2

Uehara Rin stirred with the first sunlight and the cries of the morning birds.

"You're awake," I said, sending a tentative side look to where she was. "Before you freak out. Yes, I took off your clothes, they were too dirty to stay on. And no, I didn't do anything to you." Other than wash the vomit from your skin, but I'm not sure it'd be a good idea to bring that up now.

She didn't move at first, just stared at the ceiling while it was slowly brightened by the sunlight that leaked from the half-drawn curtains.

I held my gaze for a few seconds, deciding that a 'suddenly finding herself naked' freak out that was expected from this universe wasn't going to happen, plus if she wanted to kill me there isn't much I could do to about it. So I look away from her and back to the pan, frying in the tiny stove.

"Your clothes are beside you if you hadn't seen them. They are a little damp. I hadn't had the time to dry them." Flipping the Omelet one last time, I transferred it to the plate on the side, adding the bacon soon after.

Finally movement. I heard the fabric of the blanket rustling over her form.

"I found you last night at my doorstep. This is the 15's. You missed your place by one." I've checked that with the landlady early, and yep, she was my next-door neighbor, because fate works like that apparently.

Placing the plates, glasses, and cutlery on the trays, I picked up the two in my hands and turned.

… Of course She wouldn't bother to cover herself, what was I thinking. The blanket had fallen to her lap, giving me a full view of her mammoth-sized breasts clad in an equally large lace bra and her creamy-white, slender back whose sides sloped into impressive childbearing hips, all hugged by a panty that was a bit too small to be considered decent. A vision that has tormented my thoughts throughout the entire night, and would undoubtedly send many teenage boys into a frenzy.

Me? I just pause for a second and continued on.

"Here," I said, setting the breakfast on her side, and sitting close by. Not much space in the apartment, just a bathroom, a kitchenette, and a living room with a tiny balcony attached to it. We would stay close no matter where I sat. "I only know how to do western style. Hope you don't mind."

Bacon, eggs, sausages, orange juice: a very standard hangover breakfast. And touching on the subject, I really got to learn Japanese cooking, the ingredients to make western are too expensive around here.

More controlled movements, the shape of her long legs curled under the blanket until she was kneeling. I tried hard not to look, but it was hard; this woman was hypnotically gorgeous. Even her hair was beautifully messed, a trait that few women could achieve, and especially impressive considering the length of it.

Her eyes didn't move around a lot, nor did they change from the serene look. They did focus on the food though, and with slow, endearingly unfamiliar movements she began to eat.

By that point, I remembered my own food and yanked my eyes off of the Yamato Nadeshiko in the room.

Goddamn, are all taimanins this beautiful? It makes things even more tragic knowing their usual fates…Yes, their fates which are tied to a hentai franchise set in a futuristic setting that shouldn't have anything to do with nineties Japan, or Ranma freaking ½ in the first place.

No. Let it go, I stayed up the whole night freaking out about the possibilities and implications of what this could mean, and it's not like me, a completely random stranger, could ask a freaking demon slayer ninja about things I shouldn't have knowledge about, I can't see how this would end well for me.

And frankly, I'm tired of freaking out.

We eat in silence, her movements with fork and knife becoming steadier by the second. I'd like to say she was copying me, but I wasn't sure she looked at me even once

She finished around the same time I did, then gently pushed the tray away and fully turned towards me. I gulped, she did all of that in her underwear and even now made no effort to cover herself, it was… stimulating, in a very awkward way.

Damn teenage body with no self-control!

"Uehara Rin." She introduced herself in a polite tone. Her voice fit the rest of her; a melodic, feminine cadence that blends nicely to the background, yet it was distinct enough to linger.

… I coughed, realizing I let the silence go on for a bit more than necessary. Goddamn distracting sexy ninjas.

"Ōe Hiroshi, it's a pleasure to met you."

