her.She never really nagged YN, but she was also firm. The church was lucky to have such an amazing person. “You missed church last week YN, I was just wondering why you didn't come? I actually waited for you until the last bell.” Shoot! YN forgot she overslept last week.Takemi instantly places her hand on YN’s shoulder. “I’m not trying to be rude YN, I was just worried since you love coming here so I hope I’m using this term correctly cold with him”
YN tries not to snort “It’s actually chill out, but I overslept last week, no biggy!”“Oh alright then, I think it’s time I take my leave.” She tucks her hair back as she stands, “It’s always good to see you here YN.” She says as she waves YN goodbye solemnly— it is with that she promptly leaves.
She realizes she’s been smiling too much at Takemi and her smile falters.In all honesty, YN only tolerated church service for Ashok and Sister Takemi— she would have tried to escape it if not for them.She hears a silent victory cry from Haruki when he finally beats Reigen which signals the end of the sermon.
The last bell of the morning rang; it reminded YN a little of a musical bell, as if the bell from school didn't sound like it was water-damaged. Ashok walked out of the bathroom with bored eyes that immediately lit up when he saw the trio— eyes that suddenly turned stoic again.Mr. I-don't-care always tries to be the nonchalant king ; he would fail at an acting job for sure.“You guys waited huh…” Ashok says blankly, yet with color.YN trudges to him, “Of course we did, we need a strong pretty face to model for our science project so we can get better reviews in the school newspaper.”“Is that so?” He ponders with a grin.Haruki chimes with a deadpan look from the side. “Totally, we don't need you at all. Actually, we just came to rub our friendship in your face.” Talk about harsh. It was almost like he’d turned into one of those devious villains since becoming closer with Ashok.“You sure?” He challenges, standing closer to him.Haruki, uncaring, just gives a look. “Whatever….”

YN and Reigen back away from this conversation, what was this war-like attitude?Ashok then crosses his arms and nods
“As expected from you Haruki, you even excel in sarcasm. I knew you could do it.”Haruki giggles, “Thanks, I learned from the best after all!”Reigen feels all kinds of disgust at the thought of Ashok tainting Haruki and leans close to YN,
“Uhm, he is definitely not the best, I thought they were going to fight!”
YN nods, “I was actually thinking of ways we can knock them both out cold.”“What, why?”“If they actually fought, we can just punch them in the head to give them a coma. So they'll forget forever.”“You can’t do that!”“Why not?”"You just can’t, idiot.""But why not?""But no""But. Why. Not?"Ashok let out a worried gasp as he dug into his lunch bag once the mini banter had died down.YN groans in worry, “What’s got you all grumpy?”
Ashok opened his lunch bag dramatically, showcasing it like someone had pickpocketed him. It was filled with the normal milk cartons, but something seemed to be missing…“I forgot to pack my sandwich”
YN looks at him with horror, a small dread building. “Wait, wait, wait! Does that mean you didn't bring your legendary no-crust bread?”He is slow to let out the news, nothing, nothing at all can express the amount of shame he feels. “I did not bring my….. no-crust-bread……” his legs give up and he falls on the floor, the tragedy affecting him immensely.Reigen snorts, pointing at the boy on the floor. “Ha ha, loser!”“Shut up.”“Hey, aren’t you like the altar boy over here? That’s not a way to speak in the house of the Lord” Reigen marvels then says, finally sincerely sincere, “Why not just eat the food the church serves?”Ashok gets up from the floor. “.....They don't season it well”“You sure seem rather picky,” Reigen digs something out of his fanny bag, “Here, some chips, I have a bunch at home anyways.”
That was Reigen’s ultimate chip, a chip he loved and cherished so dearly. Even YN couldn't rival it. He didn't tell anyone, but he secretly loves to give things to Ashok when he needs them, it makes him feel like one of his fan club members.He accepts Reigen’s chips with grace.YN squishes her body onto Reigen, “You know, for someone whose good day is determined by a certain boy buying us milk on Mondays, you are rather ungrateful!”“Don't act like you don't do the same.”“I do the same with precision , and I don't argue with our milk dealer— ”Ashok coughs to get their attention, “I am not sharing my premium chocolate milk from Hokkaido with you peasants anymore.” He places his hand in front of Haruki, “Good sir, would you care to share an additional two boxed milks, that were definitely not for another two people?”YN looks at Reigen confidently. “Haruki would never! What kind of guy would do that?!”“I would love to, Young sir” YN world crumbles on her. Haruki, her partner, is now in alliance with the devil. “I am rather famished. I also have an additional two onigiris, that I did not plan to share”They both mourn over the loss of milk while Ashok and Haruki laugh above their saddened friends.The betrayal was as bad as when Shredder lied to Karai about being her father when he killed her mom type of bad, but like, a million times worse.

