Authors note: This first half of a chapter (and the second half, which I'll post next week) contains adventures in the real world. I've tried not to make all the characters seem like idiots, not knowing what some things are, but I've been trying to think in terms of what the characters would actually know, like Papika seems kinda wild, even though she got her memories back late-anime, knowing some things and being unfamiliar with others, and the amorphous kids, like... well, they were just created by cultists who wanted to take over the world. Toto and Yuyu could probably pass for regular kids, but still. I'm hoping I haven't accidentally made them too stupid or anything.
Yuyu
Stayed at the side while Hidaka worked. Worried. Wanted to help. Wasn't sure how. Yayaka left when Hidaka yelled. Wanted to follow. Say something. Try and help.
Can't help.
Useless. Defective...
Could only watch.
Hidaka worked quickly. Grabbing tools, switching them, investigating machine. 'Why don't you try and get on Hidaka's good side?' Machine. Can work the machine at least. Can help. Speak? No. Hidaka would get mad again. Just go. Went to machine. Monitored information. All seemed fine.
Time passed. Hidaka changed tools many times. Mumbled to himself. Eventually, "Now this is interesting... He's made entirely from amorphous..." he said. "You have blood, and bones, and muscle, but you don't need to get nutrition from outside sources to keep it all going... You don't regenerate though, or heal like a normal human would..."
"Machine required for healing," I said, "Asclepius made. Special power source." Fine with speaking now. Answering quesitons. More information given; more trust built. More chance to 'get on his good side'.
"A special power source... You mean amorphous?"
"No. Never found any. Not before Cocona and Papika."
"Then how were you two created from amorphous in the first place, if you guys supposedly never found any?" Sounded suspicious. Watching me carefully through glasses.
"Previous experiments. Mimi and Papikana. Also made from Mimi's blood. Me and Toto. Machine powered by it."
"How has the blood been preserved for that long? Normally you can keep it for over a month, years if you freeze it, but freezing blood isn't recommended..."
"Unknown." The truth. Hidaka looked uncertain. Thinks I'm lying, maybe. Gaze went to my bad arm, still in cast.
"Is that what happened to your arm? Did you get a bad batch of blood in your creation?"
"Possible. Unknown." Again, the truth. Irritation. "Always been defective." Hate that word. Hate my arm.
Hate.
"You have a gauntlet, don't you? You used it to carry your things from Asclepius over to Flip Flap. I take it when you're in Pure Illusion wearing that resolves your problem?"
Nod. Anger. Clenched fist. Useless otherwise.
"I might be able to fix that."
Surprise. Tension in hand gone. "How?"
He smiled. Glasses flashed, as he adjusted them. "In your own words, amorphous kid: 'request trade'..."
Yayaka
I left the medical room without even really thinking. Even as Buu lead me back to the main part of Flip Flap's base, I still couldn't think, or not much beyond everything that'd happened today... or at least since I woke up in the real world. Asclepius is gone, everyone who worked there is pretty much dead, I've joined Flip Flap... or I'm trying to, as there's nowhere else for me to go. Toto's kept an eye out for me all those times in Pure Illusion, and he helped me again earlier, by trying to get me a place here, and he's taken care of Yuyu and Nyunyu too, getting them to join as well... Then when we get here, me, Toto and Nyunyu all get sent to Pure Illusion, where Toto almost died...
To say the least, it's been the hell of an eventful day, and I was exhausted. If Toto hadn't required immediate medical attention, I would have probably gone to bed right then and there. Frag knows I've had enough of Pure Illusion for one lifetime. To have a break from all of this would be wonderful, and right now, I wanted to sleep more than anything else.
If I had the energy right now, I would have turned around and wandered through the tunnel back to my room at Asclepius' base, but the main Flip Flap building was far closer than that. It's such a big place here, they were bound to have a spare room or a few I could hang out in, but at the same time, I had no idea what Flip Flap's defense systems were. Maybe it's paranoia from my time at Asclepius, but I didn't wanna get caught out in some nightly robot patrol and have to run for my life. I doubted I'd really be in condition to get out of the way fast enough if that was the case. If I met Salt, or someone, and told them I'd be staying at the base overnight, then they'd tell any guard robots or whatever not to target me at least. Okay, Hidaka would probably be the guy to ask about that sort of thing really, but he doesn't seem to like me too much, and even then, Hidaka would take orders from Salt, so all I'd need to do would be to convince Salt really...
"Yayaka?"
I nearly jumped when I heard someone say my name. The voice didn't belong to Salt or Sayuri, and I was so lost in my thoughts, it took me longer than it should have to recognise it.
Although recognising the owner of it wasn't too hard when they crashed into me and almost crushed me in their arms, in a very enthusiastic hug, a trail of long, pink hair falling down her back.
"Yayaka! You're okay!" Papika's voice was filled with joy, as she rocked me gently in her arms. Well, gently beyond the fact it was a little hard to breathe. A few weeks ago, if she'd treated me like this, I would have shoved her away and would have probably shouted at her... but now? After all I'd been through today?
This was nice.
A lot nicer than I was used to. I sniffed and felt a wetness on my face, as a tear fell down my cheek.
"Yayaka?" Papika's happy voice became filled with concern, and she loosened her grip on me. It felt like she was about to pull away entirely. Don't go. I surprised myself, as much as her, when I ended up folding my arms around her in return, trying to keep her near me.
She let out a little squeak of confusion at the way I was acting, but Papika didn't stay like that for long. Her arms went around me again, as she held me, this time in a more careful grip. I felt like I should talk, explain what the heck was going on with me, and as I opened my mouth, Papika squeezed me a little tighter in her arms, and I felt a little twinge in the bond between us. I didn't need to tell her anything. She'll find out the reasons I was so upset later, for now, she knew I needed comfort. And she understood.
"It's okay, Yayaka. I'm here," she whispered.
I don't know how the hell I became quite so close with Papika in the short time I've actually spent interacting with her, but right now? I'm not complaining in the slightest. Somehow, she just sort of knew how I felt, and in her embrace, I felt safe.
When I calmed down enough to stop crying, Papika pulled away entirely, and I let her. She looked into my eyes, her bright, friendly blue as welcoming as a sunny sky, and gave me a gentle smile.
"Come on," she said, her voice soft. She took my hand, causing my face to flush (I don't have a crush on Papika, I swear. ...Or I don't think I do at least), and she lead me to a room just a little further from the spot we were standing in moments before. I could see blue light bouncing off walls and a number of computer terminals ahead, which suggested we weren't far from Flip Flap's main room.
