68. Meanwhile....

While Reiji was off torturing a blackmailer, Greeny and Airi were preparing for their own battle. 

Each book assigned by the reading club was meant to be read over the course of two weeks, so there was no debrief meeting for today's session. 

Students immediately went off to their preferred reading areas and dove right in without wasting time. 

Greeny and Airi looked around to see of they could spot Hina. They saw that she had left class before them, so she was probably already here somewhere.

Unless.... She went straight home. 

They first checked the Feather Zone, thinking that was the most likely place she would be if she wanted to avoid them. But they didn't see here there so they moved onto the Chatter Zone with low expectations and grim faces. 

"...What if she isn't h-here?" Greeny muttered guiltily.

"Don't worry, then we'll just talk to her before class or during lunchtime."

They walked into the Chatter Zone, and to their complete surprise Hina was sitting in the same spot that Airi had built for them a few days ago, reading on her kindle. 

"That's.... a good sign right?" Airi mumbled.

They slowly walked up to her, trying to think of a way to apologize appropriately. When Hina saw the two of them approaching her, she got up to face them nervously. 

The three of them stood quietly, their eyes darting between each other as an awkward silence settled in that made the atmosphere uncomfortable. 

Then, they simultaneously bowed deeply towards the other party and apologized. 

"I'm sorry..."

"I'm sorry!"

"I'm s-sorry."

Greeny and Airi looked at each other in bewilderment and then turned to Hina, who had a similarly confused expression. 

After a few more seconds of silence, Airi burst out laughing while clutching her stomach.

"PFFTTT HAHAHAHA, OH MY GOD WE LOOKED SO STUPID!"

The two shy students who also found the situation a little ludicrous, joined with soft chuckles. the awkwardness lifted slightly as they shared a moment of appreciation for the other party. 

"Why exactly are you two apologizing? Wasn't I at fault?" Hina spoke up curiously. 

"Well, in hindsight you were just worried about your friend. And we were also in your position before because we too were scared of Reiji-kun due to the rumors. So I feel like we were a little too harsh when it came to defending our friend, and we're truly sorry for that," Airi explained. 

Greeny nodded, scratching his moss-colored hair with embarrassment. 

"I don't think that's a bad thing though. I actually admired how defensive you were of him, and for good reason too! I'm sorry for not only misjudging him but putting you guys in a position where you had to hear someone talk bad about your friend," Hina responded, clutching her ebook sorrowfully. 

A wholesome ambience overtook the previously tense situation and all three of them calmed down, looking at each other with renewed interest and anticipation of what was to come next. 

"I DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU GUYS ARE WAFFLING ABOUT, BUT KEEP IT DOWN! JUST BECAUSE THIS IS THE CHATTER ZONE DOESN'T MEAN YOU CAN DISTURB THE OTHERS!"

The three of them flinched at the sharp reprimand coming from a senior peeking through the zone's door, a furious look on his face. They bowed apologetically towards him and rushed back to their seats. 

They glanced at each other and giggled at the hilarity of it all, relaxing their previous tightly wound backs after confirming that there were no hard feelings. 

"....I have a question by the way," Hina said after a moment's hesitation. 

"What is it?" 

"You said that Yagami-kun asked you guys to befriend me, why would he do that?" 

"Ah..... Well, you weren't supposed to know about that," Airi said while glaring at Greeny, and then continued, "but he did it because he was worried about you. Something about how you were feeling sad because of your friend. We don't know too much of the details, he said it wasn't his place to tell us, just that speaking to someone might help you get your mind off of things."

Hina bit her lip, unsure of how to respond to that.

"...I-I don't know what you're thinking but you s-shouldn't feel bad. That defeats the entire purpose."

She looked up at Greeny who was smiling it her timidly and she sighed.

"Alright.... I think I should apologize to Yagami-kun in-person too, but for now I'd love to chat with you guys, if that's ok?" 

"Of course! Did you start reading the book?" Airi pulled out her version from her bag. 

"Yes, I read the first two chapters but I could barely concentrate with so much on my mind," Hina chuckled with self-deprecation. 

"That's ok, I'm at ch-chapter 5 but I don't mind rereading with you guys because so much happens e-early on."

And so the Glasses Wearing Trio managed to make up somehow and dove right into the book, occasionally exchanging random jokes and discussing the events of the plot. 

***

~Rooftop Gluttons~

IndigoFlower: Mission Accomplished! \^o^/

MrGreeny: Sakuraba-san is a really nice person

IndigoFlower: Right??? She was so sweet!

Chefalicious: Sounds like it went well?