“Do you guys ever know what happened here?” Asks YN.When they pass a familiar store, YN looks at Haruki sipping his milk, staring at the building. It was abandoned, but she was slightly surprised the town mayor didn’t want to just destroy it to build more stuff. She didn't think too much about it.
She sniffs the place, none of them question her because they do the same.There was a scent they all knew.A memory came up.But it was soon blocked by a thick fog.“Probably haunted…” Was all YN could say, the vines looked new.She didn't remember vines looking so cartoonishly green.Ashok was the one to pull all of them out from the store, saying the milk was getting warm, and totally not at the fact that he may or may not have been lowkey creeped out. Though, he was probably delusional from the absurd amount of milk he’d been drinking lately thanks to his comrades.Ashok looks at YN as she walks aimlessly, almost like she’s trying to search for something. “Are you feeling alright?” He asks, trying to be casual.“Uhm I guess? Why?”“You look a little frazzled”
“Are you calling me ugly?”“Sure,” YN gapes at him but he ignores her.
“You sure you feel alright?“Yeah, why wouldn't I be?”
He doesn't really know what to do with that information, in a way, he was sure they all felt the same. So he walks beside her, deciding it’s best to just let things be…... For now.Today was the day— no more dodging, no more excuses.
YN would finally seek help from the counselor, after putting it off for weeks she finally caved in when Reigen kept bugging her.
Ugh, she dreaded this, but Reigen pointed out something she couldn't brush aside: how her struggles weren’t normal, no matter how much she tried convincing herself otherwise.She reached towards the door handle, hesitating, thinking.
She looked back to see if anyone was coming. She didn't want to do this— no, she should just get it over with. With that, she opened the door.YN waddled shyly towards the teacher. “Hi, I’m here for a session?” The teacher who sat there had grey hair— well, some grey hair— he was bald.He looked up at YN and offered her a seat before he pulled out a piece of paper to fill with her personal information, as she writes it he speaks:“Hello...YN, thank you for coming to the counselor at your time of need, what seems to be bothering you?” He sounded slightly robotic.“W—well I’m here because..uh...I wanted to talk about my mom”
He crossed his legs, pushing his glasses up. “Is there a problem”?”“Well...it's more like she..she well she was great,” he wrote something on his paper then looked up.“Was?”
YN felt a little uncomfortable, she always felt uncomfortable talking about her mom to strangers.
She needed to be more mature and stop being dramatic.Tell him what she's going through, she needed somebody other than Reigen to validate if she was being neglected or not. “Let's start, were you as happy as you are now?”“I don't think so? I’ve felt this way for a long time now, it gets overwhelming sometimes.”“I see, can you start from the start?”
‘Oh okay, cool! Some progress!’ She thought to herself, shifting a little, “Well, my parents uhm..got divorced when I was younger and it was pretty nasty. I lived with my mother after.. she got a boyfriend after some time— It was fine!…. until I told her I wanted to leave. She got pretty mean..” YN bites her cheeks, the mention of that very day already triggering something inside her.
“I know I make mistakes, and do stupid things but… She's not getting nicer. Even if she is, her moods change and I can’t take it. I think that I might be a victim of like, neglect ? if I checked it correctly.” She exhaled after saying everything in one breath; the night before she stayed up extra late to make sure she wasn’t making any errors.Why couldn't she think? Why weren't the words coming out properly— it's like all the bad moments blurred out in her head.
“...Is that it?”

Was that it?

“I guess, I feel pretty bad every now and then. I don't really know how to get over it and I don't know why mom’s been getting so mad…” The counselor leaned into the back of his chair, now folding his hands. YN sat up straighter, was he going to agree—“What are your behavioral tendencies?”
What the hell were behavioral tendencies?
“Sorry, I don't really understand….”
“It means ‘how is your behavior at home?’ Do you often bug your mom or do the looks of your grades on the student record agitate her?”

Her records?

