A/N: The seventh chapter of Steins;Fate is here. Enjoy the length, it's longer than usual! :D. Also, the last chapter stated "1 day after the Puzzle Convention as July 29, 2012." I've changed it to July 31, 2012 because after checking Chapter 4, I realized the Puzzle Convention would last 3 days lol. Btw, for the sake of convenience in the chapters where they're back from LA, I made Yuki Amane's hometown also in Akihabara (they never really mentioned where she was from in the VN and in the anime, OVA and movie.) like the rest of the gang.
Notes:
" " – a term in-universe, also used when a character is talking
' ' – character is thinking
* - has an explanation for the term at the bottom of the fanfic chapter.
^ ^- Okabe or any character is speaking English/Engrish XD
(Example of the above note:
"I am Mad Scientist" – Japanese, what he's saying if we had audio is "Boku ga Mad Kagaku-sha"
"^I am Mad Scientist^" – English, or in Okabe's case, Engrish.)
DISCLAIMER: I do not own Steins;Gate and its characters, If I did, Yuki and Daru would have their own spinoff.
STEINS;FATE
Chapter 7 – Engurishu Desu, Act 4.
Previously on Steins;Fate
Narita International Airport, July 24 2012, 10:00 AM, ?-?-? POV
'So Los Angeles is where you are off to, Rumiho-chan?' I grinned at the thought. Her plane was one that was headed to LA, according to the flight details I had gained knowledge of while stalking her at the ticket counter. I had been trying to get my hands on Faris Nyannyan, real name: Rumiho Akiha, for a long time now. Now is the time I would finally succeed, it seems. 'Now I should probably by myself a ticket to LA' I contemplated while preparing to execute my vendetta.
Fragrance Café, July 24, 2012, 10:00 AM, Okabe POV
We had managed to include Mayuri in our little spying mission. Mayuri's phone suddenly rang…
"Okarin! Daru-kun's calling!"Mayuri exclaimed while waving her phone in front of me.
"Okabe, either you or I should answer the phone so that Mayuri's 'stomachache' excuse would be believable to Hashida-san and Amane-san you know." Kurisu pointed out. Sigh, I guess I had no choice. I took the phone and answered Daru's call.
"Mayushii? Are you okay?" was what Daru immediately asked when I accepted the call. I set in my mind to lower my voice a bit. Daru and Yuki Amane where nearby after all.
"Daru, it's me, Hououin Kyouma! Mayuri here had a sudden stomachache. Christina's looking after her."
"Hey! You just had to include me did you Okabe! You li-" I put a stop to Kurisu's complaining by passing the phone to her.
"U-uh yeah, Mayuri's feeling a little b-better now Hashida-san. Here I'll put her on the phone." Kurisu immediately gave the phone to Mayuri who pouted.
"Kurisu-chan! You've been hanging a bit too much with Okarin for you to do thi-"
"Mayushii are you okay?"
"U-uh, Ma-Mayushii's still a feeling bi-bit ill but I'll be fine later." Mayuri while shooting me a glare, passed the phone back to me.
"And there you have it. Now go and enjoy your date with Yuki Amane at Fragrance! FuuuuAHAHAHAHA! El…..Psy…Congroo." I hung up after that. Wait a minute...
"Okabe you idiot! You just gave away our mission!" Kurisu snapped at me while both she and Mayuri began punching my left and right shoulders respectfully. I did the biggest facepalm I had ever done in my entire life.
"Let's just hope Yuki Amane and Daru didn't catch on to my blunder, ehehe…" I nervously stated with a nervous chuckle.
"They'd better not Okabe!" Kurisu furiously berated me while giving me an ice cold glare.
"You even dragged Mayushii into this!" Mayuri continued to pout.
"Catch on to what now? Rintarou Okabe-san?" I felt a tap on my shoulder, sending shivers to my spine. I turn around to see Yuki Amane, hands on her hips, flashing a mischievous grin.
