My phone buzzed again.
Robin's text:
"Bro come inside quick, mad thing dey happen."
I glanced at Aeris. "One sec, yeah?"
She tilted her head, curious. "Okay?"
---
Inside, before my hoodie even dried, Robin grabbed me:
"Guy, random dude just talk say Bleach no deserve Big Three. Say Demon Slayer go replace am."
Silence.
"He said WHAT?!"
My brain flipped a switch I didn't even know existed.
I lunged — teeth clenched, eyes dark, ready to strangle the nearest heretic.
Robin and Drake grabbed me. Sam locked my arm.
"Bro chill!!" Robin hissed.
" F**K NO!!" I barked. "HOW DARE HE?! UNCULTURED SWINE!! BLEACH WALKED SO DEMON SLAYER COULD EVEN EXIST! I'LL BREAK HIS MOUTH!"
The guy froze — eyes wide, backpack still dangling.
"Omo no vex na! Just my opinion!" he stammered.
"OPINION?!" I roared. "SAYING BLEACH NO DESERVE BIG THREE IS BLASPHEMY! YOU WAN DIE?!"
Tutor stopped mid-sentence.
Some babe at the back turned on her Snapchat camera.
Sam, struggling: "Robin, na you cause this shii! You know say Bleach na this guy's religion!"
Robin sweating bullets: "I swear I no know say e go vex am like this!"
Drake half-laughing: "Bro really about to catch a charge over Ichigo."
"YES! AND I'LL DO IT AGAIN!" I snapped.
The guy backed off, apologising like ten times.
Finally, chest still heaving, I let them pull me back.
"Tch. Clown no deserve my time."
Sam shook his head, breathless. "See wetin you cause."
Robin raised hands. "My bad my bad."
"I dey go back outside," I muttered, wiping sweat.
---
Outside again, breeze still cold.
Aeris blinked at me, her hoodie sleeves pulled to her palms.
"You okay? You look like you just fought a boss fight."
I let out a shaky laugh. "Close. Some random guy talking shii about Bleach."
"Like… the anime Bleach?"
"Yeah," I said, voice still sharp. "Guy said Demon Slayer should replace it in the Big Three."
Her jaw dropped a bit. "Who even says that?!"
"Exactly!" I breathed. "Uncultured nonsense."
She covered her mouth, shoulders shaking. "Wow… you really love it, huh?"
"Bro, it kept me sane during some rough nights," I confessed.
She nodded, smile soft. "Makes sense."
Silence — but the comfortable type.
---
Then she asked, grin playing on her lips:
"So… Genshin guy, umbrella boy… you get other nicknames?"
"Sadly yeah," I laughed. " 'That guy that talks to himself sometimes.' "
"Do you?" she teased.
"A bit. Especially when I'm coding."
"Wait, you code?" Her eyes lit up.
"Yeah," I nodded. "Mostly web stuff. Frontend, backend…shii."
"No way," she smiled wider. "I just started HTML and CSS last month."
Bro.
"For real? If you ever get stuck, I could— uh, maybe help."
Realised how that sounded like sum +18 step bro liner I remembered.
"I mean… if you want. Not trying to sound weird or anything."
She laughed, soft but real. "Nah, it's fine. Thanks. I might actually do that."
---
I cleared my throat. "Low-key tho, first time I'm seeing you. You don't chat on the GC or come for tutorials/classes."
She looked away, tapping her phone. "Missed a bunch of classes. GC felt noisy. Didn't know how to jump in, so I just stayed quiet."
"Fair enough" I nodded. "That place is madness sometimes."
"You too?" she laughed.
"Bro, I muted and archived them last week," I smirked.
---
She chuckled, then glanced back toward the hall.
"Looks like the tutorial's over," she said softly.
"Oh… true," I muttered.
She hesitated a bit, eyes still on the door.
"Umm… I wanna go back to my dorm. Want to wake up early for the test tomorrow," she said, then paused.
I squinted a bit, studying her face.
She had this small, calm smile that quietly said "the test isn't even worth my intelligence."
"You seem too relaxed for tomorrow," I teased.
She shrugged, that same confident grin.
Bro, the gap between us felt like WiFi with one bar.
She hesitated again, then said, voice almost shy:
"Would you… mind walking me? Since it's already late."
I replied almost immediately.
"Yeah sure, I would lov—"
I stopped, cleared my throat. "Uhm… I mean, yeah. I don't mind."
She nodded once, eyes gentle. "Okay… lemme grab my bag."
She walked inside.
From outside, I just raised a hand, signaling the boys: coming back soon.
Robin, Sam, and Drake nodded from afar...Drake mouthing something stupid I ignored.
She came back out, bag hanging from her shoulder.
She looked at me, small grin tugging at her lips.
"Let's go," she said.
And I followed.