"Quit moping, Nel." Lem groaned as we walked to school, "What's so wrong with having me tag along with you?"
"What business do you even have in Cardina?" I shot back, "You do realize you're gonna be inconveniencing my folks by having them accommodate you as well, right?"
"Your old man said you guys have a bunch of guest bedrooms." He replied with both arms crossed, "Besides, it's better than the alternative of us... sharing a bed together, no?"
"Hrm... Good point." I dropped it in the end, "That being the case, if you're really gonna be staying with us over the course of this next month, then we'll need to set up some ground rules."
"Sure, but only if I agree with them." He shrugged.
"What's even the point of setting them up, then!?"
Gahh, this annoying prick! And here I thought I finally got to catch a break from his antics, now we're gonna have to be spending the summer in the same house! Eugh, why couldn't dad or uncle just say no to him coming along~?
"Whatever, rule number 1!" I counted with my fingers, "No entering my room, EVER!"
"Even if it's an emergency?" He looked a tad heartbroken, "What if it's to save your life?"
"I'll take dying over having you rummage through my stuff."
Giving me quite the nasty glare at that one, he seemed pretty hurt that I said what I said. Alright, maybe I did get a bit too ahead of myself, but my point still stands - He is forbidden from entering my room!
"What do you even have to hide in there?" He clicked his tongue and rolled his Eyes, "You were like, 13 when you left. What kind of a perverted secret could a 13 year old girl realistically have in her room?"
"There's nothing perverted in there!" I hissed, "But that doesn't mean it's okay for a guy to just waltz into a girl's room!"
W-Well, there is actually quite a lot of stuff I'd rather keep under wraps. Like the shrine I built around the Meil selfie he gave me for my birthday, or his White strand of hair I have framed up over my bed. Man, looking back, I was a pretty depraved child, wasn't I? But those are all minor things when compared to the final item in my room...
"No matter what, you aren't allowed to be in my room." I shivered at the thought of him finding it somehow.
"Even though we're childhood friends?"
"By what logic are we childhood friends, exactly?"
"Your dad burned my home down." He replied immediately, "And we were neighbors back before you moved away with your mom. Our fates were connected since childhood."
"I sometimes worry about the lengths you'll go to just to try and guilt trip me..."
"It isn't guilt tripping, I'm just stating facts!" He got oddly fussy about this, "Say we're childhood friends! It sounds way better than just saying we met in university!"
"But we realistically did, though!?" I stepped away, "True, we were acquainted even before then, but we only ever started talking once Meil introduced us to each other properly."
"And yet you have no qualms about calling HIM your childhood friend?" He pouted.
"...Oooohhhhh, is that it? You're jealous?" I teased him a bit, "But you see, the relationship between Meil and me is totally different, my dear Lem!"
"Grrr...! How so?" He refuted, "Give me a valid reason and I'll drop the topic! Come on, I'll wait!"
"Geez, what's with you?" I rolled my Eyes with a smirk, "Well then, I've known him since... Ah, no wait. Umm, he's...! Nah, that goes for you too. Oof, this is actually kinda difficult."
"Exactly, cause we both fit your definition of childhood friend." He proudly basked in his victory, "Face it, we're childhood friends~!"
Ugh, what's his fascination with calling us that? You're no more than an upperclassman, dude, chill it. Well, I guess we've been getting pretty close, so calling us just "fellow students" does feel kind of wrong... But I'll be damned if I accept calling him the same thing I call my beloved Meil. That'd just be awkward.
"Let's meet in the middle, okay?" I returned a kind-natured smile, extending my hand out for a high-five, "Friends?"
"Hmph. Your little cute mannerisms aside, I guess that'll work for now..." He groaned, grabbing my hand instead of returning the high-five, "I'll settle for friends, then."
"Good! Now let go of my hand." I tried prying him off me, but it didn't work too well.
"It's only natural for friends to hold hands during their regular walks to school." He stuck his tongue out playfully.
"Like hell it is! That's only for some really touchy-feely girls!" I was at this point getting pretty embarrassed about the people around us staring, "Come on, you're not a girl, are you?"
"Maybe I am. Would telling you that calm you down?" He asked.
"Graaahhh! Why the hell is your grip strength so strong!?" I shouted.
"Don't answer that, Lemmy. You'll ruin the romantic mood you two have going on." Javi appeared behind us.
"...Tch! I knew that..." Lem finally let my hand go, "You could have just pretended not to see us."
"No, I actually think it's better you did, Javi." I sobbed, "Otherwise I might've had to endure this guy's little prank until we got to school."
Figuring out we (obviously) weren't dating and that Lem was just playing a stupid prank to embarrass me, he chuckled with a carefree laugh and started walking with us.
"I see. I'm glad I didn't interrupt you two, then." He teased, "Cause when I saw a rowdy lovey-dovey couple walking the street, you wouldn't believe the shock on my face when I found out it was you two."
"Urghhh, kill me..." I looked up in agony, "Why'd we have to get seen like that~! Dammit, Lem, you're so dead for this."
"Oh cry me a river." He groaned back equally as peeved, "Whine any more and I'll act even more lovey-dovey the next time on our way to school."
