“How was school, Ryouta?” Ryouta’s dad asks.

“Boring!” Ryouta shouts as he kicks his shoes off.

“Lower your voice when indoors. I’ve told you before not to shout so much.”

“Relax, dear. He’s a young boy. It’s alright to be loud every now and then. Are you forgetting when…” Ryouta’s mother says, leaning over to whisper something into her husband’s ear that makes him straighten up with a soft blush on his cheeks.

As intimidating as Ryouta’s father can be at times, his mother is always able to tame him and fluster him.

His dad may know how to be scary by raising his voice and sounding mean, but his mother knows how to be terrifying by talking in a sweet, gentle voice while making her demands.

Both Ryouta and his father are wrapped around her finger.

As intimidating or scary as his parents may be, they are good parents. He couldn’t ask for better.

“Show me your report card,” his mother requests. Well, it sounds like a request, but he knows that it’s a demand. There is no escaping this room alive if he doesn’t show her.

Ryouta takes off his backpack and pulls out a sheet of paper with his grades on them.

“A, A, A, B, and A. Great job, Ryouta!” his mother congratulates him, setting the card down to pat him lovingly on his head with one hand while her other hand comes out from behind her. In it is a large, round cookie with gooey chocolate chips stuck in it.

Ryouta gets a huge smile on his face when he sees it! Naturally, he wastes no time to devour it and get melted chocolate all over the bottom of his face from just how large and gooey the cookie is.

“What was the B in?” his dad asks.

“It doesn’t matter, does it, dear? Your son did a good job. Be proud of him,” she says.

Ryouta can hear his dad grumble before finally congratulating him, “Good job.”

Ryouta shrugs at his father’s praise. “Can I play games?” he asks his mother.

“Only until dinner, and then you have to study. Alright? I’m happy you only got one B, but let’s try to turn that into an A,” she says.

“Fiiinneee.”

Ryouta goes upstairs to his room.

His dog, Hero, is lying on the bed asleep. Hero is a large, black dog covered in hair that likes to get on everything—especially white clothes—and leaves a giant puddle of drool wherever he’s lying. That puddle of drool is currently on Ryouta’s pillow.

“Hero! What’d I tell you about getting my pillow wet!” Ryouta whines, pulling the pillow out from underneath the dog’s head.

Hero’s eyes shoot open as his body jolts upward. Though, as soon as he sees that it’s just his young owner, he lies back down and closes his eyes.

Ryouta tries grabbing onto Hero’s body to pull him off the bed, but the dog is just too big and heavy to move.

“Come! On! Move! Already! Ugh! Why do you never listen! Stupid dumb dog,” Ryouta whines some more.

“Quiet down and be nice to the dog!” Ryouta’s father shouts from downstairs. He is much louder than Ryouta ever is.

Hero rolls over onto his back and sticks his legs up in the air.

“You suck,” Ryouta pouts.

Surrendering to the dog and allowing him to stain his bed with drool, Ryouta hops up onto his chair and turns on his computer.

He may only be a child, but his favorite type of games are grand strategies and deep RPGs with insane levels of character customization options. All the other kids his age are just playing Call of Honor: Modernized War 9. They make fun of Ryouta for playing “boring” and “serious” games.

There is one person who loves to make fun of him and tease him more than anybody else.

Ryouta looks over at his window when he feels a breeze brush against him. “Who opened my window? I don’t want bugs getting in here,” he whines some more.

Something stops him as he tries walking over to it.

Somebody stops him.

Ryouta lets out the most terrified, girly squeak of a scream that he has ever made.

Sticking out from underneath his bed are two petite arms now reaching over to hold his ankles.

Whoever is underneath his bed, they can’t stop giggling at the sound he made.

Then he sees her.

She crawls out from under his bed and stands up, still giggling.

“I got you! Why do you always scream? Don’t you know it’s always me?” she asks him.

Ryouta, of course, immediately recognizes her. With brown eyes and medium-length brown hair that perfectly hangs down around her face as if framing it, she is none other than his best friend and biggest bully: Aiko.

Aiko has always clung to him since their dads are close friends and business partners, and his dad always talks about how he wants him and Aiko to marry when they’re older since they’re both Asian. Of course, it’s hypocritical since his dad is married to a Swedish immigrant whom is anything but Asian.

