Chapter Six: Outlandish Outfits

Kita was a little surprised. "Huh? Wu-san can compose music?"

A thin beam of light answered Shiko in her place.

The beam enveloped Shiko, but it was much fainter than before, flickering with the feeling of I'll reluctantly count that as passing.

After the beam faded, they saw Shiko burying her head deep in her palms.

This was Wu Shiko, the idol otaku fan!

"Average." Her utterly flat voice brought tears to everyone's eyes.

Wu Shiko

Shine: 160 (150+10)

Mental Strength: 110 (100+10)

Well, the buff had been chopped in half. And all her other stats hadn't moved at all.

"Click." The circuit breaker came back on. Light returned to the hall. Half of Shiko's body was curled up, with a bleak desert behind her. The five surrounded Shiko. One was holding back laughter, while the others were overcome by a baffling sense of guilt.

Nijika couldn't bear to watch. "How about you learn keyboard, Little Shiko, and join Kessoku Band? Kita only just started learning guitar too!"

Calm Shiko wavered slightly.

"Thank you for the offer. But..." Shiko still shook her head.

The stubbornness in her voice deeply moved everyone.

"Actually, I learned piano when I was little. Back then, I had a close friend. She was the only one who could understand my playing. After she died in a car accident, I gave up the piano and never played again..." Shiko wiped away the tears at the corners of her eyes, seemingly immersed in a truly sorrowful memory.

"Isn't that the story of Bo Ya Breaks His Strings?" Nijika's eyes narrowed into cat eyes.

"Oh, is that so?" Shiko's expression instantly changed. "Then, actually, I joined the Light Music Club in middle school..."

"Stop!" Nijika promptly stopped Shiko from spewing more nonsense. A faint sense of incongruity rose in her heart. Little Shiko was joking around with them so naturally. Somehow... Little Shiko was completely different from when they had met her before—even from just a few hours ago.

"Huh? I kind of wanted to hear it," Kita said, blinking. She still hadn't realized Shiko was lying.

"She probably just made it up on the spot~" Nijika temporarily suppressed that strange feeling.

"Not necessarily. According to manga conventions, what someone says at a time like this is usually the truth." Ryo had a different opinion.

Just as they were about to launch into a major discussion about trust, Marina appropriately joined the conversation. "It's getting late. I'll take you to see your rooms first."

Since it was a live house, there was naturally no such thing as a presidential suite. They simply laid out bedding on the underground stage. Since they had water and electricity, there was nothing to complain about.

That night, Shiko was taking a walk alone in the corridor. The members of Kessoku Band came from the direction of the hall.

"It feels like the recording studio here is quite a bit bigger than Starry..." Their conversation drifted over. As band members, they really did check on the recording studio first thing. It looked like even after crossing worlds, they wouldn't give up their band activities. That was good. Shiko felt a little more relaxed.

Shiko quietly hid in a corner so she wouldn't have to run into them.

Ichiri was at the back of the group. She sensed a familiar presence in the corner and stopped without realizing it.

"Bocchi?" Nijika turned around.

The muscles on Ichiri's face stiffened. "Th-that... I think I forgot something..."

"Oh. See you later, then." Nijika saw at a glance that she was making an excuse. But since Ichiri had something to do, Nijika decided to go along with it.

Only after the three of them left did Ichiri feel her body return to normal. She sighed, wiped the cold sweat from her face, and walked toward the corner.

"Oh, Ichiri." Shiko greeted her from the corner without surprise.

"Why... are you hiding here?"

Hadn't Shiko gotten along quite well with everyone before?

Shiko spread her hands. "I guess it's instinct?"

Hearing that, Ichiri felt a little disappointed. "So... all that fun we had together before... was..."

"Some of it was an act." Shiko admitted it openly. "If there were another social phobe besides Ichiri, wouldn't our character settings overlap?" She deliberately added a playful remark, but Ichiri didn't look amused.

"Could it be... becoming friends with me was also...?" The Shiko in front of her suddenly seemed a little unfamiliar.

The smile on Shiko's face froze for an instant. On impulse, her right hand moved to the top of Ichiri's head and ruffled her long hair. "I've always been one hundred percent sincere with Ichiri. I swear."