Was that what he was looking at the computer at? “No? She comes home late and doesn't really speak to me when I go to her—”
She wanted to say more but the counselor set his glasses to the side, sighing.
“YN, I think maybe you're making your mom stressed”She didn't move— She couldn’t.
“I think your mother might be experiencing stress from her personal life. I do agree from what you've provided me, She is in the wrong but—” The counselor pauses, trying to choose his words carefully. “Not completely.”
He offered YN some water, but she did not move to accept it.“She might be overworking herself to provide for you, I think you should understand; you're already in your second year of high school. Again, she should not say vulgar things but wouldn't you do the same if you had a child of your own?”
No, she would not.
“Next, I think you need to give her space, I’ve seen your grades and that might have caused her an immense amount of stress at the thought of you not getting a scholarship.”
YN spoke up at that, “My bad grades are only in history and math, everything else is average—”“—Average won't get you a college fund. Please don't interrupt me… Oh yes! I wanted to touch on your behavior, have you been talking like this to your mother?”Her chest was burning.“What— no, of course not. I told you she gets mad even when I don't do anything that's bad—” Was he not listening? She just poured her entire heart out for some half-assed response. YN did notice how he had a look on his face when she spoke, was it boredom?He drummed his fingers, “Maybe you should study more y'know kid? Here, I can give you some study plans.'' She stared at him with an emotionless but shocked face. YN could try to blink. “Kids your age do tend to be a little soft when things get hard, back in my days it was different. Well, nonetheless you also may be facing some chemical imbalances which is what you youngsters call 'depression', but don't worry it is not............"YN could no longer hear him.She looked at her hands, it was blurry.
The teacher's voice came out as muffled white noise in her ears, but what she did know was that he was using the information she gave him against her.
He was practically siding with her mother, YN thought he would at least help her— instead, he shamed her, and made her feel like a bother.
Was she that bad of a child?
She thinks hard about what she could do to make her mother mad and just stares at the ground.“I think with a few study guides, you can straighten yourself out! Now then, I think our little session is over” She snapped out of her trance. “Come here if you need help again,” he smiled, opening the door for her.
He didn't help, but what he did do was make YN warier of adults and force her never to see that stupid counselor again.Still, she couldn’t get rid of the lingering thought: ‘Was her mom even at fault?’ YN knew her mother was in the wrong, but hearing an adult blame YN for her misfortunes made her ponder many complicated feelings.She went straight home without saying goodbye to Reigen, something she had never done before.She just gave him a simple text reading…>>>Hey Reigen~ I don't feel too well, don't wait for me>>>I'm going home
It probably wasn't a good idea to just ignore him like this.But she can’t seem to do anything about it.YN didn't wait for his reply before she went home. She looked out into the dull scenery, now Reigen wasn't here to brighten it but that didn't matter.
Wait.People don't blame abused kids, they blame troubled ones.Was she trouble?She wants to hang out with Reigen.YN had never felt so alone in her life, she had friends and good classmates who could stand her odd character, god this was too much for her.She glanced at her garden spot on the right, pondering whether to go through itShe took the left turn instead.The world was so much greyer with this new realization.She opened the door to be met with her mother crying with her hands crossed over her chest and her step-father with bags “H—hi mom…. what's with the bags..” Her mother just spun her head to the side and walked up the stairs.
YN was confused but before she could ask her step-father spoke “Do you want to eat something?” Her mom snapped her head towards him. This was kinda sudden, but she didn't mind. A lot of things in her life at the moment were sudden.
“Sure.” YN placed her school bag down and entered the car, she noticed the many bags.
He must be shopping a lot.When they reached the restaurant, he allowed her to buy her favorite dish. She placed the first bite in her mouth before melting into her seat. She stared at her stepfather for a moment and asked, “Is there something wrong?” He smiled softly at her, looking away. Why do people look away when they’re nervous?
“I...Let’s talk about this later.”
YN nodded and went back to eating, he passed his phone to her to watch a movie while eating, awesome.
They went to Baskin Mobins later on for a dessert which genuinely shocked YN; she had never eaten that expensive brand before. He got her not one but two regular fat scoops of her favorite flavor and went to the car.
This was odd...too odd… What the heck was happening? She came home from a crappy day, and now she's actually getting treated?
She guesses the ‘gods’ must be on her side today.He dropped her off at her house, YN looked at him oddly. “You're not going in?”
He rolled his window down “Uh, not for a while, no...take care YN! Call me if your mom does anything...rash.” She didn't know what he meant by that, so instead of asking she just waved him goodbye.She walked upstairs to her mom’s room with her half-eaten ice cream. Her mom looked at her with red eyes, “He bought you ice cream,” She nodded carefully, “Yeah, I even went to eat some good food—”“Well enjoy that, he's not coming back.”

