Epilogue: Reflection in Water

“Great. They’re not sold out yet.”

I was at the closest vending machine to my house. We’d run out of drinks, so I was there picking up ten or so cans. Charl was the first, though not the last, to argue that it was my party so I shouldn’t have to go, but honestly, since I’d done nothing so far I wanted to.

Let’s see. Tatenashi was coffee, Houki was green tea, Rin was oolong and Charl was orange juice, Laura wanted a sports drink, Cecilia black tea, and... I filled my arms with cans. That should do it. Time to head back.

Just as I turned to set off, I noticed a shadow standing back from the light of the machine. Huh? The machine was pretty far away from my place. Meaning, it couldn’t have been someone I knew.

As I took my second step, the shadow stepped into the light. It was a girl. A girl with a face I recognized. No, one I knew like the back of my hand.

“Chifuyu...?”

It was a girl of 15 or 16. But her face was the spitting image of Chifuyu at that age.

“No,” the girl opened her mouth. Her faint smile was like none I’d ever seen from Chifuyu. “I am you, Orimura Ichika.”

“What?!”

“Looks like I caused you a lot of trouble earlier.”

“Huh?! Wait, are you Silent Zephyrus’s—”

“Yes.” She stepped toward me.

“And your name is—”

“Orimura Madoka.”

Orimura... Madoka? It was a name I’d never heard. But her last name was the same as mine. And she looked exactly like Chifuyu.

“So I can be myself... I will take your life.”

A handgun gleamed dully in her fist.

Bang! The sound of a gunshot echoed out into the night sky.