Asobi ni Iku yo!

Chapter 2

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CPC Volume 1 Chapter 1I Asked, Who Are You?☆

July 24, 200A – Within the Galactic Trader 5 online game.

Inside the computer monitor, accompanied by the doleful sound of a bell ringing at the stroke of 12, half-head-half-body-sized cartoon characters trampled over the gra.s.s as they gathered around an object inlaid with a plaque marking it as the “A. C. Clarke Monument”.

In the tradition of a certain evil American society, they were all dressed in white pointy hats with holes for their eyes and long white robes going down to their ankles. The object stood there quietly at 3.5 metres tall and 1.56 metres wide. Its depth, too, conformed to the exact ratio of 1 to 4 to 9. Standing in a circle around the slab made of obsidian (per the game settings), they softly touched its surface one at a time and recited a brief ‘prayer’.

Having accepted the ‘prayer keyword’, the caricatures disappeared as the screen blanked out. In their place, an interface came up for a fully closed private group chat room.

«What’s happening?» one of [them] muttered.

«If it was just the National Inquirer then fine, but it even hit The New York Times!»

«What a horrible situation.»

«This is bad.»

The hooded character with the highest seniority spoke out.

«What does the j.a.pan branch have to say?»

«I’d like to make a plea.»

The icon showing a j.a.panese flag flashed indicating that a new partic.i.p.ant had entered the chat room.

«This is a grave situation. We need to collaborate globally.»

Careful words lined up without a single error or typo.

«Regarding this collaboration, is it resources you need?»

«That is correct.»

«In that case, we can supply intelligence and personnel…»

«You have my thanks. I’ll contact you via email to work out the details. Well then, all for the sake of a beautiful contact.»

The member from j.a.pan gave off a rushed feeling. j.a.pan and America have a time difference of 13 hours, so while it was midnight here, it was afternoon over there.

A message along the lines of ‘lunchtime is almost over’ went around the chat room.

None of the organization’s members had high positions where they could freely squander away their time. As a result, everyone quickly expressed their consent… moreover, none displayed the self-centred att.i.tude typically attributed to the American stereotype.

«Ah, yes, all for the sake of a beautiful contact.»

«For a beautiful contact.»

«For a beautiful contact.»☆

“…having said that, this message seems to have been transmitted simultaneously worldwide… so then, might this be real?”

Broadcasting on the TV was the sort of mysterious event story befitting early morning summer vacation television. Despite that, Kinjou Manami had something even more important going on… it related to Kio being brought back drunk last night, and the ‘bonus giveaway’ that came with him.

In any case, she washed her face and combed her hair, applied a light-coloured lipstick over her lips, pulled on an oversized t-shirt over her tube top bra, wore a denim skirt to cover her lower half, and finally strapped on her sandals once she was out at the front entrance.

Briefly, she took a glance at the Baby-G watch wound around her wrist. Despite some leftover scratches from falling off her bike last year, she was very fond of it. Today, too, the exact time was being carved out on its face.

“Manami~!” Her mom’s voice called out from the kitchen.

“Where are you going?”

“Hmm? I’m heading over to Kio–chi‘s, do you need something?”

“While you’re at it, would you mind bringing the somen noodle stir-fry over there with you?”

Looking over, she noticed a warm plastic container sitting on top of the shoe cabinet. The inside was packed to the brim with somen noodles, vegetables and canned tuna fried in oil.

“You made this again?”

Speaking in a way peculiar to those from Okinawa, Manami couldn’t help but frown as her voice rose slightly on the last syllable. When Manami’s mother told her to bring some food over to Kakazu Kio’s house next door, she would know right away what that day’s breakfast and lunch would be at her place too.

“That’s because granny from Shizuoka gave us too much somen!”

Sighing at the conviction in her mother’s voice, Manami left the house with the plastic container under one arm.☆

“……”

A hangover always made Kio feel like he was in some movie. Barely able to remember the last few seconds after he drank, morning and evening had already pa.s.sed by the time he regained consciousness… It made him feel like he had ‘frittered away yet another day’.

Right now, he found himself at home on his bed. Shaking around his still muddled head, Kio raised himself up, using his finger to readjust the gla.s.ses on his face which had slipped down. Looking at the clock, he could see that it was 9 – and morning, from the look of brightness outside

Kio p.r.i.c.ked his ears to see if he could hear anything. There were no random noises banging about, so it was clear that his father and mother had already left for the airport. His father worked as an agent at a local business with close ties to big partner companies on the mainland, so for the past several years, he had been living in Tokyo together with Kio’s mother. The plan was still for them to stay there another two years.

