Kokoro Connect Volume 3: Kako Random E-Book

Sadanatsu Anda

• Herausgeber: J-Novel Club
• Kategorie: Fantasy und Science-Fiction
• Serie: Kokoro Connect
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 275

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2018

Beschreibung

Kokoro Connect Volume 3: Kako Random

Leseprobe

Prologue: New Year’s Day

The first day of the new year found Yaegashi Taichi visiting a local Shinto shrine.

Normally the place was quiet and peaceful, but today it was bustling with visitors and food stands. As the tantalizing smells of savory sauces and sugary sweets drifted overhead, Taichi and his coat-clad companion, Inaba Himeko, made their way through the crowd—gripped by panic.

“Aaargh! Goddamnit! Where the hell is he?!” Inaba’s breath left her lips in a white, wispy fog as she smoothed her straight, shoulder-length dark hair into place.

“No luck on your end, huh? Man, where did he go...?”

“Wheredy go?”

“Go, go!”

Two small girls clung to each of Taichi’s hands—one the spitting image of a grade-school-aged Kiriyama Yui, and the other a toddler-sized version of Nagase Iori.

The five of them had come as a group for hatsumoude, the first shrine visit of the new year, but now one of them had gone missing.

“I’m starting to think we should’ve gone somewhere with fewer crowds...” Taichi muttered.

“Shoulda, woulda, coulda. No use crying over spilled milk,” Inaba snapped back.

“No use!”

“Yoose!”

“We’d better find him fast. Kids get into enough trouble just in general, but when you add everything else on top of it...”

Not good.

“I get it already! Quit your bitching! Tch... Maybe I should’ve given him my cell phone... Then again, who knows what he’d do with it...”

“Maybe we shouldn’t have bothered in the first place...”

“God, will you quit whining? You’re the one who kept going on and on about how we all agreed to celebrate New Year’s together as a club!”

“Club!”

“Lub!”

“And will you two shut up?!”

Unfortunately, the two miniature lookalikes ignored her mostly-uncalled-for scolding.

“Shuddup!”

“Dup, dup!”

“Why do I even bother... Forget it. I’m gonna go look for Ao—I mean, Yoshifumi.”

Before she could take off, however, a boy walked up to her—a youth who looked remarkably like a grade-school version of Aoki Yoshifumi.

“Hey, Miss Inaba! Will you gimme some money so I can buy a candy apple?”

Evidently he wasn’t even aware that they’d been looking for him. Unsurprisingly, Inaba lashed out with a karate chop. “HYAH!”

“OUCH! Wh... What was that fooor...? It’s just one little apple... Can’t you buy it for me...?” Tears welled in the boy’s eyes.

“After that scare you just put us through? You’ve got a lot of nerve, kiddo!”

“Inaba, c’mon, don’t frighten him. He didn’t even get into any trouble.” Taichi turned to the miniature Aoki lookalike. “That said, mister, we don’t want you going off on your own, you hear me?”

“Okaaay...” the boy answered. He didn’t seem to have been misbehaving on purpose; maybe this time he’d listen.

“Glad to hear it. Now go on, Inaba. Buy him the candy apple.”

“Excuse me? I just bought him some cotton candy earlier!” Inaba paused. “On second thought, I can just make Aoki pay me back later... Here you go, you little brat!”

“Yay!” The boy accepted the money and gleefully ran off to get in line at the candy apple stand.

“Come straight back, alright?” Taichi called after him. Still, it’d likely be difficult to lose track of him again now that he was within eyeshot.

That’s that problem solved, I guess.

“You guys want any?”

“We still got this!”

“Dis!”

The girls held up their neglected cotton candy and dug in with gusto, as though they’d only just remembered.

“Don’t be shy, now. I’ll buy you anything you want.”

“You’re a sucker for little girls, aren’t you?”

“Not ‘little girls’ specifically! Just kids in general! Don’t make this weird!”

Is it such a crime to be nice to little kids who happen to be girls?!

“I sure wish you’d share that generosity with us big girls, too...”

“...You want me to buy you something?”

“You’re damn right I do.”

“Why should—?” He stopped himself. Inaba was always a good friend to him, and he often felt indebted to her for her kindness. Why shouldn’t he treat her to something nice for a change? “...Would you get my wallet out of my back pocket for me? My hands are a little full at the moment, so just take what you need.”

“Sure thing.” Inaba reached into his pocket, fished out his wallet, and took out a 100-yen coin. “This should cover it.”

