Chapter 28: March 7th: Do You Really Think I'm That Stupid?
Rekka wore that specific, gentle smile usually reserved for coaxing stubborn children.
How nice, he thought, watching her. If only time could freeze right here, in this perfect little moment.
"You look really beautiful today," Rekka said, completely out of nowhere.
"Eh...?"
The sudden, point-blank critical hit instantly canceled March 7th's charging rebuttal. The silly archer's brain practically blue-screened on the spot. Only a single, squeaked syllable managed to escape her lips as a furious blush erupted across her cheeks, burning all the way to the tips of her ears.
"You—you—you—you—you—!"
She stammered like a broken record, pointing a trembling finger at him. Despite her best efforts, her vocabulary completely failed her.
Rekka tilted his head, his smile widening. "Me what?"
"How can you just say things like that!" she finally managed to squeeze out, her voice pitching an octave higher than usual.
"What kind of things?" he asked innocently.
"Just... those kinds of things!"
"You mean the kind where I compliment your beauty?"
"Yes! Exactly those!" she practically shrieked, stomping her foot.
"What's wrong?" Rekka blinked, feigning confusion. "Is it a crime to state a fact? Am I not allowed to compliment you?"
"No! Of course not—I mean, yes! I mean—ugh!" March 7th finally rebooted her linguistic functions, crossing her arms defensively. "Why would you suddenly say that out of the blue?! I didn't have any mental preparation at all!"
"You need mental preparation to accept a compliment?"
"Of course I do!" She huffed, her pink hair bouncing. "At least... at least give me some kind of build-up! You're supposed to start with something like, 'Oh, the weather is nice today,'or'Hey, that outfit looks great on you,' and then... then..."
Her momentum faltered. As she realized what she was demanding, her voice grew smaller and smaller until it vanished into an embarrassed squeak.
Rekka tapped his chin, nodding with exaggerated solemnity. "I see. So, you want me to compliment your clothes first, and then tell you how beautiful you are."
"No! That's not what I meant!"
"Then you want me to compliment the weather first?"
"Not that either!"
"Then how exactly should I compliment you?"
March 7th opened her mouth to argue, only to realize she had absolutely no counterattack. She snapped her jaw shut.
"Anyway... anyway, it just can't be so sudden!" She slapped both hands over her burning cheeks, glaring at him through the gaps in her fingers. "What is wrong with you?! We were talking about super important things just a second ago, and then you suddenly swerved completely off-topic!"
"I swerved because you really do look good."
"No, no, no! Rekka! Stop talking!" she wailed, shaking her head frantically.
"Why can't I say it?"
"Because—because—you're doing it on purpose!"
"Yeah, I am." Rekka admitted it with shameless, blunt honesty.
"You—!"
March 7th dropped her hands, puffing out her cheeks as she glared at him. Yet, the emotion swirling in her crystalline eyes wasn't anger. It was something softer, mixed with a heavy dose of exasperation.
"Do you really think I'm that stupid?" she mumbled.
"No." Rekka shook his head, dropping the teasing lilt from his voice. His tone shifted into something entirely sincere. "Senior March 7th is genuinely beautiful. You're always pretty, but today, you're especially stunning."
Hearing the absolute sincerity in his voice, March 7th's face somehow found a new, impossible shade of crimson.
"I—! I'm going back to my room!"
Completely overwhelmed, she spun on her heel to flee, but Rekka reached out and gently caught her wrist.
"Alright, alright, I'll stop," he chuckled softly. "But there's one more thing I haven't told you yet. It's about..."
He leaned in and murmured a few words. March 7th froze, her blush receding slightly as she looked back at him with deep skepticism.
"For real?" she asked, blinking.
"I'll turn into a puppy right now if I'm lying to you," Rekka vowed, raising three fingers to the sky. Given his chaotic Path-switching abilities, it was actually a very real possibility, which only made the vow heavier.
Another red-eyed version of myself...
March 7th rubbed her chin, falling into deep thought. Does this lady actually have some super awesome hidden power?
"What are you daydreaming about?" Rekka waved a hand in front of her glazed-over eyes, shattering her fantasy. "Wipe your chin, you're about to drool."
"Am not!" She swatted his hand away, pouting. "So... you're saying that this red-eyed me is really powerful?"
"Yes. Absurdly powerful."
"Then..." March 7th fidgeted with the hem of her skirt, suddenly nervous. "Is she... easy to get along with?"
"She likes you."
"?"
"She likes... me?" March 7th pointed a finger at her own nose, her expression twisting into a comical mix of confusion and disbelief.
"You're telling me that this incredibly powerful, super mysterious, red-eyed version of myself... actually likes me?"
"More than just likes," Rekka corrected, leaning against the wall. "She likes you very, very much."
"Likes me... very, very much?"
"Right. And I probably shouldn't say much more than that, or I'm afraid she'll jump out and punch me in the face."
March 7th gasped, her hands flying to her mouth. "Wait, you mean... she's inside my body right now?! She can hear us talking?!"
