No. 3705 ►
I stared at my plate for several seconds before I spoke.
"Omelettes?"
Cherry smiled brightly.
"I thought that brother might like it," she said. "For some reason, I still remember how to make these. Try it! Try it! They're really good!"
Somehow, I didn't have the heart to tell her that these were usually made for breakfast. Well, I suppose that having eggs for dinner wasn't too bad. She did seem unusually confident when she called me for dinner earlier. Maybe this was her specialty? I quickly forced a smile as I took my first bite.
"Hmm..."
Cherry was practically bouncing in excitement.
"How is it? How is it? How is it?"
I closed my eyes and started to concentrate on the taste. The texture of the fried egg was surprisingly soft and fluffy. Did she add milk or cream? I started to suspect that this wasn't an ordinary dish. But that was only the beginning. The moment my tongue touched the filling, it was assaulted by an array of flavors. This mix of beef slices, cheese and vegetables... I've never tasted such an egg dish before! Before I could help myself, I could feel tears well up in my eyes.
"Alex? Alex! Are you alright, Alex?"
I could feel her shaking my side, but I couldn't respond right away. It was only after I had swallowed that bit of omelette did I manage to compose myself. I carefully wiped off my tears and smiled at her.
"I'm sorry," I said slowly. "I just couldn't help myself. I've never tasted such cooking before."
Cherry just stared at me, for a moment. Then, she lowered her head.
"It tastes bad, doesn't it..." she whispers.
"Tastes what?" I cried. "No! Of course not! What are you saying?"
Before I could help myself, I already had both my hands on her shoulders.
"This tastes wonderful! I've never tasted such delicious eggs in my life? Why didn't you tell me that you knew how to make these?"
Cherry didn't say anything immediately. She started blushing as she looked up into my eyes. Then, upon her lips formed a small smile with a hint of shyness.
"T-thanks," she whispered.
~~~
It was only afterward did I realize that she seemed a little different. She didn't speak much during dinner. Instead, she only glanced at me a few times as I ate, and every time our eyes met, she would turn away. Of course, I was much too engrossed in the meal to notice.
"But now that I think about, she looked kinda cute back there..."
Wait, did I just say that out loud? I shook my head and cursed to myself. Idiot! What was I thinking? If our relationship started moving in that direction, then she would only get hurt in the end. I can't let this get any more complicated than it already is!
"Damn, I got careless!"
I should have said something like, "It tastes good, I guess," or something to that effect. Why did I let myself get carried away? Even if I tell myself that this was the first really good home-cooked meal I've tasted in months, that was no excuse! Cherry was my sister, and that just wasn't the proper reaction. The way I acted could be more closely compared to a lonely guy who was touched by his girlfriend's cooking. But then again, wasn't that...
"Bad idea," I told myself. "Real bad idea. Don't even think about it, Alex."
If he did anything like that, then he would be no better than some scumbag who took advantage of an amnesiac girl's innocence. That would be simply criminal.
"Man, I gotta clear my head..."
Cherry said that she'd watch TV for a while longer. She seemed unusually interested in it, as if she hadn't seen one before.
[ ] Turn on the PC for a bit.
[ ] Take a walk outside and think.
[ ] Check if I still have a few beers.
[ ] Just go to sleep.
[ ] Custom
No. 3722
"Ugh, more spam."
As usual, my mailbox was full of junk. I took a moment to scan through the items. "POnOs enlarging pills for only $9.95!" Sent to spam folder. "Hi, I nied your help transferring funds. 76,000$ commision." Sent to spam folder. "SexyBeast9tale wants to be your friend!" Sent to spam folder. "Knife to meet you! Plz message me at elegentmeido16@sdm.com.fr" Sent to spam folder. "Gain self-confidence! Order our self-help manual, 'The Power Within' today at..." Sent to spam folder. "Dark-Webs Forum: You have received a new message from..." Sent to spam folder. "Update to the new VIVIT light client today to enjoy new features..." Sent to spam folder. "Participate in the annual school festival 2009! Send your organization's details at..." Sent to spam folder. "75 recipes for delicious pie. Just click here!" Sent to spam folder.
Ha ha, oh wow. After deleting all that junk, I realized that I hadn't received any real e-mail today. Well, it was a weekend, after all. Morgan was probably busy at some club activity again. I never did figure out what that guy did during his free time. I sighed loudly as I closed the browser window.
> K: I need to help me with something.
> K: This is really important.
For some reason, I felt like checking up on K. I quickly logged on to VIVIT to see if he was online. Unfortunately, he wasn't. I waited a few minutes, half-expecting him to send me a private chat invite again. But after a while, I logged off. I guess even K had a life outside the internet.
I started clicking idly, browsing random sites for a few minutes. I wasn't really looking for anything in particular. Just killing time, I guess.
"Huh?"
What's this? Did I accidentally click a link for ads? There was a picture of a vaguely familiar blue-haired girl in a blue dress that was full of pockets. She had a green hat and a cute little backpack. Hmm... I know I've seen her before somewhere. Well, it was probably another of those random internet meme characters that were running around. I scrolled down to see a set of clickable buttons with an odd caption above it.
> Select Two Armaments:
[ ] Small Bombs, Incendiary
[ ] Small Bombs, Fragmentation
[ ] Small Bombs, Smoke
[ ] Small Bombs, Tear Gas
[ ] Small Bombs, Stun
[ ] Small Bombs, Anti-Armor
[ ] Custom
No. 3732>>3722That's a bit hasty sending that dark-web thing to spam.... (it might have been significant) But it might not who knows.
[x] Small Bombs, Smoke
[x] Small Bombs, Stun
No. 3804
Before I could reply, the cat-eared girl took to the air.
"Let's start!" she cried. "I'm gonna take you home~"
"Wait! I said that I don't want to.. oh shit!"
The girl laughed as she fired dozens of glowing bolts at me. Like most danmaku, the projectiles didn't really move that quickly, so I had ample time to carefully step around them. This wasn't my first spell card battle, after all. After she finished her first barrage, she looked down and saw that I was undamaged.
"Not bad! Not bad at all! Looks like this little human is strong too~"
"That was dangerous!" I cried. "I said that I don't want to fight!"
"Eh? But we're not fighting, y'know?"
She grinned as she held one of the wispy spirits in her hand. It started glowing ominously.
"We're just playing~"
Suddenly, the sky was filled with a shower of glowing rain. I managed to avoid an untimely death, but before her attack ended, one of the bolts singed my sleeve. This 'game' of hers was a lot more dangerous that I first thought.
"Huh?"
The girl stared at me, as if surprised.
"You dodged that too? How'd you do that without flying?"
"Err..."
"Well, that doesn't matter! Looks like you have some talent, human! I'll definitely take you home tonight~"
This time, she pulled out a spell card from her dress. Not good. If I was going to survive this game of hers, perhaps I had better start fighting back.
"Cat Sign 「Cat's Walk」"
My movements...
[ ] Advance
[ ] Retreat
Shall I counterattack?
[ ] Use small bombs, incendiary
[ ] Use small bombs, fragmentation
[ ] Use unarmed combat No, I'm not close enough.
[ ] Use a spell card. No, not here.
[ ] Use words (Specify)
[ ] Don't attack
[ ] Custom
No. 3873 [X] Advance
[X] Use small bombs, fragmentation
Rin moves around a lot during Cat's Walk; let's use the one that'll actually hit her.
>>3841Magic.