Vol 2 Chapter 3 (1/2)

Chapter 3

“Yaa…nn…”

“Sleepy?”

It’s the second day of the final exaloomy screams of the students

Meanwhile, Fuyufu was sitting in the corner of the school cafeteria during its shortened business hours trying to hold down a big yawn Having seen her in the spot, Yuu decided to call her from behind

After taking a sideward glance, Fuyufu wordlessly redirected her eyes back to her terminal screen

“It sure is rare”

Fuyufu earing glasses She started wearing one entering third year ofclass It see for the exam

Speaking of rare, it’s also rare for Fuyufu to stay up late studying Normally she would properly listen to the lessons in class and re this time of the year

Unable to bear the aard silence, Fuyufu faced Yuu and asked,

“…Do you need so from me?”

“Aaa…… well, how should I say it… I have so to talk to you about”

Despite feeling a bit e that, Yuu sat in front of Fuyufu face-to-face

Just a hunch, but he knew Ikui Libriuotiations Niiro talked about would ell

As someone who had faced her directly, he knew that there’s so similar between her and Meent being was si to do anything to achieve her goal But it’s hard for him to believe that a heartless person like her was related to Haruha

Before the situation changed any further, he must make his decision

“Fuyufu… what do you think a lie is? Is it so?”

“……As rando?”

“Not really”

Although he said as such, he kneould have to face makeups for his weak subjects

Fuyufu then moved towards him and said,

“That”

“?　── Nnn!? ”

He ended up letting out a strange voice as his nose was pulled by Fuyufu

“Look, your nose grows”

“Just what are you doing?”

Yuu bent his back and rasp of his childhood friend In contrast to the confused Yuu, Fuyufu’s stares were cold

“Have you heard of Pinocchio? A doll cursed to have his nose grow every time he lies

──You were lying right, when you said you didn’t have to study”

“Uuh……”

Unsurprisingly, she saw through him

“Since you were little, Yuu…… every ti for advice”

Yuu did not answer In other words, he did not deny that

Around the age of 10, Yuu had a fight with his friends at school, gruames, about his ot hard, he would always come to rely on Fuyufu Sometimes then, Fuyufu would talk about the stories from the book she read

And as he listened to her, he would feel relaxed

“And in the end you always fall asleep, it irritates me”

“I’m sorry…… I won’t sleep anymore, okay”

When he’s tired, listening to Fuyufu’s stories helped hi her tiot froht it was okay

“Well… that’s okay though It’s not the first time you acted like that after all”

Fuyufu then switched her terlasses and faced Yuu

“……First off, let me ask, what do you think a lie is?”

“That is…… so that is not the truth, maybe”

“Then what is the truth?”

“A-A fact……?”

“Then what is fact?”

“……Reality? No, it’s basically the sa that is actually experienced, maybe?”

“Still too weak of an answer If you put it that way, s and illusions are neither truth nor fact But, for the person itself it’s not a lie, not a false

── So a fact is?”

“………A nize as truth… h-how about that?”

“Then, everything other than that is a lie, is that what you’re saying?”

“Errrm, if it’s not the truth and unclear…… yes, a lie”

Yuu nodded and Fuyufu followed suit

“Then that’s your answer and nothing else”

Somehow── Yuu felt restless

“Wait, but, how about tricks, swindles, or betrayals, or lies to escape from reality… there so many of them Do you think we are better off without them?”

This should have been an unnatural question, but Fuyufu replied instantly

“Those are lies used as tools to fulfill one’s lass ashtray as a murder weapon in a murder suspense drama

It’s not about what’s wrong, but rather when it beco”

Yuu was confused He understood what Fuyufu was trying to say But, he was misled by what the《Crystal World》referred to as a “World without lie” As he thought about it, he asked again

“But…… there’s also 『ht? Don’t you think the world will be a better place without s and misconceptions──”

“Yuu”

She called his na Then he realized that hearing Fuyufu defending the existence of lies disturbed him more than it should

After patiently waiting for Yuu to settle, Fuyufu quietly continued

“Therebetween you and your mother, Yuu Maybe you teren’t able to fully understand each other But that wasto yourselves, unable to honestly say that you tanted to be with each other

But, this sadness of yours comes from the death of your mother, not because there’s fault in both of your ways”

Fuyufu should already knohy Yuu came to see her Even if she didn’t know about the incident in 『CtG』, she knehat the words that Yuu wanted to hear the most

So that’s why he spoiled hih I’m not sure what it supposed to mean in this context]

“But if it’s not wrong, then how come both my mother and I live such lonely lives?”

