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Well he isn't really stupid, he just lacks social awareness.

BobBobberson wrote: To you people who haven't heard of BwTgS, I hope I'm doing a good job of integrating the characters from the light novel/anime into the story. I think the whole crossover bit turns off a bunch of readers just from the title, so thanks fer reading if you've gotten this far!

Hmm I think you have managed to match their personalities and the overall atmosphere very well, although their language is more rough than as it was when I watched the anime. But meh, it could be just a matter of different translators and not like it's really an issue or anything.

Keep it up, I'm very intrigued in the finale ^^.

nemz wrote:Well he isn't really stupid, he just lacks social awareness.

Which still falls under stupidness

Sin of my sins wrote: Hmm I think you have managed to match their personalities and the overall atmosphere very well, although their language is more rough than as it was when I watched the anime. But meh, it could be just a matter of different translators and not like it's really an issue or anything.

Keep it up, I'm very intrigued in the finale ^^.

Well I read the light novel, and both Yozora and Sena (Mostly Sena) use expletives, usually directed at each other. Obviously, the anime had to be cleaned up a bit for the more...impressionable watchers I guess. I was debating on using information from the later novels in the Neighbor's Club arc, but I'd rather not spoil it for the rare readers who've only watched the anime (like you).

The finale's not that far off actually,I'm going to have a filler chapter of sorts written in a light novel fashion reminiscent of the author's work, than I'll plow right to the ending from there. Will probably take some time because this is the first fanfic I'm finishing, and I'm never good with closers at any kind. Also have my hands full with New Prey, and a bunch of potential one-shot crossovers I'll post to see if they're interesting enough to expand on.

Oh, and nice Mirai Nikki avatar you got going there.

BobBobberson wrote: Well I read the light novel, and both Yozora and Sena (Mostly Sena) use expletives, usually directed at each other.

That explains a lot. The most common form of insult in the anime was a somewhat mild 'baka Yozora/Sena' although there were several wild cards mixed in as well.

the later novels in the Neighbor's Club arc

Ehhh there's more?! The anime did end a bit flat now that I think of it. I'll have to add the light novels in my to-do-list then. Cheers!

The finale's not that far off actually,I'm going to have a filler chapter of sorts written in a light novel fashion reminiscent of the author's work, than I'll plow right to the ending from there. Will probably take some time because this is the first fanfic I'm finishing, and I'm never good with closers at any kind. Also have my hands full with New Prey, and a bunch of potential one-shot crossovers I'll post to see if they're interesting enough to expand on.

The good stuff can't be rushed. :p Just take your time, us readers aren't going anywhere.

Oh, and nice Mirai Nikki avatar you got going there.

Thanks, Akise is a bad ass in his own right. ^^ If I'm not mistaken I think you had Yuno as your avatar before?

Just posting here to inform that I'm taking a LONG break from this fic. Anyways yeah, just a heads up. I do have a long draft in my writing notebook, but I just don't have the motivation to continue it. My other fics just seem way more fun to write right now, and I have an assload of distractions (like Sengoku Rance) keeping me occupied. Apologies in advance to anyone who's been reading this attempt at srs fanfic writing so far.

Yay, back from a month-ish hiatus! I'm probably a bit rusty (As my previous attempt at a KS crossover shows), so yeah. This chapter and maybe about half of the next chapter will all be Boku wa Tomadachi. I initially planned on trying to limit that to one chapter, but then I forgot how I was going to do that, so this is the best I can do. Rest of the note is on the bottom as always.

Rika places out a box with four large headsets connected to it.

“So what’re we doing? Playing a game?” I ask, picking up one of the headsets and examining it. Looks like the headphones are integrated into the headset.

“Yeah! RIka brought Left 4 Dead 2, as per Yozora-senpai’s request.” Rika replies, pulling a small boxlet with the L4D2 box cover on it. I can see why she mentioned Valve now, since Left 4 Dead is one of their franchises.

“What’s up with the headsets though? I’m guessing it’s some type of prototype?”

“Rika developed this all by herself! It’s way ahead of current gaming technology, but making this console alone cost me half my R&D budget. Rika upgraded it from the last time the Neighbor’s Club played it, so now you can control everything with your mind.”

“Wow, that’s pretty impressive.” I say, turning the headset around in my hands. Mutou would love to try out this experimental console. I have a feeling that he and Rika would get along very well.

Rika presses a button on the box the headsets are attached to. A CD drive emerges and Rika places the disc into it.

“OK guys, it’s ready. Put on the headsets and I’ll explain everything from there.” Rika announces.

Yozora, Sena and I take one of the chairs in the table and each put on a headset. Right now, all I see is blackness.

“I’m activating the headsets now.” Rika says.

I await something epic to happen, but all I notice is that the blackness got...less black. Then the image of a guy’s head with a valve sticking out of it appears. Ah, must be Valve’s intro. The same thing played back when I watched Left 4 the Half-Fortress. After that finishes, I suddenly find myself standing on what looks to be an entrance to an amusement park. But...there are zombies on the other side of the gates. I reflexively stumble backwards until i hit someone.

“Ow! Hisao, watch it!” Yozora says, pushing me away from her.

After righting myself, I turn to face her.

“Wow, it feels like i’m actually here.” I think out loud, moving my limbs around and poking myself in the face.

“I know right, this feels incredibly realistic. I wonder if we’ll feel the pain too.” Yozora adds, bending down to feel the ground.

“Well of course it feels real, I designed it!” Rika brags, both her and Sena spawning out of nowhere.

“So where are we anyways?” I ask, looking over at where the zombies are wailing.

“Ah, we’re at the menu area. Here, you can select what you want to play. Rika will handle that, so don’t worry about it.”

Rika conjures a floating menu out of nowhere, going through it with her hands. Naturally, the three of us huddle behind her shoulders so we can see what she’s doing. Rika scrolls through the menu until she finds the option ‘Campaign’. Poking it with her finger, the list expands to show more options like the list of actual missions and difficulty.

“What difficulty do you want to play on? Easy, Normal, Hard, or Expert?” Rika asks.

“Normal.” I answer.

“Expert.” Sena and Yozora say at the same time.

“Expert? Yozora, this is the first time I’m playing this game, why would you want to play at the hardest difficulty?” I ask exasperatedly.

“Because if we can’t survive zombies in a game, what’s the point of playing then? We get no training if we play with all these silly boosts like less damage and no friendly fire.”

“Mmhmm, for once I agree with you.” Sena adds, nodding her head.

The two girls look at each other, and in that moment I swear I could’ve see the enmity of both girls being directed at each other.

“Well we can’t have the difficulty too high,” Rika steps in. “So Rika will set it to normal.”

Phew! At least someone’s being considerate. If we did play Expert, I can already foresee all the friendly fire between Yozora and Sena. Rika drags down the difficulty menu and pokes the normal setting. Satisfied with the settings, she then presses the large PLAY button on the bottom of of the hovering menu.

As soon as she presses the button, the scenery immediately changes around us. In a sweeping wave of light, the carnival gate in front of us disappears, only to be replaced with apartment and business buildings. The immediate area around us changes into the roof of one of these buildings.

