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"HMM, THIS MUST BE THE 'ON' BUTTON." I NAVIGATED THE SCATTERING OF BUTTONS ON THE MEGAPHONE I WAS HOLDING.
"What the actual heck are you doing?" One of the boys asked angrily.
"Pissing off your beloved Togame-san!" I replied in a sing-song voice cheerfully. "What else does it look like?"
They blinked. "Erh...why though?"
"Why else? He pissed me off!" I laughed as my jacket's sleeve brushed off some dirt from the megaphone.
"See, I told you! Lover's quarrels!" They whispered again.
Soon silence enveloped the room except for the humming of tune escaping my lips. I looked around the storage room once more, which I found eventually on my own despite refusing help from the boys. My eyes landed on the pyramid heap of the Shishitoren's jacket lying on the dirty floor.
"You guys got some cool jackets," I commented, striding toward it while exchanging glances at the dirty and sweat-drenched jacket I had worn since morning.
One boy giggled. "I know right, It's one of our pride, wearing the jacket that-hey take it off!"
I ignored the boys as I crouched next to the jacket, and slid off mine, then replaced it with the Shishitoren one. I picked out a size that was a little big for me since the rest of them were all dirty. I felt a silky cool on my bare arms and neck as the jacket fell onto my skin. I instantly fell in love with it.
"Hey, hey, I said take it off!"
"Stop her!"
"Why me? You go!"
The boys blushed at the thought of having to touch a girl in order to drag me out of the room.
"Can I climb on the roof?" I asked, pointing my finger up.
The boys sighed in defeat. "How about this...you go up, do whatever you want to do while we leave and you don't snitch on us." They offered. "How does that sound?"
"Ah, shucks!" I exclaimed, arms resting on my legs while still crouching on the floor.
"Huh? Why?" They gave me a puzzled look.
"'Cause, I can't promise that." I looked at them in a fake-bored expression.
"Well you gotta because-"
I beckoned them with my one finger.
"Huh? Me?"
I nodded, waving my finger in the air again. "I got a plan."
They hesitated for a while until they decided to finally approach me.
"So, how about this..." I began.
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I placed a flattened carton box on the roof of the Theatre roof and sat on it. In front of me is an open window where I can see Togame deep in his sleep with his legs propped up onto another seat.
I tapped on a voice-changing app I had recently downloaded and selected a voice. I turned the megaphone on and placed my phone between it and near my lips.
I cleared my throat. "A LITTLE SLEEP, A LITTLE SLUMBER, A LITTLE FOLDING OF THE HANDS TO REST-!" A deep masculine voice boomed through the theatre and Togame quickly jolted awake. "AND POVERTY WILL COME ON YOU LIKE A THIEF AND SCARCITY LIKE AN ARMED MAN!"
With his messy hair that spiked almost in all directions, he looked around frantically, eyes still drooping. He looked like a child who had been scared awake.
"Huh? What's going on?" He groggily asked.
Just as planned, the five Shishitoren boys rushed inside.
"What? What? What?"
"How? How? How?"
"What was that?"
They bolted toward the gallery and stood next to him in a circle before they settled themselves into a defensive stance.
"Togame-san are you alright?"
"We heard the voice!"
"Ehhhh?" Togame tilted his head, looking up to the place the voice came from to which I quickly hid behind a wall.
"Who's this bastard? Show yourself!"
"BASTARD?" I echoed, trying to sound offended.
"Who on earth are you to say such-"
"YOU DARE QUESTION ME MORTALS?" I paused and giggled silently. "DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM? I AM THE ONE WHO SEES YOU ALL!"
"Oh really?" One of the boys replied.
"WHY NOT?" I peeked at them. "YOU! THE LONG RED-HAIRED BOY!"
"Uhhh...?" The boy pointed at himself.
"YES YOU! YOU WHO STEAL FROM THE BEGGAR'S PLATE WHEN YOU THINK NO ONE'S LOOKING, BUT I SEE YOU!"
The boy blinked. "Weh? How did you know?"