“If your h over thatwith each other after that I guarantee it”

“……How come you can be so sure about it?”

“After all, both of you love each other I’ve been by your side for a very long time now so I know

Those feelings are what are iht? If it’s truly a mistake, if you truly don’t feel that way, you wouldn’t try so hard to remember her, much less be troubled by it”

“………Fuyufu”

Fraying around the edges, he let out a miserable voice Even so, Yuu simply continued to look at Fuyufu

“To su to say is……”

He felt embarrassed over what he had just said Fuyufu averted her eyes and said

“No lies and no mistakes──

Trying to be perfect in a relationshi+p is bullsht is what I’”

Kasugai Yuu let out a huge laughter, totally ignoring the publics’ eyes

It’s precisely what she said

But during all this time, Yuu did not notice

That one feirl with her friends, who just happened to be there to buy a green tea that only sold at the vending machine at the school cafeteria

She was Kugimiya Miharu

The other three did not notice Yuu But as they played ith their newly bought canned drink, they noticed that Miharu had just si

After she opened her can, Tsukami asked

“What is it, master?”

But the one she asked was disorientated, confused after seeing Kodzuchi Fuyufu happily talking with Yuu with such a defenseless face that she had never seen before Miharu could only flinch, reacting to Tsukami’s voice

Tsukami was startled

“…!? W-why do you look like you are about to cry?”

“Aa, no…… I’m okay”

After finally getting hold of herself, Miharu hurriedly walked with a quick pace What kind of face was I’reen tea she had in her hand suddenly felt cold, so she put it in her bag

Tsukai, and Rokkaku looked at each other and then followed Miharu

After finally arriving to the shoe locker, Miharu finally stopped

“What happened? Is there so?”

Tsukami asked worriedly She was seriously concerned for her Hearing that, Miharu felt pain in her chest

“Tsuka me out?”

“Eh? Aa, yes…”

Feeling so, the three of them then stood side-by-side and waited for Miharu’s words

Miharu took a deep breath, exhaled, then timidly told them

“A-Actually, I… am not a love master”

“Wha-……!?”

Her confession was a shock to Tsukami

“W-What do you mean, master……?”

“Ilike that”

“Eeeeh!? T-Then, what about that tis about my boy friend』 or when you accidentally said 『I don’t knohat to do with that when cleaning the bath』 and others, all of those were lies!?”

“Actually, I’ with men……”

“Aaah, come to think of it you barely talk with the boys, don’t you?”

“I’ve seen you talk with Idiot-kun, but well, your seats are close to each other so it’s inevitable, I guess”

Nogi and Rokkaku seemed to accept her confession rather easily But Tsukami was different

“What didn’t you tell us sooner……?”

She asked as she stared at Miharu

“I-I’irls……”

Miharu apologized, but Nogi gave her a hand-chop

“There’s no need to apologize To be blunt, it’s also our fault for having this

Tsukaured that out ourselves”

“I-Is that so……?”

“We had our doubtsyou, Kugi boys every time you pass by theuy so far as to live with him To add, your stories kind of messed up From time to time, you talk about a kid and all

Or uy, ould nairlfriend, and who you said is a girl with a really bad personality, would exist”

Rokkaku slasses

“Eeeh…… if you knew, then just please say so!”

To begin with, Nogi and Rokkaku weren’t as angry as Tsuka that, all the tension left Miharu, but then another fear struck

Could it be that her friends werefun of her inside as they listened to her eventful life stories ──Although it’s ht had been the case

As she thought about that, she got worried But she also realized that although tiring, she enjoyed all of those times she spent with the it, she didn’t even try to clear the

Her past-self wouldcontinue But now as she had Haruha who looked up to her, standing still was no longer an option

“Errm…… if you knew from the start, then why did you let me talk about it?”

Nogi and Rokkaku then went “Eee…” and looked at each other Then, they both laughed

“After all, it’s see of course”

“Yes I really like that weird couple that coimiya-san’s stories

It makes me want to cheer them on”

It as if she got lifted up to the sky Miharu unconsciously stood on her toes So this hat it felt like being happy, she thought

“W-Well, my Kurino-kun is not as awful as h”

“Like we said, he’s not yours”

……………………

And so the topic got derailed, and they ended up taking about how Tsukaht about the club rather than her In the end they didn’t talk about the exaet about it

“Oooh, so there’s that! As expected from master, so tricky!”

“I’m neither master nor tricky……”

She felt a strange pain in her chest when she witnessed that scene back in the cafeteria, but as if so her chest, she now felt slightly bit better

◇Part 2◇

“……So you’re saying that I’m a fake created by the『CtG』 computer?”

