58 and a Half Hours/September 7, 2016
Cupcake didn't have to wait long behind the school, as Yuu showed up when she told him to meet her. As he walked behind the school, he was flanked on either side by Valen and Minako. “There he is!” Cupcake said cheerfully, as the trio stopped in front of her.
“After thinking about it, I've decided that I will at least accept some help from you,” Yuu said. “That's what I like to hear! So... for your first conquest, do you want to go for, ahem, the one we discussed yesterday?” Cupcake asked, giving a brief glance towards Minako. “We'll discuss going after girls later. The biggest thing I'd like help with that you offered was keeping track of everything. You'll want to grab a notepad; Minako's birthday is April 18th, my mother's birthday...”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa, hold up for a moment,” Cupcake interrupted. “I'm not going to be your secretary, I'm in this to be your wingman. I'm only going to keep track of girls that you either have, or intend to, lay pipe into.”
“Okay then,” Yuu said. “So Minako's birthday is April 18th, my mother's birthday...” “Aw shit, you're serious?!” Cupcake asked. “Yeah. You're a couple months too late to help with Minako. And Valen.” “Man, now I'm seriously questioning if you even need my help. You gotta share this story with me,” Cupcake said eagerly.
As Yuu shared the story, with occasional interruptions and additions from Minako and Valen, Cupcake was very obviously becoming aroused. When they finally finished, Cupcake appeared to be holding herself back. “Man, that's gonna make some great jack-off material later. Even so, I'm not sure whether I should be impressed or depressed. Sure, you've got yourself a harem, but out of seven girls in it, only one of them isn't directly related to you. You need to diversify your portfolio, man! So who are we gonna try to get first? The chick with the massive bazongas? The rich chick? Maybe that peppy girl who stopped by at lunch yesterday? Or do you want to try and get the teacher to be a full time harem girl?”
“I don't know; look, for me there's more to it than that. I mean, yeah, I do have that impulse to try and bang every pretty girl I see, but... I mean like with Ayaka, I think my relationship with her would be a lot more fulfilling if she didn't just see me as a sex buddy. I would like to count Dianne in my harem, but how she feels is more important, and afterwards last week I had to try and convince her that she didn't molest me. You do have a point about 'diversifying', I was thinking on my way home last night that it would be nice to date someone who hasn't known me my entire life. But every girl in class seems charming in her own way.”
“Well, if you're going to leave it up to me, I'm gonna go for the one with great tits first. But I'll see what I can do about your aunt and the teacher too. AND like I promised I'll help keep track of everyone's information for you. But you're gonna have to write some of it down for me first.”
Yuu, Valen, Minako, and Cupcake were all sitting down together at lunch. Three of them stared at their spinach salads, while Cupcake chowed down on a bacon cheeseburger. Yuu resignedly picked up his fork and started prodding at the leaves, when Erina came over and sat down. “Nanami... didn't come to school again today...” she started. “I wouldn't worry too much, it's probably just a flu or something,” Valen said. “We could check on her later to make sure everything's alright.”
Cupcake had been scanning the room, when she leaned over and patted Yuu's arm excitedly. “Look, over there!” Cupcake pointed. “Megumi's sitting all by herself! You should go over and talk to her!” Yuu looked over to see that she was indeed sitting alone at a table, drawing something. “Are you sure? She looks busy...” Yuu said, nervously.
“I said, go. Over. And talk. To her!” Cupcake growled. Yuu took the hint and scampered up from his seat. Megumi didn't acknowledge him as he cautiously approached. “Uhh... Hello?” Yuu said awkwardly. Megumi looked up blankly and responded, “Oh... hi...”
“Umm... I'm Yuu... well, I mean, I guess you already knew that since we introduced ourselves yesterday...” Yuu tried nervously. Megumi just stared at him blankly. “Well, uh, it's nice to meet you!” Yuu said hurriedly as he retreated back to his table.
“What. Was. That.” Cupcake demanded, wholly unamused. “This may come as a shock to you, but I'm actually really introverted. The relationships I'm...” Yuu started, before deciding to reword his sentence when he realized Erina was still sitting there. “Every relationship I've had have all had one thing in common: I've known the person more or less my entire life. Plus, in the cases where I wasn't pursued, it was Minako who set things up.”
“Well what about yesterday when we met? You didn't stumble on that!” Cupcake argued. “You were also the one who approached me and did most of the talking,” Yuu answered. “Oh my god, it's worse than I thought, isn't it?!” Cupcake said, dumbfounded.
Minako stood up and took Yuu by the hand. “I'll handle this,” she said as she started to lead him off. “Alright, but we're going to have words later!” Cupcake shouted as they left.
Minako finished dragging Yuu over to the table Megumi was sitting at, and began talking. “Hi, I'm Minako, and my brother Yuu here thinks you're really cute. And if he comes back to our table before the end of lunch, there'll be hell to pay when he gets home!” Somehow Minako managed to keep a smile on her face through the entire statement. She then pushed Yuu into a chair opposite of Megumi before walking off.
Megumi looked mortified as she watched Minako walk off. “I, uh... I'm sorry about my sister. She can be kind of pushy...” Yuu said. The look on Megumi's face didn't change. Yuu thought desperately about what he could say that wouldn't sound stupid. “So... what are you drawing?” Yuu tried. “Oh, nothing really...” Megumi said, awkwardly. “Just a couple of characters from a show...” “What show?” Yuu tried. “It's called 'Trigun'... you probably aren't interested...” Megumi answered.
Yuu finally brightened a little. “I love that show! Who are you drawing, I'd be able to tell but since it's still in the early phase...” Yuu asked. “Vash and Wolfwood...” Megumi said, slightly smiling. “Ah. My guess was going to be Wolfwood and Millie...” Yuu said. While the two figures in the drawing were still just outlines, it was pretty clear they'd be kissing when the picture was done.
“Have you read the manga? It goes off in a way different direction than the series...” Yuu started, as Megumi put down her pencil and they began talking.
“That was some weak-ass shit back there,” Cupcake said as they left school for the day, berating Yuu for his performance in the lunchroom. “Turns out I threw you a softball, and you still nearly struck out.” “I'm sorry!” Yuu protested, “But we hit it off eventually.” “Yeah, go easy on him!” Minako said. “You did just kind of throw him out there.”
“Still, looks like we're going to have to do some remedial work. We're going on a tutorial date on Friday. I know a place we can go, you'll love it. Or not. I don't care.” With that, Cupcake left.
Yuu, Minako, and Valen stood there as Cupcake walked away. They started to head out themselves, when Megumi stopped them. “Umm... I'm looking forward to talking to you some more...” she said. “I haven't met many other otaku.” “I'm looking forward to it,” Yuu smiled.