Rei POV
Is this what endless freedom feels like?
Everyone is busy with something and that's the best feeling ever
Yesterday, the curtain of the night fell inside this cruise ship
The lark of this morning it's closer than ever, and finally...
"Rechi, you are unbelievable!"
The end... of my rotten dream
"What do you mean?" I questioned her while pouting
"Don't play the idiot!!! We are on a luxurious cruise ship and you are wasting this rare opportunity to play video games" Harukasan expressed her feelings of annoyance
"I'm just babysitting Kazuki, what would happen when she wakes up without my presence here?"
"Rechi... She's not five..."
"But, she's my childhood friend"
She sighed
That's a negative coincidence. Out of every god-damned possibility inside this damned class, I'm stuck with the mother...
"I'll stay here until she wakes up then... and destroy your escape route"
It's a suspicious behavior all around
"Oh great Harukasan, I'm kind of lost here. Explain to me your berserker like reasoning"
She flicked my forehead with her finger
"Ouch!"
"It's payback, you've terrorized our class for a long time"
"I'm not even in charge anymore, what's the point?"
"Nothing is pointless, Rechi"
I sighed
"We were at the bottom of the barrel. That was the only successful approach inside my head"
"That's a lie, Rechi. You continued the same approach even after our first promotion"
"My actions and moves were not in vain, we successfully reached Class A. Like an important historical figure said in the past 'In this world, winning is everything. Your methods don't matter. I don't care what I have to sacrifice. As long as I have my victory in the end, I'll be fine' "
"Rechi..." She uttered my name with disappointment inside her voice
"What?"
"Your history books... give them to me!!!" She shouted
Kukuku Ayanokōji Kiyotaka is a historical figure
Let's play her game
"I refuse"
"What?!"
"One of my absolute favorite things to do, is to tell someone who I think is strong, no" I said proudly with a smug face
She flicked my forehead again
"Turning this whole thing into a reference will not save you from me seizing all your history books"
"Y-You are not my mother!"
"I am!!! I'll seize everything after we return!"
Jokes on you, pdf is my savor
"Let's change the subject, where's Kokoro-chan?"
"Unlike you... she's not inside this cave of yours"
"It's yours too"
She flicked my forehead once more
Oi!!!
"S-Stop this!!!"
"No~"
She starts to act like Ichika and that's not good
I have no choice
"We will join you..."
She smirked after my hollow defeat...
Ichika was her tutor and influenced her personality... a little
In this parallel timeline, she met Akito as usual and after that she joined our hobby club
Their Ayanokōji Group is still possible but with slightly different members
"Rechi! Rechi!"
"Sorry, I got lost in thought"
"Don't worry, Rechi. You will never find your ideal boyfriend with this personality of yours"
...
It's time for the counterattack
"Don't worry, my standards are extremely high for something trivial like this. On the other hand, I'll gladly roleplay as you~"
"Don't you dare!"
"Harukasan be like 'Until now, I had never been in a relationship with anyone. But I would be lying if I said I had never had anyone I lik-' "
She put her hands in front of my mouth
"Rechi!!! Stop doing that!!!" She shouted embarrassed and creeped out at the same time
You asked for it!!!
Normally, her monologue is a lot later but humans have a habit to think the same things over and over again
Kazuki woke up from our little commotion
"What are you doing?" She questioned our actions while yawning
I freed myself
"S-She wanted to steal me from your endless love~"
"That's not nice, Haruka. Our relationship is serious"
"Th-That's not it!!!"
She got fluttered after Kazuki's teasing and simultaneously realized something else
"Wh-What!!!???"
"We're just teasing you~"
"Rei-chan is right, but it's also a possible scenario for us~" She teased her with an innocent smile
"Th-That's..."
She's shocked, I'm sure of it
"That's amazing. As your mother, I support this" She expressed her positive feelings proudly
What?
WHAAAAAAAT!?
That's awkward... I can barely keep my face straight, I need some lessons from Kiyotaka
Let's change subject again
"Harukasan is right, we need to spend some time outside, I've seen an interesting arca-"
She slammed my head with her palm
"NO GAMING!!!"
"F-Fine..." I said sheepishly
She's very strict... but that's something positive for me. A lot of years passed since I've felt this
We waited Kazuki for almost one hour to get herself ready
This sloth-girl is too slow!!!
"I'm ready~"
"That took only a century" I said a little annoyed
Harukasan sighed
"We need to hurry, the facilities will close in a couple of hours"
"So what's our destination, Haruka?" Kazuki asked her
"Let's start with a walk" Harukasan said happily
We started walking. In the meantime, we made a casual conversation
"Can I speculate a little?" I asked to clear this suspicious behavior of hers
"Eh?"
