Chapter 1: Who Should I Spend Sunday With?

The next day, I still had no clue what I was going to do about Sunday, but my class was making a fuss over something else altogether.

“A transfer student?”

“Yeah, sounds like they’re not Japanese either.”

“Oh wow...”

A foreign transfer student? That was a rare event. I mean, Iris was a transfer student too, but she was from space, not overseas.

It wasn’t long before the bell rang and the teacher brought in the transfer student. She had long, blond hair tied back in twin tails, and she looked... Well, she looked like a lot of things.

“My name is Rosalind C. Bathory!” she declared in a loud, booming voice.

She had the face of a young child, but she talked like a grown woman. She was wearing a high school uniform, but she was only as tall as an elementary school student. And yet somehow, when she stared at the class from across the podium, I got the distinct sense she was looking down at us. But her red eyes stood out the most, thin and narrowed as they looked over the class. I’d seen blue eyes, purple eyes, and even shining eyes before, but red was a first. They were pretty, like rubies.

“...”

I must’ve been staring, because my gaze met hers for a moment. I quickly looked away... and then took another glance.

“...?”

She was still staring at me. Was she mad, maybe? She didn’t really look like it. It was something else... But what was it?

“Rekka!”

“Huh? Oww!” I shouted as someone next to me pulled my ear.

“You’re staring at that girl too much! I won’t let you cheat on me!”

I had no idea what Iris was talking about, but she just kept pulling harder as she talked. I thought she was going to rip my ear off.

“I-I don’t know what’s going on, but I’m sorry! I’m sorry, okay?! So stop pulling on my ear!”

“Good. You apologized, so I forgive you. So, anyway, about this Sunday... I want to ride the roller coaster with you. Maybe ten times, I’m thinking?”

“Wh-What?!”

I didn’t mind going on a roller coaster, but ten times was overdoing it.

“It’ll be fun!”

“Sure, it’ll be fun... the first couple of times. Ten times is enough to make you sick, you know?”

“I’ll be fine.”

Well, maybe Iris would be.

“Hey, don’t go deciding things like that without talking to me first. I’m planning our day right now,” Satsuki interrupted.

“I should be the one to decide what I ride,” Iris said.

“If you don’t take the wait times into account, you won’t get to ride all the things you want,” Satsuki argued.

Free-spirited Iris and careful, meticulous Satsuki were butting heads about how to go about our day at the amusement park. I understood where both of them were coming from, but I wished they would stop scowling at each other while I was between them.

“Namidare, Otomo, Iris! Be quiet!” the teacher yelled.

The whole class was in an uproar over the transfer student, but evidently the three of us had been a little too loud. I reflexively faced forward and shut up after being scolded, but the two of them kept glowering.

It was going to be a long day... And what was I going to do on Sunday, anyway? As I tried for the thousandth time to come up with a plan, my gaze met the transfer student’s again.

“...?”

Had she been looking at me the whole time?

“Rosalind, you can take that open seat over there. Also, Namidare, when homeroom is over, I want you to show her around the school.”

“Huh? Me?”

“Don’t worry about being late for first period. That will be all, everyone,” the teacher announced and quickly left the room, bringing homeroom to a close.

Wait, what happened to class announcements like who had cleaning duty today and things like that? And why did I have to show the new girl around during class instead of on lunch break? As I sat there in shock, Rosalind came walking over to me. I didn’t think I could tell her no.

▽

Since I felt like I had no choice, I took Rosalind out of the classroom and into the hallway. What exactly was I supposed to show her, anyway? The special classrooms? This building of the school only had regular classrooms in it, so there wasn’t really anything to see here.

“Hmm, I guess we’ll start by going over to the special classrooms building. It’s this way.”

“Slow down.”

“Huh?”

“You’re walking too fast.”

Oops. I forgot Rosalind’s stride was a lot shorter than mine. I started walking beside her to match her pace.

“Is that better?”

“Indeed.” Rosalind nodded, satisfied, and wrapped her arm around mine.

“...Wait, why are you holding on to my arm?”

“Idiot, don’t you know how to escort a lady?”

She looked a little lacking in certain departments to be called a lady, but...

“You were just thinking something you shouldn’t have been, weren’t you?”

“No, not really...”

She was glaring at me with a terrible intensity, and I quickly looked away.

“Good. Now take me to our destination.”

“Sure thing...”

The students we passed were all shocked to see us walking arm in arm, but the hallways cleared out when the bell for first period rang. We walked down the now quiet corridor towards our first stop, the third floor of the special classrooms building.

“Um, this is the music room,” I said, pointing to the sign above the door.

“Indeed.”

“H-Hey, they’re having class right n—”

Before I could finish my sentence, Rosalind stood up on her toes to peer into the classroom through the window in the door. Several of the students saw us. I could see the “what are they doing?” looks on their faces. Man, this was really embarrassing...

“Music and art are electives. I think the music class is practicing the school anthem? I take art, so I don’t really know. In art class, we’re studying the history of art and stuff in our textbooks right now.” I sped through the explanation. I just wanted to get away from here.

“Japanese schools are much tidier than they once were,” Rosalind said as she lowered herself down from the window. “Now take me to the next place.”

She looked up at me expectantly, her twin tails bobbing as she moved her head. Hmm... She was kind of bossy.

After that, I showed her the science labs, the study halls, and a few other places. I made my best attempt to explain the different rooms, but all Rosalind said was, “Indeed.” She didn’t seem very interested. As far as I was concerned, I just wanted to get back to class before first period was over. But since I had to walk at her pace, we were going really slow. That, and she sure liked to talk.

“How old are you?”

