Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai: Volume 4 After Party

After Party

It was the afternoon of the third day since finals had ended.

There was nothing to do at home, so Kobato and I went to the clubroom where we found everyone else, who probably had nothing to do just like us.

That said, it's not like we had any club activities planned, and everyone was just doing whatever they felt like, as usual.

I was playing a handheld game, Yozora and Kobato were reading books, Sena and Rika were playing computer games, Maria was eating potato chips, and Yukimura was spacing out.

"Man, we've got this nice break, but nothing to do."

I said while lazily playing my game.

"That's true. I wonder how a typical group of students usually spends their break."

Yozora said, looking bored.

"Probably shopping, or an amusement park, or the pool, or karaoke... there's tons of stuff, isn't there? It's probably less crowded since it's a weekday too."

"Hmph... damn normals..."

Yozora said with a look of displeasure on her face.

"They're probably all having fun now that they don't have to study for a while... with their friends obviously."

"Heh heh, but I didn't have to study at all."

"Nobody cares about you."

Yozora casually said to Sena's declaration.

"Ah, now I get it."

Rika said all of a sudden in a voice that sounded like she just realized something.

"What do you get?"

"I was wondering why you were all here during lunchtime on a weekday. It's because you're all on break after finals, isn't it!?"

"You just figured that out!?"

I guess it makes sense though, since she spends almost all her time holed up in the Rika room, not having to bother with tests or classes or anything else.

"Now that I think about it, I've seen people in manga go sing karaoke or go out to eat together to relax after their finals. I think it's something called an after party."

"A party to shake off the tiredness from all the tests? I guess I have heard of people doing that before."

Rika and I said, which was followed by Yozora's face lighting up as though she'd thought of something.

"Hrm... then why don't we try it out... That 'after party' or whatever it's called."

"Sure, why not? It can be practice for when we're all normals too."

I said, supporting the idea.

"But I'm not really tired from the tests or anything."

"Then you can go home now. Good bye."

Yozora coldly said to Sena, who then said in a flustered voice,

"W-well now that you mention it I do feel a little tired! Ah~ So tired~! I'm super tired from all those finals~! I can barely stand!"

"I see. If you're that tired then don't push yourself, go and get some rest. I can carry you to the nurse's office."

"I-I'm fine, you don't have to..."

"But I insist, Meat. You can take a good nap in the nurse's office while we have our after party."

"I don't need any rest! I'm doing the after party too!"

"This is only a party for people who are tired though."

Yozora swiftly turned her back to Sena.

"Umm~ Rika never even took any tests to begin with, is it ok if I join though?"

"I'm a teacher and didn't have to take any tests, but I want to have a party too!"

Said Rika and Maria, to which Yozora replied "Do as you please."

"Then I'll join too..."

"Sorry, but we only have room for six."

"Why are you always such a jerk, you idiot!"

Sena screamed with tears in the corners of her eyes.

"So, what do we do at an after party anyway?"

"Who knows. I think we can just play around together or something."

Rika said, answering my question.

"You want us to start playing around without planning anything in advance...? That's practically the hardest thing you could ask..."

I was in agreement with Yozora.

☺

After a little talking, we decided it needed to feel like a party, so we went down to a convenience store near the school to buy some drinks and snacks, and then set them on the table.

We all gathered around, and then each poured ourselves a glass of juice.

We bought some cola, a 2-liter bottle of orange juice, and a 100ml bottle of Minaglun D (an energy drink with 1000mg of a taurine-mix in it) to drink. Sena, Yukimura, Kobato, Maria, and I all had cola; Yozora had orange juice; and Rika had the Minaglun D.

"Now then... should we have a toast?"

"Sure, we might as well, right?"

I said in response to Yozora, who had her head tilted in confusion.

"Hmm... Then, umm... a toast to the end of final exams?"

Yozora lead the toast in an unenthusiastic voice.

"Cheers~!"

The only one who actually yelled was Maria as the rest of us lightly touched our cups together and drank our drinks normally.

"That hits the spot! I can't get enough of this medicine taste!"

Said Rika, who'd just downed her Minaglun D in one gulp.

...That's the first time I've ever seen someone pour a 100ml energy drink into a glass.

Actually, that's not really something you drink at a party in the first place.

"Auu..."

Yukimura let out a tiny voice after raising the glass to his mouth, and cringed awkwardly.

"? What's wrong Yukimura?"

