I felt no gravity in the darkness, and lost all my senses as a result.

I banged my head on the floor with a dull thud.

Seeing stars behind my eyelids, I curled into a ball while holding my head in pain.

"Are you okay?

Did you get hurt?"

"Rika!!

Please say something!"

I had no idea why I was in this situation,

but as soon as I heard their voices from the top of the cliff, I realized that I must have fallen.

Ah, I remember.

I was playing behind the shrine with the rest of the club members.

I got too excited and started doing something very dangerous...

then the tree branch broke...

That's how I fell off the cliff.

My body started to ache all over.

I remembered how I fell, but I still felt strange for some reason.

I couldn't remember what I was doing...

No... it was more that I couldn't remember who "Rika Furude" was before I fell off the cliff.

"Au... Au au au..."

I heard Hanyuu's panicked voice.

I looked behind me, and saw Hanyuu standing there with a scared look on her face.

"Hanyuu...?

...Ouch...

What just...

happened...?"

"Au au... You were playing with everyone, and fell off the cliff...

A-Are you okay...?"

"...I don't care about that, Hanyuu.

What day is it today?

What year and what month is it...?"

I always ask this question first when something like this happens.

She finally realized that I was asking the same old question.

"Umm...

...

... It's June of 1983.

The Watanagashi festival is next week... so..."

"Oh dear...

I only have that much time left...?"

".........This is the best we can do..."

Hanyuu muttered regretfully.

It was the middle of June, 1983.

If this really was the best she could do... I had no choice.

I couldn't complain.

I gradually started to remember more things.

"If this is June of 1983... I see...

I was killed again..."

After Rena surrendered to the police, all of the classmates were given checkups at the clinic.

I didn't get hurt, so I was sent back home after they determined that I had no injuries.

.........My memory started getting vague from that point on.

A common characteristic of my violent deaths.

When my life is taken away violently, the memory before death becomes vague with static.

It's like a violently-ripped roll of toilet paper...

That example should make it easy to understand, even if it's uncouth.

That's why I have no clear memory of what happened and how I died that night.

I only have vague memories...

I think someone covered my mouth with a handkerchief or something, and I passed out...

That's about the only thing that I remember, and only vaguely.

I'm not even sure if it really happened...

The only thing I know for sure is that I was attacked on my way home or possibly after I got there, and that I was murdered suddenly.

I don't know who killed me or how I was killed.

I'm glad that at least I don't remember the horrific ending to my life every time it happens.

Because of my experiences, I think I now understand why ghosts wander around this world, not knowing that they died so suddenly.

If it's a death from a long-lasting illness, people tend to remember that they were sick.

They can kind of assume that they died after being sick for a long time.

But when your memory is violently disrupted like mine, it can get quite confusing.

When I first experienced this, I wasn't sure if I was dreaming or not.

I even thought that I hit my head hard and lost my memory.

I needed to organize things before I get too confused.

My name is Rika Furude.

People look at me in a special way,

but that's not a big deal for me.

All I want is a happy life where I can play around with my best friends.

I can't remember how long I've been living just for the sake of obtaining that simple happiness.

This panicked girl here is named Hanyuu.

I'm the only one who can see her.

Perhaps she only exists inside of my head?

At any rate, Hanyuu's invisible and can generally only interact with me.

It'll be a long story if I try to explain Hanyuu's existence, so I won't be doing that right now.

Besides, I don't even know how I should talk about her.

She's been there since I was born, and her existence is a natural thing for me.

I saw everyone running up the gravel road toward me.

They're my important and lovable best friends.

Our group's active, boisterous, and we get serious about doing stupid things.

I'm never bored when I'm around them, and I love them very much.

"Hau... Rika-chan... are you okay?

Did you sprain your ankle?"

"Where did you get hurt?

Let this ol' man have a look at it!"

"Meep...

Thank you so much.

I just got a bump on my head."

I think all I got was a bump, at least.

My injury wasn't as serious as everyone thought.

"When you hit your head, you still need to be cautious, even if you're fine for the moment."

"Th-That's true!

You should get the Coach to check you out just in case."

"That is a good idea!

Do you want me to go and get him?!"

"Yeah.

We'll go ask somebody to use a phone and call him here."

"......You don't need to do that.

I'm totally fine!

Nipah~☆"

"Absolutely not, Rika!

You must be cautious!"

Satoko warned me with a stern voice.

It really wasn't a big deal, but I decided to nod since Satoko was trying to be generous.

She wasn't trying to boss me around or anything.

She was only saying that because of how much she cares.

I've seen it before in the many different lives that I've been through.

I have no doubt that she's really concerned about me.

It's not just Satoko.

Mion, Rena, and Keiichi are the same.

They're all so nice to me, and they truly do care.

Mion left to look for a phone.

Rena also left with a towel, looking for the water tap.

Satoko remained nearby, taking care of me with a worried face.

And Hanyuu was just standing there, still wearing a panicked look.

Keiichi seemed to be panicked too, but he was trying not to show it.

He was standing by me, wearing a calm expression.

"Are you all right?"

"......I'm fine.

