After breakfast, I talked with Miss Maria and Marina in my room.
"Phew.... What happened to you two?"
"So Hii noticed after all."
"Well, we did wake up in the same bed as you. So? How was it, spending the morning with beauties like us?"
I shoved aside Marina, who was spouting nonsense, and looked at Miss Maria.
She met my eyes and nodded before carefully opening her mouth.
"First of all, this is clearly an abnormal situation."
"An abnormal situation?"
"Maria is right. Something is rewriting this world."
At Marina's words, my head tilted on its own.
So this was a virtual space?
As if reading my expression, both of them shook their heads.
"I know what you're thinking, but this isn't a virtual space."
"That's right. That would be impossible. Because of the damage [Fraxinus] took back then, My Little Shido 2 was completely shut down."
"Then you're saying this is the real world?"
At my question, both of them nodded.
"Huh...."
What the hell was going on?
It felt strange that the two of them had physical bodies now, and everyone else was treating that as perfectly normal.
'...Wait a second.'
Reality rewriting.
Memory manipulation.
That combination sounded awfully familiar.
"Does this situation remind you of anything?"
"Huh? Like what?"
"...! Indeed, that's a plausible guess."
"Huh? What is it!?"
The only one who didn't know was Marina.
Actually, I wasn't sure whether she really didn't know or was just clueless, but either way, Miss Maria had clearly figured out what I was thinking.
"Let's go outside first!"
"Yes!"
"What the hell is it already!!!"
Miss Maria, Marina, and me behind them.
The three of us opened the front door, stepped outside, and looked up at the sky.
A pillar-like structure stretching up into the heavens, and some kind of formless veil pouring out from it.
This was...
"It's exactly like Eden...."
The same Eden that had spread out when Rinne first appeared had manifested in reality.
I was just about to go to Itsuka-kun's house and knock on the door, wondering if this was Rinne's doing, when—
"Hieta! You saw it too, right!?"
Itsuka-kun came over to us.
Rinne was beside him too, and from the flustered look on her face, it was obvious this wasn't her doing.
Then whose was that Eden?
"First of all, that wasn't something Rinne spread out, right?"
"Yeah. It wasn't me."
"I asked Kotori just in case, and she said she had no idea what it was."
Listening to the two of them, it was definitely not Rinne's doing.
Even if it had been Rinne, I couldn't figure out her purpose, and there was no reason for her to create Miss Maria and Marina's bodies or manipulate everyone else's memories.
"Then who the hell spread that out...?"
As the situation sank deeper into a maze, Marina tugged on my collar.
"S-So! What is that thing!?"
Ah, right. I hadn't explained it.
"Oh, that? That's Eden. Rinne's angel."
"What? But you just said it wasn't Rinne's doing."
"Exactly. That's why I have even less idea what the cause is."
While everyone wore serious expressions, Miss Mayuri came running out in a fluster.
"Hieta! Maria and Marina were—wait, why is everyone gathered here?"
"Ah, so Miss Mayuri noticed too."
Seeing that she'd only just realized something was wrong, I briefly summarized the conversation we'd had so far.
Then she furrowed her brow too and started thinking about who could be behind this mess.
"Hmm.... It's definitely not Rinne. Then that means someone else who can spread Eden..."
"W-Why are you looking at me?"
Miss Mayuri's gaze turned toward Itsuka-kun.
Come to think of it, didn't Itsuka-kun's powers include using angels besides sealing?
Maybe everyone else had the same thought, because their eyes all shifted to Itsuka-kun.
"W-Why is everyone looking at me!? It wasn't me! The only angels I can use right now are Sandalphon and Zadkiel! I can only use Kamiel for healing too!"
His passionate denial cleared the suspicion.
"Well, I guess Shido wouldn't have any reason to do something like this anyway."
Then who the hell did it?
Just as the unanswered question lingered, something I'd forgotten came back to me.
"...Ah. Today's a school day."
"...Ah!"
It was a school day, and we were just standing around doing this instead of going in.