Huh?
YN tilted her head as her mother laughed sadly, “I mean he’s gone, moved out. Bastard doesn't want me”
“Oh….” He wasn't that close to YN, so why did she feel as if her dad left her?“You won’t leave me, right YN?” She stepped closer to YN. “You won’t run away?”YN answered immediately, “Of course not Mom, I won't do that.”“Thank god, I—I've been so stressed and he’s been so mean to me, and YN I promise not to leave you as that….shit bag did.”She went over to YN and embraced her in a hug. “I—I'm sorry Mom, can we stop having boyfriends?” Her mother laughed bitterly into her shoulder and smiled sincerely, “Yeah, enough men. Wanna go out tomorrow to the mall?”YN pushed her mother back to wipe her salty tears. “That would be fun”A chuckle came from both of them, “Hey, as our official no man-day, let's watch a movie. Just like the old times.''
YN suddenly glowed brightly. “Wait, can I even make us..”“Tomato soup!” they both said in unison.“Sure honey, i’ll go get the blankets and TV set while you cook.”YN ran to the kitchen to make her special noodles, she hadn't made this for her since she was, what, eight? So this needed to be perfect.
She made the soup with precision, the water at the right temperature, and even topped the soup with cheese!Expensive cheese!Cheese!As she served her mother, they both tucked themselves inside the blanket against each other, playing a nostalgic movie. This was home. YN glanced at her mother who wasn't paying attention anymore to the movie, which was okay— her presence alone was good enough to make her feel warm.
Why did she even go to the counselor? He didn't help with much.
“Want to hear a joke?” Her mom chimes mid-movie.“Sure mom!” Oh, she was excited.“What did the lawyer name her daughter?” Lawsuit? “I don't know?”
“ Sue ~”
She adores her mom.YN came to the conclusion that she was being selfish and putting her own feelings before her mom’s; going through a nasty breakup must have been hard for her, even if YN did ponder on a specific thought— she threw it away.
What mattered now was that her mom was beside her and she was paying attention to her. She never meant to get that mad before, this was just stress. She laid her head on the pillow, falling asleep and listening to the song that played.Her mother felt momentarily warm again.Momentarily, but she didn't care, all that mattered was she was here with her, in her arms tonight.
The next day of school, YN avoided talking to Reigen about recent events. She knew he was trying to be caring, but maybe he was too sensitive. Her mother was never neglectful, she couldn't be— she can't believe that she actually let someone convince her that her mother was the enemy.
What was Reigen trying to do? Just because he’s all buddy-buddy with his mom, he thinks he has better judgment, or the fact that he has better grades than her, he thinks he’s all that—
Wait, what? What was happening? She couldn't be thinking this— her best friend, Reigen Arataka.
Why was she annoyed at him?What?Why was she thinking like this?She wanted to be happy with her mother and do it, so why?So why did it feel so wrong, so forced?
What was she even thinking?YN looked at her hands and they were black, her hands were fading as if this were a lucid dream.The world was spinning in her mind.The teacher went up to her and talked.He talked, but she couldn't hear the muffled words, it sounded as if she was underwater. She nodded her head like a doll. Everyone looked at her. Their faces were blurry.
All so blurry.She felt a hand behind her, it was a boy with strawberry hair. “YN, are you okay? You left just like that, I could walk you home”“I’m fine Arataka, I...don't feel in the mood right now”“Oh uh,” He says, a little caught off guard, she’s never said his name like that before. “We can walk home another day—”“—Lets not,” she blurts out accidentally, “I think...ugh that came out wrong….I’ll see you next week, okay?”Reigen, on the other hand, was confused. Why was she acting so distanced? She wasn't replying to his text, did she hate him? Should he have not said anything about her mom?No, he was trying to protect her, he wanted her to understand the behavior of her mother.
He didn't know what had gone wrong, was this the end of their friendship? She maybe wanted a better friend who could do more, maybe his friendship wasn't enough.
He was overreacting, they've been going home together like, every day.
So what if she wanted to walk home by herself for the week? He shouldn't be so clingy anyway.The flowers were not watered that day.
She walked home the next week without informing Reigen of this, she just walked and walked. YN entered her house, it smelt like lavender— her mother was baking cupcakes. Maybe life wasn't so bad, she saw her face, and it wasn't blurry.
YN walked up to her mom, taking off her shoes. “Oo, what’chu got baking there?”
Her mother dolloped the batter on her nose. “Some blueberry cupcakes”Stars appeared in her eyes, “My favorite one with extra sugar?”“Yes dear, the ones with extra sugar and berries”
