4/24 SUN

Daytime

Dojima Residence

I don't have school today. What should I do…? Today's a nice, sunny day. I don't wanna stay inside for the whole day. Nanako told me that she'll be fine on her own, and apparently it's normal to leave kids alone like this in this country, so I guess she should be fine. I wanna go out and have some fun. But what should I even do? Should I call someone to ask them if they wanna hang out? Hmm…who should I call? I've already hung out with Yosuke-kun, Teddie and Chie-chan recently, so either Yuki-chan or Aika-chan, maybe? I mean, I did promise myself that I'd hang out with them more, didn't I? Decisions, decisions…

*Beep-beep*

I suddenly hear my phone ring, and I whip it out to see who's calling me. Huh. I was just thinking about her. Aika-chan's number appears on my phone screen, and I answer the call. I hope she's calling because she wants to hang out today.

"Hey!", I greet. "This is Yura!"

"…Hello.", I hear a voice coming from the other end of the call.

"Aika-chan? Hi! What's up?", I ask her.

"…Are you free today?"

YES! I knew it! She wants to hang out! Awesome!

"Yeah, I am!", I answer her. "Why, you wanna meet up and have some fun?"

"…Yes. I don't have to work today, so I thought it would be a good time."

"Great! Name the time and place, and I'll be right there!", I tell her excitedly. "Any time and place are fine with me!"

"…No need."

Huh? What? No need? No need for what?

"Just go anywhere and I'll find you in an hour. Is that okay?"

Huh? That makes no sense! She'd have to know where I am! What's she saying…?

"What? What are you talkin' about?", I ask her. "I mean, sure, an hour's fine, but how would you even know where I am?"

"Don't worry about it. I know where everyone is."

Umm…what? I'm about to ask her what she means, but before I can do that, she hangs up on me.

…What the heck just happened?

4/24 SUN

Daytime

South Shopping District

So, after Aika-chan hung up on me, I decided to do what she told me and wait for her somewhere. I'm standing in front of the bus stop in the shopping district, and I've been waiting here for a few minutes. Could she really find me? Did she really mean what she said? Can humans just…find someone and know where they are without any rhyme or reason like that? Nothing that I've seen so far indicates that's the case. Otherwise, every time somebody went missing or got kidnapped, they'd have been found instantly. Maybe she meant it as some kinda joke…? She's always calm and stoic, so I can never really tell when she's joking or not. Granted, I've known her for less than a month, but still. Should I try to give her another call? I-

"Hello."

ARGH! I just heard her voice coming from behind me! I quickly turn around, and she's just standing there! She just startled me outta nowhere. How…? I'm confused, I could've sworn there wasn't anybody here a few moments ago…or maybe she was there but I just didn't notice her somehow?

"Aika-chan! You…how? What?"

Seriously, I swear there was nothing behind me a second ago! Where'd she come from? And how'd she even know where to find me?

"Yura-chan. It's good to see you."

That's it? That's all she's got to say? No comment about how she was somehow able to find me right outta nowhere?

"W-What, but I don't even-I mean, yeah, it's good to see you too, but how'd you even know where to find me?"

"I already told you.", she says without a hit of humor or sarcasm. "I know where everyone is."

…Oooookaaaaaaaaaay…weird. Somehow, against all logic and common sense, I get a feeling that I shouldn't be questioning this at all.

"…Right, then.", I say while staring at her with a baffled expression. "Well, now that you're here…what did ya wanna do today?"

She gives me an odd look. "…I don't know. What do you like to do?"

Me? Well…I don't really have any proper hobbies yet, but I do like exploring and seeing new things. Maybe we can do some of that together today?

"Well, I usually like seein' new places and tryin' out new things.", I explain. "I'm pretty new to this town, so I ain't seen everythin' in it yet. What about you? Is there any place around here that ya haven't seen yet?"

Aika-chan takes a few seconds to think about what I asked her, then she gives me her answer.