"Ōe Hiroshi-sama." She leans in, her hands sliding forward until the tip of her fingers were touching the tatami floor, and her back was in a perfect 30-degree angle, a flawless respectful bow, only… she was in her underwear, meaning the pose showed me the mother of all cleavages. "Thank you for your kindness and hospitality. This one vows to one day returns it to you in kind."

"Ah, you're welcome?" I said, a little taken aback by the odd way she phrased that. Now if I could only stop ogling her so blatantly…

"Then," She straightens herself, "I must take my leave." She briefly bowed one last time, before rising to her feet. And boy, that was an experience; all the right things in her jiggled, even confined as they were. I watched her as she gathered her clothes and left. For not a single moment she lost control of her movements or her eyes stopped looking serene.

I sighed, letting my shoulders slump. That's it, I guess.

Quest completed:

+200

Your closeness with Uehara Rin has vastly increased.

????????????

????????????

Yeah yeah, you say that but it certainly doesn't feel like it. I mean, it could have gone a lot worse, but I feel it could have gone a lot better also.

And was she really depressed? She didn't look depressed to me.

"Ah." I breathed, catching the number on the electronic clock. I've better get started if I wanted to get some things done before school.

…Wait a second… did she just go out in her underwear?

-0-0-0-​

There was a taimanin in Nerima.

I'm not arrogant enough to believe I know everything there is to know about Ranma 1/2 's universe from the show alone, but I'm fairly certain it didn't have the plot of Taimanin Asagi running alongside it, mainly due to the difference in time period, or differences in world-building.

Yet I can't deny the existence of Uehara Rin simply because I didn't want her to exist. I must accept the fact that this isn't the Ranma world I'm familiar with and react appropriately.

Nevertheless, my objective still the same, and it's the same objective of every other person with The Gamer out in the multiverse; get stronger to increase survivability. This is more vital than ever now, considering there are Taimanins running around, which meant there are rape demons and worse.

I shivered at this thought. Much much worse; got to watch out for news about Edwin Black.

Quest completed.

+10 exp

"Thank you young man. My back isn't what it used to be." Said the old lady I've just helped set up her shop.

Quest completed.

+20 exp

"Oh thank you, thank you so much!" Said the mother who I just helped reunite with her child.

Quest completed.

+10 exp

"Here you go boyo, for the trip. You really saved my hide there, hahaha!" Said the honest-to-god kettle seller, as I finished fixing his kettle cart. So many kettles… and I now have one…

I jogged across the narrow streets and low houses of Nerima, doing random quests that popped up along the way.

Today, I'm planning to continue testing out the gamer system; some vital things I'll have to try after school, because I wanted peace and concentration, but it doesn't mean that I couldn't test out some smaller things on the short time I have before school.

I continued to jog, feeling my heart racing on my chest, my breaths quickening due to the effort, my legs swing fast and rhythmically, the wind flapping against my tracksuit. I felt a grin marking my features. My body has never felt this light before, nor was I ever able to run this fast, for this long.

+ 1 End

I gasped and almost tripped over my feet, when I managed to get my equilibrium back I threw my arms up and cheered.

"HELL YEAH, IT WORKS!" I was so happy I couldn't keep it inside.

I was worried as fuck about this. The game system I'm stuck with is very schizophrenic; some things are easy as hell to achieve while others are hard as fuck. For example, it took me minutes to figure out my Illusion Barrier Erase skill, but even now I can't see to crack the classic 'Observe' skill and that's just watching things.

I was worried I didn't have the 'gain stats through effort' thingy, but thankfully I was wrong. This opens a lot of possibilities and pretty much lock my usage of free points for a while, I don't know if it becomes hard to gain extra points when my stats are high level but I don't want to try, better to get as much extra stats while they're still low and…

… I just realized this is the path of more effort because as it means I have to work for the stats rather than gain them through level-ups… ah well.

Suddenly, there was a loud snapping of something distinctly metallic. Followed by a sharp "Shit!" the universal reaction for something going terribly wrong.

