Chapter 03

The blood gushes out from her cranium, spraying onto my face, so I close my mouth and eyes. Well, they're slightly open as this is something I can't stop looking at. Imagine seeing a soft chocolate cake and sticking your two fingers on them.

Her hand was already drenched, and her uniform was almost saturated by now.

Despite that, she was still standing, but with a dark expression. She starts wiggling her fingers as if tickling herself in the brain, her left eye moves sporadically, looking at every corner of the room, her left cheek muscles twitch in an unsettling way, as if being shocked by a taser. All of this while the right side of her face remains normal and emotionless.

Morbid curiosity and adrenaline made me lift up my arm and hold her by the elbow. I tried to pull it away, but she resisted. No. She completely ignored my input.

This psychotic scene finished after she abruptly pulled her fingers out of her brain and wiped them clean on her blazer.

There were two perfectly shaped holes left behind on her temples, which closed slowly as all the blood that spewed from it evaporated like nothing. Her wound healed shut like nothing. She was still breathing, and in fact, she still had the gall to say, “Sorry, I was just giving you a piece of my mind.”

She giggled, finding that to be humorous.

My face was obviously pale, and I was stuck in place, again, not knowing how I should react or what I should say next.

“So now you know I'm not messing with you.”

With a few light pats of her feet, she walked in front of me as my eyes followed her moves in terror.

When her back turned towards me, she looked back at me. “And also, haven't you noticed something different about yourself?”

“...”

She was right. Now that I think of it, this whole time I was clenching my chest.

I didn't.

“You don't feel anything, do you?” She turned around in a graceful twirl. “You don't feel any pain in your chest, do you?”

“...”

“...”

“So...” Not only did she resurrect me, “You also fixed... my heart?”

“That's right. I fixed your heart. That makes me the best heart surgeon in the world, Fufufu.” She arrogantly chuckled. “I'm glad you realized it. I was willing to chase you across the school if you didn't realize it... --Uh?”

She was taken aback by the way I suddenly stood up from my seat. She raised her eyebrows as she scanned me up and down, my legs and arms trembling as I clenched my chest.

I took in a very deep breath and then asked, “So... what are these pills you were talking about?”

* * *

Aside from my sleepiness, she was right. Despite this fantastical place I found myself in, I can believe that, I can wrap my head around that.

She stuck her fingers in her head and survived. My shock from seeing that happen was so great it would have made me die, but it didn't.

That means she must be telling the truth.

The heart beating in my chest is in fact not mine.

“Blue pill...” she explained it again, that I would leave this place with my mind erased, and red pill, I would leave this place with my mind erased and with my new heart.

“And there's also the black pill... but that one's always an option if you think about it, hahaha!”

I look at her with a suspicious look. Of course, she wasn't holding actual pills or anything; she presented me with options I can choose from. But if you think about it, is it even a choice to begin with?

“...”

The blue pill and the red pill have the same outcome except for one detail.

“Personally, I would choose the blue one.”

“...”

I stared at her in confusion. She raised her thick eyebrow as if inviting me to ask.

“Does the red one have a catch?”

“All of them have a catch, don't worry, it's not something overt, like you get to have your new heart but your dick gets chopped off... it's something you'll understand later in life.”

“...” I ponder this for a moment.

“The only one without a catch is the black pill, hehe.”

“Well...”

I've contemplated that last option for a lot of these years; however, seeing that the red pill will relieve me of my main reason to consider the black pill, then that means I won't have to contemplate it anymore.

“...”

And also...

“So let's say I decide to take the red one. I'll still lose my memory of this happening, so will we go back to when I had my heart attack on the stairs? Will my sickness go away like an instant?”

“....Hmmmm.”

She brought her hand to her chin and thought about it, which made me feel nervous.

“I don't know... I don't know.”

“...What...?”

My body went limp for a moment. “How do you not know?”

“Hmmmm...”

“...”

“I guess that would mean you never had your heart condition in the first place.”

In other words, she's saying she would turn back time to before I was born.

“...”

“So... that's another thing you must consider.” she said that and sat down on top of a desk, swinging her legs playfully, waiting for me to think about it.

I slump back down on my chair to process the information. Looking at it at face value, it sounds like a brilliant deal; the choice is obvious, however, there are some things that bother me.

“So you mean, in this new world, I will basically never have had this condition in the first place? But it's hereditary!” My voice cracks. “--Would that mean that... that no one in my family will have it either?”

I can feel my heart beat accelerate as I nervously scan her expression.

“Well,” she crossed her arms. “Are you sure you'll even be born at that point?”

“...”

“There's no telling how healing your entire family would

affect your existence, is there?”

“...”

My face falls down, and my expression darkens as I realize what she means.

“Y..You're right... my father was a physical therapist, and my mother was his patient.”

“...I'm sorry... but the safest option is to only fix you...”

I slowly nod in understanding.

I see...

I stand up again and make my way to the front of the class over to the whiteboard; on the way, my fingertips brush the top of the desks I pass.

“So...”

I turn around in front of the classroom and look at Hana, who is way over at the back with her arms still crossed.

If I never had this heart condition, that would probably mean I would never come to this school in the first place. I used to live in the countryside, but I came to this school in the city because it was closer to the hospital. That's it, that's why I ended up here.

I looked away from her and walked slowly to the other side of the classroom, my hand brushing up on the whiteboard. On the other side next to the door was a light switch.

Click.

It made that noise, but nothing happened; the room is still dark, and the rain is still clawing down the windows almost like it's trying to get inside.

“....hm...”

The utilities are down. She did say time stopped, so this must be some sort of isolated bubble where in.

I hear tip taps of Hana's feet, and they were becoming louder; she picked up a marker and started doing something on the board.

“...”

Her yellow raincoat was still scattered on the ground, and one of her red boots fell over already.

“...”

Here, I get a clear view of the girl.

She truly is beautiful.

She is.

I'm somewhat stuck here with her until I make a decision.

I look back at the class; of course, all the seats are completely empty, but there is no dust on them. In a way, you can still feel the presence of my classmates even though they're not here.

The only reason I'm here is because of my heart condition. It was my heart condition that brought me to this school, and it was my heart condition that made me collapse when climbing the stairs.

Hana was supposed to be my prize for being able to go up the stairs without a handler.

Hana was my prize.

Wait...

I guess my prize is that I get to choose how I will leave.

Hana's not a prize.

Hana's a girl, not a prize, is she?

Is she?

Is she even a girl?

I shouldn't treat her like a prize, but should I treat her like a human?

Is she some kind of god?

Am I making a deal with the devil here?

“...!”

“...?”

Hana, who was drawing something on the board, suddenly turned her head towards me, almost as if it snapped into place. Her red eyes were now locked on me, and it made me nervous.

“Did... Did I do anything wrong?”

“...” she squinted her eyes, then she turned her head and pouted. “Nothing... it's fine.”

“...”