CH. 65 - A Friend's Confession

One weekend at Kenji’s Ramen Shop, Ryuji and Lucy are in their server uniforms, bussing tables and serving food. Eventually, the shop closes up, and they change out of their uniforms and into their street clothes. 

“Thanks, you two. Sorry to do this to you again.” Kenji says.

“Don’t worry about it, dad. We love helping out.” Lucy says. Ryuji nods happily. Kenji smiles.

“Alright, well I’m taking your mother out tonight, so you’ll have the house to yourselves. You better behave!” He says teasingly. Lucy and Ryuji blush as Lucy gets flustered.

“Dad!”

“I know! I know! I’m going!” He says with a smile as he begins to walk away. Lucy exhales softly and looks at Ryuji, who is still blushing. She gets a smirk as she grabs onto his arm, pulling him in closely as she holds him tightly.

“He is right, though. We’ll have the whole house all to ourselves~” she whispers into his ear. He jumps back a bit, blushing more intensely. 

“Lucy!” Ryuji says, flustered. She giggles before punching him in the arm playfully.

“Jeez, I’m just kidding! Get your mind out of the gutter!” She laughs while blushing as Ryuji pouts a bit.

They eventually make their way to Lucy’s house, empty like her dad said, and smile. Wasting no time at all, they begin hanging out like they have done many times before.

“We should watch that new horror movie that came out. I heard it’s, like, super bad haha!” Lucy says with a laugh. Ryuji nods happily as he takes a seat on the couch. Before he can even really get settled in, Lucy quickly plops herself down right next to him and leans against him. Ryuji is surprised and blushes as she snuggles up next to him, letting out a sigh of comfort.

“Ahh~ this is a good spot.” she says, satisfied. They turn on the movie and begin watching happily, cuddling on the couch, sort of. A bit into the movie, Ryuji subtly looks down at Lucy on his shoulder, still blushing. 

‘She’s been so affectionate lately. Ever since I…’ He thinks back to the day he confessed his love for Lucy and the moment she turned him down. He looks a bit sad despite the current moment. ‘But despite that, she has only gotten more touchy. I like it, but… I wish she would like me back…’

“Hey Ryuji, I’m bored.”

He is surprised a bit by her sudden words, being deep in thought. Lucy then leans off of him and turns to face him as he stares confused. She gives him a nervous look while blushing a bit. He begins blushing at her cute face as Lucy speaks softly. 

“I think it might be fun if we maybe… made out..?” Lucy offers as she stares at him innocently for a moment. Ryuji stares at her back before his face fills with red and he freaks out, falling backward over the edge of the couch, blushing intensely. Lucy freaks out a bit and shoots over the edge of the couch, looking at him on the ground. She begins to laugh.

“Chill, Ryuji! I was only joking! I can’t believe you reacted like that, haha!” She laughs loudly as Ryuji gets up off the floor, still blushing, as he slowly fixes himself back on the couch. Lucy composes herself a bit but still has a smile on her face.

“Now that I think about it, you’ve always reacted that way growing up. Anytime I mentioned kissing or anything like that, you always got so red and nervous. I guess I really was that dense to never realize it.” She says softly. Ryuji stops blushing so hard and stares at her, surprised by her words. She doesn’t look at Ryuji as she sits in silence now.

“Ryuji, if I did mean it, what I said earlier… what would you have said?” She looks at him softly but seriously, not joking this time. 

“You mean about… making out?” He asks. She nods softly. He pauses and looks away before answering. “I mean, if that’s what you wanted, then I guess I wouldn’t mind.” He answers softly and honestly. That’s why he's surprised when he notices Lucy begin to cry. He panics a bit, waving his hands back and forth. “I-I’m sorry! What did I say? I didn’t mean to-”

“You’re too good for me…” she says with a smile while tears roll down her cheeks. “You’ve always been so nice to me. You’ve always taken care of me, and yet I… I never did anything for you…” She continues to cry as she speaks. Ryuji slowly starts to calm down as he watches in silence, unsure of what to say. She laughs to herself a little. “The best I could manage was turning you down then messing with your feelings. Mocking you for liking me because I couldn’t believe someone as caring as you could ever love someone like me. I haven’t earned it… All I’ve done is played with your emotions… Why do you let me do that..? I’m such a bad person..!”

