(Jay's POV):
After getting flashed in the room, I was teleported to some dark hallway without much vision.
"Precision Protocol"
The mana in here is not exactly thick, so I was pretty much trying to conserve whatever mana I currently have.
I walked forward without hesitation and brought out my sniper rifle. I aimed right in front of me to see a person that seems to have similar features. Robin's point hit the mark, he's really intelligent when it comes to things..
I continued walking forward until I arrived at a large area with various spots for cover.
"Hello there, had your Kaede taken away from you?" - Reflection
When I heard the voice, it was similar to mine. He also had the same exact stature and equipment. Without a doubt I got myself an idea of what I'm about to fight against. A reflection of myself...
"Taken away? Don't worry, she'll come back to us when we find her..."
"You refuse to think that she won't need you anymore huh?" - Reflection
"Shut yourself, Kaede won't do that."
I fired a sniper bullet through the ear without damaging anything. I sent a warning shot to shut his mouth up for now as this might become damaging when I let it be.
The reflection brought out a sniper rifle and held it in a ready position.
"Lester is easy to deal with, but you have a bigger threat soon." - Reflection
"Bigger threat?"
"Oh, I won't tell you... She's with him right now trying to evacuate your friends after all." - Reflection
"Terrence is a friend, Lester? Fuck his guts."
"I see, sniper duels huh..." - Reflection
We both aimed our sniper rifles toward each other being prepared to fire, the reflection said more things to provoke me.
"Let me warn you, Lester will ruin Kaede more later." - Reflection
"I agree to that, he has already neglected her when she needs it!"
Both of us fired the first show at the same time. The bullets collided and deflected each other to different directions.
"It's on..."
I instantly dashed toward some cover and brought out a powerful sniper bullet made by Robin's friend.
"Oh? That sniper bullet? Is it made by him?" - Reflection
What does he mean?
"What do you mean?"
"Missing senpai... That's all I'm gonna say." - Reflection
Missing senpai? Who is he talking about...
I was honestly confused when he suddenly mentioned about something I do not remember at all.
"Missing senpai? What do you mean?"
"I guess I don't remember it. Well, I'm not gonna tell you any more than that." - Reflection
I fired the sniper bullet towards the reflection which destroyed the cover the reflection. However, I didn't manage to damage him as I saw him start running towards another cover. I hide myself and loaded another normal bullet. When I peeked out, I noticed a swift object heading right at my position.
"Shit!"
I dodged back to the cover but my shoulder was grazed by a painful round bullet. Damn, I got hit by my own tricks! Alright! Time to plan out!
I dashed around and moved to another cover after bringing out my pistol for suppressing fire.
"It won't even take a long time! A year or two would be enough! After Lester is gone, she will remember him." - Reflection
"Again, what do you mean by that?!"
I brought out my pistol to fire bullets blindly, making him waste a shot. After he fired, I took position and tried to aim for a spot he'll try to peek with. I timed it well with Precision Protocol and managed to destroy the shoulder of the reflection. An entire arm flew out from the area and plopped down to the ground. The reflection just stood there as I loaded another bullet to my rifle.
"Remember the person who stole her first kiss?" - Reflection
First kiss? Who was it again? Was it Lester? Around a few years ago?
"Are you thinking about the toxic idiot? It's wrong! It was the person she was always comfortable with for half a year!" - Reflection
I didn't want to think any deeper. I for sure know that Kaede will not be taken away by anyone ever.
I simply fired another bullet which the reflection dodged easily. I had to take cover since the reflection drew out the pistol and started firing rapidly towards me without any sign of holding back.
"When the hell was that?!"
"You forgot?! It was a year before you met him!" - Reflection
A year before Lester? I had no idea what happened there aside from Kaede attempting that...
When I thought about it some more, I tried to look for the position of the reflection which I couldn't find. He's probably hiding around somewhere...
I unloaded the small bullet and replaced it with one of the larger sniper bullets. I then looked for the largest cover and destroyed it with a single bullet. After the rubble fell down, nobody was there. Great...
