"I'm back."
"Oh, you're pretty late today. Did you go out with your classmates?"
"As if. No way I'd hang out with that bunch of brats."
"You're a brat yourself. I think kids should be out playing with their friends instead of acting all brooding."
"Tch."
When Rinji ca ho, his younger father was as usual sitting on the sofa watching TV. Ever since he no longer had to visit Misaki at the hospital, the man had practically locked himself inside the inn and stopped eting people.
"Old man, are you really this free lately? Almost a month without going back to the organization—don't you need to manage it?"
"The organization has developed enough that it doesn't need watching over it every day. It runs by itself now," Isaac said with a laugh. "When I do go, it's just as a supervisor. Besides, it's not at the point where I need to personally solve problems."
"Pretty easy life then."
Rinji glanced at the TV in front of Isaac.
It was playing a VCD: a man in black armor fighting a tal-bodied monster.
"Kan Rider Black RX, huh? That's a bit old."
"It is. When I was a kid a few years ago I was already watching it, though back then it was only the Arican version. Now I'm watching the Japanese one."
Isaac chuckled, picked up a can of beer beside him, and casually tossed another to Rinji.
Rinji caught it and cracked it open, took a sip, and looked at Isaac on the sofa. "So you liked tokusatsu shows pretty early on."
"You like them too?"
"Yeah, I've been following this series," Rinji said. "Though the recent ones have been pretty bad, sotis I go back and rewatch the old ones."
"Seems like father and son have the sa hobbies."
"Yeah. Want to spoil you on the plots of the later ones?"
"Why would you do sothing so cruel to your father?"
"Because it's fun."
Rinji set his half-finished beer on the table and walked over to sit beside Isaac.
"I've gotten so clues about Class 3-3's curse."
"Mm."
"Next is how to deal with the curse at its root, and then how to figure out a way to return…"
"You don't need to find a way back," Isaac suddenly said.
"Huh?"
"If you completely resolve the bizarre events at Yomiyama, you can directly return to the ti you're supposed to exist in," Isaac explained. "From what's happened these past days, that seems to be the case."
Rinji frowned slightly at his words.
"What do you an?"
"This curse that's lasted twenty-six years ca from a group of people's brainwaves interfering with reality—it's basically what we'd call a system bug. Yomiyama itself had to deal with the bug, but failing to do so created new ones."
"…Not really following."
"You only arrived in this era the mont you stepped into Yomiyama, right?"
"Yes."
"That's because the will of Yomiyama, in order to deal with the bug, created a 'variable.' People from different tis get pulled into this era for various reasons," Isaac said with a laugh. "So as long as the contradictions are resolved, everything will return to the right track, and you, this variable, will return to where you belong."
"Yomiyama's will?"
"Every city has its own will. That's why it alters the mories of those in the city but not people outside. I can't say exactly why… but one thing is clear: ever since that incident twenty-six years ago, Yomiyama gained an extra consciousness. Our task is to erase that extra consciousness."
"And how exactly do we do that?"
"I won't tell you yet."
"Hah? You ssing with ?"
"No, it's just not the right ti yet."
Isaac paused, then turned to look at Rinji beside him.
"I'm actually curious. You should've been working hard to find a way back to your own ti. Why are you suddenly so invested in this curse, even going so far as to protect students you don't want to interact with?"
"What if I said I just wanted to spend more ti with my younger dad—would you believe it?"
"Your father would be very moved."
"Of course I'm lying."
"That's a sha then," Isaac said with a smile. "But I think I know the real reason why you chose to stay and resolve this. I hope you'll be prepared."
"Mm?"
"When you're ready, I'll tell you everything. For now, it's not the ti."
---
Monday. Classes went on as usual.
"Let the dead one return to death?"
For the first ti, Rinji saw a grave look on i's face.
"That's right. But that only solves this year's problem. The curse itself will continue."
"…Have you told anyone else?"
"No."
"Good."
Standing at the classroom door, i glanced back into the room.
The students inside were chatting, like the calm before a storm.
"If they knew that killing the dead one could stop the disaster, sothing terrifying would definitely happen. They don't know who it is, and in the fear of death, who knows what they'd do."
"I just hope the few who found the tape with don't spread it. I already warned them, so it should be fine."
Rinji suddenly thought of sothing.
"By the way, how's Misaki now?"
"She's gone back ho. We'll still need to rely on you to et her."
"Alright."
"…The provider of the tape was from the class of '83. Speaking of that year, I've heard so rumors," i murmured as she lowered her head. "It seems they were the only class in the past twenty-six years where the disaster stopped midway."
"Where'd you hear that?"
"The library. Let's go there now. Maybe we'll find so answers."
Saying this, i grabbed Rinji's hand and the two of them ran toward the school library.
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