We head back to css, half-full. The rate of time in the Slice-of-Life genre is cruel, preventing us from enjoying full-fledged meals when we let our guard down.

  I’m still getting used to the ropes, but I genuinely have begun to care about the Slice-of-Life Protagonists. They’re a quirky bunch; I can say for sure it’s a different feeling watching animes of simir genres and actually being with them.

  For that reason, I will choose to defend this safe space. With that being said…

  SFX: ジー

  I stare at each of the members of the Slice-of-Life Girls group.

  The fact that these people also came from my css, makes it all the more outrageous. What kind of war are we getting into?

  I analyzed each of them, starting with Yuka.

  Yuka Konishi, defining features, her pale skin, her small stature, and her blue hair. Must be an innocent figure in the group.

  Next, I have Ran.

  Ran Tanimoto, defining features, nothing much, aside from the purple hair. Her actions seem hyper, so she must be bubbly, eccentric, and might possibly be the leader judging from how she took the initiative earlier.

  Then Rin.

  Rin Goda, defining features, absolutely none, bck hair which is normal.

  She yawns and outstretches her arms. Falling victim to drowsiness, she sleeps soundly on her desk.

  Her aura seems… sluggish? She must be a sleeper and I can infer that she interacts with the group the least like Takashi.

  Lastly, Mari.

  Mari Chinen, a bit tall, orange hair. I dislike her, seems like a nagger. She must be the one who keeps the rest of the group in check. One who bounds them to reality. Additional thing to note is that she seems to be a man-hater.

  I grow weary, trying to think of possible scenarios, with each one resulting in a loss. While I do believe, my pessimism is the result of this and actual possibilities may be higher than what I think. To remove this, I attempt to give myself a morale boost.

  “We’ll make it!”

  I say that, although, I can’t help but worry for us. I just know it. Author is pulling some strings again.

  …

  ..

  .

  4:00 PM, After School

  All of us gather before the gates.

  “Alright then, is everyone present?” Ran asks.

  “I don’t know? Ever heard of the concept of counting?” I ask sarcastically.

  “How mean!” she says jokingly.

  “So we all know why we gathered up here now, right dies and gentlemen?” she asks us once more.

  Everyone else nodded except for me. I disliked energetic leader-like people, so I felt like rebelling.

  “So how about it, girls? Do we let the boys decide first?”

  “No way!” Mari compins.

  “It’s alright…” Yuka responds.

  “Hmph, you girls can go first,” Madoka insists.

  “Ladies first is the saying, isn’t it?” Masaru mocks.

  “Hmm? If you say so! The girls will propose the challenges for this time. Say… how many challenges shall we go through?” Ran queries.

  “I say best out of 5 challenges,” I answer.

  “Gotcha! Anyone else care to change the number?”

  No one dared to answer.

  “Then the stage has been set!” she announces.

  She turns to the rest of her group.

  “Discussion time!”

  They huddle together and whisper. Like st time, I try to snoop in their conversation, but their words turn out unintelligible.

  Some part of me tells this was intentional.

  It takes a few minutes and they finally settle on a challenge. They turn around to face us.

  “We’re done!” Ran broadcasts.

  “So? Mind telling us?” Katsuro replies.

  “Rin-chan, if you will?”

  Rin steps forward.

  “So here is the challenge…”

  She clears her throat.

  “We will partake in a competition to see which group is the funniest of all. Be it spstick, situational, dark, or whatever. Anything is fair game. The rating will be from 1-10, and the total results will be averaged, so it’s fair for all of us.”

  Takashi raises his hand.

  “Who shall be the judge?”

  I think of a spectacurly good idea. If I volunteer, I could flunk the girls and pass all the boys.

  “M-”

  However, I was interrupted by Mari.

  “Good point, best not to use anyone from our group as to remove bias,” she expin.

  Damn it. That bias could have proven to be our advantage.

  Note: I know your moves.

  “Th-Then who should we choose?” Yuka queries.

  We all keep watch by the gate to see if anyone would be fit to be our judge. Mutiple students leave but none seemed wise. Then we saw the perfect contender, Kazuhiko Arita, the gender-bender protagonist.

