Episode 8: Distorted Glass

Miharu regretted something.

Mainly, she regretted bringing the cast of Black Sash to her era.

The cast—who were now her close friends—enjoyed it, but at the same time, she could see that they missed their era as well.

This was especially true after New Year’s Day 2017, which they were happy about the new year but were sad at the time.

Miharu couldn’t take it any longer. She felt really bad for them.

But… she didn’t want to send them back with her powers. She didn’t have the strength to. After all, they were her friends.

Miharu was truly in a rut.

But oh boy, did Miharu not want to send them back, for the sole purpose that they were inseparable… well, at least in Miharu’s opinion.

So, yeah, the girl was in denial, and it being the first week back of the new year at her middle school, she felt like she had to do something fast. Time, in her mind, was running out, whether she liked it or not.

It’s time to say goodbye.

★

It was the first Wednesday of the week… Ah, I mean, of the year, school-wise. The girls in the middle school CDAC were all stoked about this.

“It’s 2017 now! Woot woot!” Ean yelled, doing a little dance in her seat.

Naoko nodded, face still stoic. “Yes. Last year felt incredibly long yet strangely quick at the same time.”

“I know, right? And hey—you didn’t say your ding thing? Why not? I thought that was pretty sinful!” Ean looked at her friend, searching for an answer, but alas, nothing left Naoko’s lips.

“Eh…?”

Naoko finally answered Ean after a solid minute of silence. “It wasn’t that sinful, Ean. That’s how years work, unfortunately.”

Ean wilted, face laying flat on the table now. Miharu thought it was amusing that her friend was that disappointed about the lack of hearing Naoko’s catchphrase/verbal tic again.

Doesn’t she get that enough here?

Naoko’s tic was cute at first, but it quickly got annoying the more she heard it almost every day in the club room (and also outside of it whenever they went on their little adventures). Every time she heard the ding, she added it to the ding count in her head.

Ah.

It was then that Miharu finally noticed something that she’d been ignoring this whole time:

She was becoming more and more like Naoko by the day.

Why, though? She isn’t a good role model at all, save for the fact that she juggles school, work, and other things all at once.

Naoko Nakano was cold, stoic, and stubborn. Miharu also realized that she wasn’t one for other people’s emotions at all.

But… Not thinking about other people’s emotions. Perhaps she does, but just on the inside? Or maybe she denies it?

Miharu guessed the latter. But really, they all didn’t matter in the end. What mattered the most was that she now knew that she was turning a blind eye to her Black Sash friends’ feelings.

And that was a real doozy.

Speaking of Naoko…

A started blaring from someone’s phone.

“‘Whyyy can’t we not be sober?’”

“Ah, sorry. That’s my phone,” Naoko said flatly. Then, with a swipe of her screen, the girl answered it and turned her back toward the girls.

“Is that Tool?” Suika said, keeping her voice down.

“Oh yeah, it was!” Jopi chirped. She then realized that she should keep her chipper voice down so that Naoko wouldn’t give her the stink eye.

As Naoko was talking in the background, Miharu didn’t even bother to listen in. It wasn’t her business so why bother?

Miharu sighed heavily and looked down at the table, counting all the crevices in it that had been there for Who Knows How Long. Her mind then wandered to her main worry at the moment.

What are my friends doing right now? Surely something more fun than what I’m doing right now, club be damned.

Ugh, I’m thinking about them again!

Desperately wanting to keep her mind off of her friends, Miharu decided to soundtrack her current mood by putting on some emo music.

It’s not a bad idea at all. After all, a lot of commercial emo bands are pretty good.

With that brilliant idea, the girl went to Pandora on her phone and typed in “Emo Radio.” Right away, “Cute Without the E (Cut From the Team)” by Taking Back Sunday came on and Miharu readjusted her earbuds in her ears.

Ahhh, the emotion. The raw, raw emotion.

Once the first verse came in Miharu found herself looking once again at the crevices in the table, but this time she was imagining them forming the shapes of people. The imaginary etched shapes began to interact with one another, pantomiming the lyrics of the song.

For those three minutes, Miharu was in another world altogether. One that didn’t take place in reality and didn’t have stakes that she’d have to overcome.

It was wonderful.

Until…

Poke, poke.

“Miharu?”

Poke, poke. PROD, PROD.

“Miharu-chan?!”

Miharu jolted in her seat and looked up soon after, massaging a kink in her neck that likely formed from sitting there, bent over like a hunchback.

The person who poked her was Ally, a part of the Black Sash crew and a friend of Nick’s. (By the way, the cast was all able to speak perfect Japanese because of Miharu’s reality-warping power. Thank God!)

