Daily Life

"Holy crap! You can even do that?!"

"Heh heh, you've got a lot to learn, little brother."

"No, I mean, what's so great about a phantom circle anyway!"

At this moment, inside Room 404, Naoki Shimizu was furiously rubbing his thumbs against the screen of his phone.

He leaned left, then right, his brows knitted tightly together, looking as if he had just taken a bath in 80-degree water.

Mission Failed!

The sound effect for the end of the battle rang out from the phone. Naoki Shimizu stared at the two large letters signaling his defeat, looking as if he were about to crush the screen at any second.

He snapped his head up to look at U Amakusa, who was lying on the bed, only to find U Amakusa watching him with a mocking gaze.

U Amakusa's mouth curved into a wide U-shape, and from that strange mouth, two words emerged.

"Noob."

"..."

"Damn you!"

Naoki Shimizu put down his phone and rubbed his hands together as he headed toward U Amakusa, his posture suggesting he was about to do something.

Seeing this, U Amakusa extended a palm to block Naoki Shimizu's advance.

"?"

Naoki Shimizu stopped in his tracks, as he always did.

Then, U Amakusa turned his palm into a finger, pointed his index finger at Naoki Shimizu, and said with a dead-serious expression, "Shimizu, you... not only are you a noob, but you also overheat way too easily."

"..."

Naoki Shimizu gritted his teeth, his bright red skin no longer hidden, and continued to rub his hands together as he moved toward U Amakusa.

And then...

Naoki Shimizu stopped at the edge of the bed, placed his hands on the floor, and used the leverage to hoist himself into a handstand.

U Amakusa, lying on the bed, took a light sip of the cola placed to the side and opened the timer function on his phone to start counting.

"Humiliating..."

"Don't talk while you're doing a handstand. Look at how much blood is rushing to your head. One minute, okay?"

U Amakusa placed the phone in front of the inverted Naoki Shimizu so he could see it.

One minute passed...

Naoki Shimizu felt the solid ground beneath his feet once more. He clapped his hands together and picked up his phone, unconvinced.

"Again!"

"Let's just forget it. You can't beat me; it's the same no matter how many times we try."

"Tch."

Naoki Shimizu tossed his phone, landing it on U Amakusa's bed.

"Then what do you want to play?"

"I don't know. Haven't Satoshi Satonaka and Sanada come back yet?"

"Grocery shopping doesn't happen that fast."

Sanada was the person who sat in front of U Amakusa, and also his neighbor; through back-and-forth interactions, the two had become familiar with each other.

Thus, U Amakusa had introduced him to Naoki Shimizu and Satoshi Satonaka, expanding their circle of three into a group of four.

It had to be said, as expected of the gentle-looking, bespectacled upperclassman, he could actually cook.

A certain brainless someone had suggested wanting to taste Sanada's cooking, and Sanada had readily agreed; to him, it really wasn't a big deal.

As for why they were in Room 404 instead of Sanada's Room 405.

"Meow meow~"

That's right, the reason lay with it. Naoki Shimizu had heard that U Amakusa had a cat that could do backflips.

Of course, the backflip part was just U Amakusa bragging.

Meow meow! I can't do that!

So, the four of them gathered in U Amakusa's room. The room followed a clean and minimalist style—or rather, U Amakusa just found it troublesome to have too many things.

The masks, props, and other items bought in secret had long been locked away in his cabinet. Fortunately, the cabinet in the room was large enough, divided into upper and lower tiers.

"So boring..."

"Yeah, so boring."

One sat on the floor leaning against the bed, the other sat on the bed leaning against the wall, both sighing in unison.

"Meow~"

"Hm?"

Orange caught the attention of U Amakusa, though certainly not just by calling out to him; rather, it was...

"Hey, Orange, cut it out."

Orange was on the table, curiously inching toward the cola U Amakusa had been drinking, poking its head left and right.

It was clearly plotting something nefarious against that cola, even though it was a canned drink.

U Amakusa's words successfully drew Naoki Shimizu's attention, and the two of them watched Orange's performance in silence.

