บท 24: Chapter 24 - The Life of Game Studios
"Nee, nee, Yōkkun..." Kazuko called out as she gently tugged Yōta's uniform.
"Yes, yes?" Yōta turns to Kazuko with a smile on his face as he stops the music and puts the earphones inside the pocket.
"It's about the [Flying Bright Reaping Sword]... I can't seem to strengthen the fire properly when I executes the technique..."
Yōta hummed in response to that as he taps the pommel of Higekiri, "I see... When you spin your naginata, which direction you twirl it at first?"
"Etto..." Kazuko looks at her hands for a second before she replicate the move. She imagines that she's currently holding the naginata and twirls it in clockwise motion.
"Ah, no wonder..." Yōta already spotted the mistake she just made.
"Eh? Am I doing it wrong...?" Kazuko asked.
Yōta chuckles wryly as he reaches his hand out to the youngest Kawakami, patting her head in comfort manner, "Yeah. You shouldn't twirl it like that first, if you spin clockwise it'll reduce the fire's strength instead."
"Eh, really!? I don't know that..."
"If you want to make the fire burn hotter you need to makes sure there's as much air flowing as possible while it's lit. So what you need to do is to spin your naginata counterclockwise first to gather the reverse air flow before releasing it to the fire in your naginata by spinning clockwise."
Yōta then performs the move to show it to Kazuko what would the result be if she's doing it the right way.
As Yōta moves his hands in counterclockwise motion, it sucks the air around his hands before he releases it one go by spinning his hands clockwise.
A strong gust of wind blows from his hands and it's powerful enough to push Kazuko back.
"Goddammit, Yōta!"
"Kyah!"
"What the fizzity-yuck!!"
"Whoooaaa!!"
Gakuto, Chris, Matsukaze and Shōichi shouted respectively as they feel the gust of wind pushing them from behind as well, almost tripping them over.
They're currently are heading to the school together like usual.
And while the others are conversing with each other in front, Yōta and Kazuko are walk side-by-side, discussing about Kazuko's self-invented technique.
"Be careful there, man." Yamato warned the Nagakura with unimpressed look as he tidies his uniform.
Chris glares at Yōta since that wind earlier lifts her skirt up, flashing her pink panties to the world to see.
Yamato and Momoyo are the only one who lucky enough to glance at the heavenly sight.
"You both can discuss about that and train later after school, you know..." Miyako commented from the side as she swipes the leaf from her hair.
"I'm sorry." Yōta bows in apology.
"Yeah, sorry, guys." Kazuko followed suit.
"Maa, it's okay." Shōichi waves the apology off with smile on his face, "Just mind your surrounding next time."
Chris' glare slowly melt down as she looks at how sincere both of them apologized, she then sighs and crosses her arms over her chest, "He's right. Please mind your surrounding first before you're doing something like that, Yōta-dono."
"Yeah, I'm getting carried away there..." Yōta scratched the back of his head in wry manner.
"I've noticed something..." Matsukaze started and it catches the group's attentions except for Yōta and Kazuko, as both of them starts talking once again in the back, "It seems Yōta-boy always like he tends to forget everything around him when he's together with Kazuko."
The older member of Kazama Family goes 'ahhh' at that statement.
"Well..." Yamato scratches the back of his neck, wondering what he should say regarding this matter.
Gakuto and Takuya also looks conflicted.
"Is Yōta-dono likes Dog?" Chris bluntly asked in curious manner as she peeks at the interaction between the two.
They seemed so close with each other, and she couldn't helped but to notice how bright their mood are when they're together.
"They are in love." Momoyo answered with a shrug.
"They?"
"Yeah, Yōta loves Wanko, and Wanko loves Yōta as well." Momoyo nodded and makes a gesture with her pinkie, "But they're still not a thing yet."
"I see. So, that's why..." Chris looks thoughtful for some reason.
"What? Are you jealous or something?" Yamato playfully asked.
Chris' body flushed red at that question as she stomps the ground and points a finger at Yamato, "What!? N-No, y-you're mistaken! I'm not jealous at all!! You're saying nonsense right now!!!"
It catches the attention of Yōta and Kazuko in the back as they look at blushing Chris, ponting her shaky finger at Yamato.
"Hoo... That's reaction is very suspicious, Kri." Momoyo joined Yamato to tease the Friedrich.
"N-Not you too, Momo-senpai! I'm not jealous!!"
"You need to pass me first if you want to join Yōta's harem." Miyako said playfully while holding her hips and try to be intimidate.
"Say what...?" Yōta looks flabbergasted in the background right now.
"What!? So you chase after Yōkkun too, Kri!?" Kazuko jumps in the fray as she points her finger at Chris, "I won't let you enter so easily!"
