After the Empty Box: Echoes of Maria and the Whereabouts of the Everyday - The best friend who disappeared

Minase City, on the verge of spring break's end, was wrapped in soft light from the morning on. April first. On the calendar, a new school year had begun, but the halls of Minase Prefectural High School still held their quiet. Hoshino Kazuki parked his bicycle at the rack beside the school gate and kicked down the rusted stand with his foot. A small metallic clack was swallowed by the morning air. The cherry trees lining the path from the gate to the school building had begun to bloom all at once, urged on by the past few days' warmth. Pale pink petals rode the wind, skimming across the asphalt. Kazuki watched them from the corner of his eye as he walked toward the central building. (Is anyone here today, I wonder.) Even during spring break, plenty of students came to school for club activities or supplementary lessons. But Kazuki hadn't come today for any particular reason. He just couldn't settle at home. Ever since the classroom clock had stopped that night, something had been caught in the back of his mind. One name had vanished from his phone's contacts. He couldn't remember who it was. That fact alone stuck in his chest like a small thorn. Kazuki changed into indoor shoes at the shoe lockers and climbed the stairs to the second-floor classroom. The hallway was dead silent, and only the sunlight through the windows cast long shadows on the floor. A poster announcing the new term hung slightly curled on the wall. That was when it happened. "Hey, hey, Kazuki!" A buoyant voice came flying from behind him. Before Kazuki could turn, a girl with chestnut semi-long hair came trotting up, her hair swaying. Kirino Kokone. A classmate in the same second-year Class Three, known for her bright, meddlesome personality. Her large amber eyes sparkled, catching the morning light. "I knew you'd be here! I just had a feeling you'd come to school today!" Kokone circled around to face him and pressed her hands together in front of her chest. It was a habit of hers when she talked. On her left wrist, a colorful braided bracelet—matching ones with her friends, she'd said—swayed as she moved. "...How did you know?" Kazuki managed a faint, wry smile. Kokone's brightness always made his heavy heart a little lighter. "Ehehe, I just know! You've been coming to school even during break, right? You were in the library the other day too." Kokone grinned, triumphant. Her smile was bright as the sun, without a single cloud. Kazuki realized anew that he was being saved by that smile. "So anyway, I've got something to tell you, Kazuki." Kokone suddenly lowered her voice and peered into his face. Her amber eyes took on a serious glint. "I've decided to cheer on your romance with Maria!" Kazuki stopped dead in his tracks. "...What?" "Your romance! You and Maria are totally perfect together! I'll be your wingwoman!" Kokone rattled it all off at top speed and tugged hard on Kazuki's arm. "Hold on. Who said you could decide that?" Kazuki hurriedly pulled his arm back, but Kokone's grip was surprisingly strong. Or rather, he was hesitating to seriously shake her off. He didn't have the heart to reject her innocent goodwill head-on. "But you look at Maria in a special way! I can tell! Hey, I heard Maria's at school today too—let's go look for her together!" "You..." Kazuki sighed. Otonashi Maria. The girl with silver hair and ice-blue eyes who had lost her memories. The Maria of now called him "you" and kept her distance. And Kokone wanted to leave the two of them alone together. (No way. If I did that to Maria now...) Something creaked faintly deep in Kazuki's chest. He remembered Maria's cold gaze. What had happened in the library. She had clearly rejected him. "Kokone, I'm sorry, but could you not do this?" Kazuki's voice was serious. Kokone stopped moving for just an instant and stared at his face. Deep in those big eyes, something seemed to waver. (...Just now, what was that?) Kazuki felt a sense of unease. Kokone's smile had clouded over for just a moment. As if she were afraid of something—or looking away from something. That kind of expression. But it really was only for an instant. "Come on, you don't have to be shy! You're just not honest, Kazuki!" Kokone was back to her usual brightness in an instant, patting him on the back. "Well, I'll let it slide for today! But I'm never giving up, okay? I've decided to cheer on your romance with Maria!" Leaving those words behind, Kokone bounded off down the hallway like a skipping rabbit. Her chestnut hair fluttered in the spring light. Kazuki watched her go and let out a small breath. (What a meddler.) But that meddling was, right now, just a little bit welcome. Kokone's brightness let him forget—if only for a moment—the unease that had been churning in his chest since that night. Still, the corner of his mind kept catching on Kokone's expression from a moment ago. (What was that shadow?) Was he imagining things? No, he'd definitely seen it. A dark color that had appeared for an instant deep in Kokone's eyes. Something hidden behind her brightness. Kazuki shook his head and pushed the thought away. He was overthinking it. Kokone was the same as always. Nothing more, nothing less. Telling himself that, he walked on toward the classroom. ──. By afternoon, the sky had begun to cloud over little by little. The soft morning light was gone, and thick clouds covered Minase City. The wind had turned cold, and the cherry petals were falling faster now. Kazuki was in the deserted spot behind the school building, wedged between the gym and the pool. More precisely, he'd been summoned there. "So you came, Hoshino." A man with black hair parted in a precise seven-to-three ratio stood leaning against the wall. Oomine Daiya. A classmate in the same second-year Class Three, gifted academically, with a cold, calculating mind. He was also the one who had once opposed Kazuki, waging war under a philosophy of selection. Daiya slowly turned the old ring on his