Thump—

In the end, Orange couldn't resist reaching out with a wicked paw toward the cola, patting the side of the can as if it hadn't quite decided what to do yet.

"Hey, hey, hey, Orange, don't mess with that."

Despite saying so, neither U Amakusa nor Naoki Shimizu made a move, remaining slumped in their usual lethargic postures.

"Meow?"

The adorable cat didn't seem to care much; seeing U Amakusa put the can to his mouth, it wanted to give it a try as well.

Orange licked the rim of the can, lapping up the cola residue left behind, and the next moment—

"Meow—!"

Orange let out a sudden, loud yowl, mouth wide open, tongue lolling out into the air.

"See? I told you not to mess with it, and now you've wasted my fun... Hey, hey—!"

Before he could even finish his sentence, U Amakusa hurriedly shouted, trying to use his volume to make Orange stop, but it seemed to have no effect.

Crash!

"Oh~ sugoi ne~" Naoki Shimizu remarked with a sense of schadenfreude.

Orange looked at the cola lying on the floor, the corners of its mouth faintly curling upward; it seemed quite satisfied with its masterpiece.

U Amakusa stood up abruptly. "Damn it, if I don't discipline you today, you'll be tearing the roof off tomorrow."

Seeing this, Naoki Shimizu knew he couldn't just sit there anymore and hurriedly stood up to stop U Amakusa.

"Hey, hey, hey... forget it, forget it. Why are you bickering with a cat..."

Crash!

Another identical sound rang out. The two looked toward the noise and saw a new drink lying on the floor.

"Looks like... that's your Mitsuya."

Naoki Shimizu pulled back the hand he had used to block U Amakusa and picked up the cushion he had been sitting on.

"Hey, hey, hey..." This time, it was U Amakusa's turn to hurriedly pull back Naoki Shimizu.

"Don't stop me! If you keep spoiling this cat, it'll be lawless in the future."

"I know, but that won't work."

U Amakusa pointed at the cushion in Naoki Shimizu's hand. "That thing won't scare it."

"Then what do you suggest?"

"I have my own clever plan."

Meanwhile, on the other side.

"Is buying this much enough?"

"Just about. If we buy any more, we won't be able to finish it."

Sanada and Satonaka were each carrying a bag, walking back toward the dormitory building and drawing intense attention from the girls on the path.

One with a gentle senior vibe, the other with a handsome, cheerful air—the two of them walking together was a critical hit for any girl who was a sucker for good looks.

"By the way, do you need any help when we're cooking later?"

"Can you chop vegetables?"

Satonaka rubbed his head in embarrassment and said, "Uh..."

Sanada chuckled softly. "It's fine, just help wash the vegetables."

"Sure, leave the cleaning and dishwashing to me and the others."

Sanada didn't refuse, just smiled and agreed; if he had turned that down, it would have only made Satonaka feel uncomfortable while eating.

Before long, the two arrived at the door of Room 404, but they didn't choose to knock. U Amakusa had given Satonaka his room key card when he left.

Because U Amakusa was too lazy to use the Space Gate.

Satonaka had even complained about U Amakusa being a lazybones because of it.

Beep—

The moment the card touched the sensor, the door opened. Satonaka pushed it open and witnessed a scene he would never forget for the rest of his life.

"Woof, woof, woof, woof, woof, woof—!!!"

U Amakusa and Naoki Shimizu were wearing Tengu masks, terrorizing a cat.

Naoki Shimizu was barking madly in Orange's face, while U Amakusa whispered devilishly into her ear.

"He says if you knock anything over again, he'll eat you! Just like eating Onio... ptooey, just like eating Onio!"

Click.

Satonaka Guanmen opened the door again, trying to refresh what he was seeing.

Satonaka looked back at Sanada and said, "Did we go to the wrong place?"

Sanada glanced at the door number without changing his expression. The digits 404 sat there quietly, and he gave an awkward laugh.

"Ahahaha... I don't... think so?"