''It's mediocre.''

Alina muttered in the former rose garden.

It's a sign of peace. Somewhere on earth, there are boys and girls not much older than us who are frightened by air raid alarms. We should be grateful to our predecessors who have made our daily life what it is today.
'You're still saying outlandish things. It's funny.
'I'm not happy to hear you say that with a blank expression on your face.'
'Well, let's resume.

Stretching out, Alina grabbed her pencil again.

Spring break is just around the corner.
The final exam is already over, and we are studying in the former Rose Garden for our first mock exam next month. We will take it next month, that is, as soon as we enter the third grade. It is going to be busy, but I guess that's the way it is in the third year.
Enjoy your high school life until your sophomore year, and make the last year a year of competition. If you are in a school where students are determined to go on to higher education, the battle may have already begun in the freshman year, but our school has a more relaxed style.

A few days have passed since the day I was told to quit the homecoming club, and we seem to be hanging out together again. We did nothing but study, but I was happy to have a connection with Alina again.
On the other hand, there were many depressing moments when I had to face reality. We had to talk about things we didn't understand, to explain ourselves again, and so on. The act of writing Comet Sakakimagi again in her mind was empty. Instead of reminding her, I felt as if I was playing catch-up with her conversation as a new encounter.

I felt as if I was playing catch-up with her in a new encounter, instead of reminding her of Comet Sakakibiki.

Once she understands who I am, and after a time when I am no different from the poisonous rose, communication will no longer be uncomfortable, and she will not be discouraged by the discrepancies in her memories.
But I will miss her tremendously.
She looks me straight in the eye. But I cannot look straight into her eyes. I can't help but search for the missing memory of the poisonous rose that sleeps in the depths of her eyes.

'Hey, comet. May I digress?

As soon as she resumed her studies, she put down her pencil again and did so.

'Here you go.
'Once upon a time there was a movie. It's about going back in time to save your lover. You go back to your estranged lover, your unhappy lover, over and over again to change the future by doing small actions like 'flapping butterfly wings' so that he/she can be united with you. To choose a future in which they will both be happy.
'Science Fiction.
'Yes, it is. But every time you go back in time, your lover gets further and further away from you, and you become unhappy. It's as if the world has decided that our destiny is the same. And yet, the hero tried. Believing that one day they will be together.

Alina opened the secret notebook. I was a little surprised when she opened the notebook, which was both her history and diary, in front of me without any resistance.
The page she opened was about Comet Sakakiki.

What do you think happened to them?
'After suffering, they were united in a happy ending. You mean like that?''
No. They didn't. I chose for my lover the way we never met in the first place. I chose never to see her again, and I broke an unhappy fate. It's a sad happy ending.
'That's another heartbreaking ......'
'This looks like something, doesn't it?'
Hm?
'It's about your choice to stay out of my life. That you were going to choose a sad happy ending for me.
'Nah, why are we talking about me? Don't embarrass me. Someone bring me a cup of black coffee. 500 ml will kill you instantly.

Alina giggled.

'The hero could go back in time by reading the contents of his diary. For example, if I read back the text of the day I met you, I can go back to that past, keeping my memory intact. Just like that. After his last choice, the protagonist decided to burn the entire diary and never return to the past again.
'Oh, my. So we really won't see each other again.
'My notebook is similar to that. And I may not need this notebook anymore either. I have most of my memories back.
'Are you going to get rid of it, ......?'

Alina put her hand on her chin and gave me a sticky look.

I won't do it. I won't remember you.
''Myo.''

A sound leaked out of my mouth that my brain couldn't process and couldn't form into words. Her words echoed heavily, and I froze like a villain who had just been stabbed in the chest with a knife and realized his death with his eyes wide open. Unfortunately, I was not equipped with a Windows key or a power button, so I could not force a shutdown, and I remained as immobile as a statue.
That's a foul. I'm not used to such sweet talk yet.

Hmph. Aren't you supposed to reply with one of your best jokes?
'Idiot. That was so sweet that all my permanent teeth melted down.
Oh, I'm sorry. I'll try to melt your bones next time.






