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Uncertainty Propagation
Chapter 3: Anticipation
It was strange, she thought, how they always managed to find little-known hideaways to call their own. Places that became extensions of their guild home, like the rocky plains where everyone showed off new abilities, or the waterfall area where they played and relaxed before the fourth event. Frederica had interrupted them that time, but she'd been back with Mai and Yui since, and it really seemed like no one else knew of it. Offhandedly, she wondered if there was a way to claim such areas in the name of Maple Tree.
Now they'd found another, a sunken glade near the cave where Chrome earned his Bloodstained Armor. She sat cross-legged on a plateau overlooking the clearing, a turtle on her head, a fox in her lap, and she waited with an ecstatic grin. Below stood three of her friends, Chrome and Kasumi on one side, Sally on the other, facing off with weapons drawn.
It was Sally's first day back in weeks, and Maple had a front-row seat to her return debut.
At last, the word "BEGIN!" appeared on her screen, and Sally launched herself at her opponents. Kasumi lunged as well, planting her feet just as Sally neared and countering the girl's daggers with two swings of her katana. Her third swing aimed for the midsection, and Sally hopped back just in time. But Chrome had taken the chance to flank her while she was focused on Kasumi. He charged forward attempting to bludgeon her with his great shield, but she leapt over him and sprinted at his back. He turned and guarded her slash, then swung at her with his own sword. She parried, kicking him in the chest to knock him away, and dodged another incoming strike from Kasumi. The battle quickly became a flurry of attacks and counter-attacks, neither side gaining a clear advantage.
Maple watched and cheered from above, with Syrup and Oboro occasionally adding their voices to hers. Kasumi and Chrome worked really well together, and Sally was as agile and graceful as always. Even with her two-week hiatus, her reflexes hadn't suffered in the slightest, and from Maple's perspective, it looked like Kasumi and Chrome were on the defensive. It felt wrong to pick sides since all three of them were her friends, but she secretly hoped Sally would win. Seeing her like this, fighting two on one in top form, Maple started to believe that Sally could win against anybody.
The battle continued, the three dodging and attacking so fast that it was hard to keep up. Eventually though, Sally found her opening. "Godspeed!" she yelled, and in an instant, she'd circled in behind Kasumi, ready to strike.
"Cover!"
Her dagger clashed with Chrome's shield and before she could pull away, Kasumi pivoted about Chrome's right side, her sword cutting upward in a sweeping arc. Sally nimbly sidestepped the swing, but Kasumi followed up with more, forcing Sally back as she dodged or blocked the attacks. Just when Sally looked to have distanced herself enough to reset and go back on the offensive, Kasumi used a sudden boost of Godspeed, dashing forward with her blade held low at her hip, ready to swing.
The next thing Maple saw was Kasumi standing well behind Sally, lunging stance and sword extended. Sally was motionless. Maple watched in stunned silence.
But then she gasped as Sally's body disappeared in a haze. Her friend appeared out of thin air, crouched in front of Chrome with a gloating smirk. With little time to react, he committed to a thrust, and Sally dodged it, planting a dagger in his breastplate before leaping out of range.
Chrome fell to the ground, his body pixelating and dissolving away.
But there was no time to relax. Sally flipped sideways into a back-handspring, narrowly avoiding an onslaught of earthy debris racing towards her. When she landed and steadied herself, facing off with Kasumi once again, a long fissure stretched from the Kimono-clad samurai to where she'd been standing. "Almost had me," Sally said with a grin, "but it's over now."
Kasumi smiled back and readied her sword. "I agree. Origin Sword: Void!"
Her black hair turned white and her eyes red. As Kasumi vanished, Sally closed her eyes and lowered into stance, armed with a lone dagger.
Maple held her breath, and time seemed to slow to a crawl. Kasumi appeared to Sally's left, katana already mid-swing. Sally's eyes snapped open, her foot sliding back, right arm arcing as she pivoted. There was a massive clang. Then a crack. The two stilled, holding their stances. Maple's eyes widened.
A long piece of metal landed several feet away, embedding itself into the ground. A moment later, the two fighters relaxed, both taking a deep breath and standing upright to face the other. Kasumi smiled ruefully and bowed her head. "I concede," she said.
The text appeared on everyone's screens with a short fanfare. "WINNER: SALLY!"
The girl laughed in relief, sheathing her weapon. "Whew, that was crazy close!"
