Jason walked into the kitchen with Kenzie and I, and as soon as he laid eyes on Saya he threw her a nasty look.

Saya quirked an eyebrow, looking between Jason and I.

Do they know each other? Or is this another case of people hating Saya because of the rumors?

Kenzie opened the fridge and fished out a carton of juice.

Jason sat down next to me, leaving me sandwiched between him and Saya, and the angry looks they were giving each other.

“Thank you for finding his phone!” Kenzie poured Jason a cup of juice before sitting down right in front of him with a cheeky smile.

Fuck! She never smiled at me like that! Fuck!

Jason adjusted himself and faced Kenzie with unnatural determination. “It’s not a problem! He’s my best friend after all! And!” Jason glanced my way, but didn’t say anything else.

“So cute!!” Kenzie shrieked like a little school girl.

I exhaled loudly. Saya patted my back, despite the fact that she seemed a little upset. Though, it didn’t seem like she was that upset by Jason’s behavior. If I had to guess..

“You got balls to act that way in front of me. Especially after last night.” Saya whispered into my ear.

My face heated up and I had to look down at the counter.

Miyuki came down stairs and slowly walked into the kitchen. It was like the whole world stopped and paid attention to her. She suddenly stopped and stared at Jason.

Not you too Miyuki

“Hello.” Kenzie interrupted with an eye roll. “It’s nice to see you.”

Jason meekly waved at Miyuki. She didn’t react to him and grabbed some leftovers before heading back to her room without a word.

Not my proudest moment, but I breathed a sigh of relief. Which elicited a sigh from Saya.

Kenzie rolled her eyes and sighed before turning her attention back to Jason. “So!” She clapped. “Did you just come over to bring Jeff his phone?”

“No!” Jason replied quickly, his eyes shining brightly. “I wanted to hang out with him today! There’s a taste fest going on right now and I think he’ll like it!”

“Really?! I forgot about that!” She turned to me with a smirk. “That’s a great idea for a date!”

Jason’s eyes widened and his face turned red as he looked at me.

Why the fuck are you looking at me like that?! It’s a joke, right?! “Please. Don’t encourage him.”

“Hm..” Kenzie rested her chin on her hand and lightly tapped her lips. “Okay. So I want to hear all about you!” Kenzie pointed to Jason.

“Me?” Jason asked, pointing to himself.

“Yup!” Kenzie responded with a devilish smile.

“Well.. I umm.. Grew up..a little.. Everywhere.” Jason started to wilt under Kenzie’s gaze and his speech could barely be considered a whisper.

Damn he’s bad with pretty much all women.

I looked at Saya and she seemed to be surprised.

Kenzie leaned onto the counter, her smile deepening. It was like she was a predator playing with her prey. “Keep going…”

“And I have a mom.. And two sisters. Both of them are older than me.” Jason looked at the counter and started trembling a little.

This went on for a very long and uncomfortable time. It got so bad Saya suggested that we leave them alone.

I almost took her up on the offer.

I finally ended after Jason promised to introduce her to his mom and his sisters.

I was getting ready to take a shower, but Kenzie suddenly stopped me. “Wait!” She grabbed my shirt and brought her face closer to me and started sniffing.

“What.. are you doing?” I was of course creeped out and embarrassed by Kenzie’s strange behavior, not to mention there being people here to see this. But, I was also strangely.. Aroused.

Having a beautiful woman with big titts and cleavage that I could peek at sniffing me was definitely a turn on.

I looked over to Jason who was wide eyed and looked confused and…something else? I’m not sure I want to know. I then looked to Saya and she looked.. Worried?

Why?

Kenzie frowned before letting me go. “Well, you two have fun!” She then whispered in my ear. “I’ll talk to you later.”

A shiver ran up my spine, and it wasn’t a good one.

I took a shower while Jason waited in the kitchen and then we set off to ‘hang out’. Where? I don’t know. Jason said he had something planned.

Hopefully it’s something normal...

Jason and I headed out, which forced me to rip Jason away from Kenzie.

I can’t believe a guy who doesn’t intend nor want a harem, somehow manages to cuck me! Pretty bastard!

“Are you okay? You look upset?” Jason suddenly asked.