Plump cherry buds tell us the first signs of spring. The enveloping warmth has finally arrived, and the mornings when we shiver with coldness decrease with each passing day, as if both people and nature are steadily preparing for the new year.

I've known you for a long time.

Last lunch break before spring break. After the completion ceremony in the morning, we sophomores were allowed to move up to the rank of juniors without missing a beat.
And so we are saying goodbye to Makoto for the rest of our lives.

We fought together for a long time, starting with the Normandy landings and ending with the battle to defend the moon base.
'I don't remember that, but yes, it was a long time.
The use of electromagnetic weapons against the insurgent autonomous machine groups is still uplifting just to remember.
'Yes, yes, I think it was great.
'For the sake of my beloved daughter--'
'That's enough, comet. Please, talk normally.



Makoto surrenders with his hands raised. I have known him since the first grade, and we were in the same class together for two whole years. I wonder how he could have been with a freak like me. Bless his generous heart.

When we fought a tribe deep in the Amazon...
'I never even left Japan!
'Well, thanks for everything. I'm looking forward to working with you in my third year.
'And don't go back to the way it was all of a sudden. ...... I hope we're together again.'
'Yeah, right.'

It's a small chance, but I'm glad it's true. I am looking forward to meeting new people, but I will miss my close friend.
It will take time for my new classmates, who are not used to my eccentricities, to understand me. I also have to get the understanding of my tomato juice addiction.

Lunch break does not end with the exchange with Makoto. And with Alina. He says he will talk to her in the infirmary, but I'm sure it's something to do with Alina.
He arrives at the infirmary at the appointed time, knocks, and enters.

I knocked and entered.

I see Alina's back. She was sitting across from Dr. Akakusa. She looked at me with her back bent over and bailed. I raised one hand and said, "Hi.

'Hello again. I'm sorry about the lunch break, both of you.
It's okay. So, what is it that you want to talk about?

I took out my pipe chair and got ready to listen too.

'Actually, sir. I've been transferred.
'Ido. It's a good one--''
Calm down, comet. It's important that we talk about the teacher.
'I'll be there in a minute.

This is the moment when rumors become reality.
Some time ago, there was a rumor that Mr. Akakusa was going to be transferred. The reason is that he has been working at this high school for a long time, and he was the most likely candidate to be transferred.
Why?
Why are you trying to take away our school's flower, big guy? You want to keep Mr. Akakusa close to you to entangle him, don't you? I see. That's where you are, isn't it? Okay, let's start the identification process. If I find him, I'll make it impossible for you to ever hold a piece of chalk again. The Sakakikis have a grudge.

"One, two, three...
'Be quiet!

Alina shook me by the shoulders and made me nauseous. The unacceptable reality and the shaking made me feel seasick. I have never been on a boat before. The sea scares me.
Holding my mouth shut, I tried not to throw up the seven liters of tomato juice, but I held on and looked up at him.

'...... is it true?
It's true. It will be in the newspaper soon.
'Oh ...... oh oh oh oh oh oh oh ......!'
'That's why I called you both here, because I wanted to say something to you one last time.'

Dr. Akakusa bent at the waist and bowed his head.

I'm really sorry I couldn't do anything for you. I'm not a good teacher.
Oyo yo yo yo sensei, please stop. I'm the one who should be bowing. It's I who should be looking up in the face of the goddess. I must return to the earth soon.
It's not going to happen. Alina, Comet, I'm so sorry. I couldn't do anything for the both of you. Especially you. I'm sorry for being so unreliable.

Dr. Akakusa's voice trembled as he continued to apologize. The way she tried not to cry was a sight I wanted to turn away from.
No one was to blame. You know that.

'You didn't do anything wrong. I'm grateful. I'm grateful to you. If you're worried about not being treated by a specialist, please don't be. I'm the one who refused the doctor's recommendation to go to the hospital, remember?

Alina moved closer and wrapped her hands around the doctor's, who held them in his lap.

The other me requested 'someone to talk to'. It was the teacher who helped me find that person. I have met so many people. I wouldn't be where I am today if it weren't for you. Please don't blame yourself. You are my benefactor.

