Gathering Our Comrades

We’ve been teleported outside our house, exactly where I wanted to.

Surprisingly enough, there are no signs of life in the neighborhood. Most of the people here must have headed to a shelter or a meeting spot in the town. Still, we don’t know how far this world extends, so I can’t say for sure where they may have gone.

Of course, there is also the possibility that they’re all locked in their homes, although I doubt anyone in panic would prefer to hide inside to seeking help.

If you were to compare this image with a recently abandoned for-unknown-reasons suburban town, I don’t think you would notice a lot of differences.

‘’Hey, doofus!’’ Enzu pulls my sleeve. ‘’Why are we here?!’’

For some reason, this result didn’t feel nearly as heavy as the previous ones she uttered today.

‘’Wait, who the hell says ’doofus’ anymore?’’ I point out unconsciously in a rather disappointed voice.

‘’Didn’t you say we were going to find comrades?!’’

Oh, she ignored my statement.

‘’Even someone like you should know that family is the top priority in such a situation, Enzu. I may be pinning my hopes up for nothing, but I want to confirm if Anzu or Mum or Dad-’’

‘’Wait wait wait! Why would THEY be here? You saw how people were transported here! It was cause of that booth!’’

‘’I would also hope that were the case here. I was originally transported inside the house, in my room. When I came out, I saw people of all ages. I can’t figure out the logic behind this.’’

‘’Leave your not smart thinking ass out of this. If you want to start searching, then just do.’’ she sighs.

‘’Listen here, how cruel can you get…’’

I start walking. There’s something holding my left hand that prevents me from moving the rest of my body.

As I turn around, I notice Enzu’s almost emotionless eyes staring directly into my soul.

Wait, this expression seems familiar.

Why is Enzu having a yandere expression?!

And what’s with the sudden attitude change?! A few moments ago you were all moe and helpless loli business!

Gotta keep my calm right now. If she understands how much stress a yandere can cause, she will never stop!

‘’What did I do this time? Don’t you feel safer this way?’’

No reply.

‘’I’m only doing this out of responsibility for being you older brother. Your safety is a priority, even if I don’t want to admit it. Let’s go.’’ I say as I tighten my grip to make her understand that the situation we’re in has no room for chit-chats.

‘’Don’t touch me, I don’t want to be contaminated by that swamp of yours.’’ she lets go of my hand.

‘’Whatever you say.’’ I sigh, wearing my faint smile. ‘’Wait! I showered yesterday!’’

‘’Yes yes, I’m totally believing you. Let’s go.’’ Enzu says as she heads to the door along with me.

This girl…I don’t even know anymore…

As we get inside, I notice that everything is where it was before I left, making me lower my hopes for someone being here.

‘’Anzu, are you here?! If you are, please say so!’’

In slow steps, we decide to go further into the house.

Or at least that’s what we wanted to do…

Hiccup!

That’s right. I’m certain I heard someone having a hiccup or something along those lines. It sounded kind of moe-ish and high-pitched, so it was most likely a little girl, but I can’t say for sure.

Given the situation we’re in right now, I can’t help but feel scared. I mean, you’re certain you’re home alone and hear a voice all of a sudden, why wouldn’t your heart start racing? Wouldn’t you automatically raise your guard?

‘’E-Enzu, did you do that?’’ I ask her, my voice slightly quivering.

‘’What are you talking about? Don’t tell me you’re scared!’’ she replies with a straight face.

‘’But your legs are trembling like hell…’’

‘’Hmm, words of a scared person!’’

Why do you take pride in your own fears?!

In an almost horror movie type-of-convenient timing, a loud, screeching sound coming from the closet’s door –which is literally less than 2 meters from us- makes both me and Enzu cover our ears.

‘’S-Say, Enzu, you sure you don’t want to leave already?’’

‘’Is it just me or are you a little girl when it comes to this kind of stuff?’’

‘’Just sympathize with me and be scared for a bit!!’’

‘’All the more reason to not do that!’’

The closet’s door has now stopped moving. The screeching sound has also faded along with it.

That would normally be good news if it ended there, but unfortunately, some heavy footsteps coming from there replaced it.

