HER – LOVES AND FRIENDSHIPS

Aya stared anxiously at the hanging clock above the projector. Tick by tick, seconds passed by and the end of lectures approached, which marked the beginning of, what she assumed would be, a long night. I can’t believe I actually agreed, she sighed inwardly, glancing toward Tyson who appeared as cool and as indifferent as always during the lectures. Ah, I guess he’s right though. I know next to nothing about those two, and they practically grew up with Ty…

As the professor called the end of the lecture, Aya took in a deep breath before packing and slowly getting up, walking over to Tyson, Emma and Jared. Deciding she’d make the best of the situation, she regained her usual, deadpan expression as she joined the trio.

“You ready?” Tyson asked.

“Yup.” she said calmly.

“What are we watching?” Emma asked as the four moved toward the exit.

“It’s a secret.” Tyson said.

“I bet it’s something godawful.” Aya commented.

“Oi, I’ll have you know my taste in movies is spectacular!” Tyson exclaimed.

“Wasn’t your favorite movie A.I. for like a decade?” Jared asked. “Even I hated that movie, and I love anything sci-fi.”

“Shut up! No matter what anyone says, A.I. is a fucking masterpiece, and if you think otherwise I’ll fight you!”

“When was the last time you hit the gym?” Jared asked, smiling.

“Uh, about six years ago… when you dragged me there… and proceeded to beat my muscles into jelly.” Tyson said. “I still haven’t forgiven you that, just so you know.”

“He’s really the type to hold a grudge, isn’t he?” Aya asked.

“Ah, you have no idea,” Emma said. “When we were six, I accidentally stepped on his favorite toy. Last year, the three of us went to retro-toy convention of sorts and we stumbled upon that toy. He forced me to buy it. It was like 200$.”

“But wasn’t 200$ worth my forgiveness?”

“… how about I break the toy that can’t ever be repaired or replaced, huh?” Emma said, snickering.

“Oi!” Jared exclaimed, slapping Emma gently. “Don’t joke about that!”

“… ah, domestic abuse. How lovely.” Emma commented, sulking. “Well, the next time you need a hand, use your own.”

“He probably is,” Aya said as they exited the building, mingling with the leaving crowd. “More than you’d think.”

“Really?” Emma asked, arching her brow. “Just how much energy do your balls store?”

“… should I have prepared The Load Warrior for tonight?” Tyson asked.

“What’s that?” all three asked back.

“… your purity amazes me.” Tyson sighed.

“You’re twenty-three,” Aya said. “I can’t believe you still watch porn.”

“… I can’t believe you thought even for a moment that I don’t.” Tyson said.

“Ah!” Emma exclaimed suddenly, bursting into laughter for a moment. “I remember, back in third grade of high school, I walked on these two jacking off. The catch was, the quality of the video was so bad it was impossible to actually see anything…”

“… wait, was that when you offered to strip for us?” Jared asked.

“Eh? Was it?” Emma fell into a short thought. “Do you remember Ty?”

“Nah, I don’t think it was then,” Tyson said, thinking back. “I think it was during our graduation. You said you were broke and couldn’t afford anything else except your body.” … is it too late to leave? Aya thought, sighing inwardly.

“Ah, you’re right!!” Emma exclaimed. “Damn, I used to think being a slut was the best thing in the world back then.”

“Used to think? Back then?” Jared repeated, sneering.

“Oi, seriously, should I have prepared The Texas Vibrator Massacre?” Tyson asked.

“Seriously, I’m fine with porn, but what kind of shit do you watch?” Aya asked.

“… once you’ve seen things we’ve seen,” Jared said as he flung his arm around Tyson’s shoulder. “Even the world of Manhunters seems vanilla.”

“Okaaay, you two,” Emma said, shuddering for a moment and pushing them forward. “Go into your creep land by yourselves. We girls have more fluffy things to talk about.”

“I like fluff too!” Jared exclaimed. “Especially that rabbit tail you stick into--”

“Move, move!!” Emma exclaimed, blushing slightly. “Hear no evil, see no evil!”

“You are the evil, though… you even begged me for it…” Jared said dejectedly as him and Tyson moved forward, leaving Aya and Emma behind.

“S-sorry about that…” Emma said, looking away. Ty, get your ass back here or I’ll kill you bastard!! Although her thoughts were hectic, Aya’s expression still remained deadpan.

“Don’t worry about it,” she said. Who doesn’t like occasional rabbit in their ass? “We’ve all, uh, got our kinks.”

“… ugh, tell me about it,” Emma said. “But, you know, they’re supposed to be normal, right? I mean, butt play is normal! But him?! Listen to this,” Oi, do I really have to listen about your sex life?! “Last week, he forced me to dress up in some weird, alien uniform, and do the ‘robotic blowjob’. What the hell is a ‘robotic blowjob’?” Do I look like someone who knows?! “Ah, sorry… we barely met, and I’m already in the ‘bedroom talk’ mode. Khm, anyway, how are things with Ty and you?”

“Not bad,” Aya said. “We had our first fight last Friday.”

“Did you punch him?”

“Why would I punch him?”

“Wasn’t it his fault?”

“We came to an agreement that it’s always his fault,” Aya said, chuckling lightly. “Besides, he tends to punch himself just enough… well, at least emotionally.”

“Honestly? For the past six or so years, I thought he didn’t have any emotions.” Emma said, sighing. “I mean, every time we’d watch a comedy, he would just cynically comment and never laugh! I was certain Jared actually turned him into a robot…” … doesn’t have any emotions? Just how were you acting in front of them?!

“He does seem like the cold type, doesn’t he?” Aya said.

