Part 188: Makise Kurisu consults with Okabe on personal matters

We're back to the established timeline with another Round Table Conference. Daru hacks SERN to the point of letting us use the LHC for our own purposes.



Okabe finally realizes that the IBN 5100 has been missing ever since Moeka sent her D-mail.



The lab goes to visit Faris at her apartment, when the divergence from the previous timeline rears its head again.











Faris sends a D-mail that saves her father's life in the past.

This D-mail will force Okabe to choose between Faris's father and Mayuri.







In accordance with Faris's D-mail, all moe shops are erased from Akihabara.






Okabe receives an ominous email.



Okabe stumbles upon the new truth of Ruka's gender, and reacts in the worst possible way.



After failing to make contact with her father, Suzuha departs to the world of 1975.



Okabe uses a D-mail to counter her departure.

This D-mail causes her to remain in 2010 long enough for the time machine to be damaged by the rain, which later results in her suicide.



Suzuha confides in Okabe her objective in this era - locating her father. She is unaware that she was partying with him just last night.

End of Chapter 4.



Daru discovers that their building has a direct line to SERN.



Kurisu conceives of the seeds of the Time Leap Machine's design, and then things change once more.



She's sitting in the development room chair, endlessly twirling a pen in her hand.

"Just what are you doing?"

"Thinking. About the Time Leap Machine. I understand how to make it, but just what will happen if we actually use it?"

"I see."

Is she worried about what happens after she finishes it, even though she hasn't started yet? She sure is confident. Is this the freedom of a genius?



It really doesn't seem like we'll come up with an answer to that soon. That's how our discussion earlier was, too.

On the other hand, it seems like a problem of whether she agrees with her own conclusions. That's why I avoid arguing with her.

"Don't worry so much. Prioritize completing it for now."

"So pompous."

Kurisu groans a little, and languidly lays herself on the desk. She's usually so gallant, but when she's thinking, she's pretty sloppy. This might be Kurisu's natural state.

"Hey, Okabe... Can I consult you about something completely unrelated?"

"Don't consult me about something unrelated, but about something related, please."





Before...? What is she talking about?

"I'm... probably hated by my father, huh..."

She sighs such sad words. I see, it's about that.

If she keeps worrying idly like this, it'll hinder the development of the Time Leap Machine. In that case, I, Hououin Kyouma, must make her forget about this once and for all, must I not?

The development of the Time Leap Machine is precisely a project pivoted on Kurisu. It's completely different from her past advisor-like role. I need her to get a grip!

"Fine, then. Talk."

"Hmhm... you really are pompous."

"Earlier, you were on the phone with your father?"

About four days ago, Kurisu was crying on the bench downstairs while on the phone. The atmosphere was pretty serious.



"Since some time ago, it seems like my father started to hate me... Before I went to the states, he almost openly avoided me. Even though we're family."

"How did you act towards your father?"

"Long ago, I was daddy's little girl. He was pretty heroic, you know?"

She talks with a self-deriding smile on her face.

"My father's a physicist, but as a child, I loved hearing difficult conversations. I didn't understand a word of it, but I would always bother my father to talk to me. I wanted to somehow understand, so I became engrossed in reading physics books since I was little."

Th-That's a genius girl for you... No, maybe that yearning for her father's love was what gave birth to her genius.

"Thanks to that, only my math grades at school towered above the rest. I ignored all the other subjects. I read the theses my father wrote, you know? They're not something an elementary student can possibly understand, but I examined them with all my life, desperately decoding them. I got to the level where I could argue about those theses with my father during late elementary school. I was really happy, and enjoyed being able to talk to my father about physics."
"And then I would always win those arguments."

"That would make him hate you. Definitely hate you."



I mean, a physicist losing to his elementary school daughter...

"You really think so?"

"I don't just think so. That's certainly the case."

"He certainly was very proud... Anyway, one day, he suddenly stopped talking to me altogether... Eventually, it got serious with mama too, and she stopped coming home. I really loved my father, so it was a big shock when I felt it was my fault things turned out that way. I even became truant for a while... And then mama recommended I study abroad."

I see, so that's how it happened.

"That means you're too superior. So, what do you think about your father now?"



Kurisu turns down her face.

"Your father's in Japan, right? Have you met with him at all?"

"No... We didn't meet after all. That's what we were talking about on the phone earlier. I asked if we could meet, but he yelled 'don't come'..."

Her father's such a pansy. So saying something like that would really make the strong Kurisu cry.

"And even if we do meet, I don't know what we could talk about... I try my hardest to start talking to him even though he hates me, but he always ignores me... It's so painful. Since I have those memories, I start to think that he'll ignore me again, and then I can't say anything."

Trauma, huh.



"Are you crying?"

"J-Just a little, okay?"

"You still want to reconcile with your father. Correct?"

"I wonder..."

"If you didn't, then you wouldn't have consulted me about him, you wouldn't have said you wanted to meet him, and you wouldn't be crying, would you?"

"True..."

"Just be honest with your feelings. 'I love daddy' and stuff."

"I think that's impossible for someone like me, though..."

"Do you act cutesy with your father?"

Kurisu's face gets red as she gets up.



"No, you do act. You can't reconcile like that. You need to strike him straight just the way you are. There's no other solution. There's no point if you don't get your message across. It's meaningless to sugarcoat things. If you still can't get him to understand, then your reconciliation won't sprout. Only time can tell."

"Time? How much?"

"It's not like I have a way of knowing that. I mean, I'm only a year older than you. How many years ago did you go to America?"

"Umm... seven years ago."

"If seven years have passed without any change, then maybe it'll take twice that long."

"That's right... isn't it..."

Kurisu sighs, this time placing her elbow on the desk, listlessly resting her chin in her hands. Did my advice backfire by any chance? It looks like she's terribly depressed.

I fold my arms. Hmm, I don't want to see Kurisu like this.

"So, when will you go to meet him?"

"Hweh?!"





I take out my phone and call up this month's calendar.

"It has to be during summer break, and you have to tell me when you're going early ahead of time."

"Wha-Wha-What are you talking about?!"

"I have plans, too. If you tell me suddenly, then our schedules might not match."

"Nonono, don't tell me you plan to come along?!"

"Indeed. You are my assistant. My assistant's worries are my worries. I'll do anything I can so that you can work in your best mental condition."

"..."

Kurisu looks dumbfounded. What? Did I say something wrong?

"What's with that? Jokes should also be in moder--"

"I'm completely serious."

"..."



"Okabe..."

"If you're alone with your father, you won't know what to talk about, right?"

"Yeah..."

"So if I come along, there won't be a problem. I, Hououin Kyouma, will sense the mood and supply splendid subject matter."

"...pfft."

"Why are you laughing?!"



"Ah..."

That... That's true...! No, rather, that's my strong point. Mad scientists must be self-righteous.

"But thanks... I never thought that you'd go that far to say those things for me..."
"I-It's not like I'm happy about that or anything! Honestly, it troubles me that you can be a good guy at times!"

What troubles her? Or rather, why did she suddenly snap? Shouldn't she be apologizing to me instead?



"Of course."

"Then, once we're done with the Microwave Ophone's improvements..."



"You can count on me. So, where's your father now?"

"Aomori."

"Aomori?!"

"My father lives there now."

That's farther than expected.

"Wh-What? You're not going to back out, are you?! Because it's already been decided. I'm taking you whether you like it or not, okay?!"

"A-As you wish."

Well, if promising to go to Aomori will make Kurisu work her hardest at the Time Leap Machine, it's a small price to pay.