‘’H-Hey, what’s with the creepy footsteps?’’ Enzu says in a shocked manner, slowly getting behind and closer to me.

‘’I don’t know and I’d rather not find out what it is!’’

For some reason, I feel like the footsteps have started to seem a bit…off-sync, I should say?

No no, not exactly. It is more like…

Oh, I got it! ‘Forced’ is what I was looking for!

Wait, forced? Doesn’t that mean-?

‘’Boo.’’

A single sound, a single syllable uttered in the calmest of ways was more than enough to make me and Enzu scream reflectively in fear.

Of course, I did manage to understand that something was off, so I got over the shock way before her.

‘’A-Anzu?!’’

‘’Yes, my dear brother, it is I, Kodo Anzu, age 14, height 158 centimeters, vital stati-‘’

‘’YES YES THAT’S ENOUGH!’’

‘’Did you like my little prank?’’ Anzu smiles innocently.

‘’How can you smile even after almost giving me a heart attack?!’’ Enzu scolds her and then headchops her softly, making Anzu utter an almost perfect imitation of Takanashi Rikka’s ‘Ow!’.

But please do me a favor and help Enzu have her wish heard loud and clear. I’ll pay Yato as many 5 yen coins as he wants, JUST DO IT.

‘’I thought it would be fun. Wasn’t it fun?’’ mutters Anzu.

‘’No no no, it was it was! Sorry for shouting at you! Hit me if that satisfies you!’’

You sadomasochistic two-faced excuse of an adolescent individual, what the hell are you telling an innocent girl to do?!

‘’Eh? Come again?’’ replies Anzu, confused by Enzu’s words.

‘’Excuse me, but is this how you two solve your problems?’’

‘’No way! In the first place, me and Enzu never fight. Although she tends to act like this at times.’’

‘’I’ll never get your relationship…’’ I sigh deeply.

‘’I’m thirsty. I’ll go get some juice.’’ says Enzu in an almost emotionless robotic voice as she goes to the kitchen.

Way to ruin the mood, party-killer.

Well, she definitely knows break the ice. Her tangents sure are something you can’t forget.

Now that this crossed my mind, would someone like Anzu be smiling in this situation?

‘’Onii-san!’’ she whispers. ‘’My head!’’

Wait, so now I’m supposed to take a hint or something?

‘’What about it? Are you hurt? There’s medicine in the kitch-’’

‘’No, no!’’ she grabs my hand, placing it on top of her head. ‘’Pat it like you always do!’’

Oh.

OH.

NOTHING MAKES SENSE ANYMORE!

‘’Geez, how are you supposed to get a girlfriend if you don’t know how to calm a girl down? Let alone your own sister.’’

‘’Don’t mention my misery in front of me…’’

But I get it now. I understand why she was smiling this whole time.

‘’For you to ask me to do this… Were you scared?’’

Anzu decides to nod her head positively.

The reason she didn’t answer verbally is simple: she is crying.

‘’Forgive me, Anzu. I didn’t mean to leave you all alone.’’ I hug her as firmly as I can and start stroking her hair softly. ‘’Everything is okay now.’’

I should have realized it sooner. Anzu is a very sensitive person after all. Something like this could easily traumatize someone as fragile as her.

‘’I found myself sleeping in the closet when I woke up. I started searching around the house immediately, but I couldn’t find anyone.’’

‘’I’m glad you’re alright, Anzu. That’s all that matters now. We are with you right now. See-‘’ I position my face opposite to hers: ‘’-I’m smiling! Can you show me that amazing smile of yours too!?’’

‘’I’m glad you and Enzu are alright too.’’ she flashes a huge and bright smile at me as she wipes off her tears with a handkerchief.

*

After calming Anzu down and helping her get a proper nap, me and Enzu also decided to rest to help ease our own stress and shock from this sudden and unexpected happening.

It must had been about 2 hours of absolute silence in the Kodo residence. No one dared to talk –more accurately, we couldn’t get ourselves to.

I started my research in the meantime to find as much as I could about this new world.

A lot of things have no explanation to be understood perfectly, so we are bound to go by the thought that they exist because they do.

