I wasn’t expecting to share a moment with Reina, but I was glad I did. She went on to say that in that round, we were in sync, and the fact that I’d trusted her to score meant a lot to her. Truth be told, I did have a lot of faith in her back then because I had to. After everything we'd been through, it’d be stupid of me not to believe in her. Sure, we had a rocky past, but that was then, and now is now. We’d grown closer, even though I mentioned that our friendship would be a lot better if she nagged me a little less. She had a mouthful to say when I sassed her about that, but in the end, Reina was easy to mess around with. Maybe a little easier than Naomi.
After we talked a bit, the rest of the day escaped us. Before I knew it, we only had a few hours before the 3rd round began. I checked my inventory and noticed that my sponsors had given me some items for the rest of the tournament. While I appreciated the few that I got, I was really hoping to get another respawn token. I used the only one I had earlier today, and with the bracket advancing, I knew I was going to need another one tomorrow.
These games were getting harder and harder. Any edge I could get over the other competitors was invaluable.
“Damn, 679 sponsors…” I whispered to myself as I pulled out the plug from my charger and grabbed my phone. I scrolled down the list of names, and I saw a notification from an Emily Gaiden. “A mini assignment?” Just as I said that, a few more green dots appeared by my sponsor’s names, these mini assignment alerts coming from girls. “Crap, now I’m at 731…” I plopped myself down on the desk I brought to spruce up the room and continued to scroll through my phone. The server must have had an update, because these requests were suddenly pouring in. “All right. Let’s see what assignments I can get done before the 3rd round. Hey, there’s one request with a respawn token reward!” But before I could click it, I got a random video call request from an unknown phone number.
I accepted it, thinking it might have been Lady L using another phone number. But I saw Nabi, Chiyo, and Emi on the other side.
“Konbanwa, Nero-san!” They sang in harmony.
I smiled. “Hey! Emi, Nabi, and Chiyo! I wasn’t expecting a call from you girls tonight.”
“We missed you!” Emi tweeted. “We won’t get to see you on campus until the tourney is over.”
“And I can’t wait that long!” Nabi cried.
“Heh. I miss you girls, too. My first sponsors. But, I have to ask, how did you get my phone number?”
“Nabi has her ways,” Chiyo said mischievously. “Of course, she won’t tell us how.”
Nabi smiled. “Let’s just say, I’m super smart!” She tapped the side of her head and winked at me.
“She’s a hacker,” Emi cawed, being blunt as usual.
“We’re glad that you got to use the respawn token we sent you!” Chiyo said.
“Oh, wait a minute, that was from you three? It said, anonymous.”
“Well, we had to,” Emi replied. “Since we all pitched in, Nabi thought it was best that none of us took the credit.”
“So we made an account, and registered again as your sponsors!” Nabi said. “But now, you should see our joint account by the name of SexyMisty instead of anonymous.”
Emi rolled her eyes. “She took all day figuring that terrible name out.”
“Wait a minute….” SexyMisty was the girl who was offering a respawn token. “Hold on, I hope you’re not breaking bank by splurging on me, here. This is the second respawn token you’re offering!”
“The first one was free, but this one is going to cost you,” Nabi cooed.
I chuckled, a tad terrified by the request. I hadn’t opened the assignment yet, but honestly, I was willing to do just about anything they wanted me to for dropping two grand on me so quickly.
Anything except for that….
I cleared my throat and pulled my collar back, the temperature in my room instantly jumping 40 degrees. Just by reading it, I already knew that Nabi was the one who wrote down the request, Chiyo confirming that by asking me what it said.
“Nothing I should say aloud…” I said timidly.
“My god, Nabi, what did you request?!” Emi exclaimed, her eyebrows arching dramatically.
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“Nothing so dire, surely,” Nabi said nonchalantly, suddenly taking on a British accent. She brushed off the question with a flick of her wrist, continuing on with a royal tone. “We simply want our money’s worth after all.”
Chiyo snorted, glancing at me with an amused smile. “I think he might pass out from anxiety before he even starts.”
Emi looked at Nabi like she’d lost her mind. Her face was beat red, embarrassed from her friend’s antics. She was always the more sensible of the two, preferring safety to thrill. On cue, she leaped in and snatched Nabi in yet another chokehold, dragging her friend off camera. “We’ve talked about this, Nabi!”
Nabi clenched Emi’s arm as she tried to hold herself up from being dragged. She tried to peel Emi off as she defended herself, “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take!”
“What kind of fun requires someone to sell their dignity?” Emi retorted sarcastically. “I can only imagine what you told Nero-san to do!”
I laughed, and then thought to myself that if they were really curious about what Nabi had written, then they could very well read it for themselves. But then it dawned on me that Nabi might have been the one who made the account, and her two friends didn’t have access to its credentials.
