[FFML] [orig] Keit-AI! Tomoyuki x Seiko Chapter 8: Incompatibility

[Abdiel]

Thursday, near the boiler room of Maehara High School at the edge of the
soccer field...

"WAH, OKAMOTO!" yelped Tomoyuki Yamamoto as Seiko Okamoto lifted him up
by his collar with both of her hands.

"What's the big idea? Why have you been avoiding me?"

"A-Avoiding you? I haven't been avoiding you..." He looked away and
gulped.

"Yes, you have! Are you still sore about the black eye I gave you after
I rejected your confession? That was over three weeks ago!"

"Wha... Are you listening to yourself? I'm not avoiding you, Amazon
Queen!"

"If you're not avoiding me, then why are you eating here by yourself?"

"I want some privacy from time to time! Am I forbidden to have some time
alone?"

"You weren't used to be like this! Ever since three weeks ago, you've
been acting strange! I thought we're already over this and we can go
back to the way we were, but now you wouldn't even talk to me!"

"I... Wait, aren't you overreacting? Why are you so angry?"

"I... I DON'T KNOW!"

Okamoto put Tomoyuki down and punched the nearest tree.

"You were so nice to me back before you confessed. Was it only because
you had a crush on me that you acted that way?"

Yamamoto raised an eyebrow at that. "I don't see the problem with me
acting nice to you because I like you."

"Do you still like me now? Can't we continue being friends?" she asked
with expectant eyes.

"O-Of course I do. Of course, we are! Why else would I go in front of
class and clear up those rumors? I can never hate you. I can never hate
someone I used to..."

"S-So what was with the cold shoulder for the past week?"

"I... things got awkward. I'm surprised we were able to still talk to
each other after you gave me that black eye, to be honest."  Tomoyuki
sat back down on the bench underneath the tree shade.

"We were kind of walking around on eggshells whenever we're together,
weren't we?" observed Seiko as she sat right beside the Cherry Boy.

"We haven't really talked much about anything other than the usual hi,
hello, and..."

"...And my love life problems, huh? Sorry about that. I was being
insensitive to your feelings."

"It's no big deal. We all have our own love life problems, don't we?"
chuckled Tomoyuki.

"I want to get to know you better," Seiko suddenly said.

"...Pardon?" asked Tomoyuki, not quite believing what he heard, but he
ain't heard nothing yet.

"Let's meet up this Saturday. Around three in the afternoon, at my
place. Sharp. Bring some drinks. I'll mail you my address later."

The Amazon Queen got up, stretched her body, and slapped Yamamoto's back
hard. "I'll be expecting you, Cherry Boy."

"W-Wait!" the Virgin King blurted out two minutes too late, his own
shock delaying his reaction. Seiko was long gone. 'Did she... just
invite me to go to her home?'

Another thought occurred to Yamamoto. 'Holy shit. AU Seiko's 'playing
hard to get' plan actually worked!' He also asked, 'Why? Why did it
work? Why did that stupid plan work?'


========================================================================


Keit-AI! Tomoyuki x Seiko
An Anime-Inspired Original Story from 4chan's /a/ Board
By Abdiel
Original Idea by Hataki !WBLg6PTzh.
http://www.fictionpress.com/s/3206139/

There's love, but is there compatibility? Let's find out.


========================================================================

Chapter 8: Incompatibility

========================================================================


Later that Thursday night, three weeks after Tomoyuki's fateful first
phone call to the Alternate Universe Seiko...

"Huh. Really? My other self said that?" asked the (surprisingly calm)
Okamoto from a dimension away via cell phone. "I knew my plan would
work, but I never expected her to ask you out after just four days."

"Well, that's an underwhelming response! Can you be _less_ excited about
what happened? I think I still heard a faint hint of emotion from your
voice!"  wheezed and hyperventilated Tomoyuki.

"Dude, calm your tits," berated the Alternate Universe Amazon Queen.

"Why _shouldn't_ I be excited about Saturday afternoon? I barely do
anything on the weekends except play some video games, watch movies, or
do the laundry! What's with your underreaction anyway? I'm going on a
date with you! The other you! You know what I mean!"

"Hmmm."

"Don't 'Hmmm,' me! This is what I've been waiting for since I mistakenly
asked _you_ out for a date instead of the real Seiko!"

"_Real_ Seiko? Are you calling me a fake Seiko now?" asked AU Okamoto
with an accusatory tone.

"Ah, my bad. My bad. I just don't want to confuse the two of you with
each other," apologized Yamamoto.

"Honestly. 'Fake Seiko'. You're making sound like I were some sort of
fake brand of watch or something."

"S-Sorry. But... do you regularly ask boys to go to your home for
whatever reason?" came another pointed question from the Cherry Boy.

"I don't like what you're trying to imply there, sport," warned the
Amazon Queen.

"S-So how else am I supposed to interpret this?" Tomoyuki backpedaled.

"Here's an idea. How about you _don't_ think that the other me wants to
marry you or have your babies after merely saying, 'I want to get to
know you better'? You're putting the carriage before the horse."

Yamamoto almost choked on his spit. "I wasn't thinking of that at all,
y-you... D-Drag Queen!"

"U-huh. Sure you weren't. You sounded like you were about to wet your
pants, Doormat," said an unfazed AU Seiko, which made Yamamoto wonder
whether she should be more "fazed" and disturbed at being called a
transvestite.

AU Okamoto took a deep breath. "I don't know how to tell you this, but I
think you may be misunderstanding something here. You're jumping to
conclusions, Yamamoto-kun."

"Wha...? How? Why can't you be happy for me for once? I bet you're just
jealous because you haven't gotten enough headway to get a date with the
other me! In your universe!" Yamamoto lashed back, feeling betrayed by
how nonchalant AU Seiko was taking his big news.

"Bu... What? Take that back! T-That's not it at all, you dense,
oversensitive moron!" exclaimed AU Seiko. "And I-I'm not jealous a-about
you getting invited to the home of the other me! I have my charms. I'll
get the _real_ you in _my_ universe to date me soon too, you jackass!"

'The _real_ me?' The Virgin King flinched at that last remark. Now he
knew how Seiko felt when he implied that she was "fake" and the Seiko in
his world was "real".

He then said, "You sure sound jealous to me. Why shouldn't I get a date
from the other you? Do you think you're too good for me now? That you're
too beautiful, sporty, and ravishing to date a wimp like me?"

She then said, "And what kind of girl do you think I am or my other self
is? Just because you gave me the cold shoulder for a week, it doesn't
suddenly earn you a free date, like I'm desperate to get one!"

"But that's exactly what happened!"

