The next day, the lady didn’t come to school. The teacher kept calling her name, but there was no answer. I just sat there blankly, staring at the back door of the classroom.
“Tokisaki Kurumi isn’t coming to school anymore.”
It was a quiet voice, yet it reached my ears with perfect clarity. I kept my eyes fixed on the back door, wondering if she really wasn't coming.
“Seriously... if you're going to be absent, at least let us know properly...”
As the teacher continued to grumble, a figure appeared at the back door. It was her. She met my eyes through the glass, smiling with her eyes just as she had before, and opened the door to enter.
“Present.”
“Tokisaki-san, you’re late!”
“I’m sorry. I wasn’t feeling well on my way to school...”
“Are you okay?”
My emotions were a whirlwind—relieved that she had actually shown up, but also wondering how I was supposed to face her now. I turned my gaze toward Tobiichi, the one who had claimed she wouldn't be coming. Confusion was written all over Tobiichi's face; for some reason, she seemed extremely flustered by the lady's appearance.
What's with her?
-Bzzt! Bzzt!
My phone suddenly buzzed. I checked the screen to find a text from the commander saying she had something to show us and that we should come to the physics prep room during lunch.
****
Time passed, and lunch break finally arrived. Itsuka-kun and I asked Tohka for permission and headed to the physics prep room.
“So, what is it you wanted to show us?”
At Itsuka-kun’s question, Murasame-san brought something up on the screen. Cheerful music began to play, and the title appeared on the display: My Little Shido 2.
““A sequel?!””
Why the hell is there a sequel?!
“Ah, wrong file. This is it—the video from yesterday.”
Murasame-san operated the remote and pulled up a different video. In it were the lady, Takamiya-san, Tobiichi, and the AST.
“Huh? Hieta? Why do you look like that?”
“Huh? Ah, it’s nothing.”
At Itsuka-kun’s words, I touched my face and realized my expression had stiffened. I suppose I had been thinking about yesterday's events, and my face had reacted without me noticing. I forced my expression to relax and focused on the video again.
In the video, Takamiya-san began equipping a CR-Unit. In response, the lady manifested her angelic weapon, and just as she raised her hand to act—
“Huh?”
She was blown clean through, from her stomach up to her chest, by a laser fired by Takamiya-san. Still, as expected of a spirit, she managed to get back up even after taking such a hit. But then, the same area was pierced again by another laser, and the lady’s body collapsed backward, helpless. Takamiya-san walked up to the fallen woman and, with practiced ease and without the slightest hesitation, sliced her throat open with a laser blade.
Shhk! Shhk!
The sound of flesh being sliced echoed through the room. Itsuka-kun covered his mouth with his hand and gagged. I just kept staring at the screen, wondering who the lady who came to school today was, and who the lady I had met yesterday had been.
“As you just saw, Tokisaki Kurumi was killed yesterday by the AST—specifically by Takamiya Mana. Completely, perfectly, with absolutely no room for doubt.”
“No way... but Kurumi was at school normally today...”
“Looks like that’s the case.”
“We don’t know that for sure.”
Listening to the three of them talk, I thought it over carefully. The word “I” that the other lady in the dark space had used. And the lady who had died on screen but appeared at school today. What could that possibly mean?
“...Resurrection, or a clone.”
“What?”
The former wasn’t impossible. Right now, even I come back to life when I die. Of course, I’m a special case. But if that were the explanation, the other lady’s case still wouldn’t make sense. But what if it was a clone? If it were the latter, then everything would fit. The lady who died in the video was a clone. The lady who helped me escape was either a clone or the original. I still don’t know why she helped me, though. Regardless, the latter was more likely. Or maybe both. Ugh, clones remind me of that damn Sullivan. That British bastard from Dark Souls 3.
“Hey! What did you just say?!”
“Huh, wha?”
At the commander’s shout, I snapped out of my thoughts. When I looked up, everyone was staring at me. The commander was shouting right in my face.