Yukimura tilted his head down a little, and said,

"It is most embarrassing, but carbonic acid provides me with significant difficulty."

"Huh? Then why did you pick the cola?"

"Because you picked it, Aniki. As I suspected, a true man must not lose to something such as carbonic acid."

"...I don't think it really matters. You don't have to force yourself to drink it.

After I'd said that, Maria made a cute burping noise.

"Ahaha, you can't drink cola? Yukimura you're so girly!"

"Mu... I am not girly."

Yukimura pursed his lips slightly, and then took another sip of the cola.

"Cough, cough, cough-"

He was choking on it pretty bad.

"Hey, are you ok?"

"Aniki... Please forgive me for being so weak..."

Yukimura hung his head in sadness.

"Well, don't worry about it. I'll drink the cola, you can drink the orange juice."

I took Yukimura's glass, and drank the rest of it.

"A-Aniki..."

Yukimura's cheeks blushed for some reason as he stared at me with sparkling eyes.

You don't have to make such a big deal out of me drinking cola...

"An indirect kiss, oh my godddddddddd!!"

Rika yelled while breathily heavily through her nose.

An indirect kiss...? How old are you?

"Ahaha, cola is so tasty! I get to drink all the cola I want today!"

"Uh, we don't really have enough for that."

We got cola for five people, so there's not that much left as is.

"Maria, if you drink too much cola the carbonic acid will melt your bones."

Yozora said while sipping her orange juice.

"Ahaha, you're so dumb~! That's all made up!"

Looks like Maria knew about that already.

But, Yozora didn't flinch in the least, even after Maria saw right through her lie.

"You're the dumb one, Maria. It's only safe to drink carbonic acid after you're in high school. It was found in a recent scientific study that a child's digestive organs can't break up the acid, which leads to it spreading through the body and melting your bones."

"Ehhh!?"

Yozora pressed on with a dead serious look on her face as Maria started to panic.

"In fact, over 600 young girls a year die in America from having their bones melted by drinking too much cola. Did you not know that the American Pediatrician Union recently declared their opposition to any child under the age of 15 drinking cola?"

"I didn't... A lot of girls in America have been dying from drinking too much cola, huh..."

Maria looked like she totally bought Yozora's story now.

"K-kukuku... M-my immortal vampire body can simply regenerate any lost bones..."

Kobato said with her voice trembling as she stared at her glass.

...Don't tell me you believe Yozora's crap too.

I'm very worried about my little sister's future...

"Uu~ I guess I won't drink cola after all... Do you want it Yozora?"

"Eh-"

Yozora faintly cringed at Maria holding her glass of cola out to her.

"Y-you can have Kodaka drink it instead."

"Nah, I've got Yukimura's, so I'm fine..."

Then it came to me.

"Yozora, can you still not drink carbonated stuff?"

10 years ago―― I remembered the time I was playing with Sora and we got thirsty, so I bought us some pop to drink, but Sora choked on it spectacularly.

Remembering how Sora blushed as she told me she couldn't drink pop made me miss those days.

"I-it's not like I can't drink it. I just don't like it..."

Yozora said with a beet red face.

"Still...?"

Rika twitched as she heard what I'd said.

Crap, me and Yozora being friends was supposed to be a secret.

"C-come on Maria! Have Rika drink your cola! Here, have some cola, go on!"

I took the cola from Maria and handed it to Rika.

"...Very suspicious..."

Rika didn't look like she wanted to let it go, but she didn't say anything more than that.

☺

After we finished our drinks, Yozora and Kobato went back to reading books, this time with snacks, Sena and Rika were back on their computers, and Yukimura returned to spacing out in front of the tea pot.

Maria was the only one who kept on doing nothing but eating snacks.

"...What kind of crappy party is this!?"

I yelled at the Neighbors Club, who'd gone right back to doing the same crap they usually do.

"Oh yeah, we were in the middle of that after party, weren't we?"

Yozora said, as though she'd completely forgotten about it.

"But when you say party, what do you do after eating and drinking a little? Play some games?"

"Ah, if you want games I've got 'Magical Hyper Battle Revolution' for the PS3 with me... Ehehe, Kobato-chan wanna play with me?"

Sena said with a creepy grin on her face, to which Kobato curtly declined by saying "No!"