“What is your favorite color?”

“Why do Japanese people make their children all wear the same clothes?”

“Are you in love with anyone?”

Even worse, she’d stop walking every time she asked a question, which made things take even longer. And who asks how old their classmates are? Don’t you usually ask for their birthday?

Just when I was thinking that first period was a lost cause, she stopped again.

“By the way, Namidare...”

“Yeah?”

“You seem to be on quite good terms with the two girls who sit next to you.”

“Yeah, I guess.”

“...So you admit it, then.”

“Sure? I mean...”

One of them was a childhood friend, and Iris and I had helped each other out of some pretty big problems, so there was a lot of trust and gratitude between us. I didn’t have any reason to deny that we were on good terms.

“Hmph.” Rosalind rubbed her chin and sighed.

“What’s wrong?”

“It’s nothing,” she said.

I guess it wasn’t that big of a deal.

I kept walking Rosalind around the school. She was still holding my arm, but now, for some reason, she seemed to be lost in thought. We just barely made it out of the special classrooms building before it was time to switch classes.

“All right,” I said, “Let’s head back to class now.”

At this point, I just wanted to get her off my arm. First period was over and people were starting to come out into the hallways, which meant I was starting to attract stares again. But when I went to unlink my arm from hers, Rosalind pulled on me hard.

“What are you talking about? We still haven’t gone through the main school building.”

“But that’s just a bunch of regular classrooms. There’s not really anything there to see...”

“I’ll be the judge of that. You’re just the guide. Now take me there.”

“But...”

At this rate, we’d be late for second period.

“Or is there some kind of problem?” Rosalind demanded.

She pulled on my arm harder, bringing me towards her. With our faces this close, a sweet scent stimulated my nostrils.

“Do you not like being with me, Namidare? Is that the issue, perhaps?”

“No, that’s not it...”

“Then you want to be with me,” she insisted.

“Wait, huh?”

I wasn’t sure how, but she’d won the argument.

“Come on, stop being so slow!”

“...Fine,” I acquiesced.

I was really wishing I was one of those Japanese people who knew how to put their foot down.

▽

I finally made it back to class near the end of second period. Since I had a good reason, I didn’t get in trouble for being late. And by the time third period started, my day seemed like it was back on schedule.

Fourth period was gym class, and then it was time for lunch break. I got my lunchbox out and waited for Iris and Satsuki to come back from the locker room. It wasn’t long before they came in... with Rosalind.

Psst, psst, psst...

The three of them were whispering to each other. Had they gotten to know each other during gym class?

“Welcome back, Satsuki, Iris.”

“Hi!”

“Hello!”

“I just saw you two talking with Rosalind. Did you guys play basketball together?”

If I remembered right, that’s what the girls were supposed to do during gym class today. Satsuki always liked to help people, so I thought that maybe she’d invited Rosalind to her team since she was the new girl.

“Hmm? No, not really.”

But Satsuki shook her head.

“Hmm...”

Then they just happened to start chatting on the way back to class?

“Namidare.”

As I was trying to figure it out, the girl in question walked over to me.

“What’s up?”

How many times had Rosalind said my name today? She’d taken some kind of weird liking to me.

“I’m told it’s time for food now. Take me to this so-called ‘cafeteria’ of yours.”

“I already showed you where it was. You can make it there yourself, right?”

“I don’t understand how Japanese currency works,” she said.

I guess I didn’t have a choice.

“All right. You just need me to do the math and handle the cash for you, right?”

“Indeed.” Rosalind smiled, satisfied at my answer. “And after that, why don’t you eat lunch with me too?”

“Huh? No, I can’t...”

I looked over at Satsuki and Iris, the girls I was originally planning to eat with. But then...

“Sorry, Rekka. I’ve actually got something I have to do,” said Satsuki.

“Huh?”

“Me too!” said Iris.

“Whaaat?”

This was rare, not to mention weird.

“Oh dear. Looks like this is perfect timing for you, huh, Rekka?”

Even R, whose default expression was robotic, seemed a little surprised.

“So yeah, eat lunch with Rosalind,” Satsuki insisted.

“Okay...”

“Bye!” Iris called as she walked away.

The two of them left the room, leaving the other two of us behind.

“Now let us go,” Rosalind said.

“I don’t mind going with you, but...”

I wished she would stop grabbing my arm.

For Rosalind, this was probably just a typical “escort,” but I didn’t think it made any sense to treat me like a British gentleman. I could see the other boys in the class staring at me. Their eyes seemed to say, “Now he’s even hooking up with the transfer student?” Some of them were cracking their knuckles.

“...Anybody want to come with us?” I said, hoping to lighten the mood a little. But Rosalind just started pouting.

“Namidare. By ‘us,’ I meant you and me.”

She only made things worse. I realized staying here any longer would just mean more rumors, so I ran out of the classroom, dragging along Rosalind, who was still clinging to my arm.

“You’re walking too fast.”

It was the same thing she’d said this morning, so I slowed down as we headed for the cafeteria.

“Hey, why did you decide you wanted to eat lunch with me?” I asked.

“The reason is extremely simple. Out of all the people here, you’re the one who’s easiest to talk to,” she replied.

Well, I was the one who’d shown her around, after all.

“You’re so popular! Go you!” R cheered half-heartedly.

I glared at her to shut her up.

We eventually made it to the cafeteria.

“Hmm... There are so many types of bread here. Do they have red bean jam buns?” Rosalind asked as she inspected what was for sale.

“You know about those, huh?”

I’d thought that red bean jam was something unique to Japanese sweets, but evidently even a foreign girl like Rosalind knew about it.

