Lunch came again faster than I expected.

  I sat beside Ake in the student council room, as we always did, to eat and study with her again.

  Though it seemed she seemed a bit worried about something, as she continuously shot glances at me.

  Ake spread her notes across the table, tapping her pencil lightly.

  “Alright, Yoiya. Let’s try a few history questions, okay?”

  I nodded.

  She glanced down. “Who was the first prime minister to—”

  “Takeda Masahiro,” I answered instantly.

  Ake blinked. “I… didn’t even finish the question.”

  “Oh. Sorry.”

  She tried again.

  “What year did—”

  “1874.”

  Her pencil froze mid?air.

  “Yoiya… how did you know that?”

  I opened my mouth.

  But I didn’t have an answer.

  ~How do I know that? I never—

  The realization hit me. It was the dream from yesterday.

  Ake looked at me intently. She used her hand to brush up my bangs and placed her forehead against mine. It was the typical way to check for fevers without thermometers.

  “It’s only been a day since you collapsed. You have been sleeping properly, haven’t you?”

  “Yeah.” I lied.

  Ake looked at me skeptically, as if she saw through my deception.

  I quickly turned away from her as a result.

  In the corner of my eye, I could see her stick her fork into her lunchbox. She held a piece of karaage up to my cheek.

  “What are you doin–” I began to ask, but she plopped the fried chicken into my mouth the instant I turned and opened it.

  The mana from it spread throughout my tired, sleep-deprived body. It was quite exquisite.

  “Giving you my food. You need to eat more.”

  “But I already ate the lunch Mia gave me and don’t you need to eat as well…?”

  Ake turned away from me this time, averting her gaze as she replied.

  “Well… Uh… I made more than usual this time.”

  “Eh? Wh–”

  She plopped an egg into my mouth this time.

  “Is it good?”

  Chewing the egg thoroughly, I replied.

  “Y-yeah.”

  She tapped her notebook with her pencil again, staring at it with a bit of frustration.

  “...Okay” She said quietly. “Let’s try something else.”

  She flipped to a different page.

  “What were the three major causes of the—”

  “Economic stability, political factionalism, and the agricultural collapse following the drought.” I answered before she even finished again.

  Ake’s hand stopped mid-page turn, letting go of it and placing her hand on her cheek as she leaned against her arm and lifted her eyes to mine. They looked like they were searching for something in me.

  “Yoiya.”

  “Y-yes…?” I said nervously, my breath caught.

  “You didn’t seem to know any of this yesterday. “ She stated softly.

  I looked down at the table, at the neat handwriting of her notes, her pencil, and our bentos.

  “Do you make your bentos yoursel-”

  “Yoiya.” She said my name again, this time a bit more sternly. Her face was filled with concern and had puffed up a bit with a pout. “Don’t change the subject.”

  I looked away. “I… guess I remembered more than I thought…?” I said weakly.

  She didn’t respond. Instead, her gaze continue to pierce through me. That same quiet, perceptive gaze of hers that always made me feel like she could see straight through all my excuses.

  Then without a word, she tore a small piece of paper from her notebook and scribbled something on it. She slid it to me.

  “Read this.”

  Curious, I picked it up.

  It was a question from a chapter we haven’t even covered yet. She must have gotten it from the end of the textbook.

  I looked at her, unsure what her objective was. I could have easily read through the entire textbook before hand.

  I glanced at the question again, realizing it was unfinished.

  “What was the primary diplomatic consequence of the—” That’s where the text on the paper ended.

  “---Treaty of Kurohana?” I had finished it automatically. “It shifted regional alliances by—”

  I stopped, realizing what I had just done.

  I nervously looked over to Ake, but her expression didn’t change. Just something in her eyes— concern. A deep, quiet concern.

  “Yoiya.” She whispered. “This isn’t normal.”

  My chest tightened.

  “I-it’s not…?”

  I tried to play it off. But Ake didn’t seem convinced.

  ~According to the knowledge I’ve gained, photographic memory’s existence is often debated and isn’t clinically proven. Instead, you have eidetic memory which is said to be primarily short-term rather than long-term. Eidetic memory’s recall is not perfect or long-term. That being said… when’s the last time I’ve actually looked at a textbook? A week? A month? Surely Ake would have noticed—

  “Is this… because of what happened yesterday?” Ake’s question cut off my internal analysis. “You know, I’ve only ever seen you open your textbooks a few times in the past few months.”