Kurisu POV
"A-A-A-Amane-san!" I heard Okabe shriek. The reason was painfully obvious though. Amane-san had found out. I also felt a light tap on my shoulder.
"Okarin's not looking so hot right now isn't he, Makise-shi?"
"You said it. I knew we shouldn't have spied on Hashida-san and Amane-san! This is troublesome indeed, Hashida-san…Hashida…..san?..." a realization then dawned on me. I robotically turned to the person who had tapped my shoulder. It was indeed Hashida-san.
"HASHIDA-SAN?!" I gulped.
"I would've expected this from Okarin, but to think even you Makise-shi would participate in such a violation of privacy… for shame." I shuddered as I heard Hashida-san saying those words to me with a slightly darkened face. For the first time in my life, I wished I wasn't smart but was brawny instead as a quivered in fear of the scolding that Okabe and I would undoubtedly be on the receiving end of.
Back at the hotel, an hour later, 11:00 AM, Okabe POV
"^WE ARE VERY SORRY!^" Kurisu and I went and bowed to the feet of Yuki-san(She insisted that we could start calling her on a first name basis), Daru, and Mayuri. Mayuri wasn't scolded at all because Yuki-san and Daru figured it out that we had just dragged her along.
"Fine, we accept." Daru nonchalantly states.
"Wasn't that a bit too harsh Daru-kun?" Yuki-san interjected.
"But they made Mayushii fake a stomachache!" Mayuri added, still pouting.
"But we were curious! It was…. FOR SCIENCE! Right Christina?" I tried to defend myself and Kurisu with a lame excuse.
"There's no ti- oh forget it! We're very sorry. Amane-san, sorry for ruining your meet up with Hashida-san" Kurisu apologetically bows her head. I followed her gesture by doing the same.
"Oh it's alright, you guys were just curious after all. Now let's all get along with each other and introduce ourselves to one other properly this time." Yuki-san beamed at us with a smile. Daru and Mayuri relented and they themselves were smiling as well.
Kurisu POV
"Kurisu Makise, nice to meet you. You can call me Kurisu." I extended my hand to Yuki-san which she gladly accepted and we shook hands.
"Yuki Amane, nice to meet you too. Yuki's fine by the way." Yuki-san told me. As we released our handshake, she went to Okabe next and also re-introduced herself. I should've known Okabe would do his routine though…
"I am the man who will alter the course of time and history itself! With Christina by my side-" I sported a faint blush at hearing that even though he used that nickname again.
"-and the Future Gadget lab at my disposal….. This world shall be plunged into the imminent chaos that it is destined to succumb to. My name, is that of which will be written in the legends that transcend the passage of time. My name….. is HOUOUIN KYO-"
"Nice to meet you too Rintarou Okabe-san." Yuki-san prevented Okabe from continuing his speech. I couldn't help but giggle at the frustrated look that Okabe openly displayed on his face, 'with his strong chin that could use a shave….. those yellow-tinted eyes….. that dreamy windswept hair… I wonder what underneath his coat and shirt's like…..KURISU GET A HOLD OF YOURSELF!' I stopped myself from thinking such perverse thoughts. My increased blushing wasn't halted though.
"Rintarou Okabe is the name I use to decieve others like the gullible simpletons that they all are! My one and only true name is HOUOU-" I saw from the corner of my eye, Hashida-san and Mayuri giving Okabe stares that could kill.
"O-Okabe's fine." Okabe replied to Yuki-san while chuckling nervously for the umpteenth time today.
On a certain airplane headed to LA, July 24, 2012, 11:00 AM(Los Angeles Time), Faris POV
Long flights are a bit boring when you're all by yourself. I thought gloomily while peeking through the airplane's window and staring at the various patches of white fluffy clouds that were scattered around within my field of vision. 'Kyouma and the guys better be ready, 'cause Faris is coming' I lit up as I thought about joining the gang and having fun. Since I had nothing better to do, I put on the headset that was wired on my seat's armrest and looked up some tunes.
