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The first of many oddities in today's... Event, as I will be calling it, happened well before it. It began when Ouma spoke to me in a softer tone of voice than usual. I believe this implies some sort of frankness or seriousness, but Ouma cannot be trusted not to manipulate social cues to his advantage.
...Or so I believed.
"Hey, Kiibo-chan," Ouma had said, tilting his head in that way he does, "we should go out somewhere today."
Now, naturally, I assumed this was some manner of trick. But since I am a polite person, I did not say as much initially.
"What do you have in mind, Ouma-kun?" I had asked, narrowing my eyes slightly to indicate suspicion instead. I wonder if I should avoid indicating that? Hmm, no. That would be dishonest of me.
Ouma instantly changed expressions to a grin, bringing a finger to his mouth. "Oh, nothing much," he said, voice back to a normal volume, " juuuust going somewhere to prank you, that's all."
...Humans are highly illogical, but perhaps none more than Ouma. He is a liar, so this statement shouldn't be trusted. But this statement is very consistent with past behaviors. But, because he is unpredictable…
I am ashamed to admit I spent five full seconds making an appropriate response. "Where are we going?" I asked, instead of untangling the obvious knot of logic laid before me.
"You'll find out!" Ouma exclaimed, before bringing his hands up behind his head in an expression Iruma has previously labeled grade school lookin' , but that I believe would be better referred to as... childish, perhaps? Consider submitting to Professor Iidabashi for confirmation later.
At this point, I was rather regretful about the fact that my curiosity overwhelmed my common sense. This is a sensation that I have seen people relate to, so it is… most likely good that I am experiencing it, even though it doesn't feel good.
"...Alright," I said, attempting to seem hesitant, "but I am leaving at the first sign of a prank, Ouma-kun."
As much free time as I have, there is never enough free time that I would enjoy cleaning grape Panta off my person.
"Great!" Ouma perks up immediately. "Let's go!"
"Already?" I said, immediately. I was unaware at the time that this journey would take three hours and forty two minutes to reach its destination. I feel as though it was not unreasonable for me to assume it would take less time, considering the vast majority of my activities are performed on the campus of Hope's Peak Academy.
Ouma beams, leading the way out of the classroom. "Yeppers!" He looks at me with a curious expression on his face. "Are your batteries all charged?"
In retrospect, this should have been my first warning sign.
"My batteries are fine!" I insisted; more defensively, perhaps, than the question warranted. "Unless you plan on taking us out all night, I will be plenty ready for anything we do."
Ouma's grin, with the benefit of hindsight, I would describe as knowing. "I'll be taking that as a challenge," he declared, pushing the door open and leaving me to quickly follow after him, before it shut behind him.
I groaned, shrugging my shoulders. Even then I was already resigned to whatever was coming. I didn't really anticipate it, though. There wasn't any way I could have anticipated the Event.
The Event only took place after we reached our destination, but I believe more information is required before understanding its importance. We traveled on foot to our destination, which Ouma claimed was because he did not have the money required for travel through any other means. I do not keep money, as I am not legally considered a person for the purpose of performing transactions.
When we started to leave campus, I was quite surprised. The only times I've left campus since my admission to Hope's Peak Academy have been to see the professor or on trips with the entire class. I am… not sure if this was a wise decision in hindsight, but I had not considered it thoroughly at the time.
"Where are we going?" I asked, my tone intended to be more pressing.
I managed to get Ouma to stop in his tracks, to turn and look at me. "It's a surprise! " Ouma insisted, grinning. "Or are your scrap metal robot processors failing you already? Forced obsolence is a real problem, huh."
Leaving the blatant misinformation about the quality of my parts aside… "You never said it was a surprise," I said, with certainty.
"I did," Ouma pouted for an amount of time I deem insufficient to show genuine emotion before grinning and turning around, "you just didn't get that, is all." He shook his head before speaking again. "How sad…"
I had interpreted this as a mocking gesture at the time, but with the benefit of retrospect, could it perhaps be well-intentioned, if poorly expressed, pity?
…
Probably not, no. Ouma's robophobia remains a constant.
What was not constant were our surroundings, which shifted and changed at a rate I could barely keep up with. I ended up either researching or asking Ouma about things in our surroundings, which proved unexpectedly helpful. In response to those questions, Ouma lied at a rate that was roughly .3353 its usual, and many of his lies were followed up by the truth. This information is crucial to understanding the Event.
We passed by many restaurants, apartment buildings, and various stores of many different natures, just to name a few examples - there's a store that had a lovely yukata in the window that I would have liked to try, but, well… they probably don't service robots. I would rather that assumption than the rejection, frankly.
Even now, I am uncertain if Ouma did all of this out of boredom, or… a motive that will be presented later. Both, perhaps. It certainly filled the time we spent walking, when Ouma was not discussing himself.
Ouma spoke about himself quite a lot. I marked two hundred and nineteen statements as certain lies, and another hundred and sixty five as distrustworthy but unprovable.
The forty seven statements that seemed plausible were quite interesting, though.