The last words seemed to have worked, and Dr. Akakusa choked back a sob, tears falling down his thighs. I'm sorry, I'm sorry, Alina-chan,' he said, clasping Alina's hand in his.
I do not have a homos*xual nature, but I can't help but nod my head at the sight of these two beauties together. Mm, that's good.
If it had been a tongue rose, I would have been torn to pieces with a chainsaw. I'd be a dice steak, decomposing in the stomach of a lioness at the zoo.
I continued to observe the beautiful, s*xless love of mankind until the situation calmed down.




'What, what does that mean ......?

After Alina left, I briefly informed the teacher of Alina's condition during the few remaining lunch breaks. Forgetting only me, she remembered everything. Her tone and attitude became calmer, and I told her that it was no exaggeration to say that the original project to rehabilitate Alina had been completed.
The teacher seemed to agree and nodded his head.

That's why she was so quiet.
'Yes. I haven't cursed in a long time. On the contrary, it's not enough. Please tease me more.


'But why did I forget only comets ......'
''It's strange, isn't it?''
I have heard of past cases where people who recovered from a vegetative state forgot everyone except their lover. I don't know the cause. In Comet's case, the pattern is the opposite.
That's a great example. Is it the power of love?
I don't know. Maybe it was the will not to forget this person. If you think about it simply, it might be similar in Alina's case.
'? I'm not sure.
'Comet was a very big part of Alina's life. It's easier to understand if you think of a wine glass as a storage of memories. In order to fill the glass with the vast amount of memories of the life she had recovered, the comet that had accumulated in the glass became a hindrance.
Isn't that awful? I'm going to cry.
'Hmmm. It's an unfounded hypothesis, so you can ignore it.

However, even I, the joker, knew that I was special to Alina.
And I know the futility of trying to figure out why. Memory is truly fickle and ambiguous. Forgetting and remembering depend on our consciousness. You can never be satisfied with a perfect answer to such an unstable and imperfect thing.

So I know that Alina's declaration that she will remember me is reckless. It is not a given that she will remember me while she is still in school. She might remember when she grows up and starts working, when she meets the man of her dreams and starts a family, when she is old enough to give birth to her grandchildren.
Like her analogy, the world has no intention of giving us a happy ending. Nor, I might add, does it intend to give us a bad ending.
It's all up to us.

On my way back from the infirmary, I met Shirana.
She bumped into me and put her hand on her chest as if she was reluctant to do something.

'Hey, Comet. Alina, you look a little strange.
It's more than a little. That thing is a mass of foreign matter.
'No, it's not. Are you guys fighting?

I know what you're trying to say. At last I felt the discomfort of Alina's forgetting me. But I don't think she thinks I have amnesia.

Well, that's about it.

That's all I could say.





It was the last day after school.
As we finished taking pictures in class, there were a few girls who started to cry. They were probably sad that they might have to leave their good friends.
As for me, I just cracked jokes as usual.

Comet. I thought he was weird at first, but now I think he's a very nice guy! Thanks!''

Toma, a member of the newspaper club, did so.

Right? There are only a few people who are better than me. I counted them a few days ago, and there are only 6.8 billion of them. There are too many bad people in the world.

Then a crane flapped its wings.

'I'm kind of sad. I've enjoyed this past year.
Me too. At first I thought you were a gal who didn't know how to multiply or alphabetize, but now I've changed my mind and think you're a chicken who can walk on all fours.
'I hope we're in the same class next year to get revenge.'

I ran into a perverted ponytail girl, Hana Aya, in the hallway.

'Hey, you know what? When a girl gets excited, her breasts get bigger--''
'Ah yes yes Aboriginal Aborigines . Trinidad and Tobago'.

You can't stay in the classroom forever and go home without leaving something behind. So I'll just do what I always do after school. It's not like anyone's changing schools. It's just that the distance between us is a few dozen meters.
I tried to go to the former rose garden, but for some reason I didn't feel like it. This is something I cannot explain.
But some inferences can be made.

'Oh, are you alone?

There was a girl at the entrance to the elevator, her back to the door, fiddling with her phone.

'I'm a single aristocrat.
'You're an enemy of the state. The birthrate is declining.
'This dangerous gene must be sealed. That's all.'

That's why I didn't go.
Because she was there.