《A World Without God [Urban Fantasy Light Novel]》 [Image Gallery] Here''s all the art I''ve commission for my novel "A World Without God". This includes character designs and the 6 insert illustrations. These contain spoilers, but they are marked, so you can avoid them if you want to remain spoiler-free. Character Designs
Alternate Outfits (Spoilers!)
Insert Illustrations If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. Illustration #1 The following illustrations contain spoilers! Illustration #2 Illustration #3 Illustration #4 Illustration #5 Illustration #6 Ch. 1 [mundane_life] - Part 1 Things might get a bit dicey this time. That was the thought making rounds in my mind as we took our first snow-laden steps into the old house. The faint winter light trickled in through the rips in the translucent paper panes covering the windows, giving the dilapidated hallway a somber atmosphere. After trekking through a seasonally dead forest covered by last nights snowfall, even the smallest relief from the biting cold was welcoming. Still, the broken windows lining the tight hallway and the smell of old, moldy wood reminded me of just how preposterous this situation was. Its so cold. My feet hurt. This place is falling apart. Ah, I want to go home so bad. In stark contrast to my disposition, the short girl right in front of me seemed to be in particularly high spirits. With each confident step she took, the ruined building creaked in response, as if complaining about the intruders. I thought about how my life decisions led to this situation, and a long-overdue sigh escaped my mouth. What am I even doing here? I asked in a hushed voice. It was a rhetorical question, but the girl had heard me somehow, and was taking my words at face value. She stopped dead in her tracks and turned back to face me with a frown. You were the one you insisted on coming, remember? I would have been just fine on my own. You really thought Id let you come to this haunted house alone? You might just get yourself killed by one of those ghosts youre hunting. My words clearly hit a nerve with her. Were not here for the ghosts. Or did you forget everything I told you? As if I could ever forget a single word you said, I responded, feigning confidence. Really? Ayumis expression seemed doubtful. Then refresh my memory. This silence is starting to be a bit too much for my taste, she said as she turned on her flashlight and continued deeper into the building. From her tone, she probably meant for this little exchange to make me look like a fool, get a few laughs in, and lighten up the mood. Unfortunately for her, Im not oblivious enough to fall for her tricks. Yet, here I was, sneaking through broken windows into a house that was all but a ruin on a frigid winter evening. Ironic. Anyway, to answer the girls question. Since a few years ago, the country has been plagued with sightings of what could only be called supernatural incidents. Ghosts, apparitions, poltergeists, UFOs, the whole shebang. Our town was no exception. This house in particular has been in a state of ruin for as long as I can remember, and naturally, it attracted the attention of many a ghosthunter. However, Ayumi wasnt after any old ghosts. Oh no. She was after a specific subset of apparitions, one who caused people to see a strange light and faint on the spot. Yes, thats right. We came here precisely because of those darn lights. Not for the ghosts and other crap believed to be haunting this place. But apparently, that still wasnt the right answer. With a stomp, she whipped around to face me again; the tatami mat floor made a worrisome groaning response. Nhgn S-Some lights? Thats super vague! At least call them by their name! They saw an angel! And just a few hours ago, at that. This is our freshest lead yet! Wheres your passion?! You have enough passion for both of us. Im here to make sure you dont do anything dangerous. Or stupid. Those usually come hand in hand with you. I know that She adjusted her hairpin, which was about to fall off due to her careless stomping, and continued walking. I was just hoping you were starting to enjoy hunting for angels with me. Yeah, that isnt happening any time soon. Ayumi sighed and walked deeper into the dilapidated building without a word. With a swish of her hand, she opened a nearby sliding door. Takkun, this is the first room we need to investigate, she said, her emerald-green eyes shining with glee. This room used to be covered in tatami mats, but they had rotted away or had been ripped over the decades, exposing the wood below. Nothing of value left inside. But that didnt demote Ayumi, who still had her trademark dazzling smile plastered all over her face. She rummaged through her bag and took out an old-fashioned notebook and pencil. Record a decent enough video while I look around for clues. And make it all shaky and stuff. Adds to the atmosphere. Resigned, I did as ordered. Ayumi and I investigated the entire minka for a good while. We turned over every object, even going so far as to lift the few tatami mats that were left, without finding anything substantial. Honestly, I can''t say I wasnt a bit disappointed. This place was supposedly more cursed than an abandoned road-side love hotel, but we werent seeing anything unusual. That begged the question as to what exactly this so-called curse was in the first place. The rumors say that the husband brought people into a secret room, then tortured and killed them, Ayumi responded. Yikes. I hope thats not true.This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Perhaps it is, perhaps not. What we do know for sure is that the tenants had some complaints: furniture moving on its own, blood dripping from walls... You know, the usual stuff. You call that the usual stuff? But while I was investigating the case, something caught my attention. The latest visitors have seen other mysterious events not related to that story. For example disturbances to electronic devices, and the hallways being dark despite light coming through the windows. Or a wall you can walk through. That sounds suspiciously like a secret door to me. Ayumi replied to my comment with narrowed eyes. Not that, silly. Its an actual solid wall that you can walk through as if it was air. The speculation going around is that a door once stood there, but it was removed by someone or something. Please dont say something with a straight face. Because of those details, Ive had my eyes on this place for some time now. That last report was the final straw. Seeing lights and fainting for no reason is a clear sign angels were here. Why though, I have no idea. Maybe they felt some kinship with the ghosts? Ayumis glare made me feel like I had just uttered the most barbaric of offenses. Joking even a little about this absurd urban legend around Ayumi was a terrible idea. I should have known better. She was so serious about it at that point that it had become an obsession like no other. And field trips like these, where shewell, wewent looking for them, were like her lifeblood. Unsurprisingly, we didnt find anything out of the ordinary inside the mansion. Despite exploring every nook and cranny of the place, it was evident that, if something had happened here, it had been destroyed by time. No blood on the walls, no weird spooky noises, nothing. There was not a trace of evil to be found in this residence. As for that famous wall Its completely solid! Ayumi exclaimed after she examined the hallway it was supposedly in. Hmph. No surprises there. The girl scrunched up her nose and grumbled. Well, that was the last thing to look at. What a shame. This was another dead-end. No evidence of angels either, as usual. Ayumi called this paranormal journalism. I called it what it truly was: a waste of time. After all, there was a 99% chance she would find nothing of value during these investigationsand even if she lucked out, it was hard to relate to the supernatural in any way. Having taken enough videos of the innocuous wall to last a lifetime, I leaned on it to prove that, once and for all, that it was solid. Can I suggest something? Ayumi looked at me with her gaze sharp as a knife. I have a feeling I know what youre going to say, but go ahead. Maybejust maybethese people are making it up or remembering things incorrectly. This is the, what, thirtieth or so time weve followed these rumors about weird lights, and we always come out empty-handed. In response, Ayumi stomped the floor with surprising force. The entire house groaned as if being awakened from a long slumber. She has some scary strength despite her size. Thats whats so frustrating! They could at least leave some sort of dubious hint behind, but its always the same. Nothing! Why would they leave any hints behind? That would ruin their entire mystique. If they exist, that is. I concede some people may be lying or making it up, but theres no way all these similar reports coming from all over are a coincidence, she concluded. I bet that you and others writing about it leads to more people thinking they fainted because of these lights. Thats how urban legends start in the first place. Ayumi mumbled, but I couldnt quite hear what she had said. Deep down, she knew I was right. But even after so many years of this back and forth, she still wouldnt budge an inch. Thus, a moment of tense silence fell upon us. Surprisingly, it was the crestfallen Ayumi who had broken it first. Well, weve explored every nook and cranny of this mansion. I guess its time to go back. Instead of making her exit the way we came in, she instead took a shortcut through a room we had never crossed before. The mistake made her not check if the floor was safe to walk on or not. And thats when it happened. The rotten wood floor beneath Ayumi collapsed in the blink of an eye. Before I even had time to realize what was happening, I rushed to grab the girls hand. T-Takkun! Her legs were dangling over the open hole. The only things stopping her from falling were my hands grabbing her left hand and her right gripping the rim of the pit. Grhh! Just grab on tight! Thankfully, Ayumi was a very petite girl, so even my sofa-trained muscles were enough to pull her back to relative safety. Are you alright? Yeah I think so, she said with a haggard voice. Damn, my skirt and blazer got ripped. Guess Ill have to get new ones. But Im fine! She flashed a smile, but her face was paler than Id ever seen her. Darn it. I knew we shouldnt have come here. This was too dangerous, I said. Well, you gotta take some risk in this line of Her speech was interrupted by another loud cracking noise coming from somewhere. That doesnt sound good. We shouldnt be here any longer. For once, Ayumi agreed with me. Yeah. Lets get out of here. We raced out of the dilapidated building as fast as we could, as more and more frightening noises came from all around us. We managed to leave the same way we came, but as we put some distance between us and the building Woah! I turned around as the loudest noise yet bombarded my ears. Before my very eyes, the tiled roof of the mansion collapsed. If we had been inside, we would have been toast. Ayumi stood there, speechless, for a couple of seconds. Even this should be enough to get some sense into her, no? Well, that was a close one, wasnt it? Maybe the angels thought we were getting too close and tried to eliminate us? Ahahah! There really is no saving this girl. While Ayumi was already making her way down the hill, I stopped despite myself; a nagging thought overcame the desire to get back home as soon as possible. I glanced back at the minka peeking over the wall and pondered for a moment. Did something supernatural happen here? Could those angels actually exist? Takkun, whats wrong? Ayumis intense voice brought me back to reality. Such silly thoughts. I mentally slapped myself for being idiotic. Afterwards, I trailed my friend through the woods and back to civilization. Ch. 1 [mundane_life] - Part 2 The next day at lunch, I was faced with a familiar scene. Unfortunately, no evidence of any angel activity was found. This was Field Report #36 by The Supernatural Detective. Oh, and here are the credits. Lets see oh, there we go. Footage by Takkun. Ayumis pet name for you is so sweet she cant help but share it with the world, the guy sitting in front of me said while holding back a laugh. Damn, hes so annoying. I stopped eating and glared at him. For you to keep watching those garbage videos, your life must really be a drag. I feel sorry for you. I watch them precisely because of those priceless reactions you have, Takeya. I was sure you two were going on dates behind our backs with all those escapades, but the truth is even funnier! You arent getting any action and instead, youre just apprenticing as her cameraman! You have to agree, its hilarious. Daichi stared hard at me with that annoying smile of his, trying to provoke another reaction. All this teasing was entirely my fault. For as long as Ive known her, Ayumi has been interested in the supernatural. Of course, she wouldnt let this recent craze pass her by, and so opened her own TuTube channel. All she does is investigate supernatural incidents on the field; and yet, the channel is surprisingly popular, with over ten thousand subscribers. Naturally, I couldnt let her go to all these dangerous places by herself, so Ive reluctantly been going as well. As the supernatural incidents became more frequent, so too did these field trips. By the time we began our senior high school year, I no longer could make excuses for where we were going. Daichi kept insisting that she and I were going out on dates. So, I chose the lesser of two evils and showed him the channel, hoping he would pipe down. Unfortunately, that had backfired. Hard. You arent fairing much better, are you? I said in hopes of getting Daichi to back down. Please dont remind me of that, he said with an exasperated sigh. Your closet, lovey-dovey relationship is already hard enough on my poor heart. Daichi had been singing this same tune since we became friends in middle school. He was usually a cool dude, and we shared the same taste in anime and games, so we ended up flocking together. When it came to the ladies, though, he turned into an absolute idiot. Because he played so many dating sims, he believed he could use his knowledge to become a ladies man. Except, of course, the real world wasnt a crappy dating sim. Despite his good looks, girls didnt seem to care much about him, so his gallant spirit never had the opportunity to shine. Anyway, lets talk about something else before I become even more depressed. So what exactly are these angels that Ayumi always talks about? I let out a small sigh. Ill start by saying this is all a bunch of bologna. Im just the messenger. Right. So, angels are like I was about to go on a whole expositionno, a dissertation!on everything Ayumi had drilled into me about that stupid urban legend, but someone interrupted me. It was a sweet girls voice. One I didnt hear too often. Angels? You mean that urban legend stuff? Daichi and I looked up at the girl, who had her reddish-brown hair in Dutch braids. She was holding a bento in her hands and was surrounded by a few of our female classmates. Oh, you know something about them, Futaba? Daichi asked. Hmm, just a bit, she said with her index finger next to her lips. I''ve seen people talking about them online sometimes. Really? You think you could tell us about them? Daichi asked with the most obnoxious smile he could muster. So youre ignoring my honest attempts at explaining this in favor of a girl you barely know? Thats low, even for you. I directed my most annoyed face at Daichi, to which he gaped in response. The freckled girl paused to think about Daichis suggestion. Sure, I guess I can tell you what I know. With a smile, she excused herself from the group of girls, and pushed the table next to minewhich was Ayumisnext to ours, and sat down. So why are you two interested in angels anyway? Didnt see you as the type to like paranormal gobbledygook, she asked with a sweet smile. I could say the same about you, though, I responded. Futaba seemed taken aback, as she took a few moments to respond. Ah, no, Im not that interested. She waved her hands in front of her chest. You know, with all this supernatural hype lately, its all people talk about online. Its all silly stuff, really. Since neither Daichi nor I questioned her statement, she brought back her question from earlier. What about you two? Influences from Ayumi, I presume? Yep. All she has inside her head are angels and tumbleweeds. You have no idea how deep it goes! Daichi exclaimed. He was trying too hard to impress the girl, and it was painful to watch. Shes been all about this supernatural and mysterious stuff, even before all this recent craze. She even has a TuTube channel about them!Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. Oh, for real? Thats impressive in its own way. The freckled girl stared at Ayumi on the other end of the room, chatting happily and eating with her girlfriends, unaware of our conversation about her. Speaking of mysteries, my newest classmate, Kotori Futaba, was also a bit of an unknown entity. Of course, not in the Ayumi-sense of the expression; I merely hadnt had enough time to judge her very well. She had only transferred to our class at the beginning of the semester. No matter how I looked at her, she was a perfectly normal girl. One could certainly call her plain, but she wasnt plain enough to be boring. She did have these beautiful, crystalline sky-blue eyes, which immediately caught Daichis attention the first time he saw her. So can you elucidate us with your great knowledge, oh great Futaba? Daichi insisted with painful eloquence. Hmm, well, I dont know that much, she said as she opened her bento and started eating with little reservation. Its, like, an urban legend or something that has been going around for aaaages. Even before all the recent buzz. People claim they see these humanoid figures made of light before mysteriously passing out. No one knows who or what they are, so they call em angels. Some experts say they could have inspired angel-like beings in religion and stuff. But therere these wild rumors saying they are these super-smart aliens run the world behind our backs. And you know whats even more wack? No photos or videos of ''em anywhere. Wow, its honestly amazing someone came up with this. You should try saying that to the angeologist herself, Daichi. She wouldnt let you escape unscathed. But wait, if these creatures are made of light, then how can they stay hidden so easily? He asked. Of course, they can make themselves invisible or masquerade as normal humans. They live among us! Also, they erase the memories of most people who are unfortunate enough to cross paths with them. Yeah, its as ridiculous as it sounds, I responded. Normal humans, huh? I wonder if I know any, Daichi commented off-handedly, looking around the half-empty classroom. Both Futaba and I had to contain a giggle. So, Takeya, is Ayumi on a mission to prove angels exist or something? I wish it was just that. She actually wants to meet an angel for real. The girls expression was one of contained surprise. Wow. Thats kinda out there, dont you think? Even Daichi couldnt help but be surprised. Its a lot more complicated She has her own reasons in the midst of all that madness. Ive kept her in check for a few years now, but For better or for worse, this recent surge of sightings has caused her to go into overdrive. Weve been going to the places where these incidents happened to discover any evidence of their existence. Surprise, surprise, so far weve found nothing, which only fuels her drive even more. Its a never-ending cycle. When I raised my gaze, I noticed Futaba peering at me. Youre being way too serious about this for someone who isnt that interested in the first place, no? She noticed the suspicion on my expression and raised the corners of her mouth gently. Oh, youve been going with her too? Yes, hes the cameraman. Unable to suppress it any longer, Daichi started laughing hysterically. However, neither Futaba nor I followed his guffaw. She squared me with a serious expression, and spoke with a grounded voice. So Takeya, why are you going on these supposed expeditions if youre not interested in the first place? I shrugged in response. Ayumis an impulsive idiot. If I dont keep an eye out for her, I know shell do something stupid or get into a dangerous situation. We actually got into some pretty hairy situations in the past. Like yesterday, for example. Not that I can tell them that. Yeah, yeah, you keep giving that excuse. Daichi then leaned over to Futaba and murmured, though I could still hear him perfectly. Between you and me, they are madly in love with each other, but no ones willing to take the first step. That jokes so old that at this point, its already due for retirement. Were just childhood friends, I said while rolling my eyes. Daichi sighed and shook his head as he scrunched his face in anguish. No matter how hard I try, I cant seem to crack this nut. Pfff! For some reason, Futaba seemed to have found our exchange funny. She began giggling cutely, which prevented me from noticing someone else had sneaked up on us. Oh-ho? This is an unusual combo. Kotori with Takkun and Daichi? Ayumis smile was impeccable, but I noticed a shade of something sinister hidden deep within her expression. What were you talking about? We started off chatting about your TuTube channel, Daichi said. Futaba heard us and decided to join in on our conversation since she knows a little bit about angels. She does? Are you interested in them as well, Kotori? Ayumis eyes gleamed with hope, as if they were asking are you one of my people?!. Not really that much, Im afraid. I just scrolled through a post talking about them. Ayumis eyes showed her obvious disappointment, but her voice didnt betray her. Thats a great place to start! If you ever want to know more about them, you know who to consult! Haha. Gotcha. Well, I''ve hogged your table for long enough. I should get back to the girls, Futaba said as she repacked her bento. It was fun talking to you two! Bye! As Futaba left for her girl friends with a small wave, she was replaced by Ayumi, who sat on her designated seat. So, what made you come back? Did you have a fight with your friends? I asked. No, nothing of the sort. I wanted to ask you something. Ayumi continued, adjusting her hairpin. Youre working today, right? Ill come along so wait for me after schools over. Sigh. Not this again. When did you become an employee there? I must have just missed the news. Hey, I contribute to business... sometimes! And the owner doesnt mind either. Well, the fact was that she was one of the few regulars in that failing bookstore, despite complaining about the high prices all the time. I didnt like Ayumi coming over because, more often than not, shed ruin those precious afternoons of peace. Why do you keep coming anyway? Youre always complaining about the lack of air conditioning. B-Because! I cant do research at home! I get distracted and stuff! You just want to bother me, thats why. Dont you have to study for the university exams? Ugh-gna Its fine, its fine. They are still a long way away, and you know that studying months beforehand is not my jam. Sigh. Okay, I give up. Its not like I can stop you anyway. Yay! Wait for me after classes finish! she said as she returned to her group, skipping a bit. Daichi watched Ayumi leave with a forlorn expression. Ayumi Futaba You attract a lot of female attention, dont you? Its not like Im doing it on purpose. Maybe Im a natural? That was enough to shut him up for the rest of the lunch hour. Ch. 1 [mundane_life] - Part 3 Despite having a part-time job at a bookstore, I had long since embraced the technological revolution and did all my reading on my tablet. Physical books take up too much space and are too inconvenient to travel around with. As for why I even worked part-time, it was because I desperately needed the money to buy games and whatnot. And between all the terrible options, this one was the least bad. It paid well, it was close to my house, and its location in a failing shopping district meant we barely got any customers. In fact, the elderly owners had wanted to expand the stores offerings to halt that downward tendencywhich is why Id been hired as the stores expert on light novels, manga and comics. Still, I didnt feel my presence made much of a difference on the number of customers coming in. It wasnt exactly a good situation for the owners, but at least it meant I could spend most of the time reading in peace. As usual, Ayumi and I stopped by our houses on the way to the bookstore. She brought her laptop with her, saying she was going to use it for research, whatever that meant. Regardless, it was a godsend since she would be quiet for once. As soon as I switched places with the female co-owner, Ayumi plopped herself on a stool and monopolized the only source of heat in the storea small heater nestled under the counter. She sat there for a couple of hours, tapping away at her computer and making the occasional odd squeal. However, I knew such an occurrence was merely a metastable period, bound by the laws of the universe to return to the most stable ground state sooner or later. That shift was triggered when Ayumi closed her laptop with an unreasonable amount of force. Hey, what did that poor laptop ever do to you? Ahhhhhh, man. There isnt any new info around, she groaned, spreading her arms over the counter. They stretched out so far that her wrists began peeking out from under her jackets sleeves. The way it embraced her petite frame was kinda cute. I wasnt going to simply ignore her in this situation, so I turned off the tablet and gave her my full attention. Not to doubt you or anything, but are you sure you werent browsing auction sites for some old trinkets again? She looked up at me, still spread over the counter, trying her very best to not move. No! I really was researching this time. All these false leads were starting to annoy me, so I thought maybe we were missing some crucial information. But theres nothing about angels I dont already know or any theories I havent read. As much as it pained me to admit, Ayumi was probably the worlds greatest expert on angels. No one else could dedicate that much time to something so silly, after all. Im sure she cant put that in her CV. She straightened her back and looked at me with her green puppy dog eyes. What do you think, Takkun? What am I doing wrong? I once again said the same thing; it was an automatic response now. I dont believe these angels even exist. So naturally, all the reports are fake. So stop bothering me. That last part was left unsaid. Ayumi sighed heavily. I know that. But yeah, think of this as a thought experiment. You like those, right? She smirked mischievously. Instead of thinking if angels exist, lets think about how they could exist. I figured she wouldnt let me go so easily, so I decided to entertain her. Well, if angels do exist, then itll be almost impossible to find any concrete evidence of them. They are ephemeral light creatures. People faint when they see them and the places where they supposedly appear are undisturbed. We dont even have any photos of them, right? Ayumi saw how serious I was, and nodded enthusiastically, further messing up her already disheveled hair. Uh-huh, thats another conundrum with angel research. There are no convincing photos or videos of them, only eye-witness reports. All we know for sure is that there has been a surge of reports as of late. Maybe we shouldnt focus on the angel sightings themselves, but rather on the reason they are appearing more often. A reason, huh? Watching Ayumi fall deep into thought, I, too, decided to use my noggin for a bit. I took off my glasses and thought back to the field trip we had yesterday.The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. Was it really just a coincidence? The various reports of supernatural incidents danced around my mind. The curse, the strange lighting, the disturbances to electronics And then an idea hit me. Hey, Ayumi. I think I know why there are no photos of angels. Wait, really?! She said as she stood up in excitement. You cant take any photos of angels if all your electronic devices dont work, I said with a smirk, adjusting my glasses menacingly. Wait, are you saying that angels caused all those disturbances? But that doesnt make any sense. No one fainted in that mansion before yesterday, and we certainly didnt see an angel while we were there. The timing No, Ayumi. Its the other way around. Angels arent causing supernatural incidentsthey are attracted by them. Specifically, the ones that involve electronic disturbances. And because of that, no one can take a picture of them. Ayumis eyes lit up like Christmas lights. From my experience, that spark is never a good sign. Oh, you might be onto something! Ive seen a lot more of these incidents being talked about recently, but I havent paid much attention to them. If I dig a bit deeper, I might be able to find a connection there! Ayumis delighted face also filled me with delight. I couldnt help it. Her smile and disposition was that contagious. Even if the idea turned out to be a fluke, it would keep her busy for a few days at least. While we were bubbling in happiness for entirely different reasons, the bell by the door rang. A customer entered the store. I recognized her long, black ponytail, and my best cashier smile came out instinctively. Welcome! Despite being a freeloader at the store, Ayumi felt the need to welcome all customers, if only to hide the fact that she was a freeloader. This time, though, the only sound she emitted was a high-pitched shriek as she grabbed my sleeve. Ick!
