Chapter 127: Chapter 126 - The Anime Incident
In her life, Rika Sainoji had experienced all of the things mentioned.
She has taken exams.
She has completed assignments.
She has performed during school festivals.
She has collaborated on group projects.
She has even survived Akari.
Yet, nothing prepared her for the nightmare that was currently on her phone.
The family group chat was still going.
And it was moving too quickly.
And there were relatives that she hadn’t heard from in months, suddenly becoming interested in her life.
Especially, her nonexistent love life.
Rika was staring at her phone at the group chat with a dead stare.
"Oh my gosh, he is so good looking!"
"You guys look really good together."
"When is the wedding?"
"You need to introduce him to us."
"Will you guys have kids?"
Rika closed her group chat and opened it again.
And the messages were still there.
Life is cruel.
While Rika was having issues with her family, Kuro was sitting on the couch, completely oblivious to the devastation that was caused by him being a living being.
"You look stressed."
Rika slowly lowered her phone.
"...I’m fine."
"Well, you don’t look fine."
"That’s because I’m not."
Kuro nodded; that made sense.
And that was where the conversation ended.
Which somehow increased the level of frustration.
Dinner came and went.
Haruka kept smiling in a mysterious way.
Kuro kept being polite.
Rika kept suffering.
Eventually, they went back into the living room for another round of watching anime; at least characters in anime made sense.
For the most part.
The Academy Professor – Level 999 has aired its new episode since the release of the previous episode.
The first 20 minutes of the episode were acceptable.
For an anime.
The Professor killed a dragon.
Once again worked out a political coup.
Created a new magical theory.
And, to top it off, got himself engaged to a princess.
Not surprising.
It was only when the emotional climax of the episode occurred that things changed.
When two characters shared a romantic scene, beneath the stars, with soft music, a sentimental mood and very quiet, intimate setting; the female heroine looked away in nervousness and the male hero smiled.
All of a sudden...
The room became a very weird place.
Rika immediately focused her attention on the screen.
Way too focused.
Kuro sat there in silence.
Not saying anything.
Not moving.
Not reacting.
This, of course, only made the awkwardness worse for Rika, who was now very conscious of the fact there was a person sitting right .
Next to her, also watching the same romantic scene, and close enough for her to hear him breathe.
A person who...
No.
There would be no more thoughts like that...
The episode continued.
The romantic atmosphere continued on screen.
The romantic atmosphere in the room continued on.
Neither person spoke.
Neither person’s actions acknowledged that they knew each other.
Both were very aware of the presence of the other.
Inconvenient.
Very inconvenient.
The remote control slipped between the sofa cushions.
Just another ordinary accident.
Nothing to worry about.
Rika reached for the remote.
At the same time—
Kuro reached for the remote as well.
Their hands collided.
An awkward silence fell over the room.
The anime playing in the background continued unabated.
Neither of the two moved an inch.
Neither made a sound.
For approximately 1 second.
Then, at the exact same moment, they quickly withdrew their hands.
"Sorry," they both said at the same time.
Then an awkward silence returned.
The atmosphere in the room was now somehow more uncomfortable than before.
Somewhere in the house...
Haruka was smiling.
She was still unaware of what was going on in the living room.
Yet.
But she truly believed in fate... and comedy.
Mostly in comedy.
Back in the living room; fate decided that things were not awkward enough already; therefore, at that same moment in time...
A loud bang echoed through the house from another room.
"Mom?"
Rika called out.
There was no response.
There was another noise;
Something banging into the wall.
Then there was silence.
Rika stood up.
"What the hell is my mom doing now?"
A dangerous question that would soon be answered.
And, unfortunately, it would not be pleasant.
On shelves by the bookcase were several collectable anime figures.
All Limited Editions.
All Rare Items.
All Expensive items.
And All Treasures.
Suddenly—
There was a movement.
A box from the top shelf of figures began to tilt.
Then another box.
Then another.
Rika was the first to see that this was happening.
Her eyes were wide with disbelief.
"Oh my God!
That’s my collection!"
She began running toward the shelves.
Kuro instinctively followed.
As Rika was getting close, the top box slipped off the edge of the shelf.
As soon as Gravity kicked in, Extreme Disaster was imminent.
Rika dove to try to save the figurines, but lost her balance. Unfortunately for her, Kuro was quick to react and caught her.
