Oogami was resting in his room, cooling off from losing his temper. He suddenly heard a noise at his window. He wondered what it was and went to check it out.
“AAA! YOU....!”
“The ocean is beautiful isn’t it, Oogami.” Kayama sighed happily, sitting on the ledge.
“We are no where near the ocean and what the heck are you doing there?!”
He smiled. “I heard about the incident downstairs and got worried. It isn’t like you at all.”
“Yeah well...”
“To get upset and say those things...”
“Hmp, what do you care?”
Kayama frowned. “Oogami, those words hurt me. I was only thinking for your own good. It’s going to be difficult to run an assault unit if your members are upset with you. Also, I think you should settle down and be happy. That’s all coming from a fellow like me trying to be your friend.”
“Ah, I’m sorry, Kayama, I didn’t mean to be so awful to you. I’m just frustrated....I can’t settle down and be happy with just one of the girls. I think of each of them in special ways.”
“Oogami, you have to decide on only one girl.”
“WHY?! Why do I have to do that?!”
“Because that’s how it’s done. You decide, build up a serious relationship, get married, etc.”
“M-married?!”
“Well...let’s not get to that so soon.”
Oogami was sitting out with him on the ledge. “But, it’s so difficult.”
“But, it’s not impossible.” Kayama pointed out, “I’ve decided on one person and she and I are very happy, even while working.”
“EH? Who’d be so stupid as to date you.”
“Oogami, that’s mean. Don’t say such things about my beloved.”
“Blech. I wonder who the idiotic woman is, who could put up with your singing about an invisible ocean....”
“Hey, she likes my singing. She lets me use the stage all the time!”
“Eh? Someone in the Teigeki?”
Kayama turned red. “N-no. Well, I better get going. I meant to stop by and see the ocean, er-hem, gotta go! Adios, Oogami!” he chimed nervously, sliding down a pole to the street.
Oogami looked down and watched him disappear. “Hm....I wonder....”
* * *
At that moment, there was a faint noise by his door. He ignored it at first, but it wouldn’t go away. Curious, he went up to the door and listened.
“What is it....? This noise...”
Just then, he realized that it was mumbling. Someone was at his door.
“W-who’s there?!”
He wondered if it was Iris and Reni again, playing pranks on him.
“IRIS, GO TO BED! RENI, YOU TOO!”
The noise continued. Oogami was really freaking out. He decided to go ahead and check out the situation. Opening the door there was a huge...THUD!
“S-Sumire-kun?!” Oogami gasped at the girl lying on the ground, “What are you....?!”
She just laid there, looking dazed for a moment, then broke out in drunken laughter. “Hohohohohohoho!!!!”
“S-Sumire-kun....” Oogami uttered, kneeling down to help her sit up, “Won’t you get a hold of yourself? This isn’t appropriate behavior for someone like you. Sober up, will you?”
“Shou’i....” she said with a smile, “You and I are alike.......”
“Eh?”
“We....we say what we don’t mean....”
“Sumire-kun....”
“Just downstairs...you didn’t mean those things, right? That was a joke, right? Because.... Shou’i.... you would never purposely hurt me like that.”
“It wasn’t on purpose. I didn’t mean to hurt anyone.”
“Shou’i....” Sumire uttered quietly.
“Y-yes?” he asked, leaning in.
“I-I think....I think I’m going to....be sick....”
With that, she threw up on him.
“AAAAAAAAA!” Oogami screamed.
* * *
After a bath and a change of clothes, Oogami finally got some rest. In the morning, Oogami woke up from another nightmare. This time, the only person who was with him was Yoneda. The two were sitting in an empty bar, while Yoneda was singing insanely into the night.
“I’m old and alone....with this drunken old man....NOOOOOO!”
After recovering, he went to Yoneda’s office, hoping to confide in him.
“Oogami, I’m fully aware of your problem.”
“Y-you are?!”
“Yes, one of the girls came to see me yesterday about it.”
“Really? Who was it?”
“I’m not allowed to say.”
Oogami saw that wasn’t going to get him away, so he said, “What should I do, Chief? They won’t even let me apologize. What if they won’t stop hating me....?”
“Oogami...they don’t hate you. They care about you. But....girls are very fickle, too. It won’t be long before they’ve moved on and found someone else.”
“Are you sure about this, Chief?”