I blinked back, shocked at how I just spewed random nonsense that's turned out to be true
"YOU! THE BLUE-HAIRED ONE, YOU DISGRACEFUL SON WHO BLOCKED YOUR SCHOOL TOILET LAST WEEK! I SEE YOU!"
Tears brimmed on the boy's eyes. "How...did you...?"
"God, is that you?" One boy asked.
"It's the voice of God!" The rest of the boys exclaimed among themselves.
I squinted my eyes, clearly, they were afraid I'd guess their humiliating secret right again in front of everyone.
The brown-haired one dramatically fell to his knees and gazed up. "Speak Lord! Your servant is listening!"
"I WASN'T TALKING TO YOU!"
"Oh."
I cringed at their horrible acting, they sure got the spirit though but I decided to ignore them.
"TOGAME JO! SECOND CRAPPY COMMANDER OF SHISHITOREN!"
"Eh? What did I do?" Togame complained lazily while fixing his sunglasses.
And not just his response but his whole tone irked me very much.
"EH? WHAT DID I DO!?" I repeated his words in a mocking tone. "SIT THERE AND REFLECT ON WHAT YOU DID YOU LITTLE PIECE OF [REDUCTED] [REDCUTED] [REDUCTED] [REDUCTED] [REDUCTED]!"
"No, I'll be standing."
I sighed. This boy.
"Choji?" He continued. "Are you mad about something?"
"I ATE CHOJI!"
"What?"
"WHAT!?"
What on earth am I saying at this point?
I heard gasping from the five boys.
"THE WRATH OF GOD IS UPON US!" They shouted and started panicking.
Then I heard Togame's footsteps running down the stairs. I knew he would come for me sooner or later anyway.
"UH...YOU KNOW WHAT? FORGET WHAT I SAID, THIS IS ALL JUST IN YOUR HEAD!" A nervous chuckle followed. "MAYBE VISIT THE DOCTOR...OR BETTER THE JUVENILE DETENTION!"
When I heard the front doors of the theatre slam open, I quickly got onto my feet and tried to hide behind a wall before the sound of Togame landing behind me halted me on my track.
"You woke me up from a good nap, you know, [Last Name] [Name]" He said and I can't exactly put my finger on whether he was mad or not by judging from his tone.
"So, did you dream of me?" I joked, still not facing him.
"Sorry, I'm not interested." I can feel him grinning from his voice.
Did I just get rejected twice on the same day by the same boy?
Crimson colour crept through my face as I felt my ears heating, I could imagine the possibility of steam rising out of it.
"STOP ACTING LIKE I WANT YOU BADLY!" I barked as I finally jerked around to meet Togame beaming at me with hands in his pocket, walking toward me.
Then he patted my head sluggishly. "Woah, calm down, calm down...or you'll get high blood pressure at a young age [Name]"
"Yes, no, yes, I meant no! You really-"
"You'll grow into a grumpy old woman like that." He continued as he faked a worried face and without a care for what I was saying.
"I'm not a grum-"
"You could end up all alone and with only cats." He was still patting my head.
I stared blankly at him, defeated. He must have found this amusing since he let out a low chuckle.
"It's a pleasure you show your care for me...well to some degree," I resist the urge to make a face and roll my eyes.
"Here to see me?" He asked with a teasing tone.
"No, I'm here to reclaim my rightful snack."
He ruffled my hair and spoke like some older brother. "Look at our little [Name], she changed so much and changed so little at the same time."
"You're only one year older." I shoved his hand away. I walked over to the edge of the roof, hopped off onto a canopy roof, then a random crate and finally landed on the earth.
The five boys came out from the theatre when I heard Togame jumping off from the roof. I turned to look at his expressionless face while the boys exchanged nervous glances between us.
Togame's eyes travelled over to my jacket and raised his brows as if he had just seen it for the first time.
"Hey, take that off." He said it rather softly while pointing his finger at it.
"No!" I fled and hugged the jacket closer to my body. "Not until you agreed to-"
"[Name], no one intends on chasing you."
I stopped midway and saw them staying put in their places, just gaping at me.
"Damn [Name], how much sugar did you consume on the way here?" Togame sighed.
I hate myself.
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