EPISODE 49 – Slow Realization
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I arrive at school.

Right away, I spot Masaru and Madoka chatting near my seat. To greet them, I raise my hand.

“Yo.”

Madoka does the same in response. Before I chat, I put down my bag on my seat, then sit adjacent to it.

“Where the two idiots at? Not here yet?”

“Check the group chat,” Masaru instructs me.

I grab my phone out of pocket and open our group chat, as instructed. There I see a bunch of messages that were just sent a few minutes ago. From the looks of it, Katsuro sent a video, but the preview was too blurry to make a clear guess of what it was. So I press the video and it plays.

“AH! AH! AH! A DOG IS CHASING ME! HELLLLPPP! AHHHH-”

The video abruptly ends with the dog with a foaming mouth. Although, I couldn’t really make out any specific details because the footage was very erratic.

“Uhh… knowing he probably did something stupid,” I comment.

“Exactly,” Masaru comments, “Don’t worry about him.”

“There’s a saying called ‘Idiots don’t catch a cold,’” Madoka replies, “He’ll be fine!”

I don’t see how that saying comes into play. If he gets bitten, he’s coming down with rabies which is a lot worse than a cold.

To see what happened to the other buffoon, I scroll further and see that Takashi sent us a picture of a figurine. The background is shown to have other anime figurines.

Judging from the background, he must be at an anime figurine store.

My eyes squint and I reply to him.

“Oi, where are you.”

He replies instantly.

“Guess.”

Despite the location being unlikely, I go with my first thought.

“Akihabara.”

“Correct.”

“…”

Akihabara is… quite a distance from here.

I turn off my brain and my phone. There’s just no comprehending the species known as a ‘Slice-of-Life Protagonist’.

“You think they’ll be late?” I ask Masaru.

“Nope.”

“I’m so excited to see the figurine Takashi bought!” Madoka screams.

“What do you mean? He’ll actually bring the thing in school?!” I wonder.

“Of course!”

You say that as if it’s the most common thing in the world.

Surely enough, I see Takashi bring his figurine at school. To describe the features, it was a twin-tailed girl of short stature with blue hair. She had cat ears and wore a maid uniform.  He nonchalantly places it on top of his desk and admires it silently. He even has stars in his eyes.

Madoka rushes in to see the figurine in close detail.

“C-Can I touch it?”

“No.”

“Aww…”

I hear frantic steps from outside.

“Is that him?” I ask.

Before anyone answers my question, Katsuro barges in the classroom.

“A-AM I LATE?!”

His uniform was torn and dirty, he was bruised everywhere, and even his pants were torn.

“Nice underwear bro,” I call out to his protruding ass.

“Shut up! Let’s see you get bitten by a dog!” he yells at me.

“A dog would lick my face.”

“Put your ass here, I’m going to bite it.”

“No way. Do you expect me to willingly come to you?”

“Yeah, because you’re a man, aren’t you?”

“No, no, that bait won’t work on me. Want a piece of me? Come here.”

Masaru comes in to stop from the situation to escalate.

“You know how to push buttons, don’t you, Kibe?”

He clears his throat.

“Please don’t make a commotion! Don’t! It’s too early. If you all wanna mess around, do it at lunch.”

“Fine,” Katsuro grunts as he returns to his seat.

I just shrug it off.

The teacher arrives shortly after, so we all return to our respective seats. He starts discussing as soon as he drops his things. But I couldn’t sit still. It was a minor thing, but I just really wanted to get it out of the way.

Since Katsuro was the closest one to me and takes less hassle to deal with compared to asking from behind, I alert him.

“What? Gonna make fun of me again?”

“No, no. It’s just a small question. What date is it today?”

“Date? I don’t know. I don’t pay attention to dates.”

“Can you check your phone?”

“Why can’t you check your phone?”

“Just do it! Please!”

“I’m lazy… don’t want to do it.”

“GRAGHH!”

Useless! All he needs to do is check the dang phone!

I check my own phone and oddly, it doesn’t specify the exact day, only the month and year, so I go straight for the calendar.

The calendar specifies what date it is! The exact day is highlighted!

Though upon checking, it only shows the whole calendar for the month. But no day was highlighted.

“Wh-What?”

I scroll left and right, switching dates, but no matter how much I search, the specific date just isn’t shown.

“Does my system have problems?”

I check for updates, but it’s up to date.

“That’s… weird.”

I groan.

Great, that just increases my urge to know about the date even more.

So with that, I turn to my trusty friend/ex-nemesis, Madoka, who is in front of me. I repeatedly tap his shoulder to get his attention.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

He doesn’t respond.

No way, he’s actually paying attention to the lesson… Yeah, no chance, I know him.

None of us ever listen to discussions.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

He finally turns around looking slightly pissed.

“What?”

“What’s the date today?”

“Can’t you check your phone?”

Oh my goodness.

“My phone is glitching out. It won’t show the date.”

“Can’t you search the internet for the date today? Usually, it shows up.”

“Why can’t you just tell me what the date is?!”

Why the hell are they so evasive? It’s a freaking date! It’s not hard!

“I don’t know man.”

“Check. On. Your. Phone. PLEASE.”

“Fine, fine, why are you so hasty?”

He brings out his phone and unlocks it. Once he does, he shows me the date and time.

“It’s currently 8:15 AM, May 20XX. Here,” he shows it to me front.

“What’s the exact day?”

“Hell if I know!”

