On a Godless Planet:Volume2A Chapter 15
Chapter 15: Junction 02[edit]
–You don’t have to know what it is you want to do.
●
Tenma looked up at the tall ceiling.
She was the only person here. She wasn’t sure if “person” was the right word since she was a god, but either way, she was the only being here.
She was inside the Nam 1975 bathhouse. She was leaning diagonally against the slight step along the edge of the tub.
When Scarecrow went with her, she always said,
“Tenma-kun, that’s going to leave a mark.”
But she didn’t see why that mattered since she couldn’t see her own back. She also wondered if that way of thinking was a remnant of her time as a human (man) before she was deified.
Regardless, she appreciated how early this bathhouse opened.
The local spirits and gods were so numerous they were shown to a bath in a different phase space. And of the “named” gods like Tenma in this divine world, fewer than 30 were Shinto. That meant she had the place nearly to herself.
That made it perfect for thinking.
“–––––––”
She wanted to organize her thoughts on a number of things.
That morning, she had received a wide variety of knowledge from the Norse knowledge god. Her superiors’ discussion at the time had been fascinating as well. And now they were working on the terraforming.
Part of her wanted to join her superiors in that work, but another part of her feared that would overwhelm her. Maybe I just don’t have the guts yet, she thought.
But either way, the situation kept progressing. In addition to today’s discussion, they had to consider the actions of the Olympus gods and what was with that Roman god that Scarecrow had made arrangements for last night?
“Hmm.”
Answers were in short supply.
But she needed a quiet part of her day when she could think about these uncertain ideas.
I love my peace and quiet.
“Yahooooooooooo! Chiquita! Sumeragi Izumi – Female Version is in the bathhouse!!”
It all fell apart in seconds.
●
“So why did he have a bunch of bananas in his sports bag? Is he alright?”
“What if that’s all he ever eats?”
“All you eat recently is Karamucho.”
“Does this mean I have an excuse to wait in front of his apartment with a bento for him!?”
“How about you start by learning that the balcony isn’t the proper way into his apartment?”
●
I jumped into the tub and quickly fixed my swimsuit since it had slipped out of place.
“There, all fixed!!”
Only then did I realize there was an underclassman in here.
“Oh! It’s you! I know you! Except I forgot you who are! Sorry!”
“You are the worst.”
Shut up, Kuwajiri. And is that the same tube swimsuit you wore before? Wait, what before is that?
I was pretty sure there was some kind of “before” I couldn’t quite remember. No, completely sure. Because the swimsuit I was wearing seemed kinda used.
“It’d be pretty scary if someone else had worn it!!”
“Oh, right. You lost your memories.”
“But I do remember Senpai and Shifu-senpai’s swimsuits. You see, I remember stuff on that level. I won’t say what rule determines what’s on that level, though.”
I was sure she was going to have a nasty retort for me.
But…
“You remember more than I expected.”
“Wow, that is not an easy response to work with… And I do remember a lot. Like that this is where I figured out the motion controls for opening a Revelation Board. …It didn’t work with you.”
“You don’t have to remember that part.”
“Sorry, I was just making sure my memory was accurate. I do feel bad about it.”
“Who told you to keep talking?”
“But what was it you told me back then?”
“If going over your memories can help recover them, I hope you die instead.”
“No, that’s what you’re telling me now!”
Then I remembered the underclassman here.
“Who’s the forgotten memory?”
“Is that a line from an awful pop song?”
“No, I kind of remember her! Like the flat lines of her stomach or how sinfully flat the towel looks wrapped around her chest.”
“What do you think of my swimsuit?”
“The way it makes you look like a freshly-poured beer is lager-ific.”
“That’s where you’re wrong. I’m super dry.”
Now that was a comeback.
●
“I thought you would seem dry but turn out to be cool, but instead you’re more wet and hot, Kido-chan.”
“What is any of that supposed to mean?”
One thing led to another and we ended up in the dressing room before I had a chance to refuse.
No, she actually had many chances to refuse, but…
“It’s a little early, but I think we’ll head home and enjoy a relaxed dinner there.”
Like Kido-san had said…
…I thought it was too early to leave.
So she had stuck around for the time being and been dragged all the way here. She had tried to resist it as best she could, but she had been distracted by Kuwajiri-san peppering her with questions.
However…
“Why swimsuits?”
“Have you never been here before?”
“I have a bath at home.”
“We do too, but it’s not about that, you know?”
“Hmm,” Kido stared at the swimsuit until Shifu-san said more.
