Beyond M-Eclipse: Easy Mode LIVE

———Lynda———

“...Is it just me or have you been in a bad mood recently? Got something on your mind?” Glery had been glaring at Fiss for quite a while now, and I don’t think taking out your grievance on a stranger is a good idea. Well, not quite a stranger, but we have only met a few times. You really would never say that everyone in the school is your friend.

“...Nothing.” She mumbled quietly. I’m not even sure if Fiss heard that one.

“...Anyway! This is your first time here, which is kinda surprising. This is a local favorite.” I pivot back to the main topic. “The food here is great, and quite cheap. Not really something you can really say nowadays. Everything seems to get more expensive for no good reason.”

“Right…” Fiss said, looking weirdly nervous as she looked around. What’s with the attitude, it’s not like Rico is here right now.

“Relax. Rico isn’t here right now, and even if she is, she’s just going around helping with family business. She’s not gonna try to do anything menacing.” Even with classes she barely interacted with, people already knew to be afraid of her. More than a few things that really make her seem intimidating despite being a young adult with bright orange hair who wears casual clothes. She really doesn’t scream anything menacing from just her appearance alone, with Coach Wana also fitting that category, that tracksuit ain’t scaring anyone. Not to mention the weird ‘hip with the kids’ thing she got going around. I feel like she played that down since the school changed, but the cringe is still there.

“It kinda feels like… stepping into someone’s house more than a restaurant. Don’t you feel uncomfortable going into a random person’s house?” Oh come on, that’s the line of thinking she has? She’s trying too hard to be polite.

“No? They got another door as a way in anyway. The diner and house part is quite separate, you know?” Heck, I never get a good look at where they actually take a break and live in despite coming here quite often. “I’m pretty sure something like this exists elsewhere, right?”

“I don’t know?” She said before tapping her cheek. I’m pretty sure those kinds of family businesses exist. Maybe those are not really common around here.

…There really isn’t much else to talk about is there? All we’re really doing right now is wait for our order. It’s not like we really have much to talk about to each other. Mainly because we didn’t know each other or were in contact for long. Even friends who have vastly different hobbies can still maintain a conversation for a very long time.

“...What’s with that stage at the back?” She asked, noticing the stage that I’m not quite sure what it’s for either.

“No idea. It’s not like they have performers employed here as far as I know.” It’s certainly weird to allocate a space for it when this is supposed to be a diner. “...Wait. Wasn’t there an incident involving it? Glery? You remember anything like that?”

“Uhh… Coach Wana and Rico fight there a few times?” …Oh! Right. I forgot about that. It’s been a while and all these crazy things happening makes me forget.

“Fight?” Fiss asked, looking rather bewildered by the implications.

“Yeah. Like actual, physical altercation. It happened a few times. I don’t think blood was ever drawn, but they were punching and kicking.” It’s kinda bizarre. Most of us here definitely know that it’s more of a friendly scuffle… I think? I mean chairs and tables were used at one point. A few things were broken. They at least barred the area off so no one got close and got caught in the crossfire, that’d be a disaster.

…Hold on a second. If Rico is one of those people who had always been attuned to magic this whole time and never really showed it off until now, then those fights were completely unserious. It looked intense since the attacks connected and they were pushed back or fell to the floor, but for them it’s probably them actually taking it easy. They were actually incredibly restrained.

“What? How did that not raise any alarms?” Fiss asked, clearly a bit disturbed.

“It happened so often even outside the place no one really questioned it. Neither of them are actually hospitalized or have any scratch on them each time the fight is over. In hindsight it was kind of a massive red flag.” For them to fight so violently and then never show even a bruise in the end really shows just how supernaturally durable they are, way more than it should be possible. Looking back on it, it was kinda ridiculous to think that those tables and chairs were mere props. So now I’m confused as to where they got the spare furniture from.

The more I look into it, the less sense it makes, it feels like.

“Red flag?” Fiss, who doesn’t have all the context for what I’m talking about, can only mutter in confusion.

“Don’t worry about it. It’s just a piece of trivia.” No need for her to think about these things. It’ll probably just give her a headache more than anything else. “Just know that if the area around the stage gets changed around, then some violence is gonna happen.”

“Okay…?” She doesn’t seem all that convinced or at ease. Whatever, it’s not like she’s gonna get involved with them anyway.

“Don’t think too hard about it, unless you want a permanent migraine.” I said with a small smirk before leaning in on the sofa. “Just relax and enjoy the food. It’s pretty rare that this place isn’t completely filled up. Say, Glery, wasn’t there something you wanna talk about?”

“Huh? Oh. That can be saved for later, if you want.” She said while her snakes all seem to flinch at my words. Guess it’s something more private then?

“If you say so. We don’t really need to rush anything today either.” I said while looking at the other patrons in the diner. The staff walking around and placing the food on the table, and the cooks that are visible in the back.