I jerk my head to the side and saw an open garage a short distance away, a quick jog forward and I could make out a red sport car and legs kicking beneath it.

My eyes widened, oh shit.

New quest: Small action, big consequences.

A stranger just got into an unfortunate accident nearby, save her life or help her avoid any serious injuries.

Reward:

+100 exp.

??????????

??????????

Failure:

Possible end of the world.

??????????

??????????

Accept/Refuse

OH SHIT!

I ran into the garage.

"Are you ok!? What happened!?" I asked the flapping legs of the girl whose death or injury would trigger the end of the world, quickly assessing the situation while at it.

The fucking car jack had snapped, it was obvious to see that. But thankfully it had not snapped all the way, just enough to painfully press the vehicle on the girl's abdomen rather than crushing it. Fuck, can't pull her out like this, and the busted jack is starting to creak ominously.

"The drawer!" She called out breathlessly. "The big drawer next to the worktable, hurry! Arh!"

Following her instructions, I nearly yanked the drawer out of its hinges, but I found an extra car jack among the heavy tools. Picking it up, I slid close to the car and jammed the thing next to the busted one. It took a lot of grunting and my full weight to get the lever of the damned, outdated thing to move, but eventually, I managed to raise the car enough for the girl to roll out. She crashed on the shelves and fell from the board, curling over herself on the ground.

I pulled away the busted jack just in case and directed my attention to her.

"You're ok?"

"Y-Yeah." She spoke in a high-pitched cough, her breathing still affected by the near-death experience. "Give me a moment."

I stood close and let her gather her composure, meanwhile having a look at the girl that was apparently vital to the safety of the world. She was wearing a bulky overall that covers most of her body with a grimy white shirt under it, she has dirty blonde hair but in anime japan this isn't really unusual, and kept it in a low ponytail that reaches just below her shoulders. Her face was locked in a shaky expression of concentration as she tried to rein in the pain and her breathing, I could see she has rather striking features; though more 'handsome' than 'pretty'.

I… don't recognize her, but her floating tag was visible now.

Tenou Haruka

Closet Lesbian

Level: 10

… I'm reasonably sure I should recognize that name, and it is familiar. Like, it was sitting in the back of my mind but I can get it for the life of me… Urg, I don't remember her in the Nerima's wrecking crew. Is she from Taimanin?

"Ah." Her hand gripped the side of the garage's worktable and she starts pulling herself up. "Thank you, if you hadn't come. Urg!" She barely managed to stand before a wave of pain made her curl again.

"We need to get you to a hospital." I looked at the side door that led to the house. "Are you parents home? We have to warn-"

"No!" She cuts in. "No parents, no hospital." She leans into the table for support. "I just need to lay down for a bit."

"Girl… you just had a car fall on top of you." As if my words were a reminder she grunted and held her abdomen. "See, it agrees with me."

"…What? My injury? I don't-" She started but I cut her off by poking her sweaty forehead.

"Twas a joke don't worry about." I smiled a bit and crossed my arms to lay my ultimatum. "But as things stand, I ain't going to leave until your injury gets treated, and I don't know anything about medicine, so it's got to be someone else."

She frowned a little bit. "That's a bit unreasonable don't you think?"

"I can't help it, I've come to this world to meddle and help, this way I can get experience points and level up!"

Aha! I got a tiny smile.

"That's a bizarre logic." She decides.

"It's the truth, now how are we gonna do this?"

She rubbed the injured area of her abdomen and tried to briefly straighten her back, only to jerk back to curling again. Finally, she sighed.

"There is a clinic just down the street. We could go there."

"Great!" I step closer. "Here lean on me."

She passed her arm over my shoulders and I circled mine over her waist. It was quite awkward because she was on the taller end for a girl; we were nearly the same height.

She managed three steps with my help before yelping in pain and folding.

"Humm… It seems we have no choice."

She snapped a look at me.

"Not my parents-"

"I'll have to carry you."

