Kazuichi wakes up to a couple of surprises.

Kazuichi woke up from a dream he hardly remembered. It had been... something hot, he was sure. Or he thought he was sure?

Quickly, the reality of Kazuichi's situation came back to him as his brain finished sorting out the three worlds he'd been part of lately. There was the real world he was in now, the dream he'd just woken up from, and another "dream world" he wanted to get back to as quickly as he could. After getting some great sleep, Kazuichi had decided to admit to himself: as nervous as he was about it, there was definitely some excitement in experiencing that game. There might even be some health benefits. Was it wrong for him to think of it as a reward for his hard work?

... It probably was. No, it definitely was. But as much as he told himself that, the feeling didn't go away. After all, he'd spent so long working on that Coffin for this project, and just now he'd spent... some amount of time he couldn't remember... working on what, exactly...?

Kazuichi glanced down at the strange partially-assembled metal device on his floor. It was...

"What the heck is it?" Kazuichi muttered to himself, picking up the thin, precariously-assembled rectangular object and inspecting it from different angles. As a person who knew machines... As the person who had, presumably, started building it last night... He had no idea what he was looking at. Even the way it was built was bizarre: it looked like he'd only half-finished the frame before he'd started assembling the electronics for it. He couldn't even guess what percentage complete it was.

Feeling his heartbeat quicken, Kazuichi hastily dropped the alien device and stared at it. That assembly method was more like something a robot or a computer would do than any human... It was like an artist seeing a work in a totally different style and yet knowing it was his. He considered the implications with his fingernails in his sharp teeth for just a moment before coming to a simple conclusion: "Oh yeah! Chiaki is putting this blueprint in my brain part-by-part, at a slow pace. I guess I must have gotten excited and worked on it last night, but it's not anything I could draw up myself. It's in, uh... computer language. In my brain."

Coming to that conclusion was somehow not as relieving as Kazuichi had hoped it would be. He made up his mind to ask Chiaki if there was anything she could do to make this process a little less "alien abductiony" (the words he planned to use) in the future. However, he didn't have any plans to quit. This device was important to Chiaki, to Hajime... to all of them. He had a responsibility to see it through.

...

All the same, he shuffled the contraption under his bed like it was a dirty magazine before finally changing into a fresh jumpsuit. He was just about to head out when he suddenly remembered the last important part... He grabbed a fist full of tissues, hid them safely in one of his pockets, then exited into the bright sun of a Jabberwock Island morning.

Before he knew it, Kazuichi was in front of the lab for the coffin again. He hadn't met anyone on his way over, and although he hadn't properly registered it yet, he hadn't picked up breakfast, either. He'd only just gotten out of bed, but the only thing on his mind was lying back down in the Coffin and enjoying a new-

"Surprise!"

Kazuichi jumped like he'd been caught up to something, flinching away from the blond-haired young lady in front of him. He shouldn't have been startled to see Hiyoko, considering she'd met him in the Coffin laboratory most days the entire time since the project started, however... "H-hey, Hiyoko! Did, uh, did Hajime talk to you about the rules I wanted on the coffin?"

Hiyoko raised an eyebrow first in confusion before letting her jaw fall in exasperated disgust. "Seriously, Kazuichi? Those are the manners your parents taught you? No 'good morning' or even 'whatcha got there,' but 'Did Hajime tell you I need you outta the lab cause I might crap myself?'"

"What- huh- w-wait, Hajime said what?!" Kazuichi suddenly rearranged his priorities. "Not cool! Hajime told me he was gonna tell you I was disoriented when I woke up! He told you I might shit myself?!"

Hiyoko seemed to be enjoying a good laugh at his expense, flashing him a toothy grin. "Not exactly. He did tell me I'm supposed to give you privacy at the wakeup time, but you can't fool me! What else would you need privacy for? Kyehehe!" After a solid ten seconds of laughter at his expense, she finally wound down and shoved what she was holding in front of his face. "Anyway, that's not even the funniest thing going on right now. Are you seriously not gonna ask me what this is, Kazuichi?"

