It's a bright and sunny day outside. The gentle breeze from the ocean is keeping the area nice and cool as the island transitions from Spring to Summer. The end of the school semester is coming up, and that only means one thing.
"Hey Kousei, you got any sodas in the fridge?" Jay asks as he's scavenging for snacks in my pantry.
"Yeah, I got two cases for today," I respond from the living room table. "Can you grab me one while you're up?"
"Oh! Grab one for me too!" Yume chimes in.
"Me as well if you don't mind..." Ai kindly asks in a quiet, and polite tone.
"Sure thing! We need to keep ourselves energized for this studying session!" Jay cheers as he walks back to the table, holding all the sodas in his arms along with some chips he found.
Despite it being a perfect day to spend outside, sadly for the four of us, we are spending the day in my apartment studying for the upcoming finals. I messaged Ai and Yume yesterday and they agreed to come study with us. We figured Yume should be able to tag along so we can answer any questions she has since we should know anything she's having trouble with, being a grade behind us and all.
Jay wanted to invite Yunasa as well, but I felt it to be morally wrong to have a teacher aid with our private studies, especially for a test that she made herself. Noeri will be joining us later, she's helping some other friends study first.
Last year, it was just me and Jay, but it was more like me doing everything since Jay spent the entire time eating and sleeping. He ended up copying my answers and filled it out the night prior to the exam. He said it helped him, but I didn't want to do that again, so I figured having other people over would help him stay more focused.
It has been a couple days with my date with Yunasa, but only Jay knows about what happened. I'm not supposed to openly talk about what happens on the dates with the other girls. They are only allowed to bring it up themselves to prevent any unwanted drama.
Jay hands out the sodas to everyone and plops back in his seat. "You know, studying like this ain't so bad every so often."
I look over at his worksheet and it is completely blank, not to my surprise. Everyone had popped in an hour or so earlier, so I figured he'd at least have one problem done. "Have you been doing any studying?" I ask just to see what kind of excuse he uses this time. "You haven't even written your name on it yet!"
"Instead of doing it while you guys are, I was planning on waiting until you all were done so I wouldn't have to bother you with asking how to do a problem while you were working on your own one," Jay answers. He stretches his arms out to the sides and lays down on the floor. "This worksheet isn't even a grade anyways. I can always just skim your worksheet a few minutes before the test and I should be fine."
There aren't many people who have the ability to not actually study for a test and pass it with flying colors... Jay is definitely not one of those people.
"Jay, I have a feeling you finish just below the line of average grades every year. You could probably finish above average if you put in just a little effort," Yume comments as she continues to fill out her worksheet. "You never know, maybe Noeri will give you a little something extra if you actually end up with a good grade."
"I don't think Noeri is the type to do something like that," I respond. "She already finishes with some of the best grades at the school so I don't think pushing Jay to get high grades would do anything for her."
Jay shakes his head. "That's not entirely true." He holds a finger up in the air. "Earlier this week, she struck a deal with me. If I beat her in any subject, then she will do any one thing I say."
The room is filled with silence for a moment.
Ai raises her hand politely before speaking. "When you say anything, do you really mean anything?"
Out of all the people to ask that, Ai would've been my last guess just from the people in the room.
I wave my hand in front of me, "As if, there's no way Noeri would agree to something like that with a guy she had just met-"
"Nope, she actually did mean anything." Jay interrupts. "I asked her at least three times if 'anything' really meant anything and she proceeded to confirm my suspicions with examples."
Not a single person moved after hearing that. Out of the corner of my eyes, I can see Yume's face flushed red from ear to ear while Ai's eyes slowly lose their sparkle as she sits there in complete silence. I guess she had a high impression of Noeri and hearing that just shattered that image into a million pieces.
"Like... what kind of examples..." Yume whispers.
Ai quickly looks over at Yume, probably in an attempt to stop her from ruining her image of Noeri any more. I just kept my eyes on my worksheet, but my ears are in complete radar mode, ready to listen to everything without making it obvious that I am.
"You know, like her being my maid for a day, or letting me let go of all my primal instincts on her for a night," Jay says nonchalantly.
