"Promise me, don't shower here anymore, it's too dangerous!"
Makise Kurisu earnestly warned Mayuri, looking at Okabe Rintaro.
"Don't look at me when you say that." Okabe Rintaro bared his teeth and turned his head away.
"It's practically suicide. Why are you even in a place like this?" Looking at Mayuri, who seemed completely unacquainted with Okabe Rintaro, Makise Kurisu couldn't understand: "Were you threatened, forced to become a Laboratory member?"
She wanted an answer from Mayuri. If it was true, she could unceremoniously rescue a good child like Mayuri from the clutches of Okabe Rintaro and that pervert.
No matter how she thought about it, such a cute Mayuri shouldn't be associated with that guy, Okabe Rintaro.
"Because Mayushii is Okabe's hostage," Mayuri replied with a smile.
Makise Kurisu's breathing stopped.
Her pupils suddenly constricted, as if trying to grasp the meaning of the word 'hostage'.
When her brain quickly understood what 'hostage' truly meant, she looked at Okabe Rintaro with an incredibly sharp gaze.
"It's better to call the police." She pulled out her phone.
"Hey, wait—" Okabe Rintaro was startled, but he didn't go forward to stop her.
Clutching her phone, Makise Kurisu said impolitely:
"She just said 'hostage', didn't she? The evidence is undeniable."
With that, she dialed the emergency number.
Just then, Mayuri added, "No, it's not."
"Mayushii is a voluntary hostage."
"Eh? What's going on?" Makise Kurisu's action of calling the police stopped.
Okabe Rintaro sighed, one hand in his pocket, the other scratching his neck, and walked over helplessly.
"Hmph, I'm going out for a bit." He snorted lightly, expressing disdain, and brushed past Makise Kurisu.
Mayuri didn't explain, but turned to look at Okabe Rintaro.
"Be careful on your way~"
"..." Makise Kurisu looked at the two of them, then at the number already dialed on her phone, falling silent.
Should she call or not?
"[Is Assistant not thinking straight?]"
"[You're telling a man who weighs at least three hundred pounds and a scrawny chuunibyou that you're going to call the police. The latter isn't threatening, but Tonz's deterrence is maxed out. If anything happens, one punch and you're down. And you're still calling the police?]"
"[Stop scolding, stop scolding. If you're going to scold, scold Okabe, don't scold Assistant. It's all Okabe Rintaro's fault.]"
"[You're right, but I think Okabe might not be able to beat Assistant.]"
"[So, will Mayuri really shower in the Laboratory?]"
"[Yes.]"
"[Hmph, a hostage or whatever, it's just a playful game between childhood friends.]"
Not-so-bright lights, scattered pedestrians, a dazzling array of electronic components.
"It seems this can replace..." Okabe Rintaro muttered to himself, comparing the list in his hand with the goods in front of him.
Suddenly, an energetic voice came from beside him.
"Yo, can the IBN5100 be used?" Amane Suzuha asked casually, approaching Okabe Rintaro.
"Shh—" Okabe Rintaro quickly raised his hand to shush her, lowering his voice to warn: "Don't say that word in a place like this."
Suzuha bent down and scanned the counter in front of Okabe Rintaro.
Small, scattered, various models of messy small parts were neatly arranged on the counter.
"Buying parts, huh? Let me help you." She said... "I didn't expect Part-time Warrior to be so knowledgeable about computers." Okabe Rintaro stood in the shadows, exclaiming.
Suzuha was behind him, leaning against a vending machine, drinking the cola he bought her.
After taking a sip of cola, she nodded:
"Hmm, because I once knew someone who knew a lot about IBN."
"?!" Okabe Rintaro suddenly turned around and quickly said: "Really?! Then please help me contact that person!"
"..."
But Suzuha was silent for a moment, then softly replied:
"No."
"Gulp." He was flatly rejected.
Okabe Rintaro gritted his teeth, turned his back again, and said:
"If you refuse, you will see the most terrifying thing in the world!"
"No means no." Suzuha shook her head.
"Are you out of your mind?!" Okabe Rintaro issued a threat that had no deterrent effect whatsoever.
"...Because," Suzuha said softly, "that person died a long time ago."
She raised her head, her eyes hazy: "Many years ago."
"..." Okabe Rintaro quietly turned his head away: "I'm sorry."
"[Although Okabe Rintaro is a fake mad scientist, he is still a university student.]"
"[? A university student can identify parts? Are you overestimating today's university students too much?]"
"[Just looking at that row of things, I don't even know what they are, gives me a headache.]"
"[Are we opening Suzuha's side story?]"
"[The beginning of this episode hinted at a lot, mostly related to Suzuha.]"
"[So, are we going to use the Time Machine to revive the dead?]"
"I should be the one saying sorry, just now." Suzuha smiled.
"..." Okabe Rintaro quietly asked: "Did my Assistant do something?"
The only thing that would make her apologize was that inexplicable hostility towards Makise Kurisu.
Suzuha shook her head: "No, she didn't."
"Did she glare at you first?" Although she said so, Okabe Rintaro clearly felt that Makise Kurisu must have had a reason to be treated that way. So, he began to try to list reasons: "Oh, she mocked you, right?"
Amane Suzuha slowly lowered her hand, and in a very, very soft voice, said:
"No, she didn't do anything."
"Then..."
Suzuha's hand tightened slightly, and the aluminum can in her hand was easily crushed.
"She still doesn't know anything," she said.
Okabe Rintaro: "..."
"But you need to be careful, regarding Makise Kurisu."
"What do you mean..." Okabe Rintaro hadn't had time to ask.
Suddenly, the sound of helicopter propellers came from afar.
Amane Suzuha suddenly raised her head.
The number 'DT0831' flashed under the helicopter.
The next moment, Suzuha suddenly lowered her stance, asking in a low voice:
"Bombing?!"
"?" Okabe Rintaro, without any sense of crisis, turned his head and looked in the direction Suzuha was staring:
"It's the fireworks festival broadcast, right? I think it's today."
"Fireworks." Suzuha stood up, relieved, and scratched her head: "Ah, fireworks."
"I've heard of that!" She showed a happy expression.