It's the second to last day of the semester, and summer was fast approaching, and it was made more obvious than ever with the blazing sun. Without discrimination or quarter the rays beat down on anybody unfortunate enough to be caught in an area without shade. One such person was our amico, Yuka the fortuneless. 

Currently he was walking home from school. Today was another day that Cono had designated to take a break from the gym. Certainly not because he wanted to, it was just so he didn't kill himself working out, at home there wasn't much for him, his mom was at work and his older brother had long since left the house. Taking it slow on his walk home he was fiddling with the tape on his hands thinking of things he could do over the summer. 

'What couldn't I do, I got the beach, the gym, video games, and uhh' He thought to himself.

Digging through his memory he realizes he doesn't do much other than that, and the beach for leisure was an occurrence which never happened, he only goes early at 4am to do his daily 5 mile run before school.

'We could go prize fighting like we did last summer!' Another voice says.

He thinks back to the times last summer where he would go on trips to the seedier parts of the city and fight for money. Last summer he pulled in around 4,000 dollars undeclared, most of which he used to buy a gaming PC.

'Yes, and that!' The original voice replies.

The heat was starting to get to him, and the sweat made his thin white shirt stick to his skin. Unbuttoning it he just took it off and wrapped it around his waist like a jacket. 

Taking off his shirt his muscles were fully exposed, days and days in the gym showed results. It was clear to see he pushed his genetics to the limit, for a man who had been cursed with the meager height of 4'9 and a wiry frame he made sure to compact as much muscle in the small space he had. A full 6 pack and arms and legs of bolstering muscles, with such devastating assets it's no wonder how he could crack one's skull open or wrestle an alligator.

'Alright, new mission, acquire provisions' He thought.

Diverting his path he makes a turn to go to a mini stop that he knew was nearby. Making a quick turn from the street he goes about cutting through the park. 

Around midway through he sees someone he didn't want to see today. Clad in dirty blond pigtails and the school uniform the person that was in front of him was non other than the sidekick of the orange haired devil that made a fool out of him the other day. Staring her down there was rage boiling in him, but his face remained in its resting position.

Noticing a pair of eyes looking down at her, the dirty blonde looks to the 68 kilogram pile of walking muscle that was dubbed Psycho Chan, The rage burning inside him was apparent and upon the first glance of him the color immediately drained from her face in fear.

'Well, this isn't good, Where is Gamo?!' She thought to herself.

As he approached the girl was visibly getting more and more terrified. 

"Going around scaring strangers ain't nice." A familiarly gruff voice said from behind him.

Yuka turned around to see the orange haired devil, and as soon as she caught sight of who she was facing, her face had converted from her normal resting face back to that terrifyingly sadistic smile.

"Now is it Shortstack?" She asks looking down at him completing her sentence.

"You wouldn't know nice if it gave you an uppercut to the chin." He says walking up to her.

"Ah no, I'm so scared!" She replies solid sarcasm practically oozing out of her words.

"Look, I'm going to give you a chance to apologize." He says cracking his knuckles.

It doesn't phase her, his high pitched voice didn't make well for intimidation attempts, and if anything this statement more amused her than anything else.

"I'm sorry Shortstack." She says barely able to stop herself from laughing.

"Sorry Shortstack." The other girl parrots, however hers however sounded genuine.

Without a moments hesitation he quickly aimed a heavy cross jab at the tall girl's solar plexus. It connected, and unprepared she stuttered from the pain and struggled to get her footing and finally fell to the ground hitting the concrete with a big thud. He had a small smile come across his face as saw that his work was done and started on his way to the mini stop to complete his original mission.

'Brave, but foolish, hope this teaches her a lesson' He says himself.

Only a little bit after walking away he heard footsteps behind him, two pairs in fact, looking behind him he saw the two girls following him like two lost puppies.

"Need another?" Yuka says taking up his stance once again ready to fight.

"No, no, I really should have respected you, I just wanted to say I'm sorry erm." She says before pausing.