Without further ado, here’s what’s certain about this world:

• This dimension has copied our own world perfectly. Every single detail is the same as the original. Let’s take my own room as the example. I hadn’t noticed before, but everything –from my collectible figurines to my clothes and furniture- is all there like I had left them before going to bed. It’s like copying a file on your computer and placing it on another directory. While the contents do remain the same, what differs is the position. The only difference in this world is the sky, which is red, and the sun, which has taken a light shade of a red-yellow mix, but also remains still in the sky.
• The borders of this world are still unknown, although some drone users have speculated that the whole city of Tokyo –meaning 2200 square kilometers- is the environment of the game through their own research. However, the sky has its own confirmed limits, with a calculated altitude of 3 kilometers.
• There are approximately 5000 people in this dimension judging from the mass gatherings in the city’s famous spots.
• Every player of this game has been given a wrist watch-like object, which acts as the selection menu for the players’ actions. It acts exactly like a cellphone -the data of which have all been copied bit by bit- include personal and group communication and texting and in-game forums –apparently to discuss issues concerning this world-, which is where I got most of my information from. Suffice it to say that you can only contact people in this world, as all other numbers/addresses etc. will always fail to reach the other part.

Naturally, there are still a lot of unanswered questions, and if I were to state every single one of them, even the thickest of books would be ashamed of how small they are compared to the amount of pages the questions would cover –WITHOUT the answers.

This is what I had found before Anzu came to me.

When Anzu woke up, she willingly asked me to tell her what we’ve been involved into to get a grip of the situation. Much to my surprise, she kept her cool throughout my explanations, asking for as much information as possible in case she could be of any help.

*

I shouldn’t be worrying about this since it’s the first day and all, but why isn’t anyone talking about how they’ll take down the 4 Dei? Considering that there are 5000 people here, doesn’t someone have to come up with strategies?

Or there is the alternate choice: To NOT let a group’s strategies get leaked to others so that they can take all the glory for themselves.

We shortly left off for the one place I’m sure a lot of people would seek shelter. Of course, we are using teleportation in case something goes wrong, although the odds for this to happen are theoretically close to 0.

And we’ve just arrived outside it.

‘’H-Huge!’’ gasps Enzu.

‘’Where are we, Onii-san?’’

‘’This is the house of Kiba Reiji. He is friend of mine.’’

Although I wouldn’t go so far as to call this a house… It’s an enormous mansion in reality.

Lord knows how rich his family might be to be able to maintain this fortress.

‘’Eh, is that so? I didn’t know otakus had friends.’’

‘’So that’s what you chose to point out…’’ says Anzu, followed by a hopeless ‘’Ahahah… hahah…’’

‘’Apologize to every otaku in the world this very moment!’’

‘’I politely refuse.’’

‘’Politely, my foot! You and your so-called pride…!’’

There’s no way we’re ending this conversation peacefully anytime soon.

‘’So I WAS right that I heard someone familiar!’’ says an approaching voice. ‘’Yo, Yuusuke!’’

‘’Reiji, I’ve been looking for you!’’

‘’Ah, I see. So what brings you here?’’

‘’We’re looking for comrades to beat the 4 Dei. Care to help?’’

‘’What do you mean ‘we’?!’’ interferes Enzu, stating her complaint on my choice of words. ‘’Neither me nor Anzu agreed to-!’’

‘’Sorry to break this to you, Enzu, but a war does not allow for a decision like that to exist. When you want to survive, you fight.’’ I reply cold-heartedly.

‘’Leave your philosophy out of this, jerk.’’

‘’I don’t mind.’’ murmurs Anzu, much to my and Enzu’s surprise. ‘’If it’s to help someone out, why turn him down from the get-go?’’

‘’Don’t encourage him!’’

‘’Acquaintances of yours?’’ Reiji asks me discreetly.

‘’Come to think of it, you’ve never met these two. Reiji-‘’ I point at the twins: ‘’-Enzu and Anzu, my younger twin sisters.’’

‘’Nice to meet you!’’ say the twins simultaneously.

‘’Perfect synchronization…! So this is the power of twins!?’’

