Sena, Another Sky: On the Road You Didn't Take - The Beginning of Double Exposure
I love you, Sena!
On the rooftop set bathed in the glow of sunset, Haruto shouted. His heart pounded noisily in his chest. Even though this was just a performance, it almost felt like a real confession, he thought.
Her flaxen hair swaying softly, Sena turned to face him. Her sky-blue eyes glistened, on the verge of tears, and honestly, it just wasn't fair.
...I love you too, Haruto.
Sena's voice trembled slightly. A single tear traced its way down her pale cheek, glimmering as it fell.
(Ah, this is a good scene.)
Haruto thought absently.
The movie adaptation of the drama "Aoharu Refrain" — its climactic scene. Studio C, on the third floor of the filming studio "Hakosta" in the Minato Ward district. On a set that perfectly recreated the rooftop of Kaisei High School, the two of them stood facing each other.
The sunset was lighting. The wind was a fan. And yet, Sena's "I love you" pierced his heart as if it were real.
Because, in reality, it was.
He and Sena had played lovers in the drama, and then they had become lovers in real life. Fellow actors of the same age at Stella Productions — well, that was how things had gone.
(Alright, that should be good.)
Haruto took a light breath. With his slightly brownish hair, perpetually afflicted with bedhead, he waited for the director's voice.
"...Alright, cut!"
Thank goodness.
"Great job, you two! Perfect!"
The assistant director's voice echoed through the studio. Relieved, Haruto looked at Sena.
And then, it happened.
Warp.
His vision distorted.
"...Huh?"
The backdrop panel of the blue sky behind Sena. It suddenly blurred. And then — he could see through it, to the scenery of an unfamiliar classroom.
A blackboard. Desks. Soft sunlight streaming in through the windows.
(What is this?)
Haruto tilted his head. A habit of his. He touched the small mole behind his right ear with his finger.
It wasn't an illusion. It was real. No, it looked real, but it was transparent. The window frame of the classroom overlapped with Sena's face.
Haruto?
Sena tilted her head. At the sound of her voice, his vision snapped back. The classroom vanished. It was the usual rooftop set. Just the lights, the staff, and nothing else.
"It's nothing. Just a little dizzy, I guess."
He laughed it off. His slightly protruding canine tooth peeked out. But his heart was still pounding. A different, unpleasant pounding from before.
"Hurry on back to the green room! Good work!"
At the staff member's voice, Haruto raised a hand lightly and left the studio.
His steps felt just a little heavy.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━
The second floor of Hakosta. The green room area was silent, only the sound of his footsteps echoing in the hallway. A large poster for "Aoharu Refrain" was plastered on the wall. His and Sena's smiling faces looked back at him.
Room 205. Haruto's green room.
Click.
He opened the door. The usual room. A small, eight-tatami-mat space with a makeup vanity and mirror, and a blue sofa. That was it.
The usual room.
— or so it should have been.
"...Wha?"
On the desk, there was a white ball of fluff.
Palm-sized. Maybe about fifteen centimeters. A round body like a capybara, with tiny ears. Its fluffy fur was pure white, and a single strand of ahoge stood straight up from the top of its head.
The creature was munching away on the melon bread Haruto had bought just this morning at the neighborhood convenience store, "Poplar-to."
Whoaah!?
Haruto leaped backward. His back hit the door.
At the sound, the white creature looked up.
Round, sparkling black eyes. They reflected the light, twinkling like stars.
Hey there, Singularity-kun. You finally came.
It t-talked.
And in an incredibly laid-back voice, at that.
"Singularity...?"
"That's right. It's what you call a person who's ended up standing on the boundary between world lines. Lucky? Or unlucky?"
The capybara-like thing introduced itself as Kapimaru. With its tiny hand, it offered him a piece of the melon bread.
"Want some?"
"Like hell I do! What are you?! How did you get in here!"
"The window. It was open a bit."
"This is the fourth floor!"
"Well, I don't really mind that sort of thing."
Haruto clutched his head. Another strand of his bedhead sprang free.
"So, what's this 'Singularity'?"
Listen closely, alright?
After swallowing the melon bread, Kapimaru's face turned just a little serious. Its large black eyes looked straight at Haruto.
"You see, you've ended up standing smack-dab in the middle of two worlds. One is this world you know. The world where you're lovey-dovey with Sena from the drama, and you weren't that close with Ren."
"And the other one?"
"The 'what-if' world. The world where you pulled Ren along and didn't let him quit karate. In that world, it seems you ended up changing the fates of a lot more people than you might think."
Haruto tilted his head.
That unfamiliar classroom he'd seen during filming just now — could it be...
Just now, on set, I saw something strange...