The situation had become even more serious than before.
"F-First, let's get ready!"
At Itsuka-kun's cue, everyone went into their own rooms, changed into their uniforms, and came back out.
But why was Miss Maria already in a school uniform?
"Maybe because when I gained a body, I was given a role too. As a high school student who goes to the same school as Hii."
"Then why wasn't Marina...?"
Marina was wearing the exact same clothes she had on when we first met.
In other words, she hadn't been given the role of a student.
"Grrr...!"
Marina clenched her fist so tightly her whole body trembled with frustration.
And then Miss Maria poured fuel on the fire with some excellent flexing.
"Hehe. Marina, you really are pitiful. I get to go with Hii like this."
That made murderous intent spill out of Marina's eyes.
"Enough. Marina, wait until school is over. There's nothing we can do about it."
"......"
Even after my plea, Marina kept her sulky expression.
Man, I had no choice but to pull out the big guns.
"And after that, let's go on a date."
"......!"
As soon as I said that, joy and sorrow crossed over their faces again.
Marina's face filled with surprise and anticipation, while Miss Maria's filled with surprise and jealousy.
Then the Fire Keeper's bag, which had come outside with us, dropped to the ground with a thud.
"My dear? What do you mean by that?"
Cold.
A dagger flew straight into my chest.
I think I may have gone too far.
"My dear?"
"W-Well, you see...."
As the light in the Fire Keeper's eyes began to fade, I explained the situation.
Marina couldn't go to school with us, so I wanted to spend time with her after classes instead.
Only after I explained it that way did the Fire Keeper smile kindly and say she understood.
"I thought my dear was just a lecher who asked anyone out on dates."
"...Lecher."
"Guhk!"
Miss Maria's voice stabbed in from the side.
She was puffing out her cheeks with a sullen expression, clearly dissatisfied.
"Hmm...."
As I broke into a cold sweat over the incredibly awkward situation, Marina moved in beside me and hooked her arm through mine.
"Hmph."
And then came the sneer.
That icy little laugh made everyone present gasp, and Miss Maria's expression darkened even more.
"Who was it that said life is all about timing?"
"...Marina. Is this revenge?"
"Who knows? Still, unlike certain people, I’ll be going around together with just one other person~"
As Marina said that, the atmosphere around us turned frigid.
The others all put as much distance between themselves and me as possible.
Part of me wanted to run away too, but if I did, I knew an even bigger backlash would be waiting for me, so I decided to stand there like a stone statue.
"Hehehe. Marina. If your goal was to provoke me, then you succeeded."
"Oh? Really? I wasn't really trying to."
The two of them traded words in the icy air.
It was a mood no different from a life-or-death situation, except without the knife, when Itsuka-kun stepped in.
"Um, hey...."
"What is it?"
"What?"
"We're going to be late if we keep this up...."
Right.
We had gotten ready to go to school.
And yet here we were, doing this.
Hearing that we were about to be late, I quickly pulled away from Marina.
"Ah."
"Sorry! Marina! Let's meet after school!"
Marina looked disappointed, but at the promise to meet later, she smiled again.
Miss Maria's expression as she watched that was terrifying, but I decided to ignore it.
'Please, future me.'
I shoved the whole situation aside for later, thinking something that would make my future self recoil and unleash a stream of profanity if he heard it.
"...Hii."
Miss Maria puffed out her cheeks and closed the distance, as if to make it clear she was pouting.
Then she grabbed my arm and linked hers through it.
"Hmph."
It was an action that seemed aimed straight at Marina.
Miss Maria smiling at Marina as if this were her revenge felt strangely unfamiliar.
Were they always like this...?
"Hmph!"
I decided to ignore Marina's snort from behind us.
If I turned around now, I felt like there'd be no coming back from it.
With that thought, we ran to school so we wouldn't be late.
"...I think this sometimes, but if Hieta had just stayed still, wouldn't things have been fine?"
"Agreed."
"Hey!?"
I can hear you, you childhood friends!?
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