She thought to herself,  and realized that she didn't know his name. She couldn't properly apologize without it, and the sting deep in her core reminded he why she shouldn't call him 'Shortstack' again. 

"Psycho Chan?" She says unsure of even herself.

"You know what, I'll take it." Yuka says before continuing on his way to the mini stop.

The tall one kept on following him, and signaled for the other one to follow. She obeyed, and Yuka soon had not one, but two parasites following him around. He let them do so for a while before turning about face and raising up his hands to a fighting stance.

"Why are you following me?" He says irritated.

"We don't have anything to do," The tall one said.

"Nothing at all!" The other added.

"Well why don't you figure something out that doesn't have to do with me." He says his annoyance growing.

"Hmmm, nah, this is way more fun." She replied.

"Way more!" the other parroted.

Looking to the two of them he realized no matter what he threw at them, they would not go away, and any attempt to persuade them to leave him alone would be in vein.

"You know what, let's go." He says begrudgingly inviting them.

The Trio started making their way to the ministop. The blazing sun spared not man, child, woman, alien, and certainly not vampires.

By the time all three of them made it to the door of the store all three of them were sweaty beyond belief, and absolutely miserable. Yuka reached to his hip to put his shirt back on, only to realize that it wasn't there anymore.

"Hey, did one of you take my shirt?" He asked.

The two looked at each other, neither of them took his shirt, however despite their innocence, they were unsure of their chances of escaping the wrath of Psycho Chan. The two girls were reminded of only minutes before when they saw firsthand the type of damage he could do.

"I didn't take it." She replies.

"I didn't either." The other adds on.

"Well this is great, where the hell is it then?" He says out loud.

"I don't know, maybe it just fell off." She says.

---

Senpai and Nagatoro had been waiting in a line for shaved ice for what seemed like an eternity, but no progress whatsoever had been made in the line it remained stagnant and unchanging. Nagatoro had said that this was not just another shaved ice but THE shaved ice place, but he was doubting whether even the very best shaved ice that mankind could deliver would even be worth this wait.

He looked over and saw that poor Nagatoro was just about on her last legs, sweating and panting clearly on the verge of heat stroke or at the very least heat syncope. In a bout of instinct he grabbed her wrist and pulled her out of the line and away into the shaded area of the park. 

Running over to a vending machine he buys two bottles of water, one for himself, and the other for Nagatoro. Going back over he handed the bottle to her and started drinking his own, but not before doing a quick scan and finding a white school uniform shirt on the floor.

'Wonder who that belongs to' He thinks to himself.

---

Back with the trio they had entered the store, Yuka opting just to go in shirtless. He went off on his own and bought a bottle of a soda called ' Y/N Hijiri's special blend'. They all met back up at the register, and after a minor argument Yuka paid for their stuff to shut them up, and promptly left. 

*Timeskip brought to you by a shameless plug for another book of mine*

Sitting back on the park bench he had since found his shirt and put it back on. All three of them were sitting on a bench enjoying whatever they had gotten form the mini stop. Quickly shifting her glance to him constantly the tall one was thinking over in her head on what to say. She certainly didn't need another bruise on her stomach. 

"Can I ask question?" Yuka asks kicking away the empty soda can.

"Yeah, why not?" The tall one replied.

"What are your names?" He asks.

"Well, all my friends call me Gamo Chan," She says.

"And her?" He asks pointing to the blonde.

Gamo looks at her and they're both locked in a stare, and all without saying a word a telepathic order was conveyed between the two of them.

"Yoshi." She shouts out excitedly.

Yuka was looked at both of them slightly concerned and extremely confused. Though he had only been alive for 15 years he had seen some interesting things, he knocked out a devil, tussled with an Oni, and beat down a vampire. At this point he had thought nothing would surprise him, however for the first time in a long time he was absolutely stumped.

"Um, what is that?" He asked confused.

"What is what?" Gamo replies.

"You two just stared at each other, didn't say a thing, that was really weird" He answers.