But still, the place Papika lead me into was small. A single lightbulb illuminating the room, a little dim, it might need replacing soon, but it lit everything up just fine. Beyond a bed and a small table, there was only one item in the room: a photoframe containing a picture I couldn't see, due to the reflection of the light on the glass.
"This is my room at Flip Flap," Papika explained. "I don't stay here much, but you can use it tonight if you want. Don't worry about me, I have my own place."
I wanted to speak, to try and thank Papika, but I could still feel a bit of a lump in my throat from crying earlier.
"You don't need to say anything," She said, her smile getting a little warmer as she spoke. "It's dark outside now, and it looks like you've had a long day. Please, try and get some rest."
She squeezed my hand, before leaving me alone in the room. The place was a little cold without her presence.
Get some rest...That sounded like a good idea. I made my way over to the bed, and as I did so, I caught sight of the photo in the frame: a picture of Cocona and Papika, both smiling for the camera. They looked cute together, and I ended up smiling at it myself... until I caught sight of a red-eyed reflection of myself in the glass.
((Cocona should belong to you. Switch with me...))
I turned the photo down, so it faced the table, and tried to push that thought away. Cocona's chosen Papika. Not me... And after how Papika treated me today, it wasn't hard to see why Cocona had ended up falling for her. Papika was kind, and gentle, affectionate and caring...
And I was the one who lied to Cocona her whole life...
I know Papika letting me stay in her room at Flip Flap was meant to be an innocent gesture of kindness, but it also bought back feelings of jealousy and agitation.
Because she's chosen you...
Thankfully, it wasn't long until my exhaustion won out over any negative thoughts that were running around my brain, and the second my heavy limbs sank down into that bed, I was asleep.
I wouldn't be able to tell you how much time had passed between me falling asleep and waking up, but going by the ache in my limbs, I've probably slept through a whole day, maybe even two. Either way, it's been a fair while, and I wanted to check on Toto, and see if he was doing any better.
I forced myself up and out of bed, feeling a bit shaky, and turned the photo of Papika and Cocona back up, so it was standing, before I slowly made my way to Flip Flap's medical room. Thankfully it was pretty easy to find with the great huge series of holes in the walls pointing pretty much in that direction. I'd wondered before why Flip Flap hadn't fixed all of them after Yuyu punched them all down, but at the same time when I thought about it, maybe that worked out for the best. If someone got hurt again and there was an emergency, you wouldn't need to make your way through a labirynth just to get there, there was a nice easy path. Hell, it might even have saved Toto's life.
Getting there was easy, and I opened the door without knocking. Even if I had knocked, I wouldn't have gotten a reply. Hidaka was fast asleep, flopped backwards in one of the chairs in the room, and the only other people in the room wouldn't have welcomed me anyway. Or not spoken out loud at least. Nyunyu and Yuyu both turned to look upon hearing a noise come from the door. I was pleasantly surprised to see a second set of red eyes watching me as I stepped into the room, and a small smile pulled at Toto's mouth as he saw me. It was really good to see him without some kind of mask on his face.
Hidaka's asleep, and these three are all awake. This could be my chance to sneak them out, and show them the world they've missed out on.
"How're you doing?" I asked Toto.
His face fell neutral. "Alive. You saved me." before becoming a light smile again "Thanks"
My eyebrows raised in surprise. He... thanked me? That was the first time I've heard any of the amorphous kids say anything like that to me. You think by now I'd learn to stop being surprised by all the things these guys are capable of, but that one really threw me off. I still have a lot to learn about them.
"N-no problem" I stammered. I cleared my throat and spoke again, "Can you walk?"
Yuyu and Nyunyu had both turned to watch him, as if they wanted to know the answer to that too. I thought I saw a nervous twitch cross Toto's face, but before I could think about that too much, he moved so he was sitting on the edge of the bed, before standing up. He wobbled a little, unsteady for a second as he tried to get his balance, but soon seemed stable enough on his feet.
"Able to stand," he said, before tentatively taking a step forward, and another. It shouldn't have been so strange that he did that, as he ended up in pretty bad condition in Pure Illusion, but the fact I thought I saw him look nervous earlier raised suspicion in me. He looks like he's fine, but there still seems to be something up with him.
"Able to walk," he said, having managed to get from one end of the room to the other with no trouble beyond the first step. If there is something up with him I doubt it's physical. Yuyu seemed pretty eager to get moving when Toto's head wound opened up the last time we were here, I'm sure she would have picked up on it, if there was something like that bothering him. I'll keep an eye on him, just in case. In the mean time...
"Come with me, you three," I said, grinning, "We're going on an adventure, and not to Pure Illusion this time."
As I lead the twins and Nyunyu out of Flip Flap through the tunnels (or tried to, I probably took us on a bit of a magical mystery tour. I really should force myself to learn my way around here) I realised that my plan to take them to town and hang out had some flaws. First, like I said before, the fact I was meant to be taking them outside, and I had no idea where I was going. Second, I wasn't entirely sure what the hell I was going to do with them, or what they'd want to do.
Third, and probably the the biggest problem: even if we wanted to do things, none of us had any money. Well, Asclepius gave me a small allowence back when I was a part of their organisation, but most of that went on cream bread, and I hardly saved any of it. I doubt there was much we could do with only a few hundred yen...
I sighed as I walked. I got so caught up in my own idea, and I might not be able to show the twins all I'd want to show them. Damn it... Walking around all these tunnels was getting annoying. I need someone to show me out...
Thankfully, that problem was resolved pretty easilly, as it wasn't long until we encountered Papika and Cocona, the former dragging the latter around by her hand (they were down there because Papika wanted to check up on me and Toto, and Cocona got worried when she heard about the condition he was left in from that last world.)
My heart started beating like crazy when I saw that night-blue hair, and those shining brown eyes again. It might have only been a few days since I've been her last, but that didn't stop the sight of her being a very welcome one. She was also blushing a little, I'd guess being embarrased by Papika, still not quite used to the pink-haired girl's big shows of affection (or at least, beyond the one time I tried to escape the hospital with Cocona, or maybe when she was with her granmda when she was younger, Papika was the only person to grab her hand, which she probably did so, every chance she had). Either way, the light pink on her cheeks was also quite nice to see... How does she feel about seeing me again? Is she mad at me?
Although at the same time, seeing my two best friends together like that made me smile, it also tore me up a little inside. Cocona's made her choice. I need to accept it and move on. ((Switch with me...))
I began to feel uneasy, and wanted to turn around and walk back the way I came, not really wanting to face Cocona, feeling unable to trust myself around her with all my selfish thoughts. I held my arm out, signaling the amorphous kids to stop, and took a step forwards on my own. In reality, I was barely a foot further away from them, but it felt like it may as well have been a mile. I'm the only one that can apologise for my mistakes after all, they can't do it for me. My legs felt heavy as lead, as I shuffled one foot a little further forward and tried to look Cocona in the eyes.
