“Well, he, uh...turned it in without letting you know.” Kikoe replied meekly to the now infuriated Seto,

“I’m going to kill him.” Seto rammed through Danshiro and Kikoe, walking with a calm facade back to the club room.

“Hey! No need to be rude…” Danshiro chastised him but he completely ignored him.

“Should we stop him?” Kikoe looked at Danshiro with a pensive expression.

“You want to be a witness for a murder? I know I don’t.” Danshiro gave a slight chuckle before starting to walk off.

Kikoe took one look back at Seto’s back before following Danshiro.

~~~~~~~~~~

“You want to head to the arcade?” Danshiro asked suddenly.

The sun was starting to descend as the afternoon was wearing on. The shouts from the track club practicing echoed out as Danshiro and Kikoe approached the school gates. The scattered students that remained were locked tightly in small cliques scattered across the school courtyard.

“Come to think of it, we haven’t been to the arcade together since we started high school.” Kikoe looked at the sky briefly before looking back at him. “Yeah! Sounds fun!”

Danshiro tried, and failed, to hide his excitement. “You seem happy, Dan. You miss spending time with your super responsible older sister?” She teased him in response.

I wish she would stop calling herself my “older sister.” The thought raced through his head as he looked at her smiling face.

“God, you seriously need to stop calling yourself my older sister. It’s creepy.”

“What’s so creepy about it?” Kikoe shot back quickly, visibly annoyed. The school was beginning to disappear behind them as they walked down the busy city sidewalk. The cars raced past as pedestrians silently passed by Danshiro and Kikoe.

“You’re the same age as me!” Danshiro yelled out.

“And?” Kikoe responded with a matter-of-fact tone.

Danshiro let out a loud sigh. “One of these days I’ll win an argument with you.”

“Keep dreaming, space captain.” Kikoe winked at him.

~~~~~~~~~~

The major city street flowed with multi-colored cars as Kikoe and Danshiro walked at the crosswalk. The people that surrounded them made sure to show them no attention as if they didn’t exist. Within a few minutes, the green crosswalk sign lit up.

Kikoe and Danshiro started walking across the street. “You ever wonder what would happen if you got hit by a runaway truck?” Danshiro said suddenly.

“That’s a bit of a macabre thought.” She replied hesitantly.

“I mean in anime they always get reincarnated into another world so I’m wondering what would happen if it hit me.” Danshiro held his head slightly up as they continued walking.

So he’s just joking. That actually makes sense. “You would be reincarnated as a level one kobold.” The comment strangely irritated him.

“WRONG! I would be a max level demon lord with my own harem of beautiful women.” Danshiro was wagging his finger at her as he spoke.

Kikoe was about to respond to his comment before she noticed that he was about to run into someone. “Dan!”

Danshiro reached the other side of the street, immediately running straight into a nearby pedestrian. Danshiro fell back onto his butt while the impact only caused the man to turn his gaze toward him.

“What the hell man!?” The man he had run into had his hair pulled into multi-colored spikes. His jacket was jet black with chrome chains running throughout. His face had multiple piercings through his lips, ears and nose. His annoyed expression directed at Danshiro.

“I’m sorry! I wasn’t watching where I was going.” Danshiro’s previous playful attitude melted in the face of his newfound aggressor.

The man grabbed him by the collar and pulled him up from the ground. “You think you can just disrespect me like that, you little brat?” The man nearly punched him before Kikoe’s voice rang out.

“Stop! Let him down. He said sorry already.” Kikoe yelled at the man. The man looked over at the Kikoe with a curious expression.

“What kind of man has his girlfriend fight his battles? Pathetic.” Danshiro hit the ground hard as the man dropped him and started walking away.

“Are you okay, Dan?” Kikoe bent down to try and help him up. Danshiro slapped her hand out of the way.

“I don’t need you to fight my battles…” Danshiro silently got back up and started walking again.

“I was just trying…” Kikoe started speaking before he cut her off.

“Actually, I think I need to head home. Sorry, Kiki.” Danshiro turned his head slightly back as he spoke before walking off.

What did I do that was so bad? Kikoe stood still as the pedestrians flowed around her, unable to make sense of how she had offended Danshiro so badly.

“Hey! I saw the whole thing. Are you alright?” Reina’s voice boomed out behind her as she quickly appeared in front of her.

“I-I’m fine. It’s nothing.” Kikoe tried blowing her off and started walking off.

“I still need to walk to my part time job. I have a few minutes if you want to walk with me.” Kikoe turned around to see Reina’s smiling.

Should I say yes, or no? The thought floated around her head. “Yes.” As if on instinct, Kikoe had not only agreed but did a slight bow in response.

“Great! It’s always better to walk with friends.” Reina enthusiastically responded.

Friends, huh?

Reina and Kikoe began walking toward the center of downtown. “Who was that guy, you were with? Reina’s eyes beamed on her. Kikoe could almost hear her next words in her mind.

“Let me guess. He’s your...completely platonic childhood friend?” Reina smirked as she spoke.

“He’s not…” Like instinct, Kikoe was already defending herself before she actually registered what she said. Reina’s glowing face greeted her as she regained eye contact.

“You’re right. I’m just so used to people thinking we’re a couple.”

“Your body language around him doesn’t really scream romantic interest.” Reina shrugged.

Wait, when was she watching us? The thought popped into Kikoe’s head.

Reina picked up on her sudden apprehension. “Oh, that must have sounded super creepy. I’m so sorry.” Reina started laughing. “I’ve seen you guys a few times on the way to school. You really come off like siblings but there’s no resemblance. So, childhood friends seemed most likely.” Reina put her hand on the back of her head as she spoke, a slight embarrassment as she tried to explain away the previous creepiness.

“It’s fine. The truth is I haven’t been able to make a lot of friends since the semester started. No one wants to be friends with the school’s chubby girl.” Kikoe delivered the words clearly but a slight undertone of sadness hid underneath..

“Nagata-san…”