“I only know them by name. I’ve always wanted to try one.”

Rosalind bought herself a cream bun and a red bean jam bun, and I got some English tea for each of us out of the vending machine. She then announced that she wanted to go to the roof.

“We’re not going back to the classroom?”

“I want to eat up there,” she replied.

Well, I didn’t really feel like going back to the classroom, so it was fine by me.

A cool breeze swept across my face as I stepped out onto the roof. The weather was good, and thanks to the wind, it wasn’t too hot. It was the perfect day to eat outside.

I sat down next to Rosalind on the bench.

“Did you bring your own lunch, Namidare?”

“Yeah. Satsuki made it today.”

“...Satsuki makes your lunches?”

“Yeah. Satsuki and another girl take turns.”

“Another girl...?”

Rosalind seemed shocked for some reason, but I ignored her and started to dig in.

“Come on, you should eat too,” I said.

“I-Indeed...”

Her expression was still a little stiff, but Rosalind stuffed a straw into her little container of tea and began to sip.

Slurrrp...

“Eww.”

“Not even giving it a chance, huh?”

She’d barely even taken a sip. I was a little surprised.

“If I ever meet the person who decided to call this tea, I’m going to kill them.”

“That’s a little extreme, isn’t it?”

“I’ll start with you.”

“Why?!”

“You committed a grave sin in making me drink this.”

“Wait, wait, wait!” She sounded like she was joking, but her eyes looked dead serious. “Here, calm down and try this red bean jam bun.”

I ripped open the bag for the bun she hadn’t eaten yet and forced it into her hands.

“...”

She stared at me, then at the bun, then back at me... and finally decided to eat the bread before she made any attempt on my life. It might just have been because her hands were full, though.

Her tiny mouth took a big bite out of the round bun. If she didn’t like it, was she really going to kill me...? I waited nervously for her to finish.

“It tastes like nothing.”

“You just haven’t gotten to the bean jam yet! Take another big bite!” I yelled.

She took a second bite with her tiny mouth, this time surely deep enough to reach the jam. The bite was a little too big for her, and her cheeks plumped up like a chipmunk’s as she chewed.

“...”

“Well?”

Chomp.

She took another bite without answering me. This time, she carefully chose a part where there was jam. The jam, at least, she seemed to like. I sighed in relief as I began to eat my own lunch once more.

▽

After school, at the shoe lockers near the front entrance of the school...

“Namidare.”

“Again...?”

“Why do you look so annoyed?”

“No, sorry. I was just thinking that we keep running into each other.”

“Of course we do. We’re in the same class.”

“Hmm... That’s not really what I meant.”

I couldn’t exactly tell her that I was getting a little sick of her after she’d dragged me around all day. I was your average Japanese person—extremely reticent and unable to speak bluntly about what was on my mind.

“Well, it doesn’t matter. Let’s go home together,” she said.

“Yeah, I guess that’s okay. But...” I held my index finger out as if to make a point. “No arm-holding.”

“No? Why ever not?”

“Not outside.”

“Hmph...” Rosalind’s eyes narrowed unhappily.

For a moment, there was a serious tension between us, but...

“Gotcha!”

“Ack!”

It ended with my defeat.

“That’s better. Now let’s go.”

“...Right.”

I didn’t have the energy left to argue anymore, so I started to walk with Rosalind on my arm anyway.

Now that I thought about it, I was so busy dealing with her today that I didn’t have time to talk to Satsuki and Iris about Sunday. I would need to get the scheduling and stuff all worked out tomorrow. I told myself that just making the plans wouldn’t cost me anything.

“Namidare, I still don’t know this city well. Show me around.”

But there she went again...

Fine. Did some mysterious power dictate that I was going to spend my day being dragged around by a bossy princess? That had to be what it was. Definitely.

And I was too much of a wuss to refuse, too.

“What’s wrong? Hurry up.”

“Right, right. As you wish, my princess,” I said without really thinking about it.

Her expression completely changed.

“...Namidare...”

Her haughty attitude and arrogance were gone in the blink of an eye, and she was now whispering my name like she was in some kind of dreamy trance. Her red eyes looked up at me, moist with tears.

“Huh? Is there something on my face?”

I didn’t understand why she was looking at me like that, so I said the first thing that came to mind.

“N-Never mind!”

But Rosalind cut me off, then let go of my arm and quickly moved away from me. This only confused me more.

“What’s wrong?”

“I said never mind!”

“But...”

“Be quiet! I said never mind, so never mind it!”

“...?”

What a weird girl. She was fine when she was holding my arm, but the minute she let go, she started to blush.

“Y-You can show me around some other time.”

“Okay.” I sighed in relief.

“Why do you look so happy?” Rosalind glared at me.

“Oh, um...”

“Just so you know, I’m not letting you out of this. Oh, I know! You can show me around on Sunday. We’ll spend the whole day together.”

“What?!”

The timing was so perfectly awful, I didn’t know what to do.

“Hold on! I’ve got plans on Sunday!”

“What...?” One of Rosalind’s eyebrows twitched. “Do you mean with those Satsuki and Iris girls?”

“Y-Yeah, that’s right... How did you know?”

“Intuition.”

“A woman’s intuition is a scary thing, huh?” R said, as blasé as ever.

But I had to agree.

“W-Well, anyway, I’ve got plans with them, so I can’t go on Sunday. Maybe next Sunday?”

“...”

I offered a compromise, but Rosalind ignored me.

“O-Okay, well, see you tomorrow!”

She only seemed more upset now, so I ran off to get away from her as quickly as I could.

▽

“Sir Rekka! Wake up!”