"...If you actually believe that, then no wonder you're still a virgin!"

Once they were done arguing, AU Okamoto continued, her voice calmer this
time around, "I'm just saying we're not yet sure if the other me really
does have a date planned for you this Saturday."

"I-If it's not a date, then what the hell is it supposed to be?"
stuttered the agitated Tomoyuki.


===


That Saturday afternoon, at the train station in Azabu-Juuban, Minato
Ward, Tokyo...

"Hey! Yamamoto-kun! You made it just in time, dude!"

Yamamoto smiled a crooked grin as he saw his classmates... Miku Machida
and Kazuhito Sugata... right beside the happily waving Amazon Queen. He
did a weak wave back at them. Shamed as he was to admit, AU Seiko was
right, he was wrong, and he felt like a dumbass for misunderstanding the
whole situation.

Was it all merely false hope for him to get a date? Of course, it was.

'I should've known,' thought Tomoyuki. Then again, he did know, thanks
to AU Seiko's reminders before his "date". How embarrassing would it
have been had he went the whole nine yards, bought flowers and candy,
and got a suit just to "hang out" with Okamoto and the rest of their
posse?

The Cherry Boy would've probably had a hard time finding a ditch deep
enough to hide himself from utter mortification. He sure dodged a bullet
there.

On the other hand, he did hide his DVD of the Seven Samurai into his
side pocket that he planned to watch along with Seiko in her apartment
in their "lonesome".

AU Okamoto mentioned something about her being absentminded. However,
Tomoyuki sure wished that the Okamoto of his own world wasn't as
absentminded as her.

As testament to that absentmindedness, Non-AU Seiko told him that she
"wanted to get to know him better" without first informing him that she
was also inviting Class 2B's resident Yankee and the Class Rep along
for their...  "meeting".

Just how naive was Okamoto to not realize the huge misunderstanding that
this could've caused? Honestly. He recently confessed his love to her,
for god's sake! Granted, he also assured the entirety of Class 2B that
nothing was going on between the two of them, but it was hard for him to
continue thinking that in light of the mixed messages she kept sending
him.

"What's with the half-lidded eyes, Yamamoto-kun?" whispered Machida with
a wink. "Were you expecting something _else_ for today?"

See? Even the Class Rep wasn't as dense as a neutron star like Okamoto.

"Maybe," admitted Tomoyuki with a pout as Miku giggled, ruffled the
Cherry Boy's hair, and joined the clueless (but adorably excited) Seiko
as they talked about... girl stuff or whatever.

Yamamoto then almost had a heart attack as the taller Kazuhito slapped
his back then slung his arm over his shoulder.

"Dude! What the hell?"

"Sorry about the Amazon Queen's denseness, bro. I know what you were
thinking when she invited you over. She can be so clueless at times. But
don't worry. I've got a plan," reassured Sugata.

"E-Eh?" mumbled back the Cherry Boy.

The Yankee gave Tomoyuki a noogie on the head. "Leave it to me, pal."

"Hey! Furyou-kun! Cherry Boy! Let's get a move on! We have a fun day
ahead of us!" shouted the Amazon Queen from a distance as the quartet
made their way to her dorm.


===


Back to the conversation Tomoyuki had with AU Seiko last Thursday
night...

"So it's not a date?" clarified Yamamoto.

"Let's just say I'm not betting on it being a date," answered AU
Okamoto. "Knowing me, I'll probably bring some of our classmates there
in an effort to win you over. You know, as a friend."

"Oh great. As a _friend_, huh?"

She cooed as she heard the transdimensional twin of her crush groan at
the mention of "friend", "There, there, sport. At least she wants you
as a friend! That's progress, right?"

"I'm called the Friend Zone King at my school. No, this is not progress
at all," grumbled the Cherry Boy.

"Well, you're still going to end up a virgin if you keep thinking that
every nice gesture a girl does for you is an indication of her wanting
your dick," came AU Okamoto's straightforward assessment.

"Seiko-chan! Wash that filthy mouth with soap!" Yamamoto couldn't help
but yelp. "That's unbecoming of a lady!"

He couldn't remember the last time the Okamoto of his world acted so
vulgar around him (although she always had that "Anything Goes" attitude
around Sugata).

Tomoyuki could almost imagine the other Okamoto roll her eyes as she
mocked, "Jeepers, Mom! I won't let that happen again! Shucks!" in
between her fits of repressed giggles. "But no, seriously... you're
overreacting."

Yamamoto scratched his nape. "I guess if I were to ask Machida about
this, she'd say that I'm overreacting like my immune system would to a
common cold virus or point out that like in a dating sim, I haven't
earned enough 'points' or raised enough 'flags' to warrant a house
invitation from a girl who's route I'm following."

"...I have no idea what you've just said or what Miku-chin has to do
with anything, so I'll just _presume_ you understood what _I_ said,"
concluded the Alternate Universe Seiko. "It's not a date. Maybe she
only wanted to hang out."

"What am I supposed to do now?" asked Yamamoto while dropping down on
all fours in surrender.

"Relax, take it easy, and... indulge her," answered Okamoto. "You've
been ignoring her for a week now. This is the perfect opportunity to get
to know me better. The other me, I mean."

"But I already know _you_," whined Tomoyuki.

"Yeah, I _guess_, but _she_ doesn't know a thing about _you_ yet. Nor
does she know that you know stuff about her through me. It's best that
you don't get ahead of yourself, or she might mistake you for a stalker
and sock you in the eye again."

"I-I'm not stalking you! I mean her! I swear, Seiko-chan!" shrieked
Yamamoto defensively, flashing back to the times when other girls
accused him of the very same things.

AU Seiko reassured, "I know, dude. I know. But the other me doesn't know
you all that well, and you don't want her to jump to any conclusions by
giving her the wrong impression. Telling her things you're not supposed
to know that she never told you about will give her the wrong
impression."

"Okay. So...?" asked Tomoyuki.

"...So be her friend first. Ignore the Friend Zone crap that your
classmates are spewing out for a second and win her over through
friendship. I'm completely serious here," said the AU Amazon Queen. "You
told me the same thing with your other self, right? I guess the same
advice can be used in your situation too."

"B-But...!" protested Yamamoto, but AU Seiko headed him off that
proverbial pass.

"If you're thinking, 'Hey, I confessed to you, and everything turned out
great,' then let me remind you that your other you already won me over
by this time. By friendship, no less. The me in your universe is
still... 'enamored' by Kazu-kun. By the way you're describing how she
reacts to you..."

