Chapter 7: Left Behind

Chapter 7: Left Behind

“Oh, that reminds me, Taichi. I bumped into Nagase-san’s mother the other day,” Mrs. Yaegashi announced out of nowhere that morning.

Somehow, Taichi quickly had a very bad feeling about this. “Sorry, Mom, but I gotta get to school early today. No time for breakfast!”

This wasn’t a lie—he genuinely was short on time—but he also wanted the chance to speak to Nagase about it first.

“Hold it, mister. You ought to at least eat something first.”

“Taichi! What the heck are these ‘club activities’ you’re doing?!”

But he ignored both his mother and his indignant little sister...

“Wh-... Hey! Don’t just ignore me! HEY!”

...and walked out the door.

He knew he’d have to suffer the consequences when he came home, but right now he had bigger fish to fry. Frustrating as it was to slowly run out of places to relax, he didn’t really have a choice at the moment. He had to hurry.

On the train, his impatience spiked with each stop. He had received a terrifying email that morning, and he needed to find out what was going on, ASAP.

Arriving at the second floor of the school building—the section with all the second-year classrooms—he found Nagase, Kiriyama, and Kurihara.

“What’s the situation? Where’s Oosawa and the rest of the track team?”

“They’re, uh... not here yet,” Nagase replied, her voice tinged with panic.

“Hey, Taichi? Everything’s going to be okay, right? Misaki-chan’s going to be okay? I mean... this can’t be happening, right?” Kiriyama wheezed, trembling.

Meanwhile, Kurihara simply stared out the window—perfectly still, like she was balancing a cup of water on her head.

Then Inaba and Aoki arrived, and they all moved to one corner of the hallway.

That morning, they had received a chilling message from the track team...

Then, finally, Oosawa Misaki arrived at school—tall, slender, with a pixie cut. She walked down the hall, greeting her friends with a wave.

“Oh, hey, Yui-chan... and Iori-chan... Oh, I see the whole CRC’s here.” She squinted dubiously for a moment, then quickly shrugged it off. “Morning!”

Her smile was radiant, as though all her worldly troubles were gone.

“Misaki!”

Kurihara Yukina called out to her close friend on the track team.

“Oh, good morning, Kurihara-san.”

But though Oosawa used to call her Yukina, today she referred to her by last name only. As though the world itself had been altered retroactively.

“No... No, it can’t be... No, no, no, NO!” Crying, Kurihara staggered toward Oosawa. “Misaki, please! Call me Yukina, like you always do! Don’t talk to me like we’re first-years all over again!”

“Wh-Whoa there... Where’s all this coming from?” Oosawa stammered in alarm. “Alright, I promise, I’ll call you Yukina from now on. Heehee... Feels weird, but in a good way.”

She smiled bashfully, as if it was her first time saying the name aloud.

But that bright sparkle, in turn, cast a dark shadow of despair.

Oosawa Misaki had lost all memory of the phenomenon, as well as the memory of her friendships with the four other members of her group. That wasn’t to say she had forgotten every last detail about them; she still recognized them as fellow Yamaboshi students as well as fellow track team members. But she had no recollection of the time she’d spent with them.

Other people could tell that something was weird between her and the rest of them, but it wasn’t drastic enough to warrant mentioning. In other words, it was exactly like the time when Taichi and Kiriyama temporarily lost their club memories as a result of the Phantom Projection.

On Saturday, someone had discovered Oosawa’s secret. At first she had a breakdown, but slowly she regained her composure, and then everything was fine...

But apparently something else had happened since then.

As for the other four track members, well... after they learned of Oosawa’s current condition, they lost the will to attend class like nothing was wrong.

“I can’t believe this... This can’t be happening!”

“She lost her memories?!”

“This has something to do with the body-swap... right...?”

“Misaki... Misaki...!”

“Girls, please, calm down,” Kiriyama called weakly.

“Calm down?! Nice joke, airhead!”

“Guys, I get it, I promise. Just... come with us,” said Nagase, and with that, she led them to the safest part of campus: the CRC clubroom.

They had swiftly given up on their daily duty of attending class. Instead, while school was in session, Kiriyama and Nagase focused on helping the track girls stay calm.

At one point, Taichi worked up the courage to speak to Kurihara.

“What happened with her, anyway? I’m guessing you must know at least part of the story, right?”

“Misaki was really panicking on Saturday. Then Sunday afternoon, we lost contact with her. We were all terrified that something bad had happened... but late that same night, she finally answered her phone. The thing is... she was really cheerful all of a sudden, you know?” Kurihara smiled as tears streamed down her face. “And she acted like it was so weird of me to call her on the phone... and... she called me Kurihara-san...”

What could have happened in the span of a few hours to make Oosawa lose her memories?

“What was she panicking about?”

“...I’m sorry.”

Kurihara seemed to have an idea of the answer, but her lips were sealed.

Had they gotten careless? Arguably, yes. Because they turned out okay, and because the track group seemed to be fine from an outside perspective, the CRC had convinced themselves there was nothing to worry about.

What an idiotic assumption.

Hadn’t «Heartseed» outright told them the phenomenon normally lasted one to two weeks? That was still more than enough time for something like this to happen. Any one of them should have seen this coming... but no. They never paused to really think about it.

Now Oosawa Misaki had lost her memories of the phenomenon, along with any human connection involved. By all accounts, it was the result of an emergency shutdown—the one thing they’d vowed to avoid at all costs.

They had made a mistake that, quite possibly, could never be undone.

Worse still, this set off another event in a chain reaction... or perhaps it was mere coincidence that «they» chose now of all times to take action.

“Hey, uh, Taichi-san?”

“Taichi-senpai!”

Between classes, Chihiro and Enjouji came running up the stairs to the clubroom.

“What’s going on? Did something happen?”

“It’s about our classmates... You know, the group facing the Liberation?”

“It... It sounds like «Heartseed» or... someone similar... has gotten in contact with them!”

And so, now that «The Third» had revealed itself to the first-years, the story of their Liberation had begun in earnest.

■□■□■

With permission from the track girls, the seven members of the CRC gathered in the track team clubroom at lunch for a meeting. This was because, well, the track girls were currently occupying the CRC clubroom.

Inaba let out a long, exhausted sigh, then started barking orders.

