THE FIRST TIME DADDY

NEW FRIEND

NEW FRIEND

Kota was fuming. 

He watched as Toru once again tried to get Ayumi’s attention by knocking over her eraser "by accident." Ayumi barely noticed, simply picking it up and continuing her conversation with Kota. Toru, clearly frustrated, huffed and crossed his arms. 

Kota narrowed his eyes. *What’s this guy’s problem?* 

It wasn’t just today—this had been going on for a while now. Whenever Ayumi was talking to Kota, Toru would try to interrupt, usually by doing something annoying. Yesterday, he "accidentally" bumped into Ayumi’s desk, making her pencil case fall. The day before that, he pulled out her chair right before she sat down—though he claimed it was just a joke. And now? The eraser stunt. 

Ayumi, being Ayumi, never got angry. She just looked confused or ignored it completely. But Kota? 

He was pissed. 

By the time class ended, Kota had made up his mind—he was going to confront Toru. 

— 

Toru was about to leave when Kota blocked his path. 

“Alright, spill it.” Kota crossed his arms, his expression serious. 

Toru blinked. “Huh?” 

“Don’t ‘huh’ me,” Kota snapped. “What’s your deal? Why do you keep messing with Ayumi?” 

Toru stiffened. “I—I don’t mess with her.” 

Kota scoffed. “Yeah, sure. Then why do you keep pulling all those annoying stunts?” 

Toru looked away, clenching his jaw. He shifted uncomfortably before finally sighing in frustration. “…Because I want to talk to her.” 

Kota’s scowl faltered. “What?” 

Toru rubbed his face. “I just—I just wanted to say hi. But every time I try, she’s already talking to you, and I can’t find the right moment. So I—” He groaned. “I just… do stuff to get her attention.” 

Kota blinked. “…So you’re telling me that instead of just saying hi, you thought pulling her chair, bumping into her desk, and knocking over her stuff was a better plan?” 

Toru groaned again, this time covering his face. “I know it sounds dumb, okay?! But I panic! She’s… she’s really nice, and I didn’t want to seem weird, but now I think I messed everything up.” 

Kota gave him a flat look. “Oh, yeah. You definitely did.” 

Toru groaned louder. 

Kota sighed, rubbing his temples. “Alright, fine. You want to be friends with her, right?” 

Toru peeked between his fingers and nodded. 

Kota crossed his arms, thinking. He didn’t like how Toru had been acting, but now that he knew the reason, he couldn’t exactly stay mad. Ayumi was Kota’s first friend, and if Toru really wanted to be friends with her too, then maybe he should help. 

“…I’ll help you.” 

Toru’s hands dropped from his face. “Wait, really?” 

Kota smirked. “Yeah. But you owe me big time.” 

Toru grinned. “Deal!” 

Kota sighed again, shaking his head. *What did I just get myself into?*

*Next day

Kota had never seen someone fail so badly at something so simple.

Here he was, standing beside Toru, trying to coach him into saying just one normal sentence to Ayumi. But no matter what Kota did, Toru found a way to mess it up.