We arrived at Higashi Mall. The memories of being beaten in the war by D Class here were still fresh on my mind.

As expected, the mall was exceptionally busy today since it was the weekend. People ranging from the students at GEN to the regular civilians on the island gathered here today.

They bustled in and out of various shops, leisurely enjoying themselves with their friends and family. Yet, despite this laidback atmosphere, the air felt agonisingly humid on this hot summer day.

"...is the mall's AC system broken or something?" Yukimura muttered.

"I'm surprised Yukimura-san can wear his jacket zipped up when it's so hot..." Taiga moaned, fanning her.

"I don't wanna be accused for sexual harassment."

"That's a huge leap in logic, what the—"

"Oi, stop having dirty thoughts. I'm not wearing a shirt underneath, that's all."

"What's the big issue then?"

"If I unzipped my jacket, people would accuse me for looking indecent in public."

"And that's how you got sexual harassment?!"

Alternatively, Yukimura could just take off his jacket entirely and be shirtless while walking around the mall.

"Mitsuba took his shirt off in public and got mauled for it."

"Yeah, but that's Mitsuba-san. No one wants to look at his bare chest."

"Exactly, it's unwanted stripping. Hence, sexual harassment."

This is the same backwards logic Mitsuba used to justify sneaking a camera in the girl's changing room when we visited the pool...

"Huh... I mean, when you put it that way... I guess I can see it?"

"Whatever, let's just get moving. Where we off to first?"

"Good question. Yuu-kun, what were you thinking?"

Taiga turned around to ask me.

"We should visit whichever shop is closest to us right now."

We all planned on buying gifts at different locations, so this seemed like the most logical and efficient way to get things done.

"Let's see here... the closest shop would probably be Omocha."

Taiga examined a map of the mall on her phone and pointed at the toy store.

"Why does the damn clothing store gotta be on the second floor..." Yukimura sighed while ruffling his hair.

"If it makes you feel better, the store I want to visit is the furthest away since it's located on the outskirts."

I wanted to go to Keyaki, the local card store, to buy some Vanguard cards for Kawaguchi's birthday.

"I'm surprised you want to visit a toy store, Yumiko-chan. What are you planning on buying there?"

"Umm..."

Tadokoro sheepishly looked away while mumbling something. Taiga looked at her blankly while Yukimura whispered into my ear.

"Did you hear what she said?"

I shook my head no.

"...guess we'll see when we get there then." Yukimura grunted.

Leading the way, it took about three minutes to get there.

You'd think a toy store would be quite small, since the island's population was mostly young adults, but to my surprise, Omocha was larger than I expected.

I couldn't quite put my finger on it, but as I wandered through the aisles, I noticed there was something bright and charming about its innocent atmosphere that made me feel like a little kid again.

"Woah, they have RC cars! I loved these when I was little!"

Despite looking the most adult like out of us four, Yukimura broke into a childish fever as he split off from our group to check out the range of remote control cars on display.

"They really do sell a lot of different toys here... uwa, these plushies look so cute!"

While musing to herself, a range of soft animal plushies caught Taiga's attention. She excitedly rushed over to them, picking up a lion plushie and tightly squeezing it.

"Eeeeee! It's adorable!"

I couldn't help but feel like she picked it up because of her father's name, Backlion...

Since Yukimura and Taiga ditched us to explore the shop on their own, me and Tadokoro continued to walk together, trying to find what she wanted to buy for Kawaguchi.

However, even I came to a grinding halt when a display of anime figurines caught my eye.

Made up of mostly heroines from popular series, such as Izanoku from Circumstances and Miyuki from Xros, I found myself drawn in by their recognisable faces and intricate sculpting that emphasised their coquettish bodies and revealing outfits.

As I ogled over these sexy figures in awe, my immersion suddenly broke as I stared at one figure in particular.

My mind started to space out as I stared at it emptily.

It was Kashii from "Is it wrong to make a Harem out of God's Slaves?"...

...the light novel he wrote.

I felt sick. I didn't want to look at the figurines anymore.

I picked up the pace and caught up with Tadokoro after passing through a few miscellaneous aisles.

