WWYK 3.3

One more chapter, shouldn't take me long I'm hoping! Most likely will release vol 3 before the end of next week.

---

Chapter 3 - Circles

Nicole Parker was among the few people who genuinely loved being a pizza delivery girl. As far as jobs went, there wasn’t a whole lot that could beat a night of scooting around town at high speeds, listening to some tunes, and earning fat tips for barely anything more than putting on a smile and a cutesy, over-the-top, fake bimbo attitude. It was like being an online sex worker with only half as much casual sexism. She had some creepy customers every now and then, but that was the worst of it. Nothing that the mini stun gun she kept in the pocket of her red and yellow Pizza Palooza jacket couldn’t solve if worst came to worst.

It had just turned 9:00 PM, and that meant quitting time.

“See you tomorrow, Antonio!” Nicki stood at the front entrance to the humble pizzeria, clutching her pink helmet in the crook of her arm in one hand and waving goodbye to her boss with the other, a friendly smile plain on her face.

“Good job today, kid. Take her easy!” The older, mustachioed man bid his favorite employee goodnight while thinking the same thing he did every time she walked away; there goes the best damn delivery girl I ever had.

Nicki stretched out after leaving, cracking her back in springtime's brisk evening air. It was hard to believe it was already March 31st, but here she was. Even harder to believe that her boyfriend- the first and only one she’d ever have if she could help it- went on a date with another girl today.

Funnily enough, that was the biggest reason Nicki was smiling. She couldn’t wait to hear how things went between two of her favorite people and was hoping for the best. Nicki yanked on her helmet and buckled the clasp, then leaned against the side of the building as she unwrapped a fresh lollipop, sucked down, and ripped out her phone.

She shot a quick text to Shizuka to make sure it was still cool to visit, and while she waited, she checked some messages Kelli had sent her. They were betting on Shizuka’s results. Kelli wagered that there’d be no progress, whereas Nicki was expecting a breakthrough, arguing that there was a tiger hidden somewhere beneath all the anxiety that was just waiting to be let out so it could roar.

When Shizuka texted Nicki back, she found out two things. The first was that she won her bet with Kelli. The second was that a tiger might’ve been underselling it and that whatever Shizuka had inside her was probably much closer to a feral honey badger than anything else.

——

NEETSPEAK: Yes, please come over. I’m sorry. I know I said I wouldn’t, but I cracked. I rushed things, and we had sex. Not doing great, and I could use a friend. The back door is open.

——

Nicki stared at her screen, her lollipop falling to the cold, hard pavement below where it cracked into dozens of pieces. Once the initial shock had worn out, she replaced her fallen comrade with a grape-flavored counterpart.

Okay.

There was a lot to break down in that one message.

Apparently, her boyfriend had sex with another woman today. One of her two best friends, at that. If Nicki hadn’t been cracked in the head to some degree, that might’ve bothered her more than it actually did- which was essentially not in the slightest. She did set the whole thing up, after all. The only thing she was really even upset about was that she hadn’t been there to see it for herself. That was something of a bummer, but there was always next time if all went well.

More importantly, it was time for Nicki to be a good friend and be there for her when Shizuka needed her most.

Nicki shot off a reply to Shizuka telling her she’d be on her way, a quick I told you so to Kelli, and a check-in text to her man, seeing if he wanted her to stop by tonight or not once she was done at Shizuka’s. She didn’t let on that she knew what he got up to, keeping it casual to gauge his response.

——

MaxMasters: Hey. Feel free to go ahead and stay at your bro’s. I kinda want to be left alone tonight if that’s cool. Lot on my mind, and I’m still trying to sort through everything. You’ll hear it from her, I’m sure. Love you.

——

Nicki let out a sigh and lowered her visor, stepping towards her parked Yamaha. This didn’t sound good. In fact, it sounded pretty damn similar to the worst-case scenario she’d been so worried about. Nicki was already mentally dragging herself over the coals for not pushing Shizuka harder.

Nicki had wanted to be there to help smooth things along and prevent this exact outcome, but there was always a line you had to straddle when it came to Shizuka. Nicki always tried to be supportive of her, even when she thought she knew better than her oft-troubled friend, but it looked like that bit her in the ass this time around… and not even in a fun way, either.

Welp, no use worrying about it now. Time to go assess the damage. Nicki sat on her scooter, shoved her keys into the slot, and sped off into the night streets of Willowbrook.

Scooters were dangerous vehicles, and hers was no exception. That was part of the fun, and Nicki loved the thrill of going as fast as she could against the wind. Her love for motorized bikes started three years ago when her older brother let her test drive his Harley, and he accelerated that love by giving Nicki her current scooter on her twentieth birthday. It wasn’t anything special- just an old junker he’d gotten a good deal on and fixed up in between working on other projects, but Nicki loved the damn thing, and she loved Tom for going through all that effort.

It got Nicki wherever she wanted her to go, and more importantly, it got her there fast- speeding tickets be damned. It was a good thing that cops were just as easy to charm as the people she made deliveries to. She’d yet to meet one who hadn’t fallen for her charms, which served as a point of pride. Nicki wasn’t embarrassed about using her assets to escape sticky situations, living by the motto of flaunting it if you’ve got it.

Other people weren’t as resourceful as Nicki, though. Shizuka needed help getting out of her own sticky situation, so she made it to her friend’s house in record time. The cop car she passed on the way didn’t even bother to pull her over this time, but Nicki waved to them anyway as a sign of, if not respect, acknowledgment.

She parked on the curb and walked up the pavement before sneaking around the house and approaching an opened glass sliding door that connected straight to Shizuka’s room. Nicki had met Shizuka’s parents dozens of times and wasn’t interested in adding more encounters if she could help it. They were polite enough, often thanking her for being Shizuka’s friend, but it was painfully obvious when someone looked down on her and tried to hide it. Growing up among Catholics gave Nicki a sense for that kind of thing. Better to just cut around the back versus having to ring the doorbell and be met with false civility.

Sneaking around the house at night would’ve made Nicki feel like the world’s sexiest burglar- aside from her Pizza Palooza jacket- but it was what it was.

Nicki knocked on the glass door a couple of times to signal she was coming in, then opened it up and stepped through the immensely thick black curtains Shizuka relied on to block any hint of sunlight from even thinking about getting into her room. The room was dark and messy, but Nicki had seen it looking much worse. There were a few scattered snack boxes here and there and bottles of tea and other soft drinks, a small, twenty-two-inch HDTV with a laptop connected to it via an HDMI cable, an unmade bed missing its blanket, and a couple of bookshelves with assorted manga, light novels, and about a dozen or so cheap pieces of anime merchandise from different series thrown haphazardly throughout the shelves.

