Chapter 13

Chapter 13 - This Feels Like Déjà Vu… But a Bit Different

Ring-ring.

Kazumi opened his eyes, feeling a bit of sunlight slipping through the curtains.

He glanced at the clock on the table beside his bed. It was already 6 a.m.

"Time for school, huh…" Kazumi muttered.

He got up from his bed and went straight to the bathroom.

After finishing in the bathroom, he returned to his room, grabbed his school uniform, and put it on.

He picked up the books he needed for today, and then headed out to school.

"The air feels fresh…"

Kazumi looked around. It was still dark, and not many people were around.

A calm morning, like always. Nothing strange. But once he got to school, that calm would probably disappear.

He crossed the red light and walked for a few more minutes. Eventually, Kazumi arrived at school and headed straight for the shoe lockers.

But for some reason, this gave him a strange feeling of déjà vu…

"Kazumi-senpai."

"Ahh…" Kazumi finally remembered — the same thing happened yesterday.

"Morning, Yuino."

"Good morning, Senpai."

There was a brief silence, until Kazumi noticed Yuino quickly moving toward him. He hurried to put on his shoes and tried to walk away — but it was too late.

Yuino hugged him from behind. He could feel her weight pressing against him.

"Yuino…"

"Yes, Senpai~?"

"Why do you sound so happy…?"

"Because I get to hug you, Senpai."

"You're like a baby koala clinging to its mother," Kazumi muttered, slightly regretting not escaping before she hugged him.

"That means I'm cute, right?" she asked in a flat tone.

"You sound like a pick-me girl when you say stuff like that," Kazumi said bluntly.

"You're mean, Kazumi-senpai."

"Sorry. I'm just trying to be honest so it won't hurt later."

…

"Can you let me go now, Yuino?" Kazumi asked.

"Nope."

"Yuino… seriously, if people see this, it's going to be a problem."

"I've already prepared myself for that."

"Damn it."

Kazumi had to think of a way to make Yuino let go.

What could make her release him?

He turned around to face Yuino. She looked confused.

Kazumi slowly opened his arms wide, and hugged her back. The sudden gesture startled Yuino — she let go for a second.

Kazumi took the opportunity, broke free from the hug, and quickly ran off.

Yuino, realizing what just happened, got mad.

"Senpai's mean…"

Kazumi, now on the stairs heading to the second floor, mumbled to himself about how clever he was for escaping lately.

"I forgot to check my game."

He pulled out his handheld console.

While walking down the hallway, he was completely focused on it, forgetting what he had just done to Yuino.

Kazumi arrived at his classroom, went to his seat, dropped his bag, and continued playing.

He never asked for a complicated life. But it seemed like God had other plans, making him deal with all kinds of weird things involving the girls around him.

"This is exhausting," Kazumi muttered.

He kept playing, enjoying the quiet moment when no one was there to disturb his gaming.

"Ahh, this boss has three phases… this might be tough."

Kazumi played for an hour. Outside the class, other students were starting to arrive.

He mentally prepared himself to face Minami and Hanami.

Kazumi was still playing when suddenly someone snatched his console.

He sighed and looked up — it was Minami.

"Minami… can you please stop grabbing my console every time you see me playing in class?"

"Haha, sorry Kazumi, but you've been consuming this thing too much lately," she said, clearly annoyed.

"I can't consume a console. It's made of metal and plastic, just so you know."

Kazumi's reply made Minami even more irritated.

"I'll give this back if you admit you messed up on our date yesterday."

"What did I do wrong on the date?"

"Seriously?! You don't know what you did wrong?!" Minami snapped.

Kazumi looked confused. He couldn't recall doing anything wrong on their date.

"I don't think I made any mistakes… I just played my console and listened to you talk. Where's the mistake in that?"

His words made Minami even angrier. She slammed his desk with one hand and raised the console high in the air.

She pointed at it. "Do you remember now, Kazumi???"

Kazumi, startled and a bit scared, started thinking hard.

What could've made her this angry?

What did I do on that date that made Minami this mad?

I don't remember doing anything wrong… I was just playing my console while listening to her… where's the mistake?

Why is she pointing at the console? The console didn't do anything. What does she mean?

I need to think…

Minami sighed as she looked at Kazumi struggling to understand.

"Your mistake during the date yesterday was…"

Kazumi looked at Minami, listening closely.

Minami leaned toward his ear.

"YOUR MISTAKE WAS BEING TOO FOCUSED ON THAT STUPID THING AND NOT EVEN LISTENING TO ME, YOU IDIOT. WHY CAN'T YOU UNDERSTAND SOMETHING SO SIMPLE? IS YOUR BRAIN FRIED FROM TOO MUCH GAMING??!!!"

"AHHH! Stop yelling in my ear!!!"

Minami's scream was so loud, Kazumi thought his ear might start bleeding.

"I yelled in your ear so everyone knows how insensitive and dense you are!"

"Instead of talking with me or starting a conversation during the date, you were just glued to that stupid console! What's wrong with you?"

Holding his head in pain, Kazumi finally responded.

"Okay, sorry… it was my first date, I didn't know what to do."

"You were the one who asked me out, and now I'm the one getting blamed?"

Minami smiled, but her eyes were cold. She was clearly still angry.

"Minami?"

"Yes, Kazumi?"

"…Never mind."

"Good. I'll go back to my seat now, Kazumi."

"Okay, Minami…"

The classroom door opened again — Hanami entered.

"Yo, looks like you two came early…"

She noticed the tense aura around Minami, who clearly seemed angry.

Hanami looked at Kazumi, who seemed terrified and unable to speak. Minami sat beside him, radiating an intense, frightening energy.

Kazumi looked at Hanami, his eyes silently pleading for help.

But Hanami just smiled back, as if saying good luck, and walked over to chat with her friends, ignoring Kazumi's situation entirely.

"I should've realized that playing games during a date was a bad idea," Kazumi muttered. He regretted it — but it was too late now.