The other thing I notice after the wave of light is the HUD screen that somehow embedded itself into my eyeballs. I start to panic for a moment before remembering that I’m inside a video game. The new HUD that’s now inside my eyes has the status of the other 3 members of our party, as well as an ammo/inventory indicator on the right side of my vision. Hmm, it says I have a pistol on me, but how do I get it out? I decide to check my pockets, and conveniently enough, a pistol somehow made its way into my right pocket. I pull it out and aim out at the building across the street. A crosshair suddenly appears in my sight, moving around as I aim the pistol. Damn, I’m even more impressed now. At least I know where I’ll be aiming now. There’s just one issue.

“How do we reload?” I ask.

“Empty your clip or just think reload. Your hands will automatically do it for you, and your ammo counter will update as well.” Rika replies, walking over to the table full of guns and ammo.

Huh.....I spray a few bullets at the building across us, noticing how the ammo indicator decreased with each shot. Following Rika’s instructions, I think ‘RELOADING’, and my hands magically move on their own, producing a new clip out of nowhere and shoving it into the pistol. It’s a bit odd, having your hands move without your consent, but I think I can get used to it.

“Oyy, Hisao you ready?” Yozora asks from next to a door presumably leading down to the building itself. She’s wielding a pump-action shotgun, and she looks ready for action.

“Yeah, we already got our weapons and medkits, hurry up already!” Sena adds, waving at me with her SMG. Rika’s standing there as well, holding an SMG as well. Since I doubt we don’t need two people up front, I grab an SMG from the table and a red medkit, presumably for healing when we’re injured.

“OK, let’s get this show on the road!” Yozora kicks the door open, taking point as we follow her down the stairs.

At the bottom of the stairs, we encounter a few zombies stumbling around the narrow hallway. Yozora promptly shoots and kills them.

“Huh, this is easier than I thought. And there’s no recoil, just spread.” Yozora noted as she reloaded her gun. Should keep that in mind.

The four of us proceed through the disheveled building, meeting only scant resistance that Yozora took care of before the rest of us could get a shot in. Reaching the bottom floor, Rika directs the group through the back door, leading into a side alley. But as we exit the building, I heard sounds of gurgling emanating from further down the alley. The dim light from a lamp on the side of the wall could only tell me that this was one morbidly obese zombie. Since it’s better to be safe than sorry, I aimed my gun at it, letting the crosshairs fall on its center of mass before letting loose a spray of bullets.
The thing immediately exploded, the top half completely blown apart, leaving only its stump of its legs behind.

“Good job, Hisao.” Rika compliments. “That was a Boomer.”

“A...Boomer?” I ask.

“Yep. There’s special types of zombies besides the normal ones out there. But I’ll let you three encounter them without prior knowledge.” Rika gives off an evil glint as she declares this. Ugh, I have a bad feeling about this. But since we have no choice but to plow on, we go down the alley and round a corner, emerging onto a street of what looks to be downtown. But oddly enough, instead of the crowds of zombies blocking our path, it appears that the occasional abandoned car is our only obstacle.

“That’s weird, Rika almost always encounters zombies at this part of the stage.” Rika scratches her head.

“Yeah, I figured we’d have to blast our way through here. I was wondering why there wasn’t any moaning when we arrived here.” Sena adds in.

“Well, let’s keep going then. At least we won’t have to worry about dying.”

We walk down the deserted street, constantly swiveling around in case we get ambushed. In one of my 180s, I notice a pistol lying on a nearby bench. Intrigued, I pick it up, but my hands switch from the SMG to the pistol I started with. Now I’m dual wielding pistols, which feels just as badass as it is in the movie theaters. Even the ammo display updates to show that I now have 30 bullets, 15 in each pistol, which means less time reloading (hopefully) and more time blasting away at zombies. Elated at this new feeling of badassery, I spray a couple of bullets into a car with a blinking light on it. Suddenly, the car alarm goes off.

“Why would you do that?! Shooting those kind of cars triggers the horde!” Rika explains frantically, starting to sprint down the street.

“”Hisao you idiot!”” The voices of both Sena and Yozora can be heard as they sprint after Rika as well, shooting into the waves of zombies appearing from the sides.

“Wait up!” I yell, switching back to the SMG and spraying its contents into the zombies. Even though this isn’t real, I can’t help but feel terrified as I try to keep up with the three girls. As I run, I unconsciously place my left hand over my heart to feel for any signs of danger, but I don’t feel a heartbeat. Since I’m under duress from zombies, I’ll just assume that my handicap doesn’t follow me into this world and continue running.

“The safe house is down in the subway station! Follow Rika!”

We clamber down the stairs indicated by Rika, Yozora and I walking backwards to keep the horde of zombies at bay. Down at the stairs’ landing, I turn around to see a red metal door that’s ajar. I assume that’s the safe house, but Rika isn’t rushing inside it.

“Get back! There’s something inside!” She warns us.

“Hah, what’re you talking about? I’ve got a gun!” Sena pushes past Rika and moves to enter the room.

“Sena-senpai, no!” Rika rushes to Sena and tries to hold her back, but in that instant, a loud roar emanates from the room, and something pounces on Sena.

“Ahhh! Get it off me!!!” Sena yells. A zombie wearing a dark blue hoodie is...dry humping Sena?! If I recall correctly, this zombie is a Hunter, but last time I checked, it dismembered its victims, not raped them...?

“Haha, that’s a funny sight!” Yozora, who looks like she just finished up what’s left of the wave, walks up towards Sena and examines the animation. “Huh, you did a decent job there, Rika.”

“Yep, didn’t take me that long to add the new animation when a Hunter’s attacking Sena.” Rika replies. Since there’s no urgency now that we cleared the zombie wave, she joins Yozora in examining Sena and the Hunter.

“JUST HELP ME DAMMIT! MY HEALTH’S DROPPING AND THIS IS DEGRADING!” Sena roars.

The HP indicator on my HUD shows that Sena’s health is about 40, and it’s still dropping. Pulling my eyes away from the spectacle, I shoot the Hunter until it dies, the bullets pushing it away from Sena.

“WHY THE FUCK DID THAT THING TRY TO RAPE ME?!” A furious Sena inquires to Rika.

“Yozora-senpai asked if Rika could change the Hunter’s animation when he pounced on Sena-senpai from dismemberment to humping. Rika saw it as a challenge of my coding abilities since I had to make the animations and make it so they trigger when they attack you, so Rika did it. ” Rika explains.

“YOZORA YOU BITCH! GO DIE!” Sena yells before suddenly disappearing. I guess she pulled out her headset and left.

“Awh, and I was having fun too.” Yozora complains.

“Was that really necessary? Now we’re short one person.” I say. It’s a pity, really. I was looking forward to clearing the rest of this level.

“Ehh, yeah I guess it was worth it actually. Not every day I can see Sena bent over and humped by a zombie. Too bad you killed it before I could do anything.”

“Of course I killed it! It was hurting Sena! As in, you know, her HP was dropping.” I retort.

“Yeah well, I wanted to get in a jab about how she used to step on so many guys, and now she’s being stepped on, or something like that. Now I’m bored. Rika, turn this thing off.” Yozora orders.