This guy really just admitted he could lose his virginity if he did better than his girlfriend on any subject on the upcoming exam. I want to see the expressions of Yume and Ai, but I don't want to make it obvious, so I throw my arms back to 'stretch.'
Yume's head looks as if steam is rising out from the top of it. I figure her imagination is running a little wild and it doesn't seem like it's gonna slow down for a minute. "I see..."
Ai didn't make a sound, however her head was placed firmly on the table, face down. It might've just been me, but I feel like I could see a small rain cloud over her head. I kind of feel bad for her, but I can't really do anything about it now. Hopefully Noeri can fix her image whenever she shows up later.
"Yeah, she really doesn't seem like the type say that kind of stuff, huh?" Jay smirks, clearly happy as he's probably thinking of the situation himself. "Though, I'm not the type of guy who'd do anything to her at this point in the relationship. I may not seem like it, but I do consider myself a gentleman. Doing something sexual to her without even really getting to know her isn't something I'd ever do." He sighs and closes his eyes, entering the tranquil place in his mind.
"You really didn't strike me as that type of guy," Yume confesses. "No offense, but I assumed since you like to gawk at any good looking woman that walks by you, you were just a skirt chaser and would take anything that was given to you."
"Do I really give off that kind of atmosphere?" Jay laughs. "I just like to live in the moment and enjoy the time I have with the people I have around me." Jay sits up and looks around the table, "I just don't want to live with any regrets, whether they are good or bad ones. I don't like thinking about the future too much, because all that creates is unnecessary stress and anxiety."
I can tell that Yume's opinion on Jay has changed just from her expression. She's not looking at him like a guy who just likes to stir trouble, but more as a guy that has a lot more to them than meets the eye. It's not surprising to me when people think of Jay that way from first impressions, but the more you get to know the guy, the more you find out how good of a person he actually is and that he just acts that way because of how he wants to live his life. Yume just nods her head after a moment and quietly goes back to filling out her worksheet.
There is still one thing that confused me however. "So, how come you just didn't deny her offer? Or even if you still do better than her on a subject, you can just tell her you don't want that right now so you'll just ask for something more tame instead?" I question.
"What do you mean?" Jay scoffs. "I am only going to get one chance at this. If I do better than her now and ask for something, then there goes my one chance." His eyes begin to shine with passion. "You see Kousei, you need to take into account that this deal can only be claimed once and it would feel like a waste to do it early, then hold onto it for a random day. I want to feel like I actually earned it, but only after more time has passed. This exam isn't going to be the only chance I have at scoring a higher grade than her. I'll just put in the effort when the proper time comes around."
"But, what if you never end up scoring better than her by the time we graduate?" I ask, genuinely curious about what he would do.
"Kousei, let's be honest, we are going to have sex before we graduate. It's only a matter of time. So even if I never score higher than her, it's not like nothing is going to happen," Jay responds. "I'd just use it for some kind of different kind of sex. Maybe something role play wise or something a little more extreme."
Yume's eyes narrow and darken. "I take back every nice thought I've had about you for the past few minutes. You really are a horny skirt chaser in the end."
The entire time this exchange is going on, Ai hasn't moved a single muscle. She's still face down on the table, but now along with the small rain cloud, there's occasional lightning strikes too.
Ai, Yume, and I return to our studies after that conversation. Jay continued to lay on the ground and even fell asleep at one point. Luckily he doesn't snore because I can assume if he did, Yume would've smothered him with a pillow to shut him up.
After some time had passed, there's a knock on the door. "I guess she finally finished studying with her other friends," Jay says as he gets up and makes his way to the door.
A moment later, Jay is walking back with Noeri close behind him. "Sorry I arrived so late. They needed a little bit more help than what I thought."
"It's no issue, thanks for coming out here and helping us out." I look around the room and everyone is stretching, promptly asking for a break. "Alright, well since it's been a bit since we took a break, let's take one now."
Ai and Yume let out of a sigh of relief as they throw themselves to the floor. "My head is pounding, I don't think I've ever ingested this much information in one sitting in my life," Yume moans. "You have any ice cream in your freezer? I could really go for something sweet right now."