"Wait, is there something wrong with the way she reacts to me? She's the
nicest girl around when we get to talk to each other! It's certainly
better than the cold shoulders I've gotten from most other girls that
rejected me!" came another one of Tomoyuki's gripes. "Also, I'm already
her friend! She called me to talk about her boy troubles with Sugata, for
goodness's sakes!"

"Well, it looks like the other me is still walking on eggshells when
she's around you, to be honest," pointed out AU Seiko. "Look, I wouldn't
read too much into her talking about Kazu-kun. I once talked about Kazu-
kun all the time on the Internet."

"W-Wait... Are you saying that I'm nothing more than an outlet for her
frustrations and boy problems? She wants to be closer to me because
right now, we aren't at all close and she doesn't yet consider me as a
friend, but an acquaintance?" asked Yamamoto.

"...In not many words, sure," confirmed AU Okamoto. "Has my other self
ever cursed in front of you? Or said anything remotely vulgar?"

"Well, _you_ certainly have. Just earlier, in fact," answered Tomoyuki.

"But not her, right?" asked AU Seiko again.

"No, she's the perfect lady whenever I'm around. She's always so nice to
me."

"That's the thing, though. That's not me. I mean, that's not _me_ when
I'm around friends; that's me when I'm around strangers. Or the other
me... Whatever. You know what I mean. I'm a tactless bitch, to be
honest," said the other universe's Amazon Queen.

Sulking, Yamamoto insisted, "How is being nice around a person 'walking
on eggshells'? It's certainly better than having her give me a black eye
again."

"Oh, that's right. My other self punched you after you confessed to
her," she remarked. "She wants to go back to the time where you two were
just friendly classmates without the awkwardness of that confession over
your heads. You haven't been updating me regarding what happened
afterwards since you hung up on me that one time when I called you at
school though, but..."

The Cherry Boy sighed. AU Seiko was correct. He hadn't told her about
the incident concerning the trio of bullies finding out that he had her
(AU Seiko's) number, although their leader, Kanemoto, apparently jumped
to conclusions and thought it was the Okamoto they knew who called him.

This led to the pretty boy misunderstanding (non-AU) Seiko's actions in
saving Tomoyuki, concluding that the number belonged to that Seiko
instead of the other Seiko. Thinking about it gave Yamamoto a serious
headache.

"...Yamamoto-kun? Stop spacing out and focus." AU Seiko woke Tomoyuki
from his reverie. "Do you understand? Your Seiko hasn't shown you the
other side of herself that she doesn't show others. You're not even
calling each other on a first-name basis yet."

"S-She already called me Cherry Boy once," lamely defended Yamamoto.

"Is that something to be proud of, though?" asked AU Seiko in all
honesty.

"Sh-Shut up."


===


Back in non-AU Seiko's apartment in Azabu-Juuban...

'She hasn't shown me a side of her that she doesn't show just anyone
else,' thought the glum Tomoyuki. He hated to admit it... and he still
owed her an apology for acting like a jackass the other night... but AU
Okamoto was right. The Super Nice Seiko he knew was someone who was nice
to everyone in class, including him.

There were stories and rumors he heard wherein the middle school Seiko
acted completely different. She was more of a tomboy through and through
back then, but then again, this was the same rambunctious preteen who
saved his first-year ass from being dunked into the toilet.

According to AU Seiko, her other self wasn't used to being around him as
she was with Sugata, so that was his first hurdle to conquer. The only
way Okamoto could be comfortable around him was to act as nice as
possible.

'What the hell? Are you kidding me? What kind of nonsense is that?'
Yamamoto found himself asking to no one in particular.

So she was acting too nice when he was around? She should be making fun
of him or calling him weird names like with Kazuhito or something? If
that were the case, then by that logic, Tomoyuki had the greatest chance
of hitting it off with Seiko when she punched him after she rejected his
love confession to her, adding injury to insult.

What was this, some sort of love comedy manga or drama wherein the more
volatile a couple was around each other, the more in-love they actually
were? Bullshit!

Meanwhile, as soon as Okamoto opened the door to her apartment, Sugata
went inside as though he owned the place, picking a can of beer from
inside the fridge (Why did she have beer?) and sitting spread-eagled at
the nearest beanbag chair without so much as a "May I sit down, Amazon
Queen?" from him.

He must've been there before, because Seiko didn't even bat an eyelid.
She swatted him upside the head instead. "Whose apartment do you think
this is, you Yankee scum? Gimme my beer back!"

"You shouldn't even be drinking that! You're underage!" was what
Kazuhito, not Seiko, rebutted with.

"You're the last person I want to hear that from! Besides, you're no
older than me! Don't think that just because you bleached your hair and
you've gotten into several fights that you're some sort of rebel without
a cause!" lectured Okamoto.

"I am in fact about two months older than you," answered Sugata while
holding up two fingers indicating his point. The two of them looked like
a bickering married couple. As expected of Class 2B's most infamous
lovebirds.

How was Yamamoto supposed to compete with that?

'If you misunderstand her intent as love and show off too much of your
affection for her, then she'll feel like you're forcing yourself onto
her and she'll be turned off by you. You need to play it cool and get
your foot off the gas pedal, Cherry Boy,' he remembered AU Seiko tell
him.

Naturally, he lashed back at the other Okamoto, but she calmly replied,
'If you ask her how she feels about you right now, you'll get the same
response as before. She doesn't think of you that way. You have to make
her see you as a man and not just a friend, and jumping to conclusions
isn't the method to do that.'

This, among many other things, convinced him back on Monday that week to
give up on Seiko altogether and try to be content with having the love
that he and AU Seiko shared... only for Miku to inadvertently topple
his house of cards by pointing out that he could never _ever_ be
physically together with the alternate version of Okamoto.

The Iincho unwittingly exposed this fact because the Cherry Boy
"confessed" to her the existence of AU Okamoto by claiming that the
"phone number from different dimensions" story was something he came up
with as a "screenplay" of sorts.

At any rate, he had a better chance of winning the Amazon Queen over as
his girlfriend than accepting the love of the Amazon Queen from another
world whom he could never reach or make his. Theirs was a romance that
was even worse than a long-distance relationship.

Come to think of it, he hadn't brought up to Miku their talk about the
impossibility of cross-dimensional romance at all, even though he called
the other Amazon Queen every night anyway since that fateful day.
Perhaps he blocked the unpleasant memory altogether from his mind?

'I don't want to talk to her about it. When I call her, I feel like I
could talk to her about anything... almost anything... plus she
reciprocates my feelings for her, even though these are feelings we
actually have for our other selves. Why ruin it with talks of long-
distance relationships?'

However, he knew deep in his heart that he'd have to cross that bridge
someday.