“Status updates! First up, the track team.”

“Right,” said Nagase. “Yukina-chan and the others are still experiencing the body-swap phenomenon. But... one of the members, Misaki-chan... has lost all her memories of the body-swap, as well as those of her friendships with the other members of her group, and it’s unclear if she’ll ever go back to normal. Our current theory is that she was subjected to an emergency shutdown.”

“Y’know, I didn’t realize they could do it to just one person. I thought it’d affect all of ’em at the same time,” Aoki commented.

“So did I,” Inaba replied. “But by picking them off one by one, they can inflict greater panic on the survivors... The question is, what happens if the other members manage to hold it together until the end of the phenomenon? Will they still remember their friendship with the shutdown victim...?”

If that shared history was left intact, perhaps there was still hope. Perhaps, as long as at least one person remembered it, others could re-remember it, too.

“...Somehow I feel like that would be a little too convenient for our purposes,” Inaba continued. “Knowing them, they’ll probably ‘smooth things over’ by erasing everyone’s friendship memories.”

“Inaban, stop it! You’re scaring me! I mean, I know you might be right, but still... Okay, uh... Anyway, the fact of the matter is, Misaki-chan’s current state has got the other four really freaked out. At this point, it’s possible someone else could get... you know... shut down.”

Next, Inaba turned to Chihiro and Enjouji. “What about the first-years facing the Liberation?”

“This morning, they came into contact with «The Third», who was possessing the body of a second-year student they barely knew,” Chihiro stated.

“A-And... it told them... b-basically the same stuff it told the track team,” Enjouji added.

“They were already stressed out about the Liberation as it was, since it was making them pick fights with other guys and piss off all the girls. But now they finally accept that what they’re going through is a supernatural phenomenon. It feels like they finally believe us.”

“T-To put it simply, they’re really scared. ‘Does this mean we don’t have to go to the psych ward? What’s going to happen to us?’”

“Sounds like their situation’s getting pretty critical, too,” Inaba murmured. “Now then, moving on... The Record Wipe.”

“Well, the five of us are still experiencing occasional memory flickers,” Taichi replied. “It’s unclear what effect they may be having on us. Our only hope of a countermeasure is to create something that can bring the memories back, and everyone’s been taking steps to do so, but so far there have been no major developments... at least, that we can tell, anyway.”

“Any update on «Heartseed» or any of the others?”

“Well, like our first-years were sayin’, «The Third» showed itself to the Liberation kids, but nothing else so far,” Aoki answered. “We sure haven’t run into any of ’em since we last spoke to «Heartseed».”

“So I guess that’s where we’re at, huh?”

None of this was new information, but at Inaba’s suggestion, they each took turns presenting it to the group. Honestly, it was the only way they could get it to sink in. Otherwise, it was liable to fly right over their heads. It was just too surreal.

“Anything else anyone would like to say?”

At this, Kiriyama spoke up. “Hey, um... about Misaki-chan’s memories... Do you think she’ll be okay? I’m choosing to believe she will be, but...”

“I don’t know. None of us do.”

“So... do you think our memories... our ‘records’ or whatever... Will they...?”

Slowly but surely, much as they were loath to admit it, the Record Wipe was finally starting to feel real. The fear was starting to set in—

But then, there was a knock at the door, and a visitor peeked in. It was the boy who served as the student council secretary.

“Sure enough, here you are! Hey folks, uh... the president wants to speak to you. Could you come with me?”

And so yet another obstacle sprang up in their path.

“Alright, CRC. Now I know something weird is going on,” student council president Katori Jouji declared across the table.

His summons was directed at all five of the second-year CRC members, but Kiriyama and Nagase headed to the clubroom to comfort the track team while Chihiro and Enjouji went back to their classroom to follow up with their Liberated classmates. Thus, the only ones who turned up for this meeting were Taichi, Inaba, and Aoki.

They didn’t really have time for this, but since Katori made it sound like he was onto them, they couldn’t exactly turn a blind eye to it. The three of them stood facing him; likewise, he didn’t invite them to have a seat.

“What do you mean, something weird?” Inaba asked with a perfect poker face.

“Don’t play dumb with me. I’m talking about the girls on the track team and those four first-year boys.”

Somehow he had managed to pinpoint the current victims with laser precision.

“What about them?”

“I’m told every single one of them skipped class this morning... as did every single one of you.”

Anyone could have noticed that, so his suspicions... actually sort of made sense?

“As the student council president, I believe I have the right to know exactly what you were up to during that time. Wouldn’t you agree?”

Next to him, the vice president and secretary nodded vigorously. Once again, they didn’t seem eager to join the conversation; granted, Taichi wasn’t exactly contributing much himself.

“Do you have that right? I’ll have to check my student handbook.”

“Very funny, smartass. I’m just trying to keep our students safe, okay?”

Maybe he sincerely meant that.

“Now tell me what you know, CRC.”

Why would he target them, of all people? Purely for information? Or was there some other objective at play?

“I don’t mind answering your questions if you’ll explain why you’ve chosen to single us out. Fair trade, wouldn’t you say?”

“No can do. You really think I wouldn’t protect my informants?”

“Frankly, it’s extremely shady that you need ‘informants’ at all.”

“I’m getting nowhere with you. Yaegashi, you’re not planning to skip next period, are you? Explain your absence.”

“Sorry, Katori, but it was important.”

Right now, they didn’t have time to feel out a compromise.

“Aoki?”

“Yeah, man, we’ve got some stuff going on.”

“This is a high school. You people do realize you can’t just opt out of attending class, right?”

“Student council this, high school that. You’re always so quick to throw around your authority, aren’t you?” Inaba smirked.

Katori’s eyes narrowed. “I’d advise you not to mess around with me. You won’t like what happens.”

His intimidating aura sent a shiver down Taichi’s spine.

“Oh yeah? Try me.”

“Hah! You’re bluffing,” Katori snorted, then tensed up once more. “What are you after?”

“Funny; that’s what I was going to ask you.”

Both Katori and Inaba refused to be outdone... but in the end, it was Inaba who backed down.

“...I admit, our behavior’s been a bit strange lately. If we promise to explain ourselves later on, could you let it go for right now?”