You fucker trying to act like you care! “I am not upset!”

Jason raised his hands and took a step back from me. “Okay…”

I grabbed the bridge of my nose and took a deep breath to calm down. “So what was that thing back there with Saya?”

Jason’s right eye twitched, and he frowned slightly. “I just don’t think she’s good for you.”

“Is it because of the rumors?” That tends to be the reason.

I unintentionally released a bit of aggression in my voice. Why? I’m not sure.

Jason made a complicated face “Yeah… and I just don’t have a good feeling about her.”

“You know.. she’s not so bad. I think if you got to know her more, she would grow on you.” She’s certainly growing on me. Though, she has her moments to where..

It doesn’t matter. I already promised not to abandon her. This time it’s going to be different!

“I don’t..” Jason spoke up. “ I don’t think you’ll leave her alone. So just be careful.”

Things were quiet for a while and awkward, so I decided to change the subject. “So the taste fest?”

Jason noticeably perked after hearing my question. A thousand watt smile came to his face as he faced me. “The taste fest!”

Jason then went on to explain the fest. It’s kind of self explanatory, but to sum it up it’s a huge festival where various vendors show up and sell their food. There’s also little fun games they play as well.

As we were making our way to the festival, I couldn’t help but notice various women damn near breaking their necks to look at Jason.

I could only sigh in envy. “How do you get used to this?”

“Hmm?” Jason looked at me as if he had no clue what I was talking about.

“All of the women.” I pointed to a few of his admirers on the train. Some of them blushed and some of them quickly averted their eyes.

“Oh..” Jason sputtered with a not too surprised face. “It.. gets normal after a while. I hardly notice it.”

“Protagonist energy.” I laughed as I leaned back against the seat. “Sometimes.. I think they picked the wrong guy for this job.”

Jason raised his eyebrow.

“It’s nothing.” I replied.

Before I could say anything else, an older woman appearing to be in her late twenties-early thirties, sat next to Jason and tapped him on the shoulder to garner his attention. She was dressed in a beige jacket, black sweater and blue jeans with brown fur boots. She had dyed blond and brown accented hair and blue eyes.

Not too bad if I say so myself.

“Hey. I think you’re really cute. When you’re free, we should hang out?” The woman suddenly announced with her best chipper voice and broadest smile.

I inwardly rolled my eyes watching the spectacle in front of my eyes.

Jason looked a little surprised, but quickly put on his usual fake smile when interacting with women. “I'm not sure-“

“Let me see your phone.” She interrupted with her hand out.

Wow, that's aggressive.

“I...” Jason looked troubled, but the woman just ignored the obvious signs of his uncomfortability.

“Come on. I don’t bite!” The woman interrupted with a thousand watt beam smile and added extra emphasis to the end of her sentence.

Jason looked at me and then down for a second. Finally making the decision to give her his phone by reaching into his pocket.

Aren't I supposed to be helping him?

For some reason, something didn’t sit right with me.

“Actually..” I interrupted. “He’s mine.”

I interlaced my fingers with Jason’s and his eyes widened along with the woman trying to pick him up.

Many women frequenting the train made audible gasps and some looked like they were on the verge of tears.

Damn. He has this type of effect on women.. he really is a living cheat code. What a waste.

“Can we help you?” I asked as I leaned my head on Jason’s shoulders. To which he twitched in response, but didn’t say anything.

The woman looked between Jason and I for a few long, uncomfortable and silent seconds.

This is one of those moments that you never discuss with your homie. You better appreciate this.

Finally, she sighed, reaching into her purse and pulling out a colorful card. “Here.” She gently placed her card on Jason’s thigh, letting her hand linger for a little too long.

“Call me if it doesn’t work out.” She announced with a laugh and a wink before stepping off of the train at her stop.

Jason must have some sort of weird effect on women. At this point I’m nearly convinced he’s a hidden character. Or maybe he was meant to be the protagonist.

As soon as she left, Jason breathed out a huge sigh of relief as he melted into his chair.

I chuckled a little as I sat up.

I looked around at the many women staring daggers at me. I decided to keep playing along and threw them some nasty looks back.

“Thank you.” Jason sheepishly announced with his face facing the floor.

