Questions After Questions

Chapter 7 - Questions After Questions

“Do you guys believe in God?”

Noa, Keisuke and Sakura were at Keisuke’s place on Sunday, discussing what their next move would be, and each of them working on their own, when Noa asked that question out of the blue.

“Why do you ask so suddenly?” Keisuke inquired.

“I was just curious what you guys might think, especially as scientists and researchers in our timeline.”

“Feeling philosophical, aren’t you?”

“Being sentimental helps me focus. I want to practice my abilities since I haven’t actually used some of them in real time.”

“Right. Well, answering your question: I believe, but I think the way we perceive God is not quite right.”

“Meaning?”

“I think God was the one who created things, but I don’t think we should give a human image to an omniscient being. Plus, I think God is not able to interfere in our affairs anymore, for whatever reason.”

“Interesting. What about you, Sakura-chan?”

Sakura looked up from the blueprint she was drawing, with an eyebrow raised at the sudden change in honorifics, but she let it go and answered her question regardless:

“I’ve never really believed in God, but it’s not like we can prove or disprove whether or not God exists. It’s beyond our mortal capabilities, so I just stopped thinking about it.”

“I see.”

“What about you, Noa-san?” Sakura asked.

“I wanted to believe when I was little, but what I saw on my own planet makes me unable to do so now. I like Kei-kun’s view, though. It sounds really comfy.”

Everyone seemed to be deep in thought while Noa closed off the outside noises and managed to complete her meditating process, suddenly summoning snippets of memories from her crimson glowing horns, displaying them in a 360-degree radius around her, like an LED lamp.

 One memory revealed a playground, another showed an arcade, and others displayed various other locations: a bookstore, a sports field, a traditional bridge, ruins of a school festival and the demise of an alien planet. Realizing that Keisuke and Sakura were staring at her, Noa stopped and returned to reality.

“Sorry about that! I didn’t mean to disturb your work.”

Keisuke stood up from his gaming chair and walked up to Noa, patting her head.

“Don’t overdo it, okay?”

“Roger!”

“That looked really impressive. Anyway, going back to our initial topic, for now I’ll work on a nijistonic grapple, and Keisuke will work on a few weapons just in case. I’ll order the materials later. As for Noa-san, if you need anything to enhance or to help with practicing your abilities, let me know.”

“Got it. But I’m not just a support-type unit, you know? I can switch between different modes and can be a DPS or a debuffer as well.”

“Say what?” Sakura didn’t quite understand, but Keisuke clocked instantly.

“So you can also deal damage and make the enemies weaker? How do you do that?”

“I just use the memories differently. But I can’t really show you, because I don’t want to hurt anyone.”

“I wouldn’t mind it if you used them on me, as long as they were not lethal.”

“Keisuke!?” Sakura was taken aback.

“I appreciate your willingness, but I don’t want to give you any more pain in any way, Kei-kun. Plus, Sakura-chan would be very worried, right?”

“Huh?”

Sakura seemed a bit flustered from Noa’s teasing, but she didn’t deny it.

You’re so easy to read, Sakura-chan. Did Kei-kun not notice yet? Is he that dense, or does he just deliberately ignore it?

“All right. I would’ve loved to see them, but I’ll trust your judgment.”

******

Cho got an invite from Keisuke for dinner with Sakura and Noa. She was in the middle of a huge drawing session, finishing multiple drawings in one sitting for her new story, the one she was planning to submit to the competition. She was in the flow, and for that reason, she ended up declining. Cho ended up designing her main character based on Noa, and she just had a surge of inspiration pouring in after that.

I decided to make a sports manga because I thought Noa looked cool during VR dodgeball, but will that be interesting alone as it is? Maybe I should add some slice-of-life elements. Or would romance be a good option?

She started blushing at the thought. Having not been involved with romance before, Cho felt as if she was still underqualified to write about the subject.

Wait! What if her love interest was a girl? Like... HUH?

Suddenly, a realization hit her.

Do I… see Noa-chan that way? No way! Wait! Could this feeling be… love?

She abruptly stopped everything she was doing and jumped on her bed, then started rolling around and making screeching noises, burying her face in her pillow all the while.

“What’s going on...?” Cho whispered to herself.

I mean, we did go on a date yesterday. And she did say something outrageous when we met in the classroom, so could it be that she also likes me that way? Aaaah, what am I thinking…?

She went back to rolling around some more when she accidentally fell off of her bed. Her brain didn’t even register the pain, because Cho was too busy with figuring out the weird fuzzy feeling in her stomach.

That would explain why I suddenly felt the urge to kiss her…

More screeching and a scream in her pillow followed.

Why did I even do that? Why was I feeling so bold? Uugh, that’s so embarrassing!

Cho’s lovestruck thoughts were interrupted by a light knock on her door.