It seems that, aside from toys, this shop also offered things like figurines, collectibles, and puzzles as well.

"Ah... here it is!"

Eventually, we ended up at the section Tadokoro was looking for.

It was an aisle dedicated to model kits. Particularly, build your own model kits for mecha enthusiasts.

Tadokoro looked up and down with a gaze of wonder, picking up kits from the shelf and checking out their specs.

Since this was an otaku hobby, I had dabbled in this sort of stuff before.

During middle school, I built Miyuki's White-winged <Beelzebub Pulse> from the Xros series. It was fun to do, but the kits were expensive, so I never bought another one to do.

I still have the Beelzebub Pulse displayed in my room to this day. However, I didn't bring it with me to GEN since it seemed unnecessary. I kind of wish I did now.

"Which one did he like again...?"

Tadokoro muttered to herself, holding two colourful boxes in each hand. I peered over her shoulder and immediately recognised the two mechas, as they were both from the Xros series.

In her left hand was the Crimson-winged <Claw Leo>, and in her right hand was the Tiger-glory <Striped Martial>. Claw Leo was an iconic mecha from the series, since it was involved in one of the biggest plot twists regarding the 14th family.

"Are you buying one of these for Kawaguchi-san?"

"Yes... one of his hobbies is making these super robots, so I wanted to get one for him."

I had no idea Kawaguchi also liked building model kits. I wondered if he's read the Xros light novels before.

"He wanted one of these feline ones, but I don't remember which one it was specifically..."

"Hmm. Which does he like more? Lions or tigers?"

"Kawaguchi-san likes all cats equally."

"Huh..."

Well, that made our job discerning which one he wanted ten times more difficult.

"If I had to guess, I think he'd want the Claw Leo."

"You think so?"

"Yeah. From that series, Claw Leo is way more popular than Tiger-glory. Plus, in the boy's group chat, Kawaguchi-san's choice of emoji is a lion."

I took out my phone and showed Tadokoro the (separate) boy's group chat Yukimura made that I was part of.

"Oh... I had no idea! A-also, what are you guys talking about in there...?"

Terror washed over Tadokoro's face. I raised an eyebrow and looked at the chat for the first time in ages.

It was Mitsuba ranting about fake boobs and Tanaka cheering him on.

"...I'm sorry you had to see that."

"A ha ha...?"

Taking my advice on board, Tadokoro went to purchase the Claw Leo for Kawaguchi's birthday.

After regrouping outside of the store, we went up to the middle floor next to go to Rikou Clothing for Yukimura and Taiga.

Both of them were planning on getting some new clothes for his birthday. Personally, I found the whole concept of fashion boring, so I just quietly followed them into the men's section.

However, what did impress me was the sheer amount of different clothes on offer here. Who knew you could milk so many designs out of a single shirt?

"Hey, any of you guys know where the accessories are?"

"Nope, it's my first time in the men's section."

"Same here..."

Both Taiga and Tadokoro shook their heads no to Yukimura's question.

"Damn it. How about you, Takanori?"

"It's my first time at this shop."

"Oi, you're kidding me right...?"

Somehow, I got the worst reaction out of everyone here.

"I don't go out often, so I've never had to buy new clothes before."

"You really are a damn shut-in."

"Sorry..."

For some reason, I felt like I had to apologise for my lifestyle.

"Aight, fine, let's do it this way instead. Since we're already in the clothes section, let's grab Demiza's stuff first."

"Sounds good!"

"Cool. Need any help finding anything then? I've been here plenty of times before."

It was kind of scary seeing Yukimura act so friendly today.

"Yeah, do you know where the socks and underwear are?"

"Ha? What the hell, you crazy woman! Are you seriously buying that useless crap for his birthday?!"

I take back what I said, he could still be a jerk if he wanted to.

"It's not useless, it's practical! Everyone could do with more socks and underwear in their life!"

"Not as their birthday gift! At least Tadokoro got him something cool, even if it's nerdy!"

"Then I'll buy him some sick thigh high socks!"

"That's the crap you girls wear, you sicko!"

"Not just girls, Nora-chan wears them too!"

