Part 141: Faris and Okabe have a heart to heart

(This chapter will look a little bit weird, because my sprite resource doesn't have a sprite for Faris's dad.)
"Right. I heard you were an enthusiastic retro PC collector. Do you know anything about it?"
I ended up eating a meal at Faris's house. Somehow, it seems Faris's dad was pleased with me and was most gracious. I would've been okay with just borrowing the shower, but he even prepared a change of clothes for me, and it was still dangerous to go outside today, so he told me I could stay.
During the meal, enduring the pain still throbbing through my body, I tried asking about the IBN 5100.

Her dad smiled when I brought up his hobby.
"I certainly had one. I relinquished it, though."
"Relinquished...?"

Her dad glimpses at Faris. Faris keeps eating her meal without saying anything in particular.
"Did you dedicate it to Yanagibayashi Shrine?"
"Dedicate? Ah, no, I didn't."
He didn't...? I drop my shoulders, overcome by an indescribable exhaustion.

"Hashida, as in Hashida Suzu?"
Faris's dad nods. Suzuha's pseudonym. Hearing that name instantly raises my pulse. She obtained an IBN 5100, and then she brought it here to Akihabara. She got it done right...
My heart painfully squeezes with sadness.

"Rumiho was kidnapped. The culprit demanded an unthinkable sum of ransom money. Maybe I should have mortgaged the company instead. At the time, people appeared like a godsend, offering large sums of money to buy IBN 5100s. Because I sold mine, I was able to prepare Rumiho's ransom money."

For some reason, Faris's face turned read with embarrassment. If I had to say, her dad was talking really happily. You don't really expect to hear kidnapping stories...
"...So, who was the buyer?"
"Hmm, a French businessman, I believe. I think I still have his contact information. Would you like to know it?"
I politely declined that offer. Even if we borrow it from France, it would take more than a week for it to arrive, and depending on the situation, it might require an outrageous sum of money. But, France...
There's a high possibility that the buyer is related to SERN, or to the Rounders. I tightly clench my palm into a fist, and open it again. Did you slip through my grasp again, you IBN 5100...?!


I was given a bed in another room, but I wasn't sleepy, just idly thinking. The reason I can't sleep is the pain throughout my body. Not just that...
What should I do?
The D-mail that Faris sent to her own father. The mail to cancel that... Thoughtlessly, I came in contact with her dad himself, giving birth to unnecessary internal conflict. I'm about to steal a blood relative from Faris. Can that be forgiven?
But if I don't, I can't save Mayuri...
I hear a knock, and the door opens.

I hear Faris's voice.
"Oh, Faris. Still not asleep?"

Mm? The usual Faris would've said "Can I come inside nya?"
Without waiting for my answer, Faris enters the room on her own, and then she sits on the bed I'm lying on.


Does she have a fever? Why is she talking so normally? She usually insists 'Faris is Faris nya,' so is she talking to me as Akiha Rumiho now?
This isn't Faris... is what I want to say, but Faris's voice talking normally is really fresh. I'm somehow excited.

"Those guys were obsessed with black, after all."
She lightly strikes my lap.

Th-This.. Even her retort is normal. The one before me isn't the cat-eared maid, nor the RaiNetter champion, but a normal girl...

"No, it's fine."

"Don't say that again. Just call me what you usually do."
Faris sighs.

Prince...? What's with the fairy tale talk? It's giving me goosebumps. A-At times like these... I can overcome the strange atmosphere as Hououin Kyouma.
"I-I am not a prince. I am an insane mad scientist and--"

She clings onto me tightly.
"F-Faris...?"

"No, Faris is Faris, right..."
Gh, the atmosphere's getting more and more ticklish...! What... should I do about this?! What does Faris want?!

...

"But..."
I swallow the rest of my words.
But granting my wish would mean erasing Faris's dad.
My heart throbs.

I erased the memories Suzuha made in 2010, and her memories of meeting her father, Daru. For the sake of my wish - for the sake of saving Mayuri.
Must I once again sacrifice something precious to someone else?

She casts her eyes down while clinging to me. Faris begins her story.




Faris cuts off her words there, downcast. After a while, she lifts her face. Shining spheres run down the corners of her eyes.


Don't tell me...

That was before the world line changed... events from the world line where her dad's dead in 2010...

Before she noticed, Faris's voice got wet.

Did fate guide her to me, then...?

"Faris... Rumiho. You don't have to say anything more today."

Faris won't leave me no matter what. After sniffing and wiping away her tears, she smiles for me.


"But..."

"...Sorry."


"Is this... really okay?"]
Faris buries her face into my chest.

"But...! There might be a world where we don't lose your dad and Mayuri doesn't die! If we try searching for it--"

If she says that much, there's nothing I can reply with. I tightly embrace Faris's slender body.
"...Thank you."

She says so even though she's already crying. I nod silently. Faris's body trembles with emotion. Since her dad's sleeping in the room next door, she probably thought it would be bad if he noticed, so Faris cries, muffling her voice into my chest.