That night

Haruha, Clamp, Mifa, and oneThey said that they regularly changed places, but they hadn’t moved elsewhere since yesterday

Clamp and three others took Yusra somewhere else, away from the rest of the “Ghosts” and briefed her on the truth of this case

By the way, the rest of the “Ghosts” were circling around one of Clamp’s conspicuous companion

A iant mushroom doll

“C-Could it be you’re that famous wilderness kidnapper, Paya The Kid!?”

“I heard he got petrified by a Basilisk in the desert, though”

“Indeed, so did turn into a stone and was scattered──”

Payakinoat itself before it continued

“The Basilisk, it was!”

BOO!

With the stylish mushroom joke, the “Ghosts” who had only little exposure to entertaina

Yusra listened to their laugher fro

“In other words, we can’t go back…… or in with, we never had a place to return to…… is that it?”

“Yes…… I’ve met Kanna in the real world, but her personality is different”

Cla and talked about the stuff that happened in the real world At first, he thought she would be mad, but it looked like she seemed rather relieved instead She didn’t say it out loud, but she’s happy that her family won’t be worried

After that, Clamp moved on to the main topic

“But there is a way to fix it According to those who created Ikui, it’s possible to return those victims back to normal with Ikui’s power”

“There is no way she would do that right……”

“That’s e have to defeat her”

Yuu(Clamp)’s tone was of one which Sakura(Yusra) had never heard from him before A sharp and heavy tone

“I’ll explain the details later, but if Ikui is defeated by a force weaker than her, her willpower…… no, her identity will be lost When that happens, she will surely acknowledge that you guys are the victims and return you back to normal”

That hat Niiro Mansei had told him after he had just returned frootiations ended in failure ── what a useless old ed to make a deal in which Ikui would return all the players she recruited back to normal

But of course, that only applied if Haruha ainst Ikui

“When that time comes…… ill happen to us?”

“『CtG』 will be able to register you and your main body as one individual, and you will… disappear But, it’s possible to pass on your memory to the main body

In a sense, it will be like getting back your body”

Transportation and integration of y Haruha used to pass her personality to her real world body According to Haji preparations for it, the chances of it succeeding was very high, even higher than when used by Hadzar

Quite unexpectedly, Yusra believed hiame was quite unbearable it see immortal can even drive someone insane

“It’s just…” Yusra looked down

“Do I even have a place to return?”

“What do you mean?” asked Mifa

“The other Yusra…… though I’ve only seen her froh as me

In the real world, rather than a sulky faced and half-assed person likeand be friendly with others is better”

“That……”

Mifa was about to say so but she stopped She, in the real world was very timid and had no confidence She understood Sakura(Yusra)’s feelings more than others, as she was a person who behaved the opposite of her counterpart in 『CtG』just like her

“Especially in my family where my father was an active police, it’s better for a troublehter like me to never return”

Yusra tried to smile, but she failed and it came out aardly instead

Yuu recalled Sakura’s past that he heard fro she poured her life into and was trapped in negative emotions stemmed from how miserable she was

As someone who knew about her circumstances, Clamp was the one who should had spoken out first, but the first one to move was Haruha

“Tooouh!”

She jued Yusra all of the sudden Yusra lowered her hips in the process Haruha then placed her hand on Yusra’s ear and whispered

“You see, Sakura-chan”

She spoke in a low voice, she wanted to do a secret talk Clamp and Mifa looked at them with blank faces

“What is it…… just speak normally”

“It’s a secret talk so no”

“Secret……?”

“Un Actually, Haruha is not daddy and mommy’s child”

“Well, of course……”

She accidentally said that loudly, but then she realized Just what she is Why she acted as the child of these two high school student Even though her skills were so awful in the real world, in this virtual world she’s the unstoppable OKG

There’s no way she’s just a ‘normal’ child

“Haruha was born inside this game, Haruha is daddy and ht it’s impossible for Haruha to become Sumo-san or idol in the future

But it’s no good to say that Daddy said he will no longer by daddy if Haruha say that Haruha want to continue to be daddy and mommy’s child, so Haruha must behave like a real child

That’s why, Haruha’s lies are secret”

“You…… you think, such thing…… is actually possible?”