Inevitably, the customers gaze shifted focus to the girl gripping my arm. Seeing the woman looking at her, Ayumi shrank to herself, embarrassed. The woman ignored the strange reaction and addressed me with sharp eyes. After a slight pause, she uttered a curt Good afternoon. After a greeting that sounded more like a threat, she fled deep into the store. T-Takkun, Ayumi spoke in a whisper, her voice trembling. W-Whos that woman? She looks so scary! Youve never met Shiina, huh? She might look scary at first glance, but I guess she never stops being scary, but shes not a bad person. Do you know her from somewhere? Ayumi inquired. I dont know her. Shes just a regular at the store. Ayumi had a look on her face that said, I dont believe you. Wait, wait, just a regular? Does this store even have regulars? And why do you know her name? Its because she ordered a book a few weeks ago and had to leave her name. I havent spoken to her at all other than that. Well if thats all it is... She wasnt convinced. I wonder why she comes to such an obscure, overpriced store though. Shes gonna scare away other customers. Hey, whats up with the harsh language? Please never say that to the owners. But still, shes such a beauty, she said, leaning over the counter sneakily observing the woman with swift glances. Her chest is a bit on the small side though. Look at the pot calling the kettle black. On the other hand, her hair is impeccable. She must be super meticulous with her routine. Man, if not for those eyes How exactly is any of that relevant to the conversation? That said, I couldnt disagree with Ayumi about Shiinas appearance. Surely shed catch Daichis attention if he ever laid eyes on her. This is just my opinion, but I dont think its a good idea to set your sights on her. Even if you ignore those ruby-red predator eyes, I bet she has some weird kinks. Ayumi, I wouldnt go after her even if I was interested. What sort of clerk goes after their customers? I mean, its not wrong to pick up girls in a bookstore. Not that you have the guts to do it anyway. I feel like this is a trap I shouldnt respond to. Shiina took a few minutes looking around the store, with Ayumi peering at her. Eventually, she returned to the counter with a book in hand. Like all the other books she had purchased before, it was a sappy romance novel. Her taste in books certainly clashed with her cold aura. Apart from a few glances from Ayumi, who tried her best to not embarrass herself further, our interaction at the counter was normal; she paid for the book and left without looking back. Finally, shes gone! I feel like I lost some years of my life back then, Ayumi commented after hearing the door close. Now that shes gone, we can return to our secret discussion. We need to keep these things classified. Are you sure you simply dont want to be seen as a lunatic? I believe your suggestion from earlier is worth investigating. You still have some time left on your shift, right? Ill see what I can dig up in the meantime. Ayumis bubbling happiness was so contagious that I couldnt help but look forward to whatever she found out myself. There was a small glimmer of hope that maybe something about this mess made sense. Little did I know this would be my last period of peace for a very long, long time. Ch. 2 [ang猫l_h煤nting] - Part 1 I woke up the next morning bracing myself for a serious round of supernatural mumbo-jumbo. After all, Ayumi had refused to reveal whatever she had been up to on the way home, so I assumed she would regurgitate it all on me then. I bet she spent the whole night going down some research rabbit hole of junk. As was typical in the winter months, the girl had let herself in and was hanging around the entrance hallway. Ya ho Yawn. Good morning Takkun, she said with a tired voice as I left my house with her. It wasnt just her listless toneher appearance struck me as particularly disheveled. She was never one to take good care of herself, but she was even more of a mess than usual. Sections of her hair stuck out and defied gravity, making me feel sorry for her useless hairpin. Her eyebags contrasted with her pale skin, and, most worrisome of all Hey. Your skirt is falling off. Her skirt was slipping off her hips and on its way to kiss the ground. If it actually fell off, Id totally be able to see her panties. My innocuous comment was enough to bring the zombie back to life. Ahhhh, crap. These skirts are way too big for me. Why dont they have smaller sizes for our uniforms? This is discriminatory! She pulled her skirt up and zipped it as tightly as she could. It still seemed to be in a rather precarious condition though. Do you have an allergy to tailors or something? Look, I had to borrow a skirt since my old one got ripped in the mansion. What are you looking at anyway? Trying to catch a peek, pervert? she said with a straight face, sounding much like some old comedy routine. I have no interest in your kiddy panties. Moving on, which we desperately need to do, When did you go to sleep yesterday? Three a.m.! Do I need to remind you its seven-thirty? It was a sacrifice, but a necessary one! She made a forced victory pose. I did some more digging to see if there was a connection between these incidents involving electronic disturbances and angel sightings. And did you find anything? Her eyes lit up, piercing my soul with their sharp gaze. I did! I compiled supernatural reports from around this area and crossed them with my database of angel sightings. A database? She even has a Ah, forget it. I should stop being surprised by this stuff. And you know what, they are connected! Here, take a look. Ayumi took out a sheet of paper from her bag and handed it over. It was some sort of military-grade map of the city and the surrounding area, printed on multiple sheets and stuck together with tape. The map was overkill for something so silly, yet it had a certain unsophisticated charm only Ayumi could pull off. Hey, what are these circles? Did you draw these? Yep! The red circles are the angel sightings, while the blue ones are other unexplainable incidents that involve electronic devices. See how they happen around the same areas? If I try really hard I guess. She punched me before I could even take a good look at the map. But when I did, it looked like the two groups of colored circles were clustered together. And thats not all! I also found a temporal correlation. Only after these incidents happen do the angel sightings begin, and then the others totally vanish! Just like what happened in that mansion. Do you know what this means? I bet you dont! She said with glee, bouncing around in front of me. Angels are trying to prevent people from discovering the supernatural incidents? No, angels are trying to Wait, you got it right. For some reason, she was dissatisfied with my answer. But yeah, thats what I think too. After those incidents start happening, angels take notice and get rid of whatever caused it. By chance, some people happen to be in the right place and time to catch a glimpse of the angels and end up fainting. Coming from you, that seems like a reasonable assumption. Ayumi was way too excited to even care about my quip. But thats not even the most exciting thing! She pointed to a region at the top of the map. It was a nearby city, reachable by train from where we currently were. I immediately noticed a few blue circles around where her finger was pointing. See the blue circles? There have been a few reports of strange incidents with electronic devices in the area in recent days, but no angel sightings so far. That means this is the perfect opportunity to see an angel in the flesh! Or light, whatever they might end up being. So you want to go there, I bet. And as soon as possible. You dont have work today, right? No, but what are you going to do about my study hours? Do it for me?This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. Im not like this genius fiend who absorbs lectures like a sponge. I have to study for far more than a single week to have any hope of passing my university exams. Ill help you study later! No shot. Trying to study with you just makes me feel dumb. Well, if youre against it, I can always go by myself she said with a smirk. Ayumi left that hanging on purpose, her eyes locked onto me like a predator locking onto its prey. This cheeky girl! Fine. Fine! Ill go with you. But this is the last time. Yeah! She literally jumped with joy. I had to turn my gaze away from her to not get swept in. After school, lets go on another field trip and get to the bottom of this. I still wasnt looking forward to it, Ayumis reasoning was solid, considering the ludicrous foundations we were working with. But there was no way this time wouldnt be a miss, just like all the others. At least it kept Ayumi happy. And that was a plus in my book. * * * As expected, Ayumi spent the remainder of the day restless, unable to contain her excitement. about the prospect of seeing an angel with her own two eyes. Even our classmates noticed something was amiss with her. But no matter how much they insisted, she didnt speak a word about our outing; she likes to keep her plans hidden in case there are, and I quote, leaks. We went home right after classes were over to drop off our school bags. The plan was to catch the train to the neighboring city as soon as possible. However, when Ayumi showed up at my front door carrying a conspicuously large gym bag, I couldnt help but be suspicious. What the heck are you carrying in there? Nghn Um... Do I have to show it now? she whined. You wont have a choice when youre behind bars, now will you? As if I ever Ayumi trailed off, leaving her mouth hanging. Well, if Im going to show it, it has to be inside. I cant let my trump card be exposed. I cant say Im not curious. Youre going to be amazed, let me tell ya! The girl pushed the bag in my direction, urging me to open it with the rhythmic drumming of her hands on the table. The first item I pulled out was a long tube, bent about three-fourths of the way to the end. On the tip, there was some sort of dark filter attached with duct tape. I tried looking through the open end of the tube, but of course, I couldnt see anything. Thats my secret weapon in case we encounter an angel. What the heck is this rubbish for? Are you going to club one with it? I asked, half fascinated and half letdown by the object. Of course not. Thats only half of it. The rest is where the magic happens. Ayumi rummaged through the bag until another strange object was presented to me. Viol! It looked like a funky pair of binocularsexcept, instead of lenses, there was some sort of large aperture stuck onto the apparatus with duct tape. I decided not to comment on the conspicuous amount of duct tape both of these objects had. Binoculars? Nope! These are night-vision goggles, Ayumi declared. Night-vision goggles? Have you gone full crazy now? Of course not! You could say this is an experiment to test a theory of mine. A very expensive experiment. So I really hope it works. Where the hell did you find the money to buy this? And? Whats that theory of yours? You know how seeing an angel causes people to faint? Since these incidents are rare and not well documented, its difficult to pinpoint what exactly induces the fainting. But my theory is that the cause is very literal. That is, angels somehow emit a special type of light and this light is what provokes the fainting. Kind of like how some people sneeze when they see bright lights? She ignored my comment. If this is indeed the cause, then maybe theres a way we can see angels indirectly. Wouldnt a mirror work? And be less expensive? Not really. The light is the same, only reflected by the surface. If the property of causing fainting is in the light itself, then you would faint all the same. And because of your epiphany yesterday, digital cameras are also out of the question. Makes sense so far. So why the night-vision goggles then? Ayumi took the chance to go full teacher mode. Night-vision goggles are really cool! The dim, ambient light is converted to an electric signal, which is then amplified and finally beamed back to the user. Thats why you can see with very little light. The filter at the end of the periscope makes it super dark, so the night vision goggles arent overwhelmed by the daylight. And since they are analog technology, they wont be knocked out by whatever is disturbing the electronics. Come on, give it a try! Spurred on by Ayumi, I assembled the two pieces of the periscope. And right away, a greenish image of my kitchen was beamed into my eyes with exceptional clarity for something held together by duct tape. Wow, it really works. I was impressed. Who would have thought that strange contraption would work? Told ya. If my theory is correct, then this device will allow us to see an angel directly. Even if its a fluke, the goggles are cool, so I dont regret buying them. Why do I feel like that was the whole point of that purchase in the first place? So youre going to carry this huge thing with you every time we go on expeditions? Of course. What if the chance shows itself but we cant even see them, let alone talk to them? Ill be the one carrying that thing for you sooner than later, wont I? With the explanation of the weird apparatus behind us, we finally made our way to the train station. Ayumi kept her fa?ade and never spoke about any supernatural stuff during the ride. Instead, we had a normal chat the whole time, which helped alleviate some of her giddiness. If anyone saw us together like this, they wouldnt suspect our ludicrous reason for traveling so far. Heck, they might even assume we were on a date or something. A date with Ayumi, huh. I wonder what that would be like Probably what were doing right now. As we left the train station, I shot a sidelong glance at the girl. She had her hands on her hips, looking triumphantly at the city spread out in front of her. Who are you trying to imitate? Haruhi? So, whats the plan now? Wander around waiting for something to happen? She looked at me blankly for a bit before answering. Of course not! Im thinking of going to places where people have reported experiencing those incidents and ask for more information. Since we came all this way, we might as well look into those. Unfortunately, they are all in crowded areas so we wont be able to make a thorough investigation. She pointed her index finger down the long street ahead of her, drawing the attention of more than a few bystanders. Lets go. Field Mission #37 awaits us! Ch. 2 [ang猫l_h煤nting] - Part 2 In total, we visited three sites. Well, if were being pedantic, we went to four. Ayumi insisted on stopping by an antique store to marvel at some junk that wasnt even that old in my eyes. Its kind of a hobby of hers to collect such trash. I couldnt find it in me to pull her out of there though, so we ended up losing some time. The first place on the list was a cosplay store. Apparently, a handful of people saw a ghost therea bunny girl costume floating on its own. Ive heard stories about invisible bunny girls before, but never any about ghosts wearing bunny girl costumes. However, there were no photos or videos of the incident because the security cameras conveniently died right before it happened. After looking around in a way the police would deem suspicious, Ayumi barraged the clerk with a thousand questions, but she hadnt been working on the day of the ghost apparition so we didnt gather any new information. When Ayumi asked if anyone had ever died on the premises, the displeased clerk kicked us out of the store. It was probably someone who died hundreds of years ago and is still haunting the site, Ayumi said as we left. As to why such a ghost would possess a bunny girl costume, she had no explanation other than that they found it cute. The second spot was an electronics store, fittingly enough. Many customers reported how all the devices inside stopped working simultaneously. Moments later, the various screens began showing garbled images before returning to normal. The owner corroborated these incidents, but Yet again, the security cameras stopped recording during the incident, so theres no proof it happened, Ayumi said as we left the store. I really doubt the validity of this one. It could have just been a power outage. I commented on Ayumis unusual display of common sense, which prompted her to punch me with more strength than necessary. Then it was time for the third and final spot. Unlike the others, it was a park on the outskirts of the city. Some people swore they heard insistent barking in the area, but there were no dogs around at all. People tried to record it on their phones, but they all inexplicably stopped working. When we got there, it was already four in the evening, so our investigation had to be short. Fortunately, no one seemed to be hanging in the area so we could look around without arousing suspicion. That said, it was impossible to not look like a pair of freaks when we were scouring the ground for clues. We found absolutely nothing of interest. No pawprints, no smell, not even a coprolite, Ayumi listed as we were leaving the park. Its almost like they were never here. Do you even know what a coprolite is? You wouldnt find one here. I wonder where she lost her common sense from earlier. Whats weird is that this time I found many independent reports of this incident. I hope angels didnt already get rid of all the evidence. Such a convenient explanation every time. Ughhh. This whole thing was a disappointment, Ayumi said, her shoulders drooping. We came all this way and found nothing unusual again. It must be our timing. I was betting on this trip too. I was tempted to reply with my usual snark, but managed to reel myself in at the last second. I knew Ayumi would be disheartened if I hammered this into her any more than I already had. Dont you think, I started saying with a calm voice, that its time you gave up on this fruitless search? Youre eighteen already, the university entrance exams are just over the horizon. I dont want you to end up as one of those crackpots that appear in crappy documentaries defending conspiracy theories to earn a living. This is such a real prospect that its almost frightening. We had had this conversation many times already. Ever since she started that TuTube channel, Id been concerned about her future path in life. Its okay to have some weird interests here and there, but she was taking this one way too seriously. For once, Ayumi was quiet. Did I finally illuminate her mind? I Her voice was raspy. I know we arent getting anywhere. I know that. Weve never found any evidence of angels existing, but I know they exist! They have to! Why? I simply asked her. She turned around to hear the rest of my question. Why do you obsess over these things so much?! This, of course, was far from the first time I had asked her about it. But every time Id brought it up, shed clamped up and deflected the question. I wasnt expecting this time to be any different. Ayumi stared at her feet, her eyes hidden behind her disheveled bangs. I could see she was biting her lip. I couldnt quite give her some ultra-passionate speech to bring her back to the side of reason, so I just stood there in a daze. Then, to my surprise, she opened her mouth. Takkun, what would you do if I said I have been living a lie this whole time? Huh? You mean you dont care about angels? No, that part is true, she insisted. I mean everything. What is that supposed to mean? My mind immediately went to her family situation. However, deep down, I had a feeling this was something else entirely. Something much grander. After all, what did living a lie have anything to do with obsessing over some urban legend? The pieces didnt fit. But before I could respond, Ayumi backpedaled. Sorry, that was a strange thing to ask. Forget what I said. Lets just go home. The girl marched ahead, putting distance between us once again. I grinded my teeth in frustration. But before I could take a step to follow her Ayumi vanished. Completely vanished. One second she was in front of me, and the next, she was gone. It was so sudden that my brain couldnt process what was happening. What brought me back to reality was a familiar voice, from close up. Huh? Takkun, where did Ayumis voice sounded relaxed, as if she thought I had gone off somewhere. It sounded as though she was in the exact same spot she had been in all along. Im right here, I replied, feeling like an idiot for talking to the air. I havent moved a single step. You were the one who vanished right in front of my eyes. Vanished? Thats what you did! I just turned around and all of a sudden Ditto. I squinted my eyes hard and tried pinching my cheeks. This wasnt a dream; I really couldnt see Ayumi at all. Yet, I could see myself just fine. In other words, the only conclusion was we couldnt see each other, I explained to the girl. Y-You think thats it? But that means A supernatural incident, I think youre about to say. Trying to contain her excitement, I took back control of the conversation. Before anything else, I want to make sure youre really there. Can I try touching you? That sounds awfully suggestive, she replied without missing a beat. Even in these circumstances she still has the state of mind to say those jokes?If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. You know what I mean, you idiot. Okay, okay. Go ahead. With her approval, I reached out my arm in her general direction. Despite my actions, I didnt actually expect to make contact. After all, there was no way Ayumi really was invisible. However, I soon felt like I had touched somethingin the air. Fabric then the squishy sensation of skin. A little further pressing led to some resistancein other words, bone. Concluding where I had touched her was obvious, but before I could say anything, a shriek pierced the air. Kya! W-Whats this?! W-Where are you touching me?! Ayumi stammered. What are you saying? Im touching your arm! I hastily replied. That seemed to calm her down. Oh, youre right. I was so sure youd grab the opportunity to cop a feel. I was preparing myself for that. Like Id ever do that! This girl Thankfully, the internal fire for continuing this mindless jabbing extinguished itself. I had more serious matters to consider. After all, my hand touching something in thin air contradicted all my other senses. No, it was the other way around. Now that I calmed myself down enough, I noticed my sight was the sense contradicting all others. Somehow, even excluding my sense of touch, I could still feel like someone was there. Every sense apart from sight indicated she was therefrom her voice sounding in front of me to the faint smell of her chamomile shampoo. This confirms it. Ayumi is really in front of me right now. This is absurd. Once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains must be the truth, as someone famous once said. Hey, Takkun Do you see anyone else? Her question caught me by surprise. Since this lunacy started, I hadnt paid much attention to my surroundings at all. When I did, I could confirm that there indeed wasnt a soul in sight. There were still cars zipping by, but there was no sign of any living thing on the sidewalks or inside any of the stores. I cant see anyone And you? I cant either. This part of town isnt exactly busy, but still Wheres everybody gone? Bingo? Or more likely You think we cant see them, just like we cant see each other? Thats the most likely explanation. That means this incident isnt exclusive to us, but it applies to the entire town. In the brief moment of silence that formed between us, I began paying more attention to my surroundings. More specifically, to the occasional piercing shouts that echoed in the empty city. All this shouting I guess there really are other people around. This isnt limited to us, Ayumi replied with surprising calm. Also, check your phone. I did as she ordered, and to no ones surprise, I was greeted by a black screen. Its totally dead. Yeah, mine too. Takkun, I have a really bad feeling about this. If our theory is correct, with such a large-scale supernatural incident happening, angels are surely coming this way soon. This is a precious chance. If we get caught by them now, well never find out the truth. I thought about regurgitating the usual tune, but reality had caught up to me. Although it was impossible angels existed in normal circumstances, these werent even close to normal circumstances. I couldnt deny the possibility that something truly out of this world was happening in front of my eyes. I subconsciously let out a sigh. Okay, whats your plan? We need to find somewhere to hide and fast. Ayumi paused for a few seconds. I dont see anything here that can keep us hidden. We better get moving. Only when she began moving did I realize I still had my hand resting on her arm. I thought about taking it back, but then I felt something touching the back of my hand. We should hold hands. That way we can make sure we wont lose each other again, Ayumi suggested. W-What? I stammered. Come on, dont act like a spineless chicken now. Its just some casual skinshipping. Lets get going! Without waiting for my complaints, she took off running, pulling me along. As we ran around looking for somewhere to hide, we bumped into a couple of people who panicked when we clashed. We also continued hearing screams coming from around us. Thankfully, we didnt have to endure this suspenseful atmosphere for too long. A distinct building in the distance happened to cross my line-of-sight. Ayumi, see that closed-off building over there? You think that could work? I pointed towards it with my free hand, realizing way too late that Ayumi couldnt see me. Thats perfect! Nice work, Takkun! Ayumi changed course right away. On our way there, I began being able to see the outline of Ayumis body flicker into existence. It was a strange, ghostly-white image; I could see right through her as if she wasnt there, but at the same time, I could distinguish the detailed contours of her body and clothes. Its almost as if shes a wireframe model. At first, her new appearance was so brief that I doubted my own eyes. But by the third time, it was clear that her body was flickering in and out of existence. The duration of each materialization kept increasing with each cycle until she remained visible for longer than not. Hey, Ayumi, I can see you now. Sort of. What? Oh, I can see you now too! She stayed quiet for a moment, then made a neutral comment. This is a weird effect, huh? At least now we can tell where we are. Not sure if this is creepier or not We made our way inside the buildinga closed-off apartment complexand according to the notice on the barriers outside, it was set for demolition soon. Ayumi let go of my hand, and with no reserves whatsoever, barged through the barriers and entered the building. I followed without complaint. The inside of the building was barren, with only the concrete structure remaining. As expected, it was devoid of people, though there were footprints indicating that someone had been there recently. I kept following the wireframed version of Ayumi through the first floor of the building and up the staircase, exiting onto the fifth floor. I think this is high enough. Lets hunker down near a window so we can see them. I heard her rummaging through her gym bag. Never thought I would get the chance to use the angel Observation Apparatus Mark I so soon. You even gave it a name? And whats up with that Mark I? Are there going to be more Marks? We sat down next to a window behind the bare walls of the building, trying our best to hide. Wasting no time, Ayumi took out the oblong tube and the binoculars. She assembled the strange contraption swiftly, adding even more duct tape to hold everything together. Here, see if this is working Ayumi instructed as she handed me the device. I carefully positioned the bent tip so it pointed outside. Right away, I could see there were people on the streets in the same state as Ayumi and Imere transparent contours without any color or substance. Okay, Takkun. Since we only have one pair, Ill keep watch with the goggles. If something happens, Ill pass them onto you. Then we waited. Waited for a miraculous event to happen. Considering the strange incidents so far, I wouldnt be that surprised if something did indeed happen. But lets be real. Theres no way some paranormal creatures will actually show up. My mind was adamant on this notion the whole time I watched Ayumi, right until she gasped and her breathing stopped. Ah she cried out. Then I heard sobbing, which quickly turned into crying. Ayumi noticed that, in this silent realm, her voice would give away our location. She took her eyes off the device and tried her best to quiet herself, but her emotions were overwhelming, and her attempts proved to be fruitless. Ayumi? Whats wrong? I saw them, she whispered. Im sure Im sure I saw them. Finally, Ive found them! Ayumi said between hushed sobs, her chest convulsing erratically. Its been so long! No way. I took the device she had built from her hands and took a look outside with my own eyes. The green-tinted image beaming onto my retinas was so out of this world, I would have said it was fake if I wasnt seeing it myself. Bright lights were descending from the sky. Some brighter, some dimmer, all vaguely human-shaped. But there was no doubt they were there. They were there. The image was so mesmerizing it took me a while to snap back to reality. When I took off the device, I was struck by a pure visage. I saw Ayumi. It appeared that while I was looking outside, our bodies became fully visible. Large tears fell onto her skirt, tinging it a dark blue. Her face was so full of bliss that it was hard to even look at her.
She was so deep in her emotion that it took some time for her to notice that our invisible bodies had returned. Oh I can see you again, she said while drying her eyes with her oversized sleeves. Yeah. Ah, gosh. How embarrassing, watching me cry like a little girl. No, i-its okay. Im glad youre happy. Eh-he Thanks, Takkun. For being here with me, she said with a smile wet with tears. Please dont say that now. Thats unfair. To hide my embarrassment, I returned my eyes to the periscope, but the image had changed during our talk. The lights werent just coming down from the sky. They were gaining form. First, they became more tangible, turning into full-fledged humans. I couldnt pick out many details due to the distance and the poor resolution of the device, but all of them seemed like young adults at most. Hey, Ayumi, theyre materializing! What? Really? Let me see! I passed the periscope to her. Ayumi gasped in awe, covering her mouth to avoid making any noise. She passed the device back to me after a little while, but the number of lights coming down and materializing was approaching zero. I was just about to take my eyes off of the device when a final one came in late. This one was incredibly dim, and I only managed to spot it against the black asphalt. Hey, theres another one appearing. Like all the others, this one, too, began gaining shape and transformed into a human. But unlike the others, this one didnt have a random face and body. Thats when I, too, lost my breath. Takkun? Whats going on? I I think you better see for yourself. I passed the device to her and she gasped in shock. Because, despite the distance between us, we both recognized her. Wait Takkun, is that... The words Ayumi was trying to say also got caught in my throat and refused to come out. But eventually, the name of the young woman I barely knew came out of my mouth, confirming the impossible observation we had made. No doubt about it. That was Shiina. Ch. 3 [th?_?fterm脿th] The green-tinted image burned itself into my retinas. An image I wasnt likely to forget anytime soon. There wasnt any other way to look at it. One of these legendary beings turned out to be a regular customer at a small, inconspicuous bookstore. It was unbelievable to the point my brain refused to accept what I had seen. When I grabbed the device from Ayumi, Shiina had already vanished, along with the other angels, leaving the street deserted once again. A multitude of questions bubbled up in my mind, but none of them had time to gain concrete form. Shortly after Shiina disappeared, another person took her place. Seconds later, another person came, and another. If their movement was anything to go by, then we were in deep trouble. Ayumi, we have to get away from here. She was still lost in Wonderland, so she took a while to react. When her gaze finally locked with mine, I started my explanation with a hurried tone. A ton of angels are showing up. If they see us now, its all over. That sentence was enough to switch Ayumi back to normal. Oh crap. Lets move away from the windows and hide somewhere, she said. We hurried to put away all the items Ayumi had brought along. Following her lead, we navigated through the dilapidated building, searching for somewhere to hide. It was unlikely that the angels would come in here searching for people, but we couldnt take any chances. Eventually, we found a small alcove in one of the rooms. There was no door, but the room was deeper than it seemed from the outside. We hid inside and collapsed on the floor, side by side. We held our breaths to stay quiet. I was so focused on trying to not make a sound that I didnt notice Ayumis surprise attack. Out of nowhere, she grabbed my left arm with both of hers and embraced it against her chest. Hey, when did this turn into a romantic comedy? My heart started racing despite myself. I steeled my mind to ignore all the sensations on my arm and whispered to her as calmly as I could, I know this is a tense moment, but do you really have to do this? Shut up! This situation is already weird enough. It feels like a serial killer is coming. Im a washboard, so it shouldnt bother you one bit. No, no. It bothers me a lot. No matter what you say, I can still feel everything. Instead of a reply, I sighed. I couldnt tell her to let me go when she was this frightened, so I had to deal with the sensation. Somehow. We stayed in this awkward position, not moving or whispering. After some time had passed, Ayumi closed her eyes and squeezed my arm even tighter. I closed my eyes as well. With one of my senses gone and the other knocked out, I tried my best to focus on listening. I heard silence for a good while. But at some point, I began hearing footsteps and someone humming. Footsteps that seemed to come closer and closer. Ayumi heard them as well and tensed up. When the steps came close enough to feel their vibration through the floor, I thought it was the end for us. Hey, kids. What the hell are you doing here? A mans voice rang out. I opened my eyes. Standing before us was a man in a construction uniform. At that moment, two very opposite feelings clashed inside me. Im glad we got through the absurd situation unscathed. But there really is no good excuse for a couple of high school students to be holed up inside an abandoned building, is there? We uh I tried to mutter a random excuse. This isnt a place for kids to hang out. If you wanna have sex, go to a hotel or something. At the mention of the s-word, Ayumi bolted up, red as a beet, and scampered away in a flash. I hid my embarrassment a little better, I think. I apologized to the man, and followed Ayumis hurried steps outside. Once we left the abandoned building, I tailed Ayumi through the now populated streets. Seeing so many people walk by as if nothing just happened might be stranger than the literal ghost town from before. I was still restless, eager to talk about what we had just experienced. Ayumi, meanwhile, was quiet as a tomb. I tried talking to her, but even before I could say more than hmm, she cut me off. Takkun, how about we have an emergency strategy meeting at my place? I glanced at her, confused. Then it clicked. Ah, thats what she means. There might still be angels lurking around to make sure everything was back to normal. If they overheard us talking about what occurred here, theyd surely go after us. Okay. I I think Im free, I said as naturally as possible. Though, if any angels were listening, they would certainly laugh at my poor attempt at being discreet. Great! Ill ask my mom if you can come for dinner. You talk to yours so she can come by too. Much to my surprise, Ayumi managed to keep up appearances. Other than talking to her mom, she didnt use her phone for anything else nor did she mention the incident once. Why cant you be like this more often? She could be cute when she wasnt acting like a freak. It would have made my life much easier. But alas, that utopia wouldnt last. * * * After a train trip basked in the sunset, we found ourselves at Ayumis place. Takeya, welcome. Good to see you, Ayumis mom said with a warm smile. Please, come in. Ill call you when dinners ready. After the usual ceremony, we went upstairs to Ayumis bedroom. I had been to her house countless times before, so I knew its layout like the back of my hand. Her place and mine, being from the same neighborhood, were nearly identical, save for an extra bedroom at my place. That said, the thing that distinguished her bedroom from mine was the sheer amount of clutter it contained. There were used clothes scattered every which way, and it was filled to the brim with trinkets. Some were haphazardly strewn around the floor, others laid on the furniture, and some more hung from the ceiling. There was no rhyme or reason for any of the objects she had been collecting over the years. As long as it grabbed her attention, she would take it to her hoarder''s den. There were old game consoles, vintage books, VHS tapes, and vinyl records from bands she didnt even like that much. There was also a collection of baseball cards from overseas, a creepy ceremonial mask from some tribe in Africa, andyou get the idea. Im not even going to touch on her massive collection of hairpins. I shuddered as I took a step inside. Gosh, this place just gets more and more uncomfortable each time. Trying my hardest to ignore the chaos, I focused on Ayumi after closing the door behind me. I swear I could physically see the stress leave her body. She let herself fall onto her unmade bed face-down, and let out a big sigh before rolling over onto her back. We made it back, Takkun, she said, her fist up in the air. Im pretty sure we arent at risk of being overheard anymore. Her smile beamed brighter than the spotlights of a baseball stadium.