A1211 - World In a Fork

???: [A…and that's t…the theory behind the underlying principles governing tachyons and plausible tachyonic distortions. D…does anyb…body h…have any q…questions?]

The teacher's question fell on deaf ears as her students were focused on preparing for their respective breaks and lunch.

???: [Class stand!]

A student from the back of the class proclaimed after she finished packing her belongings before everyone else.

Everyone stood up albeit sluggishly but not reluctantly.

???: [Thank you, Ms. Nano September!]

Giving thanks to our homeroom teacher, Ms. September is our class representative, Fieck Pecker.

She was the only one to give a firm and solemn bow at a perfect 45-degrees angle.

The rest of the class hovered between lightly tilting their heads forward or barely moving at all. To be honest, I fall in the latter category.

Ms. September: [Q…questions, a…anyb…body?]

No response.

Ms. September: [I…if nobody h…has any q…questions, then c…class is d…dismissed. I…I will s…stay for a…a while i…if you n…need me.]

Every stutter she uttered, her volume decreased by five decibels, so much so that by the end of her sentence, she was reduced to a mumble to herself.

One can't help but wonder if she were to continue talking, would it be possible for her to reach negative decibels…

The rest of the class began to stir and carried on with what they were initially doing.

Some were forming up their tables as they consumed their homemade Bentos together but the majority were heading out to the school cafeteria for their meals.

All this while, Ms. September stood forlornly at the front of the class as her students passed her by.

???: [Nanochi, Nanochi, don't mind~]

Slapping her on the back whilst saying this was a girl with short twin pigtails.

Ms. September: [T…thank you, M…Mimi.]

The girl in question, Mimichi, I mean, Mimi Kuri left the classroom even before Ms. September could reply, leaving behind a forced smile on her face.

The way Mimi nicknames everyone around her is annoyingly contagious, the type that would implant itself into one's subconsciousness and refuse to leave.

I turned behind to my backseat neighbour.

We need only an exchange of glances to understand what the other wants.

Both he and I stood up.

The rest of the guys followed suit.

Then, the whole gang made our way together to the school cafeteria.

~~~

I said "gang" but it would be more appropriate to say "small group".

Out of the 25 students in our class, EI7, only seven of us are guys.

???: [Guys, lunch today is luxurious! You must not miss it!]

More precisely, it is six guys and a device.

Speaking through one of the guy's phone is Five, full channel name FiveXFive.

Unlike the six of us, Five can only interact with us through video format.

That is a weird thing to say but it is true. Everything he says and does, we see it through a video he uploaded or live-streamed on one of the video streaming sites online.

In our days in school so far, we have never seen him in person.

Even his meals were miraculously delivered to him directly and we would see him eat on camera like in some mukbang videos.

???: [Food, good. Queue, long.]

Responding in disjointed words while holding on to the phone Five is speaking through is the guy seated behind me during class, Wu Xiao.

Xiao is interesting in the aspect that he is completely foreign to the language. In fact, through the translation by our fellow classmate, we now know that he only knew English existed after he was enrolled into our school, the Edward Institute.

The process was gruesome and tiresome but through our collective blood, sweat and tears, we were finally successful, at the very least, in conversing with him on the bare basic level.

With his man bun tied neatly with all of his thick luscious hair, enviable by even the prettiest of girls, drawn back into a tight coil at the top of his head, he stood dignified and confident, having conquered the barriers of language.

Or so is the narrative we have decided to craft for him.

???: [Then we better hurry up then. The last one there will treat all of us! It's probably Eu.]

Ko: [Probably Eu.]

Five: [Definitely Eu]

Xiao: [Eu.]

Hiroshi, the one who started this little contest, has already bolted off before he even ended his sentence.

He is the most vocal one of the group so we usually just go through with his fancies for the fun of it all.

Only Xiao, and by proxy, Five joined in and initiated their pursuit for Hiroshi while the rest continued walking at a normal pace.

Sorry, one more also partook:

Dio C. Euclerk, or Eu as he begged everyone to call him, and also the subject of this teasing, also joined in to disprove Hiroshi but his running speed was easily matched by the other's walking pace.

In the end, the three ahead took pity on him and waited for him to catch up before proceeding forward.

Walking beside me were the last two of the guys of EI7: A.A. and John Smith.

A.A. are his initials but he never did reveal his full name, stating that he doesn't believe that anyone can pronounce it correctly.

That and also the fact that he got so used to using that as his video game handle that it just stuck.

As all this is happening, he is still deeply engrossed in the phone game he is playing.

However, he was still somehow able to keep up with the rest of the group even when his eyes were not on the road.

It's got to be from years of practice or something along that line.

John on the other hand is slightly more normal:

He is just an average guy,

With three sisters constantly by his side.

Even now, they are right behind us like John's shadows as we were moving to the cafeteria.

It's not like they don't have an individual identity or anything. They were seen interacting with the rest of the girls in class quite often.

It's just that when it comes to their brother, it sometimes even seems like they have trouble finding a way to properly talk to him.

~~~

It wasn't long after that that we reached the cafeteria.

We would have reached even quicker had we taken the "lift" but it gets rowdier the more people went in.

