4

“Heya, Senpai,” said the girl with the red eyes.

Kei pushed himself upright from the tree he had been leaning on, looking at the girl’s face. In that span of time, he had already recognized her. She looks so different.

Oka Eri. It sounded like some kind of nickname, but that was in fact her full name.

She was a kouhai of his back in middle school. She had been a year behind him, which likely put her as a third-year middle schooler now. He didn’t think their reunion would have taken place in a location such as this.

“It’s been a while, Oka-san.”

The girl made a face. “Ew, ‘Oka-san’? That’s gross. Just use my full name, like you always did.”

“Very well, Oka Eri. Why are you here?” Kei couldn’t help but think it strange to run into someone on the outskirts of town outside the one building housing the Witch.

“Just a coincidence, really. I happened to be taking a walk around here, and I saw a familiar senpai making some serious-looking faces. Thought I’d come over and mess with you.” She chortled, “Kekeke.” It didn’t even come close to sounding natural.

What is she trying to pull? There aren’t any shops or anything around here that would interest a middle schooler. Discomfort started bubbling from within Kei. “Well, this is quite a surprise. You’ve really changed your image.” The girl in Kei’s memory had black eyes and a school uniform. She spoke completely differently, and didn’t chortle. In fact, she wasn’t much of a smiler at all.

“I’ve been wanting to dress like this for a long time now.”

“Sure. It works for you.” Kei nodded, before asking, “Should we go to a café or something? I’ve got a few things I wanted to talk about with you.”

“Hmm, we better not. If Haruki-senpai found out you went to a café with another girl, you’d be in quite the fix. Kekeke,” she chortled again. Evidently she smiled more now.

She pointed across the street to a vending machine by the bus stop. “Buy me something from over there. I could go for a Sprite.”

After looking both ways, Kei crossed the road and headed to the vending machine. It was a rarity to find Sprite in Sakurada’s vending machines, but there they were, all lined up. Kei put in a coin, pressed the button, and a Sprite can thunked into the bottom compartment.

Kei knelt down to grab the can, and at that moment, felt something cold and hard touch his neck.

Laughter flitted from behind him. “Wow, what a joke. I thought you were more careful than that.”

“I’d have to be a pretty shifty guy to be scared of turning my back on a girl,” Kei quipped, pulling out the Sprite.

“You really wanna risk moving?”

“Good luck sticking me with a choker’s cross.” Kei stood up, turned around, and held out the Sprite to Oka Eri. She grabbed it after putting her choker back on.

“How did you know it was a choker?”

“The reflection,” Kei said, pointing to the timetable signposted next to the vending machine. It was covered with a plastic laminate that vaguely reflected the surroundings.

“As if,” Oka Eri retorted, pulling a face. “You couldn’t see that while standing at the vending machine.”

“Didn’t have to. I saw you take it off on my way over.” He could see the silhouette of her pulling it off, if only vaguely.

“The hell, so you were keeping your guard up. That’s pretty shifty,” Oka Eri jabbed.

Before he could stop it, Kei sighed. He didn’t want to push the issue too much, but it was pretty coincidental. He just used his ability of perfect recall. Once he felt something shoved into his neck, he remembered back and “saw” the reflection in post. He bought himself an iced coffee and popped the tab, taking a sip before asking a question. “Are you the one that made Sasano-san unable to use his ability?”

A choker, ripped jeans, and a choker with a cross. There was no choice but to question her.

“Sasano? Hm… Oh, yeah, that old guy. Yup, that was me,” Oka Eri stated, nodding.

“Why?”

Putting up her finger and overflowing with self-importance, she proudly stated, “Because that’s what a villain does. It’s only natural for me to cause trouble for other people.”

“And you’re a villain now?”

“Exactly. It’s much better than being a hypocrite, like a certain senpai that I know.” After taking a swig of Sprite, Oka Erui shoved her face towards Kei. “Why are you acting like this, Senpai? You used to be way more badass and awesome back in the day.”

Kei gave a light shake of his head. What had happened to him wasn’t so easy to explain. “Look, all I want is for you to give Sasano-san his ability back.”

“Don’t wanna. Besides, a villain doesn’t just do something because they’re asked to.” Oka Eri smirked and chugged more of her Sprite. Evidently, the girl had become something of a performer, crafting all her new words and expressions.

