Part 150: Okabe Rintarou makes a girl cry again

I guess that's how it can keep its dignified silence even though it's less than a 10 minute walk from Akihabara Station.



Rukako is sweeping the grounds.

"I-I'm sorry, I left Samidare in my room..."

"No, that's okay."

"Eh, it is?"

Well I'm stumped now. I don't have the determination to tell her the truth now that we're face to face.

"...did something... happen?"

"W-Well..."

Rukako's crying face from before crosses my mind. It was very sad. If possible, I don't want to make her cry.

No, why am I acting so weak?! I can't stop here. I swore to do anything if it's to save Mayuri. And Rukako probably only said he wanted to become a girl out of curiosity. If I explain everything properly, she shouldn't refuse to become a guy again.

"Rukako!"

"Uh, yes?!"

When I grab both her shoulders, calling out to her so close we're almost pressed together, Rukako's cheeks start to flush.

"Please calm down and listen. The truth is, you... were really... a guy."











"You're... saying that again...? Sniff..."

Aaaahh, I made her cry again...

But this time, I'm not flustered.

"Listen! Unless you turn back into a guy... Mayuri's life is no more."

"Eh..."



About time machines. About the D-mail Rukako sent. About Mayuri's sudden fate. About how to avoid it. I talked on and on about everything in a one-sided conversation.

"...You... You're joking, right?"

That was Rukako's first response after hearing everything.

"I can't... believe any of it..."

Her voice is trembling.

"You're in character as, uhh, Kyouma, right...? You are, aren't you...?"

Shaking her head no, she backs away from me, step by step.

"But that setting... it's too cruel. Um, it troubles me, and I think it would make Mayuri sad too..."

"I know you're confused hearing this all of a sudden, but it's all true. I witnessed her death, countless times. I'm sorry for making this selfish request of you. But I beg you... To save Mayuri... I want you to become a guy again..."

"Oooh... Please, tell me... you're joking... Okabe... A guy... I can't possibly... be... a guy... ohh... I don't want to... I've always been a girl... since I was born... that's cruel... And why... of all people... does it have to be Okabe... to say so... It's embarrassing... sniff. this is... too much..."



"Like hell it's embarrassing. It feels more out of place to me that you're a girl."

Rukako's entire body twitches, and her crying stops.

"...be... tha... way..."

I can barely pick up her voice.

"What? What did you say?"

She lowers the hands that had covered her face. Rukako is making a really sad smile.



Then Rukako shakes off my hands, running away.

"Rukako! Wait!"

She doesn't even stop when I call. She disappears into the shrine office.

It turned out just like my simulation. I sigh, leaving the shrine, dejected. I need to think of a plan...





I explain what happened just now. After looking annoyed while listening, Kurisu mutters one phrase when I finish.



"What are you saying?"

"You don't get it? No matter how you look at it, you set off a flag. No, maybe I should say you've already set it off."

"By flag, you mean a death flag?"



"Wha...!"

A... romance flag...?

"Urushibara's interested in you."

Kurisu thrusts her finger at me.

"When her beloved Hououin Kyouma told her 'You were a guy,' it tore her pure maidenly heart to tiny little bits. The strategy to speak frankly was a huge failure."

She sure is calm when she thinks this doesn't concern her.

It'll be trouble if it turns to romance. There's no equation for that. You can't calculate people's feelings. There are too many unknowns."

For some reason, I'm shuddering and shaking my head. Has this girl never fallen in love?

"You can't attack head on. The hurdles to persuade her just got higher. You should think of another way now, like talking directly to her mother. The Urushibara family should have already recognized you as the man who made her cry, though, so their guard might be strong."

Rukako likes me. I wanted to escape from that reality. Being in her favor certainly doesn't feel bad, but...

"By the way, since when do you think Rukako set off that romance flag?"



"I mean, think about it. Just one week ago, he was a man, you know? If he liked me at that point, then..."

Uho!

"That's just your subjective logic, isn't it, Okabe? By Urushibara's and my subjectivity, she was a girl from the beginning, so there's nothing strange in the slightest. Think in terms of the current world line."

Ah, I see. That's exactly how it is, but...

"More importantly, what I'm uneasy about is..."





"There was a change from the previous world line. According to Rukako's father, the IBN 5100 was at Yanagibayashi Shrine just a little bit ago. Suzuha entrusted it to Faris's dad. After he died, Faris dedicated it at Yanagibayashi Shrine. That sequence is the same as in the world line where I obtain the IBN 5100."

"So, you're gradually stepping towards the original world line, then. I thought about it, but it doesn't feel like world lines change that easily."

"Why do you think so?"

"I mean, the world population is 6 billion, isn't it? It's weird that changing the gender of just one of them from man to woman would cause such a huge change in the world line."

"This is what Suzuha told me, but before and after a time leap, Divergence will only change up to 0.000001%, if at all. But when I canceled Faris's D-mail, there was a 0.05% change."

"Even 0.05% is pretty big. What did Amane say about that?"

"The year 2010 is a significant junction in attractor fields, and the key is me having the IBN 5100."

"I wonder if Divergence quantification is based on the distance between Okabe and the IBN 5100... So basically, all of the D-mails influenced the IBN 5100's location through the Butterfly Effect...?"

"There are some D-mails that didn't activate my Reading Steiner."



Which means the D-mails belong to Rukako and...