"Sally!" Maple hurried down the hill as fast as zero agility would allow, with monster companions in tow. "That was amazing!" She stopped by them, Oboro jumping out of her arms and into Sally's. Maple smiled and picked Syrup off her head to hold to her chest.
With the sparring session officially over, Chrome rematerialized beside the three of them. "Honestly, you're a monster just like Maple. We didn't stand a chance, did we?"
Sally grinned, slightly abashed. "Nah, you two make a great team. I haven't sweat that much since the Holy Sword fiasco."
Maple suddenly had a worrisome thought. "But Kasumi, what about your sword?"
"It was just sparring, Maple," answered Sally. "It'll regenerate any second now." Kasumi and Chrome nodded knowingly as the two pieces of Kasumi's katana disappeared in a shower of particles. Then the hilt of the blade manifested anew atop her scabbard. Sally's remaining dagger also reappeared, strapped at Sally's waist. Maple gave a grateful sigh as Sally turned to address Kasumi. "I'll admit, that last part had me worried. Didn't think you'd use Void on me."
Now Maple was confused. "Isn't it a strong skill, though?"
"It is, but it's also a risky one," Kasumi clarified. "A prolonged duel wasn't in my favor. So I gambled on a critical strike. But to do so, it sacrifices weapon and armor durability." She smiled back at Sally. "That said, Sally is the first person to ever block that technique."
Chrome chuckled. "And here we thought you'd be rusty after being away so long."
"Nope. Still got it."
"Maple says you'll be back tonight. Will we see you two at the guild house later?"
Sally shrugged. "Maybe off and on. We're gonna go exploring, but we might drop in from time to time. Are you two leaving?"
"Yeah. I need to log off and get ready for my shift," Chrome said. "I'll be back later tonight." Maple was slightly disappointed that they weren't joining her and Sally on their walk back to the guild.
"I'm afraid I must be going as well," Kasumi replied. "It was good seeing you again, Sally. Farewell, you two."
"Same. Thanks for the match, guys."
"See you later!" Maple said, waving them off. Then their bodies dispersed per the usual log-off animation, leaving just Maple, Sally, and their monster companions. Oboro was on Sally's shoulders, and Maple had to admit, it was good to see the little fox again. She'd missed him over the past couple of weeks, and she was pretty sure Syrup did too. As much as an NPC could, she supposed.
Although Oboro had been weirdly affectionate today. It was nice—all those little touches the programmers put into the game.
As they began their walk back to the guild, Maple filled her friend in on the upcoming event Sunday. This time it was teams of four instead of guilds, all competing at different mini-games. After that, Sally shared rumors about a few notoriously difficult quests and speculated on the rewards. Occasionally, Maple noticed Oboro looking at her from Sally's shoulder, which was kind of strange. Syrup meanwhile was sleeping in her arms, being adorable as always.
Eventually, they found themselves back at the place their small guild called home: a cozy little lodge fashioned from a towering tree stump, tucked away in the forest. Back when they'd first stumbled upon it, Maple had found herself charmed by its almost fairytale appearance, with its wooden front door at its base and a few windows peeking out from the upper floors. Now just as then, it waited for them, late morning sunbeams filtering through the canopy and onto the pale bark.
The two entered the guild with Maple announcing their return. At the lounge table, Kanade was overseeing a game of Othello between Mai and Yui. A game that was quickly abandoned as the sisters ran to greet them at the entrance. Out of the corner of her eye, Maple saw Kanade save the board game's state before placing it into inventory.
"You're back!" Yui cheered.
Mai greeted them more soberly, but smiling nonetheless. "How did it go?"
"It was lots of fun! I'm so glad they added friendly PVP." Maple walked over to put Syrup on the table, and Oboro jumped from Sally's shoulder to join him there. The two monsters began to play around and tussle leisurely. "Good morning, Kanade!"
"Morning, Maple. Welcome back, Sally."
"Good to be back."
"Who won?" asked Yui.
Maple smiled and answered, "Sally did," as her friend nodded with a proud grin.
"Yep. But it wasn't easy."
Yui giggled. "That's because we keep leveling up without you."
"Yeah, I know. Don't rub it in." She pointed at Mai's hands. "Are those the new gloves?" Sure enough, Mai and Yui had their newest accessories equipped, complementing the armor that Iz had made them. Mai's gloves were onyx black with branching white lines across the palms. Yui's were white with three silver circlets on each finger and a single silver band wrapping around the gloves' center.
Yui smiled and grabbed her sister's hand, raising them to show Sally the new items. "Maple helped us get these. They give us a small strength boost and the option to add elemental damage. Mine are ice, and Mai's are electricity."
