He shuts up.

"You know, you're right, I shouldn't like you, because you're a fucking idiot. And that makes me a fucking idiot too because I already knew that and I still liked you."

"Man I don't know what the fuck happened to you but I liked it better when you were cocky and kind of assholish than, than—this."

Yutaka died. That's what happened. He died. That changes you, he thinks. Not that he'd really know, he thinks most people haven't died, probably.

"But you know one thing that doesn't change, Iwasaki? Your blind spots. You're a massive asshole and a fucking idiot and you have no idea why people like you anyway and that kind of makes you more likeable."

"...what?"

Sushi! Here's sushi.

Thank you very much he is going to dig in because he needs to eat some nice food to be able to deal with how angry this fucking idiot is making him.

...wow that's some violent eating, huh.

"Yutaka why do you think you were always surrounded by half the fucking school wherever you went?"

"...I mean, my father—"

"Yeah, see? A fucking idiot. You think it's your name? You think just being Iwasaki's kid gets you that? We're greedy, cutthroat motherfuckers but you can't get that out of just greed, Iwasaki!"

He blinks slowly.

Akira puts his temaki down, wipes his hands on a napkin, then grabs his phone and opens Instagram. "Stop me when I say a name you don't recognise. Sato Shin. Asa Yoshiaki. Nakajima Ayame. Takamoto Tomio. Imai Mari. Ishihara Kotone—"

"I don't know that one—"

"Trick question, I made that name up to see if you were paying attention. Kibe Aimi. Omori Hideki. Kawata Aoi. Sama Masaaki. Hideyoshi Sakura. Oyama Sumiko. Mino Akiko. ...seriously, you know who Mino Akiko is?"

"Yeah, she's friends with Oyama, she transferred over last year—"

He puts his phone down and groans. "That's what I'm saying, Iwasaki. You know everyone. You remember shit about everyone. Everyone's around you all the goddamn time because you make them feel special and important and liked, you make them feel like you like them!"

"The reason why I and every gay guy and half the straight girls at Nada have had a crush on you for years is because you're too nice. You play up your, your dumb charming arrogant persona, and you know everything about everyone and you buy the best gifts ever and you make everyone around you feel like they matter. And yeah you're rich as fuck and your dad owns Mitsubish UFJ and you're really hot but, God, that would not have been enough. Even the people who hate your guts and think you're a disgusting homo like you, Iwasaki.

"So, yeah. I've liked you since we were kids. You were my first crush."

"—hold on, didn't you date Fukuhara—"

"Both of us had crushes on you," he says, laughing a bit hysterically. "We actually got close over commiserating that you'd never like either of us back."

Wow even when he tried to prepare for it this conversation still went disastrously.

"And now you have a boyfriend and he must be literally the second coming of Christ or something because you could have had anyone at all in Nada, and instead you found some guy in Shimamoto and you're so gone on him you're talking nerdy after a week with him."