Shizuka was sitting in the corner, swaddled in the blanket and looking for all intents and purposes like she was encased in a cocoon. Light was shining from within, suggesting she had her cell phone and was probably reading something under there before Nicki arrived. It was a sight Nicki was used to. Shizuka always went full hikikomori with the blanket whenever she was distraught.

“Sup, former virgin?” Nicki asked, plopping down on the bed near her friend. “Congrats on the popped cherry.”

“Thanks,” Shizuka acknowledged softly. “I’d like to say it just sort of happened, but it didn’t. I pushed for it.”

“Even though I explicitly told you not to.”

“Indeed.”

Nicki sighed and nodded. “It’s okay. I’m here for you, girl. It’s not like I didn’t expect something like this might happen, but what I wanna know is why all the doom and gloom? Isn’t this what you wanted?”

Shizuka was quiet for a moment, and then the cell phone light shining within her blanket went dark as she fully turned to face her friend. “It did not have the effect I believed it would… or rather that I hoped it would.”

“I’m not gonna tell you I told you so-”

“But you did, and I should’ve listened,” Shizuka admitted. She pulled the blanket from her head, exposing more of her despondent face. “Sorry.”

Nicki frowned and thought about the best way to steer the conversation from here. Probably best to ease Shizuka into talking about the rest, she figured. “It’s okay. Your room’s looking pretty good right now, by the way. You want some help picking up a little?”

“No, I’ll take care of it soon.”

“You always say that.”

“And I always do it. Eventually.”

“You’d have a lot less to pick up if you cut back on the junk food, you know. It’d do you some good, anyway.”

“That would mean I’d have to cook for myself, and I doubt I need to tell you how that would go. Knives scare me, for one, especially with how clumsy and uncoordinated I am. Assuming I don’t cut myself by accident, I could forget to set a timer and burn the house down, undercook something, and get food poisoning, or worse. Not to mention I’d have to hang around in the kitchen where my mother would likely provide commentary every step of the way.”

Nicki knew all of this, of course. She’d heard it dozens of times, and it sucked that they were all pretty valid excuses. It was why she often made a point of bringing Shizuka over to her brother’s place at least once a week for one of Casey’s home-cooked meals- that twink could out chef the fiercest, most skilled of tradwifes to ever don an apron- and Nicki felt bad that getting together with Nate had been the only thing on her mind for the last week.

“Nate didn’t seem to mind the weight I’ve gained since we last saw each other, anyway.”

Nicki saw a glimmer of a smile on Shizuka’s face, which suggested that maybe things weren’t so hopeless after all. “I told you he wouldn’t. He has tons of chubby chicks in his stories.”

“My research tells me that plenty of men enjoy chubbiness when it’s applied to anime girls but that they often treat it differently when it applies to real women.”

“I told you to stop ‘researching’,” Nicki sighed. “I don’t know where you go looking for these opinions, but you always wind up mining the most garbage takes I’ve ever heard.”

“I mostly ask people for their opinions on Reddit,” Shizuka explained.

“Ah, yup. Thaaat’d do it. Maybe try and ween off of that if you can help it.” Shizuka looked at Nicki with a blank face, prompting another disgruntled sigh. “Right, right. Easier said than done when you’re compulsive, I guess.”

“I like getting notifications that someone has replied to my thread. Dopamine is nice.”

“It sure is," Nicki agreed. "Though I guess you would know all about that after this afternoon, wouldn’t you?”

Shizuka stiffened and looked at the ground. “The sex was amazing, but everything else was a mixed bag at best. I believe it ended on a positive note, but my brain did what it does best, and I’ve been stewing on today’s events ever since I got home. Even though I try to think about the optimistic parts, I keep circling back to what I did wrong…”

“You haven’t been crying, right?”

“No.”

“No scratching?”

Shizuka popped further out of the blanket, revealing that she was wearing a yellow tank top with an illustration depicting a straw-hatted pirate captain's goofy, smiling face across the front. She extended her arms, and Nicki could tell she was fine even in the dim light. That was a relief.

“Good,” Nicki smiled and left the bed to sit next to Shizuka. “Are you cool with me asking more direct questions, babe? I don’t wanna upset you, but I can’t really help if I don’t do some digging.”

“I wouldn’t have said you could come over if I didn’t want to discuss this.”

“Wow,” Nicki clicked her tongue. “The sheer sass on this bitch...”

“Sorry…” Shizuka lowered her head, causing Nicki to regret her dumb joke.

“I was teasing you. My bad.” Nicki frowned, but thankfully Shizuka perked up immediately after. She stared idly at Nicki, giving her the sense it was okay to start digging. “So… how about we start at the beginning? What happened when Nate got there?”

“I was reading a webnovel on my phone, so I didn’t hear his approach until he called out my name. I looked up, and there he was. I was intimidated from the very first second, but I tried not to show it, which was where I made my first mistake…”

“Uh-huh…?” Nicki’s eyebrow perked up, but she tried to keep it subtle.

“When he asked what we were meeting up for, I told him it was to have sex with him to further his skills as a writer. Not to sort out our tangled history in the hopes of becoming more than what we were.”

Nicki rubbed her eyes, unintentionally smearing her eyeshadow without thinking. Shizuka looked away in shame.

“I’m not judging you,” Nicki made sure to point out. “So don’t take my reaction that way, please. This is totally involuntary.”

“The fact that you have to involuntarily rub your eyes from stress only seconds into my story is somehow just as bad as if you were judging me.” Shizuka reached over to her nightstand, pulled a tissue from the box, and handed it to her friend.

“Thanks, babe,” Nicki sighed, wiping the makeup from her fingers. “And yeah, sorry. That was just… not how we agreed you should’ve done that.”

“Nate agreed.”

“But he still fucked you.”

“I was very pushy,” Shizuka covered her face again with the blanket. “Please don’t blame him. Blame me.”

“Yeah, no. I’m not gonna blame you for shit you can’t control, just like I’m not gonna blame him for being a guy and falling into temptation.” Nicki laughed. “It’d be a different story if he didn’t already have my permission to fuck you, though. Then I’d have to kill him. Or maybe put his balls in a meat grinder if I’m feeling charitable.”

“I’d prefer if you didn’t make such jokes.”

“Hey, at least you figured out it was one!” Nicki gave Shizuka a playful smile and a pat on her shoulder through the thick blanket.

“Only from context clues…” Shizuka mumbled. “You presumably wish for Nate to continue having a healthy supply of testosterone, so I find it unlikely that you’d want to cause him irreparable damage down there.”

“Well… you’re not wrong?” Nicki shrugged at the wordy nerd. “Moving on… how did the way Nate was acting come off to you? Was he mad? Sad? Petty? Gonna need the details if I’m gonna make heads or tails of this, girl.”