“Harissa...?”

I woke up to the sensation of someone shaking me. Harissa was standing over me, wearing her apron.

“Good morning, Sir Rekka.”

“Yeah, morning... Gimme another five minutes...”

“It’s time to wake up though!”

Harissa ripped off my blankets with a smile before I could succumb to the temptations of sleep once more. Lately it felt like she was showing less and less mercy... but maybe that was just because I was so lazy.

“Hmm...”

Have you ever wondered if there are fairies that live in your covers that make you sleepy? Maybe that’s why when the blankets come off, you suddenly stop feeling so tired. That’s how it was for me. At least, it was usually. When I sat up, I still felt a little out of it today.

“Sir Rekka! If you don’t get ready quick, you’ll be late!”

“Huh...? Gah, you’re right!”

I’d woken up about ten minutes later than usual. But now that I was completely alert, I jumped out of bed and hurriedly began to change.

“Okay, I’ll be waiting downstairs,” Harissa said.

“Thanks.”

“Oh, by the way...”

“Hm?”

Harissa sounded a little hesitant, almost like she had something to say but didn’t really want to say it. I turned around and looked at her.

“Sir Rekka, is there any chance you had a fight with Satsuki yesterday?”

“Huh? Why?”

“Well, um...” She started mumbling. “Satsuki didn’t come to make you breakfast this morning.”

“Huh...?”

▽

Before I left for school, I decided to go next door to the Otomo residence to check in on Satsuki.

“Huh? Satsuki left the house a while ago. She didn’t come over to your place?” Satsuki’s mom seemed confused too when I asked about her.

She wasn’t sick or anything... So why didn’t she come to my house this morning?

“So she went to school by herself then? I wonder what happened...”

“Well, I can ask her at school, I guess.”

I bowed to her mom and headed for school myself, wondering all the while what was going on.

When I got to class, Satsuki was already in her seat. So was Iris.

“...?”

Normally when I came in, Iris would make a scene. Sometimes she’d even jump up and give me a hug. But today...

“Oh, good morning, Rekka.”

That was all I got.

“Yeah... Good morning.”

It seemed like something might be up with her too. Today was shaping up to be a weird day.

“Morning, Satsuki.”

“Good morning, Rekka.”

I exchanged morning greetings with Satsuki. Normally we came to school together every day, so it was really rare for us to say good morning like this.

“Sorry about this morning. I had something important to do...”

As I sat down, she raised her hand in front of her face and apologized.

“Well, if you had something important to do, it’s not a big deal... But next time, send me a text message or something if you can. Harissa seemed like she had a pretty rough time this morning.”

“Yeah, you’re right. I’ll be more considerate next time.”

And that was all she said before she went back to studying for first period.

What in the world was going on? Both of them were acting strange, but I couldn’t tell why. Maybe I had done something to tick them off? After turning the possibility over in my head, I realized what was going on. I dropped my head to my desk.

Th-They must have found out about Sunday!

Wait, wait... Sure, I was at fault for letting everything pile up on the same day, but there was no way for Satsuki or Iris to know about that, right? Hibiki didn’t even have anybody else’s contact info, so there was no way she could have told them.

No, wait. Maybe Harissa ran into Satsuki somewhere, and she happened to mention our Sunday shopping trip. That was certainly possible, right? That was why Satsuki skipped coming to my place. And then when she got to school, she told Iris. That must be why they were acting like this. And maybe Harissa was still acting normal because Satsuki hadn’t said anything to her about the amusement park when they talked. Surely the kind-hearted Satsuki could tell how much Harissa was looking forward to buying clothes and didn’t want to disappoint her, right?

Ugh... The more I thought about it, the more likely it seemed. And the more I thought about it, the more the sweat started to pour down my face. Maybe when I raised my head again, I would magically go back in time to yesterday... No, there was no sense in running from reality.

For now, I should just apologize, explain, and see if there was some way to work things out with everyone. What was really important was making things right. This was my fault. Actually, I should’ve just apologized yesterday before I stressed out over it so much.

Okay...

“Satsuki, Iris.”

I prepared myself to confess, but...

“Namidare!”

“Gwaah!”

Someone suddenly yanked on my collar from behind, effectively choking me.

“R-Rosalind! I can’t breathe!”

“Indeed. You’re so overjoyed to see me that even breathing is difficult, isn’t it?”

“I... I meant literally!”

“No need to be embarrassed.” Rosalind giggled. She clearly didn’t feel bad about it at all.

“Man, you’ve got a lot of self-confidence...”

It was kind of amazing, actually. What’s more, now I’d lost my chance to talk to Satsuki and Iris.

“So, Namidare, there’s something I still don’t understand.”

“Ugh... Fine! What is it now?”

It was just the beginning of the school day. I’d still have plenty of opportunities to apologize. I decided to let it go for now and wait for my next chance to talk to Satsuki and Iris. Or at least, that was the plan...

▽

First period break.

“Okay, now I’m going to...”

Second period break.

“Next time, for sure...”

Third period break.

“Okay, next time...”

Lunch.

“Both of them are busy again, huh?”

“Namidare, what bread do you recommend today?”

Fifth period break.

“Grr....”

Before I knew it, it was time for afternoon homeroom at the end of the day.

“How did this happen?”

I’d managed to miss every single chance to talk to them. Every time I tried, they were gone. Even during lunch when I was sure I’d see them, they both had said they were busy.

This was serious. It was too big of a deal for me to just whisper an apology or pass a note during class. This was the kind of thing where I needed to look them in the eyes and apologize properly.

“Okay, see you all tomorrow,” the homeroom teacher said, signaling that school was over.