“Why didn’t you answer when I kept calling you!”
“Ah, I had a few things on my mind. So, why did you call me?”
“I asked what you just said!”
“Ah... I think it’s probably a clone. If it’s a clone, then everything makes sense.”
At my opinion, the commander nodded. “Indeed, that makes sense. If the one who died in that video was a clone, then it’s a plausible theory. So the angel’s ability is cloning, huh...”
The commander kept muttering to herself as she processed the information. Once she finished organizing her thoughts, she looked at Itsuka-kun.
“I don’t know whether Kurumi is a clone or not. But as long as she exists, the operation continues. Tomorrow is the school anniversary, so we’re off. Ask Kurumi out on a date.”
“Even after all this?!”
Itsuka-kun stepped back in shock. The commander told him that was exactly why he had to do it. She didn’t know if Kurumi was a clone or had resurrected—but if she had resurrected, they had no way of knowing if she could do it again next time, so he had to act now.
“The AST has probably already been informed that Tokisaki Kurumi is alive. Definitely through Tobiichi Origami. And of course, Takamiya Mana too.”
When Murasame-san backed up the commander’s words, Itsuka-kun accepted the order with a thoroughly serious expression.
That was the end of it. As we left the physics prep room and headed back to class, the lady called out to me. I had no idea when she’d gotten there.
“Hiei-ta-san~”
“Yes? What is it?”
“Would you mind talking with me for a moment, just the two of us~?”
Itsuka-kun also looked startled by the sudden invitation. Naturally, I answered in a similarly surprised voice.
“N-now?”
“Yes. Surely you’re not refusing...?”
The lady looked dejected. The passing female students saw this and started whispering among themselves. If this went wrong, my reputation would go straight to hell, so I quickly accepted her invitation and moved to a more private spot.
“So, what is it?”
“Hehe, are you really unaware, or are you pretending not to know~?”
Of course I was pretending. She was probably curious why I, who had been absorbed previously, was now walking around perfectly fine.
“Hoo... let me ask just one thing. Are you ‘that lady’?”
“I wonder~”
Seeing her brush off my question so casually, I figured she wasn’t the one who had helped me back then.
“Hiei-ta-san. How did you get out of that space~?”
“I wonder~”
When I threw the same answer back at her with a hint of revenge, the lady frowned slightly and stepped toward me. I pulled a talisman from my inventory and gripped it tightly, preparing for the worst.
“What the—!”
Suddenly, white hands emerged from behind me and dragged my body into the wall. Just like that, I was pinned there by those pale hands, forced to watch as the lady approached.
As she drew closer and closer, I stared at her with wide eyes. The lady smiled faintly and leaned in to whisper in my ear.
“Hehe, don’t be so on guard. I do like you, you know~? But it’s better to save the fun for later.”
With those meaningful words, the lady vanished into the shadows. I was still reeling from what had happened when the bell rang to signal the end of lunch, so I forced my body to move and headed back to class.
“Huh? Hieta, where did Kurumi go?”
“Ah, she left first. Looks like she hasn’t come back yet.”
I answered Itsuka-kun’s question as casually as I could the moment I walked through the door, then headed to my seat.
Haah... what the hell is going on?
I buried my head on my desk and sank into thought, replaying the encounter, when Tohka’s voice came from beside me.
“Huh? Hieta. Your face is the same color as your hair. Are you all right?”
At Tohka’s words, Itsuka-kun also looked at me with concern.
“Hieta. Are you okay? Like Tohka said, your face is really red.”
I brought a hand to my face and felt that it was indeed hot. I guess I had turned red while thinking about what had just happened.
“H-haha... I’m fine. I’m just a little dizzy, so I’ll rest for a bit.”
Even after my answer, Itsuka-kun still looked worried, but I only buried my face deeper in embarrassment, my skin growing even redder as I pressed my forehead to the desk and wrapped my arms around my head.
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