Disappointment

—Ouch. Eh?

Her nose hurt a little, but it was nothing compared to the enormous disappointment and confusion her heart was suffering. She desperately touched Mask and found out he was 2D. It was just a poster of him.

—Is he also famous in this place? Yes, of course. If they know me, they know Mask. But still, why is there an image like this? It’s a good drawing though…

Her head began to ache a little.

—How did I mistake Mask with a drawing? Even if it’s a good drawing, this doesn’t look like the real Mask, right? Mask looks exactly like the people of this world. That’s how the people looks. That’s how I look. Right…?

Her eyes navigated through the poster. Together with Mask there was a picture of a man. “Yoriyuki Yamahito” said a text below the picture. Of course, since there are no pictures in her world, she thought it was also a drawing. Just a very realistic one.

There were also a lot of words that she didn’t know, or that she knew but didn’t understand their meanings in that context. The only thing she realized for sure was the address indicated on the poster.

—I’ve passed through this street before… Yeah, I remember! So then…

After asking some directions to the pedestrians, she ran towards there. She ran as fast as she could, because the night was lurking from not too far away.

“What am I going to find in that place?”. She had no idea, but useful information was what she was hoping for. “Also, who is Yoriyuki Yamahito? His face was tiny compared to the Mask drawing, so it’s obvious that Mask is more relevant than him. But why did they draw them so different from each other? I can’t understand the laws of this place.”

In the address there was a big building. It wasn’t as tall as the others she saw, but it was way larger. And it was completely deserted. Not only the building, but also the surroundings. There were just a few people and a guy selling ice creams.

She tried to force the door, but it was pointless. She even thought about breaking a window and enter anyway, but then a voice at her back caught her attention.

—This building is intended for events and conventions —said Ken. She looked to him with suspicion, but deeply inside she had a slight relief. At least she could go back to his room and wait there—. On weekdays like this one, there is no event so there is no people. —He was holding two ice creams and offered one to her. She was really hungry, so accepted.

—What is this? —asked while carefully inspecting it.

—It´s called ice cream.

—What is this made of?

—I have no idea. Ice and cream, I guess.

—And you eat it anyway? —Ken gave a big munch to his ice cream as a response. His teeth hurt a little bit and then he had a brain freeze, but endured the pain. By far he was looking pretty cool and didn’t want to screw it all up. They both started to walk back to the apartment.

—How did you find me?

—There are a lot of posters with Mask on them, it was impossible for you not to see them. I was sure that, the moment you saw one, you would go to the address indicated there.

—And why there are posters of Mask?

—I told you about it. You came from a book, a very famous book. In two weeks there will be an anime convention in this building, and the light novel you came from, Sekaunmei, is going to be the main protagonist. They are going to release a teaser of the new season of the anime adaptation.

—Can you stop talking about a lot of things I don’t understand like if they were obvious?

—I’m sorry. But you need to understand the fact that you came from a fictional world. I don’t know how, but that’s the truth. Please, believe me.

There was a silence between them. Ken was really nervous. If it weren’t because he reviewed this discourse in his head a thousand times before, while waiting Mirena to appear, then he would be completely mute. Also, he felt a little bit more confident after the short adventure of asking random people.

On the other hand, Mirena was seriously questioning everything. It was impossible for his whole life to be a lie, but…

—And who is Yoriyuki Yamahito?

—It’s the author of Seikaunmei. The one who created you, Mask, and everyone else. He’s going to be in the convention as the special guest.

—That’s so stupid… —she said, but her denials were weaker.

They continued walking until Mirena stopped at the front of a store. Of course, Ken knew she was going to stop there. That’s exactly why he took that road back to the apartment, even if it was longer.

It was one of his favorites stores. A shop exclusively dedicated to anime merchandising. Figures, mangas and light novels, posters, clothes, dakimakuras, etc. It was the otaku paradise on earth. And of course, as one of the most popular anime from the past decade, there were a lot of products of Sekaunmei featuring Mask, Mirena, and the rest of the cast.

Some figurines portrayed the characters with the same art style than in the series. Others were more cartoonish, like the ones with the big head and small body. They were very well-made figures, always showing a mysterious Mask and a lovely and cute Mirena. But even if the figurines were great, they only left a deep sorrow in Mirena’s heart.

Ken wanted to say something to cheer her up, but had no idea what. How are you supposed to act in a situation like that?

—I still can’t believe it. How someone can create such a world just using the mind? —asked Mirena with a soft and shaking voice.

—Once upon a time, there was a child sitting next to the river with her sister. Since the sister was busy reading a book, the girl was bored. Suddenly, she saw a rabbit with a pocket watch and dressed with a formal suit. The rabbit was running while looking to the clock and saying: “I’m late!”

»This is the beginning of a book, Alice in Wonderland. Neither in your world or mine do rabbits dress up, wear watches and talk. But we can still imagine it.

Since he couldn’t say anything, Ken borrowed the words from another person to convince Mirena about the reality. While talking, he realized other thing that could force Mirena to accept the facts.

—Look, even without your sword, you should be able to use your fire magic. Try it. In this world, magic doesn’t exist, so… —Of course, saying that after seeing a girl come out from a book wasn’t the most certain thing to say.

—I’m scared.

—Why?