“Really? You sure that’s enough?”

“Yeah, I’m sure. Be right back.” With that, she jogged over to the nearby takoyaki stand.

Meanwhile, Taichi glanced over at the miniature Aoki clone to find that he was still waiting in line. By the looks of things, it would be a while yet before he got his candy apple.

A short while later, Inaba returned carrying a tray of six takoyaki balls. She stabbed a toothpick into one of them and held it up in front of his face.

“C’mon, open your mouth.”

“H-Hold on a minute... Why me?”

“I wanted some takoyaki, but I can’t eat all six by myself, so I made you foot one-third of the bill, and now I’m gonna have you eat two of them, which is equal to the amount you paid for, okay?” she blurted out in a single breath, as though she’d rehearsed it all in advance.

“Okay, but... I don’t need you to feed it to me...”

“I thought you said your hands were full?”

“I mean, they are, but I can just let go—”

“And risk losing one of the kids? That would defeat the whole purpose of why you wanted to hold hands with them in the first place. Besides, I don’t think they want to let go... do you, girls?”

“No!” the two shouted back in unison.

“See?”

Clearly she’d already thought this through. He was no match for her.

“Okay, fine. But let it cool off a bit more before you—”

She blew on the takoyaki once, then a second time. “There. It’s cool now.”

Apparently this was to be the next trial(?) he would face today. Reluctantly, he opened his mouth.

“Wider! Say ‘ahh’!”

“Ahhh...”

Inaba leaned in, bringing the takoyaki closer. Embarrassed, he averted his eyes. Then he realized that would only make this weirder, so he looked back.

A pair of long-lashed, almond-shaped eyes looked back at him, ensnaring him.

Just as he felt the takoyaki hit his tongue, however, he heard the electronic click of a camera going off. Startled, he whipped around in the direction of the noise to find a kimono-clad girl standing there, pointing her cell phone at them.

There stood Fujishima Maiko, president of Class 1-C, self-professed “apostle of love,” popularly referred to as “The Love Guru,” all dressed up in her very best. As usual, her hair was tied back, but today it was adorned with an ornamental hairpin. Her glasses glinted in the wintry sunlight.

“Why, if it isn’t Inaba-san and Yaegashi-kun! Fancy meeting you here. Happy New Year’s.” Out of the frying pan and into the fire. She always seemed to turn up at the worst possible moments, almost as though she’d planned it all from the start. “Anyway, what a hilarious predicament I appear to have walked in on. So hilarious, I couldn’t help but snap a pic.”

“Mmnomnom... Knock it off, would you? Delete it!” Taichi demanded (or rather, he tried, but the mouthful of food dampened its impact considerably). The last thing he wanted was photographic evidence lying around.

“I don’t think I will. After all, it’s not every day you encounter a scene out of a harem anime in real life.”

“I don’t have a harem!”

“A cute girl on each arm, plus Inaba-san hand-feeding you? If this isn’t a harem, I don’t know what is.”

“...I’m sorry...” Why exactly he felt the need to apologize, even he wasn’t sure.

“Do tell: is Nagase-san alright with this little arrangement?”

“Who, me?” The little Nagase lookalike perked up. Immediately, Taichi let go of her hand and instead clamped it over her mouth. “Mmffgg?!”

“I need you to stay quiet until I say otherwise. Can you do that for me, please?”

She looked confused for a moment, then nodded. Good girl.

“What was that about?”

“N-Nothing! It’s nothing. Don’t worry about it.”

This did little to dispel the look of suspicion on Fujishima’s face. “I’m not sure I buy that... Oh well. Setting that aside... Why is it I find the two of you here canoodling in broad daylight? Where’s Nagase-san?”

“W-We’re not canoodling! And Nagase isn’t my girlfriend.”

Neither of them were, to be accurate. Taichi hadn’t made things official with anyone as of yet.

“Ah, I see. So your plan is to maintain this vague, formless status quo and thus avoid having to commit to anyone in particular... I’d be very careful if I were you, Yaegashi-kun. In the end, men like you will always get what’s coming to them.”

“I... I’m telling you, I didn’t plan this!”

“Oh, so it ‘just happened,’ did it? You truly are the worst sort of person. As an apostle of love, perhaps it’s my duty to dole out some justice... in the form of my fists.”

“What kind of ‘apostle of love’ goes around punching people?! And why aren’t you helping me deny it, Inaba?!”

