Chapter 11: Double life

NOAHI was at The Winehouse, the little café owned by Wolfgang’s uncle.

My mind wouldn’t stop drifting back to her.
Melody… I wonder what’s happening to her now.

Yesterday I tried reaching out by singing again, but all I got was a few curious passersby and a thousand yen tossed in my guitar case. I even went back to the old radio station, hoping she might appear again. Nothing.

Maybe she wants to be left alone after what happened with those Hollows.

I took a slow sip of coffee, the taste bitter and grounding. Still, that song wouldn’t leave my head.

"So sing, little hummingbird, fly…
The song remembers you."

I caught myself humming it under my breath. Where have I heard of this song?

Then, suddenly, I felt it someone’s eyes on me.

I glanced to the side.

There was a girl about my age sitting near the counter. Short, messy hair, an ahoge sticking out like a little antenna, and a ponytail tied loosely on the right side. I’d seen her here before, coming in and out of the bar, but we’d never talked.

She was staring straight at me.

I looked back and said quietly, "My name’s Michael. Michael Mercury."

She didn’t respond. She just blinked once… and turned away.

Weird.

I tried to shake it off and went back to my drink, but a few minutes later, I could feel her gaze again. I turned, this time she had her hands slightly raised, like she was sketching something invisible in the air.

"Hey, listen—" I began.

But she quickly looked away again and stood up, disappearing through a side door behind the counter.

"…Does she work here?" I muttered.

That’s when Wolfgang arrived, balancing a tray and setting tables.

"Hey," I called out. "Where’s your uncle? I needed to talk to him."

Wolfgang sighed. "He’s at the hospital today."

My stomach tightened. "Did something happen to him?"

He shook his head. "No, not him. A friend of his tried to commit suicide, so he went to visit her. He told me to run the café for the day."

I frowned. "I’m sorry to hear that."

"It’s fine." He wiped his hands on a towel and eyed me. "So, what’d you need him for? He didn’t do anything shady again, did he?"

"It’s nothing like that." I leaned forward. "It’s about that guy he supposedly found—to act as me in the medical school. You know, my doppelgänger. In eight months of living here, I’ve never actually seen the guy."

"Why are you asking now?" Wolfgang asked, narrowing his eyes.

"Because apparently," I said, lowering my voice, "I met one of my supposed classmates from med school yesterday. She looked straight at me and called me Noah. Like she knew me."

Wolfgang was about to reply when he suddenly froze. His eyes went wide.

"What?" I asked.

He didn’t answer. He was staring past me, his face pale. There was someone behind me, that made him so scared.

I slowly turned around.

And there he was.

Standing just a few steps away.

Wearing my clothes.
With my face.
The same messy hair, the same quiet expression.

My freaking doppelgänger.What in the world am I even witnessing?

This cannot be a mirror.
He’s the guy, the one pretending to be me at the medical school. We look exactly the same, maybe ninety percent look exactly like me.

I stepped closer, standing face to face with this guy, and that’s when it hit me.
"Wait a second… you were the girl who was eyeing me earlier."

I turned sharply toward Wolfgang.
"Wolfgang?! What the hell?"

"I swear I don’t know him— I mean her!" he said, holding his hands up. "I’ve seen her before, but I never knew who she was!"

I looked back at the person, my double, still silent, still watching.
"Alright," I said carefully, "tell me who you are?"

She blinked once, then said in a flat tone,
"Zoe Harukawa. Naomi Anderson. Akira Akutagawa. Jiji Nakahara, Junko Honjo."

"What? You are not making any sense, which one is your name?" I muttered, completely thrown off.

Then, without another word, she turned and bolted back into the side room, vanishing like she’d never been there.

"Hey! What—what is she doing!?" I yelled, half to Wolfgang, half to myself.

Before either of us could move, the café door opened. and a small group stepped inside.

A familiar voice called, "Hey, Noah!"

I turned around.
Standing there was her. Oh yeah I completely forgot about her name.
Zoe Harukawa, the same girl from yesterday, the one who called me Noah like she’d known me for years.

Behind her were four others, a tall girl with brown hair tied in a bun, a loudone holding a sketchpad, another with headphones around his neck and one tanned wearing heavy makeup.
I didn’t recognize any of them, but I guess their faces matched the names my doppelgänger had just recited.
Zoe waved at me casually. "We were nearby, so we thought we’d stop by before heading to the festival site."

"Festival?" I repeated, trying to play along.

"Yeah," she said, smiling. "You know, the Willowmori Festival, the one with the student concert? You did say you wanted to visit there, right?"

Right. Of course.
I had no idea what she was talking about, but I nodded anyway. "Ah—yeah. Right. Totally."

They all looked relieved, chatting among themselves as if we’d known each other for months.

Wolfgang leaned toward me, whispering, "You’re just going along with this?"

"Do I have a choice?" I whispered back.

He sighed. "Fine. But before you go, can you check on Cassie? Yuki said she hasn’t replied to any of her messages."

"Got it," I said, still distracted by the surreal moment.

As I followed Zoe and her friends out the door, I took one last glance over my shoulder, toward the back room.

The strange girl, the one who looked just like me, was gone.We took the train toward Willowmori.

The whole ride, I wasn’t really myself. I mostly stayed quiet, nodding along to whatever they talked about. Their conversation was all about med school stuff, rotations, anatomy quizzes, professors I didn’t even know.