Oh no. Just seeing the girl and thinking about Nick made Miharu feel even worse.

I didn’t even take Kuroe into consideration! What is she gonna do when she finds out that Nick is a fictional character and is going to be sent back to his world by me?!

That thought process was horrifying for Miharu. It could be solved by wiping the girl’s memory of the boy, but that was even too evil for her to do.

Miharu took her earbuds out right as Kuroe continued speaking to her.

“I’ve been trying to get your attention for a while now but you really were zoned out, huh?” the girl giggled.

Miharu tried to smile but she knew that it came out all crooked and warbly. “Eh-heh, sorry about that! I was listening to a really good song!”

“Oh?” Kuroe’s face brightened. “What was it?”

Miharu informed her of what it was but as expected, Kuroe’s face looked puzzled like she didn’t know who she was talking about.

“It’s fine,” Miharu said, brushing off what had just happened. I don’t expect people to listen to emo music nowadays anyway. At least, now this kind.

“Anyway, anyway! Did you hear?”

“Hear what?”

At that moment, Miharu realized that Naoko was already off the phone so she didn’t have to worry about keeping a hushed voice anymore… Which she hadn’t been doing anyway, so it really didn’t matter.

“I heard that there’s gonna be a bunch of snow falling later tonight! You know what that means…!”

“Ah, okay. Nice.”

Miharu was glad that Allie was excited about such a mundane thing like a snow day.

Then, a dark thought reached her mind: What if she’s actually depressed inside? What if her happiness is a facade?

Luckily, the other girls commented on what the foreign girl said and placed their own bets.

“I think that we’re not gonna have school tomorrow, either!” Jopi said, eyes glittering. “We haven’t had one yet so I’m hoping!”

“I heard it’s gonna be a 50/50 chance, but who the fuck knows?” Ean said this while rolling her eyes. She then continued to look over her math homework like an alien reading human text.

“Why aren’t you guys more excited?!” Allie squealed, jumping up and down in place. Miharu thought it was amusing that despite having a cell phone, the girl decided to come all the way to the middle school to tell the girls this.

It’s an odd form of wholesome. And also, Allie should actually just go to school here because she clearly acts like a middle schooler.

Harsh, but true. That was Miharu’s way sometimes.

“I’m stoked, trust me.” Naoko said this while twirling a lock of hair around her index finger.

Suika straightened some loose papers that were in her hand. “Me too. I love snow days. That means I can watch TV more.”

Allie nodded enthusiastically. “Yeah, aren’t they the best? You get to stay home and drink hot cocoa and watch old movies on TV and then go outside and—”

“Allie, don’t you have karate class in a half an hour?”

The girl jumped in her spot, but out of surprise this time. “Ah, you’re right, you’re right! I almost forgot! Thank you so much for reminding me!”

And with that, the girl dashed out of the room with the speed of a professional runner.

Miharu sighed again. “I swear, that girl…”

★

She was on a spaceship. Yes, she was on a spaceship. That is if the spaceship was a dazed mental state because she just woke up.

Miharu just woke up and found out that the entirety of the yard outside her house was white.

It was so white that it was hard to look at from where she was, which was on the second floor of her Western-style house.

God, I can’t even imagine us having school today.

“Actually… what time is it?”

Judging by the fact that her mom hadn’t even woken her up, she had a feeling that school was a complete no-no today… With which excitement obviously abounded.

Lazily, Miharu swiped her phone off her dresser and took a peek at it. Sure enough, she got a text message, a phone call, and an email about school being very much indeed canceled.

“Ah. Hooray.” The stoicness of her voice then vanished into something far more appropriate for her age.

“WOO-HOOOO!! LET’S GOOO!!”

The ninth grade girl did a little dance around her room, expressing her excitement for the fun day ahead.

A day of… ah, who cares? Let’s just do whatever!

As she was in the middle of her dumb little happy dance (totally like a certain dumb blonde she knew), a knock sounded at her door.

Of course, this happens. What is my life, a teen comedy?

… If so, where’s the blink-182?

“Miharu-chaaan! You heard, didn’t you?” The voice was actually her mother’s, which didn’t surprise her in the slightest. After all, she did have a job that allowed her to work at home just fine.

Miharu opened the door for her and then saw who was directly behind her.

Shit.

It was Allie, who came out from behind Miharu’s mother and struck an anime pose, complete with the peace sign. “C’mon, Miharu! Let’s play in the snow! It’ll be a lot of fun!”

I’m assuming that I’m gonna make some snow clothes for them then? Hooray.

Miharu wanted her facepalm to reach the center of the earth, whatever that really meant. “Fine. Yeah. Sure. Just let me wake up and get something to eat first.” When she said “wake up”, she meant brushing her hair, washing her face and brushing her teeth, etcetera.