“Hmm? Oh, I was thinking I’d let Fujishima get the wrong idea about us. Maybe she’d spread some rumors, y’know? Win-win.”

You’re a monster, Inaba Himeko!

“Don’t you think maybe this isn’t the best time for—”

“Relax! I was kidding, alright? Chill.”

Was she? Lately it was getting hard to tell. Sometimes it seemed like it was all part of a calculated plan, and yet other times she came across like she was just messing with him for fun...

“Still, we probably don’t want any photos of this,” she muttered as an afterthought. With that, she headed over to Fujishima and started whispering in her ear. Her eyes glinted sharply behind her glasses. The next moment, she started tapping away on her cell phone, then held the screen up for the other girl to see.

After Inaba gave it a once-over, the two girls exchanged a firm handshake, and she walked back over to Taichi like nothing had happened.

“What was that about? Did you guys strike some kind of bargain, or what?”

Fujishima didn’t strike him as the type to easily concede.

“Don’t worry about it, Taichi. It’s between me and her.”

“She’s right, Yaegashi-kun. You see, the bonds between girls are like a secret garden where no boys may enter...” Fujishima chuckled and wiped the drool oozing from the corner of her mouth... but Taichi pretended not to see it. He got the sense he wasn’t going to like where this was headed.

“Fair enough. As long as you deleted the photo, I can’t complain. A-Anyway, see you sometime next semes—”

“I’m not finished.” Fujishima adjusted her glasses. “Pray tell, who are these sweet little girls you’re holding hands with?”

Damn it, I knew she’d ask about that...

“Oh, uh... These are my, y’know, second cousins twice removed...”

“So they’re related to you?”

“Y-Yeah?”

Instantly, Inaba rounded on him. “Dumbass! You should’ve said they’re related to them!”

Crap. She was right.

“I see. That’s fascinating, seeing as that one looks nearly identical to Nagase-san, and that one is a dead ringer for Kiriyama-san.”

“Whaddya mean? I am Kiriya—mmph?!”

Inaba clapped a hand over the Kiriyama lookalike’s mouth, then pulled her into a firm embrace, burying the girl’s face into her stomach. Muffled sounds of complaint could be heard as she flailed in protest.

Naturally, Fujishima found this rather suspect.

“What did you do that for? You know, come to think of it, the more I look at them, the more uncanny the resemblance... Almost like perfect recreations of what the two of them must have looked like as childr—”

“Hey, Miss Inaba! I’m back!”

That was when the Aoki lookalike returned, candy apple in hand.

“What do we have here? A younger relative of Inaba-san’s? Wait... He looks exactly like Aoki-kun... To an almost startling degree, might I add—”

“Oh, crap! We’re, uh, gonna be late for the thing! We gotta run, Taichi!” Inaba shouted, then grabbed the mini-Kiriyama’s hand and took off, pausing briefly to elbow the mini-Aoki while making sure not to drop the tray of takoyaki balls. “Run, idiot! I’ll buy you whatever you want, so just run!”

“Wha? For real?! Heck yes! Full speed ahead!”

“Don’t just run off wherever you want! Follow me! HEY! Argh, you little dipshit! You trying to get yourself lost again?!”

“W-Wait for me!” Taichi called, but Inaba and the others were already jetting off at lightning speed. Thinking quickly, he crouched down and hoisted the miniature Nagase lookalike into his arms. “This might be a little scary, but I need you to be a big, brave girl, okay?”

A second later, he took off running after Inaba.

Thankfully, the mini-Nagase seemed to enjoy it. “Wheeeee! Am flyiiing!” she shrieked gleefully, flailing her limbs.

“Yes, you’re flying, okay? Now settle down! Don’t swing your cotton candy like th—GWAH!” The sugary pink cloud blindsided him, and the next thing he knew, he’d crashed headfirst into a passerby. “Whoa!”

“Ow!”

“Ack! I... I’m so sorry!”

“Don’t worry, I’m okay... Wait, what the? Taichi?”

Instantly, his apologetic smile vanished.

“Care to explain yourself, dearest brother?!”

There stood Rina, his younger sister by five years, glaring dully back at him. She had been in a really bad mood as of late... for a few different reasons.

“Wh... What are you doing here...?” he stammered. His luck today was proving to be the worst.

“I’m here with some friends. Now then...” She smiled coldly. “Who’s that little girl you’re carrying? She’s not a relative of ours, is she? And she’s a little too young to be a friend of yours... I’m starting to think I might need to call the cops.”

