The Beginning of Everything (5)
※ This is seen from Claire François’s point of view (the first loop・・・).
“Mm……”
I woke up to the sound of birds chirping. When I looked outside, I could see the rising sun through the window.
A soft light poured through the windows, although there were blinds there to prevent it from being too bright.
“Oh, Claire. You’re awake.”
“Good morning, Rei. What are you doing?”
Rei was naked next to me in the double bed. She was doing something on her hologram computer.
“This? Well, this is just my hobby.”
“A hobby? At first glance, it just looks like an anime, though.”
On the hologram computer’s screen, I saw something that looked like a character from a Japanese anime.
“This is a game.”
“A game?”
“Yes, it’s called an otome game. It’s a relic from a time when mankind still had plenty of time for entertainment.”
According to Rei, an otome game was a type of novel game that was primarily aimed towards women.
There were several male love interests, and the player would freely be able to choose the one they like and pursue them.
“I understand the gist of it, but you’re not interested in men, are you?”
“That’s right. The person I’m aiming for is the game’s villainess.”
“The villainess?”
“Look, it’s this character over here.”
Rei pointed to a girl with blonde, drill-style hair who had her arms crossed, something you would rarely see in real life.
“These types of characters aren’t all that common, but sometimes, there are rival characters in otome games. They constantly pick fights with the protagonist and turn into a stalking-horse type character in the end.”
“What a pitiful character.”
When I expressed similar feelings as Rei, she looked puzzled.
“…… That’s surprising.”
“What is?”
“Villainess type characters are pretty disliked. I didn’t expect that anyone would ever say they pitied them.”
“I mean, they are pitiful, aren’t they? They have nothing but poor endings waiting for them.”
When I said that, Rei’s eyes instantly lit up.
“Yes! That’s exactly right! Maan, this is the first time somebody gets it! You’re right! Villainess’ sure are cute, aren’t they?”
“W-Wait a minute…… You’re so excited about it, you almost seem like a different person right now, you know?”
Where was the cool-headed Rei that I knew?
That being said, it wasn’t like I disliked this side of Rei though.
“Excuse me, I got carried away. Anyway, I really like this villainess over here. Whenever I stumble upon a roadblock in my research, I like to pull out this otome game and play it through.”
“I see…… So what kind of roadblocks did you end up running into?”
“I got stuck on things like the design of the magical civilization. After all, it’s the first time we’re trying it out, so there weren’t any past civilizations that I could model it off of.”
“I see, I suppose that’s true.”
Magical civilizations were things that only ever appeared in fiction.
Some works of fiction had incredibly detailed world settings, but even so, there weren’t many of them that could actually be used as a reference to design a civilization in real life.
“So then I thought, ‘let’s make it similar to this game’s world setting’.”
“You should’ve given it more thought. This has to do with preserving the human race, you know?”
“But this game has a really well-developed world setting.”
Ahh, I see.
The reason why Rei went out of her way to use the word “magic” during our press conference was probably because she was influenced by this game.
What was the word they used for these types of people?
A geek?
Or was it otaku in Japanese?
“Perhaps we could reach some sort of compromise and turn it into a world just like this.”
“That’s no good, Rei. The future of humanity is at stake here. We need to make things as perfect as possible.”
“Isn’t that being too idealistic?”
“Listen up, Rei. People will often tell you not to chase your ideals, but I believe in the opposite. I think it’s more sinful to run away from your ideals to chase reality.”
Rei looked astonished as I spoke.
“I’ll do my best to help you whenever you need it, so let’s work a little bit harder, alright?”
“…… I understand.”
Rei smiled wryly as she nodded.
“―― Speaking of which, there’s an interesting coincidence.”
“?”
Seeing me stunned, Rei chuckled and said,
“The villainess in this game is named Claire, just like you.”
“…… Ahh, is that so?”
To be honest, I didn’t really care all that much.
“Well, that’s enough of that. I’m going to make breakfast, so you can sleep a bit longer if you want. I’ll call you when it’s ready.”
“Thank you.”
Rei gave me a kiss on the cheek before she put on a bathrobe and got out of bed.
“By the way, Claire, how do you feel?”
“? Nothing in particular…… What’s wrong?”
I’d been incredibly busy recently and didn’t have any time to go in for a medical check-up, but I wasn’t feeling ill by any means.
The data should’ve been up to date, but did Rei notice that something was falsified on it?
“No, it’s nothing.”
Rei left me with those puzzling words as she went off into the kitchen.
After seeing her off, I buried my face into the pillow and tried to fall asleep again.
More than five years have passed since I began my relationship with Rei.
I had intended for it to be a purely physical relationship, but before I knew it, we started to live together.
Rei treated me terribly at first, but somewhere down the line, she began to treat me like her real girlfriend.
What really surprised me was how I had become so well-adjusted to physical activities with the same sex.
All of my previous relationships before Rei were heterosexual, and I never doubted my heterosexuality either.
However, the fact that my relationship with Rei had continued on for so long made me think that I was perhaps bisexual.
Well, my sexuality didn’t matter. The real problem was my relationship with Rei.
It was a relationship that began with impure motives, but I had gradually become more satisfied with it.
Rei seemed like the type of person who was devoted to their lover, and I could tell she cared about me even outside of our sex life.
Even now, she was so eager to make breakfast for me because she knew I wasn’t good at cooking.
Plus, Rei was cute and pretty, so I had no complaints about the relationship.
But――
“This relationship is just for the sake of our research.”
Right.
The relationship with Rei was just a way to keep her in the project.
In that case, did that mean we had to go our separate ways once everything was done and over with?
If possible, I wanted to formalize my relationship with Rei.