Today’s troubles seem to fade, she didn't know life with her mother alone could be this good. It was just the men that made everything bad for her, yeah, the men. YN wished it could be like this forever, them singing to some band called Abbamob, they could care less about the noise complaint from the neighbours.Her mother picked her up spinning, she was pretty strong. She brought YN down, kneeling down to her level, caressing her cheeks.
A kiss on her right cheek, “My baby”
A kiss on her left cheek for every time she was gone, “My sweetheart”
A kiss on her forehead for all the times she made her insecure,
“My angel”
“My everything.” Forgiveness, nothing more, nothing less.That was the beginning of the great shift between two friends,
A drift.
Reigen only complains about how his mom wants him to do a better activity and not stick to what she deems ‘childish,’ But wasn't his mom right in a way?
Reigen was smart. He should start thinking about the future instead of wasting his time.Also, he wasn't a therapist, so why should YN have taken advice from him? Did he think he was better than her because he got higher grades?What did YN make of this? Respectfully, maybe it was for the best if Reigen Arataka got better friends who didn't get mad at his problems. Everytime he would speak to her she got…mad.What did Reigen have to think of this? He could not attest to YN’s decisions, after all— he didn't think that he could offer much. But it hurt, how could she have left him like that? He just wanted to help—No.Maybe he should have helped her more effectively rather than berating her over her mother’s mood swings, because even YN had mood swings, this was normal. What a mistake he so wished he could take back, he wanted the friendship, he wanted the laughter back, he wanted…“YN, hey, want to go meet the guys after class?”“Sorry, Haruki can't make it.” YN puts on her shoes and rushes out. “I gotta blast and do something, don't wait up for me”
Haruki waved his friend goodbye, of course with YN’s head turned, she couldn’t see the wave. He ponders chasing after her but is interrupted by Reigen questioning the lack of annoyingness in the air. Even he was slightly taken aback when he heard that YN went home without any notice.Reigen, of course, didn't let it get to him and just shrugged it off as YN needing some space and it being an emergency…. Probably.
Instead of dwelling on it, he pulls Haruki to the occult club to make jam, who immediately lights up and decides to make an extra jar for YN.In the evening, YN’s mother calls for her, there’s a bag on the table with her name on it.
It’s the jam from the occult club. - Haruki ;]She stares at the note that comes along with it, a smiley face drawing that seems to be drawn by Reigen.
How does she know this?
Only Reigen would draw himself taller than all of them, and draw Ashok with the height of an ant. Yup, definitely Reigen.She couldn't help but feel herself go warm at the thought of it, but that warmness quickly became hollow.
YN knows they're thinking about her, she knows this. Going back to them, being carefree with the biggest smile on her face— But deep down, she felt a shameful feeling.It wasn't fair.During lunch was one of the rare occurrences that everyone got to eat and see each other, not that they can’t see each other after school, but it was always nice.YN was getting busier and busier lately.
But that could mean that she wants space.Probably.Ashok can’t really blame her, he liked his alone time as well.He sat down next to Haruki, handing him string cheese which he gladly accepted, immediately devouring it with all his power.
Ashok watches him eat, not in a weird way of course. “You don't get in trouble for wearing that every day?” Recently Haruki has been wearing his P.E. uniform, which is only supposed to be worn when they have outdoor activities.“Oh the school excused it because I got financial aid last year, so they just allow me to wear this whenever”
The P.E uniforms were way cheaper than the actual uniform in Haruki’s defense, plus who wouldn’t want to wear their pants all day? True, skirts have the breeze, but pants had that flexibility of the man spread.Ashok looks at Yui up and down before quietly mumbling something under his breath, “I think you look nice in them”“What was that?”“I said, I forgot my rice….” Totally nonchalant. “Where’s Reigen? Recess is almost over.”
As if Reigen could hear the conversation, he walks in on cue. Ashok is already aiming to throw the cheese on the two when he realizes only Reigen was there.Reigen slumps on the staircase and then slaps his hands to his face when Ashok looks a little confused. “YN’s gotta study for a test or whatever, she practically chased me out of the class when I offered to eat with her at her desk.”Haruki slithers to Ashok, both reading each other's minds as he hands the string cheese to him. “I can go pass it to her, she’s just probably stressed. She didn’t want to watch the season finale of Ninja Turtles ”

