The next day, before Tsutsumi could even step out of the room, his roommate, Agnes Tachyon, blocked his path like she'd been waiting for that exact moment. She pointed at the kitchen area first, then at herself, which already told him what she wanted.
"Make me breakfast before you go," she said, like it was the most normal request in the world.
"No."
He replied, and Agnes Tachyon won't let him leave or stop bugging him until he gives in and cooks something for her.
"This is annoying," he muttered, but he was already moving. His hands worked on autopilot, whisking eggs and moving the frying pan around like he'd done this a thousand times. "I'm not your chef."
"You can cook mountains of food for your sister," Agnes Tachyon said, leaning against the desk, chin resting on her hand, while she watched him work. "You can spare a little attention for your roommate. That's just common courtesy."
"Those two things are completely different," he replied. He slid the egg onto the fried rice, neat and clean, then cut the omelet open so it folded nicely over the top. He didn't bother looking at her reaction as he set the plate down. "Omurice. Eat."
She didn't need to be told twice. Agnes Tachyon smiled, leaned forward, and took in the smell like she was evaluating her own experiment.
"Thanks for the meal," she said, already scooping the first bite into her mouth. Her tail swished a little behind her chair, completely giving her away.
Tsutsumi didn't answer. He'd already grabbed the large bag sitting near the door, heavy with bento boxes stacked on top of each other. He adjusted the strap over his shoulder and stepped out of the room before Agnes Tachyon could come up with a second order.
The hallway was already busy. Morning footsteps with light talking. Doors opening and closing. As he walked, he noticed more eyes on him than usual. Not just quick glances either, some of the Umamusume were very openly staring, ears tilted his way as he passed.
He looked down at himself for a second. He was only wearing his regular clothes. Nothing strange there. Plenty of students didn't wear the school uniform all the time, so that shouldn't have been the problem.
He kept walking anyway. Whatever it was, it was probably just another one of those little Academy things he didn't bother to learn about yet. If it became actually important, someone would complain out loud.
Deciding it wasn't worth thinking about, Tsutsumi ignored the stares and kept walking toward the spot he and his sister had agreed on.
"Tsu!" Oguri called when she spotted him, waving like she was trying to guide in an airplane.
"Yo, Oguri-nee," he replied.
Her ears perked up, tail already swinging back and forth, eyes shining in a way that made it very clear she had locked onto the smell of the food. She leaned forward a little like she might just bite the bag open.
"Where did you buy those? They smell amazing!" she asked, almost too focused on the containers to look at him.
Tsutsumi blinked, then he realized that Umamusume's senses were sharper than humans. Of course, she smelled everything he'd made from halfway across the courtyard. Walking through campus carrying this much food was basically the same as ringing a giant dinner bell.
And according to his roommate, his cooking was better than the cafeteria's. So the attention from everyone else made sense now.
"I made these, enjoy." He replied simply.
Oguri didn't bother with more questions. She was already opening boxes. "This is so good!" she said between bites, working through one bento and then immediately starting on the next like it was a relay race.
"Where's your roommate, Tamamo?" Tsutsumi asked, sitting across from her.
"Tamamo said she had something to do, so she won't be joining us," Oguri answered, completely straight-faced. It was obvious she'd taken the words literally without thinking too hard about them.
In reality, Tamamo had simply noticed how weirdly close and weirdly awkward the siblings were, and after watching them finally make up, she'd decided to quietly give them space. Oguri hadn't noticed that part at all.
"I see," he said. He shifted his gaze slightly to the left. Behind a bush, a pair of red horse ears stuck up like a badly-hidden flag. "You can come out now, or somebody really will think you're stalking us."
"Ehh!? So I was spotted after all," Tamamo said, stepping out from the bush with a nervous laugh and scratching her cheek. She has followed them to see how this would end, interested in how Oguri and Tsutsumi's relationship would go.
"You can join. I'm sure Oguri won't mind sharing her food," Tsutsumi added.
Oguri froze for half a second. Her shoulders tensed and she leaned protectively over her bentos on instinct. Then she realized how that probably looked, straightened up, and tried to act generous while still clearly suffering inside.
Tsutsumi has noticed her hiding there after walking passed her, but after a few minutes of Oguri's eating and Tamamo makes no move to leave. His enhanced senses picked up her stomach growling and the faint sound of drooling. It was kind of obvious at that point.
So he decided to invite her to join.
Tamamo sat down beside Oguri on the bench. Oguri reluctantly shifted a box toward her like she was handing over a family heirloom. It was the first time she'd gotten to taste her brother's cooking, and it beat cafeteria food easily.
He is my brother, so I'll get more later anyway!
She told herself in her head. Her hands still trembled a little while she shared.
Tsutsumi had no idea what she was thinking. If she knew he was planning to eventually drop out of Tracen and quietly vanish, she would probably cry, panic, and then physically chain him in place.
He just watched them eat. Around them, he could clearly feel more hungry gazes gathering, other Umamusume standing nearby with envious looks and rumbling stomachs. It was like they were pretending not to stare while very obviously staring.