“Huh?” The mini-Nagase tilted her head, and Rina’s glare deepened. Yikes.

“I’m sorry! I’ll explain everything later, so please just let me off the hook for right now!” With that, he took off like a bat out of hell.

He could hear Rina calling after him—“Hey! Wait!”—but he ignored her. He would have to pay the price for his insolence once he arrived back at home, and it was a terrifying prospect... Nevertheless, he somehow managed to catch up with the others, and together the five of them escaped from the crowd of shrine-goers. Thankfully, neither Fujishima nor Rina appeared to be chasing after them.

Inaba gasped for breath. “Should’ve known... there was a chance we’d... run into people we knew... Think we got a bit too cocky...”

“Yeah... Agreed... No more risky moves for today... Hmm? New email?” Upon spotting the notification, Taichi flipped open his phone to find two unread messages waiting for him: one from Fujishima, and one from Rina.

Once the new semester starts, I want to hear ALL the details. And you’re not getting out of it until I’m satisfied. Pow, pow! ♡

I don’t like the look of that heart emoji, Fujishima-san!

I DeMaND aN eXPLaNaTioN. DePeNDinG oN YouR aNSWeR, THeRe MaY Be PuNiSHMeNT.

And I don’t know why you wrote it like that, but it’s giving me the creeps, Rina!!!

Taichi slumped his shoulders in defeat. “How did things end up like this...?”

“End up!”

“Dup!”

“At least little Yui and Iori are in a good mood, I guess...” Taichi sighed, gazing down at the two girls in question.

Something like this should have been impossible—at least, until somebody invented time machines—and yet here he was, face to face with kid versions of his friends from school. Yes, the impossible was somehow now very possible indeed.

It all began last Christmas, on the final day of the semester...

Chapter 1: It Began With A Warning

First there was the body-swap, and then came the Liberation. Now, at last, this ludicrous year was coming to a close.

Enrolling in high school should’ve been a major milestone in their lives, and yet Taichi found he could scarcely remember anything from the first half of the year. Too much had happened ever since their first encounter with «Heartseed» nearly four solid months ago.

Looking back, the pre-«Heartseed» era of his life was utterly ordinary... but then all of a sudden everything took a turn for the supernatural. Was there any way he could have avoided it?

If he’d enrolled in a different school—joined a different club—never met the other members of the CRC—could he have enjoyed a more idyllic high school career? Sure. Maybe his grades would’ve been better, too.

But Taichi didn’t regret enrolling in Yamaboshi High School, or joining the newly created Cultural Research Club, or making friends with his fellow members. If he were asked to do it all over again, he was certain he’d make all the same choices.

In taking this path, maybe he lost some things along the way... but to Taichi, what he gained in return was far more precious.

□■□■□

The closing ceremony was held in the auditorium. Once it concluded, the students returned to their assigned classrooms for the final homeroom period of the year, led by their class advisor.

The advisor for Taichi’s class, 1-C, was Gotou Ryuuzen (AKA “Gossan”), the school physics teacher popularly known for his casual, laid-back attitude.

“So, setting aside everything the principal and school counselor said on stage, you’re all basically free to do whatever you like over winter break—as long as you don’t cause trouble or commit any crimes. I don’t wanna have to get called in, you understand me?”

For a teacher, he was... refreshingly honest. Sure, let’s go with that.

“Now then, I’ve passed out all the worksheets... Am I forgetting anything, Fujishima?”

“I don’t know what you expect me to say. As far as I can tell, you’ve covered all the bases, Sensei,” class president Fujishima Maiko responded. As she was a highly competent and responsible individual, Gotou had been foisting a lot of his workload on her as of late (as well as the CRC’s own Inaba Himeko).

“Oh yeah. Come to think of it, it’s Christmas, isn’t it? Okay, well, none of you better sneak off to any love hotels, you get me?! Love hotels are for adults only! If you’re gonna do it, do it at home, and always use protection!”

“You should refrain from making any comments that could be construed as inappropriate, Sensei. These days they’re really cracking down on that sort of thing.”

As was readily apparent, Fujishima was practically Gotou’s supervisor at this point.

“Alrighty then, let’s wrap this up! It’s still a little early to let you go, but I’m sure they’ll let it slide for today. Class dismissed!”