  I froze.

  My fears were spot-on, and not in a good way.

  But her eyes softened at my reaction.

  “You don’t have to tell me everything.” She said gently. “I would just… prefer that you didn’t lie to me, Yoiya. Especially not about this.”

  I stared at her.

  Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

  Here sat a girl who carried me to the nurse’s office and stayed by my side. A girl who fed me her lunch without hesitation simply out of concern for me.

  I felt like I could trust her but—

  ~Would mortals understand what I’m going through? Would they even believe it?

  So I wondered if there was a way for me to convey my feelings to her without overwhelming her.

  At the time, I could not think of anything and let out a sigh.

  I smiled at her.

  “I’ll tell you one day.”

  She looked at me, her face showing slight signs of disappointment. But she, too, smiled at me — a smile filled with light and hope, the smile of someone who—

  “It’s a promise then.”

  —made a promise they’ll never forget.

  “...Sure.”

  She plopped another piece of karaage into my mouth. “Until then, I’ll continue to watch over you.”

  She smiled softly as she pulled her hand back, cheeks faintly pink.

  I chewed softly, letting the warmth and mana of the food spread through me.

  But beneath that warmth… something else stirred.

  A faint ringing.

  A whisper at the edge of my thoughts.

  A flicker of white light behind my eyes.

  Ding dong.

  The bell rang and Ake stood up.

  “Ah. Guess we better get going.”

  “R-right.” I stood up, following her to the door.

  “Don’t forget our promise okay?” She said, opening the door.

  “Right.” I repeated, this time with more confidence.

  I followed her out the door — the faint ringing still echoing somewhere deep inside me.

  …

  Ding dong.

  The final bell. All classes were over for the day.

  I had already made my way to the library by the time the bell finished sounding.

  Slowly, I reached my hand out to the door.

  I hesitated for a moment, my hand freezing in place.

  ”Yoiya. This isn’t normal.”

  Ake’s words from lunch earlier resounded in my mind for a moment. I thought about how Mashiro would react to the sudden change in intelligence level.

  ~She’ll definitely pick on me about it. Better watch myself around her…

  With one deep breath, I opened the door.

  A breeze quickly blew against my face as the door slid open.

  The window was open.

  The library was silent.

  ~There’s nobody here? I guess I did come here rather early…

  “Yuru-kun…?”

  A voice called out the nickname Mashiro had given me. But it wasn’t Mashiro. No— this voice was soft, gentle— like a song that would caress the soul. I felt drawn to it.

  Quietly, I walked towards the window and climbed through it.

  “Ah… so it was you.”

  There she sat, on a small picnic blanket surrounded by books and a delicate white teaset. Cat patterns were painted on the set in a golden simmering color.

  I found my cheeks burning a bit as my eyes met hers— the eyes of a girl with an oddly soothing presence, the eyes of the doll of the book club Rea Dola.

  “...Care to… join me?” Rea asked me with a slight tilt of her head as she held up a cup a tea.

  The breeze brushed past again, carrying the faint scent of chamomile.

  Rea poured tea into a second cup, her movements slow and careful, like she was afraid to spill even a single drop.

  She set the cup down in front of the empty space beside her.

  “…I thought you might come early,” she said, her voice barely above a whisper.

  My heart skipped.

  “R?really…?”

  Rea nodded once, her near-white hair swaying gently with the motion.

  “You always walk fast after the last bell,” she murmured. “Like you’re trying to reach something before it disappears.”

  I swallowed.

  I didn’t know anyone noticed that.

  Rea patted the blanket beside her — a small, soft gesture.

  “You don’t have to rush today.” She said. “There’s tea. And… I saved you the sweet one.”

  She held up a small plate with a single sugar cookie shaped like a cat.

  My cheeks warmed again.

  “…Thank you.” I managed.

  Rea smiled — a tiny, delicate smile that felt like it was meant only for me.

  “Mm. Sit,” she said gently. “You look tired.”

  And for the first time all day, the ringing in my head quieted.

  Just a little.

