82ND GEAR - LET’S BE WEIRD TOGETHER!

After practice, same day, but the same old activities.

Flu pushed her brakes to stop her Stardust Accel, and now we find ourselves on the beachfront. It is already afternoon, and the sun is about to turn the clear blue skies to orange.

“Coach! I-I mean, Jonathan.” Flu happily grabbed my attention.

“Yes, Jonathan here,” I said.

“So now that they all know, what should we do?” Flu asked.

“I do think that they already knew way before we confessed to each other, so we should not act differently from what they used to see. We’re basically seeing each other every day, so nothing needs to change.” I said.

“I agree!” Flu pumped her fists and nodded. “Every day is technically our date!”

I am glad that Flu is taking everything in an optimistic approach, but most of our times spent together are all about Speed Battles. If her idea of our everyday date is about me yelling at her to do ten more laps around the Triangle, then I should feel bad about myself.

We finally made it to the edge of the beachfront. A few hundred meters from here is my house. This is where Flu and I usually part ways as she would often do Wind or Stardust Accel to go home by running through the sea.

I was about to wave goodbye to her when she spoke.

“U-Ummm.” Flu is fidgeting a lot, and her face is red.

“What is it, Flu?” I immediately approached her.

I know something was wrong, so I decided to stay with her. She is my girlfriend after all, and I should always tend to her needs… according to the tips I searched from the magicnet.

“Are you busy after this?” Flu asked like an abandoned puppy.

“Nope. My schedule is completely free.”

“I-I kinda want to spend more time with you, so… Tahahaha!” Flu laughed out of embarrassment.

“I… I want to spend more time with you too.” I immediately said as I scratched my head.

“Really!?” Flu immediately hopped and pumped her fists like an excited pup.

“Yeah. So where would you want to go?”

“I want to try that Dragonfruit Crepe from the stand I saw earlier!” Flu squealed and hopped with joy. “And oh! Oh! I want to go to your place! I-Is it okay?”

“I guess it’s fine. I’m mostly alone in my house anyways, and my parents won’t be going home until midnight.” I said.

“Yaaaay!” Flu grabbed my hand and hopped up and down as if she were trying to detach my whole shoulder joint from my main skeleton.

I do not know if my girlfriend is a human or a puppy. She could hardly contain her excitement about simple things, but that’s one of the reasons why I find her adorable.

The Dragonfruit Crepe stand was just at the beach stand. There are usually people lining up for this local delicacy, but since this is Monday afternoon where most people are busy with their work or afterschool activities, almost no people can be seen on the beach. Flu only ordered one for us to share as she’s on a diet.

Then we went to our house and asked Flu to wait in the living room while I tidy up my things on the second floor. Now, a boy’s room can be kind of messy as I still have those gaming consoles, magical gadgets, notebooks, and clipboards laying around. But since my room is just plain white and gray with little to no accessories, it was easy to clean up my things.

My heart started to beat fast like a magic machine gun. Just having the thought of being alone in my room with Fluonessia makes my blood pressure rise due to carnal instinct. Indecent thoughts started to fill up my mind.

(“Fluonessia… Get ready! We will bounce like Air Trampolines, and I am going to shoot my Phoenix Arrow inside you!”)

(“What are you doing, step-coach! Kyaaa! Yamete kuda-stop! Ah! Aaaaaaah!”)

“No, no, no!” I scolded myself softly as I shook my head. I even gritted my teeth to suppress these urges.

Just having dirty thoughts for my pure innocent girlfriend is a crime against humanity itself, and a grave violation of the Geneva Conventions! I should not even think about sullying her! She must be protected at all costs, even if the enemy is me!

I clenched my fists, punched my chest, and whispered to myself the mantra Cruzo always says. “Uwooogh! Determination and guts! Determination and guts! Determination and guts!”

After saying that chant and taking a deep breath, I slightly detoured my thoughts from my degeneracy. Then I called Flu and lead her to my room.

“Woooow! So this is your room!” Flu stared in amazement. Then she started to sniff the air. “As I thought, the air in here smells fragrant like you!”

“T-That’s kind of embarrassing, so please stop.” I gave a wry smile.

I grabbed a pink bean bag with a smiley face and then handed it to my girlfriend.

“You can have this, Flu.”

“Oh, thanks!” Flu happily accepted. She placed the bean bag on the ground and sat on it. “Phew!”

I also grabbed a blue bean bag with an angry face and sat adjacent to Flu. Then we had this one-second eye-to-eye with each other and smiled.

“Hahaha.”

“Tahaha.”

