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One tuna onigiri took little time to eat. Devouring two was neither challenging nor time-consuming, making breakfast a quick one.

Mayumi returned upstairs to change her clothes. Left to her devices, Eira decided to take a short break from playing with her Gameboy.

She dropped to the floor—

"One... Two..."

—and started doing pushups.

Blood rushed to her face and dyed it red. Each pushup set her arms and face on fire, but she gritted her teeth and continued.

"S... Sss... six...tee... een!"

With a final push, Eira lost all strength and slumped down.

Sixteen regular pushups were her limit. But she didn't stop there.

After getting on her knees, she continued doing more pushups.

"One... Two..."

Tremors ran rampant throughout her arms as the burning sensation grew more intense.

"Te... eeen!"

Sixteen regular pushups and ten knee pushups. That was Eira's limit, a far cry from her prime. Hell, it was lower than before she got hit by Truck-Sama!

"I'm... so... weak... it's... laughable..." 

Lying on the floor, she calmed her erratic breathing. It didn't take long for her labored breaths to calm. Then, she moved on to the next exercise.

"One... Two..."

Eira performed sit-ups. With both hands behind her head, she repeatedly abused her core muscles.

"Thirty-one... Thirty-two..."

Eira found sit-ups easier to do.

"Fifty... f... fii... veee...!" 

Fifty-five sit-ups. It was an impossible amount for the pre-wishes Eira, but she was now capable of it as a child.

Because Eira didn't know an easier variation of a regular sit-up, she moved on to squats. 

Once again, her grunts filled the living room, and sweat dripped down her face.

Eira thought that maybe, just maybe, at the cost of being bald, she could find unimaginable power this way.

Mayumi stumbled upon this scene.

"You haven't gotten changed yet?"

"Changed?"

Eira answered her without stopping her movements.

"Isn't this good enough?"

"..."

Eira currently wore a baggy Batman shirt and gray shorts that went past her knees. They could've passed for home clothes, but they were definitely not suitable for going out, especially when they were drenched with sweat.

"Meet me upstairs."

"Why?"

"You need to get changed." Mayumi paused before saying, "Never mind, you should shower first." 

"But I just showered."

"Then shower again until you're nice and clean. We can't have you going out and stinking everywhere."

'She's exaggerating...'

Eira didn't wash herself too seriously. She didn't sweat that much. 

After wrapping a towel around her body, Eira entered her room and was surprised to find her mother inside.

"Umm...?"

"Wear this."

Mayumi was holding a pink polka-dot dress with a clearly excited face. 

"I really don't want to."

"Whaaat?! But you really like this dress!"

Eira's face stiffened.

"I don't remember liking that... thing."

"Oh, but you did! When you saw this dress for the first time, you performed a dogeza and begged Kenzo and me to buy it."

'What the hell was Pico doing?!?!'

For the first time, Eira resented someone other than the Creator. Although not as much, the feeling was still there.

"I don't like my old clothes anymore, especially the super colorful ones."

Eira reached for her luggage filled with clothing. A hand, however, stopped her. When she turned to face Mayumi, she was met with a smile.

A beautiful, warm smile was directed at her.

But when she looked higher, Mayumi's green eyes were cold and still.

"Wear this."

"But—"

"Wear this."

"I don't—"

"Wear this."

"..."

Eira became silent. She glared at the woman before her, and the two engaged in a quiet war of nerves.

They were equal. Neither side surrendered to the other.

Or so it seemed.

'My daughter has become quite willful in the time she was away. Oh my gosh, she's growing up to be exactly like me~!'

Eira saw a minute change in Mayumi's expression. However, she didn't know what to make of it. All she could do was make her glare harsher.

"I'd like to compromise."

Mayumi spoke after regaining her cool.

"Compromise how?" asked Eira.

"I won't force you to wear a dress..."

"Really?!"

Seeing Eira shout happily almost made Mayumi agree to whatever attire her daughter wanted to wear.

Almost.

"...but I get to choose what you'll wear from the clothing in your luggage."

"Okay! Deal!"