"Well, I've lived in this town for a long time, and I make a lot of deliveries for my family's restaurant, so I know this town like the back of my hand."

Really? Guess that means she's seen pretty much everything, huh…? Wait. What about…Isn't there a city right next to Inaba? What's its name again…Hmm…

"But if you want, we can go to Okina City.", says Aika-chan. "Have you ever been there?"

Okina City! That's the name. I saw it when I looked at a map of the region, but I've never done research on it.

"Actually, no.", I answer her. "I haven't. Have you?"

"No.", she says. "Me neither. You wanna go discover it together?"

Exploring a new place that I've never been to before? Count me in!

"Sounds like a plan!", I declare. "I got enough money to get a ticket for the train. What about you?"

"We won't need to take the train.", she says. "I have an electric scooter bike I can use for things like this. It's not the same one as the one you saw me with the other night. I don't usually use it to go outside of town, but I guess I can use it for this. It can carry both of us, so we could use it to go to Okina."

Really? That's great! I guess that scooter bike I saw her with that other night was just for food delivery, huh? I guess the restaurant must own it or something.

"Okay! Now we're talkin'!", I say eagerly. "Just lead the way, Aika-chan!"

She smiles at me, and without a word, she motions me to follow her. So, we're gonna ride on a bike together? Huh…now that I'm thinking about it, this'll be my first time. I mean, sure, I've been in a car and a bus, but never a bike. I wonder how it'll feel?

4/24 SUN

Daytime

Somewhere in the road between Inaba and Okina city.

"WAAHOOOOOOOO!"

This is great! I can feel the wind on my face, and I can see everything around me pass by in a blur! It ain't quite like flyin', but it's still awesome! Too bad Japanese driving laws prevent us from going faster than this, though. We're riding the bike together on the road to Okina City. We had to consult a map to figure out how to get there, but we're on our way. Aika-chan insisted that we both wear helmets and that I should wrap my arms around her waist. If I didn't know that this was standard safety procedure when you're riding a bike with somebody, I'd swear she was just trying to be romantic.

"Yura-chan, I'm glad that you're enjoying this, but please don't scream when your head is right next to my ears."

Oops. I kinda didn't think this through, didn't I?

"Sorry!", I apologize to her. "It's just that…well…Like I said, I've never been on a bike before!"

"When you told that to me earlier when we were about to get on the bike, I couldn't tell if you were serious or not.", she says. "For me, it's hard to tell with people, because they're hard to read."

"Heh. Like you're one to talk."

We ride for a few more minutes, until we see the entrance to the city in front of us..

"There!", I say. "That must be the city! Let's go there and find a parking spot!"

We ride into the city. After a few minutes of scooter sightseeing, we decide to find a spot to park so we can walk around a bit. Come to think of it, this is the first time I've been out of Inaba since I first got off the train…

4/24 SUN

Daytime

Okina Station Front

After we stop to park Aika-chan's bike, we take in our surroundings. We're in front of the train station. I see a lot of people walking around everywhere. It's way more lively than Inaba, I'll give it at least that much. I see a store meant to sell clothing, a bookstore, a…I presume that's what the humans call a "movie theater", and many other places all around. Aika-chan is also looking at her surroundings. She's as stoic as ever, but I can see a spark of curiosity and wonder in her eyes. She wasn't kidding about this being her first time here too. There's so many places where we can go…which one should we go to first? I should ask her where she'd like to go to first.

"So, this is Okina City, eh? There's so many places to visit here…I don't think we'll have time to visit the whole city today, but we can at least see a few places! Where would ya like to go first, Aika-chan?"

For a moment, she looks a bit surprised by my question, then she starts thinking about her answer. She looks around the buildings, trying to decide where she wants to go. After a moment, she looks like she's made a decision.