left middle finger with his thumb. His ash-blue eyes fixed on Kazuki, betraying nothing. "You're the one who called me out. What do you want?" Kazuki's voice was guarded. This was the first time he'd met Daiya since the battle over the Box had ended. He had no idea what Daiya was thinking. And precisely because he didn't know, he couldn't afford to let his guard down. "I'll get straight to the point. The phenomenon of the classroom clock stopping—that's caused by the Box's remnants." Kazuki's heart gave a small leap. "The Box's remnants..." "The Box was destroyed. But the fragments of its wish remain in the world. Fragments can distort reality in ways the owner never intended. This clock-stopping is one of them." Daiya's voice was flat. As if he were discussing the weather. Kazuki bit his lip. (The Box's remnants. Something like that is still...) The battle over the Box should have ended. Kazuki had won Maria back, the Box had been destroyed, and everyday life had returned. That should have been the end of everything. "You've noticed too, haven't you? When the clock stops, something disappears. A contact or two, a memory you can't recall. Those are proof that an existence has been carved out of the world." Kazuki listened in silence. He couldn't deny it. That night, one contact had indeed vanished from his phone. He couldn't remember the name or the face. Only the fact that it had disappeared remained. "If this is left alone, the vanished existences will keep increasing. Eventually, your everyday life itself will collapse." Daiya took a step closer to Kazuki. His ash-blue eyes gave off a cold light. "That's why I'm proposing we cooperate. Temporarily." "Cooperate?" Kazuki furrowed his brow. "That's right. To protect your everyday life." Daiya let out a small, cold laugh. Only the corners of his mouth curled. A chill ran down Kazuki's spine at that smile. (This guy still hasn't abandoned his philosophy of selection.) During the battle over the Box, Daiya had tried to select humanity. That philosophy was still alive in him. Joining hands with a man like that would normally be unthinkable. But. "...Is there no other way?" Kazuki asked in a low voice. "None. This isn't a problem you can solve alone. It's that kind of thing." Daiya answered immediately. There wasn't a shred of hesitation in it. Kazuki stared at Daiya's face for a while. Those cold, ash-blue eyes. A calculating man. But it was also true that right now, he needed this man's knowledge and power. "...Fine. I'll accept your proposal, with conditions." Kazuki spoke slowly. "And those conditions are?" "That no one gets hurt. Don't bring your philosophy of selection into this. This is a fight to protect everyday life." Hearing Kazuki's words, Daiya's mouth curled again. "Heh... Still soft, Hoshino. But that's fine. I just want to correct this distortion." With that, Daiya turned his back and started walking. "The next clock-stopping will be tomorrow at three forty-two in the afternoon. Be there. See for yourself what happens in that classroom." Leaving only those words, Daiya vanished into the shadow of the school building. Kazuki stood rooted to the spot, letting the cold wind wash over him. (Tomorrow at three forty-two.) In that classroom, the clock would stop again. And someone else would disappear. Kazuki clenched his fist. (I won't let anyone else disappear.) That resolve alone burned quietly beneath the overcast sky. ──. The next day, April second. It had been raining since morning. The rain wrapping Minase City pounded the cherry petals to the ground and chilled the spring air with damp. Kazuki walked to school under an umbrella. He couldn't get yesterday's conversation with Daiya out of his head. (The Box's remnants. Vanishing existences. And today at three forty-two.) He'd repeated the words over and over. He passed through the school gate and walked toward the building. The rain-soaked tree-lined path was slippery underfoot. Kazuki walked carefully toward the entrance of the central building. That was when it happened. In the shadow of a pillar at the school entrance, a girl stood. Kazuki stopped. (...Otonashi Saya.) Otonashi Saya. Another girl who shared the "Otonashi" surname with Maria. She too was his classmate—and the one who had once declared war on him. Saya stood quietly in the pillar's shadow, untouched by the rain. She held a black umbrella. Her figure seemed to melt into the rainy scenery, so terribly ephemeral. Kazuki approached her. He tried to say her name, but the words wouldn't come. He didn't know what to say. Like Maria, had she lost her memories too? Saya slowly turned toward him. "Hoshino Kazuki." Her voice was so small it might have been swallowed by the rain, yet somehow it reached his ears. "...Saya." Kazuki finally spoke her name. Saya said nothing and walked up to him. Then she laid her slender hand over his. Her fingertips were cold. Not just from the rain—a deeper, more fundamental cold. But within that cold, Kazuki felt a strange nostalgia. (I know this touch.) Deep in his memory, something ached. The feel of Saya's hand seemed about to awaken something from a distant past. "You don't have to fight alone." Saya said quietly. "I came for that." The moment he heard those words, something grew hot deep in Kazuki's chest. (You don't have to fight alone.) He'd been carrying it all by himself, all this time. The battle over the Box, Maria, and now this phenomenon. He'd thought he had to solve everything alone, without relying on anyone. But Saya had said it. You don't have to fight alone. Kazuki fought back the tears with all his might. His eyes stung. His vision blurred faintly. "...Why would you go that far?" Kazuki asked, his voice trembling. For just an instant, Saya squeezed his hand tighter. "That's all for now." With that, she released his hand. The warmth of her

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Episode 3

Name: After the Empty Box: Echoes of Maria and the Whereabouts of the Everyday
Author: Novelia

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