She blinked, her lips chewing on my words before she raised an incredulous eyebrow.

"Don't actually do that."

"I'm gonna do it."

Saying that I carefully lowered myself and passed my arm over the back of her knees and gently pulled her up, slowly as to not aggravate her injury.

She was heavy, not enough for me to struggle to carry her around but I'm thankfully for this new, stronger body. This says something about my old one because strength is my weakest stat.

"See, better now, right?" I grinned.

"Mm." The noise she made with her throat was kinda agreeable. She didn't blush like a girl of her age would at being carried like that; she just cradled her abdomen and rolled her eyes.

Then she smiled; it made her look cool.

"You might be the oddest person I'd ever met…" A deliberate pause.

"Ōe Hiroshi, and you ain't seen nothing yet."

"Hooh. Tenou Haruka, I'm intrigued to see if you can back that up."

Quest Completed

+100 exp.

Your closeness with Tenou Haruka has increased

??????????

Oh yeah, there was a quest.

-0-0-0-​

Japan and the Japanese people will always hold the trophy of 'weirdest inventions integrated into society', no matter if it's normal Japan or an alternative anime version of it.

I held the bread to my face. Sniffed it. Tested its texture. Then took a bite.

… I don't know who had the bright idea to put yakisoba in a bread, but I shall find him… and I'll kiss him.

"Mmmmm!" My moan of overwhelming pleasure didn't go unnoticed by the class, a few chairs got pushed away from me, and a few judging stares were thrown in my direction.

I don't actually care all that much, but I actually made a pretty bad first impression to my peers. There are a pretty strict set of rules that regulates Japanese society, in fact, there are so many rules that each niche of a person's life has their own; like, to the point you have to use slightly different languages to address various people of various social hierarchies in various social situations. These rules are hammed into a Japanese child from the moment they are born until they become second nature to them and the child turns into a good little nail to serve the shogun/daimyo/emperor/politician and continue the way of glorious Nippon.

Yesterday I broke several of these rules by blatantly skipping most of my classes, on my first day no less, and having the audacity to turn up to the last period like nothing had happened.

That firmly set me as a 'problem child' in their eyes, and nobody wanted to be associated with the problem child.

"Hey, Hiroshi." Ramna dropped his desk and chair in front of mine and sat on it. "You got any more yokais to fight man. I'm bored."

Oh yeah, Ranma was right there with me yesterday, but he wasn't being ostracized for some reason. Hum, now that I think about it; a lot of kids in this school should be shunned by the Japanese spirit grinding system, but aren't. Kuno get a pass cuz he's rich and the principal's son, but the boys assaulting Akane everyday? Yeah, that's not proper Japanese nail behavior.

Maybe is because I'm not eccentric enough? Do all sufficiently weird people get a pass? That would explain a lot.

Ranma squinted his eyes as I kept slowly chewing on my delicious bread and staring blankly at him, once he realized I was fucking with him I swallowed and smiled.

"Sorry man, I'm not getting anything today."

"Really? Not a single hint?"

"It's not something I can do on demand."

Yet. If Illusion Barrier Escape and Illusion Barrier Erase are a thing, then Illusion Barrier Create is only a powerflex away. It's one of the things I'm planning to work on once I find a barren terrain for me to train.

"You can always fight Kuno if you have an itch," I suggested.

"I'm going to do that later," He takes a folded paper from his pocket. "Got a challenge letter and everything, only…" He leans in, putting a hand beside his mouth to whisper conspiratorially. "Is for my other form."

"Ah." What happens during these times again? My clearest memories of Ranma ½ are from when the whole cast is present. The beginnings are quite murky. But I know for sure Kuno has a crush on girl Ranma, maybe this is when it starts. "Why would he want to fight you like that?"

He grinned arrogantly. "Heh! Cuz I kicked his ass in that form before. He got a bruised ego and wants revenge, I know the type!"

Pretty sure you are the type.

"And how does that work exactly, your whole…" I gesture to his body with a half-eaten piece of bread.