"When Sakigamiya-san forces him to crossdress, damn it!"

I was suddenly reminded of yesterday, when Shouko crossdressed Nora. I miss him wearing girl's clothes already...

Yukimura and Taiga broke into a shouting match in the middle of the store as Tadokoro, trapped between them, laughed awkwardly.

I slowly stepped away, not wanting to be associated with them anymore. As I backed off, I accidentally bumped into someone, knocking them to the floor.

"Ow!"

"Oh... sorry."

"Hey, look where you're going!"

I already apologised, didn't I...?

As I turned around to help them up, I flinched seeing who it was.

It was Suzuki.

"Ha... h-hah, Takanori?!"

Suzuki scrambled up, embarrassed that I saw her in such a clumsy position.

"Mayuri-chan, is everything okay?"

I could hear Shouko's voice in the distance. What were these two doing here in the men's section?

"Mhm, just peachy. Some asshole knocked me over."

"Ehh, who? Lemme grill that bastard for being a blind idiot!"

Somehow, it was soothing to hear Shouko say something so abusive. I guess I'm just too used to her being mean to others...

"Coming!"

Suzuki smirked and suddenly grabbed me by the wrist.

"Hang on, what are you...?"

Without saying anything else, she dragged me over to Shouko, who was standing in front of an occupied changing stall.

"It was this guy, Takamine, or something. Ya know, the loner from our class?"

"It's Takanori..."

"Takamine, Takanori, Takamochi, who cares?"

I care...

"Eh, Yuu-yuu?!"

"Shouko-san... hey."

Upon hearing us address each other in a friendly manner, Suzuki blinked in surprise.

"Wait, don't tell me... you two are buddies?!"

"Yeah, Yuu-yuu's actually really a cool guy! I'm sure he didn't mean to do it on purpose."

I wasn't sure how to feel hearing Shouko say this, since earlier she called me a blind idiot, even if unintentionally.

"It was an accident... I swear."

Besides, I wouldn't want to get on Suzuki's bad side on purpose. I was on thin ice with her already after what happened at the pool...

"Ah, whatever. Takayuki-chan, you nearly done changing?"

"J-just a moment!"

After hearing Nora's voice, I looked over to the changing stall.

"Are you two here with Nora-san?"

"Mhm. We're getting him a new outfit for my party tonight, he he!"

Shouko clapped her hands happily together with a wide smile.

"Come to think of it, you did mention something about going clothes shopping with him on Tuesday..."

"Wow, I can't believe you remembered, Yuu-yuu!"

Shouko then cupped her mouth to whisper to me.

"Personally, I would've liked it to be just the two of us, but I think Takayuki-chan's having more fun with two girls around him."

I don't know whether to applaud Shouko's boldness or be afraid for Nora.

"H-how does this look...?"

Interrupting my thoughts was Nora, who exited the stall wearing a pastel blue hoodie and beige shorts.

"Aaaaaaa, it looks great on you!" Shouko squealed.

"Soft colours really do suit you." Suzuki smiled.

"Thank you... a-ah, Takanori-kun? What are you doing here?"

Nora noticed me awkwardly standing next to Shouko and Suzuki from afar.

"Uh... I was dragged here by Suzuki-san..."

"I dragged him here cuz he knocked me over like a dummy. Shouko-chan was going to chide him for it, but she didn't out of the kindness of her heart."

Suzuki immediately cut in, not allowing me to finish my explanation.

"Yeah... basically what she said."

There was no point trying to correct her over such a ridiculous situation.

"Oh... um, I guess you two should be more careful next time?"

"You don't need to tell me that, it was him who knocked into me first."

"Can we stop making this a bigger deal than it should be...? If you want, I'll take my leave right now. I've got stuff to do."

Honestly, I just wanted to leave because I didn't want Tadokoro and the others to try and find me. Shouko had beef with Yukimura and Taiga, so it would be a disaster if our two groups collided with each other.

"Actually, what are you doing here Yuu-yuu? I don't think I've ever seen you around here before."

Since Shouko went out a lot, while I barely went out at all, it was the first time we randomly met each other outside.