“Okay! Yeah, we gotta do the same too! Some of us are still eating!” The girl giggled.

During this whole exchange, Miharu’s mom stood there, grinning from ear to ear. God, I feel really bad for altering Mom’s brain so that she wouldn’t freak out over all this crazy magic stuff happening.

It was something she had to do for the greater good, however. Otherwise, her friends staying next door in a large apartment place would’ve never happened.

“Alright. Sounds good. Again, I’ll let you know when I’m finished with all my stuff and then we can hang out.”

“Okay! Thank you so much, Mi-chan!”

Once that was over with, Allie went downstairs and probably to the outdoors where she went back into her living place.

Miharu’s mom smiled, shaking her head back and forth. “You kids, always wanting snow days so you can have fun and not do schoolwork.”

And with that, she was gone too, probably ready to sit back down and have a cup of coffee while looking at a furniture catalog (her mom’s favorite activity when she had nothing else to do).

“Oh, if only she knew…” the girl murmured to herself.

★

After doing what she said she was going to do and eating a breakfast that consisted of Coco Puffs and orange juice, Miharu was finally ready to go next door to make some snow clothes for her Black Sash friends.

Oh God my mind is going back to sending them back to their own world, oh no… What if…?

Miharu then began to ponder about what would happen if she created duplicates of them and had them continue to live in her world, but it all came back to the same conclusion—

The teens simply weren’t fit for this era, no matter how long they were in it.

Once Miharu made her way to their big house, she was greeted by Allie, who opened the door with a huge grin.

“It’s so cold outside,” Miharu told her friend with a wobbly smile on her face. “Are you sure you guys wanna play outside?”

I mean, I could easily make it warmer outside but I don’t wanna warp reality all the time…

“Yeah, obviously! I wanna get some fresh air, too! Breathing in all that indoor air isn’t good for you!”

I’m not sure where she got that from but she does have a point. “Okay then. Let me make some snow clothes for you then.”

“Yay~!” Allie said, squealing. Miharu went in and closed the door.

Just one look at the living room and she saw that the whole cast was there (well, minus one guy that she didn’t transport into this world—the one guy with the mullet whose name she forgot), either on their phones or staring off into space.

Just lovely. They’re not even talking to each other (as far as I know)...

The sight of all of them was uncomfortable to him.

There was also a strange sense of tension in the room, one that she recognized in the most unfortunate sense.

“Okay, everyone!” Allie shouted. Miharu could tell that she was the ringleader of the group. “What should we do first?”

“I wanna go sledding!” Bryan shouted. “That’s my favorite thing to do in the wintertime!”

“Sure! That sounds sick! Miharu, can you make us some sleds please?”

Miharu nodded and tried to ignore the sweat dripping down from her face. Can I just not be uncomfortable in this situation? This is supposed to be fun!

“Um, sure I’ll do that,” Miharu replied as steadily as she could. “I’m gonna make your winter clothes too.”

Alright. Let’s do this.

Miharu closed her eyes and imagined five sleds in front of her, as well as the usual winter garb like jackets, snow pants, gloves, hats, and boots. To make things easier for her, she color-coded them all in super sentai colors. She hoped the kids didn’t mind.

“Cool, thanks!” She heard the other girl that wasn’t Allie—Tory—say in a mildly excited tone.

At that point, Miharu opened her eyes, and sure enough, there the objects were. She was thankful that the room was big enough to fit them all in, too.

I’ve had this power for what is going to be a year now and it’s still cool as hell.

She still wondered how that power even existed, too. After all, it was 110% more OP than any of the other girls’ powers.

Well, except perhaps Mimori’s. That could literally alter history if she wanted to… if she hasn’t yet already.

Allie squealed and put her hands to her face in a cutesy manner. “Wow, Miharu! Thank you so, so much!” She gasped. “The pink one is mine, right?”

“Yeah, they look cool,” added Nick in a tone that suggested the opposite of what he said.

“Yup. Your’s pink, Allie. Nick is red, Ray is blue, and Tory is yellow. Go ahead and put them on!” Miharu glanced down at her own snow outfit, which was mint, and smirked.

I got these before I got my powers. What a coincidence.

Mint really was her character color.

After the teens got their snow outfits on (in awkward silence which was pretty unfortunate once again), Allie began to speak but Bryan interrupted her.

“Let’s go, guys! I’m ready to hit the slopes!”

Allie seemed okay with being interrupted as she spoke after him, although she probably wasn’t saying what she was originally going to say. “There aren’t any actual slopes though!”

“I know!” Bryan said, sticking his tongue out. “It was a metaphor!”