"Yamamoto-kun?" The Class Rep's lyrical voice and gentle tug on
Tomoyuki's sleeve woke him up from his daydream. She cupped her hand
over her mouth and whispered to him, "Do you have your asthma inhaler
with you?"

He rolled his eyes. "Yes, _Mom_. I do."

"H-How about last Thursday? You're not mad at me because of what
happened back then, are you? You looked agitated."

It was like Machida could almost read his mind. So she still remembered
his little outburst after she made him realize the "plot hole" in his
"screenplay"... or if not a plot hole, a situation that nothing short of
a deus ex machina could fix.

"Huh? Oh no. Not at all. I was being a jerk, as usual. Don't let what
happened bother you. I've already forgotten about it," assured Yamamoto
as he silently cursed his inability to not smile crookedly. Why'd he
always have to wear his heart on his sleeve?

"Are you sure?"

"I'm positive. I shouldn't have screamed at you because of my... crappy
writing. It was immature of me. You were right, as always."

Miku breathed out a sigh of relief. "Good. I'm glad."

In fact, he really wasn't angry at Miku at all. The only thing she did
was point out the obvious in regards to his situation with AU Seiko
(albeit in an unbeknownst manner).

Was this the reason why, from swearing he'd stop pursuing Seiko in order
to stay with her AU self, he reneged on his own vows and went straight
for this "date" anyway? He couldn't even keep his own word to himself!

Why should he even bother pursuing Okamoto or any other girl if he had
feelings that shallow and a resolve that weak? Did he even have any idea
of what he wanted?

"Hooo... What happened last Thursday, hmm?" asked the Amazon Queen with
a cat-like smile that would've made the Cheshire Cat proud as she
interposed herself between what she believed were two would-be lovers.

Tomoyuki groaned as Seiko started pairing him up with Miku again.

To his surprise though, the Amazon Queen backed off from her needling,
to the point of squeezing his arm slightly. Was that an apologetic
squeeze? He couldn't tell.

Perhaps she remembered their talk on the phone last Wednesday, wherein
he hinted in not so many words that he didn't appreciate her continued
transparent efforts to try and hook Miku up with him so that Kazuhito
would stop trying to go after the class representative and instead go
after her.

Well, they were transparent to everyone else except one particularly
dense person. Denser than osmium, as Machida would say.

"So what's the plan now, Amazon Queen?" asked the neutron-star dense
Sugata. "You invited us all here in your pad. What are we supposed to do
now? Play video games? Watch the baseball game on TV? Cheer for the
Hanshin Tigers?"

"That's what _we_ usually do, Furyou-kun," Seiko pointed out as she and
the delinquent looked at their fellow classmates Yamamoto (who was
taking a puff from his asthma inhaler) and Machida (who was nose-deep
into a magazine that everyone present knew contained independently
published comic book porn about gay young boys).

Miku and Tomoyuki raised up their heads and looked quizzically at Seiko
and Kazuhito. "Yes?" they chorused.

"I see what you mean. We have a different 'audience' now," said Sugata
as he palmed his face while sighing and smirking, which made Yamamoto
raise an eyebrow.

'What the heck are they talking about?' wondered the Cherry Boy.

Why'd Okamoto even bother inviting him to her place at all? What was he
to her anyway? At any rate, Yamamoto almost yelped in surprise as he
felt a nudge on his rib. He raised his head in time to see Sugata spare
him a quick glance while gesturing him to go with the flow with a wag
of his finger.

"Say, I have an idea, Sei-kun! Why not cook some sukiyaki?" Kazuhito
suggested, which made everyone's heads turn towards him. Very rarely did
he call Seiko by that childhood name of hers, and it was usually when he
did something wrong and he was in an apologetic mood.

The entirety of Section 2B knew the pattern of these two "lovers" just
like how the Japanese in general are familiar with the Manzai Comedy
Routine. It happened every time in the exact same way, like clockwork.
Like Christmas. Like the sun rising and setting.

First, they'd fight and call each other a whole menagerie of names.
Then Okamoto would bring up an embarrassing childhood memory.
Afterwards, Sugata would insult his childhood friend's womanhood by
calling her a tranny or something. Finally, Seiko would pummel him to
submission with a karate move or, at times, moves she'd seen from PRIDE,
the UFC, boxing, or the WWF.

As a by the way, in AU Seiko's world, a bizarre thing happened to the
World Wrestling Federation. They were sued by the World Wildlife Fund
for using the name "WWF", so they were forced to change the name to
"WWE" or "World Wrestling Entertainment".

'What? Wrestlers belong in a "federation", not in an "entertainment",
dammit,' thought Yamamoto when he discovered the news.

At any rate, "Sei-kun" peered at Kazuhito, then took his temperature
with her hand, which made even the so-called bad boy blush (while
irking Tomoyuki in the process).

"It's either you're sick, you've been lobotomized, or you're up to
something. Which is it, 'Kazu-kun'?" she drawled his childhood nickname
in a way that implied the presence of quotation marks.

Unfazed, Sugata reassured, "Come on. You have guests in your dorm room.
Let's treat them with a hot pot." He turned towards Machida and
Yamamoto. "You don't mind footing part of the bill, right? As you can
see, she can barely afford the stuff she has in here as is!"

"What the heck are you saying? I have enough ingredients to make
sukiyaki!" said the reddening Seiko as she pushed the lanky and tall
Kazuhito away. "W-Would sukiyaki be okay with you two?"

"Oh, sure, it's perfectly fine," chorused Miku and Tomoyuki.

"You don't need to go to the trouble..." Yamamoto added.

"I insist. It's no trouble at all," said Seiko as she donned her kitchen
apron. Kazuhito had to close Tomoyuki's agape mouth for him because of
how shockingly lovely and domestic the athletic and sporty Okamoto
looked right then and there.

The Amazon Queen could cook? Yamamoto was at a loss for words. He didn't
know that.

Sugata clapped his hands and relaxed on the nearby couch. "It's settled,
then. Make it a good hot pot, Sei-kun. I'm starving."

With those words, not even Buddha, Krishna, or Jesus combined could've
stopped Seiko from cooking that sukiyaki. "You betcha socks it's going
to be delicious, Kazu-kun!"

Yamamoto gulped. He'd never seen a stronger bond than the one shared by
Okamoto and Sugata. What made him think he had what it took to put
asunder this lifelong relationship? How arrogant of him.


===


The ingredients for sukiyaki were as follows: Mushrooms such as shiitake
or enokitake, shiritaki noodles or jelly noodles made from konnyaku corm
(such as ito konnyaku), leafy vegetables (such as shungiku and Chinese
cabbage), negi, tofu that's seared firm, and (of course) beef. If one
were from Hokkaido, there were also pork versions of the dish as well.

