The class is silent, with an exception of Yuuma looking around, confused.
"What the heck happened?" Yuuma asked, obviously sensing something's off in the room. While I was flustered with what happened, I heard a giggling voice. I stopped covering my face, I looked around, to see Yuuma looking at me. He stood up and approached me.
"Hey you, you're not doing anything weird here huh?" Yuuma asked. So impolite to call me "you".
I shook my head. When such things happened, I would only think of looking for Ryutenji, the only person who knows what happened in this "world". The giggling appears again. It's giving me chills.
"Hey, answer me." Yuuma said impatiently.
"Did you hear someone giggling?" I asked.
Yuuma looked around and listened, he shook his head.
"Did you just laid a curse on everyone?" Yuuma said, raising one of his eyebrows.
"No, I didn't I have no idea what happened..." I said.
"Everyone became like this after you said your name, how could this be possible?" Yuuma said.
I quickly stood up and check the other classes, the other classes are studying, just as normal I wonder if I actually stun people who knew me back in my "world"? How is Yuuma not affected now? I can't involve Yuuma in this, I must look for Ryutenji to understand more about this world.
I ran out, climbed over a wall to get out of the school. I have no time to waste, I headed to the hospital, hoping to see Ryutenji again. I panted... I sat down on a bench outside the hospital, before I noticed, Dr. Hiro came over.
"Why are you here?" He asked.
"Uh... I'm looking for a guy called Ryutenji... I'm not sure if I'm able to find him here now..." I said.
"Hmm, I can't help you with this. Is there any reason for you to look for him?" Dr. Hiro asked.
I never see this man before is it? The more I think about it, I think I saw Dr. Hiro before, it's when Yuuma is admitted to this hospital, he happened to pass by.
I told him my circumstances, from how Yuuma died, to how I came here after sleeping.
"Did you happened to wish upon a star?" Dr. Hiro said something surprising. I'm surprised.
"Wait, how did you know?" I asked.
"I, too wished upon a star, that appears in the sky in July. I wondered what happened, that I suddenly found a cure for their disease, though I'm not so sure about the rate of success. But it's a miracle to find a cure after I was going to give up my research." Dr. Hiro said.
"Do you happened to appear in another "world" like me?" I asked.
"No, I didn't have any oddities like you." He responded.
"Perhaps... You had undergone some kind of trial? Like how it is depicted in The Rain Goddess' lore?" I said something stupid, I think. Dr. Hiro is also shocked.
"Uh... I think I did... I gave up my dreams and studied to become a doctor, when I knew that my sister was diagnosed to have a chronic disease." He said.
The moody sky started raining, could it be the Rain Goddess is nearby? I just thought. I glanced over the horizon before me. I noticed a young girl with a old traditional umbrella, which does not suit her style at all. She looked this way.
"Well, my break is over. We may talk again if we meet again." Dr. Hiro stood up, quickly finishing his coffee.
"Ah, thank you for talking with me." I bowed to him. He nods before leaving.
I looked at the girl, she is still looking at me. I have a lot of questions, I can't bother to stay quiet. I must look for answers, ways to stay or leave this "world". I don't care anymore. Which of the "worlds" are real, and which are not? As I stepped out, my body is not wet by the rain... Nothing even makes sense here. Is this a dream? I think I asked this more than once.
I approached the girl, I did not get wet although it's raining.
"Are you the Rain Goddess?" I asked.
She thinks for a while, then shakes her head.
"So weird to ask this to a girl..." I muttered. I held her hand and tried to ask her to sit at the bench with me. She quickly pulled her hand off mine, the rain becomes heavier, wetting my body immediately.
I turned back to get her again, but she's gone... I ran back to the bench for shelter. I look at my reflection in the glass doors, I look miserable... For some reason, I thought that she's the Rain Goddess for a while.
"I heard you were looking for me, no?" That voice, it's Ryutenji!
I caught a cold... And it felt similar like that day, the day where everything started... Wait, a rain!