‘’No no, don’t start overthinking this, it’s something you and me will never understand.’’

‘’Well, that’s a shame. Anyway, it’s my pleasure to meet you two too!’’

I’m actually quite surprised he didn’t comment anything on Enzu’s attitude.

Usually, Enzu is the first thing people notice. There’s no real reason behind this actually, she just happens to be quite memorable -catches the eye, if I may.

‘’So, you said you came here to look for comrades, right? Needless to say that you came to the right place. Follow me.’’

While Anzu and Enzu start walking in a normal pace, Reiji and I take a much faster pace to create a small gap between us so that we can talk without disturbing the two.

‘’You say that this is the right place, but-‘’

‘’Rest assured. I’ve gathered a few comrades myself. You’re not the only one who wants to beat these 4 and get out of here.’’

‘’Any ideas on how to do that?’’

‘’If the Dei are indeed the creators of our and this world, then the chances of us beating them are as good as forgotten.’’

‘’Wait, it’s still too soon to give up ho-!’’

‘’Let alone surviving.’’

3 single words.

‘’We’re here.’’

These 3 words he uttered were more than enough to make my mind go blank for an eyeblink.

‘’Yuusuke, what’s wrong? You seem a bit…confused.’’

‘’Oh, yeah, sorry, I got lost in thought. Let’s go.’’

‘’That’s so you.’’ he chuckles.

As soon as Reiji opens the door to the main hall, none of us can help but stay gaped at how huge it is.

Unlike the huge yard, the hall is crowded with people. Given its vastness, it doesn’t really seem that there are a lot of people at first, but that’s not the case at all.

‘’I-It’s even bigger on the inside!’’ Enzu gasps.

‘’Don’t make it sound like a British sci-fi show from the 60s.’’

‘’Stop trying to seem cool and smart by making references no one gets, you- you little- AAAAAHHH! I’ve run out of insults!’’ she now snaps.

Am I supposed to consider myself lucky now or something?

‘’Consider yourself lucky!’’

Sometimes being right hurts a lot more than being wrong…

While Enzu and I were arguing as usual, Anzu and Reiji exchanged some helpless yet probably genuine smiles.

That didn’t prevent Reiji from having that hopeful look on his face though.

‘’Such a lovely bond you two share!’’

‘’No…how do I say this…we still have some unresolved matters between us…’’

I bet he doesn’t want to know what I’ve been through, does he?

Then again, I don’t think he would mind since he never gets that smile off his face.

‘’Onii-san doesn’t really get along with Enzu, but when he needs to do something for her, he will do it no matter what! He is really nice at heart!’’

Are my ears deceiving me?

WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT, ANZU!!!

‘’I see I see. Definitely a bit different from the Yuusuke I know of.’’

‘’I’m only doing it just because it’s my responsibility!’’

‘’I don’t ever remember asking for YOUR help!’’

‘’Both of you, settle down. Yuusuke, Enzu-chan, if there’s one thing I would never be wrong about, that would be understanding you two by your words.’’

‘’Um…what? You’ve lost me.’’ Enzu states in a slightly confused but also almost derogatory voice.

‘’Of course, a lot of factors are into this, but that doesn’t matter. You see, I am one of my family’s knights. Amidst my harsh training, I learned to recognize the opponent’s psychology merely by looking at their eyes. That was to ensure the situation I was in. Enzu-chan, one’s eyes reveal their true character. You are truly a really good person despite your actions.’’

You’re just saying that because you’ve never seen her going berserk at me!

Her nature is evil, dubious, cunning, derogatory, pretentious, two-faced! I could go on forever!

‘’You have a really strong personality and you don’t hesitate to be straightforward with your own feelings if you deem it necessary. Am I mistaken?’’

So, we have reached the conclusion that it IS EVIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIL!

‘’N-No…’’

‘’Come here.’’

And so, Enzu approaches Reiji innocently and ignorantly. He begins whispering something into her ear, having taken a kneeling, almost prince-like stance to reach her ear easily.

From what I can guess, he is probably telling her something he doesn’t want us to know, and that’s probably what she thinks too.