Papika must've sensed something was going on, as she let go of Cocona's hand, and very gently, pushed her towards me. I opened my mouth to talk and I felt my voice catch in my throat. Wanting to look anywhere but at the person I've lied to, feeling ashamed of my past actions, I found myself looking at Papika, who gave me an encouraging smile.
I closed my eyes to compose myself, swallowed my nerves and was about to talk, when for the second time in recent memory, I found myself wrapped up in a caring hug.
Don't get me wrong, I was pretty happy at the fact she did that, but the only thought on my mind was: You're not mad at me? I wanted to ask her that out loud, but before I could:
"I'm just glad you're safe," Cocona's sweet voice whispered in my ear. I felt my face flush at that, and I was pretty sure Cocona could probably either feel or hear my heartbeat, as once again, it skyrocketed, being in such close contact to her. I was somewhere between wanting to push her away, embarrassed, and also just wanting to stay there in her arms forever. ((Switch with me...))
I grit my teeth, trying to keep any retort I had in my head, and pulled away from Cocona, not quite trusting my ability to keep that voice from making me act out. She seemed a bit confused, but I forced a small smile. It probably looks like I'm acting weird... I don't care. I need to keep control of myself.
"Is something wrong?" Cocona asked me, as if on cue.
"Nope, nothing's wrong," I said, hoping like hell I sounded convincing. It was then that I realised the solution to my problem was standing right in front of me. "But while you're here, can you help us out...?"
I felt guilty about asking Cocona if I could borrow money, so I could show the twins and Nyunyu what the world outside Asclepius and Pure Illusion was like, but she didn't mind and was okay with the idea. Heck, she and Papika decided to come along with us.
"It sounds like fun!" Papika said, eyes shining with excitement.
We managed to find our way out of Flip Flap through the office building, and stepped out into the sunlight. All six of us were wearing our school uniforms, as we didn't really have much else in the way of clothing, even Cocona who'd lived with her grandmother for all her life...
Actually, where does Cocona live now her 'grandmother' is dead? Probably with her father, Salt, now that she knows who he is, and I'd also guess he's the one who gave Cocona so much money. I was pretty shocked to see how any coins and notes she'd managed to stuff in her skirt pocket (okay, not really having a sense of money after being raised by cultists, I had no idea if it actually was a lot she had, but it looked like it to me.)
"So, where do you want to go?" Cocona asked. She'd ended up in the lead (being a fast walker), and turned to face the rest of us, who were just sorta in a group behind her.
"Go?" Yuyu asked.
I wondered for a second why she was asking that, but then I realised: I said I was gonna take them on an adventure to somewhere that wasn't Pure Illusion, but I never actually told them what I had planned.
Okay, I didn't really have too much of a plan myself, but still, I should at least reply, or tell them what I had in mind. I felt shy all of a sudden as I spoke, "Well... there's lots of places we could go," and turned to the amorphous kids, "Toto, Yuyu, are there any places here you've wanted to visit, but have never been able to see because of Asclepius? Or you, Nyunyu? Anything about this place you're curious about?"
I didn't get an answer for a while, and I was starting to feel awkward, cursing myself for having such a silly thought, that they've thought about this sort of thing before, when clearly they were just happy enough to sit in Asclepius' base and read or make robots all day... But it took me a while to notice, although the twins' facial expressions didn't change, there was a little spark of alertness in their eyes. Nyunyu just stared at me, but maybe she stood up a little straighter, as if she liked the idea. Despite that reaction though, none of them said anything. What do they want, suggestions?
"Like... I don't know..." damn, what the hell am I meant to say? "Any shops you've looked at, but never been inside?" have they even have a look at the shops around us? "or a café," Yayaka, they don't even eat... "or..."
I stopped talking when I noticed Yuyu turn her head and say 'there' before wandering off. Cocona and Papika were faster to react than I was and followed her, with Toto and Nyunyu and myself not far behind.
When we looked through the window, and saw all of the musical instruments on display, I immediately understood why. A variety of guitars, ukeleles, trumpets of many shapes and colours all sat on shelves, the arrangement I found a little appealing myself, even though I've never really taken an interest in music before. Yuyu put her hand on the glass, as she stared at a large white piano that was the centerpiece of the display.
"What's this?" Nyunyu asked, as she looked around, trying to take in everything around her.
"A music store. You can buy things here that you can make music with," I explained. Has she not seen the room at Asclepius with the double bass and the piano? Probably not... I don't think Asclepius would have made her with being able to play instruments in mind. Or not musical ones at least.
"Buy things..." Yuyu's monotone voice had a hint of longing in it, as she looked at the white piano. Her reflection lined up with it almost perfectly, her hand that was touching the glass could have been holding up the lid, and the one in the cast could have rested on the keys. That made me wince. A Yuyu in Pure Illusion told me that she wanted nothing more than to play the piano with her brother. As if she knew what I was just thinking, Yuyu took her good hand away from the glass, and muttered "defective..." to herself, and turned her back on the shop. Apparently the real Yuyu wanted nothing more than that very thing. I began to think this whole outing was a bad idea, and I wanted to say to the others that we should just head back to Flip Flap and forget this whole thing happened when Toto walked inside the shop and started talking to the owner. It was impossible to hear the conversation, but Toto's head tilted to the side, like it does sometimes when he asks a question, and I saw the shopkeeper smile, before the both of them turned to us, the shopkeeper beckoned us inside.
Papika got to the foor first, and held it open for Cocona, and then the rest of us followed inside.
"Toto, what-"
He cut me off before I could ask what he was doing. "Never heard me play. Want to show you." He sat down at the piano and...
I know pretty much nothing about music, but his fingers glided along the keys, efforlessly. playing a gentle melody that made me think of a wide open meadow. Much like how Cocona had a way with words, and easilly painted pictures in my head of all of the things that happened in her stories, Toto would press another key, and a new flower, or a butterfly would be added to that meadow, dancing in the colours of a warm sunset. The way he played, it sounded like he could create an entire world, with only sound.
I can see why Yuyu has such a fascination with music...
Much too soon, Toto stopped playing, bowed to the shop keeper and thanked him. Papika and Cocona were just as surprised at the sudden stop, they were standing there, leaning into each other contentedly, and all of a sudden snapped back to reality when it went quiet. I, on the otherhand, stood there open-mouthed, amazed at Toto's talent. Nyunyu didn't really show any signs of having enjoyed the music, but when we left she exclaimed "Toto-onii-sama! That was so cool!" And Yuyu smiled at him, although it was happy to start with, it became a wistful one, before fading entirely and her good hand rested on her damaged cast. The others were all making a fuss of Toto and praising his talent, leaving Yuyu standing a distance away, left out.