“Yes, Yozora-senpai.”

Since this game ended prematurely, we pulled off our headsets. I blink my eyes to get used to the lack of HUD now that I’m back in reality. Even though it was just for a moment, having a HUD was extremely handy. If Yozora has access to cool gadgets like this on a daily basis, I should try to come here more often, if Yozora would let me anyways. Looking around, it looks like Sena ran away after her ragequit.

“That was fun. It’s the first time Rika played Left 4 Dead with people.” Rika says happily as we help her pack the equipment back into the box.

“Really? I always thought that kind of game was something you played with friends.” I reply.

“But I have no friends, I’m a hikikomori. But when I saw The Neighbor’s Club’s poster, I immediately saw the hidden message, so I decided to join.”

“Wait what? Hidden message?” I ask in a confused voice.

“Ah ah ah, I’ll explain that later.” Yozora suddenly joins in our conversation. Well, since she is the founder of this club, she probably does have an explanation for this poster Rika mentioned.

As we pack the rest of the things away, a glance at the wall-mounted clock informs me that it’s about 3:20. Damn, didn’t realize I spent nearly two hours here. I mean, all the events before Rika showed up felt like they happened within ten minutes. Huh, I did want to get to know Sena a bit more. Oh well.

After Rika puts the now packed box next to the door, the three of us file away to take a seat. I sit on the couch facing the table, while Yozora takes one of the chairs in the table, facing me. Oddly enough, Rika promptly takes a seat next to me, a bit closer than I’d like. I get the feeling I’m being examined by her.

“Umm, not to be rude, but can you give me a bit more space?” I ask Rika.

“Oh, sorry, but it’s just that you’re the first guy who partook in club activities. It’s not often Rika gets to see males up close!” She replies, her stare looking down at my...crotch? I try to ignore her stare, inching away from her and plowing on with our conversation.

“What about that missing club member...Yukimara?”

“He’s so androgynous, if you looked at him, you’d think he’s a girl. You’re actually a guy guy. If you’re only friends with Yozora-senpai, do you want to do erotic things with me?” Rika says this shocking statement with a casual tone.

Rika takes me by surprise so much, I’m at a loss for words. I mean, if she wasn’t a pervert, I definitely would consider doing such things to her. After all, she’s pretty good looking while still maintaining the aura of ‘approachable’. Yozora’s definitely attractive, but if I was a random guy I would definitely feel intimidated trying to talk to her.

Yozora takes swift action. In an instant, she gets up and whacks Rika in the head with her flyswatter.

“Shut up, you goddamn pervert! Hisao is mine!” She yells.

Even up against the tremendous killing intent emanating from Yozora, Rika isn’t fazed one bit. I have to admit, she’s got guts.

“It seems Rika has stepped on another landmine. But Rika was under the assumption that you two were just friends without benefits.”

On hearing Rika comment about the ‘benefits’ (or lack thereof), both Yozora and I blush (I can definitely feel myself heating up at least) and turn away...wait a minute, why did we both do that at the same time?! Of course, this reaction doesn’t go amiss by the pervert genius.

“Oh? Judging from your reactions, maybe Rika’s initial conclusion about you two was right?” Rika says teasingly.

“I-it’s none of your business, Rika!” Yozora stammers. “What Hisao and I do outside of the club isn’t your business.”

I nod, agreeing with Yozora on this one. I’d rather not let the events in my relationship...? No, friendship? Ah, I dunno, just whatever it is we have between the two of us right now be known to Rika. God only knows what she’d say if she knew Yozora kissed me, let alone what’d happen if she found out we...y’know, did the deed. Not that we did, of course.

“OK OK, Rika will drop this for now. The console needs to be returned back to my room anyways.” Rika relents. Thank God. Picking up the box, she strolls out into the hallway, leaving Yozora and I alone. But as I’m about to strike up another conversation with Yozora, the door opens yet again, revealing Sena.

“Sena? I thought you left.” I ask.

“I-I didn’t! I just had to go to the bathroom, that’s a-all.” Sena stammers, clearly trying to act as if her blowup didn’t happen.

“You’re full of shit, Meat. Now that I think about it though, this is the first time you came back after you curse at me and leave.” Yozora says in a scathing tone...a lot closer than I expected. In the few seconds I got distracted by Sena, Yozora managed to teleport to the seat next to me on the couch. Wow, I must’ve been really out of it if I didn’t notice that.

“Well...I didn’t want to leave when we have a guest here...” Sena mutters.

“Hmph, do what you want, Meat.” Yozora says lazily, sprawling herself out on her half of the couch.

“I don’t need your permission for anything, idiot Yozora.” Sena snarls back, before going back to the chair near the TV and turning on the BS3. I presume she’s going to play more eroge or galge. Although now that I think about it, I’ve heard a LOT about visual novels, but I’ve never tried one. Hmmm....Yozora will probably berate me for this, but oh well.

“Hey Sena, do you have any recommendations for a decent galge? I’ve heard a LOT about the genre, especially with the surge of bishoujo games out there, so I wanna see what’s the big deal about it.” I say.

Pushing aside Yozora’s shocked expression, I swear Sena’s eyes just lit up, literally.

“Haah, a newcomer to the genre, eh? W-well, lemme dig up something that should be good for a newcomer.” Sena says at the speed of light before diving towards the pile of games stacked next to the BS3.

I get up and move a chair next to Sena’s chair facing the TV, all while ignoring Yozora’s hostile stare.

“Hisao...I swear if you become another Meat...”

“Jeez, what’re you so worried about, I’m just checking it out.” I respond sheepishly. Turning around, Sena’s still digging through the pile of games, but I lower my voice into a conspiratorial whisper anyways. “If I really do become like Sena though, you have my permission to knock me out of it.”

“Hehe, I look forward to it.” Yozora smirks, raising her flyswatter threateningly.
“Ah, found it!” Sena declares. She puts a disc into the BS3 before tossing me the disc case.

“Kirameki...School Life 7...” I read out loud. Ah, this was one of the more acclaimed titles that I’ve heard about.

“Yep! This is the first one I’ve played! I think it’s pretty good for someone like you. Hell, at least you’re a guy.” Sena says.

“And what do you mean by that?” I ask, raising my eyebrow.

“Eh, well the protagonist is a guy, like most galge are, so y’know....you could relate to his problems more and stuff.” Sena replies.

For some reason, I’m a bit disappointed by this normal reply from Sena. Checking on Yozora, she took over my now vacant seat and is spread out on the couch, eyes closed. Probably taking a nap.

The TV starts to display the start screen for Kirameki School LIfe 7. Sena passes me one of the controllers. With slightly fumbling hands, I press the start button. And thus, my journey into the realm of galge began.

If the L4D scenario seemed too outlandish, Watch this scene from the anime. Rika is a mo'fucking genius, what can ya say? Anyways, now that I got this update out of the way, I'll be off to work on my other main Fanfic, so expect a fairly long period of time between now and the next update. Deuces! Oh, and I actually read through the draft and changed some stuff around before I posted this for once. Haha.