"You're messing with me right now!!" Chris shouted embarrassingly as she covers her red face with both of her hands.
"Wait, so Mayucchi needs to defeat you two first if she wants to join Yōta-boy's harem? Okay! Go, Mayucchi!!" Matsukaze slyly remarked.
Yukie who's holding Matsukaze suddenly screeching in embarrassment at what Matsukaze just said.
She then shakes the horse strap up and down frantically while giving him a piece of her mind.
She can't believe it! This stupid horse is just spilled her secret so nilly-willy right now!
"Hey... She's doing a ventriloquism right...?" Takuya asked the other boys nearby as he looks at the youngest girl in their group right now.
"... Yeaaahhh..." Yamato answered unsurely. He even doesn't look quite sure right now especially with how animately that horse strap talk just now.
It feels like it's really a different person.
"She's so funny." Shōichi on the other side laughed at Yukie's stand-up comedy performance.
"She's funny, but weird too..." Gakuto throws in his two cents.
The morning between Kazama Family never gets boring.
-Scene Change-
With boring as hell class is now over, so naturally, most of students excitements goes through the roof right now.
And as Yōta's wandering aimless in the hallway, he runs into Touma.
He sees Touma casually walking his way with a drink in his hand. He didn't schedule any classes during this block like Yōta.
"Oh, hey there, Touma-san." He called out to the more handsome bespectacled man, "You didn't schedule any classes during this time either?"
Touma smiled in response as he shrugs his shoulders casually, "I have class now. I'm just skipping because it's boring. Don't I look like a bad boy right now?"
Yōta chuckles at that statement, Touma sometimes could be this weird as well if he wants to.
It's very refreshing to saw the usual calm and suave man like him could be this silly.
"We were discussing a paragraph from this novel in Modern Japanese the other day." Touma started as he carefully leaned his back and elbow on the hand rail, "The teacher called on me and asked me what emotions the author was feeling when they wrote it, and I just said, 'Maybe they were sexually frustrated'. I got kicked out of class for that."
Yōta's chuckles turn into a full-blown laughter, "Haha, that's so stupid. Even something like 'they ass were itching' is correct if that's an impression I as the reader got."
He remembers having a similar experience when he was asked to write a book report, and all he talked about was how stupid and boring the whole book was.
The teacher was legit about to kill him back then.
The report is supposed to be HIS experience with the book, so how the teacher gets angry for writing what he thought is beyond his understanding.
"Fufu, you're totally right." Touma chuckles behind his hand, "But anyway, that's why I'm skipping right now and trying to have fun with the girls from other classes."
"Fuck you too, Mister Whateveryourfacewas!!" Yōta suddenly shouted out loud when he remembers that stupid teacher's clown face.
Touma once again chuckles at Yōta's sudden outburst, this friend of his is always had this funny expression and reaction ever.
And as both of them are having conversation with each other, Touma notices someone approaching them.
"Oh, isn't that Mogami-senpai?"
"Wait, really?" Yōta turns his head to where Touma looks at.
And true to what he said, there's Aki walks in steady pace, approaching them with a flat expression on her face.
Her black, flowing, lustrous long hair is as gorgeous as ever.
As she stops in front of them, in front of Yōta specially, it gathers all kind of attention from other students that's passing by.
Her beauty is currently captivating a lot of people who noticed her presence.
"Do you need something, Moga—" Yōta stops himself when he heard a cough from Aki who's slightly narrowing her eyes in response of him not calling her 'Aki' like usual.
"... Aki-senpai?" He corrected while fixing his glasses.
Aki then puts a smile on her face when she heard that, she reaches for Yōta's head and give him a pat.
"Kh..." Yōta grumbles embarrassingly as he tries to push his blush away.
Damn you and your beautiful smile!
Touma who looks at the interaction between the two couldn't helped himself but to chuckles in low tone.
"Please come to the Student Council's room with me." Aki said in low voice before dragging Yōta forcefully with her, she doesn't even wait for his answer at all.
"H-Huh...!?" Yōta looks very flabbergasted right now as he's being dragged by his senior all of a sudden, and when he looks back to Touma for help.
Touma is already gone from his place and he spots the man in far distance, flirting with girls.
Damn him!
Therefore, Yōta could only accept his fate as he starts to walk with his own feet by Aki's side.
Aki smiles at the gesture before she sticks her body closely to him as much as possible.
As they finally arrived at the Student Council's room in Building S, she opens the door and revealed a tidy room with all kind of tools and files scattered on the desk.
Weirdly enough, there's no one inside the room for some reason.
"Where's everyone go, Aki-senpai?" Yōta asked as he looks around.
