Akira chuckled a little longer before expelling the humor. "No, but for real. You may not like fighting, but when push comes to shove, I've never seen you freeze up. Those gears in there are always turning—looking for a way out, searching for the next step forward. Even in the face of your worst nightmares come to life, you don't mope or whine. You look it in the eye, knuckle down, and figure out what you can do." Akira grinned at her. "Those kinda people are just my type."

  "Your—?"

  "So whaddya think of that guy back there? The one who's been visiting you day in, day out? Got any bouquets from him?"

  "No. Of course not. Takeuchi-san is just a friend."

  "That's not answering the questionnn…" Akira had that cat smile back on.

  "He's kind," said Erina. "Ordinary. An unremarkable person you could find anywhere."

  Akira whistled a long, low note. "Harsh words."

  Were they? "I didn't mean anything by it. On the contrary… it's the sort of normalcy I'd like to have."

  That seemed to give Akira pause. They walked on quietly for a while after before she found something else to bring up, unrelated and irrelevant. Erina didn't quite know the way back to her apartment from here. At the same time, she didn't entirely feel like going back just yet. Walking around the city with Akira felt oddly familiar. She didn't mind the occasional needling from Akira as much as she thought she would. Was there someone Erina used to walk the streets with?

  She thought about it. They walked through a plaza with a fountain spraying water in the middle. The cherry blossoms were out of season, with only barren branches on display. Had she ever seen the cherry blossoms with a friend?

  Erina felt her mouth move of its own accord, listening to Akira distantly and responding automatically with subdued, understated words. The more she thought about it, the more she realized she didn't remember events like these. She remembered feelings like these. Details like who exactly she dreamt of and where they went faded away, but the warmth she felt lingered. It was a strange feeling that made her chest tighten and brought the first hint of a tear to her eye. That was strange. Why was she…?

  "Erina?" Akira leaned around her inquisitively. "What's up?"

  Erina came back from her thoughts. She was standing right in front of a gate, staring through the bars. On the other side was a school of some kind. The courtyard was empty. Nobody was in the field at the moment. It seemed like class was in session.

  "You know you can't go in there," said Akira.

  "I know. Even so…" Erina trailed off, staring wistfully at the building. Sunlight reflected off the windows, bright and harsh.

  Akira folded her arms and waited. Erina seemed lost in thought.

  "Before you found me," said Erina softly. "I was asleep for a long time. I saw a dream. I went to school with friends and played with them after. I studied hard and came home every day to make dinner with my mom. She had white hair…" Memories bubbled up as she spoke. Distant fragments and pieces drifted together again. "We spent a lot of time tinkering with electronics together. I laughed and smiled a lot. I don't remember a lot of the details… but I was happy. I think I was happy."

  Erina gently grasped her sleeve, her gaze lowering to the ground.

  "I miss that time," she said. "I want to know… Was any of it real? Who was she? Who am I? Where did I come from? And maybe… where should I go?"

  Erina looked up. Akira had turned her eyes away, arms folded as her gaze wandered off into the sky.

  "A white-haired woman," repeated Akira under her breath.

  "Do you know something?" Erina rushed around to catch her eye. "Please, tell me. Even if it's just a little bit."

  "Nothing reliable," said Akira. Those golden eyes were careful not to meet Erina's gaze as they moved around. "Darius and Julian would know more, but asking them is out of the question."

  A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  "Oh." Erina deflated, dejected.

  Akira glanced over. The girl looked lost—adrift at sea.

  "…They might not be the only ones," said Akira. She chose her words as carefully as if tiptoeing on eggshells. "Aileen might know something."

  Erina popped back up. "Who is that?"

  "Former High Magus—top of the Association food chain. The greatest mage of the modern era. Nobody even comes close to the kind of mastery she achieved in her element." Akira ran a hand through her hair and blew out a breath as she pulled up everything she could recall. "There was a time she was known as a knight in shining armor, wielding a sword of seven colors that could behead three mountains in a single stroke. She had a title in her day—Vivian, the Crystalline."

  "How can I meet her?"

  Akira grinned. "How many criminal charges are you ready to dodge?"

  "You're flying out?" asked Yuuta.

