A Game for Adults 3

Nearly an hour later

Rinne: Wassuuuuup, Amagi Rinne-chan in da hooouse ♪

Sorry, sorry! I tried getting you on the phone, but, well—a little something-something came up, so I had to tie all that up...

Oh?

Hinata: Welcome~ ♪

May I have your name? And may I ask if you smoke? By law, we are unable to accommodate smoking, as it’s considered bothersome.

Huh?

Wassuuuuup, Rinne-senpai! I was wondering when you’d be back~ ♪

I was starting to get worried, y’know! I saw your name on the shift list for today, but then you never came by!

Rinne: ...Hina. What the hell’re you doing still working here?

Your darling brother is worried sick, all crying to us about getting his Aniki back. Gyahahaha ☆^[1]

Hinata: Ohh, yeah, I guess I should apologize. Oh no, you don’t mean that Yuuta-kun gave you guys any trouble, right ?

Hinata: Yuuta-kun’s crimes are my crimes, so I’m really sorry. I’m really, really sorry!

Rinne: Nah, his anger was justified. If I thought someone snatched up my brosef, I’d rally up soldiers from my hometown and crush the criminal flat ♪

Hinata: That’s a little extreme, I think. It sounds almost like the “radical and immoral” slogan is becoming more like Crazy:B’s thing.

Rinne: It works out good, right? Seems like UNDEAD’s been finding that rep to be more of a pain in the ass than anything.

Don’t want it? Then don’t hog it. They should let us take it off their hands, ya dig?

Anyway Hina, I told you before, but you don’t have to be so distant with me. We’ve got an age gap, but we’re both equals in society and at ES, got it?^[2]

Hinata: Sure, on paper. But thankies! When Yuuta-kun and I both act all polite, it’s hard to tell the difference between us. Gives us a bad rep ♪

Rinne: Eh, it’s only a “bad rep” ‘cause you think it is.

The world’s chock-full of losers who hurt people thinking they’ve given ‘em the highest praise. And they suck ‘cause they’re not even aware of it!

Anyway, I digress. So why are you still working here?

Yesterday I had you helping out because of the way things happened, but this isn’t the kinda work you popular guys would usually do, right?

Hinata: That! That’s what’s so depressing about it! We’re the ones who aaaalways said we wanted to make it big.

But I’m so sick of doing the same kind of work over and over again just ‘cause it sells well and it’s our “style!”

Ever since we were kids, we’ve been doing whatever it takes to make a living, from street performances to cleaning up trash.

We were happy and having fun doing what we wanted, when we wanted. Now it’s like they’ve taken away everything from us except one single toy—

If this is what growing up means, it really sucks!

I thought that once we started getting work, making money, and earning public approval, we’d have more freedom to act how we wanted.

Rinne: Gyahaha. That’s why they invented nightclubs and gambling and shit like that—for all those insignificant adults who’ve become just a cog in the great wheel of society.

There’s all sortsa “fun” to be had everywhere in the world if you just look.

Who’s the guy that decided all of that was immoral or insincere, anyway? Then turned up his nose and tossed it all in the trash?

Kind of a dumb joke, right? Like strangling yourself and then cry about it hurting, right?

Poor li’l ES idols. most of ‘em are still young enough that they wanna keep playing with their toys.

And here they are, forced into the workforce and told they just have to deal with it all like the grown-ups do.

Hinata: ......

Rinne: Hm? What’s up, Hina? You got something to say? Then say it—but fair warning, I might just have a rebuttal up my sleeve...

I’m not gonna play pretend with you; you wanna be an adult, I’m gonna treat you like one—like my equal ♪

Hinata: No, I was just thinking it’s kinda rare to hear this, and I guess I ended up staring. I hope it’s not rude to say, but I’ve never met anyone else quite like you, Rinne-senpai.

Rinne: No shit. A wild animal that stands out from the livestock majority has no choice but to turn itself into a clever little pet if it wants to survive.

You guys knew that by instinct and then through experience and conveniently domesticated yourselves for the grown-ups’ sakes.

That’s why the humans out there didn’t strike you dead, and why everyone brings you under their wings.

You’re just so easy for them, so cute and so useful, so they pat you on the heads and go “there, there.” Every last one of ‘em, seriously?

You never could find the same species as you outside your own home, am I right?

So you just found a safe spot to hide away in just to survive, doing tricks for random passersby for some kibble.

But look around you now—this here’s a nightclub, soaked in the sweet scent of booze. There’s all sortsa places like this.

There’s more of your kind out there than you think... Hina ♪

Hinata: ......

Rinne: So if you like it here, go ahead and get cozy. Stay as long as you need to feel better.

Just make sure you explain to your darling brother exactly what’s going on and how you feel, ‘kay? It’d be a real pain to get caught up in his weird tirades again.

At the end of the day, your most likely allies are gonna be your blood relatives...

So if you’re weak and hurtin’, at least increase your numbers and make a whole party out of it.

—That is, before the normal, upstanding humans eat you alive.

Hinata: ......