Now back to present day, a week and some change since the entrance ceremony for their second year of high school. Just like every other day, Jun came to hang out at Kai’s house once school was out.
They were sitting next to each other on his bed, enjoying an online game on their two TVs and PS4s. It was a third-person shooter where players fought 15-vs-15 using tanks. Kai and Jun had formed a tag team called a “platoon,” and were on the same team.
The match began. “This passive scouting spot is sick. I’ve got a full view of where the enemy is.”
“Nice!!!”
“Alright—got them right where we want ’em! Camp that spot!”
“Aiming riiiight now~”
“Watch! The enemies are gonna drop like flies, bwahaha!”
“NOOOOOOOOOOOOOBS!”
The two were pretty pumped because the battle had been in their favor right from the opening gambit. Kai and Jun were on the very edge of their seats holding their gamepads.
“Huh, something just hit me.”
“You been spotted, Kai?”
“Nah... My sixth sense’s not going off. This has gotta be somebody pre-firing!”
“Your health bar’s going down pretty fast, huh, Kai?”
“Crap, there’s a unicum on the enemy team?! Run, RUUUUN! They’re sweeping the floor with our Tier 5 asses. We got smurfed!!!”
“WE’RE THE NOOOOOOOOOOOOOBS!”
Now suddenly on the losing side, Jun and Kai’s faces were bright red as they clutched their controllers. But alas, their efforts were in vain—Kai’s Luchs was blasted to bits! Jun’s Pz. IV H was blown away too.
“H-Holy shit...”
“That w-was terrifying...”
Kai and Jun sat there completely dumbfounded, still gripping their controllers even after they’d sadly been ejected. Proof of just how absorbed they’d been in the game.
Because of that, they didn’t even realize that at some point, they’d pressed up against each other just like a couple watching a horror movie in terror.
Gah... Kai could feel his pulse quicken. He was very aware of how squishy Jun’s arm felt. Even though guys tease their girlfriends for having little sticks for arms—and she just was all skin and bone—Jun’s arm was unbelievably plump and exquisitely soft.
Gulp. Uh. What do I do now...
To be completely honest, he wished they could stay pressed up against each other forever. It felt good. She was so squishy. And, it wasn’t like they were doing anything bad—he wasn’t massaging her boobs or anything like that. They were friends first and foremost. Wouldn’t it be way more hypersensitive of him to worry about every single little thing, like whether or not their arms and shoulders were touching? He oughta just take it in stride, right?
The more he tried to build an argument for it in his head, the more devious it made him feel. What in the world was he supposed to do?
I’ll leave it up to Jun! If Jun pulled away from him, so be it.
But her face didn’t show a single ounce of unwillingness. In fact, she didn’t seem to mind sitting like this at all. Meaning, Kai was totally in the clear! Street smarts, 1-0!
“Hey, Kai?”
Being spoken to right as he was thinking these Extremely Devious and Shameful things made Kai nearly jump off the bed. “Y-Yes, whazzit?” he blurted out. His voice cracked, he came off way too polite, and to top it off, he’d also stumbled over his words.
Whether or not she knew about the simple, boyish feelings running through his mind, Jun then asked, “Your arm stiffened up?” She squeezed Kai’s upper arm to see what it felt like, inching even closer to him. Holy moly. She was taking it a step further despite having no idea just how torn he was. Kai was all worried for nothing!
“Like, did you get buffer?”
“Say that again, Jun?”
“Hm?” she asked.
“Say I got ‘buffer’ one more time.” He’d just learned for the first time how happy it made him feel to hear a girl say those words. Not even guys know how a guy’s mind works.
“Ew...” Jun’s face darkened, clearly saying, “We might be friends, BUT...”
Kai felt bad. Then, he answered her question seriously. “Oh, I guess Fitness Boxing is starting to pay off!” he said, name-dropping an exercise game for the Switch he’d been really into recently.
“You’re still playing that?”
“It’s fun.”
“I give up on that game! One session gave me muscle cramps!” Jun huffed.
“I told you, it only hurts the first time!”
“No filthy remarks allowed, then!”
“No ‘reading into things too much’ allowed, then!”
As they laughed together, Kai was reminded of the day he bought the game.
He played it with Jun first because it had a two-player mode. The game had a boxing theme and called for those movements, but the point was to keep the rhythm going by punching at the right time and doing evasive maneuvers. Though not particularly fun, it felt good to get their bodies moving. Jun and Kai got really into it and played against each other for about two hours.
The next day, however, all those muscles Kai normally didn’t use screamed out in pain. His arms in particular hurt so bad they were practically numb. It went straight to Kai’s head. “Gotcha... The aching means I’m getting stronger...”
Jun, on the other hand, felt differently. “This SUCKS! My whole body hurts! Don’t buy weird games Kai, you big dummy!” she chewed him out. Perhaps guys and girls just have different ways of seeing and feeling things. Or maybe only one of them was the dummy.
End flashback.
“Well... Sorry, but I guess if you like it, Kai—I mean, it’s good you’re sticking with it, I suppose,” Jun shrugged.
“Yup. You’re looking at a guy who’s done 10,000 punches in a single month.”
“Suuure. And, well, guess there’s nothing wrong with getting in shape either,” she continued, still leaning against him. She smiled with her eyes and—seemingly off in a world of her own—caressed his forearm. Maybe his arms, toned from day after day of Fitness Boxing, felt nice to the touch just like Jun’s squishy forearms felt to him as a guy.
N-No, we’re just friends though!
Kai was on cloud nine despite his misgivings. Pressing his luck, he said, “If you ever find yourself in a fight with some thugs, I’ll step in and knock ’em out for you.”
“You sure I can expect that from you?”
“My bad, I got carried away,” Kai admitted. “I’m a chicken. Let’s just call the police together.”
“Ahaha! You’re right. The most important thing is not getting hurt.”
“Us otaku are pacifists!” he agreed.