He scratched his receding hair line. “Uh...well....my theory isn’t quite accurate. But, since each of their feelings are strong for you...they won’t keep away for long. Anyway, Oogami, why don’t you go help out in the business office today.”
“Ah! I see, Chief! You want me to get my mind off it by working.”
“Actually, Kasumi told me that they had a whole lot of work that they needed help with and begged me to ask you to help them. But, if you can get absorbed in work and forget about your worries for a little bit, that’s good.”
“Yes sir!” Oogami said happily and left.
Yoneda sighed, “Man...it’s too early in the morning for that....Honestly that guy....”
* * *
In the business office...
“Done! Hand over some more!”
Yuri came over with a stack full of papers. “Wow, Oogami-san, since when have you become so energetic about office work?”
He scratched the back of his head and laughed, “Oh, I just wanna help out that’s all.”
She leaned in and whispered, “Are you in such a good mood because of a rumor I heard?”
“Eh???”
She just dropped the big pile in front of him and smiled mischievously. Oogami chewed on the end of his pen, wondering what that was all about.
Just then, Tsubaki came in, lugging a stuffed bag. She could go no further than a few steps from the door. She finally let go and collapsed on top of it.
“I...can’t move...any....more....” she panted, “Oogami-san...could you....lend me a hand?”
“Of course Tsubaki-chan!” he said, walking over, “What is all of this, by the way?”
“It’s the stars of the Teigeki’s fan mail.”
“Fan mail?”
She nodded. “Yeah, the girls are very popular. They get lots of letters from their fans each week. The post master just dropped off this bundle today. It was such a hassle to drag here.”
“I see...so those are letters for the girls. Wow, it must be great to have so many people admire you.”
“Although, Oogami-san, you should know what that’s like.”
He blushed. “T-that’s not true!”
She let out a giggle then patted his arm. “Anyway, let’s get to sorting all of this.”
Yuri pointed at Tsubaki. “HEEEY! Oogami-san was helping me!”
“Well, he’s helped you all morning. It’s my turn.”
“Your turn? You think you can just come in here and take Oogami-san away?”
“Oogami-san can work with whom ever he wants to.”
Oogami got between them. “Girls, girls! Don’t fight! I’m in such a working mood today, so I am more than happy to assist both of you. Now, since I have been working for Yuri-kun for a long time now, I think I should switch off to Tsubaki-chan. Don’t worry, Yuri-kun, I’ll help you again later. Besides you wouldn’t want this big bundle here to block the door.”
“That’s true....”
“And you can tell me your new gossip while I’m working.”
“Oh, all right. But I’ve only got one rumor today and I can’t tell you.”
“Huh? Why not? What’s the big secret?”
“Sorry, Oogami-san. I can’t this time. You’ll find out later.”
“Oh, fine. Okay, let’s get to work!” Oogami said, bringing over the bag over to a desk, “Ug! This is heavy!”
He and Tsubaki sat down and opened up the sack. There were hundreds of envelopes and postcards.
“Let’s make piles for each of the girls.”
“Got it, Tsubaki-chan.”
They started sorting. It seemed that Sumire was getting the most, but as they moved on, they found that Orihime and Sakura had quite a good number, and surprisingly Reni had the most.
“Someone even sent a parcel of Osaka manjuu to Kanna.” Oogami said, “I’m sure she’s going to love them.”
‘This is a good thing....’ Oogami thought, ‘These letters will cheer up the girls and hopefully they’ll forget that they’re angry and forgive me....’
“Oogami-san....”
“Yes, Tsubaki-chan?”
She held out an envelope. “This letter...it’s for you.”
“Me?”
He took the envelope. It was addressed: To the Ticket-Boy of the Teigeki. There was no return address.
Kasumi looked over his shoulder. “I never thought that the ticket boy could also have fans. This is interesting.”
“Open it, Oogami-san!” Tsubaki cried.
“Yeah, I’m curious to see what she wrote!” Yuri cried.
“Now, girls. I’m working right now. I’ll look at it later.” he replied, putting it in his pocket.
“But, you’ll tell me the contents, right?” Yuri asked.
“Only if you tell me the big secret.” he replied.
“Big secret?” Tsubaki and Kasumi echoed.
“Uh, uh. Can’t! Sorry!” Yuri said.
Oogami, you must choose.
