When We Exorcists Fell in Love at School, the World Went Crazy - A World of Just One Person

Outside the window, the sky was blue as always. Allen Walker gazed out at the schoolyard from his seat by the window. Morning homeroom would start soon. Another day at St. Clair Academy was about to begin. This was Tamanogi City, Tokyo. A small town surrounded by hills, about an hour by train from the city center. The academy sat on its north side, at the foot of Kasuga Hill. From the window, you could see the banks of the Misogi River and the residential area stretching beyond. (*...It's so peaceful.*) Allen murmured in his heart. --- "Good morning, Allen!" A bright voice flew at him from the next seat over. He turned to find Lenalee there. Her back-length black hair was in twin tails again today, her large, deep-green eyes sparkling. A petite, adorable girl who wore the St. Clair Academy uniform perfectly. Allen felt his breath catch for a moment at the sight of her smile. (*This smile...*) It was wrong. It was so different from the smile he knew in his past life. The Lenalee in his memories had sharper eyes. The eyes of a warrior. She had a strength that fought enemies called Akuma, protected her comrades, and never broke, even when she was wounded. But the eyes she had now held not a trace of that shadow. They were simply the eyes of a normal sixteen-year-old girl, her heart dancing at the start of a new day. "...Morning, Lenalee." Allen put on a gentle smile and answered briefly. His chest tightened with a sharp pang. Nostalgia, and an overwhelming loneliness. Everyone he had once fought alongside, risking his life, was here at this academy. But not a single one of them remembered those battles. He was the only one who remembered everything. The fight against the Millennium Earl. The souls of the dead turned into Akuma. The mysterious power called Innocence. And his final farewell to his foster father, Mana. All of it was his memory alone. --- "Shut up. Don't be so loud in the morning." A sullen voice came from the very back seat by the window. Kanda Yuu. A tall male student with long black hair tied high into a single ponytail that reached his back. His narrow, deep-indigo eyes were always glaring at someone. He wore the armband of the head of the Discipline Committee, but he carried a katana, a violation of school rules. He had his arms crossed, cradling the sword, sheath and all. (*Mugen...*) Allen almost called it by that name. The name of Kanda's weapon from his past life, a katana-type Innocence. But the Kanda of this world was just a slightly eccentric head of the Discipline Committee who carried a real sword because it "calmed him down." Komui-sensei tolerated it for reasons of "educational consideration" or something. (*You haven't changed, have you?*) Not his sullen face, nor the clumsy kindness behind it, nor his overprotectiveness of Lenalee. A small, wry smile touched Allen's lips. --- First period was science class. Standing at the podium was Komui Lee-sensei. A somewhat peculiar teacher who wore a lab coat and never let go of his giant mug. "Alright, let's try to find the coefficients for this chemical reaction equation." Komui-sensei said, writing a formula on the blackboard. As always, there were coffee stains on the sleeves of his lab coat. (*Chief of the Science Section...*) As Allen took out his notebook, he recalled his past life. In that world, Komui was the chief of the Science Section that supported the Exorcists. He sometimes conducted insane experiments, and other times saved his comrades with desperate effort. He guzzled coffee and often got a distant look in his eyes, saying, "Ah, it's good to be young." An involuntary chuckle escaped Allen's lips. "What's up?" Lenalee peered at him curiously and whispered. The distance between them was only about thirty centimeters. Allen felt his heart skip a beat. "I was just thinking Komui-sensei's lab coat is covered in coffee stains again today." "...You're right." Lenalee covered her mouth and giggled. That smile was so cute. (*...I have to protect it.*) Allen wrote a small note in the margin of his notebook. I will protect it, no matter what. This casual, everyday life. This smile. This time. He would protect all of it, he swore. --- Lunch break arrived. The school store was crowded with students buying bread and drinks. The specialty was curry bread, one hundred and eighty yen. "You really do eat a lot, don't you!" The lady running the store, Mitsuko Tanaka, laughed heartily at the register. In Allen's arms were four curry breads and two yakisoba breads. He was buying three times as much as a normal high schooler. "Well, the school lunch just isn't enough..." It was a habit of his huge appetite from his past life. Perhaps because a mysterious power resided in his left arm, his calorie expenditure had been extraordinary. The remnants of that continued even now. "Allen, you bought that much again! C'mon, give me one~" Suddenly, an arm was slung over his shoulders from behind. A male student with fiery red hair, casually tousled, with a single braid on the right side. His emerald-green eyes sparkled mischievously. Lavi. The head of the Library Committee, he read forty-two books a month. He kept breaking the academy's records. "Can't be helped..." Allen held out one of the curry breads. "Thanks!" --- The two of them sat on a bench in the courtyard. It was a grassy courtyard called the "Cortile," nestled between the main building and the science lab wing. A bust of the founder stood in the center, and there were eight benches in total. Someone was always sitting there during lunchtime. Lavi, munching on his bread, opened a thick book. The letters on the cover looked ancient. (*...Bookman.