During the third hour of our trip, we ended up in a poorer section of Tokyo. Ouma mentioned that he knew this part of town better, because he owned the entire district (a lie). The first half seems plausible, however. He did have a specific destination in mind, after all. I felt his expressions were more genuine when we passed by local landmarks as well, for example graffiti. I am fond of graffiti for its purpose of rejecting arbitrary social norms.
...This isn't relevant to the anomaly log. I'm not sure why I'm thinking about this now.
On a more relevant point, he also seemed doubtful that anyone would attack us when I expressed concerns - he seemed to think we were both perfectly safe. Since no one attempted to do us harm, he might have been right on this point, but I remain unsure. It's…
Well, that's not the point.
We should move on to the location where the Event took place. It was the rooftop of a tall apartment building. We weren't supposed to be able to access it, but Ouma's penchant for going places he shouldn't remains consistent everywhere he goes. For my part, I figured it was unlikely to cause harm, and since we had come all that way...
"Here we are," Ouma had said, splaying his arms out wide. The apartment complex's roof… Really, I found it quite simple. The entrance, guard railing, air conditioning, circuitry… typical rooftop accessories.
"What are we here for?" I asked, at this point quite confused.
Ouma grinned at me before skipping over to the guard rail. I followed, trying to understand just what he was looking at.
I understood before long. The sun dipped low, clearly visible between the buildings in Tokyo's skyline, dyeing the sky shades of purples, oranges and pinks.
"This is one of my favorite views," Ouma explained, "the only one I like better is the sunrise. You can see it across the coastline if you've got the right viewing spot." He whistled, tilting his head. "Gotta get up pret-ty early to see that one, though."
"Especially if you're walking from Hope's Peak Academy," I commented, which made Ouma laugh. Unexpected, but not unwelcome.
He looked at me for a moment, and I thought he was going to speak, but he didn't. He just turned his head back to the sunset, and for the next ten minutes or so, we just watched in silence.
I've seen views like that before through pictures, but it was honestly breathtaking - so to speak - to see it in person. Those ten minutes spent in quiet contemplation with Ouma presently rank among one of my favorite memories of time spent with him.
This is not the Event, however. This is simply needed to understand the Event.
No, the Event occurred as follows.
Once the sun had set, I pulled back from the guard rail, looking at Ouma. "So that was it, then?" he asked. "You brought me out here just to see the sunset?" I paused for a moment to process what I had said before shaking my head. "Not that I mind! It was a welcome surprise! I simply wasn't expecting it."
Ouma's response at this point was surprising. He brought a finger to his lips, his expression changing to one of puzzlement. " Did I? I wonder."
The knowing tone of this statement, looking back on it, leads me to doubt as well.
Not at the time, though. "Yes? You said you had a surprise for me."
"And I meant that!" Ouma grinned again. "But I don't know what Kiiboy could mean." This is obviously a lie. "Besides, it's about the journey, not the destination, right?" He scoffs. "Or whatever other sappy stuff Momota-chan might say."
"I suppose." At the time, I was in a good mood and didn't see the point in pursuing the matter. I now regret this. "So are we going to be walking back to the Academy?" I asked.
" Naaaaaah, " Ouma drawled, taking his phone out, "I have enough money to pay for a ride. Did the whole time! That was a lie. It's not safe to walk around here at night, especially with you full of fancy, expensive parts."
My self-consciousness about my value as an object aside… "Why would you lie about that…?"
Ouma frowned, tilting his head again for a moment. "Hmm…" he suddenly acted like he realized something, his eyes widening. "I forgot!"
"That's a lie," I knew, even then, that must be the case. Ouma just said he had lied when he told me he didn't have the money.
"Really?" Ouma acted like he was surprised, then, too. "But why would I lie about that? It's not like I got anything out of walking all the way out here." He idly scooped wax out of his ear as he spoke. "The only person who would benefit from something like that is Kiibo-chan. all cooped up in the Academy, and I couldn't care less about some bucket of bolts, so that's obviously not it."
This is the Event.
At the time, I simply reacted to the robophobic remark and didn't stop to process the rest of it… which, I begin to suspect, might have been Ouma's purpose. To deflect, to keep me from finding the truth hidden in his lies.
Actions speak louder than words. And today, what Ouma did was take me out of my comfort zone, answer questions about a great many things I was unfamiliar with, and help me broaden my horizons in a relatively safe way, without infantilizing me. Even if he didn't intend that (which I now doubt), it was the effect.
This… isn't at all in keeping with my previous understanding of Ouma as a person. I don't know what to make of this. It isn't as if this changes any of the other things he's said and done to me, but… I might need to reexamine more distant memories, to see if there are any other examples of this behavior that I missed.
Ouma is insensitive, brash, immature, and distrustworthy. But… perhaps he might understand better than I thought he did.
"Whatcha thinkin' about?" Ouma asks, pulling me from my thoughts. "Your processors sound like they're going pretty hard."
Alright, end anomaly log. I turn my attention from the window of the car Ouma hired and back to him. "Well…" I look thoughtful for a moment, "a lot of things."
"That so?" Ouma asks.
I don't need hindsight to say his grin is knowing this time.
"Good."