"We were the only available friends for you, am I right?"
After some seconds, she hesitantly answered my question
"You are right... For some bizarre reason, you are the only ones available right now. There is also another reason... yesterday you spend the entire day doing nothing"
It's time to confirm something
"We thought that you formed a group with your new friends" I said randomly checking the existence of the Ayanokōji Group
"They went yesterday for a theatrical performance and returned late to their rooms. I was not that interested in that" She said while yawning
I have to agree with her, the majority of them bore me to death too
Also, she indirectly confirmed the existence of the Ayanokōji Group too
"The Wings of Icarus?" I asked using my cheat clairvoyance
"Yes but ho-"
"We are shut-ins but our information network is huge" Kazuki came to the rescue
That's true even without my cheat clairvoyance
On social information, we have another cheat code 'Social Network Algorithm : Kikyō'
"The pool is a good idea for our next destination. I want to see Kōenji~" I recommended
"A shut-in that has the ability to communicate with Kōenji. You're kind of similar in a way, you always do your own thing" Haruka commented
"We desire freedom. That's why we can communicate with each other flawlessly. Kazuki is pretty much the same and some others too"
"She is right, Haruka" Kazuki confirmed my words
"You are both weird. Most people try their best to be optimal"
"We are not 'most people'. With a lot of skills your responsibilities double or even triple in some cases"
"Isn't that a good thing?"
"Reality is often disappointing. You will only realize that in adulthood"
"What do you mean?"
I sighed
"Its impossible to explain it, you need to experience it"
Suddenly, an announcement arrived to our ears which destroyed our plans...
Attention, students. Please assemble on the deck. You will be able to see the island soon. This is a good time to take in some rather significant scenery
"I have a bad feeling..." Kazuki started to prepare Harukasan for our grim future
We are almost on the deck and Kiyopon's group is missing. Is that Horikita?
"You look a little pale, are you ok?" I asked
"I-I don't know. I have a similar feeling as last time" Horikita answered my question
She has symptoms
"Last time?" Haruka asked
"I have motion sickness" Horikita lied
She's good
"What do you think of this whole cruise ship business, Horikita?" I continued our acting
"It's definitely suspicious. I wouldn't be surprised if they suddenly announced a special exam or something similar" She "speculated"
"This whole thing is suspicious for me too" Kazuki agreed
"W-Wait a minute!? I thought... it was just a vacation trip" Harukasan said surprised
She's upset
"Like many others... but Harukasan... like I said before this school is not an ordinary school but something else entirely" I confirmed Horikita's words
"At the end of the day, it's only speculation" Kazuki lied too
"You are right..." Haruka agreed with Kazuki sheepishly
"The scenery is actually good" I said impressed
The others nodded
Another announcement came over the PA speakers
We will disembark in thirty minutes. Please assemble on the deck. All students should have changed into their jerseys. Make sure to check your designated bag and your luggage, and do not forget your cell phone. Please keep all other personal items in your room. There is a possibility that you will not be able to visit the bathroom for some time, so please do so now
I started laughing along with Kazuki
Harukasan was in total shock
"What the hell!?"
"It's not speculation, after all!!!" I said trying to wipe my tears from my laughter
"The announcement said that 'you will not be able to visit the bathroom for some time'. Haruka, they will throw us randomly on that random island to survive in the middle of nowhere" Kazuki said trying to hold her laughter
"I have no words... Horikita-san started to predict everything too. It's kind of creepy to be honest"
That's kind of true
"We are not the only ones. For example, Chiaki-chan suspected that something was wrong after Chie-chan's announcement. People slowly and steadily start to understand this school" I said a half truth to her
"I-I understand" She said embarrassed
We're trolling her right now but if she ever realizes that... Death will be close for me
Kiyotaka's group arrived
"Rechan, I want to ask you something~ Privately~" Ichika wants me for something
"Harukasan, keep Kazuki safe"
It's for her unique condition
"I know, I know" She said with a sigh
We left them and went somewhere without cameras
Ichika became serious
I changed to a similar expression
"You already know what happened to me, am I right?"
"Yes, Horikita got her other memories at the same time as you"
"Something is not right, some of my memories are fundamentally different"
I widened my eyes
"Everything stayed the same until no-"
"It's not that, you bitch!!!"
She touched her forehead and closed her eyes
She's in a lot of pain
"I'm sorry... It's just... I'm barely awake right now..."