(Aww man, I didn’t get the chance to say goodbye.)

He felt a little bit guilty.

“…hup.”

Keeling over from one cup of beer was pathetic, even with his weak const.i.tution. Sighing reflexively, he tried to sit down cross-legged and his left knee wound up at the edge of the bed. He had apparently been sleeping quite close to it.

“…huh?” Noticing a strange soft feeling coming from his right knee, Kio slowly shifted his head to look at what was lying there. Instead of the usual cotton blanket, a white sheet was covering a large bulge.

“…hmm, what’s this?” The boy’s tongue still felt like cotton as he muttered while trying to move away the sheets. As he did, something red appeared out from all the white.

“?”

Trying to find out what exactly it was he was looking at, Kio stretched out his hand to touch it. The red portion was soft and warm while feeling silky as well.

“Mn… mew.”

Giving off a kind of moan, the body turned itself over. As the sheet jostled around, two long legs stuck out and stretched themselves into the open. Meanwhile, triangular parts sticking out of the red area sprang up and started twitching. Another long red portion came out from between the legs, curling around and making what looked like beckoning motions.

“!”

Kio’s mind suddenly connected what was with him on his bed: that glamorous red-haired girl with cat ears and a tail. The white sheet, as he could see now, was actually a shirt she was wearing. To top it off… that seemed to be the only thing on her. At the base where her tail was jutting out, there was clearly nothing but smooth skin to be seen.

“~~~~~~!” With a silent yelp, Kio literally fell out of bed. Landing with a thump, his head hit the wooden floor loudly. Unfortunately, the alcohol did nothing to dampen the sensation, so the boy could only hold his head in pain.

“Mew?” Possibly due to the sound or vibrations, the girl woke up making the most obvious sound anyone could imagine for someone sporting cat ears and a tail. Slowly, she sat up on the bed.

“Oh, Kio–san, good morning…” A smile floating across her still drowsy face as the redhead nodded to him.

“Uh, you, that, why… owww!” Holding his head, Kio gave out a cry. Maybe because of hitting it so hard, every little noise made his head ache.

The girl looked worriedly at him… “You hit your head? In that case, please hold on a moment.” With those words, the redhead with cat ears grabbed the metal belt by her pillow and opened up a pouch attached to it. From inside, she took out a small, roundish device that looked like a flip phone. Once out, she opened it up and switched it on.

“Please move your hand for a second.” The girl moved the device near Kio’s head as she spoke to him. Immediately, the device let off cute, electronic beeping noises. The girl’s face got closer as she looked at the display on the device.

“Ahh… then, just to make sure…” she said, hitting a different switch. A whiny sound like a high-pitched motor rang out. Regaining his wits, Kio could feel that the pain in his head had gone away. “I was afraid there might be hemorrhaging, so I did some quick medical treatment.”

“Ah, thank you…?” While brain hemorrhaging was likely pushing it, the pain had certainly gone, so Kio went ahead and gave her his thanks. However, noticing how the shirt opened up, two soft and vibrant mounds jumped in front of his eyes causing him to quickly avert his gaze.

“Is something the matter?” Without a hint of hostility, sarcasm or humour, the girl asked him earnestly.

“Ah, that, your chest, fasten the b.u.t.tons… or rather, why are you in my bed!?”

“Uh, please give me a moment… um, uh.” Pulling the sides together, the girl clumsily did up the front of her shirt before answering the question. “It’s because, when I asked your parent’s about it, they just said, ‘sleep wherever you’d like."”

“Oh. You know, if that was the case, why didn’t you wake me? Then I could have slept on the sofa in the living room…”

“Why do that?” The girl tilted her head with a blank look on her face.

“Why, why you ask… it, it’s because a man and a woman, that, in a room together, might cause a mistake…”

“A mistake?” The girl’s head tilted even more in confusion. With things popping into his head as he tried to explain them, the boy immediately shook his head to clear it.

“Ah, anyway, I, I’m going to use the toilet. Make sure you change while I’m gone!”

“Oh, OK…?”

Kio left in a rush, grabbing and closing the door behind him.

“That girl… really, what’s up with her?” he sighed while muttering. Just then, to compound matters, the entry chime rang. A bad premonition swept down across Kio’s back.