"I'm buying a present for Kawaguchi-san."

"Oh yeah, it was that guy's birthday too, wasn't it?"

"It was yesterday, yeah."

"I don't know whether to be offended or not that you're buying him a gift instead of me."

"You're plenty popular enough, one less present isn't going to hurt... I just feel bad for the guy, since he's been through a lot."

"My god, you really are as stiff as everyone says. I'm just pulling your tail!" Shouko laughed at my serious response.

"I don't have a tail. If you want, I can still get you something?"

"Oh no, you don't have to. The fact you said happy birthday to me on Monday is more than enough. I was really impressed you knew! Like, I barely talked to you before, so good on ya!"

Shouko grinned, proudly patting me on the back. It was enough to make me straighten my hunched back slightly.

"Thanks... you guys enjoy the rest of your day."

"You too!"

Seeing this as my chance to escape, I waved goodbye to Shouko, Nora, and Suzuki. I quickly returned over to where Yukimura and the others were.

It seems Taiga was serious about buying Kawaguchi some socks and a pair of underwear. She was currently digging through a bin of boxers.

"I think Kawaguchi-san would look great in blue!"

"Don't tell me you actually wanna see that beanpole naked... I've seen that dude in the changing room, he's all bones and no meat."

"Woah, why are you paying attention to other guy's bodies? Are you gay or something, Yukimura-san?"

"What the hell made you think that, ya stinking runt? 'Course I'm not, I'm straighter than a ruler."

"Oh my, it sounds like you're not confident in your own sexuality."

"Oi... don't make this weird, you friggin fujoshi freak!"

As Taiga and Yukimura argued about something else again, Tadokoro noticed my return and waved at me slightly.

"T-Takanori-san, you're back..."

"Hey. Those two are still at it, huh?"

"Yeah, a ha ha... so, um... where did you go?"

"A shirt caught my eye, so I went to check it out."

"Oh... um, did you buy it?"

"Nah. It was too expensive."

I lied as naturally as I breathed.

Once Taiga bought a matching pair of dark blue socks and underwear for Kawaguchi, we headed over to the mixed gender section to find what Yukimura wanted to get.

"Ugh, why's all this garbage for women?! Where's the men's accessories, god damn it!"

Yukimura shouted in frustration as we explored the accessory aisle for over five minutes, not finding anything made for men.

"What are you looking for anyways?" Taiga asked.

"Hair ties! I want to get that loser some hair ties!"

"Eh? Doesn't he have a bunch of them already?"

"I think he lost 'em or something. He's been coming into school without tying up his hair up for ages now."

Kawaguchi probably stopped tying up his hair because he gave up trying to improve himself, which is what doing that represented.

"That is true... it's weird seeing him without a mop."

"I wanna get him something useful, so this seemed decent enough. Seriously though, do girls seriously wear all this crap...?"

"I mean, just look at me or Yumiko-chan. I have bobby pins here and here, a bracelet on my wrist, and a choker too. Yumiko-chan has a flower hair clip and hair ties to keep her braids together."

"Wait, hair ties?"

Yukimura turned to Tadokoro and inspected her hair by grabbing it.

"Y-Yukimura-san?!" Tadokoro squeaked.

"Oh crap, you do have hair ties." Yukimura let go of her braids.

"How else do you think she keeps her hair like that?" Taiga sighed.

"The secret is I don't do my hair."

"No wonder it's so messy."

"You call it messy, I call it rocking the bed hair style. Anyways, where'd you get them, Tadokoro?"

"Um... t-they're usually sold by the counters..."

"Sick. If you knew where the hair ties are, why didn't you say anything? Woulda saved us a lot of time and anguish."

I think you mean it would've saved you a lot of anguish, Yukimura.

"Oh, um... ehh..."

Even though he asked her a normal question, Tadokoro was getting nervous due to Yukimura's rough tone.

"Hey, don't be so harsh on her. She just has a hard time speaking up in groups, that's all."

It seems I wasn't the only one who noticed, as Taiga came in to defend Tadokoro.

"Plus you're pretty intimidating to talk to, you know? You speak pretty rudely and your height is terrifying..."