"Now that I think about it, all the games we have here aren't meant for a lot of people are they~ We don't have a set of playing cards or Uno cards either. We could play 'RomaSaga' or some other LAN game I suppose," said Rika.

"Playing computer games at a party huh... That doesn't feel like something a normal would do."

I said, to which Yozora added "...You're right." along with a nod.

"Hmm... Ah, now that I think about it, you see a lot of scenes where people play the 'King Game'; we don't need anything special to play either."

"The King Game...? What's that?" asked Sena.

"You decide who the king is by drawing lots, and everyone else has to do everything the king says."

Rika's description set Sena's eyes on fire.

"Everything!? I can make Yozora lick my feet!?"

Smack!

Yozora hit Sena on the head with her flyswatter.

"Everyone other than the king has a number they drew, and you don't give orders directly, but do it by saying 'Number 1 do XXX to number 2.' or something similar."

"Then if I was the king and Yozora was number 1, and I said 'Number 1 lick the king's feet.' she'd have to lick my feet, right!?"

"Well, yes she would. The king's orders are absolute."

"That sounds like a great game!"

Yozora hit Sena on the head again, but Sena completely ignored it and continued on.

"I want to play! I want to play the king game!"

"...Hmph, that's perfect... I was just thinking it'd do this stupid piece of meat some good if I brought it to its knees once..."

Yozora gave her approval with a brutal look filling her eyes.

"Rika's obviously OK with it too. Just thinking about making Kodaka-senpai do this and that..."

I hurriedly objected to the King Game.

"Wait, hold on, I'm against this! We really shouldn't do it! I know for a fact that playing the King Game with all of you is going to end terribly!"

"Hmm, I don't really get it, but I get to be a king!? I want to be a king!" Maria exclaimed in approval.

"I am opposed to the idea. My only master is Aniki," said Yukimura.

"Kukuku... I am already the Queen of the Exalted Night..."

I wasn't sure if Kobato was against the idea or for it.

"Looks like we have more people in favor of playing. Alright, then let's play this 'King Game'," declared Yozora.

Kh... I have to do something about this or it's going to end horrible for everyone!

I desperately racked my brain for an answer―― and thought of a great one.

"Ok, but on one condition!"

"Condition?" the rest of the club members looked at me with puzzled expressions.

"First, we all write some orders the king can give on a piece of paper. Then, whoever becomes king doesn't think of a new order, but instead picks an order at random from the ones we wrote earlier."

"Hmm... That's a weird rule, but ok. I just have to draw the order that says Yozora has to lick my feet," said Sena.

I was relieved when nobody else seemed to mind the rule either.

"Hrm... then let's make our lots first," said Yozora.

Thus, the curtains opened on the Neighbors Club's King Game.

☺

"Ok, you all got a lot, right?"

Yozora looked around at the rest of the club members.

We were each holding a piece of paper that either had 'King' or a number one through six written on it.

"Umm... W-who's the king!?"

Yozora said, a little embarrassed, prompting us to open our piece of paper while not letting anyone else see it.

I had the number three written on mine.

"Right here~! I'm the King! Being the king really does suit me, doesn't it?"

Sena happily named herself king.

"That's great, now hurry up and give your order Meat."

"Heh heh, you'll get punished for talking to the king like that you know."

Said Sena as she picked out a piece of paper from the tissue box on the table.

There were 35 orders total (5 from each of us) in there.

My reason for making the king pick orders like this, was to stop the king from giving any super crazy orders.

Because, if you wrote something really crazy as an order, you might end up being the one who has to do it when someone else is king.

Hence, nobody should have written anything too out there.

Hehehe... Behold my brilliant strategy at work...

"Ok, here's the order!"

Sena took a piece of paper out of the book, opened it up, and read the order out loud.

I'm sure it can't be anything too――

"Number four has to put on a swimsuit!"

"Bft!"

I spit a little in surprise.

"What kind of order is this!?"

"Aha, this is one I wrote! Look at me, the first one to be king and picking my own order! I was born to be a king!"

"...Sena, you... What would you have done if you had to do that...!?"

I asked, still in shock, and was utterly clueless as to why Sena would write that, but there she was, full of confidence.

Crap... I forgot to think about Sena's lack of thinking...!

"Now~ then, who's number four!? Who's the pathetic soul who has to wear a swimsuit like a super idiot at the end of September while the rest of us wear regular clothes like normal people!?"

Sena happily looked around at the club members.

"Fueehh... An-chaaan..."

