KEY to The Upside Down¹

(He’s really panicking… But of course he is. This thing must be part of a teenage boy’s unmentionables.)

Here, lemme hold it! So when you put it in the bag, it’s hard and cold like an ice gel pillow right?! Feels nice, right?!

And it’s REALLY friggin’ good to hold when you’re sleeping! Yeah! This is a sleep thing! I was sleeping with it just now!

I can’t sleep without it, y’know! I gotta hold it! I was born on this planet to hold this thing!

*sigh…* I can’t sleep with you shouting like that… Why are you being so loud?

Nanaki can’t sleep without his favorite goat plushie! WOW, what a coincidence! It’s like how I can’t sleep without this thing!

I remember you mentioning that at the cafe. I didn’t know that about you, Nanaki-kun.

Huh?! A… Akuta, you fu…!

Could you cut that out?! Don’t get the wrong idea! That’s not true!

He’s just lying for fun! Right, Akuta?!

Urhgg… Agh… Ghhgg…

Wh-What a splendid front headlock…! You have beautiful form, but that is dangerous! Cease at once!

I’ll let go of him as soon as we get outta the room…! Excuse us, good night! Kinugawa-kun, come on!

O-Okay…!

Stop, please! What gym did you attend to learn that technique?! Who was your instructor?! How on earth did you⁠—

Sakujiro-san, let’s just let them go!

However…!

Teenage boys have a lot of things they’d like to hide…!

*sigh…* Nothing beats a cup of tea before bed. The caffeine hits me right in my parasympathetic nervous system.

The moon’s so beautiful and bright tonight.

It’s too bright. I can’t sleep like this.

*pant, pant, pant…* Holy shit…!

D’UGHHH, bro, I swear I was seein’ the pearly gates for a second!

Coming in without knocking first is a sin, y’know. Got any excuses for that?

I think they saw.

Huh?

The egg.

Who saw it?

Chief…and Mr. Saku-chan.

WHAT?!

Calm down, Ushio. We shouldn’t blame them.

Is the egg alright?

Ah, yeah, probably. It fell on the ground, but it looked okay when I put it back in the bag.

Alright. Let me take a look.

…The countdown’s still going.

What’s it countin’ down for anyway? It’s not moving at the same speed as a regular clock.

It…goes down by one…every 3.5 seconds.

Will it crack when it reaches zero?

You think it’s gonna explode like the old school building?

…We never should’ve taken it with us. We should’ve just left it in that building.

Well, we already have it, so saying that’s not gonna change anything.

I was against us keeping it from the beginning.

…Mm-mm…

Your actions aren’t backing up your words. You should’ve told a teacher about it if you were that against it.

I know that you didn’t want any of the staff finding out why you were at the old building, so you tried to get through their questioning fast and never even mentioned the egg.

……

No fighting, gang! We’re all bros in the same boat here, so let’s get along.

We’re not fighting. Kurama-kun here is just spitting out sarcasm as always.

I’m totally okay with us keepin’ it, by the way. Maybe we’ll get to see another awesome explosion scene if we have it.

I could get as many shots of Hollywood-level special effects as I want for free! That would rock!

I still think we should get rid of it.

……

Lemme guess, Kinugawa. You feel the same. Must be nice to be a dove. All you gotta do to be happy is fly around and pick flowers.

…Dove.

Doves are people who prefer to be moderate and peaceful. In contrast, more aggressive people are hawks.

So we all agree that it was either this egg or another egg that was in that classroom that caused the explosion, right?

And the countdown’s still going on this one.

I’m trying to tell you guys that this isn’t something we can solve on our own. Before something happens, we⁠—

So are you saying we should just leave this thing here?

Stop jumping to conclusions.

I’m not. We can’t tell the adults about this.

If we don’t wanna cause a mess, we have to get rid of it. That’s what you doves want, right?

*sigh*

……

*sigh…* Can you stop making it so obvious that you don’t like that idea?

I’m just stating my opinion… How about we take a vote and decide this democratically?

I’m against throwing it out. Idiotake is too. So there are two votes to keep it.

I’m also against it. We can’t throw it out.

It might be evidence of the existence of extraterrestrial life. I’ve been searching for that for so long.

So I want to keep it. Especially since I’m the person who brought it out of the old school building.

I apologize.

I guess I get why Kaguya-kun wants to keep it, but what’s your reason, Kurama-kun?

It seems fun. And it could probably be used to give those assholes a taste of their own medicine. Is that good enough for you?

*scoff* You’re unbelievable.

Weeeeeeell, let’s just end it there for now, guys!

Looks like the voting’s done at three to two anyway.

……

We found this egg, and we took it with us. If we look at things from a different angle…

Maybe it wanted us to find it.

It’s like a key item the scriptwriter gives to the main character, and he’s like “Use this to make everyone’s jaws hit the floor!”

That means that we’re the main characters, guys.

This egg is proof that we’re different from the others—proof that we’re special!

So we gotta keep it until the end of the story.

……

Fine.

It doesn’t look like the countdown’s gonna hit zero for a while.

So we can keep taking turns with it. Here, who’s next?

…I’ll take it.

YAHOOOOOO! Back to normal! Make sure to say something with the walkie-talkie app if anything happens, guys.

What should we say if Chief and Mr. Saku-chan find out?

We just need to play dumb. That’s why we’re taking turns with the egg in the first place.

…Roger that.

So it’s settled. By the way…

How’s everyone feeling about our work here?

I…think I’m starting to get into it.

Hm? You look quite happy.

I always look like this.

What about you, Isotake?

Not to worry, kind sir. There’s no need to rush just yet.

All you’re doing is filming the festival, so you don’t even have anything to do yet.

Nothin’ on my end. I haven’t done anything, and I don’t wanna. We don’t even have that much time before the festival⁠—

So it’s going smoothly, I see.

Woah, okay, labor law case incoming.

And Kinugawa?

Ah… Ah.

He’s got this in the bag! Nothing a genius artist like him can’t do!

……

He’s gonna draw awesome stuff and make some awesome paper lanterns and blow all of humanity’s minds all awesome-like! Just you wait. Awesome.

…Um…

That’s good to hear. I’m going to brush my teeth and use the bathroom before bed.

Me too.

……

The only “awesome” thing you’re gonna be doing is coloring in designs that are already there. Even AI could do that.

……

…Helloooo?

………

Are you listening?

…………

Hey, I’ve been wanting to ask you somethin’.

*gasp…*

Are you always like that?

…! Uh…

……

………

*sigh* Whatever. Forget about it.

………