Chapter 6

Chapter 3 Time-Capsule Paradox “We’re in the eighth round of the Maiden Heart-Pounding Championship! These fantasies are amazing!” “Yay! Clap, clap, clap!” “Ah, geez. How did this even happen…?” One day after school, we were poised to have a wild conversation in the nurse’s office. We didn’t usually talk about spicy stuff like this. Everything went wrong when Ms. Koyomi asked us for that favor earlier! “Tomorrow, the school will be holding a reunion for alumni.” After classes were over, we were hanging out and chatting in the nurse’s office for no particular reason when Ms. Koyomi suddenly seemed to remember something. “Oh, right. I think classes finish in the morning, and there’s a mixer with the alumni in the afternoon. The mixer is optional, so we’re essentially free to leave at noon,” Fuyuko answered for me, since I’d completely forgotten. The real mystery was how she managed to remember these things while never coming to class. “Yes. Well, even if there are no participants, the student council leaders are obligated to attend, so the outcome shouldn’t be too tragic.” “So why are you telling us this?” “Tomorrow’s class reunion is for alumni who graduated twenty years ago. These alumni took part in something while they were in school, although it’s not so much of a thing anymore.” Ms. Koyomi pointed at a large cherry tree in the corner of the schoolyard that you could see from the nurse’s office window. “It’s a traditional event where people bury their memories from high school, right around there.” “Oh! A time capsule!” said Haruru. “I’ve always loved those in manga and anime! I didn’t know our school did them, too! Aww, that makes me happy!” Ms. Koyomi smiled ruefully and shrugged. “They’re fun when you’re in high school but a pain to dig up as an adult. It’s a lot of work, and sorting through everything is a hassle, too. So about that…” Ms. Koyomi put her hand in the pocket of her white coat and took out a flyer. CLASS REUNION VOLUNTEERS WANTED was written on it in large letters. Don’t tell me… “Apparently, the student council is shorthanded, so they asked me to recruit some people. You all have some free time, right? Can at least one of you help?” “…Do we get anything for volunteering?” “Of course, Miss Natsunagi. You’ll get a prepaid book card worth five hundred yen!” Selling a high school girl’s precious after-school time for five hundred yen? Nope, no way. But only one of us had to participate. Not all three. Meaning that if someone sacrificed themselves…we’d be safe tomorrow after school! And it seemed we were all thinking the same thing. “Oh, I can’t tomorrow,” I said. “I have a shift at a coffee shop. You know, the one by the station.” “You’re a bad liar, Nagisa. Even a little sexual harassment pisses you off; there’s no way you can work at a maid café whose selling point is miniskirts and kitty ears.” “No! I’d never wear those indecent cosplay maid outfits! The design is kinda cute, though…isn’t it?” “You might look good in it. Oh. That reminds me—I think our drama club is actually wearing something like those for our next play. Why don’t you try one on?” I wasn’t sure why…but I could vividly picture myself wearing it. No, no, I’d never wear one! I wasn’t going to, right?! She wasn’t going to make me?! “By the way, I have a date with a cute girl tomorrow,” said Fuyuko. “One-on-one. Sorry.” “There’s another girl besides us? Then give back all the time I spent on you! Give it back now!” “Nagisa, you’re freaking me out! Well, it’s not a lie. I mean, tomorrow, either Nagisa or Haruru will be volunteering. So I’ll be on a date with the one who’s left.” “Bold of you to assume you’re not gonna be the volunteer…Haruru?” “I really don’t want to go on a date alone with Fuyu?” “Oh, I was asking if you had any plans tomorrow, not if you wanted to go on a date with Fuyuko. Look—you hurt her feelings.” “Fuyuko’s even cuter when you bully her. Right now, I’m trying to popularize the ‘Fuyu oppression’ genre at our school! I’ve already got three people endorsing it!” “If everyone at school starts doing it, wouldn’t it just be regular bullying?!” Fuyuko, who was being embroiled in a fiendish plot, pursed her lips together with teary eyes. Wow, she really was even cuter. Maybe I’d start oppressing her, too. “Sigh…meaning the three of you are free. So let’s do this,” Ms. Koyomi suggested as she handed me a printout and a pen. “We’ll play a game, and the loser has to volunteer tomorrow. Don’t you think that’s fair?” Her thoughtless solution led to a devilish game. “And it’s the eighth round. I’ve never played something this stupid once, let alone eight times.” “Oh, I see… We’ve been doing it when you’re not around. Sorry.” “Fuyu! You promised to keep it a secret so Nagi wouldn’t get hurt!” “No, no, no, I’m not hurt or anything. In fact, when I’m not around, you two can do whatever you want. Seriously.” Was there anything I’d ever wanted to be left out of more? If we were swapping love stories or whatever, I’d probably just be depressed, but this was a fantasy-revealing contest. “In other words, here you can speak openly about the things you fantasize about doing with boys before you go to sleep at night. Whoever gets our hearts pounding the most is the winner.” “By the way, anything explicit is disqualified. Just up to PG-13!” “The rules are well-thought-out for such an appalling competition…” At this point, they probably wouldn’t listen to anything I said. In a group of three, two versus one was inevitable. “But, well, a masochist like Nagisa probably has predictable fantasies, so they might not even be interesting,” said Fuyuko. “Rude. How dare you, Fuyuko. Besides, I’m not a hardcore masochist! You two misunderstand me; I’m just your normal adolescent girl!” “Uh-huh. So what does normal-girl Nagi fantasize about?” Think…of a wonderful, heart-pounding fantasy that won’t get you disqualified. Things like holding hands on the way home from school or being kabedoned and kissed in an empty classroom were all a little too simplistic and cliché. Okay, I had it. “I guess it has a lighthearted vibe, though? When I go to his place—we say we’re studying for exams—we fool around a little in the gloomy light of the setting sun while we’re taking a break. But things gradually escalate, and before I know it, he forcefully pushes me down onto the bed and ties my hands with cord he had ready for some reason. “I desperately try to resist, but he reaches around from behind me and touches between my breasts and armpits like he’s tickling me, and his hand occasionally reaches the base of my butt. The exchange never really crosses the line. He’s ultimately a coward, so even though he’s already gone this far, he doesn’t take off my uniform or kiss me. At most, he secretly touches my thighs. Well, it’s only natural…since we’re not dating yet. “But on the way home, part of me is