When one did something covert or undercover, it was within their best interests not to be discovered in the act.
And when they are discovered, they are subjected to one of the worst emotions imaginable.
Time slowed down. The inside of their mouths became bitter. Agonizing seconds trickled by.
However, Haru was no mere human.
Using his extremely high level of intellect, within seconds he began to analyze every single piece of information and objects within the room, sorting each of them, judging their helpfulness within this particular situation. Alibis began to pop into his brain at incredible speed.
The door itself remained cold toward his hopes. It opened up quickly to reveal—!
A high schooler staring blankly at the unexpected intruder within the room.
Throwing an imaginary 20 sided die, Haru rolled a natural 20 on bluff. It was all or nothing; if he couldn't fake his way out of this he was good as dead.
"Hey dude," Haru waved at him genially as he quickly switched the tabs to the galge game he saw before. "Good timing, I was just about to fix the situation."
"Um, hello," the teen answered, uncertain and suspicious. "Why are you in here? Why are you using that laptop?"
"Well, I spilled something back at my cubical." Haru naturally began to bluff every single thing. "I came to this office to ask for your help, but you weren't here... thinking that you had more important things to do, I decided to take some cleaning supplies and clean up the mess myself. But, I saw the screen to your laptop." Haru gestured toward the said device. "You certainly are an amateur, aren't you? You keep on making the silly mistakes within the game. Girls are not going to flock to you this way, ya know."
"Wh-what?" intrigued, the teen approached the laptop. "What mistakes have I been making?"
"See here." Haru motioned to the main girl with the mouse. "Like all beginners, you keep on selecting choices that will make the female happy! For instance, you agree to their every request, their every whim, like some sort of slave!"
"But..." the high schooler replied with a weak voice. "That's the technique I use for every single time, and it usually works."
"Tom, Tom, Tom, you silly goose." Haru tutted, while patting the high schooler on the back. "That technique would work on half-assed games, but you clearly picked a hard galge. Usual techniques don't cut it."
"My name is not Tom."
"It isn't? Well, it is now." Haru straightened his shoulders, turning his full attention to the monitor. "Let's get down to business. See, this game itself was designed to portray certain types of woman... not the shy, quiet, moe-like ones, not like the tsundere types, either... but rather, this game portrays those types of woman who constantly has men flocking toward her like hyenas after a dead carcass. Do you understand now? Merely complying to her every wish will only be lowering yourself to the level of every other male after her. Even you can clearly see that you are struggling with her, am I right?"
"Hmm, I did notice that things were not going at the pace I estimated..."
"Here." Haru pressed a text option that offended the target.
"Hey! That made her angry!" Tom protested.
"Patience. Once you begin to show the signs of being an alpha, she'll change her perspective about you." Haru expertly began to initiate a speed run, adroitly guiding through the text options increasing the advantage over time. "You are talking to the one who holds the title 'Galge Connoisseur'. Trust me."
"... Whoa." Tom slowly began to become entranced to the precise skill Haru held over the galge as the pictures came and went.
"And, done." Haru patted Tom on the back, showing a finished, happy ending of the game. "Practice everyday, and after a while you'll become almost as good as me. I believe in you, Tom."
Leaving behind a stupefied high schooler, Haru coolly strolled out from the Janitor's Office.
It was lucky, to be honest, the way everything worked out. He had a mini heart attack the moment the door opened. Hopefully, no one would bother to carefully examine the security cameras around the time he was within the building. Patting himself on the back for his impressive display of deception, he decided to treat himself to a good lunch, remembering that he had missed breakfast.
… Or, he would be able to treat himself to a good lunch, if it weren't for the fact that the restaurant he was headed toward had its front wall demolished.
Haru jogged toward one of the workers placing yellow tape around the area.
"What happened here?"
"It's one of those esper attacks." the worker explained. "They happen from time to time within this city. People fight amongst each other, and their abilities come into play. This time the Judgment themselves were involved."
So much damage was done within the streets, but it appeared to be a part of daily life for Academy City citizens.
"Was this a group fight? This seems bit too big of a scale for couple of espers."
"We don't know the exact details, but it seems that this was caused by a one-on-one fight by a two espers, one of them from Judgment."
Few espers within this city were capable of causing this much damage. Haru began to examine the remaining rubble created by the battle.
"The perpetrator in question is currently on a run, and Anti-Skill was called in. Take care of yourself, best to stay at home today." the worker gave him a wise advice.
"I see. Thanks." after the worker's attention went elsewhere, Haru surreptitiously picked up one of the spare rubble, and gently broke it apart into crumbs within his hands. Placing it near his mouth he licked the pieces.
Clay...
An earth-based magic raising large golems on the basis of the creation of Man... interesting...
Well, personally, Haru was a bit glad that there finally was a magician bursting into city that did not want his head on a platter. He was human after all. He needed rest once in a while...
