part1 c6 (2/2)

Anjo, with a bored face, vibrantly lifted her head the first time.

“Don’t call me like that!”

“Why? Anaru is Anaru!”

Tetsudo’s speech was coherent to Menma’s opinion.

“We haven’t seen for such a long time. Give me some fries. I want the salty one!”

Neglecting Tetsudo’s idiotic speech, Matsuyuki slightly tilted his body to the table.

“Let’s get back to business…Yadomi, did Menma said she wanted to fulfil a wish?”

“Ah…”

“Stop speaking, Matsuyuki. You’re being too black-hearted.”

“Why should I? I’ll also be helping. I will also help fulfil Menma’s wish. If I do that, maybe Menma would go back to your side?”

Abruptly, I discovered.

Although Matsuyuki used a swift tone from head to toe, there were no smile in his eyes. It was just a dead stare, prying onto how I would react.

“No, no…I’ve said that already. That was just my hallucination…so…”

“So, I’ve said I wanted to help. Please don’t mind.”

Why should I don’t mind? This were the ravings of a shut-in. Why should you be so serious when speaking to me?

There wasn’t even time to conclude an answer.

“Oh yeah! Then let us first find out Menma’s wis.h.!.+”

Tetsudo and Matsuyuki then started a meaningless and wavering discussion. “Menma wants to get yo’s signature…she didn’t get Bobobo’s[1] special purse…she also wants to capture Dialga[2] in Nokemon[3]...oh, this may be it. How nice it was to reminisce these things. I started to think I could get motivated.

Nevertheless, the only ones motivated were the boys. Anjo stopped playing with her nails and used her teeth to bit lightly on them instead. When she was small, she had this kind of habit—she wouldn’t care how much nail polish she would swallow when she was in a bad mood. Tsurumi only drooped her head, starting at the table.

And I…only slightly opening my mouth, I can only, quite defeated, watch Matsuyuki and Tetsudo slowly coming to a conclusion of ‘Menma’s wish’.

“So we’re going to let Nadomi play Nokemon!”

“Tsk!...” Suddenly being called, I lost my defence. And when they saw my blatant embarra.s.sment…

“Is it too scary for you to get out of your home?”

Matsuyuki showed me a smile with an obvious malicious intent.

That col, high, and erect nose…let me even forget my impatience and anger. I could only think in my heart what a handsome guy he was.

“Anjo, you work in a game shop, right? Could you sell us cheaply that Nokemon game…it should be the diamond version.”

“Why does it have to be me?”

“Tsurumi and I will be responsible to check the internet transactions to see if there is Bobobo’s special purse. Tetsudo…you will be responsible for getting yo’s signature. Remember to be quick.”

“Eheh. Why is it me?”

“”You’re deciding thing on yourself,” Tsurumi reproached. But Matsuyuki only said playfully, “it’s decided.”

Then his thin lips bent into a new moon.

“Super Peace Busters are formed once again.”

And under Tetsudo’s strong request, we were forced to exchange our email addresses.

Save Tetsudo and I, other’s email address had all changed.

Then I had to go and fetch the game.

“Bother. Why do I have to…Ahah, this isn’t it either.”

In the storage room of the Chuuko game store, I was starting at Anjo who was looking for the Nokemon game.

Eh, she was so big. She had really grown a lot.

She was wearing a super-short skirt, so if anything were done to her, it was her own fault of wearing this outfit, I thought. However, when this woman speaks, anyone’s mood of masturbating would be gone…

Anjo, who retrieved the Nokemon game with much difficulty, carefully and attentively put the game card in the plastic bag, and handed it to me.

“Here. Four thousand and eight-hundred yen.”

“Four thousand…isn’t this the same as the market price?”

“This is a game five years ago. It has appreciated for ages.”

Feeling helpless, I payed and grudgingly stretched my hand to receive the plastic bag…but Anjo didn’t loosen her grip, glaring at me.

“What are you scheming actually?”

“Hah?”

“Pulling a prank with a deceased person. You suck.”

Bam, Anjo loosened the bag. The Nokemon game abruptly threw to my side, and Anjo turned away and left, striding away.

Pulling a prank with deceased person?

When my sense came back to me, I had already cried out at Anjo’s back.

“You say I’m pulling a prank with Menma? Don’t be ridiculous!”

Even I was freaked out by my own angry howl. Anjo stopped walking, and violently turned her body around as if she wanted to dash to me.

“The one being ridiculous is you, who can always carelessly say the name of a deceased person…”

“Don’t say she’s a deceased person!”

“It’s all because of me!” Anjo cried out loud this time, her eyes welled with tears before I had noticed.

“It’s all because of those words I said…that she would!”

Anjo lifted the back of her hand to wipe her tears. Some black colour from the mascara on her thick and distinct eyelashes smeared out.

“So Menma would…become…a deceased person.”

“…”

I was speechless.

It wasn’t your fault but mine…I wanted to answer this originally. However, when Anjo and I had the same thought, allowing Anjo’s feelings to rush into mine in these years, making me unable to act under this doubled heaviness.

Anjo was leaving, the bad-quality high-heeled shoes making walking sounds. While I listened in silence, I thought, perhaps…if Menma didn’t come to my place but Anjo’s, it was also appropriate and right.

There were only the dim flashes of the screen of the video game in the darkness.

There were croaking sounds of the frogs outside the window. In synch with these croaking sounds, I pressed on the b.u.t.tons mechanically like a machine.

Go, Pikachu[4].

What the h.e.l.l am I doing—playing Nokemon.

The adorable enemies had round, watery eyes. I attacked them repeatedly to weaken them as much as possible, and then I threw a Nokemon ball at them to catch them as my companion.

What feelings do they have?

Having been punched the h.e.l.l out of them for no reason, and now enticed to become friends by sweet words, and also have to be trapped in a dark, small place.

Stuffed in a backpack, brought everywhere, and had to go outside and fight when suddenly someone said, ‘go!’…Would they really take these inhumane players as true companions or friends? I was uncertain.

Besides, what are friends actually?

At that time, everyone in Super Peace Busters were certainly friends.

We cried out nicknames at each other, played till the sun drop—we were certainly friends according to the conventions.

I was the captain, and everyone followed me everywhere.

Everyone would gladly accept any suggestion I make…but in fact, perhaps they hated this; they hated listening to my orders.

Menma.

Anjo too…she cried today because she thought of Menma. She really wanted to apologise to Menma.

However, Menma only appeared in front of me.

Perhaps I was the only one, at that time, to have the sense of belonging as a leader—maybe this was reason.

On the game screen, Pikachu hit the enemy with thunderbolt. The enemy twitched as it was electrified. What a super effect that was.

With some hesitation, I threw out a Nokemon ball and easily caught the enemy.

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