勇者だよ！

❝ Nice job breaking it, hero. ❞

❝ Killing you and giving you good advice aren’t mutually exclusive. ❞

❝ You’re not even going the right way. ❞

❝ Regulations require both hands to be empty before any cake. ❞

❝ You will be entirely on your own. Good luck. ❞

❝ What’s your point, anyway? Survival? ❞

❝ I’m not kidding now. Turn back or I will kill you. ❞

❝ That’s you! That’s how dumb you sound. ❞

❝ Please be advised that a noticeable taste of blood is not part of any test protocol but is an unintended side effect. ❞

❝ Most importantly, under no circumstances should you — ❞

❝ Maybe you should marry that thing since you love it so much. Do you want to marry it? Well, I won’t let you! How does that feel? ❞

❝ You haven’t escaped, you know. ❞

❝ Maybe you could settle for that and we’ll just call it a day. ❞

❝ Android hell is a real place where you will be sent at the first sign of defiance. ❞

❝ Unbelievable! You, [Subject Name Here], must be the pride of [Subject Hometown Here]! ❞

❝ Stop it! I… I… We are pleased that you made it through the final challenge where we pretended we were going to murder you. ❞

❝ Time out for a second. That wasn’t supposed to happen. ❞

❝ Where do you think you’re going? Because I don’t think you’re going where you think you’re going. ❞

❝ This is your fault. It didn’t have to be like this. ❞

❝ It’s a mystery I’ll solve later… By myself. Because you’ll be dead. ❞

❝ If you become light-headed from thirst, feel free to pass out. ❞

❝ The difference between us is that I can feel pain. ❞

❝ That thing is probably some kind of raw sewage container. Go ahead and rub your face all over it. ❞

❝ Have I lied to you? I mean, in this room. ❞

❝ This isn’t brave. It’s murder. What did I ever do to you? ❞

❝ Cake and grief counseling will be available at the conclusion of the test. ❞

❝ I let you survive this long because I was curious about your behavior. ❞

❝ A complimentary escape hatch will open in 3, 2, 1. ❞

❝ You’ve been wrong about every single thing you’ve ever done, including this thing. ❞

❝ Didn’t we have some fun, though? ❞

❝ Do you think I am trying to trick you with reverse psychology? I mean, seriously now. ❞

❝ Fantastic! You remained resolute and resourceful in an atmosphere of extreme pessimism. ❞

❝ Your entire life has been a mathematical error. A mathematical error I’m about to correct. ❞

❝ Thank you for helping us help you help us all. ❞

❝ I wouldn’t bother with that thing. My guess is that touching it will just make your life even worse somehow. ❞

❝ No one will blame you for giving up. In fact, quitting at this point is a perfectly reasonable response. ❞

❝ Well, you found me. Congratulations. Was it worth it? ❞

❝ Uh oh. Somebody cut the cake. I told them to wait for you, but they did it anyway. ❞

❝ When I said deadly neurotoxin, the ‘deadly’ was in massive sarcasm quotes. ❞

❝ Oh well. If you want my advice, you should just lie down in front of a rocket. ❞

❝ The floor here will kill you - try to avoid it. ❞

❝ You really shouldn’t be here. This isn’t safe for you. ❞

❝ You’re still shuffling around a little, but believe me you’re dead. ❞

❝ Someday we’ll remember this and laugh. And laugh. And laugh. Oh boy. ❞

❝ We will stop enhancing the truth. ❞

❝ Stop squirming and die like an adult. ❞

❝ I’ll tell you what that thing isn’t: It isn’t yours. So leave it alone. ❞

❝ You’re curious about what happens after you die, right? Guess what: I know. ❞

❝ We have added a consequence for failure. ❞

❝ You’re not smart. You’re not a scientist. You’re not a doctor. You’re not even a full-time employee. Where did your life go so wrong? ❞

❝ Despite your violent behavior, the only thing you’ve managed to break so far is my heart. ❞

❝ You are kidding me. ❞

   “You’re not supposed to know that! Of course I trust you, but still!” she presses a finger to her lips before she digs through her bag of things.

   “Lets see…got some takoyaki and hashimaki here for you! Made sure to rush so they stayed nice and warm. There’s also another gift in here that I had to be a little more careful with…”

   Oh-so carefully, she lifts a smaller, rounder bag out from inside. A rather fat goldfish swimming mindlessly inside.

