My Friend the Harem Protagonist

Chapter 15: Gut Punch to the Heart

On Wednesday night, Juri and I stared down at a rough map of Aya's block. We'd scouted out the place that afternoon and had mapped out all the major landmarks. Now it came down to the right planning.

I pointed to the route from Shin's house to Aya's. "Shin and Aya are walking around fifteen blocks from his house to hers. If we each take streets one block away in every direction we can orbit around them as they walk. That way we're much more likely to catch someone trying to sneak towards them."

Juri pushed around the action figures we were using to represent everyone. She moved the figure for me and her until they'd knocked over Karin, Ayami, Miyu, and Masaki. "You're thinking too defensively. Search and destroy tactics would work better since we'd be able to buy more time for them, and there's less chance of us interrupting. How long do you think Shin can last?"

I rolled my eyes but answered anyway. "I think we should get them twenty minutes."

Juri scoffed. "He's a first timer. We'll aim for ten."

I let out a long exhale and collapsed on a pillow. "Can we take a break? We've been at it for awhile."

Juri looked ready to go for another hour but still agreed. "Alright, can you pass me a soda?"

As we sipped I looked around her room. It was my first time in a girls room, and it was kind of underwhelming. Juri had a shelf of figurines on one wall, some of which we were using with our map. An old stack of fashion magazines from the 80's sat on a chair. Every other surface was coated in homework notes. I had no idea how she remembered where anything was.

Juri grabbed me from behind by the shoulders and shook me. "Stop staring, I know it's cluttered."

I answered as best I could with my head shaking back and forth. "No, it's, uh, cozy."

"Shut up."

More sipping. Downstairs I could hear Juri's dad practicing lectures. Juri told me he taught at the local university and had made it a habit to loudly run through his presentations.

"It's a weird thing, isn't it?" Juri said.

I put my soda can back on the table. "What is?"

She sat back in her desk chair. It creaked while she stared at me for a moment. "While we're fighting for our lives Aya and Shin are going to be getting it on."

No idea where she was going with this. "Well it's important for a lot of people. You see those guys online who complain about not getting any? They're miserable."

She took another long sip. "So you think it's a thing people should strive for?"

This was feeling more and more like a job interview. "I think it's a pretty big source of stress and there's value in doing it, but I don't think it should be up on a pedestal." That felt like a safe answer.

"Do you think Shin puts it on a pedestal?"

I laughed. "I don't think Shin realizes he's about to go to the museum."

Juri sipped again and stared at me. She couldn't be thinking about..? Of course not. Not here, while her Dad was downstairs. I had to be careful though.

"Why do you ask?" I said.

"Because I think they're doing it kind of early."

I felt my soul shrivel up a little. Juri and I had started dating only a few weeks after Shin introduced me to Aya. So that meant we were nearly on the same timeline. I knew for a fact they'd already been making out, probably even before Karaoke night. Now Juri wanted to stretch things out. I tried not to let the disappointment show on my face.

She scowled. "Why do you look so disappointed?"

Shit. Playing it off was probably my best choice. "It's a guy thing, don't worry about it."

"I have to worry about it, that's how couples end up with problems." Her voice was turning scary. It sounded the way Masaki sounded normally.

"Well I feel like me pushing for it would make for bigger problems, so I'm willing to wait until you feel ready."

That caught her off guard for a second, but she didn't let it completely derail her. "Then why even bring it up?"

"You brought it up. So you must have at least thought about it." Man, I was destroying it. Both the argument and my chances of getting laid before I graduated. Didn't matter though, this was too fun.

Juri was on her feet now."We can't do it yet, we haven't even kissed!" She was whisper shouting, and kept glancing at the floor. Her dad was still lecturing.

I took a sip from my soda, drawing out the moment. Then I cocked my head and looked right at her. "Isn't that fixable?" I'd never felt cooler.

We stared each other down for a while. Juri was in full on delinquent mode, and her stare was cutting me in half, but I still persisted. Somehow I knew that if I backed down now I might never work up the nerve again.

I took a step forward. It was like the scene at the end of that American scuba diver movie where that black guy didn't have a leg and still had to walk in the heavy diving suit. This had less riding on it though.

Juri's cheeks went red. It immediately shattered the badass look she was going for. I was in arms reach now, but I didn't touch her. She might hit me if I did. Her fists were balled and her arms were shaking a little.

"Could I? It'll be nice," I asked.

Juri closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Her eyes closed and her face scrunched up. I could almost see her Id and her Ego having a wrestling match. At last she looked at me.

She spread her arms like she was going for a hug. Both of our faces were very red by now. "Come here," she said.

I took the final step. Something slammed into my gut. She had hit me, right when my guard was lowest. That hurt almost as much as the actual pain.

I keeled over and scrunched my eyes shut. I guess she wasn't ready. I guess she also was bad at expressing her feelings. Man, this hurt. It hurt so much that I almost didn't notice two hands being placed on the side of my head. I thought she might knee me in the chin, but her grip was soft. There was a soft feeling on my lips, nothing more than a glancing blow, and then it was over. I caught my breath and looked up.

Juri had taken a few steps back. Her arms were crossed as she stared down at me. "Well?" was all she said.

I lowered my arms. "Hit me again."

She did, but not in the way I wanted.

Author's note: People have actually been reading these, which is a nice feeling. It's only a few views here and there, but I like that someone's giving it the time of day. I know the cover I drew isn't great, but hopefully that's not dragging the story down. Ayami's name comes from the show Shimoneta. The heroine's name was Ayame Kajou, and she ran around trying to distribute pornography to the masses. It's a fun show, check it out. So the Ayami in this story works as a disciplinarian, which is a nice switch. Thanks for reading.

-DieSleepEasy