"Well…how about this one?", she asks as she points towards…a building on the other side of the street where the movie theater is. We walk closer towards the building, and now that I can take a closer look, I can see that It looks like…a fast food restaurant of some kind? Hoo boy…I look at the big red sign above the doors, and it has big yellow letters that spell in all caps: "BIG BANG BURGER".

Big Bang Burger, eh? Hmm…odd. Why would she choose this place? I mean, from a business standpoint, placing a food joint close to a train station makes sense. There's gotta be lots of hungry travelers coming out of that train station every day, and they probably came back from a pretty long train ride. And because of how the restaurant is positioned, of the first things the people will see when they exit the station will be the restaurant. Kinda clever, actually.

"Big Bang Burger? Why do ya wanna visit this place?", I ask her. "Are ya hungry?"

"Well, yes.", she answers. "But it's mostly because I'm curious about it. I've never had fast food before, because my family doesn't like fast food and they always say that it's really bad for health. But I've always been curious about it. Haven't you?"

So, she's hungry and she's curious about what fast food tastes like? I'm gonna have to b.s. my way outta this one. I also gotta remember that basically everybody in the school minus Yosuke-kun believes my fake backstory, so, as far as Aika-chan knows, I've never had fast food before today either. I got enough money to get a small meal, and I can use my illusion powers to fool everybody around me like I do with the Dojimas.

"Yeah, sure, why not?", I shrug. "Let's do it. It'll be a new experience for both of us!"

That part ain't a lie. Even if I can't eat the food there, I've never been to a place like that before, so it'll still be a new experience for me all the same. Aika-chan gives me a soft smile.

"Then we can go grab a bite. Do you have enough yen to pay for your part?"

"Yeah, I do.", I answer her. "Hopefully, it'll be good. Have you ever heard of this place before?"

"Yes, but not much.", she tells me. "I've never been to one of those before, but I know that it's part of a big restaurant food chain that's everywhere in Japan. Which is quite a feat, considering it's only been around for a relatively short time."

A restaurant chain, huh? So, there's more than one of these.

"Is that right?", I ask her. "Who owns it? And how did they become so successful?"

"Well, I don't know much about how it got so big, but I know that it's ran by a multi-billion dollar company called "Okumura Foods", which is in turn owned by and named after the family of it's current C.E.O. Kunikazu Okumura. There's also rumors that they're planning to expand and open up more Big Bang Burger restaurants overseas in the future, starting with America."

"Okumura Foods", eh? Now that she mentions it…yep, my database has a few entries on them. I guess that company must be pretty big in Japan, if my creators decided to include that kind of info in there.

We exchange a look, we nod at each other, and we decide to open the doors to step inside the restaurant.

4/24 SUN

Daytime

Okina City Big Bang Burger.

I think I get why this place is called "Big Bang Burger". I know that some restaurants like to have themes, and this restaurant chain's theme is space. There's some space-themed decoration inside, and when I look at a screen board showing off the menu, I immediately see that almost all meals are named after something related to space. But why space? Hmm…well, who knows? Maybe this Okumura guy really likes space and sci-fi stuff? If that's the case, imagine the look on his face if he ever learned that a), androids are real, and b), one of 'em visited one of his restaurants…Still, sci-fi's a pretty nice theme, in my opinion…as long as it doesn't involve enslavement or experimenting on people against their will. Then again, considering who and what I am, maybe I'm a little biased.

"This place has a lot of space-themed stuff in it.", says Aika-chan. "It's a bit odd, but I don't mind."

I nod at her, and we go wait in one of the lines where people are giving their orders at the cashier.

We stand in line for a few minutes, and we discuss what we're going to order. I decided to order a simple, ordinary burger with a small side of fries. The simplest, most ordinary meal I could think of. Aika-chan wanted to do something called the "Big Bang Challenge". I dunno exactly what it means, but from what she told me, you need to eat a massive amount of food under a specific time limit. I've heard of some restaurants having eating challenges like that before (in fact, I think the Aya restaurant has a similar one too), but I've never seen someone actually try their luck at one before. This oughta be interesting.