The mechanic finally registered the cling-wrapped object. The wrap was transparent, but folded over and over, and although he could see a brown color, his brain wasn't giving him a guess. "Uh... Your breakfast?"

Hiyoko gave him a repulsed glare that told him what she thought of that response. "Kazuichi... I've told you I have a breakfast schedule, right? Why the heck would I bring my own breakfast, wrap it up in plastic, and show it to you? Idiot... Sooo, ta-da!" With a beaming smile, she began tearing through the layers of plastic... then worked her tongue on her lips for thirty seconds as she worked to get it fully unwrapped. "W-why did I wrap it so tight?! C'mon... There!" Grinning, she thrust it out into his chest. It was...

Kazuichi thought it was supposed to be a muffin. It had the smell and texture of one, if a little burnt. But the shape... it was more like a soccer ball of cake, and decorated with out-of-place multicolored sprinkles. If he looked closely... "Are these supposed to be letters? They look like... some kinda curse... what language is this?"

The frustrated dancer snatched it back from him hastily, turning it to a particular angle before holding it in front of his face. "Are you mentally challenged? Did your brain get zapped and melted? It says 'Grats Kazuichi!' Somebody baked this for you to congratulate you for your big dumb project succeeding!"

"That's supposed to be my name?" Kazuichi muttered, dumbfounded, as he took the thing back in his hands. "Wait, you baked this for me? Since when do you bake?"

Hiyoko seemed to want to protest, but she clammed up and played with her ponytail instead. "My Sis, Mahiru... She did most of the work on it, but I helped. Y'know, I wanted to say 'good work,' and since my dances put you to sleep, this is all I could think of..." The young lady turned her eyes back towards Kazuichi, to find him **** back tears and sniffling. "What are you doing? It'll get soggy!"

"I'm sorry, I'm j-just... kinda weak about this sappy stuff... Nobody's ever given me a gift like this!" Kazuichi wiped his nose with the sleeve of his jumpsuit. "So even though it's the kinda thing youd make someone in grade school, and even though it looks like it'll hatch into some kinda cake version of an alien in my stomach, I'll take it. Thank you...!!"

"Hey, screw you! Clean yourself up, you look like a hobo with influenza!" Hiyoko laughed, sharing his smile. "Well, you and I put a lot of work into this project, but I'm sure it'll be over soon. I know it's creepy to climb into a Coffin and shut yourself up, but try to bear with it a little bit longer for Hajime's sake too, okay? Everyone might not be saying it, but we know we owe you for this, and I-" Hiyoko stopped herself from her uncharacteristic soft talk, rolling her eyes and keeping them facing from him in a moody way. "Everybody was so glad to see you when you got out safe yesterday. But, Kazuichi..."

Remembering his hunger, Kazuichi was shoveling chunks of the unidentifiable pastry down his throat while still weeping. "Uhuh?"

"I know you've probably got a million things on your mind right now, but you ought to tell everyone how it's going when you get a chance, y'know? Hajime's probably dying to know how Chiaki is."

Kazuichi's pace of eating slowed down as he chewed over her words. He felt guilty about not talking to everyone more the night before, but could he really tell them what was going on in there? Half of the details were x-rated escapades he never wanted anyone to learn about, and the other half...

His mind returned to the device he'd been working on last night. The one Chiaki was teaching him to build, but that he didn't remember building. He wondered, if he tried to explain it to anyone, if he'd be able. "I'll think about it. The important thing is gettin' Chiaki out as fast as possible, though. Imagine bein' trapped in there for as long as she has, then being told there's a way out, but you've got to wait for it. Probably sucks big time, right?" He finished the last bite of his surprise, then headed over to the machine. "Thanks again, but I'm ready to get started. I'll see ya on the other side!"

Hiyoko began the process of shutting up the Coffin. Kazuichi reminded himself that even if she was sometimes a jerk and hardly did any work, there must be a good person in there, somewhere. He owed it to her and the rest of them to get this done quickly and efficiently. He felt ashamed of himself for ever thinking of this work as some kind of vacation for his pleasure. Quickly, he began to nod off again.

When he entered the simulation this time, he'd stay on track...