Miharu cleared her throat. Everyone looked at her.

Heh. As they should. “So, guys. Are we ready to sled?”

Everyone talked at once, a solid agreement forming amongst them.

The girl opened the door and they started to head out.

It was as they did that a dark thought began to cloud Miharu’s mind.

This is going to be the last time we’re going to do anything fun, isn’t it…?

It was almost like a guarantee.

Miharu gulped loudly and closed the door behind her, watching her best friends as they stretched and readied themselves to have some fun.

Might as well have some fun too, huh?

★

Sledding was fun, as she expected. The teens were out there for about an hour until everyone started getting really cold and wanted to go inside. Once they were inside, Miharu made hot cocoa for the gang while Tory turned on a 90s alternative station on the TV. Listening to that kind of music was something she liked to do often enough, but this time upon hearing bands like Collective Soul, she felt sad.

Ugh. Again, huh.

That was when she started to gain confidence in herself for letting her friends go back today.

Just get it over with as soon as possible.

But if I’m going to do that…

Miharu was going to need Kuroe.

“Um, guys…” she said as she handed the drinks out to her friends, who were currently relaxing on the couch and talking about the fun facts that appeared on the screen every thirty seconds. “I would like to take you back to your original world today, if that’s alright.”

The Black Sash gang looked up at her, and to her surprise, they didn’t react negatively at all… Even Nick, who had his girlfriend in this world.

“We get it,” Tory said casually. “I’ve been getting sick of this world anyway. It’s just… not for me.”

“Me too,” Bryan added, nodding enthusiastically. “I mean some of the music is pretty good, don’t get me wrong, but I miss my homeworld.”

Allie nodded along, smiling a small smile. Meanwhile, Nick stared directly into Miharu’s eyes, which unsettled her just a little bit.

“Can I say goodbye to Kuroe first, please?”

Miharu let out a big breath. “Yes, of course. I wasn’t about to take her away from you. In fact…”

With a snap of her fingers, the girl in question appeared right in front of them.

“Eh? Uh, where am I?” The girl looked predictably confused. Then she looked around the room, her eyes finally landing on Nick.

“Hi,” the boy said dorkily.

“AH!” Kuroe jumped in place. “NICK! Oh, and right, your friends! But how did I get here…?”

Miharu sighed and shook her head a bit. “Sit down, Kuroe. If you think what’s going on is crazy right now, just wait until you hear what I’m about to tell you.”

“We’re telling her?” Allie asked stupidly.

“Yes…” Miharu said slowly. “It’s the logical thing to do in this situation. I really don’t want to erase her memory of Nick.”

★

Once again, predictably, Kuroe was taken aback by the whole situation. And just like Miharu feared, the girl cried quite a bit. On the positive side, she at least grasped the situation and knew that Nick going back to his “homeworld” (as Bryan accurately put it) was a good thing.

“Alright…” Miharu drew in another deep breath. Breathing like this is the only way to keep me sane. “Let’s go upstairs then. Follow me, guys!”

Nick raised a hand. “Can Kuroe and I have a moment first, though?”

Miharu nodded. “Absolutely. You two make out as hard as you want.”

Bryan made a goofy-sounding gagging noise and with that, the teens went out the door and into Miharu’s house to go to her bedroom.

Once they arrived at the destination, Miharu dug around in a cardboard box that was lazily placed in her closet and found the tape that she was looking for… still at the part in the tape she pulled them from.

“I’m so ready for this,” Tory said, a hint of excitement edging in her voice.

Right as Miharu popped the tape into the VCR, which was on her dresser along with an old-fashioned CRTV, Nick and Kuroe entered the room.

Huh. Guess they didn’t make out for that long, then.

Miharu then jammed the tape into the VCR she had connected to her own small old TV, pressed play, then paused it again.

“You guys ready?”

The teens made agreement noises once again.

“Alright then… Get ready.”

“GOODBYE, NICK!” Kuroe yelled with what was definitely an outdoor voice.

Miharu closed her eyes and imagined them back in the tape.

“Goodbye, everyone…” she whispered.

After a few seconds, she opened her eyes and saw that the teens were gone. She pressed play on the remote and was relieved to see them back on the screen, reenacting episode four of the short-lived show.

“ … So that’s it, huh?” Kuroe said breathlessly.

“Yup. You ready to be teleported back to your house?”

Kuroe looked down at her feet and nodded, smiling to herself. “Yes.”

With another snap of her fingers and a farewell, the girl was gone.

Miharu breathed a huge sigh of relief and opened the blinds to her room, seeing that the house was still next door.

She smirked. “I have some cleaning up to do now, don’t I?”