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Ah man, that acting from before could have lasted a little bit longer. So, what are you going to do now? Make a video talking about your experience? I asked. I was expecting a resounding yes but her answer surprised me. Nah, no way. If I published anything, it would bring unwanted attention to ourselves. But it would bring you a ton of traffic. Thats true. But at the end of the day, thats just a little project to earn some money on the side. Not worth the risk. Wait, youre getting paid? Dont tell me thats how you paid for the goggles. What I want is to meet an actual angel in the flesh, she said, resoundingly confident. And even without the footage, we have a strong lead now. We have to confront Shiina as soon as possible. I knew it would come to this. After all, her ultimate goal was to meet an angel, not just prove they existed. However, her suggestion felt wrong to me. A serious mistake. Despite the innumerous times we went on ridiculous and occasionally dangerous trips, this was crossing a line for me. Breathing in and out a few times, I braced myself for what was coming. I knew my next words would be impactful, but I never once imagined the consequences they would instigate. I dont think we should talk to her at all. Ayumis expression took a downturn in an instant. It was like she took off a mask and put on another. Takkun, what do you mean? she asked, her voice raspy. First of all, we dont even know if that was really Shiina in the first place, I reasoned. But We know next to nothing about angels. We dont know why they cause people to faint. We dont even know if those things we saw are their true forms or if they were mimicking a human. We might have also been seeing things that werent really there. The quality of that weird contraption wasnt great, after all. We dont have enough information at this point. If she is an angel, its too dangerous to approach her without any more concrete knowledge. If shes not, then its rude to bring a ludicrous story like that to someone with no evidence. Ayumi narrowed her eyes. We dont have a lot of info, sure. But if we let this opportunity go to waste, who knows if well ever get another one. Shiina might not even stick around here forever. If we have to embarrass ourselves doing it Thats not The girl raised her voice. What? Are you afraid of driving away your precious customer? Then she lowered her voice to an almost imperceptible tone. Youre into her after all, arent you? What? Of course not! That isnt the issue here. Bothering Shiina or losing a customer wasnt a big deal in the grand scheme of things. The problem was that Ayumi was on the edge of a precipice, and a single misstep could send her tumbling down. Sure, she might have been able to talk to Shiina and finally fulfill her dream of ten-odd years. But what if she fails? What if Shiina doesnt cooperate or feigns ignorance? What if it turns out we are wrong about her? Then Ayumi will become even more obsessed and go right down the path of complete ostracization by society. I know how important this is for her, but I dont want her to end up like that. I really dont. So I lied. For the first time in a long, long time. I think we should take a more calm, scientific approach, I said with a gruff voice. Take our time, make more investigations, maybe post the story anonymously online and check for reactions. Ayumi stood up in a haste. So now youre the one trying to be all scientific about this, huh? I just think we should be more careful, thats all. Is that so? Ayumi said with her fiery eyes fixed on me. You could at least tell me what youre really thinking Well, its not like I need you to come with me every time. Wha You dont even like coming anyway, so it all works out great. Even now, you still dont believe in all this crap, do you? You can just keep being a closet nerd like youve always wanted. Damn. That hurt, Ayumi. That seriously hurt. It was the first time she had ever spoken to me like that. I was so rattled I couldnt even reply. She noticed this, and hid her eyes behind her disheveled bangs. Why Why dont you get it?! She cried out. Get? I asked with an angry tone. Then, the emotions overcame me. Get what, Ayumi? What am I supposed to get?! Why the hell are you so obsessed with this crap anyway?! And why are you always avoiding the issue? You did the same thing earlier! My voice had gotten so loud at this point that Ayumi visibly flinched, shrinking into herself. S-Sorry, I hurried to say. Ayumi stared at me for a good few seconds, her eyes tearing up Im gonna help my mom with dinner, she said as she dried her tears with her sleeve. Just hang around here or something. I dont care anymore. With that, she left the bedroom in a haste without looking back. With the discussion killed, I was left staring at the mountain of trinkets adorning her room. Without even thinking about it, my closed fist found its way onto her desk. It hurt. Shit. I seriously blew that one, didnt I? * * * Dinner was awkward to the point of being nauseating. Ayumi and I ate in silence and never spoke to each other. My mom and Ayumis parents had probably heard our shouting upstairs, but they didnt touch on the subject at all. The conversation could be described as a back-and-forth between me and Ayumis parents, and her and my mom, with these groups never crossing paths. My attention gravitated to the news playing on repeat on the TV. This channel was known for covering sensational news, and they were having a field day with all the recent supernatural events. It even covered the myriad of supernatural incidents happening all over, but they never made the front news. That was, until today. The opening segment was about a mass hallucination people saying that the world had lost its color for minutes. Of course, not a single one of these bizarre situations had been recorded, probably related to the fact that no one could record them. There were so many stories about devices breaking that some fancy analysts thought we were being attacked with electromagnetic pulses. However, Ayumi was so firmly down in the dumps that not even this surge of reported paranormal activity was enough to grab her attention. On our way home after dinner, traversing the short distance between Ayumis house and mine, my mom and I found ourselves in an awkward silence. So wanna talk about it? She didnt even ask what was wrong. Jeez. I concluded that keeping things from my mom wouldnt work out in the long run, so I decided to talkomitting the more extraordinary details, of course. You know how Ayumi is all about the supernatural stuff, right? She wants to do something that might lead her straight down the path of lunacy. And so youre extra worried? I wouldnt be talking about it if I wasnt. She giggled a bit, as if mocking me, and a cloud of condensed vapor escaped her mouth. She had this habit of laughing at just the right time to piss me off. This moment was no exception. You two do care for each other in your unique ways, dont you? I wonder if Ayumi cares about me at all now. Seeing my twisted expression, my mom dropped the jokes. Although what you say is concerning, I dont think Ayumis the sort of kid to let herself get caught up in craziness like you believe she will. I furrowed my brow. What do you mean? Shes completely obsessed with all that junk. Mom giggled yet again. It was still annoying You dont understand her as much as you think you do. Before I could ask what she meant, she continued. She may talk about all this strange stuff, but deep down, she has a good head on her shoulders. Its just her way of living her life to the fullest, in a sense. Ayumis words from before came back to the forefront of my mind. You mean its a form of escapism and shes faking all that? I had considered this possibility as a way of explaining Ayumis erratic behavior. But I concluded that she was being honest with herself. Her own words from before all but confirmed that. She wasnt immersed in fantasyshe believed everything to her core. I took the time to explain all that to my mom, but she didnt seem convinced. We had already reached our house by the time I finished, and I couldnt wait for another second to get inside considering how cold it was. But my mom turned back to me and said with a serious tone, Escapism is most likely a factor too. You know how difficult her life has been. She flashed me a reassuring smile. But I dont think thats all it is. I wouldnt say shes faking it at all. Its more likehmm shes riding along with the fantasy. Riding along, huh? She genuinely loves going out with you on those investigations for the sake of going out. Not because of what she might find, but She left that hanging, which slightly pissed me off. Instead, she opened the door to the house. Im sure you two will get over this soon enough. Just make sure she doesnt get too tangled in her thread and do anything dangerous. And of course, Im grateful that shes able to get you out of the house for reasons other than school or work. Thanks, Mom... She gave me a wink and we entered the house, signaling the end of our conversation. I tried to distract myself from the situation by playing some games but the unwanted thoughts kept creeping back in, and I couldnt focus. No matter what Ayumi said, I still thought approaching Shiina was a bad move. Ironically, the fact that we had experienced a genuine supernatural incident made things even worse. And to top it all off, she still refused to tell me the reason why she was so obsessed with angels in the first place. What could possibly be so important that she was still keeping it a secret despite this situation? Im sure we could have come to some sort of truce if at least I understood her reasons for being so obstinate. Perhaps there was another way of solving this situation. What might it be? I had no clue at the time. Ch. 4 [?mp??s?] - Part 1 I wasnt sure how Ayumi would react the next morning. After all, this was the first time we had ever had a serious fight. Knowing her, she might act as if nothing had happened. That hope dwindled during the commute to school, which I was forced to make alone in the freezing cold. When I got to the classroom, Ayumi was already sitting in her seat, surrounded by her friends. She glanced at me, indifferent, and continued her conversation right away. I said nothing to her, but instead made a bee-line to my seat without so much a glance in her general direction. Daichi made a perplexed frown upon witnessing our non-interaction, but didnt touch the subject. That is, until lunch hour began. Yo, whats going on with you two? A lovers quarrel? Daichi asked as soon as Ayumi and her friends made their way to their usual lunch corner. You really think its something that simple? I asked with a bit too much intensity. Yikes. So its something serious. Yeah. She wants to do something preposterous and Im not willing to go along with her. Oh really? I knew he was trying to start something to annoy me, but my face probably conveyed that the situation was too serious for that. I knew something was up since she showed up alone this morning, but I had no idea it was that serious. Did you see her hairpin? I almost collapsed in shock! I almost gave in to the temptation of observing what design had brought about this comment, but I refrained from doing so. Ayumi plans to pretend I dont exist, and I shall do the same. Well, yeah. You know how everything with Ayumi tends to be hyperbolic. You sure it isnt your fault though? I raised my gaze, prepared to see Daichis annoying grin, but to my surprise, he was stoic. Wow, he can do it if he tries. Shell say it is, but I paused. No. Im not willing to give in on this matter. Ugh. From the way you said it, it looks like were in for the long run. But I do hope you two make up soon. I cant bear to watch another interaction like you two had this morning. It hurts my poor heart, he said, faking a sniffle and wiping away non-existent tears. Where did all that seriousness from before go? Unfortunately for Daichi, the situation didnt improve one microgram for the rest of the day. Ayumi left school as soon as classes were over, leaving me to once again ride the bus alone. I cant say I didnt feel a bit lonely. * * * That entire week was hell. During the entire time, Ayumi and I didnt speak. The entire class noticed our feud right away, and would stop chit chatting when I inevitably entered the class later than her just to see how wed interact. Ayumi was aware of this too, but she didnt care. Her stubbornness stat was already maxed out by default, so her being non-responsive didnt surprise me at all. To pile even more crap onto me was the fact that everyone wanted to meddle. Multiple people grilled me, trying to find out what was going on between us. Im sure most had good intentions, but they became increasingly annoying as the shallow conversations kept piling on. Most were Ayumis friends, trying to win me to her side without understanding the crux of the argument. My only refuge from the situation came whenever I finally got home from school or work. I numbed myself by rewatching my favorite anime. By the time Monday came around, I slept right through the morning classes. It wasnt worth even going to school that day anymore. And since I had already skipped a day, what point was there to go the next day either? Of course, soon people noticed I wasnt going to school. My mom, to her credit, did try to talk to me about the situation, but I shut her off. Im ashamed to admit I took advantage of the fact that she was too busy with work to be concerned with me. My phone lost its charge at one point and I didnt bother plugging it back in, so no one could reach me that way. Eventually, the class president came to my house to ask what was going on. I refused to open the door for her, saying I had a cold, and she just left the school prints on my mailbox. Daichi also came around at some point, so I told him the same cold excuse to make him go away. With that, I thought I could avoid my responsibilities for a while longer, but on a certain day, the doorbell rang. I didnt even know what time it was. I kept my bedroom blinds close at all times, and I had completely lost my sense of time. I lumbered out of my room, making my way to the front door. Its the afternoon, huh? Probably the class president again. In case it was Daichi, I took a peek outside through the peephole. However, to my surprise, it wasnt the class president nor my annoyingly handsome friend. What is she doing here, of all people? It was a slight surprise seeing her here, considering our relationship, but I didnt think twice about it. It was just another attempt at someone meddling into an affair they knew nothing about. So I made my way back up to my room. However, the doorbell rang again. I ignored it. I sat down at my computer and booted up a game. The doorbell rang again. I ignored it. I started playing the game, but the doorbell rang again. For the fourth time, I ignored it. The damn doorbell rang so many times I stopped counting. It must have been over ten minutes of constant ringing. At this point, I started to become concerned about her. It was still around freezing outside, and shed been standing in the cold unprotected for that long. Ill just tell her off and be done with it. Why is she so insistent anyway? Once again, I lumbered to the front door, but this time, I opened it ajar. What do you want, Futaba? Oh, finally you opened the door! Were you trying to turn me into a popsicle or something? Kotori Futaba was just standing there, with her trademark gym jersey on, and a carefree smile on her face. Despite what she had said, she didnt seem too concerned about the cold at all. What the hell is she made of? Is she even human?The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. I was expecting you to just leave. By the way, just go home. I have a cold, so you might catch it if you hang out around me. No waaaay! Im freezing out here! Come on, let me in so I can warm up a bit at least! Despite her over-the-top reactions, I could tell she wasnt actually uncomfortable. But before I could tell her off, she held my front door with some surprising strength and sneaked inside. Wha I was powerless to stop the trespasser, who made a beeline for my living room. The cold was getting to me as well, so I closed the door and went after her. Ahhh, its so nice n warm here! She said, already plopped on my sofa. Did no one teach you any manners, lady? Ill be upstairs in my room. When youre all warmed up, just go home. Its getting late. Your parents will be worried if you stay out after school for too long. I started making my way upstairs, but her voice stopped me. Dont be such a stick in the mud! Since Im already here, lets hang out and chat for a bit. Chat? About what? I really dont want to talk to her about anything right now. Hmm, I dunno, she said with a teasing tone. For example, the reason you and Ayumi are fighting? ...Im going upstairs. Wait, wait! She cried out and grabbed my arm. Her hands were freezing cold. Were all worried about you in class. Im just trying to lend a hand, you know? Help out? What does she know? I dont know what Ayumi told you, but you wont be able to convince me Im wrong. So dont waste your time trying. I was already on high alert around this girl, but even then, Futaba managed to drop a bombshell I wasnt prepared for. Actually, I havent talked with Ayumi about this at all. I heard the details from some of the other girls and picked up a few things from your interactions before you started skipping class. Her explanation made me raise an eyebrow. But why do you care about our situation at all? Its not like you and Ayumi are that close. Nor are you that close to me, either. For some reason, Futabas voice lost its usual sing-song timbre. Well, lets just say I have my own reasons, Then, her tone shifted back to its usual levity. But they genuinely come from my concern for Ayumi and you. I swear! She crossed her fingers, as if proving she really was telling the truth. Now be a gentleman and make some tea for us, will ya? Futabas insistence was, at the very least, commendable; and I couldnt very well boot her out when she seemed to be honestly concerned about us. So I decided to give up. Just sit down wherever. Yay! As the girl happily made herself at home, I brewed that tea for us, and then sat down myself. No matter what the conversation, keeping the angel shenanigans hidden was of utmost importance. Plus, it would sound mental to say that we had experienced a supernatural phenomenon in the first place. For starters, I cant tell you the specifics about the situation. Ayumi would kill me if I did. Ah, the specifics arent important, she said, giggling. Conflicts between old friends usually simmer for ages before boiling over. Whatever caused the current mess was just the final straw, right? I narrowed my eyes. Despite her unassuming looks, this girl was much more astute than I gave her credit for. Probably. Ayumis always been a pushy girl since I first met her. Ive been tagging along on her trips ever since. But this time, shes taken it too far. Hmm, thats kinda weird. Even if youre super tight, it seems odd that you always make a point of tagging along with her. Come on, spill it out. Why do you do it? Is it maybe She left the question hanging with a twisted smile, but I knew exactly what she wanted to say. Not you too, I retorted. Sorry, sorry. I was just messing with you a bit, she said as she took a sip of her tea. I let that innocuous comment slide and weighed my next words. Ayumi has her own family situation, as you probably know already. She copes with it pretty well most of the time, but even she starts thinking about certain things once in a while... She needs someone to be there for her. Someone other than her parents. Plus My words got caught up in my throat. This was some deep-seated trauma I had lying around, and telling it to what basically accounted to a stranger wasnt easy. However, something about Futabas sky-blue eyes made my worries dissipate. I barely knew this girl, yet I felt overwhelming empathy emanating from her. It was as if I was talking to my grandparents. That compassionate look of Ive been in your place before. You can trust me. Eventually, I opened my mouth. Ayumi saved me a long time ago. This is just my way of repaying that debt. Hearing this, Futabas expression grew serious, and her eyes urged me to continue. I took a deep breath. You probably dont know this, but my parents divorced. It happened eight years ago, and it wasnt particularly pleasant. Back then, my sister was already eighteen so she was allowed to choose who to live with. She chose my dad. I was too young, so I wasnt given a choice. I ended up staying with my mom at this house. It was all too sudden. This house its pretty big, but it used to be full of life. Then, all of a sudden, it became silent and lonely. I was frightened every time I came back from school. My mom had to work overtime to pay the mortgage and provide for the two of us She still does, in fact. I barely saw her during the day. I couldnt pester my sister to play with me or have my dad help me with homework anymore. Eventually, I became depressed. I slowly stopped going out, and soon after, I wouldnt leave the house for weeks. I even refused to go to school on some days. Futaba tried to contain her expression, but sorrow still bled through her dewy eyes. But one weekend, when I was alone in my bedroom, I heard my mom welcoming someone in. I still remember hearing an excited voice coming from the hallway, then from the stairs, and then kicking open the door to my bedroom. Imagine my surprise when I saw this little girl invading my room. Before I could even react, she proclaimed, Hi, Im Ayumi. I just moved in next door. I hope we can be friends! And thats how I met Ayumi. Futaba looked at me for a few seconds, and a smile rose on her face. That''s such a sweet story! I can absolutely picture Ayumi doing that. Yeah, so it wont surprise you to know that she came back the next day, and the day after, and so on. She was already spewing her nonsense about supernatural stuff back then. Eventually, I was forced to leave the house out of sheer frustration just to not have to hear her anymore. But as it turns out, it was just what I needed. Better than any psychiatrist or medicine. Its not an exaggeration to say that meeting Ayumi saved me. Futaba seemed to realize the whole point of this conversation. Oh, so that''s what you meant when you said you owe her big time. Yeah, thats right. From that day on, I tried my best to control her escalating nonsense. Because I know that the same mentality that helped me back then is also driving her down the wrong path. I keep trying to dissuade her out of it, but it never works. Futaba listened attentively to my heavy words, and despite not making any comments, I felt she truly cared. Which was why I wasnt at all expecting what came out of her mouth next. I think I get why Daichi says you guys are perfect for each other. She let out an airy giggle. What the heck have those two been talking about in my absence? She quickly changed her tone back to serious. You guys have an awesome friendship, but I think you''re looking at it the wrong way. I cocked my head upon hearing her words. What do you mean? First off, you totally misunderstand Ayumi. She isnt as messed up as you believe. I''m sure she takes your advice seriously every day. Jeez, you sound just like my mom. Futaba placed her teacup on the table and stared me right in the eyes. Look, no matter what you''re feeling, Ayumi''s not a kid anymore. She''s smart. I''m sure she wouldn''t do anything risky, even if she''s flying solo. Futaba then took her rudeness to the next level and pointed a finger at my face. And thats the thing, Takeya. Youve always had this mindset of protecting her from herself, and she knows it. Just think about how she must feel, constantly being treated like she can''t handle herself. By her best friend, no less. No wonder she boiled over like this. Think how Ayumi feels, huh? As Futaba finished speaking, I stared at her dumbfounded. This innocuous girl had completely disarmed me. Why did I ever think she was cute? Shes scary! If that was supposed to make me feel better, it had the opposite effect, you know. You''re only gonna start feeling better once you patch things up with her. Avoiding her, even going as far as faking being sick and skipping class, isn''t gonna fix anything. By hiding out in your comfort zone, hoping it''ll all just blow over, you''re just dodging the problem. I know that. But that doesnt change the fact that shes trying to do something reckless. Thats your issue to solve though. She once again flashed a whimsical smile. Maybe you could trust her a bit more? Things might not be as risky as you think. Or maybe she has a good reason for sticking to her guns so much. Yeah And maybe, just maybe try to be a bit more honest with yourself, okay? W-What theres nothing to be honest about! Man, you really are no fun, Futaba said as she stood up from the couch. Anyways! I think I left you with a lot to chew on, so I''m heading home now. And thanks for the tea, it was really good. Im all warmed up! And with a gentle wave, my classmate left, leaving only my thoughts to keep me company. Ch. 4 [?mp??s?] - Part 2 With Futabas words ringing in my head, I tried to play my favorite high-octane shooter to try and curb those thoughts. Still, they kept crawling back over and over. Its not like Im looking at the situation the wrong way. What Ayumi wants to do is reckless. Shes messing with something we dont understand. Its dangerous no matter how the situation develops. But the way my mom and Futaba explained the situation made it seem like it was my fault. That, despite knowing Ayumi for so long, I didnt understand her at all. Wait, could it be? Has Ayumi always had a firm grasp on reality? If... if thats the case she must have known that angels existed all along. And I just bet that that relates to the reason shes so obsessed about them. She must know some crucial information shes never shared with me. Shes not riding the fantasy of angels and the supernatural. No, she knew perfectly well from the very beginning that angels exist. And thats what I didnt get. Why, Ayumi? Why didnt you trust me with this? How am I supposed to trust you when you dont trust me back? These ideas kept running in circles in my brain for hours. Who was at fault? Who should give in in this battle? Heck, were either of us even wrong at all? And what lie is she living? Eventually, I decided to stop mulling about it and take action. I was going to get to the bottom of this mystery called Ayumi, once and for all. * * * After a night of little sleep, I decided to return to school. I also texted Ayumi in the morning and asked her to wait for me as soon as classes ended that day to make sure she wouldnt disappear. Since most people thought I had a cold, my return to class was met with absolute indifference. Futaba and Daichi did come to talk to me to make sure I was fine, but that was it. After an anxious day, I left the classroom before Ayumi did and waited by the school entrance for a few minutes. She showed up not long after, smiling and laughing with her friends. As soon as she saw me, she excused herself from them and went past me with a sour expression that struck me as purposely forced. It didnt feel weird being with her after so long; what felt weird was the fact that she was quiet. The awkwardness prevented me from saying anything concrete too. After a few minutes of silent walking, I knew this tense situation was reaching a tipping point. Ayumi was walking ahead of me, but I could feel her rising irritation in her gait. So? What did you want to talk about? She asked with a rough tone. I Despite my resolve, my words got stuck in my throat. What, are you chickening out of admitting you were wrong? Jeez, this girl has an unparalleled way of pushing my buttons. I took a deep breath to calm myself down. No, I still dont think Im wrong at all. Hearing this, Ayumi turned around and revealed her definitely-for-real-this-time sour frown. Then why did you want to meet with me? If you dont have anything to say, Im going on ahead. I''ve got a lot to do and times not on my side. She began trotting away, but before she could get too far, I grabbed her arm. Wait a second. I havent said everything yet. Ayumi, forced to stop, turned back to me with narrowed eyes that told me to go somewhere else. At least hear me out. She relaxed her expression a bit, as if saying I could go on. This is it. I cant fail now. I took a deep breath. The chilly air entering my lungs helped clear my head somewhat. Despite disagreeing with you, Ive decided to trust you. I trust that you have a good reason to be doing something so rash. That was where I was wrong. Ive been wrong for a long time. So for that, I apologize. Im sorry, Ayumi. I gave a deep bow, half for honestly apologizing and the other half to avoid looking at her face. Then, silence. On top of those heartfelt words, the silence that befell upon us made my body feel like it was going to collapse at any moment.Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. When I raised my head, Ayumi lowered hers, hiding her eyes behind her messy bangs. Really you always have a way to come around at the end of the day. Do you know how long Ive been waiting to hear that? I rattled my brain, trying to find anything I could use to answer her words. But before I could, she raised her head. Ayumis expression was so unexpected I couldnt respond even if I had something prepared. Is she blushing? Her emerald eyes were shining, on the verge of tears. A light-pink tint was painted on her cheeks. No matter who it was, at that moment, they would have said she was ridiculously cute. Thank you, Takkun, she said with a childish, innocent smile. Thank you for finally understanding. I was speechless. Despite her blissful look, a deep, gnawing darkness made me feel sick to my core. Who knew such simple words could make her so happy? Where have I made a wrong turn in my life to not notice something so simple? If I had known that ephemeral expression would disappear along with her next words, I would have burned it into my mind for all eternity. But this was Ayumi. Her mood changed faster than the weather during the typhoon season. She rubbed her eyes with her oversized sleeves and forced herself to speak normally. Well, now that thats over with, you wont mind helping me get to the bottom of this, right? she said, returning to her usual light-hearted smile. I guess, I said with self-doubt. There was still something else on my mind. If this was the answer, then I decided to take a gamble. But you have to promise me something first. This time, she was the one caught off-guard. Huh? I dont know what it is, but whatever it is youre hiding, the reason why youre trying so hard to meet an angel, what this lie you mentioned before isI want you to tell me. Ayumis eyes opened so wide that I thought they might pop out of their sockets. Ive decided to trust you on this, so I hope you can trust me back. Otherwise, I wont help you. The girl stared at me for what seemed like minutes with an inscrutable expression. Eventually, she opened her mouth. Alright. When this is all over, Ill tell you. Then, she extended her right pinky finger. Pinky promise? she asked with a cutesy voice while staring at the ground. Really, youre such a child. The pinky embrace didnt last even a second. Ayumi, maybe feeling embarrassed by this childish ritual, returned to her brisk pace in the direction of the bus stop. Since youve promised to help me, I guess I have no choice but to catch you up to speed, she said with her usual impish tone. That said, nothing much has changed. Im trying to find information about Shiina, but my investigations have been kind of fruitless. Even you, the queen of poking around, are stumped? No one I talked to has spotted her recently or knows where she might live. So lately, Ive been making rounds around the shopping street, but no luck so far. Its like shes some sort of ghost. You think she knows were onto her? Nuh-uh, not likely. If they knew anything, we wouldnt be having this conversation right now. The only thing we know about her in the real world is that she goes to the bookstore. Ive been staking out the place, but no luck so far. Well, I havent been going to work either, so I cant say if she went there or not. Oh, thats a bummer. I was hoping for an easy breakthrough, but it seems that wont happen anytime soon. With a swift motion, Ayumi turned back around to face me. However! With you on board, we can change tactics, she said as she wiggled her finger in my direction. Im having you stay put at the bookstore. Preferably every afternoon. Its our only point of contact with her, after all. ...What? I questioned with a furrowed brow. The more youre there, the better the chances of meeting her. If she does show up, try to extract as much information as you can from her. Hey, wait a sec. What? You can ask the owners to let you work more days. Say you need the extra money or something. What about my free time? Or my study time? Any concern for that at all? You want me to get information out of her? Shell suspect me if I do that, I tried to explain. She wont. Remember, if shes here in the human world, it means she has some intention of blending in. Since were in a rush, act like youre hitting on her or something. That wont look too out of place. What the heck is with that suggestion? Despite being a closet nerd you dont look half bad, so she might just take the bait. Sorry, no way. Thats impossible. Arent you always playing those du I mean, interesting dating sims? Surely that helps a bit, no? You were about to say dumb, werent you? Also, Im not always playing them, come on. Okay, maybe I play them quite often, but the point stands. No way. Im not Daichi. Dating sims are one thing, real life is a completely different beast. Ayumi sighed. Fine. Just do your best. You arent actually hitting on her, so you can fail miserably as long as you still get the information. I elected to ignore her assumption for many reasons, and asked a very pertinent question. What will you do in the meanwhile? Ill be looking around for her too, of course. You do the passive search, Ill do the active. Its the best of both worlds. You should be glad Im not forcing you to be on the lookout in this weather. Do we have a deal? With her eyes shining like that, I had a hard time saying no. Not like I was planning to reject her anyway. Fine, but I dont know how many additional hours the owners will give me. As long as you can do it for a few days, it would be fantastic. And so, in just a few minutes, Ayumi and I went from being on bad terms to me getting, yet again, involved in her crazy plans. I dreaded the prospect of working every day for an undetermined amount of time. But the darkness consuming me over the past week had vanished. This craziness felt right. Ch. 5 [??ge𝚕_st脿?ki?g] - Part 1 The next few days came and went with me cursing myself for getting wrapped around Ayumis thumb once again. For better or for worse, the owners of the bookstore were quite receptive to me working overtime. Do it for as long as you want, Hidaka. My wife and I are grateful, in fact, he said with a pleasant smile. I hope he doesnt get too used to this. We used the first few days to iron out the kinks in Ayumis plan. It was rather simpleshed wander around the city looking for Shiina, and I would stay in the bookstore waiting for her to show up. If she did, I would try and find out where she lived. After that, we would follow her around until we could catch her red-handed in some angelic activities. Not the most sophisticated plan, but there wasnt a better alternative. It was a Tuesday afternoon, much like all the others, when the bell by the door chimed. As usual, I greeted the customer before I took a glance at them. When I did, my heart skipped a beat. There was no mistaking those intense, ruby-red eyes. Shiina. She finally showed up. Good afternoon, she said after staring at me in silence for a moment. I had a mini panic attack. After all, the last time I saw her, shed been a ball of light coming down from the sky. A supernatural being. For the lack of a better term, an angel. Shiina probably noticed how tense I was. Her gaze focused on me for a fraction of a second longer than usual, but she soon disappeared into the bookstore. Ayumi was quite far away, so informing her was pointless. She would never be able to get here in time to stalk Shiina or whatever it was she wanted to do. There arent any other good options left at this point. Am I really going to have to flirt with her? A few uneasy minutes passed as my mind desperately tried to find a way out of this mess. Shiina returned to the counter, another romance novel in hand. As I processed her transaction, I braced myself for the worst scenario that could play out. Considering her appearance and hyper-reserved nature, I couldnt discard the possibility that shed have a physical response. Still, this act was far from how I usually acted. To work up the courage, I drew on the experience I had gained from countless hours I spent playing dating sims. Not that it would be particularly helpful. Okay. Here goes nothing. Just before she turned towards the exit, I uttered, So, you live around here? There. I said it. Hearing my words, Shiinas unapproachable expression turned even icier. She was caught by surprise. In fact, it was taking her so long to answer,even by her standards, that I instinctively dove headfirst into the classic pitfallmasking the awkward silence with another comment. Its just that there aren''t many young people coming to this store. I was wondering if you had any particular reason for visiting us. Was that lame or what? Yep, I really am lame. She seemed to realize that there was no way out of this other than answering me. Yes, I live nearby. This bookstore is the closest to my place, so its convenient to walk here, Shiina replied after an agonizing amount of time. Good. At least shes answering my questions and not staying silent. Ah, perhaps you moved into those new apartments down south? Seeing her sharp eyes narrowing further, I once again added extra detail to the question. You seem to have moved into the city recently. A good three seconds of waiting passed. No, I live in an old apartment. The rent was cheaper there. With that frugal answer, I got the feeling that I wouldnt be able to extract anything else from her. The only thing left to do was to soil my already minuscule reputation and end the conversation then and there. Well, I also live nearby. If youd like, we could go for coffee someday. I could even show you around town. Even before I finished my sentence, I could sense her mood shifting. Not so much souring, but getting more panicky? An advantage of her constant poker face is that any slight change in her mood was reflected on her expression. Either that or I was particularly attuned to her reactions by now. She stared at me, unresponsive. I waved my hands in front of me as a gesture of goodwill.The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. Ah, no pressure. You can tell me if youre interested next time you come by. Ugh. I feel dirty. She mused for a few seconds, her eyes darting around, never focusing on me. Thank you. Ill consider that offer, she said with a perfect, yet somehow rushed bow. Thanks. Come again! I said as she exited the store with quicker strides than usual. Yeah, no. That was terrible. Shes never coming back, is she? * * * It took me a good while for the adrenaline rush to wear off and for me to process what had just happened. All the while, my heart raced faster than Sonic himself, and chills spread all over my body. Yes, I am that pathetic. Dont judge me. My mind kept replaying the encounter, trying to find some sort of silver lining in the midst of all the embarrassment. Much to my surprise, my thoughts gained a more positive tone after I had calmed down a bit. Despite the extremely poor attempt at wooing a woman, I gained some valuable information. A wicked smile crossed my face as I grabbed my phone and texted Ayumi with the news. Needless to say, she arrived at the bookstore less than ten minutes later. So huff, huff how how did it go? she asked with agonizingly ragged breathing. Im ninety-nine percent sure she doesnt want to see my dumb face ever again. Oh? That bad? she