"Baka, baka, baka—!"
A crisp and exasperated girl's voice echoed from Touji's phone, leaving Kasumigaoka Touji frozen mid-thought.
"Eh… What the heck? What did I even do!?"
He blinked in disbelief, staring at the phone screen with a dumbfounded expression. Just seconds ago, he'd received a voice message from Eriri Spencer Sawamura. Curious, he had tapped on it—only to be met with a barrage of "baka" repeated over and over again in her shrill, annoyed voice.
"Oi oi oi… I didn't even do anything this time!"
Kasumigaoka Touji scratched his head in confusion, frowning as he typed a simple reply: a lone question mark.
[Touji]: "?"
To his surprise, the reply came almost instantly:
[Eriri Spencer Sawamura]: "You break promises! Your words are like farts! Baka! (￣ε(#￣)☆╰╮o(￣dish￣///)!"
"Uh… What in the world…?"
It took a second, but the pieces slowly began to fall into place.
"Wait a sec… Could it be…?"
Earlier, he'd casually mentioned to Kani Nayuta that Kashiwagi Eri was his classmate… and barely two minutes had passed since then.
How the heck did that information travel so fast!? Did Nayuta just go and blurt it out!? Or was it telepathy!?
Still slightly stunned, he cautiously sent another message:
[Touji]: "You know Kani Nayuta?"
A moment passed. 'The other party is typing…'
[Eriri Spencer Sawamura]: "She's my online gaming friend!"
Touji's expression froze.
"Seriously!?"
On the other end, Eriri furiously stared at her phone, cheeks puffed out in frustration.
"Tch… This idiot! Completely deserves a beatdown!"
Her fingers trembled on the screen as she typed, rage barely held in check. Honestly, if it weren't for her rationality, she would've already launched a duel request!
Meanwhile—
Kasumigaoka Touji's face twitched.
[Touji]: "You're also her online gaming friend!? (｜д` )!!!"
This was just getting out of hand.
How many friends did Kani Nayuta have in the gaming world!? And more importantly, how many of those friends did he know in real life!?
He already found out yesterday that Yamada Elf—the new tenant next door—was one of Nayuta's gaming buddies.
And now Eriri too!?
[Touji]: "This is spiraling out of control…"
He followed that with an awkward emoji, clearly at a loss.
"Honestly… If I knew they all knew each other, I wouldn't have said a word…" he muttered.
He added quickly:
[Touji]: "I didn't mention your name. Just said you were my classmate."
As if on cue, Kani Nayuta popped in:
[Kani Nayuta]: "You'll never guess—turns out I know Kashiwagi Eri-sensei too!"
[Touji]: "..."
[Touji]: "You definitely wouldn't guess that I just got spammed with 'Baka baka baka—' for over ten seconds straight."
[Kani Nayuta]: "..."
[Kani Nayuta]: "Uh, gomen… Was that because of me?"
A sweating bear emoji followed her apology.
Touji exhaled.
[Touji]: "Well… I might've said something that exposed her identity. My bad."
[Touji]: "But seriously… You two are gaming buddies!?"
[Touji]: "Just how many online friends do you have, Nayuta?"
Touji shook his head in disbelief. What were the odds?
[Kani Nayuta]: "I have a bunch of gaming friends, but only four I really play with regularly."
[Touji]: "And who are the other two?"
[Kani Nayuta]: "UMR and Gabriel. One's an Assassin, the other's a Priest. We usually run dungeons together or grind events."
[Touji]: "..."
Touji stared at the screen.
"Leaving UMR aside… why does the name Gabriel sound so suspicious?"
He narrowed his eyes. He had a bad feeling about this.
That name reminded him of Gabriel Dropout, the anime where the top honor student from Angel School descended to Earth only to turn into a complete gaming addict. It was so ridiculous it looped back around to being believable—at least in his world.
Still… if that was the Gabriel Kani Nayuta was referring to…
Yabai!
Meanwhile, on the other end of the chat, Kani Nayuta tilted her head as she looked at the long pause in the conversation.
[Kani Nayuta]: "...Are you okay, Touji-san? That's a long pause. Could it be... you know even more of them?"
She was half-joking. But just half. Out of her four close in-game friends, she didn't know any of them offline. And Touji knowing two already was blowing her mind. If there was a third...
That would just be insane!
[Kani Nayuta]: "Touji-san… do you know anyone else from my team?"
[Touji.]: "Definitely not."
[Touji.]: "Seriously, knowing two already feels like I'm in some weird isekai or something. There's no way I know anyone else!"
[Kani Nayuta]: "Hmmmm. You sound awfully suspicious. Are you sure you're not hiding something? ( ﹁ ﹁ )."
[Touji.]: "If I'm lying, I'm a puppy."
[Kani Nayuta]: "Yatta~ Then I want to walk you~. Come on, puppy-kun! Let's go for a stroll~!"
[Touji.]: "I'LL SMACK YOU! ( ￣ε(#￣) ☆╰╮o(￣dish￣///)!"
[Kani Nayuta]: "Kyaa~! Don't hit my face~."
[Touji.]: "Then I'll spank your butt until it blooms like a cherry blossom!"
[Kani Nayuta]: "Tokyo, Meguro-ku, 5-3-3."
[Touji.]: "..."
[Kani Nayuta]: "My home address. Just in case. (・`ω´・)"
[Touji.]: "You—don't just casually drop your real address online like it's nothing!!"
He was stunned. That girl was seriously unpredictable.
But then, with a sigh, Touji jotted down the address. Not because he intended to do anything—but because with Kani Nayuta, it was better to keep track of things.
He logged into Line on his computer. A quick glance at Eriri Spencer Sawamura's chat window told him everything he needed to know.
Message: Read. Reply: None. Mood: Probably mad at him.
He scratched his cheek, unsure whether he should still move forward with their joint project.
But the deadline waits for no one.
He opened a new document anyway.
Almost as if on cue, another message popped up.
[Kani Nayuta]: "Ehehe~ I wouldn't tell anyone else something like that. Only Winter-sensei~."
[Touji.]: "Hearing that makes me happy~ (＾▽＾)."
Still, time to refocus.
[Touji.]: "Gotta do some creative work now. Catch you later, Nayuta-sensei! (Node~ Node~)"
[Kani Nayuta]: "Creative work? Is it another song?"
[Touji.]: "Nope. This time, it's a manga plot."
[Touji.]: "I'm writing the storyline, and Kashiwagi Eri-sensei will bring it to life with her god-tier art. It'll be the theme manga for 'unravel'!"
[Touji.]: "So stay tuned, Kani Nayuta-sensei!"
[Kani Nayuta]: "...EHHH!?"
[Kani Nayuta]: "Theme manga for 'unravel'?! Σ(゜△゜|||)!"
[Kani Nayuta]: "That's the first time I've heard of such a thing!!"
[Touji.]: "Learn something new every day, huh?"
[Touji.]: "You're about to witness the birth of a masterpiece. Mark my words! ( ￣︶￣ )b"
With that, Kasumigaoka Touji leaned forward, fingers hovering above the keyboard.
He closed his eyes for a moment, recalling the raw emotional intensity of Tokyo Ghoul—the sense of transformation, of isolation, of tragedy...
"Alright… first, the setting."
And so, he began to type.
...