"Che." He leans back with a little frown but answered anyway. "Cold water turns me into… you know. Warm water gets me back to normal. Ruined my life." He grumbled.

Yeah, I'm not going to argue with him on that, at least not now. He wouldn't respond well no matter the argument. Instead, I moved in another direction.

"Right, but do you know the details?" I tapped my chin. "Like how hot or cold the water has to be to change you. Or how much water can provoke a change, and how much of your body has to touch it. Like, can you change by submerging only the tip of your finger in water? Or what about sweat and saliva? Can they provoke a change?"

Ranma blinked rapidly, his shoulders tensing a little bit. "I dunno man. Why are you asking me this?"

I shrugged and waved my bread around. "Curiosity, knowledge, understanding. Understanding a problem is the first step towards solving it?" I finished by taking a bite.

"Oh, that's ok." He relaxed and opened a smile. "Sound's great even! I don't know any of that you asked but I can't try out a few things."

I nodded.

"And what 'bout you? Your thing's magic right? Like when you took us to that weird mirror world thing."

"Eh, kinda, I think it's a bit too soon to say that magic is my thing exactly. My situation is kinda…" Now how to explain it in a way he'd get it. I doubt Ranma would comprehend the full extent of the Gamer power, and I don't think is wise to spread around knowledge about my true ability. "Alright, to put it in simple terms; I've awakened to the mystic side of things only recently, and yeah I got some magical ability out of it, but no deep understanding on how it works, I was just another high school boy until a few days ago, so I'm still pretty green about all of this."

"Oh." His eyes flashed in disappointment for a moment but he carries on. "So that really was the first yokai you ever saw. Then, not bad at all, totally didn't look like your first time."

"Thank you." Though I can't say you are being genuine or patronizing me with that tone.

Ranma grinned. "But you can use some magic, right? You said so. What you can do?"

"Well…" I looked around, it didn't look like anybody was paying attention, except for Akane on the other side of the room who was occasionally sending us some curious stares.

Ah, fuck it.

I brought up my inventory screen, and thank the gods once again for the highly interactive system I had. Most Gamers could only summon their screens by voice command and they were only static holograms that had to be touched physically.

With me? I could do everything with a thought, without raising a single hand, and my screens moved pretty much everywhere I wanted as long it was around me.

I made the inventory screen fly horizontally until it was hovering over the desk; Ranma was, of course, none the wise, until I raised my hand that is. Then he closely followed my flashy movements

"Give me… bread!" I declared and poked the screen, ejecting the extra bread I had bought in case I didn't like the Yakisoba one. It landed on the desk with a thud.

"Bread!" Ranma exclaimed loudly, drawing some attention to us. "Awesome! It came out of nowhere!" He reaches out and picks it up. "Ohh, I can touch it and everything."

I laughed at his amusing reaction. "It's real… help yourself if you want."

"Reashy, sweeesh!" Ranma already had his mouth full of melon bread. "Thansh Hiroshi!"

I nodded and finished the rest of my own meal.

Then I took another one from the inventory immediately after it.

These funny tasting breads are the shit!

-0-0-0-​

The clerk stared me with an exhausted look in his eyes, he kept trailing from my smiling face to the pile I presented to him.

I didn't have to vocalize it, but I did it anyway. It'd be funnier.

"I would like to purchase these, please."

He aged ten years at that exact moment. Yes, that was the face of someone experienced with teenagers coming into his bookstore, buying a few Kung Fu manuals to aid their fate as the next coming of Bruce Lee, only to whine and threaten to sue when their dreams crash and burn before the horrible requirements of effort and dedication.

Still, he indulged me, and I exited the store a few yen poorer, but with a modest collection of how to hit people in hard and flashy ways.

This was a regular bookstore, not an ancient, magical one I have no doubt exists around here. The reason I went to the former was because I don't know where the later is yet. If it doesn't actually exist I would be very disappointed with Ranma ½ and anime japan in general.