“I’m afraid not. See, in a sense, you people are the enemy.”

Now that a line had been drawn, perhaps compromise was no longer an option.

“That’s a little extreme,” Taichi muttered under his breath.

“Sorry, but I refuse to tolerate your club’s attitude. Give you an inch, and you’ll take a mile. Now just follow the rules and carry on with your daily lives.”

“Follow the rules...”

“...and carry on with our daily lives...?”

This hit Aoki and Inaba particularly hard. After all, those particular phrases reminded them of a certain something else: the «Heartseeds».

Was this a warning?

“You see, this task ultimately falls to me,” Katori explained, glancing around at his fellow council members. “I mean, normally a teacher would handle this, and yet none of them have taken action. But I guess you’d already know about that, now wouldn’t you?”

His last words were laced with sarcasm.

“I know we’re acting out of line... I get that, goddamn it!” Inaba spat as they headed back to the CRC clubroom from the student council office.

“Well, at least now Katori will focus his attention on us instead, right?” Taichi offered.

Indeed, the reason they’d taken such an aggressive stance with Katori was to distract him from the first-years and the track girls. After all, the last thing the phenomena victims needed right now was an interrogation, or else they might let something slip... and the CRC did not want to risk anyone triggering another emergency shutdown.

“Katori’s right, though,” Aoki muttered, folding his arms with his hand on his chin. “It is kinda weird that the teachers are shruggin’ this off so easily. Was our school always this lax? They haven’t been... hypnotized or anything, right?”

There was no solution in sight—nothing but negative speculation as far as the eye could see.

Before lunch ended, Taichi and Nagase decided to swing by their classroom to check on things. If their classmates had noticed their absence, then they’d need to consider staying for afternoon classes.

“Where were you guys? Seriously, man, your whole club skipped?” Miyagami called as soon as Taichi walked into the room. “I mean, the girls are hot, so I get it.”

“What? Dude, it’s not like that.”

“So did they put out, or what?” he asked in a low voice, his eyes sparkling mischievously behind his rectangular glasses.

But Taichi shrugged him off—his mind was more preoccupied with what was happening a short distance away.

“You’ve been leaving the classroom during every single break. I get it; that’s your prerogative. But missing class when you’re not even sick? That’s crossing the line.”

Setouchi Kaoru, president of class 2-B, was currently grilling Nagase.

“I... I’m sorry...”

“What I wanna know is,” Nakayama Mariko called across the room to both Taichi and Nagase, “what’s going on with Yukina-chan and the rest of the track team?”

Taichi’s heart skipped a beat.

“I want to know, too,” said a new voice. It was Manga Club member Sone, stroking his belly after another fine meal... but his usual laid-back attitude was nowhere to be seen. “Something’s going on with them. And whatever it is, it’s not normal.”

“Are you guys involved with that?”

Evidently Miyagami was done joking around, too.

Was the cat out of the bag? Was everyone on to them? Was the act of skipping class as a group their ultimate undoing? If only they hadn’t wasted so much time thinking a phenomenon was targeting them. Maybe they could have taken steps to cover for the track team; maybe then this never would have happened.

What would happen if their entire class found out about the phenomena? Would it be deemed “problematic” to the point of another emergency shutdown? Would all the track girls end up like Oosawa?

“Oh, and I heard something similar’s going on with some first-years,” Setouchi commented like she’d only just remembered.

“Wh-Where did you hear that?” Nagase asked nervously. “And... how much have you heard?”

“One of my kouhai told me there’s a rumor going around about some first-years who’ve started cutting class.”

Sure enough, the first-years were in a similarly precarious position. Taichi edged closer to Nagase.

“Nagase...”

“We should probably look into that, huh?”

“No time to waste.”

“Right.”

They weren’t just looking for an excuse to leave; they needed to take action, and they couldn’t afford to wait. They were fighting with all their might, and this was the end result.

Taichi and Nagase exchanged a look... then took off running.

“Sorry, guys!”

“We’ll be right back!”

“Hey!”

“Where are you going?!”

“The bell’s gonna ring!”

But Taichi pretended not to hear them. He knew it was a jerk move... and if he kept acting like this, he’d start hemorrhaging friends... but...

Out in the hallway:

“Fujishima!”

Blocking their path was none other than their biggest nightmare, Fujishima Maiko. During the Dream Vision phenomenon, she had caught wind of their supernatural circumstances, and there was no way in hell she was going to let them pass—

Or so he thought... but then she quietly stepped aside without even asking them where they were going.

Why did she look so guilty?

Together, Taichi and Nagase arrived just outside Class 1-B, where a crowd had formed... with Chihiro and Enjouji at the center.

“C’mon, Uwa. I know you know why they’re skipping.”

“I don’t know what you want me to say.”

“Tell us, Shino-chan! We’re worried about them!”

“Y-Yeah... I get that... Me and Chihiro-kun are worried, too...”

“Uwa! Enjouji-san! We all know they’ve been acting weird lately! Don’t try to pretend otherwise!”

The student screaming the most obnoxiously was none other than Kimura, the boy who had once dragged Taichi of all people into a formal debate regarding the tennis club.

“We should probably rescue them... right?” asked Nagase.

Not that they were in any real danger, but they were clearly struggling in the face of this interrogation. And so, making use of their status as upperclassmen, Taichi and Nagase forced their way in.

“Sorry, kids, but we’re gonna need to borrow them!”

“I-Iori-senpai?!”

“Nagase-san?!”

She grabbed both Chihiro and Enjouji by the arm.

“Sorry, but something urgent’s come up,” Taichi explained, bowing apologetically to the younger students as they stared back in alarm.

■□■□■

Ultimately, they would end up being forced to skip their afternoon classes as well.

“This is getting pretty serious. At this rate, they might start calling our parents,” Taichi muttered to Nagase. Since the track team was still using the CRC clubroom, they’d taken this conversation out behind the Rec Hall building.

They were shirking too much of their schoolwork; the teachers were bound to lecture them for it. Worse still, since his mother and sister had started to get naggy with him lately, he had the feeling he’d probably end up grounded or something.

“If they do, my mom is gonna freak out,” Nagase murmured anxiously.

But the CRC was in no position to back down, no matter the consequences. Times like these, Taichi found himself wishing he didn’t have a family to worry about at all.