"If you're into Butter Pecan, I have some of that." It's the perfect flavor since it's not too sweet. "I think I have Cookies and Cream as well."
Yume gets up and makes her way to the kitchen. "Where do you keep the bowls?" She starts looking through all the cabinets that she can reach. "Is it in one of these top cabinets?"
I get up and head to the kitchen, reaching above her and grabbing a bowl from one of the higher cabinets. "Yes, that would be correct," I say as I hand the bowl to her. "The silverware is the drawer in front of you."
"Thank you!" she grabs a spoon and starts scooping some of the cookies and cream in a bowl. "Oh, before I put it up, do you want some Ai?"
"I'm alright, thank you for asking though. I brought some fruit with me that I put in the fridge that I'll snack on instead," Ai replies as she migrates to my couch. Unlike Yume who is more carefree and laid back, Ai gives off a more polite and sophisticated atmosphere. "I'll get up and grab them in a minute, I just wanna relax for a minute," she says as she completely sinks into the couch.
"God, I wish I was those couch cushions..." Jay whispers next to me in the kitchen.
I look over at him with a disappointed expression. "You are the most degenerate person I know, and I am happy to know you are my best friend." I consider himself to be my inner thoughts as a person because of almost everything he says, I think to myself. I'll just never admit that openly for obvious reasons.
Yume makes her way back to the living room and sets her bowl of ice cream down on the table. At the same time, Ai finally gets up and grabs her fruit from the fridge. Noeri is eating some snacks she brought from her friends house while Jay and I casually sip on our drinks. The relaxing atmosphere has spread to the entire room and this truly feels like an ideal hang out session.
But the relaxing atmosphere only lingers for a little bit as it was time to get back to studying. Being rejuvenated from the sugars and drinks, we immediately kick things back into gear.
I am pretty confident that I'm gonna pass the final exams with no issue, but I still want to try my best and get the highest score I can achieve. The worksheet has been a breeze for the most part, but even I have some problems I don't understand.
"Hey Ai, you mind helping me out with this math problem here? I'm pretty sure I know the formula I need to use, but I'm just drawing a blank right now," I ask. Ai has always finished with high math scores so if there is anyone to ask, it'd be her. Noeri is also another option, but she's too busy grilling Jay for not even attempting to do any of the worksheet.
"Yeah sure," she scoots over next to me. "Oh, I can understand what you mean. You want to use this formula for this kind of problem. I have a notebook full of all the formulas we are probably going to need to know for the exam." She looks over at me, her deep purple eyes sparkling. "I can let you copy them down if you want?"
"Sure, if you don't mind. That'll help out a lot," I respond. She's close enough that her hair is tickling my nose, physically and mentally. My nose is also being caressed by the sweet smell of her shampoo and conditioner. It's as if my nose is being surrounded by a soft blanket of sweet aroma.
"I'll lend it to you after we finish for the day, okay?" Ai smiles, so innocent and pure. When I see her smile, it's as if all my dirty thoughts disappear and instead fill with more wholesome thoughts. I nod as I finish the problem she helped me with.
She's too innocent and pure for this world! How can someone as pure as her be my soulmate?! I don't deserve someone like her! My heart is beating a mile a second just from how close she got. We didn't do anything, she literally just got close. Maybe I'm more aware and conscious of her than I thought I was.
Out of the corner of my eye, I notice a certain somebody pouting on the other side of the table. Her cheeks are puffed out and she looks extremely annoyed as she continues to work on her worksheet. I do feel a bit bad since her and I haven't really been able to talk much today, but she could always ask for my help if she needs it. She does seem a smart girl though, so I feel like she'll be fine on her own.
And just like that, it's nightfall. All of us somehow finished our worksheets. I'm genuinely surprised Jay was able to finish his despite starting so late. I guess being hounded by Noeri was enough to light the fire under him, or he was doing it out of fear. Either way, he got it done in the end and I think that's a good improvement.
Everyone had gotten their stuff and left for home, except for one person. Granted she does live next door to me so her trek home would only take a few seconds. She hasn't even packed up her materials yet.