"Don't you dare!"
After that, we bickered and bickered until we reached the university building. Javi at first tried to de-escalate our shouting, but quickly found himself overwhelmed by our arguing and decided he was useless for the situation. It makes sense though, he DOES work at a library.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
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"Then Javi, see you later." I waved him off.
"Actually, I have business at the university as well." He kept going the same way we were.
"What could you possibly have to do here, dude?" Lem groaned, "Don't tell me you're here to watch over us so I don't try anything with her? Look, that was just a joke, and..."
"Nah, nothing like that. You kids do what you need to." He shook his head, "Meil asked me to talk to professor Jethro, even gave me a checklist of all the questions he wanted answered."
"Why couldn't he just come instea-?" I went to ask before remembering, "Ah."
Now I get it. Meil's probably busy with my dad and the guys to fix the basement ceiling my dad broke through last night. He did mention they were gonna get that done before we leave for Cardina.
"But honestly though, these questions make zero sense. Guess that's a genius for you." Javi inspected the piece of paper, "A bike that flies and runs on some super mega batteries, a transport wagon that runs on rails and goes at hyper speeds... Seriously, what the hell is that man cooking?"
Those things, dad and Issei mentioned them when they were telling us about Issei's world. So that's what's going on, huh? He must've asked those two for the blueprints and wants to consult with that old geezer of a professor on the logistics of actually building them for the country. Meil never ceases to amaze me, and that's why I love him~!
"I hope it fails, whatever it is." Lem muttered.
"Gasp, how dare you!" I berated him, "Meil's inventions will improve the world ten-no, A HUNDRED fold! How could you ever say that about a person who wants the best for his environment!?"
"I don't have lofty unrealistic goals like that madman." He scowled, "I'd much rather a simple life. A diploma, a wife, 3 kids, passive income, a kingdom to rule over, world domination..."
"How did your definition of a stable life grow to exponentially loftier and more unrealistic goals?" Javi inquired.
"Yeah, looking back I was kinda hyperbolizing." He shrugged, "Two kids is okay too."
"That's not the point!" I shouted.
Eventually, it was time for our exams to begin, and so we parted ways with Javi for the day. He wished both of us the best of luck, and before long we went to our respective exam rooms. The first test was just Advanced Trigonometry, it wasn't that difficult. The second was a bit trickier, cause I don't really like studying Thermodynamics, but I pulled through thanks to my cramming. Once that was over, Lem and I sat down at the coffee shop with Jelena to wait for our test results.
"Jelena, it's rush hour! Can't you refuse your buddies for once in your life and help out the shop!?" The weak-willed coffee shop owner was begging her at this point.
"Nah, you can handle it, boss." She patted the poor guy on his balding head, "I'm on break right now. So kids, you done with school after this?"
"Not yet, we still gotta check our results before summer break starts." I explained.
"It's not like you can change anything now, anyways." Lem reclined in his seat, "Whatever you get on the test, this semester is over."
"I see. Well, it's good to not count your chickens before they hatch." Jelena smiled, "Got any plans for the summer?"
"I'm visiting Nel's family with her." Lem blurted out, "Hopefully I give a good first impression."
"You ass!" I sent a fist flying at him, "Who cares if you give a good first impression or not?!"
"You've got a younger brother, too, don't you? I wonder what toy I should get him..." He thought out loud just to piss me off.
"He doesn't want your toys!" I turned to the lazy waitress giggling across from us, "Jelena, help me out here!"
"Mn, regarding presents..." She instead chose to humor him like the bitch she is, "Things like a ball would be way too risky, cause he might already have one."
"Hey-!"
"I thought that too, it just has to be unique for him to like it." Lem nodded along, "I mean, I could always Command him to like it, but..."
"Use your disgusting Iro Ability on my baby brother and I'll personally give your tongue a clean shave." I threatened.
"Yeah, I figured." He sighed, "Then, I guess I'll have to settle for something basic and just hope he likes it. Man, being a boyfriend is tough..."
"Boyfri-!?" Jelena choked on her drink.
"He's joking! It's a joke from this morning!" I hastily explained to her, "And you, Lem! It stopped being funny ages ago, so stop giving people heart attacks!"
"Heh, okay, okay... Wait." He tilted his head at the last part, "So you admit it was funny at one point?"
"Well, yeah." I shrugged, "I'll admit I found dad's reaction to that kind of funny when he first showed up to Simpleton."
"Great! Then I can't wait to see how your mom reacts!" He continued to mockingly laugh at me.
Oh Gods, I hate this summer already... If he says just one wrong thing around the family, they won't ever think of us as just friends ever again, no matter how many times I'll inevitably correct them. In any case, we got back home after checking our exam results to find the house in mint condition. Turns out fixing a hole in the floor/ceiling is really simple with dad and three other guys around, so they had it done in just one day. According to them, we'll be leaving for Cardina first thing in the morning.
"By the way, how'd those exams go?" Dad asked with a bright smile.
"100 points, easy peasy." I smirked, "Hey, go on, Lem. Tell them your score~!"
"Urk, w-what's important is that we passed..." He sheepishly hid the numeric value of 58 on his test papers.