While Ryouta doesn’t care enough to think about marriage yet, given that he's only a little boy, Aiko makes sure to let every other girl he knows know how she’s his future wife.

“Ai! Stop it! I keep telling you not to sneak in here! It’s creepy!” Ryouta scolds her.

“You can stay for dinner, Ai!” his mother shouts from downstairs.

Ryouta grumbles and smacks his face down into the palm of his hand.

Hero also gets up from his spot and gives Aiko a big, slobbery lick on the side of her face.

“But it’s fun scaring you! What’s wrong? You pee yourself?” Aiko asks him with a grin on her lips.

“I didn’t! I don’t pee myself!” Ryouta shouts.

“Quiet down!” his father shouts at him now.

Ryouta grumbles and pouts. He feels like everybody is working against him.

Meanwhile, Aiko is standing there trying to hold back her giggling.

“What do you want? I want to play games before I have to eat since mom said I have to study after eating,” Ryouta explains.

“To spend time with you! Duh. Why else would I be here?” she asks.

“Go spend time with one of your other friends!”

“What other friends?”

She’s got him there. “Go make some other friends!” he orders her.

“I’m happy just being friends with you.”

Ryouta feels like tearing the black hair right out from the top of his head from the frustration that this girl causes him.

“Hey hey, Ryooooouta, let’s walk Hero! He’s getting chubby,” Aiko suggests, poking Hero’s belly. He lets out a pathetic whimper.

“I just want to play games though. Come oooonnnnnn.”

“Pleeeeaaasssseeeeee? I wanna walk him with you! Plus your parents won’t let me walk him alone.”

“Can Ai walk Hero alone?!” Ryouta shouts downstairs.

“Be! Quiet! And no!” his dad shouts back.

“Ugh! Fine, but it’s just going to be a quick walk, okay? I really want to play games before dinner!”

“Yay! Thanks, Ryooooouta,” Aiko says, leaning forward to place a quick kiss on his cheek before pulling away with a giggle. She loves how red he turns whenever she does that.

She also loves how his brain short circuits. It always turns him into a stuttering, mumbling, blushing mess who can’t decide between shouting at her, shouting for his mom, or running away and hiding before she does it again.

She does it again, this time on the opposite cheek.

“I hate you,” he whines.

“I love you too, Ryoooooouta!”

Surrendering for the second time, he walks downstairs with Aiko and picks up Hero’s collar and leash. Hero always comes running downstairs whenever he hears the metallic jangling of his collar. Every dog loves a good walk, no matter how chubby and lazy they may be.

“You’re holding onto him. He’s been a jerk to me lately,” Ryouta says, handing her the leash after latching it onto Hero’s collar.

“Okay! I’m not going to let you drag me around this time, Hero! I’m stronger now!” Aiko tries saying, but nobody believes her.

“Ryouta, make sure to stick close to her and take the leash if she’s having any trouble,” his mother says.

“I know, I knooowwww,” Ryouta replies. “Are there more cookies left?”

“Yes, but no more until after dinner and studying.”

“Pleeeaaaassseeee can I have one before I study?”

“Only if you promise to study super hard for me.”

“I do! I promise!”

“Good boy. Now, go on your walk.”

“Okay!” Ryouta is energized by the thought of eating another one of those delicious cookies after dinner. “Come on, Ai!” He figures that the sooner they walk Hero, the sooner time will pass, and the sooner it’ll be time for his cookie!

He opens the door for Hero and Aiko.

Hero takes off running! Aiko is pulled right out through the door as she struggles to stay on her feet. “Sl-slow down, Hero!” she tries ordering the dog, but he refuses.

Ryouta closes the door behind him and runs off after them. Despite his desire to only play video games and be lazy, he’s somehow the fastest kid in his grade. He’s able to catch up with his friend and dog in no time.

“Aiko!” Ryouta shouts.

He opens his eyes and clutches his shirt over his heart.

A bead of sweat rolls off his forehead.

“It’s been a while since I’ve had that nightmare,” he says, looking up at the swishing blades of his ceiling fan.