2.4

“Wake me up before you go-go, don't leave me hanging on like a yo-yo~”

Doraemon finally decides to get out of her sickbed. The girl enters the kitchen to find and Eikichi wearing a pink apron singing to a pan. He certainly seems to be in a spirited mood. Although this isn’t something the girl wants to see first thing after recovering.

“Wake me up before you go-go, I don't want to miss it when you hit that high~”

The bald man, realising the girl is here, put the pan in front of her face. She has to hold back trying to bite his hand.

“What is this for”

“Come on, I’m sure you know the lyric”

The girl simply brushes his pan away. She is not in the mood for singing, what she is more interested in are the pancakes still fresh. The texture looks simply mouth-watering, unlike most of the food made in this house. Somehow, Eikichi is the best cook in the place, a fact that greatly annoys Doraemon

The girl makes a beeline for that food. She is absolutely starved. Just as she reaches for the delicious pancake, it is snatches away by Eikichi, his feet still bouncing to the music in his head.

“Give me a line then you can eat~”

“No, hand that over before you get hurt”

“Wake me up before you go-go, 'cause I'm not plannin' on going solo~ Come on, just a line!”

Saying nothing, showing nothing, Doraemon foot immediately shoots for the man’s shin. Of course, Eikichi hops over the swipe like it is nothing. The girl then just jumps at him, fist and claw all there. The bald man simply brushes them aside while juggling the plate of pancake.

When the girl turns around, she can see Haruka and Fleur looking at her. Their expression indecipherable. From behind them, Mara walks past waving at her.

Doraemon gives up, she hums begrudgingly.

“Ugh, Wake me up before you go-go, take me dancing tonight~”

“That sound like a plan. Get your best suit on, we are going into town. I wanna hit that high, yeah, yeah~”

“What is that guy on” Questioned Haruka.

“Dunno” Doraemon scuttles away with her newfound pancake obtained with shame.

The girl runs straight into Johann who is entering the kitchen.

“Why are all of you blocking the door?”

“Because we don’t want to get close to that” Haruka answered pointing at Eikichi.

The bald man is still bopping to his music, although he has now moved to something Doraemon doesn’t recogniser. He keeps spewing rapidly gibberish “Ski-bi dibby dib yo da dub dub, yo da dub dub~”

After finishing with the cleaning, Eikichi makes good on his passing previous comment. It’s time for them all to finally get out of this place onto the street. Surprisingly, Johann doesn’t object. The festival of Saragarhi is going to end soon, might as well take a look.

To finally escape from the building is liberating for most. Fleur and Haruka are especially delighted, they haven’t gotten out not even once, Mara doesn’t seem to mind.

The competitions are all over, now it’s the time for celebration. Stall of delicious and exotic from all over the world are displayed. Curiously, this means ‘all over the world’ for the summoned. Apparently, all the ingredients and recipes are provided by the Divine. That does beg the question of what did the people of Eden eat before their arrival?

Such a question doesn’t bother Haruka at all. There are more food here than what the kid has had his entire life. And all of them are simply masterpiece of cuisine. All of them, no exception is at least three-star level of cooking.

Jim walks around cautiously, his eyes darting everywhere. After the meeting with Six, the teenager has become somewhat paranoid. He is immediately interrupted by Eikichi who shoves a bundle of freshly baked potato into his arms.

“Hot, hot, hot!”

Haruka, smelling food turn around “Let me have some of that” The kid grabs one piece, a bad idea if there is one. Soon enough, the potato is being juggled “Hot, hot, hot!”

The potato falls from his hands, luckily, it is caught by Fleur.

“You shouldn’t play around with food”

Haruka, however, is no longer listening as a cart of chocolate fountain is passing by. The beautician looks around to find everyone minding their business. After some contemplation, she decides to take a bite.

“Is it good?”

A voice suddenly rang out behind, sending shiver up Fleur’s spine. It’s just the old lady, Mara. Despite the prosthetic leg, she can be very quiet.

“Are you going to finish all of that” Mara asked.