Ashok lets Haruki go, feeling uncomfortable talking about YN any longer.Haruki lightly trots to YN’s class to hand her the cheese when she sees YN’s eyes, her expression looks tired and she’s clenching her pencil. Is she doing math? “Hey friend!”
YN straightens her back, “O-oh Haruki, nice seeing you here uh…..”No joke and coddling? That’s new to Haruki.He didn't know how to proceed with the conversation. YN just looked blankly at him, saying nothing. Haruki struggles to find words for a moment. “Well….here’s some cheese. Ashok bought some for all of us”She takes it from Haruki and for some reason,Reluctantly.“Oh, thanks.”Haruki has a mini breakdance in his brain trying to think of more things to say.“I..Uhm… Are we going to meet up later? But it’s fine if you can't—”“—I can’t.” YN looks shocked at her own words, but she tries to give a faint shrug, “…..sorry.”“O-oh it fi—”“—No it’s….” YN groans, annoyed, Haruki feels a little taken aback and steps back. “Next time okay?”Haruki just nods and forces a smile, giving YN an awkward shoulder bump before leaving the classroom.Ashok and Reigen were talking about ‘Why can’t we print out more money’ when he returned. “So what did YN have to say about the cheese? It was shipped from Yokohama”
Haruki doesn't know if he should talk about YN acting weird the way Ashok just looks so proud. Its heartwarming, he doesn't want to ruin it, so he lies. “She loves it, but she’s pretty busy…. So we shouldn’t really bother her too much.”“I guess….That’s…odd?”It was odd.“Reigen, she isn’t picking up my calls, I don't know what’s going on.” Haruki paces back and forth a couple of times, exasperated. A month had passed since YN had properly hung out with all of them. It has gotten to the point where it made him annoyed.It wasn't just the fact that Ashok brought extra food regardless of her presence, it was the fact that they all felt this shift— her absence.Her usually annoyingly bubbly personality was dwindled to dust at this point; she barely said anything during class. Whenever a teacher wasn't around, she would talk his head off— but instead, she immediately sleeps, avoiding any attempts of conversation.
Reigen tried the other day to make small talk, she’d listen to him like she always did, but it felt like…she wasn't really there.She used to always listen to him mindlessly, but this was different.Haruki fidgets with the back of his neck in frustration, still pacing back and forth. “She’s…”“Busy?” Reigen interjects hesitantly.
“Busy!? She’s been busy for months, Reigen! I even offered to help her with whatever she had going on, but you know what? She just walked home and ignored me like I wasn't there!” Haruki is slightly hyperventilating, a little shocked at his own frustration as he plops down next to Reigen. “I know maybe she has things, but she…..”
Haruki runs his hand through his hair, taking a breath and trying to calm down. Reigen took this as an opportunity to shove his chicken karaage right into his mouth “Mmmph!” Haruki almost chokes, trying to chew and talk at the same time “Tis dowent hwelp, buf it good”All Reigen can do is rub his back, “I’ll talk to her.”“No domf!” He quickly swallows his food, “I mean— If she’s mad at me then let her be mad at me. I probably did something to upset her.”“You're forgetting that she’s doing the same with Ashok”“Yeah, but…”“Not gonna lie, she’s been running away from me, and that’s been pissing me off and…. Argh! I don't like this, I hate this!” Now Reigen was grabbing his own hair.“Right?!” Haruki whines, shaking him slightly.“Right!” Reigen exclaims back as he shoves his whole body on the staircase floor. He hates himself for thinking like this, but it's the truth.
Reigen sighed, sitting closer to Haruki, pulling him close with one arm, he sighed hard. “We’ll be okay.”
Haruki looks down, unsure. “What if we won't be?”He stares blankly, his eyes looking similar to a certain someone. “We will be okay,” he says with more confidence, even if he knows that might not be true.“YN! Come sit over here.” She called YN over to the couch, “I was thinking, we should move out.”“I’m moving,”
YN said in monotone, this was the first time she actually spoken in months to him,“To a different school and place”Reigen didn't know it was possible to feel all types of hurt with a simple two words. “What..”She didn't even call him these days, he was fine if she wanted space, but this?This was something else, this was mean.He felt alone, he felt as if he was in his old school without her, it's like everything they went through as friends disappeared. She avoided making eye contact with him, staring to the side of the scenic grass instead.