FYI: Try not to take too long a hiatus between chapters. I forgot what happened in the previous chapters, so I spent an entire day rereading my fic so I understood where I was. The series is starting to wind up! Woah!!!! But before that, the Neighbor's Club arc comes to an end with this chapter! So to all you yobbos who don't like Hisao being dragged out the KS universe, fret not as KS characters will be reappearing next chapter...when I get to it. More Author notes at the bottom.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Fujibayashi Akari.” A 2D image of a pink-haired girl in a school uniform introduces herself to the 2D version of me, Nakai Hisao. Sena and I had a bit of an argument over what name my character was going to be. Apparently, Yozora made Sena’s character Semopomune in her first playthrough, so she wanted someone else to go through the embarrassment of having a stupidly nonsensical name. Luckily for me, I managed to input my name before she could wrest the controller away from me.

I’m now given three options to choose as my response to her:
1. Nice to meet you, Akari-chan!
2. Oh, it’s nice to meet you Fujibayashi-san.
3. What a pushy broad! Get lost!

Hmm, decisions decisions. It may be Yozora’s personality rubbing off on me, but I think 3 is the best choice. This Akari seems way too forward towards someone she just met. I select 3 and press the button.

“What a pushy broad! Get lost!” The 2D me says to Akari in an angry manner.

“S-sorry, Nakai-kun! As it is our first time meeting, I may have been too forward...I’ll be more careful from now on, so I hope you’re not mad at me.” Akari hastily apologizes.

“Hmm, great minds think alike, it seems.” Yozora comments from the sofa.

“I’m guessing you picked 3 too?” I ask.

“Yep. I played through it once with Sena. We both agreed on 3.” Yozora replies.

“But that was before I found the kind of hardships Akari-chan went through!” Sena protests. Oh God, I remember that Yozora told me that Sena took her eroge a bit TOO seriously.

“Calm down, Sena. I’m the one playing here, right? So just let me do what I want to do.”

“Fine...” Sena still looks a bit reluctant, but she lets me do as I wish.

Getting through the introductory scenes, I’m now faced with the ‘stat-boosting’ screen, as I like to call it. Basically Hisao (The 2D one) has free time during the day, and you can use it to boost stats like strength, intelligence, speed, etc. Somehow, the 2D me has pitifully low stats. It’s a wonder he even made it to high school with an intelligence that low.

“So Hisao, what’re you gonna do?” Sena inquires. Looks like she’s gotten a bit impatient.

“Dunno. I guess I’ll go with going to the weight room. Can’t have 2D me running around being a weakling, can we?”
For some odd reason, the two girls watching me don’t accept this reasoning, as they give me strange expressions.

“Your child’s going to be dumb as hell when he grows up, isn’t he?”

“Hisao, you know academics are the most important thing as a child, right?”

Sena and Yozora respond to me at the same time. I feel sorry for any kids those two will have.
Way to promote the stereotypical Asian parent. But for someone who’s already physically weak, I’d rather others don’t feel the way I feel right now, even if they are only imaginary.

Ignoring those two, I make my guy train his body for the whole day, using up all his energy. Unfortunately, with no energy, I have no opportunities to go to town and meet girls. But that’s something that can wait until later on.

As I meet the rest of the girls, I start to get the appeal of why these kinds of games are popular. With all these improbable scenarios where the protagonist meets attractive girls from all kinds of stereotypical tropes (Like the nerd, jock, etc.), it’s like the ultimate form of escapism. You can pretend to be someone who gets all the girls (If you can roll the harem ending, that is). Well, that explains all the otakus in the country, at least. I once thought of them as strange and having a negative effect on Japan’s reputation culture wise. But now, I can sympathize with them...a little. I’m pretty sure I can get a real, 3D girl though.

Looking up at the clock, it says it’s nearly 6 P.M...6 P.M.???

“Jeez, have we been playing this for that long?” I ask in wonder.

“Hmmhmm.” Sena nods her head. “It’s easy to lose track of time once you start playing. I once spent a whole night clearing a route and didn’t notice it until my alarm clock went off.”

“And that is why you need psychiatric help, Meat.” Yozora interjects in her usual cutting manner. “It was interesting seeing Hisao play though, I think I understand him a bit better now.”

Wait...don’t tell me she actually inferred stuff through my gameplay?! I hope she doesn’t take seriously the fact that I went after the antisocial girl in the game, a tall dark-haired girl by the name Tohsaka Rin. But I can worry about that later.

“Anyways!...I got to head back to Yamaku soon. I have no desire to be moping around the city at dark.” I explain, veering the conversation towards safer waters.

“Already? Oh, fine, it can’t be helped since you have a curfew.” Yozora concedes. “I’ll guide you to the city, at least. What about you, Meat?”

“Well since you two are leaving, I might as well leave too. But I can get Stella to drive you both back home if you want.” Meat...no Sena offers.

“Really? You’d do that for us?” I ask, astonished at the generous offer.

“Of course! I like you, Hisao. You’re different from all the doormats here at school.”

“You’re actually going to take up Meat’s offer?!” Yozora doesn’t seem pleased by this sudden change in events.

“Why not? It’ll save me some money on bus fare and we’ll get to spend a bit more time together.” I reason out.

“But if you have any issues, Yozora, you can just go home by yourself. I can take Hisao back to Yamaku by myself.” Sena taunts.

“Out of the question, Meat. I’m coming along, and you’re dropping me off as well.” Yozora puts her foot down, both literally and figuratively.

“Fine fine, let me just call Stella.” Sena pulls out her phone and dials a number.

“Ah, Stella?...Yeah, I’m going to need a ride home...I have two friends who need a ride as well, is that OK?...It is? That’s good...You already know where Yozora lives, but the second one dorms at Yamaku Academy...”

“Hey Yozora, who’s Stella?” I ask Yozora while Sena’s still talking.

“Her butler. Her dad is the head of the school’s board. And yep, she’s rich.”

“Ohh, that makes sense than. I thought butlers were guys though, but whatever.”

Huh...well it does tie in with the whole ‘perfect’ image Sena has going on, except for the eroge addiction and personality problems.

“Ah OK we’ll meet at the front entrance...Thanks, Stella.” Sena hangs up and directs her attention to us. “We’re meeting her at the front gates in ten minutes.”

I get my bag and sling it on my back while Yozora tidies up the room. After a couple of minutes, we depart. Weaving through the church hallways and through the scenic garden, I make a mental note to come back here again. Yozora’s school certainly is picturesque. At the gates, a fancy black sedan is waiting for us, with an unfamiliar woman in butler’s clothing who must be Stella standing next to it.

“Ah, Hello Sena-sama, Yozora-sama.” Stella greets the two girls with a bow when we approach the car. Upon closer inspection, Stella is pretty attractive, with short blonde hair and brilliant blue eyes. If I didn’t know any better, I definitely would’ve called Sena and Stella being related.

“Hey Stella. This is Nakai Hisao, he’s a friend of ours from Yamaku.” Sena introduces me.

“Hello. Sorry for troubling you about taking me back to Yamaku.” I apologize to Stella in advance.

“There is no need to apologize, Hisao-sama. It is good to see Sena-sama and Yozora-sama branching out to boys outside of St. Chronicas.”