Later, in the CRC clubroom:

“This all happened because we opened up to you! It’s your fault!”

Having recovered from their panic and despair, the track girls had moved on to anger... directed at the CRC.

While the CRC didn’t want to upset the track team any further, they now felt obligated to explain the emergency shutdown, if only partially.

“What do you mean, our memories will be erased?! Why didn’t you say anything sooner?!”

“You hid it from us on purpose!”

“Girls, no! We weren’t trying to be jerks. We’re just trying to do what’s best for everyone,” Kiriyama argued desperately.

“You don’t get to decide what’s best for us!”

“I told you it was a mistake to trust them. I tried to stop you... This is all Yukina’s fault!”

“I...”

While the other three howled with rage, Kurihara stared at the floor, looking hurt.

“Misaki’s not innocent either. Both she and Yukina kept spewing that crap about ‘Let’s believe in the CRC!’ and now look where it got us! I’m telling you, we would’ve been better off staying quiet like he told us to. I guarantee it,” Akemi hissed, her eyes wide with unbridled fury. “It’s all their fault... If it wasn’t for Misaki and Yukina...!”

Meanwhile, Kurihara broke down into sobs.

“As far as I’m concerned, Misaki got her just deserts. Why should the rest of us have to suffer?”

“Take that back!” Taichi shouted back reflexively, as the question had touched a nerve.

“What do you care?!” the girl shot back, enraged. “You’re the ones who made things worse! This is all just a game to you, isn’t it?! It’s not your problem, so you don’t actually give a rat’s ass!”

Taichi wanted to tell her she was wrong, but... he couldn’t. The truth of the matter was, there were more precautions they could have taken; there was just so much going on that they hadn’t had the resources to cover every base. They didn’t have enough hands to juggle it all. Hell, they... they didn’t even have time to worry about themselves.

Looking at the track girls, he was finally starting to understand what it meant to lose memories... experiences... friendships... permanently.

These supernatural beings treated humans like their playthings. By contrast, «Heartseed»’s treatment of them was a kindness; it was the exception to the rule. That was why they needed to put their own safety measures in place.

Was this just another part of their game? The pressure was starting to sink in...

“This is a living nightmare... Why us...?”

One small hope remained for the track team: that the remaining members would survive the one- to two-week period and make it out with minimal history erasure. But the CRC wasn’t that fortunate. No amount of gritting their teeth would save them from the Record Wipe.

So what were they supposed to do, exactly?

With the exception of Kurihara, the track girls all filed out of the CRC clubroom. Never mind that classes were still in session—they were going home, and at this point, there wasn’t a single thing anyone could do to stop them.

The strength drained from Taichi’s body.

“Why did this have to happen...?” Kiriyama whispered tearfully, wiping her eyes again and again.

“I just... wanted to help them somehow...” Nagase collapsed to the floor and tucked her knees up to her chin.

“No matter how much we try to reassure them, it won’t get through to them... We’re just untrustworthy outsiders now.” Inaba gritted her teeth like she was cursing her own powerlessness.

“Isn’t this kind of a problem...? I mean, are they even gonna show up tomorrow? And what’ll happen if they don’t?” asked Aoki.

The answer was that they would be deemed to have broken the “carry on with your daily lives” rule. But what would happen then?

“They’ll show up... They won’t want to lose their memories, right...?” Kurihara suggested weakly. Abandoned by the rest of her group, she sat on the old black sofa, staring at the floor. “Whatever you do, please don’t blame them for this... They’re being forced to swap bodies with each other, and now they might even forget each other completely...” She looked utterly exhausted, like she was on the brink of passing out. “I mean, Misaki already—”

Suddenly, Kurihara paused, frozen.

“Wait... Misaki...?”

She looked puzzled... almost like she didn’t recognize the name.

Was she losing something right in front of their eyes?

“YUKINA!” Kiriyama screamed, and the windows shook slightly.

Kurihara snapped out of her daze, then refocused her gaze on Kiriyama. “Wh-... What is it, Yui?”

“You were acting weird just now... like you forgot Misaki-chan...”

“E-Excuse me? I could never forget Misaki. That’s silly... Yeah, that’s silly...”

But her denial was all too telling.

“Did the emotional distress cause that? Because we’re told excessive stress can cause emergency shutdowns, too,” Inaba stammered, panicked.

“Actually, about that... I meant to ask you something earlier, but everyone was too busy pitching a fit. So... what exactly did you mean when you said we can’t let it get to us?”

“Well... Granted, this is mostly guesswork, but you’ll want to avoid any severe emotional instability. Panic, depression, despair...”

In light of the previous conversation, Inaba delved into more detail regarding the emergency shutdown as previously conveyed to them by «Heartseed».

“Despair...?” Kurihara was now paler than Taichi had ever seen her. “B-But we’re talking major trauma, right? Like... not to be morbid or anything, but... like rape or murder...?”

“Probably, but...” Inaba hesitated.

It was clear from the way Kurihara phrased her question that she wanted the answer to be yes... but it quickly became apparent that Inaba had decided there was little point in hiding the truth from her any longer.

“...I think the definition of ‘major trauma’ will vary from person to person. Something that may seem minor to you can have a massive impact on someone else internally, and vice versa.”

It was the individual who ultimately decided what mattered to them, and how much.

“Oh my god... Then that was probably what happened...!” Kurihara clapped a shaking hand to her mouth.

“Did you just have an epiphany, Yukina?! Don’t freak out, okay?!” Kiriyama blurted, flustered.

“Because they didn’t know what she was into... or who she used to date...”

“Oh, you mean the fact that she’s bi?”

“Yui!” Kurihara glanced around pointedly at the other people in the room.

“It’s alright. We’ve all known this about her for a while,” Inaba explained.

Indeed, Oosawa had once asked Kiriyama on a date. That was how the CRC learned that she was attracted to both guys and girls.

“Oh... Okay then. Well, the thing is... we never knew that about her. But then we found out. Through the body-swap.”

Swapping in and out of other people’s bodies purely at random, it was all too easy to uncover those sorts of secrets.

