**

Under the reflected light of the sun, Koji could be seen on all fours- head peering over his shoulder.

In his sights were his 2 friends, and another familiar face.

Yes, Lucas, Ren, and Yuki were now standing in the same ice cream shop as Koji and Akari.

This was a dire situation. One which was to be avoided at all costs previously…

Koji and Akari, taking a Friday stroll- eating matching ice cream.

‘Totally, totally suspicious…’

While Koji was… pretty sure… it wasn’t like that, his friends would have been inclined to think otherwise.

Akari was already up and greeting Yuki, leaving Lucas and Ren to just stand there in lonesome.

That was until they set their sights upon Koji…

Receiving their gaze, Koji quickly turned his head away- staring at the floor. He had to think, and think fast.

Slowly and impendingly, Lucas and Ren both made their way to Koji, who was still on all fours. He imagined the two with faces of mockery and tease as they walked up to him.

Each passing second brought more stress to Koji, as he blocked out everything else around him. His mind was jumbled…

At least, that was until Ren tapped on his shoulder…

“Hey..? Whatchu doin?”

Ren peaked over Koji’s shoulder as he bent his knees to the same level. Next to him was Lucas, with a scary grin- just as Koji had imagined.

Koji only had to turn his head slightly for Ren to come into scenery- with his implying smile and thought-filled eyes.

“Huh..? W-What am I doing? Oh, Ren..!”

Koji was mixing up his speech and stuttering, making his panic obvious.

“…I’m just picking up my ice cream! Yup… picking up my ice cream…”

Koji held his crazy vanilla to Ren’s face, smiling. He had come up with a cover for why he was on all fours… but what would come next?

This time, Lucas spoke, prompting both Ren and Koji to look at him from below as he devilishly grinned.

“Oh? That ice cream looks a bit… familiar… no?”

‘Oh god…’

Koji was panicking. What could he use as a cover up for this??? He couldn’t say that Akari chose it for him- that would only imply even more!

Luckily, Koji didn’t have to think critically for much longer.

“What are you three doing? Come on!”

Yuki seemed as irritable as ever.

Although… why was she here with Ren and Lucas..? Suddenly, Koji’s thoughts shuffled.

Koji thought for a bit, then glanced at Lucas. He had said before that he was supposedly “being forced” to “help” Yuki, but then that wouldn't explain Ren’s presence…

Again, Koji’s thoughts wandered- prompting Akari to snap him out of it.

“Koji! C’mon..!”

Her voice started off stern, but trailed off into something sweet- similarly to the ice cream.

The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

‘The hell am I thinking about?!?’

Without saying anything, Koji simply stood up. Lucas and Ren had already reached Yuki and Akari while Koji was stuck in thought, so all that was left was for him to catch up.

And yet, it felt like such a monumental task. Actually, less of a task and more of an accomplishment…

As depressing and pitiful as it sounded, he couldn’t help but think about how others viewed the group of 5.

Could they be seen as friends? Maybe even close friends..? Or maybe just simple highschoolers?

Actually… was this how most highschoolers felt? Hanging out with friends after school?

He thought back to Mr. Sole’s class, where he was probably seen as an outlier.

‘Ugh… whatever.’

Koji shook off his pointless, ranting thoughts, and suddenly found himself with the four, as opposed to on all fours…

Next to him was Akari, who walked step by step with him.

‘This is all that matters right now…’

**

The night grew near as the fleeting sun set. Below the horizon, five highschool kids sat beneath a large bridge that stretched over at least a mile of water.

They weren’t too far away from the train station, so before the five all departed from the city, they decided to stop by the bridges under passage.

This was seemingly the right decision, as the 5 all seemed very relaxed upon a grassy hill which dipped into the water not too far below.

The sun reflected off the relaxed waves beautifully, making for quite the sight.

On the far left, Koji lied with his hands behind his head- propping himself up ever so slightly to see the rippling water.