“See you tomorrow, Rekka.”

“Bye!”

“W-Wait, guys!” I quickly called out to Satsuki and Iris, who were gathering up their things to leave.

“What is it?” Satsuki asked.

“Um...”

Come on, just say it! You can’t miss this chance! Tomorrow is Saturday! That’s just the day before! It’ll be too late then!

“I-I’m just really sorry! It was my fault!” I yelled as I bowed. A lot of the other students looked at me oddly, but I wasn’t worried about them right now.

“What’s gotten into you, Rekka?” asked Satsuki.

Iris just looked like she had a giant floating question mark above her head.

“I mean... I know you’re mad about Sunday, so...”

“Sunday?”

“You know. The three of us are supposed to go to the amusement park.”

“The amusement park...?”

“The three of us...?”

Iris and Satsuki glanced at one another. A moment later, they looked at me in confusion.

“Were we going to an amusement park this weekend?” they both asked.

“...Huh?”

My eyes went wide at this unexpected response.

“I don’t really understand, but are you sure you didn’t imagine it or something? ...Oh, sorry. I’m in a hurry, so I have to go now. I’ll see you at school on Monday.”

“Me too! I’ve gotta get back! Bye!”

I watched in astonishment as Satsuki and Iris left.

Wh-What was going on here? It was like they had forgotten about the whole thing, despite the fact that it was all they could talk about two days ago. And just yesterday morning, they were even arguing about which rides we were going to go on. There was no way they could have just forgotten.

Wait, was this their way of saying just an apology wasn’t good enough?! No, both Satsuki and Iris could be a little too quick to fly off the handle at times, but were either of them really the type to play dumb and string me along because they were mad? Something didn’t seem right. There was seriously no way they could have just up and forgotten, but I couldn’t think of any other way to explain this.

“Oh my. Do you suppose you really pissed them off?” R asked.

She seemed totally uninterested, but I couldn’t afford to be.

I tried to run after them, but...

“Namidare.”

“Gweeh!”

My collar closed around my throat, and for a moment, I almost blacked out.

“Rosalind! What the heck was that for?”

“I heard what you were saying just now.” She ignored my angry yell and grinned as she pulled my collar tighter. “Looks like your Sunday just opened up. Now you don’t have anything to worry about, so you can show me around the city.”

It sounded like she’d overheard us and had come over to seal the deal on what she and I had talked about yesterday.

“I don’t know about that yet. I need to apologize to them first, and then I’ll get back to you. So let me go.”

To be honest, I was in a hurry, but I knew I might hurt her if I tried to shake her off. I asked her to let go instead, but she didn’t listen.

“You don’t know when to give up, I see. It’s clear that they’re both sick of you.”

Her words felt like a dagger in my chest.

“S-Sick of me...?”

“It’s obvious, isn’t it?”

W-Was it? Is that what it was? They were sick of me? I mean, sure, they were both looking forward to the amusement park, and I’d scheduled not one, but two other things on top of it... Sure, that was really bad, but still!

“Rekka, are you seriously depressed over this?” R asked.

Sure I was.

“You are the densest man in the universe, past, present, or future. Hands down. What right do you have to be melodramatic?”

R was just making it worse. Rather than being stabbed, it felt like my heart was being ripped out now.

When I thought about the fact that they were so mad that they’d straight up pretend to have forgotten when I apologized... Now that they were leaving me behind, my legs felt too heavy to run after them.

But Rosalind, on the other hand, seemed in a better mood than ever. She patted me on the back as if trying to make me feel better.

“Well, I guess you’ll just have to give up and go with me instead. Now that you’re free, in fact, you should be grateful to me for spending time with you.”

“I’ve actually got other plans for Sunday.”

“What?!” Her smile vanished. “You turned me down because you had plans with them. Isn’t that what you said?”

“Yeah, but... Man, that doesn’t matter right now.”

“It does matter!”

Rosalind was screaming for whatever reason, but I decided just to ignore her. The only thing on my mind right now was how to get back on Iris’s and Satsuki’s good sides. If a simple apology wasn’t good enough, I needed to do something to show them that I really meant it.

But how, exactly...? I’d just have to sort out the schedule for Sunday, solve the problem, and apologize again. Yeah, that was the thing to do. I could go buy Harissa’s clothes some other day. If I only ate rice for the next month, I’d be able to afford it. Of course, I’d still have to apologize to her too, for changing our plans.

The real problem was Hibiki, who still had her phone off. I’d just have to keep calling her until she picked up. All right. Now that I had a plan, I started to head for home, when...

“Hold it!”

“Guh-hwah!”

For the third time today, I got choked.

“Wh-What is your problem?! If you don’t knock it off, I’m seriously going to get mad!” I yelled.

“Shut up! Answer my question!” Rosalind yelled back just as loudly. “Who are you heading out to go shopping with on Sunday?!”

“Harissa.”

There was no real reason I had to tell her, but I didn’t think she’d relent unless I did, so I reluctantly gave her Harissa’s name.

“And what’s your relationship with this Harissa girl?”

“How is that any of your business? She’s this girl who lives with me.”

“You’ve got a girl living with you?!”

“She doesn’t have anywhere else to go!”

The rest of the class already knows about Harissa, but please don’t say anything that would make it sound worse!

It felt like this conversation had already bottomed out in that regard, but right now I was more concerned about lost time.

“Anyway, I answered your question, okay? I’m leaving now!”

“...Hmph!” Rosalind scowled as she let go.

If anybody should be mad right now, it was me... But I didn’t have time to let it get to me. I grabbed my bag and quickly ran out of the classroom.