“Personally, it doesn’t make me uncomfortable, and I’d never stop being her friend because of it. But I know there are a lot of homophobes out there, so I get why she’d be scared. Heck, I admit, it kinda surprised me at first, but... I think Misaki misread my surprise and thought I was creeped out instead.”

And sometimes those secrets, which would have been a total non-issue in any other situation, were revealed in the worst possible fashion.

“Our reactions really hurt her...”

Some people could be needlessly protective of those otherwise minor secrets.

And when all these circumstances overlapped... tragedy was inevitable.

That evening, Taichi headed home alone through the winter chill.

What an exhausting day it had been. So much had happened—too much for one single day, honestly. Not to mention, it hurt to hear the track team lash out at them after everything they’d done to try to help.

Objectively speaking, however, he could see why they would react the way they did. One person had already lost their memories; anyone would be rattled by that. And given the timing, it would make sense for them to assume it was the CRC’s fault. In fact, maybe it was; Taichi couldn’t say for sure.

There existed an alternate future in which the CRC never got involved with the track team, but it was too late—that path was closed to them now. And during the Dream Vision phenomenon, they had learned just how much responsibility was required to make that choice.

Had their actions completely backfired?

They had already roused the suspicion of the student council president, Katori Jouji. While it was unclear what, exactly, was going on with him, the fact remained that they were better off not getting on his bad side if they could help it. Also, it didn’t help matters that he’d sensed there was “something weird” going on involving the current phenomena victims; after all, if they wanted to uphold the “carry on with your normal lives” rule, then they would need to keep attending school.

Worst case scenario, the CRC could stop going to school, too... Oh, but then their nosy family members would get on their case.

Nowhere was safe. They had no one they could call an ally (though whether they actually had any enemies remained to be seen). Where did they belong?

No matter where they went, they were attacked, criticized, questioned. The people in their lives had gone from helpful to a downright hindrance. Times like these, Taichi selfishly wished he could cut them out of his life, but naturally that wasn’t feasible. Those connections were chains, tying him down.

Conversely, now «Heartseed» had volunteered to join the fight with them.

Back when it was their enemy, things were so much simpler. There were only two sides to the story; all they had to do was fight back against its intentions without thinking too hard. But now? These days, Taichi had vowed to have agency of his own... but those chains were weighing him down.

Everything in the world was getting in their way. They were fighting an uphill battle at every juncture, and no one was rooting for them.

They thought a single change of heart could change everything, but real life wasn’t that easy. Maybe that was how it worked in their world, but in the real world, that wasn’t enough. Their feelings weren’t enough. They themselves weren’t enough.

Was this simply how things went in real life? In the world beyond their club?

It was all so confusing; Taichi wanted nothing more than to get home and sleep for a thousand years—to shut himself down and descend into perfect inky blackness.

The question was: Could he come back to the light afterwards? There was no guarantee. After all, he might wake up one morning without his memories... without his most treasured friendships. By this point, he knew full well it was no laughing matter this time around.

After seeing Oosawa get “reset” with their own two eyes, the rest of the track team lost all composure. But in some sense, Taichi had distanced himself from them; he understood that now. Not to suggest he hadn’t cared about their plight—on the contrary, he was constantly wishing for a way to help them. But it hadn’t felt truly real to him. Like he was watching a show on TV—no matter how emotionally invested he became, it was never quite 100 percent. His heart wasn’t fully in it.

But now, finally, he had reached 100 percent.

Memory loss. History erasure. A permanent black void. And in their case, it wasn’t the consequence of messing up—it was the consequence of doing nothing. Unlike the phenomena, this wasn’t a matter of entertaining «Heartseed», and as such, it had no safety measures in place for them.

Some unknowable entity was attempting to drop them into the bottomless abyss, and right now, Taichi felt as though he’d caught a glimpse of its invisible hand, large and shadowy. Unable to stop it, he could only watch as it coiled its fingers around his body, pulling him down into a world of darkness.

Slowly, his fear took shape.

All this time, it never truly felt real... and besides, he was too busy with other things to really think about it... but most of all, he never wanted to believe it. Now, however, it had manifested to the point that he could touch it, hear it, smell it.

He was going to lose his memories—lose his self. It was hilariously, tragically, absurdly fucking terrifying.

His body shook to the point that he couldn’t stay upright; he staggered against the wall. The cold concrete felt firmly reassuring. With its unwavering support, he found he could push himself back onto his own two feet.

But he knew that reassurance was only fleeting.

The fear was closing in. He couldn’t fight it. He didn’t have time to think. He couldn’t do anything.

It made him want to throw in the towel right then and there. After all, he just didn’t have the capacity to help anyone else right now. Quite the opposite—he was drowning, and no one could be bothered to toss him a lifesaver. Instead, they were pushing him down under the surface.

He’d worked so hard—tried his best to consider every angle. Surely he’d earned a break. All that mattered was the CRC. That was enough for him. Humans could only do so much for other people, you know?

Sure enough, his “self-sacrificial” desires revealed themselves to be purely self-focused in nature. The second it seemed like it was too hard, he was ready to give up. And with this chaotic contradiction, Taichi lost his path forward, as well as the path he had traveled to get there.

He was ready to admit it: deep down, he had simply assumed they would prove victorious yet again. That there was nothing the five of them couldn’t accomplish if they put their heads together. After all, they’d made it this far, hadn’t they?

Unfortunately, this was quite possibly a battle they couldn’t win. But they had only ever known victory, so they didn’t know how to face defeat.

Maybe this was the stage at which they needed to admit they had lost and start doing damage control... but Taichi couldn’t make that call. Knowing him, come tomorrow morning, he’d go right back to helping people.

■□■□■

Selfishly, part of him had hoped that when he woke up the next day, everything would be back to normal. But no, Oosawa Misaki’s memories didn’t conveniently return just because he wanted them to.

On the bright side, contrary to the CRC’s worries, the four remaining track girls and the four first-year boys all came to school that day... but they were all very clearly at the limits of their sanity. Anyone could tell at a glance that there was something going on.

They were at school... they were sitting at their desks... but they didn’t respond to a single word anyone said. The first-years were zoning out one minute, then acting out the next; eventually the other students started to rethink interacting with them at all. Then their gazes shifted from worry to apprehension.

And all Taichi could do was watch from the sidelines.

