bonten omniverse 『crack au』

xii. the unmoving worm

After witnessing Mikey silently stand in the corner of Bonten lounge and look at the ceiling, Koko walks up to his boss and gives him a gentle pat on the shoulder.

"Mikey? Is everything okay with you? " Koko asks out of concern.

The shorter man nods firmly and gestures to the high ceiling. When Koko looks up, he finds a thin, long worm. Perplexed, Koko thinks to himself, "How did a worm get up there? And how did Mikey see that from down here?"

Mikey mutters, still looking at the worm on the ceiling, "It's been there for almost an hour now..."

"You've been gazing at it for approximately an hour?" Koko frowns. "Mikey, let's just get going. Someone can get rid of the worm for us."

"What's happening here?" A voice interrupts.

From his shoulder, Koko notices the rest of Bonten entering the lounge so he then steps back from Mikey's side to explain what's going on to the rest of the group. Sanzu's face pales after Koko finished his explanation.

"Uhm.. Mikey, let's just—"

Before Sanzu could continue his sentence, the worm on the ceiling fell and landed right on top of Mikey's face, causing everyone to scream. Ran hastily moves to his leader's side to remove the worm. As he was about to do so, Ran's eyes widen.

"Now, now... Who is responsible for this prank on our beloved boss?" Ran shows them the worm as he flashes them a wicked smile.

"Brother, is that..." Rindou trails.

Kakucho sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose. "It's a spaghetti noodle."

Everyone knew who was to blame right away, so they turned their attention on Haruchiyo Sanzu, the offender. The pink-haired man gulps harshly and turns away.

"Hey, what was that for? " Mocchi asks aloud, his knuckles cracking.

Sanzu replies as he sheepishly rubs the back of his neck. "Alright, look... I was going to play a joke on our good friend Rindou—"

"We're not friends," Rindou interjects.

"..."

Mikey had a sore neck as a result of the unmoving worm episode, and so Sanzu was punished by being temporarily banned from the kitchen and forced to undertake cleaning jobs at the headquarters. With that, no one else dared to pull another prank when Mikey was around.