Everything normal

Finally in a Fantasy World

By Yuzaki Yuu

The sky was bright, blue, and beautiful. Clouds populated the vast space, and birds soared freely within it.

Suddenly, the clouds parted, and there was a flash of light from beyond the sky. Followed by a blue object falling past the clouds and into the world beneath, leaving behind a blue trail. As it fell, the object's color changed to purple, and then into a brilliant gold.

It splits into several pieces as it continues its descent, and then…

"Okay, five-star, here we go, please no losses."

"It'll be funnier if you lose the 50/50, though."

"No, shut up. It's funnier if I win."

A sword appears on the screen, then another, then a bow, then a book, then a girl wielding a polearm with a small bear creature beside her. A few more weapons appear, and then, a character's silhouette appears with a golden background, revealing a girl with pink-purple hair, sitting on a giant pillow while hugging a plushie.

"Yes! Finally, she's home!" The boy cheered as he celebrated his new character.

"Yeah, okay. I'm so happy for you," his friend replies with a deadpan voice.

They were walking along the school hallway, one of them playing on his phone while happily looking at his new character. Their walk leads them to the school's bulletin board, where several students gathered around, examining its contents. One of those students, a girl with a ponytail on one side, sees them approaching.

"Naoya! Hiro! The test results are here!"

They joined her and looked through the list as well, except for one, who continued playing. He never noticed the glances he got from the crowd, some with bright admiration, others with sharp judgment.

-- SECOND SEMESTER FINALS --

Shiranui Naoya 不知火 尚夜

Hinokuchi Hina 火口 ひな

Nakano Yui 中野 ゆい

…

"Nice, rank 50, my allowance is safe. And once again, Naoya's at the top. What a shocker," his friend remarks.

"It's because we always study together, so maybe you should join us too, Hiro," the girl tells him.

"Nah, I didn't study, I was just using it as an excuse to spend time with you," Naoya chimes in.

"Eww, stop. Your anime lines aren't going to work on me."

"Wow, top scores in every exam are still not enough to impress you. You're standards are too high, Yui."

"I'll be impressed when you actually start studying instead of procrastinating all the time and magically being the top of the class."

"I don't know how I do it, okay? I have a really good memory, I guess," Naoya replies, dismissing her concerns.

"Yeah, well, your really good memory's about to give you trouble again," Hiro says as a teacher wearing thick glasses and a bright smile walks towards them, approaching the group with an over-the-top, cheerful stride.

"Naoya, my boy. Great job on reaching the highest scores once again. I came over to say I am so proud of you and I'd be thrilled if you could-"

Naoya looks up from his phone and sighs. "I do not want to join the student council, Mr. Okabe."

"Nope, me neither. It'd rather spend my free time studying, sensei." Yui says before the teacher could speak, seeing his gaze fall on her after Naoya's rejection.

"I'd be happy to join the-" Hiro cuts in.

"A-alright then, how about the inter-school academic competition? Have you maybe changed your mind yet?" The teacher immediately asks, not giving Hiro a chance to continue."

"I already said that I have an important event to attend that day. I will not change my mind. Please excuse us, sensei," Naoya replied as he and Yui bowed and walked away.

"I'd be happy to help out the council, sensei!" Hiro says as he catches up to his friends. "He didn't even ask me if I wanted to join."

"Hiro, all of us know you just want to join so you can go after the vice president. And Naoya, you're just talking about a game event, aren't you?"

"You know me so well, Yui. It's almost as if you have a crush on me." He looks at her with a smile.

Which was met with a sharp knuckle to the back of his head. "Dumbass. I've known you for 13 years, of course I'd figure out your excuses."

The students returned to their classes, and before they knew it, another school day had passed. Yui and Naoya wave goodbye to Hiro as they go their separate ways. On their way home, the two of them decide to take a break and get some ice cream.

"Ahhhh, I wish Okabe-sensei would stop pestering me about these extracurricular activities. He should know by now I won't join any of them," Naoya says as they eat their ice cream outside the convenience store.

"It's because you keep showing him impressive results, so he wants you to represent the school more and more," she says as she quickly eats hers to prevent it from melting. "Maybe if you stop being so good at everything, he'll stop pestering you."

"What do you mean? I'm not good at everything," Naoya replies as he finishes his ice cream cone.

"So what aren't you good at?"

"Hmmm… girls, apparently. All these years, and I'm still friend-zoned by you."

Yui laughs and looks away, finishing her ice cream before her blushing cheeks could melt it.

They walk through the same familiar streets they've known since their childhood and wave goodbye as they arrive at their houses, which were only a few steps away from each other.

"I'm home," Naoya says as he enters, and he instantly catches the savory aroma of his mother's cooking. He walks to the kitchen and spots her on the stove, as well as his father working on his laptop at the dining table.

"We're having nikujaga tonight, Mom?"

"Yep, dear. Your favorite," she happily replies.

Loud footsteps coming from the living room could be heard as he grabs some water from the fridge. His little sister appears in the hallway, holding out a textbook and a small notebook towards him.

"Naoyaaaa! Help me with my homework!" she demanded.

"What? You don't need my help, that's just elementary school questions."

