"This is bad." Amane Suzuha's expression immediately fell, and she could only push her bicycle away.
After Suzuha left, Mr. Braun added to Okabe:
"Okabe, don't you dare lay a hand on my Part-time Warrior either."
At this, Okabe Rintaro's expression turned sour.
He lifted his head, casually handed the card back to Mayuri, and walked step by step towards Mr. Braun, loudly retorting:
"Aren't you the one with such thoughts, Mr. Braun?"
Okabe Rintaro's lips curved slightly, quite pleased with his words.
No matter how he thought about it, the only thoughts this bald uncle would have, rarely recruiting new part-time workers, could only be those. What else could it be besides such notions?
Hmph.
"You bastard, if Xiao Tao were here and you said that, she'd really kill you," Mr. Braun said, frowning.
"Xiao Tao? That little animal?" Okabe Rintaro seemed to have some impression of the name.
Mr. Braun expressed his dissatisfaction with Okabe Rintaro's casual nickname:
"Don't treat someone else's daughter like an animal. After all, how could I possibly have thoughts about that kid?!"
Regarding the baseless accusation Okabe Rintaro had inexplicably pinned on him, Mr. Braun felt he had to clarify, otherwise every future meeting would surely involve this guy subtly using the 'nickname' to defame him.
He knew exactly what kind of person Okabe Rintaro was.
However, Mr. Braun's clarification aroused another person's displeasure.
After propping her bicycle against the wall, Amane Suzuha leaned closer and corrected him:
"I'm not a kid; I'm a warrior who can stand on her own."
Mr. Braun: "?"
What nonsense was the Part-time Warrior talking about?
Mr. Braun couldn't understand, but Okabe Rintaro's lips couldn't help but curve upwards.
"Good eyes, Part-time Warrior. Don't forget those eyes," he chuckled, saying with feigned seriousness, "This way, one day you will be promoted to a true warrior… "
"Alright, shut up. The moment you open your mouth, you just…" Mr. Braun was about to interrupt Okabe Rintaro's lengthy speech without hesitation, but before he was halfway through, Amane Suzuha took another step forward and repeated:
"I already told you I'm a warrior who can stand on her own!"
Her expression was very serious, but Mr. Braun completely disregarded it. He scratched his head as he walked into the store, muttering complaints:
"Why are all these strange people gathering around my house?"
[Part-time workers are meant to slack off!]
[Bosses who look like uncles are prone to such misunderstandings!]
[What kind of phrase is 'a warrior who can stand on her own'? Is Suzuha really as chuunibyou as Okabe? Otherwise, how could she always keep up with his ideas?]
[Excellent, Amane Suzuha, now I shall bestow upon you a new title! From now on, forget your past name and accept your new codename—'Part-time Warrior'!]
[Are you Okabe Rintaro?]
[Why are all these strange people gathered around your house? So strange, this question is so hard to think about.]
"…" Watching Mr. Braun walk into the store, Amane Suzuha sighed deeply, then forced a smile and raised her hand towards Okabe Rintaro: "Goodbye."
With that, she also walked into the store.
"We should also…" Okabe Rintaro turned his head.
He had intended to tell Mayuri it was time to go, but his words suddenly stopped.
He saw Mayuri standing in the light, reaching her hand towards the sun.
Just like in the past.
Okabe Rintaro no longer called out to interrupt, but instead placed his hands on his hips, quietly watching his childhood friend.
Then, a gentle piano melody began to play.
"This is Mayuri's habit."
Okabe Rintaro's inner thoughts resonated with the music.
"I presumptuously call it 'Stardust and shake hand'."
Mayuri's hand seemed to rest on the sun, and then, as his gaze shifted to Mayuri, her figure suddenly shrank.
As if returning to the past, a young Mayuri stood before a tombstone, holding her hand up just as she was now, as if to shake hands with the stardust.
Quietly, calmly, she softly said:
"Can my hand touch the stars?"
"…"
Abruptly cutting off the memory, Okabe Rintaro walked over to Mayuri's side.
This was just a 'crevice', amidst the tiles of the stairwell, amidst the tangled wires, beneath the obscured sunlight, with only a sliver of sunlight peeking through.
"You can't see stars now, can you?" Sighing, Okabe Rintaro replied aloud.
"Oh, even during the day, the stars are still there," she said.
[Here · it · comes · again ·]
[No matter how you look at it, there must be a story behind this.]
[Last time the memory was rainy, but this time it seems to be sunny.]
[Did her parents pass away?]
[I feel like I can guess a little bit why Mayuri would be childhood friends with someone like Okabe.]
[The music is great, can you release it after the show?]
[I've already recorded it, I'll remove the vocals and release it soon.]
[Good!]
Under the scorching sun, the piano music abruptly stopped, leaving only the restless chirping of cicadas echoing.
The next moment, the cicada's chirping transformed into the sound of a clock ticking, the scorching sun turned to darkness, and the long-unseen red-haired girl reappeared on the screen.
Makise Kurisu lay on the bed.
Beside the bed were long boots lying on their side, and on the bed were clothes that were almost completely shed.
Only a white T-shirt that roughly covered her body seemed to remain on her.
This was an incredibly private attire, only worn when alone.
Her crimson long hair was messily pressed beneath her, her left hand gripped the bedsheet, her right hand pressed against her forehead, and jumbled thoughts flashed through her mind.
"Such strong electromagnetic waves could very well be caused by a phone malfunction."
Undoubtedly, she was still thinking about what happened that day at the Laboratory.
Phone Microwave, gel bananas, text messages, discharge phenomena… she murmured to herself, trying to convince herself.
But it failed.
"But the banana really did…"
The gel banana indeed returned to its original place; she had seen it with her own eyes.
No matter how many reasons she found to refute it, no matter how many words she thought of to explain other phenomena, this one thing remained inexplicable.
"This phone microwave (provisional) is a Time Machine!" Okabe Rintaro's voice echoed in her ears.
Makise Kurisu stopped thinking, pushed herself up with her hands on the bed, and suddenly sat up.
"How could that be?"
"…" But after a moment of silence, she lowered her head again.
Her gaze lingered on a pink bag nearby for a moment.
It was a bag with "Laundry Bag" written on it… The dirty clothes had piled up too much.
Makise Kurisu sighed deeply.