Part 97: Okabe Rintarou begins a desperate search

"Remember..."

That's right! What am I lazing about for?! I--



"Haah?"

I grab Kurisu's shoulder and draw near.

"What time is it now?! What month? What day? What time?!"

"Hey, ouch...! Calm down!"

"How can I be calm?! Shopping? You told me to go shopping?"

The shopping from when?



He's sitting at his computer, staring here in wonder.

"Daru, what day is today?! What time is it?!"



The 13th, past 5...

"...was it a success...?"



(You can actually choose not to call Mayuri here. If you do, then Okabe writes off the experience as a hallucination, and the next three hours unfold more or less the same as they did last time.)

(I'm making the call.)



"Tutturu! Mayushii here."

"Mayuri! Where are--"



Ah, an answering machine?

"Please leave your message after the beep♪"

"Mayuri! Contact me at once! Okay? At once!"

I yell just that and hang up. I look at my watch again. Past 5. Our gracious Time Leap Machine. Thinking what would've happened without it makes me shiver.

Just about three hours until Moeka kills Mayuri. It's okay. We have plenty of time to escape. For now, let's meet up with Mayuri and leave Akiba. We can go to Ikebukuro. No, wait, what if they track her to her home? Maybe we should take the Tsukuba Express and escape to Ibaraki. Or maybe take the Shinkansen from Tokyo Station?

Anyway, we're fine as long as Moeka doesn't find her today. So first, I need to find Mayuri.



Kurisu and Daru are looking at me with suspicious eyes.

"Both of you. Leave right now."

"...What do you mean?"

I check my wallet. I only have about 9000 yen. I still have savings in the bank. If I withdraw everything, it's still not enough for airfare...

"What, more pretentious hipster bullshit?"

Kurisu shrugs her shoulders in amazement. I don't have time to answer her. I slip beside her and try rushing out the lab.

"Okabe! Where are you going? Hey!"





And of course, I'm out of breath. Though the sun is setting, the temperature still hasn't dropped below 30. Sweat quickly covers my entire body. I'm not good at exercise in the first place...

I finally stagger to the torii. Now I regret not borrowing Suzuha's bicycle. No, I'm doing this to save Mayuri.



"Rukako!"

"...Ah, Okabe."

She bows her head.

"What's wrong?"

"M-Mayuri! Where's Mayuri?!"

"Mayuri, well, she already went back."

"Back...?!"

"Yes... Um... later, could you tell Mayuri that I'm sorry? No matter what, I can't cosplay after all, so I decline... I don't want to make Mayuri sad, but it's embarrassing to be in front of others..."

I finally catch my breath. I don't have time to listen to Rukako's apologies.

"Mayuri went back, right?"

"Eh? Ah, yes..."

Back to the lab? No, there's no way. Mayuri should be coming to the lab at around 6:30. It's still 5:30. No matter how slowly you walk, it shouldn't take more than 20 minutes to get to the lab. So, just where did Mayuri go in this span of time?

Gh, I'm already racing against time...!

"Is she really going back? She didn't say she was dropping by somewhere?"

"No... I didn't ask...



"If Mayuri comes back here, tell her to call me right away!"

"Eh, o-okay."

We might pass each other on the way back to the lab.



Did Kurisu go shopping by herself? I call out to Daru, who's at the computer ordering pizza.

"Where's Mayuri?! Did she come back?!"



"Gh, where is she..."

I take a bottle of Dr Pepper out of the fridge and chug it down. The cold, fresh stimulation appeases my thirst. Freed from the choking heat, I'm a little more at ease, but my haste doesn't disappear. Every minute - every second - is precious. Each moment I waste is a moment closer to Mayuri's death.

"Okarin, why have you been so tense lately?"

"Don't you know where Mayuri is?"

"Isn't she at Ruka's?"

"She wasn't. I got there after she left."

Now I start to pace the room in irritation.

"Then, is she at some other cosplayer's?"

"Give me that cosplayer's contact info."

"Nah, I don't know it."

Bollocks.



Actually, it was rare for us to go somewhere and play together. We're childhood friends, but besides the lab, MayQueen, and Yanagibayashi Shrine, I don't know where Mayuri would go in Akiba.

Wait, MayQueen doesn't exist in this world line...

"Ah, now that you mention it..."

"Do you know something?!"



Yet another bad element piles on. On top of being unable to catch up with her, she might not even notice my phone calls.

"Hey, just what's going on?"

"...Daru, why are you still here? I thought I told you to leave the lab immediately."

I sit on the sofa. Lactic acid builds up in my legs, making them awfully heavy.

"I won't understand if you don't even give me a reason. Just what exactly is going on?"

"...They're going to kill Mayuri."

"Haah?"

"SERN's getting serious. In two hours, those guys will attack. That's why you should escape."

"Eh, seriously?"

"Can you contact Kurisu? Pass the message to her."

"In two hours? Why do you know this, Okarin?"

Daru's taken aback. He looks towards the development room. The Time Leap Machine sits there.



I slowly nod.