“Alright, what’ll it take to get you to give it back?”

“Hmm, how about promising that you’ll devote your life to doing as I say?”

“I’ll devote my life to doing as you say.”

“Say it like a dog.”

“I’ll devote my life to doing as you say, woof woof.”

“Eh, I’m really not feeling your spirit. I don’t think I’ll give it back.”

“Yeah, that’s about what I expected.” This conversation was getting nowhere. Kei couldn’t read through her intentions. The claim that she was a brilliant villain was acting as excellent camouflage to hide her real desires.

As Kei considered what to do, Oka Eri spoke back up. “I’ve got two things to say to you, Senpai.”

“What’s that?”

“Think of it like an advance calling card.” She flashed a warped, prideful smile. “Number one. I’m gonna plunder that MacGuffin from you.”

There it was again. That name. The MacGuffin. “How do you know that I have the MacGuffin?”

“Gee, why do I know? Too bad that villains don’t just tell you everything you want to know.”

There has to be a connection. Sasano, Oka Eri, and the MacGuffin. And her being in the photo.

Oka Eri continued, “Now, for number two. I’m going to plunder Haruki Misora’s reset.”

Nothing was making any sense. “Why would you do that?”

Losing the reset ability would be, in a word, bad. Partially because the ability was so strong, to be sure. But more importantly than that, Haruki Misora’s claim to the reset ability was of profound significance to their relationship. He couldn’t afford to lose that significance, not as things currently stood.

Oka Eri slurped down more Sprite, wiping her mouth with her thumb. “Obviously ‘cause it’ll get on your nerves. I really hate you, you know that, right?” She was smirking and staring into Kei’s eyes all the same as before, and yet suddenly, her eyes seemed to take on a new glint.

She really hates me. Kei tried to imagine why. Sure, she had just been a kouhai in middle school. But their relationship was slightly more complex.

Two years ago, Kei used Oka Eri. Then, almost entirely by himself, he changed her life circumstances. In a manner of speaking, he had tried to save her. Back then, he truly believed it was all for her benefit. But the person he was back then was foolish and narrow-minded. It was obvious to him now that he didn’t make the right call. The closest he had to a consolation was that she herself had been happy with the outcome.

“What happened?” Kei asked.

“Huh? What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Did I cause some kind of problem for you?” If he did, he wanted to know. If his past decisions were causing trouble for her, then he would do everything in his power to set things right.

But Oka Eri frowned, disgust clear on her face. “Are you being serious right now?”

“I am.”

“Nothing happened. Life’s way more fun than it was when I first met you.”

She didn’t appear to be lying. She pointed her index finger at Kei. “You know, watching you act like that really pisses me off. I’m gonna do everything I can to make sure you hit rock bottom.” She wasn’t smiling anymore. She glared at Kei, her eyes flashing sternly. But Kei still couldn’t put together what her issue was.

“I don’t want Haruki to get mixed up in all this.” Kei let out an internal sigh as he spoke.

Oka Eri had crossed the road, and now stood directly in front of Kei, beside the vending machine. Kei was glad, as this put her back to the building where the Witch resided, while it stayed in Kei’s line of sight.

“Like I care. If you don’t want it, then you better believe I’m gonna do it.” From behind Oka Eri, the sliding doors of the building opened, revealing Haruki behind them.

A reset was not to be underestimated. It wiped away days of everyone’s time without remorse or distinction. It wasn’t to be used for personal reasons or without good discretion. Kei knew all that, and yet…

He was faced with a decision that he only had seconds to make.

He didn’t know the fine details of Oka Eri’s ability, but it was clear that she could seal away another person’s ability. She had declared her intentions to plunder Haruki’s ability, and now she had Haruki right within her grasp.

I can’t afford to lose resetting right now.

Keeping his eyes on Oka Eri, Kei said, “I’m gonna meet up with you before long, so tell me all the details then.”

Oka Eri glared back. “Not gonna happen. I don’t have anything else to say to you.”

Kei saw Haruki headed their way in a half-run. He spoke once more. Shouted, in fact.

“Reset!”

Haruki immediately stopped, Oka Eri turned around, and…

The world soundlessly crumbled and rebuilt itself, outside of human perception. Time slipped away, falling in a rapid yet quiet procession.

End of Chapter 1