"You just hanging out for a little bit? Want me to go grab something for us to eat?" I offer. I can tell she's still sulking, but I don't want to see her like this. "We can go to the cake shop over in the mall if you want something on the sweeter side?"
"I'll take you up on your offer. I had the ice cream earlier, so I don't need something sweet again," she replies. "Let me just pack up some of my stuff..."
"No, you don't have to pack up your stuff yet. I figured we'd go get the food and come back and eat it here... unless you don't feel like it," I say, holding my arm in front of her and the stuff she still has on the table.
Yume smirks, "Looks like someone's being a little more assertive now that everyone is gone."
"I just noticed you were pouting and I figured it was because we didn't really get any one-on-one time, so I thought now would be a good time," I say as I make my way to the door.
Yume bashfully smiles and walks up next to me. "Seems like you were paying a lot more attention to me than I thought you were."
We make our way out of the dorm and start heading to the convenience store. Most of the restaurants here are dine-in only, and the few fast food restaurants are a bit further of a walk than what they're worth. However, it is a little bit later at night and the convenience store has a good selection of sandwiches and chicken meals. Plenty enough for two university students on a late night run.
As the door slides open, a cute jingle plays announcing our arrival to the workers. Immediately to the left are magazines and essential products like shampoo and toothpaste. The next aisle over has snacks, and the third aisle has the same thing, but in larger packages.
Yume and I make our way to the back of the store, that's where all the sandwiches and hot food items are. They got basic meat and cheese sandwiches along with sub versions of the same thing. My go to is tuna salad sandwiches. Nothing quite beats a late night tuna salad sandwich, however a chicken salad sandwich is my back up in case they are out of tuna.
"What are you thinking of grabbing? I'm feeling a little more hungry than I thought so I'm getting two sandwiches." I grab a tuna and chicken salad sandwich off the rack and make my way over to where Yume is standing.
She reaches out for a bag of fried chicken, but slowly pulls her hand back. "I don't know if I want dark or white meat. White meat is probably better than dark meat at this time of night, right?" she asks while looking over at me. "What do you think?"
"Personally, I'm not a big fan of white meat. I prefer the tenderness of the thighs and legs over the toughness of the breast," I answer. "But I say just go with whichever one you are craving more at the moment."
"Hmm..." she hums to herself as she attempts to decide. "So, you like legs and thighs more than breasts?"
I think I know where this conversation is going...
"I do like legs and thighs more, but there isn't anything wrong with a nice breast once in a while." I do my best not to look at her because she is, very openly, cupping her chest with her hands. It's okay, those are cute in their own way. She does look a little disappointed because of her obvious lack of mass in that area, however it doesn't seem to hold her mood down. She still smiles slightly and grabs the bag of dark meat.
"So, just to be clear... You don't rate breasts that highly?" she affirms, as if to double down on my statement.
I let out a small laugh. "Not as much as other people, probably."
I can tell she's in a lot happier of a mood as she does a small fist pump. Those actions might not seem like much, but they can easily sway the heart of a man if he catches it in the act. She happily skips over to the cash register and sets her bag down. "You can put your stuff here too. I'll pay for both of us."
I step in front and swiftly hand the employee my card as I set my stuff down. "No can do Miss. I offered to get us food, so I am going to be the one who pays."
"Fine, then next to we go out, I'll pay for us instead," she retorts playfully. We grab our bags and head back to the dorms.
As we walk along the street, there isn't anyone else outside except for the two of us. The sound of the sea breeze muffles our footsteps and the smell of the ocean surrounds us. You can see the tropical trees lightly swaying, lit up by the Sprites gently floating in the air. It is really surreal walking down streets at night with no light posts in sight, and still being able to see because of the Sprites. Because they give off an orange or light white glow, I find them to be quite nice at setting up a romantic mood.
I suddenly feel Yume wrap herself around my arm. Despite us walking alone on the street, I felt anything but lonely. Honestly, even if there were people walking down the street, I probably wouldn't even notice them. Its as if Yume and I were in our own special world separate from everyone else.
I set the bags of food on the table while Yume throws herself on my couch. I clean off her study materials off the table and set the food up.
