6: Not Quite Right

The sound of birds chirping and rustling leaves stirred Rena awake.
Slowly, she opened her eyes.

“...Ugh...”

She rolled over, but instead of the usual soft bed, something hard pressed against her back.
There was also a faint, nostalgic scent of grass tickling her nose.

“Huh...? This is... a park?”

What spread out before her was a familiar scene.
It was the same park where she used to eat rice balls with her family on sunny days as a child, sitting on a picnic blanket.
Still dazed, she looked around.

“Wait, what am I doing here...?
Why am I lying here in my school uniform...?”

She stood up and brushed the grass off her skirt, slipping her half-off loafers back on.
Then, as if pulled by something beyond her will, her feet began to move forward.

“Where... am I even going?
It’s like my body is moving on its own.”

The park should have felt familiar—comforting even—but something about it felt... off.
She couldn’t quite explain why.

“That’s right... There should be a pond up ahead…”

She walked down a path lined with benches on both sides.
And just as she remembered, a wide, open pond appeared before her.

But what should’ve been a beautiful sight looked... neglected.
Something about the water and the atmosphere felt almost desolate.

“This isn’t right… This doesn’t feel like the place I know. And…”

Her eyes caught something unusual—a man by the pond, holding a fishing rod.
Without realizing it, she walked toward him and called out.

“Um… are you fishing here? I’ve never seen anyone fish in this park before…”

The man turned to her with a gentle smile.

“Fishing? Oh... So that’s what it looks like to you, huh?”

Wearing a suit, he lifted the rod slightly and gave her a friendly grin.

“It’s not? Then... what are you doing?”

Rena suddenly remembered a rumor she’d heard—someone suspicious had been seen around this park.
The image of a man in a suit, holding a fishing rod at the edge of the pond...
It felt out of place, and her unease began to grow.

“Well... I dropped something important, and I’m trying to find it.”

He seemed a little unsure of his words, but continued.

“You look like... a high schooler, right?
Technology changes so fast these days. You might be a bit too young to understand that.”

“Uh… okay. So, what exactly did you drop?”

Rena’s curiosity won over her suspicion for the moment.
The man’s calm tone made it harder to stay on guard.

“To me, it’s nothing special.
My grandfather wanted to chop some firewood in the mountains, and I was on my way to bring it to him.”

“Bring what?”

Her doubts faded for a moment, replaced by curiosity.

“Just an old axe. I wouldn’t want to keep him waiting.”