Even After Reincarnation, Patane Can't Stop Loving Sharks
Spring. At the entrance ceremony of Eden Private Academy, transfer student Lain Paterson catches everyone's attention. Silver hair, blue eyes, and a trained physique visible even under her uniform. In her previous world, she was a skilled bodyguard who protected her precious comrades. But now she's just a high school freshman. And strangely, her left chest pouch contains three cigarettes. She doesn't smoke. They're for her comrades who are no longer there.
Lain's daily life begins with strange
Even After Reincarnation, Patane Can't Stop Loving Sharks - The Gaze of Causality — The Condemnation Assembly, The Truth of the Vanished Cigarette
"Patane, the student council's calling for you."
After school, in the classroom. Hina's voice sounded smaller than usual.
Lain Paterson rose slowly from her seat by the window. Her silver long hair swayed, reflecting the afternoon light. Her deep blue eyes reflected nothing.
"…Understood."
"I'm coming too!"
"No."
It was an instant reply. Hina's amber eyes wavered with sadness.
"…This is my problem."
Lain placed a hand on the pouch at her left chest.
There was nothing there.
The three cigarettes were no longer inside.
"…I'm going."
"Patane…"
With Hina's voice behind her, Lain left the classroom.
The hallway was quiet.
The student council room was at the end of the third floor of the main building. Lain approached the door, one step at a time.
(…What will they say to me?)
She already knew. That warning letter. Ayame's words—"I know your past." And the cigarettes that had vanished.
(…It's all connected.)
Lain stopped in front of the door.
One deep breath.
Knock, knock.
"Come in."
A dignified voice. Lain opened the door.
The inside of the student council room was cool.
Light streaming through the window slid across the polished desk. The smell of documents. Silence.
Beyond the long table at the center of the room, a single girl sat.
Straight black long hair. Its perfectly maintained luster occasionally gave off a purple sheen. Her purple eyes held a depth that seemed to reflect the past of whoever she looked upon. On her left hand, an old ring.
Ayame Ayame. Vice president of Eden Academy's student council.
She looked directly at Lain.
"…Please, have a seat."
Lain sat down in the chair without a word.
Silence.
Ayame gently traced her fingers along the documents on the desk.
"Lain Paterson-san."
"…What do you want?"
Lain's voice was low and flat.
Ayame smiled.
"I'll get straight to the point."
She narrowed her purple eyes.
"I have seen your previous life."
Lain's finger twitched.
"…What are you talking about?"
"Causal Sight—Causal Site. It is my ability. I can see, as visions, how the choices of a target's past have influenced their present."
Ayame continued quietly.
"Your previous life. The genius bodyguard who became the youngest Oath Guardian. And—"
She paused for a beat.
"You failed to protect three comrades."
Lain's blue eyes flickered gold for an instant.
"Kyle. Sophia. Glen."
Ayame's voice was cold as ice.
"All three died before your eyes."
Lain clenched her fist. Her nails dug into her palm.
"…Why do you know that?"
"I told you. I saw it. Everything."
Ayame stood up.
"And I understood. Just by you being at this academy, conflict will inevitably arise."
She stood directly in front of Lain.
"Your existence is a danger to the peace of this academy."
Lain couldn't say anything.
(…I can't argue.)
Memories of her previous life resurfaced.
The battlefield. The smell of blood. Her comrades' screams. And the lives slipping through her fingers.
(…I couldn't protect them.)
"And then, there's this."
Ayame took a transparent bag from the desk drawer.
Inside it was—
Three cigarettes.
"Sacred Leaf."
Lain's breathing stopped.
"The ones that were in your pouch. I confiscated them as evidence of forcing students to smoke."
"That's wrong!"
For the first time, Lain raised her voice.
"Those are my comrades' keepsakes! They're not something I smoke!"
Ayame looked down at Lain with cold eyes.
"Then why did you hide them?"
"…"
"Why did you keep them hidden in your pouch without telling anyone?"
Lain was at a loss for words.
(…I can't tell them.)
Memories of her previous life. Her comrades' deaths. Her own sins.
(…If I tell them, everyone will leave.)
"You can't answer, can you."
Ayame placed the bag of cigarettes on the desk.
"I'm confiscating the cigarettes. If you have an objection, file a complaint with the student council president."
She turned her back.
"…Is that all?"
Lain said in a trembling voice.
"Yes. That's all for today."
Ayame didn't turn around.
"Please leave."
Lain stood up.
Her legs were heavy.
(…I couldn't say anything.)
She opened the door and stepped into the hallway.
"Patane!"
Hina was waiting in the hallway. Her orange short bob swayed anxiously.
"Patane, how did it go?"
Lain couldn't say anything and dropped her gaze.
"…Patane?"
Hina's voice trembled with unease.
"…It's nothing."
Lain said only that and started walking.
(…It's not nothing.)
The sunset streamed through the hallway windows.
Lain's shadow stretched long.
(…What will happen tomorrow?)
Something stirred deep in her chest.
The next day.
A school-wide assembly was held.
About two thousand four hundred students gathered in the gymnasium. The air was heavy and damp.
Lain stood at the very back of the first-year row.
(…Here it comes.)
Ayame stood on the stage.
Her black hair perfectly arranged, her posture dignified. Her purple eyes swept across the entire student body.
"Everyone, please be quiet."
Ayame's voice echoed through the gymnasium.
"Today, I have a serious report to make."
