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Beep, beep, beeeeep. The recipient did not answer the phone. Please call another time!
Chiaki sighed at the voicemail that she heard for the third time now.
“Dammit, why now.” The gamer cursed under her breath.
Out of all the possible times the nurse could be not answering the phone. It of course was the one time that Chiaki had mustered enough willpower to finally ask her out.
Well, the only options now were to either go to her dorm and ask her out in person or to give up and try another time.
Neither were too appealing for the gamer. Going over to Mikan would be a bajillion times more stressful than talking on the phone, and the possible rejection would hit even harder.
While on the other hand, not doing anything today and postponing it isn't ideal either. What if there isn't going to be another chance to ask her out, and Chiaki would have to live the rest of her life alone and with regret that she just couldn't bring herself to talk with her crush in person?
After evaluating each option, the former was stressful while the latter was horrifying.
“Talking face to face it is!” Chiaki quietly hyped herself up as she was getting ready to leave her room and face her problems head on.
Due to them both living in dorms super close to each other, the journey took less than Chiaki would have liked. Only about three minutes, and that's counting getting ready!
The gamer took one last big breath, bit her lip, and finally knocked on the door.
Knock. Knock.
…
Knock. Knock.
…
No answer.
‘You have got to be kidding me.’ Chiaki cursed herself in her head.
First she didn't answer the call, now she isn't in her room!?
At this point Chiaki started considering that the universe itself decided to start playing tricks on her.
With a loud sigh, Chiaki accepted defeat. She tried everything, but the whereabouts of Mikan were still unknown, and she wasn't exactly keen on searching all of Tokyo for just a chance to find her. Especially when she can just ask her tomorrow. Preferably right after the lessons are over so she doesn't disappear again.
Chiaki decided that, because she has a lot of free time she didn't plan on having, she is going to do what she always does when she is bored.
She took out the console that she always carried with her from her bag. She turned it on. And…
No battery.
Remember when Chiaki thought that the universe was messing with her? Scratch that, she was now SURE of it. The gamer was fully convinced that whatever divine entity rules over this realm has decided to make this the national “Let's make Chiaki miserable day!”
With a VERY loud groan, the gamer decided to just go on a walk. The weather was pleasant enough, and she felt like she needed to breathe some fresh air.
After debating where to go, she decided on a nice park nearby where she liked playing games, and while not being able to do the latter, the park's atmosphere was really calming. Which Chiaki definitely needed after the string of bad luck she just experienced.
The gamer quickly made her way to the main exit of the academy. Stepping out of the building, Chiaki felt the cold breeze hitting her entire body. She looked up to see the sun was hidden behind the clouds, which the gamer found to be nice since she didn't have to worry about it blinding her. Luckily it was still warm enough to not warrant a jacket. ‘Perfect’, Chiaki thought to herself, at least something today went kind of right for her.
Chiaki slowly moved towards her destination, it wasn't too far away, only about ten minutes on foot. So she decided to not waste money on a taxi or a bus ticket and just walk there.
But, not a lot of time needed to pass for her plans to change, as only about a minute after exiting from the school she heard something that took all of her attention.
“N-No please I d-don't have any m-money on m-me.”
That stutter. It was familiar, too familiar.
Chiaki’s face immediately wrinkled with worry. Judging by the contents of the sentence it definitely wasn't just a peaceful talk between two best friends. Something bad was happening near her. Even worse, Chiaki recognized that voice, especially the stutter. It was way too familiar for the gamer to not immediately know who it belongs to.
That was definitely Mikan.
Now, her parents always told her to help those in need, yet also to stay as far away from trouble caused by hoodlums. But in this case, Chiaki without a second thought knew she had to intervene.
It wasn't just a random person that was getting attacked, it was her friend, her classmate and most importantly, her crush. If she didn't help and it would turn out that something had happened to the nurse, Chiaki would never be able to forgive herself for it.
Immediately, the gamer runs up to the commotion to check what is going on exactly. She hides behind one of the bushes and slowly raises her head to see the situation.
Her eyes immediately drift towards the nurse, her back is fully placed on the pole behind her, and she shakes even more than usual. Her hands make a pleading motion and her eyes are full of tears.
After that she notices the cause of this behaviour. Three muscular men are towering over her, they don't have any weapons, but a few punches from them could probably break a bone or two.
All of them looked pretty much the same, all had a blond buzz cut that appears to have been cut with a razor. All had white wife beaters that probably haven't seen a washroom since the great war. And all had the same disgusting grin on their beat up faces.
The tallest one of the trio has started clenching his fists and stretching his neck. “No money, huh? Well then, you are no longer useful to us. But since you're a doctor or whatever, you probably don't even mind where you're gonna end up after this.” He said in a threatening tone. Soon he added. “Boys, help me out here, will ya?”
The two other guys started giggling under their noses and came closer to the nurse. When Chiaki noticed that one of them started preparing to take a punch, she decided to take no more of this and came out of the bush, running up to the men.
“Stop right there, you jerks. How about you take on someone your own size?” Saying whatever was on her mind, Chiaki slid in between the whimpering nurse and the wannabe gangsters.
“Ch-Chiaki?” Mikan gasped, surprised to see her classmate here.
“Someone our own size?” The tallest of the three guys asked mockingly, “You’re even shorter than that bitch behind you.”
After that comment, the fire in the gamer’s eyes has grown to biblical proportions. Her anger was growing while her patience was getting thinner. “What did you just call her?” Chiaki asked in a stern tone.
“A bitch. Can't you hear?” The jock ridiculed the smaller girl. “Look, Chieki, or whatever your name was. This is between us and her, so I'm giving you one chance to leave and never show us your face again. Don't take this chance for granted, twerp.”
The gamer looked him straight in the eyes and with the most and responded, “What if I reject the offer.” Chiaki said as she started to wind up her fist, the fire from her eyes seemingly transported to her fist.
FALCON PUNCH
Chiaki delivered a punch that sent the punk flying down a few blocks. She then turned to the other two men standing there in shock, “You want some of this too?”
They shook their heads and quickly ran away, presumably to get their leader.
Chiaki looked as these losers scrammed off with pride, if she was going to be honest, she kind of wanted to do that again. But after a second, she remembered something much more important was at hand.
“Mikan, are you alright!?” The gamer spun around and got closer to the nurse to examine if she suffered any wounds.
“I’m f-fine.” She shyly responded, “Y-You didn't have to h-help me, y-you know.” The nurse looked away.
Chiaki narrowed her eyes at the sentence. “Of course I had to help you! If I didn't help you, these guys could have seriously roughed you up. And I wouldn't like that, not at all. I care about you.”
Mikan’s eyes glistened as Chiaki finished her sentence. Her already teary eyes started to sprout even more tears, although this time they looked more… hopeful. “N-No one h-has ever said t-they c-care for meeee.”
Chiaki leaned in for a hug. “Mikan… of course I care for you.”
Mikan immediately returned to hug, softly sobbing into the shorter girl's shoulder. After about a minute passed, the two broke the hug, much to the dismay of Chiaki.
“S-So,” Mikan started, “should we go back to the dorms?”
Chiaki was about to nod, but she immediately decided to try something else. “Actually, I was wondering if you maybe wanna, I don't know, go out to a restaurant with me? Maybe?”
A big blush creeped in on Mikan. “A-Are you s-sure you want t-to go with s-someone like m-me?”
To that, Chiaki grabbed the nurse’s hand and started walking to the nearest restaurant.
“I would love nothing more.”