"Then... what about them...?"

"That was only part of the act. Once I gradually get familiar with them, I won't need to act anymore. When that day comes, maybe I'll be able to change." Shiko spoke with absolute conviction.

Brilliant starlight covered the wilderness, covered CiRCLE, and covered the sea of monsters that had suddenly multiplied during the night.

For ten li in every direction, this was the only trace of humanity.

"There really are more monsters now." Marina climbed down from the roof and returned indoors.

During the day, they could only occasionally spot one on the roof. At night, they could basically see two or three at a glance, and they varied in size.

Fortunately, they still hadn't discovered what CiRCLE could do.

Marina was about to go wash up when she saw another figure in the corridor.

"Wu-san? Aren't you going to sleep?"

"Ah, Miss Marina. I can't really sleep, so I came out for a walk." The person turned around. It was Shiko.

"I see. Then go back early." Marina nodded and left.

Shiko stayed there for a while before heading to the roof. On her way back, she passed the bathroom and heard what seemed to be some movement inside.

She opened the door. It was Ryo.

"Ikuyo said we should have a pillow fight." Ryo suddenly said something completely out of the blue.

"How long have you been in the bathroom?" Shiko asked another completely out-of-the-blue question.

"Twenty minutes."

"After taking a closer look, I guess it's pretty easy to get lost in this CiRCLE." Shiko wore an expression that said, I understand.

The bathroom was filled with inexplicable mutual understanding.

"Wait." Shiko suddenly stopped smiling. "Is Ichiri still trapped in there?"

After receiving an affirmative answer, Shiko turned and dashed toward the underground stage. It took less than half a minute to get from the bathroom to the stage.

"Namu." Ryo offered a devout blessing for the martyr about to sacrifice herself.

Ichiri quietly hid in a corner.

A pillow fight was far too youthful for her to participate in. If she got hit by a pillow, she would inevitably hesitate over whether to throw it back, quickly destroy the cheerful atmosphere, and then be found guilty. If she ran away like Ryo-san while everyone else was already fighting, she would only attract attention...

So when Shiko suddenly pushed open the door, Ichiri saw salvation.

Light streamed in through the doorway. It was the holy light of heaven!

A pillow slammed into the face of heaven's gatekeeper.

Shiko joined the battle.

The trio became a quartet.

Ichiri shrank even deeper into the corner.

"(Come to think of it, why is Miss Marina having so much fun too?)"

Tonight was destined to be a sleepless night.

Chapter Six: Outlandish Outfits

When they got up the next morning, the hour hand was already pointing to eight or nine.

Kita was still the first to get up. She quietly crawled out of bed, careful not to wake the others, stepped over their sprawled arms and legs, and tiptoed toward the bathroom.

"(Come to think of it, Senior Ryo never came back last night...)"

The bathroom was right here. Open the door...

Ah. It was the Thinker.

"Senior Ryo died in the bathroom—" The others were awakened by Kita's screams. Everyone was dragged out of bed and squeezed into the bathroom, still half-asleep.

They opened the bathroom door. Ryo was sitting upright on the toilet, fast asleep. Only after hearing the commotion did she slowly wake up.

"Who first awakened from the great dream? I alone have always known. After a full spring sleep in my thatched cottage, the sun was already high outside the window."

Ryo opened her eyes and faced everyone. "I fell asleep after sitting there too long."

"After all... last night really was tiring." Marina laughed awkwardly.

After breakfast, it was time to begin their first day of hunting.

"Miss Marina, you said we need to provide energy for CiRCLE, but how exactly are we supposed to do that?" Nijika asked at the table.

Marina nodded, rotated her eyes once or twice, and couldn't think of anything. "Well, you try your best?"

Nijika immediately regretted accepting the task so casually.

"So careless..."

After they finished eating, Marina began clearing the table. Nijika came out of the changing room early and made a final check of their preparations before leaving. She had changed into light clothing and slung a small shoulder bag over her back, with several compressed biscuits and some water inside.

Kita and Ryo came out together. Hearing them, Nijika looked up, and her eyes instantly widened into cat eyes. "Are you going on a school trip?" The two of them were dressed in flashy, fashionable dresses, straw hats, sunglasses, bags—everything! They even had necklaces!

