Part 4: Conventional Problems

I really didn’t want to talk to Cat Nakahara of all things. While I figured it to be an ideal backup plan, that wasn’t a promising strategy. I went through the entire day unsatisfied with any sort of progress.

As I had finished yet another day at the academy with the weekend approaching soon, I stared at the electronic billboards two stories above me when exiting the school. They have many of these attached to the building when you walk down the street to look at advertisements and sponsorships correlative to its popularity. That is when I stopped to glance at a Candiere’s Cafe ad. Princess Candiere herself popped up again like a cheerful ray of sunshine there to brighten my gloomy mood. She was wearing spooky attire to match the season of fall this year.

“Hello sweeties! Tartropolatté is celebrating our 6th anniversary as a long-running cafe at The Paradise Park Convention Center. You will get to meet me, Princess Candiere, and much more of our wonderful staff that helped to build this kind-hearted community… For free! Charming farewells! I hope to see you there today before we close up at 5:00 PM for a Halloween party like no other!”

My heart stopped twice. Paradise Park, the most beautiful and largest public park across the street from Dream Academy High, was thirteen miles away. I looked at my phone which showed the time.

4:06 PM.

There was no way I would make it. That was more than four hours of walking! I felt like collapsing on the sidewalk knowing I already had a curfew of 6:00 PM dragging behind as well. My mind was shattered. I had no way to tell anyone who could possibly be interested. That was until I overheard a loud group standing beside a convertible. It was, in a sarcastically shocking twist, Cat Nakahara talking with her friends about going to the convention center.

They seemed to be dressed up and ready to go to one of the concerts taking place over there… I had never seen this side of her before. Whatever it was had nothing to do with what I planned on doing. Stuffing down my anxiety as best as I could, I walked over to where they were. The chattering between them stopped instantly when I came over.

My words came out as calmly as possible since I did have some thought put into how I would approach Cat. It sounded so fake to me though, but the point was putting on an act. Even if it meant giving away something special to me.

“Hi Cat! Sorry for interrupting you, but I’ve heard so many things about you! Your cat, Elise, has to be the most adorable little thing I’ve ever seen. I am a cat person myself. Mine is named Tichigo and he really loves seeing Elise play with you when I share your videos with him. With that said, I followed your socials and saw that you were planning to go to the convention center!”

Cat gave off this uncaring attitude. I could already tell she was probably going to shoot down my request. Instead, there was an unusual sigh.

“Ararima Haniki is it? Listen. This convention center is something we have been thinking about for a while now. I don’t have enough room to squeeze you in. Look at how late you are asking me about it all of a sudden.”

She was right. I came too late and I never even talked to her before anyway. How would she have prepared for that?

“I apologize. Here is this Princess Candiere plushie that I got for your cat Elise. It was really expensive. I guess I will be going now. Have fun.”

I headed towards home after giving her the plush I had gotten from my parents as a birthday gift when I was turning 13. I loved Princess Candiere a lot at this point. Her smile calmed me down after so many stressful days. When I reached my house and settled down on my bed, I felt tempted to play it again after such a long while now. I was aware of the superstition according to what the game had said earlier. To me, it wasn’t really real. I could separate fiction from reality after all. It was just filled with code. The game developer wouldn’t release something like this without getting backlash for it. People had to have already completed the game by now. The curse wouldn’t be in effect for another year so there was nothing to worry about regarding that either.

I took out the game and started playing it again. Throughout the weekend, I had finally reached the 44th day. I had been waiting for this moment. Tomorrow would be another school day and I would finish the game I played casually for 6 years in record time. It was quite an achievement. Nothing groundbreaking except for the fact that it built my nostalgia for the entire series.

I was going to cherish this ending forever.