"Oh, this song sounds nice."
On another airplane also headed to LA, July 24, 2012, 11:15 AM(Los Angeles Time), ?-?-? POV
"Rumiho-chan, oh my dear Rumiho-chan. In a few hours or days at most, I can lay my hands at you." I said quite loudly to myself while sporting a very heinous grin on my face.
"Do you mind? People are trying to sleep here!" the passenger on my right barked angrily. The guy was an overly muscular dude that would obviously reduce me to a bloody pulp if I angered him further since he was quite larger than me.
"Oh sorry, sir. I'll try to keep quiet" I apologized politely. My beef was with Rumiho and not the Hulk after all, better avoid a fight that would delay me from my goal.
"You'd better, that is if you don't want to meet your maker before your time is due! And I'd hate to mess up the face of a little girl like you! (A/N: SURPRISE, mystery person that's after Faris is actually a girl!)" the dude lashed out at me with a final threat before returning to sleep. To his credit, he wasn't snoring loudly so I could respect him for that. I give credit where it is due after all. I then let my mind focus on things to do after I had caught up with Rumiho-chan.
Normal POV
Two flights are now headed to Los Angeles, the place where most of the lab members are. Okabe and the gang are still in the hotel. Moeka Kiryuu was with Yuugo Tennouji and Nae Tennouji on an out of town trip. Suzuha Amane, was of course still non-existent during this point in time of the Steins Gate worldline.
The Hotel, 11:15 AM, Yuki POV
'Daru-kun's group seems like a nice bunch, I'd like to hang out with them more often. I don't know if they live in Akihabara too though.' I happily thought to myself. My impressions of them so far were that they were all good people.
Daru-kun, has some confidence issues about his appearance(which I don't mind at all how he looks like to begin with), but can be quite aggressive and outspoken given the right moment. Mayushii's adorable, and has that right balance of innocence and adult-like thinking. Kurisu-chan seems the intellectual type, and a bit of a tsundere. Even if Daru-kun hadn't told me before that Okabe-kun and her were together, it's painfully obvious that Kurisu-chan really likes Okabe-kun. Speaking of Okabe-kun, it would appear that while he appears on the outside as a guy who likes to lose himself in his delusions, He seems to care deeply for his friends, which I think is the reason he spied in the first place, to know if I was bad company for Daru-kun and Mayushii. I should be offended but I'm not at all because I see his point. There's also the fact that he's a bit like Kurisu-chan in a sense that he can be tsundere-ish in expressing his feelings towards Kurisu-chan. His nickname for her, "Christina" is cute though.
"Yuki-san, are you okay?" I heard Daru-kun ask, he was sitting on a chair in front of his laptop. We were all currently in Okabe-kun and Daru-kun's hotel room, beside what apparently was Kurisu-chan and Mayushii's room next door. It appeared that I spaced out.
"Oh nothing's wrong. I'm okay." I politely reply.
"Okay then, I'll go back to what I was doing." was Daru-kun's reply. It appeared he was playing some sort of galge. 'How cute' I thought. As for the others, Mayushii was watching Okabe-kun and Kurisu-chan play a game of RaiNet Kakeru.
"Okabe, don't even try to cheat." I heard Kurisu-chan reprimand Okabe who was trying to sneak a peek at one of Kurisu-chan's tiles.
"Okarin! Cheating's bad you know!" Mayushii added.
"Nonsense! It's called being 'resourceful', a trait that any Mad Scientist should possess!" I failed to stop my laughter from coming out at that.
"Hahahaha!" I suddenly blurted out laughing. Daru-kun either paid no heed to my laughter, or he didn't hear at all due to him being too absorbed with his galge. Oddly enough, I didn't want to embarrass myself in front of him. The other 3 heard me though…
"But it's true Yuki-san! Hououin Kyouma should be and is a resourceful mad scientist! Heheh. HAHAHA! FuuuuuAHAHAHAHA! Finally no one interrupted my laugh!" Okabe-kun suddenly stated with a chest full of pride in defense of himself.