Her voice begins to break and shake as she cries even more, putting her head in her hands. Ryuji watches as the person he loves calls herself a bad person. This causes a reaction within him. Acting without thinking, he quickly grabs her shoulders, causing them both to fall off the couch and onto the ground, Lucy underneath Ryuji.

She cries as she covers her eyes with her hands, whimpering a bit. Ryuji sweats a bit as he pants over her, his hands by her head on the ground, holding himself over her. He stays in silence for a moment before gritting his teeth a bit, a mix of so many emotions building up in him.

“You’re not a bad person! You have earned it!..” Ryuji says passionately before pausing again. Lucy slowly moves her hands away from her face and looks at him with tears in her eyes. He relaxes his body a bit and calms down some. “I like the way we are. I like the way I feel about you.” Ryuji says softly, trying to convey his feelings while simultaneously comforting her. Lucy looks to the side with an upset look.

“I’m such a coward. I never try in anything I do because I’m so scared of change. If I try and succeed or fail, then that means something could change.” Lucy finally admits, opening up about what’s going on in her mind all the time. “What happens if it doesn’t work out between us? What happens if it does?” She asks. Ryuji looks at her with a soft gaze, finally understanding her a bit more. “That’s why I said those things despite… despite actually being in love with you..!” Lucy shouts, turning her head to face Ryuji with her eyes closed, finally saying what she’s been feeling deep down. Without even a full second passing once she finishes her words, Ryuji kisses her. She is surprised for a moment before calming down and falling into the kiss, worry still on her face. They hold for a moment before he gently pulls back. He looks nervous and shy as he blushes. She does the same.

“If you’re scared to take the chance, then maybe we should take it together? And no matter what happens, you will never have to do it alone.” Ryuji says softly. Lucy stares at him, his words hitting her hard in her chest as she begins crying again but this time nodding, accepting Ryuji with a slight smile. Ryuji looks at her with slight disbelief before the feeling changes into the purest joy anyone can feel. After another moment, Ryuji slowly leans in close and gently kisses Lucy once again on the floor of her living room, with the night eventually coming to an end as the two longtime friends embrace their feelings, together.

Another morning in the Spring. Hikigaya and Shiori walk to the front door of their home as if ready for a hangout. 

“Alright, Mama, we’re heading over to Chizuru’s.” Shiori says.

“Okay, be careful, you two.” Hamasaki says with a soft smile. Riku comes rushing to them and hugs onto Shiori’s legs. He looks up at her with bright eyes.

“Bring me back something sweet!” Riku demands. Shiori nods with a smile.

“Okay, okay! Will do.” She rubs his head before they leave. Hamasaki and Asami sit together at the table in the dining room as Takanou comes into the room and heads for the door as well, dressed in athletic attire.

“And where are you going?” Asami asks the leaving-with-saying-a-word man with an attitude as Hamasaki pouts behind her. He looks back at them, surprised.

“Just going on a run.” He answers, a slight sweat and awkward smile on his face, knowing why they seem upset. Asami accepts his answer.

“Ah, then proceed.” She says.

“Not without saying goodbyes!” Hamasaki says, still slightly pouting. Takanou happily goes back to them, and kisses Hamasaki on the lips then Asami on the forehead. They give him soft smiles before he heads on out.

Takanou jogs for a while, making a good sweat before he stops by a bench in a park close by. He pauses for a moment, catching his breath with a huff and a strained look.

"I knew I needed to get back in shape…" Takanou says with a tired look before sticking his tongue out when he hears someone say his name.

“Takanou?” A chill man’s voice says from behind. He turns and is surprised to see Jamie and Kiku from his old job standing before him.

“Hey. What are you guys doing here?” Takanou asks.

“Just going for a walk. Jamie had some free time too, so I invited him out. What about you?” Kiku answers as Jamie nods.

“Oh, you know, just going for a run. Gotta stay in shape, haha! Working in that office for so long really killed my stamina.” Takanou says. They laugh a little, kind of awkwardly. Takanou stops after a moment and looks down a bit before speaking. “Speaking of the office… how have things been there? Since I left..” He asks softly. Jamie and Kiku look at each other, surprised, before answering.

“We have no idea.” Jamie says. Takanou looks at them confused.

“Yep. We left almost immediately after they let you go.” Kiku says.