“No pro-“ I tried to pull my hand away, but Jason refused to let go. “Hey. You can let go of my hand.”

Jason nodded his head and his trembling hand reluctantly let go of mine.

I did want to move on from the situation, but I had to ask this question. “Do you just give out your number to every girl?”

“..yes. “ Jason sighed. “Sometimes it gets really bad and I have to change my number.”

“You have to start telling them no.” Yes. I know this is ironic coming from me.

Jason laughed sadly. “I do want to tell them no, but.. it just makes things worse.”

I frowned. “Wait. How did you get the girls at school to leave you alone then?”

“I.. made a deal..” Jason answered very slowly, as if he was ashamed.

“Deal?” I repeated.

Jason looked at the ground. “I.. don’t want to talk about it.”

Is it something sexual?

“Why are you like this?” I couldn’t help but to ask. A Chad who’s afraid of women? There’s something there.

Jason's lips slightly parted, but he quickly closed his mouth. Not answering my question.

What a nightmare to be this good looking and unable to enjoy it. Poor guy.

Wait!

Do I have sympathy for a Chad right now?!

“Oh my god…” I absentmindedly whispered.

Jason looked my way, and I quickly shook my head to clear my thoughts. “Whatever the reason is.. I’m sorry.”

Jason slowly nodded his head and muttered, thank you.

Our stop came up shortly after and we stepped off of the train in silence.

We made it to the taste fest shortly after and I have to say...

“Woah…” A huge number of people were crowded around various food vendors. The smells were delicious, drawing me in like a moth to a flame.

“I can’t believe you’ve never been before.” Jason interrupted my thoughts with a small smile on his face.

“Yeah.. I just moved here. And I’m… kind of a shut in..” Huge understatement. Since coming to this world, this is the most that I’ve been outside. Ever since-

My heart quickened and my stomach twisted.

I pushed it deep down. So far down that it should never surface again. “So…thanks for pulling me out of my dungeon.” I put on the brightest, fakest smile that I could muster.

“Don’t worry! I’m the same way!” Jason patted my shoulder. “But now that I have you, we will travel the world together!"

I inwardly winced as I saw the stars in Jason’s eyes, while the introvert inside of me regretted what I had just said.

Well, that’s going to be a conundrum for future me to deal with.

Jason and I entered the festival and started walking and taking note of the various stalls around. There was a band playing on a stage centered in the middle of the festival. Though I couldn’t get a good look at them because of how far away they were.

We moved through the crowd and arrived at our first food stall to try.

A tanned chubby man wearing a red banana was standing in front of a bustling staff of chef’s. Hello! This is my stall! Here we serve gator sausage, bites and burgers! As well as snake bites, sausage and burgers!”

“I want to try the spicy volcanic gator sausage!” Jason announced as he pointed to it on the sign.

The owner looked back at his staff with a, ‘Is he serious?’ face.

Well.. that’s a bad sign. “Uhhh.. I don’t-”

“Come try it with me!” Jason quickly pulled out his wallet and paid the owner.

After a 5 minute wait, the food was ready and the owner was kind enough to throw in two jugs of water for free.

Again. Bad sign.

Our food came out in tin foil and paper in a box. The food was so hot that it burned my nostrils from the smell alone. I opened the box and the sausages were blood red and covered in various peppers and red sauce and chili flakes.

I looked at Jasonas if he was crazy, but he ignored my stares. His eyes were shining and he was drooling.

Everyone seemed to be interested in our reactions and watched us with extreme enthusiasm.

“Let’s go!” Jason took a huge bit out of his sausage and began to munch on his food with a big grin.

I shrugged my shoulders and picked up my sausage for a bite.

It must not be that hot.

Volcanic… was the right word! My tongue burned and my eyes watered immediately after taking a bite!

Jason didn’t look any better as he guzzled water damn near by the gallon after eating his sausage in its entirety.

With a loud, ‘AH!’ Jason downed the jug of water and wiped his now red lips. “That was great, right?!”

“…NO!” I screamed as I fanned my now red lips.

“Hey!” And just like before, another girl approached Jason.

Behind the curly haired brunette, was a pack of girls eyeing Jason like predators.

