Chapter 2: Beyond The Vail Of Reality

It was eleven-thirty AM at Fushiguro High School in a tenth-grade classroom full of bored students struggling to understand the physics lesson. Tenzaki, the son of a wealthy Japanese rice trader, sat at the front of the class, his hands folded, seemingly attentive as the teacher droned on. But Tenzaki's mind was far away, lost in thoughts of a sci-fi henti TV show he had just made up.

"I wonder what my life would be like if I were born on Pluto," he mused to himself, imagining the possibilities. "Plutonian girls with seven genitals, and the boys having a challenge with their fingers... That would be so cool!"

The teacher, believing Tenzaki was the only one listening, suddenly interrupted a sleeping student, pointing at him to answer some questions. "Stand up!" he yelled, demanding a recap of the entire lecture.

"My name is Tanguro, sir," Tanguro replied confidently. "Today's topic is Dr. Hugh Everett the Third's theory of parallel universes , its postulates that there are universes existing alongside ours, sharing similarities but remaining unnoticed, just like two points of a parallel line never meeting."

The teacher's face turned smug as he approached Tanguro. "Well, you are a bright young man," he said, patting Tanguro's shoulder. "But that has absolutely nothing to do with today's class. It doesn't concern you until you're a PhD student in physics!" giving Tanguro a hard smack on the back of his head that sent him flying to the ground.

As the recess followed, the teacher adjusted his glasses and helped Tanguro up from the ground, apologizing for the harsh blow. Tanguro, however, was unfazed. "I understand, sir. You did what you had to do," he replied with a smile.

During lunchtime, Tanguro sat alone at a table near the window, lost in his thoughts once more. Across the dining hall, Emily and Asta, two of the most attractive girls in school, discussed Tanguro.

"That Tanguro guy is so weird, isn't he?" Emily remarked to Asta.

"I know, right? I tried talking to him the other day, and he spaced out every two minutes," Asta replied, rolling her eyes.

Emily pouted, expressing her frustration. "All that handsomeness wasted on a numbskull like him. I know so many guys who would kill to be with us, but we offer ourselves to that freak show, and he doesn't even look at us. It's so annoying!"

Asta, however, disagreed. "I bet I have a better chance with Tanguro than you ever would, Emily. Look, I'm going to talk to him right now."

Confidently, Asta approached Tanguro, poking him on the head. "Listen, I like you, and I want you to be mine and no one else's!" she announced, causing a scene in the dining hall .

Tanguro replied, "If it would make you stop yelling, then yes."

Overwhelmed by Tanguro's calm demeanor, Asta hugged his arm, attempting to seduce him. "Oh, my sweet, sweet Tanguro. You love me so much; you hate to see me shout."

But Tanguro's mind was already wandering before she could finish her sentence. Frustrated, Asta pulled on his ear and asked, "What are you always thinking about, Tanguro?"

"I'm sorry, Asta, but I always feel like I don't belong in this universe," Tanguro confessed. "Everything and everyone seem strange, even though I've lived in this reality for the last eighteen years of my life. I'll try to be more present, I promise."

Asta replied, "You better be, or I'll pull those ears off! Now, let's walk home together after class, okay?"

After school, Tanguro walked Asta home and then headed back to his empty apartment in Tokyo. He lived alone in a house meant to accommodate three people while his family resided in the United States of America. Opening his laptop, he started watching a live video from his favorite professor, Hojin. The video discussed a rare event that happens every hundred billion years in the galaxy, allowing two universes to combine. It was referred to as "The Day of the Celestial Nexus". Tanguro was thrilled at the prospect of witnessing such an event and wondered if the girl he keeps seeing in his dreams might be in that other universe. However the professor was being ridiculed under the comment section and described as "The mad man with a PHD"

Tanguro finally shut down his laptop and went straight to bed, still in his school uniform.