"Idiot! I am in elementary school!"

"Fine, just let me rest first, Yuna."

"Last time you said that you just went back to your room and slept!"

"Well, if I do it again, you have my permission to wake me up, okay?"

"Fine. Don't get angry if I actually do it. You said it yourself," Yuna says as she enters the kitchen and approaches their mother, curious about what she is cooking.

"How'd your exams go, Naoya?" His father asks.

"Top one, again," he nonchalantly replies while looking through the fridge for snacks.

"Damn, really? You're gonna bankrupt me if you keep doing that. What do you want this time?" His dad asks, shaking his head in amazement.

"Hmmm… I don't have anything I want right now. I'll just tell you when I find one."

The night went as normally as it usually did. He couldn't escape his sister's request and helped her with homework, after which he retreated to his room and played "a few games" before going to sleep. Which he eventually did at two in the morning.

He dreamed again that night. A dream that he has already seen countless nights before.

Of wide open fields where fantastical creatures roamed about freely.

Of a blue-haired girl holding out her hand to him, talking in a language he has never heard before, let alone understood.

Of a castle that floated in the sky, looking down on a vast kingdom lying in ruins. Pillars of smoke rose from countless broken structures.

And of a young woman with fox-like ears and a silvery tail, her hair and fur gleaming with a lustrous grey hue. She looked at him with dreamy eyes as they witnessed the destruction below them.

…

"Dude, are you okay? You look like an overworked salaryman."

Naoya looked at Hiro with half-open eyes and dark circles underneath them. They were currently at their school gym, waiting for their turn to play.

"Yeah, I just…" He yawns in the middle of his sentence. "I was building my new character last night, so I had to farm materials."

"Until what time?"

"Hmmm, I don't remember, maybe 1 AM?" Naoya looks over to Yui, who is currently playing volleyball with the girls.

"Bruh." It was all Hiro could say.

"Shiranui. You're up." Their PE teacher announces.

"Well, try not to get hit by the ball," Hiro says as Naoya stands up and jumps around for a bit, trying to wake himself up.

The boys continue playing basketball, and Naoya, to Hiro's confusion and no one's surprise, casually maneuvered his way around the enemy team, leaving his opponent behind left and right and scoring shot after shot. The girls looked at him with excitement, and some were cheering for him, except for Yui. She simply watched him with mild amusement.

After their classes, the three of them decide to visit a popular hangout spot before going home. The sky was now a warm, orange hue as they walked along the cold January streets of Tokyo to their destination. Yui and Hiro stopped by a kombini for a bit to buy something while Naoya stayed outside, looking through online stores for something he might ask his father to buy.

As he waits for his friends, he spots an old lady planning to cross the street, struggling to hold several bags of groceries with her wrinkly, frail arms. Hoping that Yui leaves the kombini at the right time and sees his heroic act, he goes over to help the old lady.

"Grandma! Let me help you with that."

"Oh my, thank you, young man. I was about to ask for help, but I couldn't find anyone," the lady says, looking over him from head to toe as he carried her groceries.

"It's great to see a person like you being so kind. Helping an old person cross the street is something I couldn't imagine you doing before," she tells him.

"Haha, don't be like that, Grandma. There are plenty of kids like me who'd help you out too," he replies as they start crossing the street, guiding the old lady with one arm.

"Ahh, of course. Young people like you." She smiles and looks at Naoya. "Say, have you finally managed to understand the dreams you've been having?"

Naoya, completely shocked by her question, stopped in his tracks and looked back at her.

"Wait, what? How did you… who…?"

"Oh, don't worry about it," she says as she puts her hand on top of Naoya's. "You'll be coming with me soon. You'll find the answers eventually."

Before he even realizes what is happening, the bright headlights of a massive vehicle suddenly shine on them. Naoya looks behind him and sees something he never believed he would meet.

The large, looming, and inevitable form of Truck-kun was charging straight towards them. In the split second before they are hit, Naoya carries the old lady and jumps out of the way. His feet were unfortunately still hit as he jumped, but they fell relatively safely on the other side of the road. Naoya sits up and looks at Truck-kun, who was now driving away, and looks back at the old lady.

"Grandma! Are you okay?"

The lady sits up, brushing dust off herself.

"Oh, thank you, young man. I'm fine, but you… I didn't expect such a heroic act from you." She smiles at him, as if they didn't just almost die.

"Grandma, you're speaking weird, and I don't know what you're talking about. Are you okay? Did you hit your head when we fell? Does it hurt anywhere?" Naoya worriedly asked.

Before she could answer, Naoya heard the distant screech of tires. He looks behind the old lady and sees, to his horror, Truck-kun drifting back towards them and going faster than before. He tries to stand up but feels sharp stabbing pain in his legs, maybe from a broken bone or two.

"Don't worry, young man. This won't be the end for you. I'm sure you have a lot of questions, but don't worry about them for now. I, for one, am happy that my gamble paid off." The old lady says with the same calm smile and places her hand on his head. "You're ready now. Have fun!"

The blinding beam of Truck-kun's headlights lit them up, and Naoya, with no time to process her words, gathered all his strength and pushed her out of the reaper's path.