A small blonde head peeked in from behind the small gap she opened with the door.

“Are you okay, Cho-nee? I heard a loud thud.”

It was Cho’s little sister.

“Tsubaki-chan! I’m fine, thanks for checking up on me!”

“Mom told me that dinner is ready soon.”

“Okay! I’ll head down soon. Thanks!”

I have to think about this later. Or I could just ask other people as well…

After saving her drawings on her tablet and putting away her notebook, Cho headed downstairs to the dining table. Her family, consisting of her dad, mom, and little sister, was already waiting for her. Her dad, Asahi, was reading a holographic newspaper, Tsubaki was impatiently fidgeting, while her mom, Misaki, was putting cutlery on the table. Cho sat down in her seat.

They were having delicious miso stir fry, which Tsubaki was the first one to dig into. The simple and sheer amount of joy on her face was enough for anyone to know it tasted amazing.

“Yummy! Tasty!” Tsubaki exclaimed.

Everyone else started eating as well.

“It’s delicious, dear. Thanks!” Asahi followed.

“You’re such a great cook, Mom.” Cho added.

“Aaawh, thank you, cutiepies! Make sure to eat up!”

They enjoyed their pleasant family dinner together, finishing almost all the food. They were just sitting around the table, drinking water and chatting, when Cho spoke up:

“Hey, Dad and Mom… Can I ask you a question?”

“Naturally.” Asahi said, slowly sipping on a cup of water.

“Of course, darling. Ask away!” Misaki said.

Cho hesitated for a moment before asking:

“How did you two fall in love?”

Upon hearing and registering the question in his brain, Asahi accidentally spat out the water in shock, while Misaki’s jaw dropped.

“Is it finally time, dear?” 

“I think it might be, dear.”

Cho looked suspiciously at her dad and mom, who were seemingly telepathically communicating. After they nodded to each other, Misaki spoke up:

“Did Kei-kun finally make a move?”

“WHAT!? MOM? DAD? What do you mean by that!?”

“If he didn’t, then don’t worry about it. It’s just that you’ve never really been interested in romance, so it came as a shock.” Asahi explained.

“Is Cho-nee in love?” Tsubaki joined in.

“You’re not helping, Tsubaki-chan…” Cho facepalmed. “I-it’s just for my manga. I’m just researching… for reference!”

“Hmmm… Are you now?” Her mom looked at Cho suspiciously, but it seemed she didn’t want to pester her further. “Well, Dad and I met by chance. We first met each other at a gaming convention, near our favorite shooter game’s booth. There, we played a bunch of one-on-ones, and since we were both really good at it and were having fun, we decided to add each other online.”

“And the rest is history. I remember being really impressed because I was actually number one at the game in Japan at the time, but your mother here held her own ground and almost even defeated me.”

“I got my revenge later on, though.” Misaki smirked.

“Yeah, you did. But anyways, love is a feeling that comes naturally, and you’ll know what it is when you encounter it. If I had to compare it to something, it’s like butterflies dancing in your stomach. It can be a really positive and comforting feeling, but it can also turn into a negative and painful emotion.”

“That’s actually a really good way to explain it. If I had to add something, it’s like you want to have that person in your future, no matter what. You want to share your everything with them, and you want them to share everything with you. You want to hold their hands, kiss them, be more than friends and be more than family.”

Asahi and Misaki both explained in detail, which contributed to Cho going into deep thinking.

“I see… Thank you both! Thanks for dinner as well; it was delicious! I’ll get back to drawing.”

“No worries! If you need specific advice, we’re always here.”

“What she said.”

“Me too!” Tsubaki once again jumped in.

“Thanks!”

Cho went back up to her room, not hearing her parents’ bickering about wanting to play a match in that game they were talking about before.

Instead of going back to drawing, however, she jumped on her bed first, burying her face in her pillow once again.

After hearing that, I can’t really say it’s anything else, but… I’m not fully sure yet. Also, why did they mention Kei-kun? We’ve always been together, I guess, but… Ugh, this is so confusing! Am I… actually in love with Noa-chan?

******

Next week, Keisuke went to school like usual, except that Sakura was walking with him in the morning. They met up with Cho on the way, when Cho seemed to blush slightly, looking at Keisuke’s face.

What’s up with her?

Keisuke noticed the small change but decided not to bring it up right away. It was when they met up with Noa at the school gates that he became even more aware, since that time not just Cho, but Noa also became visibly flustered.

Did something happen on the weekend?

Keisuke and Sakura exchanged glances, likely thinking the same. They went to class like any other day from there. 

Before the first period was about to begin, Akamine-sensei turned on the holographic board and displayed a sign: SPORTS DAY!

“That’s right! Your high school's best event is about to commence during the next week. Be ready!”