"It's only terrifying cuz you guys are midgets. Besides, I'm working on my speech. Sakigamiya-san said the same crap to me before, so I'm doing my best, aight?"

Yukimura sighed before turning to Tadokoro.

"I knew you were shy, but I didn't know you were this shy... you're even worse than Nora, and he's a crybaby."

"S-sorry..."

If we were in the Drachma garden, it would be a whole different story. Tadokoro would've been a social butterfly.

"It's fine, let's just grab the hair ties and head to that card shop for Takanori."

We went up to the counter, where Yukimura picked up a packet of black hair ties from the shelf and paid for it.

Afterwards, we went to the mall outskirts to visit Keyaki Card Shop. It was there that we met with Akihiro and Akari, the other two people I invited out today.

By the time I sent them messages asking if they wanted to join us, they were already at Higashi Mall playing Vanguard, so I told them that we'd rendezvous with them there.

"Yo, Yuuto! Yukimura, Taiga, Tadokoro too!" Akihiro grinned as he greeted us.

"Woah, what's this? A double date? Who's with who? My money's on Yuu with Taiga-san and Yukimura-san with Tadokoro-san!"

Instead of greeting us, Akari played "ship-master", just like her father, and spun us into romantic couples.

"I'll kill you, Jomko." Yukimura grunted while showing his fist.

"A ha ha! I'm kidding, I'm kidding!"

"Yuu-kun, would you date me?" Taiga turned around and asked me.

"...what makes you ask that?"

"Akari-san shipped us together, so...~"

"I'm not interested."

"Not even if I offer my big butt?"

"We've been over this already... I'm not into that."

"Ah, so you're a boob guy, I see. Fitting for someone who has a crush on their mom."

"When I was four... how many times do we have to go over that?"

Taiga began laughing at my reaction.

"I can't believe people still remember that." Akari said.

"And I wonder whose fault it is..."

"Ha ha... oops. Sorry?"

Because of Akari, half the island's population believed I was some kind of momcon. I hate this so much...

"You know, Demiza do be packing them cheeks." Yukimura casually whispered to me.

"Who are you, Mitsuba-san...?"

"Oi, I'm not as filthy as him, but I had to sneak a peek when she brought it up herself."

"That's even worse..."

"Oh c'mon, she brags about it all the time. Appreciate the ass that's been blessed to our class."

"I would suggest not looking at her that way, since you're gunning after Alice-san... and everything."

Yukimura's eyes widened.

"H-huh?! D-did you just say... "A-A-Alice-san"?! When the hell did you become so close to her, huh?!"

Immediately, he got me into a choke hold under his armpit.

"Spit it out, ya damn loser! How the hell did you get closer to her than me?! What the hell! Stop cucking me, asshole! What crap did you do to get her permission?! Did ya force her? If you forced her, I'll kill you! No, I'll kill you either way for calling her "Alice" so casually in front of me, damn it!"

I couldn't tell if Yukimura was more angry or upset at me.

"Ooh, Yukimura-san has a crush on Alice-san!" Akari exclaimed.

"Uwa, this is some juicy tea!" Taiga gasped.

Yukimura came to a screeching halt once he realised what he had just screamed out loud.

"...oh, crap."

"Your cover's been blown, my dude." Akihiro facepalmed with a low grin.

It wasn't much of a cover in the first place if you ask me...

"S-shut up! It's all Takanori's fault!"

Yukimura let go of me and shoved me over to Akari and Taiga.

"He called Sakigamiya-san by her first name!"

Immediately, Taiga, Akari, and Akihiro broke into laughter. Tadokoro hid behind me, confused by what was happening.

"This is so childish... it's almost wholesome... he he..." Taiga giggled.

"I'm surprised Yukimura-san is so sensitive... ha ha... about this kind of stuff... ha ha ha!" Akari laughed.

"Dude, just ask for her permission... it's not that hard." Akihiro chuckled.

"If it makes you feel better... that's what I did." I said.

Obviously, it was Alice who gave me permission, rather than the other way around, but I felt that if I told Yukimura that, he'd just get more upset at me.

