Chapter 24: On the rooftop at dusk, just like that day—

Apparently, Shione-chan’s current state—her soul having slipped out of her body—is extremely dangerous. When I think about it, that’s only natural.

"So that means we have to find her right away, right?"

"Yes. As fast as possible—search every corner."

"...So in the end, who exactly are we looking for? Hey, Takamiyagi, do you know?"

"Yes. More or less."

"No way! I’ve always thought this about you—stop telling lies with a straight face already!?"

Leaving the noisy group of upperclassmen behind, I grabbed Lynette and quietly slipped into a corner of the hallway. It’s hard to talk properly with people hovering around. At this rate, I felt like something important might slip out.

"So, Lynette—do you have any idea where Shi-chan might be?"

"I-I don’t know."

"You’re a witch, though?"

"W-Why do you know that…? I mean, who are you exactly?"

"I told you already. I’m Yozakura Shione, second-year high schooler (provisional)."

"D-Did you…?"

"Yeah. So, you really don’t know where she is?"

"It’s just… for some reason, I can’t clearly see Shione. It’s been like that since I met her. She’s there, but not there at the same time. I can’t really tell what she’s thinking either… it’s almost like…"

Lynette suddenly cut herself off.

But I already knew what she was about to say.

"...As if she’s already no longer part of this world."

…Well, I get where Lynette is coming from, but it still doesn’t quite match the image of Shi-chan in my head. In the game, she was frail but caring, always smiling, and someone who would give her all for others. Plus, she had that clumsy streak.

But at the same time, I remembered a ghost story my mother once told me—

—"She was the kind of girl who would stand behind you before you even noticed, completely expressionless."

So which one is the truth?

"But! I feel responsible too. If there’s anything I can do, please tell me!"

"Oh…"

That’s reassuring. Lynette is basically a jack-of-all-trades—well, aside from the things she just can’t do. Still, when she’s mentally stable, there’s no one more reliable. Maybe only Takamiyagi-senpai in full motivation mode could compete. The problem is how quickly she panics…

"Thanks. I’ll ask if I think of something."

Either way, the black stone is definitely involved. Which means I’ll need Lynette—the supernatural expert—for sure. Oh right, there was something I wanted to ask earlier.

"By the way, why were you so scared of Takahiro-kun?"

"...That person isn’t just cursed—his very existence is distorted."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"He has a constitution that attracts misfortune and drags everyone around him into it—"

"Uh-huh."

"In simple terms… he’s like a living, moving black hole."

Yeah, that’s definitely bad. The closer you are, the more likely you’ll get caught up in it. …Wait.

Could Shi-chan’s condition possibly be—

I quietly glanced behind me.

…Ah, good. That guy Takahiro is just staring out the window at the field. Please stay that way. If he heard my theory, he might actually kill himself.

"By the way, how do you calm a black hole?"

"It would require power on a global scale. I… I can’t do that…"

Seriously? In the game, as long as you reached a good ending, no one ended up unhappy. So his romance is world-scale now? Figures.

…Which means, for everyone to live happily, he needs a girlfriend.

Find Shi-chan. Get Takahiro a girlfriend.

Having to do both is rough. If the original Shi-chan just married him, everything would be solved—but that seems unlikely…

"Um, um! I-I’ll do anything, so please tell me!"

Thinking I was upset, Lynette hurriedly spoke up. I stopped and looked at her.

…Wait. Did she just say anything?

"...Really?"

"Y-Yes. Go ahead."

She straightened up obediently. Cute. Approved.

I smiled gently and placed a hand on her shoulder so she couldn’t escape.

"By the way, Lynette… are you currently looking for a boyfriend?"

"N-No… not particularly! I’ve never really felt the need… B-But why bring that up all of a sudden?"

"Well, I’ve got the perfect opportunity for you. Want to hear it? Of course you do."

"Huh…? Huh?"

"Hey, Senpai. No."

Smack. My head was lightly tapped.

I turned to see Kaimori-chan standing there with her hands on her hips, looking exasperated.

"Wh-Why are you interrupting, Kaimori-chan? I was just getting to the good part… Were you listening?"

"You two were talking way too long. I caught part of it, but honestly, I had no idea what you were talking about."

"...Which part?"

"Something about calming a black hole. What kind of genre is this? Also, you were trying to dump Ryuzoji-senpai on another stranger again, weren’t you?"

"Ryuzoji-senpai…? I don’t know… never heard of him…"

This is bad. If my track record gets exposed, nothing will work anymore.

I shook my head and put on my most innocent act.

"Why are you suddenly speaking like that? That wide-eyed look isn’t going to save you. Come on, apologize."

She didn’t fall for it at all.

I bowed sincerely to Lynette.

"I deeply regret any behavior that may have seemed like I was trying to push Takahiro onto you."

"Okay, good enough. So—who are we looking for next?"

Kaimori-chan sighed but seemed willing to help.

"Alright, Kaimori-chan. First, let’s look for me."

"...There you go again, saying weird things with a straight face… You mean what you said in the classroom earlier?"

"Lynette, how long until things get dangerous?"