However, it was an either logical or heroic decision made, which can also be seen as a bad decision in retrospect.
As they fell to the floor together, the events occurring were rapid (Rika slipping, Kuro catching Rika, momentum).
Thus, as both of them laid on the ground together, they sat motionless as their hearts raced while watching the anime still playing in the background.
Neither of them were paying attention to the anime due to the sheer size of the issues they now faced together.
Rika looked to the ceiling as she sat completely still and unable to process her rapidly working mind.
Simultaneously, Kuro looked to the sky and froze in the same manner; however, Kuro was now leaning over Rika with Rika being directly under him.
The fact that they were so very close created a unique dynamic in that someone could easily distinguish Kuro’s and Rika’s facial expressions as well as their overall physical characteristics.
Both Rika and Kuro kept their mouths shut and were motionless while the world around them stopped.
The sounds within the immediate vicinity stopped and created somber mode atmosphere instead of creating a joke-like situation or chaotic scene.
The surrounding area was eerily quiet with nothing but absolute silence and pure focus on each other’s actions.
Complete blackout... Rika could only hear herself breathing and her heartbeat, although nothing else around her seemed to make sense anymore.
Kuro also had the same experience as Rika.
This was not your average situation.
A year later, they had both still not completely processed everything that had just taken place.
And that awareness was the most dangerous thing of all —
For a brief moment.
Neither of them blinked.
Both were incredibly close.
Both could feel how the energy had shifted.
And the air between them was quieter.
And softer.
Neither of them knew what they wanted to say.
Neither of them wanted to move.
The moment itself just went on for an unusually prolonged period of time.
Longer.
Longer.
And then —
Fate intervened.
Again.
A small figurine that had been resting on the shelf finally fell.
Straight down.
Straight down onto Kuro’s head.
BANG.
"Ouch."
The hit in and of itself did not hurt Kuro too badly; it just took him by surprise —
Unfortunately —
The surprise of the figurine falling caused him to momentarily lose his footing.
Unfortunately —
He most certainly lost his footing. He tipped forward.
And before Rika or Kuro could physically react —
Their lips momentarily made contact.
For a moment.
Totally 100% accidental.
There was absolutely nothing romantic about it.
And yet at the same time —
Everything and everyone around them stopped.
Silence.
Complete silence.
An anime was no longer relevant.
The room was no longer relevant.
Reality was no longer relevant.
Rika’s brain simply shut down.
No memories.
No words.
No actions.
Only errors.
Kuro was still standing without moving.
As he tried to comprehend what was occurring.
To determine the result of his question.
Then, the door opened.
Slowly.
Gently.
Perfectly timed.
Perfectly timed but also the worst timing —
Haruka entered the doorway with a tray stacked with works in process.
Smiling.
In an instant...
Then the image faded...
And then came back.
Stronger...
Much stronger...
Perfectly still adrenaline from the previous event.
Perfectly quiet.
Nothing was moving...
No one was breathing...
No one was alive...
Haruka closed the door quickly...
Without saying a word...
The sound of footsteps receding,
The return of silence...
And then, in a long hallway...
"I’m going to start working on the details for the wedding."
Rika was dead...
Well, not really...
But in every sense, Rika was no longer alive...
Rika had put her hands up to hide her face.
Made a sound.
A very tiny sound...
The sound of someone seeing all of their ideas for a future completely destroyed...
Meanwhile, Kuro sat up.
Processing.
Confused...
Trying to figure out how watching a few hours of an anime had led to this point.
Unfortunately, there were no answers...
It’s been about ten minutes since the last event; Kuro just left the house...
Everything still felt strange...
Rika was still feeling broken...
Haruka was still smiling...
Kuro turned around one last time...
"Thanks for having me!"
Rika made a sound that may or may not have been an acknowledgment...
Inside the house, Haruka took out her phone and opened up her contacts...
Looked at her contact list...
Found Kuro’s phone number...
Grinned...
And then carefully changed the name of the contact from
Kuro Kurogane to
Future Son-in-Law.
After ending her call, she lay her cell phone aside in contentment.
Rika, on the second floor, was in disbelief and wanted to hide from all of her past bad life choices that led her to this moment.
The anime marathon has ended.
The two people still don’t know what they are actually thinking about each other.
And in the distance, the delight of fate can be heard laughing.