▽

When I got home from school, the first thing I wanted to do was talk to Harissa about Sunday, but she was out shopping and the house was empty.

In order to save money, she’d look at advertisements to find out which stores were having sales, then go to multiple places to get what she needed at the best prices. If I tried to go out and find her, odds were good I’d just miss her. So I did the next best thing—sit on the living room sofa and twiddle my thumbs as I waited for her to get home.

“Harissa’s running awfully late...”

I caught myself glancing at the clock over and over again. I was having trouble staying calm. But as time passed, my head started to clear a little and I realized there was a problem that I hadn’t thought about yet. How exactly was I supposed to bring this up with Harissa?

I was planning on buying her clothes even if it meant I had to live on a diet of rice and water, but that wasn’t the issue. If we were going to go shopping on a different day, she’d want to know why. That meant I’d have to tell her that I triple-booked my schedule. And I’d just learned how angry and hurt that could make someone. Even if I was going to be honest with her, I still needed to consider the best way to go about doing it.

“But how do I tell her...?”

I couldn’t come up with anything.

I put my sweaty face in my sweaty palms. My vision went black. Maybe I could just fade away into that darkness... No, I couldn’t just run away from reality. It always has a way of catching up to you.

I suddenly heard the sound of a key turning in the front door. Harissa was back.

“Oh, you’re home, Sir Rekka. Welcome home.”

“Hey. You too, Harissa,” I said.

“Thanks. I just got back from the store,” she replied, smiling as she held up the plastic bags she was carrying.

“Let me help you with those.”

“Thank you, Sir Rekka.”

I took a bag from Harissa and walked with her to the kitchen.

“So, um... What’s for dinner?”

“Tonight I’m trying something new called cabbage rolls.”

“I see. Sounds good.”

“It’s my first time making them, so I’m not sure if I can do it right or not. But I’ll do my best!” Harissa gave me a thumbs-up and began to put on her apron. “Can you put the milk and eggs in the refrigerator and leave the rest out?”

“Roger.”

I did as she asked, pulling the milk and eggs out of the bags and putting them away.

“...”

“Is something wrong, Sir Rekka?” Harissa asked when she saw me still standing there.

“Um... I was wondering if I could help with something.”

“I still have leftover rice from this morning, so not really.”

“I-I see...”

“What’s wrong, Sir Rekka? You always let me cook dinner.”

“Well...” I was just trying to find the right time to bring up Sunday! Gah! This was pathetic! How was I so pathetic!? “Arrggaaah!”

“Wh-What’s wrong, Sir Rekka?!” Harissa asked in a worried voice when she saw me starting to rip out my own hair.

Stop it! Don’t look at me with those kind eyes! Their purifying light is burning my black, guilty soul!

A part of me began to realize that I was getting a little too worked up about this.

Yeah. I was too worked up. And an idiot to boot. I just needed to stop beating around the bush and apologize.

“L-Listen, Harissa.”

“Yes?”

“About Sunday...”

“Sunday?”

“Yeah. I need to talk to you about our outing this weekend.”

“Oh, our outing...?” Harissa set the knife she was holding down on the cutting board, then put her finger to her lips in thought. “I’m sorry, were you and I going on an outing Sunday?”

“...?!”

For a moment, I didn’t understand the words coming out of her mouth. When it finally set in, I felt even more confused than I had a moment ago.

Was this enough to make even gentle Harissa snap?! I wanted to scream that this was impossible... The only thing I could think of was that Satsuki and Iris must have gotten her in on their plan. Part of me couldn’t believe that all three of them were really plotting against me like this, but it was certainly more likely than all of them forgetting.

“Dinner will be ready in about forty minutes, so go relax until then, Sir Rekka.”

“...Right.”

All I could do was nod and obey.

▽

Saturday.

I lay stretched out on my bed, counting specks on the ceiling. It was already past three, but I still hadn’t left my room except for breakfast and lunch.

“Hahh...” I let out a deep sigh for the thousandth time that day.

I knew I was the one at fault here, but I was still shaking in fear. They were much angrier than I thought they’d be. Even worse, they weren’t letting it show at all.

Harissa had come to wake me up this morning, just like always. Breakfast and lunch were great. She’d even cleaned my room. All with her usual sweet smile... That was the truly scary part.

Knock knock.

“Sir Rekka!”

“Gyaaah!”

When I saw Harissa poke her head through the door, my heart jumped so violently that I fell right off the bed.

“S-Sir Rekka? What’s wrong?”

“N-Nothing. You scared me a little. That’s all.”

“I did knock...”

“Really, it’s nothing. S-So what’s up? Did you need something?”

“You’ve been in your room all day, so I thought that maybe something was wrong...”

“Oh... No, it’s nothing. It’s nothing at all, ma’am.”

Did I just say “ma’am”?

“I see...” Harissa’s brow furrowed with worry, but she nodded and closed the door.

I listened carefully for the sound of her running downstairs. When I was sure she was back on the first floor, I let out a long sigh as the tension drained from my shoulders.

Th-That was crazy! I had no idea Harissa was so good at acting! She was acting like she was really worried about me and that she wasn’t mad about Sunday at all! She could be an actress!

“Th-That scared me. Girls scare me.”

I was so scared that I actually started to cry. R looked down at me from above the bed, annoyed.

“You’re such a wimp.”

“Shut up! I don’t know how to make them forgive me now!”

“Don’t cry. Please.”

Easy for her to say. This was really starting to get to me.

“Don’t tell me that this ends up giving you a bad case of gynophobia, and that’s really what starts the War of All,” R said.

God, I hope not...