said as she got to her usual spot on the stool and monopolized the heater. Considering she had just weathered the biting cold, and had been running on top of it, I decided to not bother her about it. What do we do now? Nuh-uh. Not so fast, I said while puffing out my chest. My reputation may be in the gutter, but it wasnt in vain. With the information I got out of her, we might be able to deduce where she lives. Ayumis ears perked up. Really? How so? She didnt straight up say where she lived, did she? Of course not, but she left a couple of useful clues. I paused to think about how I would best exemplify my point. Say, do you have that map from the other day with you? Uh-huh. Out of her bag, Ayumi produced that huge, military-grade map covering both this city and the nearby areas. She said two interesting things. First was that this is the nearest bookstore to her place on foot. Ah, so thats why she comes here. She could go to a mall and buy books for cheap there, but she does look like someone who hates crowds. Right. On its own this wouldnt be enough, but she mentioned that she lives in an old apartment. Oh, I see what youre planning. So if we cross these two pieces of information Exactly, my dear Watson. I grabbed a black pen from the desk and marked a spot on the map. This is where we are now, and these are the nearest bookstores to us, I said as I marked the other three stores on the map. The other stores kind of surrounded this one from the west, with the woods surrounding the city from the east. With a pencil and some guesswork, I marked the limits of what seemed like the appropriate area for Shiinas apartment to be located. Despite it still being a daunting task, finding her place didnt seem that impossible to do now. So we only need to look for her apartment in this area? Its not too big, so Im sure the two of us can cover it quickly, Ayumi said with a dashing smile and shining eyes. Unfortunately, I wont be able to help you for the rest of the week. Eh? Why?! she shouted as she slapped the counter. Ive already got the afternoons booked. After all, didnt you tell me to be generous about it? The dejected glint in Ayumis eyes was a sight to behold. * * * What followed that embarrassing incident at the bookstore was a string of uneventful days. Armed with the knowledge of where Shiina might live, Ayumi spent the rest of the week trying to nail down the exact place. Eventually, on Saturday, she encountered Shiina in front of a store and stalkI mean, followed her back to her place. According to the stalker, it was an ordinary, run-of-the-mill apartment complex. After that breakthrough, I knew there was no way I was going to have a relaxed Sunday. I found myself in Ayumis bedroom in the early morning hours, once again wondering how my life decisions had led to this situation. Is it just me or does that sound rather dodgy out of context? Homework, check. Notepad, check. Phone, check. Angel Observation Apparatus Mark I, check. Anything else we might be forgetting, Takkun? Ayumi asked as she stuffed her backpack and gym bag with the random items we had prepared in advance. My brain was working at least at half-speed, so I didnt respond right away. Its too damn early! Yawn. Not that I can think of. We might be a bit too prepared. Are we going camping or something? Her nose scrunched in frustration while she adjusted her hairpin. Listen well, Takkun. Weve moved into the endgame now. We need to catch Shiina red-handed and confront her. And the only way to do that is to observe her closely. Observe closely As in stalking her, you mean. Yes, the plan was to camp outside of Shiinas apartment and hope to witness her doing anything supernatural. Ayumis plans this time around arent particularly imaginative, thats for sure. I mean, I get your point. But we dont even know if shes going to leave her apartment at all. What if she does and we miss her? My face soured. This is pointless... Come on, dont make that stupid face. Well take turns watching her, so you can play a game or something while its my turn. Somehow, I feel like thats not going to happen. I muttered something which Ayumi seemed to accept as confirmation of her plan. Well then, if everythings ready, its time to depart. Field Mission Omega, start! Ch. 5 [??ge𝚕_st脿?ki?g] - Part 2 Field Mission Omega. Ayumi probably named this outing in the spur of the moment as she tends to do. And yet, those three words kept rolling around in my mind. Omega, the last letter in the Greek alphabet. Other than sounding cool, it had a clear meaningthis was the last field mission she would do. She was serious. In addition, she promised she would tell me whatever secret she was keeping when this was all over. I kept those two facts in my mind during the several hours we sat in a family restaurant right across Shiinas apartment building. We went there on the pretense that we were studying. In actuality, we were staking out the street for any suspicious movement from our target. Anyone who looked at us could tell we werent studying seriously at all. That included the waitress who served us multiple times throughout the day. Her brow furrowed lower and lower, to the point it hurt to look at her. Ayumi didnt seem to notice though. Speaking of Ayumi, she did have some books and notepads scattered around, but it was all for show. Meanwhile, I didnt try to fake it and alternated between my tablet and my gaming console after I finished all the homework. Studying was out of the questionmy concentration would wane every time a random passerby happened to leave the apartment complex. Morning passed, then the lunch hour. The afternoon made its way through with the sky darkening as the hours ticked by. Despite all the distractions, I got bored and ended up spending most of the time gazing outside. It was in one of those moments that I spotted our target. There she is. Shiina. I wont lie. After so long, I felt a genuine rush of dopamine working its magic on my brain. Ayumi, I called out to her while shaking her arm. Hmm? What is it? she mumbled without raising her head. Ayumi had actually been doing her homework after hours of fooling around, despite it being her turn to watch the street. Its Shiina. She just left the apartment. Hearing this, Ayumi jolted back to life like Frankensteins monster. She jerked her head to look outside, just in time to spot the woman leaving the apartment in a noticeable hurry. Ah! Youre right! Takkun, its time for phase two. Go pay for the food while I get our stuff ready. In less than a minute we were out of the restaurant and on our way to well, wherever Shiina was heading herself. She definitely knew where she was going, and she was fast. So fast, in fact, that we almost lost her on multiple occasions and had to run to catch up to her. Somethings off about this, Ayumi commented at some point. She can fly and-slash-or teleport, but shes going on foot. Shes not even looking at a map. I wonder how shes doing it. Maybe she cant fly around as she pleases? Or perhaps its to avoid incurring unwanted attention from people like you. We dont even know if shes doing something supernatural or not. Hmm Thats right. I really hope this entire day doesnt go to waste after getting a lead like this. The answer to that wish didnt take long to reveal itself. Our frantic chase led us out of the city center and into the outskirts, not too far from our houses. The area was a sequence of carbon-copied streets of unremarkable, middle-class housing. It was precisely here where Shiina took a turn into one of those streets and we did the same. Well, almost. As we turned the corner, we were confronted with a sight that made us freeze in our tracks. What is that? The street in front of us, which was supposed to be like any other, was strange. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. No, that was an understatement. It was bordering on the unbelievable. At first glance, it looked like some sort of modern art project gone wrong. It was difficult to describe, but it was as if the textures of everything in the area had been jumbled around. The texture of the asphalt was on the walls of the houses. The texture of the walls was on the ground in some sort of freakish patchwork. I could even see the texture of a nearby lamppost spread around in several places. As if that wasnt disorienting enough, all the textures were twitching and flashing around erratically. This effect struck me as remarkably familiar. I had played hundreds of games and there was no mistaking itI had seen this before. Its similar to No, thats a stupid thought. As those thoughts were forcefully ejected, I focused on trying to locate our target. It took a moment to spot Shiina in that sensorial turmoil, but she had been standing right in front of the area all along, not moving. All this happened in less than five seconds. Without warning, Ayumi pulled me back to the street we came from. Hey, what gives? I asked. Oddly enough, Ayumi took a few moments to answer. When she did speak, she looked up at me with a complex expression I couldnt decipher. Whats up with her? We cant afford to be seen now. She might activate her powers at any point and then its game over. Sigh. Yeah, I get it. So? What do you make of that? Yet again, Ayumi didnt respond. It was almost like she didnt hear me. Is this really she mumbled under her breath. Hey, Ayumi? Whats wrong? I said as I shook her. That appeared to bring her back to reality, but she still had something on her mind. Her voice sounded airy and noncommittal. Ahh, nothings wrong. What do I think about this? Its some sort of supernatural incident. No shit, Sherlock. Shiina must have detected it and came here to get rid of the problem! she exclaimed, returning to her usual tone. However, I couldnt just wave away Ayumis strange reaction. Something about this incident perturbed her more than the lights coming down from the sky. Did it remind her of something too? I was about to bring it up with her, but before I could, she regained control of the conversation. Nows when the real work starts. Since electronics malfunction during these events, I had to invest in yet another analog technology to record proof. She quietly rummaged in her gym bag and produced an item that I had never seen in person. Is that an instant camera? Bingo, she said with a fierce smile. Instant cameras wont be knocked out like our phones. Hopefully, the photo will show her in the act. Without any reservation, Ayumi positioned the camera lens right next to the wall and snapped a picture. Okay, now we have to wait for the picture to develop. Thankfully, I brought the Angel Observation Apparatus Mark I so we can take a look at whats happening in the meanwhile. Ayumi reassembled the device and gave it to me. Takkun, you can keep watch this time. I welcomed the suggestion and mounted the device on my head while Ayumi hunkered down next to me. And then we continued the waiting game. Not much happened at first. Shiina simply stood there, as if evaluating her choices. Then, the angel began moving about in the affected area. She touched the walls, floor, and other objects caught in the texture jumbling. When she did, the areas she had touched returned to normal. Slowly but surely, everything returned to how it was supposed to be. Having completed her job, Shiina began walking along the now normalized street. So now what do we do? I asked. Well, thats easy! Ayumi lifted her gaze from the camera and flashed a smile so bright it made me flinch. Nows time for Phase 3. Phase 3? I parroted back at her. What were Phase 1 and 2 though? Yes. Direct confrontation, she said while flapping around a small piece of paper. It was the photo she had snapped with her camera. Despite the awkward angle, it clearly showed Shiina standing in front of the jumbled street. The instant camera idea had worked. Before I could stop her, Ayumi leapt out of our hiding place and started running at full speed towards Shiina. I didnt even have time to hesitate. This is Ayumis decision, and no matter what, I have to support her. Thats my decision, after all. Likely hearing the ruckus in the otherwise quiet street, Shiina reacted in a split second, dodging Ayumis flying, full body leap. The moment she recognized Ayumi, the woman was taken abackher eyes opened wide and her head moved back a bitbut she still kept her composure. When I walked over and she saw me, I swear I could feel her body tense up. Did I really leave such a bad impression? Shiina seemed to be readying herself to speak, but Ayumi cut her off by showing her the photo. I know we just met and this is crazy, but are you an angel?! Intimidated, Shiina took one, then two steps back; it looked like she was one step away from falling. I thought that there was still a chance that this was one big misunderstanding. That somehow, this entire saga was all going to be hand-waved away. But Shiinas words, coming out after a deep breath, were direct and unmistakable. Yes, I am. Ch. 6 [𝚒_?m_?n_伪n𝔤?I] - Part 1 In the middle of that deserted street, three people stood with three completely different expressions. Shiina reached up and loosened her scarf. Her guarded posture made it clear that she was feeling uncomfortable. I couldn''t even begin to imagine what was going through her head at this moment. Ayumi, on the other hand, had a complex expression. At first glance, she looked like she was about to burst with joy. A wide, contagious smile adorned her face, and she was restless, hopping and fidgeting her fingers. But somehow, I could feel the undertones of a darker emotion bubbling under the surface. What it was, I couldnt tell. As for me, I couldnt see my face, but Im pretty sure I kept a poker face. Not because I was taking this situation well, mind you. So many thoughts were speeding through my mind that my facial muscles werent sure how to contract. Thinking about it, that meant my frown might have been creepier than I thought. Despite her excitementor maybe because of itAyumi didnt speak up. Shiina and I were too busy thinking, and thus didnt say anything either. This stalemate lasted an uncertain amount of time. Eventually, I began noticing people walking by and staring at us with curiosity. We couldnt just stand around here, but I was still a bit lost on what to do. Frankly, my first instinct was to forget this ever happened and walk away. Unfortunately for me, Shiina had also noticed the attention we were attracting. Your names? the angel asked flatly. Ayumi! And this is Takeya. Before I could react, Ayumi pushed on my back and forced me into a bow. Nice to meet you! Ayumi and Takeya I dont want to speak of this matter here, she said, still holding her daunting expression. Theres a park nearby. We can talk there. Without waiting for us, Shiina turned around and began her brisk walk. Ayumi and I followed closely behind. We walked in uncomfortable silence until we arrived at a small park. It was unremarkable, with a few wooden benches, picnic tables, and a playground for kids. More importantly, it was devoid of people this late in the chilly afternoon. Shiina went straight to a table and sat down on one of the benches. Ayumi and I sat opposite her. The angel didnt look like she was as uneasy as before. First of all, how did you figure out Im an angel? Im sure it wasnt a guess, she said with a polite but intense voice. Without hesitation, Ayumi proceeded to divulge how we got to this moment. She started with her lifelong obsession with angels and went on to explain everything in betweenincluding the odd contraptions she made and the extensive plan concocted to find out where Shiina lived. At the end of it, Shiinas opinion of us seemed to have raised a fair bit. Im impressed you were able to stay hidden during that major incident. There were dozens of us there. A mistake like this She let that last sentence fade out. What are you after? I turned my gaze back to Ayumi. I knew what she wanted up to this point, but I was as clueless as Shiina when it came to her plans moving forward. I have a feeling you wont let us leave this place with our memories intact. Still, theres a request I want to make, if youre willing to negotiate, Ayumi said with a grounded voice, despite her fists trembling in front of her. Negotiate? Are you aware of our position here? All right. Lets hear it, Shiina said after her customary pause. Im not sure who was the most surprised, Ayumi or me. After all, we were talking about a bonafide angel here. She had unthinkable powers to shape reality. Surely the story of a random human girl didnt move her enough to accept a request like that. Something fishy was going on. It took Ayumi a few seconds to open her mouth and reveal her proposal. All my life, my dream has been to meet a real angel. Ive accomplished that now and Im content enough with it. But now that were here, Id like to know a bit more about you. Because at the end of the day, we know almost nothing about angels. During these few minutes at least, Id like to know the truth of the mystery. Thats my only wish. Shiina narrowed her eyes, trying to judge Ayumis true intentions. But then, understanding Shiinas worries, the shorter girl acted incredibly Ayumi-like. Ahh, youre worried about the photo, right? Ayumi asked, retrieving the small photo from her skirt pocket and placing it on the table. As a token of goodwill, Ill take care of that right now. To the surprise of all others present, Ayumi proceeded to rip the photo to shreds and disposed of the pieces into a nearby trash can. Poof. Gone, just like that. Idiot! Youve just got rid of our only leverage! Takkun and I can guarantee there are no other photos of you or other angels. We havent told anyone about this either. Youre in the clear. Theres just this moment and nothing else. So, what do you say? Shiina raised an eyebrow, but her expression quickly melted back into her permanent, taciturn frown. This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. Okay. But this conversation cant leave this place, and I wont be able to answer all your questions. If you can agree to these conditions, Ill accept your proposal, Shiina stated firmly. Yes! Ayumi said with a little fist pump. Thanks, Shiina. You have my eternal gratitude. Ayumi stood up and gave a deep bow, almost slamming her forehead on the table. In total opposition to Ayumis mood, I was flabbergasted by the progression of the situation. I cant believe it. Shiina actually went along with such an insane bargain. Something is definitely weird about this. I decided to just roll with it. The situation was already way out of my control by this point. When Ayumi raised her head and looked the angel in the eyes, they both froze for a moment. Shiina was waiting for Ayumi to ask something, but I didnt have any idea why she would hesitate when we were already this far. Takkun, you go ahead first, she said, turning toward me. Im the worst person to spearhead this conversation. Dont you have anything to ask? I pushed the questioning back to Ayumi. Gosh, of course. A ton of stuff. Theres so much I dont even know where to begin. A small sigh escaped my lungs. This is just like her. Okay then. I turned my gaze back to Shiina, who had been scrutinizing our back and forth. I dont get Ayumis problem. There is only one right question to start this. So, what are angels exactly? Ayumi turned to me with genuine fury on her face. Takkun! Youre starting with that? Well, yeah, of course. Can you answer the question? Or is this also part of the things you are hiding from me?. For once, that disarmed Ayumi. Guess you are right. I dont really know the answer either. We turned our attention to Shiina, who didnt seem to care as much about our side conversations as before. She had her hand on her chin as if pondering the answer seriously. However, what escaped her mouth was incomprehensible. Angels are the servants of God Almighty, imbued with a minuscule part of their divine powers. Our duty is to implement Gods divine plan, guiding humanity towards their destiny. Both Ayumi and I were silent, but I could still sense her excitement permeating the air. When I turned to her, however, I got the impression there was still some other emotion mixed in there. When she noticed me staring at her, Ayumi spoke up as if to hide her feelings. Okay, so lets get the simplest matter out of the way first. So youre saying God actually exists? Id say no one, theist or atheist, would call the matter of the existence of God simple. But I digress. Yes, of course, Shiina declared after a long pause. Angels are in regular contact with their God. Thats how we receive divine instructions to implement their plan. So what do you guys do exactly? To implement this plan? We influence humans to act in a way compatible with Gods plan for the world, Shiina said with a deadpan expression. Her dry delivery made the only possible interpretation of her words even more unsettling. So you mean you guys use mind-control on people to ensure everything happens according to that plan? I asked. Shiina hesitated for a moment longer than usual. Mind control is a very strong term. Simple memory manipulation or impersonation is usually enough to complete each mission. The vast majority of humans never encounter an angel or are affected by them. Our missions dont target individual humans, but rather, create ripple effects in society as a whole. I pity those people who are influenced in one way or another. Well, who cares about free will anyway? Despite the angels backpedaling, there wasnt any other way to interpret what she had said. Angels were influencing human behavior, blindly following whatever this shady plan was. And to keep themselves hidden, they used all sorts of magic trickery to make people faint, or in the worst-case scenario, erased their memories. I took off my glasses and pinched the bridge of my nose. This is ludicrous. Despite achieving a sense of closure about what angels even were, there was still one thing that didnt exactly fit the narrative. The very reason we were able to meet Shiina in the first place. I was a few seconds from verbalizing it, but What about those incidents weve been encountering? The electronic disturbances, the invisible people, and just now, the weird graffiti? Does that have anything to do with the plan? Ayumi asked with a low, almost emotionless voice. Something about her was weird. No, shes been acting oddly since a while back; since we saw that texture swapping in the street. No, before that. Ever since that incident in the other city, Ayumi has had unexpected reactions to everything. Just how much does she know about whatever is going on? The figment of an explanation started forming in my mind, but it was so absurd I decided to let it dissipate. No, not directly, Shiina replied with a doubtful tone. It seemed something was weighing on her mind, too. Thats what we call a fault. We believe its caused by our presence in this world. Hmm? What do you mean? Ayumi asked, now visibly worried. Despite our powers being as insignificant as they are, they still disturb the fabric of the world, leading to those kinds of incidents. Ayumi and I traded glances; she was as baffled as I was. Unaware of our concerns, Shiina continued her exposition. The faults interfere with normal human life, so weve taken it upon ourselves to fix them since times immemorial. But, we have seen a rise of faults all over the world during the last few years. So the supernatural incidents happening all over the world are actually these faults caused by angels scheming about? But why do I feel were still missing something? Ignoring my thoughts, Shiina continued her explanation. Its reached the point where less-experienced angels are assigned exclusively to monitor and fix faults. Of course, any angel that encounters one must fix it immediately. If theyre unable to do so alone, they must call for support. So thats what happened the other day. Thats why so many angels came at once. It was such a large-scale fault that a single angel couldnt possibly have handled it alone. While I was busy trying to make sense of all of this mess, it had gotten quite dark, and the accompanying chill was creeping into my jacket. The lights from the lampposts shined down on us, and a few of them flickered, showing their old age. It was getting pretty late to be outside, especially at this time of the year, but a part of me didnt want this to end yet. Ch. 6 [𝚒_?m_?n_伪n𝔤?I] - Part 2 I turned back to Ayumi for a clue on what to do next. To my surprise, her expression was calm. It wasnt because of the overwhelming, impulsive curiosity that often stopped her from acting. She seemed uncharacteristically deep in thought. A dark shadow loomed over her. I knew that this conversation had revealed some disturbing pieces of information, but I had a feeling that wasnt the reason for her woes. I shook her shoulder to grab her attention. It took her a few moments to notice. Oh, Takkun. Sorry, I was just thinking about something. Yeah, I noticed. Ayumi, its getting quite late. What do you want to do? Call it quits? Hmm, yeah. Youre right, she said while looking around, almost as if she just now realized what time it was. She still seemed quite out of it, even more due to her vague reply. I decided it was about time I got to the bottom of this. Shiina, can you let me speak with Ayumi alone for a bit? I promise we wont run away or anything like that. The angel looked at us with wide eyes, but her expression quickly relaxed. Okay. Dont go too far. Taking that cue, I grabbed Ayumis arm and dragged her to a corner of the park. Even after being dragged, Ayumis mind was still somewhere else. She wouldnt look up at me and her eyes focused on nothing. Hey, Ayumi, I said in the firmest voice I could muster. Finally, she seemed to snap out of it. However, her disheveled hair was all over her face, making it difficult to look her in the eyes. Whats up with you? I had anticipated her reaction would be a swift bounce back to her normal self, but that wasnt the case. She raised her head, and after moving her bangs out of the way, stared straight into my eyes. Takkun, remember our promise from before? Of course. How could I forget? But whats that got to do with anything? Instead of replying to my question, Ayumi shot out one of her own. Do you mind if I talk to Shiina about this as well? Her eyes were glimmering as if pleading. There was no way I could refuse her. I Hmm Sure, but what does she My words were cut short by my thoughts. Wait, dont tell me Youll understand soon enough, she replied to my incomplete question with a rather sad smile. This time, Ayumi took the lead back to our seats. However, it didnt take us long to notice Shiina was doing something strange. No matter how I tried to parse her action, I came to the same conclusion: she was praying. She had her arms crossed in front of her chest with both hands resting on top of her shoulders. She had her eyes closed and her face pointing up at the sky. Shiina? Are you praying? Ayumi asked. Hearing the girls voice, Shiina woke up from her trance. I had expected her to be rather bashful about the whole situation, but her icy expression didnt change. Almost as if she had prepared herself for this. I apologize. Praying is important for us to strengthen our connection with God. Ehh, right. Im sorry I interrupted you. No need to worry. Now, have you decided what youre going to do now? Yes, Ayumi said resolutely as we sat down. Before coming here, I promised to tell Takeya something after meeting you. But considering what you told us, its better if I tell you this too. She looked straight into Shiinas eyes. But I dont think youll like to hear this. Im sorry if it hurts you. The angel looked confused, but she nodded, signifying Ayumi to continue. A tense silence fell upon us, only cut by the sound of my heartbeat. Ayumi was trying to find the right words for whatever she wanted to tell us, and the tension was almost unbearable. Eventually, it snapped, all at once.Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. Ill start with this, Shiina. Youre probably unaware of this, but Im not exactly what youd consider a normal human. Im sorry, but you wont be able to erase my memories. I know I promised, but it wont work. After hearing Ayumis words, Shiina had the first genuine reaction I had ever seen on her. Her body jerked back, her mouth fell agape, and the color drained from her face, catching me off guard. Eventually, she managed to squeeze out a sentence. Impossible. I would have known if you were an angel. Wanna try it? Ayumi cut Shiinas rambling short, her tone halfway between joking and deadly serious. Erasing my memories, I mean. Following her bold declaration, Ayumi stood up and opened her arms wide, as if to show she was disarmed. Wait, Ayumi. Are you sure about this? Yes, she said, turning to me. This would be the result either way, so if Im lying, Id just be speeding up the process. I guess thats true, but Shiina didnt give me time to talk Ayumi down from her actions. Lower your head, she commanded. The tiny girl followed and exposed the top of her head to the angel. Without hesitation, Shiina rose from her seat, extended her arm, and rested her hand on Ayumis scalp. The two women closed their eyes in unison. A few seconds elapsed. Shiina removed her hands from Ayumi. From the slow and uncertain gesture, I knew right away that she had failed. Feeling the pressure lifted from her head, Ayumi sat down and looked straight into the angels eyes. So? Ayumi simply asked. Shiina took her time to sit down before answering. I couldnt do it. Im sure I did everything correctly, but I could still read your memories afterward. The breath I had been holding was expelled in an almost cathartic way. That was tense, but what does this mean? Gosh. After all these years, I guess its good to finally have confirmation that you really are weird, I quipped. Ayumi replied only with a weak smile. So let me guess. Though, its not much of a guess, but rather, a certainty at this point. All this time, you were an angel in disguise, right? And youre hiding it from Shiina somehow? I mean, isnt that the go-to supernatural answer to everything? However, I was plain wrong. In my defense, with the clues given to me so far, I couldnt have figured it out by myself. No, not at all, she replied with conviction. Youre totally off-mark. Im categorically, one-hundred percent not an angel. Nothing in either your paradigm or Shiinas can account for what I am. What are you talking about? We were just told what angels are. Are you saying everything Shiina believes in is wrong? Ayumi, youre being way too obtuse. I still dont get it. I had the feeling she had tremendous difficulty in saying the words she wanted to and was joking around to hide it. Okay then. I guess Ill just come out and say it. Ayumi inhaled and exhaled deeply. That breathing routine shifted the tone of the conversation back to its original heaviness. However, before Ayumi could say a word, before my world could be fully shattered, a male voice pierced the quiet air of the park. Ill have you stop right there, dear Ayumi. My mind froze, yet my heart thumped wildly in my chest. Eventually, I turned around and faced the source of the voice. From the entrance of the park strolled in a tall man with soft, androgynous features and a long ponytail. A pure white, long-sleeved tunic peeked out from beneath his cloak. It was adorned with simple green and gold patterns, reaching down to his ankles. And somehow, this weirdo cosplayer knew Ayumi. What kind of company is she keeping that Im not aware of? Archangel Michael! I-Im so glad you came! Shiina shouted as she rose from the bench. Her face relaxed as though she had been waiting for him. Archangel? Who the hell is this guy? The man responded to my question with an order. Why dont you explain it to humans, little angel? The archangels are our glorious leaders who, through their wisdom, guide us on how best to fulfill our duties. Very well said. School sure did drill the right things in you. So this guy is a big shot. But why is he here, and now? This doesnt sound good. An archangel? But how do you know me? Ayumi asked. You dont know me, but I know you very well, dear Ayumi. Would saying I worked with your parents jog your memory? Those words were enough to make the girl gasp for air. It it cant be. I could almost hear Ayumis gears turning during her short pause. So youre an archangel, then I see. Things are falling in place now. But calling yourself Michael, really? Like the Biblical archangel? Thats too on the nose. My, my, such peppiness. You truly do become someone else in this place, dont you? He said with scorn. I prefer when youre a little bit more docile. Ayumis tightened fist trembled and she lost her will to reply. His words stung deep in her heart, but I couldnt tell exactly why. This guy is starting to get on my nerves. Hey, dude, I said, standing up, forcing the man to acknowledge my presence for the first time. I dont care what your relationship with Ayumi is. That tone isnt appropriate. It looked like my words struck him in a nasty way. Archangel Michael, or whoever he was, took slow steps towards me. Listen, small fry. I dont think youre aware of the pecking order here. Id be quiet if I were you. Ayumi was about to jump in front of me, but I stopped her with my arm. I dont care about any of that. Theres no reason to treat Ayumi like this. For a few seconds, time seemed to stop. What broke the suffocating silence was a shallow sigh. And yet he keeps going. Such a nuisance, he said, not even addressing me. When he did return his gaze to me, it was filled with deep hate and disgust Id never seen in my life. Dont say I didnt warn you, mmkay? Its time to take a nap. Without warning, I lost consciousness. It wasnt a slow, gentle drift into the slumber of sleep. It was instantaneous and striking. A total blackout. Ch. 7 [f?r?I锚ss_m?3t] - Part 1 Something was wrong. I stared at the ceiling of my bedroom. My phones alarm blared next to me, filling the room with its unnatural noise. Something in my gut compelled me to look around my bedroom. Everything was in the same place as always. Other than a slight headache, my body also felt the same as usual. Yet, I couldnt shake off that intangible feeling that something was amiss. I got up and sat there in a daze for who knows how long. I wasnt trying too hard to figure out what was wrong; I just lacked the will to overcome the inertia to do anything. The still raucous alarm became too much to bear, so I turned it off and started my morning routine. However, as I tried my hardest to focus on reality, I realized that an ungodly amount of time had passed since I woke up. Without anyone in the house to warn me, I most definitely was going to be late for school. I left home with a hasty excuse for breakfast and braced myself for Ayumis inevitable outburst of how late we would be. After all, no matter how late either of us were, we would always go to school together. For me, that was as much of a fact as the sun rising each morning. However, that day, Ayumi wasnt waiting for me. * * * I managed to enter the classroom just in the nick of time, and the first period was completely uneventful. When the first break came, however, it felt like I had gone through a portal to another dimension and found myself in a den of weirdos. The first break of the week was always noisy. It was a time for relaxation after the grueling first period of a new week. But it was also the first opportunity for friends to gather and share their weekend endeavors. As such, the class was always particularly giddyannoyingly so, Id sayat this time. However, on this particular day, both the conversations and the atmosphere were far from the usual. Have you heard? There are a ton of weird incidents happening all over the world. Even the most reputable mass media are now reporting on them. They said an entire village disappeared in Laos! Can you imagine? What? In Laos? Thats sooo scary. Imagine that happening here! Theres even stuff happening near us too. Do you think this is, like, the apocalypse? A sense of fear and confusion permeated each conversation scattered throughout the classroom. Everyone was talking about the supernatural incidents regardless of their previous interest in the topic. Two firm camps had formed among my classmatesthose who were skeptical of the whole thing and insisted on rational explanations; and the ones who wholeheartedly believed it was all true. Really, my classmates are way too gullible The resident expert on all things supernatural, however, was oddly tame. She was playing the excited, yet subdued role of a believer for her girlfriends. Either she had some secret acting skills I didnt know about or something else was going on. Ayumi has been acting kind of odd today. She always waits for me so we can go to school together. When I got the chance to bring up the topic with her, Ayumi genuinely felt remorseful about it. Im so sorry, Takkun! Ayumi exclaimed, bowing and apologizing. I was kind of late myself, so I just assumed you had gone on ahead of me. I replied with some tame response, brushing off any further commentary. Her excuse makes sense, but this is Ayumi were talking about. Common sense doesnt apply to her. I shifted mental gears and was about to bring up the whole supernatural situation with her when my front desk neighbor beat me to the chase. Hey, Ayumi. What do you think about the incidents? Daichi whispered with a grin, precariously balancing his chair on its hind legs. Ill not stop myself from laughing if you tumble to the floor, Daichi. Ayumi took a moment to reply as if she had been gathering her thoughts. Of course, Im super excited! All these incidents happening all over the place I bet angels are behind them. The chances of meeting one has definitely skyrocketed these last few days! It took a while for Ayumis words to hit me. A sour look crossed my face. I felt sick to my stomach. Yo, Takeya. Whats wrong? Daichi asked, breaking me out of my trance. Thats quite a face youre making over there, buddy. My expression is that bad, huh? Ayumi, you just said you think angels are causing these incidents, right?! I asked with such force I caused the girl to jerk back. Y-Yeah, I did, she replied after glancing around to make sure no one was eavesdropping on our conversation.Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. But didnt we conclude the other day that angels only appear after the incidents? Ayumi reacted by crooking her head. I guess youre right. She paused. When did we figure that out anyway? For once, I was speechless. When did we figure that out, exactly? I I couldnt remember. Was it last year or was it yesterday? I have no idea. Im pretty certain we did, but didnt I also make a promise with Ayumi? A promise A promise No matter how much I racked my brain, I couldnt remember anything. It was a total blank. Heck, it probably was during one of those random missions we went on. Its not that important. Daichis comment was what snapped me out of my thinking bubble. If what youre saying is right and angels only appear after these incidents, then this is the perfect opportunity! Theres strange stuff happening all over the place now. Yeah, youre right! We should grab this opportunity right away. Takkun, are you I cut Ayumis sentence short before she could spew any more nonsense. I have work today. Plus, dont you think its about time you start preparing for the university exams? At that point, I was expecting Ayumi to retort back with her usual spiel. And yet, she didnt. Huh Thats unfortunate. Well, I guess we can wait for another day. Or would you rather let me go on my own? Anything but that. Gosh, darn it, she said with a joyous smile. With perfect timing, the bell rang to start the next period. Still, I couldnt take my mind off the silly conversation we just had. Ayumi really was acting weird that day. * * * Throughout the rest of the day, I couldn''t keep my mind off of the strange occurrences that had happened that morning. And I don''t mean the supposed supernatural incidents. On my way to the bookstore, the chilly air helped me cool off. I concluded that homework and the devious detective''s shenanigans might have had a greater toll on me than I expected. I''m just tired, I told myself as I put on the store apron for another afternoon of work. Since Ayumi wouldnt be joining me, I would take the chance to relax and spend most of my time reading. Not many customers came by as tends to be the case during winter. I was about to close the shop when I heard the familiar chime of the doorbell. I turned to the door and addressed the customer entering the store. Welcome, I said, rather lethargically. I recognized her immediately. Because I had seen her so many times, I realized right away that something was off with her. She was acting erratically, her eyes darting around all over the place. G-Good afternoon, Shiina said, looking shyly at the floor, eyes hidden behind her bangs. Without giving me any time to respond, the woman hurried to the back of the store with an unexpected bashfulness. Her long black hair swayed wildly behind her. Thats Shiina right? Was she always this shy? I was about to accept that very notion, but something on the back of my mind kept nagging at me. All my previous encounters with her came back, one after the other. In all of them, she never acted like this. It was like she was a different person. When my memories landed on my last encounter with her, I began to blush. The last time we met, I tried to hit on the poor girl, and failed spectacularly. I thought I had already moved past the embarrassment, but it still perturbed me. Shiinas weird attitude likely derived from that horrible flirting attempt. I thought for sure she would never set foot here again. That Ayumi forcing me to do that. Wait. Theres that feeling again. I know Ayumi was the one who forced me to speak with Shiina, but why? They only met once, and Ayumi isnt one for matchmaking. Why do I feel like something is missing? No matter how much I racked my brain about it, I couldnt reach a conclusion. It was like I was chasing a formless mist in my mind. No matter how much I tried, I wasnt able to reach it, much less touch it. Um A weak voice pierced my mental blockage, forcing me to look up. In front of the counter, Shiina stood fidgeting with a book against her chest. It seemed like she had been standing there for a while. Her face still had the same sharp features, and she was just as tall as I remembered. Her attitude, however, was drastically differentso different that she seemed like another person. Her fidgeting and the embarrassing way she hid her expression made her lookdare I say itcute. Her relaxed expression also made her look far more approachable than before. It was truly mystifying. Oh, Im so sorry, I said, bowing my head multiple times. N-No, its okay, she said, shrinking into herself even further. I raised my head and stared into her eyes which seemed even redder than before. I was waiting for her to hand me the book, but it looked like Shiina.exe stopped responding. She made no move to break the stalemate, so we ended up staring at each other for a few excruciating seconds. Eventually, I decided enough was enough. Hmm, you want me to handle that? Three seconds passed. Jeez, I cant figure out if shes slow-witted or just bad at human interaction. Oh, I-Im sorry! She finally handed me the book with trembling hands. I rang her up like I had done dozens of times before, but with a stronger, torturous feeling than usual. Despite the adorable contrast she was displaying, I was hoping shed leave as soon as possible. All this awkwardness was starting to be rather taxing. However, even after I handed back her book Shiina stayed rooted to the floor, fidgeting with the plastic bags handle. After a few deep breaths, she finally spoke. Um About your p-proposal the other day her voice faded out near the end. Proposal? I asked without thinking. Y-Yes, for coffee she said, breaking eye contact. I could see a tinge of pink forming on her cheeks. Hearing this, my eyes went wide. What? Why is she bringing this up now? Dont tell me I was wondering if you were f-free this weekend, she asked, her voice almost imperceptible. For a moment, I believed I had imagined it. Not only did I not expect her to show up here again, but she even brought up that sorry attempt at a date herself. But I couldnt come out and say that Ayumi was the one who concocted the whole affair. I feel sorry for her S-Sure. I dont have anything particularly important to do, I replied with the kindest smile I could muster. A genuine, adorable smile rose on her face. G-Great! Could we exchange contacts? she asked, almost pleading. Of course. We then exchanged phone numbers. Awkwardly, of course. Ill contact you later this week. See you later, she said, leaving the store with quick feet and a little wave. After she left, I stood there in a daze. What the heck just happened? Ch. 7 [f?r?I锚ss_m?3t] - Part 2 Huh? You got a date?!? Daichi yelled. Shhh, Daichi! Not so loud, I said, trying to contain the spread of the information. Despite my attempt to keep the matter secret, I noticed more than a few stares in my direction. Especially from the girls. This is the worst. Oh, wow. I never thought youd have the guts to ask someone out! Ayumi said, genuinely surprised. So whos the lucky girl? Sigh. I didnt ask anyone out, first of all. Second, remember Shiina? You met her at the bookstore the other day. Yikes. Shes your date? I never thought youd rope her in. And so were clear, this isnt a date. Im just meeting her to show her around town. No, no. Thats clearly a date, Daichi said with clear jealousy in his voice. Uh-huh, I agree, Ayumi replied as if reading from a script. Are these two a comedy duo or something? Hey, you, I turned to Ayumi, who for some reason seemed elated. This is all your fault. If you hadnt forced me to do that, none of this would have happened. Whats the problem? You got a d-a-t-e with a pretty girl. In fact, I think you should be thanking me! No way. You know I dont like this sort of stuff. Im only meeting with her because I felt terrible declining her when I was the one who proposed the idea. Yeah, yeah, you keep telling yourself that. Daichi had been quiet during our back-and-forth, waiting for the right time to strike. So, Ayumi, you met this girl, right? Uh-huh. Just once though. So, Daichi started with a perverted smile, how is she? This guys horniness knows no bounds. Well, shes a real beauty. Shes tall and so elegant and her hair is sooo lustrous. That said, her face scared the life outta me when I first saw her. Maybe Takkun is into that? Dont go feeding the beast, Ayumi! Hearing this, Daichi pinched me on the arm. You jerk, nagging a hottie like that, Daichi said with a defeated expression. You could do it too if you werent so creepy all the time! And I didnt nag anyone! Did you just ignore the part about her having a scary face? Yeah, Im not sure Takkun will be able to handle her. She looked a bit too strict for him. Her cold attitude makes it difficult to talk to her too. Frigid like an arctic storm. A true ice queen. I didnt know you were into tsunderes, Takeya. Or maybe just the tsun part, Daichi stated as if the entire conversation was scripted. I decided to ignore the nonsense he spewed and focused on Ayumis comments instead. So I wasnt imagining things after all. She really changed. Huh? What do you mean, Takkun? Well, the thing is, when I met her yesterday, she was a completely different person. She was fidgety and spoke so softly it was unreal. I was going nuts thinking my recollection of her was wrong. Wait, really? I cant imagine that. You sure its her and not her good twin or something? This isnt a soap opera. She clearly remembered me. I see no mystery here. She has a severe case of tsunderetitis. After Takeya professed his love, her icy heart melted away and left the sweet core behind. Daichi nudged my side, winking like some college bro youd see in American cinema. Thankfully for Daichi, the bell rang just before I could retort. Right before the teacher entered the classroom, Ayumi came closer to me and whispered, Takkun, good luck! I hope you have fun! This simple comment left me feeling like I was completely adrift in the middle of the ocean. * * * The remainder of that week passed by at a snails pace. Every morning, it felt like I was sinking deeper and deeper into quicksandthe more I struggled, the deeper I sank. That weird, intangible sensation that something was off got worse with each passing day. I struggled to pinpoint what this sensation was, but the truth was surrounded by an impenetrable fog that got thicker the further in I went. The main reason for this was the way Ayumi had been acting. Sure, she was making the same incomprehensible demands, and was the same occult-obsessed nutjob she had always been. But sometimes, she made a comment or acted in a way that was just outside what I came to expect from her. It was driving me crazy. Even Daichi noticed that something was getting to me. When I brought the subject up with him, he completely dismissed my concerns. Shes probably worried about going to university and having to leave you behind. Or maybe shes on her period, he said with his usual lightness. Trust me, I know when shes on her period. This definitely isnt it. For obvious reasons, I couldnt disclose that to him.You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. I tried to convince myself there was nothing wrong at all, that it was all in my mind. Nevertheless, by Thursday I had finally reached a breaking point. I could no longer fool myself. After all, I was the one who knew Ayumi the best; it was only natural that I was particularly attuned to any changes in her. Unfortunately, even after I accepted Ayumi had changed, the sleepless nights didnt stop. It got to the point where I began avoiding spending more time with her than necessary. I even prevented her from coming with me to the bookstore. But even that place wasnt the haven I once believed it was, not after Shiinas strange one-eighty. I doubted it would happen, but the possibility that she might show up again left me on guard the whole time. Her changes were much more obvious than Ayumis, but the source was just as mysterious. I even considered canceling our lunch meeting on Saturday, but the image of her pleading face convinced me otherwise. On top of all that, I couldnt shake the weird feeling that something was off with me. It was unusual for me to be unable to pinpoint when and where certain events had happened. Where did Ayumi and my knowledge about angels come from? I could feel my mind trying to fill in the blanks with false memories. That certainly was the easiest option. I almost gave in to the temptation a few times. After all, it would be so much easier. The anguish I had been feeling would vanish, but I swore to myself that I wouldnt do that unless the stress reached an unbearable point. I would figure out what was wrong, one way or another. * * * On Friday, gym class crept up on me while I was in a broken state of mind. I was physically and mentally exhausted from all the stress and lack of sleep.Totally unsuited to do any physical activity whatsoever. I thought about skipping classes again, but my attendance record was already in the gutter. Plus, I didnt want to force my mom to come to school and have an embarrassing talk with my homeroom teacher. At first glance, the possibility of a relaxed weekend seemed promising, but there was one problem I needed to deal with first. I still had that lunch date with Shiina the next day. The thought of it stressed me out, so I just hoped for Sunday to come quickly instead. One more day Just one more day. However, my prayers were not heard by whatever god was out there. Or perhaps, in a twisted sense, they were. It happened sometime after the beginning of class. That day, the boys were playing volleyball first and the girls were playing soccer. The two groups would switch courts halfway through class. I never understood the reason behind sports, and I loathe playing them myself. Combining that initial disposition with my exhaustion, disaster was bound to happen. Yo, Takeya, everything okay? Daichi asked during a brief break. Yeah, Im just not sleeping much these days. Because of Ayumi? I thought he was about to come over to my side, but he wasnt convinced. A sudden grin rose on his face. Or are you looking forward to your date so much you cant sleep? Of course not, you idiot, I said, punching him weakly in the arm. I didnt intend for it to be that pathetic. Thats when the ground started trembling. Everyone immediately stopped what they were doing and looked at each other. An earthquake? someone asked. It definitely felt like one at first. The tremor was slight, sure, but as citizens of Japan, we were rather sensitive to the occasional quake. Thankfully, it doesnt seem particularly strong. Before anyone could point out that fact, there was a sudden spike in the intensity of the tremor. Its immense strength forced everyone to lose their footing and tumble to the ground. My own fall was less than stellar. An uneasy feeling spread across the whole gym. Although this sort of quake wasnt enough to bring down the entire building, it still was scary to think it could happen. Kids, move next to the walls. Remember to duck down and protect your head! The teacher instructed as he demonstrated what to do. Though, it was plainly obvious he was scared like the rest of us. But before anyone could move, a piercing scream halted our progression. W-whats happening? I-Im stuck! Everyone immediately turned to the girl who had shouted. That is, everyone who could. As I tried to turn around, I felt resistance coming from my feet as if they were stuck in wet sand. When I looked down, I noticed that my feet had sunken into the ground without me realizing it. The floor looked normal at first glance, but the ripples propagating through the surface as I tried to move were clearly bizarre. It was as if the floor turned to some sort of viscous fluid. Oh, heck. Whats going on here? This isnt good. Only then did I start to panic, right along with everyone else present. Ah! Im stuck too! someone else screamed. W-What the hell is happening? another voice from behind me asked, tinged with panic. Some people struggled against the now mushy ground, managing to move a bit. Others simply stood in place, considering their options. Maybe they were too shocked to think anything at all. Not only were we stuck, but we were sinking as well. I tried wiggling my legs, but quickly realized that slow and steady movements were the best option. With some time and effort, it would be possible to move around. This wasnt exactly like quicksand where moving caused one to sink deeper. It felt more like thick molasses. If someone could reach a wall and grab a rope, they would be able to rescue everyone. Calm down. This looks worse than it is. With my spirits reinforced, I glanced at the other students. Most had reached the same conclusion I had. They were trying to talk to others while making their way to the ones who hadnt figured it out. That was when I spotted Ayumi, who happened to be nearby. She was trying her hardest to move through the substance, but with the amount of force she was using, she wasnt getting anywhere. Because of her small stature, she was stuck up to her hips already. In short, she was panicking. When I finally got close enough to her, she grabbed the sleeve of my gym jacket and pulled herself close. When she looked up and spoke her next words, I felt my heart sink right into the ground. T-Takkun, h-help me. Please, I-I cant move! Ayumi said with pleading eyes, on the verge of tears. However, I ignored her pleas. Despite being thrown into a supernatural incident, the thing she devoted her whole life to, she wasnt excited. Far from it. She was afraid. Only then, with her this close to me, did I notice the final nail in the coffin. I glared into her eyes, not believing what I was seeing. Their usual sheen, the powerful drive behind them that didnt care who or what they pierced, was gone. Her eyes looked dull and lifeless, almost as if she were an automaton with no will of her own. In spite of the chaos around us, and Ayumis pleading words, time froze for me. At that moment, I finally recognized what had been bothering me. This isnt Ayumi. No matter the circumstances, Ayumi would never react like this. She would be ecstatic about being dragged into an actual supernatural event, even if she was in peril. Somewhere, somehow, Ayumi was replaced by this fake. The difference is subtle, but its there. I know how crazy this makes me sound, believing your friend has been replaced. But Im more than ready to face the consequences of this decision. My inner thoughts stopped my body from doing anything. But before Ayumi could plead for help again, another tremor spread through the groundthe strongest one yet. The sudden movement of the earth made us sink even further. Ayumi collapsed into my arms. Right as I was about to help her pull herself out of the ground, a loud, cracking noise came from above. When I looked up, massive fissures spread through the ceiling tiles. Everyone screamed in unison. Stuck in the ground like this, there was no way to escape the falling debris. If those things fall I was still working through that thought when another tremor struck. With it, a crack bifurcated the ceiling. Both halves, now unsupported, fractured into massive pieces plummeting toward the floor. I didnt have time to think about what was about to happen. Everything occurred in a matter of seconds, but there was one thing I knew for sure: we were probably all going to die. What I hadnt noticed was that, throughout the entire ordeal, one person had remained silent. The person who had saved us all. Ch. 8 [s?c菕?d_?ng?I] - Part 1 My heart stopped and I instinctively shut my eyes. The last thing I saw was the ceiling collapsing, and I didnt quite fancy seeing myself getting crushed to death. However, I remained conscious and felt no pain. Did I die and go to Heaven? I hesitated on whether or not I should open my eyes. I had no idea what waited for me beyond the darkness, and I wasnt certain I wanted to find out. Not even a second later, I gathered all the courage I could muster and took a peek at the world beyond. Although I wasnt in Heaven, the sight in front of me was even more unbelievable. I was still in the same spot as before, my lower limbs half stuck into the ground. However, our fate of being buried underneath the debris had been miraculously averted. I glanced around the ground level. Everyone seemed physically fine, though quite a few people had fainted from the shock. Their bodies were bent at the knees and collapsed in uncomfortable positions. No one else was looking at the others though; everyone had their attention high above. When I looked up, I, too, was mesmerized. Above us, steel beams and pieces of concrete were suspended mid-air. In the middle of it all was a single girl, floating amongst the chaos, just like magic. From this distance, I couldnt discern what her expression was. But right away, I knew who she was. Kotori Futaba. My plain, run-of-the-mill classmate who blended in almost too perfectly, who was neither too boring nor too interesting. There was no doubt that she was the one who had saved us. Nor was there any doubt as to what kind of being could produce such a miracle. An angel. I could feel the corner of my lips forming a grin at this realization. Dont tell me she was an angel all this time? Talk about a twist. My thoughts jumped back to Ayumi. After all, this was the moment she had been waiting for her entire life. She wouldnt miss this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Only then did I remember I was still holding that very same girl in my arms. Oi, Ayumi I called out. However, her limp body didnt respond to my shaking, no matter how hard I did it. I peered at her face, but her eyes were closed as if she was sleeping. Did she faint from the shock too? I began thinking about other ways to wake her up when loud noise pierced the deafening silence of the gym. They came from one of the back walls where all the debris had been piled up while I wasnt looking. Then, a soft, almost inaudible voice echoed in the hall. Now then. About time I take care of the children.
It was clear we werent supposed to be the receivers of that murmur, but in that silence, Futabas voice propagated to every corner of the gym. Without warning, I felt my body being gently pulled up from the liquified floor. I grabbed onto Ayumi so she wouldnt stay behind, but it appeared she was also affected by the same phenomenon. Eventually, both of our feet left the molasses-like floor. We were, without a shadow of a doubt, floating alongside everyone else. I didnt have much time to process the sensation. Our bodies were being moved through the air towards one of the gym walls. Everyone else, awake or fainted, congregated there. Without any input on our part, we were aligned against one of the walls. Ayumi was right next to me and Daichi wasnt far off. When I looked back at Futaba, she was swooping through the air, going to the mountain of debris in the corner. She stopped right in front of it. Without any effort or any movement of her body, the pieces began floating again. They moved up and arranged themselves back to their original locations, like pieces of a puzzle. Amazing, Daichi exclaimed, cutting through the silence. It was indeed nothing short of amazing; a true reversion of entropy. Everyone was awestruck, and no one else dared to open their mouths. Although I also felt entranced by the supernatural show, another emotion had crept into me. The one person who wanted to watch this more than anyone else is missing it. But her panicked face I looked back at Ayumi. She wasnt acting like herself. A certain thought popped into my mind in a flash. Maybe Futaba Only then did I truly become anxious. After all, I had no idea when Futaba was going to activate her angelic fainting powers. When she did, it would be all over. I have to talk to her before she does it. Thats the only hope. After all the pieces had made their way to their original places, Futaba walked towards us. Just from her gait, I was struck with the impression this was a different person from the plain girl I thought I knew. A strong, yet gentle smile. A posture that exuded pride and elegance. She was no longer Kotori Futaba. One could even say she was no longer human. Everyone, my apologies for the disturbance. Those were the first words the angel said to us. I had anticipated someone else would attend to this incident so I would not need to intervene. Alas, that was not the case. She paused for a moment as if stopping herself from saying anything more. Rest assured, everything should go back to normal soon enough. Once more, I extend my sincere apologies.The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. She bowed deeply. There was no doubt in my mind she was truly sorry for her initial lack of reaction. Her voice was slow, polite, and warm. If any doubts remained that this wasnt the Futaba we knew, they were dashed the moment she uttered a single word. As if going off my thoughts, a girl from my classone of the closest friends of Futabagathered enough courage to speak. W-Who are you? I couldnt have asked a better question myself. The angel seemed to have some trouble answering and took on a thinking pose. Before she could respond, a clamorous fella answered for her. What? Isnt that obvious? Shes an a-angel! Seeing Daichis nervous reaction, the angel produced an enigmatic smile worthy of being compared to the Mona Lisas. Yes, that is correct. Although you were never meant to discover that fact, naturally. She paused and looked straight at Daichi. Being the center of attention made him shudder for once. I must confess, though, you did startle me the other day with your jest about knowing an angel, she said, maintaining that mysterious smile. Daichi, not expecting this direct mention, could do nothing but look awkwardly at the ground. Then another friend of Futabas gained enough courage to ask a question. Kotori what just happened? In simple terms, you could label it a supernatural incident, Futaba replied, her expression turning more serious. The ground began liquifying, causing the foundations of the building to weaken. This in turn led to the tremors and the subsequent collapse of the ceiling. I dont really get it but thanks for saving us anyway! the girl replied with a frightful smile. No need to thank me. I was only fulfilling my duty. I could not let humans die from such an occurrence unfolding in front of my eyes. The subtext of that last sentence She meant what I think she did, right? Thankfully, Daichi asked the question I didnt dare pose. Does that mean that you wouldnt have saved us if this had been caused by an actual earthquake? Of course, she replied, her expression unchanging. ''Kotori Futaba would have met the same fate as you. Do not be mistaken. We are neither protectors of mankind nor agents of justice. We are bound solely by our duty. If that was the path decided for the world, it would have been my duty to abide by it. The angels words, despite sounding warm, were like sharp knives piercing our psyche. The cold realization that angels could be a force for both good and evil, following whims that no human could understand, hit us all hard. But right now, I need that power to save Ayumi. Oblivious to the mood shiftor maybe not caringthe angel spoke again. If everyone is content, it is time we return to the ordinary world. You shall forget all that transpired here, including my true identity. Nonetheless, I am sure we will all get along as well as before, she declared as if it were the most natural thing in the world. I cant let this chance slip away! Please wait, Kotori, I said as I stood up. I was unsure what name to use, but before I knew it, my classmates first name came out. A bit ironic considering I never once called her that while she was her original self. She turned her attention to me, her expression still soft, tinged not with anger, but curiosity. Is something wrong, Takeya? Instead of answering her question, I stared straight into her sky-blue eyes. At that moment, they were a portal to the angel behind the mask of my classmate. Somehow, I had to reach out to her. I need your help. The angels pupils dilated, just a bit. Feeling ashamed, I dropped my head and stared at the ground. Ayumi lately, shes not acting like herself. I know this sounds crazy, absolutely crazy. But Im sure of it! Its like shes a totally different person. Everyone is saying Im imagining it. Ive tried to think of any possibility for her to change, but I cant figure it out no matter what I do. I-I think this might be something otherworldly. Ive already reached my limit. I cant continue facing her like this. I raised my head, and again, my gaze met hers. Please help me save her. If anyone can save her, its you. But that last thought never came out. I kept my gaze fixed on the angel, with my fists closed and trembling. Seconds that seemed like an eternity passed. She kept her ambiguous expression the entire time as if she was testing me. Finally, her face broke into a more relaxed expression, and she spoke. Very well, Takeya. I can tell your concern comes from the heart. However, if her changes were caused by an angels intervention or occurred naturally, there is nothing I can do to reverse them. At the very least, I can offer you closure. Please keep that in mind. I nodded weakly. I promise I will investigate as soon as I can. However, right now, I am pressed for time to return things to normal. I must attend to everyones memories, you see. T-Thank you very much, I said as I bowed. No need for that yet. Save it for when I can give you an answer. I straightened my back to find the angel had closed the gap between us. In fact, she was so close I began to feel fear that such a powerful being was right in front of me. As a token of our acquaintanceship, I will allow you to retain your memories until we meet again. I do hold you in high esteem, so I trust that you will keep what just occured to yourself. She brought her index fingers to her lips. I will know if you ever speak of todays incident, so let us keep it between us, shall we? A-Alright. Thank you. Ignoring her veiled threat, I bowed to her once again and returned to my place next to the wall. My classmates were staring at me, but no one dared saying anything. Everyone, I will now make you faint, then I shall eliminate your memories of this incident. Do not worry, I am a professional of many moons. See you on the other side. Not even a second passed before I blacked out. My last memory was of my classmates gentle, yet enigmatic smile adorning her plain features. After that, something that couldnt be called a memory printed itself onto my mind. A bright, diffuse, and vaguely humanoid figure. Something like the rumors Ayumi had been spouting for ages. A figure that, had I not known anything, could find myself calling an angel. * * * When my consciousness came back, I became painfully aware that the real world had also returned with it. Literally. A volleyball was hurling straight towards me, promptly hitting me square in the face. My glasses pressed against my face, then flew off somewhere. I lost my balance and fell butt-first onto the floor. Takkun?! I heard Ayumis voice call out from the other court as I rolled around in agony. It doesnt feel like my nose is broken or anything but it hurts like hell! The teacher came to check on me while a small commotion ensued as I tried to get my bearings. The teacher bumbled a bit, but eventually ordered Daichi to take me to the nurses office. After tending to me, the nurse said there wasnt anything to worry about. He simply gave me an ice pack and sent me back to class. When I returned to the gym, the teacher and a few of my classmates came to see me right away. Among them was Ayumi and a certain girl with dutch braids. No way you can keep playing like this, Hidaka. Just sit out the rest of the class. Next time, try to not zone out during a match. I thanked the teacher, and after reassuring everyone that I was fine, they returned to their respective games reluctantly. I sat on the bleachers looking over the gym, but despite my privileged location I didnt pay any attention to the games themselves. Instead, my focus was solely on our savior. However, her demeanor hadnt changed in the slightest. It was almost as if nothing unimaginable had happened today. Technically, it didnt happen now that everyone was forced to forget about it. When I got bored of watching the games, I went to the locker room to take a shower and returned home. I thought the surprises for the day would stop there, but they didnt. When I opened my gym bag to get dressed, I found a small handwritten note on top of my clothes. Heres my number so we can keep in contact. Kotori ? How the heck did she open my locker?... Hold on. When did she even have time to pull off this stunt? Feeling a bit embarrassed, I promptly stuffed the note in my pocket and made my way home. Kotori Futaba just who are you? Ch. 8 [s?c菕?d_?ng?I] - Part 2 To say that the evening was stressful would be an understatement. The moment I got home, I was assaulted by that giddy anticipation one has when waiting for a reply from their crush. At least thats how I imagine it feels. It wasnt pleasant in the slightest. It wasnt like Futaba promised to contact me or anything like that. As far as I knew, she could just show up out of nowhere and erase my memories within a second if she deemed me a threat. But the fact that she left me her phone number means something right? On the other hand, I didnt think she left me with her contact just so I could pester her about Ayumis situation. In fact, pressuring her more would probably backfire. Thats how I found myself stuck in mental limbo. I wasnt able to do much of anything except suffer for the rest of the day, checking and rechecking my phone like some dopamine addict. Eventually, I fell asleep from pure exhaustion. Due to the poor sleep I had that night, I felt exceptionally groggy the next morning. While I was pondering whether to meet Shiina for lunch or not, I finally got the anticipated message on my phone. Ive got some important findings to share. Can we meet up at your place? Since she had already been to my house not too long ago, I didnt bother questioning if she knew where it was. Its fine, I replied before putting on my uniform and waiting. Not even two minutes had passed when the doorbell rang. Morning, Takeya. Looks like Im back here again! My classmate, Kotori Futaba, said politely, as she bowed on my doorstep. She was wearing a heavy coat on top of a turtleneck shirt, black shorts, tights, and a pair of sneakers. Despite her mundane smile, I could still feel a different vibe coming from her. It left me on edge. Uh good morning to you too, Futaba. Seems like it, yes. I led her to the living room and ventured to the kitchen to fetch some tea I had prepared beforehand. I was a bit nervous to find out what sorts of things Futaba had learned since yesterday. But that nervousness was overpowered by the realization that Futaba wasnt a normal girl. She was an angel, capable of supernatural feats I couldnt even comprehend. In fact, she could have easily come here just to erase my memories. Thats why, no matter how innocent she might look or sound, I cant let my guard down. I returned to the living room, teacups in hand, to find the girl playing around with a certain item I had left there. Oh, Im sorry I picked this up without asking, she said with surprise as if she had been caught doing something naughty. I thought this snowglobe was super adorbs, and I was curious since it wasnt here the last time I dropped by. Ah, its fine, dont worry, I said as I handed her a teacup. Yeah, this wasnt supposed to be here in the living room. Its mine, you see. Yours? My sister gave it to me a long time ago. I brought it down from my room earlier. It helps me calm down sometimes. I see. The way she said it made me feel reassured. I sat down while Futaba took a sip of her tea. The very moment she placed her cup to the table, something changedher entire aura shifted into something powerful and otherworldly. Now, let us get right to business, the angel said with an enigmatic smile. This change was enough to spike my heart rate. Damn, her personality-switching ability is impressive. Its like Im speaking to a completely different person. Is she doing this on purpose? I bet shes doing this on purpose. Before anything else, let me apologize for the incident yesterday. In my haste, I did not realize you were directly in the path of that ball, she said with a polite tone. Nah, dont fret it. It wasnt that serious. Then, if all is okay on that front, let us discuss Ayumis situation I was so hesitant to hear what she had to tell me, I barely took notice of the slight pause in her speech. I should be forthright with you before I proceed. I had significant doubts something like you described could have happened to Ayumi in the first place. Well, Im not at all surprised. That was a last-ditch attempt at getting some help. Honestly, I dont even believe something supernatural could That is not what I am referring to, she said, interrupting me. Huh? Takeya, she said with authority. The reason why I was placed at your school in the first placeit was to monitor Ayumi. Wait, say that again? You were monitoring Ayumi? Yes. My mission was to survey her activities and report them to my superiors. Wait. Wait just a minute, I said, although the girl was very much waiting already. Why Ayumi? What possible reason could angels have to monitor her? Then, I stopped myself. Is it because we were getting too close to finding out about angels in the first place? What the hell. Does everything in this world revolve around her or something? No, nothing of the sort. Sadly, I cannot answer your question, for I do not know the answer myself. You dont know? This is getting weirder and weirder by the second. Futaba appeared to be taken somewhat aback by my straightforward question. Angels are not in the habit of inquiring about their missions. I merely did as I was told. However, I did report on Ayumis recent field missions, like your trip to the minka, but no order was given to act upon them. Which means that my superiors were not troubled about that, or else they intentionally chose not to have me intervene. So youve been following us around? I was supposed to. However, lately, there have been some distractions. Distractions? You must have heard about them in class. The supernatural incidents. Oh yeah, those Their recent frequency is not normal, to say the least, so we have been swamped dealing with them. In normal circumstances, it is vanishingly improbable that Ayumi would interact with an angel without my knowledge. However, there have been enough blind spots that such an event could have happened. That is precisely why I took your request. All this preamble already raised way too many questions, but I decided to refocus on the matter at hand.The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. So? Did you, you know, take a look at her? I found an opportunity to take a look at Ayumi when I was erasing her memories. However, the situation proved to be a bit more intricate than I had anticipated. That is why it took me so long to report back. Although her tone barely changed and her words were ambiguous, I got the impression that the situation was not only complex, but dire. The angel took another calm sip of her tea. If I may be a bit blunt, Ayumis memories are not normal. Huh? Not normal? What do you mean? An explanation is in order, I believe. Say, do you have a pen and paper at hand? It will be easier to explain that way. Sure? I went to fetch some black pen and a blank piece of paper from the entrance cabinet and gave them to Futaba. The girl drew two straight parallel lines on it. In normal humans, there are two types of memories, the surface layer and the deep layer. As she spoke, she wrote surface layer above the top line and deep layer above the bottom line. The surface layer is a fallible and moldable interpretation of the persons experiences. It is easily distorted and corrupted. When angels modify or erase memories, this is where they act. The deep layer, however, remains beyond our influence. In it, every aspect of a humans conscious experience since birth is recorded without any filters. When angels erase or fabricate memories, we are manipulating the surface layer. We can even alter it in such a way that the humans imagination will construct a false memory from a simple core impression. Something like this. She put her index finger on the top line, the so-called surface layer and, like magic, a piece of the line changed color from black to blue. Woah! So we modify