A sudden wave of embarrassment rushed through me and I lowered my gaze, letting out an uneasy laugh. My face must have been beat red, until Chiyo said, “Whatever is in the request, please ignore it.”
“You bet, I will! But, I’d still like to do something for you girls. You not only gave me one, but two respawn tokens. How can I repay you?”
“How about you meet us halfway?” Chiyo said slyly.
“Halfway? Like in a—”
“Strip show!” Nabi exploded, clapping her hands enthusiastically.
Emi, on the other hand, turned an even deeper shade of red and cawed at her friend. “Nabi!” she sputtered, flabbergasted by her friend’s audacity.
“Hey, I’m just throwing out ideas here,” Nabi replied innocently, her eyes twinkling with mischief.
“In all seriousness, we don’t expect anything in return.” Emi intervened. “Your performance at the games is enough entertainment for us!”
“Speak for yourself!” Nabi cried, snatching the phone from Chiyo and walking off.
“Hey!”
“Chiyo and Emi might be okay with just seeing you on the big stage, but Nero-san, I need something extra. I will be forever grateful…” she sang. “If it’s not too much to ask? Okay, how about, just the tip?”
“Just the what?!”
“I mean, just the top! Heh!”
“Just my top?” I clarified, tugging at the hem of my top and flashing her a little skin.
She bit her lip and nodded. “Mmmhmm…”
“All right, deal. I’m not taking anything off below the waist though, got it?”
“Shh-sh-ss-shh, I think he agreed,” I heard Chiyo whisper back there to Emi, the both of them now jumping back onto the video call. All of a sudden, I heard mood music start wafting from the speaker of my phone, a bouncy, jazzy saxophone tune that seemed to grow louder and more intense with every passing second. I didn’t know where it was coming from off camera, but they had it ready, and for a split second, I swear it sounded like they had EroX on.
The girls on the other side of the call were all giggles now, and all eyes were on me.
Damn, Nabi even had a little drool at the corner of her lip, there….
“Well, here goes nothing,” I muttered, shaking my head with a good-natured roll of the eyes. They erupted into a chorus of excited shrieks as I turned around and pulled at the hem of my shirt, lifting it slowly for dramatic effect. I even gave them a little hip movement, the sound of Nabi passing out in the background making me chuckle. She was so dramatic—I hadn’t even shown them anything yet.
I teased them for a bit, flexing and winking over my shoulder at the camera. Chiyo started to fan herself, and Emi began to dramatically swoon, cradling her flushed face in exaggerated disbelief.
“Totemo oishī…” she cooed, Emi looking like she was two seconds from melting into a puddle on the floor. When I turned around, they screeched, the sight of my abs making them curl up. I licked the tip of my fangs and let out a low growl, and they went nuts.
With one last shimmy, I tugged off my shirt completely, and I gave them a gun show before giving them an unabashed view of my sculpted back and shoulders.
“Alright, alright,” I laughed, tossing my shirt onto the bed behind me and flexing my muscles one last time for good measure. “There’s your reward.”
“What a tease,” Chiyo whispered under her breath with a smirk.
“I’ll empty out my bank account right now if you press play and move on to part 2!” Nabi insisted, her eyes trailing south.
I snorted. “Oh no, the agreement was top only.”
“All right, fair,” Nabi said in a disapproving high-pitched voice, looking at me a tad smugly. “But how about I sweeten the offer?”
I laughed. “Nabi, you’re making me feel like I’m pimping myself out here.” I was curious to see what she had to offer, Nabi fluttering her lashes at me with an innocence behind her eyes that was so deceiving. After that first request, I understood why Emi was always so playfully embarrassed of her unfiltered friend. Nabi opened her mouth to shot me a request for another item, until—
“AHHHH!!!” the girls screamed, and I jumped. Before I could figure out what they were crying about, the screen went black. They’d ended the call, something from my end scaring them.
I didn’t even get a chance to look behind me before I saw a hand reached over my shoulder and grabbed my phone.
When I turned around, I saw Naomi, who looked like she was two seconds from murdering me.
“I revoke your right!” she scolded.
“Huh?”
“Those girls have no business seeing you naked!”
I chuckled. “Wait, I’m not—”
“Chiyo, Emi, and Nabi….”
Hold on, how did she know their names?!
It wasn’t like Naomi was in my class. And even if she did see them on campus, she’d never seen me around them enough to know them by name.
“Remind me to put them on my list,” she said, dropping my phone in my open hands and walking off.
“What list?”
But she kept striding away, her long ivory hair bouncing in her ponytail with each step. Until she reached the door and looked over her shoulder and said playfully, “I thought you were better than that.”
She should have seen what they wanted me to do before….
I smiled, knowing that Naomi was just being jealous. It was cute. Luckily for me, I checked my phone and saw that my first fans had sent me over that respawn token. An amateur strip show for an edge against winning thousands of dollars? I’d say that was a bargain.