Chapter 2: Honest Deception【P2】
Anza
[Profile #48
Name: Nene Kirishima
Department: Political Science
About me: ...and under no circumstances are you to approach me while I am drinking! Otherwise, unless you intend to cause a theatrical scene that legally relieves me of my duties, don’t bother me. And if you start making a habit of losing your items, I will personally ensure your life becomes—]
“Look at this one.” I nudge my screen into Asuka’s line of sight.
She blinks at the text and lets out a low whistle. “Looks like someone forgot to take their morning medicine. Pass.”
“I’m going with Vance,” Toma announces, his phone screen already illuminating green on his face. “He teaches math. Precision should help with navigating the curriculum.”
I skim past another row of entries before tapping on a friendly-looking face. “I think I’ll go with Ikeda. She’s been here since the founding, which should mean she won’t be easily fazed.”
“You guys are taking this way too seriously!” Asuka huffs from behind her phone. “I’m choosing someone who doesn’t look like they’re trying to sell me a house. How about... Ricardo? You can never go wrong with a name like that.”
A tap against the glass locks in my choice, prompting a clearance key.
We join the depleting line at the turnstiles, passing our screens over the readers. High-pitched chimes echo in quick succession as the metal barriers let us through.
The road ahead widens into the scale of a landing strip, extending straight toward the horizon.
Tall buildings flank the sides, but the street is so vast that their height fails to block the sun, leaving the center unshaded. We walk down the avenue, where trailing ivy on the walls and neat patches of grass break up the sterile stone.
“Wow, it’s so wide…” I murmur.”
“I doubt it sees this much use outside of this time of the year,” Toma adds, his eyes climbing the greenery of the facades. He tilts his head further back to trace the vines to the very top, his mouth hanging agape.
“Great, just a stone oven designed to roast us alive…” Asuka sighs dramatically, wiping imaginary sweat from her forehead.
“I’m sure that’s just your lack of hydration talking.” I reach over and gently nudge Toma’s jaw back up to return him to this dimension.
He blinks rapidly, shaking his head. “H-wuh?”
We continue down the avenue as distant festive music and chatter drift into range. Skaters glide past us in smooth streaks, weaving effortlessly through the influx of new arrivals.
The mouth of the street bottlenecks, trying to spill into the central square—a massive eight-way junction encircled by even taller buildings than before. Intricate decorations crawl across the stone facades, catching the eye with every step.
Festively decorated market stalls crowd the mouths of the branching streets, pulling the foot traffic inward like a vortex.
But the centerpiece is what steals my breath away. It is so beautiful…
A stone fountain shoots water high into the air, sending up cross-cutting streams that collide into a brilliant dance of reflections. I have never seen such a large one in my life.
“Oh! Hold everything!” Asuka skids to a halt, her nose twitching toward a nearby side street. “My sugar radar is pinging! Target is locked! A sugar missile is imminent—we must answer the call!”
“Go on then,” Toma chuckles. “I’m staying here for the speech. Hearing what the guy in charge has to say should prove useful.“
His expression drifts back into that quiet, analytical look he always gets in a new environment. He turns, resting a hand against his forehead as he focuses on the middle of the plaza.
“BOOO!” She thrusts her fists out, flipping her thumbs down like a gladiator boss demanding the final blow.
Pivoting on her heel, she steps right into my personal space, gesturing over her shoulder at him. “Hear that? Mr. Perfect wants to listen to a politician drone instead of tasting paradise. We’re leaving him, right? Right?”
“I… I mean…” I shift my weight, trying not to stumble backward from her sudden proximity.
I look at Toma, then past him.
The distant stage sits surrounded by market stalls and a growing crowd, a vacant lectern resting at its center. Behind it, students clad in white uniforms with uniquely colored accents stand in formation.
They do not look around. They do not talk. Standing perfectly rigid in the blistering heat, they make me wonder if they are even breathing.
“S-sorry, Toma. This crowd is just a bit too suffocating for me,” I admit, offering a small bow.
A deep chime echoes from a nearby clock tower to mark the half-hour. Right on cue, the fountain shifts its rhythm, springing a blast of water high into the air. The crisp splash makes Toma turn his attention back toward the center stage.
“Yeah, yeah, get out of here already,” he says dryly, waving a dismissive hand. “Oh, and just so you know, strawberry cake is my favorite—in case you need to bribe me later for the information you’ll be missing.”
Asuka grabs my wrists, a manic grin plastering her face as she yanks me along. “Prepare yourself for so much sugar that they haven’t even named the medical condition for it yet!”
“U-wah—bye, Toma!” I call out while being hauled away.
Asuka sprints ahead, my shoes skidding against the stone as I struggle to stay upright in reverse.
Just in time, I catch Toma glancing over his shoulder. He quickly snaps his eyes forward the moment he realizes I am still looking, raising his hand in a lazy wave as if nothing happened.
Awww... he really is a softie at heart.
A warm smile touches my lips. No matter how much he sometimes acts like our designated adult, deep down I know he cares immensely for our—
Masaki
“...voluptuous curves! Elegantly small contours! And look at the symmetry of that tripartite design!” The words spill out of my mouth uncontrollably. “It’s just—I—I can’t—”
The world spins. My knees buckle. Everything goes black.
“And he’s gone. Again,” Sora sighs. I can feel the toe of her shoe casually tracing the outline of my body like a fresh chalk line at a crime scene.
“Hey, Masaki, can you come here for a moment?” a voice calls out from behind us.
“He’s just been Isekai’d! Try again in his next life, Daiki!” Sora shouts back.
“Oh, that is not a problem,” Daiki says, his tone far too serious for comfort. “Just scoop his brains out before the goddess takes them. This map is an absolute labyrinth.” The command comes with the faint, rhythmic tapping against a wooden board.
My survival instincts bolt me straight upright. I wipe away a string of drool as my eyes bug out. “W-Woah… Why is everything flat?”
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Discover what happens next in: Chapter 2: Honest Deception【P3】
Written by Limited_Infinity. Extras, official publishing platforms and updates are publicly available only on the Patreon page “_Limited_Infinity_”
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