"Ruri-chan didn't come to class today..."
Yamada Elf crossed her arms over her chest, thinking of a possibility:
"Could she be feeling unwell and resting at home?"
"I hope so."
Izumi Sora lowered his gaze, a bad premonition faintly rising in his heart.
Not replying to messages and not coming to the academy naturally made one worried.
"If she's unwell and resting at home, she would definitely ask for leave from the teacher. I'll go ask the homeroom teacher of the class next door." Izumi Sora prepared to figure it out, otherwise he'd be constantly worrying about it.
Although they weren't in the same class, the teachers were all familiar faces.
He acted immediately.
Izumi Sora went to the staff room, found the homeroom teacher of the class next door—who also happened to be his math teacher—and asked about the situation.
However, the math teacher's answer made his heart suddenly sink.
"Gokou-san?"
"We don't have a student surnamed Gokou in our class."
"Did you remember wrong?"
"..."
Looking at the confused expression of the math teacher, Izumi Sora remained silent for two seconds and took a deep breath:
"I remembered wrong... Sorry for troubling you, Sensei."
The math teacher had a rigid and serious personality; he wouldn't make this kind of joke.
In other words.
He truly didn't remember Kuroneko.
"Servant, did Ruri-chan ask for sick leave?"
Seeing Izumi Sora walk out of the staff room, Yamada Elf quickly approached:
"Eh... why does Sora look so serious?"
Izumi Sora exhaled softly and said in a deep voice:
"I just asked the math teacher. He said there is no student surnamed Gokou in the class."
"What do you mean?"
"The math teacher forgot Ruri's existence."
Hearing this, Yamada Elf widened her eyes:
"How is that possible? Is it a prank?"
Izumi Sora shook his head: "The math teacher has a rigid personality, he wouldn't play this kind of joke on students."
Yamada Elf put her hands on her hips, furrowing her delicate eyebrows:
"But we all remember Ruri-chan."
"That's exactly the problem." Izumi Sora narrowed his eyes, a guess faintly forming in his mind. "...Let's go back to the classroom first and call Mahiru and Yanami out."
The two didn't bother going to the cafeteria to eat and quickly returned to the classroom.
Arriving at the classroom door, Izumi Sora waited in the hallway while Elf went inside, whispering in Yanami and Mahiru's ears.
Before long, the three girls walked out together.
"Sora, why did you suddenly call us out?"
Yanami Anna's voice was curious.
Izumi Sora looked at the gluttonous girl and said seriously:
"Who ate with us last night?"
"Just the few of us." Yanami Anna tilted her head in confusion. "And Sagiri."
Yamada Elf couldn't resist asking:
"There's also Ruri-chan."
Yanami Anna turned to look in confusion, her expression bewildered:
"Who is Ruri-chan?"
Seeing Yanami's bewildered expression, Angel-sama instantly furrowed her delicate eyebrows. She looked up at Izumi Sora:
"Sora-kun, what happened?"
"I was just about to go to the cafeteria to eat with Elf, and then we realized Ruri didn't come to class..."
Izumi Sora didn't hide anything and quickly explained the current situation.
Angel-sama bit her lower lip with her pearly white teeth, her expression turning serious:
"Both the math teacher and Yanami don't remember Ruri-chan?"
"That's right." Izumi Sora said in a deep voice. "Ruri must have encountered some kind of supernatural incident, which is why she 'disappeared'."
"Is the reason we can remember Ruri because of our magic power?"
"That's highly likely."
Yanami and the math teacher are both normal people and can't remember Ruri. Only fellow witches can remember Ruri's existence.
Yanami Anna looked over in confusion:
"Sora, what are you guys talking about? Why don't I understand?"
"It's nothing..." Izumi Sora looked at Yanami and said softly. "Yanami, go back and eat your bento first."
"Sora is being mean, don't be a riddler."
"You go back first, we have something very important to do right now."
"..."
Seeing Izumi Sora's unexpectedly serious expression, Yanami could only agree. She turned around every three steps on her way back to the classroom.
"Suddenly calling me out, asking some weird questions. A detestable riddler..."
Yanami Anna suddenly thought of a possibility:
"Eh, wait, could time have rewound again?"
Yanami Anna quickly sat up straight and took her Losing Heroine Diary out of her schoolbag.
[When you see this sentence, you are already a losing heroine...]
Skipping the beginning.
Yanami Anna quickly looked down.
[While you were applying a face mask at night, Sora and Ruri established an unbreakable bond of destiny...]
