To Hinohara

It was a few minutes after 08:20 when the pair arrived at Ochanomizu Station. The holograms cosplaying over their bodies had sputtered before blinking out of existence after crossing the 452 -- illusions unique to Akihabara. Well... most of Akihabara. One of the smaller projectors within a grocery store apparently vanished at some point, causing a few hands to change skin tones when positioned just right.

As for the Creator, she calmed down for a little while after her vocaloid improv. Unfortunately, whatever improvement there was all but disappeared during the last leg of the walk. She looked around like a hyperactive child, trying to find the slightest hint of entertainment. They would've been even later if Microwave hadn't dragged her away by the arm.

Luckily, it didn't take that long to find the Mountaineering Circle. After all, what other group of twentyish-year-olds would be carrying large bags and lingering around the shinkansen gates so early in the morning? If that wasn't obvious enough, Microwave had waved to some of the other arriving latecomers, people that she should've recognized but didn't. At least she noticed the Vice President. Oh yeah, and the President as well.

"Good morning, Ms. Vice President!" she sang with a tone-deaf pitch, completely out of character. Like usual, it could be traced back to a lack of magic compensating every aspect of her life.

"A-ah. Ms. Igita," the Vice President responded after some hesitation. She was well aware how strange the Creator was being -- stranger than usual, anyway. Thankfully, her practice with the President's antics helped her to quickly move on. "Do you both already have your shinkansen tickets?"

"Microwave?" She hadn't done so. Her watch was dead, not that she would've anyway.

"I have them," it sighed, throwing up its watch display for her to confirm.

"Great!"

"...is there a reason why you aren't using your own watch?" the Vice President astutely observed. If only it wasn't to a clown of a woman.

"Ah. It's dead," she nodded.

"Dead?"

"Yeah, dead. See?" She put out her wrist, tapping to show it wouldn't turn on.

"Hm? Then why haven't you replaced it yet?"

"Why?" The Creator was genuinely confused for absolutely no reason.

"Huh? Because it's not working?"

"But it'll work after a few more days."

"Huh?" Now it was the Vice President's turn to be befuddled. Even the President, who had been trying to inject herself into the conversation, had question marks floating overhead.

"What?" Of course, she was none the wiser. It made perfect sense in her head, so it should make perfect sense to the Vice President as well. How did that work? Who knew.

"...nevermind," the Vice President decided to cut her losses there. The Creator was much too like the President at the moment to have any meaningful conversation, so she directed her next statement at Microwave, something she should've done in the first place. "We're still waiting on a few more to arrive, so feel free to shop around or use the restroom."

"Thank you," it calmly replied.

"Sounds good!" she exclaimed, pumping her fist in the air. Microwave sighed. The Vice President, on the other hand, took a few steps back and shuffled away.

"You went a bit too far this time," it coldly spoke, giving her the side-eye.

"Did I? I was just expressing my enthusiasm," she shrugged.

"Sure you were," it rolled its eyes, choosing to pursue a more fruitful topic. "Would you like me to grab you a bento? I don't remember you eating anything this morning."

"It's fine. I can eat later."

"Then, I'll get one now." It wasn't going to let her starve herself for amusement, so it quickly stampeded through the station, the Creator in tow. As for her...

I wonder what you can do with a projector. Maybe you can cosplay outside of Akihabara. She retreated into her thoughts, going off a random tangent she heard the previous morning.

Well, it's not like you can do much with one projector anyway. It barely covers the entire body, not to mention it's still pretty big. Where are you going to stash it, much less power it? Maybe make it hover in mid-air? But that feels like a waste of mana. It'd be easier just to develop a spell. Actually, will that work? It's just absorbing and reflecting different wavelengths of light, though I guess the calculation will take a bit of time. I'll have to try it out next week, but what about now? Maybe I can write out the formula to channel the mana into... nah, too much work. It's much more fun watching how the Vice President reacts to my acting. That was pretty fun--

"Charlotte!" Microwave yelled, clapping its hands in front of her blank eyes.

"Huh? Did you need something?" she asked, focusing her attention on the things around her. A low metal roof. An uncomfortable seat. A small village outside the bus window as the sun neared its peak.

Wait, bus?

"You were off in your own world, so I let you be. Made things a lot easier," it admitted with a nod. "Now, let's go, we're getting off here."

"Wait a moment, slow down. Here? Where are we?"

"Hinohara," Microwave rolled its eyes.

She took a moment to look around once more.

"When did that happen?"