“He did make a number of passive-aggressive comments but was not openly hostile. The comments were brief jabs, nothing I felt was undeserved, or that crossed a line. They put some more pressure on me, but…”

“He probably wouldn’t have done that if your opening was better and you went straight into your feelings, y’know.”

“I know…” Shizuka nodded and looked at the ground. “It’s not like we didn’t talk about our feelings or what happened back in high school at all or anything, but the more we did, the more I panicked and became convinced I had to take drastic measures to make things up to him. The guilt was too much to bear.”

“And public library sex was your answer?” Nicki tried to hide the slight jealousy in her voice, regretting that she and Nate hadn’t done anything exhibition-y before Shizuka had her turn.

“Not quite,” she coughed. “Rough public library sex was my answer. Very rough sex. I framed it as giving Nate permission to vent his frustrations on me using my body, and…”

Shizuka struggled with social cues, save for self-explanatory ones. When someone smiled, they were happy. When they laughed, they found something funny, even if Shizuka didn’t get the joke. When they made the face Nicki was currently making, they were absolutely livid.

“Back the fuck up. Nate didn’t hurt you, did he?!” Nicki crunched on her lollipop, smashing it between her molars. She raised her voice, unconcerned about whether or not she could be heard by Shizuka’s parents and what they would think of her if they did. “He better not have fucking snapped and treated you like shit… I don’t care what you did to him. He should’ve known better! God, if that’s the reason he wanted to be left alone tonight… if he’s just sitting in his room feeling guilty after roughing you up… fuck it, I’m gonna go over there and-”

“I liked it! I liked it a lot!!” Shizuka waved her hands frantically. They were still under the blanket, so she looked like a very concerned ghost. “It was rough, but it wasn’t mean… he took it slow. The roughness was more, um… verbal, mostly. He made me admit to embarrassing things, made me expose my body, and when it looked like I was about to accidentally hurt myself, Nate caught me and stopped it before it could happen. There was some rough pinching and pulling b-but… I was into it. Very much so. Like, a lot. Please don’t go over to Nate’s place with a meat grinder, Nicki. I’m begging you.”

It took a few seconds for Nicki to calm down, and when she did, she was embarrassed by her reaction. Of course Nate wouldn’t hurt Shizuka. He obviously still loved her, and he wasn’t the kind of person who would take petty revenge on an innocent virgin offering herself to him on a silver platter in a desperate attempt to be his friend again.

Nicki’s sheer drive to protect others had a habit of kicking in before she had all the facts. Nicki was fiercely defensive of the people she cared about, and it was one of the only things that could break her out of her ordinarily chill and casual demeanor. Nicki learned just now that even Nate wasn’t safe from her ire, and that caused her no small amount of shame.

“I… um… really didn’t mean to fly off the handle, there…” Nicki looked down at the newest lollipop she was unwrapping. “Sorry to scare you. I get the picture now, or at least your side of it, anyway. I’m still gonna have to hear it from him… but it’s a lot more complicated than you made it sound.”

“I apologize for making it so convoluted.” Shizuka exhaled her relief. Meat grinder averted. “It wasn’t my intention. None of this was.”

“I understand why you did what you did, but that doesn’t make it any better. Nate needed to heal the rift between you two before moving on to anything more serious, and you’re lucky it didn’t get any worse because of this.”

“You’re telling me…”

“Lighten up, babe. Let’s circle back a bit. You said you thought things ended on a positive note?”

“Yes. Nate was very gentle with me during the ‘aftercare’ phase, and although he reiterated the many doubts he had about what we’d just done, Nate was insistent that we would work on things between us, and…”

“And?”

“That he was interested in potentially entering into a formal relationship with me… provided we ironed out our issues and we still had your permission, that is.” Shizuka’s sadness was momentarily overtaken by a soft smile and a blush. “I had him repeat as such multiple times just so that I could confirm I wasn’t mistaken. Nate was quite adamant, so I’m inclined to believe it was the truth.”

“Damn!” Nicki remarked. “I didn’t expect him to go that far. Not on the first meetup. Thought we would have to whittle him down to get to that point… huh. Guess you must have done something right to get him to say that, yeah? Either that, or you’re serving some serious cunt.”

“I wouldn’t know how my vagina stacks up when compared to those of other women,” Shizuka stated, unconsciously placing a hand on her tummy. “But he seemed to enjoy himself.”

“I would’ve been more surprised if he didn’t,” Nicki chuckled. “Sucks that you’re so hung up on the negatives, though, because it sounds to me like you managed to salvage things in the end.”

“Only because he’s so understanding…” Shizuka’s head lowered. “I don’t know what it is that Nate sees in me that makes him think I’m worth the hassle, but I’m desperately hoping he doesn’t lose sight of it.”

Nicki didn’t think there was much chance of that happening but only smiled to herself in response. “So, did anything special happen when the two of you said goodbye? Like, perhaps… a kiss?”

Shizuka looked off into the middle distance as embarrassment washed over her face. “N-No. There wasn’t any kissing, not even during sex.” Her voice was tinged with disappointment.

“Guess that was a bit too much to hope for…” Nicki snapped her fingers in irritation.

“Something else happened, though. It was, um… almost as exciting as a kiss would’ve been, but in context, it was probably much better for our relationship than a kiss.”

“Well, don’t leave me hanging! What’s better than a kiss, huh? Huh?”

Shizuka gulped and opened up about the biggest development. “I had trouble walking when we were done, so Nate helped me to his car and drove me home. We had a quick chat while he was parked on the curb, mostly about my home life, and in a transparent attempt to get him to reinforce his determination one last time, I boldly suggested I might have more things to be optimistic about in the near future thanks to what happened with him today. He reconfirmed, making me overjoyed, but when I asked if I’d hear from him soon, he… ah…”

Nicki leaned in closer and closer, her face inching toward her friend’s. This intimidated Shizuka, but she forced herself to get on with the story. “He texted me. For the first time in four years, he texted me. I was so shocked when my phone buzzed that it was a little embarrassing, looking back. The text was just to tell me he’d see me sooner than I think, but-”

Nicki’s excitement burst out of her, and she closed what little distance remained between them, wrapping her arms around the awkward young woman and pulling her in for a happy hug. “Dude, seriously? You need to be focused on that- not the other shit! That’s huge, like, oh my god. I’m so happy for you!”