"We'll figure something out, Yuyu," I said, putting a hand on her shoulder, wanting to try and help. "You'll be able to play one day. I'm sure of it."
She turned to look at me, her red eyes emotionless, and replied with something that seemed like she believed what I said: "Problem will be resolved," before confusing the hell out of me adding, "Trade accepted."
Trade accepted?
"Hey! Yuyu, Yayaka! Hurry up!" Papika called, waving her arm so much she could probably have swatted clouds away if there were any close enough to the ground. Toto and Nyunyu were looking in the window of another shop.
"Come on," I said to Yuyu, leading her over to where the others were.
This time, it looked like a little art gallery, or at least there were a few paintings of various styles, (Impressionism, cubism, traditional Japanese painting, abstract, surrealism...) visible through the window. I had no idea who was the one who wanted to have a look, but I completely understood their curiousity.
"It looks like Pure Illusion..." I mumbled to myself.
"'Pure Illusion'...? Now that would be a good name for a piece." A mysterious voice said behind me. I whipped around, hand going to my rocket belt (although I didn't have it on me, it was just a habit), to see a girl a few inches taller than us, with long green hair, a few strands of which were trying to escape from the ponytail it'd been tied into.
"Senpai!" Cocona exclaimed. 'Senpai'? I looked the green-haired girl up and down again. Is this who Cocona was worried about, the one whose memories she saw? What was her name... Irodori?
"Friends of yours, Cocona?" Irodori asked, looking at all of us. Cocona introduced us all, I raised my hand in a little wave as my name was told, Toto and Yuyu nodded, while Nyunyu raised her hand high in the air.
"...And this is Papika-"
"I'm Cocona's girlfriend!" she exclaimed, wrapping her arms around Cocona's shoulders, and trying to nuzzle up to her. Cocona blushed, embarrased, and gently tried to push Papika away, but the gesture was only half-hearted, and there was a tiny smile playing on her face.
"Girlfriend, huh?" Irodori asked, teasing. "When's the wedding?"
Papika's head tilted to the side, like a confused dog, and repeated the word 'wedding' questioningly, as if she didn't know what it meant (if she did, she probably would have proudly announced the date and time, down to the exact second). Cocona however, seemed pretty embarrased. Her face went red and she looked down at the ground, probably wishing the ground would swallow her whole and save her from the question... But she didn't object, or throw out any shocked comments, and I felt she would have done if she was really against the idea. I've already kinda seen the two of them both in wedding dresses back in Pure Illusion, and if that's what they decided, I'd be happy for them... but another part of me wished that I was the one standing next to Cocona getting teased about when our wedding was going to be... That I was the one she was leaning against when Toto played the piano and shared that hidden world with us...
((Switch with me...))
"I was kidding," Irodori chuckled, amused by Cocona's embarrasment. "You guys look cute together though, and you're still welcome if you want to join the art club. All of you," she said, looking at each of us in turn. I was kinda surprised she extended the offer to the amorphous kids, who didn't even go to her school, but she seemed nice enough, and if Cocona liked her, she couldn't be a bad person.
She said goodbye shortly after, and left us all standing there outside the art shop. Toto and Yuyu watched her, intently, as if they were thinking about her offer to go to the art room one day. Well, if they want to go, they can now. Asclepius isn't there to hold any of us back any more.
It was then that I realised Nyunyu had gone and wandered off somewhere else.
"Hey, have any of you guys seen Nyunyu anywhere?"
Yuyu started looking the moment I finished speaking, and Papika wandered off a little, calling Nyunyu's name. Toto's left hand went up to the side of his head, as if he was going to click his eyepiece on and help us find her, but of course, it wasn't there, having exploded when we were in Pure Illusion last time. His hand twitched in the empty space where it should have been, before he too, began to look around. Cocona blinked, still flustered by Irodori's 'wedding' comment, and then, finally registering what I'd asked, and replied "I thought she was still here."
"Yeah, so did I, but apparently she's gone and wandered off," I said, with an edge to my voice. Where the crap did she go? There were more people than I would have liked around, as they made it harder to look for Nyunyu. I debated splitting up and searching for Nyunyu, but then realised we'd have no way of contacting each other. Despite that though, Cocona got out her phone.
"Can you guys use this to help somehow?" She asked Toto and Yuyu. They both blinked and looked down at her phone. Papika stared too, before she suddenly jumped up.
"That's right! I forgot!" Papika dug around in her skirt pockets, her tongue poking out her mouth a little, as she searched, before she took out a thin solid slab and handed it to me. "I picked it up back when we fought the bad Mimi! It's your's isn't it?"
I was a little bewildered when I found myself looking down at the cracked screen of my phone. Honestly, I was amazed the thing had made it out of Pure Illusion in one piece, I was pretty sure it would have shattered entirely when I threw it at one of the monsters Yamimi had summoned try make it let go of Cocona's leg. Apparently, it still had power too, as it blinked to life when I clicked the power button. When it loaded, it revealed a few unread texts from Cocona, and a number of missed calls from Toto, and one missed call from Yuyu. Missed calls? What the-
"Nyunyu! Where are you?!" Papika's voice broke into my thoughts, and I cursed myself for getting distracted. I shoved my phone into my skirt pocket. We have more important things to think about right now. I didn't really want to lose Nyunyu somewhere. Would she be able to find her way back to Flip Flap? Maybe, but we should probably find her. She pulled a gun on Hidaka when they first encountered each other, and not much time has passed between now and then, I don't really want her to go around threatening strangers or acting weird.
We continued our search, all five of us looking in different directions, trying to work out where the heck that kid had wandered off to. Cocona ended up being the one to spot her, her blue-silver hair tied up in bunches was poking over the top of a couple of people, who were standing around talking a few feet in front of a shop that seemed to have a sale on bug catching equipment. Various butterfly nets and insect cages were on display, along with a number of brightly coloured signs trying to entice people into taking a look. Apparently, they were working on Nyunyu.
"Nyunyu wants to catch bugs!" she exclaimed, before looking up at me with those large orange eyes. Her voice and face showed no signs of excitement or eagerness at all (I was starting to think Asclepius didn't bother giving her the ability to show emotions at all. Well, what'd be the point I guess, when you're made to collect amorphous?) but if she said she wanted to catch bugs, then I guess I'd just have to go along with it.
