Hachiman felt bewildered.
He looked at Kurobe Nanoka. She didn't seem like she was joking; her eyes were very serious. If anything, Hachiman felt the whole situation was becoming increasingly absurd.
"...I didn't mishear you, right?"
"Please go out with my sister," Kurobe Nanoka repeated.
It seems I didn't mishear, Hachiman thought. Subconsciously, he glanced at Kurobe Naoka.
She was still sitting in her seat, no longer reading that book, her hands resting on her lap. That faint, shallow smile still hung on the corners of her lips, and she showed no reaction to the conversation happening nearby.
"Why?"
Kurobe Nanoka fell silent for a mont. Outside the window, the sunset sank a little lower, stretching the shadows of the three of them out long. She lowered her head, looking at the hairband in her hands.
"Please do not tell anyone what I am about to say."
Hachiman was taken aback.
"What?"
"Regardless of whether you agree to my request, please do not tell others a single word of what I say next. This is for your own good as well."
Hachiman looked at her. Her expression was solemn; she didn't look like she was kidding.
He felt a bit of hesitation. He was already struggling to keep his own life afloat; he really didn't want to get involved in this request of Kurobe's, which was clearly going to be very troubleso.
"...Fine, I promise."
'Sigh, Hachiman, you brought this on yourself.'
Kurobe Nanoka took a deep breath.
"I... can see certain things through touch—about the past and future of the people or objects I touch."
Hachiman said subconsciously, "How could sothing like that be possible..."
Kurobe Nanoka shook her head: "I can prove it. May I touch your hand?"
Hachiman hesitated, but he still held out his hand. Kurobe Nanoka gently brushed his fingertips and then closed her eyes.
A few seconds later, she opened her eyes: "Yesterday after school, you went to a convenience store, bought yakisoba bread and milk. At the checkout counter, your change fell onto the floor—it was a fifty-yen coin."
Hachiman's eyes widened. What she said was completely accurate; he had even felt a bit embarrassed when he picked up the coin.
'Wait, seeing the past and future through touch... this kind of ability...'
Hachiman's brain began to run rapidly. He recalled the existence of the "Witches." Although he didn't know the specific details, if this was a supernatural ability, what else could it be but a Witch?
"...What kind of superpower is this?" he asked, his tone laced with caution.
"I told you, I can see the past and future of people or objects I touch. That was just a demonstration." She looked at Hachiman.
"Do you believe now?"
"With the facts right in front of , I have nothing to question. But what does this have to do with your sister...?"
"On the day my ability awakened, I saw..."
She paused, her fingers unconsciously rubbing the hairband: "I saw a future where I beca a Witch and was then executed. To protect , my sister used her transformation ability to turn into my appearance and was taken away in my stead. Later, we managed to find her, but..."
Kurobe Nanoka's voice trembled: "She had turned into a hollow shell without consciousness. She acted exactly like a normal person, yet she possessed no thoughts or emotions of her own. She could only chanically repeat a daily routine, day after day."
"What do you an by 'executed'?" Hachiman asked, keeping his tone as calm as possible.
"Exactly what it sounds like. Once a Witch is discovered, they are executed—like a dieval burning at the stake or a hanging."
A shiver ran through Hachiman.
"Does the governnt not care?"
"...It is the governnt doing it. They have been screening for Witches constantly. The physical exams at the end of middle school are specifically to find Witches, and then... secret executions."
These words poured over Hachiman like ice water, sending a chill up his spine. He did know about the existence of Witches, but he had never imagined... that it was on this scale, so systematic.
"Are they identified for everyone?" his voice sounded nervous.
"Only those with the 'Witch Factor' are. It is detected during the physical exam, then the list is submitted. The governnt sends professionals; while you are sleeping, they take the person away, and then..." She didn't continue.
Hachiman clenched his fists. He thought of Komachi. Komachi would be graduating middle school in two years. He didn't know if she had the so-called Witch Factor; he hadn't even thought about that question yet.
"...Don't the parents and relatives have any objections? And if sothing like this were exposed, wouldn't it all be over?"
Kurobe Nanoka wore a miserable smile.
"They will never know." Kurobe Nanoka softly recounted the cruel reality. "People who are taken away... are processed as disappearances, accidental deaths, or cases of running away from ho due to ntal illness. The governnt prepares all the evidence to make everything look reasonable. After all, the Witch Factor causes people to lose control of their emotions, making it easier to find excuses to cover it up.
As for the relatives... perhaps they look for them at first, call the police, put up missing person posters. But as ti goes on, they just accept it. After all... people always have to move forward, don't they?
So parents, when they find out their child's ability has awakened, might be afraid or see a potential profit. They actively go to the police, the governnt, or the dia." She looked up at Hachiman.
"And then they disappear too.
The dia won't report it. Even if they did, no one would believe it. Posts on the internet get deleted, and the people posting them get purged. You know, this kind of thing..."
Hachiman's fists clenched tighter. His nails sank into his palms, bringing a slight sting, but that pain couldn't compare to the icy coldness in his heart.
'Komachi.'
"So... your sister..." Hachiman's voice sounded strained. "She was taken away in your place, and then you found her, but she turned out like this."
Kurobe Nanoka nodded. "Yes, we... soone helped find her, but by the ti we did, she was already..."
She didn't finish, only looking at the hairband in her hand.
Hachiman looked at Kurobe Naoka in the seat. Her silver-gray hair hung by her ears; her expression remained just as numb. She didn't know she was being discussed, didn't know her younger sister was crying for her.
"So that's why you asked to..." Hachiman started.
"To have you go out with my sister," Kurobe Nanoka said. "On the day my sister hid the hairband, we ran into you. That was the first ti she had proactively taken an action after losing her consciousness. So, I wanted to try and see if, by having you stay by her side more, she might rember a few more things, say a few more words. Maybe she could slowly get better."
"How can you be sure it's because of ? Maybe it was just a coincidence."
"It was no coincidence," Kurobe Nanoka's voice was very soft. "After she ca back, I tried many thods—taking her to places we visited when we were children, showing her old photos, telling her about our past. She didn't react at all. She even forgot my na; she only knew that I was her younger sister."
She lowered her head, her expression obscured.
"But the day you touched her, she took my hairband and put it on her head. She had never touched my things before. She was calling out to for help. She couldn't do anything else, she could only do that to get to notice her.
So I thought... if you could touch her a few more tis, maybe she could rember more. Maybe she could recover a little. Maybe she could..." She didn't finish.
"I know this request is excessive—getting you involved, making you shoulder these things. You did nothing; you only bumped into her on the stairs on the first day of school. Besides, you aren't a Witch; you're just a normal person. You shouldn't be dragged into these matters."
She paused, looked up, and stared at Hachiman.
"But you are the only one who has caused her to react since she lost her consciousness. So..." She lowered her head. "I'm sorry."
Hachiman sighed.
"No need to apologize. As for what you ntioned—holding hands, touching hands, physical contact—that's all fine. No need for 'going out' or anything like that. Boyfriend and girlfriend stuff is too troubleso."
'Besides, doesn't she know that my current "girlfriend" is Nikaido Hiro? A warp-speed switch might attract more traffic, but it would probably pollute her sister's reputation.'
Kurobe Nanoka's mouth opened and closed.
Her face suddenly flushed red—from her cheeks all the way to her ears. She was like a different person compared to her earlier calmness. She lowered her head and stared at her own shoe tips.
"You..." Hachiman looked at her. "You don't think you can only hold hands if you're going out, do you?"
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