I brought out my pistol again in case the reflection shows up somewhere. Which it finally did after a short silence.
"One day! You suddenly saw Kaede on the rooftop inside another person's arms!" - Reflection
"Impossible! Nothing happened like that!"
"Then why did Kaede want to keep her hair long!?" - Reflection
Multiple bullets entered a crossfire without cover. Both of us were damaged to some extent after the firing but we couldn't rest. We had to continue fighting it out without stopping as we're pretty much close to each other.
We ended up fighting in melee range with a single danger to help out our skills. It was a shoddy fight of metal vs metal. But we were at wits end.
"I don't know! Even she doesn't!"
"That's because she also forgot it too!" - Reflection
I parried the sword while launching a fist directly to the gut. The reflection wasn't able to block it or anything since his left arm is pretty much severed from the rest of the body.
"He even helped you out in school! And then he suddenly disappeared!" - Reflection
Disappeared? What did he mean?
"Don't play dumb! He's the second person that left your Kaede!" - Reflection
When I heard of the statement, I somewhat lost control of myself. I suddenly spaced out and tried to think about the past as memories flooded into me.
If I remember correctly, at the start of sixth grade, Kaede started to wait for another person again at the rooftop. The problem is that he never showed himself again. I remember him showing up, always to comfort Kaede, and always helping me out in the studies. He was the fun, and kind person who is very reliable...
Wait! I shouldn't think about that now!
When I had noticed, I was knocked back by a single kick to the gut. I got launched back and destroyed the cover. I ended up lying on the rubble of the destroyed cover when the reflection disappeared again.
Where is he...
I ended up being in the center area. I have no cover and only a few bullets for the pistol to fire in succession. I just have nothing but patience and a single chance to win in this fight... After waiting for a while, some rubble moved which gave me a signal.
There? Or opposite side?
I then felt a presence on the other side of the rubble which also gives me signals.
Why isn't he attacking immediately when I got my attention to the rubble? Is he trying to bait me out? Well, I pretty much know what I have to do since the missing arm would definitely make me think twice.
When I noticed, more presences are placed around me. I then found out that a moving presence is around here somewhere. I then shot multiple bullets toward the future position of the reflection. At the same time, I gave myself an opening and try to bait the reflection out.
It became a dodging game again where we got ourselves grazed down multiple times.
"Do you remember now?"
The reflection stood there once again exhausted and seems to have lost its stamina.
"One day, that person will return to her memories, and will take your Kaede away... Soon enough, you'll hear her say... 'Thanks Jay, goodbye...'" - Reflection
When I thought about it for a little bit, I noticed that the reflection starts to smile. I brought out my sniper rifle instead of thinking even deeper.
"I didn't know I like playing underhanded tricks... But sorry, I know Kaede wouldn't say that to me."
I shot the reflection and killed it effectively.
I sat down in exhaustion before walking towards the exit and opened the area. There were two figures sitting in a distance that are talking about something while laughing. That's Ridley and Rylle...
"Yo Jay! What happened to you!?" - Rylle
"Quite a rough fight you had?" - Ridley
"I almost screwed myself over, no worries... I had the advantage and spaced out mid-fight."
"Spaced out mid-fight, what's wrong man? Got some random memories flash?" - Rylle
I think they know something about the past... Aside from Ridley, I highly doubt he'll remember anything right now...
"Did you guys know about an upperclassman that we once knew?"
"Upperclassman? What do you mean?" - Rylle
"An upperclassman, when we were fifth grade..."
"Hmm... There was one that Gayle liked... I remember his crystal emblems but I have nothing else..." - Rylle
"Oh, then when we return to the real world... Want a picture Jay?" - Ridley
"You have a picture?"
That helps... I may need to research this person if he's going to come back soon...
"I might have one, a picture when he was with Gayle... I took it since they looked pretty cute together." - Ridley
"I see... Thanks, I'll look into it when we return home."
"Eh? What for?" - Rylle
"I don't know, all I can say that he's gonna be way better than Lester."
I might have a chance to get Kaede's numbness cured...