EPISODE 18 - Character Development

May 12, 20XX

8:09 AM

I've been getting along fine with the protagonists thus far. I've been making considerable progress.

Kibe: But Slice-of-Life isn't usually meant to progress but only to make laugh, relate, and develop characters.

I can't have that. I need to force character progression. But how?

12:00 NN

*Bell rings*

Lunch break.

*All five of the protagonists go head outside*

*Hara sighs while walking in the hallway*

Hara: The cafeteria's kinda boring... I HAVE AN IDEA!

Arata: Let's hear it.

Hara: LET'S GO TO THE ROOFTOP!

Yoshida: BUT ISN'T THE ROOFTOP PROHIBITED TO BE ENTERED BY STUDENTS?

Ishimoto: Quiet.

*Kibe is walking while thinking in the hallway*

Hara: *whisper* That's exactly why. There are no people there so it's perfect.

Arata: But what if we get caught?

Hara: We won't.

Yoshida: Sounds sketchy. Let's do it.

Arata: Just make sure to take responsibility, Hara!

Hara: Don't worry, I won't.

*All five of them are on the rooftop*

What beautiful scenery.

Hara: LET'S EAT HERE!

Yoshida: But we haven't bought lunch yet.

Hara: Eh? I forgot.

Arata: Seriously? I brought my own lunch.

Kibe: I brought my own lunch this time too.

Ishimoto: I have mine...

Yoshida: Don't worry bro...

*Yoshida brings out a thumbs-up to Hara*

Yoshida: I'll come with you.

Hara: Bro...

*Hara lets out tears*

How overdramatic...

*Hara and Yoshida both go down the staircase*

*Kibe opens his lunch and begins eating*

*Yoshida turns around*

Yoshida: AND NO ONE DARE TOUCH THEIR MEALS! I'M LOOKING AT YOU TAKAYUKI KIBE!

Kibe: Eh? FINE! JUST BE FAST!

*Hara and Yoshida go back after 5 minutes*

Kibe: Where have you been? My food is getting cold.

Hara: We were only out for a few minutes...

Yoshida: THAT'S ENOUGH YAPPING! IT'S TIME TO EAT!

But I guess, this should be fine too...

Hara: I only got a yakisoba pan. Well. THANK YOU FOR THE MEAL!

*Hara chomps on his food*

I already got what I wanted, it should come naturally...

*Bell rings*

*Lunch break is over*

*All of them

This is good, isn't it?

*Hara, who is to the left Kibe, whispers to his ear*

Hara: So when are we going to start?

*Kibe is surprised*

Kibe: EH? Oh, it's just you. What do you mean?

Hara: Your promise.

Huh? What promise? Did I promise him anything?

Note: He did.

Kibe: Ah yes, the promise.

Hara: You remembered?

Kibe: Definitely.

Hara: So when do we begin?

Uhhh... WHAT DO I SAY?

Kibe: So ummm, regarding this promise, wh-

IS IT A PERSON? PLACE? THINK THINK! WHAT IS HIS PERSONALITY? WHAT DOES HE USUALLY ASK FOR?

Kibe: What are the details?

Hara: What do you mean? There are only 2 important details there that aren't even hard to remember.

JUST F*CKING TELL THE DETAILS!

Kibe: Ahh... Yes yes.

I should say something ambiguous.

Kibe: Ahhhh! THAT!

Hara: Wait, don't tell me you forgot?

SH*T! TOO AMBIGUOUS!

Kibe: No! OF COURSE, I DIDN'T!

WHAT SHOULD I DO? Wait. I think I remember.

Kibe: You asked me to delete the photos, right?

Hara: That was Yoshida's request. You forgot, didn't you?

Kibe: Eh.

I lost.

4:10 PM

*The five of them are outside*

Hara: You should've told me. It was just for you to hook me up with Harumi-chawn.

Ishimoto: Simp.

Hara: ISHIMOTO?!

Kibe: F*CK! YOU SHOULD'VE JUST TOLD ME!

*Ishimoto, Hara, Yoshida, and Arata all look at Kibe in shock*

OH NO! I GOT SO P*SSED AT HIM THAT I FORGOT I WAS IN THE SLICE-OF-LIFE ZONE.

Arata: Kibe...

Kibe: Y-Yes?

Arata: We prohibit any kind of cursing in this group.

Kibe: OH COME ON! NOT EVEN A LITTLE? I'M PRETTY SURE ALL OF YOU HAD AT LEAST SAID ONE IN YOUR LIFE!

Ishimoto: Nope.

Hara: Never.

Yoshida: Yes.

Arata: Eh?

Kibe: Figur- Wha?

Well, that was a surprise.

Arata: I'm very sorry, Kibe, but I have to punish you.