"She can hear, she can see, and she can even feel exactly what you're feeling right now," Rekka explained, his tone laced with a strange reverence. "She is the ultimate obsession of your Remembrance. The best way to understand her is... imagine an older sister who dotes on you to a terrifying degree. Or a fiercely loyal family member who would gladly take a blade for you. Honestly, if you suffered even the slightest grievance, she would probably flip the entire cosmos upside down just to avenge you."
March 7th blinked, processing the heavy revelation. A small, warm smile tugged at the corners of her lips. "Saying it like that... it actually sounds really nice."
She looked up at him, her crystalline eyes sparkling with sudden anticipation. "Then what's her name? She has to have a name, right?"
"Well..." Rekka scratched the back of his neck, pretending to deliberate. "I think it's better if she tells you that herself. If I spoil too much, she'll definitely think I'm overstepping my boundaries. Just because she hasn't materialized to beat me up today doesn't mean she won't do it tomorrow."
"She actually hits people?!"
"She would never lay a finger on you," Rekka assured her with a deadpan expression. "But she has absolutely zero mental burden when it comes to beating the crap out of me."
The two of them bickered for a few more minutes, the heavy, mysterious tension dissipating into their usual comfortable banter. Seeing March 7th still looking a bit shy but undeniably radiant and in high spirits, Rekka let out a silent sigh of relief.
His job here was done.
Rekka tiptoed into the Astral Express kitchen, moving with the exaggerated stealth of a cartoon burglar. His eyes scanned the pristine countertops.
Target acquired.
[Himeko's New Recipe]!
He stared at the piece of paper resting innocently next to the coffee maker. To his enhanced vision, the thing practically glowed with a massive, ominous red warning marker.
Moving with practiced efficiency, Rekka swiftly swapped the lethal document with a perfectly normal, harmless recipe for fried rice. He tucked Himeko's culinary weapon of mass destruction into his jacket and slipped out into the corridor.
He tapped his earpiece. "Dan Heng, Dan Heng, this is Rekka. The eagle has landed. I repeat, Himeko's new recipe is secured."
"Received," Dan Heng's stoic, hushed voice crackled through the comms. "Hurry up and get here."
Rekka sprinted down the hallway, slipped into the Data Bank, and immediately slammed the heavy metal door shut, throwing the deadbolt.
"Phew... truly terrifying," Rekka gasped, leaning against the door frame. "I really, really don't want to be the guinea pig for whatever that was. Surviving this train requires constant vigilance."
"You have it?" Dan Heng asked, stepping out from behind a towering server rack.
"Got it right here." Rekka raised the folded piece of paper and shook it triumphantly. "The extraction process was thrilling. I almost got caught by Pom-Pom on the way out. Luckily, the Conductor got distracted yelling at the new vacuum robot for bumping into their paws."
"It must be destroyed," Dan Heng declared, his tone as cold and absolute as a judge handing down an execution order. "This document cannot be allowed to exist on the Astral Express. If Himeko actually gathers the ingredients and cooks it... the casualties will be unimaginable."
Rekka unfolded the paper, his brow furrowing as he read the strange, ominous text scrawled across the top.
[Recipe: All those things in the past, do you truly not remember?]
"What are you looking at?" Dan Heng asked, noticing his hesitation.
"I'm looking at the recipe," Rekka muttered, his expression flat. "It's literally asking me if I truly don't remember all those things in the past."
Dan Heng gave him a deadpan stare. "What kind of past could you possibly have with a piece of paper?"
"Fair point," Rekka agreed, shaking off the weird meta-text. "Let's just destroy it. Immediately. Right now. Total annihilation. How do we do it? Burn it? Tear it to shreds?"
"Burning it will create smoke, which will trigger the ceiling alarms. That will instantly draw both Pom-Pom and Himeko to this room," Dan Heng analyzed with cold, tactical precision. "If we tear it up manually, the scraps will be difficult to dispose of without leaving evidence. The optimal method is..."
The stoic guard's piercing gaze slowly shifted across the room, locking onto a piece of office equipment in the corner.
"...The paper shredder."
"Brilliant," Rekka praised.
They moved as one. Rekka positioned the cursed recipe over the shredder's hungry metal teeth, while Dan Heng hovered his finger over the power switch.
Knock. Knock. Knock.
The sharp sound echoed through the Data Bank.
Rekka and Dan Heng froze simultaneously. They looked like two deer caught in the headlights. Rekka's hand was suspended mid-air, holding the paper, while Dan Heng's index finger was a millimeter away from activating the machine.
"Dan Heng? Rekka? Are you two in there?"
The elegant, melodic voice of Himeko filtered through the heavy metal door. To the two boys, it sounded like the voice of the Grim Reaper.
"Sister Himeko!" Rekka shouted back, his voice cracking slightly. "We're here! We're just... uh... discussing academic problems!"
"Academic problems?" Himeko repeated, sounding mildly amused and entirely unconvinced. "I see. Well, I originally came to ask if either of you had seen a recipe I left on the counter in the kitchen."
"Recipe? What recipe?" Rekka played dumb with Oscar-worthy conviction, frantically gesturing for Dan Heng to press the shredder button. "Haven't seen anything like that! Is your recipe missing, Sister Himeko? What a tragedy!"
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