Shit, Momo thought. She looked over at Clara who was still talking about ways they might find Plosort's original owner and what kind of toys they could get him and the playdates with her dog she could arrange if the shiba inu turned out not have anyone else. Then she glanced at Plosort whose ears lay flat on his head. He jerked his snout towards a group of students walking past. Momo scanned the other teenagers, wondering what exactly she was supposed to be looking for.
"It is the male one with the headphones," the dog told her. "I am certain of it."
"What?" Momo craned her neck. The cluster of students was heading towards the stairs, paying her no mind. She caught sight of the back of one boy who had headphones around his neck, but before she could identify him, he headed for the stairs and vanished in the throng of teens on their way to the second and third year classrooms. With his short black hair and neat school uniform he had been pretty much indistinguishable from almost everyone else, at least from behind.
Momo gasped and flinched when something suddenly touched her shoulder.
"Geez, what is with you today?" Clara withdrew her hand, a concerned look on her face. "You keep spacing out, muttering to yourself and you're all jumpy..."
"Those boys who just walked past, did you know any of them?"
"Huh? Boys?" Clara instantly perked up and brightened like a princess that had been woken from sleep by a magic word. "Oh. My. God." She clasped her hands in front of her chest and leaned in close. "Momo, don't tell me...?!"
Seeing her eagerness, Momo was flooded with regret. If anything could get Clara's interest, it was the prospect of...
"You have a crush!"
... a love story.
Momo could feel her entire being shrivel in revulsion at that completely misguided theory.
"Wh-what?! No, I don't!" Momo sputtered, her face heating up as she waved her hands defensively. "It's not like that at all!"
Clara's eyes sparkled with a mix of mischief and what could only be called delusion. She completely ignored Momo's protests as well as her flailing. "Oh, come on! You're always so tight-lipped about boys, but now you're acting all suspicious. Who is it? Tell me! Is it Hanamura? You were staring at his back really hard, I totally saw you."
"Ugh, no!" Momo groaned, glancing nervously at the dog, who sat at her feet with an expression that somehow managed to be judgmental.
"Hanamura?" Plosort said in a calm, even tone that only Momo could hear, "Is that the name of the infected human male?"
Momo hesitated. This was a good chance to find out more, but asking questions would convince Clara of her stupid crush-theory. Once again, Momo found herself caught between a rock and a hard place.
There was no way around it, she had to bite the bullet. "The boy with the headphones, he's called Hanamura? Do you know him?"
"Oh? So you are interested!" Clara looked about ready to break out the pom-poms to cheerlead Momo in what she perceived to be a quest for love.
Momo heaved a huge sigh, already exasperated with this stupid situation. "It's not like that. I just thought I knew him from somewhere."
"Knew him from somewhere? Momo, what are you talking about? He's going to this school! Of course you've seen him around! What's going on with you? Did you hit your head on the way here?" Clara was shaking her head, her expression no longer as enthusiastic.
"I just..." At a loss for a believable explanation, Momo found herself stammering. "It's hard to explain... I suddenly remembered something... I felt like maybe we knew each other from before school..." Grasping for any straw that might make even the tiniest bit of sense, she blurted out: "I think my dad was friends with his dad. I wanted to ask him if they were still talking. If his dad has my dad's current address."
"Oh..." Clara's face fell as her eyes darkened with pity. "Dang. I'm sorry. I really put my foot in it, huh?" She grimaced slightly, her emotions playing out openly on her face the way they usually did. Despite the years she'd been living in Japan by now, Clara hadn't yet mastered the art of putting up a facade. Momo liked that about her, even in moments like this one when she would have wished Clara's thoughts on the matter weren't this obvious.
You poor thing, that was what her friend was thinking.
Meanwhile, the shiba inu was watching them with fierce concentration. Momo didn't even want to guess at his thoughts. She didn't like the idea that he might be studying their behavior and learning more about them. If he really was an alien, wasn't this spying? She was supposed to trust him, but how could she trust a talking animal claiming to be from space?
For now the only thing she could do was try and find evidence for his strange story. Maybe if that boy turned out to be normal, the dog would let her get back to her life.
"So, do you know Hanamura?" she asked Clara.
"Not really. I only know he's a member of the video club."
"The video club?"
"Yeah, they tried really hard to recruit me, remember?"
Momo did in fact have a faint recollection about club members trying to chat up Clara, wanting her to join. That happened a lot since Clara was pretty and athletic; due to her father's strange occupation and her bluntness she'd never quite made it into the inner circle of the popular girls though.