“We even convinced a few others to follow. Probably rained chaos there after that!” Jamie says with a smile. Takanou smiles a bit too. 

“You guys…”

“It just wasn’t right, what they did! Letting you go even though you always did so much for that company! I hope they went under!” Kiku says with an angry tone at the company. Jamie nods as Takanou gets a slightly concerned look.

“But what about work? Have you guys been alright?” He asks.

“Eh, can’t deny that the office had nice bonuses, but who cares. Kiku’s been freelancing, and I’ve got a small gig for a local program developer.” Jamie says.

“It’s way more fun than that stuffy old office, I’ll tell you that!” Kiku says with a smile. Takanou smiles back.

“I’m glad to hear you guys are doing well. Thanks for defending my honor.” He says playfully as they laugh. 

“Well, I guess we’ll leave you to it.” Jamie says, turning around a bit.

“Yeah, give us a call sometime, Takanou!” Kiku says too. They all wave as they begin to walk away. Takanou stands there for a moment watching them as he begins thinking.

“Program developer, huh?..” He gets an idea and calls to them. “Hey, wait!”

Takanou slams a piece of paper down on the table where Hamasaki, Jamie, Asami, Kiku and himself are now sitting.

“You want to make a videogame studio?” Jamie asks, a little skeptical.

“Yes!” Takanou answers confidently.

“What made you suddenly want to do this?” Kiku asks.

“Well, hearing about what you guys did for me, I wanted to try to give you guys all the same second-home job feeling as before but better! That and I’ve kinda always wanted to do this…” Takanou admits. They stare at him for a moment.

“Where would we even get most of our staff?” Jamie asks.

“Well, there’s us to begin with, and maybe we can convince all the others who left too. They all have the knowhow, we’d just need a few other members with different skills, and we’re golden!” Takanou says enthusiastically. Jamie still doesn’t seem convinced.

“Okay, let’s just say we somehow found all the people we need, sound designers, story writers and all that, how would we afford to pay all the staff? Not to mention the equipment or the office space.” Jamie asks with a concerned tone.

“Oh, don’t you worry about all that. Not only do I know some young writers who would kill to write for a videogame, I’ve got the payment all covered.” Asami interjects with a confident smile as Jamie stares, unsure of how to respond. He leans back in his chair, rubbing his chin, trying to think of some way to argue but can’t seem to find the words. Kiku looks at him.

“I know this is a lot to take in at once, but it seems he has this all figured out. You know we can trust him. Besides, doesn’t it sound fun?” She gives him a soft smile as Jamie blushes a bit and looks away. Kiku gets a pouty look.

“Come on, Jamie! Stop being such a sourpuss!” She begins tugging his cheek as the others giggle. Frustrated, Jamie finally cracks.

“Alright, alright, fine. Answer this last question and I’ll be on board.” Kiku stops pulling his cheek as he rubs it. He looks at Takanou with a serious look as they pause. “What will we call this studio of ours?” Jamie asks, intensity in his eyes. Takanou gives a serious look back, standing in silence as he stares intently, preparing an answer that would surely keep them all onboard. He opens his mouth to answer.

“I have no idea.” Takanou says comically. Jamie’s jaw drops.

“You didn’t even try!” Jamie shouts back. Takanou chuckles a bit before speaking more.

“That’s actually why I brought out this paper… I am open to suggestions?..” he says a little embarrassed. Jamie facepalms as Kiku sighs. 

“Top Loaf.” Hamasaki says softly while spacing out. The others look at her surprised as she looks back confused. “What?”

They begin to contemplate the name.

“Hm… Soft and subtle.” Takanou says.

“Yet offers much versatility.” Asami says too.

“Top Loaf Games. I like the sound.” Jamie says, satisfied with the answer. The entire group gets big smiles on their faces. 

“Top Loaf Games it is!” Takanou cheers.

“Looks like our hands are gonna be full these next few months.” Kiku says with a smile. 

“I’ll start making some calls.” Jamie says, getting up.

“Same here. I’ll find us some office space, no problem!” Asami says too. They get up and begin to go to work as Takanou takes Hamasaki’s hand.

“You’re a genius, baby.” He says softly.

“I know.” Hamasaki says back with a smile. With a new direction, the old coworkers and friends begin to step into a new phase in their lives.