Sally nodded approvingly. "Nice find." Then she looked around as she took a seat near Oboro. "What about Iz? Guessing she's not here?"
"She's at her workshop," said Yui. "We're supposed to meet her there later."
Mai continued where she left off. "She asked us for help gathering materials."
"New equipment orders?"
Yui was the one to answer, shaking her head. "It's for these blueprints she found in Level Three. But she won't tell us what they're for."
This wasn't the first Maple had heard of this. In fact, Iz had requested Maple's help earlier in the week for the same reason, but she'd kept her in the dark just like the twins. Still, Maple's intuition told her it was either an ultra-rare accessory or an upgraded explosive for her arsenal.
Sally apparently came to a similar conclusion, chuckling in exasperation. "She wants to show it off at the next combat event, doesn't she? Looks like everyone's found new gear while I was gone."
"That's right, Sally," Maple teased. "If you're not careful, you'll fall behind." Mai and Yui giggled at the claim, while Kanade smiled in quiet amusement.
"Okay, okay. I promise I'll start playing more." Then Maple heard the far-off voice of Risa's mother through the microphone. Sally sighed. "Starting tonight, I guess. Sorry guys, I gotta head out. Oboro?" Without missing a beat, the fox bounded back over to Sally and leaned into her open hand. His body then shone white and dissolved into Sally's ring. "See you at my place later, Maple."
She nodded. "Bye, Sally." Mai and Yui said bye as well, and Kanade sent her off with just a wave. Then Sally logged off, disappearing just as Chrome and Kasumi had earlier.
The twins looked between her and Kanade. "We should probably be going, too."
"Level One is pretty far away for us."
That's right, Maple realized. She'd slowly forgotten the frustration of the long travel times that accompanied a low Agility stat. Ever since she'd had Syrup learn Psychokinesis, it hadn't really been a problem for her. She could go almost anywhere just as fast as other players. Sometimes even faster.
"Did you want me to take you there with Syrup?" she asked, but Yui and Mai declined the offer, saying they didn't want to impose, and that they would still be early if they left now. Maple tried to convince them, but was ultimately unsuccessful. The twins left Maple Tree with a final wave.
And then it was just her, Kanade, and Syrup.
Slowly —though she really did try to fight it —without the others around, her smile disappeared. She saw Kanade looking at her sympathetically, gesturing to the seat across from him. Maple just looked at the ground as she made to join Kanade at the table, and her monster companion began his slow crawl towards her as she settled into the chair.
She didn't realize acting normal would be this difficult.
"No progress?" her friend asked.
Maple shook her head, crossing her arms on the table. "She won't tell me what's wrong. I keep trying, but she always changes the subject."
She hadn't told anyone else. Her friends had all saw her mood slip at one point or another, and they all told her not to worry. They told her everything would be fine, and she pretended it would be and carried on. But Kanade, when he had caught her sulking, offered to help. Asked to hear her out. And so she had confided in him.
The mage hummed thoughtfully. "I can guess the reason she won't tell you."
Maple straightened and looked at him. "You can?"
He responded with a confident nod. "She doesn't want you to worry." Maple deflated immediately. It was probably true, she realized, but it didn't answer any of her questions.
"That just makes me worry more." She hated feeling this way. Risa was her closest friend, and it was obvious something was wrong. Sure, she'd felt better at school the other day, seeing Risa smile brighter than she had all week. And then during the spar with Kasumi and Chrome, to watch her in her element, fighting to win, having fun playing their shared favorite game; Kaede could almost believe things were back to normal. But a day or two of normalcy didn't negate the worrying signs she'd seen all week. The placating smiles. The occasional outbursts, followed immediately by apologies and awkward laughs. The barely visible rings under her eyes, hidden behind concealer.
She crossed her arms on the table and sighed. "How am I supposed to help her if she doesn't tell me what's wrong?" That was what bothered her most. She kept trying to get Risa to open up, but nothing worked. All she ever received was evasion and empty reassurances. And it hurt to be shut out like this; to know that her friend wasn't okay. The last few days especially, it felt like all she could do was wallow in this feeling, wondering why Risa couldn't be honest with her. Trying not to draw conclusions that would make her feel even worse.
"Isn't that normal, though?" She raised her head, puzzled at the question, and found him smiling with his usual confidence. "I haven't known her for very long, but it's clear Sally tries to do too much on her own. She's the kind of person who doesn't ask for help." Maple wanted to say that wasn't true, but . . . now that she thought about it, maybe it was. "But even if she doesn't ask, you decide to help her anyway. When she gets in over her head, you show up to support her."