The books I had purchased went along the lines of 'Martial art for dummies', 'Self defense for beginners', 'The principle of so on and so on style. I had about twenty of them.

Now, I know that you can't really learn martial art by reading about it in a book, but I had the Gamer so I imagine I have an edge on most people.

I drop the sack of books on a bench in an isolated part of the local park. Picking the book on the top of the pile and admittedly the one I wanted to know most about.

It was a smallish white book with big black letters saying Jeet Kune Do in the cover.

Now, if I am the Gamer it probably means…

I opened the book in the middle.

You have encountered a book! Do you wish to integrate the information?

Accept/Refuse.

The pop up came, and a shit-eating grin split my face. I never hit Accept so fast in my life, even physically raising my hand to do so.

A strangled breath broke its way through my throat as I flinched back and sagged downwards, my vision fading for a second while the weight of information assaulted my mind. It didn't hurt, not exactly, but suddenly knowing the position of every letter, the meaning of every paragraph, and the vision of every print and illustration inside the book made for quite the overwhelming experience.

I gasped, instinctually grasping the edge of the bench to keep myself from falling to the ground face first. I found myself on my knees, my head aching slightly from the new imprint.

Alllllright, that was not quite what I was imagining, gotta remember my version of the Gamer is more… painful than normal. Upsides and downsides I guess.

I pull myself on the bench and waited for my head to stop aching. Fifteen minutes later it was like it never hurt in the first place, and I realize something.

I know kung fu.

Well, what the book had to teach about kung fu at least. I, quite literally, have the book on my head, can recall everything and anything in it, and understand everything it wanted to convey.

I laughed in jubilant glee, now I know how freaking Bruce Lee fights, how many people can say that!?

And I wasn't finished.

Fishing another book, this time one titled in Chinese, with a Japanese translation saying 'Bājíquán' beneath.

I grinned and absorbed it, bracing for the pain and confusion.

It was only after I've eaten almost all of the books I realize something important.

I wasn't getting skills.

-0-0-0-​

My body moved slowly and deliberately, going through several of the now hundreds of stances archived in my head.

Have you ever watched a really good kung fu movie… Oh, who am I kidding, have you ever watched Ip Man, got so excited about the prospect of martial arts, and bought a book after so you could 'try it out' to see if it was your thing, and in that book, there were various illustration? Yes? Now answer me, what happens when you try it out?

That was my problem.

No one ever learned martial art from a book. The books can show you images, they can tell you how to do it, and how it works, but they can't tell you how to do it properly, they can't stop and tell you if you are right or wrong, if you have a bad habit that's getting in the way of a stance, or even how to move from one stance to another.

Book gives you the information, it does not teach you the skill.

And that frustrated the fuck out of me. Now I know about martial arts, but I don't know martial arts. Oh, I'm doing better than most, having the ability to perfectly recall pages of the book gets rid the necessity of stopping to look what the next move was, but still, I'm only mirroring, not doing it.

I sighed.

Ok, the ability to absorb the information of a book and perfectly recall them, that's good, overpowered even, and undoubtedly useful. But it can't give me skills on a subject if it isn't an academic one. I'm ok with that.

I kicked some dirt that was at my feet.

All right, next thing, one that I'm confident about because it came easily to me before.

I sat down, wiped my brow and set off to concentrate on the feelings of my skills, unintentionally setting off 'Meditation' while at it.

It helped. The noise of the world fades away into a dim muffle, there was only my thoughts, the beating of my heart, the little contract of muscles here and there. I was focused like few times before.

…It was a type of energy, I knew that, but it didn't feel like one. It felt like mundane reactions, albeit in unusual sharpness and malleability. The frustration I felt at the early stunt surged from my chest, increasing the beating of my heart. The underlying pain I tried to hide chilled its way through my veins to join it, the throbbing excitement climb up to enter the mix, and more, happiness, trepidation, anger, disgust, and many others, feeling both good and bad reflected outward, shaping an energy that was so utterly me it was blinding.