Ryutenji sat down. "I think you know what happened is it?" He asked.
I'm not sure about this, but he seemed to always able to read my mind. I wonder why...
"About my classmates..." I prompted a question, but didn't finish it. He gave me a look that seems like he's waiting for me to finish my question.
"... When I said my name to them, they seems like stunned, and not moving at all... Why is this happening?"
Ryutenji spent some time, thinking.
"If you bring up memories you have with the people here, who never seen you in this world, you are somehow connecting the two worlds, this big load of information will cause a confusion to those affected people. In other words, you are the bridge to cross over to your own world." Ryutenji said.
I feel more disconnected as he tell more about this world. Perhaps I really do not belong in this world. There is a question that needs an answer.
"How can I avoid causing confusion to people who knew me?"
Ryutenji thought, he took out an amulet.
"Here, hold this for a while. Think of the things you remember from your world."
I held the amulet, and did as he said.
My body suddenly feels hot, could it be that I'm back in my world where I was still having a fever? When I regained my senses, I'm returned to the bench where Ryutenji is sitting next to me. He retrieved his amulet.
"I covered up your connection from your world. The world will remain balanced as long as you don't use your own name, or revoke any memories you have with your friends here." He said.
"From now on, use your name as Mizuhara Rinka. For people who just knows you in this world, they will rember your original name. Perhaps, you need to convince them to change their way to call you." Ryutenji said, looking quite exhausted. I wonder how much effort he put in for my sake. Or rather than asking this, I should wonder about who is he? How did he know about my circumstances?
"You can all me, a retainer for the Goddess. I'm supposed to fulfil my duties by leading those who were under her trials." Ryutenji said.
Wow, what bullshit is this? A retainer that helps cleaning mess for a troll goddess? I took a deep breath, trying my best to not anger them both.
"I have a last question, how do I return to my world?"
"The answer resides in your heart, isn't this what you wished for?" Ryutenji said, without spending a pause of time thinking. I think, the more I talk with him, the more bullshit I'll get.
"The rain didn't stop huh?" Ryutenji opened an umbrella and left, I remained there because of the rain. I looked at the time, it's already after school hours, I wondered how long I was here... Or the time flows differently in this world? Before I started trying to rush out of the rain, I saw someone. It's Yuuma, who is holding an umbrella.
"Rinka... You're here huh... What happened, why did you ran out of the school?" Yuuma seemed worried.
"I'm sorry... I... I..." I couldn't stand well, I collapsed.
"Rinka? Rinka! ... Rika!"
I couldn't hear anything afterwards. But Yuuma calling my name... It made me happy. I woke up, finding myself in a ward. I touched my forehead, it's just a slight fever.
"So you woke up huh? Rinka." Yuuma called me after entering the room.
"I'm sorry." Is what I can really say. Since he used the name Rinka, I should go along with this too.
I looked at the time, it's already 9:00pm. I thought of searching the star, perhaps wishing upon it would bring me back. I slowly walked to the window, and looked outside, nothing. Nothing is there, only stars that did not resemble the star I'm not searching for. Could it be a one time offer? I didn't know. Yuuma came over to the window as well. He stood right there. I looked at him, his face is filled with fascination. Well I forgot that he was a fan of astronomy as well. Perhaps he saw something he likes.
"You... Do you like stars?" I tried to prompt a conversation. Even though I already knew almost everything about him. Uh... Maybe not, I don't know where he hid his collection of mags.
"Yes!" He replied enthusiastically. Looking at him like this eases my heart, I, really like him. Why didn't I accept his confession before? He talked about astronomical stuff, in which I look interested, but I just like his enthusiastic version of himself. Or rather I just like him.
The night would turn into dawn, nothing is forever. Same goes to the conversation we just had. It's odd that Yuuma didn't ask me any further about the stunned classmates and sensei. I think Ryutenji settled it by casting a spell? I wonder. It'll be a new day, good night.