Since I never studied any of that, I just smiled and said things like,
"Ah, yeah, that class was rough,"
or,
"Mm, I totally forgot about that one."

Basically, faking it until the train stopped.

Then, out of nowhere, Akira leaned forward with her unusually mischievous grin.
"Hey, Noah, I never knew you play guitar!"

"Eh?" I blinked. "Guitar?"

Zoe tilted her head. "Yeah, I’ve seen you with a guitar case before. Don’t tell me it’s just for decoration."

Naomi giggled. "Ohh, he looks like the type who secretly writes love songs, doesn’t he?"

"W–Wait, no! It’s not like that," I said, waving my hands.

Junko joined in, teasing, "Come on, Noah, show us! You can’t just carry that thing around and not play something."

"I—uh, it’s kinda embarrassing…"

Jiji leaned back with a smirk. "See? That’s the exact line people say before they blow everyone’s minds."

They all started chanting playfully,
"Play! Play! Play!"

I sighed in defeat. "Fine, fine! Just don’t expect too much, alright?"

I reached for my guitar case and pulled it open. The moment I strummed the strings, the chatter died down.
I started playing softly, a calm, flowing melody that mixed a little fingerpicking with a quiet rhythm. It was simple but heartfelt, the kind of song that carried the breeze through the train windows.

No lyrics this time, just music.
Still, the notes somehow echoed the same tune I remembered hearing, Melody’s song.

When I finished, the sound faded into the rattle of the train wheels.

No one said a word for a few seconds.

Then Naomi leaned forward, eyes wide.
"Waaah… Noah, that was seriously amazing!"

Akira grinned. "Bro, what do you mean ‘don’t expect too much’? That was pro-level!"

Zoe clapped softly. "You really have a beautiful touch on the strings. You should’ve gone to Amadeus Academy instead of med school."

If she knew that was it.

"Yeah!" Jiji laughed. "Forget scalpels, pick strings, not bones!"

Junko smiled warmly. "I didn’t know you could play like that, Noah. It’s really… gentle. It felt like it came from your heart."

I scratched my cheek, embarrassed. "You guys are exaggerating… I just play a little."

They all kept teasing and praising me, but inside, I could only smile awkwardly.
They didn’t realize I was already a student at Amadeus Academy.

And as their laughter filled the train, I wondered how long I could keep this double life from falling apart.Willowmori was bursting with life that day, as usual.

Colorful stalls lined the streets, the smell of takoyaki and sweet crepes filled the air, and paper lanterns fluttered gently in the autumn wind. We just wandered aimlessly, laughing, trying snacks, watching the stage crews prepare the concert platform for the festival’s opening night.

"Hey, Noah," Akira said, pointing at the half-built stage. "You should audition with those Amadeus kids! I bet you’d blow them away!"

"Ha-ha, very funny," I said with a weak smile.

But my thoughts drifted again.
Melody… what are you doing right now? Are you safe?

I tried to shake it off, but that familiar ache lingered in my chest.

Then suddenly—

A scream tore through the air.

It was sharp and desperate. Everyone around us froze. The sound came from somewhere near the river path, behind the festival stalls.

Zoe immediately turned serious.
"Let’s go!"

Without hesitation, she and the others sprinted toward the sound. I followed behind, trying to keep up as the crowd parted around us.

When we arrived, there was a small group of people gathered in shock. Some were crying. Others covered their mouths.

And then I saw him.
There was a man lying face-down near the bridge, blood soaking into the gravel. His wrist was cut open, a small knife lying beside him. The red color spread like a horrible stain against the light stones.

Naomi gasped. "Oh my god—he’s still breathing!"

Zoe immediately knelt down beside him, pulling off her jacket to press against the wound.
"Jiji! Call an ambulance!"

"On it!"

Junko crouched beside Zoe, trembling but trying to help.
"Hold pressure here—Akira, give me your scarf!"

"Got it!" Akira handed it over and helped wrap it around the man’s arm.

Then Zoe looked up, straight at me.
"Noah! Help us stabilize him!"

Everyone turned to me.
Their voices blurred together.

I wanted to move. To step forward. But my body—
my body just… froze.

My legs wouldn’t listen.
My hands started shaking.

There was too much blood.
The metallic smell hit my nose and my chest tightened.
It felt like I was suffocating, like the world around me was spinning in slow motion.
I couldn’t do anything, this was real, someone’s life was on the line, and I cannot do anything, because I wasn’t trained to save someone, I trained to play music.

"Noah!" Zoe yelled again. "What are you doing!? We need you—now!"

I tried to answer, but nothing came out.

The sound of my heartbeat thundered in my ears.
Thud. Thud. Thud.

And then—

A hand grabbed my shoulder.

I turned.
It was her—the girl who looked like me.
My doppelgänger. Was she following us?

Without a word, she pushed me gently but firmly back. Pulling me aside among the crowd.
Her expression was calm, eerily calm.
Then she ran past me and dropped to her knees beside Zoe, taking over instantly.

"She’s stopping the bleeding—!" Naomi cried out in shock.

Zoe blinked, confused, but didn’t have time to question it.
"Good—keep the pressure! Stay with me!"

I stood there in silence, watching my other self work with surgical precision, completely steady amidst the chaos.

I couldn’t even breathe.

The sirens of the ambulance echoed in the distance.