I opened my mouth to speak, but none of the girls seemed to notice me or even care for that matter. They were far more fixated on Jason and walked right past me to encircle him.

Why did I think differently?

Well, I guess it’s time to save Jason… from pussy!

I’ll see myself out.

Jason was currently encircled by girls and even more seemed to be joining them as strange as that sounds. He was putting on his, ‘nice guy act.’ He had his hands up in surrender and his eyes were spinning as he was frantically turning and looking for a place to escape to.

I pushed my jealousy to the side, and Bo guarded my way through the herd of ever growing girls.

This time, we weren’t trapped on a train. So I grabbed Jason by the collar of his shirt and snatched him out of the crowd. This seemed to piss the girls off and they started swearing at us. Which eventually led to them chasing after us.

“I’m sorry..” Jason sheepishly spoke as we made it to the other side of the festival. “

“It’s… no.. problem.” I am so fucking out of shape! “It’s.. sorta fun in its own fucked up way.”

“How about we just leave? This is going to keep happening and it’s going to get worse the longer we stay.” Jason looked dejected and sighed loudly. “I’m so sorry…”

“Ja-“

“Jason!” Rebecca crashed into Jason and he started flailing around helplessly.

Jason seemed to have had enough and forcibly separated himself from Rebecca.

There you go Jason! No beta male characters around here!

Rebecca's eyes started watering and as soon as she got ready to say something, Jason cut her off.

Jason looked at Rebecca with unbridled rage, and he started turning red. “You’re ruining our date!”

“Eh?” I replied.

“Huh?” Rebecca’s eyebrows furrowed and she looked between Jason and I repeatedly.

I don’t know either! It has to be a slip of the tongue, right?

I looked at Jason who had bright red ears.

Right?

A crowd started to gather, hungry for some juicy drama.

“I mean us hanging out!” Jason corrected as he looked my way. He turned back to Rebecca with a scowl. “We had a deal!”

“I-I-I’m sorry.. I was just happy to see you..” Rebecca stuttered and tears dribbled down her cheeks.

Oh wow.. I kind of feel bad for her now.

Rebecca turned to me with scorn in her eyes.

Tch! Now she thinks it’s my fault! I take back what I said!

“Rebecca!”

There was a group of three girls huddled together. Two redheads that appeared to be twins and one buxom black haired girl. They all had tears in their eyes and were shaking in rage.

Rebecca’s eyes went wide and she quickly did a 180. Her shoulders shook uncontrollably and she went silent.

“Why are you with that man?!” The black haired girl shouted, drawing even more attention from the crowd around us.

Rebecca looked between Jason and the girls, with her mouth flapping open and closed like a broken lid. Finally, she bit her lip and turned to face Jason. “I’m sorry..”

Rebecca then took off running through the crowd with tears streaming down her face.

The girls glared at Jason before chasing after Rebecca.

The crowd started to disperse and I breathed a huge sigh of relief.

Being the center of attention…well being next to the center of attention is stressful! “..what the fuck was that?”

Jason looked at the direction the girls went with a blank expression. “I.. don’t know…”

“Well either way, good fucking job!” I would have given Jason a hearty no homo slap on the ass, but luckily a small voice in my head told me that would go horribly wrong. So I settled for a firm pat on the back.

Once my hand made contact with Jason’s back, I noticed something peculiar. “Are you shaking?”

“That.. was so scary…”Jason nearly fell to his knees and I had to catch him from falling.

Jason was pale and shaking uncontrollably.

A number of questions raced through my mind as I brought Jason to a nearby bench and got him a soda.

“That was so scary..” Jason muttered as he took a sip of his orange soda.

“Yeah.. but you showed them who’s boss!” I shook him by the shoulder.

“Yeah.. But what happens tomorrow? I-“ Jason’s body became rigid and his pupils shrunk.

“Hello???” I shook him again, but he didn’t react.

Without warning, Jason took off running. He bumped into people one after the other and never looked back.

What the fuck?!?! What is up with today?!

I chased after Jason and maneuvered through the crowd of angry onlookers. It took a while but I finally caught up to him resting in a nearby alleyway.

“Jason!” I stomped over to him as he was bent forward dry heaving against the wall. “What the fuck?!”