hoping I’ll end up back at his place again. His scent and warmth still linger on my body. I savor those sensations and arrive home thinking about how I’d like him to whisper insults in my ear next time. “I might graduate in a different sense before I get confessed to properly as a high schooler… I fantasize about that before going to bed, and after a sleepless night, I meet him again on the way to school. It just feels like part of my everyday life…right?” “No?” “No!” “Also, it would be great if the guy sighed and said ‘good grief’ in a bored tone.” “There’s even extra toppings?! Could you not…say ‘great’ with that blissful smile?” “I’m low-key getting indigestion from that extra lust, mushy brain, and second helping of fantasizing…” The two of them listened to me but looked somewhat alarmed. “I-it’s not that serious, okay? Those situations come up all the time in shoujo manga!” “Not the shoujo manga I know!” “I’ve seen something similar in a vaguely raunchy ad before.” No one else was on board with my fantasy. Why? Maybe the two of them would have preferred something a little more hardcore? This was tricky. “…Right. Nagisa can be exempt from volunteering.” “…Yup,” said Haruru. “So between me and Fuyu, whoever loses at rock-paper-scissors will do it? I’m not hungry for any more after that. Ha, ha-ha.” The two of them weakly played rock-paper-scissors, and Fuyu lost. I wanted to hear their fantasies, too. Wasn’t that a little unfair? Ms. Koyomi’s gentle smile had faded. “High school girls these days…,” she trailed off gravely. Weird. The next day, Fuyuko volunteered as promised, and Haruru and I ate lunch together in the cafeteria and happily went home together. The Yellow Panties of Happiness incident and the mystery Yomiko had given me—with those two incidents behind us, I had thought that our days would be peaceful for a while. But— “Morning, Nagisa. I came here just for you!” The next day, my friend was waiting for me with a bright smile on the way to school. “Morning, Fuyuko. You’re always so energetic first thing in the morning.” “Of course! Because I get to see you. I was sad that we couldn’t go home together yesterday. Can we hold hands…while we walk? Wanna ply the yuri trade together?” “I think the stress of volunteering is getting to my friend. What demand is there for that anyway?” “So it would be wrong to hold hands with my beloved Nagisa if there was no demand?” When she said that, with a face that was even better looking than the boys’ and her piercing eyes…e-even I got shy. If Fuyuko put her heart into it, she could get any girl to fall for her. It was really unfair. “I-it’s not wrong… J-just for a bit, okay?” Just as I had placed my hand over Fuyuko’s and was about to link my fingers with hers— “I came because I heard my two best friends were doing yuri!” Haruru hollered. “Is this the right venue?!” “Ah, here comes the demand.” Thanks to the three of us being together and returning to our usual vibe, I wound up not holding hands with Fuyuko. “Waah…I was so close to making Nagisa fall in love with me.” “Love isn’t something you can force; it has to happen on its own, right? More importantly, how was volunteering yesterday?” “Oh, right! I was going to tell you two—we ran into an interesting mystery.” I tensed up when I heard that word. “This isn’t some weird mystery like last time with the books, right?” “Don’t worry about that. If anything, it’s a pretty big mystery. In fact, it wouldn’t be strange if the boy you were looking for was involved.” The moment that boy flashed through my mind, my muscles seized up according to some invisible force. What the heck? It was like someone else—not me—was fixated on his existence. “A data CD was found in that time capsule. We don’t know who it belongs to, and it seems like an artifact that doesn’t belong in this day and age… Someone’s treasure.” Haruru and I listened intently to Fuyuko while we walked to school. “I helped dig up the time capsule, and we were supposed to give the contents to the class reunion president afterward. Since everyone is an adult now, not everyone was able to attend.” Fuyuko had handed the contents over to the president. The president had accepted them and distributed them to his old classmates by referring to a list in the gym… Things seemed to have gone well up to that point. “For those who couldn’t attend, they decided to mail theirs afterward, except for one thing—a data CD left behind with no owner.” “That’s the artifact? But twenty years ago, a CD wouldn’t exactly be rare, right?” “Nagi’s right. If you’re talking rare storage mediums from twenty years ago, maybe an SSD? You see them all the time now, but back then, they were only just starting to spread.” As Haruru kept going, I tried looking up the history of SSDs on my phone. It looked like major manufacturers started distributing them just a short time later. But since Fuyuko was specifically referring to CDs, it seemed irrelevant. “No, what’s weird isn’t the CD itself. It’s what’s on it.” “You mean it has data that couldn’t possibly exist in this day and age?” “Yes. Nagisa’s right. By the way, have either of you heard of Lick-Lick Syndrome Sisters? It’s a popular light novel that got an anime adaption?” In contrast to me, who didn’t know much in that area, Haruru’s eyes were sparkling. “Wha—?! I never thought I’d hear Fuyuko talk about Peroimo! I really love it! The animation in episode five where the little sister licks her brother’s body gets so slippery smooth!” “‘Slippery smooth’? Brothers getting licked…? Uhh…is this, um. Kind of a sexy series? Haruru?” “No? Sure, it might seem that way if you just watch the scene where the brother gets licked. But it’s a depiction of love. It’s like a last resort the brother and sister use to save each other when they get infected with ‘lick-lick syndrome’—” “Wait, hold on. What even is that?” “An extraterrestrial life form. The younger sister gets infected with it, and her repressed love and lust for her stepbrother explode, and her brother destroys the balance of the world to save her—” “Ah, whatever.” In other words, light novels like that existed. I might’ve even seen a poster for it when the three of us went to the bookstore recently. “Is it pretty popular?” “Yup! The original novel series for Peroimo sold a million copies, which is an unprecedented amount for a novel that won the Rookie of the Year award! It’s a super popular work that will pave the way for the next generation of light novels for sure! All of humanity should support it!” That made sense. I had the gist of it now, thanks to the otaku-gyaru. “And? What’s the connection between this Peroimo and the CD from the time capsule?” “Like the otaku-gyaru just said, Peroimo is a recent work. It was published three years ago when it won the Rookie of the Year award…supposedly.” Fuyuko took out her smartphone and showed me