3

The clock that was always five minutes late showed the time to be just before 11:45.

The noise of the surrounding children managed to beat out the shrill buzzing of the cicadas. A boy and a girl were swinging next to each other while another group of boys threw yellow balls at each other in a manner similar to dodgeball, but without a marked court.

Asai Kei and Haruki Misora sat next to each other on a park bench.

“July 23rd, 11:48:46,” Haruki said. She had her cell phone to her ear, listening to the time-by-phone service.

Kei thought back through the last five minutes. It was currently Sunday, July 23rd, 11:48:46 AM, but five minutes ago was July 26th, which should have been three days later. Until just recently, it had been July 26th, with Kei and Haruki sitting in the same park, although it was empty.

“It would appear we’ve reset,” Kei said. Kei’s ability was the perfect recall of everything he had ever experienced. As a result, even the last three days that had been reset would stay with him. “Before the reset, we were looking into a boy named Kusakabe Shouta.”

A boy would disappear the next day, on the night of July 24th. He would vanish right before Nonō Seika’s eyes after proclaiming, I’m going to get some moon dust. Nobody knew what kind of ability he had, not even the Bureau.

The day after the boy’s disappearance, the 25th, Kei and Haruki were ordered to investigate as part of their Service Club work, with the immediate priority of guaranteeing the boy’s safety. Another day passed, and the boy had not returned on the 26th, so they reset.

“Any questions?” Kei asked, having explained the last three days in detail. The children in the park chased after a yellow ball.

“None in particular,” Haruki answered.

“Alright then, we’ll go meet Kusakabe Shouta tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow?”

“Mhm. We’ll leave him and Nonō-san alone for today.”

Kusakabe Souta was scheduled to disappear the following night, but if Kei took action immediately, then for all he knew it could only serve to speed up that process. They would be able to save after 24 hours, so there was no rush. They could save at noon the next day and take things one step at a time from there.

“So we will not be doing anything today?” Haruki asked.

“Nope. All I plan to do is take a good look at the moon tonight.”

A rather small child threw a ball as hard as he could, and it sailed over another kid’s head, bouncing into the corner of the park.

✽

That night, around 7:30 PM, Kusakabe Shouta was climbing a set of narrow stone steps behind Kamisaki Shrine, carrying a small backpack and telescope with him. The small staircase was well-hidden from the general public, being easy to miss unless you were told about it beforehand.

The moon hung low in the sky, looking like a circle cut in half. Shouta paid close attention to his steps, climbing the dark stairway with the aid of the moonlight.

One summer night the previous year, Kusakabe Shouta had climbed the same mountain. He carried the same backpack and telescope, but went on a different path. He hadn’t yet discovered the stairway behind the shrine.

His goal was to go stargazing. Having just been gifted a telescope from his father, he wanted to put it to the best use possible. That night, he snuck out of his house, finding a place as far removed from the city lights as possible. As he searched for the highest, darkest place possible, he lost himself in fascinated wandering, before suddenly realizing he was actually lost.

Before long, his arms hurt from carrying his telescope, and his legs could barely support his next steps. He ended up collapsing down beside a large tree.

The more time that passed, the greater his anxiety swelled. He found himself unironically considering that he just might die alone there. Looking up into the night sky through the dark tree branches, Shouta began silently crying.

Suddenly, he felt a strange pecking at his feet. He looked down to find a cat swiping at his shoelaces.

It was a strange and mysterious cat. Its small, gaunt figure was accented by beautiful white fur that shone in the moonlight. Its head moved, and deep yellow eyes flashed with gold like two full moons side by side.

The cat calmly turned around and began walking away.

At first, Shouta was confused. Everything pointed to the cat being a stray. It had no collar on, and looked far too skinny to be a pet. Am I supposed to follow this cat? The very thought of a stray trying to rescue him was silly.

As Shouta was trying to make sense of things, the cat slowly turned back around. Then, it meowed at him. It was an uninterested sound, as if it were making fun of him.