Was he referring to that time during the Guild Battle? "But that's just in New World Online," she said.
Kanade shrugged. "Why should it be different in real life?" He summoned a book from his inventory, floating it gently to the table and opening it as it fell. "Maybe she's not ready to talk about it. Or maybe she isn't sure how to ask. Either way, I think you'll find a way to help her. It's how you two are."
"But . . ." She trailed off, not sure how to argue. She looked away with a frown, wondering how to explain that it couldn't be that simple. A new silence stretched over them. One only interrupted by the occasional turn of a page or a cooing from Syrup. Her monster companion had crawled into the crook of her arm, and she gently scratched his chin while reflecting on Kanade's advice. She still wasn't sure what to do. But there was one thing she knew he was right about. If Risa was in trouble, then she would be there for her. She'd find a way. Maybe that was all that mattered.
Slowly, her smile returned.
"Thanks, Kanade."
Risa Shiramine was nowhere close to being an authority on magical girls, real or fiction. She remembered watching a few magical-girl anime when she was younger, but it was a short-lived phase, quickly replaced with her budding interest in video games. Maybe that explained why so many of her assumptions had been upended since making her wish. Or maybe she should never have expected TV and reality to line up.
Then again, TV and reality turned out to be closer than she could have guessed. Anime one, normalcy zero.
One thing in particular she'd gotten wrong, and realized fairly quickly, was that transforming wasn't necessary to use magic. It made it easier, for sure, but the two weren't strictly linked. No matter what form she took, or what form her Soul Gem took, her magic was always there. Changing and strengthening her in a number of ways, even without conscious effort. An inextricable part of her.
Because of that, this was one of the few times she could enjoy the more mundane benefits of magic. It was nearing one o'clock, and at the moment, she was walking back home from the store, a half-dozen bags in each hand, all packed to the brim. What began as a simple after-lunch shopping trip turned out exactly as she predicted: her mother texting her every few minutes to add something to the list. At some point, she'd even received a message from her father, asking if she needed him to come pick her up with the car. She'd told him she'd be fine. Now she was nearly home, no worse for wear. Half an hour of lugging heavy groceries might have been rough a few weeks ago, but having magic changed that. Now it gave her a good excuse to relax and enjoy the fresh air.
And more importantly, to think about her meeting with Tomoe soon.
Thursday night had been her first interaction with another magical girl, and it had gone . . . about as smooth as she could have hoped. But then she'd agreed to meet said girl at her own home, with two uncontracted strangers. Supposedly uncontracted. And of course, the more she thought about it, the more she began to worry.
What if the meeting was a trap? A trick to lure her into an ambush. It felt absurd to think that, mostly because it just didn't make any sense. She'd outright admitted that she didn't have any Grief Seeds. What would someone gain from doing that? The best answer she could come up with was less competition, but they lived in different cities anyway. Not to mention, Risa originally hadn't planned on going back. She'd even said as much. The points didn't line up.
But even so, she couldn't push the thought away.
Then there was the other girl Tomoe had mentioned in her messages. The magical girl who'd never contracted. At least, not with Kyubey. Could she have contracted with someone else? Had she just assumed Kyubey was the only one out there granting wishes? Maybe she was part of a different faction. Maybe Tomoe knew more than she was saying and had her own reasons to pit them against each other. Or maybe she really was dangerous, and Tomoe was telling the truth.
Late last evening, she'd received a reply from Tomoe. An apology for the delay, and also a vague explanation. Some sort of confrontation with the mystery girl. Risa didn't press for details; Tomoe said she'd explain more today. But it was still one more unknown atop all of the others.
She didn't know what to believe. Even if all she had to go on was Tomoe's word, she wanted to trust her. The Mitakihara girl had been willing to overlook Risa hunting on her turf, after all. Then she'd invited her to a tea party. A tea party, of all things. Sure, it was possible those were the makings of some veiled plot against her. But she just couldn't believe Tomoe was that kind of person. Even Oboro seemed to like her, and given how fiercely protective her monster companion was, that was a pretty convincing point in her favor. If she couldn't trust her own judgment, she could darn well trust Oboro's.
No, odds were that today's meeting was going to be just a normal get-together between magical girls. It wasn't a trap. She was just being paranoid. That was the simplest explanation.
So why did she still have such a bad feeling about this?