Surprised and put under the spotlight, Shizuka couldn’t return the hug from under the blanket, but she awkwardly leaned into it and allowed it to happen. “I’m happy for me too. I just wish-”

“Ah, ah, ah-” Nicki broke the hug and took a stern tone, wagging her lollipop threateningly like a catholic school teacher might wag a ruler. “Knock that shit off right now, babe. Stop focusing on the bad shit. You had great sex with Nate. He said he’s open to exploring his feelings for you, and things are cool enough between you that he’s okay with texting you again. Try to start appreciating these massive fucking W’s, girl. For all your mistakes, you made out like a bandit today.”

Shizuka paused and mulled over that. It was true that when all was said and done, she did pretty good for herself if you were looking solely at the results. But Nicki hadn’t been there. She hadn’t seen the disappointment on Nate’s face or heard the conflicted tone of his voice.

“It’s not right for me to feel good about today’s outcome— not when I know Nate was hurt by my actions. I can’t stop thinking about every little thing that upset him… I really do hope he’s okay right now…”

“You’re going in circles…” Nicki sighed.

“It’s the only direction I know.”

“Okay, here’s a new one for you. Let’s go with the trust Nicki direction, and you let me sort out Nate. I’ll get to the bottom of this and smooth things over with him.”

Optimism flared in Shizuka’s heart. “Can you really do that?”

“Yes,” Nicki stared. “That’s why I wanted to do this as a group in the first place.”

“Right, indeed…” Shizuka looked away, embarrassment coloring her cheeks.

Nicki let her off with a smirk. “That said, it might be a good idea if you helped out a little.”

“What do you need me to do?”

“Something that might push you out of your comfort zone. Are you in?”

“For Nate?” Shizuka met Nicki’s eyes. “Absolutely.”

***

It was an all too familiar sight. Nate sitting on the comfy leather chair in his office, staring at a document on his computer screen that refused to let him put any words on it no matter how hard he tried to think of some. Worse was that he shouldn’t have any excuses- not when the outline for his next work was already done.

This was typically the easiest part, as he only had to take each part of his lengthy bullet list and expand them into multiple paragraphs of text. Nate found it a breeze depending on his level of motivation at the time, barring sudden narrative detours that often crop up when writing.

Tonight, his motivation was at an all-time low. He hadn’t felt this down since… well, technically, it was only eight days since his most recent depression-induced writer’s block. Nicki had thoroughly fucked that out of him, and things had been smooth sailing ever since. Even though Wednesday and Thursday were slow, Nate at least got something done. Today, it looked like his word counter would be a big fat zero.

When Nate finished his meetup with Shizuka, he came home and had a late lunch. After, he spent some time brooding in his bedroom, had dinner, and forwent his nightly walk around the neighborhood in favor of further brooding. As the night dragged on, Nate grew self-aware enough to realize that he wasn’t making any progress toward ironing out his feelings. He thought that maybe he’d try and get some work done, but that was an utterly naive and laughable idea in retrospect.

Usually, having sex supercharged Nate with ideas and got him to pump out truly titanic sums of words in a single sitting, but it was like fucking Shizuka put him in a state of negative creativity, supposing that was even a thing. Part of him hoped it wouldn’t be the case, hoped that he’d have some spark of inspiration hidden behind the layers of confusion and depression, but it turned out there was only more confusion and depression waiting for him after digging beneath the surface.

Who would’ve thought?

Still, he couldn’t believe there came a day when he’d have sex with Shizuka Hasegawa and feel bad about it. It sucked that he was still overly focused on the negative, but that was how his mind worked. He wouldn’t get anything done tonight, but sitting at his desk trying to work made him feel better than being all sad and alone in his bed, so it wasn’t all for naught.

It was time to cut his losses, in any case. He left his office and decided he would chill out in the living room for a while, putting on YouTube when he got there in the hopes of finding a mindless source of background noise. Nicki screwing with his search history had been making his recommendations wonkier than usual. Now, Google’s almighty algorithm believed Nate wanted to see every piece of content featuring the pro-FGC player KillerK was ever remotely a part of. It wasn’t entirely wrong, as many of the videos drew his attention, but still.

The first recommended one was uploaded just the other day, and he had a closer look at it. It was the grand finals match for a recent Battlobots tournament he’d heard about in California- Scrap to the Finish. That was a pretty big event, so it took him by surprise. He knew KillerK was a good player from the times he’d watched some of her content with Nicki and from his own research on the side, but he didn’t know she was grand finals good.

He put on the best of five set and let the commentary play out in the background. KillerK’s opponent, the ironically monikered ‘RizzMaster’, was a pasty-looking white guy with curly brown hair who stood an entire foot shorter than her. More twig than man, RizzMaster was covered in a thick shroud of sweat and wore a sponsorship jersey advertising Gamer Gulpies. In a world containing an endless amount of shitty energy drinks with stupid product names designed to appeal to chuds who played Call of Duty and posted slurs on the internet, Nate had to give it to whoever came up with that one because… yikes, that name really took the crown.

RizzMaster shook KillerK’s hand before the match and actually trembled as he did so- in front of a vast audience of fellow Battlobotters, no less. Nate hoped that the guy was awkward around women or nervous over the match because otherwise, flinching from shaking hands with a strong young black girl didn't paint the best picture of this dude.

KillerK looked a little different from some of the videos he’d seen. Instead of a full fade buzz cut, only the sides of her hair were buzzed. For the top, she’d grown her hair into short forward-facing curls, all still dyed a bright red. Guess they’d been watching older videos until now. She still looked great, though, rocking a casual crop top and black jeans with nary a hint of sponsorship in sight.

Nate watched the first few minutes of the match to try and distract himself from today’s troubles. KillerK went with Tankotron Mk3 as per usual, her opponent opting for the sword-wielding fencer of the Battlobots roster, HeroKing002. The stage list had a banning system built into the game, making it perfect for tournament plays, and after a x’ing out stages neither of them wanted to play on, the two fighters were loaded onto the map named SynTech Production Factory.

Here, the bots would battle on a robot assembly line. Treaded platforms hanging above each character changed directions every fifteen seconds, making them the map’s most exciting feature. It made it so zoners couldn’t camp in one spot, and so juggling was a lot more complicated, allowing for plenty of shenanigans that just narrowly avoided being labeled as ‘jank’ thanks to how predictable the gimmick was once you had the timing down.

Nate watched the match diligently for the first few minutes, but his mind started drifting before too long. He was regretting the fact that he’d told Nicki not to come over tonight. The company would be nice, but part of him felt he shouldn't keep stewing over his actions today. The most predominant thought on his mind was, of course, Shizuka.

She’d changed a lot in some ways, but not enough that he couldn’t recognize the awkward girl he’d loved. Was past tense the right choice, there? Nate wasn’t sure, hence why he was feeling so tense and on edge. His feelings were complicated, yet he’d resolved to sort them out and possibly start dating Shizuka on top of Nicki. It was like one of his biggest fantasies coming to life right before his eyes, yet all he could think about were the logistics.