“Yeah,” Emma nodded as she looked at Tyson’s back. “But, I genuinely think there’s no nicer person… at least not from the people I met. After we graduated, neither Jared nor I really knew what to do with our lives,” she continued. “While he was already preparing for the entrance exams. When we finally decided to just follow him, it was only a week before the actual exams. Without a word of complaint, he tutored us while ignoring his own studies. Somehow, the two of us managed to pass, but because he spent so much time teaching us, he barely got into top ten when he could have probably easily taken first. Yet, not once did he say anything to the two of us. It’s kind of amazing, right?”

“… yeah,” Aya said, shifting her gaze from Emma to him. “Still kind of hard to believe, though.”

“Ha ha, I totally know what you mean!! He always talks sarcastically with the two of us, but if we’re really in a pinch, he drops everything to come and help us the best way he can.” she said. “Even if it’s something he has absolutely no idea about.” … yeah, just like with me… “But, enough about the boys. They’re tiring enough as it is. Tell me something about yourself instead!”

“Myself?” Aya asked, tilting her head slightly.

“Uh, let’s see… right, what do you want to do after graduating college?”

“Teach, probably.” Aya said. “You?”

“… ugh, hitting where it hurts,” Emma said, smiling bitterly. “Honestly? No idea. Jared and I’ve been talking about it a lot recently. His dad runs a shop back in our home town, so the two of us will probably go back if nothing else happens. Not exactly grand, but eh, it is what it is.”

“It’s not a bad thing necessarily.” Aya said.

“Yeah, I suppose it’s not,” Emma said, smiling. “I heard you landed 3rd on the overall ranking by the way! Congrats!”

“… I was aiming for second, though.” Aya grumbled, glaring at Tyson for a moment.

“Ha ha, I bet he brings it up all the time!”

“Yup, pretty much.” Aya said. “What about you?”

“… you really don’t hold back your punches, huh?” Emma said, sighing. “Forget ranking, I barely managed to pass. For one subject, I even had to go and beg professor to give me two points. Had to work for a week cleaning his paperwork in return. Enough about college. This is just making me depressed.” Emma said, slapping her cheeks lightly as she put on a smile. “Do you like shopping?”

“Uh… s-sure?” Aya said.

“Great! You and I, this Saturday. We’re cleaning up the store nearby, got it?” … this went in all the wrong directions. Ah well… she seems nice…

“Okay.” Aya nodded. “We can grab a lunch afterwards,” she proposed. “I know of a nice place.”

“Superb! Amazing! Here I am, shop-junkie, and there you are, food-junkie! Let’s dump those two bastards and get hitched together!!” Emma exclaimed, laughing. F-food-junkie? Am I really fat?!

“Sorry, I’d rather stay with Ty.” Aya replied seriously.

“Pft… ha ha ha,” Emma suddenly stopped, bending over in laughter. “Ha ha, t-that lucky bastard… ha ha ha…” … oh, right. She was kidding.

“S-sorry… I misunderstood…”

“Don’t worry about it,” Emma said, bumping Aya’s shoulder gently. “I’m happy, to be honest.”

“Hm?”

“Most of the girls he dated before were… uh, I know they’re my soul-sisters and all that crap, but they were kind of whores, you know?” Emma said, chuckling. “And even he looked like he dated them just for the hell of it. So I’m happy that a normal girl noticed just how great of a guy he is.” … normal? Where?! “He supported Jared and I no matter what. When the two of us were on a brink of a break-up, he sat us down and yelled at us for two hours and then wouldn’t leave until we two had a talk.” Ty, what the hell were you doing with your life… “When we were short on cash, he’d invite us over to ‘have fun’. When we fell behind in studies, he’d either give us notes or teach us. So, however little, I want to help him too, you know?”

“… so that’s why you shooed them away.” Aya said, coming to a sudden realization.

“Ha ha, yeah, sorry.” Emma said, smiling apologetically. “I know this basically amounts to nothing compared to what he did for us, but I honestly can’t think of anything else. And don’t worry about Layla. I’ll take care of that bitch.”

“… heh, thanks.” Aya chuckled, suddenly smiling, startling Emma.

“Holy shit… how doesn’t Ty burst whenever he sees you smile?!” … they really grew up together, huh?

“He wanted to ban me from smiling.” Aya said.

“… I wanna be on your side, but I totally agree with him. Poor guy…”

“… thank you,” Aya said warmly. “I know I’m an outsider looking in, but you still accepted me with open arms.”

“… oi, what do you mean outsider looking in?” Emma exclaimed somewhat angrily. “We can finally cosplay Fantastic Four the way it was meant to be!!”

“Of co—wait what?!”

“Right, Ty didn’t tell you? Every year, during the Halloween, we’d cosplay as Fantastic Four. Jared would be flaming dude, I’d be the invisible lady, and Ty would be the stretching guy.” … did they ever even watch the movies or read the comics?! “Whenever would someone ask us ‘where’s the fourth one’, we’d say ‘oh, he’s the thing nobody wanted’.”

“… so I’d be the Thing nobody wanted?”

“No, no, you’ll obviously be the invisible lady!! I always wanted to put on a costume that’ll let me reek with muscles! Heh, I’ll awake bi-tendencies inside Jared even if it takes me my whole life!!”

“… I think you just said something really dangerous.”

“Really? Let’s just ignore it then.”

“Deal.” Aya said. “I’m not cosplaying, though.”

“You’re saying that, but wait till you see Ty in costume,” Emma said, sneering. “You’ll be cosplaying Niagara Falls whether you want to or not. No, wait, that’s me with Jared. Hah, silly me, projecting my tendencies onto you. Tehe.”

“…”

“Alright, I’ll stop now.”

“Good idea.” Aya said; … can see why Ty liked her so much, though. “Let’s catch up to those two.”

“Yup, my filter actually works when near a guy.”

“… that’s one specific filter.”

“Tell me about it…”