“Do you think Yukina-chan’s... doing okay?” Nakayama asked Taichi and Nagase after first period ended.

Together, they gazed at Kurihara, sitting soullessly at her desk.

“We should probably just... leave her be for right now,” Nagase replied. It was the only answer she had.

“Something’s totally going on with her. I feel like we should talk to a teacher about it,” Nakayama insisted.

“I agree,” said class president Setouchi Kaoru.

“See?! Kaoru-chan gets it!”

The two of them started to discuss Kurihara further; meanwhile, Taichi and Nagase slipped out of the conversation and into the hallway.

“This is seriously bad,” Nagase murmured, looking pale. “If someone tells the teachers, the track team will totally get called in for questioning. They won’t be able to talk their way out of it... and then their memories are as good as gone!”

“But... we can’t exactly stop everyone from telling the teachers,” Taichi replied reluctantly. Loath as he was to admit it, there was no visible solution to the current crisis.

“But if the teachers find out, they’ll report it to the girls’ families. Then they’ll run out of places to go!”

Somehow, the CRC had always managed to keep their phenomena contained. But once the irregular behavior started to leak out into the rest of their lives, it started to have an immediate—and dangerous—ripple effect.

“Even my family is starting to suspect something,” Taichi muttered.

What were the track team’s home lives like? Because once their families started to question them, they would be forced to remain constantly on guard for every moment of their lives.

“Yeah... My mom’s started paying a lot more attention. I can’t even be on my phone without her listening in... She can be pretty dumb a lot of the time, but every now and then her intuition kicks in, I guess...”

Just then, both of their phones lit up with an email notification. It was from Inaba Himeko, and it was only one sentence long:

Now that they had something more important to attend to, the five second-years of the CRC summarily ditched second period to gather in the clubroom instead. At this point they were essentially flushing their student records down the drain, but they’d have to deal with that later.

So there they were, face to face with an otherworldly entity like it was the most ordinary thing in the world... and in that sense, they were more than a little bit otherworldly themselves.

“It’s become clear to me... what they’re trying to do... so I came here to let you know...”

“Wh-What do you mean, ‘what they’re trying to do’?” Taichi stammered, his mind fuzzy.

As always, «Heartseed» was piloting the body of Gotou Ryuuzen. Did Gotou have any classes during second period? Hopefully not. Otherwise there’d be trouble.

“Didn’t I tell you... they’re conducting these other phenomena... for a reason...? Wait... If you’ve forgotten, then maybe I don’t need to report back after all...”

At this, he remembered: it wasn’t considered normal behavior for multiple «Heartseeds» to gather in one place and cause multiple phenomena at the same time. Hence, they had suspected there had to be another motive behind it... but lately they were so swamped, they couldn’t see the forest for the trees.

“So it seems... one of them has had an emergency shutdown... and lost their memories, correct...?”

“Gee, I’m glad to see you’re all caught up,” Inaba growled, openly irritated.

“I have to say, their timing was most unusual... They simply shut her down without any hypnotherapy for any of the other members... Surely they would have known the mass hysteria that would cause... So negligent...”

“Hypnotherapy?” Nagase repeated dubiously.

“Something like that, anyway... After all, if the emergency shutdown makes one member start acting strangely, it’s only natural that the others would panic as a result...”

The CRC had discussed this very thing at one point.

“From there, it is all too easy for things to snowball out of control... That’s why we normally use hypnotherapy to smooth things over, but they didn’t bother... It just feels so sloppy... in a lot of ways...”

«Heartseed» blathered on and on, tilting his head pensively.

“Well, me personally... I’m choosing to put the effort in... so I’d like you all to do the same... with regard to your memories...”

“I thought you said you figured something out about them? So spit it out already. We’re in the dark here,” Inaba snapped... but it was clear she was just frustrated.

“...I would appreciate it if you wouldn’t shoot the messenger...”

«Heartseed» paused there to look at each of them in turn with its empty, soulless eyes. What was it looking for? What was it thinking?

“It would appear they are planning... to involve a majority of the people at this school in some... large-scale phenomenon. Their current phenomena are a sort of... dress rehearsal.”

“What? ‘Dress rehearsal’?” Kiriyama was baffled. Taichi was having trouble processing it, too.

“Basically... They’re planning something even bigger...”

“‘Basically’ my fucking ass!” Inaba howled with all the fury of an erupting volcano.

The body-swap. And the Liberation. And the Record Wipe. And this was only the beginning? Unbelievable. Unacceptable.

They were already struggling to keep their heads above water—any more and they’d drown.

“S-Sorry, man, but that’s kinda... hard to believe.” Even Aoki the Optimist was having trouble coming to terms with it.

Meanwhile, Nagase had reached the point at which all she could do was minimize the situation in her head and then cling to that fantasy. “Are you sure this isn’t just another one of your tricks meant to freak us out? This is all just an illusion, isn’t it?”

Admittedly, Taichi could relate. It felt like he was in freefall. He didn’t understand anything anymore—not a single thing.

“What’s even the point of all this...?” he muttered without realizing.

“Like I told you... «The Third»’s group is planning some large-scale event... in addition to your Record Wipe...”

“Not that. I mean, what’s the point of the body-swap or the Liberation or any of them?”

It was a question borne of sheer frustration, and he didn’t expect an answer. «Heartseed» had never once answered any questions regarding its existence or purpose.

So naturally, when it actually gave an answer, Taichi assumed it was joking.

“This is... shall we say... an experiment.”

“Wha...?” Taichi blinked back like an idiot.

“What kind of experiment?” Nagase asked, seemingly by reflex, her voice flat.

“Let’s not worry about that... Right now we should focus on the problem at hand,” «Heartseed» replied evasively. Did it tell them these things purely on a whim, or was there a motive behind it? Its expressionless face was impossible to read.

“One of these days we’re going to get it out of you,” Inaba growled. “So tell me, how are they planning to involve ‘a majority of everyone at this school’? Are they going to do a bunch of phenomena all over the place? Because I feel like that would get untenable very quickly, don’t you?”

“Oh, certainly... The more they added... the more easily it would leak to the rest of the world... Not to suggest it hasn’t already, of course...” It stroked its chin as if in contemplation.