  "In a few days," said Erina. "As soon as Akira has my documents in order." As a girl who all but popped out of nowhere, she didn't have any registration with any government, never mind a real passport.

  They sat outside a cafe downtown, drinks on the table between them as cars sped past on the other side of the rail encompassing the cafe's grounds. The sun hung low on the horizon. Unable to settle with a call, Yuuta had insisted on being able to see her in person.

  "I've just noticed." He glanced over her again. "You're walking a lot better than this morning. And all those bruises are gone."

  "I heal quickly," she lied.

  "From what happened to you," he muttered. "You really can't tell me about it? Nothing at all?"

  "I can't. For your own safety." She didn't want either of them to find out how the Association's memory erasing program worked.

  "If it's that dangerous, you shouldn't be involved either!"

  "It's not," said Erina. "At least, not anymore."

  "Did you even agree to any of this? Is that girl forcing you to do it?"

  "It's a little more complicated than that. What's important is today, and from now on, I'm free to make my own decisions. She's given her word on that."

  "And you trust her? Emisane-san, she's…" Yuuta looked around. He mouthed ya-ku-za at her. "How did you even get mixed up with someone like that?"

  "She intervened when I was about to be attacked by a worse group." Erina thought back. "I'm not always happy with how she conducts herself. She's brash. She doesn't take no for an answer."

  "She's a menace," he muttered. "Should I call the police?"

  "Don't," she said quickly. Then, more calmly, "No, thank you. There's no need. I don't think that's necessary anymore."

  "Anymore?" said Yuuta. "You're making it sound like she had some change of heart all of a sudden. People like that… do you really think they'll flip on a dime and change just like that? Just for you, specifically?"

  "No. I don't imagine that's the case at all." Erina let her gaze wander to the busy street beside them. "She's forceful and aggressive. But she's also confident. Always certain of her next step. A person who's fully aware of what she is, and has found the place she belongs in the world…"

  Yuuta made to speak, but thought better of it at the last second. He couldn't quite put his finger on it, but Erina's expression felt subtly different… something like a hint of wistfulness, or melancholy?

  "All the sort of things I don't have," she mumbled, too quiet to hear. Erina brought herself out of it and back to the person in front of her. "I don't know what to make of her. I'm not someone who's able to predict the minds or actions of others. Even so… I feel like there's more to her than she lets on. At the core, she isn't evil. I think it's okay to continue working under her for a while longer."

  "Are you really sure?" said Yuuta. "Can you really trust her?"

  Erina thought on that. "Perhaps not," she said eventually. "I have no hard evidence to support my claim. All the same… I choose to believe her."

  "Is that because you really want to or because you don't have a choice?"

  "I do have a choice."

  That got Yuuta's attention. Erina's words were quiet but firm.

  Akira was right about one thing for certain. Erina would grind down any problem that presented itself to her—dedicate all of herself to pick it apart and dismantle it until she could break through. The living arrangement she'd provided her was comfortable enough for now, and Erina wasn't one to rock the boat.

  But if push came to shove, Erina was hardly a defenseless flower waiting to be plucked.

  "Just stay out of danger, okay?" said Yuuta.

  "I will," said Erina.

  Hell, if I didn't know better…

  Her brow twitched. Erina stuffed that memory away into the back of her brain, but the demonic reaper's words still echoed inside her head.

  "I will," she repeated, more quietly this time.

  The two of them sipped their drinks in silence for a time. Then—

  "How's school?" she asked.

  "Uh?" said Yuuta.

  "How are your grades? Is anything happening at school?"

  "Well, um…" He didn't get where this was going, but he set his mind to it anyway. "My grades aren't as good as I would've liked. Sure, they're okay, but a placement like mine on the rankings isn't going to get me anywhere. My parents keep going on about how I need to change cram schools, but all of my friends are studying at the same one. They say their older siblings got great placements here, and either way, I don't think I really want to switch and stop seeing them just to try studying somewhere else. Actually, about that, one of my friends, Daisuke! When we were supposed to meet and study, he…"

  And so on he went. It was nothing but the banal, mundane, insignificant troubles of an average, unremarkable high school student.

  Erina sipped her drink and listened intently. Meaningless. Pointless.

  But a part of her wished her life could be as irrelevant as that.