"Yo~! Hase!" A bespectacled young woman with messy brunette hair wrapped her arm around a cute girl with braided hairs' shoulder while greeting her with great familiarity.
Hase was startled for a moment but she immediately recognized the voice and calmed down, "Kiryuu-san, please stop attacking me from behind. I can never get used to it."
It was afternoon and the last class just ended so everyone was either going home or going to their respective clubs. Aika was also about to go home, but she saw a familiar back, so she decided to say hi and maybe kill some time while teasing her, "How can I stop~? Every time I do this, you squeal like a small hamster."
"Regardless, please stop doing it. It's really bad for my heart."
Aika grinned at her response and continued, "Really? Bad for your heart, huh? By the way, how is it going between you and Matsuda?"
"W-w-w-what do you mean? W-we're just friends!" Hase frantically explained while avoiding Aika's face.
"I see... You must be very good friends to go shopping last weekend with just the two of you~!"
"T-t-that... I asked him to help me choose a gift for my little brother's upcoming birthday!" Hase further explained with beet-red cheeks and a palpitating heart.
Aika separated from Hase with a small chuckle and said, "Now, now. Don't be nervous. Didn't he save you that one time, and you asked me to introduce him to you so you'd get to know him better? Nothing's wrong with the two of you getting along and maybe going a step further. Though he's a big pervert, he's a decent guy that won't commit a crime..." In the middle of it, Aika recalled the crime that the perverted trio had committed and pulled back, "Well... maybe except for voyeurism. You'll have to make an effort to stop that bad habit of his."
Hase looked at Aika's clear gold-colored eyes with curiosity and said, "Just now, you sound really mature. Do you perhaps have a boyfriend?"
Aika knew the answer to that question, however, just as she opened her mouth, she hesitated, '...What? Why am I hesitating? What is this feeling of loss? I shouldn't have any... or do I?'
But she immediately tossed that doubt to the back of her mind and answered, "Of course not~! All my experience comes from magazines."
Nevertheless, that slight bit of hesitation only enlarged the ember called curiosity within Hase's mind, "But didn't you lose a year's worth of memories? Who knows? Maybe you got close to someone and just forgot about him!"
Aika smiled wryly and immediately denied it, "If there was someone like that, he would have come looking for me long ago." But even refusing such a notion, she can't seem to get it out of her mind, 'Really... That's impossible.'
Disappointed, Hase sighed, "That's true... But it's really a wonder what you have been doing in Kyoto for the whole year. I heard you beat up a group of delinquents at the park when they tried to forcefully invite you to hang out with them. I'm sure you never took Karate or any martial arts lessons."
"Right~ My body instinctively moved and before I knew it, those guys were already groaning in pain on the ground. Good thing they love their pride very much and ran away before any officer arrived or else it would have been a mess to deal with."
Despite the casual way she addressed this issue, she found it strange that she has this ability and this strangeness helped doubt and fear sprout and bloom within her. Of course, she asked her parents about this and they only said that one day she wanted to enter a dojo that teaches Karate and Judo for self-defense. They have no idea why she wanted to do so, but they apparently supported her and helped her choose a school.
With them showing the receipt, there shouldn't be any room for uncertainty. However, she didn't mention to them that the moment she felt threatened, the first thing she instinctively wanted to do was to pull out her sword, 'There's nothing that said I ever learned Kendo, nor were there any masters of the sword among the instructors within that dojo... So why? Why did I think I had to pull out my sword?'
This occasion prompted Aika to further dig for information about her this past year from her parents, which in turn, they presented Aika with all sorts of documents ranging from school records, medical records, and even some photos and videos. Her existence was perfectly documented without any flaw. Little did they know that despite returning to her normal life, the daughter that they know was already a changed person.
Aika's personality didn't change nor did her world views and morals. However, the abilities that were directly ingrained in her body and soul couldn't be masked completely. While Aika responded normally to their stories about her, she was only thinking, 'They are lying...'
Through the subtle movement of their muscles, eyes, and breath, Aika reached to a conclusion that they must be lying, 'But why? And how were they able to prepare this elaborate lie that only happens in movies if it was one? And how the hell am I able to tell that they're lying? Did hitting my head awaken some kind of ability in me?'
All of these made her think that she might actually be in a simulation, which is a possibility that she threw right away into the realm of impossibility. Also from then on, due to her having numerous doubts, her 'detection' ability seemed to have improved as she could 'see' something different and special from a select few students and teachers, most of whom hailed from the Student Council and the Occult Research Club.
Without altering her parents' memories, this was the avenue that Kisuke left for her to return.
The curiosity she had for these individuals overflowed, so she attempted to investigate them. But this decision only came to be because she wanted to forget her current reality that was ripping apart her understanding of things.
Even then, the result of her stalking only ended up as attempts since whenever she tried following them quietly or waiting for them in hiding, she would always be discovered. She wasn't aware that she was leaking her own aura to these Devils.
"...Kiryuu-san!"
Hase's voice woke Aika from her deep contemplation, "Yes?"
"Are you alright? Does it hurt anywhere?" Hase asked in concern, "You just suddenly started staring at nothing blankly."
"Ah, sorry about that. I'm just thinking of something trivial."
"Are you sure? This has been happening frequently. Why don't you try visiting a doctor? Maybe there's a complication developing that you're not aware of."
"It's true that I'm just thinking of something. Thanks for the concern though. I appreciate it."
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AN (09/03/22): Sorry for the delay. The Internet has been very unstable these past few days and I totally forgot to update the WN side.