04/19 Tue
While walking to school this morning, I noticed a pair of students talking by the outdoor vending machines, and decided to listen in.
“I thought I’d get a girlfriend once I was in high school, but I’m not having any luck at all…” A particularly dull student complains. “Is there something wrong with me?”
“Maybe. Maybe you need to do some self improvement.” A much more calm looking student replies. “Try reading some books.”
“Broaden your horizons so you’ll have more things to talk about.” He continues. “You’ll be more desirable if you’re more intelligent. It’ll take hard work, though-won’t happen overnight.”
“Yeah, but books make me sleepy…” The dull student replies. “Guess I can give it a go, though, if it’ll help make me more popular with the ladies!”
“Uh, is the library where you go to borrow books?” He asks, before I lose interest.
“Sounds like reading books is a pretty good thing to do.” Abigale comments from my shoulder.
“Yeah, luckily we have a head start, with the two from yesterday.” I point out, before walking to class.
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In the class, we have a new teacher, who has short, slick black hair, a confident and calm look on his face, while he is wearing a dark dress shirt, as well as maroon pants.
“Hi there, everyone… I’m Mr. Hiruta, your biology teacher.” He explains. “You must all be shocked by what happened to Pitchi-san. It was a shock to me too…” He mutters, while I can feel a bit of silent anger from Rirī in front of me.
“Although, I can relate to how she felt.” He continues, and I try to ignore my instincts telling me to get away from my teammate. “Her eyes were devoid of life as they looked upon this sad, hopeless world.”
“Well, I suppose everyone views the world differently. Let’s have a test.” He finishes, with a small surprise of a test. “You there! Take a look at this diagram.” He says, looking at me, and making me pay more attention. When I do, I can see a vertical rectangle, with two diagonal lines entering from the bottom of the left side, and one diagonal line entering from the top of the right side, labeled B, C, and A respectively.
“Is the line extending from A connected to B or C? Which is it?” He asks. After a moment of looking it over, I look up and answer.
“I believe it is connecting to C, sir.” He smiles at my answer, giving a small applause as well.
“Correct.” He answers. “It seems your eyes see the truth.” ‘More than you know.’ I think to myself as he explains, showing the same diagram as before, but with the lines going over the rectangle, showing the B isn’t connected to anything, while C and A are connected.
“This is an optical illusion. Some people see it correctly, and some do not.” He begins explaining. “Isn’t it strange that they view the same image differently?”
“Humans don’t see the world as it is. We simply process the visual information with our brain.” He finishes, leading to the class making comments of surprise at me knowing the answer.
“Good job with that question. Seems you know a few things.” Abigale comments, while I myself feel more knowledgeable.
“How you see the world is nothing more than a trick of the mind… It is all mere cognition.” Hiruta-san continues. “There is no proof that the world each of us sees is the same.”
“So, how you see the world depends on your brain’s cognition, huh, interesting…” Abigale comments. “Optical illusions and the Metaverse might be more similar than you’d think.” She finishes, while I continue on with my day.
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After school, I got a message from Hayai.
<Hey, where are you right now?> He asks.
<I’m still in my classroom, why?> I ask back.
<I’m still at school too. I’m by the staircase outside your classroom.> He replies and continues. <Think we should head into the Palace today?>
<I haven’t quite decided yet.> I reply.
<Hey, I thought of somethin’ the other day when we were running around the Palace.> He starts. <Maybe it’s cause I haven’t been moving around as much lately, but I feel like I’m getting weak.>
<We’re prolly gonna run into some pretty tough Shadows sometime. We should try to get stronger too.> He points out. <It’s sunny outside. Perfect for training! So, you wanna get your blood pumpin’?>
“Seems like Hayai has a bit on his mind. But he makes a good point. Training out here will help in there.” Abigale comments. I decided to join him for the afternoon.
<Sure, where should I meet you?> I send as an affirmation.
<Meet me in the courtyard, and make sure to wear your gym clothes.> He sends, before signing off. After making sure I read it right, I head to the gym locker rooms to get changed.
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When I reach the courtyard, I notice Hayai standing nearby in one of the grassy areas and walk over.
“Man, this place brings back memories…” He says, once I reach him, before he explains. “This was my secret trainin’ spot. Er… was.”
“Back when I was on the baseball team.” He continues. “Actually, I’ve been thinkin’ about tryin’ to try baseball again.” He confesses, stretching his right shoulder.
