Editing On a Godless Planet:Volume3B Preface (section)

===Inner Cover===
A Late Night Meal

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Night had fallen in the courtyard. The festive heat had died down by the time 1 AM rolled around.

Kido stood by the wall and observed the usual gods entering storytelling mode or snacking mode in the courtyard, as well as the other club members.

[[Image:godless_kido.png|50px]]

…''This late night scene never does change, does it?

It was the same when she was active on Earth as a god. For no real reason, the people had gathered between their mobile tents to start campfires, chat, and otherwise kill time.

It was probably the night and the light and the heat of the fire that did it.

This scene stirred up something in her that she supposed was nostalgia.

For the first time in what felt like a long time, she spent some time alone while waiting for the hot water they had used for cooking to cool.

[[Image:godless_kido_awate.png|50px]]

…''Because everything has been so noisy around me of late!

Even now, she could hear voices from the game clubroom.

[[Image:godless_beset_awate.png|50px]]

“Eh!? What!? I just did some button mashing and it turned into an incredible combo! Die!”

[[Image:godless_boku.png|50px]]

“Gwawawahhhh! What the heck!?”

[[Image:godless_balancer.png|50px]]

<That is Final Blow, a boxing game by Taito that was ported to the Mega Drive early on. It was a hardcore game with no music during the rounds, but it also allowed rapid attacks like in a shoot ‘em up, allowed you to block all damage if you got the height right, and had two attack buttons – a weak attack and a medium attack – but pressing them both at once would produce a strong attack. The original arcade version came out in ‘88, but it had a very advanced design.>

[[Image:godless_boku.png|50px]]

“But how did she just beat me?”

[[Image:godless_balancer.png|50px]]

<Well, Final Blow has no special moves, but by moving the lever up or down, the medium and strong attacks become a hook or an uppercut. You are meant to use those different heights to attack where your opponent is not guarding, and when you do hit, it does a ton of damage. And if you adjust your guard in a panic, your opponent can predict it and catch you in a nasty combo that KOs you in no time. It gives a very real boxing feel to the game, so it can get exciting when playing with someone who knows how it’s done.>

[[Image:godless_boku.png|50px]]

“Th-that’s exactly what happened to me!”

[[Image:godless_beset.png|50px]]

“Oh, my vision is quick enough to see that kind of thing, so my abilities as a god must give me an advantage in this game.”

[[Image:godless_balancer.png|50px]]

<Also, the arcade version was the first game to use Taito’s famous F2 system board. A lot of the F2’s abilities were unknown because the designer passed away, so development for it was notorious for involving a lot of guesswork, but it was an impressive board since most of Taito’s really in-depth games were developed for it.>

A lot was going on in there. But one thing bothered Kido.

[[Image:godless_kido_awate.png|50px]]

…''I left the bag with the bentos inside the clubroom!

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Kido used this time to think.

[[Image:godless_kido.png|50px]]

…''I made bentos for Izumi and Douhai-san because I knew they would be heading out even with the flooding, but once we got here they were only interested in the emergency food and the festival food. And Izumi has probably forgotten all about the bentos after rolling back.

She felt like she had gotten a little too excited. ''But it’s flooding. Flooding. And I am a water god.'' So…

[[Image:godless_kido.png|50px]]

“Maybe I should stick the entire bag of bentos in Balancer’s refrigerator and we can eat them during an outing once all of this is over.”

[[Image:godless_balancer.png|50px]]

<It is true my storage can be used to transfer things to the cleaners and such, but you are the first one to use it in place of a refrigerator.>

●

Shifu and some others were watching Kido from a distance.

[[Image:godless_senpai_awate.png|50px]]

“Oh, oh. Kido-san is trying to decide if she should go in and grab her bento bag.”

[[Image:godless_shifu_akire.png|50px]]

“Didn’t you eat your bentos on the boat ride here?”

[[Image:godless_senpai_awate.png|50px]]

“Those were the ones Kido-san made while waiting for the roll back! The ones in the clubroom are the initial ones she made!”

[[Image:godless_kuwajiri.png|50px]]

“Why can’t she just go in and get them?”

[[Image:godless_senpai.png|50px]]

“Just wait a bit and you’ll see! Just wait!”

●

While Kido tried to decide what to do, she heard a voice from the clubroom.

[[Image:godless_boku.png|50px]]

<span style="font-size:125%">'''“Mom!”'''</span>

It caught her off guard. She found herself speechless and turned her head toward the clubroom door to see Izumi placing the bag full of bentos onto the main table.

[[Image:godless_kido.png|50px]]

“…Izumi?”

[[Image:godless_boku.png|50px]]

“Yeah. This bag is yours, right!? This one with all the bentos in it! I know it’s late, but I’m hungry, so can I eat one!?”

[[Image:godless_beisu_awate.png|50px]]

“Eh!? What!? You can just refuel in the middle of the night!?”

''Oh, right,'' recalled Kido. The roll back would not eliminate their bond as mother and child. So she knew what this had to be. Izumi simply “understood”. So…

[[Image:godless_kido.png|50px]]

“There are plenty inside there, so we can all share them. I was feeling a bit hungry myself.”

Why did Douhai-san and the others approach from behind, looking ready to high five?

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