[Book of Eros] Chapter 90 - A bit of normal school life. (Patreon)

On Thursday morning, Leonardo sat down at his desk at school after greeting Reiko. His housemate, Kaede Chiteki, however, mumbled an incoherent greeting before sitting down and dropping her head on the desk with her arms hiding her face.

“What’s with her?” Reiko asked, a little worried.

“Let her be,” Leo shrugged. “Her fault for staying up until four in the morning watching that show you lent her.”

“Ouch,” Reiko giggled.

“It’s not fair…” Kaede groaned and rubbed her eyes. “You stayed up with me watching it, but you’re not tired in the slightest.”

“Magic powers,” Leo said, flatly. “I don’t need much sleep.”

“Wait, you two stayed up until late watching anime?” Reiko asked, blinking in surprise. “What’s the story here?”

“Not much of a story,” Leo told her. “I went out for a late walk around the neighborhood with Valerie, and when we came back, Kaede-san was still watching the show. I told her to go to sleep, but she said ‘one more episode!’” Leo explained, with a poor imitation of Kaede’s voice that made the two girls laugh. “I decided to watch that last episode with her… and then that one turned into another, and another and then it was four in the morning.”

Reiko closed her eyes and nodded solemnly, like she’d been there before. “Well… what did you think of it?”

“It’s dumb,” Leo said.

“It’s so stupid!” Kaede exclaimed. “So why can’t I look away!?” To that question, Leo nodded in agreement.

“Whaaat? But, but, but…!!” Reiko looked like she was about to argue, but gave up a second after. “Yeah, it’s stupid…” she sighed, slumping her shoulder.

“Don’t get me wrong!” Kaede insisted, shaking her head. “It’s fun! Really fun! The show doesn’t make sense in a lot of ways, but it’s the first time since I was a child that I’ve been so absorbed in something!”

“Yeah, it’s the kind of show where you can turn your brain off and enjoy,” Leo agreed. He then grinned teasingly as he looked at his girlfriend. “I feel stupid for not realizing this sooner, but you’re a bit of an otaku, aren’t you?”

“Ugh!” Reiko flinched and hung her head in shame. “I… Yes…”

“Hey, it’s fine,” Leo chuckled. “I’m not trying to shame you. You’re just more into it than I realized, but I guess it makes sense with how much you like drawing.”

“R-Right,” Kaede swallowed nervously. “Her drawings…”

“Argh! Can we stop talking about that, please!? Especially here!” Reiko urged them looking around the classroom as she tried to hide her reddened face. There were only like three other students in the classroom, and they were absorbed in their own conversation.

They dropped the subject, but that exchange let Leo in on a very important piece of information.

Kaede knew Reiko drew porn.

***

When the bell rang for the first recess, Leo made a quick trip to the restroom. When he came out, he was stopped in the hallway by a classmate.

“Hey, Contreras! We’re playing soccer outside and we’re missing one. What to join us?”

Soccer?

“Oh, you mean football. Sure, I’ll play,” Leo answered. Not only did he feel that getting to do things with his other classmates was healthy, but maybe giving Kaede and Reiko time together was a good idea. They seemed to be getting along rather well, and it was something both needed.

“So they don’t call it soccer in your country?” his classmate asked as they made their way outside.

“Nah, we call it football, and I know people who get personally offended if you call it soccer.”

“Haha. You don’t?”

“I don’t care enough,” Leo shrugged. “I do like playing it, though.”

They went out to the court and met the rest of the players, many of which were also from Leo’s class. They seemed excited to get him to play with them, though he couldn’t guess why that would be a big deal. They chose captains and started picking teams. He got picked first by another classmate, and he couldn’t help but feel a little guilty about it for some reason.

They started playing, and it was your standard high school football match. Messy, generally unskilled and lots of fun. It reminded Leo of playing with the other kids in the neighborhood, playing in the middle of the street because the bigger kids were using the court in the park and having to move out of the way when a car came. Also, last goal won it all no matter the score and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.

As he played, Leo found himself smiling. This was probably the most normal and, well, high school thing he’d done since coming here. Not worrying about Gifts, curses or anything. Just plain old football with classmates.

At one point someone kicked the ball in the wrong direction. They watched it bounce away, only to stop when Valerie put her foot on it. She watched where the ball had come from, and her eyes met his.

“Hey, that’s Dexter-san, isn’t she?” one of the guys whispered.

“The girl who broke records in the fitness test?”

“Yeah, that’s her. They say she’s a super human.”

“Wouldn’t it be cool if she played with us?”

“Go ask her, then.”

“What!? No, I’m not gonna ask her! You go!”

“Hey, it was your idea.”

Leo then turned to them. “Oh, so you’re okay with her playing with us?”

“Eh…?”

“I’ll ask her.” Without waiting for a response, Leo walked up to Valerie.

With skill that shouldn’t have surprised him, she handled the ball and raised it from her feet to her hands in a couple of kicks. “So you do play football,” she said.

“We have that in common. It’s as big in South America as it is in Europe.”

“Right,” she chuckled and tossed the ball his way. “I was watching. You’re not bad.”

“High praise coming from you,” he laughed. “Come play with us.”

“What? Oh no, no thanks. That’s not gonna turn out well.”

“Why not?”

“When people play against someone much better than them, they lose the will to play. Always happens.”

“Then play against me,” Leo said confidently. “I might not be as good as you, but I bet I can give you a bit of a challenge.”

“Oh? Bold words, Leo. I said you weren’t bad, not that you were good,” she teased.

“Try me, then.”

Valerie smiled. “Very well. Just don’t cry afterwards.”

***

Author's Note: Might seem weird, but I think dialogue between these characters is finally starting to click for me. Now that they're slightly over the awkwardness of their situation, I can write them as normal people hanging out, and that's always been something I like doing.