the memory, changing it from black to blue. Do you get it so far? I-I think I do. To be honest, Im still reeling from that magic trick. Now then, with that background established, I can explain the problem with Ayumis memories. In essence, they are a patchwork of modifications to her surface layer. Her deep layer is almost absent. Once again, she directed my attention to the two lines on the paper. This time around, she touched the top line, turning it blue. Then she touched the bottom line and swung pieces of it off the paper. What resulted was the top line being entirely blue and the bottom line being filled with holes. Probably sensing my confusion, the angel summed up her explanation to a single shocking sentence. In other words, almost all of Ayumis memories are a fabrication. My mind spun, and I felt my heart drop a million miles. Hold on, hows that possible? Only after asking that question did I disarm the angel. To be frank, I have no clue. I have never encountered a situation like this before. The only explanation I can offer for the absence of a deep layer is by a complete lack of consciousness, like a comatose state. However, Ayumi has been leading a normal life for as long as I have been monitoring her, so that cannot be the case. So is that why I noticed something weird with her? Someone replaced the real Ayumi with this fake and implanted memories into her? It is a stretch, but I cannot rule that possibility out. Having no original memories is irrelevant in her day-to-day life. She might have some difficulty in recalling certain events with clarity, but that is the extent of it. So that explains why she had trouble remembering stuff during this last week. So thats it? Were stumped? Will we ever figure out whats wrong with Ayumi? Not exactly. I did find a few more clues. I urged her to continue, which she did after another sip of her tea. Her deep layer is not entirely devoid of original memories. Approximately every three months, I discovered a few fragments. Unfortunately, most of them were created when she was asleep, rendering them useless to us. That said, I could only find thirty-four of these fragments and nothing prior to that. That means Ayumis memories only extend back to around Eight years ago, I said, interrupting the angel. She raised an eyebrow in surprise. Eight years and six months, to be exact. As I recall, that coincides with how long you two have known each other for, correct? I nodded in agreement. Eight years and six months. The day I met Ayumi flashed back in my mind. Even if the current Ayumi isnt the real deal and the real one has memories before that, theres no way those two dates are a coincidence. But what could all this mean? Without giving me time to think further, the angel continued her exposition. This is not the only peculiar aspect I found. Her deep layer has been perfectly normal since last Sunday evening. Using the coma analogy, it is like she awoke from her coma that evening and has been living a normal life ever since. However, just before her deep layer becomes normal, there is a distinct gap in her surface layer of a few hours. Wait, a gap? My conclusion is that someone erased her memories for that period. Erased? So that means she met an angel last Sunday? In all likelihood, yes. The angel paused. However, if it was an angel, then their work was particularly rushed or sloppy. Thats a particularly unrefined word coming from her. No angel skilled in their craft would erase only the surface layer, even if they were in a rush. We always leave some sort of impression to facilitate the creation of a false memory. Otherwise, if the person attempts to remember those memories, they would turn up blank, and it would lead to confusion. My only explanation is that this was the work of an amateur. Even angels have amateurs in their ranks? Yes, but I can only think of a few scenarios where she could have met one; none of which are very probable. This situation is unprecedented, even for me So, what can we do? All we have is a theory that an amateur angel erased her memories. This says nothing about what happened to the real Ayumi. We are not exactly out of clues yet, she replied with a hint of a smile on her face. I am aware that the two of you have been going around angel-hunting for a while now. Though she said it with a somewhat casual tone, I couldnt help but detect some amusement peppered in there. Thats Ayumi for you, I replied, trying to evade the question. She smiled back at me. However, Ayumi has a conspicuous lack of memories in crucial moments throughout the last few weeks. The logical conclusion is that, by some miracle, you encountered an angelalbeit an amateur oneand Ayumi had her memories erased as a result. Pausing to take the last sip of her tea, Futaba returned to me with a question. So, Takeya. I wager you were with Ayumi that evening. Do you have any recollection of what happened last Sunday evening or anything before that that might relate to angels? I was about to reply, but when I tried thinking back to that day, my mind went blank. No matter how much I rummaged through my memories, there was nothing there. The more I tried to, the more I became aware that the memories were probably my imagination rather than actual memories. No, I cant remember anything, I said defeatedly. I am sorry to hear that. Had this been the work of a competent angel, you would not have endured such trauma However, all hope is not lost. If you do not suffer from the same condition as Ayumi, then I will be able to recover your deep memories, which should shed a light on what transpired a week ago. The angels unspoken request was clear, but it still made me hesitate. After all, who would willingly let a paranormal being mess with their memories like that? But still, that is the only hope I have. If I am the key to solving this crisis, then I will gladly bare it all for Ayumi That thought sounded much weirder than I expected. Okay, Futaba. If thats the way to solve this, then you are welcome to poke around. Thank you, Takeya, she said as she stood up to stand next to my chair. I will place my hands on your head, read your memories, and return them simultaneously, okay? Giving my approval with a nod, the angel did just as she described. Relax. This will not take long, Futaba said in a calming voice. Its kind of impossible to relax in this situation, you know. I did my best to release all the tension from my body, and closed my eyes. After all, staring at the midriff of my classmate while she had her hands on my scalp wasnt exactly relaxing. Eventually, those frivolous thoughts faded into darkness. For a while, I saw nothing and thought nothing. Then, all at once, a flood of memories invaded my consciousness. There were thoughts and emotions that felt foreign, yet familiar at the same time. They invaded my mind so violently that I thought I was going to break. The incident in the other city. Stalking Shiina until we found out where she lived. Meeting the angel in that innocuous street. The conversation in that park. And Ayumis revelation that she wasnt a normal human, which had been interrupted by the archangel. When the incoming information finally stopped flowing, my brain was overwhelmed. I had trouble forming complete thoughts. As the pieces came together, that feeling that something was amiss, the phantom who followed me throughout the week, had vanished. And in the wake of its dying breath, I remembered everything. Ch. 9 [??r?伪???t] - Part 1 I stood stock still, processing the information flooding into my brain. This entire week, where I had no idea of the calamitous circumstances that led to it, could only be described as dreadful. The feeling of detachment to reality I felt and the changes Ayumi suffered brought me very close to the brink of insanity. Being aware of those circumstances now meant that I could look back at my plight and laugh. That was because the situation I found myself in now was more dire than I could have ever imagined. I remembered my enemy, the one who was so hostile to Ayumi and was likely the cause of her current condition. The one who erased my memories. There was no way that guy was on our side. In short, the archangels were the enemy. Despite the bleak circumstances, a small flame tried to spark inside of me. And yet, it still got smoldered by the realization that, if I really thought about it, I still knew nothing at all. What exactly did Ayumi want to tell us back? Processing so much information was so taxing that it took me a good while until I could focus on Futaba again. She had since sat back down on the sofa, with a complex expression on her face. Hey, Futaba, are you okay? Yes. I am merely processing everything. She let her words hang in the air for a few moments. We really gleaned a lot from your memories. But at the same time, it feels like we remain largely in the dark. Nothing seems to fit. It is quite a bothersome feeling. Indeed, Futabas assertion was correct. My memories of the incident did let us know of three important facts. Number one, Ayumi and I did come across an angel a week ago, namely Shiina. Number two, that Ayumi is indeed, by her own admission, not a normal human. And number three, that Archangel Michael and Ayumi know each other somehow. But how do those facts relate to whats going on with Ayumi now? And with Shiina, for that matter? Thats the part I cant figure out. I do not get it either, Takeya, Futaba responded to my question. I believe it is reasonable to assume that the archangels created the mission to monitor Ayumi because she was not an ordinary human. But how they were aware of her beforehand is a mystery to me. Wait, so they were the ones who made this mission for you? Not specifically for me. Other angels have undertaken similar missions in the past. But as far as Im aware, it was a direct order from them. So this whole time you have been monitoring Ayumi, you never figured out she wasnt a normal human? Not at all. Like this angel you met said, if Ayumi was an angel, we could tell right away. I am confident she is not one. Furthermore Futaba fell deep in thought. I also believe your initial suspicion that the Ayumi from before and after last Sunday are two different individuals. Wait, how so? There is one fundamental rule about angels you should be aware of: with few exceptions, we cannot use our powers on each other directly. That includes memory manipulation. However, Shiina was able to use her powers on Ayumi and they did not work. Which means Nothing in either your paradigm or Shiinas can account for what I am, right? The last words Ayumi had said before getting interrupted. What exactly do they mean? Precisely. Ayumi is neither human, angel, or archangel. She herself said that nothing in Shiinas worldview could account for what she is. Right. But getting back on track, she said. The Ayumi from a week ago was something aside from anything we could ascribe to her. However, the Ayumi whose memories I read yesterday was definitely a human, as evidenced by my ability to change her memories in the first place. Ergo Two different people. Ayumis memories might be strange, but shes a human. Something caused her to lose her deep layer. I think its fair to say that this Michael was the one who did it, right?The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. Most likely. It is clear they have been withholding something from us. I have always suspected those archangels had dubious intentions, but to get such clear confirmation Without me noticing, her tone had shifted drastically to a foreign emotion. Anger. Hey, Futaba, are you okay belittling an archangel like that? Of course. I already had little respect for them, but after the way he belittled Ayumi, I do not feel the need to give them any consideration. Turns out the cult-like devotion Shiina had is not universal. But is this one a rare exception, or are there more angels like her? Wait, but didnt you take on a mission especially set up by them? Business is business, she said with a knowing tone. I-I see. By the way, something elses been bothering me about the archangels. How the heck did that guy figure out where we were anyway? You have Shiina to blame for that. The bitterness in her voice didnt escape my attention. Shiina? Shes in on this too? No, I do not think so. She must have summoned for help as soon as Ayumi revealed the truth. Remember how she had been praying? Now that she mentions it, I did find her timing exquisite. The situation was too dire for her to handle alone, so she took the chance to covertly contact other angels. And since Ayumi was involved, the information rose through the chain of command until the archangel himself intervened. Her speech made a meaningful pause. Although I do wonder why she let the situation drag on for so long. What do you mean? Angels cannot reveal themselves to humans under any circumstances. It is our most sacred rule. Wait, didnt you do that a few hours prior? As if reading my thoughts, Futaba was quick to cover her tracks. Naturally, if a situation does occur and is inevitable, our recourse is to erase the humans memories afterwardsjust like I did yesterday, she answered my unasked question, then continued with a teasing tone. Your case was, of course, an exception. If anyone else did the same thing I did, they would be in serious trouble. So she herself is also an exception. Gotcha. She really was playing around with us. That is why Shiinas attitude was so peculiar. She was already careless in letting you two get so close to her, but to engage in such lengthy conversation It is unthinkable. She was not in control of the situation. Turns out I was right in thinking she had some ulterior motives after all. Unless Futaba uttered to herself. No way! She actually ran out? Wait, ran out of what? Remember how Shiina explained that angels have a part of Gods powers? I nodded in agreement. Angels possess a finite supply of holy energy with them. We call that energy aether. If we deplete it, we can no longer use our powers. Aether replenishes slowly over time. However, we can also actively replenish it by deepening our connection with God through praying. This mana mechanic seems really well thought out to reinforce cult-like behavior. God really had some nasty ideas. Futaba seemed unaware of my thoughts, however, and continued her explanation. A well-trained angel would never run out of aether, even after handling a small incident like the one Shiina managed. But perhaps I am looking at this from a privileged position. I would have been fine, but then again, I am not exactly an ordinary angel. Figured that one out already. Perhaps Shiina really did run out of aether after dealing with that fault. So all that time she was bluffing her way through our conversation? She couldnt actually erase our memories? I believe that is correct. It seems probable that she only recovered enough energy to erase Ayumis memories. Nevertheless, I still find it superbly hard to believe that she ran out of aether. An angel like her can barely fulfill their duty. If I was in her position, I would not be going on missions at all or risk situations like this occurring. Unexpectedly, Futaba sighed. Whatever her reasons were, one thing is for certain. As soon as she sensed the situation shifting, she summoned the archangels, and Michael showed up. Then you intervened. S-Sorry. I couldnt bear to hear that bastard talk to Ayumi like that. I fully understand your reaction. That man also makes my blood boil. But because of that stunt, we are now left in the dark as to what happened next. We fundamentally lack information and, without it, it will be very difficult to uncover the truth. Though there might still be an opportunity to get that information. You mean Shiina? Yes. I am sure the conversation continued after you well, blacked out. Are you trying to make me feel better by saying that? I must admit, I am concerned about Shiina. She knows too much. I am sure Michael would not let her leave with that information, no matter how loyal she is. The fact that she is still here on Earth is also troubling. Before I could respond to Futabas comment, she quickly drew her phone out of her shorts pocket and gave it a glance. A flip phone? In this day and age? Talk about old school. Oh, would you look at that Just in time. I was dumbfounded as she stood up from her couch and moved to the door. Just in time for what? Do you not have lunch planned with Shiina today? This is the perfect opportunity to talk to her about the situation. She flashed me a sly smile completed with a wink. I couldnt help but have my misgivings about this angel. Shiina, in comparison, was much easier to handle. Ch. 9 [??r?伪???t] - Part 2 Let us not talk about any of this outside, okay? You never know who might be eavesdropping. The last thing we want to do is complicate our situation even further. Before her foot hit the ground outside, the Kotori I knew reappeared in the place of the angel. It was a smooth transformation that was nothing short of impressive. I had agreed to meet Shiina at the bookstore in the shopping district. Since it was close enough to my house, Futaba and I made our way there on foot through the biting cold weather, all while not addressing the elephant in the room. We spoke of school-related things one would expect classmates to talk about. A conversation that had all the telltale signs of youthful inability to communicate. All throughout, my mind kept replaying the constant thought that Kotori was, for all intents and purposes, a forgery. A fake personality intended to fool the foolish high school students who foolishly couldnt understand they were being fooled. And the reasons why she was doing it made me even more unsettled. We got to the bookstore at about 11 a.m, totally ignoring the Japanese custom that the guy should arrive at least thirty minutes before the designated time. As we got closer, I spotted Shiina standing near the bookstore, fidgeting with her hair and trying to stave away the cold. This shopping district was covered, but it was still quite chilly outside the stores. She was wearing a turquoise winter coat that extended down to her thighs. Below she had thick black tights and tall boots adorning the rest of her legs. Futaba didnt even ask if the young woman was our target. So thats Shiina, huh? Ayumi wasnt kidding. Seeing her in person, I have to agree shes quite cute, she said with a teasing tone. So you were listening to that conversation too, huh? Yeah, but as I mentioned, her personality is a bit weird. Heck, its almost like she changed personalities since Sunday. Thats definitely related to Michael, isnt it? When I took a glance at Futaba, I noticed her expression was a bit conflicted, and her tone returned to that of the angel. I cannot imagine this being a coincidence. If she really did change personalities, then this is more evidence for the worst-case scenario. At about that time, Shiina finally spotted us. At first, her expression relaxed, likely because she recognized me. But as we approached her, it degenerated to that of a pitiful, defenseless rabbit. The culprit was the girl standing right next to me. Hello, Shiina. Its a pleasure to meet you, Futaba greeted. II Shiina stammered, unable to articulate anything to the shorter girl who wore a mysterious grin. She turned to me, pleading. T-Takeya, w-whos this? Ehh. Well funny story, actually. This is my classmate, Kotori Well, thats not right, is it? I turned to the angel with a sigh. Can you get this farce over with? Certainly. Futaba gave a gentle smile. The angels movements were so swift that my eyes barely managed to follow her. In a single moment, she brought her palm to Shiinas forehead, causing the taller girl to roll her eyes back and faint in the blink of an eye. As her body lost strength, she collapsed onto the shorter girl, who placed her on a nearby bench. Hmm, just as I suspected. This girl has been banished, the angel said, her expression clouded. This is a curse for her but somewhat of a blessing for us. Care to clue me in, Futaba? Banishing is a severe punishment for angels who disobey the law, she explained. It is done through a ceremony involving at least two archangels. How did you figure out she was banished by making her faint? Her face got sterner; it was almost as if replying became difficult. The same way I know Ayumis a human. I felt something sinister forming in the pit of my stomach. Wait, what exactly happens after an angel is banished? I have a bad feeling about this. Dont tell me Exactly what you are thinking. Banished angels lose all their powers and become human. Furthermore, they lose all memories of ever being an angel. What?! Thats vicious! I took another look at the girl resting on the bench, completely unaware of our conversation. I completely agree with you. I never attend banishing ceremonies when they happen. They are akin to the witch trials from the 17th century. Truly barbaric. Hold on, does this explain why her personality seems to have changed since Sunday? It might be the reason. Angels who change their own personalities are not unheard of. This is likely Shiinas case too. She had a personality-altering power constantly applied to herself which vanished when she became a human. That also explains why she seems so weak. If she was constantly consuming aether because of it, she would have to manage it carefully.If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. It turns out Shiinas real personality is this weak-willed one? I get the sentiment, but did she really have to go through all that trouble to change it? Although it is unfortunate this happened to a fellow angel, it is also a blessing in disguise. Now that she is a regular human, I can recover and read her memories. Banishing only affects the surface layer, so I should be able to recover all her memories as I did with you. Okay, do it then. Lets get to the bottom of this. With my encouragement, Futaba moved next to Shiina and repeated the strange motion she had done to me earlier. With her hands firmly on the unconscious girls head, she closed her eyes and waited. A long, long time passed, but the girl with the braided hair didnt move. It was almost as if she had fainted on the spot. Hey Futaba? Everything okay? I said as I shook her shoulders. The girl finally moved her hands. They were trembling. No, it wasnt just her hands. Her entire body was shaking, as if she had seen something so shocking her mind was incapable of processing it. After hearing my voice, Futaba took a couple of steps back, but she lost her footing. Fortunately, I managed to catch her before she fell to the ground. Hey, whats up? What did you see? As I helped her sit down, for the first timebe it as Kotori Futaba or as an angel with unknown motivesI saw true distress on her face. Her face was as pale as a sheet, her features frozen unnaturally, her mouth agape. Her beautiful, blue eyes were unresponsive and had lost their characteristic shine. Her arms hung limply by her side. It looked like she had seen a monster. T-Takeya, I Her voice broke. I understand everything. I know the truth now. The truth? What truth?! This world this world is But before she could finish her sentence, before I could learn the truth, the angel stood up. Hey, Futaba? Is everything Without warning the angel grabbed my sleeve, pulling me closer to her. Takeya, we have to leave Earth. Right now. Wait, leave Earth? Where are we going? The Upper Realm. The what? Why now, of all times?! Before Futaba could do anything, worry spread on her face. Somethings wrong. I think it is a fault, but I cannot fix it alone. Its too widespread, the angel said with her voice steeped in terror. As her voice trailed off, a powerful, dreadful feeling slammed into me. It felt like something was wrong. Something was wrong with the world itself. An unnerving and instinctive feeling that something, somewhere, was out of place. I initially doubted my eyes and checked to see if my glasses were still on, but the problem wasnt with me. Everything slowly started to blur, like a camera out of focus. The outline of the bench Shiina was sitting on lost its distinction and I couldnt see its proper shape anymore. At first, it was almost imperceptible, but it quickly became apparent the effect wasnt only in my mind. The world was losing its textures. Everything was losing resolution. It was as if someone had turned the graphics settings all the way down in a video game. The girls themselves began looking muddy and fuzzy, reminding me of characters from fifteen years ago. The immersion of reality was now irreparably broken. I knew exactly what this reminded me of. And this time, I couldnt brush it off as just a coincidence. I thought back to all the so-called faults I had experienced so far. The deserted cityAyumis outline that looked just like a wire mesh you could often see in in-development builds of games. The jumbled streettextures of objects strewn all around in a chaotic manner. The gym collapsingthe ground itself losing its collision properties. The myriad electronic disturbances people had reported. And now, the world itself was losing its textures. In a spark of synaptic connections, I finally put it all together. And only then did I understand everything. This truth Futaba also found out. This worldthis entire worldwas virtual.
After the ripples of the impact dissipated, serenity washed over me like a gentle wave approaching the shore. The disintegrating outside world became just a backdrop for my epiphany. If these sorts of glitches were happening, then the existence of angelselusive beings relegated to mere urban legendsmade perfect sense. They were the patrolmen, the protectors of this world, and they kept everything in order to prevent humans from figuring out the truth. It was now clear why everyone thought that Ayumi wasnt crazy. The fact is, she knew all along that angels did in fact exist. That was the lie she was living. She knew the truth this whole time. For her, this world was just pretend-living. A role-playing game. And she chose to pretend to be obsessed with angels. I figured out how the puzzle pieces fit together in mere moments. The unnerving feeling I had ever since we experienced that light show evaporated like mist. Not everything made sense just yet. But this was the first time I had a clear foundation upon which to build the truth. However, that mist quickly gave way to a feeling of pure despair. After all, none of that mattered if the world itself was quite literally falling apart before my eyes. A heart-wrenching panic spread through my entire body, but Futabas words pulled me from the darkness. Dont worry, I will save us. Grab onto me, we are teleporting. I had an iron-strong grip on Futabas sleeve as if my life depended on it. Likewise, she moved to grab Shiina as well. But before she could do so, something stopped her. Something even more unthinkable than what was already happening. The world was losing its shape. Every object around us began morphing into simpler polygonal models and the polygon count was dropping by the second. Coupled with the fuzzy textures, we were quickly leaving the sixth generation of consoles and heading straight into the early days of 3D graphics. Not long after, the textures began erratically disappearing. They left behind only the wireframe mesh that made the world around me. The whole thing was so far out there that every incident that happened before seemed tame in comparison. Thankfully, someone managed to retain their senses through this madness. Before long, Futaba overcame her panic and grabbed onto Shiina. A beat after, everything turned dark. I fainted yet again, leaving the chaotic world behind as only a formless memory. Ch. 10 [喂?no????e_??_??喂??] - Part 1 What the heck Those were the first words I uttered after my consciousness groggily returned to me. Before I could process the chaotic memories I had, from closevery close, in facta familiar voice responded to my implicit question. It seems you are awake. I apologize for the sudden teleportation from earlier. But we truly were in danger, the angel I called Kotori Futaba responded with a rather forlorn tone. She was sitting right next to me with her usual mysterious expression, though tending to the troubled side. We were sitting on a subdued, but exquisitely crafted sofa, integrated into an equally luxurious room. The room itself wasnt particularly large. The muted colors reminded me of a cozy living room in a European nobles mansion. It even had a fireplace, the only source of light in the room, which made me notice the temperature of the roomit was noticeably higher than it had been back in Japan. Sitting on one of the other sofas, Shiina slept with a peaceful expression. She wasnt wearing her large coat anymore; instead, a pink knitted sweater adorned her body. Now that I think about it, where are we? We are in the Evening Room of my house in the Upper Realm, the angel responded. Before I could ask what she meant, she jumped straight into the explanation. The Upper Realm is the realm where angels live. It is a separate dimension from Earth. I-I see. I dont even have the energy to comment on it. I racked my brain trying to find some smooth way to introduce the elephant in the room. After all, from her reaction back on Earth, Futaba clearly understood the truth behind all the events we experienced so far. Futaba, are you okay? Your face was pretty grim back on Earth. Did you also realize the truth? She didnt seem surprised I figured it out on my own. Im fine, she replied weakly. Just fine. I waited for her to continue, never taking my eyes off of her complex expression. Really After all this time, this is what happens? The world is virtual after seeing Shiinas memories for myself, there is no other way to interpret what we saw. All the faults are glitches in the system This is so absurd, it is almost hilarious. I couldnt say anything. Heck, I didnt even know if I should have said anything at all. So of course, I uttered the dumbest thing. Futaba Im sorry. It was because I dragged you into this There is no reason to apologize, Takeya. You are not responsible for this situation. If you are concerned about me, like I said before, I am fine. Im not as devout as Shiina appears to be. I have had my own misgivings about angel society as a whole. I will not run away from the truth. Not now and not ever. Hearing her assure me she was fine made my entire body relax. I let out a soft, unflattering groan of relief. Didnt you ever suspect anything? After all, looking back, these faults really do look like something straight out of a video game. I am ashamed to admit I never did. You see, I am not particularly well-versed in technology. Oh, so that explains the flip phone. I have encountered my fair share of faults over the years, but I never associated them with any glitches or anything of the sort. Especially since they have existed long before computers ever did. How about other angels? Im sure someone else would have figured it out. Most angels are about as unfamiliar with technology as I am, or even worse. You see, to maintain the purity of the Upper Realm, our society prohibits most human technologies. I imagine it would be a big leap of logic for most angels to associate the faults with any glitches. In other words, whoever made this whole angel society specifically constructed it to prevent you guys from finding the truth. She turned her gaze away to no place in particular. Most likely, yes. Now thats a bit grim. After the conversation Michael and Ayumi had, everything strange I personally felt about angels is now falling into place. Wait, you mean? Ah, right. You do not know what transpired between Ayumi and Archangel Michael last Sunday. The information I got from Shiinas memories. That I do not. Very well. Instead of telling you what happened, how about I just show it? It will be faster anyway. Show? You can do that? Is she going to pull out some angelic projector? Turns out my thought wasnt that far off. Futaba stood up and extended her hands in front of a conspicuously empty section of the wall. From her hands came out a beam of light that got projected into the wall, forming an image. An image I was rather familiar with. It showed the park where we talked with Shiina, but this time the perspective wasnt mine; it was the former angels. Woah, thats awesome! The possibilities of this are But my thoughts were interrupted by the angel. The time to be impressed is later. Right now, pay attention. I did as she told, and my mind was cast back to a time I didnt live myself, but that was still rather nostalgic. * * * Dont say I didnt warn you, mmkay? Its time to take a nap. A moment later, my body collapsed like a puppet whose strings were severed. Takkun! Ayumi called out. As if she was expecting it, my childhood friend rushed to catch me before I fell to the ground. Takkun! Hey, wake up! She slapped my face with some desperate strength. It was fruitless. Im so glad I wasnt awake at the time. That looked like it would hurt. What the hell did you do to Takkun? Dont worry, my dear Ayumi. Hes fiiine. Just taking a quick trip to dreamland. These are the sorts of things we shouldnt have the likes of him eavesdrop on, dont you think? Grr Fine. It seems like hes just knocked out after all Ayumi admitted. So? What did you come here for? No, nevermind. Theres something more important than your intentions. These supernatural incidents Yes, yes, you figured it out. Congratulations to you! He said while clapping vigorously.A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. Ayumis expression turned sour. No way. Are they truly glitches in the system? But why are they happening? Nothing like this has ever happened in Gaias existence as far as Im aware. Its all the Divers. Apparently the base OS has some trouble processing their inputs, and that causes all the glitches. The computer nerds explained that its kinda like how roll-back netcode works in old games. You probably know about those, right? The system cant anticipate the Divers inputs, so instead it tries to predict what theyll do. But when it makes a mistake, the fabric of the world itself gets all messed up. Thats what they told me. So its all our fault? She said with a sad tone. But why now, of all times? Then, Ayumi appeared to have found out the answer to her own question. Dont tell me youve been letting in more people than the system can take Very likely, the man said, apparently unconcerned. Its not like anyone left us an instruction manual. Angels have been able to fix most of the glitches by themselves, so we werent worried. But it seems we have reached a tipping point of sorts. The glitches themselves cause more glitches, so that plus the addition of more Divers causes an exponential increase in glitches. However, the angels can only fix them at a set rate. You can see how that would get out of hand without anyone noticing. Ayumis glare seemed to be able to cut the man in half. Dont make that face. Im not an expert in any of this, Im just a humble businessman. But to answer your question, I came here to stop you from getting involved with this any longer. Trust me, everything is under control. Under control? Its only a matter of time before other Divers find out about the glitches. This is a bigger issue than The man interrupted her. Of course we knew that the glitches were a serious problem the moment their frequency started increasing. We knew things would reach a breaking point. Naturally, we have been preparing a solution. Ayumi, for once, looked shocked. A solution? Then why didnt you already use it? Unfortunately, it requires the entire simulation to be shut down, and you can imagine how much of a hassle that is. Especially for our paying customers. Anyway, all that is sorted out now. There is a scheduled maintenance period planned for next week. The announcement should be broadcasted soon. Maintenance? The first one? Thats right. Next Saturday, at noon Japan Standard Time. Isnt thattoday? To be more precise, its not really maintenance. An entirely new system will be implemented. I still think a week is too much time, but the others insisted that you people needed all that time to arrange your schedules. This is the first maintenance since Gaia was restarted, right? I think it was a good idea to give people plenty of time to prepare, Ayumi replied, her emotions now under control. So, whats this new system you are talking about? In a nutshell, we are replacing angels. He said it like it was no big deal. But I knew, just from the footage, that even Shiina understood what this meant. I saw her hand reach for her mouth. Ayumis face morphed into one of pure horror. Replacing? What do you think you are doing? Angels are an essential part of maintaining Gaia! Michael sighed. Dont you think its odd how angels work? Think about it. You have a bunch of fallible, virtual humans keeping history in sync with the real worlds history. Plus, they have debug permissions and human-like intelligence. You have to keep them under control with a cult-like society to prevent them from going rogue. Its convoluted, to say the least. I dont know what they were thinking when they set-up this system. Dont you dare badmouth! Ayumi cut off her own angry shout. No matter the reason, it was precisely that flexibility that allowed angels to fix glitches. And now you say you are going to replace them?! Hmm, yes. You have a point there, but angels arent cut out for it anymore. Keeping the world in sync and fixing glitches is way too much work. Its not like we can increase the number of angels right away. It takes at least eighteen years for one to become useful, the archangel declared as he waved his arms around exuberantly. The easiest and most efficient way to solve this is to cut the root of the problem entirely. Well replace angels with a brand-new AI system that both syncs history and fixes any glitch that might occur. That way, this world will be able to support a lot more Divers than it currently does. Then what will happen to angels? Will they just They disappear. Ayumi took a step back in shock. Disappear? Thats the same as saying theyll all die! You cant kill off virtual humans like that! According to the law The archangel dismissed her with a casual handwave. The law this, the law that. Do you know why only rumors of angels exist outside? Its because officially they dont exist. Only after we took possession of Gaia did we realize what was going on. Lets just say it was a good idea to keep quiet about it in hindsight. So next Saturday, all angels will disappear? Just like that? Oh no, not at all. Even were not that cruel. Thankfully, they left us with a neat way to tie up this loose knot. Without warning, Michael turned to Shiina who had been completely silent the whole time. Hey, you. Shiina, wasnt it? Can you explain the Illumination to the little brat, hmm? Of course, Archangel Michael. She turned her gaze to Ayumi, whose expression was a mix of confusion and pity. When Gods plan has been completed, all angels will ascend to the next plane with the gods and live an eternal life of bliss. This is the Illumination. Shiina paused for a moment, gathering her bearings. It is said that, during the Illumination, the eternal light will disappear from the home of the angels, the Upper Realm, and it will sink into darkness. When the light finally returns, it shall not be that of the sun, but that of God Almighty. At that point, all angels shall be reunited with their god once more. Thank you very much, my dear, the archangel said with the fakest voice I ever heard. And there you have it. This solution is already programmed into the very fabric of this world. As the archangels, all we need to do is activate it. Michael then stopped all his pretense and gave a wicked smile. Angels are born into a life of lies. Isnt it kind of poetic that their final moments will be a lie too? For once, Ayumi was quiet. Her face hung down, motionless. Whats wrong, Ayumi? Cat got your tongue? Theres surely another way, she said, her gaze still towards the ground. I cannot let angels be erased from existence like this. I will I will find a way to save everyone! The archangel froze in place for a moment, then sighed. What a bother. I guess you werent convinced by my explanation after all. So, what do you intend to do, hmm? As you can imagine, I cannot let you of all people go around recruiting angels for your cause. If you managed to grab some powerful ones and stage a mutiny, it could turn ugly. Imagine the poor things, finding out the truth just to be unable to do anything to stop their demise. If you want to save them from that suffering, its better if you stay quiet about this and let us do whats best for everyone. Despite the archangels provocation, Ayumi did not budge. In fact, when she finally raised her face, her expression was the exact opposite one would expect. Hey, hey. Where is all that tenacity coming from, hmm? Its not like you can To the surprise of everyone present, Ayumi did not reply. Instead, she spoke above him, with a weak, but determined smile. System connection. Requesting log out from Gaia with a proxy at these same coordinates. With those words, Ayumi closed her eyes and stayed in the exact same spot. Mere moments after, her body collapsed like a human-shaped doll. Tsk. That cheeky brat, logging out at a time like this. Just giving me extra trouble to erase the memories of her proxy, the archangel spat. He abruptly stopped his monologue, narrowing his eyes at Shiina. He then cupped his hand around his left ear and began whispering. Gabriel, come to me at once. We have a situation to resolve. Raphael, go to the Controller and remove that brat, Ayumi, from the whitelist. Then there was a pause. Who else would I be talking about? Of course its that Ayumi, he said angrily. I know she cant do anything from the outside in her state Just to be safe. You never know with her. Having completed his contact with the other archangels, Michael finally addressed her directly. My dear Shiina. You did great in calling me when you did. If you hadnt, things would have gotten pretty hairy for us. Let me assure you that you did the right thing. The archangel gave a theatrical bow to the angel. This, however, was just part of his farse. No, I dont deserve such The archangel interrupted her dismissal with a sly smile. However, this is a problem. Oh, so much of a problem. Even if you are weak, useless, and such a devout follower, you simply know too much. But of course, you are an angel, so its not like I can erase your memories like I can with that human. I swear, I dont believe anything Ayumi said! Shiina cried in a desperate attempt to save herself. Hmm, that might be true. Will you keep quiet for me, hmm? Yes, of course! I would do anything for the archangels! Thats a good girl, he said, with a smile that appeared innocent. I dont like where this is going. As if on cue, a womans voice echoed through the empty park. Im here. It was followed by a figure emerging from the shadows. Archangel Gabriel? Shiina exclaimed with a tone halfway between stupefied and frightened. The newly arrived woman looked around the park, getting a feel for the situation. Then she stopped next to Michael, in front of Shiina, with a pose of contempt. Sigh. Youre so incompetent. Michaels voice cracked. W-what do you mean? Didnt you have an angel monitoring the brat? How did things get to this point? The woman scoffed. And with a human involved, no less. L-look, I dont know what happened here either! I guess that angel was too busy fixing glitches or something to notice Ayumi had contacted this one. Youre truly useless. Anyway, lets deal with this one first, shall we? The two archangels approached Shiina. Their frowns, half obscured by the faint light of the lamp post, appeared to show their true feelings. And then Ch. 10 [喂?no????e_??