We make our way to the front, we place our orders, and we go sit at a table. When Aika-chan placed hers, they gave her some weird looks and they even asked her if she was kidding, but they understood when they saw how stoic her face was. While we wait for our food to be served, I make some small talk with her at the table. I decide to ask her stuff about her life, her job, her hobbies, what she likes, etcetera.

"So, Aika-chan…I've been meaning to ask…when we met that other night and I helped you when your bike broke down, you were doin' your job, right? Well, I'm kinda curious: ya told me that you delivered food, but what else can you tell me about it?"

She gives me an odd look for a few seconds, then she starts telling me a bit more about her job.

"Well, like I said before, my family owns the restaurant, so that's how I got the job. It's true that I deliver food, but that's not all I do. Sometimes, I work directly at the restaurant as a waitress. And when I don't do either of those things, I help out in the kitchen by helping with the cooking or washing the dishes. I know it probably doesn't sound very interesting, but…"

"Oh, no!", I cut her off. "That ain't what I meant to imply. I just wanted to know more about it, 'cause everythin' makes me curious. I mean, with my past, can ya blame me?"

"No, I don't think I can.", she nods calmly. "I'd be curious about everything too, if I had spent most of my life sheltered and locked away from the outside world. Speaking of which, what about you? Do you have a part-time job?"

"Sort of.", I answer. "Yesterday, I went to the town bulletin board with Chie-chan to see if there were any interestin' job offers there, but even though I picked out a few good ones, I didn't have the chance to apply with them yet. Imma do it soon, though."

It's true. I need to get a part-time job soon, 'cause I'm starting to run low on money, and I'm gonna need a way to make money in the future…well, a way that doesn't involve constantly slaughtering monsters inside a TV (as fun as that would be).

"That's good.", she says. "After you graduate, you'll need to find a permanent job. Having some experience on your resume would help you a lot in finding one, regardless of what it is."

We see an employee come to us and place two water bottles on our table. Huh…so, this is a water bottle, eh? Interesting…I've never seen one up close like this before today. I take it in my hand, and I examine it. My systems are telling me that it's made of plastic, and that the water inside is treated for human consumption. Makes sense. But I wonder…how do you open them, exactly?

I see Aika-chan take her water bottle in her hand, and she grabs the top. She twists the cap, and the cap comes out. Huh…so that's how you open it. She takes a sip of water out of the bottle. I should cast an illusion to make everybody here think I'm doing the same. It'll look more natural. I'll even open it up for real, to make it more believable. I just need to grab the top and twist it in the right direction, yeah? I put my hand on the top, and I start twisting.

Wait…why won't it open? I keep twisting, but it's stuck. Maybe if I twist it a bit harder…

No luck. The bottle won't open. I twist even harder. Okay, what's going on? I got robot strength, so opening that damn bottle should be easy. Aika-chan gives me an odd look when she sees what I'm trying to do. I twist even harder, and-

*CRACK*

The water bottle suddenly bursts and rips itself in half! Water spills out everywhere on the table. There's also a lot of water spilling on both of us. Looks like being super strong ain't always a good thing after all…Oops. For a moment, neither of us say anything. We're just staring at each other with wide eyes, and I'm holding the torn halves of the bottle in my hand. A few people are also staring at us too.

"Oh, no! Sorry about that!", I apologize to Aika-chan. "I didn't mean to do that!"

I feel so embarrassed right now! I take a paper napkin and I start cleaning up my mess. Aika-chan regains her usually stoic expression.

"Wow…you're really strong.", she says. "I don't know many people who could do that."

"Oh, um…well, what can I say? I work out!", I reply as a weak excuse. I also try to smile confidently when I say that, but I'm pretty sure that I still looked really embarrassed. "Hehehe…again, sorry 'bout that."

