Day 15 Night- The Tent

I WOKE UP in the middle of the night and decided to clear my head

by taking a walk in the woods. I couldn't step into the cave, after all. The

girls would totally call the cops on me if they caught me creeping around at

night.

I chanced upon the meathead jocks.

"Oh, hey there," I said.

"Haruka!" one said. "We froze when we heard someone coming.

Who knows what's out here when it's this dark?"

"So, why were you trying to follow me? Oh wait, it's because you're

all idiots."

"Hey, shut your damn mouth! We're not idiots!"

Ugh. Loud, irritable, and rude!

"Guys, do you know how suspicious it looks to find you creeping

around, stalking a bunch of high school girls in the middle of the night?

Only idiots would get caught red-handed like that. Therefore, without a

doubt, you're idiots."

"We weren't stalking the girls! We're here for you!"

I shrugged in surprise. "Didn't know you guys swung that way."

"Whoa, we're not gay! We—we don't even like BL!"

Loud, irritable, rude, and with a mind in the gutter!

"Well, why exactly are you hiding from the girls?"

"Can't trust 'em."

"You can't trust them? You guys left the nerds to their fate and did

nothing when the other guys attacked the girls! Pretty inexcusable to bring

up trust, know what I mean?"

"You're right. I just…I just don't trust 'em."

The meatheads looked like they were struggling to express their

thoughts. Normally, idiots had no filter between brain and mouth, but it

looked like they were trying to think. I wish they'd just leave instead.

"What idiotic rationale could you possibly have to distrust them? Just

for the sake of pure idiot clarity, can you answer?"

"Pure idiot clarity? Bro, didn't you hear about how Katsuyama and

his friends used Puppetry and Mesmerize?"

"Yeah, I heard. The nerds told me."

The meathead knit his brows in thought. Wait, "in thought?" Since

when could those words describe this meathead? Did this world transform

him?

"We couldn't trust anyone after that."

"That makes no sense," I said. "The nerds and the other girls aren't

like those garbage delinquents."

"You still don't get it?!"

"I might just not be stupid enough to see what's so obvious to you.

I'm trying, though. If I can figure out what you guys are talking about, I

might be able to understand creatures as stupid as goblins. Actually, have

you tried talking with the goblins? You're on about the same intellectual

level, so you should get along just dandy."

"Shut the hell up! You're always such a dick!"

I was shocked. The jocks weren't totally witless after all. Could they

have a legitimate concern?

"You're worried about Hijack, right?" I asked.

"Yeah, bro! Everyone was making a huge fuss about Puppetry and

Mesmerize, but no one said nothing about Hijack! The Class Rep and the

nerds warned us that we should hide our skills. So, I was thinking—who's

got Hijack?"

"How stupid can you get? Even after all their advice, you still let

your guard down around me. What if I have Hijack? Too late for you to

hide now, isn't it?!"

"If you have it, then so be it. We won't tell anyone. So, do you?"

"No, but I do have Servitude. Doesn't that freak you guys out?"

If I wanted to control these jocks, Servitude was a way better choice

than Puppetry. Jocks were just another species of monster, like mean girls

or goblins, and Servitude's intended use was on monsters.

"That's definitely worse, bro!"

It seemed like they instinctively sensed the danger of that skill. I was

confident that jocks were some sort of goblin.

"Look, it doesn't matter," one of them said. "Whether it's Hijack,

Puppetry, Mesmerize, or Servitude, it's no big deal if you got those skills.

You're kind of an asshole, bro, but we trust you. We've got your back!"

The conversation was going on for a while, so I invited them into the

tent and gave them some food. Jeez, those guys could eat. I was happy to

get rid of some mushrooms.

"I have no idea why you think you can only trust me, but if you do,

then don't worry. Everything's fine."

They nodded. "Good."

"Is that all? You don't need any convincing? No explanations?"

"We never needed the coach to explain why he picked a certain play,

and we didn't get it even if he did. So yeah, we trust you, dude. No need to

explain things."

These guys were okay. Well, at least they thought I was okay, which

was enough for now. But they for sure had some screws loose.

"Thanks for the grub, bro! Anyway, we've got to head back to our

own camp now, and we'll let the others know you're fine. Can you do us a

solid and apologize to Oda's crew and the Class Rep for us? We'll listen to

whatever you guys say from now on."

They stuffed their backpacks full of mushrooms and left. Is this really

okay?