Momo nodded. She remembered an unenthusiastic offer for her to join alongside Clara that was not followed up on when Clara turned them down. Yeah, a few of them had talked about filming and video editing and stuff like that "Oh, sure, those guys. I've seen their posters, but they honestly don't look like much. I thought the club had already disbanded, to be honest."
"I think they have a youtube channel, which has like twenty subscribers and is super cringe. Plus, I know they only wanted me because of my dad's clout." Clara stroked her chin, striking an exaggerated thinking pose. "I guess we could go to a club meeting. Hanamura would probably be there and you could talk to him."
"We should definitely infiltrate this club," came Plosort's voice and Momo flinched since she had all but forgotten about the annoying pooch. "It is vital to monitor the entity's influence!"
"Ugh, I guess"
The bell chimed, a bright, cheerful sound that belied its sinister implications.
"Ah!" Clara exclaimed, "this is exactly what we didn't need! We better get going right now!"
With no other option left to her, Momo shooed the shiba inu out of the building.
"You wait here and I'll come pick you up later because there is no way Mizuno-sensei will not destroy me if I'm late and bring a dog."
Ignoring any protests from the awful creature now dedicated to making her life that much harder, Momo hurried after Clara to their classroom.
*
A few minutes later Momo was slouched in her desk at the back of her classroom, absently chewing on the end of her pen as Mizuno-sensei droned on about the Meiji Restoration. The whip-thin old lady was in her element talking at length about what from looking at her craggy face Momo suspected might be her childhood memories. Normally, Momo had no problem zoning out and letting the monotony of the lecture pass her by, but today, she was filled with nervous energy, her gaze frequently flitting over to the window as if fearing that the four-legged bane of her existence might appear. Which was ridiculous since they were on the second floor. But who knew, maybe alien dogs could fly?
Her stomach churned uneasily, a tight, burning sensation spreading through her abdomen. As if a spring was coiling inside her. She shifted in her seat, trying to find a position that didn't make her feel like her insides were twisting into knots, anything to relieve the building pressure.
Not now, she thought, rubbing a hand discreetly over her stomach. Please, not now.
Sadly, the discomfort was not new to her. Momo had dealt with digestive issues her whole life—random bouts of bloating, cramping, and even worse whenever her levels of tension spiked. Doctors always called it "stress-induced IBS," but to her, it was just another humiliating reminder that her body seemed to betray her whenever things were already hard enough. It was weakness and she hated it.
She shouldn't be surprised that it happened today. Today was very hard. After all, a talking dog had appeared in her life, claiming to be from outer space, accusing students of being possessed. Her whole existence had stopped making sense as an anime-like plot threatened to devour it.
She shifted again, wincing as the pressure in her stomach built. The room was too hot, the desks too cramped, and she could hear the faint snickers of the popular kids seated a few rows ahead. They weren't laughing at her—yet—but Momo knew if she didn't get herself under control soon, they would be. Sometimes she felt like they could smell fear.
A particularly painful cramp made her inhale sharply. She bit her lip and leaned forward, willing the feeling to pass. Her mind raced as she tried to think of something—anything—to distract herself.
Deep breaths, Momo. Just focus on something else. The Meiji Restoration. Satsuma-Chōshū Alliance. Boshin War… who cares?
Her stomach definitely didn't care about historical events and facts. The bloating worsened, and she felt her face flush as her body made it clear that sitting here even just for another five minutes was no longer an option.
Her hand shot into the air. "Excuse me, Sensei," she said, trying to keep her voice steady, "may I please be excused?"
Mizuno-sensei, her round glasses perched precariously on her nose, raised an eyebrow. and shot Momo a piercing glare. "Again, Hasegawa? You've been leaving class quite frequently lately," she commented in her creaky door-hinge of a voice.
Momo's cheeks burned as a couple of the popular kids turned to look at her. Reina, the queen bee of the class, smirked and leaned over to whisper something to her friend Kanna, who immediately stifled a giggle.
"I—uh—" Momo stammered, her voice small and shaky. She knew her face was crimson with embarrassment. She wanted to melt into a puddle on the floor and evaporate. If she was to have any superpower, why couldn't it be that? "It's an emergency."
The teacher sighed, her expression filled with disdain as she waved a hand dismissively. "Fine. Don't take too long."
Momo bolted from her seat, her own face hot with humiliation as she shuffled toward the door. Behind her, she could hear faint snickers and murmured comments from Reina's clique.
"She probably just wants to text her boyfriend," one of them whispered loudly enough for Momo to hear.
"Boyfriend? As if," Reina replied, her tone suffused with mockery.
Clara cast an empathetic look in her direction and mouthed, Are you okay?