"Double exposure. A phenomenon where you see two worlds at the same time. Only you can see it."
Kapimaru perched itself neatly on the backrest of the sofa. Its fluffy fur swayed gently in the breeze from the air conditioning.
If things stay like this, the two worlds will get all jumbled together and everything will disappear."
"Disappear?"
"Vanish. Zero. It'll be as if they never existed."
Haruto slumped down onto the sofa.
"...I can't believe this."
"Then I'll show you proof."
It was the moment Kapimaru floated softly into the air.
Knock knock.
There was a knock at the door.
Haruto? Are you there?
It was Sena's voice.
Haruto looked at Kapimaru in a panic.
"Hide somewhere—"
It was gone.
The fluff, the crumbs of melon bread, everything had vanished.
(A hallucination? Am I that tired?)
"...I'm coming in."
The door opened with a click.
Her fluffy, flaxen hair seemed to glow translucently in the hallway light. The ends were tinged with a faint pink, and today it was styled in a half-updo. Her large, sky-blue eyes looked at Haruto with a hint of concern.
You looked pale during filming. Are you okay?
Sena's voice, usually so bright, was incredibly gentle today.
She usually wore slightly mature clothes that suited the studio, but today she was in a simple white dress. Just like that, she was terribly cute.
"I'm just a little tired. Sorry for worrying you."
He managed a smile.
Sena sat down neatly beside him. A soft, sweet scent drifted over, making Haruto's heart skip a beat.
(Ah, jeez, at a time like this.)
"...Hey, Haruto."
Sena looked down. Her long eyelashes cast shadows on her pale cheeks.
What do you think about Ren-kun?"
"Huh?"
A strange sound escaped him involuntarily.
"Ren? That handsome best friend from karate?"
Kurose Ren. A guy from the same agency, the same age.
In the drama, he played the best friend role, but in reality, they hadn't gotten that close. They'd gone out to eat a few times after filming, but Haruto always felt like Ren kept him at a slight distance.
You see, I've realized something."
Sena's voice trembled just a little.
"During breaks in filming, Ren-kun is always watching you. It's not the way you look at a friend. It's more..."
W-wait a minute, Sena!"
Haruto stood up.
"Ren, looking at me? There's no way—"
He was about to say.
It was at that moment.
Bam.
Something flooded into his head.
— Images.
The location was an old karate dojo. Cracks ran through the walls, and a cold wind blew through.
There, Ren was, in his second year of middle school.
A bandage wrapped around his right knee, he sat in the corner of the dojo with a dark expression.
"Anyway... I can't do karate anymore."
Ren said that, hanging his head.
And then — I was there.
Haruto, from the what-if world.
"What are you talking about!"
I grabbed Ren's bandaged arm and forced him to his feet.
"It'll be fine! You can do it! I'll come every day! Every single day! You got that!"
I yelled so my voice echoed throughout the dojo. Even when Ren looked annoyed, I pushed my way into the dojo the next day, and the day after that.
"You again..."
"Of course! Get up, Ren!"
And then, the image cut off abruptly.
— Emotions.
Hot, painful, and happy.
Memories of another me, that the current me didn't know.
...Wh-what is this."
Haruto hugged his own body. A violent trembling overtook him.
"What's wrong!?"
Sena placed a worried hand on Haruto's shoulder.
That warmth felt incredibly distant now.
Because.
The wall behind Sena was beginning to warp and distort.
The wall of the green room faded, and a different scene bled through.
— A classroom.
A classroom at Kaisei High School.
Desks lined up, light streaming through the windows, and on the blackboard, the words "Karate Club: National Tournament Berth Decided" were written.
(Ah, this is... the what-if world.)
Haruto knew it instinctively.
In the center of the classroom, a single male student stood.
Short, black hair. A sharp gaze. But the area around his mouth was slightly soft, and he was looking straight this way.
It was Kurose Ren.
Haruto.
Ren opened his mouth.
No voice could be heard. But the movement of his lips made it clear.
"Even if it kills me, I'll protect you."
He said that.
"...You're kidding."
A chill ran down Haruto's spine.
The green room with Sena.
The classroom of the what-if world.
The two looked perfectly superimposed, like a double-exposed photograph.
There are two worlds.
And I'm seeing them both, right now, at the same time.
That's your proof.
Kapimaru's voice came from somewhere.
"You are the Singularity. You have to choose. If things stay like this, everything will disappear."
Haruto held his breath.
His chest felt tight, and a hot sensation burned behind his eyes.
Sena and Ren.
In two separate worlds, two separate kinds of "love" were directed at him.
(Are they both... real?)
The studio at dusk. Two girls and one boy, and the end of the world.
Inside Haruto's head, Kapimaru's words kept spinning around and around, endlessly.
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