Instantly, the class roared to life with excited chatter. The last day of each semester always tended to evoke a certain giddy vibe among the student body.

“Yo, Yaegashi!” Taichi’s friend Watase Shingo called out to him. “Remember: no unprotected sex this holiday season! Not that you’re at risk of getting laid anytime soon!”

“Nope. And neither are you.”

With good looks, athletic skills, and a fun personality, Watase was a triple threat—and yet he was still single. Why? Because he only had eyes for stone-cold Fujishima Maiko, and despite his best efforts, she hadn’t given him a second glance.

“Aw, shut up! Anyways, remember how I was saying we should hang out over winter break? Well, I was thinking—”

“Taichi! We’ll see you at the clubroom!” Inaba called across the classroom.

“Don’t be laaate!” Nagase added.

“O-Okay!”

With that, his two fellow clubmates left the room.

“Clubroom? What’s the story there?”

“Oh, well, we decided we’d throw a little CRC Christmas party today...”

“Sheesh! You guys are super tight with each other, huh? I guess that might make it a little tricky to date one of ‘em...”

“I dunno... Seems to me we don’t have to worry about that...”

“Then why haven’t you hooked up with Nagase already?”

“Well... Things’ve gotten a little complicated lately...”

“You’re always so vague about this stuff, you know that?”

Trust me, I know I ought to set the record straight, but... well...

“Eh, whatever. Looks like you gotta get going, so we can work out all the details later. I’ll shoot you an email.”

“Sounds good.”

Watase walked off, and Taichi got to his feet.

On his way out, he paused to chat with some of his other classmates—Any Christmas plans? New Year’s Eve traditions? What day of the week is January 4th, anyway? Fuck the homework, this school can suck my dick!

(The latter sentiment was one Taichi himself didn’t share.)

Before he knew it, the time flew by. At this rate, the other club members would get mad at him for sure. He hurried to the door.

There, a group of girls waved to him from across the room. “See you next year, Yaegashi-kun!”

Over the past few months, the CRC had been tormented with one supernatural phenomenon after the next, often making a scene in front of their whole class, and yet their classmates still welcomed them with open arms. Taichi sincerely appreciated it.

Their entire ordeal had given him a newfound sense of appreciation for the mundane.

Just then, as he turned down the hall, he felt a tap on his shoulder.

A casual little tap, no different from any of the countless interactions happening on a daily basis at Yamaboshi High School.

But in that instant, goosebumps shot up his arms.

Something wasn’t right.

The air itself felt... unearthly somehow. He sensed it—smelled it—right there in the school hallway. And it was a smell he was all too familiar with.

No, it can’t be. Taichi shook his head. Today was just another ordinary day.

At least, it was supposed to be.

Admittedly, the CRC clubroom had been corrupted by this otherworldly abnormality in the past—but the rest of the school was safe. That was «Heartseed»’s policy. Sure, it was capable of turning up at any given time, but once it set a rule, it always committed to it, right?

The chatter in the background felt so... distant.

He didn’t want to turn and look—but he knew he had to confront it. There would be no escape.

Swallowing hard, Taichi turned to find... someone who wasn’t Gotou Ryuuzen.

He blinked. There stood a tomboyish girl with short hair—Oosawa Misaki from the track team.

I guess «Heartseed» didn’t turn up after all... Was it just all in my head?

Wait.

Her eyes were half-lidded.

She exuded the same lethargic lack of energy as «Heartseed»... and yet her presence felt different somehow—

“...Oosawa...?” he asked timidly.

“...You will be their knight,” she replied slowly—her tone in stark contrast to her usual self. After all, the Oosawa he knew was always babbling excitedly about something.

“Wh... What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Tell no one of my presence... Can you promise that?”

Now he was sure of it. This was not Oosawa.

And... it wasn’t «Heartseed», either.

“...If you break this promise... I will change ‘noon to five’ to ‘all hours.’ Understand?”

“Hold on. What are you even talking about?”

“Soon it will start... and then you will know... Farewell.”

With that, Oosawa’s body promptly collapsed to the floor.

“Wh—?!” Taichi quickly grabbed her by the arm to stop her fall. “You okay?!”

“Nnngh... Huh...? Wh-What’s going on?!” Oosawa jumped to her feet in wide-eyed surprise. “Uhh... What was I doing...? Yaegashi-kun?”

“I’m not sure... Looked like you collapsed all of a sudden...”