“I have to leave!” Jason looked up, his eyes were wide as if he had seen a ghost. He looked around frantically and was breathing hard. He was shaking profusely as he grabbed my shoulders and stuttered before finally being able to speak. “W-w-w-we have to leave!” He shook me. “WE HAVE TO LEAVE!”

I know what this is…

“Jason.. You need to breathe..” He tried to speak, but I cut him off. “Slowly, and deeply.”

Jason closed his eyes and followed my command.

“Now.. look around you.” I ordered.

Jason looked around and started catching his breath. He stopped shaking and his eyes weren’t frantically bouncing around.

“See. Everything is okay.” I replied with a smile.

Where did I learn this technique from?

Tears welled up in Jason’s eyes and he hugged me before burying his face into my shoulder.

Soon, my shirt was stained by tears and slobber as Jason began to speak incoherently.

I slowly returned Jason’s hug and I stood in silence as he bawled his eyes out.

Jason finally calmed down and began to explain why he freaked out. “I thought I saw someone that I knew. She..” he choked on his words and tears welled up in his eyes again. “She was my old stalker.”

I sucked in air as I observed him.

It’s not surprising that he had a stalker. It’s just.. you don’t normally see guys with stalkers.

Jason took a deep breath before he continued. “At first, it was just her following me around school and to my house sometimes. But, one day she confessed to me, and I said no. That’s when.. “ He clenched his fist. “It got really BAD. She wouldn’t leave me alone no matter where I went. I had to transfer schools and even that didn’t stop her. It finally culminated when she broke into my house. My mom and I found her sleeping peacefully in my bed covered in my cat’s blood.. Of course we called the police and she got arrested. And as a result she got placed into a mental facility. That was the last I heard of her. I thought that would be the end of it, but I got stalker after stalker after that. Thankfully, none of them were as bad as her, but I’m still…”

Jason punched his thighs as he leaned against the wall behind him. “I took martial arts because of her! I don’t like being this way! I want to be normal! But…” Jason slowly slid down to the ground as he looked up at the sky. His voice cracked. “Why me?”

I didn’t know what to say, or what to do. I would have never thought that he was going through so much. Not too long ago I was under the impression that he was a Giga Chad, and I hated him for it.

I’m such an asshole.

Jason looked up to me, his hazel green eyes reflecting my image. He laughed pathetically. “I bet you don’t want to be near me anymore.”

The honest answer is… “Yes.”

Jason bit his lips and looked to be on the verge of crying again

I took a long deep breath, squatting down next to him. “But, I won’t abandon you.”

Jason looked at me wide eyed with a befuddled expression.

I’m just as shocked as you. “We’re friends, right?”

“Yeah…Yeah,we are friends.” Jason haphazardly smiled with red watery eyes. “We’re friends.”

Afterwards, we walked in silence all the way to my house. Occasionally Jason would make a complicated face and proceed to cry, but quickly regain control of himself. Although he was a mess, a bright smile kept returning to his face and he would start laughing to himself.

I probably would have been creeped out before by his behavior. But, this time it was okay. If anything, it made me feel relieved.

We finally made it back to my house and we’re now standing in front of my door.

“It was fun hanging out with you.” I did have fun, but truthfully I couldn’t fully enjoy it. “Let’s hang out again. Maybe we’ll go somewhere with a bunch of dudes.”

Jason's eyes lit up faintly and he chuckled softly. “Yeah, I had a lot of fun as well.”

The wind blew, revealing Jason’s innocent captivating smile, the street lights illuminating his figure.

I smiled and gave Jason a quick hug (if it’s any longer he’ll hold on for dear life) before turning around to go into my house. “See y-“

“Hey.” Jason grabbed my hand.

I turned around to see Jason staring intently at me while anxiously biting his bottom lip with knitted brows.

“Uhh.. yeah.” I had an uncomfortable feeling appear inside of my chest.

Jason's mouth hung open and he furrowed his brow as if he was in deep contemplation. He closed his eyes for a moment before opening them. “See you later.”

I raised an eyebrow, but I didn’t say anything on the matter. “See you later bro.”

I took one last look at Jason as I walked into my house. For some reason he had a sad look on his face as he watched me close the door.