ACT III - Snowflakes, Together

Despite everything, I still had my part time work at the antique shop. After getting praises from Tsukumo about how smooth this mission had gone, and how powerful these scavenged items were, I went back home. He made me feel sick to my stomach, and his repulsive laugh wouldn't stop echoing inside my ears even after many hours. I threw my body on the bed, wanting to disappear.

Yuujin wasn't leaving my mind. At all. No matter how much I tried, I couldn't get his stupid face out of my system. My entire body was screaming, wanting to get free from the guilt. I tried suffocating myself with my pillow—there was no way back from what I had caused.

My little act of wanting to stop my breath was obviously useless, so I threw my pillow away with a big force. It hit something on my desk and caused it to fall. Surely, it wasn't—?! No, no way it was—

I scrambled towards the broken object. Gasping loudly, I tried to gather the pieces of broken glass, hurting my hands in the process. The broken item was a snow globe; one that was given to me by Yuujin Seira.

Tears of anguish threatening to fall down from my eyes, I threw away the glass pieces in my hands. I had gone and broke an item that I held so close to me ever since that day… Standing up, I took my fan, and blew air towards the sad murder scene. Since it was freshly broken, I could most likely get to experience that scene again, for the last time…

"Hey, I have something for you!" A smiling Yuujin sat in front of me, hiding something in his hands. I chuckled warmly. "What's this? You have a gift for me or something?" His eyes widened. "Oops, I got caught already…? Haha, well, here, it's a modest gift for you…" He placed the small snow globe in front of me. I took it in my hands, inspecting the beautiful object, lost in the movements of the snow. "T-thank you… What's the occasion, though…?" I asked, childish fascination in my voice. He scratched his neck. "Um, well… I have a lot of these lil' fellas from Canada, I thought I'd give it to the new friends I make here… And since you said your hometown was snowy too… I thought this is a perfect occasion."

His flustered face, the warmth of his words, the fact that he already considered us friends, and the gift itself—All of that had made me so happy that I couldn't help but give him a tight embrace…! With the sounds of our laughter fading away, the Scene came to an end.

Yuujin Seira. A boy who offered me his honest and beautiful friendship, and I had thrown all of that aside, even sacrificing his own happiness and memories for the sake of me and my selfish dependance on this twisted hand fan…

I wanted to throw the fan away from my hands too, but I refrained from doing that. Wiping away my tears, I recollected myself and coolly cleaned up the mess caused by the now-gone snow globe. I had made my resolve, and I didn't have a minute to postpone taking action. I needed to take advantage of the situation and act fast, or else my dependance on the fan would strike again, making me fall back on my bad habit hole.

It was time for snowflakes to come together and achieve something grand, just like my mom's impactful quote from years back.

I gently placed the fan on my desk, even though it felt like the most tainted, dirty object in the world now. No, I had to feign calmness, as Tsukumo regularly did memory checks on me, and if I made it obvious that I had made my mind up to escape from his hands, he'd know. I left the fan on my desk, exited the room and took my phone and sent a text to Kajimaru, asking how their visit to Yuujin's house had gone. He said it was useless, he didn't remember anyone except for Michiru-senpai, and that was only because they were friends from before. He wanted to call me, but I refused, saying that I couldn't be on voice call. I knew that if the fan picked up my voice, it could alert Tsukumo in an instant. In fact, he could see my texts if he wanted to at a later time, accessing my memories—but I needed to buy any time I could, so I typed away on my screen, asking Kajimaru to make a group chat. He was a bit confused, but opened the chat anyway. Without waiting, I explained the situation as fast as I could.

Rena: I know a way to retrieve Yuujin's memories.

Michiru: ?!

Ria: If you opened this group chat as just a prank, leave right now.

Rena: No! I'm serious. Please, just listen to me. We need to act fast.

Akito: … it sounds impossible, but no harm in hearing you out

Reo: yea, i guess… well then, tell us what we gotta do

Rena: Ok so… It's actually all connected to his glasses. It's a bit difficult to explain, but the Antique Shop owner, Tsukumo is the culprit.

Michiru: glasses?? now that you say it, he didn't have them…

Rena: Yeah, that's because Tsukumo took them. He has your recently lost items, too.

Michiru: what??? u mean my shoes?! how do u know that

Reo: lost items? the class succulent too? seriously tho how do u know

Rena: Because… I work with him. Really listen without interruption now. If you show these items to Yuujin, he might remember everything, as they're traces of you, evidence his brain might use to remember.

Ria: Traces of us? But why would that work, he doesn't remember us from photos. We tried. And, what objects are you speaking about? He gifted me a plushie once, would that work? Is that your point?

Rena: No… Um… It's really long to explain now, but for you it'd be the apron you used during your first year home economics class.

Ria: What??? Aren't you a first year, how do you know about that?! Did Yuujin tell you? And dear god, what would someone want to do with a plain school apron?! What would Tsukumo-san, or whatever he's called, need it for. You don't make any sense, and I'm getting angry

Michiru: … ria-chan, let's stop and calmly listen. im shaking rn too but she seems to know what's going on

Ria: Then go on fast! What do you want us to do??

Rena: Yuujin didn't tell me about your first year, we never spoke all that much about any of you. I know, because this person called Tsukumo can see the past from objects holding memories. He's the one who made Yuujin's glasses, so he could see the past too…

Reo: alright, i think i'll faint like rn.

Michiru: what…

Ria: The more you talk, the less I believe you.

Rena: I understand. But please listen. Shortly put, Tsukumo stole his memories, and he has your objects. He had the glasses in a safecase, so we probably can't find them, but… I know where your belongings are

Akito: Sorry to interrupt. But all this time I've been thinking, but none of my objects got stolen. Is there anything I can do, still?

Rena: Yes, you can. In fact, I need everyone's cooperation on this. Listen carefully…

I proceeded to type my plan by sending them the location of the shop. Tomorrow morning, I'd start my first shift as usual. And during lunch time, I'd make up a reason to take Tsukumo away from the shop, locking the shop for the time being. However, I'd hide the keys somewhere in front of the shop, allowing the four to come inside and grab the objects, then leaving for Yuujin's house, hopefully reawakening his memories. I'd get a hefty punishment once Tsukumo learned that the items were gone, but I hoped that I'd be let go, as he already retrieved their Memory-Power from those objects. Either way, I didn't care. I was ready to take any punishment, as long as it meant that Yuujin's memories with his dear friends were back to his system.

The fact that I betrayed him and put him in the middle of this Puppet Theater as well… Even a kind guy like him wouldn't be able to forgive someone like me, but I didn't mind.

I deserved every drop of the hate that'd be directed towards me once the truth got unveiled…