"I-I think… three weeks at most…"

Wait, that’s already bad.

It’s been about two weeks since I woke up as Shi-chan. That means there’s only one week left.

"...Wait. What about me? I’m completely separated from my original body too. Isn’t that bad?"

"...I-I’m not sure…"

Lynette averted her gaze.

…Got it. It’s bad.

"I think we’ll have to ask Shione herself. We don’t even know where she called you from."

"Then who exactly is Senpai here supposed to be?"

"By the way, Lynette, why are you here?"

"Hey, stop ignoring me!"

"I happened to see photos of the school festival on social media, and the black stone was in them. So I came to retrieve it."

"...The black stone?"

Beside me, Kaimori-chan froze.

We exchanged a glance.

(That thing?)

(Yeah. So don’t ask.)

"Lynette-san, is it dangerous?"

"Hey, Kaimori-chan—"

"Yes. It has the power to alter the world itself. If left alone, it’s very dangerous."

Kaimori-chan stared at me intensely.

"I knew it… that’s why you wanted it so badly…"

"No, that’s not it."

"So your goal is world domination…?"

"No, seriously, it’s not."

What kind of person am I in her mind? A demon lord?

Anyway, with a time limit now, we can’t waste time.

So where is Shi-chan?

She should be nearby—Mom saw her. She was in town too. She even said, "Catch me."

…Wait.

"By the way, Kaimori-chan… you didn’t see me?"

"I’m looking at you right now."

"Not that! When we first went to Kitatsuji-san’s shop! When we rested on the bench—another me appeared, remember!?"

Kaimori-chan looked at me like I had lost my mind.

"...Nope. Didn’t see anything at all."

But thinking back, it’s true—there was no one else around at that time. That’s why Kaimori-chan didn’t see her. Then why… did Mother see her? …Could this be some kind of clue?

"Kaimori-chan! We’re going back to the classroom! …Lynette, you come too!"

The moment I dashed down the hallway, I heard Kaimori-chan’s flustered voice behind me.

"H-Hey, Senpai! Wait—…slow!?"

Seeing that I wasn’t getting anywhere, Takamiyagi-senpai smoothly lifted me up. This is bad—my internal organs are in danger. Maybe it showed on my face, because Senpai quietly looked at me. I could feel her saying leave it to me, so I hesitantly nodded.

"Please. To my classroom."

We arrived in thirty seconds.

This time, there was barely any shaking—like riding a bullet train. The speed of Senpai’s improvement is terrifying. What is even going on with her?

"Oh my, my dear daughter. Now you’re being carried by a beautiful older girl? You’re quite popular, aren’t you?"

"Mom! About what you said earlier!"

When I pressed her for details, Mother made a troubled face.

"Even if you ask for details…"

"Did you notice anything!? Even something small!"

"Hmm… let’s see… oh, right."

As if recalling something, she looked up.

"Her clothes."

"...Clothes?"

"For some reason, she was wearing summer clothes. I remember thinking she must be cold."

"Summer clothes…?"

"Sorry, I might be mistaken. I sometimes see strange things."

"Strange things?"

"When something happens, I get this feeling like—‘I already knew this.’ You know déjà vu? It’s like a clearer version of that. Even though it should be the first time I’m seeing it, it feels like I’ve already known it. Even though that shouldn’t be possible."

"Lynette, what do you think?"

"I believe… your mother may have seen a past version of Shione. If that ability runs in the bloodline, it would make sense."

It seemed Lynette already understood Shione’s special ability. Well, she wouldn’t have handed over something like the black stone otherwise. She must have been sure Shi-chan could handle it.

"In that case, it’s not much of a clue…"

"No. …If we can figure out what Shione was looking at, it might become a clue."

Mother said she saw her from near the classroom door. I tried tracing the line of sight Shi-chan would have had.

It led… to my seat.

…She was looking at her own seat?

“It’s not like she forgot where her seat was… right?”

“I don’t really get it, but that’s definitely not it.”

“Yeah… with just this, it’s still a bit weak as a clue…”

Including Kaimori-chan, who was still trying to catch up, we huddled together to discuss. The conclusion was simple: not enough information. Which meant we needed to gather more.

“Lynette, can’t I see it too? The original could see both the future and the past, right? If I’m going to chase her, I at least need to stand on the same level.”

Lynette clapped her hands.

Oh? Is this it? Am I about to awaken something too? It’s the same body, after all.

“Then… I’ll write a spell. If it’s a place where Shione’s will strongly remains, we should be able to make her form appear!”

“Huh? No, not that—I meant I want to be able to see the past or future myself—”

“Then, I’ll be right back!”

Lynette dashed off and disappeared somewhere.

I chased after her for about three steps… then immediately gave up.

Why does no one ever listen to me?

“So… Senpai can’t see the past or future…? I don’t get it anymore… which is it…?”

Lynette returned about an hour later. Apparently, she had surrounded the entire school with a barrier. Within it, if there was any place where Shione’s will remained, her figure would appear there.