Wow, Stella’s statement could be misunderstood in so many ways. But I’d rather not point that out.

“Ah, well I’ll be in your care than.” I say.

The three of us clamber into the car, Sena taking shotgun while Yozora and I take the back seats. Stella gets into the car after us and drives off.

“So Sena-sama, if you do not mind me asking, how did you meet Hisao-sama?” Stella inquires after a couple of minutes of silence.

“Me? Oh, um, Yozora dragged him into our club meeting today. You’ll probably be better off asking Yozora that.” Sena passes the question along to Yozora.

“Now that I think of it, I never told you guys how I met him.” Yozora realizes. “Well, it was one of those chance meetings you usually see in love comedies or something like that?”

“Really? I always thought those kinds of movies were completely unrealistic.” Sena says.

“That’s the point, Meat. Here I was, tucked away in a corner at the Starbucks, and this dolt walks up to me thinking I’m someone else.” Yozora jabs her finger at me.

“Hey, I’m not a dolt. And that’s because you looked like someone else I knew.”

“I’m not sure how you confused Yozora for anyone else too, Hisao. After all, she’s unsightly. I doubt anyone you know is as much of an eyesore as her.”

“Fuck off, Meat.” Yozora glares at Sena. If Stella had not been present, I’m sure Yozora would have hit her with the flyswatter. Although Sena’s comment could be seen as coincidental when I take into account Hanako’s scars. Not that I think Hanako is ugly, but to someone like Sena, Hanako could be seen as unsightly.

“And yes, you are a dolt Hisao. You were like all ‘Hello Hanako’ even though you didn’t see my face.” Yozora continues her rant.

“Who’s this Hanako? By the looks of it, she must look similar to Yozora if you called her that without seeing her face.” Sena asks. Blah, why is she perceptive at times like this? Can you not point out the obvious please?

“Wow, there’s something that doesn’t happen everyday: Meat thinking of something before I do. But seriously, Hisao, how similar did I look to this Hanako girl?”

“Umm...a lot. Right down to how you were facing the corner and hiding your face in a public place. You two even would look similar if I placed you two side by side.” I answer honestly.

“Hmm...this could be troubling.” Yozora looks out the window, looking very thoughtful.

“I am interested in meeting this Hanako. I think it is extremely rare for someone like Yozora-sama to exist, let alone two in the same area.” Stella drops a bombshell out of nowhere.

I have to concede that last statement to her though. Yozora might be the only attractive anti-social girl in all of Japan...well if you can look past Hanako’s scars, that’d make two. Hell, even Kenji grudgingly admitted (in secret, of course) that Hanako was cute even with scars. But seriously, Yozora is definitely unique.

“Oh, that’s a good idea, Stella!” Sena adds.

“Wait wait wait, I just met you two today, and you already want to meet my friends? Isn’t this a bit fast for our first meeting?” I counter.

“Well I want to meet her too.” Yozora turns to me with a strange expression. “So I can...y’know, learn how you became friends with them. After all, as president of the Neighbor’s club, I must gather intelligence on how people make friends from as many sources as possible.”

For some reason, I think Yozora’s reasoning is full of crap. But I’m too tired to start a verbal sparring match with her.

“And we’ve been friends for a decent amount of time too, Hisao. Unlike Meat over here. Also, it’s only proper since she’s the one you confused me for to begin with.” She tries to reason out.

“Yeah but... she’s a bit of an...introvert. Like you. Except replace the assholey attitude with...shyness I guess.” I try to describe Hanako with as much accuracy as I can.

“Oh yeah, I forgot you went to Yamaku. What kind of disability does she have?” Sena asks.

“You really shouldn’t be asking that kind of question so freely, Sena. It’s not good to treat us as different just because we have physical disabilities. When the personal feels comfortable revealing their sickness, they’ll tell you. Although in some cases, like Hanako’s, it’s a bit...obvious. So I’m not going to say.” I shoot down Sena’s question. Her asking that sort of question made me remember the ignorance normal people have of Yamaku and its students, something I was last aware of back at the school festival.

“Oh...” Sena awkwardly mutters.

“Anyways, even if I did want to introduce Yozora to her, I’d have to check with Hanako first. So you’ll have to wait for a bit.” I ‘compromise’. Knowing Hanako, I doubt she’d be interested in meeting Yozora (And Sena if she comes along somehow). So it’s a win-win situation for me since I can do what Yozora told me to do and have a legitimate excuse when Hanako says no.

“Alright...” Yozora looks at me hesitantly. “I really am interested in meeting this Hanako, so don’t try anything funny.”

“Yes yes, I won’t do anything stupid.” I promise. “Oh, but she’ll probably bring Lilly with her too if it does happen. And if I recall correctly, you two didn’t exactly get a good impression of each other back at the water park.”

“What? You two went to the water park together??”

“Shut up Meat. That is none of your concern. But Hisao, I guess I can deal with her. Go ahead and try to set me up with Hanako.”

“Jeez, now it sounds like I’m playing matchmaker.” I complain.

“S-shut up Hisao! I don’t roll that way! I just want to see what your other friends are like.”

“That still sounds extremely nosy, but whatever. I probably would have dropped the idea of you two meeting eventually. I’ll talk to her in homeroom when I get the chance. Like I said though, can’t guarantee anything.”

“Thanks, I guess...It’s fine as long as you try.”

“Hey, don’t just make plans in front of me without including me in it!” Sena whines.

Before she can attempt to shoehorn her way in, Stella announces that we’re at Yamaku. Looking outside the window, I can see the familiar front gates.approach us.

“Your stop, Hisao-sama.” Stella informs me.

“Ah, right. Thanks for the lift, Stella. And, umm, to you too Sena.”

“No problem, Hisao. Make sure you visit the club again soon!” Sena replies.

“I’ll drag you there by force if you don’t want to!” Yozora threatens with a scary expression. But then she suddenly gives me a glowing smile. “But seriously, thanks for coming today. It was fun.” She reaches out and takes me in her arms in a hug, or as much of a hug as you can get while sitting in the backseat of a car. I mirror her movements, and for a second, it was just the two of us leaning on each other. But as quickly as the moment happens, it ends, as she breaks away from me.

“Bye Hisao, message me later, K?” Yozora waves me off, blushing.. From the side of my vision, I think I saw Sena looking...jealous? I think...might’ve been my imagination though.

“If you have a moment, Hisao-sama, I’d like to talk to you in private before we leave.” Stella says as I open the car door.

“Oh, umm OK then I guess.” Confused, I get out of the car and stand on the curb. Stella joins me after leaving the car as well.

Once we’re a fair distance away from the car, Stella suddenly grabs my hand and places something in it.

“A present for you, when you and Yozora reach that stage in your relationship.” Stella says with a straight face. Looking down at the item, it’s a small plastic pouch that contains...a condom?!

“WHAT? WHY DID YOU GIVE THIS TO ME?!” I shout in disbelief.

“Teen pregnancy rates are on the rise, and I must do my part to counter that. Also, I can sense you are a good person. Try your best to keep Yozora-sama happy. If you know what I mean.” Stella continues in that same straight face. I have to give her props for not showing any kind of emotion though. If I was her I’d be cracking up right now.