The worries and negative thoughts followed her home, try as she might to quell them. On her doorstep, she took a deep breath and, as best she could, buried all of it in the back of her mind. She'd have another hour during her trip to think things through. Now wasn't the time.
Risa announced her return as she entered, and her mother met her in the foyer, hurrying to take some of the bags off her hands. "I told your father to go get you. I swear, you're as stubborn as he is." She shrugged it off with a smile.
"I told him I could handle it. Besides, you always say I should get out more."
"You know that's not what I mean."
With the remaining bags, she followed her mother to the kitchen, stopping briefly as she passed by the den. From the television came the rustle of a large crowd and the announcer's voice calling the plays, but the volume was too low to make out the words. Her father sat in the lounge chair at the far side. "How's the game going?" He raised the book he was reading in response. "That good, huh?"
"The best they've played all year," he said, a wry smile stretching from ear to ear. Risa chuckled and continued down the hall, joining her mother in the kitchen. Together they laid the bags out and began to unpack their contents.
"Mrs. Honjou called while you were out. She'll be bringing Kaede by a little earlier than planned."
Risa almost stopped what she was doing, but quickly recovered. "Did she say what time?" She grabbed a few dry items and headed to the pantry.
"Around six."
She tried to keep from frowning. Dinner was normally at seven, give or take fifteen minutes. She'd just lost nearly an hour for her trip. "Cool. So she's joining us for dinner, then? What are we having?"
Her mom hummed a confirmation. "I thought I'd make that curry she liked from last time."
"Sounds good to me." When it came to home-cooked meals, Risa wasn't too picky. But curry was one of Kaede's favorites, and from what she'd told Risa, Kaede's mom was a . . . less than stellar cook, to put it gently. She'd have to take her word for it, considering that, the few times Risa had eaten over there while visiting or staying the night, it had always been take-out.
Probably not a coincidence.
"Will you two want the living room tonight? I think your father bought some new movies."
Risa walked to the refrigerator with the cold produce in hand. "Nah, we'll probably just be in my room playing games."
"I still can't believe you've pulled Kaede into your addiction," her mother said. "You're not pressuring her, are you?"
Risa rolled her eyes. "I've told you, it's not like that. There's just this one game that's really popular. And Kaede plays it more than me now."
"I somehow doubt that."
"Well it's true." Especially now that she had daily magical girl duties.
Her mother sighed. "I just wish you wouldn't spend so much time in your room. Whatever happened to baseball? You were so good at it." Risa just shrugged.
"Baseball was always Dad's sport." With everything separated and put away, she grabbed the remaining bags and placed them in recycling bin for plastics. "I'm heading back upstairs. Can you call me down when Kaede gets here?"
"I will." She started for the stairs, and her mother called after her. "Just try to take a break every once in a while."
"No promises!"
She took the stairs two at a time, then strolled down the hallway to her room. Opening the door, a white ball of fur immediately jumped from her bed and came to the door to greet her. "See?" she whispered. "Told you it would be fine." She closed the door behind her and reached down to pet the little fox. Normally he rested in her ring and traveled with her. This was the first time she'd successfully convinced him to relax in her room and wait for her return.
Walking to her desk, she pulled out the chair and turned on her monitors as Oboro bounded up on the desk to sit beside her. With a few keystrokes, she opened the NWO forums and settled into her seat.
Even though the game had taken a back seat recently, she still tried to stay on top of current news and developments in-game. That meant looking into everything from release notes to general chit-chat in the community. The game's main webpage was hosted by Square Inix, the company behind New World Online and a bunch of other fantasy RPGs. It contained a merch store, company news, patch notes, and miscellaneous items here and there. But the forums were located on a sister site, and that's where you could find anything and everything. Battle tactics, tutorials, gear trading, training partners, message boards . . . the list went on and on. One section was devoted entirely to feature requests. Another was devoted to class and skill evaluations. Official guilds could even have their own section, accessible to members only. The main forum itself was broken into eight or so categories, with smaller subcategories splintering off from there, and the threads and discussions were so numerous and so busy that Risa had, for both her time and her sanity, restricted herself to just a few favorites.
Of course, Risa didn't post much at all. She had an account, but she mostly just lurked, learning what she could about the current state of the game and, occasionally, about the ongoings in the community. And thankfully, as far as Risa knew, Kaede was wholly uninvolved with the active web community and had yet to stumble into these forums. Definitely for the best. Her friend would be mortified if she ever learned just how many of the "General Discussion" threads were about her.