“I’m leaving by the end of the week.”Reigen was in disbelief. “Why… why didn't you tell me earlier?”
There was a hint of emotion in her eyes, so small as her eyes glistened. He wanted to call her out, tell her to quit the Zuko leaving his uncle for the fire nation arc in Avamob, to tell her to lay her emotions on him— to snap her out of it.
“It’s not like I had a choice, you can text me if you want I guess.”
“You guess?” He spits back, almost bitterly.YN was slightly taken aback at his sudden outburst. Could you really call this one? She felt her heart drop at that very moment, her breathing quickened “Yeah? If you want. Got a problem?” She wanted more of a reaction— so he reacted.Reigen stepped closer towards her, hands clenched, “Yeah, you ignore my texts and calls for weeks. And now you decide to leave out of nowhere, what about the guys?”“I was going through stuff…”He waved his arms around comically.
“Well YN, I had to also go through stuff, and guess what? You don't even bother apologizing for it….. I get it, it’s been hard, just talk to me. I’ll understand—”“—But you don’t”
“Then let me, please…” At this point he’s practically pleading for her to drop the act. “You can't keep pushing yourself away from me— From all of us. We care for you.”
He doesn't know what he did wrong, he can’t think.“If you cared, you would give me space. I told you already that day that I didn't need help but noooo . You kept insisting and now I feel worse! Stop acting like a kid.”“Point taken, I get what you're going through but understand that I am also worried. Did you go to the counselor—”YN wasn't thinking when the following words left her mouth. “Understand? Oh, I understand alright.” She pushed a finger to Reigen’s chest, “Understand that you think you know everything about me, to go spill some dirty secrets about me to Haruki and Ashok. I know.”"Know what?"She rolled her eyes, "I got a text from both of them, can you stop trying to butt into my life? Try to be selfless for once and stop trying to act like you can understand how I feel."“They were concerned about you!” He didn't know what came over him, but he slaps the finger off his chest "Oh, you want to talk about selfish? All of them have been worried sick. Haruki thinks you hate him and Ashok can't focus in class anymore. You could have just talked it out with us!""It's not that easy...""It would be if you talked to the counselor—""Shut up!” She spits back, “That idiot counselor didn't solve anything! I took your stupid advice and now I feel ten times worse than before. All of you wouldn't understand because you're so smart right? So great at everything" She sarcastically sneers, then eyes him up and down. “Look at me, I'm Reigen, and I have great grades and I think I know everything! When in fact, I can’t decide what I want to do with my life. Heck, I cant decide if I like Pokemob or Mobbemon !”“I like PokeMob !—“—so I act like a fraud and say I like both! Because I'm a nobody!”
Reigen expression falters for a second, hurt, but YN barely registers this, too busy in her own frustrations to pay attention. All the pent-up anger spills out without much filter “All of you ganging up on me, trying to get me to talk…Are you guys even my friends? Because right now you're all— especially you Reigen, are acting really shitty!"She didn't mean it.Reigen’s jaw goes tight, eyes going slightly glossy. “You know what? I'm glad you're finally changing schools. Maybe then, we finally won't have to deal with you spouting about your stupid ninja turtles show" YN hears her heart breaking "And your stupid ass emo phase anymore. Go and leave for all I care, because I don't.”She deserves this.They both don’t say anything to each other for a while, the emotions built up from the months of not talking have greatly affected the two.YN let out a shaky breath as if her life depended on it. “I don't want to fight.”“Me too.”“Are we fighting…?” She asks quietly.He looks to the floor, another look at her could send him crashing. Were they really fighting?
He takes time to think of a proper argument before speaking, this is the only time he’s ever needed to use the deduction for an argument with YN, it was only used when it was something serious.
Well, you could call this serious, “No…this is a disagreement”“...I agree”
Reigen almost chuckles at the irony before YN spoke again, looking up at him for the first time in almost two months, with sincerity.“What are we even doing? Nothing is changing. I'm moving this Friday and you’re mad at me…I didn't mean for it to end this way”Reigen gives her hand a soft push, “Hey, don't say it like you’re dying”YN knew she was at fault, more than a little at fault.
She couldn't admit it to Reigen, she just ruined a friendship.Her phone rings.It’s her mom.“I….I need to go.” She reaches for something in her sling bag, handing it to him, avoiding eye contact again. “I wrote letters to Ashok and Haruki…..And one for you.”He stares at the letters, he couldn't take it anymore.
Without thinking, he pulls her into a hug. Arms tightening around her like she’ll disappear, which she technically will. God this was ten times worse. He couldn't tell if he was sad or angry, or was it both?
Was this what puberty felt like? A weird mix of wanting to yell and cry at the same time?Still, he didn't cry.
He wished he did.He wished he made a scene and dragged her back like those movie cliches and they grow up owning a mochi store beside the seaside. Selling food combos like mochi-filled mochi, or ice cream mochi ramen. Of course, they would get immediately shut down by food critics for the food combo crime.
They would eventually end up in jail, then break out like a bunch of badasses like in those coming-of-age shows, like ninja turtles!But no, they got an awkward silence and hug that lasted a little too long.Reigen pulls apart when he feels himself get sleepy in her embrace, YN places the letters in his limp hand. “I really need to go now, I’ll call you”Though her voice sounds as plain as the miso soup they served at school, there is a hint of hurt in her words.“Bye.”Nothing feels more painful than this.Still no tears, no cool plot twist. Just this heavy feeling in his chest, trying to picture the two of them skipping to the garden once more.YN runs home almost in tears.She can barely see the road, which is becoming a blur due to the tears fogging her vision.
She trips on a pebble, dropping her phone, somebody riding a motorcycle stops abruptly but not abruptly enough to not run over her phone into a puddle. YN winced, not at her sore leg but at the muddy object that was her flip phone.Reigen painted it on accident thinking it was his phone, YN loved the design— it was a character from Mokai-watch .YN picks up the soaked phone and runs back home, where her mother was waiting in the moving car.The ride felt new to YN, she was leaving the town she grew up in.
She takes out her phone from a plastic bag. "What happened to your phone?""Some guy ran into me""Oh shit- I mean, gosh. If I were you I would have—""Beaten him up?"
"—Beat...Why yes, I'll get you a new phone when we get settled down, okay?"YN nods, feeling almost slightly better about things, but her face obviously shows her dreary face that sends shivers in the car. Her mom glances at her, stops the car abruptly, and takes out a juice box.“I can't wait for you to join the new school, I heard it’s a lovely town.” Her mom grabs her hand when she notices the sad glint in YN’s eyes. “Hey, it’s going to be alright. This is a new start for us , for you ” She smiles back, something she hasn't done in months.“Yeah, it’s a start for us.” She leans on her mother as the radio plays a tune, something she has learned to block out all the negative feelings. Something Reigen once taught herIt's been a week since the move, and YN needed to leave her phone in rice to get it to function. She decided it wouldn't be a good idea to call Reigen immediately, after all, she was still pretty shaken up from their 'disagreement,' so she felt uncomfortable calling him.Later in the following days when she used the phone, she couldn't seem to contact her mother, nor could she contact her. They brought the phone to a shop to find out that the water damage was pretty bad, so YN's mother opted for her to get a new phone. It wasn't anything new or different, but it will suffice for now.She takes a steady breath, she needs to recite what she wrote to tell Reigen.The line rings, and she is ecstatic.What is she going to say to him? She couldn't call him beforehand because for starters, they were moving and her phone was busted. Secondly, she was mainly nervous but not anymore."Arataka-""Hello?"Has his voice changed?"Reigen, did you like, eat something bad or are you sick? Listen, I'm sorry about that.""Oh, I'm sorry miss, this isn't Reigen. This is the local bank department, the person you might be trying to reach probably changed their number"No. This is not supposed to happen.She hangs up.She digs through the trash to fish out her phone, she doesn't care if there's leftover food in there.
She.Needs.Her.Phone.