I thought that we were actually quite compatible.
But that was just my opinion.
What if Rei was reluctant to let our relationship continue?
What if she wanted to end things as soon as possible?
What if she was just counting the days down until our project was finished?
Those thoughts scared me so much that I couldn’t bring myself to ask Rei about her feelings.
It was supposed to be a pleasant morning, but suddenly, I started to feel down.
I shifted my body a little bit and buried my face into the pillow that Rei was sleeping on.
I could smell Rei’s fragrance.
It was a very soothing scent.
“Claire, breakfast is…… Wait, what are you doing?”
“!? N-Nothing!”
Rei, who came to tell me that breakfast was ready, laughed at my silliness.
I didn’t like how she was giggling at me, so I threw a pillow at her face.
“Fufu, please don’t sulk, Claire. Come on, I prepared some of your favorite strawberries for breakfast today.”
“You can’t lure me in with strawberries!”
“Well, does that mean you don’t want any?”
“…… I do.”
The strawberries didn’t do anything wrong.
I put on my own bathrobe and got out of bed.
We sat in the dining room as we ate breakfast.
“It’s going to be busy again tomorrow, so we should just take it easy for today.”
“That’s true.”
“Is there anything you want to do, Claire? Other than cooking.”
“I-I’ll eventually get the hang of cooking!”
“Haha. Yes, I’m looking forward to it. Anyway, is there anything you want to do?”
Before I knew it, conversations like this became commonplace for us.
“Hey, Rei.”
“What is it?”
“Are you――”
“Are you happy?” is what I wanted to say, but I couldn’t get the words out.
“It’s nothing.”
“You’re acting strange, Claire. Do you have a fever?”
As she said that, Rei came over and stuck our foreheads together.
“G-Geez! My vitals are just fine!”
“Is that so? If that’s the case, then I’m glad.”
I loved the relieved smile she had on her face.
However, as things were right now, I couldn’t bring myself to tell her that I loved her yet.
Where r u yurota XD
LikeLiked by 3 people
R u sure u ain’t inject some electric to ur vein? Ya’r bloody damn fast!
LikeLiked by 2 people
No?????…… (goddam it he know)
LikeLiked by 2 people
So Claire fell in love with rei and rei doesn’t still realize it…and by that I think I already knew the some of the answer that they reincarnated in the otome game but…they forgot each other that they knew each other before they transmigrated to the game?
LikeLiked by 5 people
It may be an after effect of quantizing the soul or something. There may have thousands of years difference between the first loop and Revolution era(or magical loop) so it is possible that the souls are not as intact as it was when they store them. But they feel attracted to each other and their characteristics and thoughts are somewhat the same like in their previous life so maybe there’s still some fragments of their memories. This is just a theory btw.
LikeLiked by 7 people
So is it like because of that soul quantization affects their memories? hmm but why is it Rei is the only one who can remember some of the memory fragments and Claire doesn’t remember anything well nevermind my head is hurting now by thinking why and how At least we are getting closer to the truth
LikeLiked by 6 people
It will most likely be explained in the next chapters. Besides, if Claire remembers her past life she’ll probably flipped out after knowing what Cabajo means
LikeLiked by 3 people
Yea oh from the previous chapter gahahaha kyabajō the hostess thing Am I right? Well from my own opinion the story is getting exciting Its like the anime the anime that I watched b4 called “Little Busters”
LikeLike
Yep, the chapter where she spewed some bs about it being short for Cavalier girl. I can never forget that one lol. The story is definitely getting more exciting imo too (this is why im leaving comments now despite silently lurking for yrs).
LikeLiked by 2 people
I totally agree with you we are eccentric lurks
LikeLiked by 2 people
Incoming fast-wheeled train
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ah yes. In the far away future the things of today will be relics of human civilizations. Archeologists will dig up life-size Azunyan and 1/8 scale of Saber kimono and put on display in museums. Furry drawings will be sold on auctions. And yuri and yaoi doujins will be treated as some sacred books too important for normal people to see.
LikeLiked by 1 person
“Furry drawings will be sold on auctions.”
wait are you perhaps talking about that two mouse painting? Art 1992?
LikeLike
Someone’s quick lmao
LikeLike
Its forever engraved in my mind after seeing those painting
LikeLiked by 1 person
I actually read it as “Claire-sama” god dammit i got used to rei calling her like that.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Your not alone XD I also actually read it “Claire Sama”
LikeLike
if you didnt mention it i didnt even realise i did the same.
LikeLike
i can’t wait for the new chapter, it has many mysteries that don’t have answer.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I don’t like how Claire is from the previous life too
LikeLiked by 1 person
I prefer the Claire Francois of Revolution.
LikeLike
I have a concern about Claire appearance in the first loop. Does she not look like the Claire we knew? That’s sad.
LikeLike
I noticed Inori sensei sometimes forgot to describe the appearance of her characters. Maybe it’s a given that they look the same but older version and w/out the vertical rolls?
LikeLiked by 2 people
Let’s hope so
LikeLike
Wow I can’t believe Rei turned the future earth into an otome game lmao
LikeLiked by 3 people
i wonder why Rei asked Claire about her helthy too much
LikeLike
ok, this might be weird but, I kinda wanted to see the doomsday for humankind…and then there would be no restart or whatsoever…just let it empty till who knows the answer!
LikeLike
And this is where the ball is dropped. No normal person, scientifically inclined or not, would say “my vitals are just fine” under any circumstances.
LikeLike
So the saviour of humanity is a lesbian otaku?
This is exactly how it should be. Glory be to the gays
LikeLiked by 1 person
Say it!! Say it claire☺️🔪
LikeLike