SHSL Steampunk

"Well, I think you’re a really nice girl, and…uh, I really am glad to have met you. And, uh…you’re goggles look cool, and…"

He was rambling now, and he couldn’t think straight. And furthermore, his answer was so generic and evasive, it made him look like he was a careless jackass. And he didn’t want Reika to think that!

"I mean, not to say that you’re not a cool person, but…I mean…!"

Nova was getting flustered, and he needed to calm down. He took a deep breath, paused, and tried to collect his thoughts. How did he feel about Reika, honestly? He’d never thought to confront how he felt, but now was a good a time as any to do it.

"Well, let me start over. I do think that you’re a cool girl. Probably one of the coolest I’d ever met. Whenever I hang out with you, I don’t feel as awkward or embarrassed as I used to. And, well…I am glad that I met you. With all the crazy, terrible stuff that’s happened here, it’s sort of almost been worth it…just to be here with you, walking and talking."

"And as for how I feel, well…I do like you, Reika. You know, as a good friend. And maybe…more…than…friends…"

Nova was kind, smart, dependable... he was funny and gentle, and he was always there for her, always managing to bring a smile to her face...

Geez, was this really the time or place for this? Did it really matter? After all, Eiji and Aki had dated, hadn't they? Was it worth the potential heartbreak, the despair if anything happened to one of them? Was it worth it all...?

But she couldn't deny how she felt. How Nova said he felt. Even if it might all end crushed and burnt, wasn't it okay to try and live happily in this moment?

As Nova finished speaking, Reika was quiet, staring down at their interconnected hands with a red face. All of her thoughts tumbled through her head, until finally, she reacted.

She laughed. Softly at first, then growing, a lighthearted chuckle.

She stepped forward, hands still connected, leaning her head on Nova's chest. A smile stretched across her face, heart beating a mile a minute, and she let out a sigh once her giggles subsided.

"Gosh... this is just... too much... I can't help it... I'm happy... You know... I really like you, Nova-kun... More than friends... I think..."

That was all she said, head resting gently against him, holding their intertwined hands close to her heart. 

She liked him. 

He didn’t have to worry about that now, though. 

“It was really good! I didn’t see that coming at all, I—I even teared up a little toward the end! It’s no wonder you’re a Super High School Level Writer, Reika-chan! Er, I mean, not—not that I doubted your abilities before or anything, I just—”

"I mean, I never thought I’d get to read a famous author’s work before it got printed! It was really cool! Hahah, it was almost like I was transported to a whole different place, and I didn’t have to worry about any of this at all for awhile!"

You’re rambling on again, Murakami. With your pointless dribble. At this rate you’ll bore Reika into a sleep, and then you really will be a bother! Quick, fix it!

"Eheh, thanks for the praise! It's just a first draft, so I didn't expect such a good response. But it's always nice when people are able to feel emotional over my writing! That's my goal-- to draw out beautiful reactions and tug at the heartstrings of my readers... especially if they're able to escape the harsh realities of their world by being absorbed in a good book. I think that if you don't feel some emotion while reading, then the writing isn't good enough. Does that make sense?"

She grinned as she spoke, seeming quite cheerful to chat about writing. Of course, it was her passion! Though as she flipped through the pages of the short story she'd lent Kouta, a small frown came to her face.

"Although, this still needs to be edited a lot. Kyran's personality is pretty underdeveloped and clashes too much with Mira's. They need to be more in balance for it to work-- how are they supposed to find Rino's precious bottle if they can barely talk to each other without arguing? Well, I think the ending at least is one of the best I've written. Rino's tears as he recalls the memories of his mother's last words and the importance of the apparently empty bottle... if you teared up, then that's great!"

Then she realized she was starting to ramble, closing the book again and laughing lightly.

As he continued walking, he happened to notice that Reika wanted to ask him something. She seemed almost afraid to ask though, and tried to avoid his eyes. Had he done something wrong?

"Well, I don’t watch that many movies, although I have seen the Ace Attorney film a while back wipe learning Japanese."

He turned to the writer, and took hold of her hand. It felt warm in his own hand, and really comforting.

"Ah, I see...! I don't think I've seen that yet myself, actually. I'll have to watch it if you recommend it, Nova-kun. I like almost every genre, though of course if it's got steampunk elements I love it even more!"