She.Needs.Her.Phone.

She.Needs.Her.Phone.

She.Needs.Her.Phone.

She.Needs.Her.Phone.

She.Needs.Her.Phone.

She.Needs.Her.Phone.

She.Needs.Her.Phone.

She.Needs.Her.Phone.

She.Needs.Her.Phone.

She.Needs.Her.Phone.

She.Needs.Her.Phone.

She.Needs.Her.Phone.

She.Needs.Her.Phone.

She.Needs.Her.Phone.

She.Needs.Her.Phone.
YN finally has it in her hands, she wipes the yucky food with a tissue ever so gently.Finally, after finding her old charger and rebooting the phone, it turns on. She was so excited until she realized that the old phone models had deleted all of the old information.She has no way of contacting him.Ashok or Haruki.....not even them.Why couldn't she have invested in a call log book?She only saved Reigen's phone number on her mother's phone, and Ashok's and Haruki's contacts were on her phone only since she didn't really consider putting their number on her mother's phone as emergency contacts.Any apology grace she had, has already expired.

╔═══°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:Unsent texts over the years°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･═══╗
YN: Hey reigen !! my phone dropped wheni was running home,no worries tho !!my mom got me a newphone witha new number,i don't think its too late for us to be friend right—YN: I know u like Pokemob and not Mobbemon, i—YN: did you see the latest season of The Ninja Turtles??The leo and april episode was really cute,you were right about the writing being lame!WE WERE ROBBED OF APRIL-NARDO MOMENTS!!I couldn't stop replaying the part where they hugged,like WOAH hand position buddy !!It would have been even better ifwe could have watched it together,do you want to maybe Psype one day—YN: do you guys hate me—YN: i don't care if you hate me—YN: I miss you╚═══°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:

❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･═══╝