The murmuring gradually quieted.
"First-year Class A, Lain Paterson."
Lain's name was called.
"Forcing students to smoke, and operating an unauthorized organization, have been confirmed."
The gymnasium was instantly enveloped in commotion.
"Wait, that transfer student?"
"Forcing people to smoke…?"
"Isn't that bad?"
Whispers spread like waves.
"That's wrong! Patane hasn't done anything wrong!"
Hina's shout echoed through the gymnasium.
Her orange hair shook violently. Tears welled in her amber eyes.
"Hinata-san, be quiet."
The teacher restrained Hina.
"But Patane is…!"
"Quiet!"
Hina bit her lip.
"…Is there proof?"
A quiet voice.
Kai stepped forward from the second-year row. Black hair with a single white streak. His deep green eyes looked straight at Ayame.
"Kaidou-kun. You be quiet too."
"I'm asking if there's proof."
Kai didn't back down.
Ayame smiled.
"My Causal Sight sees everything."
"…Causal Sight?"
"An ability to see a target's past. Lain-san's previous life's battle record, the fact of forcing others to smoke—all of it."
At Ayame's words, the gymnasium fell silent.
"…Lain-san would never do such a thing."
Mio's voice was trembling.
Her light blue long hair shook slightly. Her deep indigo eyes were moist, on the verge of overflowing with tears.
"Minase-san, you too?"
"Lain-san is… I know. Those gentle eyes she has when she talks about sharks…"
Mio's voice was barely audible.
"Emotional arguments won't overturn facts."
Ayame declared coldly.
"Lain Paterson. Come to the stage."
Lain began walking slowly.
Two thousand four hundred gazes pierced through her.
(…Walk.)
One step. Another step.
(…This is the seed I planted.)
She climbed onto the stage.
Ayame stood beside Lain.
"So, does the person herself have anything to say?"
Lain looked out over the entire student body.
Hina's tears. Kai's quiet anger. Mio's trembling lips.
(…Everyone believes in me.)
But.
(…I decided I wouldn't fight.)
Lain bowed her head deeply.
"…I am very sorry."
Just one word.
She offered no explanation whatsoever.
"I will announce the punishment."
Ayame's voice rang out.
"Dissolution of the Shark Lovers' Club, and one week of confinement."
Lain bit her lip.
The taste of iron spread through her mouth.
"Patane! Why! Why won't you say anything!"
Hina's scream.
Lain didn't raise her face.
"…That will be all. Excuse me."
Lain stepped down from the stage.
"Patane! Wait!"
With Hina's voice behind her, she left the gymnasium.
The door closed.
Silence.
And then, commotion.
After the assembly.
Lain was summoned to the student council room again.
This time, no one else was there.
Only Ayame stood by the window.
The sunset dyed her black hair red.
"…What do you want?"
Lain said in a low voice.
Ayame turned around.
"I didn't steal the cigarettes."
Lain raised her face.
"…What?"
"The one who stole them wasn't me. It was someone else."
Ayame's purple eyes looked straight at Lain.
"Then why did you accuse me!"
"As long as you are at this academy, I will monitor you. I will also find the real culprit behind the cigarettes."
Ayame took a step closer to Lain.
"But I will not let you run free."
"…Why go that far?"
Lain's voice was trembling.
Ayame showed a pained expression for an instant.
"…For the same reason as you."
"The same… reason?"
"Because I couldn't protect my comrades in the past."
Ayame's voice was barely audible.
"…Don't ask me anything more."
She turned her back.
"Please leave."
Lain couldn't ask anything more.
(…This person is carrying something too.)
She left the student council room.
Through the hallway window, she could see Mirror Lake.
The lake surface shone gold, lit by the sunset.
Lain placed a hand on the pouch at her left chest.
There was no sensation of cigarettes.
(…Everything is gone.)
Her dorm room.
Lain sat on the bed.
The curtains weren't closed. Outside the window, Mirror Lake shone quietly.
(…The three cigarettes are gone.)
Her only connection to her comrades.
(…Vanished.)
False accusation. The school-wide assembly. The dissolution of the Shark Lovers' Club. Confinement.
(…I've lost everything.)
Deep in her chest, it burned.
Anger. Loss. Despair.
(…I couldn't protect anything again.)
Her vision began to tint red.
Memories of her previous life surged in.
The smell of the battlefield. The weight of the sword. The warmth of blood.
(…Kill.)
Her fingertips tingled.
(…Destroy everything.)
Lain clenched her fist tightly.
"…Ugh…"
A groan escaped her throat.
(…No.)
A voice echoed in her head.
'Patane isn't wrong!'
Hina's scream.
'Is there proof?'
Kai's quiet question.
'Lain-san would never do such a thing.'
Mio's trembling voice.
(…Everyone.)
Lain clenched her fist, harder, harder.
Her nails dug into her palm.
Blood seeped out.
(…I'm still.)
Lain raised her face.
"…I'm not finished yet."
A voice barely audible.
But it was certainly there.
Outside the window, the lake shone quietly.
At the same time.
The student council room.
Ayame was alone.
She opened the desk drawer.
From inside, she took out an old photograph.
A faded photograph.
In it—
The previous life's Lain, and someone who appeared to be Ayame herself, were pictured together.
Both of them were smiling.
Ayame gripped the photograph.
"…I'm sorry."
A voice no one could hear.
A single tear fell onto the photograph.
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