Weirdly enough, it felt…familiar. Being surrounded, being watched, the sense that he might get jumped at any time, felt... comfortable.
It makes him feel just like home.
Still, he wasn't afraid; they are just horse girls, the most they can do to him is kidnap him and force him to cook for them. And even that is a challenge for them; the only reason he even bothered to cook here was for his sister, and his roommate was being annoying.
Breakfast eventually wrapped up. Oguri and Tamamo headed off to class together, chatting lightly. Tsutsumi watched them go for a moment, then turned the other way.
He skipped his classes like usual.
...
Appearing in a different world, Tsutsumi switched from being a horse-boy to a fox-boy.
That world does not need someone like him; there wasn't much he could do or any reason for someone like him staying.
If anything, staying too long felt like a bad idea. He still remembered the IS world and how things there slowly slid in the wrong direction just because he existed in it.
Somehow, it had escalated to him being declared as public enemy number one, the "biggest threat to the world." In a place where technology ruled everything, being able to casually mess with machines and systems just by waving his hand was apparently more than enough to land on every watchlist available.
"You're back." Miyabi's voice rang out, causing Tsutsumi to look over, seeing his mom walking toward him.
From what he remembers, where he left off in this world is that his mom sent him to school, which was consumed by the Hollow, forcing him to help guide all of them out of the Hollow as soon as possible before the Ether corruption fully consumes them.
After that, he left without a word and leaving the rest for Zhu Yuan and Qingyi to handle.
Before Tsutsumi could say anything, he felt her hand on his head, patting him softly. "Ryoko, have you gotten taller?"
Tsutsumi froze as his memory overlapped with the current movement.
"Ryoko… have you… gotten taller again?"
A dying Miyabi in his memory, smiling faintly. Her trembling hand reached up and patted his head.
Tsutsumi blinked the smile light. "Probably... mom."
Miyabi's ears twitched slightly, caught off guard, but she just smiled back.
Later that day, Harumasa and Soukaku were in a good mood. The Section Chief had suddenly announced that she would be taking everyone out for dinner. The reason was simple. Her son has managed to save so many civilians by himself, and they should celebrate. While in reality her real reason is that her son had finally gotten comfortable enough to call her "mom."
They were celebrating that like it was a national holiday.
Yanagi didn't say anything about it. She just went along with them. Between Tsutsumi saving an entire school full of students and staff from being corrupted by the Hollow, and Miyabi being openly happy, saying no would've felt wrong. So she just adjusted her glasses and followed.
Tsutsumi himself didn't think too deeply about it. He ate, listened to Harumasa and Soukaku talk too loudly, and watched his mother quietly smile more than usual. That alone made the dinner feel a bit better.
Tsutsumi spent a few more days in this world without any other incidents. The Hollow Special Operations Section 6 is a Special Task Force meant to deal with Hollow Incidents.
So if no Hollow appeared suddenly, acted strangely, or expanded, they were basically free. Which Tsutsumi took very literally.
While the other members deal with paperwork and handling reports and documents. Tsutsumi continues to slack off at work.
The others quickly got used to the sight of him playing games with Bangboos in the corner, falling asleep in random chairs, and cooking breakfast and lunch for everyone. Work, in his case, was mostly just "wait until he is needed somewhere."
School was still shut down because of the last Hollow event. Other Sections were busy investigating and filing reports. Section 6 was simply on standby.
"Ryoko, get up. We've got work," Miyabi called out.
Tsutsumi opened his eyes, blinked once, and stood up without complaining. He was used to this pace by now.
They were dispatched to a familiar Hollow.
"This is…" Tsutsumi murmured, looking up at the massive black void in front of them. He had walked out of this place not too long ago.
"The same Hollow that swallowed your school," Yanagi confirmed while flipping through a file. She already knew he hadn't read the mission brief. So she and the others have taken it upon themselves to repeat the mission details for him.
Miyabi had at least read enough to understand what needed to be cut down.
Tsutsumi looked like he had simply come along, planning to clear it.
"The other members from Sections 3 and 4 discovered a new Ethereal inside this Hollow," Yanagi continued, showing them a photo.
Tsutsumi stared.
"…What the?" he muttered.
The Ethereal in the picture looked almost exactly like him.
"Ionized Doppelganger," Soukaku said helpfully, since it was very obvious Tsutsumi had never bothered studying the terminology. "They're a special type. Instead of sticking to their original species, they observe humans. If someone stands out in the Hollows, they replicate the exact physical appearance, texture, and combat techniques of their targets."
She then casually pointed at Miyabi.
"Chief fought one that copied her. We called it Doppelganger Miyabi. She cut it down."
Harumasa spun the photo between his fingers and grinned. "So this one's Doppelganger Ryoko. You and Chief really are alike. Maybe you're actually her kid from the future or something."
Tsutsumi gave him a flat look and rolled his eyes. Still, the idea of fighting a version of himself was… mildly interesting.
"Enough," Miyabi said simply. She stepped forward and, without making a big deal out of it, took her son's hand so he wouldn't wander off the moment no one looked.
"Section 6, operation start."
And with that, they entered the Hollow housing "Doppelganger Ryoko."