"You guys fine with bug hunting?" I asked. No one had any complaints, so we went in and bought some basic equipment, enough for Nyunyu at least. Papika thought the idea sounded like fun too, so Cocona bought a few things for her too. Papika nuzzled up to her in thanks before charging off, with Cocona racing after her.
"I'll call Yayaka's phone when we're done, so we can meet up later!" She shouted to us, before rushing after the wave of pink hair which was quickly making its way to the school grounds (probably to hunt for cicadas on the trees. There's enough of them around that area, they were bound to catch a few of them, as long as Papika didn't scare them off in her eagerness.)
I ended up staring after them and shaking my head in a 'what're you gonna do?' gesture, before I turned to the amorphous kids. Nyunyu's huge eyes shone a little as she held a net in each hand. Toto was holding a book about bugs, and Yuyu was carrying spare insect cages, a number of them were balanced carefully on her cast, while her other arm wrapped around them, making sure they wouldn't fall off.
"You guys ready?" I asked. Recieving a trio of simultaneous nods in response, we left the shop and...
I had no idea where to go. I stood around for a while, a little lost for a second, before deciding maybe Papika was onto something with the school grounds. If we ran into them, maybe we could have a bug catching contest...
We were around halfway there, when my stomach growled pretty loudly. I bent over, and put a hand over it, as if to try and quieten it, and suddenly realised that I probably haven't eaten in days. Toto turned to look at me, questioningly.
"I'm fine, Toto, just hungry," I said, although saying that, I suddenly felt a little weak, as if the realisation of how long it'd been since I last ate has only just hit me. I took a quick look around at our surroundings and realised I wasn't too far from a café I knew about. "You guys wait here, I'll be back in a bit."
I wandered along a couple of streets and found the place I was looking for. It was a little surreal to run into this place I'd seen in Pure Illusion before when I was seperated from Toto and Yuyu. Hell, everything looked exactly the same as I remembered it... Well, furniture-wise at least, highly polished tables on the inside, and when I entered, a bell rang above the door. There were a few people sitting in some of the seats, but none of them really paid attention to the girl in her school uniform that'd just entered.
Also, like I remembered, there were glass cabinets with cream bread on display, and it looked just as nice as it did back then too... I was a little dissapointed though, that when I got to the counter, that I wasn't looking at a wavy-haired Cocona wearing a frilly apron, and had a mischevous sparkle in her eyes (who I'd nicknamed Cocohi to avoid confusion). Instead, I was being served by a guy in his early 20's. He seemed pretty friendly though, and happily served me a couple of pieces of cream bread to go which I gladly accepted, and tried my hardest not to cram them in my face the instant the bag touched my hands. I would have bought a lot more if I had the money for it, but this was all I could afford, so I should try and make it last.
...Okay, I managed to make it outside the store at least before I ripped the bag open and began to dig in to one of the pieces at least. I met up with the amorphous kids again, before we headed off to the school grounds.
My cream bread didn't last long at all, much to my dissapointment, and I was still hungry, but I felt a little better having eaten something at least. Nyunyu seemed a little stuck as to what she was looking for exactly, like, what bugs lived where, so Toto got out the book and read through the information out loud (he'd probably read the page the instant he laid eyes on it, but read it out loud for Nyunyu's sake) and showed her the pictures. Like before, he put his left hand up to his head where his eyepiece would be, as if he wanted to scan the book and tell Nyunyu more than what was printed on the pages, but he wasn't able to do so. I wasn't sure, but I swear Toto's voice... fell, a bit as he spoke. I'm not really sure 'fell' is the right word, but it definitely changed tone slightly. Yuyu seemed to pick up on it too, looking at him when his voice changed, but she didn't say anything about it. I guess at least I'm not the only one picking up on this stuff...
After Nyunyu had learnt enough from Toto, she wandered off towards some of the trees. Toto tucked the book under his arm, and took a butterfy jar and an insect cage from Yuyu before following after her. Yuyu hung back a while, hesitant.
"Dislike insects..." she mumbled, so quietly I almost didn't hear her at all, but despite that, she still went to join the two of them. The comment caught me off guard for a moment. Beyond Yuyu's arm, I think that was the first time I've heard one of them saying they explictly didn't like something. And for Yuyu, it was insects. I guess that explained why she seemed so eager to destroy one of the monsters in Pop's world... Hopefully though, she won't do that to anything Nyunyu catches.
I caught up to them a little while later, and asked Yuyu if she wanted me to take some of the insect cages. The second the words were out of my mouth, she took her good arm away from the cages, so I could take some, and she nodded her thanks.
I wasn't really sure how long the bug hunt actually took, but we were probably out there for at least an hour. Nyunyu kept saying "There!" whenever she found one, and tried to wave around both her nets to catch one. Eventually, after no success, I took one of the nets from her. "Yuyu, can you take this, too?" I knew it might not have been too good an idea, as she could end up dropping all of them on the floor at some point, but I figured the fuller her free hand was, the less likely Nyunyu would ask her to help handle anything she caught. I don't know if Yuyu knew what I was thinking, or if she just sorta assumed it was an order from me, but she took it, and tucked it between the cages and her body, keeping it secure.
Removing one net from Nyunyu's hands didn't improve her bug catching skills too much, and her head tipped to the side. At first I thought, like the twins or Papika, it was a sign she was questioning something, but when Toto knelt down to talk to her, and with a tone of gentleness to his voice tried to explain information from the book about how to catch insects again, I realised that Nyunyu might have been upset, and Toto was trying to reassure her. I found myself smiling a little at the sight of it. Toto's trying to be a good big brother.
It wasn't too long before Nyunyu 'recovered', gave Toto a nod, and she returned to hunting insects, a lot more slowly this time. She eventually saw something on the side of a tree, and swung her net down quickly, to trap it. She called Toto over, and he hurriedly got an insect cage, open and ready, for Nyunyu to carry her first catch in. I came over, curious to see what she'd caught. It turned out to be nothing more than a regular brown cicada, nothing too exciting, but she'd manage to spot it, despite the fact it's colouration made it blend against the bark of the tree fantastically well, and I wouldn't have even known it was there unless it was buzzing (but then, they're kinda hard to miss when they're actually buzzing, being pretty loud.) She must have pretty good eyesight.
"Well done," Toto said, praising Nyunyu for her first successful catch. I joined in too, with a 'good job'. Yuyu just stared down, watching the cicada in the cage, the knuckles on her fist white.
"Can I keep it?" Nyunyu asked. Her face betrayed nothing, but there was a tiny hint of hope in her voice, the first time I'd ever really heard any emotion from her at all. She must really like it… I scratched the back of my head, nervous, pretty sure the people at Flip Flap wouldn't appreciate having an insect in their base, caged or not, and tried to work out the nicest way I could tell her that. Yuyu's eyes held a hint of horror at Nyunyu's question, clearly not a fan of the idea.
