That same night, Hanabi woke up with a hard pillow under her left cheek. She was lying on some mildewy sheets. There was no sign of any covers.
She realized she was in the women’s lodge. The beds were all in rows like in a field hospital. She was at one edge of the room, and everyone else was asleep. Cramming a bunch of sixteen to eighteen-year-old JK—delicate, fragile creatures—into a single big room was so Nanahoshi Kaede. Of course, these girls were neither delicate nor fragile, so it was totally not an issue. As proof, they were all sound asleep.
But Hanabi was freaking out a bit.
She didn’t remember anything.
She remembered Rin going to get some wine. Then she wanted a drink herself, and she knew Rin would get mad at her for it, but Kuon was with her, so she figured it would be fine. She slipped a little castle town Napoleon into her soda and drank that, then talked to Kuon…and then she couldn’t remember anything else. She really wanted to believe that the part where she poured out her heart to Kuon and then kissed him a lot was a dream.
There was a video message on her Device. She was almost afraid to open it. When she did, she found Kuon looking apologetic. Like a prisoner waiting for a death sentence, Hanabi set it so only she could hear. But it was just a simple “You fell asleep so I carried you here.” She looked around. Several beds were empty. Probably off flirting, the hussies. She had a boy of her own; why was she wasting time sleeping? Hanabi felt really sad.
“…I’m thirsty,” she whispered.
“Oh, Hanabi!”
As she chugged a sports drink from the vending machine by the main lodge, a friendly voice called out. “Nao!” Hanabi said. “What’s up?”
Nao came over, smiling and waving. She had a couple of boxed drinks in her hands, so she was probably here for the same reason. Nao glanced towards the dark forest, from which they could occasionally hear whispered conversations or…other sounds…and put her hands to her lips, giggling. “Everyone’s getting carried away, huh?”
“We all went to war and looked death in the face. Can you blame them?”
“You feeling lusty yourself, Hanabi?”
“Er…well…yeah.”
“Ah ha ha! I was kidding! Sorry, sorry. So you going to find Kuon-kun?”
“Nooo…probably not.”
“Really?”
Hanabi quickly deflected. “What about you?”
“I’m with Jin-kun, of course! We haven’t had any trysts or anything yet. He wants to wait till we’re married. Jeez… He’s got a girl like me and won’t do anything? Pfft.”
“Ha ha, that sounds like him.”
Nao stared at Hanabi’s face for a moment. “…You seem softer these days, Hanabi.”
“Huh? I’m still working out!”
“I mean personality-wise. You’re more…relaxed? Compared to last year you aren’t talking like a bushi nearly as much.”
“You think it’s…?”
“Kuon-kun’s influence? Or is that pushing it?”
“I-I dunno. I’m not really conscious of it, myself.”
“But you’re blushing!” Nao reached out and rubbed her head. “Oh, I saw Kuon-kun headed that way earlier.”
“Wh-which way?”
“There,” Nao pointed behind the main lodge. Hanabi thanked her and started walking. “Oh, but…he might not be alone… Too late, huh?”
Hanabi was already out of earshot.
It was the worst possible timing.
Hanabi found Kuon by the rocks. She was about to excitedly call out to him when she saw Tooka with him and realized they were holding hands. She was instantly crestfallen.
“Oh…”
She wanted to call out, but this didn’t seem like something she could interrupt. She also lacked the courage to do so. She crouched down on the rocks above them instead, hiding where they wouldn’t see her. What now? She fidgeted, listening to them talk.
“You were Suzuka Hachishiki’s little sister?” Kuon said.
Hanabi nearly froze. Tooka-chan is the Hero’s sister?! That didn’t make sense. He died thirteen years ago, and his parents long before that, and Tooka was only ten and…
Below her, Tooka nodded. “I was Suzuka Hachishiki’s sister in my previous life. And you were…”
He was…what? What was Kuon, then? Thirteen years old, Lunatic Order, Twin Star Heroes, best Fencer in the Air Force, successor to the Shichisei Kenbu…
…Wait.
Thirteen?!
Shichisei Kenbu?!
She never noticed before how strange a coincidence that was, but now it was spinning through her mind. Before she could even sort it out, Kuon spoke.
“I’m Suzuka Hachishiki’s reincarnation,” she heard him say. “And I guess that does make you my sister.”
This time Hanabi really did freeze.
What did he just say?
She was pretty sure even the blood in her veins had stopped flowing. He has to be joking, Hanabi thought. Kuon is just playing along with Tooka, who is clearly into spiritual mumbo jumbo like past lives and destiny or whatever. I mean, there’s no way…
Kuon was talking again. “Um…yeah, I did. I died inside the Gate, and immediately after that I was a baby. My memories transferred to Okegawa Kuon’s body. Although I lost my magic…”
That can’t be true…
Hanabi tried to laugh it off, but her own memories were revolting. During the Capital Recovery, after the two of them went in the Gate, what had En said?
“Your memories will be transplanted into a baby somewhere. Essentially, you’ll be reincarnated.”
That meant reincarnation was an actual possibility. Not fiction but something that really happened. People were actually reborn.
She shook her head. No. Even if that was a remote possibility, and that did happen to Tooka, that didn’t prove the same thing had happened to Kuon. He must be making this up based on what En had said, piecing it together from one fact or another. She was sure that was the case.
Hanabi staggered to her feet. She couldn’t call out to him now. It never even occurred to her to check with him what the truth was. She just wanted to get away. The longer she stayed listening to them, the more real it would seem. All her doubts would fall away, one after another. The more she thought about it, the more certain she’d become.
So she had to move. She couldn’t think about it.
She knew that instinctively. This was not something she could let herself know. Kuon’s mysteries, strange behavior, odd maturity, frightening skills, all of that…all of it pointed to him. It wasn’t true. It couldn’t be true. She couldn’t let it be true, because if…
If he really is the Hero, I’ll never forgive him.
If Kuon had been lying to her this whole time, knowing how much she looked up to the Hero…what greater betrayal could there be? So it couldn’t be true. He was just making it up.
She told herself that over and over, all the way back to her bed in the lodge, where she didn’t sleep a wink.
The next day, back in her dorm, she told Rin about it, like it was a big joke. Rin looked serious for a second and then broke out laughing. She laughed so hard she was crying. “Still,” Rin said, “That’s waaaay too dumb. Better not tell anyone else.”
Her eyes weren’t smiling.
Hanabi felt like that was a warning. Oh, she thought. Even Rin thinks so.
Okegawa Kuon might really be Suzuka Hachishiki’s reincarnation.