Someone had even created a discussion called The Walking Fortress. That one had just broken a hundred pages. Risa hadn't bothered trying to follow that conversation.
As she scrolled through the main categories, she kept a watchful eye on her computer's clock. "Let's take a look," she said, opening the news section. New items and monsters. Modified drop percentages. The addition of in-game guild rankings. Interesting, but also optional. Probably more important for the bigger guilds. And the announcement that Level Four was soon to be released. Reactions were mixed, but overall positive. Personally, Risa couldn't wait for another level, and she knew Kaede would feel the same.
Not seeing too much else, she navigated to the "General Discussion" page. A list of recent threads opened up, but as she scrolled down, there was one title that made her do a double-take.
Maple Scouted For TV Promo!
Posted only an hour ago, and it already had several pages. Her cursor hovered over the link. It obviously wasn't real. It couldn't be real. It was most likely someone's idea of a fun prank or something. But real or not, other users were chiming in. And try as she might to ignore it, her curiosity eventually got the better of her. She clicked the title and began to read.
LegendarySword: A friend of mine knows someone on the NWO marketing team, and there are talks of getting Maple to do a TV spot at one of their studios. They might be reaching out to her as early as this week. More details to come.
Elven: So Maple's gonna be on TV?
packrat: Let's go, Maple!
Acheron: No way. OP is just making stuff up.
spinster: Idk, it could happen. Maple's practically the face of the game at this point. I even read somewhere that nwo has the largest female player base of any mmo. You can thank Maple for that.
Mage Anon: gotta agree. doesn't sound all that farfetched.
Riftdweller: Still, might be just another Maple rumor. I'll wait for more info.
Predictably, there was nothing here after all. The only thing that surprised her was how many people believed this stuff. Like the last user alluded to, Maple was at the center of many rumors. Most of them were baseless claims and wishful thinking. No evidence, just like this one.
FireHazard: I'm with Acheron. It's a hoax.
packrat: Sounds more like a leak
maplefan08: this would be so cool! i really hope its true
Gobta: wonder if they'll get the rest of Maple Tree
Spear Anon: Not likely. They'd probably ask Payne before anyone else.
spinster: What about Sally? She and Maple are friends irl, aren't they?
Spear Anon: Not confirmed, but that's the going theory. Still a long shot.
looking4gear: no one's seen sally since the last event. i wouldn't get your hopes up.
Zwelfey: Yeah, not sure this will go anywhere, guys. Even if it's true, Maple could still turn the offer down.
spinster: Or her parents could.
Codewerx: Not just that. The studio could axe the idea altogether. Might backfire on them, tbh.
looking4gear: how so?
Codewerx: Wouldn't it seem like an endorsement? Other players may think the game's rigged and leave.
packrat: Dude, you're crazy. Devs have been trying to nerf Maple since the first event.
Codewerx: Just sayin'
Spear Anon: Packrat has a point. The community probably won't see it that way. And given Maple's popularity, losses could be easily offset by new players.
Codewerx: I'm not convinced. Guess we'll have to wait and see.
Risa skimmed through the rest of the page, but didn't bother going on to the next one. The author of the thread hadn't contributed beyond that first post, and everything else was just chatter and speculation. No sense wasting any more time on it. She closed her browser and looked down to find Oboro lying next to her arm. Smiling, she reached to pet his head, eyes wandering back to the clock on her computer screen. "Looks like it's time. Ready to go?" Oboro let out a hushed bark in reply. She smiled at him, and with a brief white flash, he disappeared into her ring.
Only one thing left to do. On her computer, she booted up an old fighting game she used to play. Bot vs bot, no timer, infinite health. Volume low but still audible through the door. That should keep her safe for a few hours. Then she crossed the room and opened her window. This would be the first time she had ever snuck out in broad daylight. In the future, she should probably craft some believable alibi to get out of the house, but for now . . . well, nothing ventured.
Next stop, Mitakihara.
A/N: Hey everyone! I know this chapter is a little slower paced, but I hope you all enjoyed it nonetheless. I didn't feel like I would be doing the story justice to rush things. Unfortunately, there are also a few kinks I need to work out with the overall plot, but the next chapter and the ones after should come quicker once I do.
I tried including a bunch of Maple rumors and conspiracies, but I just couldn't make it flow, so I scrapped it. Maybe I'll find a place for it down the road.
Anyway, quite a few characters make an appearance next chapter, so stay tuned! Things are about to get fun.
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