Toto however, was pretty calm about the situation and just said "We'll ask," which was probably a lot simpler/better than just flat out saying 'probably not' like I would have done, or squishing it like Yuyu looked like she wanted to do if she had her gauntlet available.
After Toto's response, Nyunyu had already run off again, trying to find something else to catch. I was about to follow her when I felt a buzzing from my skirt pocket, and saw Cocona's name flash on the screen. I instantly got a little nervous and my heartbeat quickened. When was the last time I spoke to Cocona on the phone? I hoped whatever she had to say, that the conversation didn't last too long, as I had no idea how the heck to handle this sort of thing.
"What do you want?" I asked, and immediately regretted doing so. It came out a lot harsher than I meant it to.
"Hey, Yayaka," came Cocona's sweet voice from the speakers. Thankfully, she was used to the way I spoke, and knew I didn't mean to come across as rude, so she continued speaking pretty normally, ignoring my outburst "Papika was getting hungry, and we figured it's around lunch time. Do you and the others want to come with us?"
I opened my mouth, about to tell her that it was dumb that she invited the amorphous kids along too, because they didn't need to eat, but I managed to bite back that response. She probably doesn't know that after all. "Hang on a second, I'll ask" I said, hoping that sounded a lot more normal. Well, even if she did know that, she'd probably still ask anyway, wanting to be polite and include them. I was about to yell across the school grounds, to invite Toto and Nyunyu, only to see them a short distance away, with Nyunyu intently stalking another bug, and Toto watching carefully. They seemed to be having fun, and I didn't want to interrupt that, especially since this could be the first chance either of them had to wander around like this. Yuyu however was standing next to me, still balancing all the bug hunting stuff on her arms. I have no idea if she heard Cocona talking at all, but she'd probably be pretty happy to get away from the whole bug hunt.
"Cocona and Papika are going somewhere for food, and invited me to join them. I know you guys don't need to eat, but you wanna come with?" I asked. Much like before, when I offered to take some of the bug hunting gear from her, her nod was almost instant. Her eyes hadn't changed in the slightest, but I if I could read her mind she probably would have been thinking 'yes, anything to get me away from here, please.' I put the phone back to my head and said "Yeah, I'll come along, thanks for asking. Yuyu said she wants to come too. Toto and Nyunyu are having fun and said they'll get something to eat later." I probably could have told her the truth right then and there, that the amorphous kids don't need to eat and Yuyu didn't like bugs and wanted to come with us to avoid that, but for some reason, I couldn't get myself to say that.
((So used to lying… So many lies…))
I almost threw my phone to the ground as hard as I could, as if the voice had come from there, and smashing it would silence it, but I stopped myself. Instead, I took a deep, slow breath, trying to calm down, and said I'd meet them at the thinking man statue on the school grounds, before shutting off my phone without a goodbye, and shoved it back in my pocket. I knew it I looked down at the screen, I'd be looking at my face with red eyes, and that would lead to a destroyed phone. I took a few more deep breaths to calm down, and try and ignore any more thoughts that were trying to sneak into my head. Yuyu watched me, her brow furrowed the slightest bit in confusion.
"I'm fine, Yuyu," I said, and tried to give her a smile I hoped hid my sudden anger. Before she could ask anything though, I approached Toto and Nyunyu, who were both trying to get another cicada into an insect cage.
"Me and Yuyu are gonna meet Cocona and Papika and get lunch." I said. Toto nodded accepting my words, but he turned to face Yuyu, and his head tilted, asking a silent question, to which Yuyu responded.
"No use here. Will accompany Yayaka." She said, trying to put all of the spare insect cages and the butterfly net on the ground. Toto seemed to accept this answer.
"See nyu later!" Nyunyu said, before turning her attention back to her newest catch. I gestured with my head for Yuyu to follow me, and we both headed to the designated meeting place.
For a second I thought Cocona and Papika were going to take us to the café I'd already been to, but instead Cocona took us somewhere else entirely, a diner that did a variety of food, including things like burgers, rice, fries, sushi, and like the café before, cream bread. It seemed like a pretty weird mix, but this place was pretty busy, so it has to taste good here, or is popular enough to remain open at least, so although strange, I guess I won't complain about it… not until I've tried the food for myself at least.
All of us (minus Yuyu) ended up going for the same thing: burger and fries. Cocona, because she's had them before here and they were good, Papika because it's what Cocona was having, and me, because although I was tempted to just buy out every piece of cream bread they had, I figured I should have a meal rather than a ton of sweets. I probably should have ordered more than just this, considering I haven't eaten properly for four or five days, but I didn't want to use up so much of Cocona's money (it was hers' after all), especially when she was being kind enough to help me out with wanting to show the amorphous kids some of the world they've missed out on.
I've seen a burger before, don't get me wrong, but still when I saw it sitting on the plate in front of me, it was… a little threatening to be honest. I mean, sure, I'm used to eating cream bread like there's no tomorrow, but this burger… it felt like a miniature tower compared to that. Packed with meat and lettuce and tomato… It was a little hard to take a bite because of its sheer size, but when I did, WOW. I've never tasted anything like it! (well, of course I wouldn't have basically living on cream bread, Asclepius rations, and the very few things I had when I stayed around Cocona's house for dinner) but still! The meat was warm and tender in the inside, a little crispy on the outside, the lettuce added a nice crunch, and the bun was soft and fluffy, a little dry, but the slices of tomato inside helped with that. Oh MAN, this was delicious! It was pretty difficult to restrain myself and not wolf the whole thing down in just a few bites. Papika seemed to be enjoying hers just as much (although she did wolf hers down in a couple of bites, I've seen her down riceballs at least ten times bigger than they should be, so that didn't surprise me in the slightest. Cocona however, seemed to be taking her time. She looked a little concerned for a second, and I wondered why, before she swallowed, and asked the question that must've been playing on her mind.
"Are you sure you don't want something, Yuyu? I'm happy to pay for it" she said. She seemed a little uneasy as she spoke, I guess maybe still trying to get used to the fact she was talking to a sister she'd only recently discovered she had, along with the rest of her family consisting of another younger sister and a brother, all of those siblings being made from what were basically magic gemstones, and discovering her parents are in fact alive, one of which is a man with all the friendliness of a potato, and the other is a woman with god-like powers and lives in another dimension...
Actually, yeah, I guess no wonder she was uneasy talking to her recently-discovered sister, as that means acknowledging the rest of a strangely huge family you didn't know you had until a few days ago. Learning all of that in such a short time, it's probably a miracle Cocona hasn't exploded.