“That still doesn’t explain why you have condoms on you to begin with! And it’s not THAT kind of relationship!” I sigh. If Stella’s brazen enough to hand me condoms, I doubt an explanation will get through to her. “But anyways, thanks again for the ride back. I’ll see you later, Stella.”

“Indeed, take care Hisao-sama.” Stella sees me off with a bow, which is quite fitting given her butler’s uniform. I watch her get back in the car and drive off into the distance. Well this was definitely a bizarre day.

While I walk through the park, I start to wonder what would happen when Yozora and Hanako meet. In a sense, it’d be like two universes colliding. They’re both similar, yet so different. Looking past the predictable hostile reaction from Yozora, it’d be nice if the two could get along. Then I wouldn’t be forced to split my time between the two and leave one on the sidelines all the time like I just did with Hanako. But then that leaves the question of how to integrate Lilly and Sena into the group...bleh, this is a lot more complicated than I thought. And now it looks like I’m trying to create a harem!

But still...I’m aware that Hanako likes me. And I like her too. Than I have the outsider Yozora who appears out of nowhere and throws things into chaos, and the worst thing is that I brought it upon myself when I first confused her for Hanako back at that Starbucks. Now they both like me...well I know Hanako does, but it’s still a bit tentative on Yozora’s side. Maybe she’s just exuberant that she has a guy friend for once and that I’ve been relegated to the friend zone?

Damn, I’m still undecided about the whole thing. Can’t get my thoughts straight at all. I mean come on, no girl would just kiss a guy than friend zone them! Maybe? I’m not a girl, so it’s not like I can exactly predict their thought patterns. Ahhh now I’m confusing myself even more!

I scratch my head in confusion over what I just thought. I think some sleep will do me some good. I’ll need a clear mind when I talk to Hanako on Monday.

Huh, I spent two hours looking over the end of this chapter, and it still feels weird somehow even after countless revisions. The closer I get to the end, the more I realize that I'm horrendous at building up to the climax and conclusion. This is probably going to be my first fanfic with an actual ending, so it may end up...sucking, to be blunt. I'll try my best to make it not suck though, so fret not!

After reading this fic I decided to watch BWTgS and it was fantastic. So I must thank you for encouraging me to watch the series. But I digress.

You've managed to get the personalities of all the BWTgS characters spot on. (With stella being my favourite in this update.)
Enjoyable as always, I don't really have anything to constructive to add, although there were a few spelling mistakes here and there.

Keep up the good work!

Daedalus wrote:After reading this fic I decided to watch BWTgS and it was fantastic. So I must thank you for encouraging me to watch the series. But I digress.

You've managed to get the personalities of all the BWTgS characters spot on. (With stella being my favourite in this update.)
Enjoyable as always, I don't really have anything to constructive to add, although there were a few spelling mistakes here and there.

Keep up the good work!

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED! No srsly, this was my goal when I wrote this: To get someone who hasn't heard of Haganai (It's the shortcut name for BwTgS, don't ask me who came up with it) to watch the show and/or read the light novel. Good to know I got someone else to check it out!

Oh, and I love Stella too. No shame at all, she has.

I was planning to check out that series anyway, but I'm waiting for the US-release.

Aww yeah, getting closer to the end chapter by chapter! For all the time I took writing this, I didn't write that much. Well, at least I knocked one thing off my to-do list. Important part of Author's Notes is at the bottom, as usual.

Leaning against a wall on the hall leading to the Student Council room, I slap my cheeks to get myself psyched up. I’m not sure why I need to be psyched up to be with exactly, but convincing Hanako to hang out with someone she’s never met with, even indirectly, looks to be a daunting task. I even spent most of my Sunday trying to phrase how I’d ask her and which conditions would be favorable. I would ask Hanako alone, but I’m pretty sure she’ll ask if Lilly can come for support. Might as well ask at the tea room I suppose.

With a plan in mind, I push away from the wall and head towards my classroom. I had thought of walking in purposely late so I could walk to Hanako and invite her, but it’s moot now. Walking in just as the bell rings, I’m surprised to see that Mutou didn’t walk in with me. Normally, he’d be stumbling in right at the sound of the bell. I give a nod of acknowledgement to Misha and Shizune, who are currently signing away, and deposit my bag at my desk before heading over to Hanako.

“Hey, Hanako.” I greet.

“O-oh, hello Hisao.” Hanako looks up upon recognizing my voice.

“How was your weekend?” I ask, trying to keep the conversation light.

“It was alright...I went shopping with Lilly and Akira on Saturday. What about you?”

“Err...” I hesitate, not sure whether to be honest or lie. Thinking back to when Hanako berated me for not telling me about Yozora, I should probably start being more truthful. “I was with Yozora on Saturday.”

“W-with Yozora...?!” Hanako frowns.

“Yeah...she wanted to introduce me to this club she runs over at her school, St. Chronicas. You’ve heard of the place?”

Hanako nods, still looking slightly distraught.

“Well we didn’t do much. Her club only has like five people, and I kinda spent most of the time playing galge.” I explain. It’s about as specific as I can get without going into detail on the other members. I’m definitely sure I’ll need more than the time between now and when Mutou walks in to describe Sena or Rika.

“O-oh, OK then. Lilly and I came to your room to invite you, but you weren’t home.”

“My bad. I didn’t even know you two had plans to begin with.” I rub my head awkwardly. Luckily, I’m saved by Mutou, who stumbles into the room. Apparently, he pre-started his lecture, as he’s already talking to himself about some mystical phenomenon called Marble Phantasms. I’m pretty sure it’s not related to science or anything school-related, but pointing it out would expose the fact that I’m out of my seat. So I quickly head to my desk and let Mutou speak unhindered.

At the lunch bell, Hanako and I head up to the tea room. Lilly must’ve arrived early, as three cups of tea and a large brown bag are set out on the table. Looking towards the shelves, I notice Lilly putting away the excess supplies.

“Hello Hanako, Hisao. I just finished up, so please help yourselves.” Lilly greets us.

The three of us take a seat on the table. Strangely enough, after a week of acting all distant and sitting next to Lilly, Hanako takes her usual spot next to me. Eh, I guess she got over whatever was happening to her last week. After being around her for so long, you kinda know when to give her space.

“So...what’s with the breads?” I point out, looking inside the bag on the table and finding various melon pans. I take one at random and bite down on it, the sweet custard filling attacking my taste buds.

“That’s from the class representatives’ meeting earlier this morning. The Student Council apparently overdid it with the food for said meeting, so we all took some leftovers for later.” Lilly explains, making sure to emphasize the words ‘Student Council’.

“Well that makes sense, I guess. Not that I’m complaining, this bread’s pretty good. Custard is always good filling.” I tear off another piece of bread.

Hanako fiddles through the bag and pulls out a green-tinted melon pan. Unlike the barbarian that shreds through his bread (me), Hanako slowly rips off pieces of the bread (It has no filling) and pops it in her mouth, occasionally pausing for a sip of tea.

“You want some bread, Lilly?” I offer, downing the last piece of bread.