an image. It was a single CD in a case, which appeared to have been taken out of the time capsule. The label on it read PEROIMO SHORT STORY COLLECTION. “Huh? Wh-what the heck? The time capsule is from twenty years ago, so how does it have the short story collection?” “Heh-heh. That’s the big mystery. Depending on how the analysis pans out, this could cause a huge uproar in the light novel world. The yellow panties and torn pages can’t compare.” If this mystery were to be revealed, it would send shockwaves across the internet and the light-novel-fan community. There were reasons why my heart sped up at the thought of such a powerful mystery. Just like before, I had the intellectual curiosity that yearned to solve it. And beyond that, I had both the hunch and expectation that that boy would get involved in a mystery this big. “Fuyuko, what’s happening with the data CD now?” “The school has temporary custody of it, and Ms. Koyomi, who happened to be there, is looking after it. I’m guessing…you’re interested?” “Of course! There’s no way a proxy detective would ignore such an interesting mystery! You two are helping out, right?” Fuyuko nodded, but the otaku-gyaru had strangely lost her hype. “O-oh? You’re not interested, Haruru?” “Huh? N-no, not really? If you want to solve the mystery, of course I’ll help you!” I was slightly confused by her evasive reply. In any case, the next mystery that the Autumnless Trio was going to take on had been decided. “Okay! After school today, let’s go straight to Ms. Koyomi and ask her to let us borrow the data off that CD!” “Peroimo is so good. I love the scene in episode seven where the younger sister’s younger sister aggressively licks her brother’s body and the older younger sister gets super jealous!” Even our school nurse was a slave to lick-lick syndrome. And involving the younger sisters of younger sisters was too convoluted. “I know!” said Haruru. “When the brother licks the younger sister’s neck and apologizes, I cried my eyes out. ‘Can we put that licking from before behind us now?’” “Miss Haruru, I see we’re kindred spirits. Shall we…make a doujinshi filled with love for Peroimo for the next fan event?” “I can draw, so leave it to me! I’ll have my two friends here hawk the books in bunny costumes, so we’ll have plenty of manpower! Heh-heh!” Was she trying to make me and Fuyuko into bunnies? If I had to pick, I’d rather be a cat-eared maid… No, that’s not the point here! “Ms. Koyomi, sorry to interrupt the fun, but—” “Oh, Miss Natsunagi. Would you mind if I measure your bust and hips for the costume later?” “I’ll strangle you with the tape measure. I’m not wearing that. But I would like to see the Peroimo data CD that was in the time capsule, if that’s okay?” “Oh, sure. Hold on a moment,” Ms. Koyomi said as she took the data CD out of a cardboard box that was in the corner of the nurse’s office. The box was probably filled with items from the time capsule that had nowhere to go. “Here you are. At the reunion, there was an obsessive fan who made a huge fuss about it. He said something like, ‘I’ll upload the data online and solve it with my friends!’ but I politely declined the offer.” “Ha-ha…that could definitely turn into a problem. So this is the data CD…?” It looked like a completely normal CD at first glance. “Yes. I said I would find the alum who owned it and return it to them. Miss Shirahama was adamant that you, Miss Natsunagi, would be able to solve the mystery with no trouble.” “Hey, that’s raising the bar ridiculously high!” I complained. “Don’t say such irresponsible things, Fuyuko…” “Oh? Was it too much to ask? If you don’t want to, you can turn it down. I’m sure even a globe-trotting ace detective wouldn’t be interested in a mystery that didn’t pique their curiosity.” “Grr. I didn’t say it couldn’t be solved!” For some reason, I’d gotten worked up, but the problem was the contents of the CD? “If it really is data that’s stood the test of time, that’s a pretty big deal. The contents of the CD are the mystery I’m charged with solving this time, right?” “Yes. I took a quick look at the contents myself, and they were astonishing. Have you and Miss Shirahama read the original novel?” The answer was no. We both shook our heads together. “It was a unique setup—a pure romantic comedy about siblings. It was highly praised by the Rookie of the Year Award Judging Committee for its originality.” “In other words, its unlikely that the idea or title just happened to overlap?” “I don’t think there’s more than one genius in the world who could come up with a title as off the wall as Lick-Lick Syndrome Sisters.” “Yeah. I thought that myself when I said it, too…” For example, if we had a fantasy about swords and sorcery—in that case, the author might be influenced by similar works, and the world building, characters, and the names of spells used might overlap. “But with a romantic comedy, the titles probably wouldn’t overlap even if the concepts were the same…right?” “Nagisa, what if the author happened to be an alumnus here and put the CD in the time capsule to commemorate being in the literature club or something?” “Yeah, I think that’s the strongest possibility, too.” “No, that can’t be true,” Haruru cut in to reject our theory. “The author’s from Kyushu and lived in their hometown until they graduated from college. They even said it in an official interview, so I think it’s correct. The age is wrong, too.” “Really? Then this theory is way off base…huh.” So this wasn’t a mystery that could be solved so easily. But that just increased my chances of meeting him. I was getting fired up, too. “In that case, what if someone put it in the time capsule as a prank?” “Sorry, but there’s no way. The time capsule was locked securely when I helped dig it up. The student council and Alumni Association kept a close eye on the key, so it would be hard to steal.” With even Fuyuko denying it, the obvious path to a solution was eliminated. We spent some time just groaning and thinking, Ms. Koyomi included. “Goodness, Nagi, Fuyu. Don’t you think there’s more important things than getting stuck on the surface-level mystery?” Haruru suddenly said. “What do you mean?” “I mean seeing is believing! Except for Koyo, you don’t know a thing about Peroimo, right? Let’s give you a crash course!” Fuyuko and I tilted our heads in confusion, not realizing what she was getting at. Haruru picked up her schoolbag and went to leave the nurse’s office. “I’ll show you two the best world there is!” After that, the three of us were on the train to a certain part of the city. The famous town had once been a fruit and vegetable market, but it had transformed itself into an electronic district that was renowned worldwide. As we exited the station, a view unfolded before us that we would never see commuting between home and school. “Welcome to the abyss where the otaku