“If you want to go in naked, I won’t stop you.”
“No, no, no. I wasn’t considering that.”
When Eshita-san tried to enter the bath naked, Douhai-san quickly grabbed her by the shoulder.
Eshita-san jumped.
“Eh? What’s this about, lifespan goddess!? Are you taking advantage of my weakened state to suck out all my fat and steal my snack essence!? That must be it! You’re going to steal my beauty!”
“I don’t know what any of that is supposed to mean, but Sumeragi-kun is in that bath!”
Now I get it.
“Sumeragi-kun doesn’t really care about it and sometimes it seems like he looks at things differently than everyone else, but to get straight to the point, I care!”
Never mind, I don’t get it.
“You didn’t get straight to the point at all.”
Kido didn’t understand Douhai-san’s opinion here, but she grabbed Eshita-san’s other shoulder.
“We can’t let Izumi see this.”
“What!? So you think I’m so sexy I’d be a threat to you!? For real!?”
Douhai-san started removing her own swimsuit, but Shifu-san stopped her, so no harm done.
●
“He really doesn’t seem to remember you, so how about you introduce yourself?”
The first year nodded at Kuwajiri’s suggestion.
“I am Sugawara Tenma. I work as a Shinto knowledge god. Recently, I negotiated with a high-ranking god who eats Karamucho.”
That I remembered. Or at least I remembered the others talking about it happening. That much was fine, but I still had to introduce myself.
“I’m Sumeragi Gamma!”
“Never heard of you.”
“I’m in my female mode now, so I figured I should have a different name.”
“You can’t do that with Shinto. Names are important with them.”
“But in Shinto, there are plenty of stories of people crossdressing to take on a new identity in order to assassinate someone or torture someone.”
“Why are they all doing it for criminal purposes?”
The first year couldn’t look us in the eye.
“Hey, Kuwajiri! Quit bullying the freshman! Even if I was the main cause!”
“Just introduce yourself already.”
“Okay, okay,” I said, waving my hand dismissively.
●
“Why is everyone standing in the entrance?”
“W-well, Sumeragi-kun and the others are introducing themselves!”
“Izumi is?”
“Oh, oh, you’re interested now, aren’t you!? Yes, my fave is interacting with the other gods! I can’t possibly interrupt!”
“This feels vaguely unethical…”
“You aren’t going to watch?”
“I did not say that.”
“Kuwajiri-chan has opened up enough to talk with other gods.”
“What is this, parents day at school?”
●
“Are the girls still not in their bath? Are they still in the dressing room?”
“I am so sorry.”
“Nooo, nooo, nooo. Do noooot blame yourself yeeeet.”
●
At any rate, I decided to introduce myself.
“I’m Sumeragi Izumi! I’m a big boobs worshiper and I worship Senpai in particular! My favorite word is thwack!”
“I did not need to know that last part.”
“Did we need to know any of it?”
“Hey, look at that! The freshman knows how comedy works! That’s right, the meaner you are, the more I shine! So bring on the mean! Kuwajiri’s great at that! Kuwajiri, what’s that scowl for? Yes, more! More!”
She really did scowl after that. More, more!
Then the entrance opened and the others entered.
Senpai was wearing a swimsuit that would probably make my Revelation Board appear, which meant it ranked a “great” on the Shinto scale, but then Mucho and Kido-senpai entered after Shifu-senpai.
●
“Senpai, you’re the best! That one’s a little different from last time, isn’t it!?”
“Yes. The last one was provided for me, but this one I chose myself. I was pretty sure my sister had put one out with this design.”
The white and black two-piece swimsuit was amazing.
It looked so cool. Senpai’s own aura played a role too, but the overall design seemed to come together real well. Which made it cool. It was cool in the same way an F1 car was. I wanted to touch it, but I felt like the coolness would overpower me if I did. Like it would annihilate me or something. Well, I don’t have the words to describe how I felt, but no words were truly capable of describing Senpai, so I did the best I could with my limited vocabulary.
“Senpai, you’re the best!”
“Thank you.”
Level up Revelation Boards appeared, blossomed, and vanished all around smiling Senpai.
Then she kneeled and poured a washbasin of bathwater over herself. The sight of the water splashing off her skin was…
“Excellent.”
“You said that out loud.”
“So what!? Praise is only worth anything if you say it out loud! And if you ever want to praise me, make sure you do it right away! C’mon, where’s that praise?”
“Impressively, you have absolutely nothing praiseworthy about you.”
“That’s contradictory.”