She stopped in her tracks as Nova grabbed her hand, face heating up once again and body tensing slightly. She relaxed rather quickly, feeling the warmth and ease in his hand.

Reika let out a sigh, closing her eyes... should she just ask it, after all? She didn't want to do anything that would cause awkwardness in their relationship... but she knew that if she didn't ask, she'd just be waiting forever, right? And so she took a deep breath, looking Nova in the eyes and remaining with their hands locked together.

"W-well... um... I'm just curious... it's been, uh, bugging me for a bit... well... how do you... feel about me...?"

"I dunno if it’s just me, but today seems to be a particularly nice day, don’t you think?" He took a deep breath, and unintentionally shifted closer to Reika. "I don’t think I’ve ever seen you look so beautiful, to be honest!"

Nova hadn’t noticed his little slip of saying “you” and not “it”, and he didn’t go back and correct it. Instead, he continued to walk confidently with Reika, his mind perhaps having wanted to say it at some level. And besides, he was looking at her more than the path, which almost caused him to fall flat on his face when he walked into a protruding rock.

"Whoa!"

"Y-yeah..."

At his comment she blushed a bit deeper and looked down again, a small smile on her face, letting out a light chuckle under her breath. Jeez, he knew what to say to her, huh? Gosh, she didn't even know what to do or how to feel at this point.

As Nova tripped, she instinctively reached out a hand to catch him, grabbing his shirt sleeve. He managed to right himself, but she didn't let go right away. Instead, she thought for a second, and opened her mouth.

"Um... Nova-kun... well..."

Her words fell flat, and she let go of his shirt slowly, smiling again. No, she wasn't sure if she really wanted to ask quite yet. Did she? Maybe she did, but was just a bit afraid.

"Ah, never mind... er, I'd like to get to know you a bit better! Like, what's your favorite food, book genre..."

"Ah, Reika! Of course, of course! I’d be glad to walk with you!"

He stepped down from his podium, and followed Reika out of the room. It didn’t even feel unnatural anymore, to finish a trial like this. It still jarred him, but he was beginning to expect things. He knew he shouldn’t, and he tried his best not to. He began walking, not with any real destination in mind, as he spoke to Reika.

"It’s always a real treat to talk to you, you know that?" The path they were on was quiet and bright. No one else seemed to be around. "I like being with you."

"Great!"

Getting some fresh air under the virtual sun was surprisingly relaxing. After all, the whole place felt so real, she supposed the effect was the same as walking on a real sunlit path. Maybe, when they got out, she'd be able to walk with Nova there, too. She went along by his side, smiling as brightly as she could in a situation like theirs, kicking up pebbles with shuffles of her boots.

At Nova's comment she blushed a bit, smiling and looking down.

"Ah... thank you...! I like being with you too, Nova-kun. You always cheer me up, you know? Eheh..."

Kouta hadn’t had a chance to speak to Reika since the trial. A lot had happened since then, but Kouta felt like he was finally starting to get back on his feet. A slow process, but a process all the same. He even read Reika’s story last night! Today’s mission was to get it back to her.

Now, where would a famous author hang out around here? It might have been silly to guess the library right off, but it seemed to work.

"Reika-chan! I’m glad I found you, I—"

"…Er, sorry! I didn’t realize you were reading, I…"

What did you think she was doing in the library, Kouta? Making breakfast? Regardless, he gives a small bow, holding a lightly worn little notebook out to Reika.

“I…wanted to give you back your story!”

"Ah, no problem! You didn't interrupt me at all. I just finished the chapter. It's a pretty good book!"

Of course, she'd been absorbed in it, but she didn't mind being disturbed. After all, it wasn't the best book she'd ever read. A cliche romance with some hints of mystery, but a bit too slowly paced. Still, the writing wasn't bad, and the main character was interesting, so she considered it worth the read.

She took the book from Kouta's hands with a cheery smile, tucking the book she was reading back on the shelf. Maybe she'd pick it up again later.

They’d gotten it wrong, of course.

They knew they would. And yet they still voted for someone else. This was all so wrong and it stirred something within Reika. There were at least two, maybe more murderers walking amongst them, and they knew exactly who one was. It was unsettling to say the least— after all, in a situation like this, weren’t those who had killed once likely to kill again?

