10:00 AM

  Entering the shower, I take a short bath within 15 minutes. Next, I dry myself off and wear my blue and white striped button shirt. For good luck, I put on my best bck underwear and then take a pair of white socks.

  I head upstairs to my room and open up my drawer. I scrolled through my countless clothes and uniforms lying on wooden hangers.

  “Nope… Not this…”

  Thankfully, I finally stumble upon a blue and white striped buttoned shirt. Simir to that attire, I choose short blue jeans and spray normal cologne instead of the manly cologne I save for special occasions (which I have never used).

  To top it all off, I wear my round bck shoes and grab my bag, neatly prepared from yesterday. Since, that was the st of what I needed to do, I return down, with a notebook and pen in tow.

  While Nakatani was busy keeping the ptes she washed earlier, she catches a whiff of the scent of my cologne.

  I sit down at our table all dressed up and start tapping in hopes of an idea.

  Look, I know it may seem odd that I’m preparing so early. However, the reason I did was so that I have more time to further analyze and think up of ideas for our challenge.

  That should make our talks efficient.

  “Oh??? Onii-chan is getting all fancy and dressed up. Meeting a girl? A date perhaps?” she guesses.

  “Oh, I wish. But nothing special, just a hang-out with the boys.”

  I say that, but it’s actually a multi-yered pn, specifically, to discuss the challenges with them, to eat a thing OTHER than curry, and to go out for a while. Sad to say that I’m becoming less and less of a shut-in because of them. After all of this, I’m gonna take a long marathon of games, anime, and hentai. A man needs his alone time every now and then.

  She gasps.

  “You’re dating multiple men?!”

  I turn to her with such a disgusted expression.

  “How did you come up with such an absurd and utterly disgusting thought? This is a normal hang-out. Let me emphasize… NORMAL!”

  Thanks to her, my mood is ruined. With that, I grab my bag and bid farewell.

  “I’ll text you when I’m coming back home.”

  “See you ter, onii-chan!”

  I close the door behind me and set out outside.

  The sun shines brightly outside, it was almost blinding. I begin to sweat immediately.

  “This is why I stay indoors.”

  I hurry up the pace.

  …

  ..

  .

  I and Mari keep on chatting for three whole hours.

  “And what did you do?” she asks me through chat.

  “I put him in his pce.”

  “Wow…”

  Feeling confident, I act all smug.

  “Oh, what time is it?” I ask.

  “Don’t you literally have a clock on the phone (????? )”

  “Ah, sorry.”

  Before I could scroll above my phone to check, she instantly replies within a span of a second.

  “Oh my… you’re right, its 11! I have to go prepare for the outing to the market. Girl time! Talk to you ter.”

  Her status casually switches offline.

  “Man, she is a completely different person online.”

  Hmm… I feel like I’m forgetting an important thing... but I can’t quite put my finger as to what that is.

  “Oh yeah, the boys are going to the market without me…”

  But realization strikes me.

  “Hold on, wasn’t Kibe supposed to be phoned in sick? If the girls are going to the market as well… isn’t there a great chance that they could meet?”

  I grab my phone in a hurry.

  “I have to warn them!”

  Since we only had a group that excluded Kibe, I add him into that existing one.

  “Speaking of which, was it actually necessary to go to the market? Couldn’t we have just talked it over the phone?”

  ...

  ..

  .

  11:49 AM

  I and the rest of the boys meet up right outside the market.

  “It’s so hoootttt,” Katsuro compins, “Why aren’t we going inside already?”

  “Yeah, why don’t we?” I wonder.

  We enter inside the mall and feel by the cold embrace of the air. With our body temperatures returning to normal levels, we heave a great sigh of relief.

  “Remember guys, we didn’t come here to go fool around,” I remind them.

  “Pshhh… as if you actually think that,” Katsuro interrupts, “We know you also want to explore.”

  “No, I don’t want to actually. Let’s go find a pce we can settle in.”

  “Arcade,” Takashi suggests.

  “Stop. The games will only stray us from our initial pn.”

  “How about a fast-food chain restaurant?” Madoka requests.

  “That’s… actually a good idea. But have any of you eaten lunch?”

  “I haven’t.”

  “Nope,” Katsuro answers.

  “I’m hungry,” Takashi grunts.

  “Yeah, me neither. Then let’s go to a restaurant and eat WHILE DISCUSSING! Got that?!”

  Clearly emphasizing the apparent intent of today’s schedule, their faces grow sour.

  “Sheesh, why are you so insistent in being so productive?” Katsuro grunts, “Fine.”

  Well, here’s the thing genius, as per rule, theme, and nature of our genre, the moment we sck off, is the moment we eat our hours like there’s no tomorrow.

  “Roger,” the other two answer.

  “I’m gd we came to an understanding. Now let’s go.”

  Passing and navigating our way through the crowds of people, we step foot on the elevator upwards. As we go up, I take out my phone. I try to get an update on Masaru, but my message refused to send. Checking at the top of my phone, I see that I have no connection.

  “How do I not have any signal?”

  …

  ..

  .

  Beep. Beep.

  “Sorry, but the person you’re trying to contact isn’t in service right now,” the automated voice announces to my ears.

  My anxiety grows by the second, to vent my distress, I twist my pencils, walk around in circles, and stomp my feet without end.

  “Kibe… why aren’t you answering my calls? This is an urgent matter! Pick up!”

  ...

  ..

  .

  Unbeknownst to us, only preceding by a few minutes, right outside the market, the Slice-of-Life Girls gather.

  Ran stretches her arms out.

  “GYAAHHH!!! What a nice pce to be spending the day out. Don’t you think so, girls?”

  “Uhh, isn’t that why you invited us?” Mari responds.

  “Hehe,” Ran chuckles.

  “Cssic old Ran,” Rin replies.

  Yuka stays silent and acts all fidgety. Rin takes notice of this and she pulls her closer.

  “Now, li’l Yuka… don’t go spacing out on us in a hangout.”

  “Yeah, this is where we girls can spend time with each other!” Ran says filled with energy.

  Mari clears her throat and the rest of them peer at her.

  “Shouldn’t we go inside? The pce outside is freaking hot.”

  “Why not? Off we go!” Ran cheers as she lead the way.

  …

  ..

  .

  We sit at a rectangur table.

  We ended up going to WcDonalds. In all worlds of censored establishment, this seems to be the one thing they have in common.

  “Before we get into serious business, how about we choose what to order?” Madoka insists, “If we’re talking about efficiency, then it’s most efficient if we’re filling our stomachs while discussing, I think.”

  “Good idea,” I reply.

  We pce down our bags at the small area of space on the long chair that our butts haven’t covered.

  Zip. Zip. Zip. Zip.

  We all open our bags and dig to find our wallets. I happen to see Madoka looking pale. I decide to pry deeper.

  “What’s the matter?”

  He gulps.

  “I-I… forgot my wallet.”

  Oh.

  “Sucks to be you.”

  “THAT’S NOT WHAT YOU SHOULD BE SAYING! YOU SHOULD BE ENCOURAGING ME OR LENDING ME MONEY!!!”

  “Woah there partner. I may have eased up to you guys, but I do not feel so close yet as to simply lend my cash nor feel the desire to comfort your own mistake.”

  “How cruel…”

  Oh, poor you. I might be unlucky…

  I rummage through my bag.

  …but at not to the extent that I’d forget my own dang wa-

  Ah.

  “Hold up.”

  I dig deeper, deeper, and even deeper.

  Clearing my throat, my eyes waver, darting everywhere unable to make direct eye contacnt.

  “I-I… may have also forgotten my wallet.”

  Note: Karma.

  END OF EPISODE 28