Macho Man Doesn't want a Slice-of-Life

Dinner didn't take long, and after cleaning up, Rinji was getting ready to leave.

Before he left, Kei asked if she could visit his place again before summer break ended. Rinji agreed immediately.

Since Miyuki had work at the bank the next day, he went to bed shortly after reading for a bit.

As for Kei, she sat alone in her room, resting her cheek in her palm, deep in thought.

…

Rinji returned to the front of his apartment and fished the key out of his pocket.

On his way back, he had video-called Karura and chatted for a while, which was why he was only arriving home in the middle of the night.

This was his first proper romantic relationship, and naturally, he wanted to be close to his girlfriend as much as possible. Even when they were far apart, phone calls kept them connected.

After spending several hours on the phone outside, he finally opened the door, feeling satisfied.

But the moment he opened the door, his brow furrowed.

Someone's been here.

The feeling was immediate.

He pushed the door wide open and turned on the light.

The pitch-black living room lit up—but there was no one inside. The only thing different from when he left was the massive watermelon sitting on the dining table.

Rinji walked over and looked at the watermelon, which was about twice the size of any you'd see in a store. A note was stuck to the top.

[Kid, I originally planned to visit you during summer break, but you weren't in Tokyo, so your mother and I went off traveling again.

This watermelon is a new product from the family farm—give it a try with your friends.

P.S. I heard you got a girlfriend. I saw her photo—she's very pretty (though still can't compare to your mother, of course).

Bring her back to meet us sometime.

– From your beloved old man."]

"…Dad came here?"

Rinji put the note down and looked at the watermelon.

Now that he thought about it, his dad had mentioned during New Year's that he was working on some "space station cultivation" thing. Looks like this was the result.

He chuckled, then picked up the watermelon and stuffed it into the fridge.

At that moment, he happened to notice the back of the note.

[By the way, I suddenly remembered—you never wished me a happy Father's Day before summer break,

so I took the liberty of treating one of your limited-edition K**a Rider SHF figures as your gift to me.

Thanks, kid~]

"!!!?"

Rinji froze. He immediately rushed to his room, flicked on the lights, and checked his shelves.

Sure enough, one of his figures was gone.

"…Forget it. At least I grabbed a few spares from Gandai. No big deal."

---

The Next Day

While working at the bank, Shirogane Miyuki scheduled a 4 PM meeting with the student council members for a thorough cleanup of the student council office before summer break ended.

Originally, the student council had planned to do a full cleanup on the tenth day of break. But because the new semester would bring heavy responsibilities, only one person could be spared to handle it in advance.

It was now morning, and both Takamine Rinji and Ishigami Yu had received the same message.

"So, cleanup is at 4 p.m.?"

"Yeah, that's the current plan..."

Rinji and Ishigami were in the same room, staring at a desk covered in worksheets.

"Let's just finish as much of the summer homework as we can."

"Yeah, I guess."

"Rinji, which subjects did you finish?"

"Math and classical literature. You?"

"Math and classical literature."

"..."

"..."

The two stared blankly at the mountain of homework, speechless.

Rinji's plan had been to get Ishigami over and copy each other's work—he'd give Ishigami his math and literature, and Ishigami would give him the other subjects. Then they'd split up the rest and copy from each other.

But now that both of them had only done the same subjects, the plan immediately fell apart.

"There are still four subjects left…"

"Yeah." Ishigami nodded. "I'll do one. You do the other three."

"Why am I doing three?"

"Because you have a girlfriend." Ishigami turned to him with a blank expression. "Congrats and all, but this is betrayal."

"No... I never said I wouldn't get a girlfriend..."

"Shut up! Where's the Takamine Rinji who once scorned every couple on campus, even using electric fans as an excuse to break them up?!"

"No matter how tearfully you say it, this is just personal growth for me."

Rinji spoke smugly, tossing his hair.

"When you're lucky, there's no stopping it. A girl confessing to me isn't something that happens often, you know? It's a sign of my charm."

"Fine, then you're doing all four subjects."

"Hey, doesn't that make your being here completely pointless?"

"How is it pointless? You write, I copy. Clear division of labor. Perfectly logical."

"In what world is this logical? I'm doing both my homework and yours."

"Isn't it normal for people with girlfriends to do more work? It's a happiness tax." Ishigami looked completely serious.

"..."

"Try to understand. Maybe you don't know yet, since you're new to Japan, but in Japanese culture, when a friend gets a girlfriend first, it's considered betrayal. So it's tradition for them to do the other's homework."

Rinji looked suspicious. "Huh? Why have I never heard of that?"

"I told you, it's a tradition. An unspoken rule." Ishigami continued to make things up. "Of course, if you don't want to do homework, dressing up in a bunny suit and dancing is also acceptable."

"Okay, I'll do the homework."

Rinji completely bought Ishigami's nonsense.

...

While Rinji was working on the assignments, Ishigami wasn't idle either. He was browsing forums on his phone, looking up recommended date spots and similar advice.

Of course, it wasn't for himself—it was for Rinji.

"Rinji, when your girlfriend comes to Tokyo, you can take her to places like Tokyo Tower, Roppongi, or Mount Takao... but if she already studies in Japan, those won't be that special. On holidays, take her to Harajuku or Shinjuku or something."

Though he called Rinji a traitor, Ishigami was honestly happy for him.

"Yeah, now that I've got a girlfriend, I should think about how to maintain the relationship."

Rinji set down his pen, thoughtful.

"Because... I don't really have any experience in this."

"Neither do I. Actually, I don't think anyone in the student council does. We'll just have to rely on whatever nonsense we find online."

"..."

Rinji suddenly realized—he might be the first person in the student council to be in a relationship.