I create a world of finite somethings

No spoiler tag, since, like, nothing happens. Just silliness.




It was the stupidest, absolutely most cliched thing that could have happened. They were only supposed to be going to the rooftop, to the designated location Alice had given. It was only eleven floors, and then a quick stairway up to the roof. Nothing major, not even a long ride.

The power to the building went out and trapped them in the elevator.

"Don't they like, have emergency power or something in these situations?! Gah, what the hell is going on?! There wasn't even an earthquake or anything!" Aoko complained.

Soujuurou waited silently, listening to the magician rant and rave but refraining from responding. Going from past experience, she was not actually asking him these questions anyway, merely speaking aloud the thoughts she had in her head. If he responded at all, she might actually take insult to his answers or own queries. So, he stood patiently to one side, back to the elevator wall, absently looking around.

Indeed, the elevator had halted, just after floor seven. The lights had momentarily gone out and the sound like a moan suggesting the power going out to the entire building. Then a new set of different-colored, dimmer lights had come on, though they had not resumed their ascent. Aoko had then pressed buttons on the elevator control panel, though nothing had happened to the girl's overwhelming consternation and frustration. She had pounded her hand against the thing, then huffed and slapped at the controls randomly once before turning her back on them, as if they were a person she were giving the cold shoulder.

Only, more like a hot shoulder, since it was nearing summer. The humidity had followed them into the elevator, and now the air conditioner was not functioning.

"If this is Alice's fault, I'm gonna kick her ass," Aoko continued on her triad. "And you know, that way your stomach feels when you go up an elevator, and if you haven't eaten, it makes you realize all the more how hungry you are? Ugh."

Soujuurou did not know. He did not ride many elevators and had a sufficient lunch during his break from work.

"When we get out of here, I'm gonna file a complaint to the managers here. They need to make sure their elevators work when the power goes out. I mean, at least enough for the intercom to work, or the air conditioner." Though with that, Aoko frowned at the reflection of herself in the glossy finish of the elevator doors. She knew very well she was too lazy to do such a thing unless the managers of the place happened to be right there when they got out. "I mean, someone could be dying in here, and they'd have no way of knowing or even contacting us. For all we know, everything else out there could be fine and they just don't know any better since they can't check to see if anyone is inside the elev—wh-what are you doing?!"

The boy gave Aoko a confused look—though to Aoko, it really looked not much different than his regular expression. He finished pulling his shirt up over his head and folded it in his arms. "It's hot. I don't want to bake."

"B-but..." Aoko blanched as her housemate casually stripped his shirt right off as if someone of the opposite sex was not within sight or touching distance. Not that she wanted to look. Or touch. She blinked rapidly and tried to process Shizuki's behavior and place it within the context of her world.

Not happening.

"I'll put it back on when we get out," he said, still confused by her resistance. He knew people in town were generally more concerned with personal space and habits than he was used to, though at the same time there were those people in the downtown areas, the girls especially, that seemed to live by the truism "less is more." Nobody seemed to look at them strangely. Though at the same time, he realized most people also tended to give them a wide berth. Or stop in place entirely to admire them.

"D-don't you get...uh...uncomfortable with..." Aoko belatedly realized what this sounded like, stumbling past the personal reference of "me" and saying, "mmmmerr, other people this close?"

Soujuurou gave her a blank look.

"W-what?"

"Aren't you hot?" It honestly confused him how she could, in this stagnant and warm air, still keep her uniform sweater vest on.

Aoko flushed. "I'm not going to take my shirt off!"

"Okay," he said, hurriedly looking away. Once again, he had no idea what her problem was.



When the doors to the elevator finally opened, the scene presented before her made even Alice's eyes go a little wider.

Soujuurou was halfway standing over Aoko, his hand over Aoko's bra-clad breast. Soujuurou himself was naked from the waist up, Aoko partially save for her supporting underwear. Aoko had her head back to the wall of the elevator, her gaze somewhat foggy.

The boy turned his attention to the witch. "Hey. Sorry, it was hot." He casually removed himself from the intimate way he was touching the magus and went to retrieve his discarded shirt.

Alice stared at Aoko, her lips pursed—though in anger or amusement, even she was not sure. Aoko finally seemed to snap out of her trance and went entirely red, snatched up her own discarded blouse and sweater, and, clutching them to her chest, charged up to Alice. She whispered fiercely, "T-this isn't what it looks like!"

"You mean to say it is not as if it looked like you and Shizuki were a moment away from attempting to produce an heir to the Aozaki family?" Alice said, deadpan.

"I-I j-just touched h-him! I...the...it was..." Aoko looked ready to steam from the ears while her eyes looked ready to go in two different directions as she tried to organize her thoughts. "I didn't even know what I was doing! So...it...it was only fair, right? That he could, I mean...so, I said...that he could..."

Alice nodded, looking over Aoko's shoulder to their housemate. He simply pulled his shirt back on and looked at them curiously. Indeed, Alice knew, it was only fair. Not that Shizuki would know what, in this case, fairness meant. "Come on. You are an hour late."

"It's not my fault..." Aoko muttered.






...Yeah, I've been listening to Mahoyo music all day.