...It was Kobato who slowly raised her hand, half in tears.

She was holding the piece of paper with the four on it.

"K-K-K-Kobato-chwan!?"

Sena was sent into a frenzy.

"Ah, uhh, umm, I-I didn't mean to tease you K-Kobato-chan... T-this one doesn't count! You don't have to listen to my order!"

"It's unfortunate, but... any order given must be seen to the end."

Yozora coldly stated with a mournful expression.

"That is true. A country cannot stand if its master must always change his orders."

Yukimura coolly added.

"...Kodaka's little sister. You were prepared for this when you joined the game, were you not? If you wish to blame someone, then blame that heinous dictator over there..."

Kobato stopped crying and nodded deeply.

"I-it's my fault!? B-but look, we don't even have any swimsuits! We can't do anything about that!"

"I don't have a swimsuit, but I do have some bikini armor. We can use that instead."

Rika casually said before running out of the clubroom.

What Rika brought back to the gloomy atmosphere of the clubroom, was a cosplay outfit that looked like the kind of swimsuit-esque high leg armor female warriors would wear in old fantasy novels that showed off a ton of skin.

Kobato worked up her resolve, and put on the bikini armor in silence.

"...Making me, a noble of the Exalted Night... wear the attire of a savage female warrior... How humiliating... I won't forgive you... I'll never forgive you for this..."

"Uuu... I'm sorry Kobato-chan, I'm sorry..."

Sena got teary eyed after having Kobato glare at her with a true hatred in her eyes.

☺

"Ok, time for round two."

Yozora said, after we'd all drawn our lots for the second time.

"Who's the king? ......Oh, it's me."

Yozora stated, having opened up her own lot.

I pulled the number two.

I prayed Yozora wouldn't get anything big as I watched her feel her way through the box.

I could already tell my plan was a failure after that crazy order from the first round, leaving a non-king such as myself no options but to pray.

Yozora opened up the piece of paper, and―― Her face went red in an instant.

"W-who's the idiot who wrote this...!?"

"? What's it say?"

"...Number five, read the following paragraph in a loud voice."

"The following paragraph?"

"W-who's number five!? Read what's written on here!"

"Ah, that's me! Ahaha!"

Maria named herself, happily for some reason, and took the piece of paper.

"Hmm, I just have to read this?"

"Y-yeah."

Yozora gave an awkward nod.

Maria opened up the paper, and read "the following paragraph" in a crisp, clear voice.

"S-shtopppp! I-I'm cumming! I'm, I'm, I'm cumminggggg! Thish is amazing! Thish ish so amazing! It feelsh so good! I'm cumming! It feels so good I can't stop! Ahhh! My mind is going blank!!"

Yozora, Sena, and Kobato (bikini armor version) just stared at the floor with beet red faces.

"W-what the hell are you making people read!?"

I said, facing the obvious culprit behind all of this, Rika.

"Hmm... I really wish one of my three upperclassmen would have had to read that while suffering an agonizing amount of embarrassment, but oh well."

"Hey~ hey~ What was with that weird paragraph? Why was come spelt wrong the whole time?"

I wasn't able to say anything in return to Maria, who'd asked with her head tilted to the side.

"And hey, Rika, what were you gonna do if you got that?"

"I'd read it, obviously. Boldly, and full of glee."

"...Damn pervert..."

Still, she managed to think up an order others wouldn't want to do, but that she could do with ease.

Rika Shiguma, truly a perverted tactician to be feared.

☺

After our third draw, Sena was king again.

"See, I really am a noble existence born to be king! The first round was... unfortunate, but... Uuu, don't glare at me Kobato-chan..."

Sena grabbed an order from inside the tissue box as Kobato stared her down with a cold look in her eyes.

"Umm... The king has to go to the convenience store in front of the school, walk up to the clerk, and then point at their own face and say "Did you see a customer who looked like this just now?" Then, while the clerk is confused, yell "You idiot! That was Lupin!" before running out of the store. Ahaha, what the heck, this is great! I feel sorry for the poor soul who has to―― Wait, the king has to!?"

Sena looked utterly stupefied as she stared at the order.

"Kuhaha!"

A mischievous smile full of satisfaction rose on Yozora's face.

Guess she's the one who wrote that order.

"H-hey, what is this!? Why does the king have to do this crap!? This doesn't count!"

"The king's orders are absolute. Even if it's an order upon himself."

