INTERLUDE I

Hisui’s world has changed a lot since the sun rose.

She left her parents a note.

She didn’t do her homework.

She skipped school.

Then Connie showed up.

:–<> –:

“Are you guys going to the seminar?” Asks Yukimura. He’s been lying on the top bed ever since he entered the room. He still wears the school uniform; they all are. “If so, can you please tell Connie or Ronnie or whoever the fuck that I’m really sick so I couldn’t go? Thanks.”

To which Kawakami responds, “Nope.”

But Hisui doesn’t know them, nor do they know her. She has to give a good first impression. “I will,” she says. Yukimura responds with a thumbs-up.

Kawakami shakes her head. Currently, they sit around the table at the center. It has some books, but they’re in a language neither of them can understand. “You’re enabling him. If you’re not careful, you’ll end up becoming his servant. Trust me.”

“Are you his servant?” Hisui asks. She’s eating a plum-looking fruit from a bowl atop the night table. For whichever reason, the others refused to touch these. They’re tasty, though.

Kawakami’s laughter is dry. “He tries. By the way, how do those things taste? I’m hungry…”

“Like shiitake mushrooms.”

“Like… wait, huh? Mushrooms? Those plum-looking things look like mushrooms?”

“Or maybe rice,” Hisui says.

Kawakami sighs. “I guess I’ll just wait for dinner. By the way, vice-pre–”

“Hisui!”

“I know, I know! It’s just… weird, okay?”

“No it’s not. I’m no longer a vice-president. You’re no longer an underclassman. Titles have no meaning anymore.”

“...yeah…”

Yukimura sat up. “There’s really no Tabletop Thursday tomorrow, huh?”

Hisui’s fight or flight response activates at the mention of those forbidden words.

“Apparently not,” Kawakami says. “We really are here, huh? It still feels like a dream.”

But it’s not.

It’s not, though.

It’s freedom.

Yukimura yawns. “I just hope the food’s decent. No adventurer’s guild sucks. Oh, yeah, Aoko. I know we don’t technically have to name our attacks, but–”

“No,” snaps Aoko. “Nope. Not doing that. Not yelling attack names out loud.”

“And why not?”

“I can!” Hisui shoots her hand into the sky.

For the first time since they’ve met, Yukimura holds eye contact with her. He’s kind of pretty in an effeminate way, though her haircut kind of reminds her of the mushroom forest. Even with his scarf covering half of his face, she can tell he’s smiling. “Yeahhh, Sakura, that’s the spirit!”

“Hisui is fine.”

He actually hops off the bed. “Have you been brainstorming attack names? Cuz I have. And so has Aoko, even if she’s being a shitsnatcher about it.”

“I’m not being a shitsnatcher. I don’t even know what that is.”

He sits between them. “Anyway, what about personas? Since we’re here and titles don’t matter anymore, we technically can make a character, right? I’m thinking of using Usami.”

“You’re not using Usami.” Kawakami then clarifies: “That’s his current DnD character. He sucks. I hate Usami. Everyone hates Usami.”

“And Usami hates you too, bitch.”

“Can I make a character?” Hisui asks, and Yukimura nods. “Then, uh… a maid named Kohaku?”

“Absolutely not,” says Kawakami.

…understandable. Copyright infringement has infinite reach. However, this was also a test, and Kawakami has passed; they were chosen for a reason. If no one else, then the manga club will understand. Of course she gets the reference. “Fine, not a maid. How about a princess?”

Yukimura snorts. “Of course Sakura Hisui would choose to be a princess.”

“Isami, go be annoying somewhere else.” Kawakami pauses, then looks around. “Ishi… um, Seishin? Hey, would you like to make a character, too? Where are you?”

“On the other top bed, probably,” says Yukimura. “We both know he’s not making a character. Moving on.”

“Did you see him there?”

He shrugs.

Hisui noticed his absence some time ago, but she didn’t bring it up given his… habits. It must be nice to be that unbothered by aloneness. She’d initially mistaken this for loneliness and attempted to talk to him a few times, but the guy would just look away or walk past her with a nod.

“One moment.” Hisui stands up. This is another chance to make a good impression; she heads to her bed, then crawls up the ladder to the top bed.

Kawakami lets out an, “Ehhh…” and then, “I wouldn’t do that if I were you.”

“No biggie. We’re friends. He actually said he loved me earlier.”

“Did he now…”

Upon reaching the top bed she sees that Ishida is not, in fact, there. Hisui stares at the mattress, still untouched.

“Is your boyfriend there?” Asks Yukimura. Hisui can’t tell if he’s being sarcastic, but probably not, since they had a bonding moment and are friends now.

“Uh… maybe he went to the bathroom?”

Kawakami stands up. “Wait–he’s not there? Ronnie said not to leave the room!”

“He’s taking a shit,” says Yukimura. “Hisui, come back here. Aoko, sit down. Let’s come up with attack names.”