[Enzu’s look changed from a poker face to shocked in a matter of seconds.]

‘’That’s all I wanted to tell you.’’ he stands on his feet, unlike Enzu who is frozen like a statue. Now, his eyes stare at me: ‘’Yuusuke, your eyes reveal your personality too. Both of us know who you really are. Despite that-‘’ he approaches me back-to-back, whispering: ‘’[-there is something you want to Enzu to know, but can’t find the right moment to say it.]’’

I suddenly feel my heartbeat accelerating to extreme speeds.

There’s no way this is true.

There’s no way this COULD be true.

Me, tell her something that would make her happy? Not in a million years!

‘’Don’t try to hide it from her. Someday, she’ll have to get to know the truth. You can’t expect every day to be the same as the previous one. Especially given our current situation.’’

I’m frozen in shock for no reason, much like Enzu, but I somehow managed to overcome it.

Even if what he said is simply not true, I can’t stop thinking about it. It just won’t get off of my mind.

‘’Of course, I can’t be the first one who knows all of this. I’m sure Anzu-chan got the gist of it long before I did. Am I right, Anzu-chan?’’

‘’Yes!’’

‘”Enough with the psychology lesson then! Let’s go find the others! You two too, get a move on.’’

As soon as we start walking, Reiji’s watch suddenly beeps; most likely a call.

‘’Reiji here. Have you found her?’’

‘Her’? Are we talking about a lost child in the mansion and the like?

‘’I understand. I’m on my way.’’

And so, Reiji hangs up.

‘’It seems something urgent came up, so you have to go on on your own. I shall take my leave now.’’ he says as he runs in the hall, leaving us behind.

‘’Onii-san, you haven’t said anything in a while! You too, Enzu! Are you two alright?’’ Anzu says worriedly after looking at me and Enzu, breaking the long span of silence between the three of us.

‘’This Yuusuke must be the one who’s in constant deep thought, I think. When he gets something on his mind, he won’t stop thinking about it!’’

‘’Kazuto-san!’’

‘’Did I surprise you, Anzu-chan!?’’

Kazuto? Why is HE here?

In fact, that question was rhetorical. Anyone but him would have been left behind in this game.

Yet that begs the question:

‘’Where did you come from?’’

‘’We haven’t seen each other in days and this is how you greet you good ol’ best bud?’’

‘’Sorry, I’m just not myself right now…’’

Why did I feel a little sting of disapproval from myself to myself right now?

As I turn my eyes around, I notice that Enzu is being brought back to our world by Anzu, who is shaking her like a milkshake for some reason.

Turning my eyes to their original focus, something intrigues them.

‘‘Wait, what are you wearing?!’’

‘’You just noticed!? How deep was your thought anyway?’’

‘’Just because your name is Kazuto doesn’t mean you’re Kirito, dammit!’’

That’s right, a freaking Kirito cosplay.

‘’But it suits me, ya know? So, everything is daijobu!’’

Why do I feel like the one who named him just wanted to make this joke happen…

‘’Your bad taste and cosplay aside, is there anyone else here other than Reiji that we know of?’’

‘’No, I don’t think so. Wait wait wait! Come to think of it… Oh yeah! Sakakibara was here too!’’

‘’THAT Sakakibara!? Where!?’’

‘’I really don’t know, I just happened to see him when I was coming.’’

I feel a poking on my sleeve.

‘’Onii-san! Enzu is-!’’

Her once again worried face makes me wonder what Enzu did this time.

As it turns out, there is something wrong with her indeed; she is walking zigzag.

‘’Enzu, where are you going?’’

‘’I just…need…some…-‘’

Her heavy breathing foreshadowed this.

Enzu faints, falling face down to the ground, and complete silence prevailed, leaving everyone in the hall with their mouths open.

‘’Enzu!’’ Anzu starts crying.

This can’t be happening…

Not right now…

‘’ENZU!!!’’ I sprint towards her and lift her head. ‘’Enzu! Say something!’’

‘’Yuusuke, she’s pale as a ghost! We need to get her to the house’s medic! Just follow me!’’

As Kazuto starts running, I take Enzu on my hands and follow him, and so does Anzu.