"Not hungry" Yuyu said, her gaze turning away from the food, probably feeling awkward about having come along at all. She must really hate bugs…
It wasn't long before Papika had finished her fries, eventually just leaving me (almost all of mine were gone though) and Cocona, slowly eating her food, although she took breaks every now and then to get out a notepad and a pen and write something down. Beyond our table was quite a bit of noise, from various people talking about all sorts of things, and also there being background music on the speakers (which I wondered if Yuyu was listening to, and would have asked her about, but I was really curious about what Cocona was doing), and I decided to kill the silence in our part of the diner asking about it, "What's with the notepad?"
Cocona was finishing writing something down, and didn't reply. I was pretty sure she wasn't ignoring me at least, I've seen Cocona get pretty absorbed in school work and reading before, it was probably just that, so Papika was the one who answered for me, "Cocona's decided she wants to be an author and write books!" she said, proudly. Apparently Cocona was listening to the conversation, as suddenly became embarrassed, her cheeks went a little pink, and she tried to take shelter behind the notepad.
I knew what I was about to say would probably just fluster her more (not gonna lie, I was partly speaking to do that anyway, because she looked cute when she was so shy), but I said it anyway, because "That's great, Cocona! It's perfect for you!" and I sincerely believed that.
"Th-Thank you" she mumbled from behind her notebook, her voice quiet, when she finally stopped writing. A tiny smile formed on her face as she continued to speak, "I was inspired by you, Yayaka."
My heart skipped a beat. I… inspired her?
She continued to talk, "Because of all the stories I told you when we were kids, and all the games we played… We always had so much fun together, and when I told Papika about them, she said they were really good, and that I should share them with the world."
It stung a little to hear that the stories Cocona had told me one day, she'd told to Papika too… That they weren't just things that only the two of us shared, and that I wasn't the only inspiration behind her wanting to write stories... ((I can change that… Just switch with me…)) Okay, it did more than just sting, it hit me kinda bad to hear that. I want to be special to you… I grabbed a stray fry from the table and shoved it in my mouth, trying to give my teeth something to work on, so I could try and get this growing negative feeling out of my system a little (probably looked a little weird, but oh well). However, despite my hurt, I managed a genuine smile when I said, "you should, Papika's right about that." I just wish I'd been the one to give you the idea…
I picked at the remains of my fries a lot more slowly after that, and eventually, me and Cocona had finished eating at the same time, and asked if any of us wanted desert. Yuyu denied the offer, and I said I'd think about it, where Papika and Cocona both got up to have a look and see what was available. I couldn't help but feel a pang of jealousy as I watched the two of them walk off. They weren't holding hands, or giving each other any form of physical contact otherwise, but… they just kinda gave of this air of 'closeness' about them. A closeness with each other I can never have…
"What do you think of those two together?" The question just sort of burst from my mouth. I don't even know why, the only other person here was Yuyu, and I doubted she'd really give me an answer. I was about to speak again, to talk out loud, maybe try and get Yuyu to forget I'd spoken at all, when I actually got a reply from her:
"Adorable."
I turned to her, my purple eyes meeting her red, completely stunned. I was kinda thankful she threw me off so much that it kicked me out of my negative mood, but all I could think is what the hell is up with you? Even the way she was looking at me right now seemed… unusual for Yuyu. I don't know what the hell it was, but"You've been acting really weird lately…"
Yuyu blinked and looked away from me. …I said that out loud, didn't I? Crap…
"Sorry, I didn't mean—"
"Yayaka," Papika interrupted my apology, coming back over to the table "Cocona wants help with desert, she doesn't know what to choose"
"Oh for—" I almost cursed out loud, annoyed at Papika's sudden presence, and at myself for saying something that might have upset Yuyu. I took a second before replying "What the hell does she want my help with?"
"She wants cream bread, but wasn't sure what flavour to try. She wanted me to get you, so you could help her pick, because you know a lot" Papika said, with a nod at that last part, as if that was set in stone and could never be changed. Well… maybe she wouldn't be wrong about that. I'm probably the right person to ask about cream bread…
Man, I'm in a really weird mood today… But if Cocona's looking at cream bread, I may as well help her. She said she was fine with paying for food, I can probably get some myself. Maybe it'll help me feel better.
"…fine. I'll be back soon, Yuyu," I wasn't quite sure why I was telling Yuyu I'd be back; I got the feeling I came across a little menacing. I need to apologise to her later. I'm probably acting just as weird as she is...
I got to Cocona who was standing there, looking at all the deserts on display. "You're having trouble deciding?" I asked, as I took up the space next to her. She looked up at me, confused for a second, before nodding and turning her attention back to all the available sweets.
"They just all look so nice..." She said, "I'd be tempted for some of all of them. I think cream bread would be best, but I'm not sure which flavour to pick."
I found myself smirking, amused. I'd say I could understand how she felt, but I'd be happy with pretty much any cream bread on the planet. Although she was becoming more confident in her descisions, enough to choose what to do with her life, something as simple as what to have for desert was still a difficult descision for her to make. "Why not just get one of each? You can probably afford it."
"I thought about that, but I don't know what everyone's going to want to do. I'd rather choose one, that way I can save my money so everyone can have fun today."
That comment of hers turned my amused smirk into a genuine smile. Her consideration of others and her kindness were just one of the things I loved about her. A part of me wished she'd look at me as she said that, so I could lose myself in those warm brown eyes, but if she did... ((Switch with me, and she can be yours...)) I wasn't sure I could say no to that offer...
She can't be mine. She's chosen Papika, and I need to respect that.
My smile died on my lips, and I forced myself to think about food and help Cocona with this descision. How to narrow it down... "Well, if you're thinking about trying some of the other deserts too, then they have to appeal to you for all different reasons, right? Are there any flavours there that stick out to you?"
Cocona thought about it for a while, her eyes flicking between fewer and fewer sweets each time, before she eventually stopped altogether and asked for a few pieces of almond cream bread.
"Some for all of us" she said, with a smile.
We returned with enough for one each, but when we did, I practically ended up eating mine whole (What? It was delicious). Yuyu passed her plate over to me with a quiet 'not hungry' and I polished that off pretty quickly too. I don't know if Papika could pick up on something or if she'd spoken to Yuyu while me and Cocona were looking at desert (I'd noticed she grinned when Yuyu passed me her food), and she ended up giving me about half of her cream bread too, which I ate more slowly, starting to feel pretty full. Cocona was about a third through her piece, before she passed me hers as well.
That was then that it hit me, "You chose cream bread on purpose."