“For real? Maybe I’m anemic or something... But what am I doing in the hallway?” Evidently she had no memory of what had taken place. “W-Well, anyway, thanks for looking out for me.”

“No problem.”

And so she went back inside the classroom, a puzzled look on her face.

“Man, what was that...?”

You’ll be their knight. Tell no one. Noon to five. All hours. None of it made any sense. And if it wasn’t «Heartseed», then... what on earth was possessing Oosawa’s body just now?

Baffled, Taichi headed up the four flights of stairs to Rec Hall Room 401, home to the Cultural Research Club.

When he arrived, he found everyone else waiting for him. The tables were lined with drinks, snacks, and even some board games—all the stuff they’d brought in yesterday in preparation for the party.

“Hey, Taichi, did you write that?” Inaba asked, her almond-shaped eyes sharply narrowed. Paired with her slender, stately figure, it was a good look for her, strangely enough. She jerked her thumb over her shoulder at the chalkboard, and Taichi’s gaze followed suit.

There, someone had written four of their names:

INABA HIMEKO NAGASE IORI KIRIYAMA YUI AOKI YOSHIFUMI

“What the heck? How come I’m not on here? Or was I supposed to write it myself?”

At this question, Inaba’s scowl deepened. “Seriously? So it wasn’t you, either?”

“We found it when we got to the clubroom,” Kiriyama explained, her arms wrapped tightly around her petite frame. “But none of us remember writing it...”

“Then who did?”

“If we knew that, we wouldn’t have asked you, dipshit!”

“It’s a mystery!” exclaimed Aoki Yoshifumi, his wavy locks bouncing.

At this, Nagase put her hand to her chin in an exaggerated display of contemplation. “Perhaps the culprit intentionally set this up as a puzzle for us to solve...”

“Oh, I get it! It’s like a murder, and this is the victim’s dining message! In that case, the killer can only be... Taichi! Because his name isn’t on there!”

“I didn’t kill anybody! Your solution is way too simple! And furthermore, it’s not ‘dining message,’ you idiot, it’s ‘dying message’!”

Aoki’s stupidity had managed to earn three different snarky retorts at the same time. He was clearly on top of his game today.

“If this is like a prank somebody’s pulling on us... then my guess is Iori. I mean, they say the guilty party is usually the first person to point something out.”

“Y-Yui! You don’t trust me...?”

“No, no, of course I do! It was just, like, a theory! Obviously our sweet Iori would never lie to us!”

“Oh, Yui... You do understand me!”

“I’d never doubt you, Iori!”

The two girls embraced each other tightly like they were actresses in a stage play. Inaba stared at them for a moment, then grimaced. “Did an outsider come in here...? And if so, what for?”

“It’s probably just a prank, right? I mean, all they did was write four of our names... That said, I still think it’s weird that they left me off...”

“They wrote more than just our names, Taichi.”

“Huh?”

Taichi glanced back at the chalkboard. That was when he saw it:

12:00 PM - 5:00 PM

“Noon to five? ...Wait...”

Come to think of it, that was the same time frame “Oosawa” specified. Her voice flickered through his mind once more.

—I will change “noon to five” to “all hours.”

A chill ran down his spine. Was this just pure coincidence, or...?

The clock on the wall indicated 11:50 AM.

He debated whether to detail his earlier experience in the hallway, but she—it?—had warned him not to tell anyone, lest he “break this promise.” Maybe his best bet, then, was to keep quiet and see where things went from here.

They were still okay. There was nothing around to derail their lives anymore.

At least, for the moment.

“This is a little too nonsensical to be a prank, if you ask me. Is anything missing?”

At Inaba’s question, the five of them looked around the room... but everything seemed to be in order.

“Hmmm... Whatever. It’s kinda creepy, but we can worry about it later. For now, let’s start the party.”

They clinked their cans of soda together in a toast, and the Christmas party began in earnest. Time to eat, drink, and be merry!

“Whew! Soda is so dang good!”

“God, Iori! Sip it, don’t chug it!” Kiriyama rolled her eyes and took a swig of her drink. “Gah, what the heck?! This stuff is like BURNING! How does anyone drink this?!”

“Sit your ass back down, Yui! I swear, am I the only girl around here who has any goddamn decorum? What a joke.”

“I don’t think slouching over the table like a middle-aged man at his second bar of the night counts as ‘table manners,’ Inabacchan—OUCH!”

“Slouching? Fuck you! My posture is perfect!”

