Fikush-ON!

Ch. 27: Fancy Coffee Time

It was a Saturday afternoon. Only a bit over a week until the Sakuragaoka festival would be happening. Since I had nothing else to do, I decided to invite both Tadaaki and Ichiro over, since it's been too long since we've hung out at my place. I was sitting on the edge of my bed, holding Patricia on my lap. Tadaaki was sitting on the floor next to me, and Ichiro had taken a seat on my computer chair, slowly swaying from side to side.

"I almost got this riff down to a perfection, but I'm still stuck on this part. See how I have to change from Dm to G?" I said, demonstrating the said thing.

Tadaaki nodded. "Ah, I see. You have to slide your ring finger so far down."

"Don't you ever cut your fingers open doing that?" Ichiro asked.

I snickered a bit. "Nah, the skin of your fingertips gets thicker the more you play. Besides, only rusty strings give you cuts." To complement my sentence, I slid my fingers up and down the strings.

Ichiro rested his chin on his palm. "Why are you playing it, anyway? It's not like you'll have any performances anymore."

"The hell does that mean?" I muttered, unamused. "I don't need a reason to play, I play because I like it."

He just shrugged indifferently, and glanced elsewhere. "Yeah, maybe."

I'm not sure why, but him talking shit about my interest in guitar almost got me riled up. But that's Ichiro for you; a real dickhead at times. You'd think I'd gotten used to it over the years, but he still manages to tick me off with his brainless opinions. Tadaaki noticed my annoyed expression, so he decided to step in.

"Let him talk shit all he wants, but it won't change the fact that your playing's got a whole lot better since the Winter Festival," he noted.

"Huh?" Ichiro suddenly turned to face us. "I wasn't saying anything about his skills."

"You diss a man's interest, you diss everything related to it," Tadaaki said, crossing his arms. "It's the same as asking 'Why are you going to that coffee club? It's not like you'll be a barista'."

Ichiro made a full spin on the chair, muttering: "...Shit, you got me there."

I took a glance at Patricia on my lap, before reaching for the amplifier, switching it off and unplugging the guitar.

"H-Hey, sorry, I didn't mean it," Ichiro stuttered apologetically.

"Nah, man, it's not you," I said, getting on my feet. "I'm just feeling like having some coffee. How about you guys?"

"I was just about to ask the same," Tadaaki said, also standing up. "To Nakamura-san's café?"

Ichiro got off the chair, sliding it back under the desk. "Sounds good to me, I still got some money left."

I set Patricia down on my bed, and snapped my fingers towards the room's door. "It's a plan, then."

But, before I could even take a step, my phone began vibrating on top of the desk. Ichiro, who was right next to the desk, picked it up.

"Could you please not?" I said, frowning.

He glanced at the lid. "Unknown caller," he noted, before tossing the phone over to me. I barely managed to catch it.

"And could you please not toss my shit around!?" I snarled at him before turning my attention to the phone.

Just as he said, the caller was unknown. Well, better answer it, anyway. If it turns out to be some salesman, I'll mess with him.

"Yeah?"

"Hello, Eiji-san," a familiar voice greeted me.

"Tsu—?" I was just about to blurt out in surprise, but then remembered about the two guys currently present in the same room. I mean, not that Sakuragaoka's gals are a secret to them, but somehow I felt like disguising Tsumugi for a bit longer. "...Miss Kotobuki?"