Chapter 24: Plastic Friendship

When Yunohama finally came out, his exhaustion was painfully obvious. His whole body radiated an air of utter despair, like someone who had completely given up on life.

Ryosuke, on the other hand, didn’t feel much of anything. They’d supposedly gone to play in a haunted house, but he hadn’t even seen what a ghost looked like. He quietly found a small corner, squatted down, and began pondering the meaning of life.

Yunohama went over to the vending machine, bought a yogurt, and handed it to Ryosuke. The two of them squatted side by side in the corner, silently slurping their yogurt.

Ten minutes passed, and Goshiki still hadn’t come out. Bored out of his mind, Ryosuke started counting the ants migrating across the ground, his gaze unfocused as his thoughts drifted everywhere.

After a while, a commotion broke out at the haunted house entrance. A crowd gathered, craning their necks to watch the excitement.

Ryosuke tilted his head and stared over there, clearly wanting to join the fun. He tugged at Yunohama’s sleeve.

Yunohama turned around and saw Ryosuke with his bangs drooping down. Against his better judgment, he agreed. After all, Ryosuke’s appearance was far too deceptive.

Once you actually got to know him, you’d realize that this cat-like Ryosuke was a genuine, natural-born menace.

The crowd was buzzing, and snippets of staff gossip drifted over.

“What’s wrong with that kid??”

“I’m dying—apparently he screamed so hard he choked and passed out. Scared our staff half to death. One of them said he thought he was going to go deaf, hahaha!”

“Holy crap, that guy’s insane. Never seen anything like it. Looks skinny, even has that bowl-cut look, but damn, he’s something else.”

Ryosuke’s pupils practically shook.
Why did this sound so familiar?

He turned to look at Yunohama, meeting eyes filled with both grief and certainty.

Ryosuke immediately squeezed his way to the front of the crowd and saw a Goshiki who looked like his soul had left his body.

He was being supported by staff, his legs still trembling, eyes darting around wildly—clearly looking for Yunohama and Ryosuke.

Guilt hit Ryosuke hard. He quietly shrank back behind Yunohama, hoping Yunohama’s broad, sturdy back could somehow block his own one-meter-eighty presence.

Goshiki, still being held up by staff, spotted Yunohama standing in front.

He immediately shook off the staff’s hands and charged over on shaky legs, grabbing Yunohama’s arm and shaking it furiously while yelling nonstop.

“Where did you guys go?! No loyalty at all! You couldn’t handle it, huh?!
We agreed to do the haunted house together! Whoever runs first is a dog!”

Yunohama rolled his eyes.
When did I ever say that?

Goshiki continued babbling.

“You have no idea how scary it was! Pitch black, ghosts everywhere!
Did you ditch Ryosuke too?! Man, your heart is black! You don’t even deserve to set anymore—blah blah blah blah blah…”

Truly tragic—enough to make listeners cry.

Yunohama automatically muted the rest of it in his head. He honestly felt that living was too tiring. Forget it. Let the world end.

Goshiki kept ranting while the people around them stared at Yunohama in shock. Feeling eyes coming from all directions, Yunohama awkwardly adjusted his glasses.

“You were the one who dragged the ghost away. We didn’t even have time to call out to you. If you don’t believe me, ask Ryosuke.”

Yunohama reached back and dragged Ryosuke out from behind him.

Caught completely off guard, Ryosuke stumbled forward. Surrounded by the crowd’s curious, gossip-loving stares, he was mortified, wishing the ground would swallow him whole.

I’m going to die. This is too embarrassing.
Ryosuke stammered, “It—it was Yunohama who covered my mouth…”

Yunohama stared at him in disbelief.
Are you serious? You, with those thick eyebrows and innocent face—how could you betray me like this?!

Under Yunohama’s gaze, Ryosuke guiltily turned his head away, not daring to look at him. Ah, how could something like this possibly involve an innocent little cat like Ryosuke?

“Oh, so that’s how it is! You really can’t act like this…” Goshiki accused Yunohama, desperately trying to recover some dignity for his fragile heart.

Seeing that Yunohama was clearly losing ground, Ryosuke immediately joined in.
“Yeah, exactly! You can’t do that!”

A world where only Yunohama was hurt was successfully achieved.

Surrounded.

Yunohama really couldn’t afford to lose any more face. He grabbed Goshiki by the hair with one hand and pinched the back of Ryosuke’s neck with the other.

Despite looking slim, Yunohama was far stronger than expected. He dragged both of them along, speeding up as he fled this land of trouble.

The onlookers watched the trio leave with regret. They hadn’t even gotten to see what happened next—why did they leave already?

Judging from this haunted house experience, these three clearly had textbook plastic friendship.

Goshiki was the type with no bad intentions—otherwise, how could he have been left behind in a haunted house? Ryosuke-cat was a natural schemer, drifting with the current, and today he’d stabbed Yunohama in the back without warning.

Yunohama had truly learned how terrifying these two were. Goshiki caused trouble nonstop, and Ryosuke fanned the flames. When Goshiki went off the rails, Ryosuke would pretend not to notice.

Goshiki complained endlessly about the haunted house, and Ryosuke, as expected, immediately sold Yunohama out.

Cats and dogs were family—he, as a human, clearly didn’t fit in.

And Ryosuke—he had to be faking it, right? That whole innocent, fragile kitten act was a lie, wasn’t it? Definitely not a pure single-celled organism.

Yunohama silently covered his face. This was just too embarrassing.

Being dragged down by these two single-celled creatures had left him utterly humiliated.

He looked ahead at the two people walking close together. The very Ryosuke who had just betrayed him was now quietly trying to calm Goshiki down.

If the experience hadn’t been so real, Yunohama might have actually believed Ryosuke was purebred.

The haunted house was the final stop of the amusement park trip.

After some more bickering, the three gathered together again. How did their friendship recover?

Of course—volleyball.

Ryosuke touched the volleyball in his bag and looked up at them.
“It’s still early. Want to go play volleyball?”

“Sure!”
A fully recovered Goshiki looked like he’d completely forgotten what just happened, agreeing enthusiastically.

After getting Goshiki’s answer, both of them turned to look at Yunohama.

Yunohama sighed helplessly. He really worried too much.
“We can, but not at the school. Let’s go to the gym instead.”

Ryosuke looked confused.

As if sensing his confusion, Yunohama explained patiently,
“There are college students playing a training match at the school today. We wouldn’t have a court.”

Ryosuke and Goshiki exchanged a look.

Goshiki hesitated, then said,
“Then… how about we don’t play today and just go watch?”

That was exactly what Ryosuke had been waiting for.
“W-well, since you said that, let’s go watch.”

He clearly wanted to go himself and was still making excuses—his abacus beads were practically hitting Yunohama in the face.

Definitely not a pure single-celled organism.

Goshiki scratched his head, not sure how the atmosphere had suddenly turned strange.

In the end, the three of them decided to eat at the school cafeteria first, then go watch the match.