I briefly considered asking why that barrier couldn’t just locate Shione directly—but decided against it. She did say she couldn’t read her even when she was right in front of her.

“Can normal people see it too?”

“Yes! As long as the barrier holds!”

“And how long will that last?”

“Until around sunset, I think!”

I looked out the window. The sunlight was already slanting low, the sky shifting from blue to orange.

Less than an hour until sunset.

…Wait, what?

“That’s impossible. There’s no way we can search the whole school that fast.”

“…Ah!”

Lynette covered her mouth, realizing it. Cute—no, not the time. That clumsy trait is showing up at the worst possible moment.

What do we do? Even with high-speed Takamiyagi-senpai, blindly searching a school this big in an hour is rough.

“Hey, what’s wrong? Why the gloomy faces?”

Kitatsuji-san and Yuno-chan joined us. Now everyone was here.

I briefly explained the situation—leaving out Lynette’s magic and the truth about me, of course. Just explaining that would take us past sunset.

Still, everyone thought hard… but no good ideas came up.

“I see. So before sunset, you want to find the images of Yozakura-senpai appearing around the school… I don’t understand the mechanism at all, though.”

“We’ve been running around searching for things nonstop since yesterday.”

“…Yesterday? Oh?”

Yuno-chan suddenly spoke up.

…There it is. The strategist has arrived.

“Yes, Yuno-chan! You have permission to speak!”

“Everyone already knows what Yozakura-senpai looks like from yesterday’s tag game, right?”

“Yeah… so?”

“Then why not gather sightings from as many people as possible?”

We all looked at each other.

…That’s it.

Since normal people could see her, that was far more efficient than searching blindly.

The only problem was—I barely had any friends.

But Kitatsuji-san and Kaimori-chan stepped up. Using their connections, they contacted everyone they knew.

And thanks to yesterday’s tag game, reports of Shione sightings started coming in one after another.

“The courtyard, the shoe lockers, and the stairs leading to the rooftop… alright, let’s go!”

With no time to spare, I hopped onto Takamiyagi-senpai. Not to be outdone, Kitatsuji-san hoisted Yuno-chan onto her back. Yuno-chan looked like she was thinking, “Why am I being carried?”, but said nothing and simply clung on. That left Lynette and Kaimori-chan…

“Then, while we’re at it, should Kaimori-chan get Takahiro-kun to carry her too?”

“I absolutely refuse!”

In the end, we settled on this formation: Takamiyagi-senpai carrying me while also giving Kaimori-chan a piggyback ride, Kitatsuji-san carrying Lynette while piggybacking Yuno-chan, and Takahiro running on his own. Hard to believe, but this was probably the fastest way for this group to move.

First, the courtyard.

When we got there, sure enough—there was Shione, standing quietly by the wall. She was in summer clothes. It looked like she was gazing toward the bench set up in the plaza…?

“That’s where we always eat lunch, right?”

Next, the shoe lockers.

Shione stood just to the side of the entrance.

…Did something happen here?

“Come to think of it, we always used to meet up around here…”

Then, the stairs leading to the rooftop.

Halfway up, Shione stood there, staring expressionlessly at the door ahead.

Beyond that…

“That’s where we first met Takamiyagi-senpai, right?”

It seemed like Shione had been watching our future actions…

But for what purpose?

With loud clang, clang, clang footsteps echoing, we ran up the stairs to the rooftop. As we passed her, I caught a glimpse of her face—there was no expression at all.

At the front, Takamiyagi-senpai reached for the rooftop door.

The heavy metal door creaked open with a low groan.

In the next instant, the trapped outside air rushed in, brushing against my cheeks. It was slightly dry, slightly cold, carrying a faint scent of distant earth and metal fencing.

And then, my view opened up.

It was a rooftop at sunset.

Everything—the fence, the water tank, the cracked floor, the old cleaning tools pushed to the side—was dyed in the deep red of the evening sky.

And there, at the far edge of the rooftop, with the setting sun behind her—

Shione stood alone, looking down at the field through the fence.

Every time the wind blew, her long, soft hair swayed gently. Her short-sleeved white blouse was tinted pale pink by the sunset, and the hem of her navy skirt had taken on a deep crimson hue, as if it had absorbed the glow of dusk.

Then, she turned.

Her eyes narrowed slightly—whether from the backlight of the sun, the brightness of looking our way, or as if she were staring at something truly dazzling.

Bang.

Behind me, the door slammed shut.

“…Huh. So you came in quite a crowd.”

Shione’s voice was clear—far too clear for the color of dusk.

…Is this the real one?

No—she’s wearing short sleeves too. This probably isn’t the real one either.

I glanced around to check with the others—left, right… and then behind me.

…Huh?

No one was there.

Takamiyagi-senpai. Kaimori-chan. Kitatsuji-san. Yuno-chan. Lynette. Takahiro.

Everyone who should’ve come up to the rooftop… had completely vanished.

The wind blew.

The fence rattled softly.

Under the red light, on the wide rooftop—

It was just me… and Shione.

…Why?

Did they just ditch me? We were all together a second ago…?

…Ah, whatever. Who cares!