— — — — — —
After getting home, Oikawa flopped onto the couch like a man who had lost the will to live.
The more he thought about it, the angrier he got.
He suddenly shot up, raised his right hand, pointed at it, and started scolding. "Look at you. What big things can you even accomplish?"
"This is all you're capable of your whole life? Can't you think about your other brothers for once? No sense of the bigger picture at all!"
"What am I even supposed to say about you? You just have to touch it the moment you see it?"
"Fine, one touch, whatever. But when she didn't respond, you should've stopped while you were ahead. Instead, you kept going? No shame at all!"
"And what if nobody had stopped you? Were you planning to… stick it in too?!"
"No vision. Seriously, you've got zero vision. I can't even be bothered to lecture you anymore. You're the worst right hand anyone could ask for... I'm truly disappointed in you."
The more he ranted, the angrier he got. He smacked his right hand hard with his left and immediately grimaced in pain.
Not his hand—his heart.... Regret. His chest tightened painfully with it.
He, Oikawa Toru, truly regretted it to death. If he'd just let Kawasaki come over earlier, who knows—maybe something dramatic could've happened!
Humans really shouldn't act on impulse.
He flopped back onto the couch in a weird position, his face hanging off the edge, phone tossed on the floor.
After opening Kawasaki's profile, he sent: "Kawasaki, did you get home?"
Then another message: "Have you eaten? I just had a bento, but it's nowhere near as good as your cooking. Kinda craving your food right now!"
"…Damn, why do I sound like such a simp?"
He waited for a while.
No reply from Kawasaki.
Oikawa tossed his phone aside again and stared into space, contemplating life.
Less than a minute later, he was asleep.
And, well, having a rather steamy dream.
…
..
When he woke up, it was 9 PM.
The first thing he did was grope around beneath him—
Nothing.
His phone had been flung aside before he fell asleep. With a sigh, he got up, grabbed it, and opened LINE.
Messages from Utaha Kasumigaoka and Yui Yuigahama.
Kawasaki's still unread.
With a sigh, he opened Utaha's message first.
[Utaha Kasumigaoka]: "Senpai, you saved my Love Metronome! Wuwuwu, maybe I should repay you with my body?"
[Oikawa Toru]: "Repay me with your body? I'll think about it. Send a few nudes first so I can inspect the goods."
Utaha didn't reply right away for once. So he opened Yui's message instead.
[Yui Yuigahama]: "Oikawa-kun, why didn't you come to the class celebration party?!"
[Oikawa Toru]: "I just didn't feel like going."
Yui responded almost instantly.
[Yui Yuigahama]: "Why? I was really hoping you'd come!"
[Yui Yuigahama]: "Oikawa-kun, you have no idea—you're basically a celebrity in class now! The school festival turned out to be a huge success!"
A celebrity?
Oikawa didn't care much.
[Yui Yuigahama]: "Oikawa-kun, what are you doing?"
[Oikawa Toru]: "Just woke up, Yui-chan. Gonna take a shower, then eat something and play games."
Stretching lazily, Oikawa walked to the fridge.
After scanning its contents…
One pack of instant noodles.
"…Guess I'll eat out."
He wasn't in the mood for instant noodles.
[Yui Yuigahama]: "Oikawa-kun, I kinda want a late-night snack too. Wanna go out?"
Yui suddenly sent an invite.
Oikawa had no reason to refuse and agreed right away.
They decided to meet at a robatayaki place near the center. Oikawa threw on a jacket and headed out.
...
..
"Oikawa-kun! Over here!"
The moment he arrived, Yui was already waving at him excitedly.
Tonight, she wore a light yellow strapless short-sleeve top, paired with a blue skirt and green sandals.
She radiated a fresh, girl-next-door charm.
"Yahallo! Good evening, Oikawa-kun! Come to think of it, this might be our first time eating together alone!"
She looked at him with a bright smile, like cherry blossoms in full bloom.
"…I think you're right."
Oikawa thought about it. Aside from that one fireworks festival, they hadn't really gone out together before—let alone had a meal.
"Then today's kind of special, huh? A step forward in our relationship."
With her hands behind her back, Yui leaned forward slightly as she spoke, looking incredibly cute.
Oikawa's heart skipped a beat.
Crap.
That… felt like the start of a crush.
Watching Yui like this, so effortlessly cute, he came to the same conclusion again: he was just a shallow jerk who fell for looks.
It wasn't that he lacked principles. It's just… how are you supposed to resist something like that?
Hm… sadly, polygamy is illegal in Japan. A man can only have one legal wife, and a woman only one legal husband. It's mainly a matter of inheritance and tax law.
Of course, nothing stops people from living together without registering anything—common-law arrangements, polyamorous in practice if not in name. A legal gray zone with no formal obligations, no rights, no protections. But still… why would any woman agree to that?
'Maybe I could… No, no. What the hell am I thinking?'
Oikawa immediately felt a wave of shame wash over him. "…Let's go in."
Oikawa rubbed his nose and stepped into the robatayaki place. Yui followed right behind him.
Robatayaki was basically a Japanese style of grilling over charcoal.
The place wasn't crowded. So the two of them found a seat, casually ordered a few skewers of grilled seafood.
Then Yui pulled out her phone and showed him videos of her dog, Sablé.
"Oikawa-kun, Sablé really misses you, you know. These past few days, every time I say your name, he gets super excited."
The moment she finished, Yui froze.
Her face flushed bright red as she lowered her head.
Didn't that basically mean she'd been saying Oikawa's name a lot at home?
Panicking, she hurried to explain, "Oikawa-kun, I don't call your name all the time! It's just… sometimes Ebina brings you up when we're chatting."
Oh no. That sounded even worse.
Yui had no idea how to dig herself out of this. It felt like there was a tiny drum inside her chest, pounding non-stop.
"It's fine. My name's not some forbidden word. You can say it whenever you want."
Oikawa shot her a teasing look and brushed the whole thing aside as if it were nothing.
"…Mm, got it."
Yui kept her head down, her voice barely above a whisper.
After they ate, satisfied with how good the food was, they each parted ways and went back home.
Oikawa quickened his pace, unable to wait any longer to start the new game he had just bought—Resident Evil Requiem.
.
.
.