"I kick them out of the room." Aki casually answered while picking a cosmetic box from the drawer.
"Say what now...?"
"I want the usual." She ignored Yōta and give the cosmetic box to him.
Yōta stares at the box in his hand with flat stare before looking at Aki in front of him, the girl is already sets a footstool and sit on it comfortably.
She's patiently waiting for him to start.
He pinches the bridge of his nose for a second before he carefully picks her black long hair.
"Please tell me if it hurts, okay?"
"I will."
Yōta picks a comb from the box and carefully use it on the very ends of her hair first.
He can't really afford to mess this, he doesn't want to ruin her beautiful long hair after all.
He combs down and gently remove any tangles, he moves the comb very carefully as to not force it through her hair.
Aki smiles at the sensation of her hair being brushed with such care by the man she interested with.
She loves the way he's always trying to treat her with such care like this. She feels like a princess right now and it feels great.
It's been a month since they started this activity. It's started after Aki witnessed how masterfully Yōta's grooming her dog, Charle, on their weekends days.
And when Aki notices at how her dog looks so contended and satisfied after she finished her grooming session with Yōta.
Curiousity got the better of her.
"Do you happen to know some unusual tea, Senpai?" Yōta started a small conversation between them as he feels the hair with his fingers first before using it to loosen any knots.
"Bukubuku tea." Aki hummed her answer.
"Bukubuku tea?" Yōta raised his eyebrows at that answer, "I can't even imagine what kind of tea that is..."
"It's originated from Okinawa." She hummed once again while tapping her feet rhythmically, "It's a bubbly creation topped with crushed peanuts and brown sugar. It used bowls too."
"A bowls? Not cups?"
"You drink it like you're eating foamy bubbles."
"Eating bubbles..." Yōta's face turns bitter at that exact image as he moves up a few inches and starts combing down again, working out the tangles.
Aki giggles when she noticed the pause in Yōta's sentense, she can exactly imagine what kind of expression he had right now, "It's called 'Phantom Tea' as well."
"'Phantom Tea'... If I tell this to Capt, I guess he'll try to find and try it... Hmm..." Yōta murmured thoughtfully as he masterfully brush the midsection of Aki's hair down to the ends, "I think I'll try to mention this to him and join him to taste the tea later."
"Fufu, I think you should. Despite it's weird name and appearance, it's still tea. It has rice inside or red bean rice, depending on your preference." Aki explained with smile on her face, "You then mix it with jasmine tea and bancha. That's why it's still counted as tea."
"Yeah, you get me. I'm getting curious how it taste now. I'll definitely bring Capt with me to drink the tea."
"You can drink it in Okinawa, or you can order it through online."
"Nah, I think I'll go to Okinawa and drink there. In that case it will be more fun and I can taste the tea while it's still fresh. I bet Capt will say the same too."
Aki covers her mouth and giggles behind it when she heard that. She's currently having fun, it's always been like this.
Everytime she's together with Yōta, everything will looks and feels fun for some reason.
She guesse, this is what it feels like to fall in love?
If that's so, it's really nice and wonderful. She loves this very moment with all her heart.
And so they spend a lot time together, talking and joking around until the school bell rings throughout the school to annouce that fifth period is about to start.
-Scene Change-
Night, at the secret base.
Several of the Kazama Family's members are here tonight since it's a holiday tomorrow.
"The setting is now April, 2008." Cookie said.
They're currently playing a role-play game with Cookie as the game master. They're playing this really hardcore game called 'The Life of Game Studios'.
The one to make the most money wins.
"You discovered a doujin game that's recently popular on the net. The genre is 'crying game'. The writer made the game by himself."
"I'll try to recruit that writer." Takuya declared.
"What's the deal?" Cookie asked.
Takuya hummed, "I'll pay him 500 for the project contract. The additional incentive fee would start from 10,000 games."
"The probability of sucess is 40%. I'll roll the 100-sided die." Cookie said before throwing the dice on the table, "... The die came up with 61. The negotiation failed."
Yōta, Miyako, Takuya, Shōichi, and Yamato are playing this game. The reason why others doesn't join is because they don't know about game studios.
"Miyakosoft." Cookie called out, "It's time to announce your new game."
Miyako thoughtfully taps the side of her lips before nodding her head, "It'll be a fandisc of the popular game."
"The users support the steady choice."
"Man, you're good like usual, Miyakosoft." Yōta said while looking at the board, "You're stable and reliable."
"And you're always love to play risky with your business, Nagasoft." Miyako playfully retorted him.
"Yeah, man." Yamato butted in the conversation from the side, "Why are you making such a risk of taking 'EMERGENCE', anyway?? I don't understand at what you're playing here now..."