How would that even work? Would it be weird for Shizuka’s parents? Well, obviously, it would. Her dad was a hardcore Japanese conservative, for Christ’s sake. Would they lie to them? Forever? And what about Nicki’s family? Casey said they didn’t judge, but he’d yet to meet Nicki’s brother…

oddly enough, the only family Nate didn’t think about was his own, as he felt like he didn’t need to explain shit to them and had no intention of doing so even if they somehow learned about his unique lifestyle- assuming that lifestyle even came to pass, that is. Things could still go wrong from here. He and Shizuka might not find common ground outside of sex, or maybe Nicki might come to regret letting him fuck her friend and say no to the whole second girlfriend thing? Probably not, given the sheer amount of kinkiness that chick had coursing through her veins, but it was still a possibility.

Nate still felt terrible about how rough he was with Shizuka. It didn’t matter if she’d asked for it. It just felt like he shouldn’t have done it that way. Sure, he could’ve been rougher, but… he’d wanted to fix things with Shizuka- not make them even more strained.

There was always the chance he was overthinking this, that things would be absolutely fine between them, and that the rough sex was something they would look back on fondly. Part of Nate already did, if you counted a fap, he wasn’t proud of earlier in the night. The biggest takeaway from their reconnection today wasn’t the fantastic sex, though. It was learning that Shizuka unequivocally had feelings for him, and she’d had them as far back as when he’d confessed to her.

She was desperate to win him over today, almost obsessively so. The sincerity of Shizuka’s love for him couldn’t be doubted, and that counted for a lot. It’d been a long time coming, but it felt good to be loved by Shizuka. Really good. Nate tried to focus on that feeling to ease his mind, but too many questions were raised, and not enough answers were provided for it to be as comforting as he’d wished.

Nate sighed, and the next thing he knew, the video he’d been paying very little attention to was already over. Autoplay did its thing and put on the recommended video: an interview with the winner of Scrap to the Finish- KillerK. A helpful text box at the bottom of the screen said she’d won a fat 10k from the event while also pointing to her social media links.

Nate paid a little more attention now, if only because there was a cute girl on screen, and it helped get his mind off of Shizuka for the moment. KillerK was being cross-examined by a Hispanic guy who seemed pretty charming for someone involved with the FGC, and Nate recognized his voice as one of the commentators from the match. Behind them was a big screen with the Battlobots logo and artwork of the game’s current roster of 12 playable bots. The shadow of Gamer Gulpies was close at hand, as it and all the other sponsor’s logos were plastered across the top in a horizontal line.

“Amazing performance back there, K! Absolutely amazing! Many people had you pegged as the crowd favorite, but I don’t think anyone expected a 3-0! What’s your secret, huh? C’mon. I’m sure all the other aspiring Battlobotters are dying to know!”

“Being better than my opponent?” K shrugged, barely acknowledging the question and refusing to engage in the interview more than she had to. Rather than coming off like a rude bitch, Nate felt it made her seem aloof, and he liked her no-nonsense attitude. No doubt she would ruffle some feathers with her choice of words, but the FGC thrived off such drama and rivalries.

“Oof,” the commentator cringed. “I don’t think RizzMaster is gonna be very happy with you after he sees this…”

“He won $5k tonight. I’d imagine he’s doing alright for himself.”

“Fair, fair! And hey, if not, I’m sure your paths will cross again in the coming season. Any big plans for the prize money, Champ?”

“Gonna save it.”

The commentator looked at the cameraman uncomfortably and then mumbled something to K. The sound was muffled, but Nate thought he heard, “You’re really not giving us much to work with here. Jazz it up a bit, c’mon.”

K crossed her arms and refused to play this game. “Any other questions?”

“…Any upcoming tournaments catch your eye? BotBash is in a few weeks from now, folks! …No? How about any plans for the future, maybe? Anything? Your fans would love to know more about you, so why don’t you give them a break?”

“Nah, gonna pass on BotBash. Maybe I’ll show up at Circuit Breaker City, though. Short term, I’ll be staying here in Cali for another week or two. Gonna keep playing friendlies with the top-ranked locals until I get bored. Soon as I’m done, I’ve got a hot date waiting for me back home.”

The commentator looked at K, initially stupefied but then in a much better mood. “Well, alright, Champ! That’s what I’m talking about! You heard it hear first, folks- KillerK is on the road to Circuit Breaker City, but not before having a little fun first! Who’s the lucky guy?”

“An old friend,” K shrugged. “It’s not a big deal, not really. It might be fun, I guess. Who knows?”

“Man. I bet so many of your fans must’ve died of a broken heart just now.”

“Good,” K spat, adding, “Parasocial freaks...” under her breath.

Another uncomfortable stare at the cameraman prompted the commentator to cough into his fist and try to hurry things along. “Well, I think that’s about all the time we have for now… any last words before taking off?”

“Actually, yeah," K suddenly ripped the microphone out of the commentator's hand and looked directly at the camera. "I’m gonna say it here and now so it’s on the public record- I’m... not... interested. You hear that, Gamer Gulpies? If I get so much as ONE more fucking email telling me you ‘like my content’ and would ‘love to synchronize our brands’, I’m gonna-”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa! That’s our bread and butter you’re talking about!” He laughed uncomfortably. “Scrap to the Finish was brought to you by the good people at Gamer Gulpies! Use code SCRAPTTF for twenty percent off your first purchase, thirty if it’s one of their newest exciting flavors like Double XP Dewdrop or Mint Microtransaction! One more time, that’s SCAPTT-”

“Felix, for fuck’s sake. How much are they paying you?”

The commentator, evidently named Felix, stared at K for a few seconds and then at the cameraman. The video then abruptly ended- but not before his face contorted into one of sadness and regret for a split second.

By the end of the interview, Nate was laughing at the poor guy and digging K’s vibe even more than he already did. Whoever was fortunate enough to bag that date with a girl like her was one lucky son of a bitch. Of course, that was coming from a guy who already had the world’s best girlfriend and a second prospective girlfriend on the horizon, so maybe Nate didn’t have any room to be envious. But he still was, being a harem fetishist and all that.

YouTube was about to autoplay more of K’s matches from Scrap to the Finish, and Nate was bored enough to just let it do its thing. He should probably come up with something better to do, but he didn’t feel like writing, reading, gaming, or watching any anime without Nicki around, so it was better than brooding in his bedroom.

Nate thought about texting Nicki that he’d changed his mind and felt lonely but forced himself not to. He figured he’d sound lame if he did, but even more so than that, Nate didn’t want Nicki to be worried about him. She’d probably stop by tomorrow morning, which would be good enough for him.