“Fightin’ in that other world was a total shock. I couldn’t move like I used to. It just felt… lame. That’s about the only way to describe it .” He finishes, before smiling. “So, I started thinkin’, maybe I need to build up my muscles again.”
“Anything’s gotta be better than this flimsy body, right?” He asks, while I can see the somewhat bigger than average muscles on his arms.
“You don’t look that flimsy to me.” I point out.
“True, I might not be, for your standards. But to me, I am. Plus, I want to be able to help out more.” He admits.
“I’ll be counting on you, mate.” I say, a smirk on my face, causing him to chuckle.
“I’m gonna blow your expectations outta the park!” He exclaims excitedly. “Anyway, don’t think it’s gonna be just me doin’ this. You’re getting in on this too.” He points out, causing me a bit of shock.
“Don’t look so surprised man! Why else would I have had you change into that?” He points out, making me realise his point. “It’d be pointless if I was the only one getting faster, right?”
“Alright. For today, I’m gonna do some knee lift sprints, while you're just going to do the normal ones!” He orders. I just nod and join him for a run around the the school for a couple laps.
When we return to the grassy area, we are exhausted.
“Ughhh…” He groans. “Damn, my legs’re all tight…” After a moment to catch his breath, he stands up properly and turns back to me.
“Back before Kikku came along, the baseball team was the biggest thing this school had goin’ for it.” He explains. “But it all changed after he got our coach fired and took over as the sub.”
“That bastard… Right from the very start he was tryin’ to get rid of us.” He growls out. “He’d give us crazy workouts, then when we couldn’t do ‘em, he’d add even more on top of that…”
“Day after day was nothing of that bullshit…” He continues. “And I think he was going after me especially.”
“He probably knew… He knew I was the kinda guy who’d fight back.” He sighs out, a down look on his face, before he gets a bit mad. “If my time dropped even a little, he’d cuss me out. Then on top of that, he brought up my parents…”
“What could he say about your parents to piss you off that much?” I ask, concerned for my friend, the question causing him to take a moment to pause.
“The truth is, my mom’s the only one I got left.” He admits. “All my dad did when he was still around was drink. Sometimes he’d even beatme, or my mom.”
“Then one day my mom found out he was cheating on her and threw him out. We found out the next day he crashed his car and died on impact.” He finishes. “I dunno how that bastard Kikku found out, but he told the whole goddamn team…”
“And as you can probably guess, I lost it and hit him.” He explains. “It was like he wanted me to do it though. He called it an ‘act of violence,’ and shut the team down…”
“Thanks to that, the other guys that were on the team treat me like some kinda traitor…” He finishes. “And they ain’t wrong, either. ‘Cause of me, they all lost their shot at the championship.”
“You likely regret ruining your teams chances, but would you go back?” I ask, a bit curious.
“To the baseball team? Nah…” He confesses, looking down. “How could I after what I did…?”
“Anyways, it doesn't matter now. That’s all in the past!” He exclaims, looking happy again. “The only thing I’m thinkin’ about now is the future! That’s what we’re gonna do-build the future!”
“So, we gotta think positive thoughts, brother!” He exclaims, before going in for a high five, which I return. After which, a similar feeling to when I first bonded with Hayai returns.
“Hey, that reminds me.” Hayai begins, looking thoughtful. “When we were goin’ though the Palace, I was wondering, you know how knocking down a Shadow gives us the chance to do something else?” He asks.
“Yeah, what about it?” I ask, curious about where he is going with this.
“Well, what if, when we knock a Shadow down, we pass the extra turn off to someone else? You know, in case you or I can’t hit another Shadow’s weakness or something.” He explains, causing me to think.
“You know, that sounds like a good idea. Let’s test it out in the Palace soon.” I admit, deciding to talk about it with Abigale later tonight.
“Cool. Well c’mon, that’s enough of a break, let’s get a couple more laps in, and call it a day.” He suggests. “By the way, you’re not too bad at runnin’.”
“Not as good as me though!” He jokes, before taking off for his next lap, which I follow behind. After a few more laps, we’re wiped.
“Holy… crap… My legs’re shakin’... Don’t collapse on your way home, man… Later!” Hayai says, before hobbling home on shaky legs, while I do the same, hoping the ride home is uneventful.
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When I get back, I notice Roast-san waiting for me.
