E-Book Exclusive Short Story | A Certain Trivial Night of Depravity

“Hey, Manamichi-kun.”

One night, as we battled it out in a fighting action game featuring characters from all sorts of popular titles, Makura nudged my arm with her elbow.

“…What’s up?”

My eyes stayed glued to the screen, fingers dancing over the controller. We were in the thick of a heated match, and I couldn’t afford to glance away.

“Aren’t you getting kinda hungry?”

For a split second, I flicked my gaze toward her. Makura’s troubled expression met mine, her hand patting her stomach over her short-sleeved, fuzzy pajamas adorned with a big heart on the chest. So carefree, even in the middle of a match like this—?

“Gotcha!”

I jammed the controller, aiming a heavy kick at her idle character. But Makura’s fighter nimbly dodged with a back-jump, retaliating with a burst of fire sparks.

“Gh—!”

“Heh heh! Gotcha? That kind of attack’s not gonna work on me! I’ve got way more experience, way more!”

“Experience, huh…” I muttered. “If you’re gonna go there, I only picked up this game yesterday.”

“You catch on quick, Manamichi-kun. But too bad—those sneaky moves won’t slip past me! Too bad, too bad… Ugh, now I’m craving something sweet.”

She’s really hungry, isn’t she? Since my failed attack, we’d been trading blows, controllers clicking furiously as our conversation rambled on.

“Didn’t we just have dinner together a bit ago?”

“That was, like, six p.m.! That’s not ‘just a bit ago’ at all!”

It was nearing midnight now. Doing the math, it had been almost six hours since dinner. Come to think of it, my own stomach was starting to grumble.

As I mulled that over—

“Gotcha big time!!”

Makura’s character zipped behind mine with a lightning-fast spin, landing a devastating punch. The hit sent me flying out of the arena, my lives depleted. Game over.

“…There wasn’t any opening.”

“Oh, there was totally an opening!”

To Makura, even a millisecond of distraction—lost to my wandering thoughts—was a gaping vulnerability. Her mischievous grin widened as she caught my sour expression.

I let out a heavy sigh. “Alright, I lost, so I’ll go grab something, yeah?”

“What, for real? Are you a god?”

“You’re hungry, right?”

“Seriously too nice! Thanks! I’ll pay you back.”

Sure, I said it was because I lost, but that was just an excuse. Running errands like this was basically my job anyway. Makura hardly ever left the house. She’d declared this summer break her time to hole up indoors, lounging in pajamas and embracing what she called her “depraved life.”

“What should I get?”

“Hmm, let’s see…” Makura tapped a finger to her lips, her gaze drifting upward as she pondered. “Chocolate, pudding, cream puffs, ice cream—!”

“Whoa, hold up, that’s a lot. Gimme a list, a list!” I cut her off before she could keep going.

“Just remember it!”

“What’s with that impossible demand?”

“Hahaha! Come on, you’re smart, Manamichi-kun. It’s a challenge—a battle for pride!”

“What kind of pride is this…?” I sighed but played along, seeing how much fun she was having.

“Here we go! Fluffy Whipped Cream & Chocolate-Drowned Pudding, Jumbo Crunchy Custard Cream Puff, Hokkaido Milk Chocolate Ice Cream, Shiitake’s Mountain Hamlet!”

“Wait, stop! That’s not what you said before! That’s, like, a spell or something! Felt like I was under attack!”

“Well, duh, I upped the difficulty. It’s a challenge, after all.”

“No way I’m winning this—the names are way too out there.”

I barely bought snacks for myself to begin with…

“Hehehe, giving up?” Makura smirked, clearly enjoying herself.

Her teasing lit a spark in me. I couldn’t just back down now. I didn’t need to memorize the names perfectly—just catch the gist and find something close enough at the store.

“How do you even remember all those names so clearly?”

“That’s obvious! I love ’em. I know pretty much everything at the nearby convenience store. When new stuff comes out, I just update my mental list.”

“Put that memory to use for studying too.”

Is this girl secretly a genius…?

“That’s a lot of chocolate stuff, by the way.”

“Yup! Haven’t had chocolate in over half a day—I’m having choco withdrawals. Can’t stop shivering.”

“That’s straight-up nicotine addiction talk. Maybe cut back a bit.”

“Ahahaha, just kidding! I can’t quit sweets. Oh, and I want juice too. Soda.”

“Soda, huh? Any specific brand?”

“Up to you, Manamichi-kun!”

“Got it, got it.”

With a groan, I pushed myself off the floor, my knees and hips creaking from sitting so long.

“You good for the errand?” Makura asked, laughing.

“Oh yeah. I’m winning this challenge.”

I flashed her a cocky grin.

“If they don’t have what I said, just grab something similar. Whatever fits. Oh, and get something you like too, Manamichi-kun!”

“Sure.”

I headed down the short hallway to the entrance, Makura trailing behind. As I bent down to slip on my shoes—

“—Thanks as always, Manamichi-kun.”

Her soft voice drifted down to me, warm and sincere.