“Please. Any of them will do.”

I take one at random and pass it to Lilly. I contemplate taking another one from the bag, but the tea isn’t going to get any warmer. Taking a sip, I look around at the peaceful scene: Two girls quietly eating bread and sipping tea on a warm afternoon. Huh, if only life could stay this serene forever. Well, I guess now’s a good a time as any to ask Hanako about Yozora.

“Hey...Hanako. I kinda have...umm a proposal? Wait no...an invitation? Ugh, never mind, I just have a question for you if you don’t mind me asking.”

Hanako tilts her head in confusion over my odd speech pattern, but nods anyways. Lilly also raises her head to listen to what I have to say. Damn, this is a lot harder than I thought it’d be.
“Anyways...remember how I mentioned I was with Yozora on Saturday?”

“Y-yes...”

“Well, um...”

Maybe I should have worded this out beforehand. There’s no way I can make the invitation not awkward now. Now that I think about it, I never did tell Hanako how I met Yozora anyways. Crap. I’ll just wing it and go from there.

“In a nutshell, Yozora wants to meet you.” I say in plain words.

“.....what?!” Hanako says in disbelief. From her expression, it looks like she thought she misheard me.

“Yeah, I know, it’s weird. But on the way back, we somehow ended up talking about you and Yozora threw out that you seemed like someone she wants to meet.”

“Wait...why would Yozora know about Hanako to begin with?” Lilly asks.

“Well, Hanako’s basically the reason I met Yozora.” I mutter.

“”...?!?!””

Both girls appear to be shocked by this revelation.

“H-how?” Hanako inquires.

“To put it in a nutshell, I saw a girl with long black hair looking like she was trying to hide in the corner of the Starbucks. It was on the same day you said you were going to the city, so I thought it was you. I tried greeting her by saying “Hello, Hanako.”. She turns around, acts all mad, but somehow we ended up exchanging numbers at the end. So...yeah.” I leave out the portion in between me greeting Yozora and when we exchange numbers, but it should be enough for Hanako and Lilly to understand.

The girls are quiet for a few seconds, digesting the new information.

“What would you three do anyways?” Lilly asks, the first to come to their senses.

“To be honest, I have no idea. I’m just asking to see if Hanako would agree to it. I imagine we’d come up with something out from there I guess.”

“W-would it be alright if I bought Lilly along? You don’t mind, do you Lilly?”

“Not at all, Hanako.”

“Ehh...I’m pretty sure it’ll be alright. I have a feeling Yozora might bring someone with her too.” I think of Sena, who’d probably find a way to join in whatever activity we’d do that day. “You sure you want to see Yozora though Lilly? You two didn’t exactly get off on the right foot back at the water park.”

“It’s fine, Hisao. I’ve dealt with far worse people than her.” Lilly emphasizes ‘far worse’, and I take that to mean Shizune.

“Wait...what’s this about a water park?” Hanako interjects. Oh wait...yeah, she’d have no idea what we’re talking about right now.

“Lilly, you can explain the events to her later, I’m too tired right now.” I cram the rest of the bread in my mouth before resting my head on the table. “But seriously, Hanako, you OK with this? Despite the...differences you two may have?”

I guess the more accurate thing to say would be ‘lack of differences’, but I hold my tongue.

Hanako looks towards Lilly for a moment. While I can’t see it, I’m sure those two are exchanging wordless communications right now. Randomly taking another bun from the bag, I tear off a piece of it without regards to flavor...muu, curry flavored?

“I-it’s fine with me, Hisao. To be honest, I was kinda interested in meeting her to begin with.” Hanako answers.

Hmm, I imagine that’s because of that incident back in the jazz club. Maybe she wants to scope out what she thinks is her competition? Well, I just hope she can handle the shock when it turns out they’re near mirror images. Not like twins (even if you exclude the scars), but still, they share a lot of similar traits despite not being related in any way.

“Alright then, I’ll let Yozora know than.” I take another large bite of the curry bread. Somehow, the flavor has grown on me after only one bite.

Well, that’s one obstacle I’ve gotten over successfully. Next is to figure out what Hanako, Lilly, Yozora, Sena if she finds a way to come along with Yozora, and I are going to do. Obviously something like an amusement or water park is out of the question. Maybe another trip to a club...? Nah. Hmm, this is gonna be harder than I thought.

The rest of the lunch, as well as the school day, passes by uneventfully. When I get up to leave however, Mutou calls for me from his desk.

“What happened?” I ask as I approach him.

“Well you’re not in trouble if that’s what you’re worried about. This is more of an...impromptu life counseling session.” Mutou replies in that perma-tired voice of his.

“Life counseling session?” I repeat, perplexed by the words.

“Yeah, basically. Do you have any idea what you want to do after Yamaku?”

“Actually...I’m not sure...” I mean come on, who’d know what to say after suddenly being asked a question like that? All I know is that I plan on going to college. But before I voice that complaint, a small voice in the back of my head reminds me that despite Mutou’s scatterbrained way of teaching, he managed to pique my interest in science.

“Well, I am interested in learning more about science. Not sure which kind of science specifically, like you said there are different kinds of scientists. But you know, somewhere in that direction. I want to learn how the world works.” I honestly reply.

“That’s good. Actually, that’s the end of this life counseling session. I was going to say you should get into any kind for science, but it looks like you’ve already thought of that yourself! You certainly do have a knack for it.”

“Really? So you’re saying I should study science at college?” I mean sure, I get good marks with the minimal amount of work, but it’s only simple memorization. Shizune probably has better marks than me.

“Basically. Or you could try joining the science club.”

“We have a science club?”

“Ehh, no. Well I’ve been meaning to start one, but there hasn’t been any students who were interested in joining up. Actually, you’re the first one I’m mentioning the club to.” Mutou rubs his head, looking slightly awkward.

“Obviously no one would be interested in joining up if you haven’t asked anyone besides me.” I point out.

“Well if you were interested, than I could say that all of the students I asked wanted to join my club, since it’d be one for one student. But I digress. You could help start up the club with me! And recruit fellow students if you’d like. Only if you want to though. We could create the club with the two of us only.” Mutou starts to get animated, more than I’ve ever seen him in any of his lectures.

“Well what would the science club do anyways?”

“We’d discuss science-related stuff, obviously. Not limited to physics or chemistry only too. I could bring in material for you and any other club members to read, and then we could discuss about it after. And obviously I’d also help you out with prepping for college and all that. Recommendation letters and whatnot.”

Mutou’s pretty excited about this. It’d be pretty rude of me to turn him down. Not that I would turn him down anyways. If Mutou is willing to help me get more interested in science, no point in turning him away. That, and we’d probably get into more in-depth stuff than what we’ve been learning in class too.

“Oh, take this too.” Mutou knocks me out of my reverie by tossing an object that I barely manage to catch.

“Umm, sensei?” Inspecting the object, it appears to be a the box for some Visual Novel called Fate/Stay Night.

“Oops, wrong item. Meant to throw you this.” Mutou waves a book titled “A Brief Explanation on Time”. “If you want, I’ll let you borrow it though. Even though I’m a man of science, it doesn’t mean I can’t enjoy a good magic-y story every now and then.”