“What, so they’re going to go crazy with the phenomena, let it turn into a nightmare, then pull an emergency shutdown on everyone? Over and over?” Taichi bristled.

But if it was an experiment... an experiment where those in power had full control... and they were the guinea pigs, then...

As loath as he was to admit it, if this was all an “experiment,” then... a lot of things started to make sense.

“In truth, much of this is still under investigation... but one thing’s for certain... You’ll find hints in the rumors floating around...”

“Rumors?” Taichi muttered, confused.

“Ah, yes... I forgot you’re unable to hear them... thanks to the hypnosis...”

“What rumors? What fucking hypnosis? No one told us any of this shit!” Inaba spluttered in bewilderment.

“Indeed... «The Third»’s group took great pains to make sure you wouldn’t find out... Surely they wouldn’t do that without reason... Yes, I suspect there must be some greater objective...”

So there was more to it. Taichi’s brain had reached its capacity for emotional reaction and could no longer produce the appropriate response. Well, that sucks, he thought impassively.

He didn’t stand a chance of processing this information; any willpower he might have had to actually try was probably just for show. Outwardly he was fine, but internally he was flatlining. Like a lifeless puppet.

“Not to worry... I have taken it upon myself to fix this little issue... Previously you would have noticed people moving their mouths without actually hearing their voices, but now... if you think back, you should be able to remember—”

“Some kinda giant experiment, they said?”

“They’re not seriously gonna trap us inside, right?”

“I heard they’re holding it on school grounds with, like, TONS of people.”

“Hmm... I heard people are gonna swap bodies.”

“I heard some people will be able to read minds. Yikes!”

“If you’re forced to only tell lies, then couldn’t you just explain you were lying right afterwards? I don’t get it.”

How had they failed to notice all this time? Everyone was talking about it—in the classroom, the hallway, the cafeteria, the restrooms, everywhere. All at once, the world had changed so drastically, it felt as though they’d stumbled into an alternate timeline by mistake.

But no—this was unmistakably the same world. Its change was gradual, happening all around them; if anything, it was their fault for not noticing sooner. They had clearly observed situations in which they were unable to hear people, despite being within a perfectly reasonable range... but at some point, that little issue had gotten lost in the shuffle amid bigger, more urgent problems. And that simply wasn’t acceptable.

Strange, mysterious rumors were floating around Yamaboshi High School. The rest of the world was changing, leaving the CRC behind.

In the course of an extremely belated investigation spanning morning break periods, lunchtime, and afternoon break periods, they combed through the whole school building and asked around until at last they found their answer.

The rumors had spread predominantly among the first- and second-years, possibly because the third-years were too busy with college entrance exams, and at this point, attending class was purely optional.

During each break between classes, they would travel across campus. Then, when it was time for the next class, they would sit at their desk and wait for it to end, until eventually the final bell rang.

At this point, frankly, Taichi didn’t even see the point of attending class anymore. His textbooks and notebooks had gone untouched for the past several hours; he packed them into his bookbag and rose to his feet.

He made eye contact with Nagase, then Kiriyama, but they didn’t speak. Instead, they all left the classroom separately. Standing near the entrance was Nakayama Mariko with her boyfriend Ishikawa Daiki.

“Sounds kinda intense to have your affection for someone switch at random, huh?!”

“I can’t even fathom what that must feel like.”

Even they were gossiping about the rumors.

“Hey, guys?” Taichi called.

“Oh, hey! What’s up, Yaegashi-kun?”

“That rumor you mentioned just now—where did you hear it?”

“Well, uh... Hmm... Where did we hear it? Ishikawa-kun, do you remember?”

“I’m pretty sure I heard it from you, Nakayama...”

“What? No, I thought I heard it from you! Mmrgh... Oh well. I guess that’s just how these things work, huh?”

None of these people could remember where they first heard the rumors. There was no clear source. And yet none of them seemed to find that fact even a tiny bit creepy.

«The Third»’s “hypnosis” had prevented the CRC from hearing these rumors; maybe it had cast some other hypnosis on the rest of the students to keep them from questioning anything. The entire school was under its control, like a little puppet show... and the students were the puppets.

Taichi decided to review the facts before he headed to the clubroom. He had a feeling... a tiny little hopeful feeling... that maybe he’d find a miracle solution lying around somewhere. So there he was, wandering around school grounds, when he happened to bump into Inaba.

“Where do you think you’re going?” she demanded.

“Oh, just doing some investigating... What about you? Why aren’t you headed to the clubroom?”

“...Same as you, more or less.”

They each intuited the other’s intentions, and together they started walking. They didn’t talk much—no discussion of countermeasures. From an outside perspective, maybe it would look like they were taking action, but in reality, they’d hit a dead end. Even Inaba didn’t immediately have the right answer this time around.

That was when they encountered the very last person they would have wanted to see:

“Hey, CRC. I hear you’ve been asking around about those rumors,” said student council president Katori Jouji.

“Yeah, we—” Taichi began, but Inaba stopped him.

“What of it?” she shot back, her tone challenging.

She seemed to have a grudge against Katori that spurred her to constantly try to one-up him—a grudge that, by all accounts, was mutual. Then again, maybe it didn’t help that he was accompanied by one Fujishima Maiko.

Together, the two of them were blocking their path.

“Now what would the great almighty student council president and the star of the Student Council Outreach Committee want with us?”

“I wanted to ask you...” Katori shot a quick glance at Fujishima beside him. “How much does your club know about these rumors? For example, do you know how many there are in total?”

“In total?”

Inaba fell silent, unsure how to respond. But although she probably had her own ideas about how to play their cards, Taichi determined it was probably pointless to bother with negotiation tactics at this stage. After all, Katori was just another student at this school... which meant he wasn’t their enemy.

“We only learned about them today, so we don’t have anything concrete. If you’ve got anything you can tell us, we’d appreciate it,” Taichi told them. His plan: to simply be honest and ask for their help.

“Today? That can’t be true. These rumors are everywhere! Are you serious?”

“It’s the truth,” Inaba chimed in. “So just... uh... please, tell us what you know, and we’ll do the same.” Once again, she had sensed Taichi’s intent and adapted accordingly.

All this time, they were convinced that Katori seemed to know something—that there was something fishy about him. But maybe, in the end, the punchline was that they were completely in the dark themselves. In which case, there was a chance Katori might help them after all.