"Now where did I put that negi?" asked Seiko as she rubbed her nose and
put her hands on her hips. Tomoyuki avoided Okamoto's gaze for fear of
her noticing how long he'd been staring at her.

Her apron over her weekend clothes were intoxicating to look at.
Sisterly. Motherly. Yet sexy. Far from the tomboy who chopped entire
stacks of wood like kindle as seen in a stereotypical martial arts film.

"Hold your horses, Amazon Queen. Machida and I will buy some at the
grocery," reassured Kazuhito before giving Tomoyuki a sidelong glance
and... a wink? Was that a wink he did right then?

"Eh? EH?" Miku blinked repeatedly at hearing Kazuhito call out her name
as she put her boy's love comic down and pushed her glasses up her nose.
"W-What was that now? I'm supposed to go with Sugata-kun _where_?
Yamamoto-kun, what's going on?"

"Ah... We need negi. Negi for the sukiyaki!" Tomoyuki stated the
obvious while he gave his own share for the hot pot in the form of his
allowance to Sugata.

"Um, then I'll just stay here and..." was what the shy Miku wasn't able
to say as Kazuhito grabbed hold of her hand in order to usher her out of
the beanbag chair and into the doorway where their shoes were located.

"Y-Yamamoto-kun, help me!" a tearful Miku called out to Tomoyuki.

Before the Cherry Boy knew it, he was biting his lower lip as he
imagined a naked Miku and Kazuhito together, the Class Rep's face
twisted in ecstasy while the winking Yankee stuck out his tongue and
said, 'I'll take good care of your best friend from now on, Cherry
Boy!'

"Jeez, Class Rep. Please don't make me look like the bad guy here. We're
only going to buy some scallions, okay?" cooed Kazuhito as he started
dragging her out while she, on the other hand, kept on whimpering and
reaching out for her best friend.

Tomoyuki was about to run after the two when Seiko called out, "Have a
safe trip! Don't forget to buy back the beer you stole from my fridge!
Also, buy some extra beef strips!"

Kazuhito flashed his childhood friend a grin. "I can't buy beer,
Okamato! I'm a minor!" He again used that stupid pun on Okamoto's name
("Okama" being the Japanese word for gay man and whatnot).

Seiko did the middle finger salute as Kazuhito and Miku went off, the
Class Rep yelping one last "Eeep!" before the Yankee shut the door
behind them. Tomoyuki then shook his head and realized that, as much as
he hated how Kazuhito was taking his best friend away from him, he was
also helping him out by making this get-together look more like the
date the Cherry Boy was initially expecting.

Also, Seiko and he were now alone together.

Tomoyuki wondered, 'What do I want to happen?' Did he not recently
decide that he'd give up on Seiko? Then again, where would he go from
here? He couldn't go after AU Seiko for obvious, transdimensional
reasons, plus she was getting along splendidly with his other self.

Even if he were to go to "the other side" and be with the other Okamoto,
what good would that do? She fell in love with his other, more suave
self, dammit. He'd be like the third wheel or something. Or worse, he'd
feel like a cuckolded husband who was in the army when he got a "Dear
John" letter from his wife stating that she found another man while he
was away.

As for Miku, that ship certainly sailed long ago, and he wouldn't want
to ruin the one Friend Zone he got wherein the girl he wooed ended up
actually becoming his friend. Even he had no idea what he wanted.
Perhaps he went there to Seiko's apartment, expecting something would
change, like the gods would finally give him his big break on love.

But no one ever got anything accomplished through waiting. If he wanted
something to happen, he needed to act now.

Then again, what about Seiko? Both versions of her never got to admit
their loves for their respective Sugatas, even though (or perhaps it was
because) they were childhood friends.

Yamamoto wished he had a childhood friend. His childhood was mostly
composed of bullying others in order to avoid being bullied himself,
getting bullied anyway when he got too cocky with one of the popular
kids, and suffering an embarrassing one-sided fight against someone a
year younger than him (whom he attacked as a means to vent his
frustration over being humiliated by Kanemoto).

Yeah. Wouldn't it have been awesome if he discovered earlier on that he
was neighbors with Machida? They would've ended up as childhood friends,
just like in the case of Okamoto and Sugata! Perhaps that was why AU
Tomoyuki and AU Miku were so close with each other, such that AU Seiko
had a hard time not feeling like the third wheel in their relationship.

'I should ask AU Seiko about that,' was the thought that entered
Tomoyuki's mind as he scrambled for his phone and began writing his
email to his transdimensional text mate. It then dawned to him that this
was the perfect time for him to use AU Seiko's knowledge about... well,
herself in real-time (as opposed to after the fact, like it usually
happens).

It seemed a bit like cheating, but damn it, even though he promised he'd
stop having expectations in regards to his "relationship" with Non-AU
Seiko, he still ended up going to her place anyway. Sugata practically
handed Okamoto to Yamamoto on a silver platter now. He'd be a fool to
not take advantage of this opportunity.

"Hmm? Who are you writing to, Cherry Boy?" came Seiko's offhanded
question that made Tomoyuki almost drop and fumble around his cell.

What was he acting nervous for? Oh, right. He was afraid that Okamoto
might see him writing a text to "Amazon Queen". At best, she'd think he
was attempting to communicate with her through text, and at worst, she
might find out the truth about her alternate universe self if she were
to check out the inbox full of messages on his phone.

Seiko gave him a half-lidded look and a feline smile. "You haven't found
a new girlfriend after putting me in the Friend Zone, have you?"

Tomoyuki choked in his own spit then put his phone away, blathering,
"...I-I put you in the _what_ now?"

Seiko chuckled and grinned toothily. "Relax, Cherry Boy. I was only
teasing you. Or have you already forgotten that you told the entire
class that there's nothing going on between us?"

'Of course, I haven't forgotten! I've been reminding myself of the fact
since I got here! I'm such an idiot. I keep forgetting that I've already
given up on you,' thought Tomoyuki. Aloud, he unthinkingly mumbled, "But
there really isn't anything going on between us."

"Hence you putting me on the Friend Zone, you playboy you!" concluded
Seiko with a playful shoulder nudge. He half-expected her to say, "You
already have Miku-chin, after all," but she didn't, which impressed
him. She remembered his plea to drop the subject regarding Machida.

Instead, she asked, "Or maybe you don't want me to become your friend?"
as she prepared all the chopped-up and arranged ingredients needed
beside the hot pot.