"It's fine, don't worry about it.", she says while she takes another paper napkin to help me clean up the mess. "I've had worse."

After we finish cleaning up my mess, we go back to waiting for our orders to be ready. After a few minutes, a male employee comes with our meals and places them on the table. The employee greets us.

"Hello! Welcome to Big Bang Burger, open twenty-four hours a day, because there's no day or night in space! I've got one order for a regular burger with no add-ons or condiments, and a small side of fries."

"Yup! Right here!", I tell him. He smiles at me and gives me what I ordered.

"And I also got another order for the Big Bang Challenge!", he says while looking at Aika-chan. She nods at him, and he goes back to the main counter to fetch…wait…what the heck is that?

"Here's…your…hnnngh…order…miss!", the employee says as he comes back with a massive burger towards our table. And when I say massive, I mean MASSIVE. It looks really heavy too. The employee looks like he's having trouble carrying such a massive meal by himself. My eyes go wide and my jaw drops to the floor. That thing is gigantic! It's big enough to feed ten people! I'm honestly at a loss for words. A few other customers are staring in our direction, equally slack jawed by the sheer might of the giant burger. The employee sets the burger down on our table, right in front of Aika-chan, who amazingly looks unfazed by the monstrous meal in front of her. How the heck is she supposed to eat this by herself? Correct me if I'm wrong, but humans can't eat this much at once, can't they? Systems, analysis! Could Aika-chan eat this in one go?

[Unit assessment correct. Amount of food exceeds amount of sustenance that a human teenage female can consume at a time by a far margin. If subject "Aika Nakamura" attempts to consume this amount of nourishment, it will likely take her several meals in scattered periods of time to do this.]

Hoo, boy…Aika-chan, what did you get yourself into…?

"Behold, our store's behemoth burger!", the employee dramatically introduces. "A meal of leviathan proportions! The ultimate embodiment of the limitless nature of space! The Cosmic Tower Burger!"

The…the Cosmic Tower Burger? That's…That's insane!

"How…how much food do ya need to make one of these?", I ask in baffled curiosity.

"Why, an astronomical amount!", the employee "The volume, the flavor, the calories, the ingredients, the weight…every aspect of this burger is astronomical! It's not just a normal burger. It's the ultimate burger! A god burger!"

G…God burger? He…he ain't wrong. My systems tell me that there ain't nothing unnatural about the food, but my gut's telling me otherwise. Somehow, I can feel the sheer might and pressure emanating from the Cosmic Tower Burger. It's immense…it's like the burger itself is staring down at us and declaring: "I AM YOUR GOD. COME AT ME ALL AT ONCE IF YOU DARE."

How are we supposed to stand up to something like this? Somehow, just looking at it makes me feel like my stomach is too full…which should be impossible, because I DON'T HAVE A STOMACH. I turn my eyes away from the beast. What the hell is this thing? I've fought shadows inside the TV world, yet somehow, this thing makes me feel just as uncomfortable as they do! I feel really concerned for Aika-chan.

"Is this thing really safe to eat?", I ask the employee. "There ain't no way a normal person could eat all that in one go!"

"Hey, I only work here. I don't make the rules.", he shrugs. "Besides, that's kind of the whole point, isn't it? That's why it's a challenge. Plus, in all the years since the Cosmic Tower Burger was added to the menu, we've never had a single customer who could eat the whole thing in one go. Usually, people just give up halfway through."

"But what if she gets hurt from eating too much?", I ask him. "I mean, yeah, she's a strong gal, but still-"

"I'm finished.", I hear Aika-chan say while I'm talking to the employee.

"Hold on, Aika-chan, I'm-wait…What did you just…?"

The employee and I both slowly turn towards Aika-chan, and…and…the plate…the plate is…empty?

…What?

"I didn't want to interrupt your guys, so I started eating.", Aika-chan says while wiping her mouth with a napkin. "It was okay, I guess…Why are you two staring at me like that?"