_??喂??] - Part 2 All of a sudden, the angels projection stopped. It was like someone had pulled a rug from under me. Hey, what gives? I do not think we should watch any more, Futaba said, as she gestured to the other girl with her head. You are not missing anything important anyway. I was so engrossed in the video I hadn''t noticed some rustling coming from elsewhere in the room. Shiina had started to move as her consciousness returned to her. She took a glance around the room and, eventually, her gaze met mine, making her pause. Where is this? She asked with a drawl. This is the evening room of my house in the Upper Realm, Futaba replied. I brought you both here after a major fault hit Earth. I-I see Shiina, are you feeling okay now that I have returned your memories? Futaba asked after a slight pause. This is the best I could do. Im sorry this had to happen to you. Shiina kept her gaze steady, but it was clear her thoughts were still in disarray. Yes, everything she began saying with a nostalgic intensity, reminding me of the way she spoke before her banishment. She halted her speech and looked at me for a few seconds. Then, as if embarrassed, she shifted her gaze back to the angel. I seem to be fine. Dont worry about me, she replied, her voice little more than a whisper. Before anyone else could intervene, Shiina asked a rather pertinent question. Thank you for your help, but who are you? Im sure youre an angel, but Ah, I never had the opportunity to introduce myself, did I? You would not recognize me looking like this after all. I apologize. Futaba stopped, then locked her gaze with mine with a thin smile. After everything that has happened, it does feel rather strange for you to continue addressing me by my alias. Of course the name Ive been calling her all this time had to be a fake too. Im Hikari, she said, bowing her head to us. Nice to meet you both. Hikari. Somehow, the jewel-like eyes staring at me conveyed that name so clearly it was a shock I ever called her anything else. While I was still thinking about the angel I had just effectively met for the first time, Shiinas eyes went wide open in surprise. Hikari That Hikari? No way. She paused. So that means the rumors are true. What rumors? Hey, now that piques my interest. Shiina apprehensively returned her gaze to answer my question. Hikari is very famous among angels. Her age, talent, and power are all exceptional. But I just realized she''s much more powerful than anyone thought. Somehow, I felt that this wasnt the entire story behind her reaction, but Hikari quickly took over the conversation. I would love to talk about my hidden talents, but certainly not at the moment. We have an emergency on our hands, and time is running short. What do you mean, Hikari? According to Shiinas memories, the archangels plan on spiriting away all angels by noon today through the Illumination. Oh, thats right. We need to formulate a plan. And fast. She made a short pause to let everyone focus on her. Let us review what we learned so far. It is now obvious that Michael was the one behind your memory loss and Shiinas banishment. However, it seems like Ayumis current condition was not his fault directly. Because Ayumi logged out, right? Exactly. My interpretation is that she executed some sort of command that allowed her to leave this world. Furthermore, I believe this proxy she mentioned is the Ayumi you have been interacting with for the past week. Uh-huh. With a name like that, it makes total sense. Here, Hikari, for the first time, revealed a weakness. Oh, you know what it means? I paused in disbelief for a second. Oh, right, she did say she wasnt familiar with technology. Yeah, I do. Proxy is a computer networking term. It originally meant a substitute for someone or something. Hmm, I see. So in this case, it refers to an actual person. I imagine each time she logs out, she leaves this proxy behind to avoid her disappearance from this world. There is evidence suggesting thats exactly its purpose. Huh? Evidence? Remember when I mentioned that Ayumis proxy had glimpses of memories every three months? I believe those are the times when she had to log out for some reason. During those brief periods, her proxy created original memories. What those reasons were, though, is anyones guess. In conclusion, during this entire week, Ive been interacting with Ayumis proxy. Just some quick copy of her.Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. But if the proxy was made to fool others into thinking she was the real Ayumi, why did she seem so different to me? While I was pondering these questions, about to reach some great conclusion, a soft, almost inaudible voice interrupted me. Uhh, excuse me, but what are you planning to do now, Hikari? I was at a loss for what to say, so I turned to the de facto leader of this ragtag group. Shiina, we do not have much time left, so apologies for my bluntness. For now, I need to know if we are on the same page. Huh? Shiina grunted. Im not sure how much you understand about the situation, so I will state it plainly: this world, our entire world, is virtual. Just a simulation on a computer somewhere. Everything we believed in is a fabrication. I am sure that is the undeniable truth Ayumi wanted to tell you and Takeya. And after the faultor rather, the glitchwe just experienced, there is no doubt in my mind that is the truth. Although Shiina still wasnt looking at Hikari, I could see her body jerk slightly. Trust me, I am also shocked beyond belief. I have spent my entire existence on missions in the name of God, much like you. I believed everything I was doing was for a greater purpose. At some point, Hikaris speech became more about herself than about helping Shiina. She probably noticed this too since she wrapped back around to her initial point. Shiina, I am not asking you to cast aside everything you believe at once. This will be a gradual process for both of us. That is, if we can even survive this ordeal. The other woman perked up. If the archangels are allowed to trigger the Illumination, it will be our demise. We will never uncover the truth of our origins. What is out there beyond Earth and the Upper Realm? Could there be a true God beyond this realm? I am not willing to disappear without knowing the answers to these questions. That is why Im determined to stop them. Hikari said it with such strong conviction that the other girl took several seconds to respond. But if youre wrong I prefer to trust the information that compels me the most at this moment. And that information is what your memories told us. It is too late to be concerned about Gods wrath. These women are faced with a decision that could affect their continued existence. I certainly dont envy their position. Shiina, you have to decide. Do you trust the teachings of your entire life or the revelations that broke them down? I will not do anything to you if you choose the former, but I need to know if I can count on your help. I Shiina hesitated. Of course she did. Hikari was asking her to abandon her entire way of life in favor of an unknowable future. It was too hard for me to put myself in her shoes. Seeing her make this decision in front of my eyes made me feel part of her anguish. Okay. Ill trust you. Shiina said after much consideration. I hope you are right. Thank you, Shiina, Hikari said while bowing. Your help will be fundamental. Hikari, what are you planning on doing, exactly? I chimed in. I believe there is only one possible route. We have to go on the offensive and try to stop the Illumination. Wait, attacking the archangels? Is that even possible? Of course. Let us recast our mind back to the conversation between Archangel Michael and Ayumi. Michael thinks the continued existence of this world, Gaia, requires all angels to be replaced. Ayumi is against this. Before she logged out, she said she would find a way to save both angels and the world itself. We have to believe Ayumi has not given up on that promise, even now. Knowing how stubborn she can be, I cant see her giving up on this so easily. Though, it has been one week since that conversation, and yet nothing has happened. Hmm I believe that is related to the conversation Michael had with the other archangels. He called both Gabriel and Raphael, giving them different jobs. Gabriel Hikari cut herself short, and I immediately understood whyshe was about to mention the moment right before they banished Shiina. You know why Michael needed another archangel on the scene. Raphael, on the other hand, was left with instructions to remove Ayumi from the whitelist. I believe this list is filled with people allowed to enter and leave Gaia. I nodded in agreement. Ayumi being removed from the whitelist means that she can no longer come back in. And perhaps the only way to solve this situation cannot be done from the outside and requires her to go back to Gaia. That is the only explanation as to why nothing has happened, despite her knowing that the maintenance is fast approaching. So by finding a way to stop the Illumination from starting, we can buy Ayumi more time to find a way in and save the angels? That would be the ideal scenario. But I believe there might be a way to allow her to come in right away. Seeing our faces of confusion, the angel smiled slightly. My theory is that altering this whitelist is not one of the archangels inherent powers, unlike banishment. It has to be done in the place Michael called the Controller. Most likely, it is a place only the archangels can access. Shiina reacted to Hikaris teasing smile. You dont mean the Shrine? That is exactly what I mean. B-But, we cant enter Shiina cut herself off. This time around, Hikari didnt wait for my obvious question. The most sacred place in the Upper Realm where the connection with God is strong enough for a two-way conversation. That is the Shrineor so says the myth. It might exist to justify the mythology, but knowing what we know now, it must have another purpose. Regardless, it remains true that only the archangels have access to it, Hikari explained. That makes it the perfect place to hide the Controller. Well, thats a good hunch. However were screwed if only the archangels can change the whitelist, or if we cant enter the Shrine, I explained. Unfortunately, that is a risk we must take. We do not have many options right now. Stopping the Illumination takes priority. If we can do that, then we might be able to force the archangels to change the whitelist. B-But Hikari, y-you wont be able to stop the a-archangels. They are the most powerful angels. I-I dont think even you could handle them by yourself, Shiina slowly declared. Trust me on this. I will find a way to handle them. Shiina still looked doubtful, but seemed to agree with the angels plan nevertheless. Now that everyone is on the same page, we have to start moving right away. Both Shiina and I nodded and followed Hikari to the only door in the room. However, as soon as she opened it, she stopped dead in her tracks. No way. Dont tell me Huh? Whats wrong? I asked. Its dark, Hikari said as if that was the most shocking thing in the world. Well, it is almost noon, so its a bit weird that its dark, but Instead of replying to my weak attempt at dismissing the issue, Hikari ran through the darkened hallway. No, you do not understand! It is always noon in the Upper Realm. The sun always shines overhead. Unless Hearing this, Shiinas voice behind me cracked more than usual. The first step of the Illumination: the sun sets in the Upper Realm. Without a moment to waste, we ran. Through the deep, endless darkness, Hikari made her way to the front door of the house. When she opened it, a gasp escaped her throat. The Illumination has begun Ch. 11 [伪_?貌𝕣𝔩?_喂n_𝚍𝕒r𝔨𝚗锚??] - Part 1 Pure darkness. That was the only way to describe the oppressive lack of anything in front of my eyes. The dim light coming from inside the house was barely enough to illuminate our group and nothing beyond. However, since our voices werent echoing, it was clear we were outside. Chilly air seeped itself into me while I wasnt paying attention. It wasnt windy, but somehow it felt colder here than it did in the middle of winter back in Japan. This cold wasnt natural. It was an aberrant event that didnt belong in this world. As my eyes got used to the darkness, I managed to squint out a hint of light in the distance. It was spread out all over the horizon. Yet, it was so dim it was impossible to determine where or what it was coming from. The dread I felt only accentuated when I realized that I couldnt see anything up in the sky. Not the moon or even the dimmest of stars adorned the pitch-black void. Tsk. Now that it has come to this, we must switch to Plan B. Grab onto me, Hikari instructed. Shiina and I acted as the angel ordered and grabbed both her arms. Im going to teleport us closer to the Shrine. For the sake of brevity, I will not make you faint this time. I apologize if you start to feel unwell. Without any warning, we vanished from existence. Every external sensation of my bodyfrom the feeling of my shoes on the ground to the unnatural cold on my exposed skinwas instantly erased. That would normally be a panic-inducing phenomenon, but there wasnt even enough time to panic. Moments later, the missing sensations returned with a vengeance. It wasnt only the coldin the span of less than a second, light and sound bombarded me. The intense dizziness that followed made me stumble backwards. Thankfully, a hand supported me just before I fell. Takeya, are you okay? Shiina asked after helping me get up. How the heck is she still fine after that?! Yeah I think I am. With my normal state of mind slowly being restored, I began to notice my surroundings. We had reappeared in what appeared to be an alley. The ambient light was still dim, though it was much brighter than the ones at Hikaris place. That was because the buildings around us were made of pure white walls which reflected most of the light. The angel was already ahead of us, at the entrance to a larger street. She was standing still, her gaze lost in the distance. Whats up with all this noise? An uncanny sound surrounded us, whose origin and timbre I couldnt pinpoint. It was incomprehensible, almost sounding like white noise. It wasnt especially loud, but it permeated the air so thickly, it made it hard to focus on anything else. Hey, Hikari, what is th I began asking as I moved towards her. Though, before I could finish my question, I came face to face with what the angel was so absorbed in. And, just like with her, speech evaded me. Turns out the narrow street we were in led to a much larger avenue. It was so wide that I could barely see the buildings on the other side in these lighting conditions. But it wasnt the source of Hikaris awe. The large avenue led to a massive, and I mean a massive, circular plaza. In the absolute darkness, it would have been impossible to see its full extension. However, the entire plaza was illuminated by countless shimmering balls of light. These weak lights floated a few meters above the floor of the plaza, spread out in a grid. In such a large quantity they formed a lighthouse whose light pierced through the unnatural night. With the plaza illuminated, its full extensionand everything happening within itwas apparent. Under the lights, there were people. Hundreds of thousands of people were crammed in this space. There were so many they couldnt all fit into the plaza. Some spilled over to the avenue and two others in the distance. All of them, every single one of them, was on their knees with their arms crossed in front of their chests. They all looked up at the sky; the same sky whose light had abandoned them.If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. They were all praying. Only when I realized this did the source of the low rumbling permeating the air click. It appeared that each person was not only praying, but they were chanting in a low voice. The compound murmur coming from thousands of people chanting at the same time was almost unbearable.
This is something else, I said, awestruck. Is this sort of thing normal for you guys? Not at all, answered Hikari, having snapped from her trance. This was also foretold in the stories about the Illumination. Each angel must offer their last prayers to God so they can be judged on their work Hikari cut herself off with a click of her tongue. Well, not that it matters now. She turned back to Shiina and I, who were still spellbound by the view. I cannot teleport us any closer to the Shrine, so we will have to fly the rest of the way. The way she exposed her plan was so nonchalant that it took me a second to realize she had mentioned flying. Did I hear that right? Were gonna be flying? Not sure if youre aware, but humans cannot fly. Regrettably but do not worry, the angel responded to my question. I will carry all of us there. It will be similar to how I moved everyone in class during the fault yesterday. Though, to save aether, I will make myself float and bring you two along. Do not worry, we will not go too high, but be careful to not lose your grip. Im more worried about splitting my head open on the ground Despite my complaints, Hikari grabbed our forearms with a tight grip. Try not to scream, or we will grab everyones attention. That would be undesirable. Propelled by Hikaris levitation, my feet left the ground. My fight-or-flight response kicked in when we were about one meter in the air, and my grip on Hikaris arm became so tight that I was worried it was hurting her. Yet, her own grip strength was absurd; the weight of my body and Shiinas was easily being carried by her small body like it was nothing. Reading my mind as usual, Hikari answered my concerns. Do not worry about me. My body is sturdier than most. I can handle carrying both of you just fine. Is there anything you cant do? At this point, I half-expect you are capable of blowing up a city on your own. Only one? You are undervaluing my abilities. Really? This short conversation helped me take my mind off the critical point of our flightflying over the countless angels praying and the lights illuminating them. As we flew, I noticed that we were on a collision course with a building, located directly across from the avenue we came from. It was rather large, with many blocky, tower-like protrusions, with seemingly no rhyme or reason to them. I wondered if we were going to slam into one of the structures, which would have been less than ideal. Thankfully, Hikaris control was precise and we zigzagged between the protrusions without hitting one. Greeting us on the other side of the building was a wide darkness spread as far as I could see. As we began our slow descent, I realized that the darkness was in fact a forest. We made landfall on a path running through a clearing in the middle of it. Only when Hikari released my hand did I feel like I had returned to reality. A large bead of sweat ran down my face. Absurd That was totally absurd. Everyone feels like that the first time they fly, Hikari responded with a straight face. Everyone? Are you kidnapping random humans and flying them like this just to scare the life out of them? I prefer to not answer that question, she said with a smirk. I sighed and took a look around me. So where are we? This is the p-path leading to the Shrine in the center of the S-Sacred Forest, answered Shiina with a shaky voice. To think Id ever set foot in this place I have never been here before either, but the Shrine should be just ahead. Let us proceed before the archangels notice our presence. Despite one of those balls of light appearing next to us, likely conjured by the angel, our surroundings were much darker than in the city. I could discern only a few details. The path we were on was flanked by water on both sides, urging us forward. I couldnt see the edge of this mass of water, nor how deep it was. A low rumbling noise in the distance, like that of falling water, caught my attention. Following Hikaris lead, we strode along the path cutting through the darkness of the lake until a small, circular building came into view. It was shaped like a tall cylinder, with a dome on top supported by various marble columns. A set of double wooden doors led inside. All things considered, it had a simple design that didnt evoke the idea that this was the most sacred place for angels. Without hesitation, Hikari went right up to the doors leading inside the Shrine. However, she stopped right in front of them, not stepping inside, as if in a daze. Huh? Hikari, whats wrong? I was expecting a barrier preventing us from entering the Shrine, but it appears there is nothing of the sort. I couldnt fully appreciate the meaning of those words until Shiina spoke up. D-Do you mean that all this time there was nothing preventing normal angels from entering the Shrine? I believe so. Is that not ironic? Such mythos behind it, and all this time nothing was preventing us from going in. Perhaps Hikaris sentence was cut short by a deafening sound akin to that of shattering glass. It originated right next to us and assaulted my ears with the loudness of a jet engine. My eardrums screech with pain. What the heck?! I yelled. Shiina immediately understood what had happened. A barrier broke Did you set it up, Hikari? How wasnt she affected by that noise? Right on cue. Ch. 11 [伪_?貌𝕣𝔩?_喂n_𝚍𝕒r𝔨𝚗锚??] - Part 2 Hey, care to tell me what just happened? Hikari answered me with no delay, her expression more serious than I had ever seen her. We are being attacked. Some sort of supersonic projectile. Attacked?! Dont tell me A familiar voice rang out from the path from which we came. Intruders? And powerful ones at that. The owner of the voice materialized from the darkness. In the center of the group of three people was the archangel I had already met before, Michael. Flanking him on both sides were two other people. One of them I recognized from Shiinas memories: Archangel Gabriel. She was a woman who looked to be in her thirties. She had square-framed glasses, dark-blonde hair, and an expression of disgust. She looked somewhat like an overly-serious secretary. The other man had to be the last of this trio of crooks, Archangel Raphael. He was a handsome young man that looked straight out of a boys band. His jet-black hair was styled with gel, but his expression was one that wouldnt attract many female fans. Both were dressed in robes similar to Michaels, but adorned with different colors: red for Gabriel and blue for Raphael. So these are the archangels, huh. What an eclectic group of crooks. At least their garments are consistent with each other. Hey, hey! Arent you that brat Ayumis boyfriend? Michael asked. I also didnt want to see your face again, Michael, or whatever your name is. Yet, here I am, I said, trying to control my tone to sound calm. Thankfully, he ignored me. And you over thereyoure that useless ex-angel. In response, I heard Shiina shriek behind me. Now this is a surprise. Hey, tell me. How did you two manage to get here, hm? Its probably that girls doing, the woman said, keeping her gaze fixated on Hikari. I dont recognize her though. You, Raphael? I dont either. For you to defend Raphaels strike like that, I can see youre no ordinary angel, Michael said, his eyes also glued to Hikari. Who are you, and how did you meet those humans? Hikari smirked. She was facing the most powerful angels in existence, yet she maintained her posture completely intact. Just where is her assurance coming from? Or is she that good at bluffing? Sadly for me, we know each other very well, Michael. After all, you were the one who assigned me to monitor Ayumi this whole time. It appeared that Hikaris speech was enough to remind the archangels of who they were speaking with. So youre Hikari, huh. Of course I wouldnt recognize you while you are still undercover. Im sorry I did not present myself as usual, but time has been in short supply today. Mostly due to someones stupidity. Hmph. I had a bad feeling when you of all people accepted that mission. But thats water under the bridge. So tell me, how did you get involved with these two, hmm? Let us just say it was fortunate that a faultor should I say a glitchhappened at the right place and time for me to get involved. Sigh. So you already figured everything out, hm? Michael asked, changing his tone. You seem to have accepted everything rather easily for a senior angel. Oh, you jest, she replied with a giggle. It was the most difficult decision in my entire life. But faced with such compelling evidence, there was no other way I could deal with this situation. She looked up at the sky as if searching for an answer she knew wouldnt come and continued with a low voice. The world is virtual Even now, it still sounds feels a joke. Part of me wishes this was all a misunderstanding, but I cannot ignore the truth. Trampling all over her introspective moment, Michael continued. Why did you come here? Think you can stop us and save everyone, hm? The angel took her sweet time returning her gaze downwards. Of course, she replied, her voice returning to its usual poise. Ahahaha! You must be joking. The Illumination has already started. Its just a matter of time before all angels get erased from this world and the new system is installed. Theres no stopping that anymore. No, Im sure there is. Hikaris words made the archangels flinch. Judging from the way you are guarding the Shrine, Im sure the Controller is inside, and you cannot risk anyone going in. Then, unexpectedly, she turned to me. So, Takeya. Can you open the doors?This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. Aye. Without much resistance, the doors opened with the strength of my palms alone. With it, the inside of the forbidden shrine was bare for all to see. Michael made a low grumble in anger. Now that it has come to this, we need to take drastic measures. We cant let them bring the brat back inside. I have a feeling she hasnt stayed quiet this entire week. Raphael, if you could. Without warning, another sound of glass breaking cut through the air. Now, now. What are you doing? This will not do at all. Would you kindly remain quiet over there? Pfff. You think you can boss us around, little girl? Gabriel retorted. I will let you know I am much older than you. I deserve some respect. And yes, actually. I can boss you around. That little provocation seemed to be enough to light Gabriels fuse. What did you say?! Dont you know That the archangels are the most powerful angels? Yes, I have always known that. And Im certain that held true for the previous archangels. But you see raw power is not everything. In practical terms, I would even argue that you are weaker than Shiina was. Hikaris bold declaration, which seemed so unreasonable as to be interpreted only as a joke, hit everyone like a curveball. In the sudden spotlight, the main star of the gag spoke. But Hikari The angel turned to her former companion-in-arms. Shiina, from your actions last week, I inferred that you were not a very powerful angel. But still, you were an angel, nevertheless. If you were on Earth, then you must have completed your education. That fact alone makes you more powerful than these phonies over there. P-Phonies? What in the world is wrong with you?! You act like you do not understand the first thing about how angels powers work, Gabriel, Hikari retorted, her tone severe. You see, latent power is not the whole story. What matters more is how you use it. The techniques you have mastered. The training behind your every move. Trust me, I understand that better than anyone else. Hikari paused and took the chance to turn to Michael. Back on Earth, you faced the trio of Ayumi, Shiina, and Takeya, and erased their memories. When I went through them, I could not believe what I discovered. How could such a sloppy job be done by an actual angel? W-What? S-Sloppy? Michael hollered. Wait, did he not realize that himself? Are these guys just phonies? No angel worth their title erases memories without leaving some impression behind. That is one of the first rules we learn. Even if you were in a rush, you should never have made such an incompetent mistake. You may possess great latent power, comparable to the previous archangels you succeeded, but it is meaningless if you lack the skill to use it. After her explanation, Hikari finally let a smile bleed onto her face. A smile of defiance. A grin so sarcastic I couldnt imagine how it felt to be on the other side of it. This time, the archangels remained silent, grinding their teeth. So, I ask again. Can you stay quiet over there? Or do you think you can beat an angel with decades of experience like myself? You silly girl. Whats stopping us from banishing you on the spot? Gabriel howled. Banishment indeed requires direct contact from two archangels. But can you even get close enough to me to do that? That was the breaking point for Gabriel. She lunged forward with murderous intent; however, her mad rush never reached Hikari. She collided with a wall. A wall of air, that is. The impact was so violent that the recoil made the woman fall flat on her back. She quickly regained her footing, though, so it looked like she hadnt gotten injured. Another barrier? Tsk. This will take a while to dispel, Raphael said. It surrounds you on all sides, so there is no escape. And there are many more where that came from. I thought I had warned you. In a battle of skill, I have you outmatched. Thats a checkmate for them. The archangels appeared to have realized this themselves, but still tried their hardest to escape, pulling all sorts of fancy moves. They threw mysterious light projectiles like baseballs at the barrier, but they were absorbed and dissipated. When light-based attacks didnt work, they resorted to straight up punching the invisible barrier. Along with them, their verbal abuse and the sound of glass breaking did not subside either. But nothing they did reached the steadfast angel standing in their way. You think you got us, huh? Even if these humans enter the Shrine, theyll never figure out the way to access the Controller itself. Its the end of this pathetic crusade! hollered Michael, his mind far gone at this point. Takeya, Shiina, I know I just boasted of being able to hold them here but to be frank, my aether supply is limited, Hikari whispered. In a battle of skill, I have the upper hand, but they can overpower their way out eventually. Damn I, too, was fooled by her bluffing. Shes too good at this. I need you two to go inside and find a way to bring Ayumi back to us. With the Illumination already underway, that is our last hope. Okay. You got it, I said with all the confidence I could muster. With my self-esteem at its highest point, Ill admit I had forgotten a little detail. I was about to enter the Shrine, which Hikari had thankfully lit up with one of those balls of light, when Huh? Shiina, what is the matter? The angel asked. When I turned around, I saw the girls staring at each other. Shiina was stuck in place, not making an effort to move at all. A few seconds passed. But she wasnt able to break free. Im s-sorry, Takeya Hikari. I cant I cant go inside, Shiina apologized, her head hanging low. Shes refusing to go in? Even after all this? No, wait. Of course she is. This is the most sacred place for angels. Shes never seen this forest her whole life, let alone the inside of the Shrine. Even if their mythology is a sham, she cant let go of it. Its a part of her. Its too important. Shes still stuck. But Hikari began, but Shiinas nervous eyes made her stop. Very well, I understand. My apologies for making you go through all this. The angel then turned to me. It seems you have to go alone, Takeya. I apologize for placing you in such a predicament. Nah, its okay. I get it. Ill bring Ayumi here for sure. With a weak thumbs up, I turned my back to the girls and climbed up the last step leading into the Shrine. Ch. 12 [𝚝??_伪?