"Papika said it looked like you hadn't eaten in a while, and when I saw you myself... I was worried." Cocona said, as she stared down at the table, getting embarrased "You ate your burger so quickly, I..."
I couldn't quite focus on her voice after that. She did this for me. Even now, after all this time, ((After all your lies...)) I still found it hard to believe just how much she cared about me. Oh Cocona... "You softie," how could I not fall for you? I took the last of her cream bread and ate it.
We sat there for a little while after, letting the food settle down in our stomachs, before we left.
I realised as we left the diner that we didn't really say where the heck we were gonna meet up with Toto and Nyunyu when we were done. That was kinda dumb of me... I just sorta assumed we'd just find them back at the school because they both seemed to engrossed in their bug hunt, but when we got to the school grounds, neither of them were there. The four of us split up to scan around the area, but there was no sign of them.
"Where the hell did they go?" I mumbled to myself as I climbed down from a tree. I thought I could get a better look of the surrounding area if I did that, and that it wouldn't be too hard to find them, as this time I wasn't looking for something that'd blend in directly with the grass below, but I didn't spot either of them, or Cocona, Papika or Yuyu as they searched too. "Did they end up in Pure Illusion somehow?" I thought about how the last time I was here, searching for Cocona's rabbit Uxekull that I saw Cocona and Papika emerge from a Hole, and they were talking in the grounds by the thinking man statue. But what if Toto got sick again when he ended up there? I started to get in a bit of a panic, thinking about it. Oh man, why didn't I just designate a meeting place? If they've gone to Pure Illusion and they die there...
"Found them!" Papika's voice rang over the tops of the trees. I breathed a sigh of relief, and tried to work out where the hell she'd called from, running in the general direction I'd heard her yell from. As I did, I saw Cocona dart out of some of the bushes, no doubt knowing exactly where Papika was. I followed her, and we both came across a barrier that you'd find at a train crossing, to stop the people walking across the tracks, which was balanced on top of a couple of traffic cones. I've been here before... I took shelter under the leaves here in an alternate world Pure Illusion... the rain echoed and crashed, and I met a Cocona with long hair and Papika's personality... Cocoka...
It was a little odd to see the real Cocona in this place with me this time. I thought I felt my face grow warm at the memory of Cocoka having hugged me in her sleep, and I ran a little faster, my feet hitting the ground harder, so I could focus on that, rather than let my thoughts stray and play with my imagination.
I never actually saw what was beyond the leafy tunnel I took shelter under, but I remember hearing a loud 'BANG' as Papika apparently worked on something in this exact area. Looking at the giant pipe sitting in the middle of a clearing, with an umbrella sticking out of a hole that rose a little in the middle of the pipe, I guess that explained what Papika was working on when she was in that world too. That's how she got the body for the rocket... How the hell she knew what to do with the rest of it though, I had no clue, maybe she knew how Pure Illusion worked better than any of us did, or maybe she had another Cocona there to help her build, but still, it explained where the thing came from at least.
Next to the pipe was a stack of full insect cages, with Toto carefully adding a final one to the top of the stack. Nyunyu was staring up at it, with no real expression on her face, but she was standing up a little straighter than I remember her doing so before. Proud of her collection? Well, that's what I'd guess, I was pretty amazed she managed to catch enough bugs to fill all the cages. The bugnets and bug hunting book were left on the grass at the bottom of the insect cage stack, Papika picked them up and put them in the pipe. I noticed Yuyu at the edge of the clearing at that point, staying as far away from the bugs as she could. At least all of us are here now...
"You can keep them here for now, I don't mind!" Papika was saying to Nyunyu, smiling, "It'll be nice to have some company!" Have some company? I looked at the large pipe again ...Is this where Papika lives?
"Thank you," Toto said. "Will ask Salt when we return to Flip Flap."
"Man, you guys were pretty busy..." I said. I wasn't really sure how I felt about having a ton of insects in some random room in Flip Flap's base somewhere, but I had to admit, I was kinda impressed.
"We caught lots!" Nyunyu said, loudly. There wasn't really any... excitement in her voice or anything, but she seemed happy.
"I can see that. You guys have fun?"
"Fun!" Nyunyu parroted, raising her hand in the air. I found myself smiling at her. Again, there was no real expression behind the word, but despite that, I still seemed to know exactly what she was feeling. She's definitely a strange one...
"So, what now?" I asked, looking up at the sky. "We still seem to have some time left... Anything else you guys wanna do today?" I turned to Yuyu, who was still standing at the far edge of the clearing, but she shook her head. How did she hear me from there? I had a vague memory of her saying 'lip reading' to me a while ago as an explination for something... I'd guess she lip read me. I still needed to ask her what she meant by that exactly...
No one else in the group had a response to that either. I began to feel bad. Is this really all they wanted to do? Look at a music shop and go bug hunting? Is... this enough for them? I knew this was a stupid idea, I don't know why I even bothered-
"We could go to the arcade?"
Of all the people to suggest that, Cocona was the last person I really expected that from. Okay, looking back, it probably made sense that she was the only one who said that, as she's the only one beyond me who really knew what an arcade was, and that they existed, but still, "The arcade?" I could only question her. Apart from maybe visual novels or puzzle games, Cocona didn't strike me as one to play video games at all, all the games I played with her were things like tag, where you'd run around outside...
No... There was one time... I hfad a really vague memory of Cocona having borrowed a Playstation from one of her friends one day, and we sat down and played that for a little bit. There was a puzzle game (which Cocona was indeed pretty fond of, but not enough to want a games console herself) and a sports game... They were okay, I guess, I didn't really understand the fuss about them. She asked if she could borrow them so I could try them out, and I was disappointed ultimately.
...But what else is there to do? I was having fun, and I didn't want the day to end just yet. It'd suck to finally have a chance to be outside and see and explore this place and show the twins the world, only for them to do two damn things, one of which Yuyu hated... Maybe an arcade will be different to just a regular Playstation though. I know their games are a lot more interactive than just having a controller in your hands... Toto would probably be interested, and Yuyu might like it too. I don't know about Nyunyu, but, "why not?" I guess...
Authors note: Would you believe me if I told you I hate burgers, going by how I described one earlier in the chapter? Because I really do, I've tried them and... they just don't appeal to me. And yet despite that, as I wrote that I got pretty tempted to try one again. Brains are weird.
Okay... next weeks chapter-half contains stuff that had me smiling in the middle of town, and once burst out laughing for seemingly no reason when out for lunch with a friend. And yes, this 12k monstrosity IS just HALF of a chapter. I thought about just having events in the next one be chapter 5 but... I don't know, didn't seem right to me. Either way, when posted, I hope you enjoy it as much as I did coming up with it.
