Chapter 18: IOU

A few days into this Summer break after having to suffer through that tutoring session, Ishi was feeling confident that things were looking up. Rinse seemed to be leaving him alone, and nothing unfortunate had happened yet. Of course the break was still young, so something was bound to happen. Such as what his mother told him while they ate breakfast.

“Don’t forget that your cousin is coming to stay with her for a while.” She informed him. It was information he was aware of during the weeks leading up to this.

“I remember.” He replied. “But I don’t really like him, he’s kind of weird.” Ishi was already looking forward to when his relative would leave so that some semblance of peace and quiet.

“But you’ll be nice right?” She said. “After all, he looks up to you a lot.”

“Don’t worry, I’m not going to bully him or anything.” After all, that boy was still family. “Looks like he’ll be staying in my room too.” His place was going to be feeling rather cramped for a while. A bit of a shame that his parents were renovating the spare room over the past month. Both because of this, as well as the fact that he would’ve relocated himself to it when Rinse moved in.

He was disappointed about this news, but not shocked. This was already something he was aware of going into this break. The next piece of news was a bit more surprising to him. It began with a knock on their door. “Sheesh, we really keep getting way too many visitors these days.” Ishi muttered as he went to answer it.

On the other side was his friend Otoya with that dumb smile of his. The person standing next to him was a little more of a surprise, since it was Rinse. “What thing are you about to rope me into?” Was the first response he had to this sight.

“Funny story, but it turns out I was the one millionth customer down by the Eight-Eleven.” With that accolade, he pulled out the reward given to him. It was a set of four movie tickets to go see whatever he wanted in theaters.

“Let me guess, you asked Hattori to come with you, and want to ask me too?” He took a little bit of issue that this boy went to the idol first, instead of his best friend. On one hand, it was nice that he didn’t want to bother him first. At the same time, it would’ve been better if he never showed up in the first place.

“That’s the plan.”

“And what exactly is there to keep me from saying no to this oh-so-kind offer?” He could deal with watching a movie in the comfort of his own home. However theaters were not up his alley. There were to many people there, and sometimes it could be a real mess. So Ishi planned on simply rejecting the offer, though he understood what his friend was up to.

Let’s be real here, there was a popular idol who was friendly to him. However it would be too weird if they went alone since anyone would view that as a date. However, if a friend were to come along, then it wouldn’t be a big deal. Though Ishi certainly didn’t want to be some third wheel.

“Because I got this.” Otoya reached into his pocket and produced a strip of paper with words on it.

“You got a piece of paper?” Rinse looked at it puzzled on how this would convince this boy to do anything.

“Not just any piece of paper.” He bragged. “It’s an IOU.” Several months ago was this boy’s birthday. Ishi being the generous friend he was, didn’t have any gift ideas. So he gave him this scrap piece of paper that stated that he would do anything Otoya asked of him just once. No matter how much he might’ve hated it, or how ridiculous the request, this contract had to be fulfilled.

“That’s what I get for not getting you a real present.” Ishi sighed. As stupid as this sounded, if he made a promise, then it was going to be kept. Something like this was going to be saved for when it would benefit him the most. Well, a date with an idol certainly topped that list. That was probably preferable compared to what he thought this boy was going to request. It was most likely to be something stupid like making him dress up as a maid during their culture festival.

“Great, now we just need someone to take the fourth ticket.” He smiled with glee with his plan working out. “Do you have anyone that could come on short notice?” That boy really asked Ishi Hirose of all people if he had someone that would want to join them. What type of stupid question was that?

Either way, he did think about the possible options. He did have Chinae’s contact, but that girl didn’t like him, nor did he like her. So obviously she’d decline. There was an extra mental note to delete that contact when this break ended. He only kept hold of it just in case there was any last second need to tutor her, even if unlikely. That only left one viable option.

“I can try messaging Hanada.” He still had Youna’s number from when they were working on the field trip. They hadn’t talked since that day, and he did plan on deleting her contact but forgot about it until now. Good thing he didn’t since other than her, he didn’t have anyone’s contact information outside of family and Otoya.

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“You still have her number?” Rinse couldn’t believe what she was hearing. This boy really seemed to be fond of that girl. Not to mention that she was a little miffed that he never bothered to get her own contact. “If you’re fine with keeping people’s numbers, how come you never let me give you mine?” She had wanted to back when they were tutoring Chinae. It would’ve been a lot more useful instead of having him knock on her window with his own broom to call her.

“Two reasons. One, I don’t like you.” He responded while holding up a finger, then he held up two to make his second point. “And two, we literally live next to each other. If I did need you, I’ll just knock on your door or window.” Also if it was at school, he already sat next to her. Ishi shot off a message to Youna while they were discussing the finer points on whether he should be less reserved with giving out contact information.

“Don’t worry about Ishi. He’s just trying to give a logical explanation to something that’s completely emotional.”

“Am not. I’m just sayin-” He was interrupted with the vibration of his phone. “That was fast.” Fortunately for them, they didn’t have to wait long for a response as Youna texted him back that should would join them. “When exactly is this movie starting anyway?”

“In a couple of hours, so you both have some time to get ready.” Otoya also suggested grabbing a bite to eat before the showing. That way, they wouldn’t have to waste money on theater snacks that were well overpriced.

“Then we’ll meet Hanada over by the park and we’ll work out our plans from their.” Ishi took charge as he closed the door on the two of them so he could go change. This time was not about to be a repeat of him allowing Rinse inside.

“He’s not going to invite us in?” She complained as they sat down at the steps.

“That’s what he does.” Otoya had no qualms about it. Even he rarely got the chance to enter this boy’s home.

“Hope you didn’t need me mom.” Ishi called out while taking off his shirt. Going out to public was not on his plans for the day, so he had to rush a bit to get himself presentable to people. “I’m going out to watch a movie.”

“Eh?” She was caught off guard to hear him saying that. This boy very rarely left the home for things that weren’t errands. “All by yourself?”

“No, I’ll be going with Otoya, Hanada, and…” He sighed, knowing the reaction he was about to get when he said the last name. “Hattori.”

“You’re going to spend time with Rinse!?” His mom was overjoyed at the thought of it as she ran to give him a tight hug.” Ishi took issue with this personal invasion of his personal space as he was half naked. “You shouldn’t let this opportunity slip. You gotta show off those gentlemanly moves I made sure you knew about.” That basically meant the flirting that she explained to him would work on young ladies.

“Not going to happen.” He pushed her off of him to allow some breathing room. “I hope eventually you’ll understand that I’m not looking for something like that.” If he didn’t care for teens, why would he seek out teenage girls?

“Wait, did you also mention Hanada?” His mother racked her brain for her online group on which child that meant. “Oh, you mean Youna? The class rep?”

“Yeah…” He dreaded what she was going to say next given the tone of that question.

“She’s such a cutie.” She beamed. “Wait, two boys and two girls? This must be a double-date, isn’t it?” He facepalmed in disappointment. This suggestion sounded like something Otoya would come up with. It was just more painful to hear when it came from his own mom.

“I’m just hanging out with a friend and some acquaintances.” He responded. “Now can you leave so I can get changed?”

“Not without me you aren’t.” She closed the door to his room to separate them from the outside world. “If you’re going out with a couple of girls, you’ve got to dress to impress.”

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