[78] An Unwelcome Visitor from the Dark (2)
Shirone thought Amy was just teasing him back.
"Sorry. Did I scare you? I didn't tell you because I wanted to surprise you. How's senior-year classes going?"
Amy's gaze hardened. When Shirone tried to step closer, she hastily slapped his arm. The two coffees he'd been holding went flying.
Shirone stared, stunned. This wasn't a joke. Amy's face was genuinely flushed with anger.
"Who do you think you are, doing something like that? And you call Seriel 'senior'—why are you speaking casually to me?"
Seriel, too, looked displeased, as if this had crossed a line.
"Are you in the advanced class? No matter how interested you are, approaching someone like that isn't right. And you should be respectful to seniors. What is this—are you some delinquent?"
Shirone was dumbfounded. Amy and Seriel were acting like they didn't know him.
"Seriel-senior, it's me, Shirone. Don't you remember me? Amy, you really don't know me? You're joking, right?"
"How would I know you? If you're a student, at least study. Can't you tell time and place apart? Do I look that easy to mess with?"
Amy grabbed Shirone by the collar. She was genuinely irritated. He'd thought senior year would mean an end to annoying boys—he hadn't expected one to follow him here.
'It'd been quiet for a while, then it starts again. It's all because that guy's useless. Hanging out with weird kids and doing nothing but nonsense…' Amy muttered to herself and tilted her head. 'Huh? That guy? Who's that again?'
There was clearly someone behind why the harassers had stopped, but she couldn't remember who.
With his collar in her grip, Shirone felt his chest hollow. There was no hint of familiarity in Amy's eyes.
"This… this can't be."
Shirone shrugged Amy's hand off his collar.
"No! Don't lie!"
"Ow."
Amy grabbed her wrist and winced. Even that drew a shout from Shirone, as if the sight annoyed him.
"Why are you pretending you don't know me? What did I do wrong? If you hate me, just say you hate me! This way I'm the one who feels awful!"
"Get out of here!"
Seriel shoved Shirone. Because it was Seriel, Shirone couldn't even resist and landed on his butt.
"Why are you picking on my friend? And to a senior, too! What class are you in? Do you want to get in trouble?"
Shirone looked up at her as if he'd lost everything.
'Seriel-senior…' Amy's closest friend—always near the top with outstanding skill, yet a born girly-girl who cried over romance novels. Shirone remembered how she'd cheered for him whenever he took on hard challenges.
But now she was completely different. Her eyes burned like coals, and the way she pressed her lips together was full of hostility.
Shirone shook his head. It wasn't that he couldn't believe it—he simply didn't want to. This couldn't be happening.
"No! It's a lie!"
Shirone scrambled to his feet and ran. If he stayed another second he felt he'd go mad.
"Don't ever come back! If you act like this one more time I'll tell the teachers!"
Seriel cupped her hands and shouted, then frowned at Amy as if she still hadn't cooled down.
"Ugh, what kind of guy is that? Looks meek but so persistent. Amy, are you okay?"
"Huh? Ah, I'm fine."
Amy, lost in thought, snapped back to attention. But a lingering unease remained. As Shirone's figure receded, she felt a strange tug of longing.
"Who on earth was that? He acted like he knew me."
"He probably just pretended to be crazy and bumped into you. There are lots of kids like that these days. Who would dare go after someone like you?"
"Maybe."
"Anyway, I'm heading to class. I wanted to chat since it's been a while, but that weird kid ate up the whole break."
Even though they were both seniors, different majors meant they had to carve out time to ask after each other.
When Seriel went into the classroom, Amy followed. But just inside the entrance she turned and looked toward where Shirone had run.
"...."
She stayed there until the bell rang.
* * *
'Why are you doing this? What's the reason?!'
Shirone ran like a madman. He dashed through the iron gate and reached the advanced-class building just as the bell rang and students streamed into classrooms.
"Mark! Mark!"
Mark, joking with Maria, turned his head. Shirone ran up to him in one leap.
"Mark! You know me, right? Who am I? Say it—quick!"
Mark looked flustered and glanced at Maria, who shrugged just as cluelessly.
"Um… who are you?"
Shirone's heart pounded. He had no idea what had happened to him.
"It's me. It's me."
"So who are you? You'll have to tell me."
"It's me! Shirone! Class Five! We took exams together! Don't you remember?"
Mark's face crumpled. He couldn't argue with "Class Five," and bowed politely.
"Ah—sorry for not recognizing you."
"That's not it! Why are you treating me like this?"
What were they expecting him to do? Shirone wanted to lash out, but people were watching, so he couldn't.
"Hey, class started. What are you doing out here instead of going in?"
Shiina was coming down the hall. Shirone ran to her like a man finding a savior.
"Teacher! It's me, Shirone!"
Shiina would never forget him—she was powerful, a certified Sixth-Rank mage. But her reply was brutal.