lurk! Welcome to the underground!” Haruru shouted with glee, spreading her arms wide. A showy gyaru was one of the last people you’d expect to see here. Passersby were overwhelmed by Haruru’s glittering aura, too—or maybe put off. “Wow…I’ve seen it before in dramas and manga, but it’s my first time here. What about you, Fuyuko?” “I guess I’m the same. This is that town, right? The one with dreamlike cafes made just for me, where the maids will do whatever you ask as long as you have the money?” “They’re not made just for you, and there’s already maid cafés in our town. Like the one in front of the station.” “That maid café is too stuffy. They got mad at me just for petting a girl’s thighs.” “Why would you think that wouldn’t upset them? Huh?” “If a girl’s pale thighs are peeking out from under her miniskirt, it’s only polite to touch them.” “You’ll be having a brush with the law along with her thighs, you know. Anyway…Haruru, why would you bring high school girls in the prime of their youth here?” There were plenty of districts popular with young people around here. “Our home base is still farther ahead, but I thought this town would be easier for you to understand—hey! See, look over there! It’s a billboard for Peroimo!” Haruru pointed to a billboard on top of a building advertising the original novels. And Peroimo wasn’t the only series; there were illustrations of cute girls all over. It was a strange place, almost overwhelmingly so. “The energy is through the roof! It’s so fun—like we’re at a theme park!” “On the other hand, there are no mascot characters walking around…” “Gasp! Are the otaku walking around not enough for you?” “Could you not say such horrible things right in front of the station?! Don’t treat the people who love this town like mascot characters! Especially considering you’re one of them!” “If anything, we have way more cred as mascot characters. It’s not too crazy to ask for a picture of three gorgeous high school beauties walking together. Oh, and it’s five thousand yen a shot.” “We definitely stand out, but that’s expensive for a photo! Last time it was three thousand yen for just you, Fuyuko!” If we divided it by three, it would actually be a bargain at two thousand yen per person…but that wasn’t important. “So? Where are we headed now?” “Hmm. I guess we need to start by checking out the merch! This way!” Haruru led the way, and Fuyuko and I followed her through the streets, walking close together. We would only attract this much attention in this particular town. I’d had guys stare at me before but never this many at once. “Whoa. Nagisa’s trying to open a new door.” “I-I’m not! F-Fuyuko, does this not bother you at all?” “Well, me and Haruru are used to men staring. I guess because we’re popular, unlike you.” “Hm? You wanna fight? Besides, doesn’t this town have plenty of places to look? There’s pictures of cute, scantily clad girls everywhere.” “Ha-ha. You’re such a child, Nagisa. Even elementary school boys wouldn’t get excited by those. Oops. I think that girl in front of us dropped something. I’ll get it for her… Eeeee?!” The moment Fuyuko picked up the book at her feet and looked at the cover, she let out a short, strange noise, and her ears turned bright red. Yep, she was embarrassed. I couldn’t think straight, either, when I saw the illustration of two handsome, shirtless men embracing each other. “Wh-why are they naked? D-do guys hug each other naked? Is it for a festival?” “Ah…ah, ha. Hee-hee-hee. Ah-ha-ha?” “Fuyuko?! Fuyuko’s more flustered than ever! Help me, Haruru!” I called out to Haruru, who was bouncing along ahead of us like she was going to leave us behind. “What’s up? When did you discover you were into BL? That’s not even a major pairing.” “That’s not it! This fell out of a lady’s bag just now, so we were picking it up for her, um—” “Oh, I see. By the way, that reply isn’t because you’re into BL, right?” “Shut up! Just give this back to that lady!” “Oui. Going by who’s on the cover, it’s that lady with the can badge on her bag. Too bad I don’t ship these two, though. I have a different pairing I like. Heh-heh.” Haruru called out to the lady in her usual friendly way and returned the book. She was surprised for a moment that a gyaru had called out to her, but when she saw what Haruru was holding, they had a lively conversation. She thanked Haruru and left. “Apparently, her friend drew it! I even got their circle’s business card! I’ll have to go say hi at the next event!” “Where did you pick up the communication skills to become friends with a stranger in ten seconds…?” “Wellll, I’m not like that with just anyone, you know? It’s because I knew we had a common interest we could share!” Haruru admitted shyly before adding quietly, “But if she’s wrong about any of the scenes or characters we might have to fight it out.” Hopefully, there wouldn’t be any bloodshed over just that. “You know…you really love it here, don’t you, Haruru? This town, the works that color it, the kindred spirits walking here…,” I said. Haruru smiled her biggest smile of the day. “Yep! I love it! This town’s like a treasure chest filled with everything I love—the people, everything! It’s a place where I can open my heart in the truest sense!” “I see. Then you really were uncomfortable in that classroom.” Haruru and I first met in the fall of our second year of high school. She was reading a manga in the corner of the classroom with a somewhat uncomfortable expression. Despite her clothes and makeup, Haruru was an otaku. She was teased for her hobbies by her peers in her first year of high school and wound up with Fuyuko as her only friend. “Ha-ha! It was the worst! For me, dressing as a gyaru is like cosplaying. But my friends at the time would say things like, ‘Anime with that look?’” She was rejected, and the things she loved were disparaged. That’s why Haruru Agarie hadn’t been able to forgive them. “I thought no one outside this place or the internet would accept me. But Fuyu wasn’t like that. She tried to learn about the things I love.” “That’s just like Fuyuko,” I said. “I couldn’t come to school much in those days, though.” “But you did come back to school and started talking to me, right? You said, ‘I love that manga, too! I read it all the time in the hospital!’ That made me super happy!” Even though Haruru was shunned by the majority, she chose to keep being in the minority. Maybe the reason I got along so well with her was because I hardly ever went to school and didn’t understand those kinds of prejudices. “I didn’t have any friends in my class, either…so I was happy to make friends with you. Well, there was some conflict with Fuyuko then.” “That’s true, now that you mention it! Well, it didn’t really feel like a fight, and I wasn’t worried, ’cause I knew the two of you would get along! That’s why, Nagi…” Her face, covered with happiness, was illuminated by the dazzling sun. I was captivated by the face of my beloved friend, who was able to say she loved the things she loved. “Today, I won’t just teach you about Peroimo but all the things I’m into! Lots of things I love to my beloved friends! I want to share many things I love with my dear friends!” “…Okay! But in moderation, all right? Once you start talking, you never stop.” “Heh-heh. I wonder about that. Anyway, where did Fuyu go? I’m telling a really emotional story here.” “You’re right… Oh. Hey, isn’t that her?” As I watched, Fuyuko was being waited on by girls in maid outfits. The girls handing out flyers were swarming her, and she didn’t appear to mind it at all…! The maids seemed to like her, too, since they were casually touching her and squeeing. You can probably touch their thighs now, Fuyuko. “I give up. I can’t say no with so many girls asking me out. But today, I’m on a date with my two best friends. I’d love to meet you all one by one another day. Heh-heh.” Yep, she was over the moon. “Since we’re already here, let’s ignore Fuyuko and walk around together.” “Yeah. Let’s make the Autumnless Trio the Spring-Summer Duo for today.” We began walking, ignoring the popular prince. Apparently, Fuyuko realized she was being left behind and was shouting after us, but I didn’t want to interrupt our happy moment, so I thought I’d go on a date with Haruru, just the two of us. We went around to various stores after that: a store with lots of sexy figures on display; a strange store with dozens of capsule machines and nothing else; and a large arcade that, for some reason, sold taiyaki at the front desk. There was even a shop displaying sexy doujinshi that high school girls probably shouldn’t read. All the shops we usually wouldn’t visit as a trio. Maybe Haruru was right about it being like a theme park. “Hm! Today was the best! I’m super satisfied. The best. The best!” After that, we took a break at an unremarkable diner. I guess these kinds of places are better for high school girls…? Nah. “You taught me so much about Peroimo, Haruru!” “Sure did. I never thought I’d wind up buying the original series. Haruru’s sales pitch was just too strong! I can’t wait for the twist where the younger sister’s sister gets together with the older sister of her brother.” “Volume Three! After that, the two had some ups and downs… Oops, that was close! I’m avoiding spoilers! I almost let my otaku nature loose!” “I wound up playing the gacha, too. This thingy is so cute.” I’d bought a rubber Peroimo charm. It was the kind of thing you saw a lot, featuring a deformed character on the front and their name on the back. But it was pretty cute. “Isn’t she great?! She’s the younger sister’s sister, Rika! The author likes her a lot. She’s popular for a minor character, and she shows up a lot even from the first volume!” “Oh, so that’s why she’s kinda the main character of Volume Three?” “Exactly! Yui—that’s the idol who sings the theme song; she’s adorable—she said Rika was her fave in an interview! But mine is—” Ordering only the drink bar and a mountain of french fries, we spent about two hours chatting. Of course, we didn’t just chat about Peroimo. When I grow up, if someone asks me about my time in high school—I’d probably tell them about the time I spent with my two friends. Club activities, studying, and even being immersed in the things you love were all a part of being young. We would become adults after experiencing our own unique springtime. When I got home that night, I gazed at the data CD I’d borrowed from Ms. Koyomi. From here on out, my job was being a proxy detective. I’d face the mystery we couldn’t solve as a trio one more time. “I guess I’ll start with the data from this CD.” I checked the manufacturers’ logo engraved on the case to see when the CD was made. Fuyuko had shot down the theory in the nurse’s office, but I’d had nothing to support it. If the CD had been manufactured recently, it would give weight to my theory that it had been added later, but… “The manufacturer was absorbed by a rival company over fifteen years ago, and the brand name no longer exists… Huh.” That meant it had to be from when the time capsule had been buried. There went my theory that a high school girl from the future had crept into the grounds in the dead of night, dug up the time capsule, and put the CD inside. “Next, let’s actually take a look at the contents.” I inserted the CD into the disk drive on my laptop and checked the files that were on it. There were a number of files listed, all short Peroimo stories. According to Haruru, the short stories were vignettes that didn’t appear in the original work. “If these really were written by the same author, this would be a gold mine for fans.” I immersed myself in the short stories for a while, but I didn’t find anything. At least there was nothing to find there for a casual reader like me… Oh. “I get it. There might be nothing for a reader, but the author…” I opened up my social media and entered Peroimo into the search box. Authors were so much more accessible to the readers than they used to be. There was no need to send a paper fan letter anymore; as long as the person checked their smartphone or tablet, you could easily connect with them. “I found them! The author of Peroimo…Gosho Mito’s account!” About to send a message, I paused. How much should I even explain…? Should I say, “There was a collection of your short stories in a time capsule at our school”? Who even knows if they’ll respond to a message out of the blue… Agh, whatever! “What a pain! You knew it was a long shot!” Fueled by momentum, I quickly typed a message and sent it to Gosho Mito. The message was a simple greeting that mentioned I was a fan, and one question. “I have a question for you about Peroimo. Did you ever write any short stories for it before the main story was published?” “It’s a pretty straightforward question. I wonder how they’ll respond?” This was the hypothesis I had come up with: If the author answered in the negative, that would be the end of it. But if they replied in the affirmative, there was a chance that the stories on this data CD were legit. It would mean Peroimo had been created over twenty years ago, and the collection of short stories had been published somewhere—like at an event for literary works. Or maybe it was distributed at the literature club at a high school or college. One of our alumni might have obtained a copy and placed it in the time capsule as a memento. That would make sense, at least. “…Whoa! He already replied!” I’d gotten a notification while I was lost in thought. “Good evening. Thank you for reading my work. I’ve never published any short stories for Peroimo in the past. I did write a few as purchase bonuses, though.” I hurriedly typed my thanks and went in for my next question. “Did you write any