The impact against my side made me stagger for a moment, and when I turned toward the familiar voice, Tobiichi was the one there this time, a loaf of bread clenched in her mouth.
“...It’s not Shido.”
“No, if you run into someone, you should apologize first.”
Honestly, I was speechless.
The first thing she said after bumping into me was that I wasn’t Itsuka-kun.
And then she looked disappointed about it, which made me want to deck her.
“Tch. Sorry.”
When I demanded an apology, she clicked her tongue, tossed out that one line, and immediately ran off somewhere.
I could only stare blankly at her back.
“Seriously, what the hell...”
“[So what? It’s just data anyway.]”
“Yeah, fair enough.”
There was nothing dumber than getting angry at a chunk of data made up of nothing but 0s and 1s.
I brushed off my pants and waited, curious who would come running at me next.
Then I saw two people with orange hair.
Kaguya and Yuzuru collided with me at exactly the same time.
“Heh heh heh... Led by fate, driven by the flow of time, I was racing along with a hearty meal in my mouth, and yet to think we would meet like this.”
“Amazement. I was running with bread in my mouth because I was late-late~, and then we bumped into each other. For Yuzuru, who was bumped into, this must be a fated encounter.”
NPCs speaking in the exact same way as the two I knew.
Come to think of it again, the recreation was so good it was honestly impressive.
“Wait, Yuzuru. The one who has achieved this fated encounter is me.”
“Denial. Yuzuru was the one who bumped into you first. So the one who had the fated encounter is Yuzuru, Kaguya.”
To stop the two of them from fighting just like they did in reality, I reached out and patted their heads.
“To me, both of you are fated encounters. So please don’t fight and get along.”
I bent my knees to meet their eyes and continued.
“More than anything, to me, both Kaguya and Yuzuru are precious, so it doesn’t matter who came first.”
As soon as I finished speaking, a blush rose on both their faces.
“Ahem! Cough! If Hieta says so, then that must be how it is. Is this also the guidance of fate?”
“Accepted. If it’s Hieta’s words, they can be trusted.”
After saying that, the two of them headed off in the same direction Tobiichi had run off toward a moment ago.
I waved after them.
“Wow... Even in real life wasn’t enough, now I have to do this in a game too?”
The commander teased me as if impressed by my behavior, then scolded me.
“What did I even do? I just stopped two people who were about to fight.”
“[At the very least, just know that from an outsider’s perspective, that is absolutely not what it looks like.]”
“No, seriously, what does it look like to an outsider—hup!”
While I was talking with the commander, I felt a jolt from behind and immediately put strength into my legs so I wouldn’t fall over.
When I turned around to see who had bumped into me this time, Miku was nibbling on the loaf of bread she had been holding in her mouth.
“Miku?”
“Eeeh~ I bumped into you~”
She said it in a tone that made it sound like she had done it on purpose, and then Miku came closer and closer to me.
“Uh, first of all, stop coming closer. Why are you here?”
“I thought I was going to be late~, so I was running with bread in my mouth~ Then~, to think I’d run into darling~”
Miku blushed as if embarrassed and hugged me.
“Eek~ Darling, you’re so bold in a place like this~”
“No, no! You’re the one hugging me! And back off a little! Your... body is touching me!”
Overwhelmed by the incredible softness I could feel in real time, I clung to my slipping sanity and pried Miku away from me.
“Please, you’re an idol. Let’s not do anything so indecent.”
“What’s wrong with being an idol~? Isn’t that better? I was fine with you hugging me like this, darling’s such a shy one~”
Was that really something an idol should be saying?
I thought idols usually weren’t supposed to date, but since she said she was fine with it, I had nothing to say back.
“Well, still, since this means darling and I had a fated encounter, next time, let’s have a fated reunion~”
“A fated reunion...?”
It would have been fine if she had just said reunion, but with “fated” stuck in front of it, something about it felt ominous.
It sounded like she was saying we were definitely going to meet again.
“Please look forward to it~ Well then, darling. See you later~”
After the hurricane that was Miku passed by, I stood there frozen, staring in the direction she had gone.
“A fated reunion, huh? What the hell is with all this fate stuff, anyway...?”
After muttering that, I started walking again, only to bump into a red-haired twin-tailed kid this time.
“[That was a pretty rude thought.]”
“Not at all.”
She was weirdly perceptive.
“Huh? What wasn’t?”
“Ah, hello, Commander.”
“Commander? Isn’t that a little too stiff? Hieta, big brother?”
“U-ugh...”
Getting called big brother by a chunk of data with the commander’s face and voice sent chills all over me.
“Hey. What kind of reaction is that?”
“What kind of reaction is that?”
Seeing my reaction, the two commanders said it in cold voices.