"Yeah Okabe-kun, whatever helps you sleep at night" I teased with a wink. Kurisu-chan, Mayushii and I then erupted into full-blown laughter. Okabe was being quiet though… too quiet. We would soon learn why…
As the laughter between us girls stopped, Kurisu-chan and Okabe-kun resumed their game. I went over to watch. A few minutes later, Kurisu-chan was shocked, she had incurred a resounding defeat from Okabe-kun who seemed to be able to counter all of Kurisu-chan's strategies. What made this more notable was that according to Mayushii, this had been the first time Okabe-kun had ever won a game of RaiNet against anyone in a long time. It then hit me like a brick wall. He managed to peek at ALL OF THE TILES WHILE WE WERE DISTRACTED IN LAUGHING! Okabe-kun then went over to Kurisu-chan but not before whispering something to me as he passed by,
"Nice distraction there, have I proved myself a 'resourceful' person" he said in a soft voice while a smug grin was present on his face.
"Not bad Okabe-kun, not bad at all" I answered in good faith. That was indeed some trick he had pulled. I then suddenly found the urge to go to Daru-kun and watch what he was doing. I then went over to where Daru-kun was playing his galge to do just that.
Daru POV
I had been completely immersed in my galge yet again. This particular heroine was giving me a hard time in finding out what events triggered her flags. I then heard Yuki-san's laughter. Sneaking a glance towards her direction, I saw that she was facing the area where Makise-shi, Okarin and Mayushii were. 'Okarin must've been cheating again' I assumed, well more like expect that it was really the case. I then returned to my galge. Galges are what true otaku play! That was my belief.
Wait a minute, Yuki-san's here! 'Do you really want to present yourself to her as some loser otaku who'd waste away the day in front of a PC screen?' I found myself asking that question inwardly. Why was it that I could act totally otaku in nature in front of anyone, even Faris who I was a big fan of, but found myself trying to be the best I could if it were Yuki-san? Even when we were only online contacts, I still wanted to appear as appealing as I could be to her.
So this is what it's like to have those so-called "Existential crisis" thoughts float around in your head. I suddenly lost the will to continue playing and found myself staring at my laptop screen. I was in such a trance that I didn't even hear the sound of footsteps approaching my location.
"Eh? 'Banzai! School life'* right? I've played that game too. Galges can be fun even for girls you know! There's even an otome route especially for girls with the heroines gender-swapped into males! You've got nice taste Daru-kun." Yuki-san had approached me and patted me on the back. It felt nice…. Yuki-san?!
I slowly turned my head to meet Yuki-san's beautiful smile. I felt a bit of heat in my cheeks, most likely due to the fact that she had just patted me on the back. I also smiled at her. If I wasn't mistaken, it would seem she herself had a faint trace of a blush as well. We found ourselves staring at each other, lost in our own world. That was until reality had to be a dick and ruin the moment.
Okabe POV
'What's this? Super Hacka and Yuki-san in such a situation?' I found myself smirking at the sight. Kurisu and Mayuri were all smirking as well. I decided to mess with the lovebirds-to-be a bit.
"A-Ahem." I cleared my throat loudly as I had managed to go near the two completely unnoticed due to their trance-like state.
Both Yuki-san and Daru turned to face me while blushing a degree of red that would put tomatoes to shame.
Towards the hotel dining area, 12:05 AM, Kurisu POV
We were on our way towards the complimentary hotel lunch buffet which was in the dining, Yuki-san included. Apparently, Yuki-san was also staying here in the same hotel for the duration of her stay here in Los Angeles, being a floor below my and Okabe's rooms. That made it possible for us to hang out with Yuki-san easier. Hashida-san facepalmed for not knowing, if he had known, they could've just had the meet-up here at the dining area during the breakfast period of the day. Yuki-san after learning from Hashida-san his realization, just giggled in response.