"That is true. A king is meant to be a model for the citizens... A country cannot stand if even the ones making the laws refuse to follow them."

Yozora and Yukimura both added, one after the other.

"Uuu...! Fine! I just have to do it, right!? Uuu, Yozora you idiottt...!"

Sena threw the order away while screaming at Yozora.

I got a good look at the paper she threw, and saw the corners were folded in three.

I almost gasped as I realized it.

This must be something Yozora did so she wouldn't pick these orders when she was king...!

To think she'd come up with a trap like this... Yozora's as fearsome as ever...

☺

Thus, Sena accomplished her task.

"That was amazing... I've got a whole new opinion of you now..." I said.

I went into the convenience store first to make sure Sena did what she was supposed to, and felt a little impressed after seeing her go through that whole farce.

"Uu... I can't ever go to that store again..."

Sena cried with her head hung in shame.

And so, after returning to the clubroom, we moved on to round four.

Rika ended up being king, but she looked a little nervous as she pulled out an order due to everyone having realized that even the king wasn't safe.

"Draw! Order card! Open!"

Rika opened up the order and read it out loud.

"The order! Number one has to show their chest to everyone! ...Wow, this is the worst..."

It was an order that even had Rika creeped out.

But, for some reason, Rika's look of disgust was directed at me, along with a look of disdain from Yozora as well.

"That's my Aniki... So hardcore..." Yukimura said with eyes brimming with respect.

"A low risk high return order that doesn't matter even if you get it yourself... Even Rika hadn't thought of this one... Not bad, Kodaka-senpai..."

"Huh!? H-hold on! I didn't write that!"

I mean, yeah, obviously, I, the only male Neighbors Club member, am the most suspicious in this case, but I swear it wasn't me!

"Ahh, I wrote that one."

Sena said as though it were nothing.

"Y-you... Seriously, what would you have done if you got this order!?"

We were all shocked at Sena.

I remembered that incident from summer break―― Sena's naked body―― causing my face to go all red.

"Heh heh, as if that would ever happen!"

Honestly, where do you get that confidence from...?

"Umm... so who is it? Who has to... show everyone their chest...?"

Rika asked, timidly, and everyone checked their number.

The person who drew the number one lot was―――― me.

......Hence, I showed everyone my chest.

I learned that it's embarrassing to take off your clothes in front of other people, even if you are a guy.

☺

Our fierce battle raged on for several more rounds.

Yukimura was king in round five, and had to sing an a cappella piece.

I hadn't heard him sing ever since we went to that karaoke place, but his voice was as plain as ever... He wasn't tone-deaf or anything, but it was just a very flat way of singing.

Kobato was the king in round six, and the order was to read a paragraph like the one from round two out loud. This time though, the one who had to read was Rika.

And, just as she said, Rika read her own smut paragraph boldly and with glee. The contents would mostly get covered in asterisks anyway, so I'll omit it.

Yozora was king in round seven, and the order was to ask 10 people walking around "Would you rather eat poop flavored curry or curry flavored poop?" which was practically like a taboo to the members of the Neighbors Club, who can barely even talk to others as is.

Luckily Maria got the order, because I'm pretty sure it would've been impossible for everyone else.

By the way, nobody answered when I asked who wrote that cold-blooded order, but I noticed one of the corners was folded in, so it was probably Yozora.

...Adding marks for yourself is great, but what was she planning on doing if someone else picked that order when they were king?

Round eight had Rika as king, with Yozora and Maria doing radio exercises.

They were like polar opposites. Maria was full of energy, but Yozora was clearly embarrassed, and her cheeks were dyed red.

I was king in the ninth round, and the order was for Sena and Rika to run around the track three times.

Sena did it with ease, but our resident hikikomori, Rika, looked like she was about to pass out.

"...Oeh... K-Kodaka-senpai, you sadist... If you're going to tease Rika, please do something that hurts instead of something that tires me out... Gfuh..."

"It's not like I wrote the order, but... well, sorry..."

...By the way, Kobato was the one who wrote the more normal orders from rounds eight and nine.

Maria was king in round ten, and Yukimura had to wear a bald wig.

He seemed strangely happy as he said, "It's as if I've become a true warrior."

He looked more like a defeated soldier to me, but if he's happy about, then I guess it's fine.

"...That's weird... I thought it'd be a lot funnier when I was writing it, but it doesn't really make you laugh."