"O-Of course not!" sputtered Yamamoto almost automatically. Of course,
he wanted to be her friend. Or become more than her friend. But if the
latter wasn't possible, then he'd choose the first option without a
second thought.

That was when everything clicked in Tomoyuki's head. He hadn't been
listening to AU Seiko pleas all this time, insisting on his mistaken
beliefs. However, he got the truth straight from the horse's mouth. This
was her way of wanting to get to know him better. There was no double
entendres in Seiko's vocabulary, apparently.

"...So you have beer in your fridge, huh?" Tomoyuki blurted out without
thinking, not knowing what else to say.

Seiko shrugged. "That's because I have a fake ID to buy all that stuff.
It's no big deal. I only drink during special occasions anyway. Don't be
such a wet blanket, Cherry Boy!"

"W-Why would you have a fake ID?" he couldn't stop himself from asking.

"So I could buy beer. Duh," she said with a raised eyebrow. "It's not a
difficult concept to grasp, Yamamoto-kun. Oh, and if anyone in the
liquor store asks, I'm Adele Bernstein."

"EH? Adele Bernstein? As in King of Fighter's Adele?"

"Well, I heard that it _is_ a girl's name, even though Adele is Rugal's
son." She took out her purse and showed her other IDs. "I also have one
called Justin Bailey."

"M-Metroid this time...!"

"Ah. You know your retro video games well. I'm impressed."

"That's quite the cult series! What are you, an American?"

"Huh? What about America?"

"I heard it's popular there and other countries in the West," informed
Yamamoto. "Also, Justin is a boy's name, _Miss Bailey_."

She dazzled him with her smile once more. "Speaking of baileys, how
about some Bailey's ice cream?"

"I don't know what you're talking about. Is it a foreign ice cream?"

"It's actually an Irish whiskey, hence why it's the best name to use for
a fake ID."

"What are you, a foreigner? Have you been pretending to be Japanese all
this time, even if your height gives it all away?" said Tomoyuki.

"H-Hey, it's not easy being tall! It's not all it's cracked up to be!"
complained Seiko.

"Oh, come on. You're, like, a supermodel or something. What's so bad
about being tall?" asked Tomoyuki while, at the back of his mind, he
marveled at how he was able to come up with new topics of conversation
with his world's Seiko that he hadn't discussed with AU Seiko.

That must've been because the only interaction he had with AU Okamoto
was through the sounds of their voices. Sure, she'd send a picture of
herself from time to time to confirm her existence, but one couldn't
gauge the tallness of a person through personal pictures most of the
time unless there were a point of comparison present.

Seiko put her hands on her waist and leaned forward so that the shorter
Tomoyuki could (literally) see her eye-to-eye.

"What's so bad about being tall?" she repeated the question several
times, raising her voice in volume every single iteration. "Well, how
about the fact that there are times when you're taller than the
showerhead? Or the fact that people can't stop talking about how tall
you are? Not to mention the fact that you're called a foreigner or you
know, 'Amazon Queen'?"

Okamoto moved even closer within Yamamoto's personal space, and he had
to avert his eyes in order to not get an eyeful of her bursting,
American-sized chest that not even her lovely apron could hide.

"How about the fact that even though you don't mean to, you tend to look
down on people? If I stand up straight, I look too haughty. If I stoop
down low and try to make myself inconspicuous, I instead look like a sad
giraffe! Not to mention the fact that once I had this growth spurt...
for lack of a better term... most people think it's my only defining
feature, especially strangers who've only met me!"

Tomoyuki bit his lip, crossed his arms, closed his eyes, and nodded.
Seiko had a point. If people were not aware of her reputation as the
Amazon Queen, the Karate Club's Captain, and the super-athlete tomboy of
Class 2B, she'd be called, "The Tall Girl". Conversations about her
would revolve around her tallness, height, and not-shortness.

"You also wouldn't believe how many times I've been asked to play for
the girl's basketball team or the volleyball club! Hell, I could've
ended up in the unisex Judo Club with Kanemoto too if the Karate Club
didn't ask me out first! Uh, by ask me out, I mean, to join their club,
of course! Hehe."

The Cherry Boy vaguely remembered that the other Seiko was the Judo Club
Captain, which made him wonder if Kanemoto served as her Vice-Captain.
The thought made his chest tighten, like the time Miku first made him
read one of the few "straight" doujinshi in her collection featuring
"netorare" (NTR) stories wherein a girlfriend was stolen from her
boyfriend by some jerk who blackmailed her to cheat on her beloved until
she couldn't get enough of sex with the other man.

Did he feel jealous over AU Kanemoto being that close to AU Okamoto,
even though the latter was supposedly head-over-heels in love with his
AU self?

'A little,' he admitted to himself.

"...And don't get me started with the names! As soon as I became tall,
I've been called a giraffe, a foreigner, a half-breed, a giantess, and
a..."

Tomoyuki saw a hand about his in size, yet somehow softer looking in
comparison to his (like a magnified version of a girl's hand) wave in
front of his face. Oh wait; it was a girl's hand. Seiko's hand, in
fact.

Hey, Yamamoto-kun? What are you spacing out for? SAY SOMETHING!"

"Uh... Sorry?"

"Don't apologize!"  The resulting karate chop wasn't all that bad. It
hurt, but at least it was playful.

He didn't want to get ahead of himself or anything. He wasn't that
naive of a virgin to think, "Wah! She's talking to me! Now we can get
married!" or something silly like that, but he had to admit that the
rapport between him and this universe's Seiko was going pretty good.

Sure, her intentions were only limited to reestablishing their lost
bonds, but their reconciliation wasn't half-bad at all. 'Seiko-chan
acting like a tomboy is too cute!'

Tomoyuki couldn't remember the number of times he fantasized (and did
other things with his hands) over the image of a tan-lined, karate-gi-
wearing Seiko feeling insecure over her femininity or tallness.

It was another side of her he rarely saw outside of her "arguments" with
Kazuhito. His crush... his actual crush instead of some parallel
universe version of herself... was talking to him normally. Without
bringing up Sugata. Without being so reserved around him.

He didn't care anymore where their conversation was going or what he
wanted to happen. All he knew was that, for once, the Seiko in his world
was starting to open up to him without bringing up her one-sided love
with Kazuhito, and she was beginning to sound just like the Seiko from
another world.

His lips parted, and he brought up something to his universe's Seiko
that he'd discussed only with the other Seiko once before. "O-Okamoto,
s-speaking of which, are you a fan of the UCC by any chance?" he
croaked.

"Eh? UCC? What...?"