“Wait, where’s the Dragonfruit Crepe?” I asked.

“Ah! I’m sorry! I ate it all!” Flu cried. “I-I’m so sorry! I promise I will stay true to my diet from now on!”

“N-No, it’s okay,” I said.

Well, I am not angry about her breaking her diet. I am quite sad only because I wanted to take a bite of that crepe on the part where she has already bitten it. I am hoping that I will get my very first indirect kiss from her, and now that dream has been shattered.

There was another ten-second stare between us that seemed to be more awkward the more the silence prolongs. So I decided to start another conversation.

“S-So… Do you like w-weather?”

What the heck? Why does the only thing that comes out of my mouth during an awkward situation is this!? Am I that socially defective that I cannot initiate a good opening conversation?

“Pfft! Tahahaha! You’re so funny, Jonathan!” Flu chuckled. “I know it’s both weird for both of us since we just started dating, but I can’t stop laughing at you!”

“W-Well sorry for that. I am not used to talking to girls except if the topic is about Speed Battles.” I pouted.

“N-No way!” Flu screamed. “You mean you have never talked to girls?”

“Yes, I just said that.”

“So you never had a girlfriend before?” Flu asked, surprised.

“Yes. Does that sound silly?”

“N-No! Of course not!” Flu cried. “I thought you already had a girlfriend before because you’re so cool and kind and caring!”

“Well, I think you’re the only one who thinks like that.”

“So you have zero relationship experience?” Flu asked it as if we were talking about the EXP from games.

“Yep. Zero.” I said. “How do you hope a magicless person like to have a girlfriend, huh?”

“No waaaay!” Flu cried. “How come that girl has never flocked to you? I do think you’re the ideal cute and awesome boyfriend!”

“You’re overestimating me too much.” I laughed. “How about you? How come you do not have a boyfriend before we even reunite?”

“Tahahaha! I don’t know! Maybe I am cursed by the gods, or maybe I am such a failure! All the boys that know me tend to avoid me like flu since they know my clumsiness and stupidity!” Flu made a teehee face while scratching the back of her head. “I was actually anxious about you rejecting me after I accidentally confessed!”

“Welp, same here. I was planning to confess after the National Speedmage Tournament since I do not know if you will reject me or not. I’ve always thought about the worst-case scenario, so I decided to keep my feelings aside to protect our player-coach relationship.”

“Ah! I’m so sorry! I am such a failure that I didn’t realize that you were thinking that far ahead!” Flu cried.

“N-No, it was my fault. If only I knew that we will end up dating, I would have immediately confessed.” I said with a wry smile.

“Heffy was right. Maybe we do share the same dumb brain cell after all.” Flu said.

“That makes us both weirdos. But that is the plain truth.” I said.

“I am fine with that! Let’s be weird together!” Flu cheered.

“Yeah!” I pumped my fists.

“Tehehe…” Flu laughed softly.

“Hahaha…” I returned the same soft laugh.

“Um, Jonathan? Can I have a request?” Flu politely asked.

“Yes, what is it?”

“I desire a hardcore unprotected sweaty… hand holding.”

All of a sudden, Flu raised her hand, gesturing to me to hold it. I did what I always do, which is to accept her hand. Then she repositioned her hand to lock onto mine. I think handholding like this is the lewdest thing on the entire planet.

“Your hand is big, Jonathan,” Flu said softly.

“We hold hands almost every day, but you just realized that.” I scoffed.

“That’s because I’m always focused on using a speed spell and I have to keep my eyes on the road.” Flu pouted. “But now, I can focus myself on your warm, gentle hand.”

“Your hand is soft and tiny.” I tried to play with her fingers.

Flu’s hand gripped the edges of her skirt. It was slightly raised above that I can now see her milky white legs. Then my focus shifted when Flu called out my name in a hoarse voice.

“Jonathan…”

“Yes?”

“Can I… kiss you?”

My eyes shifted to Flu’s strawberry-red face. Her blue eyes are like the skies with visible stars, and her thin eyebrows and cute nose gave me the idea of perfect beauty. Her tiny lips are waiting for my answer, so I immediately pressed my lips unto hers!

“Mmmph!”

It was a soft, warm, and wet sensation that I would love to have a sample again. So I rushed in and aggressively took the lead as we both indulge ourselves in this sensation of deep affection for one another. After a few seconds, I withdrew my lips.

“I’m sorry, Flu. It is my job as a man to initiate these kinds of things. You already took the lead in confessing, so I have to take over starting from now.”

“G-Got it.” Flu blushed. “I love you, Jonathan…”

“I love you too, Fluonessia.”