Rrrrring! Rrrrring!

My phone’s ringtone began to play. I grabbed the rattling device off my desk... then promptly dropped it on the floor.

“What’s wrong?” R did a mid-air flip as she looked at the phone’s LCD display. “Oh, it’s Hibiki.”

“...”

“You’re not going to answer it?”

“...Fine. I needed to talk to her about Sunday anyway.”

Granted, last night I’d been too scared to even attempt to call her again. I was too worried she’d found out about Sunday too. And it took courage to press the answer button even now... But no matter what she was thinking, refusing to answer would just tick her off. I fearfully pressed the button.

“H-Hibiki...?”

“You’re too slow. I told you to pick up faster next time.”

“Y-Yeah! I’m sorry!”

“Waah! ...Y-You don’t need to yell when you apologize.”

From the tone of her voice, I could tell that she was a little confused. My voice might’ve cracked when I talked. That’s how scared I was.

What angle was she going to use to get back at me? Just thinking about it made my blood run cold.

“Well, whatever. So here’s the deal...”

“...!”

I immediately tensed up when she started to speak.

“We need to pick a time for tomorrow’s meeting. How does 5:00 P.M. sound?”

“...Huh?”

“I said 5:00 P.M. Chelsea will be getting back about an hour before then, so if it works for you, that’s when I’d like to...”

“N-No! Wait a second!” I yelled to cut her off before she could say anything else, but it was more out of shock than fear this time.

“Don’t yell! I’m holding my phone to my ear, you know?!”

“Waah! I’m sorry! Wait, I mean... You aren’t mad, Hibiki?”

“Mad about what?”

I almost physically collapsed in relief. Evidently she hadn’t talked to Satsuki or the others. No, wait... Just because she hadn’t found out didn’t make things any easier. I still hadn’t actually solved the problem.

“Listen, Hibiki...”

First, I needed to apologize, and then I needed to work out a solution with her. I sat kneeling on the bed as I told her how I’d agreed to multiple, overlapping things for Sunday. I explained to her what had happened over the past few days, including that I might need to adjust our meeting time a little.

“Are you an idiot?” she asked as soon as I finished.

“Yes. Probably. I’m very sorry.”

“That’s not what I’m talking about. Well, I mean, you’re an idiot about that too, but...” She trailed off for a moment. “You should be paying a little more attention to changes that happen around you.”

“Changes?”

“You know that you and I have a tendency to get caught up in weird stuff, right?”

“Yeah, of course.”

My Namidare bloodline and Hibiki’s Banjo bloodline both caused us to get involved in stories that otherwise lacked a hero. Sometimes it would be our job to take the place of a hero and save a story that was heading for a bad ending.

“Listen, whenever you’re getting caught up in a story—that is, whenever things are about to get real—there’s always some kind of sign.”

“Some kind of sign? You mean the changes you’re talking about?”

“That’s right.” According to Hibiki, whenever something like that happened, she would assume that a “story” was coming and she needed to get prepared. She continued, “Listen, you need to be doing the same thing.”

“You’re exactly right.”

It was normal for Hibiki to get frustrated with me, but since people hadn’t been getting mad at me for the last few days even when I deserved it, it actually made me happy.

“You understand now, right? Think about it. What’s changed around you lately?”

A change, huh? I knew what she was talking about immediately.

“Rosalind.”

“That’s right. You mentioned her name a few times. I think you should assume she’s suspicious.”

“Hmm... But can an ordinary transfer student wipe people’s memories?”

“You’re the one who said everyone was acting weird, right? I don’t really know them well, but I do think it’s strange for them to try to get even with you in such a nasty way.”

“Why?”

“That’s because both they and I... Wait, what are you trying to make me say?!”

“H-Huh?”

I’d barely said a word. What was she mad about?

“Ahem. Anyway...” She cleared her throat and then continued. “You don’t know that this transfer student is ‘normal’ at all, do you?”

“Huh... No, I guess I don’t.”

A month ago I would’ve thought it was a joke, but now it was normal for me to assume that she wasn’t normal at all. I guess you really can get used to anything, huh? That’s kind of alarming.

“Changes like Satsuki suddenly not eating lunch with you or coming to your house in the morning sure seem convenient for this Rosalind girl, given how much she seems to want to be your friend. And she had no problem chatting with the other girls on the first day, right? So even if you’re easy to talk to, why be so clingy towards you?”

“That’s true.”

Rosalind certainly didn’t seem like the shy type at all.

“Is it possible that the reason all three of them seem to have forgotten about Sunday has to do with Rosalind? Any idea why she might do something like that?”

“...Yeah.”

She’d asked me to show her around town on Sunday. Now that Hibiki mentioned it, Satsuki and Iris had only “forgotten” about the amusement park after I’d turned Rosalind down. I even told her I couldn’t go with her because I had plans with the two of them. Come to think of it, the same thing had happened with Harissa.

But it wasn’t like I’d told Rosalind I’d never go with her. I even offered to do it Saturday or next weekend. It was like she was obsessed with Sunday. So much so that she wanted to stop me from going out with the other girls.

“But why me?” I asked.

At this point it seemed pretty clear that Rosalind was behind it, but I still didn’t know why.

“No idea. That much I can’t tell you.”

“Of course...”

“The fastest way would be to ask her. But I wouldn’t recommend it.”

“Why not?”

“What’s your plan if Rosalind wants to hurt you somehow?”

I gasped.

“I don’t know what I might’ve done to tick her off, though...”

“I’m not certain about that myself. But with the way our bloodlines work, if you don’t prepare yourself, you’re going to regret it.”

