nebulancer

1. Their Individual Times After School ☆

[Akane is walking.]

Akane: Whew... I’m done with classes for today! They’re also done with returning tests, and so this means, all of the results for the promotional exam we had last week came out...

Mmh, mm~! This is quite...! I think I worked rather hard for these, if I do say so myself!

When I get back to the dorms, I should call home and brag about it to Mom!

I wonder if I’ve gotten a step closer to becoming a Goddess?

Goddess, huh...?

The Moon world we live in is built up by the power of Earthlings’ feelings. Their spiritual energy supports it. The existences that uplift and guide it to ensure that said precious energy doesn’t ever run out or go in an unintended direction are Goddesses.

They are symbols of hope which encourage both the survival of the Moon world and the Earth’s flourishing. ...Right...?

Ahh~, that’s so cool!

Uh, wait! I couldn’t help but slip into admiration mode, but for now, I’ve finished the thing I was most worried about.

After this, I’ll just need to take a few more classes, and then it’ll finally be... spring break~! Ooh, the feeling of relief that just washed over me~

And tomorrow is a break! I don’t have anything planned for now, so... ahh! I got it! How about I bake some desserts? I haven’t done that in a while.

[ ! ]

Matsuri: ...Dessert? Now that’s a tasty topic if I’ve ever heard one.

Akane: UWEEURRGH!?

Matsuri: Akane. ...Nice reaction. ✨

Akane: M-Matsuri-chan...! You sure spooked me!

Matsuri: And also nice timing. I was about to go back home, too. That’s when I spotted you and heard you talk about desserts.

Akane: O-oh, I see.

Wait, you’re already going home? That’s rare. You’re not dropping by the experimentation lab?

Matsuri: I have something to do in my room today. I need to prepare for Nebutan’s re-re-re-re-re... How many times has it been already? His restart to the nth degree.

Akane: *gasp* Nebutan...! And here I was, thinking our room was oddly quiet, but... you were in the middle of repairing him?

Akane: Matsuri-chan? You’re pretty quiet. Are you making progress with your studying?

I know you already know this, but tests will be starting tomorrow~

Matsuri: Ah.

Akane: Ah.

Matsuri: I-I’m making great strides in my studying. Totally fine. I’m making incredible progress, as a matter of fact.

Akane: No. No, no, no, no! Not a single thing I see could convince me that’s the case.

You clearly woke up just now, didn’t you?

Matsuri: I was... sleep-learning?

Akane: And that’s phrased as a question...

Matsuri: I was sleep-learning. Yes. I was engaging in hypnopedia.

Though it looked like I was sleeping, I was having Nebutan recite my vocab list to me while he was charging, and as a result of that—...

Wait... Uh.

I thought things were quiet around here, but as it turns out, Nebutan was sleeping, too.

Akane: He’s not sleeping! He’s short-circuited!? Smoke’s coming out of him!

Waah! Matsuri-chan! You spilled tea on him while you were sleeping, didn’t you!?

There’s tea right on his cord! That’s what caused this!

Matsuri: C-calm down, Akane. It’s fine. I-it’s fine.

If we just draw his cord back in, like this—

Akane: HWAAAHHH!! Th-th-th-there’s fire!! Fire extinguisher~!

Matsuri: Looking back on it now, it was no more than an unfortunate accident.

Akane: Well, I guess it was an accident, but... Urgh...

Matsuri: We headed right into exam season immediately after that, so I didn’t have any time to fix him.

Honestly, it’s not like my lifestyle gets negatively impacted without Nebutan, but the longer I take to reboot him, the more grudges he holds against me for it. And he gets more annoying about it. That’s why I need to hurry.

Akane: Th-that description would hurt him if he heard that, so make sure you don’t say it in front of him, okay~?

Um, well, then. It’s been a while, but how about we go home together?

Matsuri: Yes, let’s.

Reina: You’re mine! We’ve got a reservation together~!

All righty! It’s time for funtimes, Tsu~baki~!