  We sat there, munching on sweets and drinking tea as we made small talk.

  Rea continued to bury her face in the novel she was reading, only giving me a glance every few moments or so.

  “Yuru-kun… you’re eating so many sweets.”

  I was throwing the snacks into my mouth pretty consistently, without pause or visual end. I quickly froze when hearing her words.

  “O-oh… S-sorry…” I nervously said.

  The sugar in the sweets was giving me a good bit of mana, which was helping me stay awake. I had been eating a lot more lately because of that discovery.

  “...No. It’s okay… Just…” She touched my hand with hers and looked up at me. “Too much sugar is bad for you…”

  “R-r-right.” I said, my face slightly retreating from hers as I felt my cheeks warm once more.

  “By the way, Yuru-kun…” Rea’s hand moved away from mine, grabbing a cookie to munch on.

  “Huh…?”

  “What kind of books do you like reading?”

  “Ah well…”

  I was unsure how to respond.

  The librarian doppelganger’s memories had given me the knowledge of countless of books. I could even recall every word from every page.

  The topics of those books varied greatly from nonfiction educational books about psychology to fictional stories about other fantasy worlds.

  ~Other fantasy worlds…

  “I suppose… Fantasy adventure?”

  The words slipped out of me naturally— so much so that it felt like my true feelings and that my many memories had no influence on them.

  ~I suppose… my curiosity about the mortal worlds… is one of the reasons I’m here, after all.

  “I… see…” Rea replied, looking as she was lost in thought.

  Rea took a small sip of her tea, her eyes drifting toward the sky outside the window.

  For a moment, she didn’t say anything — just let the breeze play with the ends of her hair.

  “…Fantasy adventure,” she repeated softly, almost to herself.

  I tilted my head. “Do you… not like that genre?”

  She shook her head quickly, cheeks puffing just a little.

  “No. I like it. I just…”

  She paused, searching for the right words.

  “…I always thought those stories were for people braver than me.”

  My breath caught.

  ~Rea? Not brave?

  She hugged her knees slightly, her voice barely above a whisper.

  "I like quiet stories. Ones where nothing bad happens. Ones where people just… exist together.”

  Her fingers traced the rim of her teacup.

  “Maybe because I’m not very good at… big things.”

  I stared at her.

  This girl — gentle, thoughtful, soft — thought she wasn’t good enough for adventure?

  “…I think,” I said quietly, “that people like you are the reason adventures matter.”

  Rea blinked.

  Her cheeks turned a faint pink.

  “…Yuru-kun.” She murmured, her voice trembling just a little, “That’s… unfair.”

  “Huh?”

  She hid her face behind her book.

  “Don’t say things like that so suddenly…”

  The ringing in my head faded again.

  And for a moment, the world felt warm.

  “HOI! I’m back, my wonderful atelier!” A voice from inside suddenly cried out. “Did you miss me? Look, look. I brought my wonderful familiar, too! Huehuehue!”

  “Like I’ve said a thousand times, I’m not your familiar. And this is a library, not an atelier. Any experiments like that would have to be done in the chemistry lab.” Another voice muttered in response.

  It was Mashiro Kiwusawa and Raneko Kuroshin.

  Raneko poked his head out through the window, looking down at Rea.

  “Rea, club is starting. Why don’t you come inside for a bit?” He turned his gaze to me. “Oh. You’re here too, huh, Yuru? How about you come in as well. You are part of the club after all.”

  Rea quietly gave him a nod and quickly began to gather her things and head inside.

  I followed suit, doing my best to assist her as I was unable to just leave her there.

  She handed the tea set to Raneko and began to climb through the windows holding her books, careful not to drop them. As she climbed through, the breeze blew against her back, causing her skirt to lift up a bit.

  I caught a glimpse of something… interesting and....

  ~Cute.

  My face heated instantly. I shook my head hard, banishing the thought, and climbed through after her.

  We took our seats. Rea sat beside me, close enough that I could feel the faint warmth of her shoulder. I immediately looked away, cheeks burning.

  Eliba’s eyes narrowed. Raneko’s gaze lingered on me for a second too long.

  ~Crap.

  “Ah! The party assembles once more!” Mashiro declared, spinning dramatically. “Now then — what quest shall we tackle today?”