Momo gritted her teeth, quickening her pace. She didn't want to look at Reina as she walked past her desk, but there was a part of her that couldn't resist. Reina was too beautiful to ignore. From the window, sunshine fell on her sleek black hair, making it shimmer like perfect obsidian. There was a rumor going around that the reason her eyes were so large was that she'd had plastic surgery in South Korea. For the fraction of a second those caught Momo's glance and she quickly ducked her head. She could feel her classmates' gazes stick to her as she left the room.
Once she was in the hallway, the cool air hit her like a relief, but her stomach didn't let up. She made a beeline for the bathroom, clutching her hands tightly against her stomach.
The bathroom was blessedly empty when she pushed the door open. She darted into a stall, locking it behind her and sinking onto the closed toilet seat. She pressed her hands harder against her stomach, taking deep, shaky breaths.
Why does this always happen? she thought miserably. Why can't my body just work like it's supposed to?
Her mind wandered to her childhood—those long, uncomfortable nights doubled over in pain, her mom making her drink awful herbal teas and trying to soothe her while her dad made jokes to lighten the mood. It wasn't funny then, and it wasn't funny now.
Her dad... well, he'd left a while ago... Momo refused to continue that line of thought. She was already sad and stressed, she couldn't go down this road on top of everything else.
Suddenly, the dog's strange voice echoed faintly in her mind. "Your body's condition is likely exacerbated by stress. I recommend you learn to manage your anxiety more effectively."
Shocked, Momo let out a startled squeak. She looked around frantically, but the stall was tiny, there was no place to hide and she couldn't see any sign of her furry stalker.
"Get out of my head," Momo whispered, helpless and frustrated, doubled-over, resting her forehead against her knees.
"I am merely monitoring your status from outside the building," Plosort replied. "Your distress is palpable. Is there a threat I should be aware of?"
"You're still outside? How the heck can you even talk to me from outside? Also, stop it! I'm in the bathroom!"
"I have established a telepathic connection with you." The alien's calm statement hit Momo like an eighteen ton truck.
"What? You can't just do that! I never agreed to that!"
Plosort's response was maddeningly unperturbed. "Your consent was not required. It is a standard feature of the bond we share. How else would I effectively guide you in your mission?"
Momo pressed her hands to her temples, her voice rising in a panicked whisper. "You can't just go around setting up mind connections without asking! It's invasive! Do you even understand boundaries?"
"I assure you," Plosort said with a faint note of what might have been exasperation, "I am not interested in your… private moments. My sole concern is monitoring your well-being and ensuring you are prepared to confront the entity."
"Yeah, well, this is a private moment!" Momo hissed, her voice cracking. She slammed her palms against the sides of the stall for emphasis. "I'm literally in the bathroom!"
There was a beat of silence before Plosort's voice drifted into her mind again, this time softer, as though trying to pacify her. "Ah. I see. Humans place a great deal of importance on this particular activity. I will refrain from commenting further."
Momo groaned, burying her face in her hands. What if the little creep could see her somehow? "That's not the point, you nosy little—ugh!"
Outside her stall, someone cleared their throat. "Are you okay in there?" a girl called, her voice tinged with concern but also gilded with the edge of amusement.
Momo froze, her blood turning to ice in her veins. She hadn't noticed someone else come in. How much had this person heard? What kind of reputation would Momo have after this? She was already considered a loser and a weirdo, how much worse could it get?
"Yeah, I'm fine!" Momo shouted, forcing her voice to sound light and casual, though her heart was pounding a frantic taiko drum beat in her ears. God, would the humiliation never stop? "Just some stomach cramps!"
"Do those always make you talk to yourself?" came the reply, now with even more amusement.
"No, totally not!" Momo laughed awkwardly. She sounded so stupid right now, but what the hell was she supposed to say? At least the girl's voice didn't sound familiar which meant she wasn't from Momo's class.
Momo waited, her entire body tense, her discomfort spreading through her like a noxious cloud until she thought it would be oozing from her pores soon. After an excruciating minute, she heard the bathroom door fall shut behind the other girl and let out a sigh of relief.
Privacy at last.
*
As soon as Momo herself left the bathroom, the annoying voice rang out in her head once again.
"I have investigated the school building and found traces of the entity in several locations. When your other obligations have been completed, you and I will observe the infected human together."
"Wait, what? What do you mean? You've been sneaking around the school and later you want to go stalk Hanamura?" Momo hurried along the empty hallway, whispering under her breath.
Plosort's reply sounded completely self-satisfied.
"Yes, precisely," he said.