NOVEL NEXT Chapter 31
“──Amazing. Congratulations.”
“Huh?”
“Yeah?”
While I was having a silly conversation with Chiaki, I suddenly heard clapping from somewhere.
Curious, I turned my gaze in the direction of the sound. There stood the remaining members of Avant-garde, in other words, the regulars.
To add, Harusaki was bent over, clutching her stomach. Was she in pain? …No, just kidding. It seemed she was laughing so hard she was on the verge of death.
“Why are you clapping, Fuyuka? And why does Megumi look like she’s dying?”
“Seems like their comedy duo really hit the spot.”
“You’re being treated like a completely different person…! There’s no way anyone could not laugh at this…!”
“Hey, your speech is slurring, you hidden klutz.”
“Fuua!”
“That laugh is so irritating!”
Chiaki snapped. To an outsider, Harusaki’s laugh might resemble the net slang “pugyaa,” so I guess Chiaki’s reaction was understandable.
Still, watching this scene again, I realized just how close these people were. I had seen it countless times at work, but being more involved now, I felt it even more deeply.
“I’ve never seen you yell out of frustration before, Chiaki.”
“…Huh!? I’m always refined and ladylike!”
“The fact that you can say that on instinct only makes you seem more like a quirky character, Chiaki.”
“Buh-huh!?”
Harusaki’s abs took additional damage. Also, upon closer inspection, another person took minor damage as well.
“This is hopeless! I never noticed because I’m usually part of it, but from an outsider’s perspective, Ran’s just so dumb…!!”
“Nice stand-up comedy. Full marks for an in-joke.”
“Sorry, Ran-chan. I… I might not be able to take it either…!”
“What, why!?”
“Two down. One more to laugh, and you’ll move to the second stage.”
“Next up, prop comedy?”
“If you save silent comedy for last, you’ll get stuck.”
“What are you two even talking about, Haruto and Fuyuka?”
There was once a variety show like that, you see. It hasn’t been on in ages… I wonder if the high prize money was the problem?
Anyway, setting that aside. Fuyuka’s nonchalant response to my banter showed she had a good sense of humor. And I fully agreed that attempting silent comedy in the final round would be reckless.
“…Could it be that Haruto and Fuyuka get along really well?”
“I think our range of humor is similar.”
“We’re the same age, so we might’ve watched the same shows.”
“…What comes to mind when you hear ‘ladle’?”
“Myo.”
“Most memorable thing about samurai with disheveled hair?”
“For me, it’s the plastic bottle cap.”
“Three cars.”
“Gyuun.”
“What the heck are you two talking about!? What is this!?”
Just reminiscing about a variety show we both liked. And with that exchange, I completely understood. Fuyuka is probably someone who watched a lot of TV back in the day.
“Those were the good old days, huh?”
“They really were. TV these days is boring.”
“Anything else you remember from back then? Something classic.”
“Shiratori…”
“Oh, Shiratori…”
“Koppepan.”
“Koppepan.”
“This is way before our time, but we know it, huh?”
“I know about beans, too.”
“Perfect.”
“From an outsider’s perspective, this call-and-response makes no sense!”
We exchanged a firm handshake. I suspected Fuyuka might be knowledgeable about old shows, but I hadn’t expected her to be this into them. She probably would’ve reacted if I threw in something about school or dogs, too.
“My bandmates don’t get deeper references like this, so I’m really happy to have someone to talk about that golden era with.”
“Yeah… Not many TV kids from back then remember that period. Even mentioning koppepan might get you a ‘Oh yeah, I think that was a thing, huh?’ at best.”
“Exactly. The fact that you immediately came up with a prop joke was genuinely impressive. And the follow-up jokes were perfect. You’re my best friend now.”
“Hold on! Are you saying I’ve got a new rival out of this incomprehensible conversation!? And it’s Fuyuka, no less!? She’s a complete dark horse!”
Chiaki was being incredibly loud next to me. But come on, the whole rival talk is too much of a romantic mindset.
“Heh. Anyway, joking aside, let me properly introduce myself. I’m Nakata Fuyuka. Nice to meet you. You can call me Fuyuka.”
“I’m Mizuki Haruto. Nice to meet you too, Fuyuka-san.”
“Wait, hold on!? Why are you calling her by her first name!? You’ve never called me by my first name!!”
“Well, Chiaki-san, if I called you by your first name, you’d probably get too full of yourself.”
“Even so, I still can’t accept this! Why is it okay with Fuyuka!?”
“Apparently because we’re best friends now?”
“If it’s just about declaring things, I could just call myself your wife!!”
“More like a self-proclaimed wife barging in.”
“Isn’t that practically stalker behavior? …Wait, you *are* a stalker.”
It’s easy to forget after all this, but yeah, she was a stalker. Remembering that now really highlights the disappointment. She was so cool earlier, too…
Well, anyway, I should stop teasing Chiaki. I was starting to get too comfortable, but we’re not at home. There are limits to how much we can mess around in public.
“For now, since the loud, arrogant housekeeper next to me is being noisy, I’ll stick with calling you Nakata-san.”
“Arrogant housekeeper!?”
“Thank you for looking after our dumb, yandere, mentally unstable vocalist.”
“Isn’t that description a bit too harsh!?”
“I mean, I *am* making fun of her.”
“So you’re saying you want me to slap you!?”
Chiaki was wildly swinging her arms around in a ridiculous attempt to intimidate me. Her antics were so silly that I couldn’t help but laugh. The two people who had been downed by laughter earlier were also quietly on the verge of death again.
“Hmm… Normally I’d have Kaho introduce herself too, but I think she’s still recovering from laughing. We might’ve gone a bit overboard. Mizuki-kun, do you have time after this?”
“Yeah, I do. Why?”
“We’re having a wrap-up party after this. Would you like to join us? We’d like to officially introduce ourselves. Normally, we’d go to Marine Snow, but I figure your workplace might be awkward. We could hit up a karaoke spot or an izakaya. My treat.”
I was completely taken aback by the sudden invitation.
“Oh, um, I appreciate the offer, but isn’t it kind of strange for me, an outsider, to join your celebration?”
“It’s fine. In fact, we really want to talk to you. We’ve heard a lot from our unfortunate vocalist over there… including the mess-ups.”
“Ah…”
“So I’d like to formally apologize. My band member caused you a lot of trouble.”
I see. Now that she explained it like that, the invitation made sense. If they’d just invited me to join them for fun, I’d probably have declined, but…
“If that’s the case, I can’t refuse. I’d be honored to join you.”
“Thanks for accepting the invitation. Let’s head out quickly then. Ran’s antics have drawn warm, knowing stares from Ogata and the others.”
“Is that really my fault!?”
“Yeah, pretty much.”
“Haruto-kun!?”
No joke, Chiaki, I’d say about eighty percent of the reason is you. You’ve been shouting ridiculous lines nonstop.