“No… of course not”

“Then can I have half then”

Digging her nail into the hot food, Fleur splits the potato into half. The two then sit down on the bench, enjoying their treat while people watching. Something Fleur did while she was off her shift. But the woman can’t shake of a strange uncanny feeling looking at all these people filled with joy.

Their face full of emotion and yet their eyes aren’t truly looking at anything. Remind her of Cassian, who is blending in perfectly with the crowd. At the fountain, Alva is having to take care of Haruka, whose malnourish body can’t handle all the sudden intake of food.

Jim is dragged by Eikichi to an attraction of sort. One that could be found in all sort of festivals, a strength tester.

“Come on, people, can anyone hit the perfect score of 100 today” Announced the announcer. On the board next to him is a number 75 with a lone name.

“That look fun, why don’t you give it a try, Jimmy” Said Eikichi.

“Don’t call me Jimmy” The teenager replied grumpily, crackling his knuckles. Even though he is raised with the virtue of being humble, Jim still believes that he is stronger than most around his age. And he isn’t one to turn down a challenge.

“Oh, we have a contender, what is your name?”

“It’s Jim, Jim Cross”

The teenager grabs the sledgehammer, which is heavier than he had expected. But that isn’t going to be a problem. Jim concentrates his strength; his body and heart are as still as a calm pond.

The entire crowd turns silent, they have never seen such a raw display as this before. Such stillness, what a build-up. Then with a thunderous swing, the hammer hits the target. It shoots up to display a school of… 44.

Turn out I am just hot garbage, the thought runs throughout Jim’s mind as he walks away in a calmly manner.

“I will give it a try then” Johann comes in “And Jim, you can stop walking into that wall now”

The teenager sits dejected as Johann prepares himself. The young warrior lifts the sledgehammer like its nothing and gently check the handle. His stature and care are certainly evocative, truly a child of the Divine… too bad it is of a serene maiden.

With an elegant swing as light as a feather, the target shoots up to 72.

“Oh, a respectable number, ladies and gentlemen. Envoy from the capital sure is a different league, he hasn’t even used mana yet!”

Johann walks to Jim and puts a hand on the teenager shoulder “Don’t worry, this competition allows the use of mana, you still did well”

For ‘some’ reason, Jim isn’t really happy hearing that from someone who got 72. At least his feeling of shattered pride now shifts into something else, indifferent. Why is he even comparing himself to the people of this world…

“Oh my Divine, 78! 78! 78! We finally have a new record!”

“Hm, this is harder than I thought” Commented Eikichi casually as he returns the sledgehammer without breaking a single sweat.

Never mind then, Jim is back to shattered pride mood.

Johann takes another turn, this time he will try to use his power. Mana coursing through his vein, the young warrior smashes the target elegantly for an impressive 89. Still not enough to break the 90 barriers but the crowd still breaks into grasp of amazement anyway.

“Hm, decent” Johann puts down the sledgehammer, pleased with the result.

Jim looks up to see a shadow walking past the young warrior. It’s Doraemon but there is something strange about the girl. There is a sultry look on her face as she licks her soft lips. It is certainly reminiscing of the time at the arena. Don’t tell me.

Her fingers coiling around the handle, Doraemon breaths in with an ecstatic expression. The girl then opens her eyes and slams the hammer straight into the target. The target bursts up to easily hit 100.

“Piece of cake”

Doraemon looks back into the crowd, only to find Eikichi busy talking to Johann about something. The expression of satisfaction disappears from the girl face. It is replaced by one that Jim can’t determine if it is frowning or puffing.

“Did you just dope up…”

Before the teenager could finish his sentence, Doraemon glares dagger at him. If he continues, she will probably carve him a few more holes to breath from. Well, that is what he thinks up and Jim know that Doraemon has a much better imagination than him. Better keep that mouth zipped tight.

He nearly jumps, however, as Eikichi suddenly swings his arm around the teenager shoulder.

“Heya, I am going to grab some drink, you are old enough right?”

Waiting for no answer, the bald man drags him along anyway. With them are Fleur who also misses herself some alcohol and Johann. They follow the young warrior leads to where there is supposed to be the promise of booze, a bar of sort.

Behind them is Doraemon, who follows ‘begrudgingly’.