"Why were you even asking in the first place, ya damn loser...? Ah, whatever! Laugh away, I don't care!"

Yukimura huffed as he pulled up a seat and tried to blow off the situation by crossing his arms and ignoring us. However, it was clear he was embarrassed by what had happened, as his face was completely red.

Tadokoro peeked out from behind my back and tugged on my shirt. I looked at her over my shoulder.

"T-Takanori-san... will Yukimura-san be okay...?"

"I'm not sure. Do you want to try talking to him?"

"Well... yeah, since he looks upset... b-but I'm kind of scared... the way he grabbed you was... um..."

"Oh... I'm fine. It looked bad, but it didn't really hurt since he was too busy screaming to concentrate doing it."

Plus, compared to dodging the movements of Nakajima yesterday, Yukimura's choke was basically nothing to me.

"Ah, but still... I-I don't know if I can... do anything."

Tadokoro frowned, feeling helpless to make Yukimura feel better after he was made fun out of.

Just like how she wanted to help Kawaguchi, she also wanted to help Yukimura. It was just in her nature to be hospitable to other people and try to heal away their pain, since she was an empathetic person at heart.

"If you want, I can come with you. But it might be awkward, since I'm the one who made Yukimura-san like this in the first place."

"T-true... um, I guess I'll just try by myself then..."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes... I don't like seeing Yukimura-san get angry."

"I see. Good luck. Be patient with him, okay?"

"I-I will."

Tadokoro took a brave step forward and approached a scowling Yukimura. I could never do such a thing...

Meanwhile, I went to go buy the cards I wanted to get for Kawaguchi. I purchased a set of the new Bluish Flame cards that were recently released, Prominence Core, for him.

Once I returned to the group, it seemed like everything had chilled out now.

Akihiro and Akari were talking about their experience in D Class with Taiga, while Yukimura and Tadokoro were getting along surprisingly well. I was glad to see that she had gotten through to him.

"Akihiro-san, Akari-san."

I approached their table and sat down next to Taiga.

"Yo." Akihiro said.

"Chissu!" Akari said.

"You guys ready for Kawaguchi-san's surprise party?"

"Yup. I got him my present today."

"Same here. I hope he likes it!"

I invited Akihiro and Akari to attend since they were his closest friends in E Class. If someone could cheer him up, it was definitely these two.

"It must be pretty awkward being in the same class as Shigeru-san, though."

"Yeah, it sucks. Dunno what the hell went through that guy's head in the war, since he's actually not that bad in class."

"I don't know... I never really liked the vibes of any of those delinquents in D Class. Now sharing a class with them, it feels hella weird."

"Most of 'em have been pretty friendly, to be fair. The only one that's been kinda annoying towards me is Nakajima. That dude doesn't like me at all for some reason..."

"Oh yeah! He's always trying to stay away from you and me, and I have no idea why."

"I tried talking to him once, since he reminded me of someone from the orphanage, but he punched me in the gut then ran away... it hurt like hell for a week straight! That dude is surprisingly strong for his build..."

"Jeez, this guy sounds insane." Taiga said.

"He kind of is, but kind of isn't. I think his test scores are pretty decent from what I remember?"

"Yeah, he was in the top five for D Class... which isn't saying much, but he's up there with Tetsuya-san and Nanami-san."

"He's kinda like Takenaka before he forfeited being a delinquent, basically."

It felt surreal to hear Nakajima being talked about so casually like he was a normal person. If I didn't know about his connection, then I would've assumed he was some middle tier delinquent like Shigeru.

Akihiro and Akari didn't have a clue to what kind of person he really is at all.

"Anyways, I've got the cards, so we can head back now."

"Oh, sure thing."

Me and Taiga got up.

"Aw, you guys ain't staying for the tourney?" Akihiro said.

"Nah, I've got homework to do." Taiga sighed.

"I have some loose ends to take care of as well." I said.

"Rip, good luck with that."

"Thanks. See you guys tonight."

"See you guys!" Akari waved.

"See ya later, alligator." Akihiro grinned.

Together, me, Taiga, Yukimura, and Tadokoro left the mall and made our way home.