===


About more or less half an hour later... around the same amount of time
a TV anime would finish (complete with commercial breaks)... Tomoyuki
found himself outside the drab apartment, kicking the nearby railings
while cursing himself.

'Stupid, stupid, STUPID! What the hell was that? What possessed me to
say that? What the hell happened?'

Everything was going smoothly; Yamamoto and Okamoto were somehow talking
normally to each other. They were able to discuss various topics of
interest. They were all alone, at that. Something _might have_ blossomed
between them had the Cherry Boy played his cards right!

'Where did it all go wrong?' thought Tomoyuki as he crouched beside the
door leading to Seiko's apartment from the outside. What had happened?
What was he doing outside? Why wasn't he inside? Why was a combination
of mortification and frustration compelling him to bite his lip until
blood came out of it?

It all started with his desperate bid to impress her with the sports and
athletics knowledge he'd gotten from her other self, AU Seiko. He had
asked, "Are you a fan of the UCC by any chance?"

What he meant to ask Okamoto was if she knew about the _UFC_, not _UCC_.
It was the Ultimate Fighting Championship... a Mixed Martial Arts
commission... that he was supposed to talk about with her, and he got
the name wrong.

There was no UCC; not in his world, not in the world that AU Seiko
occupied. He initially thought that UCC stood for the version of UFC in
the other Okamoto's parallel (or otherwise) universe, but he was wrong
and it was also called the UFC there.

Seiko corrected him while laughing her heart out (in a goodhearted
manner, he hoped), so all was not lost when it came to his embarrassing
display of social awkwardness. However, that was already strike one.

He understood how pitiful he must've looked to her. He felt the same way
about other people whenever they attempted to talk to him about
movies... his life's passion... only to make obvious mistakes and wrong
assumptions that made him feel embarrassed for them. It was that feeling
of, 'Is this guy an idiot?' that one couldn't say out loud for the other
person's sake.

The Cherry Boy remembered one time when one of his classmates talked to
him about Zatoichi and claimed it was directed by Akira Kurosawa.
Yamamoto immediately corrected the newbie, saying that it was
"understandable" (yeah, right) how he'd mistake the director of Sugata
Sanshiro as the director of Zatoichi as well.

Actually, he said, "How dare you call yourself Japanese? How can you
mistake Kurosawa-sensei's work with Misumi-sensei's?"

He then proceeded to inform the ignorant one of the fact that first
Zatoichi movie was directed by Kenji Misumi and the latest one (made in
2003 and filled with CGI blood) was directed by Takeshi Kitano.

The boy never talked to Tomoyuki ever again soon after. No wonder he had
little to no friends outside of Miku and the other girls who friendzoned
him.

Anyway, because he ended up exposing his ignorance on the subject of
sports, Seiko shied away from talking to him about the latest major
bouts in UFC, Strikeforce, or MMA in general. They were able to talk
about an upcoming school tournament she had for karate, but all she said
about it was, "Yeah, it's gonna happen after summer," and nothing more.

Since then, they went silent as they waited for Machida and Sugata to
come back, not knowing what else to discuss. Yamamoto was too
embarrassed to expose any more of his sports ignorance to Okamoto, while
the Amazon Queen probably felt secondhand mortification for him.

'I couldn't break the ice,' Tomoyuki realized. Why was it easier to talk
to AU Seiko, but not to Seiko-Seiko? He showcased the same amount of
sports knowledge around the other Okamoto (next to none), but somehow
she managed to laugh off his ignorance as she went on and on about
Anderson Silva, Yushin Okami, Genki Sudo, Georges St. Pierre, Mauricio
Rua, Fedor Emelianko, and so forth.

'I guess a person's willingness to talk about things makes a whole lot
of difference,' he realized. On that note, why was he able to list off
all _those_ MMA greats, yet he couldn't for the life of him call the UFC
by its correct name? Jeez. His motherfucking brain, man.

It was actually Okamoto who eventually broke the ice, stating, "Say,
about that novel of yours that you're writing..."

"Y-Yes?"

"Can you show it to me once it's finished or... is it only reserved for
Miku-chin's eyes?"

"N-No, of course you can see it!" he promised something he couldn't
keep.

Then there was dead silence again. Dammit, was there really nothing for
them to talk about?

If it were AU Seiko, they'd be covering topics ranging from the
differences between their alternate universes to even their unshared
interests. He knew more about sports than he needed to know because
of her (albeit them discussing sports from another dimension), and she
knew more about movies than she needed to know because of him (albeit
them discussing movies from another dimension).

"H-Hey, speaking of which, did you watch Pacquiao-Mayweather last March?
It was awesome, wasn't it? Fight of the year, hands down! I can't wait
for their rematch!" came Seiko's second attempt at breaking the ice.

"U-huh. That's cool, I guess."

"You didn't watch it? Or even heard about it on the news?"

"I haven't been following boxing since Mike Tyson retired, to be
honest."

"Ooooh. Of course. Most casual fans only follow the heavyweights in
boxing, right? I could have sworn the mainstream audience at least knew
Pacquiao or Mayweather. I mean, Pac-Man is the current pound-for-pound
number one fighter in boxing and Mayweather was the former one before
his retirement."

"...I-I do know about Bob Sapp, though. Why is he famous even though he
loses most of the time?"

"Heheh. Bob Sapp, huh? Yeah, it's a mystery why he's famous in Japan
among all the other foreign stars."

That was around the time she started drinking the beer in her fridge she
had laying around for her "not-boyfriend" and childhood friend, Sugata.

'Was it something I said?' Tomoyuki remembered thinking.

About three beers later, he heard her ramble while claiming she was
only "tipsy" instead of "drunk", "Can you believe Sei-kun? Skirt-chasing
again? I swear, he must think of me as another pebble on the road with
his attitude!"

'Uwaaah. She's drunk and she's talking about Sugata again,' he had
realized. He should've stopped talking by that time. He should've seen
the warning flags and kept his mouth shut.

And now there he was, outside of Seiko's apartment, kicked out by the
tenant herself.

Hindsight was a bitch in that only after he was kicked out of Seiko's
apartment that Tomoyuki remembered that he could've gotten Okamoto to
borrow his DVD of Kurosawa's Seven Samurai that he brought for her to
watch.

He couldn't even bring himself to go back to the apartment _now_, much
less offer the DVD to her as a peace offering of sorts.

From the corner of Tomoyuki's eye, he saw Kazuhito come up from the
stairs across the hall, his face as pale as moonlight. The situation
actually reminded Yamamoto of something, but he couldn't quite put his
finger on it.

Also, Machida was nowhere to be found.

"Hey, um... Sugata! Where's Machida?"

