' made it all look painless, man am i the greatest? '
Reliance is a curse. Blood is worse than that. And love? Well love is the worst of all.
Satoru Gojo knew he was the strongest, but he never expected anyone to make him feel powerless. That was un...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
After a solid hour of Shoko, Haibara, Ishii, and me wearing down Yaga-sensei's already fragile patience, the man finally caved.
"Alright, alright." He let out a long, defeated sigh, rubbing his temple like the old man he is. "You idiots are going to be the reason I develop high cortisol."
Shoko and I exchanged smirks while Ishii cheered.
Yaga's voice hardened as he pointed at me specifically, "Just make sure you're back by eleven at the latest. And don't do anything to them, alright? Anything. I'm looking at you, Satoru."
I gasped, clutching my chest in mock offense. "What? Me? I'd never."
He glared.
"Okay, okay!" I threw my hands up. "You wound me, Yaga-sensei. I'll be on my best behavior."
For a little while, at least.
The first stop of the day? The arcade.
Suguru, Nanami, and I made a beeline for Space Invaders. Suguru, of course, declared he was going to "completely destroy us" before we'd even touched the controls. I don't know what it is about arcades that turns him into the most competitive person alive, but I wasn't about to let him win.
Meanwhile, the others split up. Shoko and Kamo dove headfirst into Pac-Man, and Haibara dragged Inumaki and Kurata onto the dance pads. Poor Kurata looked like he wanted the earth to swallow him whole.
And then there was Ishii.
Ishii had taken Kaede under his wing, dragging her to various games like an overbearing big brother, despite him being younger. Whether or not he noticed she didn't have money to spare, I don't know, but the kid's good-hearted enough that he probably did. It's very Ishii to act like it's no big deal, even when it obviously is.
From where I stood, leaning casually against the Space Invaders machine, I watched her.
Kaede looked stiff at first—understandable. She's not exactly the type you'd find in an arcade, all flashy lights and chaos. But once they hit Mario Kart, she started yelling at Ishii, her whole face lighting up in frustration.
Cute.
It's been nice seeing her like this, letting go a little. I know she doesn't hate me as much as she used to—that was obvious from the way her cursed energy had stopped spiking every time I came near her—but she still claims to.
Doesn't matter. She's softening.
And I like it this way.
Why would I let a pretty girl hate me forever? That just wouldn't do.
When Ishii roped her into trying the claw machine, I knew it was my time to step in.
She tried. Really, she did. Five tries, all failures. Each one made her groan louder, her expressions becoming more colourful the angrier she got.