They look to each other again, no doubt exchanging information on this strange telepathic highway of theirs. He payed extra attention this time, but no other conclusion could be drawn other than telepathy, he didn't smell pheromones' in the air, or detect any form of tangible communication between the two of them.

"I don't know what to tell you shortstack, it's just something we always did." She says shrugging.

"What are you her mom? And would you stop calling me that, I have a name you know." He says frustrated with his nickname.

"Well, what is it?" Gamo asks.

"Please tell!" Yoshi adds.

He pauses and thinks to himself, the two had been relatively nice so far, but so many had made fun of him for his name that he was hesitant to even say it to himself. How he hated that name, he hated it with a burning passion. The years and years of mockery due to it had made him to get rid of it, and many times he considered it, but every time he was reminded as to why it was his name.

"It's Higurashi," He replies mumbling.

"What?" Gamo replies cupping her hand to her ear.

"I said, it's Higurashi." He says louder.

"Higurashi, you got a first name Higurashi?" She asks teasingly.

He hesitated, he rarely told anyone his first name. Those who knew it usually made fun of him for it, and they would end up brutalized. He trusted that she wouldn't mock him again, but he still didn't want to give her anymore ammo.

"Sure I do, but you aren't getting it," He replies turning away.

"Oh, is it embarrassing?" Gamo asks scooting closer to him.

"Embarrassing!" Yoshi parrots.

"Pester me all you want, you aren't getting it." He says looking away.

"Fine, since you asked a question I'll ask one of my own" She says.

"I'm waiting." He replies.

Gamo paused thinking to herself the best way to phrase the question she was going to ask. 

"Are we, cool?" She asks.

"What do you mean by that?" He asks. 

"Well, I mean, I haven't necessarily been the nicest to you, so I just want to know if I can call you a friend, someone who I can count on if I get into trouble." She says.

He thought back, he remembered their abysmal first interaction and how she made a fool of him. He thought of the the raging hatred he felt for her, but also the great amount of respect. She clearly knew who he was, and the reputation that he had built for himself, and yet she still had the guts to mock him. He also didn't have any friends, but in that same vein, he didn't really know what a friend was.

"Well, I suppose so, you're cool I guess, and I don't really mind hanging out." He says unsure of himself. "We're cool, but I wouldn't call us f-friends, no not by a long shot!" He says red in the face. 

Gamo looks to him with shock, but quickly recomposes herself and put on a sadistic grin that could scare the devil himself.

"Aww Shortstack, so you do have heart? Are you falling in love with me?" She asks mockingly while walking towards him.

"No, I am not, certainly not with you!" He says turning around and starting on his way home.

"Oh come on shortstack, don't be such a tsundere with me, you can be honest here." She says while grabbing onto him.

"Gah, let me go you skank!" He yells out attempting to throw a punch only for it to be ineffective.

"Oh, now take that back, you don't really think I'm a skank do you?" She asks putting him into a noogie.

"Need another gut punch, or are you going to let me go." He replies lining up another punch only for it to be ineffective as the last.

"I am not letting you go until you tell me how you actually feel." She says a hint of red appearing on her face.

"I'll tell you what I'm feeling, I'm feeling as if I made a big mistake!" He yells back trying to get his way out of her grasp.

While all of this was going on Yoshi was extremely confused. A fuse in her brain had blown, and processing was at an all time low. She observed this interaction and classed it in her mind as one of 'Affection'. Rerouting her thought process she remembered that He had called Gamo her 'Mom', and while observing the routine of what seemed to be an old married couple one conclusion was brought up to her mind.

"Dad?" She asks extremely confused.

Gamo lets go of him, and the two look to her both red in the face.

"NO!!!" Both of them yell out in unison so perfect, that one could think that the entire ordeal was planned, part of some scripted event.

---

Did you know that the stinging feeling you get in your mouth when eating pineapple is the acid from the pineapple eating away at the soft flesh in your mouth, don't stop eating pineapple though, the acid is too weak to do any real damage. Stayed tuned in for more fun facts, or don't, it's a free country.