And it was that energy that moves when I activate some of my skills.

Now it's moving again to the rhythm of two of my skills, while adding experimental twists and turns as I try to shape it into something different but similar. In my experiment I did something, and then I realize that it was my intent and will joining the mix and sending everything into a wonderfully violent chemical reaction.

It exploded and I could feel my MP dropping.

Skill created lvl 01: Illusion Barrier Creation.

A pulse of the energy… Mana? Prana? Raw magic, I don't know, but a pulse was expelled from my body, rapidly shaping and connecting and… I lost track.

When I opened my eyes out of meditation. The world was silent and dark.

Night? It has been this long…

Regardless, I'm back at the silent, grayed world with the ghost of people, this time one of my own creation.

I've got what I came for.

Skill created lvl 01: Illusion Barrier creation.

Let's you create Illusion Barriers in the area around you, the deepness of barrier as well as the content inside changes according to the level.

Level 01: Empty.

I let out a breath. This changes everything.

This is the essential skill that would allow me to get stronger, the one skill every Gamer should have, the skill that gives you a mobile grinding zone and source of income. I cannot convey the sheer usefulness of this; hell, depending on the level I could have my very own hyperbolic time chamber.

This deserves a cheer of its own, the biggest of the day, for the sheer effect it would have in my future.

Yet…

*Yawn*

I don't feel like overreacting, in fact, I was fairly chill, and very relaxed.

So I just sat back in my own little world.

… and sunk back into the wonders of my Magic.

-0-0-0-​

I was still yawning as I made my way up the stairs to my apartment.

It was very late, an hour that no respectable Japanese youth would want to be found out. I had taken a nap in the park, then I woke up and took another nap; directly feeling magic is a very trippy experience.

This was a very productive day, It could have been more if I had ground my ID create skill or at least tried experimenting with my magic rather then just chilling inside it, but I was happy. There wasn't really anything urgent that required me to get stronger fast, it doesn't mean I plan to be slothful about it, but it means that times like this, where I just get distracted and chill out won't make me lose my sleep.

I stretched my arms once I managed to work my tired legs through the steps. Ready to get a good night's sleep.

There was a homeless person curled into a pathetic ball at my doorsteps.

Really? That's the second time… Goddamn Nerima.

I got closer to the tight ball of bulky coats and scarfs, and kick it lightly.

"Hey, you are in my way, get out please," I said as gently as I could manage through my irritation. Politeness, my Japanese self cried, politeness to the bitter end!

"Guuuuuuu." Was the draw out, feminine sounding noise that it produced in response- Wait a second.

The figure unfolded, head rising up to me wearing a puffy hat that would fit on Oliver the hungry orphan and a pair of large circular glasses with the lenses so opaque they were practically white, there were also images of a silly spiral on them for some ungodly reason.

However, the little skin I managed to make out from that horror of fabric was smooth and unblemished, and the traces of the face told something remarkably feminine.

…There was also snot dripping from that feminine nose.

"Ō-Ō-Ō-Ōe Hiroshi-sama! Ah!" The figure threw herself at my feet, doing its best imitation of a frog. "T-This one is so, so sorry for bothering you so soon."

...It can't be, no, no way there are things in this world that just aren't possible… Oh, who am I kidding?

"Uehara…san?" I tried.

"H-Hai!" The woman who looked nothing like the one I've met this morning reflexively jerked up at the sound of her own name. "Ō-Ōe-sama remembers! Ah, this one is so happy~ guh!"

She freezes… and then promptly falls rigid to the side.

A motorboat roared inside the corridor at that very same moment.

"G-guuuu, so hungry~" Uehara Rin, the Sparking Taimanin, the woman whose level was so high I can't even see it, moans pitifully against the floor with tears and snot tracing down her face to form a puddle.

My hand… attempted to fuse with my face.

She's a resident of Nerima. How could I've forget that?