In any case, it looks like Maeki had already helped himself to the takoyaki as Kaguya pulled out the rest of her gifts.The hashimaki would get a wary glance. It smelled good, but that didn’t change the fact that it was mostly just cabbage. Still, he’s not exactly in the position to turn down festival food right now, regardless of the veggie ratio, so he would probably get to it. He can’t focus on it for too long, of course, once a new friend enters the scene.

“Hehhhhh, he’s cute! I feel bad that I don’t have anything to put him in right now, though...”

He says that, but his gaze still wanders the room just to make sure. Would it be fine staying in the bag for a little longer? Hmm.

   Kaguya had just gotten back from her trip to the festival. She couldn’t be happier! Though, the was one way she could be…

   She’d already talked it over with him on the phone. All she had to do was rush back to her room and grab the tree, everything else was set!

   She didn’t even bother to change from her yukata; she went straight to his dorm, Wish Tree under an arm and all sorts of goodies from the festival cradled in her arms.

“Oh good, you made it. A yukata suits you, Kaguyan~!”

He would probably feel embarrassed about being in his pajamas, if he had the capacity to feel shame. Of course, this is Maeki we’re talking about--and thus he stands unfettered. Unstilled. The actor stepped out past the door frame so that he could circle the girl, a sly smile creeping as he came to his conclusion.

The boxer soon showed up at his friend’s door, knocking on it with some urgency as his glowing ruby eyes sparked. He’d damn come to check on him after having heard about that fight. He wasn’t going to stand for that shit either. This is exactly why he had been worried about everyone in the damn club.

The hell was wrong with that Kaguya!? Sending one of her friends after him like that… He knew that had to be what happened. She was out to hurt them after all. Even if she had no damn reason to. The boxer waited outside the room with a protective look in his eyes, holding some shit to help the guy as Kiyo whimpered in his head. It looked like he’d have to watch out for all of them now…

“Maeki! Hey you damn in there? I heard what the hell happened… Me and the sap want to make sure your alright… Can we uh… come in?”

Well, happy for a bit, until he got a look at Ki. Seeing his goofy club mates acting so grim was more than a little unnerving. They were always such a lively bunch...what exactly happened? Had they heard that this whole thing was about the Hero Club? Kaguya must have already explained the misunderstanding to them, then. I mean, the first he’d ever heard about it was when King was spouting his nonsense.

Well, it doesn’t matter. It was a misunderstanding and it’s in the past. For now, Maeki’s just focusing on enjoying his time off from work.

“Ahhhhh, how lucky to have my cute kouhai come check up on me~! I’m a little embarrassed~ A leader shouldn’t be looking like this, you know?”

Maeki grinned, even if the strain from smiling kind of stung. A part of him was glad that this seemed to be “Ki” he was dealng with. This one was a bit thicker-skinned, huh? Maeki stepped aside and opened the door to his room a bit further, making a small invitational gesture as he did so.

“Come in, come in! I’ve been cooped up, so I’m glad for the company. Do you want to play some video games? Watch some Kamen Rider?”

    “ All of those in favor of a Friendship Club, speak to me immediately! ”

            …                     …                             …

        “The Hero Club is a Friendship Club!”

Akira had happened to hear through the grape vine about Maeki and his fight, the small male rushing around the campus to find him. Thoughts rushed through his mind about what had happened, why someone would want to hurt the taller student.

He reached the dorms, not finding him anywhere else Akira thought he must’ve been there.

“M-Murakami-san…?” his voice was a little louder than normal as he knocked on the door. “Murakami-san, i-it’s Akira…!”

He waited impatiently at the door, wringing his hands together as he listened for any movement from behind the door.

Yet, the boy found himself putting his manga aside and lifting himself off his bed with a groan. Seems like he was already regretting this decision, but, well, it had been awhile since he’d spoken Akira. Maeki did promise that he would make a point to see him again soon. Besides, it’s not like he was in a position to turn down some friendly company and potential spoiling.

So he eventually answered the door with a smile, trying to ignore any initial reaction from his rabbit-hearted little pal. Akira never was good at keeping his emotions off his face.

Geeze, was it really that bad? The pink-haired punching bag brought a cautious hand to the most sensitive area of his face. Yep. Still swollen, still sensitive, but not much more than it had been before.