Since it didn't sound like a bad proposition, Eira agreed immediately.

'Hehe... HEHEHEHAHAHAHAA!'

Unbeknownst to Eira, Mayumi was snickering internally. She turned away to hide the grin creeping up her face.

'My daughter... who hasn't let me dress her up in years... is finally... finally...!'

After spending thirty minutes trying on different clothes, the pair headed out with satisfied faces, with one more so than the other.

... 

With the sun finally gently shining down on the world, the temperature rose quickly despite it being morning.

'Maybe I should cut my hair.'

Feeling hot and itchy around her nape, Eira decided to visit a barber whenever she could. Her long, wavy hair didn't and couldn't bother her back then. She never felt the need to cut it short. 

Eira tied her hair back into a ponytail when a passing breeze sent hair into her eyes. 'How do women live with this torture...'

The trip to the arcade didn't take long. The mother-and-daughter pair traveled by train for three stops before continuing on foot. 

"We'll have thirty tokens."

"That'll be..."

While Mayumi bought the tokens, Eira's eyes wandered.

Rows of machines taller than Eira filled the establishment with colorful lights and retro game music. People of all ages, albeit mostly the younger generation, were mashing buttons as they concentrated on their game.

Seeing familiar arcade machines like Pac-Man, Tron, and Street Fighter 2 made Eira's heart dance with glee. These games were different from the games she already possessed. Her curiosity was a natural thing.

"Oooh~ Let's play air hockey! Mommy will show you how good she is."

"...okay."

But, since Eira was with Mayumi, she could only resist the urge... for now. It wouldn't be fair to be the only one playing games, especially when Mayumi bought the tokens.

Thirty tokens went down to twenty-nine. Eira knew she'd have more than enough chances to satisfy her gaming addiction, so a little detour was fine.

Besides, air hockey was still a game and a fun one to boot.

As soon as the five-minute timer started, Mayumi leisurely served the puck.

Eira immediately struck back.

*Chk!*

"Eh?"

Mayumi blinked. The puck was gone. Confused, she scanned the floor. Maybe it flew off the table.

While looking around, her gaze happened to fall on the score. 

"...1-0? When did that happen?"

"Just now," Eira replied.

Since Eira scored, the puck emerged on Mayumi's side of the table. It was her serve again.

Mayumi was still a little confused, but she decided to concentrate on the game first.

While gripping the air hockey paddle, she snapped her wrist.

The puck shot forward like a cannon. It loudly bounced against the borders as it neared Eira's goal.

'I'm behind by one point for some reason. It must be an error in the machine. I need to even out the scores for now...'

A familiar sound disrupted Mayumi's thoughts.

*Chk!*

'Hmm? Did I score? Eira didn't block it? That was easy.'

Mayumi checked the score.

"...hah?"

On the side, the score changed to 2-0, not 1-1. The timer showed that there were still four minutes and forty seconds left on the clock.

Eira wordlessly waited for Mayumi to serve the puck again. So long as she kept scoring, the puck would reappear on her opponent's side.

'Another error?' Mayumi thought. She believed the score should be even now since she thought she scored. 'But why is the puck on my side if it fell inside Eira's goal... whatever, it doesn't matter.'

Instead of wasting precious bonding time with her daughter by thinking too deeply, Mayumi served the puck. 

Eira hesitated for a moment. 

'Should I...?'

Her hand and underdeveloped muscles twitched with power. They were ready to deliver another killer blow.

But in the end, she decided to return the puck at a slow, relaxed pace.

...

Three games of air hockey later, Mayumi's phone rang. 

"I have to take this. Have fun~" 

Since the arcade was too noisy, Mayumi went to somewhere quieter.

Eira immediately went to where the Pac-Man arcade machine was. 

"Oh..."

A line of people waited for their turn. In fact, in the time that Mayumi and Eira were playing air hockey, more people had entered the arcade. It was unexpectedly popular.

'I'll have to wait to get a turn... no one's there?'

Eira noticed a machine with no one playing on it. It looked older compared to the other machines, as if neglected.