Differing itself from average school cafeterias, the cafeteria of Edward Institute prided itself in preparation.

Not only are the meals timed to be handed to us while they are still fresh out of cooking, but each meal is also individualised to each student's nutritional and psychological needs.

Most amazing of all is the rumour that all of this is seemingly the result of one sole being.

The lunch lady stands behind the counter.

Observing all through eyes and non-eyes veiled.

Unflinching.

Ever-encroaching.

She leaves no room to err.

???: [Some say she's an Old One too…]

Breaking me away from my thoughts, no, my meal was another addition to our already-packed table of nine.

She sat down beside Xiao out of habit.

It was another student of EI7 who just so happened to be familiar with Xiao's language and thereby was appointed his translator.

Xiao: [*, *.]

???: [*.]

They shared an exchange of what I would assume to be greetings but it was short and almost fleeting.

However, the most interesting thing observable would be in addition to her uniform, she is also wearing a jet black trench coat reaching all the way to her knees.

???: [Ko, your meal would be sad if you continue to leave it alone…]

What I couldn't accept was to hear those words coming out of that face.

Normally, the person behind that face has complete disregard for anything and anyone so seeing that face showing concern is skin-crawling.

Ko: [Yang's not here?]

???: [Today's Thursday, so no. This is Yin, don't be disappointed!]

She said while taking a mouthful of porridge from her bowl.

The Yin seating in front of me has to be a twin, if not a doppelganger of another of our classmates, Yang.

Both of them looked identical right down to their tendencies to invade and intrude into others' peaceful days.

The differentiating factor would be the black trench coat Yin always wears but one could never truly know since clothes are interchangeable.

Speaking of which, the girl's uniform she was wearing is also our only way of determining her gender.

Unlike Shiro who revels in keeping it ambiguous, Yang was very adamant in emphasizing that she was a girl despite her androgynous looks.

Every now and then, I find her eyeing my plate as she begins to finish her porridge in no time.

I picked up my fork and spoon and began eating.

???: [Do not be alarmed. This is a routine occurrence.]

Breaking into the humble cafeteria were people dressed in full hazmat suits covering them from head to toe.

They divided themselves into teams of three and went to every table.

Hazmat Team: [Please hand over your forks to us.]

We complied as all ten of us passed our forks over.

???: [And? What's our reason for forking them over?]

Someone seated at our table asked whilst not forgetting to give the team an obvious wink.

It was common consensus for the table to ignore the bad pun she made but the second eldest sister of John continued to press for details.

Hazmat Team: [Heh, good one, Elaine. Well, it isn't anything much. We are looking for a Cat A and it's apparently in the form of a fork.]

The muffled voice of one of the hazmat team escaped through the thick personal protective equipment.

Elaine: [A fork!? How's a fork considered a Cat A?]

Hazmat Team: [You work long enough and eventually, nothing surprises you anymore, haha. Apparently, it is said to be capable of deciding the fate of the entire world as it contains most, if not, all of the information there is.]

Elaine: [That's one important fork! Need any help, senpai?]

Elaine stood up and walked to the hazmat team, fully prepared to go with them and lend them a helping hand.

Hazmat Team: [Nah, you kids just go and enjoy school. Leave the fork-finding to boring adults like us Operators of the A Branch.]

The hazmat team replied and somehow, one could sense a warm smile forming underneath their face masks.

Hazmat Team: [Ivy, take care of Elaine and the others, 'kay? We hope to welcome you all to the team soon.]

Ivy, the eldest sister of the four siblings responded with a brief nod

The hazmat team left as soon as they came after having fulfilled their purpose in the cafeteria. Elaine made sure to wave them goodbye until the very last second when they left our sight.

I stopped following the conversation mid-way through the moment they started throwing unfamiliar terms into their sentences as if everyone understood them.

From the looks of everyone less the siblings, they are equally confused as well.

Less Yin too, actually, since she was busy wolfing down her porridge the entire time and hardly paid attention to what was going on around us.

Yin: [Thank you for the meal! I will see you guys around~]

The last to come and first to leave the table was Yin as she swiftly made her way to deposit her used crockery and utensil(s).

Xiao tried to wave her goodbye but she barely turned back.

Ko: [*Sigh*]

Lunchtime was about to be over and we gradually made our leave too.

I returned my tray, plate, fork and spoon before going back to class with the guys.

[End of Chapter]

Elaine: [The chapter is labelled "World In a Fork" but the fork in question only came out in the last one-twenty-fifth of the chapter…]

Ivy: [...]

Elaine: [Wouldn't it be more appropriate to name it "Lunch with Friends" instead?]

Ivy: [*Nods*]

***_****: [Don't nod, Ivy, it wouldn't sound as cool…]

Yin: [I too only appeared in C*rCular for one-twenty-fifth of the story so far but here I am…]

***_****: [MOVING ON! Ko, do the thing!]

Ko: [*Sigh* You can't keep getting away with this. Next chapter, a promise fulfilled at a time promised, please look forward to it.]

***_****: [I WILL GET ON WITH IT, I SWEAR!]

[End of End Card]