The employee and I both stare at her like she just grew a second head. Systems, I…I ain't seeing things, aren't I?

[Sensors are working at peak efficiency. If subject "Aika Nakamura" has consumed the entire mass in less than a minute…ERROR. ANALYSIS FAILED. Analysis of subject "Aika Nakamura" suggests that she should not be able to consume this much sustenance in such a short time frame. Data input required. Subject "Aika Nakamura" defies modern human established data of anatomical science.]

…What the hell?

"You…you actually…what…?", the employee mumbles, just as baffled as I am by what Aika-chan just did. She…she actually did it. Somehow, she ate the whole thing in one sitting…despite the fact that what I know about human anatomy clearly dictates that she shouldn't have been able to to do that! And she even called it "okay". Just…just "okay". She doesn't even look or act different from before she ate the burger! She doesn't look sick or overstuffed at all! What even IS she?

"One more god rejected.", Aika-chan says. W…What…? She…she then looks at my un-eaten burger and fries, and sees that I haven't touched them. "Say, are you gonna eat that…?"

4/24 SUN

Afternoon

Okina Station Front

I know that's gonna sound rich coming from me, but Aika-chan ain't normal. I don't mean that in a bad way, but still. She ate the Cosmic Tower Burger in one sitting, not to mention in less than a minute, and somehow, she was still hungry after that, so she asked if she could eat my burger and fries! I decided to let her, since it means the food won't be wasted and I won't need to cast an illusion to make everybody think I ate it. After she finished eating her meal, we gave a tip to the employee (who still looked flabbergasted), and we left. We've been walking around the city for about half an hour, just seeing the sighs and taking it all in. Of course, we'll have to head back to Inaba soon, but still. I'm glad we came here, and I'm pretty sure Aika-chan feels the same way. Speaking of which, when she finished eating the burger, the employees congratulated her and they gave her a prize. It looked like a small pin badge, which they called the "Captain Badge". I dunno what it is, but it sounds important. Honestly, whatever it is, I'd say she's definitely earned it.

"So, where did ya wanna go next?", I ask Aika-chan. "There's still some places we haven't seen yet!"

"Well, about that…do you know what time it is?", she asks me. I look at my phone, and…oh, wow. Time flies, huh? It's already late afternoon. We should head back soon. By the time we make it back, it'll be supper time.

"Oh…Yeah, you're right.", I tell her. "I was hopin' we'd have more time…"

She gives me a soft smile. "It's okay. Don't worry about it. I had fun today. Didn't you?"

I return her smile with one of my own, and I nod at her. Yeah, we did, didn't we? Sure, we didn't do much, but we got to visit new places and discover some new things together. That's gotta count for something, right?

"I have to say, that giant burger challenge wasn't too bad…", she tells me. "But compared to the challenge we have back at our restaurant, it's not as challenging."

I make wide eyes at her when I hear that. Really? They got a challenge that's even worse than that giant burger we saw back there?

"If you'd like, I could show it to you, one day.", she offers.

"I…I'll think about it.", I say nervously. She's really something, ain't she?

"But in all seriousness…thank you."

What? What's she thanking me for? She's giving me an uncharacteristically friendly smile.

"Thank you for inviting me to hang out and coming with me today to this city. It means a lot to me."

"Aw, don't worry about it.", I tell her. "It's like when I helped you that other night when your scooter broke down. I was just doin' what came naturally."

I offer her a hand. She takes it, and we shake hands.

"…I knew I was right about you. I think we'll be good friends.", she says. Aw, Aika-chan…I feel like I understand you better now.

"Me too.", I tell her. "Now, should we head back home?"

She nods. "Yes. We should hang out again sometimes."

We smile at each other, and we make our way towards Aika-chan's bike so we can go back to Inaba.

The ride is even more exciting, because with the sun going down, everything looks so much prettier.

The sky looks beautiful when it's orange.

Strength Arcana: Rank up to level 2