While he was deep in his reverie, someone tapped him on the back.
And then, he transmigrated.
It was involuntary, completely independent from his thoughts and actions. As he began to rematerialize Haru scrambled into action, expecting some sort of hostile trouble that had ill will toward him.
But nothing happened.
Well, nothing happened to him, but something happened to the entire city. The sunlight remained, yet there was no shadow. He felt wind and air moments before, but now his senses only detected hollowness, as if all the pressure were snuffed out. Wide-eyed, Haru began to continuously stare at his surroundings, attempting to understand just what had happened.
Just great... Am I tripping again?
"Hello?"
It was a meek, mild, and shy voice. Still on alert Haru whipped around, jumping back in order to protect himself.
A girl was behind him. She was slightly shorter than him, and she had waist long dark black hair with spiked edges, and part of her hair was tied to the right side of her head and was left hanging down. She wore large glasses and was dressed in a traditional school outfit. She still had her hands outstretched, and she had an expression of surprise on her face, as if she did not expect him to respond to her tap.
… Did she just transmigrate me with a mere touch?
"Hi." Haru replied, still hyperactively analyzing every aspect around him. The people on the streets looked fairly normal, but everything else had a weird feel to them. Everything looked somehow wrong and different.
"I-I didn't actually expect you to still be there." the girl whispered, with a shocked expression.
"Oh? Why not?" Haru replied inattentively as he was still greatly distracted by the change in the setting. "It's not like I'll disappear the moment you touch me, unless you have esper powers related to that."
The girl did not reply and merely began to stare at Haru in wonder.
"Hmm, where are we, anyway?" Haru took out his phone and began to flip through the screen. Things appeared normal as the phone itself was still receiving Wi-Fi and mobile data. "The city itself looks weird, although I can't really explain why."
"I think it's because you are not supposed to realize it in the first place." the girl began to explain. "No one actually managed to hold their appearance before."
"Hold my appearance?" Haru briefly glanced at her direction while typing on his phone, giving a confused expression. "Why, did everyone you touched change their appearance?"
"Yes."
He stopped his activity on his device. Haru stared at her, wondering what exactly she meant by that statement. The appearances of the people could not be changed on just anyone's whim.
However...
She somehow managed to trigger his transmigration through touch, and that disturbed him to an extent. Closing his phone Haru walked toward one of the people on the street. The girl followed him.
"Alright." Haru announced as they approached an unsuspecting high schooler. "Now, according to you, this guy's appearance will change the moment I make contact with him. Like so." stretching his arm out he gently nudged the teen on the back.
Instantly, the man transformed into a tall teacher, carrying a stack of files. Haru's mouth fell open.
"Wh-wh-wha?" Haru sputtered, staring at the man in amazement. "How?" He turned toward the girl behind him, expecting some sort of explanation.
"That always happened whenever I interacted with people." A hint of sadness was evident within her voice. "It didn't matter who they were, they always changed into someone else."
"...I see." Confounded, Haru wildly stared in all directions, attempting to make a logical conclusion.
The very setting he was in looked different, and felt different, and it appeared to have a different set of laws, which meant that he no longer was in Academy City, but somewhere else. Yet, the city looked exactly the same.
"Everything looks the same, yet they are somehow different. This is not Academy City." Haru reached out and felt the leaves on a tree, feeling the sensation of a soft plant within his fingers. "You are used to this, which logically means that you live here. Tell me the name of this place—wait, before you do, tell me your name." pulling his attention away from the tree Haru gazed at the girl.
"My name is Kazakiri Hyouka."
"Removing wind? Shining ice? Eh, the original meaning doesn't make much sense." Haru replied, attempting to gauge the meaning of her name through original characters. "My name is Haru Tachyon. Nice to meet you. So, where are we, Kazakiri?"
"I call it the City of Shimmers."
"City of Shimmers? Sounds about right. Everything looks so... fake." Haru came to an important realization as he examined the meaning behind the words. "So that was what was bothering me for all this time. It all looks fake, like some sort of grayscale painting, except with color. Wait, that doesn't sound right..." tutting, Haru paced around restlessly, before coming to a stop. "So, you lived here in your entire life? Sounds like torture. Not being able to properly interact with anyone? I would have gone insane in a few months, give or take."
"Well, it's not so bad, if you get used to it." Approaching the nearest bench she sat down, and Haru followed suit, eager to rest his legs. "I try not to interact with anyone, because it causes them to disappear and turn into someone else. They all have their own unique lives, and every single time I interact with them it's like I am destroying that unique life."
"Sonder, eh?" Haru responded. "Well, you don't really know whether you are destroying a unique life or not. For all we know they could be popping up elsewhere."
"Even still, they all have their own unique personalities and experiences. I don't want to destroy them. And because of that reason I just wander around the place, never trying to interact with people."