"Christina, let's occupy the table over there, it can fit five people" Okabe gestured at the circular table that had seats for six.
"Okabe, one of these days I am gonna sit you down and we're going have a very long talk about that –tina suffix that you stubbornly keep on adding to my name, it's Ku-ri-su!" I snapped back at him in my best attempt to feign annoyance. Truthfully, I was beginning to like the fact that he kept on calling me "Christina*", it made me feel special that he would spice up my name in the manner that he did. Don't get me wrong! It's just a bit though, and I would not admit that openly for as long as I could.
"Oh come on Kurisu-chan! I think it's cute, I think it suits you." Yuki-san chimed in.
"See that Christina?" I shot Okabe a glare as part of my "annoyance" façade.
"Even Yuki-san agrees, everyone in favor of calling Kurisu as 'Christina', raise their hand!" Okabe immediately shot his right hand up in the air. I looked around the table since we were already seated. Okabe, Yuki-san, and Hashida-san all had their hands up. Hashida-san had a look on his face that spelled out "You didn't stop Okarin, your boyfriend, from embarrassing me and Yuki-san earlier, so here's some payback". I turned to Mayuri with hope, and that hope was quickly flushed down the toilet as Mayuri also shot her hand in the air. I sighed in defeat.
"Fine guys, do what you want." I said on while taking a sour tone in my voice.
"Kurisu we were only teasing you, you know that we all love you right?" Okabe said apologetically. I lightened up a bit, and the five of us shared a hearty laugh. Okabe could really be smooth at times.
Normal POV
Lunch had been great for the group. The five of them talked about numerous things. The members of the Future Gadget lab were pleased to know that Yuki Amane also resided in Akihabara. The world really is a small place. As Okabe would say, "This most likely is indeed, the choice of Steins;Gate."
Daru and Okabe's hotel room 11:30 PM Okabe POV
Super Hacka was already sleeping. He has a huge grin on his slumber-induced face. 'Dreaming about Yuki-san are we, Daru?' I snickered at the thought. I lay on my bed while holding a gift-wrapped box in my hands. It had a violet-colored ribbon tied on it. Kurisu's birthday is tomorrow and I had bought her gift as early as 2 months ago. I watched the clock on the side table slowly change its displayed was now "11:34". July 25 needed to come faster. I go out of my room. Present in hand.
Mayuri and Kurisu's hotel room, July 25, 2012, 12:01 AM Kurisu POV
"Happy birthday to me." I greeted myself silently. Mayuri was still asleep and I didn't want to wake her. I carefully go out of the room. Okabe and I then met eyes with each other. Silence ensued.
"Happy Birthday, Kurisu." he greeted me with a big goofy smile on his face. His hands were behind his back. 'He got me a present' I thought.
"T-thanks….. Okabe" I blush while thanking him. He handed me a rectangular box.
"I ho-hope you like it." Okabe stuttered a bit. I invite him to my hotel room. There I opened my gift. It was something I completely didn't expect.
"O-Okabe?! You got this for me?" In my hand I held a brilliant gold necklace with a shiny locket at its end. Inside was a picture of me and Okabe. I teared up a bit.
"Glad you liked it" was Okabe's simple response. I then hugged him and he hugged me back. It was only the two of us past midnight. We enjoyed the company of each other as we waited for the sun to rise. This was hands down, my best birthday so far.
Normal POV
With the date of Kurisu's birthday, comes another year of her life that she could spend with Okabe and the rest.
-Chapter 7 END-
A/N 2: Thanks for reading. See you next chap. Reviews good or bad are welcome. A boy,a girl and their reunion might be delayed.
*Banzai! School life - my own invented galge
*Christina - you're not a Steins;Gate fan if you don't know this.