A Denouement... (Midas)

And now for the epilogue, or rather, the punchline of this episode.

Hm. That’s a bit unoriginal. Let’s try calling it a denouement instead.

…And now for the denouement of this episode!

Yikes.

I don’t know about that one either.

***

Quite a mess had been created over the past week. Of course, I had a big part in it, but it was still a pain to think about how grueling the cleanup process would be. If I’m being completely honest, all I really wanted to do was go on a picnic with my dear friends. It seemed that the devil within me wanted the same thing.

What he wants, he gets. And what I want…usually turns out to be eerily similar.

Anyway, about the picnic. I was practically skipping out of excitement on the way to school thinking about it. Then I realized I had to wait several hours of class time before I could gather everyone up for it. It was terrible—I could barely sit still!

It took forever to end. Once class finally did, however, I zoomed out after my three beloved companions and invited them to the outing.

The first was Adella. I came up behind her and pulled her hair to get her attention, but she was quite angry with me afterwards. I suppose I was a little too aggressive. It sort of surprised me that she didn’t like it, though.

After calming her down, I said, “Come to the park! We’re having a picnic! I’ll be there soon!” and then zoomed off before she could ask me any questions.

I found my next target shortly after: Kat. I didn’t do anything too rash this time, and just told her the same thing, a little more gently. I was always reminded of how delicate and fragile girls were when I talked to her.

“Greetings, Kat. I would be delighted if you joined me for a gathering in the park with our fellow compatriots. I will be arriving soon, so please make your way there at your earliest convenience.”

Once again, I sped away without letting her answer, off to my final victim. This one would be a little harder to deal with, so I braced myself.

“What’s up, Soren!” I exclaimed, putting my arm around him.

He looked my way without much surprise. “Hello, Midas.”

“Do you wanna go on a picnic? Adella and Kat are already on their way to the park for it.”

He didn’t answer, and instead turned around to face me.

“I’ll go if you answer a question.”

“A question?”

“...What’s your goal?”

I gave him a confused look.

“Do you seriously want to get me expelled?” he asked. “Or is there an ulterior motive?”

There was a pause. With a smile, I responded.

“I just want to go on a picnic with my friends.”

Soren appeared shocked for a moment, but slowly, he began to laugh.

“You cunning, vile demon! You’re so crazy that I actually believe you!”

“I don’t like who you’re making me out to be…”

“You’re just so conniving! I can’t even be mad!”

“Yeah, yeah, laugh it up. Anyway, are you coming or not?”

He took a breath to calm himself. “Fine, you win. I’ll go to the picnic.”

“Great!” I exclaimed. “See you at the park!”

Before I could leave, he placed his hand on my shoulder.

“I’m going to dispute the claim, just so you know.”

“...Why’s that?”

“You of all people should know why. You’re always trying to be vague about it, but you definitely take the way people think into consideration. I’m not so obtuse to believe that you don’t. And that means you know how much I trust my own judgment.”

“So you’re going to dispute the claim just because your judgment advises it?”

He smirked. “Would I be wrong not to?”

There was a pause, and I let out a chuckle.

“I’d say it’s a pretty good choice.”

Soren squinted in annoyance. “Your guile still irks me to no end.”

“Sorry, that’s just who I am.”

“I really wish I could just beat answers out of you right here and now.”

I grinned. “Wanna try?”

“If I did, you’d probably get me thrown in jail. It’s just how you do things.” He turned around and began to walk away. “I’ll see you at the park.”

He was the top student for a reason, I suppose.

With that, all three of my friends had been successfully invited to the picnic. I really looked forward to hanging out with them.

Oh, I know, I know—you’re all probably wondering about how I carried out my little operation to frame Soren. To be honest, it was actually quite easy. I shall explain.

About a week prior to his framing, I went into the gym storage room and wreaked absolute havoc upon it. Avoiding getting caught was simple because there weren’t many security cameras or people there. And once I wrecked the place, I took out a note that I’d prepared beforehand and left it, with the text being as close to Soren’s handwriting as I could make it. ‘Alt jeg berører blir til gull,’ or ‘All that I touch turns to gold,’ was just a means of letting him know that I was the one behind it all. The principal and others who saw the note may have translated it and figured out the meaning as well, but I didn’t worry too much about it. Soren was the only one who’d be able to draw a clear conclusion.

And as for the incident in the restroom, that was a bit more complicated. I ended up making a remote-control igniter that connected to the fireworks through a small, almost invisible wire. I hid the igniter in the ceiling above the stall and made sure that the wire blended in with the wall behind it. It really took a lot of time and money. I also had to make it seem like the fireworks went off manually, so I took the necessary actions for that as well. From there, all I had to do was sit back and wait for Soren to enter the restroom.

You know, it’s quite remarkable that a highschooler like me was able to carry out such an intricate plan. I must be a genius.

Anyway, if Soren were to dispute the claim that he was the vandal, he’d almost certainly win. The school would have no choice but to investigate the incidents, and with professionals involved, they would definitely find the remote-control igniter in the ceiling above the stall. That alone would be enough to absolve him of the blame, but if they were to press even further, a forensic examiner could potentially be consulted to analyze the handwriting on the note I left. My forgery was good, but it wasn’t good enough to fool an expert.

And in the end, if even all that ended up not being enough, I would help him myself. That would never, ever come to fruition though. I could guarantee it.

Soren would be proven innocent, and the principal would get into a lot of trouble for accusing him so readily. Then things would go back to normal.

That was fate.

To tell you the truth, I was not some omniscient mastermind working to save my friends and mend relationships. Do not think of me as such. I simply followed directions. I didn’t even know if the choices I made were conscious. Perhaps it wasn’t even my plan to begin with.

How sad. It's all just so sad.

I often question: is free will but a fallacy?

Remember...I can see the future.