She didn’t want to dwell on those thoughts for too long. After all, they’d gotten one of them. Reika wanted to focus on the positive!

Speaking of positive, Nova! Reika had been wanting to speak with him for ages, but hadn’t gotten a chance. He would lighten her mood!

And so after the trial, the writer stepped over to Nova’s podium and tapped him on the shoulder.

Although she hadn’t found anything herself, talking to the investigating crew had given her some information, and with what was said in trial she had something to work with.

Really, it all seemed a bit too easy— she felt this case could be easily resolved; there were three pieces of evidence that could easily match up to the killer. But something still didn’t feel quite right. Something about the way the murder was done— why go out of their way to write a fake suicide note, and then leave the scene looking so obviously like a murder?

"All right… the hair, footprint, and note give us plenty of ways to figure out the culprit. It shouldn’t really be difficult— compare everyone’s hair length and color with the strand found, foot sizes with Akira-kun, and handwriting samples to the note on Minnie-chan’s body. I’ve got my notebook here,"

She held up the notebook, eyes scanning the room.

"So if everyone just cooperates, this could get done quickly and easily. Unless there’s more than one person, two pieces of matching evidence should likely be enough to suspect. I’d like to ask everyone to compare both feet and hair sizes, regardless of if one or the other is clear— after all, some people have hair dye or likewise. Since my hair is longer than Minnie-chan’s and I think a bit darker, I could be considered a suspect, but my foot is fall smaller than Akira-kun’s and him, Kouta-kun, and Aki-kun have seen a sample of my handwriting. There’s another in this notebook, too. I think we can definitely get the culprit this time, so long as everyone participates."

She let out a small sigh, holding out the notebook to whoever would take it.

Kouta has never really been in the Arts and Crafts Treehouse aside from investigating…until today! Life had calmed down a bit, and it had been some time after the last murder—so maybe things would be okay after all? Could they really just stay living peacefully like this?

Hopefully. Until they find a way home.

Kouta sighed. Things had calmed down, but that didn’t mean there weren’t still problems. He’d had way too much on his mind lately, and no ways to get them out. He could hardly even bring himself to practice his magic. When was the last time he did a magic trick? 

So maybe some creative expression would do him well, he thought. Going to that treehouse was a pretty natural conclusion. He didn’t really expect anyone else to be there, but he couldn’t say he was upset to see the girl with the goggles there. What was her name again…

"Ah, it’s…Tamari-san, right?"

Kouta offered the girl a smile before taking a seat at one of the tables. Reika always seemed nice. She was always trying to help out during the trials and stuff, and always seemed to know what to say—she was an author after all, right? If anyone would know what to say, it would probably be her.

And so she took a seat across from the boy, smiling brightly. Now was the perfect time to get to chat with him!

"Ahoy there! Yep, Reika Tamari, SHSL Steampunk Writer. You're, um... Murakami-kun, right? May I call you Kouta-kun? Oh, and you can just call me Reika~!"

"Ah, Reika! It’s really good to talk to you again! I’ve been, well, alright. I hope I’m not bothering you, I just happened to be by your door and, well…"

He saw Reika yawn, and realized that he might have come at a bit of a bad time.

"No, no, it's fine! I wasn't sleeping... I just haven't been getting much rest, eheh. Been... *yawn* writing my heart out, y'know? Wanna come in, or...?"

She stepped to the side a bit, offering for him to come in. Suddenly, her tiredness and hunger seemed to catch up with her, and she stumbled, falling into Nova just slightly.

Well, once again, it was all over, and once again, they had chosen poorly. Nova watched, painfully, as Joshua bled out to death before his eyes. He had no idea who this boy was, no clue. How could they have sent him off like this? Before he knew it, it was over, and the doors opened for them all to walk away.

Nova walked out of the courtroom with a lot of conflicting feelings. On the one hand ,he was disturbed by the execution, and the fact that another innocent had been killed. He felt almost mad, since they almost accused him of the crime.

But at the same time, he walked out of there with a sense of relief. Relief that the trial was over, yes, but a relief that he was still alive. It was such a contradiction, despair and hope, but he tried to hold on to his relief as he walked.