—If I try to use it and nothing comes out from my hand I…

—You have to face the reality —said Ken, feeling incredible hypocrite. He, the first one to run away from the problems, the first one to isolate himself from everything, was saying to someone to face the reality. It was like when a smoker tells you not to smoke. A good advice is a good advice though, no matter who it come from. But still…

Mirena took a deep breath. She pointed her hands towards Ken, and he didn’t question that decision. He was sure that nothing was going to happen. And it didn’t matter how hard Mirena tried, indeed nothing happened.

—This world sucks… —she said.

—Yes, it does. That’s why we use our imagination.

—So, it was all a lie…

—I don’t know if lie is the right word, but it wasn’t real for sure.

—I see… Can I ask you one more thing?

—Yeah, sure.

—What is this thing I’m feeling in my chest? And what’s happening to my throat? Why the words struggle to come out? What is this feeling? Why are my eyes humid? Why…? —And then she started crying.

Sekaunmei was a very happy and positive story. Nobody dies, most of the villains ends up being good guys and help the heroes, everyone in that world lives as they want. Aside from moments of preoccupation like the battle against the Witch, in the world of Sekaunmei there is no misery. There is no reason to cry.

Ken wasn’t an expressive person, but even him wanted to cry. Seeing the always happy and cheerful Mirena, his beloved Mirena, kneeling, crying and screaming right in front of him was such a painful image. And like always, in the most important moment, he remained paralyzed. The frustration of being like this was another reason to induce the crying. But he bit his lip until it bled, suppressing his feelings.

“Say something, say something, say something!” was screaming in his mind. But he didn’t do anything. Just watched Mirena crying out loud below the dark sky of the evening.

—Everything is here…

The night already arrived.

All 14 volumes of Sekaunmei were spread on the floor of the apartment. Mirena took a quick glance to them and read all her adventures with Mask. She also saw some illustrations of her.

—So that’s how I looked inside. Kinda cute.

After taking out all the sadness from her chest, she was feeling slightly better. She took off her armor, showing that she felt more confident with Ken.

Once she checked all the volumes, the only one left was the 14th. She was scared about opening that book.

—This is the last one…

—The one where you came from.

She read the battle against the Witch, while Ken explained to her the forth wall thing and how the Witch broke it.

—But that sounds like magic, right?

—I’m also really confused about all this. So yeah, you could say it’s magic. But I have no idea how this works.

—Maybe this man, Yoriyuki Yamahito, is some kind of magician? Maybe they exist in your world, even if nobody knows about it?

—It can be…

—I want to meet him.

—What? How?

—You said he was coming to this city in two weeks, right? I want to meet him.

—Oh, that’s right. —Ken absolutely forgot that—. But still, it’s not so easy. He is a famous person, trying to reach him will be hard… —said. But then, when he saw the sadness in Mirena’s face, added—. Anyways, we can try it.

—Really? —screamed, recovering her usual happiness.

—I don’t promise anything but…

—Thank you! —She gave him a big and sincere smile that made Ken blush.

—S-so, do you want to keep reading the 14th volume?

—If I do, I will know what happened to Mask and the others, right?

—Yes.

—Then no.

—Huh?

—I-I’m not ready yet.

—Oh, ok. —That was a shame. Ken really wanted to keep reading, but he was going to wait for Mirena.

Suddenly, Mirena’s expression changed. Now her face showed pain, and she touched her belly.

—Are you fine?

—T-to be honest… —responded Mirena—. Since a while ago I’ve been feeling something weird all over this place. I thought ignoring it would be good but…

—Maybe the ice cream was bad to your stomach since you are not used to it?

—No, it started before the ice cream.

—Oh. Then… —Ken struggled to find an answer. “What could it be? An illness? Yeah, it could be an illness. Of course! She is from another world, god dammit! Her immunologic system is not ready to handle the virus and bacteria from this world!”—. This could be bad! —he screamed so suddenly that Mirena was scared.

—Eh? Eh? What’s going on?

—It could be a disease. It’s ok, in this world we may not have magic, but we have great technology. In a hospital they are going to heal you in an instant. Come on.

Panicking because of his tone of voice, Mirena stood up. But when she did that, her kneels turned inwards and her hands were pressing her sensitive parts. And that moment, Ken realized. The answer was way simpler than he thought.

—Oh, never mind. It looks like you want to pee.

—Pee? What is that? Is dangerous?

—No, no. People of this world do it all the time.

—Ok, how do I pee?

—…

It was a critical damage. That day was tough, and he handled it pretty well. But having to explain a girl, that happens to be the love of his life, how to pee, was too much.

What the author doesn’t write, doesn’t exist. So, since Yamahito never wrote any bathroom scene, Mirena had no idea what peeing was.

His face went completely red and he was shaking. Ken opened the door of the bathroom and pointed to the toilet without saying a word.

—Huh? What do you mean? Tell me!

He pointed furiously to the toilet and Mirena inspected it. It was like a chair, but with a hole with water on it.

—What. Do. I. Have. To. Do? —asked Mirena, getting nervous because of the sudden attitude of Ken—. Quick! I can’t handle this pain for too long!

—S-s-s-it th-th-there.

—So it is a chair! —and she sat down.

—B-b-b-but you h-h-have t-to…

—I have to…?

—T-t-t-t-take off your…

—Take off my…?

—P-p-p-p-p-pants.

And then her face turned as red as her hair.