"Where did all that stuff come from?" Nijika pointed at the various accessories hanging from them.

"I asked Shiko for them," Ryo replied.

"Shiko really is something..." Marina covered her mouth and chuckled.

Another person's footsteps echoed through the corridor. The four of them looked over together. When that person appeared, all four widened their eyes in perfect unison. Ichiri was wearing camouflage fatigues and a helmet, carrying an assault rifle of questionable usefulness on her back and wearing night-vision goggles of equally questionable usefulness on her head. She looked like a Marine who had come from somewhere. Unfortunately, judging by her lack of exposure to sunlight, if she really enlisted, she would probably be the first one rejected.

Before Nijika could ask, Ichiri explained where the equipment had come from. "I-I asked Shiko for it..." When Ichiri saw that everyone else's clothes were different from hers, she hesitated over whether she should go back and change.

"Ahaha..." Marina had no idea what to say anymore.

Nijika, on the other hand, was starting to look forward to it. What kind of appearance would Shiko, the culprit behind all this, make her entrance in?

Everyone looked toward the depths of the corridor.

After a long while, footsteps sounded through the corridor again.

"She's here!" Kita said, her face full of anticipation.

A girl with long black hair stepped out of the shadows. She wore a pale-purple Gothic dress and had the air of an icy beauty.

"Let's go." Her voice was extremely cold. But it definitely wasn't Shiko's usual voice.

"Wait, who are you?" everyone asked in unison.

The girl's expression didn't change. She merely moved her lips. "Homura Akemi."

"It's... Shiko, right?" Ichiri recognized her from her egg-yolk-colored eyes and facial features.

"...It should be, right?" The others gradually recognized the girl as well.

Seeing that she couldn't keep up the act, Shiko helplessly removed the wig, revealing the gray hair beneath it. Her voice returned to normal too. "It's cosplay."

"Cos..." Kita clearly didn't understand.

"It means dressing up as another character." Ryo explained. "This is Homura Akemi from Puella Magi Madoka Magica. But I didn't expect Shiko to imitate her voice too."

"So why dress up like this?" Nijika asked.

"If I dress up as a character of a sufficiently high level, maybe I'll become stronger." Shiko said it as though it were perfectly reasonable.

"Where did you even get that logic...?"

And so, a strangely dressed party set out from CiRCLE. Nijika strode far ahead, refusing to see the costume party behind her. A stream of chatter came from the rear. Kita had come purely to have fun and was the noisiest of them all. She was also carrying a camera, stopping every so often to take pictures.

"(Come to think of it, where did the camera come from? Don't tell me Little Shiko was behind that too?)"

Ichiri tried her best to reduce her presence. Since she didn't dare speak, she hadn't found a chance to go back and change. She could only endure this style of clothing that clashed with everyone else's and stay beside Ryo, who had likewise drifted away from the crowd without realizing it. Another person who didn't fit in... She looked toward Shiko. Shiko was still wearing her cosplay outfit, but she had stopped putting on a false voice and wasn't deliberately imitating Homura Akemi's behavior. She was chatting and laughing naturally with Kita. In truth, Ichiri knew that Shiko had merely put on another mask. She couldn't help envying Shiko's ability to perform. If she could do that too, she wouldn't have to worry about socializing.

Most of the monsters they encountered were weak enough for one person to handle. With all five attacking together, they were crushed effortlessly. After each monster was killed, it left behind a colorful orb resembling a bowling ball. That was probably the "fuel" Miss Marina had mentioned. Nijika carried an extra cloth bag to hold them.

It was already late morning when they encountered their first opponent strong enough to be called "powerful."

First came the stench of decay, and then they saw its true form—a bloated mountain of minced flesh piled across the ground. It was difficult to say whether it was a living creature, because there was no way to tell how it survived. Shattered brains were buried among maggot-ridden meat, while bright-red blood plasma and thick yellow pus constantly seeped from the brain's grooves. Several huge holes, large enough for a person to crawl into, yawned through the meat and led into the darkness within. Several pieces of blue nylon cloth covered the mountain of flesh. Were they the remains of its victims?