Huh, looks like I’m not the only galge player in school. Although based on the box’s 17+ rating, it looks like this is probably an eroge. Sena’s probably played this already.

“Nah, it’s fine. I don’t have a laptop anyways.” I exchange the box with the book Mutou waved at me. “Didn’t know you read VNs in general though.”

“Yeah, well, it’s one of my hobbies. You read them too?” Mutou asks.

“Eh, kinda. A friend of mine piqued my interest in them.” I reply, thinking of eroge obsessed Sena. It actually was fun playing Tokimemo though. I wouldn’t mind trying other galge out there. But let’s get Mutou back on track here. “So what’s the book about anyways?”

“Just a review on black holes, time, stuff like that. It’s not too deep though, just to see if you have an interest in that kind of thing.” Mutou explains, glancing down at his watch. “Wow, we’ve spent a fair amount of time already. I’ll let you go, Hisao. We can discuss club activities later on this week.” With a wave of his hand, Mutou dismisses me.

“Yeah sure. Thanks for the book.” I stuff the book in my bag and walk out of the classroom.

I don’t have any plans today, so I think I’ll head to the tea room and read there for a bit. But on arrival, when I try the doorknob, the handle refuses to give way. I thought I heard some voices coming from the room as I approached, but it must’ve been my imagination. Even if it wasn’t, it’s not like the room’s reserved just for the three of us only. I guess I’ll just read outside then. I can also tell Yozora the results of today as well.

Sitting at my usual bench in the park, I break out my phone and text Yozora.

“Sup, Yozora. Hanako said she’s alright with hanging out with the two of us.”

Placing the bag on the bench, I pull out the book Mutou gave me. But before I can open it, my phone goes off.

“Wow...did not expect her to agree. Hell, I’m surprised you even asked her!”

“Now why would you think that? It’s only common to introduce people of similar traits to each other.” I sarcastically reply. Apparently, it must’ve riled Yozora up, as the phone buzzes as soon as I pocket it.

“I dunno, you just seem like the kind of guy to go back on his word. But seriously, I thought you wouldn’t want to go through all the awkwardness.”

“Yeah well, I probably would’ve proposed introducing you two together anyways. Also, there are rumors about the two of us running around campus now, and I’d like to try to dispel them.”

“Rumors? Ahh, yeah, I forgot about that deaf bitch and the loudmouth with the weird drills. I can already guess what the rumors are about, but what did you hear about it?”

“To be blunt, apparently we’re friends with benefits. Yamaku rumor mill can be so stupid sometimes.”

Pocketing my phone yet again, I let out a deep sigh. Yozora is way too fast a texter for me. Surprisingly, when I reach out for the book, the phone didn’t ring. Well that’s a first for this conversation. I open the book and start to read.

Ten minutes later, right when I’m about to start worrying about Yozora, my phone buzzes again.

“Hehe yeah that’s what I was thinking too. Anyways, now that this Hanako’s agreed to hang out with us, any ideas on what to do? You’re the only one that knows both of us.”

“Oy, who’s the one that came up with the idea to begin with? You don’t have anything in mind?”

“Nope. Only thing I can come up with is karaoke. I know ALL the good spots in town.”

Karaoke...huh, that may not be such a bad idea. In a private room with just the four of us belting out all the J-pop songs. Well, if anything, I can use that as a fallback option if I can’t think of anything else.

“I’ll keep that in mind. I’m surprised you came up with a good idea for once!”

“Hey...what’s that supposed to mean?”

“Nothing, nothing! Btw, I just created my own club in school.”

Looks like I won’t be getting any reading done today. I return the book to my bag and start heading towards my dorm, while still replying to Yozora’s machine gun texting.

“What?! Is it the Yamaku branch of the Neighbor’s Club? Were you overcome by our noble goal of making friends and decided to spread it to other schools?”

Yeah, alright.

“Don’t get ahead of yourself, Yozora. It’s just a science club that me and my chemistry teacher started up.”

“Ugh, sounds boring. I gotta go do my homework, but I’ll try to come up with things me, you, a blind Meat, and a shy person can do. Don’t you slack off either!”

“Yeah, yeah, I was about to get started as well. I’ll hit you up tomorrow or something. See ya.”

Sometimes, I wonder what goes on in Yozora’s head when we text, or in general. God knows what kind of thought processes are up in that brain of hers.

I place my phone on the desk before throwing myself on my bed. It’s softness feels good on my face. I flip myself so that I’m facing the ceiling, a white expanse limited only by the four walls around me.

Man, I wish Yozora could be more straightforward like she used to be back when we met. OK, I get it, you kissed me. Then for the most part, you pretend it never happened. Of course, I can’t pretend that it didn’t happen. But then I should’ve called her out on why she did it. Great, I start off cursing Yozora for being roundabout, than I find out that I’ve been skirting the issue as well. It definitely would’ve been awkward for the both of us, but still I should’ve done it.

At least this meeting between Yozora and Hanako should clear up a lot of things. Me being friend zoned by Yozora will probably be confirmed somehow and Hanako can rest easy knowing that Yozora won’t somehow steal me away. Kinda glad she doesn’t know of the kiss though, would’ve made her far more insecure about herself. And God knows Hanako needs more reasons t o be insecure. Yozora’s definitely a strong person. She doesn’t need someone like me...right?

Yeah...I kinda wrote that F/SN bit while I was playing through the VN a few weeks ago, and I'm too lazy to edit it even though it might make Mutou look OOC. Well, I could imagine him being some kind of closet otaku of sorts, but I dunno. I have a reason for adding it in though.

So...seeing that my backlog of anime/video games/Visual Novels/light novels is piling up, I'm putting this on hold for a while after I fix up a plot hole here. Summer is ending, and I want to get all the good stuff out of the way so I don't get distracted during the semester :/ Also, I'm never writing a long fanfic again after this. I keep forgetting what happened in the story and despite my frequent lookbacks, I somehow made said plot hole which will probably be the feature of the next update (which is y'know, sealing it).

Hmm. How to say it... average. Readable.

One note: yes, you love Team Fortress. I get it. No need to put it constantly in story (AFIK this story is Hangai/KS crossover, not Team Fortress/KS crossover). Once (movie was not bad) is enough. More is jarring and rather OOC for Mutou. Same for F/SN - no need to put by force every cool thing that you lately played/read in story about something completely different.

Of course, you are free to ignore it. It is your fanfic, after all. BTW you have broken link in first post.

I love you for making this.
Although Hanako really needs some love here. Can't compete if Hanako doesn't at least get a quarter of the chapters spending time with Hisao.

Any special reason to include the science club scene in this story?
Seems pretty unneccessary to me.

For some reason I find myself wanting Hisao to get with Yozora more than Hanako with each passing chapter. Some of it had a sort of 'rushed' feel to it. I don't know how to explain it other than that, sadly.

One little niggle, however.

BobBobberson wrote: Thinking back to when Hanako berated me for not telling me about Yozora,

I assume that you meant to say 'her' here.

It was a good addition, though. I look forward to seeing how the four of them hanging out will go down.