The knowledge gods shook hands. And…
“Ha ha. This is a pretty fancy bathhouse.”
Mucho laughed while wearing a fairly bulky swimsuit, probably because she was wearing multiple layers. Kido-senpai’s swimsuit was mostly black and she didn’t seem to know what to do with herself.
“Kido-san, you start by pouring water over yourself to purify yourself. Then-”
Mucho jumped right into the tub.
“H-hey! That’s against the rules!”
●
Kuwajiri saw it happen right in front of her.
She was soaking up to her hips in the bathwater when the Karamucho god jumped in.
That Karamucho clearly landed butt first, creating a splash.
But it was only a very small splash.
“Eh?”
The Karamucho bounced.
The bathwater stopped accepting her partway through and she bounced back out.
●
Kido waved her right hand which was protected by a healing Auth Spell.
“I intercepted her jump. You are lucky I kept you from breaking the rules, Eshita-san.”
“U-um, Kido-san?”
“Yes?”
“I think you misjudged the power of your interception.”
Eh? thought Kido just as bouncing Eshita-san crashed into the ceiling, flipped around, and fell back into the tub in perfect belly flop form.
That was an awful noise.
●
“Dammit, Mucho! How dare you come up with such a great move! Is I the Koikeya effect!? That’s the kind of physical comedy I should be doing!”
“Ow! What was that about!? Is this any way to treat such a cute goddess?”
“It’s the perfect way to treat you.”
“Do you have to be so…unique?”
“Eh? What’s that? If you’re trying to compliment me, you need to be more clear about it!”
“So are you alright after that?”
“Oh, yeah, I’m fine! I’m the beauty goddess known to be one of the toughest of all the Mesopotamian gods! And I’m wearing two swimsuits, so I’m more than fine!”
“She certainly is tough on the psychological front.”
“She’s also a goddess of victory, but she believes anything’s fine as long as you win in the end. I do not envy her believers.”
●
“Hey, how are things over there?”
“Oh, sorry. We can talk now.”
●
“In that case,” said Raidou. “Be honest about today’s terraforming, okay?”
“It didn’t go too well, did it!?”
“Why do you sound so happy about that, Sumeragi?”
“Because I’m near Senpai!”
“Wow.”
The human was in top form.
Did this come from human nature’s tendency to believe in gods, or was this just him being an idiot? Raidou wasn’t sure, but at least he had a proper understanding of what had happened today.
“Which part would you say went poorly?”
“All of it! The rotation and axis were already done, but when we tried to figure out what to do next, all we decided on was to make a base.”
<That is a fairly large decision, though.>
“The point is we didn’t actually accomplish anything.”
“S-sorry…”
“But,” said Shifu. “We made a little too much progress last time. Creating that tableland was several times more than you had been doing before that, Senpai-chan.”
“Oh… It’s too late now, but maybe we should have created some stairs leading down from the tableland to the lava below. Whether Senpai-san is creating land or adjusting the atmosphere with her Auth Spells, she still has to go ‘outside’ the tableland.”
“To be honest, isn’t that tableland too high up for a base?”
“No, from a safety perspective, this should help defend against flame monsters like the one this time and against the flame dragons from before.”
“A lower altitude would require some kind of shield.”
“Why not create a border wall outside the tableland?”
That message told Raidou that the Shinto first year was in the women’s bath.
“Hm? Are Omokane and Scarecrow there too?”
“No, only me.”
What did that mean? It might make it easier to talk with her.
“I agree with creating a wall. But that can wait until we create the groundwork for a base.”
“Really?”
“Yes,” he replied. “The height already provides some defense. At the same time, that height cuts us off from the surrounding area. So we should start by creating a base’s groundwork on the tableland and then create the border wall.”
“I agree. If we rush the construction of an inadequate border wall, the flame dragons would destroy it and then we wouldn’t be able to work.”
●
Kido thought about this.
…They are more serious about this than I thought.
They were trading opinions.
“We also need to consider the possibility of a meteor strike.”
“Can’t you do all your experiments in the base and only leave the base once your Divine Rank is high enough to stop a meteor?”
“Any experiments done in the base can’t include all the necessary factors, so they would really only be guesses built atop guesses. So they will need to periodically leave the base.”
“Yeah, you’ve gotta get out of the house sometime! And it sounds a lot more fun if Senpai and I can create the land together like a game of SimEarth!”
“I appreciate your carefree attitude.”
Kido agreed with Raidou-san’s opinion of Izumi, which made her laugh a little.