As usual, the Cultural Research Club was always squabbling over something. Glancing nervously at the clock, Taichi took a sip of his drink.

“Relax, Taichi! The party’s just started! Or do you have a hot date after this?” Nagase joked, peering at him curiously. His heart thumped in his chest. She was generally considered the prettiest girl in their grade, and it was easy to see why.

“What? No!” He glanced at the clock again. Noon was just seconds away.

Not that anything would happen, of course—

But then anything did happen.

“Nngh...!” Out of nowhere, Nagase groaned and slammed her drink down onto the table.

“N-Nagase...?”

“M-My body... feels all hot...” The color drained from her face as she began to shiver violently.

“Whoa... Are you okay?!”

Her mouth moved, but the words didn’t come.

“Wait... Whoa... I’m feeling really warm, too...” Kiriyama croaked beside her, wincing and clutching at her reddish-brown hair with both hands.

“What’s going on here?!” Inaba demanded.

“What’s wrong, ladies?!” Aoki piped up in alarm.

Noon to five... the mysterious non-«Heartseed» entity... the message scrawled on the chalkboard... and now this.

Apparently noon signaled the start of something—but what?

And then Nagase and Kiriyama blinked out of existence.

“WHAT?!” Taichi screeched in an almost inhuman voice. He couldn’t begin to process it. He rubbed his eyes and looked again—at which point he realized that their chairs weren’t actually empty.

In their place sat two cute little girls, each practically drowning in extremely oversized Yamaboshi High School uniforms.

“Huh... wha... who...?” Inaba stammered.

“Wh... What happened to Nagase and Kiriyama?” Taichi asked.

The two small girls—one with dark hair, the other reddish-brown—peered curiously around the room.

“Nnn... My clothes awe too big!” the dark-haired girl exclaimed, waving her oversized sleeves.

“Mine too,” nodded the other girl, the one with long chestnut-colored hair. She paused to roll up her sleeves, then turned to the smaller girl beside her and helped her roll up hers. “Ooh, snacks! Can we have some?”

The three of them nodded wordlessly in response.

“Yay!” She took two small packages of snack cookies and offered one to the other girl. “Want one? Here.”

“Thank you vewwy much!”

With that, the two girls happily began to devour their prize. Meanwhile, Taichi and Aoki exchanged glances... then grabbed each other by the shoulders.

“Wh-Wh-Wh-What the heck is HAPPENING?! What’s going on?! Am I hallucinating or did they trade places with two random kids?!” Aoki screamed, his eyes as wide as saucers.

“How should I know?! Maybe I’m hallucinating!”

“Hallucinating... Aha! That must be it! Okay, let’s close our eyes and count to three, and when we open them again, everything will be back to normal! Ready? One... two... three... IT DIDN’T WORK!”

“Whose kids are these?! Where are their parents?! Somebody come get your daughters!” Taichi yelled, now in a full-fledged panic.

As for Inaba, she chuckled dryly, got to her feet, and walked to the window. There, she opened it and screamed at the top of her lungs—

“WHAT THE FUUUUUUUUUUCK?!?!”

Her scream echoed all across campus.

Once they had finished venting out all their panic, the three of them began to analyze the situation. Together, they arrived at the following hypothetical (and utterly impossible) conclusion: Nagase Iori and Kiriyama Yui had gone back in time and physically reverted to their childhood selves.

The two younger children now present with them in the clubroom looked undeniably similar to their missing clubmates. (“Nagase” looked to be about six years old, and “Kiriyama” was likely around eleven or twelve.) They had also appeared in the exact same spot as their older selves in what amounted to a split-second—not nearly enough time for them to trade places and hide somewhere.

Plus, it wasn’t just that the two of them had shrunk in size, either; their features were noticeably more round and youthful. Ultimately, their hairstyles were the only thing left unchanged—unless you counted the Yamaboshi High School uniforms they were wearing, which were identical to their original owners’, right down to the contents of their pockets.

When they asked the miniature Nagase to stand up during the clothing search, her skirt and panties threatened to fall straight to the floor, causing a slight panic. (Inaba promptly poked both Aoki’s and Taichi’s eyes out, then made the necessary clothing adjustments while they were busy flailing in agony.)

But the final nail in the coffin was the testimony from the children themselves.

The two girls sat across the table from Aoki, Inaba, and Taichi, dressed in their oversized, rolled-up uniforms. The once fairly short skirts were now practically blankets on their legs.