Her stamina is insane
For someone like her to be almost in her knees, it's something serious
"No, it's my fault. For you to act out of character it's already sad for me. I would try and fix this"
"How? It's a mental problem inside my head"
"If the deity ignores my entire existence then I will force her to act" I said angrily
She got surprised
I removed a hidden knife and aimed it towards my stomach
Ichika barely reacted
"St-"
The knife disappeared in thin air and everything froze
--------------------------------------------------------------
"What are you doing?"
"That's my question, where the fuck are you?"
"I'm busy with something important. I've already told you that"
"Some negative developments happened the last couple of days"
"I cut temporarily my connection with you, that's the reason I was absent"
"You are a fucking idiot then, your memory spell went out of control!!!"
"What!!!???"
"Your reaction tells me everything..."
"It's not that you idiotic fragment! For Ayanokōji and Karuizawa, I used Hmmmm let's say a level 1 memory spell"
"Then what happened???"
"Obviously, my power inside your world it's a lot better. When I possessed you, I used simple spells that clearly hid that difference"
"Some people get overlapping memories like Ichika. She's in a lot of pain right now. Fix her!!!!"
"I can only remove the pain as a side effect. Their state of mind will be at your hands from now on. Like you already guessed people will start to get their memories back"
"What happened to the artifacts?"
"I was in the middle of that, where are you right now?"
"You don't know?"
"Like I said, we are not connected"
"It's almost time for our survival game"
"Right in time"
"For what?"
--------------------------------------------------------------
She ignored me
"Stop!!! Wait... What!!!???"
Ichika widened her eyes in shock
"I tested if I had a plot armor mechanism on me and I was right. How's your head?" I asked her clearly concerned
She slapped her forehead gently like a kid and after that showed me a childish smile
"Surprisingly, I'm a lot better"
"What happened with your memories?"
"They are both there but I don't care about that. The memories inside the White Room are meaningless to me"
"That's good to know"
"As a little reward~ let me give you a warning"
She changed to her cold expression
"The mental state of the people with different memories will be in a lot of danger in the future. My case was not that severe because of slight changes. You need countermeasures for a lot of different scenarios even possible suicides. This is my warning"
I'm speechless beyond anything right now
"Wh-What!!!!????"
"Like I said, this is my warning. Kiyotaka came to the same conclusion"
I started crying
It was impossible for me to predict this twist
I felt sick and wanted to vomit right there but Ichika realized that and punched my belly
I fell to my knees defeated. It was impossible to control my overreaction to this whole thing
"It's kind of idiotic to blame yourself, you know that right?"
I barely nodded because of my meltdown
She sighed
"Kiyotaka was right, you are utterly hopeless without us. You are still holding on your own because of your "almighty knowledge". When something negative happens out of your control, you give up quickly. You give others those so perfect speeches, but at the end of the day you never follow even a small fraction of them yourself. This whole situation is your fault and not at the same time, if you decide that everything is your fault then you need to fight for a possible solution. Right now, you're a useless worm that tries to hide pathetically. Your choice is yours" She revealed the harsh truth coldly
It's a weird thing seeing her like this but at the same time... I'm glad
"I-I understand..." I accepted her brutal words with some tears
"Also, you copy regularly a lot of different personalities. This is a big mistake, you lose your own uniqueness when you do that" She added
She is right...
I calmed down after some minutes and she waited patiently for me
"Seeing you without your usual teasing personality is weird for me" I said to her with a chuckle
She changed to her kohai persona
"Let's go~ Kei-senpai needs her daily teasing~"
I chuckled again
"You are right" I said to her with a genuine smile
We started to walk together towards our rooms
"I thought that you only cared for your darling Kiyotaka" I jokingly expressed my surprise
"Yes, that's true but for some reason I have a feeling of gratitude towards you. Your whole existence gave me the chance to spend more time with my precious Kiyotaka-senpai~"
"I've also learned that you created a new friends group" I said proudly
"That's right~"
She suddenly remembered something
"If that friend of yours turns into bitch-senpai. We will expell her" She gave me a warning
"I took every action possible for her to have a happy ending. I'll try and convince Kikyō after she gets her memories but you have my approval if things turn ugly. Also, you gave her quite a ruthlessly beating back there" I agreed with her
"That's good to know~"
We arrived
"See you later"
She smiled and went towards her own room
Her help was totally necessary for me and I'm extremely grateful for that
In the future, I'll support her with everything I have
Well then... It's time for the island exam
Author's note
I felt that Ichika was left out and wanted to give her an important scene to fix that
Some of them had entirely different childhoods in comparison with their other memories. That will create some interesting scenes in the future
This chapter was difficult for me, I rewrote the second half three times. I felt that my other ideas where out of place completely
Until next time 😆