●
Shifu turned toward the quiet laughter she heard.
When Kido noticed, she waved her hands side to side while seated on the edge of the bath.
“Sorry. I was not trying to make fun.”
“You enjoy Sumeragi-kun’s carefreeness, don’t you!?”
“When you put it that plainly, it makes me want to deny it…”
That sounded like her. But…
“Kido? You aren’t going to join us?”
“I can speak with you from here just fine.”
“But why not join us?”
“Well, the thing is…”
Kido was partially hiding her body behind her arms and she shrank down some now. She wasn’t quite sure what to say.
“I have never worn a swimsuit like this and it is very embarrassing when I move.”
●
“Her chest and butt have such an ‘in-your-face’ size and she is supposed to be the calm and collected type, so why is she acting like a shy teenager?”
“…”
“I’m fine. I suppressed it.”
“Kuwajiri-chan! Kuwajiri-chan! Try to stay calm!”
“Kido-san really isn’t playing fair, is she!? Yes! yes! It’s so true!”
“Why do you sound so happy about that?”
“What do you think, Human-senpai?”
“I’m fine! If I was still defenseless, a direct hit would’ve killed me instantly, but I’m a girl now that I ate a banana! So I’m fine!”
<Shall I have an ambulance waiting outside?>
“Heyyyyyy! Don’t just assume I’ve gone crazy! Pay attention! Kido-senpai is a force to be reckoned with, but I prefer the way Senpai pretends to be calm while actually glancing down at her swimsuit all the time! Or the way she occasionally adjusts her swimsuit for no real reason, which shows just how much she’s thinking about it! It gives extra context to the visual, I guess? Whatever the reason, it’s the best of the best! How about that, Balancer!? Do you understand now!?”
<I understand completely. I will call the police instead.>
●
Some kind of argument had started among them. The entire discussion was happening on their Revelation Boards, but it was nice to see Izumi enjoying such a lively exchange of insults with Balancer.
But Kido had something to add to the previous conversation.
“Why not manifest a star god?”
“That starts getting political. It’s not impossible, but a real manifestation requires the DC’s approval.”
“And we did hear a DC inspector is on the way.”
“Speaking of, they have some guts sending an inspector when I’m already here. Why would they need an inspector other than me?”
“They probably figured out that you’ve basically taken our side.”
“What do you know about that inspector?”
“That they’re an Olympus god. Do you know who it is?”
●
Shifu saw a subtle change in Kido’s behavior after that question.
“It may be best if I keep my distance from all of you.”
“Ehhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!?”
“Not so loud, Sumeragi-kun.”
“But, Senpai, what do you think about Kido-senpai keeping her distance?”
“I imagine she has her reasons related to our respective positions.”
“But deep down, you’re thinking Ehhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!?, aren’t you?”
“No, I am not. It’s more of a…”
“Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat!?”
“That’s perfect, Senpai! We’re not exactly the same because we have our own thoughts based on our respective positions!”
Shifu felt a little guilty about how Kuwajiri-chan was looking away, but did that mean she wasn’t entirely used to the Shinto way of doing things yet? Regardless…
“Kido-chan, what’s the problem with an Olympus god being here? Can you tell us that much?”
“The most I can say is that I do not get along well with the Olympus gods.”
●
Kuwajiri sent her words to everyone, including Kido, via Revelation Board divine transmission.
“There are a lot of people like Kido-senpai in that regard.”
“Are we doing this now?”
“We are,” Kuwajiri replied before Enkidu joined in.
“You mean a prototype?”
“Yes. Before the terraforming officially began, it mattered a lot whether or not a god was used as a prototype when determining the Divine Ranks within the different mythologies.”
“The Olympus gods actually came and picked a fight with us.”
“Th-they did?”
“I mean, the Olympus gods have Zeus, right? He showed up, complaining that Tooru was a copy using him as a prototype. He even tried to say the same about our head god who couldn’t join us since he has a reserved manifestation.”
“How did that end?”
“Did you know I’m actually the intellectual type?”
“You mean you denied the accusation in a negotiation?”
“More or less. Raidou-senpai is actually quite eloquent when it comes to his own abilities and Auth Spell.”
“I guess I am,” said Raidou. “My point is, Kido, you’re not the only one who doesn’t get along with the Olympus gods. Besides, they’re the ones plotting to have the DC usurp the advantages Shinto has right now. I’m sure you have some other issue with them, but why not just protect what you can, like you did earlier?”
“Earlier when?”
“When you slammed Mucho into the ceiling!”