“Ah, haha. By the way, what’s with the bread?”
For the moment, I felt like my life was in danger, so I quickly changed the subject.
And thankfully, it worked.
“Ah~ this? I thought I was going to be late! So I was running with bread in my mouth, and then I happened to bump into Hieta big brother!”
“I-I see...”
I still couldn’t get used to being called big brother.
Because I knew how the commander normally treated me, the version of her I was talking to right now was almost as shocking as when Miku first called me darling.
“Then I’m off!”
“S-sure. Take care.”
After the commander left, I rubbed my arm and muttered, “That’s creepy as hell.”
“Hey.”
“[Honestly, it is a little unfamiliar.]”
“Even you, Fire Keeper!?”
See? Even the Fire Keeper admitted it.
As I walked on, half-listening to the commander desperately trying to persuade the Fire Keeper of something, I bumped into a black-haired twin-tail this time.
“Oh dear, are you all right?”
More accurately, I almost bumped into her.
I twisted my body and dodged before we could collide.
Honestly, just bumping into people was getting old.
“Ahh~ We bumped into each other.”
And yet Tokisaki went out of her way to change direction and slam her body into mine anyway.
“Running into you here, I can feel fate~”
“No, this isn’t fate, this is you deliberately bumping into me—”
“Yes~?”
“No, never mind. Yes.”
I tried to object, but when I saw the lady’s eyes, cold and glowing red, I shut my mouth.
This was not something I wanted to poke at.
“So, why are you here, miss?”
“I was in a bit of a hurry. I was running with bread in my mouth, and then I bumped into you~”
Another identical routine.
By now, I had a rough idea of what was going on.
It seemed like one of the events the commander had set up, but I had no idea how many people I was supposed to bump into.
“Honestly, no matter how rushed you are, that’s dangerous. If you run like that, you’ll get hurt.”
“My, are you worried about me~?”
“Of course I’m worried. You’re running around in such a hurry, and anyone would worry if they saw that.”
At least for this lady, the word “fragile” didn’t fit her at all.
“I appreciate your concern, but I don’t think I have time to stand around like this~ Still, if we happen to meet again, wouldn’t that already count as fate?”
“Where exactly are you planning to meet again...?”
“That’s a secret~ Well then, I’ll be off~”
After the lady left, I started walking again and saw blue hair running hard toward me from ahead.
I knew exactly who it was, so I prepared to catch her.
Just before Yoshino collided with me, I caught her so she wouldn’t get hurt.
“Oh dear, are you all right?”
“S-sorry... I was in a hurry...”
By now, I was used to this situation, so I sighed inwardly and asked Yoshino, “What brings you here?”
“Ah... well, I was in a hurry, so, um, I was running with bread in my mouth...”
As expected, the same answer came back, and I nodded while patting Yoshino’s head.
“Still, if you run too fast, you might trip or bump into someone like just now.”
“No~ Hieta-kun is really clueless, isn’t he?”
“Huh?”
When I was just trying to worry about her, Yoshinon called me dense.
“A girl running with bread in her mouth! And then you bump into each other the moment you meet~!”
“Don’t tell me this is some kind of love-starting point straight out of a rom-com.”
“Ehh~ What, you already knew?”
That was enough, wasn’t it? Of course I knew.
But if this was really what they were aiming for, just how many people was I supposed to start love stories with?
“Even if you don’t do something this obvious, I still care about Yoshino, so please don’t do this again.”
“Y-yes...”
I lowered the hand I’d placed on Yoshino’s head and said goodbye to her.
“See you later...”
“Yes, see you later.”
After meeting Yoshino too, I spoke into the air.
“Commander. Those things that just happened were events, right?”
“[That’s right. You catch on quickly. Well, that was just the appetizer. While you’re in this game world, I’ve set it up so even more events will happen.]”
“That only makes me feel uneasy.”
Thinking about how the events I’d just gone through were the kind you’d only see in a rom-com, I started worrying about what kind of bizarre nonsense was waiting for me next.
“But they really did feel like the people I know.”
Putting the events aside, everyone I’d met so far was no different from the people I knew.
That part was impressive.
“[Even so, it still can’t be called perfect.]”
“What do you mean by that?”
Hearing Murasame-san speak for the first time since entering the game, I frowned in confusion.
Not perfect?
From everything I’d experienced so far, it had been perfect.
“[Reproducing emotions, especially romance, is extremely difficult.]”
“Ah. Well, I guess human emotions are hard to implement.”
Human emotions aren’t fixed, so there are probably a lot of difficult parts when it comes to recreating them in a game.
“[That’s the task ahead, then. Now, go to school.]”
“Roger.”
Following the commander’s instructions, I headed to school.
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