  “Come here!” Ran cheers as she forcibly ropes her into our foolish antics.

  …

  ..

  .

  Finally, after much chattering and persuading…

  “Now one final thing… as for the rules, naturally we have to set them, so that certain people can’t compin about cheating,” Rin told us, “We wouldn’t want that, would we?”

  Why do I feel like I am being indirectly attacked?

  The rules were listed as follows:

  Rule 1: You may ask for help from the other people in your group. However, if you ever decide to perform with one or more of them, the performance shall be accounted for all members included in the performance.

  Rule 2: You are not allowed to interact with those of the opposing group; otherwise your group is disqualified. This is to prevent any mind games or any bckmailing of any sort.

  Rule 3: You may not bribe or talk to the judge.

  It was decided upon that the boys would go first since the girls were given liberty to choose the challenge. Each group had an allotted of 10 minutes for discussion.

  Aren’t we taking this a little too seriously? Like there are so many details involved. It’s almost like the rooftop is a sacred holy pce akin to a church.

  “My men, what do we do? Do we pn a skit?” Masaru suggests.

  “I don’t think so, skits are good but I wouldn’t feel comfortable acting out scripted actions,” I express my opinion.

  “Mhm,” Takashi agrees.

  “What should we do?” Katsuro wonders.

  “Be ourselves,” I answeres..

  “Are you saying we’re jokes?!” Madoka asks.

  “Oh yes, big time,” I answer bluntly.

  In a pitiful way too.

  I think deeply.

  There is no way these people would be able to create such a scheme so fast. I think I should consider grouping them.

  I take a gnce at Takashi.

  Shy and quiet. Can prepare dark humor, although, not necessarily in the funny direction, but rather context. Goes along with shenanigans.

  I look at each and every one of their faces.

  Who is he best paired up with?

  I gnce at Katsuro.

  He is idiotic, a simp, he is best paired up with someone, so his antics could be mocked. I’ll group him with Masaru, who is the realist, and one with the most common sense.

  Meticulously considering the various factors, I eventually end up consider grouping them. Next up to be judged is Madoka.

  He is unfortunate and the irony is… he is quite prideful. He can be a one-person show. I don’t think I can pair him up with Takashi because he’d end up getting left in the dust.

  I groan.

  I’m gonna have to act as Takashi’s partner instead.

  After confirming the ideas, I expin my pn carefully to them. It took a lot of persuasions, but they ultimately agreed to it.

  …

  ..

  .

  “Time’s up!” Rin announces, “Discussion period is over! It is showtime!”

  We all prepare our positions.

  She continues, “Since boys were first, they should go first as well for the performance.”

  Katsuro and Masaru go in front.

  I hope this goes well.

  Katsuro whispers to Masaru.

  “Um, what exactly do we do?”

  “I don’t know? Act like ourselves.”

  “How am I supposed to know?”

  “So who’s going to speak first?”

  Both of them were dead silent.

  Katsuro nudges Masaru and he nudges him back.

  Masaru snaps.

  “FINE! We’ll decide by rock-paper-scissors.”

  They close their hands, shake their hands two times, then Masaru opens his hand prematurely. He pys rock.

  “I win!”

  “What’s the meaning of this? You pyed too early!”

  “Early? Doesn’t everybody py on the count of 3?”

  “Let’s do it again!”

  They shake their hands two times then both py their picks. Masaru pyed paper while Katsuro pyed…

  “A gun!” Katsuro cheers.

  “Oh, how mature. We can py anything that goes now?”

  “The game is called rock-paper-scissors! There is no gun!”

  “You just ck imagination.”

  “Excuse me? Who cks imagination?”

  “You! You sore loser!”

  “Go for another one. I’ll teach you a thing or two.”

  They shake their hands two times then both py their picks. Katsuro pys a gun again while…

  “PFFT! You truly do ck imagination, you pyed paper! Why is it positioned like that?”

  Masaru pyed his pick like a paper but is faced in front with his wrist facing the foe.

  “This is a ballistic shield. It can deflect bullets.”

  “What on earth?”

  END OF EPISODE 20