Chapter 2: The Visitor
ONE DAY AFTER SCHOOL, THE RENTARO FAMILY gathered on the rooftop like they always did. However, on this occasion, Nano had arrived just a little later than everyone else.
“It’s rare for Nano-san to be late, isn’t it?” Hakari remarked.
“I had business to attend to,” said Nano.
“Needed to pee?” asked Kusuri.
“No.”
Shizuka tilted her head ever so slightly in confusion.
“Aijo Rentaro,” Nano asked, “may I speak to you right now?”
“Sure, but there’s something I want to ask you first.” Rentaro’s smile quickly transformed into a serious expression. “Who are you?”
At this question, the girlfriends (barring Nano and Shizuka) looked utterly mystified.
“My goodness, Rentaro-chan! What are you saying?” asked Hahari.
“Hey, quit it! It’s not like you to joke like that,” Karane said.
Though they were the only ones who spoke up, the other girls stared at Rentaro questioningly.
‹I, too…› Shizuka gathered her courage amid the strained atmosphere and spoke using her smartphone, nodding repeatedly as she typed. ‹’Tis merely my intuition, but…› ‹I have a sinister feeling.›
Karane frowned. “You too, Shizuka?”
“Mei, have you got any idea what’s going on?” asked Hahari.
“Nano appears to be the same person to me, as far as my eyes can tell,” declared Mei with her eyes firmly shut.
Kurumi was lost for words. “Please tell me that’s a joke.”
“No, she has a point,” said Rentaro. “Nano is definitely unchanged, as far as her cellular structure goes.”
“Where exactly is that confidence coming from, Rentaro-senpai?” Kurumi demanded.
“Well, according to my metronome, Nano’s breathing is 0.1 seconds out of sync from usual! There was also a 0.99 to 1.01 percent discrepancy in her stride a moment ago! And her blinking is almost random!”
“Wouldn’t that just mean she’s becoming more human?” Karane retorted.
Kurumi came in with some follow-up snark. “You’re seriously measuring every organ in her body?”
To that, Rentaro clenched his fist and opened his eyes wide. “I…don’t want to miss a single tiny detail about my girlfriends. Every day, I use my mental single-lens reflex camera with the best-quality image and shutter speed to record you in my heart!”
“Ngh!”
Rentaro’s loving words prompted all of the girlfriends (except for Nano) to clutch their chests in unison.
“That reaction just told me everything,” Rentaro declared. “You are Nano, but you’re also not. If I had to explain, it feels like…someone is controlling Nano’s body.”
After a long pause, Nano(?) let out a quiet sigh. Her expression indicated that she had an inkling of what Rentaro was talking about. At this very out-of-character display, his other girlfriends began to have their own doubts. “Hmm?”
“I would never have conceived that someone would see through my ruse.” Nano(?)’s intonation sounded strangely choppy and robotic. “I was not aware Earthlings had the ability to control every aspect of their physical forms.”
“That’s just one very particular Earthling.” Kurumi tilted her head. “Wait… ‘Earthlings’?”
‹From that turn of phrase, could it be…?!›
Shizuka gulped.
In the midst of all the tumult and confusion, Kusuri asked the question on everyone’s mind, her tone nonchalant. “Aye! Is Nano an alien?”
“Yes.” Nano (the alien?) nodded in reply.
“I am currently borrowing the body of the Earthling known as ‘Eiai Nano’ for a temporary duration.”
“This is crazy! Right, Mother?” said Hakari.
“Yes, wh-who would have thought Nano-chan was such a jokester?” Hahari concurred.
Mother and daughter were still half-skeptical. Well, mostly skeptical. Observing their somewhat stiff faces, Nano (the alien?) gave a single nod. “My main body is right here.”
When a small, strange-looking creature crawled out of Nano’s ear, their jaws dropped to the floor. Even Mei’s eyes were wide open like saucers.
“It’s like that hand monster from Parasyte!”
“Now do you believe me?”
Nano’s mouth enunciated the words, suggesting that the “main body” did not possess a way to vocalize Earth languages.
“Screw you! Give back Nano’s body!” Karane lunged at the alien, but Hakari and Hahari seized hold of her.
“Heel, Karane-san! Heel!” Hakari insisted.
“Who knows what yanking the alien out will do? Maybe Nano-chan’s brain will fall out with it! Let’s not make any hasty moves before we find out what’s going on!” Even with mother and daughter working together, Karane threatened to slip out of their grasp. “Mei, you hold down Karane-chan too!”
“Yes, my lady.”
With Mei joining the fray, the three somehow managed to restrain Karane. At this point, a salivating Hahari took advantage of the confusion to sniff Karane’s nape, only for the younger girl to send her flying. Fortunately, Mei neatly caught her mistress.
All of these shenanigans were finally enough to restore Karane to her senses. It wasn’t clear from Hahari’s actions whether or not she had anticipated that Karane actually would calm down.
At any rate, Karane settled for glaring daggers at the alien.
“You’re actually an alien… How’s this even canon?” Kusuri didn’t seem wholly convinced that an alien stood before her. After recovering from the initial shock, she seemed more weirded out than anything else.