"The Class Rep had to take a rain check. She had some stuff to do back
home."

"Oh."

Kazuhito gave Tomoyuki a lingering look. "What are you doing outside?"

"Um. Just getting some fresh air."
8
"Right..." Sugata chuckled before he went ahead and murmured, "Women,
huh?" without looking at the Cherry Boy's direction.

Tomoyuki nodded absently. "Yep." Yamamoto then put two and two together,
which prompted him to ask, "So did Machida call you a seme or an uke?"

Kazuhito's cringing form told Tomoyuki everything he needed to know.

"W-What's a seme anyway? Does it have anything to do with semen?"

"...Uh, that's the dominant partner, I think."

As Sugata looked into Yamamoto's eyes, he promptly turned blue.

'Ah,' Yamamoto thought. 'She went full fujoshi and paired Sugata up with
me, probably,' he realized as Kazuhito rung the doorbell to Seiko's
apartment.

"Are you coming in, Cherry Boy?" Sugata asked.

"Nah, I'm going to take a rain check too. See you on Monday."

"Suit yourself," Tomoyuki heard Kazuhito say as the Virgin King made his
way to the stairs.

"Uwaah! Amazon Queen! You're drunk! What the hell happened to you
and...?"

"SHADDAP! Um tipsy! Let'sh get cooking sho that we could this shtupid
shukiyaki partee done and over with!"

'I just can't understand a girl's heart, I guess,' Yamamoto realized as
he heard the Unofficial Couple of Class 2B bicker at each other.


===


"You got kicked out of my apartment? What the hell did you do to me?"

"It wasn't your apartment, it was the other Okamoto's apartment! And I
didn't do anything to the other you!"

AU Seiko cut to the chase after Tomoyuki spilled the beans regarding
his failed "date" of sorts. This was during one of their many late-night
calls to each other every weekend.

"So what did you ask my other self that had you kicked out of what
could've been a hotpot party? Also, why the heck wasn't Miku-chin with
Furyou-kun?" she asked.

She'd already laughed her ass off at the Cherry Boy's "UCC" slip of the
tongue and was eager to know how he managed to fuck up his chances with
the girl he liked after she outright invited him into her apartment
(along with friends, but still).

Yamamoto didn't want to talk about it, though. "Say, does the names
Pac-Man or Merryweather ring any bells to you in your universe or are
they not famous there?"

"It's Mayweather, not Merryweather."

"Oh yeah, sure. Mayweather."

"Well, _Pac-Man_ is the pound-for-pound king of boxing in my dimension.
Mayweather used to be number one, but he retired. Just recently, Pac
knocked out Ricky Hatton in two rounds and beat the crap out of Oscar
Dela Hoya in nine rounds last year."

"Wow, so the Pac-Man is supposed to be a really big and strong dude? Is
he Mexican or something, like the boxer who killed Joe Yabuki, Jose
Mendoza?"

"Eh? Are we talking about Ashita no Joe this time?" Seiko giggled.
"Anyway, instead of a Mexican, Pac-Man is considered the Mexicutioner!
That little guy's resume is full of Mexicans he beat!"

"Oh. Really?"

"And he's barely even taller than you! He's Asian; Filipino, to be
exact. He's also pretty fast for even a lightweight or welterweight
because of his smaller size, even though he still packs a punch at
higher weights!"

"Eeeh..." Tomoyuki normally couldn't care less (he didn't even know
which country a 'Filipino' was supposed to be from) about such things,
but at least his boxing conversation with the alternate universe
version of Seiko was going better than with the Seiko of his world.

"What does that even mean, 'pound-for-pound'?"

"It means with all things being equal, if all fighters were the same
size or weight class, the fighter with the most skill will be considered
'pound-for-pound' the best fighter in the world. For example, Mayweather
is probably more skilled than either of the Klitschko brothers, even
though they have a significant weight advantage over him."

"Eeeh..." This was starting to become Yamamoto's catchphrase for the
night. He felt like he'd just been informed of another science trivia
fact by Machida. When it came to sports, Okamoto was practically a
genius. "So I guess Mayweather fighting Pac-Man is a big deal, huh?"

"WHAT? Pacquiao fought Mayweather in your universe? I don't believe it!"
Tomoyuki had to move his ear from his cell phone because of the shrill
feedback from Seiko's loud voice.

"I'll take that as a yes," he said in monotone.

"OH, COME ON! Back in my world, people have been waiting _forever_ for
these two to fight! They've fought common opponents. They have a storied
rivalry ever since Pac-Man started appearing in the pound-for-pound
list! THIS SHIT WRITES ITSELF! Hatton was even trained by Mayweather's
father before he got knocked out cold! Could you at least _pretend_ to
be excited?"

Tomoyuki couldn't help but chuckle inwardly at what he viewed as Seiko's
overreaction over a sport he wasn't even following anymore. Why couldn't
he hold such a colorful conversation with the other Seiko?

"Jeez, Cherry Boy! You should totally pay more attention to sports!
These two could end up as one of the all-time greats! Like Sugar Ray
Leonard or Muhammad Ali!"

"I guess it was in the news, but I wasn't really paying attention. I
mean, if it were a Japanese boxer who fought Mayweather, then sure,
maybe I'd be more interested..."

"I hear you, bro. I hear you. If we had an real-life Ippo Makunochi
fighting a real-life Ricardo Martinez, everyone and their grandmothers
here in Japan would be following boxing right now."

Yamamoto could almost imagine Okamoto slinging her arm over his shoulder
with a can of beer on her other hand as she said those words. It was
also a good thing that the Hajime no Ippo manga in both their worlds had
roughly the same plot, or else he wouldn't get the reference.

Wait, wasn't AU Seiko the other Seiko and not the Seiko in his world?
He was starting to confuse one with the other.

Tears started to form in the corners of Tomoyuki's eyes.

"Hey, Cherry Boy? Are you still there? Tell me how Pacquiao and
Mayweather were convinced to fight each other!"

"...Why?"

"Pardon?"

"Why are you so easy to talk to? Even when it comes to things I couldn't
care less about..."

"Cherry Boy, are you okay?"

'Why is it that I couldn't get this Seiko in my world instead of ending
up with the other Seiko who doesn't even love me?' was something he
couldn't bring himself to ask AU Seiko.


===


Next: Harem route.

Finally, Seiko is acting more like the tomboy I envisioned her to be
instead of being labeled a tomboy yet barely doing any tomboyish stuff!

Farewell,
Abdiel
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://www.chez-vrolet.net/pipermail/ffml/attachments/20150221/299d9bf0/attachment.html>