*) Allen murmured in his heart. In his past life, Lavi had been the successor to the Bookman clan, a lineage that recorded history. They were told to discard their emotions and simply write down the facts. That was their mission. But the Lavi of now... "Hey, check this out. It says, 'Beneath Kasuga Hill in Tamanogi City lie the ruins of an ancient civilization.' It's a book for urban legend fanatics, but it's pretty interesting." He laughed jokingly as he flipped through the pages. "You really do love that kind of stuff." Allen laughed along lightly. His heart ached a little again. (*You're not a recorder anymore, are you?*) Having emotions, connecting with people, laughing. That was something he could never have done in his past life. --- "By the way," Lavi glanced at Allen as he bit into his bread. "Were you talking with Lenalee about something?" "Huh? Just a little this morning." "...Hmm." Lavi's gaze turned just a little more serious. Allen felt like something flickered deep in those emerald-green eyes. (*Could it be... about Lenalee...*) Allen realized. Was Lavi secretly harboring feelings for Lenalee? But he was clueless about romance. He couldn't be sure. "...Well, whatever." Lavi's face quickly returned to its usual goofy expression. But it was a fabricated smile. Allen felt that, somehow. --- After school. Allen headed to the library with a book whose return date had passed. The academy's library, called the "Lecteur," was on the fourth floor of the main building. It held about twenty-eight thousand books. It was a quiet space, and the librarian, Matsunaga Haru-san, sat at the counter. Allen returned the book and stepped out into the hallway. No one was around. The setting sun streamed through the windows, dyeing the hallway red. (*...Another day is over, huh.*) It was just as that thought crossed his mind. --- —*Awaken, Allen. This is your miniature garden.* --- A voice echoed directly inside his head. Sharp, cold, like a warning. "...!" His left eye burned hot. A birthmark. A red pentagram—a pentacle. It throbbed with a dull, pulsing pain. Allen dropped his book. He put a hand against the wall. His breathing became ragged. (*What is...?*) It wasn't tinnitus. It was a clear, distinct word. "Miniature garden"—someone had said that to him. (*This world... is a miniature garden...?*) His heart pounded furiously. --- He heard footsteps in the distance. "...So I'm telling you, have the documents for tomorrow's meeting properly prepared." "Geez, Yuu, you worry too much! I'm not a child anymore, you know." It was Lenalee and Kanda. Allen hurriedly picked up his book. He desperately steadied his breathing. As if nothing had happened. (*...I'm fine. It's nothing.*) He told himself. "Oh, Allen?" Lenalee, rounding the corner of the hallway, spotted Allen and called out. "...I was just returning a book." Allen feigned calmness. "...You look pale." Kanda glared at him sharply with his piercing eyes. "I just felt a little dizzy for a second. I'm fine now." "...Hmph." Kanda said nothing more and walked briskly away. Lenalee peered into Allen's face with worry. Her large, deep-green eyes wavered with unease. "Are you really okay?" "Yeah. Sorry for worrying you." "...Okay. But don't push yourself." With that, Lenalee followed after Kanda. --- Allen walked alone down the hallway, dyed red by the setting sun. (*...Miniature garden.*) The words from earlier wouldn't leave his head. This wasn't just tinnitus. Someone was warning him. This peace might not be real. (*But...*) He looked outside the window. In the courtyard, students heading to club activities were laughing together. Beyond the school gate were the familiar lights of the shopping district. The usual scenery of Tamanogi City. This everyday life might be a fake. Even so. "...I will protect it, no matter what." Allen said it quietly, aloud. Even if it was fake, this was already a precious world to him. Lenalee's smile. Kanda's clumsy kindness. Lavi's jokes. He wanted to protect all of it. He wanted to protect it to the very end. Even if he was the only one who held the memories, even if this world was a miniature garden made by someone else—. --- The pentacle on his left eye still held a faint heat. As if to announce that something had definitely begun to move. --- The setting sun streamed through the window at the end of the hallway. Allen's long, stretched shadow swayed on the red-tinted floor. --- (*What's going to happen from now on?*) There was anxiety. There was fear, too. But—more than that, there was resolve. --- Allen Walker walked on alone, quietly. Holding a secret he could tell no one, and an unyielding vow in his heart. So that tomorrow, again, as if nothing had happened, he could say "Good morning" to Lenalee in the seat next to him. --- And so, the long day was slowly drawing to a close.

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Episode 1

Name: When We Exorcists Fell in Love at School, the World Went Crazy
Author: Novelia

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