“DAMN IT.”

I’ve had enough of these people! I’ll search it up alright!

Searching up the date today yields me the same results. No exact day.

“What the… heck?”

Am I dreaming or what? This is unnatural… Is the author messing with me…

“I’m starting to think there’s something deeper going on…”

But despite that, I shake my head.

I must be overthinking. This has to be trolling. Deliberately hiding the day… funny joke, huh? Well, I’m not gonna fall for it. Time will eventually catch up and the days will show up once more.

My curiosity mostly dies out, but even so… some part me thinks.

Is this what Arisu was talking about? It can’t be, can it?

“Give it more time. If there’s something wrong, it’ll manifest itself.”

Be rational. Be calm. Nothing wrong is going on.

..

.

12:00 NN, Lunchtime

“Hey Kibe, wanna come with? We’re going to eat outside to get a good whiff of the fresh air,” Masaru invites me.

“Sorry, I have to do something again.”

“I see. Will you be coming home with us, at least?”

“Possibly not, sorry.”

“It’s fine. But if you ever have any problems, don’t hesitate to ask help, okay?”

“Got it. Enjoy yourselves.”

Masaru leaves with the others.

I peer upon Arisu’s seat.

“I was watching her earlier…”

She was there. Nothing odd happened to her. She didn’t disappear or anything.

I was wary because of the lack of interaction of other genres I had with people of other genres. I was worried they suddenly vanish into air as NPCs would.

She hasn’t returned though. Can I assume she went to the club room?

To be fair, she did look pretty stressed yesterday. I think that’s a fair assumption.

Yeah, I’ll pay her another visit. Just to confirm my suspicions.

Walking down the stairs, I waste no time and head for the Science Club Room.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

“Hello?”

I ask politely. I wouldn’t want to intrude if they were too busy.

A simple answer would satisfy me, then I can relieve myself of these suspicions.

Though, I wasn’t given an answer. Simply, I was left with no choice, but to enter forcefully. Inside, I see a hardworking Arisu, Toshiaki, and Yuu. They look tired, but not at like the state I’d seen them last time.

I focus primarily on Arisu. She seems to be doing fine.

Finally, she seems to be taking care of herself now.

To affirm my assumptions, I tap her shoulder. She doesn’t respond.

Immaculate focus.

“Arisu.”

I call out to her stubbornly. Continuously tapping at her shoulder. It takes longer than last time to take her attention, but she gives in.

“What? We’re really busy right now. If you don’t have any important business, then please leave,” she asks me.

“A rather cold remark. You seem to be taking care of yourself?”

“Taking care of myself? Have you seen the state I’m in?! I’m panicking! The research is about to be shambles!”

“Woah! Is the time project going way off the rails? Compared to last time?”

“Last time? What are you talking about?”

“I didn’t know you were forgetful, Arisu,” I chuckle.

Maybe I could take advantage of that weakness? Kufufufu~

“I do not what you mean. If you don’t have important business, leave. I need to monitor the timeline.”

She faces the computer once again.

“You told me about it remember? That the timeline is fluctuating and all that stuff?”

She stops dead in her tracks and looks at me with straight and menacing eyes.

“Uh, Arisu? That looks legitimately gives me the creeps. C-Could you cut it out?”

Stepping steadfast on her two feet, she grabs my collar, and puts her face in front of mine, with little to no space.

“A-ARISU?! WHAT GIVES?!”

I CAN SMELL HER SCENT! TOO CLOSE! TOO CLOSE!

I try to push her away, but her grip is surprisingly strong.

“Who told you?! Are you working for someone else?! Are you a spy?!”

“C-Calm down now! Let’s think rationally here!”

She stares at me intently and pushes me away.

“W-Woah,” I yelp.

“You’re an idiot. There’s no way an enemy organization assigns tasks to you.”

A bit hasty in declaring me an idiot, hm? Though, I would be considered an idiot relatively.

Turning her back against me, she goes to mix tea. She makes two cups and places them down next to her computer. Offering a cup, I gladly accept it.

“It’s chamomile tea. It relieves stress,” she tells me.

“Oh, thank you.”

I see that it was still pretty hot, so I take a few sips and here there. On the other hand, she drinks with no worry. Does she have a thick tongue or what?

After finishing her tea, she places the cup on the saucer.

“I think you drank a good amount.”

“Huh-”

It doesn’t take me long to catch up to what she meant.

“Oi. Don’t tell me seriously put in what I think you put in there.”

With that she makes a smug expression.

“YOU DAMNED VIXEN!”

I violently drop the tea cup on her table, spilling a bit on the sides.

“Answer my question. Are you working for anything shady? Any organization that is against us?”

“No. But if you want one, I’ll start a campaign, just for you.”

“Alright.”

She goes right past me and I glare at her angrily. The door is opened and she pushes me out.

“Wh-Wha?!”

The door is shut and I hear the lock.

“I hate that woman.”

I guess I won’t bother them for a while.

“I’ll go with visiting Senpai, this time.”

I haven’t seen her in a long while.

Walking through the hallways and up the stairs, I reach her classroom. There were a few students there, but she wasn’t present. Exploring the hallways, didn’t help much either.

Maybe the cafeteria?

But checking there, she was not present either.

Maybe outside?

But nothing there either.

“Hm…”

From there I encounter a familiar face.

“Hello there, Kibe!” she greets me.

“Ah, Ran.”

END OF EPISODE 49

 

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