He walked back to his own room, but as he tried to open his door, he noticed his keycard wasn’t working. What the hell? He looked up, and realized that he was at 2-B, not 1-B. Dammit, he passed his floor. He looked at the map to see whose room it was, and was surprised to see that it belonged to Reika. What were the odds, eh? He decided to knock on the door, and see if she was there.

"Reika? Are you in there? It’s me, Nova. I was wondering if you wanted to talk or something."

Eventually, someone came knocking. Nova. It took Reika a moment to get up and go to the door, but she really did want to see him. The door slowly creaked open, and Reika came into the doorframe. A small, tired smile adorned her face as she looked at Nova, bags under her eyes.

"Ah, Nova-kun... How are you doing? Have you been well? I'm... sorry for what happened at the trial... I know you didn't do it..."

Again, huh? Another innocent had died? They’d gotten it wrong, yet again, and someone who Reika had never known had died, yet again. How many people was that now— three, wasn’t it? Or four, counting Nagisa? How many innocent people would die and get hurt before this was over?

As Joshua’s bloody body fell to the floor, Reika bit her lip, clenching her hands into fists. She’d watched the whole thing— the result of their error, of their faults. They were all idiots, weren’t they? How could Reika hope they’d survive when people kept dying for the most pointless reasons?

Stony. Hard and cold.

Doing his best to crack a smile, he nodded when she was done with her explanation. It was certainly interesting, and he couldn’t say he hadn’t read the books she had written. While he was not an avid fan, or anything of the sort, putting most of his time into his work, the novels held merit, and were quite enjoyable.

"Well, generally I read novels that fall under the romance category, or fantasy as well. I quite like all genres, though I don’t always have the time available to read as I wished. I am often times busy with my job, since I am one of the main weavers and workers in my company. It takes up much of my time. However, when I can find down time, I do very much enjoy reading."

Smiling again, much more genuinely this time, Kagefu pulled out a shuttle fro his bag, and started to absentmindedly tat away, while he continued his conversation.

"Although, I do not have as much variation in my work as you, since textile production requires a steady flow of what a consumer denotes as ‘purchasable’. If I try to be creative when the market does not call for creative intervention, then the business ends up in tangible danger. However, I still work steadily, even… Even if I do not work at base headquarters…"

There was just a brief pause in his words before he continued,

"I-… It’s nothing big, though, situations have required that I am to no longer be situated at home base, which is situated at my house… I have actually been living on the mainland of Japan now, for some time, and no… I actually haven’t seen my grandmother now for some time either. Like I said, no big deal, nothing to worry about. Situations as such rise up all the time, so really. Nothing to worry about."

He smiled at the end, though based on what he had just said, and the obvious quirk to his lips, it was debatable whether it was a heartfelt smile, or not. But like he had said, it was nothing to worry about, nothing big, so…

She did her best to shake it off, smiling brightly as he talked about his work. She stared in curiosity at the shuttle, listening in fascination. She loved learning new things about new people and new types of work.

"Wow, that's really cool! It's great that you're so dedicated. I mean, I'm alright with deadlines and all, but I tend to put work off pretty often... writing's not a 24-hour job, although I am trying to always come up with new ideas. Textile work sounds interesting... I wonder if I could incorporate something like that into a story."

Before she could start storming up some new ideas, she had to think about Kagefu's reading tastes! She tapped a finger to her chin thoughtfully, before grinning broadly.

"So you're a romantic, huh? Gears of Fate, my bestselling series, has a good deal of fantasy and romance both, as well as a bunch of other genres mixed in. There's a couple of books I've written that are primarily fantasy/romance, but my personal favorite is probably Tarnished Steel Roses. It's about a girl who runs away from home to join an airship crew seeking out a secret forgotten land, and she falls in love with the captain, a man whose wife died because of-- well, that would be spoilers! But I definitely would love if you gave it a read once you've got some free time!"

Then her smile softened to one a bit sadder, somewhat more motherly.

"Well, I think this room is starting to feel really…cramped. Maybe we should relocate to somewhere less small. Would you like to…um…"

Go on a date? Watch a movie together? Hold hands and skip on a beach? Couple cosplay? Tell me why my creator is writing these things to make me even more embarrassed?

"…um, join me in the cafeteria for some food?"

"Sure! Food sounds great! I could definitely go for some good tea right about now. Do you like tea, Nova-kun?"