Yahoo, hooya! Tsubaki! ...Ya doin’ well, buddy~!?

Tsubaki: Yahoo, hooya. We were cleaning up together until just now. So, of course, I am in prime condition.

Reina: Yaaass. Wonderful response right there! Tsubaki, let’s go back home together?

I have an extraordinary present prepared for you~

Tsubaki: An extraordinary present. A special gift. Those words have a lovely nuance to them. Whatever could it be?

Reina: You’d better listen, ‘cuz you’re gonna get your socks knocked right off from surprise! It’s the shilling set for the thing I’m currently hooked on right now! The passionate story of battling fishcake warriors, the Fishcake Chronicles!

Tsubaki: ......Goodness, me. I have suddenly become very busy, so I cannot join you.

Reina: Don’t lie so blatantly, girl.

Tsubaki: A chronic disease of electronic waves has chanced upon me...

Reina: Which is something that you always have.

Tsubaki: The teachers are asking me to do something for them...

Reina: Which is NOT possible, and I know that!

...Hmph!!

Tsubaki: ...I slipped because I put my “foot on” my “futon”.

Reina: ...Bet you’re just saying that to fill this awkward silence, eh? Jeesh! Why are you trying to escape so desperately?

The Fishcake Chronicles are DEFFFFFFINITELY gonna be interesting! You’re gonna lose out on life if you don’t know about something THISSSSSSSSSS much fun!

Uweeh? Just a widdle bit? Come on, just check it out for a little, teensy weensy bit? If it doesn’t sit well with you, I won’t force you to pursue it anymore! Being prejudiced before you even give it a try... is such a bad thing to do! It’s like eating fishcakes. Haha!

Tsubaki: Amusing wordplay, but not the time for that.

Reina: COOOOOOOME OOOOOOOOON PLEEEEEEEEEAAAAAASSSSEEEEEEEE TSUUUUUUBAAAAAAKIIIIIIII~ Accompany me for just a little bit, would you? It’s so interesting that it makes me burst at the seams with how much I laugh, but I’m just about the only one who knows about it!

I’ve moved past from just getting hooked on the franchise, and I’ve gotten so invested that I’m at the level where I wanna passionately discuss with someone how much I squee about them!

But when the girls around me hear the title Fishcake Chronicles, they’re so quick to jump at treating it like some third-rate bit series. They won’t let me shill it to them~!

You can watch the men... No, wait. The fishcakes striking at each other with their passionate souls~!

Tsubaki: Why must the appearing characters be paste-ground white-bodied fish? Who thought to write a story in which such foodstuffs strike at each other with their passionate souls?

I can’t say I’m not interested in the creator’s thought process.

Reina: Aw, yeah! You’ve started to take an interest in the Fishcake Chronicles, right? You’re one step away from getting hooked ✨

Tsubaki: This... is one step away from getting hooked? What positive thinking.

Reina, you’re quite formidable.

Reina: Ufufu! Now, now, let’s go home to~ge~ther! The Fishcake Chronicles are waiting for us in our dorm room!

C’mon, c’mon! Come on! Pick up your backpack~

Tsubaki: Good grief. But... well, yes. I can hear a voice whispering to me that I had best return home with Reina today.

Reina: Huh? Wassup with that? One of your signals?

Tsubaki: No. This is somewhat different. If I were to put it to word... it’d be instinct, perhaps?

Reina: Ahh. I get it. The voices of the heavens are urging you to get hooked on the Fishcake Chronicles...!

Tsubaki: Not a chance.

Reina: Ugh. But anyway, just give it a shot for today, why don’t you! All right? If you get hooked on it now, we’ll be able to watch the roadshow that takes place during our spring break, so the way I see it, this is a perfect opportunity!

Tsubaki: We will be seeing fishcakes on the big screen in the movie theater?

Reina: YES! It’s a brand new movie, made three whole hours long!

Tsubaki: That’s a tremendously special work. In more ways than one. These fishcakes are quite formidable. Reina, you’re quite formidable.