Seeing her chance, she waltzed up to it.

'Quantum?'

The name was unfamiliar, and the controls even more so. Instead of a joystick or buttons, a reflective orb was the only thing she could interact with. There were two buttons by the side, but they were for choosing one-player or two-player mode and not for gameplay.

After inserting a token, the machine showed her the controls.

[MOVE THE TRAKBALL]

"Is it talking about this orb?"

When Eira rolled the trackball, the pointer in the screen moved in the same direction. The pointer left behind a trail like a fast-moving snail.

"Interesting."

[TRY CAPTURING THIS ATOM]

A glowing yellow orb appeared on the screen. 

"Capture how, exactly?"

[TRY CAPTURING THIS ATOM]

"Hmmmmmmm..."

[TRY CAPTURING THIS ATOM]

The screen didn't change. Eira experimented for a bit and found that "capturing" meant encircling the atom and creating a loop with the trail the pointer left behind. Once Eira drew a circle with the pointer, the atom disappeared into points.

"The controls feel weird, but I've got this."

Eira started playing the actual game.

Slowly, the score on the corner of the screen started rising.

*****

Quantum was, for a lack of a better word, unpopular.

Many factors came into play. The game was simple yet demanding. The timing of its release coincided with more visually appealing, funner games. The gameplay was repetitive, and the level of difficulty exponentially grew.

Simply put, Quantum was challenging mechanics-wise and difficult to get addicted to. The sense of achievement you could get was much lower. Beating up a friend or NPC in Street Fighter 2 gave unprecedented ecstasy and a boost to one's ego. It was better to line up on one of the more popular games than waste your tokens on something you won't enjoy as much.

"Yo. Look at that girl."

"Woah, her hair's kinda weird. That is a girl and not a grandma, right?"

"No, dude, I meant look at where she's going."

When frequent arcade patrons saw a girl with white hair walk up to the Quantum machine, they expected her to leave after a few minutes.

A token granted a person three to five lives. For a person new to the game, those lives might as well be forfeit.

Capturing a heart atom gave the player an extra life. However, they only appeared in later levels.

"I'll bet five tokens she quits after five minutes."

"I'll bet the same amount of tokens... but after eight minutes. That's how long it took for me to quit."

For people waiting in line, watching others play was only natural. As such, discussions such as these were routine. Quantum may have been boring in their eyes, but the frustrated reactions of the players were a rare kind of delicacy.

A minute passed, and the little girl finally started the first level.

Beating the early levels took no effort. The atoms were slow and predictable, and no hostile atoms were present.

It wasn't a surprise that the girl beat them with ease. She was even spinning the trackball faster the more she played.

""...""

Maybe a little too fast.

Five minutes have passed, but she was already up to Level 30...?

The pointer threaded through the map like a fish in water. One second, six atoms were flying across the screen, and in the next, they turned into points.

Arcade machines were naturally loud, but the frequency at which the Quantum game machine made noise piqued the curiosity of everyone in the arcade. For an unpopular popular game rarely played, the sound of atoms getting captured and level completion was strange and exotic to everyone present.

Many eyes were now watching.

"...didn't she beat your high score?"

"What? High score? I wasn't even trying back then, and it was my first time playing Quantum."

"I'm pretty sure it's her first time too."

"No way that's the case!"

"Pfft! I was joking. More importantly, pay up five tokens. It's been more than eight minutes."

Amidst the sound of retro games, the clinking of coins switching hands and the clicking of tongues went unnoticed.

******

At some point, I didn't feel like playing anymore. The game became repetitive, with the only difference being that atoms and obstacles became faster and faster.

I managed to accumulate 14 extra lives. It felt like a shame to lose all of them in one level, so I played another 14 levels, losing one with each win.

[HIGH SCORE]

[DRAW INITIALS PLAYER 1]

"Cool."

I controlled the pointer to spell out a simple E.S.

[CIRCLE INITIALS PLAYER 1]

It sent me to another page afterward. I circled E.S. this time.

With that, I decided to look for something else to play.

"...?"