“Just ‘cause you seem to be takin’ school seriously, don’t mean I’m not keeping’ an eye on you, got it?” He asks rhetorically. “I’ll know what’s what as soon as I see your grades.”
“Wanna prove you’re turnin’ over a new leaf? Make studying a habit as second nature as breathing.” He orders, before leaving me to myself. I end up walking upstairs, Abigale hopping out of my bag.
“You know this place looks pretty desolate. Hey, I have an idea. Bring that chair to the middle of the room.” She orders, and I do as such.
“You can probably reach that beam on the ceiling if you stand on this chair, right?” She asks, to which I nod.
“I should be able to.” I reply, looking up at the beam.
“Alright! Let’s train your body using that ceiling beam!” She exclaims, happily. “I’ll be leaving you in charge, but you’ll need to train your body too.”
“We’re going to whip you into shape, as long as we have the time.” She says, before letting me put the chair away, at the end of my bed. That’s when I recall my conversation with Hayai earlier, and walk over to talk to Abigale, breaking her out of her thoughts.
“What’s up, Hexan?” She asks, looking up at me.
“I wanted to run an idea by you. It’s something Hayai came up with, and I think it’s a good idea, but I want your input.” I explain.
“Alright, run it by me. What’s the idea?” She asks, tilting her head.
“Basically, when someone knocks a Shadow down, the person who did it could give their advantage to someone else, if they themselves don’t have a way to attack weaknesses.” I explain, hoping I explain it right.
“Hmm. It sounds possible. And trading turns like that would also confuse the Shadows a good bit too, making them less on guard, allowing us to do more damage too!” She exclaims, looking excited. “What should we call it? Since I’m on call outs, it might be a good idea to have a name for the trade off.” She explains, giving me a moment to think.
“How about Baton Pass? You know, like in a relay, passing the baton onto someone else.” I suggest, getting a nod from her.
“That sounds perfect. You might want to run it by Miss Rirī when you get the chance. How will we do it?” She asks, looking curious.
While thinking about it, I recall earlier today, when me and Hayai were excited during training and high fived, which gave me an idea.
“How about a high five?” I ask, hoping it’s good enough.
“That sounds good. I’ve seen them around your school a bit, so it should work. I might need some time to get it down though, so I won’t be able to do it right away…” She mumbles.
“That’s alright, we’ll try it when you’re ready.” I say, petting her, getting a smile.
“Thanks. Anway, what’s on the agenda for tonight?” She asks.
“Well, I was thinking about a couple things. I could probably read or study downstairs, if there weren’t any customers.” I suggest, after realising that Roast-san hasn’t given me permission to explore at night yet.
“Let’s see if we can get the place clear then. You need to study more than they need coffee.” She points out, so we head downstairs. When we get downstairs, I notice a pompous man sipping at his coffee, and that’s about it. So I decided to walk up and talk to him, causing him to look up.
“Ah, I apologize if I have overstayed my welcome.” He says.
“No apologies necessary, that’s not why I’m here.” I explain.
“Alright. Well, I finished working a critique for work, so I am partaking in a moment’s rest.” He continues. “The ambience of my favorite cafe at closing time… This perfect silence soothes my very soul.”
“The TV’s on, though.” Roast-san points out.
“Well, I’ll be going home then.” The pompous man says, before packing up and leaving. After looking around for a moment, I noticed some books on the counter.
“This place… It looks perfect for relaxing while reading a good book.” Abigale points out, to which I nod. After a moment, I take a seat, and look though my bag, before pulling out ‘Memoirs of an Assistant’.
“Hmm…? You gonna use the store for somethin’?” Roast-san asks.
“Yeah, I was thinking of doing some reading.” I explain.
“Well… Don’t leave a mess. I’m headin’ home.” He says, before taking off.
I end up spending a few hours reading though the book, and Abigale comments a bit while I do.
“This Tasukete guy sounds pretty interesting. I mean, going out of his way to search a whole city just to find a single book, it’s pretty extreme, but he seems pretty knowledgeable about what he does.” She points out, as I continue reading.
After a few more hours, I end up stopping about halfway though, because of a migraine, catching Abigale’s attention.
“Hm? Oh, I didn’t realize how long you’ve been reading. So, how far did you get?” She asks.
“About halfway, I think.” I reply, holding my forehead.
“Guess you still got a bit to go then. You should finish it later.” She says, to which I nod, and head up to bed.