To his right- Akari. She was sitting with her knees tucked into her chest, seemingly entranced by the waves.

Next to her was Yuki, Lucas, and Ren- in that order, all holding their own varying positions.

Yuki and Lucas were going over some scripts, as the rest just relaxed.

“Hey, Lucas… is that the script you were helping with?”

Ren turned his head to Lucas as he spoke, and in response Lucas met his gaze.

“Huh? Oh, yeah.”

It was a short response, but it was all Ren had needed.

“Then how about you act it out for us..?”

Suddenly, the waves seemed to grow silent- all eyes set on Lucas.

“What are you talking about? It’s not even my script…”

He grew a bit red thinking about it…

“Well… actually I don’t mind.” Yuki ruined Lucas’s attempt to pull himself away from numerous glares.

“See? C’mon. Do it.”

Ren was just blatantly egging him on at this point.

“It would be kind of funny…” Now Koji got involved.

“You need the practice anyway…” And now it was back to Yuki.

“Shut up! No!”

Lucas darted his head around as he blushed- making clear to everyone what his response was.

After a momentary silence, Ren scavenged his pockets. He then reached out towards Lucas, un-balled his hand, and held out a twenty dollar bill.

“Twe-“

“Deal”

Before Ren could even rethink his offer, Lucas snagged the green paper out of his hand and stood himself up.

All of the sudden, his blush was gone and his confidence seemed unwavering. He wasn’t even holding the script with him.

Suddenly, Koji started clapping. Everyone who wasn’t already sat up did so, becoming very engaged in the soon to be spectacle.

And then, it started.

“Oh, Carlos!”

“Jenna!”

Tone disparity…

“Mwha, mwha!”

…Interesting “self appreciation”…

“Screw you Jo!”

“No, screw you!”

Along with conflicting self harm…

It was quite the sight to behold. Over the course of just 5 minutes, everyone’s mood seemed to have gone from relaxed to nearly dying of laughter. Even Yuki, who was typically less… joyous.

Lucas had really done numbers on his audience.

Maybe being a Hollywood star wasn’t out of the question for him..?

Lucas continued his display of antics for another few minutes…

At first, Koji had found himself laughing way harder than initially expected- but somewhere along the way… he started to get lost in thought.

This daze was influenced by Akari, who was red from laughter and sitting just beside him.

Every time she laughed, every time she wiped a tear off her eye- hell, even every time she repositioned -Koji felt something.

And it had him thinking…

‘Is this normal..?’

He quickly glanced at Ren and Yuki, who still had full attention towards Lucas. Then, he looked at Akari again.

And suddenly, his chest tightened. And it wasn’t because of his recent workout… at least he thinks it wasn’t.

‘Ugh… god… don’t tell me…’

Koji face-palmed, and then suddenly heard Akari laugh again. He didn’t know what she was laughing at, as he had blocked out all other sound long ago.

Under the veil of his spread palm, a slight red could be seen permeating his skin. It reached all the crevices ok his face- even his ears.

Eventually, Koji had to accept it.

**

The five had finally departed after a long night. Koji found himself boarding with Akari, as they of course lived off the same stop. Yuki and Lucas were in similar circumstances, but on another train. Then, there was Ren, who was all by his lonesome.

At first, Koji felt bad, but he quickly shook off that guilt after realizing what that could insinuate…

[Now Departing]

An oddly feminine but robotic voice rang throughout the various cargos of the train, letting the passengers know of the scheduled departure.

The train was pretty packed, so Koji and Akari were forced to stand again- just like before.

However, there was one slight difference…

Just as the train started moving, Akari went to reach for a support rail…

…but she was quickly stopped.

Instead of holding on to a cold, metallic bar- she felt a warm, pulsing hand.

Koji’s hand, in specific.

And then, before Akari knew it, they were off…

…

To their houses, of course…

**

End Chapter 15:

Finally A Useful Daze