Part 149: Makise Kurisu gives advice on a delicate matter

Moeka's group didn't appear at the lab, and Mayuri didn’t get wrapped up into an accident. In some sense, that was expected.

The problem is tomorrow...



7:30 PM. I have the Time Leap Machine set for activation, with Monad Snake on hand, waiting for the fated time. As for turning on the 42" Braun Tube TV, I bought a remote from a junk shop. Everything's ready in that regard, too.

Since ComiMa started today, Mayuri's been in Ariake since this morning. I told him not to come to the lab today, but Daru should be with her as a guard. Even if Moeka’s group does come, the chance Mayuri will be killed is low.

In this world line, will the Rounders come? Will they not come? Just how will things go...



The door wasn't kicked open. Instead...





"Hello? Daru?"

"Haa, ugh, guh, haah..."

Something's wrong.

"Hey, what happened? Daru?!"



"But it looks... like they wanted me... I... ran... but instead, Mayushii... Ooh, oohh, what do I do... Okarin... oooogh..."





And then they probably killed her mercilessly, since according to Moeka, Mayuri is 'unnecessary'.

I grind my teeth. No good after all. I still haven't avoided the irrational attack on Mayuri.

I toss Monad Snake onto the couch. The preparations were a waste. Mayuri died somewhere else.



"I won't let you guys... kill Mayuri...!"

I activate the Time Leap Machine, sending my memories back to the past...









My vision waves. My flesh and my soul feel momentarily separate. I grab my right wrist. Closing my eyes, I breathe deeper, and wait for my pulse to return to normal.

"Whew..."

After taking a deep breath, all that's left is a headache.

I should have known. I didn't avoid Mayuri's death this time, either. Changing the world line just delayed it 24 hours. That's all I needed to confirm. I need to cancel Rukako's D-mail after all.

Sitting down in a folding chair, I try simulating what I should do in my brain...



My mental simulation results in disastrous defeat. In all the ways I try to tell Rukako the truth, the probability that she cries is 120%.

Tch, can't do anything but consult with Kurisu. Since my Assistant is a girl, she should understand a woman's heart.





"You seem pretty serious."

"Actually, I'm facing a difficult problem. A very delicate problem."

"Delicate? That word's like an antiparallel vector to you."

"And that's exactly why I want to consult you, Assistant. It needs to be a woman."

"Oh, you. What do you even mean by 'it needs to be a woman'?"

I explain all the circumstances to her - including how many times I've time leaped, and what happened with Suzuha and Faris. How many times have I explained this to her now?



The only thing she didn't believe was the story about Rukako. She just started groaning.

"Urushibara is actually a guy, huh? That's completely beyond imagination."

"But it's the truth. WAS the truth."

"So basically, umm, wait..."

She wrinkles her brow in thought.

"You mean she actually looks like Hashida?"



Kurisu seems the same way.

"That's terrible."
"That's terrible."

We frown.

"Absolutely impossible. I won't accept that such a cute kid was a guy."

"Just wait. Hold your horses. I never said that Rukako looked like a guy. Rather, he looked like she does now. She's been androgynous ever since she was a guy, so much you couldn't help but think he was secreting excess female hormones."

Because of that, I didn't notice when Rukako first became a girl, and made a fatal mistake.

"He looked like she does now..."

Kurisu's glance wanders for a moment.



She mutters. I don't know who's permitting it, though.

"So, you want to turn her back into a guy.

"Unless we do that, Mayuri can't be saved."

"Mayuri's life, and Urushibara's gender, huh... That's so crazy it doesn't seem real at all.



"Have you come up with a solution?"

"Of course. I'll have Rukako turn back into a guy."

"That might be cruel treatment, in a sense.

"I'm consulting you like this to find out how to do this while hurting her the least."

I gulp a mouthful of Dr Pepper and grind my teeth.

"...It feels like I've been cursed for my own carelessness. D-mails shouldn't have been used by so many people."



Using D-mails, I'm shouldering all the pain of Suzuha, Faris, and now, Rukako. I must shoulder it.

"Nothing will happen, no matter how much you regret what you did. I have one solution to your consultation."

Cristina sighs, blowing her bangs.



"What do you mean?"

"This is just my assumption, but you have an advantage over Urushibara. Basically, the advantage of knowing the contents of the D-mail. So, you don't have to tell her--"
"--wait, hum? Ex-him?"
"...you don't have to tell Urushibara. You can just send the cancellation D-mail."

"You mean, pretend to be Rukako and send the mail to Rukako's mother 18 years ago, huh?"

"If the world line changes, then that truth will all be undone. In this case, you can just ignore things like ethics and delicacy."

As expected of a scientist. Results-oriented thinking, huh.

"Just one problem."



"Huh?! Are you an idiot?! Why didn't you write a memo?!"

"I didn't think it would come to this back then!"

Kurisu clicks her tongue a little. She rubs her brow with her fingers while muttering and thinking.

"...What if you just ask for her mother's pager number directly? Think of a good excuse."

"That'd make me look suspicious..."

"What are you so scared about? That's not the usual vain and arrogant Okabe."

Vain and arrogant? That was uncalled for. I don't have time to be Hououin Kyouma now.

"Just do that random speech you usually do. I mean, she's naive after all--"



Kurisu's putting herself down.

"But maybe I should just ask bluntly. It might be better to just tell the truth in good faith than to play around with poor tricks... maybe."

"It's funny for a mad scientist to be in good faith, isn't it? Saying 'I'll brainwash you, fuhahaha!' Fits you better."

I was being serious...!

"I will shoulder Rukako's pain. That's something I must do. When I finally cancel that D-mail, the fact that Rukako was a girl will be undone. That's why I must shoulder it."

"Then you didn't need to consult me. Go to her right away and tell her what you explained to me.

"That's true, I guess..."

True. That's the only choice I can take...