It doesn't hurt anywhere."

"I'm glad you're not seriously injured.

I was super worried!"

"............"

I wouldn't feel anything special about his words if this was a while ago.

But...

at that moment when Rena took over the classroom...

when she hurt Mion...

Keiichi tried his best to save Rena, even so.

He was more reliable than I ever imagined from his normal behavior.

He's usually an insensitive guy who hurts other people's feelings without noticing, but that's not his true self.

He has a secret side. He's willing to sacrifice himself for other people.

I was just 'observing' that not too long ago.

That's why I can honestly feel his generosity now.

Now that I think about it...

Keiichi regained a "memory from another world" the previous time around.

Is it possible that he carries that memory in this world too...?

If that's the case...

I have some hope.

Hanyuu and I are totally powerless.

Hanyuu is only like air to everyone but me, and I'm just a little girl.

There's only so much that we can do ourselves.

But Keiichi is different.

He changed the fate that I had once resigned myself to.

He's somebody who may have the power...

to take me to my unseen future.

If I can get Keiichi to understand me...

he could be my hero.

Perhaps I'm actually not expecting that much out of him...

I just want someone to understand my struggle of being stuck in this maze...

"............K-

Keiichi..."

I spoke to him slowly.

It had been a while since I felt so nervous...

I hadn't felt this way since I started my endless life in 1983...

As a witch, I normally would know what his response would be before even talking to him.

I often remain silent because I already know how pitiful the reply would be.

But, in that case...

why was I so nervous now...?

"Huh?

......Did you call me, Rika-chan?"

Hanyuu gave me a disappointed look before I responded to Keiichi.

"Rika..."

I could tell what Hanyuu was thinking, too.

...The miracle wasn't going to happen.

If miracles do happen, one could've happened many times in my other lives.

But I've only seen one miracle before.

The miracle that Keiichi gave me was a once-in-a-lifetime kind of miracle...

Only if it happened again would it be a true miracle...

I won't get out of this world just because I rolled six on the die once.

I can't get out unless I get a miracle that's equivalent to getting six on the die ten times in a row...

And so, I rolled ten dice wishing that they'd all turn out to be six...

"......Keiichi."

"What is it?

Are you hurt anywhere...?"

He looked at me worriedly after I called his name twice.

"......Keiichi,

do you remember...?"

I knew how sudden my question was.

As I thought he would, he looked at me with a confused face.

"Huh...?

What are you talking about...?"

"............"

I looked inside his eyes to see his true feelings.

He should remember... he should know...

Even though he doesn't have the memory...

Keiichi experienced it...

".........?"

"What is she referring to, Keiichi-san?

Did you do something bad to her?

You had better speak up!"

............

"......Keiichi...

Do you remember...

climbing up on the school roof...?"

"The school roof?

Keiichi-san, you climbed up there?"

"......I'm not asking you, Satoko.

Do you remember, Keiichi...?"

"I did?

I climbed on the roof?

When?"

"...................."

"You must be mistaken somehow, Rika-chan.

I never climbed on the roof, and I don't even know how to get up there."

..........Of course you haven't experienced it in this world yet!

But please tell me that you remember...!

I know you've never been up on the roof, but you should still remember doing it...!

You shouldn't be able to remember it, true, but you actually did once...

You should be able to remember it once again...!

"Perhaps you went up there to get a ball or something?"

"Never.

Have you been up there, Satoko?"

"Unthinkable!

I would get in such terrible trouble if I did something like that."

"But I bet it'd feel really good to take a nap up there!

Ahahahaha!"

.............

"There's ...no way

he would remember..."

Guh

...................!

"If miracles could happen that easily...

neither of us

...would be suffering like this..."

Shut up...

I knew that...

I knew that he wouldn't remember...

"Our fate is already set in stone. ...We're like a pitiful cicada that dies after the summer festival..."

"Shut up..."

"Au..."

As I stared at her fiercely, Hanyuu realized that she had crossed a line.

This might be a waste of time.

The maze we're in might not have an exit.

It might be an endless loop without a goal in place.

We are trapped in this fate...

I thought that Keiichi might be able to get me out of here...

But that Keiichi I saw was...

...truly a miracle, a momentary glimmer.

...The Keiichi of this world doesn't bear that same miracle.

All the same...

I'm not going to give up...

Last time too, I gave up on fighting destiny.

I realized Rena was beyond salvation, so I bid her farewell, and forsook that world.

But Keiichi fought and broke the cycle of fate.

I should've worked harder with that Keiichi in that world.

I could have broken this endless cycle together with him...

Am I going to repeat this life, waiting for that miracle to happen again...?

I can't do that...

I don't want to repeat the same life anymore.

I'm tired of it.

I'm tired of this world, my fate, and everything.

I'm tired of getting murdered by destiny...!

Keiichi showed me a miracle.

I should be able to do the same too.

I must fight.

I must fight with all my remaining power.

I was always fighting.

I was fighting when I had more power.

But I never made it... How can I expect to win this time...?

Still, I must fight.

Keiichi taught me that fate can be shattered.

I'm going to fight one more time.