stories before winning the Rookie of the Year award? One of my friends, apparently, read a Peroimo short story collection, and I was wondering…” The second part was fake. I didn’t want to say too much and make it confusing. After that, we exchanged messages in a flurry in real time. “There are no short stories. I’m not good at writing short stories to begin with… The only one I can think of is one I wrote as a store bonus for the novels.” I replied again, with a glimmer of hope in my heart. “Did you ever make a Peroimo doujinshi for an event…or anything like that?” “I’d get into a lot of trouble if I did that lol. There was a decently long novella as a bonus for the anime Blu-ray, though. Your friend must have thought that was a short story collection.” “Ugh…that’s not it. It really seems like he has no idea.” I’d already looked into the bonus novella. But its contents were completely different from the short story collection in the time capsule, and it was a stand-alone novel. “In any case, I should thank him.” We exchanged several messages after that and finally ended with some kind-yet-heavy words from Mr. Mito: “Please keep being my fan until one of us dies.” I didn’t get the sense he was lying, and I had no idea why he would in the first place. My theory dissolved in the darkness of the mystery and disappeared without any impact. “…So where did you come from? Who in the world created this story?” I murmured, stroking the old case, but no answer came to me. The mystery didn’t answer questions. It only responded when confronted with the one, unshakable truth. The mystery was waiting for the time when its identity and the yet unknown truth would be revealed. “I think I’ve hit a wall, so I guess I’ll watch the Peroimo anime and go to sleep.” No matter how thin the thread, there was always a possibility that something was connected at the end of it. That was why I’d leave no stone unturned to solve the mystery! I hadn’t been able to solve it in the end, even after thinking about it all night and using my weekend. It was the beginning of the next week. In the morning, in the classroom, I told Fuyuko and Haruru about the events of the previous night while rubbing my tired eyes. “I got in touch with the author, but nothing came of it…I guess. The mystery only deepened.” “Mr. Mito is way too good at fan service! I’d be scared to answer a high school girl who had a vaguely sexy selfie as her profile picture.” “I don’t have one of those! Mine’s a picture of a cute cat! Oh, but I did watch the whole anime. I think I get it now why Peroimo is so interesting to people.” “Right?! Like the plot in episode ten of the anime where Rika awakens, overcomes her lick-lick syndrome, and goes on a date with her older brother! I cried a hundred times!” “I get it! Yesterday, I realized that the Rika I won in the gacha is wearing the same outfit she wore on the date, and it made me kinda happy!” I took out the Peroimo charm from my uniform pocket. I showed it off to the two of them, then noticed something. Huh? There was something strange about this. “It’s different.” It was Rika and yet not. The Rika I knew was definitely this girl. She’d even appeared in the main story. But the name of the younger sister’s younger sister in the other story was— “Nagisa, what’s wrong? You went quiet suddenly…” “Does your tummy hurt? I’ll rub it for you. All the pain will fly away into tomorrow!” “That’s a magic spell that will send your future self straight to hell, Haruru. And could you please not bounce your weird jokes off me? That’s Nagisa’s job.” “Hey, you guys—,” I began, ignoring the negotiations taking place in front of me. “Did you read the short stories?” Both of them shook their heads. “I’ve finished most of the main novels, but I haven’t touched the anime or short stories.” “Yeah, I just lightly skimmed them.” I got it. That’s why I was the only one who noticed what was out of place. “Let’s go to the nurse’s office during lunch. There’s something I have to ask Ms. Koyomi.” “Oh my, it’s the Autumnless Trio. Hello there.” When we went to the nurse’s office during lunch, Ms. Koyomi was eating a gigantic cup of instant ramen. “I’m amazed you can eat in a space that reeks of disinfectant…” “I stock up on these when they’re on sale at the supermarket for a hundred yen each. If I could, I’d like to eat something outside school, like the fancy pasta near the station. Yes.” Ms. Koyomi knocked back the rest of the soup, put the garbage in a bag, and turned to face us. I wondered why she was treating us so often when she had no money…but enough of that. “By the way, Ms. Koyomi, have you read the short stories on the data CD?” “Yes. The writing was a little amateurish, but they were quite interesting, especially since I’m a fan of the younger sister’s older sister, not the younger sister’s younger sister, so I was very glad she showed up.” “Can’t you just say older and younger sister like normal? Is there some kind of rule?” “Miss Shirahama, that’s a very thoughtless retort. There’s a reason for it in the original work, so be sure to read it by tomorrow and reflect on why I scolded you.” “Huh? Why is everyone hating on me today?” “About the younger sister’s younger sister, Rika…” I used Ms. Koyomi’s computer to open one of the short stories. “There’s one difference between the original and the short stories. In the one Gosho Mito wrote, the name Rika is used for her consistently. But in the short stories…it’s this.” Her character, her feelings for her brother—everything was the same about the younger sister’s younger sister, Rika. She didn’t appear much in the short stories, but her name was different. It was still pronounced Rika, just spelled with different kanji. A trifling difference. “You’re right…! It’s the same in all the original novels and the anime.” “She doesn’t show up much in the short stories, so I nearly overlooked it as a typo, but it’s just Rika’s name that’s different, like she came from another world. No, unless…” It was an absurd possibility. I, Fuyuko, and Ms. Koyomi all held our breaths. “What if this data CD itself came from a parallel world—” “Hold it right there. Can we not turn our fun, youthful mystery into a sloppy school-sci-fi plot?” It was Haruru who reclaimed the vibe and stopped our world from changing. “Well, I have no choice. This mystery is too difficult for casual fans. I kept quiet because I thought Nagi and the others might find the answer, but…” “You mean…you had the answer all along, Haruru?” “Yes. Because I’m…” No one could have predicted the words that came next. “…an ancient otaku from the past, just like this data CD.” Our youth had become a school-sci-fi plot for real. The ancient otaku who’d been charged with writing the solution chapter—or rather, Haruru—told us the truth behind the huge discrepancy in the data CD. “Peroimo is, in a sense, before its