"There isn't anything like throwing yourself on a couch after a short stroll," she says as she rolls around on the couch.
"Well I would say the bed would be better, but that's besides the point, hurry up and eat before your chicken gets too cold. Chicken is always better fresh and never tastes the same after you reheat it." I grab one of my sandwiches and notice that Yume had stopped moving. I see her looking down my hallway... right where my room is. "Don't even think about it."
"Heh." She shoots me a smirk and makes a break for my room. "The bed is calling my name!"
"NO!" I yell as I chase her.
For some odd reason, my door wasn't completely shut so she was able to bust through the door with no issue. I kept my room clean so there was absolutely nothing blocking her path to the bed.
In one swift jump, she leapt onto the bed. "Time to mark my territory!" She then begins rolling around on it, smothering herself on the covers and the pillows. It was a very childish sight to behold, but for some reason, I wasn't annoyed. If anything, I was pretty cheerful and happy. I couldn't help but smile as she continued to roll around on my bed. "Now no matter how many times you wash your sheets, my scent will always linger!"
"I don't think that's how it works Yume," I chuckle. I sit down on my bed and she rolls into me, obviously not aware of anything going on around her. "Are you gonna be the one who fixes my bed sheets for me?" I ask her teasingly.
She smirks and stops rolling, instead placing her head on my lap. "Maybe, but only if you promise not to wash the sheets after I leave."
"Where do you expect me to sleep then? I know for a fact I'm not gonna be able to sleep in here with the smell of you all over my sheets," I joke. I'm telling the truth when I say I'm not gonna be able to sleep though. Smell is a pretty stimulating sense, especially in a dark room.
"Instead of thinking of it in the way I know you're thinking, just imagine me enveloping you in my arms as you sleep. Like you're being held by me in a comforting way," she says. She turns her head to look up at me. "Or is that something you would rather not happen?" she teases, poking my face with her finger.
I grab her hand and look down at her. "I'd rather have that happen for real, rather than only imagine it."
I can tell I got her good because her face and ears immediately turned red along with her hand getting a little warm as I held it with my hands. "Uh..." is the only sound she was able to squeak out in her flustered state. She rolls back to her side, not letting go of my hand and instead bringing it close to her. "It's not fair when you randomly flirt back with me..." she mutters.
We stay in my room for a few minutes before moving back to the living room. Yume warms her chicken up in the microwave while I just sit on the couch waiting for it to be done. Just like I assumed earlier, she does complain a little bit about the chicken not tasting as good as she thought, but that was her own fault for getting distracted earlier. Not that I helped her by playing along with her.
After we finished eating, Yume gathered up her stuff. "Thanks again, for everything today."
"It's no problem, I just hope we can get the grade we want for the exams."
Yume shook her head. "It wasn't just for that dummy." She walks up to me and hugs me. "I'm sorry for pouting and acting spoiled back there."
"You don't have to worry about that," I say as I hug her back. "There's no issue wanting to be a little selfish." I rub her head gently. She buries her face in my chest, but I can tell she's smiling ear to ear.
She eventually lets go and waves bye as she leaves my apartment. I go back to the living room and wipe down the table to get the tiny crumbs off of it. I double check the kitchen and sure enough, everything is put away and clean. Everything looks exactly like it did before everyone came over today... well everything except one thing.
I stand in front of my messy bed and let out a sigh. "I forgot about this..." There's no reason to go fixing it now as I was getting ready to sleep. I go and brush my teeth, close the blinds on my windows, and make sure the doors are locked. I can't have Yume sneaking into my apartment in the middle of the night. I do joke about that, but it wouldn't surprise me if it were to happen one night.
I turn off the light in my room and lay down in my bed. I turn to my side and slowly begin to drift off into sleep. The sweet aroma of a certain girl who just recently rolled around my bed enters my nose and my mind. I don't remember exactly how soon I actually fell asleep after smelling the lingering scent of Yume, but I do remember feeling enveloped by what felt like her small arms as I slept. Ironically, as I had joked about not being able to sleep because of her lingering scent on the bed, that night was the best sleep I've had in a long time.