“Kiiio–kuuun!” In a loud voice that bounced through the corridor, the girl he most dreaded coming over in this situation announced her presence.☆

“Hmm.” Getting down off the bed, the redhead with cat ears and a tail looked around restlessly, checking out her surroundings. Pulling out a different machine than the one she had used previously from her belt, she pointed it around. “Oh… plastic resin and soft vinyl.” Game figurines were lined up on a shelf. After seeing the plastic model readings, the girl looked hard at their figures. “So detailed… how amazing…”

What particularly drew the girl’s attention was a figurine of a cat under a kotatsupoking its face out of the futon with its eyes closed and a kitten lolling around next to it on the floor. Maybe it was the accuracy of the models and their paintwork, or the technology used to manufacture them, but no matter which piece she looked at, they were all wonderfully meticulous and delicate.

“The commander, the a.n.a.lysis chief, the professor… wouldn’t they all be delighted to see these…” The girl’s eyes narrowed while poking the kitten with her fingertip. “…but, I want you too, you know.” Her face happy, the girl softly caressed the kitten’s head with her pinky.

That aside, if the people involved in making these products ever found out that even s.p.a.ce aliens admired their work, it would be interesting to see what kind of faces they would make.☆

Using it as an alarm clock for Kio, or perhaps just out of habit, the Kakazu’s living room television was always turned on in the morning. Manami had been sitting at the entrance for a while watching it.

Tap-tap-tap-tap! With a stiff smile obviously plastered on his face, Kio came down from the second floor. “Good, good morning!”

“Mm, good morning!” Smiling pleasantly, Manami immediately followed up with words that felt brandished like a knife. “So, where’s the girl who came back with you yesterday? Introduce me!”

In an instant like the spark from a chemical reaction, Kio’s face stiffened up. “N…”

“Hey, what kind of girl is she?”

“Ah, nah, no, that, she’s a little strange… no, that is, there, there’s no girl… no, there is, but, I mean, that is to say…”

“Ahh” Manami’s hand clapped down on his shoulder. “So that was it, I understand!”

“Huh?”

“If it’s that, then it can’t be helped.”

“Huh?”

“That’s right, that’s right. Good for you Kio–chi.”

“Um, Manami–san,” the boy cautiously directed a question at the girl he had grown up with, “what are you implying?”

“What? You must have been all pa.s.sion and excitement and tres bien and c’est si bonall night, stuff like what can’t be written about in this book. So then, Kio–chi, being kind, has come down to prepare some morning coffee for the girl who’s still slumbering away.”

“…”

With a face full of curiosity, the girl stared at the boy who had gone completely silent.

“What’s the matter?”

“…why are you being so vulgar?” Being hit with her over-the-top and wild expressions seemed to have sobered him up. However, Manami kept right on going without being phased.

“Ah, how rude! You’re the vulgar one with all your tres bien and c’est si bon.”

“You’re just fantasizing!”

“Ahahaha~♪ I’m just joking with you!”

“…so, what are you doing here?” Kio asked with distrust in his eyes.

“Ah, here. Uncle and the rest left already, right?” The girl took the plastic container from under her arm and shoved it in front of Kio. “It’s breakfast.”

Even though Kio returned a sullen expression, Manami pretended like she didn’t notice it.

“Come now, just take it, is what I’m saying.”

“…you’re sure in a good mood.” Heaving a sigh, Kio calmed down somewhat and let it go.

The so-called ‘childhood friend’ in games and comics were normally kind and reserved, the kind who would back you up from behind or maybe come over every morning to help you get up. No matter how you looked at it, though, Manami was not that kind of ‘childhood friend’. She stood overwhelmingly above Kio. In front of that girl, rather than a childhood friend, it might be better to call Kakazu Kio a well-manufactured toy, or a little brother used as a toy stand-in.

Though it didn’t quite reach the level of bullying, she would always mock or push him around whenever she came over… Well, as neighbours for the past 10 years, the scene constantly showed Manami making her unreasonable demands and Kio running back and forth. The sole relief came from it only being like that when the two were alone. As long as there was a third party, this kind of situation would definitely not happen and Manami wouldn’t tell anyone about it either. Because of that, Kio was afforded a respite during that harshest of times in a person’s life: middle school. Even so, it was a far cry from being worthy of thanks.

“Well, that’s how it is. It’s the difference between a person with a clear goal in mind and one who spends every day goofing off.” Laughing proudly, the girl puffed out her chest. Her chest, which could be considered top in her cla.s.s, shook with the movement.

“I feel like that’s not the issue here, though.” Normally, with that happening, Kio would have turned away as his face became red. This time, though, he strangely enough looked straight at Manami with protest in his eyes.

“Boo… Kio, you’ve gotten tougher.” Noticing a slight difference in tone, Manami tilted her head.

“Anyway, head back already. I’m busy too, you know.”

After she had shrunk back a bit, these words caused Manami to flare up again.

“What did you say!?”