Sena said with her head tilted to the side.

Right around then, our enthusiasm started to droop. It's probably about time to stop... but, right as I was about to say something,

"Umm, number five tell a joke!"

Sena, the king this round, said in a voice that sounded like she didn't really care.

...I was the one holding the number five lot.

Geez... Everyone was calming down, but now it looks like things are about to get more lively in here.

By the way, I was the one who wrote this order, and this was the first time someone drew one of my orders.

My plan of having an order that wouldn't cause much damage if it hit me finally bore some fruit.

"Alright, guess I'll let you all in on the world's first presentation of my latest joke."

"""Ehhh......"""

Yozora, Sena, and Rika each let out a voice that sounded like they really didn't want to be here for some reason, and even Yukimura and Kobato made strained looks on their faces.

It must be from all the orders they've had to do up until now.

But I'll blow all that away with my hilarious joke!

............

......

...

"Ahahahahahahahaha! Ehhh!? I-in the, in the fridge!? Ahaha, that doesn't make any sense! O-Onii-chan, ahahahaha, Onii-chan your jokes are always so funny! Ahahahahaha! You're a genius! Onii-chan you're a joke telling genius, gyahahahaha!!"

Maria was laughing so hard she was holding her sides after hearing my joke "The Man Carrying A Refrigerator".

...And only Maria was.

As for everyone else, they looked exhausted, and were staring at me with a dull look in their eyes.

What's with this ridiculous reaction...

"Haa... I feel really tired now and all, so should we just call it a night?"

Rika said, along with a deep, deep sigh.

"Yeah..." Yozora nodded in agreement.

"Hey hey, come on you guys, you don't have to hold back, go ahead and laugh."

"...Your taste in jokes is so... Well, this is nothing new I suppose..."

Yozora said, along with a deep, deep sigh.

But, I noticed that the edges of her mouth were lifted, ever so slightly.

"Yozora-senpai, are you laughing?"

Rika asked, having noticed the same strange occurrence as me, to which Yozora replied with a short "Hah," and said,

"I just couldn't help but laugh at how pathetic that whole thing was."

"What's that supposed to mean!?"

Yozora completely ignored my question, and declared,

"Alright, we're all tired, so the next round will be the last."

☺

I was feeling a little unsatisfied at everyone's reactions still, but the 12th round began despite that.

We all drew our lots.

"Who's the king?"

Yozora asked, so we all opened up our lots.

I was number three.

"Ah! Me! I'm the king!"

Sena said while waving her lot back and forth.

"Meat again...?"

Yozora said in an irritated voice.

This is the fourth time Sena's been king out of our twelve rounds.

"Heh heh, I really am one of the humans chosen by God. The word 'King' itself seeks me out as its owner."

"You might be right. The title 'King of Bad Luck' suits you perfectly after all."

"I-I'm not the king of bad luck! It's true I haven't pulled any good orders yet though..."

What, my order wasn't good enough for you?

Having me tell a joke was as good a decision as the Free Markets Act was!

"This is my last chance... I'm definitely getting Yozora to lick my feet!"

Sena shoved her hand into the tissue box, full of vigor. She closed her eyes, and felt around.

"Which one did I write... Hm?"

Sena raised her eyebrows in confusion.

"...It feels like one of the orders is stuck on the bottom of the box..."

"!"

I got the feeling Yozora twitched for a second there.

"...Ok, this is it! This is the perfect order to end with!"

Sena pulled her arm out of the box at full speed, and read the order out loud.

"Number three has to kiss the king!! ――――Wait, whaaaatttttt!?"

Sena let out a scream.

"A... kiss...? That certainly is a standard with the King Game, but I never thought somebody would actually write something so cliché..."

Rika said, in a half-surprised voice.

"A-a kiss...? Umm... w-who's number three!?"

Sena asked, her face a shade of red.

"......I am."

I mumbled, raising my hand into the air.

"Kodaka!?"

Sena's face got redder and redder.

She seriously managed to pick that order of all orders while I have number three... She really is the king of bad luck...

"Kodaka-senpai and Sena-senpai have to kiss..." "Aniki and Sena-anego..." "An-chan..."

Rika, Yukimura, and Kobato all made complicated expressions.

"Ohh, a kiss huh!? That's really mature, ahaha!"

Maria was the only one who seemed to be enjoying herself.

"Tch... Meat..."