Then Kawakami says, “I’m looking for him.”

“Nooo!” Yukimura’s face falls on the table.

As tempting as the prospect might be, Hisui shakes her head anyway. “Nah. You guys stay here. I’ll go out.”

“Ughhhhh.”

After all, she’s the leader. She’s the oldest one, too. Probably. Actually, Ishida was in second year too, wasn’t he? No matter: she’s solving the issue like she always has.

There’s a few other summoned out lounging outside–or outlanders as locals seem to call them. Hisui waves, but they don’t. Again, no matter. “Hi,” she says, “Have you guys seen someone with this uniform?” She points at herself. “But like… male. Never mind, bad description. A delinquent?”

One of them, a girl with poorly-aligned pigtails, replies, “Nope. Why would someone like that get summoned, anyway?”

“Ponnie said that Igasu specifically look for outcasts,” replies one of her companions. “You know, people who’d want to leave their world.”

“Igasu?” Asks Hisui.

“Well, delinquents usually make others want to leave their world.”

“Igasu?” Asks Hisui.

“Yeah,” says the companion, “Those rabbit-looking things. That’s their name. I know. Anyway, sorry. We haven’t seen ‘em.”

“Thanks anyway.” Then Hisui continues to walk. There’s a few other outlanders around. They all seem to be newcomers. They’re all… they all came from that other world. They all wanted to leave. Most of them seem to be close, too.

When Connie told Hisui about the opportunity, she said yes. Why refuse? She would’ve run away anyway. He then told her to bring along a party… which almost halted her plans.

Almost.

The student council, unsurprisingly, said no. The president was too proud, the treasurer too ambitious; they were miserable nonetheless. They should’ve said yes. But they said no. And then the manga club consented. And that is good. They ooze the uneasy comfort that affable strangers so often do. At this point, it’s all about maintaining a good impression.

At last, she spots Ishida at the end of the hallway. He sits on a log, playing on his phone. “Ishidaaa!” Greets Hisui. “What happened? We were all worried about you.”

He nods.

…what does that mean… but she’s used to this by now. “We’re creating personas right now. Or characters, I dunno. Anyway, we should go back now.”

He shrugs.

…what does that mean… is that a yes or a no… or an ‘I don’t care’… or a ‘fuck you leave me alone shitsnatcher’... Hisui made a small white lie earlier about him having a crush on her since it’s not like he’ll confirm or deny it, but now she’s beginning to think it might backfire. “By the way, Ishida…” No reaction. “Earlier I kind of… said something a bit rash by accident… so if you could play along that would be nice…” Still no reaction. “I kind of told the others that you said you loved me.”

Ishida turns off his phone, but he continues to look at it. Stare at it. Then he stands up, walking past her.

Yeah, that’s probably a ‘fuck you leave me alone shitsnatcher’. Oh, to be that unbothered by aloneness and social conventions. Hisui walks behind him. “By the way, Connie didn’t treat that thing on your arm, right? Aren’t you cold like that? When will you tell the others that you didn’t actually tap into–”

He stops so abruptly that she crashes against him. His eyes are wide like an Igasu’s. “Sorry. Please don’t tell them I haven’t… that.”

Holding her aching nose, Hisui replies, “I won’t,” and then she gives him a thumbs up.

He doesn’t return it, though. Perhaps he’s forgotten about the bit they had earlier. Ishida nods, turns around, then continues to walk. “...Sakura?”

“Hisui’s fine.” This is the first time he has talked to her unprompted. Hisui pumps her fist to herself. Yukimura? Kawakami? Ishida? All conquered. Mrs. Hiyama should be easy to befriend as well.

“...so, Sakura, can we really not go back?”

That interrupts her celebration. “Huh? Why would you want to to back?”

He shrugs.

“We can, I guess, but we gotta fulfill our mission or something. The contract said that we have to save Korova, but this doesn’t actually mean saving the world. It can just be something small. Like a contribution, you know. But why would you want to go back?”

Ishida stops again, right at the entrance of room 1408. Hisui has been ITCHING for someone to mention that short story, but nobody has. It’s tragic. Of course, he’s not answering her question, but it’s not like it makes sense anyway. Why would someone with seemingly no friends, a bad family life, who constantly gets into fights, and with no career prospects want to stay in that world?

He opens the door.

“Hey, Hisui!” Calls out Yukimura. “Aoko found paper! We’re–” But then he sees Ishida and shuts up. Ishida walks in without a word, heading to the bottom bed, where he sits before turning his phone back on. “...writing down names. Come on.”

Kawakami glances at Ishida from the corners of her eyes. “Hey, we’re naming attacks. Wanna…” But Ishida is already shaking his head. “...oh, alright. You’re free to join us, though.”

But they all know he won’t.

…oh, so that’s why…

He wants to go back because he can’t be alone in this world.