He nearly jumped out of his seat when he heard his front door unlocking. Nate turned to face his sudden home intruder, only to see Nicki walking through the door, still wearing her work jacket and a tired smile.

“Hey, babe.”

“…Hey, yourself. I thought I told you not to come over tonight?”

“You did,” Nicki took off her jacket and hung it on the rack, then ditched her tennis shoes. “But I figured it was more of a suggestion than an actual request.”

“And what made you think that?”

“Hm, what indeed…?” Nicki approached him and slid around to join him on the couch. “Call it a cop-out, but I’m gonna chalk it up to women’s intuition. Something about your text unintentionally screamed, ‘I want attention but don’t wanna admit to it 'cause I’m a big baby’, which really called out to me. As soon as I finished up the damage assessment over at Shizuka’s, I hurried on over here as fast as I could because I assumed you were probably starting to regret telling me not to come and see you right about now.”

“…That’s so scarily accurate that it worries me more than cheers me up.”

Nicki smugly smirked, then glanced at the tv. “Watching some of K’s vids on your own?”

“Yeah,” Nate relaxed in his girlfriend’s presence, sinking back into the sofa cushion and allowing himself some peace of mind. “She won a big tournament the other day. I put it on, but I wasn’t really paying attention. Too busy-”

“Brooding?”

“Not the term I was going to shoot for, but yeah. I tried doing other stuff, but…”

“Lemme guess, you kept thinking in circles?”

“Correct.”

Nicki sighed and put her feet up on the coffee table. “What am I gonna do with the two of you…?” She muttered softly to herself.

“I’m sure you’ll figure something out.” Nate offered his sympathies, but she looked at him and continued smirking.

“Already mulling over a few ideas, babe.”

“Can’t say I’m surprised, what with you being such a brilliant schemer and all that.”

“Guilty, but my schemes always benefit you in the long run, don’t they?”

“Thus far, yes. But there’s always a chance for one of them to backfire on you one of these days.”

“That could be fun, too,” Nicki chuckled. “It’ll give me a chance to show you how flexible I can be!”

“Far be it from me to turn down a flexibility demonstration from the famed Nicole Parker,” Nate’s comment got her to laugh some more and roll her eyes, and he couldn't stop himself from smiling in her presence. “I’m glad you showed up, Nicki. Sorry for brushing you off at first.”

She scooted closer and placed her hand on his knee, patting him several times. “No biggie. Not like I’m gonna hold it against you when you’re still feeling bleh over your eventful day.”

“Thanks…”

With the mood between them now peaceful and Nate feeling more relaxed, Nicki clapped her hands together and looked him dead on. “Okay, so. There’s a lot to unpack here. I already got Shizuka’s side of the story, so where do you wanna start things off?”

Nate thought about the prompt momentarily, but his mind was only drifting in one direction. “There’s something I wanna ask about before we really dig into it, it that’s okay.”

“Sure?”

He took a deep breath to steady his nerves and then turned to Nicki. “My connection with reality is tenuous at best-”

“Cool. Very reassuring start.”

“My biggest fantasy in the world is to have a harem or even just to have group sex with a bunch of girls. I discovered this fascination of mine in my uncle’s reading room long, long ago, and I’ve indulged in this fantasy ever since I was first trusted with an internet connection at an irresponsibly young age. My brain is rotted by porn-”

“This is true.”

“Deeply so,” Nate agreed. “I probably have a bunch of leaky holes up there where thoughts should be, but what I’m trying to say is this whole scenario with Shizuka feels like something I would write in one of my stories. It feels like porn. You weren’t just trying to hook me up with Shizuka. She’s very clearly in love with me and wants to be my second girlfriend.”

“Ah, okay. Now I see where you’re going with this.” Nicki rubbed her chin and rolled her lollipop to the other side of her mouth.

“I’m sure you do. You told me you could tell me more about the situation once I’d met with Shizuka, and doing that only raised more questions than I already had.”

“Set ‘em up, and I’ll knock ‘em down, babe.”

“I want to know exactly how much of this was planned. Did you guys already have some scheme hatched before we started going out where you would hook up with me first and then slowly build things up to Shizuka? Was a throuple always your endgame? How does your other friend fit into this- should I expect a fourple?”

Nate let his words hang briefly before continuing, “It should be obvious that I’m not actually mad at you over any of this if it’s true. This is my biggest fantasy. Nothing I’d object to, but I hope you know I’m still gonna need some answers.”

Nicki studied Nate for a while, hammering out the best way to present her explanation. She would tell the truth, of course, but there was a lot of ground to cover.

“You’re half right.” Nicki started off.

“Only half?”

“There was a loose plan, but it wasn’t an elaborate conspiracy like something out of one of those hentai manga your porn-rotted brain is so hopelessly obsessed with. What really happened is that I’d been building up the courage to hit you up for a pretty long time now, and Shizuka knew this. I very casually suggested I was into the whole sharing a man thing, and at first, she wasn’t having it. Thought she didn’t deserve to see you again, didn’t want to intrude on my happiness-”

“I like how Shizuka automatically assumed you would succeed.”

“Why wouldn’t I?” Nicki gave him a smile like an innocent princess and batted her long lashes at him. Her eyeshadow was smudged, but it still had the intended effect. “Like you were gonna turn me down. That’s a laugh.”

It would’ve been funny if it weren’t so true. Nate shrugged his shoulders and gestured for her to continue explaining, so she did.

“Point is, she was being all emo about it. I kept on pitching it to her, teasing her with it. ‘Soon, Shizuka’, ‘I’m gonna do it soon’, ‘Offer is still on the table…’, junk like that. Before you go telling me it was wrong to pressure her- I didn’t. It was only little things here and there, and… fuck, dude. You saw her today. You know how bad she needed a win.”

Nate frowned and nodded in agreement. Shizuka’s life and condition had improved in plenty of ways over the last four years, but plenty of it was still the same as it ever was. She was stagnant and unable to grow. Her friendship with Nicki had greatly helped, but Nicki was only one person. Nate saw why he thought this might help Shizuka, even beyond the simple answer of her just wanting to be with him.

“It’s not my place to say since I don’t know how much she told you, but…”

“I get the gist of it. She’s a bird in a cage… which I guess is why you two are such good friends, come to think of it.”

“Ugh,” Nicki looked away in embarrassment. “You just to bring that up, didn’t you…?”

“Sorry,” Nate spared her a smile. “But you know I had to ask about that screen name sooner or later. Why CagedBirdSings01? Was it just the mommy issues?”

“Partially,” she grumbled. “But what about you, huh? How come you went with ‘HaremMaster69’ on AO3?”

“…Because I was a stupid teenager.” Nate conceded.