Never actually recognizing anyone that works here outside of Rico’s parents and Rico herself. A bunch of strange faces that I can never quite remember. Do they cycle them out very often? I think that got them in trouble once before suddenly the agents stopped coming. Kind of a crazy situation that Rico probably is involved with somehow. That was a year back before anyone really knew about the whole magic thing, so they have absolutely zero way of doing anything to her… I wonder if she can hypnotize people, maybe illusions as well?

I haven’t really heard of anyone who specializes in those types of spells. Then again, maybe those kinds of people are making it so everyone forgot or doesn’t recognize them. Kind of a scary thought, now that I think about it.

Ehh, I’m sure those at the top of the school know something about it. If anything they are probably the one doing all those morbid things in the first place, if I were to guess.

…Who even are they, ultimately? Aside from the principal there isn’t anyone else at the top as far as we’re aware. It really feels like we would never get the answer.

“Here’s your order.” An employee walked over and gave us the sandwiches. The voice sounded weirdly alien as always. Don’t think I’ve ever seen this guy the previous time I visited either.

“Are the staff usually like that?” Fiss asked, understandably a bit freaked out. It’s just the usual, more or less. Trying to dig into it would probably lead to someone getting hurt. People don’t really talk about it anymore but the incident with those agents was kinda eerie.

“Yeah. Don’t worry about it. It’s just how it is.” I said before taking my order and starting eating it.

Mhmm… Hell yeah, tasty as always. Certainly a bang for my buck. Pretty much the only reason we’re not here all the time is because of how crowded it usually gets, not to mention that eating just one thing all the time would take the magic out of it. This thing feels quite special.

Ahh… Food really is bliss… It looks like Fiss is enjoying hers as well, silently enjoying it.

…Mhmm… Alright, I’m done with my portion. Maybe I should’ve ordered more, or the special ones which are quite large.

“How was it?” I asked once Fiss finished eating it, her eyes widened in surprise. Was she enjoying it that much or what?

“Y-Yes. Quite.” She said with her tone looking slightly embarrassed. Did she think I was gonna make fun of how she ate it or something? She wasn’t even doing anything different.

“What’s with that face? It’s not like we’re doing some sort of test, relax. Not like there are secret tasks or anything.” Why would anyone try stuff like ‘test of character’ in a diner? “Relax, it’s the holidays, what in the world do you want me to do that’s all complicated and stuff.”

“I-I wasn’t thinking that…” She said, still sounding a bit nervous.

“I’m just messing with you.” Seriously, no one in their right mind would try something like that in a diner to someone who most likely won’t get involved with anything very extraordinary. “Let’s just relax and talk about random things. I can order more if you want. The other menus are also quite nice, if needing a bit of acquired taste.”

“...So that rice and cheesesteak menu wasn’t some sort of joke?” She said with her eyes squinted. Yeah, it’s basically just swapping out the bread for rice. I’m pretty sure it’s on there because Rico loves to make one of those and just sat down with a giant bowl of one. Pretty sure she only does that because she was getting sick of eating so much bread, or just because she’s part-Japanese, one of the two.

“Nope. Rico likes that menu quite a bit. Sure hope she’s not here, you might get targeted for that comment otherwise.” I jokingly suggested. I’m certain she’s not that petty. “So, how’s your day going? Or maybe just the week in general? I’ve been doing some dungeon runs and getting pocket change for it, what else is new.”

“Just… mostly staying at the current place, and exploring a bit of that otherworldly area. I haven’t done much activity related to the Eclipse in general, really.” She recounted. “Oh, I guess I’ve been swimming a lot, there’s a large pool open for everyone to use.”

“Really? We don’t even have any swimming class. Why is there a pool?” Seems kinda odd to have one when that’s the case. Then again, that school seems to have a lot of weird and exotic stuff going on. Who knows if those will mean anything in the future. We don’t even have a lot of time to really explore the place unless it also acts as a university later on.

…Which it might. Can’t imagine it being so big and fancy and intricate with what could also be dorms to be just for highschoolers.

“No idea. It’s nice though, getting to use these parts makes it all the better. I’ve always been interested in swimming, so it feels great to have these. Also nice that they don’t really have any fishy smell to them. Those are things I think about when I get them.” She said before touching her fins. “Had to wonder if these things reflect some part of ourselves, or is it truly random?”

“Well there’s no way for me to give any insight, I’m just a very regular human.” I said before my eyes laid on Glery who was staring again. Not at Fiss but at the staff members. The owners aren’t here so a bunch of no-names took their place. “Come on Glery, stop being weird for a moment. Say something.”

“...No.” Oddly assertive today, which is a very low bar. She is not feeling it today. Did someone she watches go on hiatus or miss their schedule or what?

“Alright then.” I said before focusing back on Fiss. “Want to order some more food and drinks? I got some extra cash lying around.”

“Sure?” She said while looking a bit unsure. Well if she can’t think of anything interesting to discuss I think I can fill in the dead air pretty well. Maybe some sort of holiday-related story?