Chapter 9:

The Colorless Cage (END)

My First and Last Kiss Was With You


Why is there something other than nothing?

What a stupid question.

After I was knocked out by the tomboy of my dreams, I ended up in the weirdest world I’d ever seen. I even managed to delude myself into thinking that I had friends and that Aoko of all people was my childhood friend.

Well, newsflash.

That was bullshit. Her chest isn’t even that big, first of all.

I don’t know if it was a dream or just someone’s wish creating fantasyland, but it didn’t matter anymore. I wasn’t part of it.

I was standing in a whole lotta nothing.

A completely white void devoid of anything except for me.

And then out of nowhere, something appeared from that “nothing.”

That “something” was a long, black desk. There was a chair on both sides, and when I sat on one, Aoko appeared on the other side.

She started talking about a lot of things that I either didn’t remember or just didn’t understand.

The words that came out of her mouth weren’t things I ever expected an athlete like her to say. I mean, she hated academics, but now she was waxing poetic about “quantum string theory” and the “Everett Interpretation”, whatever the hell that meant.

“...So you’re telling me that we’ve met billions of times before, but I just don’t remember it.”

Aoko nodded.

“Alright. Sure. I can believe that. But you’re also telling me that you fell in love with me every time. I mean, seriously? I don’t know what you’re after, but you’re going to have to give me a more believable lie than that.”

There was a very long pause before Aoko spoke.

I could see the pain in her eyes.

She grasped my hands.

“Eiji, I... You don’t remember this, but you helped me get through it... During our final semester, you gave me the push that I needed to win the nationals. You gave me the hope that I needed in this world. But in the end, you picked her.”

“Yeah, uh, you’re going to have to back up a little, Aoko. I know there’s a wish involved, and it seems like a pretty damn big one, but look at it from my perspective, okay? We just met. Like, hours ago.”

I held her gaze for a few moments to make sure she understood what I was saying. Eventually, she nodded and released her grip.

“So, uh, what was with that whole fake world? Actually, no. Scratch that. What’s with this?” I asked, gesturing to the white expanse that enveloped us.

“I... I don’t know.”

I sighed.

“Okay, let’s start with something that you do know, then. What exactly was your wish?”

“A world, for just the two of us.” Aoko’s cheeks flushed a bright red. “B-But that world restarts every time something branches off from the original world. And, um, I guess things change a little each time it restarts. The last repetition was... kind of weird.”

Instead of continuing to question her about the nature of the repetitions, I instead targeted a much simpler subject.

“...So even if I ended up ‘picking you’, it’d just restart all over again?”

“No. In that case, my wish would’ve been fulfilled, right?”

“...Right.”

I sunk deeper into my chair. I mean, it just didn’t seem right. Sure, Aoko didn’t have the hallmarks of a traditional beauty, but she was still a looker, and I was pretty sure that there were people into girls like her.

I mean, I sure was. This current “compact” version of hers was just as preferable, if not more.

“So what’s all this? Sure doesn’t look like the world to me.”

She grinned. “It’s not. But it’s a world for just the two of us.”

Oh.

Shit.

She was right.

“So... What? Am I just going to be stuck here forever?”

The voice that answered my question was definitely not the voice I expected, and the sound of shattering glass that came before it surprised me just as much.

“No. Not forever. It’s breaking down already.”

Only one voice could possess such a melody.

“...Izanami?”

Her eyes widened, and then the corners of her lips turned upward in a smile. It was—as always—disgustingly beautiful.

All around her, the white was starting to collapse, like so many shards of glass that could no longer be held together.

Through the cracks in the white where she arrived, I could see slivers of sunset streaming through.

The sunset when I last saw her.

“You remembered. That’s a first.”

I felt a very specific warmth emanating from her at that moment. It wasn’t like a microwave warmth or a sunlight warmth, but more akin to an embrace.

The next two words dashed away that warmth.

“Nakano Ichika.” Aoko narrowed her eyes. “You simply have to interrupt at all the worst times, don’t you?”

“It was going to collapse anyway. This was the last repetition you could muster, wasn’t it?”

“What the hell do you know?”

“Even worlds have their limits.”

More sounds of shattering glass, so deafening that I flinched despite knowing that I wasn’t in any danger.

Aoko was standing in front of Ichika, the two of them facing off. It was like they were going to pounce on each other at any moment.

Another chunk of white crashed in front of me.

I closed my eyes. The next time I opened them, we were back in that hallway before any of this madness happened.

All three of us.

Aoko was on top of me again, breathing hard. Her eyes looked haunted, and her arms lacked the strength to hold me down.

I could’ve pushed her off right now, but I didn’t.

I couldn’t.

Not with that pain in her eyes.

I didn’t know if we’d really been through billions of repetitions, but I could tell that her suffering was genuine.

Her tears hit harder than her fists as they crashed against my face. She kept muttering something, but I couldn’t understand it.

From afar, Ichika stared at us. Her expression was passive, but I could feel a cold displeasure rising from deep within her.

Even so, she didn’t move from her spot.

Ichika.

Or rather, Izanami.

Just who are you?

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