“Uhh…”

Suddenly, from the upper floor, the foreigner girl with red hair fluttering down to her hips came down the stairs. Moreover, those were cat ears and a tail attached to her. With a bare body (since there was likely nothing underneath), she had nothing more than a shirt on (a men’s shirt – probably one belonging to Kio’s father considering how big it was).

“May I interrupt for a moment?” Softly bending her torso, she poked out between Kio and Manami while the chest portion of her shirt swayed back and forth. It didn’t ‘shake’, it ‘swayed’.

“!”

Feigning innocence was useless at this point where no excuses, retorts and, of course, deflections could be made.

(Hahh…)

All sorts of retorts and ridicule flashed through Kio’s mind flying out of Manami’s mouth. Preparing for them, his eyes closed automatically. In the end, though, there was nothing.

“?”

Not just Kio, Manami, too, was frozen stiff. However, the reason behind it was different.

“Fo… foreign goods…” The slightly mortified words in Manami’s outcry were not picked up by Kio’s ears, but the voice itself managed to bring him back to his senses.

“Wha, what are you doing! Please get dressed!”

“Well… that’s just it.” The read-headed girl answered as her cat ears niggled on top of her head. “I left my suit downstairs… it’s OK for me to go get it, right?”

“Ah, no, yeah, I see. That, that’s fine.” Nodding like a rusty robot, the red-faced Kio quickly turned around.

“Then please excuse me.” Swiftly bowing her head, she then went around behind Kio, her bright red hair flowing like water over her cat ears and tail. With another quick nod to Manami, she finally disappeared into the bathroom.

“…………………………”

A heavy silence fell between the boy and the girl.

“…pervert.” Manami finally cut through it with a quiet voice, cold eyes turned unhesitatingly toward him. However, it wasn’t the sort of hara.s.sment she normal directed at Kio, but rather a pure girls contempt.

“It, it’s not what you think!” the boy hastily denied, shaking his hands wildly in front of him. Obviously, words like that would never be enough in this kind of situation.

“Hey, now, what do you mean, ‘it’s not what I think’? …no matter how much you love your games and comics, putting cat ears and a tail on Miss Foreigner there, someone you don’t even know… not to mention doing this and that with her… how are you not a pervert?”

“It’s not like that!” Kio cried out seriously. “You’re completely wrong, Manami–chan. Did you not see it properly? Both of those are growing from her body!”

Silence, yet again.

In the midst of a sigh, Manami crafted her words carefully in order to persuade him. “Stop it with your bad excuses. In what world would you find a human with cat ears and a tail growing from them?”

“…but she does have those. I mean, what am I supposed to say?”

“You’re sticking with that story? …come on Kio, it’s fine for you to like anime and manga, but you need to stop mixing them with reality.” Her words were very much grounded in reality. For that reason, going against her thinking was rather troublesome.

This time, it was Kio’s turn to sigh. “Manami–chan, please face up to reality…”

“What! The one who’s escaping from reality has no right to say that! You even went so far as to make her stay in that perverted getup all night!” Manami’s anger finally broke out, causing him to glare right back at her.

“That’s just your imagination running wild!”

“They’re not just some delusions, it’s obvious from common sense and the facts in front of me!”

In this kind of situation, the childhood friend ‘boy and girl’ dynamic easily switched to a no holds barred standoff. As things came to a head, continuous sparks flew between the two and the huge final explosion… was just about to come.

Suddenly, the front door slid open.

“Kakazu–kun!” Together with the sharp sound of the sliding door banging into its frame, in came a woman with a severe look on her face. Around 22 or 23, wearing gla.s.ses and a sharp suit, she conscientiously combed through her chestnut-coloured hair. “What was being said just now, is it true?”

While her features were well arranged and her style quite good, her black rim gla.s.ses and vintage-style grey suit made her entire body radiate ‘diligence’, as if it was a facet she made a part of everything in her life. It was a style where, rather than good looks, it was her clothes that gave off a striking impression.

“Ah, Itokazu–sensei.” In that instant, Kio tensed up while Manami immediately erased the obvious combative expression she had on her face.

This woman’s name was Itokazu Maki. She was their cla.s.sical literature teacher at the Makishi High public senior high school. Incidentally, Kio had an additional connection to her since she was also the adviser to the film club he was in.

“Teacher, why are you here?”

“I’m here to discuss next week’s training camp… I mean our ‘on location’ trip. I told you, right?”

“Ah!” With that, Kio got it.

“But, right now, this teacher thinks that what Kinjou–san was talking about a moment ago is more important.” Squiggly veins throbbed next to her temples. Written all over her face, it obvious how desperately she was trying to maintain her calm facade.