“Exactly.” Nicki crossed her arms, her point having been thoroughly made.

“I just wish I knew about her feelings back then. If I had only been more patient, maybe I could’ve-”

“Okay, first of all, babe, no imagining hypotheticals where you don’t end up with me. Not allowed.” Nicki teased, but she sounded serious enough that Nate wasn’t sure if she actually meant it or not. “More importantly, you were a dumbass eighteen-year-old kid who’d been pining over a girl giving you four years’ worth of mixed signals. She broke your heart, and you sent her some edgy texts. That shit happens.”

Nate was suddenly consumed by shame, and he stared at the tv screen, watching KillerK harass her opponent by wave-dashing around the stage and bombarding them with a constant spam of Tankotron’s side special, Overton Volley. He didn’t like knowing that Nicki had read those messages and found it hard to look at her. “Not my finest moment.”

“Yeah, well… ghosting you wasn’t Shizuka’s.”

It took him a moment, but Nate nodded after pondering that little nugget of truth. It was nice to have some validation from Nicki, and he ate it up with gratitude.

"Your only real mistake was waiting for four years until confessing, honestly. What was up with that?"

"Same answer as before. I was a stupid teenager. It's not like I didn't drop tons of hints, but... I was shy back then, and I hoped she'd eventually pick up on one of the hints and maybe shoot some interest back at me."

"That's rough, buddy. If you asked me for help back then, I probably would've greased the wheel..."

"You knew I had a crush on her, though."

"Yeah, but I wasn't gonna go out of my way to ruin my chances with you," Nicki laughed. "Not back when I was still an innocent little normie who thought the whole one man, one woman setup was the only valid one, anyway."

“Fair enough," Nate cracked a lazy smile. "So... how was Shizuka doing?”

“She was doing the Shizuka equivalent of what you were doing before I arrived.”

“Brooding?”

“In her own way, yeah.”

“Great…” Nate lowered his head and scratched the back of his neck. “I knew I fucked things up. I did, didn’t- ow, what the fuck?!” Nicki had flicked him on the center of his forehead. Hard.

“That was your last warning. From now on, there’s not gonna be another shred of self-pitying or feeling mopey for yourself in this discussion under penalty of withholding sex. Do I make myself clear?”

Nate doubted whether or not Nicki could uphold her own proposed sex ban, but he didn’t want another flick, so he consented and resolved to try harder. “Crystal.”

“Good,” Nicki’s smile was satisfied, but she was quickly irritated as she prepared to touch on the heart of things. “Let’s face the facts here. You and Shizuka fucked too early. You can’t take that back, and yeah, it wasn’t what you should’ve done… but you know what, babe? Both of you liked it, so who the fuck cares? Stop feeling so sorry for yourself over a dumb lapse in judgment. You’ll have the chance to make things right real soon, so the quicker you get over this, the better.”

On the one hand, Nicki was belittling many of his feelings, but on the other… she was kind of right to do so. Things with Shizuka ended that day on the most optimistic note they could’ve, and what did he do about it? Sulk. It was stupid, and Nate was able to look that fact in the eye and accept it with the help of Nicki’s bluntness.

“I wish I could come to these conclusions independently without your guidance, but… yeah. That’s stupidly obvious now that you mention it, and it’s hard to deny you have a point.”

“When don’t I have a point?” Nicki asked in total confidence. “Honestly, you two are more perfect for each other than you even realize… it’s almost uncanny. The second I leave either of you alone, you start a one-person pity party until I come around to snap you dummies out of it.”

Nate found the humor in their similarities and had a small laugh. “I’ve never thought about it like that, but you’re right. I think I speak for the both of us when I tell you how lucky I am to have my own personal manic pixie gyaru girl.”

Nicki laughed back and jabbed him in the ribs. “Hey, don’t expect me to solve all your problems. You gotta take some accountability here, too, nerd.”

“And I’m going to,” Nate gave her a resolute look. “Just as soon as I get a chance.”

“Yeah? Good. Glad to hear it, babe…” she was staring at him back with a playful smile, and Nate picked up that there was something she wanted to ask him about but was waiting for the right opportunity.

“Something on your mind?” He prodded.

“Not especially…” Nicki looked away and then at the ceiling. “Though… now that you mention it, I wouldn’t mind if you told me more about the sex, babe. Assuming you were cool with that, I mean.”

“Uh… it was… great when I was in the moment, I guess?” Nate was suddenly much more uncomfortable, but Nicki lit up and leaned in with interest. “I felt bad about it after, but I can’t deny it was something special, either.”

“How special are we talking about here? Huh?”

“Pretty damn special… but… are you sure you wanna hear about this? I’ve already resigned myself to the fact that you’re cool with me and Shizuka doing stuff, but it’s still a little weird to talk to you about…”

“Only because you’re making it weird…” she pouted. “I’m thankful you care so much about not ruining what we have and all that other sensitive junk, but when are you gonna pick up the pieces and put it together, Nate? Shouldn’t you have figured out by now that I’m the direct opposite of a jealous person? Like, seriously, dude. Do I really have to spell it out to the nerd who’s written like fifty fucking books on the subject?”

Nate had his suspicions, but the evasive look on Nicki’s grumpy face challenged him to put it together like she wanted. She’d said many times how she didn’t mind sharing and that she’d like to be part of threesomes, but if her implication was really exactly what it sounded like, then… suffice it to say that Nicki’s perversions ran a lot deeper than he dared to dream.

He gulped as he looked her in the eye. She didn’t meet his gaze and crossed her arms while ignoring his scrutiny.

“So… just so we’re on the same page… you are saying you’re the type of girl who… ‘enjoys’ knowing that her man is having fun elsewhere, right?”

“Not unconditionally, no,” Nicki spared him a quick side eye, and he caught a better look at how hard she was blushing. “I have to know about it and approve beforehand. Otherwise, it’s cheating, and I don’t get off on being cheated on…”

“…But?” Nate leaned in with a smile that was liable to get him punched if he didn’t watch it.

“But… for the sake of argument, say we did a role-play session where I had to punish your ‘cheating’ cock after you’ve messed around with some other whore, then… that might do something for me, maybe…” Nicki coughed.

“I’m gonna tell Shizuka you called her a whore.”

“So? You think I won’t say it to her face? That whore knew you had a girlfriend, and look what she did!” Nicki snickered and got a laugh out of Nate as well.

“Took you a while to come out with it, but it’s nice to know for sure you’re a cuckquean. That clears just about everything up, I’d say.”

“Ugh…” Nicki shivered. “You call me that word again, and you ain’t getting pussy from anyone- I’ll see to it myself.”

“Just calling it like I see it.”

“Well, you’re seeing it wrong!”

“By all means, correct my vision.”