“I’d love to have her try that again when I can tell what’s going on!”
“I’m pretty sure he meant what happened during the terraforming.”
“But not limited to that,” said Shifu. “If you don’t get along with the Olympus gods, that’s all the more reason we want you with us. We don’t want this new inspector underestimating us.”
“But I…”
Kido trailed off, but…
“Kido-senpai, what kind of god are you? Is there anything at all you can tell me!?”
●
I was curious about that too.
I knew the role Kido-san had been given for the terraforming, but I hadn’t heard what kind of god she was. That was at her request and the Norse gods seemed to know the answer since they had known her longer than us, but…
“You don’t have to tell him. Just like you didn’t tell me.”
“I know. And there are some things it would be dangerous to say.”
“Really!? You mean you know things even more incredible than seeing a tall, busty goddess using water to slam Mucho into the ceiling!?”
“Stop mentioning that!”
“You will know the answer eventually,” plainly stated Kido-san. “So it would be best if I returned home before that happened. Because if I don’t…”
She said the rest while looking directly at Sumeragi-kun and me.
“You will receive unjustified accusations.”
●
Kido sighed.
Everyone else had fallen silent.
…Now I’ve done it!
Her personality was partially to blame, but whenever she got serious, it killed the mood. Like right now. You don’t have to be so deadly quiet… At least the steaming bath meant the physical temperature hadn’t dropped. So…
“So I ask that none of you worry about me.”
“Then how about this!?”
Izumi suddenly spoke up.
“You can hang out with us and, if those unjusti-fried aqua-zations or whatever don’t happen, you can come hang out with us again!”
●
Kido-san was at a loss for words.
“–––––––”
The look on her face said she wasn’t sure how to respond. And as time passed…
“So until then, please help Senpai and me!”
“Why?” asked Kido-san, seeming to chew on the words. “Why risk that for me?”
“Because,” I replied. “”Sumeragi-kun is a big boobs worshiper.”
●
“I mean, he is. He indisputably is. But I’m not sure that’s the answer you want here.”
“Could this be a high-level play by Senpai-san based on subconscious jealousy?”
“Or she’s caught the Sumeragi germs and they’ve finally reached her brain.”
“H-hey! I can hear you, you know!?”
“I can hear this too, you know?”
“Oh, um, sorry! But I was trying to avoid a serious answer to help you out!”
“I do appreciate that because I tend to kill the mood, but at the same time…”
“Woohoo! Senpai and Kido-senpai’s argument is a nice contrast to their usual behavior, so it’s great to see! This considerate contest is really getting the Sumeragi juices flowing in my brain!”
“First germs and now juices?”
●
Kido sighed.
“Anyway,” she began. “I will stay with you as long as I think I can.”
She could tell they were pushing her to stay. But if she wasn’t willing to let them do that, this would have ended when she first arrived in the clubroom.
…You never know what will happen.
She was surprised how accepting of this she was, but she also knew why: Izumi.
He really did want her around.
Even though he wouldn’t have been told how she felt about him or what their relationship was.
“…”
She just about cried again, so she washed her face with the bathwater. Then she moved from the edge of the bath into the water and washed her face again.
The way the others were smiling at her made it awkward, but…
“So what now? Does my presence change your terraforming plans in any way?”
●
What would this change?
Kuwajiri raised her hand to answer Kido’s question.
“It changes a lot.”
The answer was obvious to her. Because…
“You can use water.”
“…? Yes, I would call myself competent in that regard.”
“Y-you mean I’m incompetent!?”
“Your clumsiness that one time was truly excellent!”
<Yes. We were nearly blown away.>
“What were you all doing?”
“Nothing that we don’t all do on occasion. Anyway, what Kido-chan calls ‘competent’ here is something only a high-level water god can manage, but do read the room and don’t ask any further questions.”
“I would appreciate that very much. …So what were you hoping I could do?”
“Well,” said Kuwajiri. “I would call today’s terraforming a failure. We don’t have our tools or strategies organized enough to deal with the obstacles we face. We only learned we can make progress by ignoring them for now.”
<That is true. Today’s terraforming was a trial and error assessment of what you can do at present, but that method will not always work. In fact, if you use it too often, you could find yourself losing progress in some cases.>
Kuwajiri nodded in agreement and continued.
“But with Kido-senpai’s help, we can move on to the next phase.”
“You mean…?”
“Yes,” Kuwajiri nodded. “I will now explain why we need assistance from someone like Kido-senpai now that the rotation and axis are in place.”
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