Her story was hard to believe, but in a sense, Yusra herself was just like her, a person who had no connections with the real world Then, she remembered

『Haruha, Haruha is not a human after all』

『But Haruha can’t eat things like asparagus When Haruha chew it, Haruhra goes uggeee』

In matter of fact, Haruha was not hu food that she didn’t like Rather than thinking that as a simple personal preference, all differences she had with others made her believe that she herself was not human

And such clu her hardest to cheer up Sakura(Yusra)

“Daddy and mommy said they will be with Haruha even if Haruha is not a human Daddy and mommy would accompany Haruha in bed, and even when they want to study for exaot to buy Haruha a Choko no Egg”

Strange Even though the story was cut halfway, she got what Haruha was trying to say

“That’s why, unlike Haruha who is not a real huo back home

For sure, Sakura-chan’s daddy and y with Sakura-chan”

◆Part 3◆

“It feels like eavesdropping so I’m not sure whether to feel bad about it…”

Haruha spoke in a low voice so that Clah for the two people near her in the real world to hear The black coffin-like Ra on has the function to project all her actions for observation purposes Of course, it also includes her voice

Haji out of amusement

“Hajime-kun, have you heard of Frankenstein’s story?”

“Eh? Aaa…… I’ve only seen the movie about it”

To be precise, it’s the story about a student named Frankenstein who used human corpses to create an artificial human

But, after seeing the ret and decided to run away leaving the monster alone Abandoned by his father, the monster felt lonely and chased after Frankenstein and asked him to create another one of his kin But after Frankenstein rejected his request, the monster went and killed all of Frankenstein’s friends and loved ones──

“In that story, the e Rather, he did so because he wanted to be forgiven by Frankenstein”

“? What does that mean?”

“The uide, so he doesn’t kno to forgive or how to love so that his father did to him, and that was to isolate him That’s why he killed Frankenstein’s family and made him alone

What the iven by Frankenstein With that, the iveness』 from his father But Frankenstein hated the monster

Therefore, the iveness from the father he pined for the most, and continue to suffer as he disappears”

Unsure of whether it was really that kind of story, Hajime couldn’t find the connection between it and the talk Haruha and Yusra had a while ago

Knowing full hat Haji, Niiro continues

“What Haruha attempted to do is the opposite

A iven, so there’s no way a decent hu is too simple, it’s clear that she has not fully understood the concept of being hu

Well, well──”

Niiro laughed as he played around with the bridge of his sunglasses

“She sure is a lovable monster”

◇Part 4◇

“……That’s enough”

Yusra interrupted and stretched her back Her sigh falls on Haruha’s head

“I get what you wanted to say, but you’reno sense”

“You sounds weird, Sakura-chan!”

“Look who’s talking…… or more like, come to think of it, unlike you I’o back to, I’ll just do as I like and wonder off somewhere”

She said cheerfully and placed her hand on Haruha’s head Haruha looked up to her with a blank face

“You know; you are definitely unfit to be a sumo player”

“Unn……”

“But, maybe you can be an idol instead”

Haruha htest smile yet

“Aa…… un! Haruha will do her best to practice handshaking!”

“Oi, go apologize for that stupida idol!”

Haruha pursued Yusra to hug her and Yusra tried to peel her away

Clalanced at each other and smiled

It seems their child finally made a friend

───The “Ghosts” showed various reactions regarding their current situation after they were informed by Yusra

There were those who couldn’t accept that they’re the fake one, and there are those ere relieved that they’re not troubling their parents But most can’t even decide how to react to the situation

Later, after hearing Cla at the nu to cooperate

『Please cooperate with me to defeat Ikui, in the other word, to takeover Crystal Hotel』

That was his request The “Ghosts” original plan was to have OKG(Haruha) to kill Ikui, so it also works in their favor

『Ikui Libriually used hypnosis and did Avatar replication, but since the administrators doesn’t have any evidence they can’t make a move

Claroup made a pro inside Crystal Hotel she will return all the victims back to normal and disband 《Crystal World》』

That’s how that scenario goes It’s a lie to have the them about the Hadzar It’s painful to keep secrets in this situation, but Yuu was already deter to protect Haruha’s life

But since it’s still quite an unbelievable story, no one believed theht that they didn’t have any other options so they choose to cooperate It’s way more than what Yuu predicted It seemed that a lot of “Ghosts” believes that even if this is a trap, things won’t get any worse

Well then…

As far as they know, the target Ikui Librium has never stepped foot outside Crystal Hotel since the first ti people

Hajime said it’s too bothersome to confirm, but she hypothesized that Ikui who stayed inside 『CtG』 24/7 has already deeply rooted herself inside that transparent fortress

Their victory condition is to defeat Ikui, and their defeat condition is failing to defeat Ikui before the deadline

Since Ikui confined herself inside, there’s no other option but to raid her place