Reina: If we’re gonna watch it, we should splurge a little to watch it in 4D, too!

Tsubaki: Fishcakes... in 4D...

Reina: Apparently, there’s gonna be fishcake smells and smoke coming out, too!

Tsubaki: Isn’t that just a gourmet TV program?

Yuno: Ice cream, ice cream~♪ Mizuki gave me ice cream yesterday, and I put it away here... Here it is.

Mm. Ta-dah~!

[The ice cream is sparkling.]

Yuno: Whoa... I’d expect nothing less from a dessert straight from Mizuki’s home. There are round slices of fruit right inside it! Urk, it looks so expensive...! And so delicious!

Ooh! Mm~...! I knew it! It really is tasty! It’s got this high-quality taste to it.

Cold, sweet ice cream is doing wonders for a brain exhausted from classes.

While eating this tasty ice cream, there we go. ...Let’s have a tour of Yuno-chan’s personal selection of cute animal videos! Fufu.

I was refraining from going online as much as I could during the exams, so I’m sure, by now...

[Cats are meowing from Yuno’s monitor.]

Yuno: Aha, I knew it! They’ve uploaded a bunch of new videos!

...Ah... ...So cute...

Ahh. So cute...

Ahh...! Cuteness... triumphs over all...

Ah. ...So cute...!

O-oh no. My ice cream.

[Yuno is still watching animal videos, and cats are meowing.]

Yuno: Meow~... You’re so cute, aren’t you? Kitty-cat... Meow~♪

[The sound of a video stopping recording.]

Yuno: Wh—!? ...That sound just now... was... no, there’s no way...

Mizuki: Ufufu. I recorded that whole thing, meow~♪

Yuno: Gah—M-M-M-M-Mizuki!? S-s-s-since when have you been there!?

And wait! We were in a similar situation to this before, weren’t we!?

Mizuki: Oh my, oh my? How mean of you to ask. I’ve been here for quite some time already. I made sure to knock, and you didn’t respond. I felt a human presence, though, so I asked, “Is it okay for me to open the door? I’m coming in, Yuno!”

And when I quietly entered, you were here meowing away!

[Meow~]

Yuno: W-well, it’s because! There were cute kitty-cat—er, there were cat videos, so...!

Mizuki: Gosh, the way you’re always so picture-perfect makes you so adorable. Thanks to you, I can never let go of my phone camera ✨

Yuno: Yeah, yeah, thanks for the compliment~... And while we’re at it, delete the video.

Mizuki: Absolutely not~♡

This is how my phone memory and my heart’s album get filled up even fuller and fuller!

Yuno: ...Personally, I see your heart’s album as my cringe moments album...

*sighs* Oh, fine. I trust that you won’t use it for bad things, after all.

Mizuki: Ufufu! Of course! The only one who can see my heart’s album is me alone. It spans personal events, of which this is one, to the various memories that I’ve accumulated in school. They’re things that I’ve preciously, gingerly compiled as a student and as the student council president. I’m very happy that you’re trusting of me, Yuno!

Yuno: Heh, we’ve known each other pretty long, after all. So, Mizuki? Did you have any business with me?

Mizuki: *claps* Oh, yes! Yes, about that! ...You see?

Yuno, I had a... certain request for you, which is why I came here.

Yuno: A... request... for me...

It’s not something weird, is it?

Mizuki: Oh my, oh my, that’s quite saddening to me. Why are you suddenly so on edge?

Remember your trust from less than a minute ago?

Yuno: *unsettled* ...I trust you when it comes to how you use your memory, but I can’t trust your impulsive whims.

Mizuki: I see. I’m very happy that you know me so well, Yuno~☆

Yuno: We’ve known each other pretty long, after all~

And you’re not denying the fact that it’s another impulsive whim!! Urk... I’m already scared of what you’re going to make me do...

Mizuki: Ufufu! And I suppose it’s called a down payment? I’ve already presented you with my thanks in advance.