But those hopes were swiftly dashed.

“In that case... never mind,” he replied, disheartened.

“Wh-... What do you mean, never mind?” Taichi pressed, forcing the words out of his throat.

“I always thought you people had some... some critical role, you know, somewhere in all this,” Katori explained as Fujishima continued to stand there in silence. “But... if you honestly have nothing to do with it, then... I guess I jumped to the wrong conclusion. Sorry for dragging you down to the office so many times. I only targeted you because Fujishima here insisted you were the most suspicious people at this school.”

Fujishima? Taichi looked over at her to find her staring awkwardly at the ground.

“Oh, but for the record, I’m not trying to pin this on her. I was the one who made the call to act on her intel. So if there’s anyone to blame here, it’s me,” he clarified in defense of Fujishima. “Anyway, let’s get in touch if anything else happens. I’ll be sure to make it up to you some other time.”

And with that, he walked off, leaving Fujishima behind with Taichi and Inaba. Then, finally, she spoke up.

“...I’m really, truly sorry. I thought the rumors were rather peculiar, and felt we should investigate, and... judging from the nature of those rumors, I couldn’t help but think that... maybe the CRC was involved somehow,” she explained, looking guilty.

To be fair, she wasn’t technically wrong; the CRC had gone through all the same things the current victims were experiencing now.

“But it seems I was wrong. Whatever oddities you’re involved with, they’re separate from these particular oddities. I’m sorry for making the president suspect you, and I’m sorry we wasted your time.”

With this, they had apparently escaped the student council’s suspicion, and now they didn’t have to worry about Katori or Fujishima any longer. This was probably a good thing. But to Taichi, it felt like their connections to the outside world were slowly being severed, one at a time.

Fujishima bowed deeply, then turned to excuse herself.

“No, wait... Wait!” Inaba called hastily, her voice nearly cracking. “Fujishima... You think there’s something weird about the rumors?”

“Yes, I do.”

“I see... Good... That’s good!”

“How so?” Taichi whispered, confused.

“Think about it, dumbo! You-know-who told us they’re all hypnotized, remember? That’s why nobody thinks these rumors are creepy!”

But unlike everyone else they’d spoken to, Fujishima did take issue with the rumors.

“Knowing you, you’re probably doing your own independent investigation, right? Have you tracked down the source of the rumors, by any chance?” Inaba asked hopefully.

“The source? No, I just sort of picked it up from somewhere. That’s how rumors work, is it not?”

Wait, what?

Even Inaba faltered—just for a moment, though. Then she recovered. “W-Well, yeah, but... Wait, hold on. You do think that they’re weird, though, right? Weird in what way?”

“Well, there’s simply no way they could have spread throughout the entire school all at once, don’t you think? It’s absurd!”

“Sure, yeah... but...” Inaba murmured to herself, then shivered slightly, like she wasn’t sure whether to keep pressing.

To Taichi, however, there was only one option... so he summoned his resolve. “Okay, but the rumors themselves are pretty weird too, am I right?”

“Are they?”

Oh.

“I thought they were pretty average rumors, myself.”

Okay.

“Nothing to write home about.”

And that was the moment they realized they were too late to save a single one of them.

+++

“Iori! Enough is enough!” my mother, Nagase Reika, shouts at me angrily as I walk into the apartment late that night.

I ignore her and head for my room.

“Iori, you’re as white as a sheet!”

Yeah, I bet. “I’m really tired, so I’m going to bed. That’s all it is. Don’t worry.”

“Hold it right there, young lady! Tell me what’s going on!”

Will you shut up? Why can’t you just let me live my life? “You wouldn’t understand.”

“Tell me.”

“No, seriously—”

“Tell me!”

Don’t be such a dictator. What if they decide this counts as an “information leak” and do an emergency shutdown? It’s a volatile situation, so don’t push my buttons right now.

I force my way past her. She tries to block my path with her arm, but I duck under it. I know I’m being a total bitch, but I don’t have time to smooth things over with her right now. I walk into my room, shut the door behind me, and promptly sink to the floor.

“Iori!” she roars after me, and I flinch.

I know, okay? I know you’re worried sick about me. You’re my mom, and you care about me. I get that. But sometimes that puts me in a hard position.

I don’t need you to help me, but I’d appreciate it if I didn’t have to keep my guard up around you constantly. You may not be my enemy, but you’re sure acting like one. Here’s an idea: don’t harass your daughter just so you can get some peace of mind for yourself!

Then again, I’m being pretty self-focused myself... and as a result, it’s stressing her out, too. In the end, we’re both putting ourselves first. I guess that’s just human nature, huh?

The people in my life are in trouble, and I want to help them... but I know there are limits to what I can reasonably handle. First I need to take care of my own business; then I can think about friends and family. Only after that can I start thinking about everyone else. Before you start pointing fingers, make sure your hands are clean, as they say.

Right now, we’re on the cusp of losing our memories, and we spend each passing day in fear. In my case, I’m in danger of losing the very moment that helped me change for the better. Without it, I’ll go back to that formless darkness I existed in before I had any idea who I truly was as a person.

Would I have ever come to understand myself without the phenomena? If so, great. But if not, what then?

Honestly, there’s a lot more than just that. Over the past year and a half, I’ve matured in all sorts of ways. What will happen to this version of me? And above all, what will happen to my friendships with the people who matter most?

At one point, the Record Wipe used to be hypothetical. But now it’s manifested into our reality with fangs bared. It’s going to erase all past events related to the phenomena... which means anything that happened as a result will get the axe, too. That means I’ll change... and that means my relationship with my mom will change, and...

Wait, what?

It feels like the scope of the Record Wipe is a lot larger than I’ve been giving it credit for... Is that why «The Third» had to bring an entire posse and dedicate so much time to setting it up?

So what am I meant to do with this event horizon bearing down on me at every moment? There’s a decision being thrust in my face, and all I can do is make it. Even if that decision is cruel and irresponsible, there’s only so many options available to us.

I’ve learned my limits. I understand my insignificance. My powerlessness.

“...I should get in touch with the others...”

At the door, my mother mutters something... but my mind’s so preoccupied with other things, I don’t quite catch it.