[After graduating from university, Sora and Ruri got married...]
"Ruri's name indeed appeared."
Yanami Anna furrowed her delicate eyebrows:
"But why don't I remember her at all? Yet Mahiru and Elf seem to remember..."
"No way!"
"I must guard against thieving cats!"
Meanwhile.
In a corner of the hallway.
"Ruri must have encountered a supernatural incident last night." Angel-sama analyzed seriously. "First, we need to confirm exactly where Ruri met with the accident."
Yamada Elf clenched her fists: "We must save Ruri-chan."
Izumi Sora, however, remembered the bizarre subway train. His intuition told him that Kuroneko's disappearance was highly likely connected to that subway.
"Mahiru is right, we first need to determine the location of Ruri's disappearance." Izumi Sora's expression was serious as he shared his thoughts. "After school this afternoon, Elf and I will go to Ruri's house to investigate if she went back last night. If she didn't, we'll find a way to check the subway surveillance."
Yamada Elf couldn't wait any longer: "Let's go right now, shall we?"
"Going now is useless." Izumi Sora shook his head. "It's likely that one can only enter that bizarre subway tunnel at a specific time and under specific conditions. Otherwise, the subway would have been locked down long ago."
"Alright then..."
Yamada Elf could only regretfully agree.
The two afternoon classes passed in a flash.
After school.
Izumi Sora quickly stood up, preparing to set off with Mahiru and Elf.
"Sora, wait for me." Yanami Anna quickly walked over. "I'm going with you guys."
Izumi Sora didn't want to involve Yanami in this:
"We're not going out to play..."
Yanami quickly interjected:
"Actually, you're going to look for Ruri-chan, right?"
"Eh?" Yamada Elf looked over in surprise. "Yanami remembered?"
"I didn't remember." Yanami Anna shook her head. "But I can indeed help... Um, actually, I have a special item that can grant wishes. The way the wishes are fulfilled is just a bit uncontrollable. Maybe it can help."
Given the special circumstances, Yanami decided to no longer hide her identity as an ordinary person.
Izumi Sora raised an eyebrow and looked over:
"Yanami has something like that?"
"Of course I do." Yanami Anna puffed out her chest, her expression quite serious. "Sora knows what kind of person I am. I definitely wouldn't joke about this kind of thing."
Izumi Sora was silent for two seconds: "Then come along."
"..."
The group left the school, took the train, and headed straight for the Gokou residence.
Izumi Sora had escorted Kuroneko home before, so naturally, he knew the address.
The journey was silent.
Half an hour later.
The group arrived outside the Gokou residence, just in time to encounter Mrs. Gokou coming home.
Because she had to take care of her two younger daughters, Mrs. Gokou's work mainly consisted of a part-time job at a convenience store. She was usually home by evening.
"You guys stay here." Izumi Sora stopped and looked at the girls beside him. "Elf and I will go over first. Have Elf go in and investigate."
Yamada Elf clenched her pink fists and directly activated her invisibility ability:
"Leave it to me."
"..."
Izumi Sora walked up to the Gokou residence's door and knocked.
"It's Sora-kun." Mrs. Gokou's eyes lit up. "Come in quickly. Ruri hasn't come back yet... Eh?"
Mrs. Gokou quickly furrowed her brows, a bewildered expression appearing on her face:
"Ruri... who is that?"
Yamada Elf's expression was grave.
As expected.
Besides them, even her closest mother had forgotten Ruri's existence.
"Servant, I'm going in."
Yamada Elf whispered quietly as she stealthily slipped into the house.
The main purpose of coming here was to confirm if Ruri had come home last night. As long as she had come home, there would definitely be traces left in her room, such as her schoolbag or phone.
If the room was completely empty, they could confirm that Kuroneko didn't go home last night.
"Sora-nii, good afternoon!"
The little loli with the bowl cut ran over with a thump thump thump. Hearing Mrs. Gokou's words, she looked up in confusion:
"What are you saying, Mom? You don't remember Onee-sama?"
"Hmm?"
Izumi Sora looked down, gently raising an eyebrow.
"What is Tamaki talking about?"
Mrs. Gokou felt a sudden headache and raised her hand to cover her forehead:
"H-How come I don't remember who Ruri is..."
"Mom, stop joking around." Gokou Tamaki turned and ran off with a thump thump thump. She quickly returned holding a photo album and pointed at the girl with long straight black hair in the photo. "This is Onee-sama. Speaking of which, I didn't see Onee-sama when I woke up this morning."
