My Friend the Harem Protagonist

Chapter 14: Shopping with My Friend

Me and my new best friend Miyu were looking at fencing gear after school on Monday. She didn't know much about it, but that was alright since she was being such a supportive friend.

"What do you think of this?" I held up a white jacket and grinned at her.

She smiled back. She seemed nervous though, I guess she wasn't used to going to sporting goods stores. "It's kind of similar to the last five you showed me."

I ruffled her hair. "Silly, this one is FIE approved. I know this probably doesn't interest you much, but I'm just glad you're here."

Miyu turned away for some reason. The tips of her ears were red. I went back to looking at masks. "That one was pretty cool, Masaki," she murmured.

I'd always wanted to do things like this after school. I hadn't been able to with anyone on the team since I believed in keeping a cold authoritative distance while I was the captain. But with Miyu there was no need to worry. She was so small that I could easily kill her if she ever turned on me.

I continued combing through the racks of fencing equipment. Maybe one day I'd take her to see the guy I bought all my knives from. That would be the mark of true friendship.

I watched Aya from the corner of my eye as she moved down a rack of sports bras. She was wasting her time. I'd sized her up when she met and knew none of them would fit her. She had a surprisingly large chest for someone of her height, which normally would have made me mad. I was willing to forgive her because that's what friends did. She looked up from the clothes and her eyes narrowed. "Is that Karin?" she said.

I turned. Sure enough the judo gorilla was on the opposite side of the sporting goods store. She was working her way down a dumbbell rack trying to find one that was too heavy. A few more and she'd run out of dumbbells to try. This had to be dealt with. I grabbed one of the sabres off the rack.

I turned to Miyu. "You distract her, I'll sneak around and cut the tendons in her feet. I've heard Judo requires good footwork, so it'll break her spirit if she can't do the thing she loves."

"No, no, put that down," she pulled the sabre out of my hands. "We need to be strategic. Knowing is half the battle. I'm tiny so I'll go sneak around and try to get some information. If you see that I'm in trouble can I count on you to save me?"

I grabbed Miyu by the shoulders and looked into her eyes. "Yes, I will kill the judo girl if she threatens your life."

Miyu pursed her lips and stared at me. After a moment she nodded and gave me my sword back. "Sounds like a plan. Hands in." She stuck her hand out.

"Why?"

"My mom does it before road trips, I think it's cute."

"Oh, alright." I put my hand on top of hers.

"Break!"

Miyu crouched beneath the clothes racks and made a beeline for Karin. I ducked low and crept along out of sight. The clothes racks and soft carpet would make me harder to detect. I arrived behind some sweatpants close enough to overhear Karin talking on her phone.

"Ayami, please calm down. You're talking too fast, I can't understand what you're saying. Take a deep breath. In, 2, 3, and out 2, 3. Now, tell me what's wrong."

Ayami's muffled voice came through the receiver. I wasn't close enough to hear it, but she sounded serious.

"She's what?" Karin screamed.

"She's what?" Miyu screamd. She must have been close enough to hear.

Karin's head whipped around toward Miyu. "What are you-? Ayami, I have to call you back." Karin hung up and turned to face Miyu. Full height and shoulders back. Miyu got lost somewhere in her shadow. "What are you doing here you little gremlin?"

Miyu, with more courage than I thought possible, didn't back down. She looked Karin straight in the eyes, or as straight as she could with her head all the way back. "I'm out shopping with my friend." I felt my heart melt a little. She was so cute, I could just roll her up in a crepe and share it with Shin.

Karin looked bored. "Well I've got enough on my plate without you." In a single fluid movement she entered a stance. I recognized the shift into practiced athleticism. I'd done it many times myself.

A fist shot out toward Miyu's face, faster than should have been possible. I burst from cover, sprinting toward the larger girl with my sword ready. At the last second I saw Karin's eyes switch toward me, and the fist changed trajectory. In an instant it was over. We stood facing each other, both of us holding my sword. She'd caught it by the blade mid swing.

"Miyu, go stand by the entrance. This won't take long," I said. I stretched my neck and felt the joints popping one after the other. Somewhere in the store I heard an older lady gag.

Karin frowned and glanced over to Miyu. "No, go wait by the dumpster. It'll save me the trouble of dragging both of you to it."

Miyu puffed up and stepped between us. "Both of you are wrong. Masaki, we're leaving."

"What?" Karin and I said at the same time.

"We don't have time to mess with her, we need to get a plan ready." Her face was more serious than I'd ever seen.

I cocked my head. "Why, what did you hear on that phone call?"

She looked me dead in the eyes. "Aya and Shin are getting together this weekend. Ayami thinks they're going to do," she took a breath and blushed, "it."

My vision went red. Karin's grip tightened around the sword and veins began appearing along her arms. In a smooth motion I slid a knife out of my sleeve and sent it flying into a nearby practice dummy's face. Karin's arm surged and bent my sword at a sharp angle. It looked more like a boomerang now. I let it fall to the ground with a clatter.

Miyu's mouth dropped open, but she got her bearings back a second later. "We don't have time to waste on Karin, we need to prepare."

I took a deep breath. "You're right." I turned to face Karin. "We'll settle this some other time."

She snorted. "Sure we will." The brute stomped off toward the exit.

I ground my teeth as I tried to fight the anger rising in my throat. I turned to face Miyu. "What are we going to do?"

"I'm not sure, but I'll think of something."

Both of us were so deep in thought that we didn't notice the store attendant come up behind us. He cleared his throat and we turned to see him holding the bent sword.

"Someone's paying for this," he said.

Author's note: I really enjoy the dynamic between Masaki and Miyu. When I was figuring out all the partnerships, I wanted the girls to have their roles split between "brains" and "brawn". If I'd allied Miyu and Ayami they'd be good at strategy but weak in a fight. The same with Masaki and Karin, great in a fight but no real plan. Last week I mentioned how I named Shin and Haru. Juri is a character on Street Fighter, which is odd because I've never played a single Street Fighter game. I like the name though. Thanks for reading!

-DieSleepEasy