"I see. But you still did try to tap me on the back." Haru replied. "Why? How did you know that I would remain static?"
A short silence ensued.
"... I didn't actually expect you to remain still. Sometimes, I manage to appear for brief periods of time outside the City of Shimmers, and into the Academy City. They indeed look different from each other in some ways." Kazakiri began to play with the hems of her skirt. "But, I never really directly interacted with anyone within the Academy City. I only stood still, watching from the distance. Eventually some of them noticed me and decided to dedicate research into finding out about who I exactly was. I tried to contact you because you were different, somehow, and I was curious about that. I never saw you in the city before."
"So that's it." Haru leaned back, his hands behind his head. "And right now you are materialized within the Academy City, and therefore you are able to interact with me. Must be your first time having a real, direct conversation."
"Well..." Kazakiri paused. "That's not it in this case, I think."
"Why not?"
"You noticed something odd about your surroundings. If I was the one who entered Academy City, we would both observe the city in its normal form. But we both see the unusual characteristics of the City of Shimmers. You are the one who entered the City of Shimmers—"
"And that was the reason why you were so surprised." Haru was hit with this realization. "Because no one ever managed to actually enter this place before." Haru looked around once more; he was quite impressed with himself. "That's quite an achievement." he grinned. "So! Um, how do I get out?" his expression of self-admiration from before was suddenly replaced with one of horror. "What if I stay here forever? I have a life I need to live! I can't just be stuck here perpetually—"
Haru stopped the moment he saw Kazakiri's face. Her expression was covered in shadows made by her bangs.
"Oh."
He realized the insensitivity of his words.
She lived within this city in her entire life, unable to interact properly with anyone, forever cursed to merely observing like some sort of ghost, a phantom-like existence. She was used to it, and she silently took the heavy burden, never complaining, never having anyone else to complain to or to share her feelings with. And yet here he was, immaturely yelling out his fears while the person next to him was condemned to all this. Slight shame entered his emotions as he straightened up and spoke once more in a calm tone.
"Well, even if I am stuck here, I'm sure it won't be all that bad." Haru shrugged. "I mean, if I have all the necessities of human life, which this city contains, maybe I'll get used to it. My life was a little too chaotic, on hindsight..." trailing off, Haru thought back to how the high schooler he interacted with turned into someone else. It seemed like appearance transformation would be a normal part of his life if he was to stay here.
Wait, a high schooler?
Something was off. As that day was the day school reopened for the second semester, theoretically there should have been no students walking pleasantly along the street whatsoever. But, even now he saw students walking along, chatting, eating, enjoying their lives.
Perhaps the denizens of the City of Shimmers were inherently different from the regular Academy City citizens. Even still, he decided to make sure.
Turning to Kazakiri, Haru asked her this question.
"What day is it?"
Looking a bit surprised at the unexpected question, Kazakiri replied.
"It's the 31st of August."
See, that was wrong. It was September the 1st, the beginning of a new school semester. Why did she say it was the 31st? Was it even really the 31st?
"Ah."
When he transmigrated due to her contact, he must have traveled a day backwards due to his ability. Then, the overall situation became all the more complicated.
If he entered the City of Shimmers through transmigration than theoretically, he should be able to come back using transmigration as well. But, should he go back? Or should he stay back to comfort and live with this lonely girl?
—Times like this were very comparable to crossroads a protagonist of some galge game came across to.
"Kazakiri, I know you are afraid of interaction. Every single time you try to contact someone, you somehow manage to make them disappear and replace them with someone else. So consequently you no longer want to communicate with anyone, and I understand that." Haru stood up while continuing to address Kazakiri. "But, if you are always afraid, how will you change anything? You tried to talk to me today, and you succeeded. I realize that this success is merely one out of thousand failures, but you miss every single shot you don't take. You never really communicated with anyone because you didn't try in the first place. No one ever succeeds without trying and taking risks." Haru gently grabbed her hand and placed it near his shoulders. "So, here is what I am asking you to do. Next time you see someone that stands out, next time you rematerialize into Academy City, next time whenever, try to contact other people. Please, for your sake and mine."
"You... you are going?"
"Yep. I think I figured out how to get out from the City. I have too much respect for you to lie and say that I want to stay within this place, but I do wish to stay with you. However, that will only stagnate the current problem, not solve it. Without me, you will be motivated to find someone else to interact with. I don't want you to be lonely, Hyouka. You have to find more and more people you can talk with, people you can live a normal human life with. And if all else fails, you can always just tap me on the shoulder again. I'll be there."
Haru smiled.
"Promise me that you will try to contact someone."
"I promise."
"Good." Giving a last squeeze to her hands, Haru began to concentrate.
And then, he transmigrated.
Rematerializing, Haru glanced at his surroundings.
The city was restored to its old look once more. He was back, and based on his watch, he merely had spent a measly time of 3 seconds total within the City of Shimmers.