Although an unknown mystical power had made Kuroneko disappear, things related to Kuroneko had not been erased. Izumi Sora had discovered earlier that the photos on his phone were still intact.
In other words.
Kuroneko's disappearance was actually a disappearance on the memory level.
Perhaps because Tamaki's world was very small, or perhaps she had a special constitution, she surprisingly hadn't forgotten Kuroneko's existence.
"L-Little Ruri?"
Looking at her daughter in the photo, Mrs. Gokou's expression changed. Her blocked memories instantly became clear:
"Strange... w-why did I forget Ruri?"
"Little Sora, do you know the reason?"
Like a drowning person grasping at a final straw, Mrs. Gokou nervously grabbed Izumi Sora's right hand.
Izumi Sora didn't say much, but only asked:
"Did Ruri come back last night?"
"No." Mrs. Gokou quickly shook her head. "Ruri didn't come back all night."
"As expected." Izumi Sora lowered his gaze, his expression serious. "Please don't worry, Auntie. I will definitely bring Ruri back."
As Tamaki took away the photo album, the memory anchor was gone, and Mrs. Gokou's expression became bewildered again:
"Little Sora... why did you come over?"
"..."
Izumi Sora didn't speak, but just looked at Elf, who was sneaking over.
"I checked the room. There's no schoolbag, no phone, not even her slippers."
The blonde loli arrived by Izumi Sora's side and quickly relayed the gathered intelligence.
"Auntie, goodbye."
Izumi Sora gave a slight nod, bidding farewell to Mrs. Gokou, and then turned to leave.
"Sora, you're back?"
Turning the corner of the street, Yanami and Mahiru quickly came to meet him.
Izumi Sora softly explained the situation and then said:
"Let's go. We're going to investigate the intersection surveillance now."
The operation continued.
The group arrived at a convenience store diagonally opposite the subway station exit. This time, Angel-sama took action. Time Stop was activated, and the entire world's pause button was abruptly pressed.
Under the Time Stop state, anything they did wouldn't be discovered. Angel-sama walked behind the cash register and earnestly checked the surveillance footage.
Without any surprises, up until 10:00 PM, Kuroneko's figure didn't appear in the surveillance footage.
After ending Time Stop, Shiina Mahiru's vision suddenly went dark.
"Mahiru?"
Noticing something was wrong, Izumi Sora quickly took two steps forward.
Angel-sama pursed her beautiful lips, saying in a low voice:
"Sora-kun, I can't see anything again."
"Leave it to me." Izumi Sora nodded gently, quickly grasping Mahiru's soft hand. "Let's go sit in the rest area for a bit."
"Okay..."
Given the special circumstances, looking at their joined hands, Yanami and Elf surprisingly didn't get jealous.
"I watched until 10:30 PM. Ruri-chan never appeared in the surveillance footage."
Angel-sama softly relayed the intelligence.
A few minutes later, the magic power purification was complete.
Izumi Sora let go of Mahiru's soft hand. He and the girls headed to the subway station, retracing Kuroneko's steps from last night. They repeated the process and this time clearly saw Kuroneko enter the subway at 9:20 PM.
"There's only footage of her entering the subway, but no footage of her leaving..." Angel-sama exhaled softly. "It seems it really is connected to the subway."
"The subway probably only exhibits anomalies at night. At least when we came over earlier, we didn't feel anything at all." Izumi Sora pressed his fingers against his brow. "It's getting dark. Let's go get something to eat first to replenish our stamina. Tonight, we'll retrace the path Kuroneko took."
The girls naturally had no objections. They didn't know what would happen tonight, so stamina was crucial. It was just that no one had an appetite.
After a simple meal, they went to a convenience store to buy some emergency food, drinks, medicine, and other supplies. The group waited in silence.
Time quietly slipped away, finally reaching 9:00 PM.
The group took the subway, heading to the station where Kuroneko lost contact last night.
However, after arriving, they walked along the passageway and quickly surfaced. Nothing happened during the process.
Izumi Sora frowned slightly: "Let's walk it again."
The group continued to try, walking it several more times. Unfortunately, they still couldn't enter the bizarre subway station from before.
At this moment, Yanami Anna stepped forward:
"Umm... should we try my wishing ability?"
Izumi Sora looked at Yanami: "I'll leave it to you then."
To find Kuroneko, they had to enter the bizarre subway station. Given the current situation, it really wasn't something they could enter just because they wanted to. It likely required meeting some special condition.