The Boy and the Girl

The Boy and the Girl

"Senpai... Senpai..."

In his haze, it seemed as though someone was calling to him.

"Senpai... Wake up..."

The voice grew clearer and clearer, enough for him to make out some impression of its owner.

It was a pleasant, light voice.

Therefore, its owner had to be a young girl in the bloom of youth.

As he felt the call of that voice and his body being shaken.

It was obvious that she was trying to wake him up.

But it had to be said...

(I feel even more like having a nice, comfortable sleep...)

A voice more soothing than a lullaby, combined with the polite yet rhythmic shaking of his body, wrapped him in a blissful feeling reserved only for babies. Rather than waking up, his consciousness sank even deeper into his dreams.

(Just a little longer... Let me sleep a little longer...)

Using that excuse to convince himself, he let his consciousness drift.

Just one second before he fell asleep, both the shaking and the voice stopped.

(Why did it stop?)

Dissatisfaction began to rise within him.

It was an instinctive craving.

Even if it continued for just one more second, let him keep sleeping amid that pleasant, soothing call.

"Kyuu...!"

That was it, exactly.

Wait...

Kyuu?

"Fou...!"

Fou?

"Fou...! Fouwu...!"

Less than a few seconds after that sound reached his ears, a smack struck his face, and the pain jolted his sleeping consciousness awake.

"That hurt...!?"

With a cry of pain, the drowsiness finally vanished completely.

A boy clutching his face sprang up from the bed he had been lying facedown on until moments ago. He opened his eyes and looked at the culprit who had awakened him.

"Fouwu!"

A creature that made such a peculiar cry entered the boy's field of vision.

It was a completely snow-white creature, pure and without the slightest speck of dirt. It looked both like a fox and a puppy, making its species impossible to identify—a truly mysterious creature.

Staring at the boy with a pair of round eyes, it maintained the posture from its just-finished collision before leaping toward a graceful figure standing behind it.

That was a girl.

A girl about the same age as the boy, with shoulder-length pink hair. Her bangs covered one eye, and she wore glasses. She was remarkably cute, with a delicate face that seemed as though an artist had carefully sculpted it, enough to make anyone's heart skip a beat.

At that moment, the girl held out her hands and caught the mysterious creature that had leapt toward her.

"Good work, Fou."

The girl praised her friend for its service.

Clearly, it had been this mysterious creature named Fou that had rammed its body directly into the boy's face to wake him up.

And naturally, there was only one person who could have made Fou do that.

"Mashu..."

Still clutching his face, the boy called the girl's name with a resentful look.

Unfortunately, she did not care about his resentment in the slightest, instead responding with a serious expression.

"Good morning, Luo Zhen-senpai."

The girl named Mashu likewise called the boy by name.

—Luo Zhen.

That was not the boy's real name.

For certain reasons, those familiar with him now referred to him by the shortened name "Luo Zhen."

And the girl before him, Mashu, was clearly very familiar with Luo Zhen.

Holding Fou, Mashu looked at Luo Zhen, who was resentfully clutching his face, and spoke as though scolding him.

"Did you stay up all night playing games again, Senpai?"

On closer inspection, an open laptop lay on Luo Zhen's bed, its screen still displaying a game. Combined with the fact that Luo Zhen had not changed out of his clothes and had fallen asleep facedown on the bed in formal attire, it made clear exactly how he had gone to sleep.

"Uh..."

The resentment on Luo Zhen's face vanished without a trace after being caught, replaced by an expression that might as well have had the words "This is bad" written across it.

Mashu's pretty face grew increasingly stern.

"Didn't we agree that you wouldn't stay up all night playing games, Senpai?"

The eyes behind Mashu's glasses filled with ever-growing reproach.

"Irregular sleep schedules are harmful to your health. What if you get sick because you haven't rested properly?"

Mashu repeated the admonition she had given him countless times before.

"Fukyu!"

As if intending to agree with Mashu's reprimand, Fou wriggled out of her arms, leapt onto her shoulder, and cried at Luo Zhen.

Though the cry was adorable, to Luo Zhen at that moment, it sounded like kicking him while he was down.

All Luo Zhen could do was mutter.

"I can sleep during the day anyway. What's wrong with using the night to play games?"

That was plainly sophistry.

"Senpai."

Mashu's pretty face immediately tightened.

Only then did Luo Zhen hurriedly speak up.

"Alright, alright! I get it!"

Luo Zhen raised both hands and surrendered without hesitation.

"Honestly..."

Mashu let out a soft sigh.

Anyone familiar with this pair of boy and girl would know that this same scene and conversation played out in this room almost every day.

On one side was a carefree boy who loved having fun.

On the other was a serious and well-behaved girl.

This pair had conversations like this nearly every day within the facility known as Chaldea.

Luo Zhen could even guess what this kind-hearted, worry-prone junior of his would say next.

It would involve no more than two people.

The first was someone with a close relationship to Luo Zhen.

"If I have time later, I'll go complain to the doctor."

Mashu stated it with a serious expression.

Then, the seriousness faded from Mashu's face, replaced by a trace of concern.

With that expression, Mashu mentioned the second person.

"If the Director finds out that Senpai stayed up all night playing games again, she'll definitely fly into a rage, won't she?"

Mashu spoke as though she were worried about such a scene.

And since she had mentioned that person, Luo Zhen understood.

"The Director told you to wake me up and bring me over, right?"

Luo Zhen spoke in an annoyed tone.

As though accustomed to Luo Zhen referring to the "Director" in that tone, Mashu gave a wry smile.

"Yes. We need to conduct a Simulated Battle today. The Director has been trying to contact you, Senpai, but she hasn't received any response, so she sent me to wake you."

At Mashu's words, Luo Zhen finally noticed that the bracelet-shaped communicator on his wrist was flashing an indicator light, informing him that someone had tried to contact him.

"I really don't want to go..."

Seeing this, Luo Zhen spoke from the bottom of his heart.

But Mashu had anticipated that as well and gently tried to persuade him.

"Senpai should still participate. Otherwise, the Director will definitely make Senpai clean the entire Control Room like last time."

Hearing that, no matter how unwilling Luo Zhen was, he could only comply.

"Then let's get it over with. I'm still sleepy..."

With a dispirited voice that barely managed to muster any energy, the utterly unwilling Luo Zhen left the room together with the helpless-looking Mashu.