"Shirone? We don't have any student by that name in the advanced class. Who are you?"
"Teacher, don't you know me? I'm Shirone."
Shiina furrowed her brow and searched her memory, but the name and face meant nothing.
"There must be some mistake. I didn't hear about any new students. Are you really a student here?"
Mark and Maria's expressions sharpened. Suddenly a suspicious stranger, Shirone was seized by panic.
"I- I'm sorry! I made a mistake!"
"Hey! Wait right there!"
Shirone ran desperately, leaving Shiina's voice behind. He was starting to understand. He knew what was happening.
Everyone had forgotten him.
"Wah—sob…"
He felt like a lost child. Utterly fragile. Everything in the world seemed terrifying.
He went into Istas and, after getting lost three times, finally reached the Supernatural Psychic Research Club.
'My friends will be okay. Of course they will—why wouldn't they?'
Just a few hours ago they'd been joking together. Even if the whole world forgot him, surely they would remember.
When he opened the door, Nade and Iruki were chatting. They froze when they saw him.
"Nade, Iruki, it's me. I'm Shirone."
The friends blinked and said nothing. The dam of held-back emotion broke and Shirone's face crumpled into a sob.
"Why aren't you answering? You remember me, right? You haven't forgotten me?"
Nade looked at Iruki, then scratched his head and stepped toward Shirone.
"Um… who are you?"
Tears pricked Shirone's eyes.
"Don't you really know me? We were together until just now. We studied together yesterday and the day before!"
"Sorry, but we don't know you. Did someone send you here to spy on our club? Don't make a scene—leave."
Iruki suddenly snapped, as if a realization had struck.
"Wait! There might be a possibility. How did you find your way to Istas? Tell us, quick! Who are you, really?"
"Y- you guys…"
Shirone's lower lip trembled. He could no longer hold back the tears. He didn't even want to.
Nade snorted, then doubled over clutching his stomach and burst into laughter.
"Puhahaha! Did you see that? Look at his face! This is a masterpiece!"
"I saw it! I saw it! He's so terrified—oh my God, you guys… Puhahaha! Shirone, you're cracking me up!"
Nade laughed so hard he staggered, clutching his aching side.
"Heh heh, heh heh heh! The more I think about it, the funnier it gets! Why would anyone do this… hahaha!"
Shirone couldn't make sense of it. He didn't know if this was real or a dream.
"So you remember me?"
"What nonsense. Did you just have a nightmare? Your face right now is absolutely hilarious! Puhahaha!"
All of Shirone's strength drained away. The boulder on his chest finally rolled off.
"Damn it! Then you should've said something! Why pretend not to know me?"
"When you walked in your expression was so funny we decided to mess with you. You went, 'It's me, it's me, Shirone.'"
Nade imitated Shirone, and Iruki hit the floor in fits of laughter again. Too drained to scold, Shirone sank down and covered his face with both hands.
"Ugh, I nearly died of fear."
"Sit down and tell us what happened."
On the sofa, Shirone recounted the recent events with fervor. At first the others snickered at the absurdity, but when Shiina was mentioned their faces turned serious.
"Hmm—Shiina didn't remember either? There's no way she'd be joking."
Nade could hardly believe it.
"Is that even possible?"
"If it's a mind-affecting branch of magic, then it's possible. Whether it could alter the memories of the entire school is another question."
"It's possible. I was the one it happened to."
Iruki patted Shirone's chest to calm him.
"Okay, don't get worked up. We're not denying you. We believe you—people have lost their memories of you."
"But we remember you. That might be a clue about the situation."
"I think so too. If the only reason we haven't forgotten Shirone is one thing, it's that we weren't at school for two days. What on earth happened while we were gone?"
They fell silent. Someone had manipulated not only every student but the staff's memories while they were away? It was a hard assumption to accept.
"Maybe it was a supernatural phenomenon. There've been historical cases somewhat like this."
Iruki sounded skeptical.
"Hmm. I'd say those cases were tied to magic. Either way, if it's that kind, how do we explain why we didn't lose our memories?"
"Because we were at Istas. We've been here since we split up from Shirone."
Shirone asked, "What does Istas have to do with it?"
"There've always been rumors about mysterious power in Istas. It's just a rumor, but we should consider every possibility. It concerns us too."
Iruki said.
"So you're saying there's a chance we could lose our memories as well."
"We can't guarantee anything."
Silence followed. It would be sad if others didn't remember Shirone—but losing their own memories was also a problem.
Nade spoke up bravely.
"Still… we should go check, right?"
"Sure. Hiding won't solve anything."
They were right. But after what had happened, Shirone's face showed how reluctant he was.
"What if you two forget me too? I might actually go mad then."
"Let's do this: we'll mark you somehow ahead of time. Even if we lose our memories, we can at least avoid the worst-case scenario."