“I hate to say it, but you’re right.”

I sighed. And just as I did, I heard the front doorbell ring. A moment later, I heard Harissa coming up the stairs to my room.

“Sir Rekka, you have a visitor.”

“I do?”

“Yes.”

Who was it? Regardless, I knew if I had company, I couldn’t stay on the phone. Talking to Hibiki would just have to wait.

“Sorry, I’ve gotta go for now. Can we talk about this more when we meet tomorrow?”

“Affirmative. But we’re definitely meeting in front of the station tomorrow evening, right?”

“That’s right.”

“All right, then I’ll see you at 5:00 P.M. tomorrow.”

“Right.”

I hung up the phone and put it back on my desk.

“I’ve asked them to wait in the living room.”

“Got it. Thanks, Harissa.”

After thanking Harissa, I made my way downstairs. I casually opened the door to the living room... and froze.

“Hmph. I can’t say I approve of keeping a lady waiting.”

“Rosalind...”

Speak of the devil. Sitting on my sofa was the girl I was just talking about, wearing a gothic lolita-style dress. She smiled as she stood up and slowly walked towards me.

“So this is your house, is it? It’s a nice place.”

“Yeah...”

“But I can’t say I approve of that unkempt hair. Take more care in your appearance.”

“Right...”

“You’re not going to sit down?”

She looked up at me with a gleam in her red eyes. There was something... hypnotizing about them. But mostly I was taken aback by the situation I’d found myself in not a minute after Hibiki had told me to get prepared. I’d been way too careless.

“Sure, I’ll go get a chair.”

“Why? You can just sit on the sofa.”

I still didn’t know what she was after, so I decided to just do what she wanted. I sat down with her.

“Wait, why are you so close to me?” I asked.

“It’s a small sofa. I don’t have a choice.”

No way. The sofa wasn’t that small. Rosalind was about Harissa’s size, and we always had plenty of room sitting on the couch together.

“Heh. Don’t be so nervous.” Rosalind giggled a little as she pushed herself up against me.

There was no way for me not to be nervous. Not after the conversation I’d just had with Hibiki.

“Wait, how do you know where I live again?”

“Hmm? Oh, Satsuki showed me,” Rosalind said, rather unconvincingly.

Once I started thinking of her as suspicious, everything she did seemed suspicious. But I still didn’t know what her game was.

“So what brings you here today?” I asked, my voice a little stiff.

“What else? I’m here to talk about our trip around town tomorrow.”

At least I’d mostly expected that part.

“I thought I told you that wasn’t happening.”

“Indeed. But I’m a girl who just doesn’t know when to give up, so I’ve come to ask you again. Are you sure you can’t grant me this one little favor?” Rosalind stretched up to whisper in my ear.

It was cute, like a bratty little princess begging to get her way... But it also seemed like she was confident that I had no good reason to refuse now. She didn’t know Harissa at all, so she had no way of knowing that our shopping trip had to be canceled. So why was she acting this way? The alarm bells in my mind got louder.

“Sorry...” I forced the words out of my dry throat. “I’m meeting with someone tomorrow.”

“......WHAT?!” There was a long pause before Rosalind responded in loud surprise. “Meeting with someone... You mean someone ELSE?!”

“Y-Yeah, I guess.”

“How many people did you make plans with?!” Rosalind yelled.

In any other situation, I’d be on my knees apologizing. But right now I was too busy trying to figure out a way out of this mess.

“...So who is it this time? Another girl?”

Just as I expected, Rosalind wanted to know who it was. Was she going to try and make them “forget” about it too?

“...!”

It suddenly hit me. What would you do if somebody asked you about a promise you couldn’t remember making? Wouldn’t you try to find out more about it? Satsuki, Iris, Harissa... Not one of them had asked a single question about our plans together. Not where, when, or why. They’d shown zero interest in the matter and ended the conversation as quickly as possible. Moreover, Satsuki and Iris had been deliberately avoiding me since then.

What if Rosalind’s power wasn’t the power to make others forget, but the power to control them? If that was the case, then even if I tried to lie to her now, wouldn’t she just control me and force me to tell her anyway?

“What’s wrong, Namidare? Aren’t you going to tell me?”

“What will you do if I tell you? Will you ‘control’ them too?”

“...”

Rosalind’s expression changed. That had definitely put her on her guard... but if I didn’t want Hibiki to be in danger, I had to face her here.

“Who are you? What do you want from me?” I asked as I stood up from the sofa and backed away.

If Harissa was under Rosalind’s control, that meant I couldn’t just grab her and run. I had to find out what Rosalind was after and get her to let the others go. Besides, she hadn’t hurt me so far. Maybe that wasn’t her goal after all. At least, that’s what I was hoping. But...

“...Why isn’t this as easy as I thought it would be?”

There was an air of disappointment in her words, and her whole demeanor changed. She no longer seemed like a little girl. She was a dangerous monster.

“...Gah!”

For a moment, I didn’t even know what had happened. The next thing I knew, Rosalind’s fingers were closing around my throat and digging into my skin. She’d grabbed my windpipe and slammed me into the wooden floor.

“R-Rosalind...?”

“I didn’t want to use this power on you...”

Rosalind was on top of me now, leaning in close to my face.

“Tch...!”

I-I couldn’t move! She was a tiny girl far smaller than me, but no matter how hard I tried to push her off, I couldn’t move. She was a lot stronger than a girl her size should be.

She stared down at me. There was a dangerous flash in her red eyes. For some reason, I couldn’t look away from their crimson light...

“Now, look into my eyes.”

Rosalind brought her face closer to mine, slowly but surely. And everything went red.