time.” “What do you mean? Didn’t Mr. Mito win the Rookie of the Year award three years ago and make his professional debut? If anything, isn’t that ridiculously early?” It had also been adapted into a manga and anime, with the second season in production. I thought it was abundantly clear that it had been appreciated. “That’s naive of you, Nagi. That’s only commercial success.” I mulled over Haruru’s words and tried to break them down. In other words, had Peroimo been published elsewhere before the author won the Rookie of the Year award? “That makes no sense, Miss Agarie. Peroimo was never serialized online, and of course there’s no trace of such a thing if you search.” “Yeah. Ms. Koyomi’s right. I looked into that possibility, too. If it had been published somewhere twenty years ago, the existence of a short story collection wouldn’t be contradictory…but that’s impossible.” The time period of twenty years eliminated that possibility. I’d done a quick search myself. Back then, there was no place to publish it. “These days, there’s all sorts of blogs and sites that you can submit novels to, and you can even self-publish e-books. But there were no places like that on the old internet…” “That’s exactly why this is a mystery that today’s youth can’t crack.” Haruru didn’t falter under our objections at all. She must’ve had absolute confidence in the answer she’d arrived at. “It’s true that there were few places to share your own novels back then. But not none—because the norm was to create them yourself.” Personal websites. Ms. Koyomi, the oldest of the group, was the only one to get it immediately. “I see. Back then, people used to make their own websites with software tools and web-hosting services, didn’t they?” Adding that she had been a kid back then, too, Ms. Koyomi continued, “It was one of the few ways to send your creative works out into the world. Nowadays, you can easily upload illustrations, music, and even videos to big social media platforms.” “Yup, I knew Koyo would get it. That said, I’m one of today’s youth, too, so my knowledge is secondhand! The ‘ancient otaku’ stuff is just an act. I’m just your average otaku-gyaru high school girl.” “I was a little worried that you’d really come from the past…” “I feel like the internet culture from back then really shone, so I’d love to try going back into the past. The otaku of today shine the brightest, though!” “Back in the day, at least, there was a lot of prejudice against otaku… It’s definitely much better now in terms of that.” Ms. Koyomi was correct. Nowadays, young and old alike enjoy anime, manga, and games—but to our parents’ generation, those were hobbies for children and nerds. “Huh…? Wait a sec. When I was messaging Mr. Mito, he said he hadn’t written any short stories before he won the award.” “Oh. I saw your messages in class, Nagi, but you went about asking the wrong way, because Mr. Mito clearly said that he hasn’t written any short stories.” “Oh, I get it. But…the mystery behind the Peroimo short stories still remains. Even though Mr. Mito published the original story itself on his personal site, he never wrote any short stories.” That was right. Not everything about the mystery had been uncovered yet. That said, Haruru really did live up to her self-proclaimed title of “ancient otaku”— “It’s true, Nagi. Mr. Mito never wrote any short stories for Peroimo, because these are…fan fiction, written by a fan who read Peroimo twenty years ago.” Haruru handed me the pamphlet she brought with her to the nurse’s office. I thought it was some kind of catalog, but it was a free paper with release information for light novels. “This is a pamphlet that was distributed to commemorate the twentieth anniversary of the Rookie of the Year award, when Mr. Mito made his debut as a writer. I got it at a certain event, and it’s quite rare.” “I didn’t find anything like that when I searched online…” “Yup. It’s an insider’s secret, even among fans! This is about the only interview where Mr. Mito talks about his personal website in public!” I opened the pamphlet and read the interview carefully. “I posted the award-winning Peroimo on my personal website in the past. The site has already been taken down, and there are no archives as far as I know.” “Excluding my friends, there was just one person who’d read it. But…that one person truly loved my work.” “She was the first to send feedback when I released the latest chapter, and she e-mailed me her fan fiction novel, too. The younger sister’s younger sister, Rika, was inspired by her fan fiction.” “I reworked my manuscript at the time by adding Rika, submitted it for the Rookie of the Year award, and won. I’m truly fortunate to have been able to publish Peroimo as a book twenty years later.” Now that the mystery was completely solved, the impatience inside me melted away. Then a feeling of exhaustion came over my entire body, and I couldn’t help letting out an odd sigh. Because this mystery was… “This was unsolvable! You would need to be familiar with old internet culture, get your hands on the author’s interview in the booklet, and notice the inconsistencies with Rika’s character!” Even the world’s greatest detective would be tearing their hair out over this. It felt like no big deal now that it was solved, but this was outside my area of expertise. It was a fantastically nerdy mystery that only the most obsessive fans, who truly loved the work and the author, could understand. Not casuals like us. “Heh-heh. You’re not there yet, Nagi! I could solve the mystery faster than you since it was limited to a specific genre!” “…Don’t tell me you knew the answer from the beginning?” I said, and Haruru stuck out her tongue with a cute little smile. “Yup! I really did! Besides, if I’d told you the answer right away, your desire to solve the mystery would have gone unsatisfied! Besides, look!” After a beat, Haruru pointed to the pamphlet I was holding. “I wanted Nagi and Fuyu to love my favorite work, too. I thought it would be really great if there was a work that the four of us, Ms. Koyomi included, could enjoy together.” When I thought about it, Haruru should have been the first to jump on a mystery that had anything to do with Peroimo. But when Fuyuko had asked her about it, she’d looked almost bored. But later on, she’d invited me and Fuyuko to that town like she’d thought of something, and that was the reason. If I hadn’t overlooked the feeling that something was wrong and pursued it right there— —I could have solved this difficult case before it even happened. “…I hate to admit it, but Haruru really won this round. We wound up completely loving Peroimo, and we wouldn’t have been able to solve the mystery without her help.” “Heh-heh! I’m a big winner! Let’s continue to support the best work with the greatest love! Okay?” In the end, I couldn’t have reached the answer alone, no