WHO GAVE YOU THE AUTHORITY?

Arata: I need to make sure this doesn't happen again.

Kibe: THIS IS RIDICULOUS!

Wait, is this... character development? I don't like where this is going, but I will be watching you from now on.

Note: And so he continued to stalk him for several days.

May 18, 2021

*Kibe is walking in the hallway*

Kibe: SH*T!

*Arata who is peeking out in the hallway comes out*

Arata: LANGUAGE!

Kibe: DUDE! STOP FOLLOWING ME LIKE A CREEP!

Arata: At first, I thought warning you would be enough to stop your cursing, but it seems your case is very bad. I'm gonna have to take greater action.

Kibe: Please don't.

Arata: Meet me at lunch.

Kibe: We almost meet at lunch...

12:00 NN

*The five of the Slice-of-Life Protagonists are on the rooftop*

*Arata brings Kibe to another corner on the rooftop*

Arata: Now begins our session. So you have a problem with stopping swearing?

Kibe: I don't have a problem and I'm not stopping your swearing.

Arata: GREAT! Now first what are the swear words you know?

Kibe: Are you sure you wanna know?

Arata: Yes, let it all out.

Kibe: Don't tell me I didn't warn you...

*He breathes*

Kibe: *Censored* *Censored* *Censored* *Censored* *Censored* *Censored* *Censored* *Censored* *Censored* *Censored* *Censored* *Censored* *Censored* *Censored* *Censored* *Censored* *Censored* *Censored* *Censored* *Censored* *Censored* *Censored* *Censored* *Censored* *Censored* *Censored* *Censored* *Censored* *Censored* *Censored* *Censored* *Censored* *Censored*

So, Author decided to censor it this time, eh?

Arata: Dude.

Kibe: Don't blame me.

Arata: How many sweet words do you know? We'll just keep this in check for later.

Kibe: Hmm, lemme see, I know fructose, galactose, maltose, sucrose, umm...

*Arata sighs*

Arata: Not that kind. I meant nice words.

Kibe: Hmm. B*tch?

Arata: You are a broken case. But worry not! I will fix you. Let's start with substitution.

Substitution?

Arata: Let's replace the most common curses you say with words near to their sound. List some down.

Kibe: It's f*ck, sh*t, b*tch, wh*re...

Arata: Alright, let's replace those words. First with the f-word.

Kibe: F*ck?

Arata: DON'T SAY IT OUT LOUD! DON'T ACT ALL INNOCENT! Alright, let's replace that with... FISH!

AHAHAHHAHAHA, FISH?

*Kibe laughs*

Kibe: AHAHAHHAHHA! OH GOODNESS! I CAN'T TAKE IT! FISH? AHAHAHHAHH!

Arata: You better do it or else I won't let you join our club anymore.

Kibe: Sheesh, you can't take a joke can't you? Besides, you gotta admit that was funny.

Arata: Replace the s-word with... SHEET!

Kibe: Doesn't that almost sound almost the same as sh-

Arata: DON'T YOU DARE SAY THAT VULGAR WORD IN FRONT OF MY FACE! It's only a substitute since you can't immediately remove it from your system, can you?

Well, I guess he is right.

Arata: Replace the b-word with beach and the w-word with, whole. Got it?

Kibe: PFT! Fine, fine. I'll try to.

*In the hallway*

Kibe: HELLO BEACHES!

*Students look at Kibe with disgusted eyes*

*A girl holding books passes by me*

Kibe: Nice. SHEET!

*Arata hops out from the corner from watching Kibe*

Arata: NOO! DUDE THIS IS NOT HOW YOU DO IT!

Kibe: I DON'T CARE!

Arata: Let's have a serious talk. Why do you swear? Just why? It's literally a BAD word. Why?

Kibe: You don't understand, don't you? Before this, before meeting any of you, this world always shunned me, and only me, and it enraged me, until now, I'm still angry, and swearing is a sort of release, now do you understand?

Arata: But, if releasing anger meant hurting someone else, then what's the point? Swearing is like an addiction and an infection, you start swearing, you feel good, so you do it again, and hurt more people in the process, you anger them, and they start doing it too. See? It's not a good thing at all.

Kibe: WHY SHOULD I CARE?

Arata: Kibe, maybe that was why you were shunned in the first place, in order to be cared for, you need to care about somebody.

Kibe: U-Hm.

He's right.

*He thinks for a while*

*There is a bit of awkward silence*

Kibe: I-I don't think I can argue with that. Thank you.

Arata: Any time. WAIT DID YOU SAY A NICE THING? YES! IT'S WORKING!

Maybe, saying nice things in a while isn't so bad...

END OF EPISODE 18