"Even I have to say that's very risky of you, Yōta..." Takuya nods his head understandingly at what Yamato just said.
"It's because I believe in miracle." Yōta faithfully said that with an amicable smile on his face.
"May, 2008. It's the day of Nagasoft to decide if he wants to release the EMERGENCE as a game or not."
"I will." Yōta nods his head in serious manner, "Also I want to make a deal with the author to change the ending."
The players around him looks quite surprised at that, now that they thought about it, in this game you can change the ending first before you release the game.
"The probability of success is 10%..." Cookie started, but Yōta still looks very determined, "I'll roll the die now."
While the other players are feeling quite anxious, Yōta on the other side looks very confident for some reason.
The die finally stops and rolls on 92.
"The negotiation is success, the author supports the choice of the happy ending. Congratulations, your sales are rising up by 15%."
"Hell yeah, baby! That's what I'm talking about!" Yōta pumps his hand in excited manner as he looks at the board.
It seems the Goddess of Luck is siding with him tonight.
"Damn... So that's what he's after..." Takuya murmured as he looks at the board with thoughtful look.
"Man... And here I am, strapped for cash because I hired too many people." Shōichi complains from the side.
"Kazamasoft releases many games, so your flow of capital hasn't stopped. You do lots of fanservices, so your popularity is going up." Cookie stated, "You'll have your chances as long as the blood flows in you."
"Never thought Yōta would get so many supporters in one go..." Miyako looks at the board in wonder.
"Yeah, it's very bold move but it pays very well..." Yamato inclined his head in agreement.
"Still in the same May, 2008. It's the release date of Yamatosoft's game." Cookie continued the game.
Yamato looks at the board with a critical eye, "I should be able to do well if there aren't any other big games."
"The postponed game, G-Senjō no Maō, gets released on the same day. Your sales go down by 2%."
"It's released now?" Yamato raised his eyebrows, "...But I should be able to make a profit."
As they play the game in focus, Momoyo suddenly approaches Yōta from behind as she locks his head using both her legs.
"What the hell..!?"
"I heard that you're having fun with Aki-chan this noon." She casually stated while eating popcorn.
"Yeah, I heard that too." Yamato snapped his fingers, "They said that Yōta is dragged by a beautiful senior into somewhere in lunch break."
Miyako tilts her head and hums, "Is it the usual?"
"Yeah. She wants me to brush her hair like usual." Yōta tried to nod but failed with how Momoyo still locks his head.
"The usual?" Takuya chimed in, "So you've been always meeting this mysterious senior?"
"Yeah, kinda." Yōta answered with a shrug.
"And she always want you to brush her hair?" Yamato asked in wonder.
"Yup."
Yamato and Takuya looks at each other before shaking their head at the same time and sigh tiredly.
What a lucky man.
When it comes to women, they guess, Yōta is the luckiest of them all. No cap.
"Well I can understand why Aki-chan loved to have her hair get brushed by Yōta." Momoyo hummed while letting him go and push him down on the floor, casually mounting on him with suave smile on her face, "This man is very good at handling and taking care of my hair, and it feels good too for some reason."
"Yeah, we girls can attest to that..." Miyako nods her head understandingly, "The way Yōta brushes our hair is godly. In people's perspective it may looks like he's simply brushing our hair, but to us, it feels like we're receiving some relaxing and nice massage from a master. It's quite scary how good and awesome it feels."
"What a fearsome power." Shōichi commented.
"Speaking of massage, I want to study new pressure points." Momoyo suddenly said as she snapped her fingers before looking down on Yōta, "I guess, you can be my dummy."
She starts to poke his body with her finger.
"Well, let's continue the game."
"In that situation?" Shōichi asked with a baffled expression on his face, "You're used to getting teased, Yōta."
"At least, it's not me this time." Yamato happily said from the side.
"This is a pressure point where you can only talk in broken Japanese."
"What, wait, for? Let's, your, now."
"And this one is that'll make you act like a raging bull."
Yōta starts to rock his whole body up and down with Momoyo's still riding on him as she laughs merrily.
"Hahaha. What should I make you do next?"
"What about letting me go!?" Yōta whined while still rocking his body like a raging bull.
"I don't want to~ Bwee~" She chidishly sticks out her tongue at Yōta. It makes Yōta growls annoyingly in response.
"You two are getting along well." Cookie commented from the side.
"I guess I'll crush Nagasoft." Miyako looks at the board with empty eyes.
"Don't get jealous and help me!"
"It's realistic to operate company with an emotion like that."
"It's too realistic!"
They continued to play the game while Momoyo constantly messing around with Yōta's pressure points in the middle of the game, making the game more entertaining to others.
It seems like he can't really win against older women no matter what.
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