matter how hard I tried. I had a long way to go despite calling myself a proxy detective. I needed to acquire sharper insight and broader knowledge… More. More. “Well, you two, don’t you think we need a heartwarming epilogue after all that mystery solving?” Once everything in the Peroimo short story collection was uncovered, Fuyuko began crafting the ending to the story, with the class reunion attendee list in hand. “Thanks to Mr. Mito’s interview, we know that the author of the short story collection is a woman. There were six people who didn’t help dig up the time capsule, and as luck would have it, only one of them is a woman.” “Then that woman is…!” “Yes. She’s the world’s first Peroimo fan. I don’t know if we’ll be able to get in touch with her, though.” “As an educator, I’ll take responsibility and try asking the class reunion president. If anyone still keeps in touch with her, we should be able to reach her.” Ms. Koyomi smiled softly and took the attendee list from Fuyuko. Now all the dots had been connected. I wondered if the woman who wrote the short story collection knew what had become of Peroimo. Miss Koyomi obtained the woman’s contact information between lunch break and the end of school. Apparently, the class reunion president was still in contact with her. Everything was starting to fall into place rapidly, as if all the time we’d spent struggling with the mystery hadn’t happened at all. “Whether you call her or not is up to you.” In the nurse’s office, Ms. Koyomi handed us a piece of paper with a phone number written on it and left the next steps to us. Ordinarily, I would be the one who would decide what we did. “Haruru, you can decide.” Haruru was the one who led us to solve the mystery and appreciated Peroimo the most. Since I wasn’t an otaku myself, I didn’t know if I should be the one reaching out. But a fellow otaku would be different. Even if they were different ages, they would be two people who enjoyed the same thing. They’d be able to understand each other. “Of course we’re calling!” Haruru dialed the number rapidly, and the call connected. We held our breath while it rang several times. And then came the moment when the old-school fan and new fan were connected. “Hello? Who is this?” said a woman on the other end, and Haruru jumped right to it. “Um! My name is Haruru Agarie! I’m your junior from the high school you went to! I wanted to talk to you about the CD you put into the time capsule…about the Peroimo short story collection!” From then on, it was Haruru’s turn to tell her that the series she once loved had been made into an anime and that a character from her fan fiction had appeared in the main story. That she loved Peroimo, too. The woman who was her senior quietly listened to the passionate speech of her cute junior otaku, and then— “I see… It’s really become something amazing. I had no idea.” “It has! It’s become an amazing work, hasn’t it? That’s why I’m asking if you’d like to write a fan letter to Mr. Mito together with me sometime?” “Oh, no thank you.” “…Huh?” Haruru sounded deflated at her otaku senior’s icy words. And then the woman confronted her with reality: “I’m not into those things anymore, and I’m a normal housewife now. That was just a dark chapter in my past, so please smash the CD and throw it away. Well then, if you’ll excuse me.” With those words…the phone call with the normal housewife came to an end. Haruru, the otaku left behind in a world of fantasy, was dumbfounded. “I get it…so she graduated in two senses of the word.” “Oh my, Miss Natsunagi. You summed that up well.” Ms. Koyomi and I muttered to each other in the awkward silence that ensued. Then Haruru dropped to her knees, clutching her head in anguish. “Ughh! No way…no way! Just because she became a housewife, she can’t be an otaku anymore?! That’s ridiculous! Stupid…! Grr, grrrr…!” Making noises that were kind of like groans (but not really), she finally started rolling around on the floor. “Haruru. Your panties are completely exposed. It’s vulgar. And dangerous in multiple ways.” “I don’t care about panties! I don’t need them! I’m so frustrated, I can’t stand it! How could she throw away all that passion after following such an amazing series in real time… Waaaah!” She finally started to cry. You should probably care about panties, though, right? We didn’t really understand, but maybe it was a jealousy or twisted sense of envy unique to otaku. “Nagisa, we can’t help her now. Without the same level of passion, all the comfort and sympathy in the world would be fake. Let’s let her cry for a while. We got to see her sexy panties, so it was a bargain.” “You’re right. I’ll go buy some cocoa. The kind in the paper carton that Haruru likes.” “Please. We’re going to have a chaotic time after school at this rate.” “Ha-ha. Yeah. Whenever something bad happens in Haruru’s favorite anime or manga, she restrains us and babbles about it for ages.” Well, I didn’t hate that, either. I went out into the hallway and started toward the nearby vending machine. The boy hadn’t gotten involved in this incident, either, huh… Maybe he only got involved in cases that he could keep an eye on. “But…I swear I’ll find him.” The mystery left behind in the time capsule had been solved by one otaku girl. Anyone could love something, but how long they could continue to love it…that was the part that took talent, maybe. The more intensely the flames of passion burned, the greater the contrast when they eventually died out. And even if they did burn out, we could turn the ashes into nourishment for our hearts again. People could recover as many times as it took. They could bring back those days once more. That was what I thought about while I walked through the empty school building, holding my cocoa. Most of the students had already gone home. “I have to find the answer soon, for the passion in this heart.” I placed my hand over my still-beating heart and whispered it, as if making a vow. Beginning tomorrow, I would start rifling through newspaper and internet records again, then— “Eeeeeeeeek!” My heart jumped at the scream that had come out of nowhere. Surprised that I’d been caught off guard, I searched for the source of the voice. “Upstairs…the top of these stairs!” I skipped steps, dashing up them as fast as I could. What had happened? That was definitely a girl’s voice. Had she screamed while she was fooling around with her friends? Did she see a bug she didn’t like? Or maybe she saw a ghost leaving the library? That was fine. If any of those were the case, today would end peacefully. But that scream—it was definitely a tone that would change our youth forever. “What the…?” A girl was lying there, at the entrance to the girls’ bathroom at the top of the stairs. Her pale, lovely arms in the sleeves of her sailor uniform… …were bleeding a red so bright, it didn’t seem real.