Yozora groaned in a voice full of loathing.

"C-come on Kodaka, hurry up and get over here!"

Sena yelled at me.

"Ueh!? W-we're seriously doing it!?"

I could tell my face was getting hot.

"W-we have to do... The king's orders are absolute..."

"O-oh, yeah... Guess... so..."

Everyone's had to do their own orders, no matter how bad they were, up until now.

We can't just skip this one order after all this time.

I moved closer to Sena.

This is just a game... I'll just give her a little peck... I kissed Mom every day when she was alive, it was like saying hi.

"H-here I go..."

Sena said with a nervous expression as she brought her face closer to mine.

That silky blond hair and white skin, those beautiful blue eyes and long eyelashes, her pretty lips――

She usually acts like a total hopeless case, so I never really paid much attention to it before, but when I take a good look at her, I can tell that Sena really is an amazingly cute girl.

And I mean, is S-Sena ok with this?

Is she really ok with k-kissing me...!? If the other guys at school found out about this, they'd probably hate my guts and then I'd never make any friends...

As I thought to myself, Sena's face was getting closer and closer.

There can't be more than 20 centimeters between our lips now.

Sena stuck her lips out slightly, and tightly closed her eyes.

I closed my eyes too.

Right as I could finally feel Sena's breath on my lips――

"Stoooooooooopppp!!"

Thwack!

Thwack!

Yozora screamed and smacked my head, then Sena's, with her flyswatter in rapid succession.

"W-what'd you do that for!?"

Yozora's face went deep red at Sena's complaint before saying,

"Y-you just can't do that! It's shameless!"

"W-what do you want me to do about it, the king's orders are absolute!"

"S-s-s-s-shut up, I said you can't so you can't!"

Usually, Yozora can talk Sena down like that, but she's acting like a kid throwing a temper tantrum right now

But, well, I'm relieved she did that.

Then, my eyes drifted to the top of the table.

"Oh, I know――"

I ran to the table with my idea fresh in my mind, and quickly poured a glass full of cola.

It was the glass Sena was using.

I drank the cola I'd just poured into it in one gulp, and declared,

"There, all done!"

""Huh...?""

Sena and Yozora both look at me with puzzled looks on their faces.

"Y-yeah, you know... that was an indirect kiss... D-does that not count...?"

I timidly asked, and was quickly met with a "There's no problem with that at all!" from Rika.

"Kukuku... I suppose that shall do..." "Aniki..."

Kobato and Yukimura looked relieved.

Yozora had a complicated look on her face too, but a few moments later, she declared,

"Ok! That's the end of the King Game!" in a loud voice.

"Muu..."

Sena was the only one who seemed unsatisfied as she rubbed her fingers along her lips, but in the end she simply murmured, "I guess it'd be pointless to do it as part of a game anyway..."

And so, the Neighbors Club's final exams after party came to a close...

☺

The day then continued, and it was now nighttime.

Kobato was asleep, and I was about to get into my own bed as well.

However, the phone started ringing all of a sudden, so I got out of bed to see who it was.

Who's calling at this hour... Kate again...?

I hazily ran that possibility through my mind as I picked up the phone.

The person who'd called, was my father who was currently working overseas―― Hayato Hasegawa.

"Yo, long time no talk."

"Ah, hey."

I gave back a simple reply.

"I'm doing fine I guess. Kobato is too."

That was my answer to him asking how I was doing.

"I see." he replied in a relieved voice.

"So, did you need something?"

"Ah, it's nothing that big really, but..."

It was rare to see Dad not getting straight to the point about something.

"So... what is it?"

"Ah, I just heard this from Zaki, but..."

"Zaki?"

"Kashiwazaki. You met him, right? Pegasus Kashiwazaki."

"Ohh, the chairman."

"Yep."

Now that I think about it, Dad did always call him Zaki.

Because his name was Kashiwazaki, obviously.

It's kind of a weird nickname, but he gets mad if you call him Pegasus so I guess it makes sense.

"So, what about him?"

Did something happen to the chairman?

I asked my question, and Dad answered it in the same kind of nonchalant voice he'd ask me "Get your homework done?" or "What'd you eat for dinner tonight?" in.

"Are you gettin' married to Zaki's daughter?"

...Zaki's daughter.

Pegasus Kashiwazaki's only daughter.

Kashiwazaki, Sena.

"Huh?"

The End.

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