Unbeknownst to me, a line had formed behind me. I was too concentrated on playing Quantum to realize that a crowd appeared.

When I finished my turn, I stepped off to the side. The stares they sent my way were quite intense. 'Maybe I should dye my hair black and wear contact lenses from now on...'

Still, I was pretty happy. Loads of people lined up to play Quantum, so the lines for other games have shortened.

While waiting, it was my turn to watch other people play Quantum.

"..."

They kinda suck, huh.

******

At some point, Mayumi returned with Kenzo. He seemed super refreshed after sleeping in. With the three of us playing games—and by holding back my urge to show off—the remaining tokens quickly disappeared.

The visit to the hospital thus came next.

"Can you smell this, Eira? Can you tell me what it is?" The doctor asked. I felt a brush of air near the tip of my nose, but no scent came with it.

I shook my head.

"How about this one?"

I shook my head again.

"Then... wh-what about th-this o-one?" The doctor sounded like he was fighting the urge to throw up, kind of like he was gagging.

"Nope. I'm pretty sure I can't smell or taste anything."

"Yes, as you've demonstrated. You can take off the blindfold now."

Doctor Tonma did similar tests with me in the past, so I knew how it would end.

"How is it, doc?" Kenzo asked.

"It's a strange case. Eira seems to have developed congenital ageusia and anosmia, but those usually accompany a patient from birth."

"Meaning?"

"Eira suddenly lost her sense of taste and smell and can't get them back."

My mom and dad slumped to the ground. 

'Yep. Same as always. Stupid penalty.'

The doctor conducted more tests, but other than the abnormality with my senses, I was in tip-top shape.

"Amnesia? She has amnesia as well? Oh, how unlucky can a person get!" The doctor was taken aback. He looked at me with eyes full of pity. "Here, have some candy, Eira."

I couldn't taste anything, but candy was candy. 

"Woah."

My eyes widened when mini explosions danced around my mouth. The doctor must've given me pop rocks. I like it.

My parents learned practically nothing from this visit to the doctor, apart from the fact that they could do nothing, of course.

To cheer ourselves up, although it was mostly them, our next stops involved eating ice cream and watching a movie.

"Godzilla looks so goofy..."

"Did you say something, Eira?"

"Nope."

It sure is weird having to go from realistic CGI to bodysuits and practical effects. I didn't mean it like the latter is worse. I like seeing scale models of cities get blown up and trashed while Godzilla fights Destroyah, so I'm not complaining.

But most important of all... I don't need subtitles to watch the movie!

No words blocked the bottom half of the screen. No longer did I need to multitask by reading subtitles and watching the action at the same time.

I have achieved what many people could only dream about.

'I'm growing emotional just thinking about it. The silver lining in this situation...'

I didn't realize it before in Saiki's world since I was busy playing with my powers instead of watching anime, but hot damn! This feels good!

The rest of the movie was a blur. When it rolled to the credits, I was glad that I could also read all the kanji characters that appeared.

"Can we watch another movie?" I asked my parents.

"Which one?" They replied in unison.

"Any movie is fine."

Dad glanced at the wall decorated with movie posters. The rest of the movies seemed pretty adult. That must be why he wasn't saying anything.

"Hmm... oh, how about the Lion King? Dear, didn't you buy the VHS cassette for it? We can watch it at home," said Mayumi.

"Good thinking! If you want to go home to watch the movie, let's leave now, Eira.

'The Lion King? The Lion King?'

Surprised, I replied, "Okay. Let's go."

Imagine my astonishment as I watched one of Disney's classics on an old, blocky television. 

I couldn't take my eyes away. Everything remained as I remembered it. The characters, the plot, and the fact that Scar didn't just murder kid Simba after killing Mufasa were all the same.

Well, not everything. 

Hiragana, katakana, and kanji characters appeared and disappeared at the bottom of the screen. I wasn't paying much attention to them since I knew English, but they were Japanese translations of dialogue.

Yes. That's right.

Japanese subtitles. English original dub.

"Well, well, well... how the turns have tabled."

Truly, I was in another world.