“Ah, but, those were just Manami–cha… I mean Kinjou–san‘s wild delusions!”

“Well, Kinjou–san?”

“Umm… err… that…”

Honestly speaking, as a teacher among the girls at the school, Itokazu Maki’s reputation was terrible. Not only was she a complete square and a stickler for rules, even though she was obviously Okinawan, she wouldn’t use the dialect at all. She was always about the reasoning and logic to the point where jokes meant nothing. However, when she was trying to fit in with the students, she would sometimes try to display an uncharacteristic understanding or approving att.i.tude (a smile-inducing mistake common among new teachers) making them cringe as well.

More importantly, ever since this female teacher became their advisor, the film club Kio was in had gotten into bad shape. Knowing this, Manami had no good feelings about her. However, what was being denied up to this point was no laughing matter.

“Uhh, umm.” At last trying to collect her thoughts, Manami threw out some quick words. “That is, it’s that, you know? Like a way to heat up the conversation.”

“But all I could hear was you two at each other’s throats.”

“Well, that is, you know, teacher, like a childhood friend thing. Sometimes, once the conversation gets heated, it’s hard to put on the brakes…” Talking in a monotone, Manami’s absent-minded excuses fell flat from her mouth.

“But, Kakazu–kun did spend the night under one roof with someone of the opposite s.e.x, right? And in a situation where neither your father nor mother are around…”

“No, no. Both my parents were here. Up until this morning, that is.” As Kio frantically tried to explain, Maki looked askance over her round framed gla.s.ses at him with an ‘or so you say’ look.

“Anyway, let’s have a talk with the party in question.” With a face that left no room for discussion, Maki put down her decision.

“Umm…” With impeccable timing, the face of a girl with red hair, cat ears and a tail came out. “Kio–san, is this okay?”

Covered head-to-toe in a skin-tight bodysuit, her tall, splendid body-lines and proportions were fully on display, making it even more s.e.xy than if she were nude. She had a wide metal belt fastened around her waist and her cat ears and tail could be seen twitching back and forth.

“!”

This time, it was Maki’s turn to freeze.

“Ka… Kakazu–kun!” Grabbing down on the boy’s shoulder, she pointed her other hand at the red-haired girl. “You’re just a senior high school student, yet you dare do something so shameless! That, what’s with that!?”

“Um. I’m not a thing, you know…”

“Oh, I, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean you, I meant those things on your head and b.u.m.”

“?”

“Having an illicit s.e.xual relationship is a problem on its own… but you’ve gone too deep with your anime and games!”

“No wait, teacher…”

“I think I would be better off not mentioning this to the school, so during summer vacation, with your parents…”

“Hey, that, I didn’t do anything. Her ears and tail were there from the start.”

“Don’t make fun of grownups!” At the anger in Maki’s voice, Kio instinctively leaned his head back. “Even though school life can be harsh at times, trying to escape like this won’t help. Do you understand? Didn’t this teacher say it before? There are many wonderful things in this world.” Maki repeated the same things Manami had been saying up to this point.

Blocking Kio from responding, the diligent female teacher continued on with her ‘lecture’. “You need to properly see the difference and understand what’s real.” As the teacher desperately tried to make her case clear to Kio, the anger receded from her face, replaced with a slight compa.s.sion.

“You need to look at reality from the right angle. Certainly, genetic engineering has made some progress, but tampering with the human genome is still out of reach. Even imagining the technology was there, this kind of thing would still be unreasonable. This girl looks to be from a foreign country, so there might be many reasons for her to wear that kind of costume, but, essentially those are still just costume parts…”

“Oh, but these are real.” The redhead girl nodded her a.s.sent.

“You’re also a fan of j.a.panese anime?” Maki cried out desparately. “Um, would you please come back to reality. I don’t care how well-made or special those cat ears and tail are, don’t lose your sense of reality. Kakazu Kio–kun as well, don’t turn your back on reality.”

“If you don’t believe me, then here…” With quick motions, the girl leaned over, took Maki’s hand and brought it to one of the ears on top of her head

“………………………………huh?” Letting out a noise, Maki’s face showed an astonished look as she touched, pulled and fondled the ear.

“See, look. They’re real, aren’t they?”

Maki, engrossed in stroking the cat ear, immediately returned to her senses, suddenly shaking off the girl’s hand and flying backwards. “Who… what are you?”

With a smug look on her face, the girl puffed out her chest in satisfaction. The two hanging fruits inside her tight bodysuit jostled as the golden bell glittered underneath her throat. “Yes, I’m an alien from outer s.p.a.ce. For the sake of investigating earth, I came to play!”

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