MrGreeny: Yep, it's funny because we all apologized at the exact same time!

IndigoFlower: We got into trouble because of you Reiji-kun!

Chefalicious: tf did I do?

IndigoFlower: We spoke too loud and got lectured by the senior

Chefalicious: Excuse me? how tf is that my fault??

MrGreeny: Firstly, because your yakuza qualities have rubbed off on us, making us more aggressive

MrGreeny: Secondly, because we were still hungry so that made us more jumpy

Chefalicious: ಠ_ಠ

Chefalicious: Go suck on a lollipop

IndigoFlower: is it a lollipop you made? 

IndigoFlower: as a matter of fact, make us lollipops tmr ╰(°▽°)╯

MrGreeny: Ooooohhh yes please!

Chefalicious: how tf am I supposed to make them at home??

IndigoFlower: do we look like chefs to you?

MrGreeny: that's for you to figure out Chef Reiji

Chefalicious: ........

IndigoFlower: I'd like mango flavor please!

MrGreeny: Cola flavor for me!

Chefalicious: I'M NOT GONNA MAKE YOU GUYS LOLLIPOPS

IndigoFlower: Geez so selfish

MrGreeny: change your username Reiji-kun

IndigoFlower: fine, we'll settle for any desserts

MrGreeny: agreed, we'll be lenient

Chefalicious: don't bite the hand that feeds you

Chefalicious: I'll put salt instead of sugar in the sweets, let's see how you'll like it then

IndigoFlower: ....that's just plain evil ಠ╭╮ಠ

MrGreeny: as expected of a Yakuza

Chefalicious: no, if i truly wanted to act like yakuza, i'd put both salt and whole chilli peppers in the sweets. 

Chefalicious: want me to do that?

IndigoFlower: Bleh, we just won't it eat it then ƪ(˘⌣˘)ʃ

Chefalicious: oh I think you will. I'll bring regular, delicious sweets for a while and you'll eat them happily.

Chefalicious: and then when you least expect it, i'll sneak in my concoction which you will have no idea is the trap version ^_^

MrGreeny: .....the devil

IndigoFlower: you monster, you wouldn't!! (⊙ˍ⊙)

Chefalicious: try me mfs

IndigoFlower: .......I would like to apologize for any issues that i may have caused

MrGreeny: Chef Reiji is the best! 

Chefalicious: that's more like it ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

IndigoFlower: so evil....anyway how was ur club outing? I'm so jealousssss

Chefalicious: it was fun while it lasted but I had to leave early (T_T)

MrGreeny: why?

Chefalicious: something came up, nothing serious

Chefalicious: but the cafe was great, i'll take you guys sometime!

MrGreeny: \^o^/

IndigoFlower: ╰(°▽°)╯

***

~Yui~

ChocoLover: send noods

ChocoLover: noods please

ChocoLover: the abs withdrawal symptoms are getting worse!

ChocoLover: please I need abs

ChocoLover: Reiji send noods now

Chefalicious: I'll block you ಠ_ಠ

ChocoLover: Oh you're here! send pics ASAP

Chefalicious: you have a screw loose

ChocoLover: obviously hehe, stop wasting time 

Chefalicious: [Pic]

ChocoLover: YAYYYYYY

ChocoLover: ....

ChocoLover: that's a piece of paper that says 'noods' on it ಠ╭╮ಠ

Chefalicious: is that not what you wanted?

ChocoLover: don't be mean

Chefalicious: don't be creepy

ChocoLover: it would only be creepy if I was ugly

Chefalicious: what type of shitty logic is that?

ChocoLover: that's just reality

Chefalicious: i'm going to sleep

ChocoLover: are you changing into pajamas? send video of you changing. 

~YOU HAVE BEEN TIMED OUT FOR 5 HOURS~

***

Reiji threw his phone on his bed while he took off his clothes. 

'These people are going to ruin my mental health.'

In just a few weeks of him becoming Reiji, he had two pigs lusting after the food he cooks, and one psychopath lusting after his body. How things even came to this was still a mystery, he refused to take any of the blame for their craziness. 

'Even sweet Greeny is being corrupted slowly....'

He brushed his teeth slowly, staring at himself in the mirror.

A warm smile slowly grew on his chiseled face as he recalled the chat he had with those buffoons. 

'Is it possible for someone to ruin your mental health while also being the ones to maintain your sanity?'

After the rough day he had, he appreciated being able to bicker with them so freely. It helped him decompress, it showed him that he wasn't just some cold-blooded gangster. 

'I'm tired....'

***

A/N

Anyone else have annoying but hilarious friends in the group chat?