“I don’t vibe with a lot of the junk that… those kinds of girls are into. A lot of them are masochists, and they want their guy to talk down to them while they’re fucking other chicks, saying stuff like ‘oh, her pussy is so much better than yours’ or making them worship the other girl. They’re always putting themselves down, too, and I’m just not about that.”

“There are different flavors of… that word. You can still be one just because you don’t vibe with that aspect.”

“I just don’t like the word, okay?” Nicki sighed. “I don’t need another label. I’m just a bisexual girl who thinks it’d be really hot to watch you fuck another chick or hear you talk about how good it feels, how much you love me for letting you do it, or even to make out with you while you’re balls deep in some other whore’s… aaaand now I’m wet, god fucking damn it…”

Nate laughed at the tremendous groan Nicki let out as her head lolled back into the sofa and she pulled at her hair with one hand.

“I think I get it. You would still want to be dominant, in a sense.”

“Yeah, that’s key. I’m not gonna humble myself to your mistress or second girlfriend or wherever the fuck this goes, and I’d expect to be treated like a fucking goddess for gifting you such luxuries.”

“I’ll treat you like a goddess later tonight if you’re up for it. I haven’t had a shower yet, though…” Nate rubbed his chin. “Maybe you’d prefer if I kept it that way?”

“I fucking knew this would go directly to your fat fucking head,” Nicki continued making frazzled noises. “I fucking knew it.”

“You find me a man on earth who wouldn’t let it go to his head, and I’ll gladly shake his hand. Not every day a guy gets to meet our lord and savior, Jesus Christ, after all.”

Nicki scoffed at the notion and shook her head. Nate took the chance to go back on something she’d just said and question her further. “So… the whole ‘second girlfriend’ thing. Is that really where we’re heading with Shizuka?”

“Babe, you got my blessing to follow things with her wherever the winds blow. I’m along for the ride and watching every second of it with great interest, but if that’s where you and she wanna take things, then yes, that’s where we’re heading.”

“Sure, you’ve made that much abundantly clear… but is it the outcome you personally want to happen?”

“Yes, Nate…” Nicki admitted surprisingly fast, meeting his inquisitive gaze. “I wouldn’t mind if Shizuka entered our relationship and or our bedroom. More than that, I’d love it. For all her faults, Shizuka is an amazing girl. She’s one of my best friends, and the thought of sharing you between us, of hanging out together, of… fuck it, of being a family… it just… does it for me, babe. And I’m not even strictly talking about sexual things here. It does it for me on a personal level.”

“Wow,” Nate could feel the fire burning in Nicki’s bright blue eyes. There was a real passion there. So much that it was a little overwhelming. “I, uh… I have to admit. I feel really shitty for just being a common, chauvinistic harem fetishist who likes collecting women like they’re Yu-Gi-Oh cards after hearing such a dramatic, emotional declaration announcing you’re poly and proud.”

“You’re poly and proud, too,” Nicki laughed, wrapping her arm around his, linking them, and leaning her head on his shoulder. “But, yeah, it’s inherently shittier when you say it. Nothing wrong with being who you are, though, and for what it’s worth, I don’t think any of this would even work if it wasn’t you. Some other guy would rush into this, play favorites, and neglect one of their partners… but I already know for a fact that you won’t.”

“You’re placing a lot of trust in me here. So much so that I don’t exactly know what I’ve done to earn it, honestly.”

“I’ve read your books. You’re obsessed with the idea that one guy can have equal feelings for multiple women, and it never came off as you being insecure and providing shitty justification for the kind of shit you write. It came off as your actual feelings leaking out onto the page, Nate. Like I already said, you’re poly. Yours is just an incredibly hedonistic version of it that most other poly people would likely call reductive and harmful, but who gives a fuck what they think? You know what makes you happy, and I know what makes me happy.”

“More women?”

“More women,” Nicki agreed, then hugged his arm even tighter. “And each other.”

Nate felt warm inside as they shared this tender moment, but his stupid negative idiot brain- as Nicki liked to call it- was already filling up with questions. “At what point does it end, though? Shizuka is one thing, but you already have me scheduled to fuck another girl down the line on top of that.”

Nicki looked away from him and glanced suddenly at the ignored tv, taking in the sight of KillerK’s semifinal match against an opponent playing the speedy rushdown robot, TreadMax. “Obviously, it’ll end at some point. I’m not trying to make you go full Mormon on me. There’s only so many hours in the day you can spend between so many women before it becomes completely unrealistic.”

“And this other girl… is she the end?”

Nicki smirked. “Just three? You’re thinking small for such a big man. The way you fuck, you could probably handle five or six of us if you started working out a little more, nerd.”

“I was already considering that, actually…” Nate laughed.

“Probably for the best if you do, babe. But as for my other friend, it’s different than it was with Shizuka. I’m just letting you have fun with her, and I don’t have any expectations of her becoming lucky number three on a permanent basis. It could happen, but fuck if I know. That’s really up to you and that boyish charm of yours.”

“Okay, but why won’t you tell me anything about her if the circumstances are different?”

“You want full transparency?” Nicki looked at her lover.

“Yes, obviously.”

“Too bad, 'cause I can’t give it,” Nicki shrugged. “She wants me to keep you in the dark, too, but you definitely don’t know her, and it’s not for some dramatic reason this time. I promise.”

Nate let out a sigh but nodded despite his massive skepticism. “I’m not going to question it. The last surprise you had for me was a pretty good one, so I think I’ll just go with the flow and trust you on this.”

“Thanks, babe. Glad to hear I’ve earned that.”

“I shouldn’t be thinking so far ahead, anyway… figuring out the whole thing with Shizuka is way more important,” Nate said, and his words were filled with determination as opposed to the shaky, uncertain feelings he expressed when Nicki first got here.

“Can’t help but notice you’re suddenly sounding a lot more optimistic about Shizuka. I wonder why that is?”

Nate gave her a pity laugh. “You’re obviously fishing for it, so whatever. I’ll admit it. Talking about our relationship, our interests and boundaries, and our future together has put me in a really good mood, and it pulled me out of the funk I was in- all thanks to you. There. Are you happy now?”

“Fuck yes, I am. The manic pixie gyaru girl scores again!”

Nate ignored her mostly, but a bigger laugh than a pity laugh escaped him in the end. “That she does. Pray tell, what does the manic pixie gyaru girl who solves all of my problems think I should do to solve my Shizuka problem?”

“Oh, that? That’s an easy one. She thinks you should rely on one of the core pillars of shounen manga.”

“Friendship?” Nate crooked his head and raised a brow.

“Close, but no cigar,” Shizuka whipped out her phone with a mischievous grin. “Teamwork.”