𝔰𝚠𝕖褟?] - Part 1 Did the fate of an entire group of fantastical peopleheck, of the entire world, evenrest upon my shoulders? One could easily argue it did. But the moment I found myself inside the sacred shrine, that thought didnt cross my mind. As if I were the star of some cheap, B-grade movie, the doors closed behind me on their own. That was rather ominous. Hopefully not a sign of things to come. First, I had to get my bearings in this place. Thanks to the small orb of light Hikari had conjured, the small room was brightly illuminated. Considering the importance of the place, the Shrine was a simple roomfrankly a bit deflating. The centerpiece was an altar with the floor raised in front of it. The indentations on the raised step seemed as though they were made for angels to kneel on to deliver their prayers. The remaining space on the circular wall was adorned with intricate patterns and abstract decorations. Frosted glass windows were high up near the ceiling, but no light shone through them because of the darkness outside. In summary, there was nothing obvious here that could be that famous Controller. There must be a secret room, most likely under the floor. With no clues to go on, I began investigating the most suspicious item in the roomthe altar at its center. However, a quick glance at it yielded nothing of interest; it was literally just an altar, and its function was obvious. I guess the only way out of this is to pray at the altar. I felt a bit awkward about praying to a god I knew did not in fact exist, but there wasnt enough time to diddle-daddle about it. I knelt down in front of the altar, copied the same praying gesture Shiina had made back on Earth, and closed my eyes. I let my mind wander for a bit, thinking that I actually had to pray, but fortunately, that wasnt necessary. Out of nowhere, I heard a female voice in my mind. ?You, who wishes to see our most sacred treasure, answer this question from the bottom of your heart. What is the most important thing in the world?? Well, that ones easy. The answer was obvious. And so I responded aloud. God. I was so confident in my answer that it took me a while to realize nothing had happened. I tried again a few times, but it wasnt working. Wait, whats going on here? After all, to an angel, the most important thing in the whole world was indeed God. Shiina talked about God just like any religious fanatic would, and their whole society was built around their existence. Maybe only an angel or even an archangel can answer? No, that doesnt make sense. Otherwise, the archangels wouldnt have been so worried about us getting inside. And plus, the voice still talked to me and Im just a human. So what was the answer? I racked my brain, trying to figure out what it could be. And then I realized something. Wait. This answer supposedly gives access to the Controller, something normal angels shouldnt even know exists. So whatever the answer is, it must be something they wouldnt figure out if they ever came across this place. That train of thought was, however, quite dangerous. After all, the answer could literally just be a random codeword, or not even a word at all. But the voice spoke to me. It said answer this question from the bottom of your heart. So maybe the answer truly is my own unique answer. So I thought about it, long and hard. What was the most important thing in the world to me? I thought about my friends. I thought about my family, my mom, my dad, my sister, my grandparents, and everyone else. I thought about my favorite games, novels, manga, and movies. I thought about everything I could. But no matter how much I thought, there really was only one possible answer. So I smiled. What was the most important thing in the world to me?This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. Obviously, that was the person who had saved me eight years prior. And who is still saving me right now. The person I want to reach so badly I literally came to another world to bring her back. Ayumi. I wasnt surprised when the ground rumbled in front of me. I opened my eyes and got up. Where there was once just a marble floor was now a spiral staircase, leading to depths unknown. * * * Without missing a beat, I immediately made my way down the staircase. Unfortunately, Hikaris light wasnt smart enough to follow me; the more I climbed down, the darker it got. The light bouncing from the reflective walls got dimmer as I descended. Darkness consumed me from all sides. With no source of light from above, I became aware of a dim, mechanical-blue ambiance creeping from below. As the light became stronger, I could feel my heart rate spike. What lay beneath the Shrine, the most sacred place for angels? What was the shape of this Controller the archangel mentioned? And, more importantly, could I even do anything with it? Could I figure out a way to bring Ayumi back? To be honest, at the beginning of this saga, I didnt care about angels. When my memories were returned, Ayumis passion didnt move me. My only objective was to bring her back to normal. That goal just so happened to line up with her goal of saving the angels. And that also lined up with Hikaris new goal of seeing what was beyond the lies of her society. Still, after learning of the disregard the archangels had for the life of their subjects, I had finally understood Ayumis wrath. After all, what was so different between angels and humans in this virtual world? Werent we also being lied to? Werent we also subject to the same danger of being deleted on a whim? Of a rogue individual unplugging us out of existence? At some point, I had come to care about them. Even if our paths would have never crossed if not for this crisis, now that they were intertwined, I couldnt abandon them and return to my quiet life. During my musings, the room below the Shrine had come into view. And right in the center of it, the only possible object that could have been here had indeed been here all along. A computer. A large, curved monitor, almost completing half a circle. A table made from an unidentifiable material. A single keyboard and mouse. A chair in front of the table, also made from an unknown material. There were no visible cables. The monitor was an ethereal object, not connected to the world. In a peculiar way, it made sense that this was the object controlling the world. The aptly named Controller. The ambient blue light came from stripes on the walls. As soon as I took a step inside the room, they transmuted into strong cream-colored lights. With no hesitation, I sat on the chair, which lit up the computer monitor. On the right side, there were a myriad of graphs. They reminded me of real-time performance graphs on debug menus of games. Judging by the sheer amount of red, warning-like message boxes, I could tell the situation wasnt good. On the opposite side was a big progress bar, and it was about three-fourths completed. There was a digital clock below it, which I assumed was the time remaining; it currently sat at twenty-seven minutes. The center was a sterile desktop space with an equally sterile gray wallpaper with several icons arranged near the top. I scoured through the various graphs on the right, the progress bar on the left, and the various menu options in the center, but I was faced with a major hurdlethe entire UI was written in English. I knew the basics of the language, but after messing with it for a while, I decided that the options seemed way too important. I couldnt just go pressing buttons at random. There was, however, a very familiar icon on the top row of the screen: the help button. I clicked on it in what seemed like a last-ditch attempt to save the situation. Much to my surprise, a cutesy, humanoid figure materialized on the bottom corner of the screen. Whats this, a mascot character? Do you need my assistance? It was the same immaterial female voice from before. Ehhh I cant understand anything on this computer. Can you help me somehow? Why am I speaking so formally? This is probably a dumb AI or something along those lines. Its not like it can understand me. Certainly. Changing the display language to Japanese. As the AI promised, all words on the display were changed to Japanese. At least now I wasnt completely adrift. But still, do I want to poke around on my own when theres such a capable assistant right here? Um, can you stop whats happening right now? The installation of the new AI system or whatever it is? The voice took a while to answer. The installation of the new firmware cannot be stopped without significant risks of corruption of the simulation. Then what about stopping the Illumination itself? The voice responded immediately. The Illumination protocol can only be stopped by the archangels or someone with higher permissions. Tsk. So stopping the Illumination is also a no-go? Damn, this sucks. In that case, I need to put someone on the list of people allowed to enter this world. Can you do that? The AI responded without missing a beat. Yes. Please name the individual you wish to add to the whitelist. Ayumi Toyosaki. She had been removed from the list a week ago. I need you to add her back and then bring her here. Certainly. User identified by the name Ayumi Toyosaki has been reintroduced to the whitelist of Divers and notified of the change to the whitelist. And a beat later. The user logged in the closest available location, approximately fifteen meters in linear distance from the Controller. Where exactly is she? Outside this structure, on the surface. Logged in? So is Ayumi Without another glance at the monitors, I dashed outside the room. Thanks, Miss AI Assistant! You saved the day, I shouted as I made my way outside. I dont know if the AI replied or not. If she did, her voice was too low for me to hear among the heavy steps I took up the spiral staircase. Ch. 12 [𝚝??_伪?𝔰𝚠𝕖褟?] - Part 2 When I burst through the doors of the Shrine, an unexpected scene was waiting for me outside. Hikari and Shiina had barely moved from their previous locations. The angels mighty expression had vanished. Shiina, on the other hand, had a rather complex frown, as if she couldnt really follow what was happening. The reason for their grim faces became obvious when I took notice of the archangels. They were still imprisoned inside Hikaris invisible barrier, but were no longer the only three people inside. There was someone else there. Despite having logged in, Ayumi was motionless, her gaze facing downwards, and held by Michael. Damn you, AI Assistant! I put my trust in you! You could have put her anywhere, but it just had to be inside the barrier! Moments after I pushed open the doors, everyones attention was on me. Hikari briefly smiled in relief at seeing my not-so-triumphant return. Takeya, I am glad you are all right. Is it fair to assume Ayumis reappearance was your doing? Yeah, you could say that. I got a lot of help though. The angel made a questioning look. Help? From whom? Its not important. Right now, we need to help her get out of there. Well, thats going to be A scream cut through our conversation. You, brat. You managed to enter the Controller room? Michael howled. How did you figure out the password? An uncontrollable smirk rose on my face. What, that little puzzle? Whats the most important thing in the world? Its such an obvious answer. Angels couldnt answer it because they are all conditioned to just say God right away. Only those people who are unshackled by this society could have answered something different. I guess thats the point of the password, right? Eh. However, my explanation, instead of leaving the archangels flabbergasted, instead just produced laughter. Eheh. Ahahaha! This must be a joke, surely. Something this funny couldnt be true. What the hell is he laughing about? Whats so funny? Let me tell you something, little brat. A little treat for you, if you will. The password is the same for everyone. The AI gatekeeper or whatever it is doesnt make a different answer for different people. Wait. What is he saying? The answer is always the same? But hows that possible? After all, the answer Ayumi, the man spat out the word with disgust. Thats the password. That was the most important thing in the world for the creators of the angels. The cold air seemed to freeze in place. No one said anything. Hikari looked at me as if asking for answers, but I had none to give her. Raphael was the one who broke the silence. We were careless. If anyone could possibly have figured out the password, it would have been the brats boyfriend. You should have gotten rid of him back on Earth, just to be safe. H-How was I supposed to predict that he would meet Hikari and make his way here?! Michael said, his voice breaking. And as soon as he got inside, the AI assistant could have helped him figure out what to do. Tsk, Gabriel added. H-Hmph. No matter! Bringing this stupid kid here wont stop the installation of the new system. As soon as the angels are gone, there will be no evidence they ever existed. No one can go after us, Michael said. Despite being locked inside Hikaris barrier, the situation was still overwhelmingly in their favor. Hikari couldnt hold them back forever. Even if she could trounce them, the Illumination couldnt be stopped. Thus, it was only natural that the archangels were still feeling cocky. However, the dire situation never registered with me. That was because, ever since Raphael had opened his mouth, I noticed that a certain someone was already awake, just waiting for the right time to make a comeback. Hey, who are you calling stupid? A childish, high-pitched voice cut through the tension in the air like a hot knife through butter.This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. Youve finally woken up, hm? The man holding her increased the grip on her frail body. Just in time to see the disappearance of your little virtual friends. Well, actually, I dont think I will, she replied with such a jovial tone that it caught everyone by surprise. Hmph. What can you do in this situation, hm? Youre just a powerless Right then and there, the unforeseen happened. With sheer strength, Ayumi broke free of the Archangels grip, flinging his arms out. It was an unreal sight; with her small body, there was no way she could have wrestled out of a grown mans grip so easily. Michael groaned, and kneeled in agony. Before the other two could grab her, she ran over to us with a light gait. Unlike what happened before, when the archangels were stopped in their tracks by Hikaris barrier, she walked right through it. She didnt hesitate or get stopped at all. The girl broke through it effortlessly, the accompanying shrill of glass breaking piercing the cold air. Fair to say, Hikari was dumbfounded. For a split second, Ayumi locked her eyes with mineand smiled. Her emerald green eyes shone with such intensity, such fervor, that it brought me to tears. There was no mistaking it. This was her. Ayumi was back. I tried my best, but in spite of the situation, my sobbing didnt stop. Seeing Ayumi, the real Ayumi, back after an entire weekit seemed like a miracle. Wow, Takkun!? Whats wrong? Ive never seen you cry like this! Seeing Ayumis eyes fixated on my lame figure was the push I needed to control myself. Its nothing I-Im just glad to have the real you back. Huh? Real me? Oh, right. You had to interact with my proxy this entire week However, our reunion was short-lived. You how did you do that? Gabriel asked, equally bamboozled as everyone else. You shouldnt be able to What do you think I spent an entire week doing? she said, turning back to the archangels. I went and got some help from like-minded people who care when someone is about to commit genocide of a million people, she responded with disgust permeating her words. And through a certain connection, I got myself familiar with my own permissions. I have been training on how to use them while people found a way to break me in. The archangels stared at the girl in front of them. It seemed the reality of the situation had just kicked in. This girl, who theyd thought to be no more than a footnote in their plan, had utterly crushed any hope they had of seeing it to completion. Now, theres much to do, and you little worms are in the way. So how about you have a taste of your own medicine? What are you Michael tried to say, but the pain he felt was too strong to form a coherent sentence. Im going to banish you. In other words, remove your permissions. Ah, and forcibly log you out too. Some people are already looking for you on the other side. No, wait Too late. Ayumi moved faster than I had ever seen her move in my life, with a fury I had never seen on her either. However, someone moved faster than she did. ...Huh? The girl said as she stopped in her tracks. Someone stood in-between her and the archangels. Ayumi please. Dont do this. She looked at the much taller girl straight at her eyes. Shiina? But why? There was no point in asking what she was doing. Instead, Ayumi asked why. Why was Shiina trying to stop Ayumi from banishing the archangels? The answer was obvious; but, of course, Ayumi didnt know that. Dont you understand whats going on? Whats at stake here? Angels I understand. I understand everything, the former angel said. And yet she didnt budge. Something more important than her own existenceheck, the existence of all angelswas at stake for her. That was the perpetuation of the lie angels had been told all their existence. Yet, someone who was in the exact same situation as she was wouldnt let her resistance stand. Shiina, do you not get it? Hikari said from beside me. The archangels have been deceiving us! God, our religion, our powersall of it is a lie. They even banished you because you knew too much! And yet you still stand by their side? Shiina bit her lip. It took a while for her to answer. It doesnt matter. Without them, without all of this Whats the point? She paused, and looked straight into Hikaris eyes. Y-you should have never given me back my memories. At least as a human, I would have survived the I-Illumination. I could have kept on living in ignorance and rebuilt my life. B-but now, like this I have nothing left. No powers, no duty nothing. Im worth nothing. So its better to just let it all end as God intended. Shiinas words lingered in the stifled air like miasma. Its not like Ayumi and Hikari couldnt just shove her aside using their powers. But something about seeing that woman they both barely knew, and yet cared deeply about, not able to let go, made them stay rooted on the spot. A shrill laughter pierced the air, from none other than the ringleader Shiina was trying to defend. Eheh. Ahahaha! Thats right! Youre worth nothing! Youall of youyou are all worthless! Youre not even worth the bytes you take up on this computer. Something about what Michael said struck me the wrong way. As if there was a grain of sand stuck in my shoe that I couldnt get rid of, and he had just reminded me it was there. Are these the ramblings of a lunatic, or something else? Its better that you all perish still believing in this delusion of god or whatever crap you pray to. Id suggest you trust in your little virtual friends and let things run their course, Ayumi. Hikari was the first to act upon what he was saying. She asked the question none of us had dared to so far. Probably the most important question she had ever asked in her entire life. Ayumi, please tell me. Is what Michael is saying the truth? Are we Ayumi, however, did not respond. She just lowered her head, as if saying the words out loud would break some sort of taboo. Guess you havent figured it all out yet, little angel, so let me spell it out for you. Gabriel spewed with venom in her tone. All of youthe angel and the humansall of you are just AIs. NPCs. Whatever you want to call yourselves, it doesnt matter to me. None of you exist outside this simulation. That was the moment my entire world came crashing down. Ch. 13 [𝔫??_𝔭𝚕???𝔯_?𝚑?r?𝕔?𝚎??] Part 1 Gabriels words took a while to reach the language-processing center of my brain. But when they did, the impact hit me hard, and my knees grew weak. This journey had been so hectic that I hadnt really had time to sit down and think about it. About the true consequences of the world being virtual. So I had just instinctively assumed that I, like Ayumi did, existed outside it. But I was wrong. Oh, so wrong. A sense of dread I had never felt before in my life took over my entire body, and I began shaking uncontrollably. A claustrophobic fear that wrapped around me, cutting off my senses and numbing me to my core. W-wait a second. How can that be? Theres no way our technology is up to the point My half-baked question answered itself. Oh, I see. A self-deprecating smile found its way onto my face. This isnt like the real world. Its just a lousy simulation. So the tech from the outside world can be much more advanced than ours. Heck, if those are the rules were playing with, you might all be actual aliens and this world is nothing like the real one. You might even be superintelligent compared to us. Are we really just happy little pets wagging our tails at your whim? Ayumi, to my surprise, decided to stop my nihilistic rambling herself. Damn it. You just had to say it, didnt you? She said, directing her sharp words at the archangels. Now that it has come to this let me clarify something, Takkun. Im definitely human, as you understand one to be. And despite what some people might say, so are you all. Hearing her calm words, the suffocating blanket of panic began to dissipate. Human-level AI, like all of you, have passed the Turing test and every other test conceived so far to determine if you are human or not. Some of those tests dont even exist in this world. Its said that the technology used emulates the human brain in a computer perfectly. So rest assured of this at least. You are human. Emulate a human brain in a computer? How is that even possible? As far as I knew, that wasnt possible in this reality. Computers were smarter than us, but only smarter in very specific tasks, like playing chess. In other words, some human capabilities, like emotion, were still exclusively ours. That also extended to the fuzzy concept of consciousness. But if what Ayumi said was trueI had no reason to doubt her at this pointthen I was proof that such futuristic technology has already been achieved in some other timeline. But emulating a human brain in a computer? No matter what, that cant be easy, even with incredibly advanced tech. It was then that the true scale of this simulated world hit me. There are eight-odd billion people in this world. Billion. Thats an eight followed by nine zeros, and thats on top of everything elseall the cities, all the oceans, all the animals How many tera no, millions of petabytes of storage is that? How much CPU power do you even need to run something of that magnitude? How much physical space would a system that enormous occupy in the real world?The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. It was mind-blowing. Truly absurd. Even the largest, most expansive open-world games paled in comparison. Heck, comparing them was a fools errand. I couldnt fathom how this world could even be possible, especially with such a high degree of fidelity. Either there were some massive compromises somewhere, or technology had advanced so far that I couldnt even comprehend it. My mind was so out there trying to make sense of all of this that I almost didnt register that Raphael had uttered something under his breath. Imagine calling NPCs humans. You truly have lost it, Ayumi. Making friends and even falling in love with them. Youve been living in this fantasy world for so long that youve actually started to believe its real. Ill never understand why Divers pay so much for the privilege, personally. Now you understand why you are all worthless, Michael added. Virtual humans are a dime a dozen out there. One or two or a million, it doesnt matter. Only fools like that girl even care about them in the first place! His words sounded like something only a comic book villain could say, and they terrified me. Now, Ayumi, if you truly do care about these things like you say you do, you should respect what this NPC here is saying. Stop this futile resistance. Ayumi balled her fists, but she didnt reply to his taunt. He clearly was just trying to buy time. She wanted to act as soon as possible; however, she also didnt want to force Shiina to step aside and make her live against her own will. Especially now that the ultimate truth came to life. We were at a standstill. I glanced at Hikari, but it seemed like she was preoccupied with her own demons. So it came down to me. I had to do something. For Shiina. No, for the entire worlds sake. And, ultimately, my own. Shiina couldnt be convinced with logic. It didnt matter to her how much the archangels had lied or if the entire worlds existence was at stake. Without the support structure of her religion, she didnt have a single reason to keep on living. So I had to give her one. You arent worthless, I said, and everyones gaze focused on me. You arent worthless, Shiina. It doesnt matter if you lost your powers, or your faith, or if the world itself isnt even real. That crap doesnt matter one bit. Because, at the end of it all, you still have you. I barely know you, but I can tell. You love romance novels. You seem scary and off-putting at first, but youre actually awkward and sensitive. Despite being dealt a bad hand by fate, you still did your best to perform your duties. You are your own unique and amazing person. So from now on, live for yourself. Focus on what makes you special. Together with Hikari, Ayumi, and I. There will be a place for you in the new world Ayumi wants to create. Im sure of it. I had no idea if my words managed to reach her. This was the longest of long shots. I barely even knew the woman at all, so to say something so bold was a total shot in the dark. But it was the best I could do. Shiina stared at me with her ruby-red eyes, as if trying to determine if I was being genuine or not. I couldnt tell what was going through her mind. Probably a lot more than I could ever hope to understand. And yet, somehow, my feelings managed to reach her. Okay, she said softly, her cheeks as red as her eyes. Ill try. W-What?! Michael uttered as Shiina stepped aside, letting Ayumi through. Without missing her chance, Ayumi moved. The archangels didnt even have time to react. She merely touched them in quick succession. And finally, our enemies, real and imaginary, were gone. Ch. 13 [𝔫??_𝔭𝚕???𝔯_?𝚑?r?𝕔?𝚎??] - Part 2 Despite the immediate obstacle being eliminated, a strange feeling still permeated the air. Too much was left unsaid, and too many things still didnt make any sense. I stood there in a daze processing what had just happened for a good while. When I came back to reality, I saw both Ayumi and Hikari surrounding Shiina, who had since collapsed on her knees. Shiina, are you okay? Ayumi asked as she helped her get up. I-I think so, the former angel replied. Im so sorry that you had to lose your powers and memories because of me, the girl said with weight in her words. N-No it wasnt your fault, she said weakly. Ayumis expression slowly turned inquisitive; she approached me and asked a question to my ear. Whats going on here, Takkun? I remember Shiina having a much different personality before. That is because she wielded her powers to change her personality, Hikari responded, somehow managing to hear Ayumis question. So when she became a human, she was unable to sustain that fake personality. Ohh, that makes sense. Hmm, hmm, yes. Then, Ayumi stared hard at the girl wearing her former classmates face. I have another question though. What is it? The angel asked with a devious smile. Is that you, Kotori?! What are you doing here?! Took you a while. Hello again, Ayumi. It is with great pleasure that I can finally meet you properly, Hikari said. To cut a long story short After a brief explanation from Hikari about the events that had happened since the first time we saw Michael, Ayumi seemed focused on one detail. Her spirits sank so low it hurt to see. So Kotori was an angel all along she whispered, crestfallen. All that time, right under my nose. Oh, such irony. I was not going to let myself be exposed, so do not fret. But let me tell you, our conversation about angels in the classroom was refreshing. That conversation if I remember correctly, wasnt Kotori the one who came to us? Despite the tease, Ayumi still had her head in the clouds. Even the way she talks is different tricked to the extreme she mumbled to herself. Well, youll get used to it eventually, I commented, prompting an almost imperceptible giggle from Hikari. Sigh. No point in dwelling on it now, she said after finally snapping out of it. Its a pleasure to meet you as well, Hikari. I wish it were under different circumstances, though. The angel replied with a pleasant grin, which Ayumi answered with a weak smile. Clearly something was on her mind. Theres something bothering me, but I think I know the answer to that question already, to be honest. What were you doing undercover at our school, Hikari? My mission was to observe you closely. There was no specific directive beyond that; I was merely assigned to monitor your activities. I knew it was something like that. It would be too much of a coincidence for an angel to be hanging around our school. And I guess Michael put you up to that? Indeed, he did. Naturally, at the time I did not harbor any suspicions. It is not unusual for angels to undertake such missions. For me, it was just a simple relaxing mission to unwind. But the fact that I was never asked to intervene, despite your dubious activities, did make me somewhat suspicious. And you know why he had Hikari spy on you, right, Ayumi? Well, guess I have some explaining to do, eheh. Then her smile vanished. Like I said before, back on Earth, Im not a normal human. Im what we in the outside world call a Divera human who spends some time connected to a virtual world. That was why Shiina could not erase my memories back then. Makes sense so far. So do all Divers have an angel shadowing them or something? I dont think so, no. We both looked at Hikari, who shook her head. Even among Divers, I''m somewhat of a special case. Of course she had to be. I have some special permissions that rival those of the archangels, and in some cases even surpass them. I believe that was why they couldnt let me run amok, in the off-chance I would do something to undermine their control of the simulation. Of course, I was never planning on doing such a thing. I just wanted to live my life in peace. And those special permissions I bet they are related to the reason why the password to enter the Shrine is your name, right? For a brief moment, Ayumi paused. Yes. Although I had no idea what the password was until just now. Really, for them to do something like this A word she said caught my eye. No, ever since we got back Shiinas memories. Its always been them, them, them. So who are these them? Whos behind all this? Once again, Ayumi hesitated when I asked. My parents. The creators of the angels and the ones who made this worldGaiapossible. It was all my birth parents work. Wait, you mean? My birth parents did really die in an accident. Just not on Gaia. Ever since I first met Ayumi, I knew her parents werent her birth parents, and that they had died in some sort of accident. But the fact that her parents here, the ones I knew, were too, just NPCs, was somehow quite disconcerting. However, I didnt have enough time to pursue that thought for long, because someone else spoke up. Ayumi, I apologize for this question, but I have to be sure of something. Your parents passed away eight years and three months ago, correct? Hikari asked. Actually, it was a bit earlier than that. I didnt come into this world right away, she explained. As I thought Whats up, Hikari? I asked. Ever since we found out about Ayumis proxy, I thought the timing was a bit odd. Now, however, I am convinced; it cannot be a coincidence. Next to her, we heard a gasp. It was Shiina. N-No way It seemed Shiina had figured it out. Eight and a half years ago, give or take the previous archangels disappeared. W-What?! Are you saying Yes, Takeya. I believe the previous archangelsa man and a womanwere Ayumis parents. Considering that the archangels were in fact Divers keeping the angels under control, and that Ayumis parents were somehow involved in the creation of angels, I see this as exceedingly likely.Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. This is crazy. So all this time, before I even met Ayumi, her real parents were already leading the angels? I assume you had no idea about this, Ayumi? I asked her. No, not at all. Its complete news to me. In fact, I had very little idea of what they were working on before they passed away. I just heard them talking about angels all the time, that they would one day protect me as well, so it got stuck with me growing up. So thats why you were interested in the angels in the first place. Yeah. In a way, they are my parents legacy. Their final work. Thats why I wanted to meet one. A silly thing, right? She said with a weak smile. All this time, her obsession with that darn urban legend was all just a way to get closer to her parents legacy. In a way, they are a piece of them, and also a piece of her. Its no wonder she got so angry with me when I didnt get it. Darn it, Ayumi. Hey, Hikari, the girl with disheveled hair began, you met the previous archangels, right? How were they? My parents Yes, I conversed with them many times. They were both wonderful people who generously extended their personal assistance to me, even when it went against their duties, she said with a genuine smile. Nothing like these goons who replaced them. I see. Im glad to know that. In a strange way, you probably knew them better than I ever did. I was very young when they passed on. Hikari looked away from Ayumi, in the direction wed come from. Now knowing that they always kept you in their mind as they built the Upper Realm sheds some light onto their actions. It always appeared to me that they were building up to a greater purpose. Ayumis parents created the angels. And they also set up the password in the Shrine for every time they wanted to access the Controller. Every time, they reminded themselves about the most important thing in the world for them, their guiding star: this girl right here. In a strange way, our shared affection for Ayumi connected me to these two people Ive never met and will never meet. So your special permissions Hikari began. Yes, thats also something my parents left me before they died. A little back door, if you will. The right to enter this world as I pleased and also to continue their work, if I so wished. With the mystery about Ayumis connection with the angels and the Shrine cleared, there was just one big thing left to explain. Theres something Im still not understanding about all this. Why make such a massive, incomprehensible world? Why make so many virtual humans? What is even the purpose of all this? This world, Gaia, is an ancestry simulation, an extremely faithful recreation of the past. Well, the past from my perspective. I guess that means Im something like a time traveler to you. Huh I never thought of it that way, Ayumi said as she drew a small smile. Even in this situation, you just cant help but be light-hearted, can you? Classic Ayumi. Its purpose has changed many times over the years, but nowadays its used by people who want to live and experience this specific epoch of human history. The Gaia Project was, to put it mildly, ambitious. This is by far the largest and most complex simulation ever created. Not just because of the number of humans living here, but also because of the logistics of making sure the recreation is as exact as possible. My face made the question that Ayumi immediately acknowledged with a nod. However, instead of answering, she looked straight at Shiina and Hikari. And thats where angels, or rather, the ANGEL System comes in. The ANGEL System? I asked dumbfounded. Yeah, thats what my parents named it. I have no idea what it means though. Knowing them, it might not mean anything at all. Were Ayumis parents just as scatterbrained as she is? Dont tell me its hereditary. The ANGEL System was their main work in the Gaia Projectfind a way to sync the simulation with the real world. And the method they came up with was the angels. An angels actual purpose is to alter global events and influence human behavior to guarantee this world follows the history of the real world. The missions angels follow are, in reality, a dressed-up version of those instructions. Built around it is the entire angel society and their mythology. Those were created to ensure that they would continue this vital process, year after year. Eventually, my parents figured out that glitches were beginning to occur, so angels got tasked with fixing those as well. But as more and more Divers came in, the simulation started incurring more and more glitches. Those glitches caused an exponential increase in new glitches, until we were left with the current situation, I added. Right. And those goons, after they took over Gaia She cut herself short. They werent as concerned about safety as my parents were. They just wanted to maximize the number of Divers inside Gaia, no matter the cost. Which brings us right along to the crux of the matter. Ayumi, can you tell us what your plan is? Did you find a way to save us? Hikaris tone was strained, exposing her concern for the matter at hand. Of course I did. I searched for help, pulled some strings, and with the people I found, we figured out a way to make everything right. So you can stop whats happening? Because the AI said the installation of the new firmware couldnt be stopped. Well, that is technically true. Im not going to stop the installation itself. But that means Relax, Hikari. At that moment, Ayumis smile held the entire weight of the world in it. She held on gallantly, unfazed by the enormous pressure. Unfortunately, the archangels let things progress too far. The glitches are already too widespread, and so recovery is near impossible. So Im going to have to resort to some emergency measures. Emergency measures? My parents hid a little program that automatically backs-up Gaia. Not even Michael and his gang knew about it. Otherwise they might have messed around with it since then to save on costs. Fortunately, my special permissions can access this program. So Im going to use it now. Im going to reset Gaia back to a time before the Illumination occurred. Ill also recover Shiinas permissions, turning her back to an angel. Then she paused. A severe pause. However, as a tradeoff, there will be no more updates to Gaia. There''ll be no archangels from the outside to monitor you, nor any more Divers coming. You''ll be on your own from now on. Thats a pretty hefty responsibility, you know? Huh? What do you mean, Ayumi? Her tone had given me a very bad feeling. You arent leaving, are you? Her face was placid, but I knew Ayumi well enough to understand she was still hiding something. Yes and no. Thats the best answer I can give. How can that be? Unfortunately, what Im about to do is going to anger a lot of people, even though its the right thing to do. Even if angels dont legally exist, this backup if it became public, wed be in serious hot water. For you to survive, we need Gaia to stay hidden. Thats why I and all the other Divers will have to leave this world. However, all Divers cant disappear all at once. In my case, imagine the grief Id cause my surrogate parents, all my friends, and you if I went away. Only then did I realize I had greatly misunderstood Ayumi this whole time. It didnt matter whether it was real or fake; the fact was that she spent almost half her life in this world. For her, Gaia wasnt just make-believe. This was her home and she cared about it more than anything. More than anyone. Thankfully, theres already an easy solution to this problem. You mean your proxy? Thats right. Each time a Diver leaves Gaia, their proxy is left behind. Then our memories are reunited when we come back, she explained. Then her tone turned a bit lighter. So right now, I remember the incident in the gym, and also that you and Shiina were about to go on a date behind my back. Shiina looked down at the stone floor, as if embarrassed. I, too, didnt quite know what to say, but fortunately for me Ayumi didnt focus on this. This system is exactly what I''m going to exploit to keep a version of all Divers in Gaia. That means the me whos currently speaking with you and the me thats staying here are going down their own paths and become two different people. You cant say proxies are just a copy of the Divers. Thats bullshit. That Ayumi shes nothing like you at all! I shouted, my voice slightly breaking at the end. She was surprised, but just for a split second; I was the only one who noticed. What youre saying is partially true. After all, she doesnt know Im a Diver. Every memory we have related to being a Diver, including knowledge about the outside world, gets erased each time the proxy is created. Thats why she seemed so strange to you, Takkun. She acted without that knowledge. Is that it? I wonder. Something else about Ayumis behavior was odd. It wasnt just her weird memories. Hikari gave the same explanation, but Im not so sure. I cant pinpoint it exactly, but there was something else going on. At the very least, I know her eyes werent shining like they used to. The only confirmation I needed was Ayumis expression. Her current smile looked fake. Just like her proxy was. No, Ayumi. Theres something else going on here. She couldnt contain her surprise from betraying her otherwise neutral face. Something about your proxy. Theres some other difference youre not telling me about. It''s not just the memories. Theres something else going on here. Please tell me. I need to know. After a few moments of holding her breath, Ayumi exhaled deeply, releasing all her pent up emotions. Do you really know me that well? Or am I that bad at lying? she asked with a trembling voice. Id guess both, to be honest. She sighed. I wasnt going to confess this, but you forced my hand, Takkun. At that very moment, Ayumis cheeks reddened. The voice she produced was filled with bliss. No, thats not it. Earlier, I said I didnt use my special permissions for anything, but that was a small white lie. I apologize. I actually used them to alter my proxys settings a tiny bit. Ayumi paused. She, my proxy, cannot love you, Takkun. She doesnt now, nor will she ever be able to. Her voice and face were filled with love.