Entry 7: Rani assumes artistic control

[Time moves forward along its progress bar, and we reach evening/after school. I poke around the classroom a little, not much there, some guys talking about last night’s episode of some drama, a girl who seems to be having the same memory problems the rest of us are experiencing. Then I leave the classroom for the hallway.]

Unnamed girl :: Greetings. It seems you’ve finally awakened, Hakuno. However — This is seven months, eight hours and twenty two minutes late. Ought I to have a low estimation of you? Or perhaps my previous estimation was simply too high?

[This is Rani VIII, a homunculus belonging to the Atlas Institute, master of Lu Bu, and one of the two girls who could become your assistant/friend/vague potential love interest/have sex with your Servant in Fate/Extra.]

I can’t help gasping at this unexpected development. This girl just called out to me as if it was natural, and without even twitching an eyebrow, started talking to me in this halting way. Her appearance is, in a word, exotic, with her dark skin and fresh white clothes. Her slim and evenly proportioned figure is slightly androgynous. However…no matter how relaxed Tsukumihara Academy may be about its dress code, those clothes definitely aren’t a school uniform…I mean, I could think of a thing or two she seems to have forgotten to put on…

Unnamed girl :: Are you listening to me, Hakuno? While I keep the fluctuations of my emotions generally controlled, this is an exception. I have been kept waiting so long that I have looked up, read, and closely studied Samuel Beckett’s play. I am have been concerned for your well-being, given up on the affairs we left behind, and now that you’ve suddenly appeared, I am annoyed with you. —- Besides that. Can you guess what my current state is?

Yes. To put it concisely, you’re very angry. …but it’s rather curious. As far as I know, this girl has never expressed displeasure like this before. I say this after having known her for quite some time, so I’m fairly certain of this. Her name is Rani VIII. She was invited to Tsukumihara Academy because of her skill in electrical engineering, she’s a kind of super elite. For a girl raised in a lab like her, living a normal student life…especially making friends, was hard to get used to. As I recall, we became friends when —- Right, it was when I was injured in the forest, and her knowledge saved me.

[That is a somewhat accurate description of when Rani starts assisting you in Fate/Extra – she helps you learn more about your opponent in the second round, after he creates a tree that emits a poisonous miasma in the arena.]

Rani has a brusque sort of personality, but when I really talked to her I found her to be a pure, honest girl with a strong sense of morality. …but anyway, something is making her really angry right now.
“Why are you so upset?” I ask her –

Rani :: Why? That’s because you — You’ve  — Always — …Ahem. Excuse me. The reason is obvious. You are late. Certainly. That is the most pertinent reason I have become so irritated.

So Rani flatly declares. …I don’t especially want to point this out, but I guess I have to. Rani herself  clearly doesn’t understand why she’s angry, I tell her.

Rani :: Please to shut yourself up.

P-please to shut yourself up…!?

[At least, her phrasing sounded about that weird to me.]

Rani :: Though I’m loathe to repeat myself: I am annoyed. Schedules are made to be followed. Please do so properly. No – I must force you to do so properly.  That is the best, most optimal, most ideal solution. If you are irresponsible I will make you responsible. If you are lacking integrity I shall give you integrity. If you cannot tear your eyes away, I shall take control —- artistic control. God dwells in the simplest of formulae. Professor, I understand now. Excuse me, I have remembered something I must do. I bid you farewell for now. I look forward to our next meeting.

Just as if nothing had happened, Rani walks away with a swish of her long hair. But as she goes,

Rani :: By the way, the name of that play is “Waiting for Godot.” Are you familiar with it?

[The screen goes fuzzy, like it did before where the command seal appeared briefly, and Rani vanishes.]

…maybe the setting sun got in my eyes, or I had a dizzy spell. Now that I think of it…I get the feeling I was talking to someone just now. It’s just my imagination. Just my imagination, right?
I shake my head a little, and as the dizziness clears away, I see a familiar shape appear.

[Shinji walks up behind Hakuno at this point.]

Shinji :: Oh. You’re still here. You’re not in any clubs, but you don’t have anything else to do either, do you? Is it fun, wasting your life away?

It’s Shinji’s usual sarcasm, but I feel like there’s more bite to his words than usual. For now, I ask him if anything happened just now.

Shinji :: What? Nothing really. As far as I can see everything’s as usual. Anyway, you know Rin Tohsaka, right? I used to think, if there was any girl at this school who was at my level, it’d be her, but it looks like I was way off base.

…sounds like he got into some kind of trouble with Rin Tohsaka. Though he’s been harshly rejected before, Shinji incorrigibly keeps asking her —-

Before? Is Shinji really the kind of guy to just keep chasing after someone who rejected him…? But, I’ve definitely had this conversation somewhere…

Shinji :: What are you standing there spacing out for? Oh, wait, maybe you’re waiting for Tohsaka? If you wanna go after that psycho chick, be my guest. She’s probably still hanging around the flower beds now. Since I won’t date her and all.

Shinji disappears into the classroom. I guess he’s going to pick up his things and go home. I don’t have any further business here at school myself, I could just go home. Or I should be able to, but somehow I can’t shake this feeling of unease.

Before I go home, I think I’ll go drop by the flower beds. Rin Tohsaka might just be someone I can ask about this.