Realizing that whatever the case, he couldn’t just stay under the tree forever, Shouta decided to follow the cat. The cat walked calmly and quickly through the unmarked mountain terrain as Shouta desperately followed behind. At the time, it felt like he was following the cat forever, but looking back on it, they could have only been walking for about ten minutes.

As Shouta followed the cat, his field of vision suddenly widened. He realized that he was standing before a small shrine. The scene before him was so fantastical and unreal, he wondered for a moment if he had somehow stepped into another world.

Countless cats dotted the shrine. In the middle of them all was a single girl, sitting on the small three-step stairway up to the shrine. Her skin was a pure, stark white and her hair was a sharp, ebony black. Her eyes were closed as if in sleep, and calm exuded from her features. The moonlight covered and accentuated her white skin, giving it a cold, faint glow.

Just who could this girl be?

Shouta wasn’t even sure if she was human or not. If someone told him she was the spirit of the moon, or a cat goddess, he would have bought it. Then, the girl opened her eyes.

Beautiful eyes blacker than the night sky stared into him.

His breath caught in his throat. He couldn’t take his eyes off her. His heart skipped a beat.

It was love at first sight. He had never experienced it before, but it was unmistakable. The moment her eyes opened, he fell in love for the first time.

Her face devoid of human expression, she softly announced her name.

“I am Nonō Seika.”

The narrow staircase he was now climbing had been shown to him by the girl he met that night. That winding staircase hidden away by the shrine became the single connecting thread between her and Shouta.

Shouta walked that path many times over the following year. He liked the chance to view the night sky, but even more so yearned for the opportunity to see that beautiful girl.

But that was all going to end.

In four days, Shouta would be moving away. He wanted her to feel sorry about that, lofty a goal though it may have been. He understood very well that it was a bit of a tall order for someone like her. After all, her life would go on just the same, whether he was there or not. No doubt her days would pass in the same way, and she would wear the same expression on her face. He knew that was just the kind of person Nonō Seika was.

The staircase ended, giving way to a mountain path. Shouta quickly scrambled up it.

He was jealous of that white cat. The one who had died half a year ago, wanting to go to the moon. The cat that had brought her and Shouta together.

Even now, when Nonō talked about that cat, a smile would break onto her face. He was long dead, but he still deserved that expression from her. No doubt the cat would bring about that same expression for a long time after. In all honesty, Shouta wanted that too.

He wasn’t sure how he could pull that off. How could he possibly get into the good graces of someone as lovely as her in the same way that cat had? As he mulled it over, Shouta began to realize he actually didn’t know that much about her in the first place. She never talked about herself. He didn’t know her hobbies, her likes or dislikes.

The only thing that came to mind were cats. More specifically, that white cat.

What if he could make that cat’s wish come true?

He would need something that could benefit the cat, anything at all. It just needed to be related to the moon. If he could bring her some moon dust, would that get her interest in the same way the cat did?

Ever since the day that he was told they’d be moving away, he had been thinking hard. A month passed, and Shouta acquired an ability. But his ability was incredibly weak. It would never be capable of granting the wish to gather moon dust.

He continued climbing the mountain until a small shrine came into view. But Nonō wasn’t there. Since Nonō wasn’t present, neither were any of the cats. It was just a small, empty shrine.

Shouta sat down on the steps of the shrine, looking around. 30 minutes passed, but Nonō didn’t show up.

Guess today’s another bust, he thought.

There were only four days left before his move. Would he be able to find Nonō Seika at night once more, at the same time and place where the moon had mediated their first meeting?

✽

Asai Kei watched the boy from behind the trees, completely shrouded in the darkness of night, carefully examining his sad expression. Kei couldn’t help but notice that the boy left the shrine without ever once opening his telescope or looking up into the night sky.

Clearly, his objective had nothing to do with celestial bodies far away in the heavens.