Echoes of the Past
"Come on in!"
"W-wow... So this is Lucia's room...?"
"...Yeah, well. It's decently sized for two people, right? There weren't any other rooms left, so..."
"...Anyway, want to sit here and talk? —El."
"Y-yeah... Um, but..."
"Hm?"
"...Aren't you bothered, Lucia? About suddenly having to live together... Like, maybe you hate it or feel uncomfortable..."
"...Hmm. I was surprised, but... I'm not uncomfortable. Why, did you think I'd hate it?"
"Well, everyone always said I gave them the creeps. The director, the other kids..."
"...Not at all?"
"...Really?"
"...Yeah. I don't know why those people acted like that, but I'm fine with it."
"...."
"Haa..."
I let out a sigh—I'd lost count of how many times today. Even Berry's usually emotionless eyes were starting to show hints of doubt and concern.
"...You're gonna wear a hole in the floor, Subject 26."
"Is something wrong? You've been like this since breakfast. Your expression's all dark too."
...She wasn't wrong. But I figured anyone in my situation would react the same way. Right after returning to the past, I'd burned with determination to make it work this time. Yet only a few hours later, all I felt was helplessness and anxiety crashing over me.
When would be the right time to escape this place? And could I actually pull it off without getting caught this time? The last escape might have been nothing but pure luck. Should I eliminate every variable completely? If I tried at the exact same time as before—
...No. I couldn't even remember the precise hour and minute, and by then Berry would already be dead. At the very least, I wanted to save her this time.
"...It's just that I have a few things on my mind."
Of course, I brushed it off vaguely with Berry. I couldn't share these worries with her. Whether it was consideration for not prying further or simply because she couldn't be bothered to dig deeper, she just nodded and flopped back onto the bed. Looking at her, she always seemed so carefree. How could she stay so calm in a place like this? Or was it all just an act?
"...I'm going out for a bit. You can shower first today."
With that, I stepped out of the dorm. Ziiing—click. The door opened with that same impeccably clean sound it always made. It was still fascinating no matter how many times I saw it. From a distance it blended so perfectly with the surrounding walls that you might mistake it for part of one, but up close it would slide open. Through the doorway, I could see Berry watching me with a furrowed brow from her bed. She quickly relaxed her expression as if used to it and lay back down.
Ziiing—click.
I hadn't come out with any particular destination in mind. I just wanted to wander aimlessly. It was like taking a walk to re-familiarize myself with the lab's layout that I didn't completely remember. While I was at it, I figured I'd look for escape routes besides the vent I'd used last time.
"...Hmm......"
Right after leaving the dorm, the cafeteria was on the immediate right. Or should I call it a feeding station? It was closer to a school lunchroom in design. At least this lab didn't starve the children or give them terrible food. That was only natural—they needed us for experiments, and if the tests succeeded, they'd have to drain our blood. If we wasted away from malnutrition, there'd be nothing left to extract. That was probably why the kids didn't obsess over escaping. The food was decent and the dorms were warm. There was no need to take on the risk of breaking out. At least not yet—the experiments weren't that dangerous.
Of course, some of the kids had already half-lost their minds from the instinctive terror of being test subjects. But the ones just entering puberty had disturbingly good empathy and comforting skills, so they usually pulled each other back from the edge on their own.
...No one had talked about escaping until one of the test subjects died. After all, none of us had anywhere to return to.
This time, I turned my steps to the left. The cafeteria was somewhere I went every day anyway, and the laboratories were on the left side. I hardly ever went there. The only times I did were when the announcement called for a specific subject number to report to Lab 3, and then I'd just go and come straight back. The hallway stretched on endlessly, but the only labs we actually used were the ones closest to the dorms—Labs 1 through 5. If you tried to go any deeper, a researcher would come out and send you back. Still, the vent I'd escaped through last time was in that direction, so I should check it out at some point.
"Subject 26? What are you doing all the way out here?"
"You shouldn't be in this area. Want to head back with me, big sis?"
My roughly seven-minute exploration ended when I was spotted by a female researcher walking out of a room that could have been either a lab or a dorm. It was unfortunate. I'd hoped that since there weren't any researchers wandering around, I might get a look at the deeper areas I couldn't explore last time. Oh well.
Ziiing—click.
"...I'm back—"
Still, it wasn't a complete waste. I wouldn't call it a huge gain, but I learned that there were several vents besides the one I'd used to escape before. Of course, the one closest to the dorm would still be the most practical for getting out. You never knew what variables might come up.
When I finished my shower and stepped out, Berry approached with quick, light steps. She wrapped my dripping white hair in a towel and plugged in the hair dryer. ...She did this sometimes. Whenever she was bored, she'd come over to dry my hair, massage my shoulders, or find some other impulsive thing to do. It didn't seem to carry any deeper meaning—just something to occupy herself.
"...What, you're going to dry it for me?"
"Yeah. I'm bored."
"...Alright then."
Wiiiiiiing—
The loud roar of hot air filled the room. The pleasant sensation of someone else's hands drying my hair made my whole body feel languid. I'd meant to talk to her after my hair was dry, but at this rate I might just fall asleep.
"...Berry!"
"Hm? What?"
The hair dryer was still running, so I had to raise my voice to be heard over the wiiing—. ...This was a little ridiculous. Maybe I should have waited until my hair was dry. Why was it so unnecessarily loud? Their technology was advanced enough for everything else—had they not bothered to make a quiet hair dryer? Whatever. I still needed to say it.
"Berry, if... if it were possible to get out of here... would you leave?"
I brought it up as if it were a casual topic. The meaning behind the words, however, was anything but light. When I turned my head, her black eyes were narrowed, staring at me. That expression. It was the same one she'd worn in the past whenever I said something she couldn't understand.
A brief silence. Just as I started thinking the fixed blast of air from the dryer might actually burn me—
"Aaaargh— Hey, what the hell?!"
Suddenly Berry's hands grew rough. As if telling me to shut up, she started vigorously tousling my hair. My head was yanked around at the mercy of her grip. If the dryer hadn't been on, she probably would have smacked my thigh with her knee. Maybe that was actually a lenient response. No, that wasn't the point—
"...That again?"
"How are we supposed to get out? Researchers are everywhere during the day, and at night the dorm doors are locked so we can't leave."
"Don't you know we're being watched in the first place? Look at that. That's a CCTV camera. It records everything we do in real—"
"W-wait! No, that's not what I meant. Just hold on...!"
I hurriedly cut off Berry as the words poured out of her like water from a faucet. It was as if she'd already prepared exactly how she'd respond to this. Or maybe she really had prepared it in advance? In the past, I'd spent every single day planning ways to escape and shared those plans with her, so it wasn't entirely impossible.
"Then what is it? Are you going to give me another one of those perfect-in-theory plans?"
Wiiing—click.
The hair dryer stopped. She was still full of disbelief, but at least she seemed willing to listen. It was the bare minimum show of consideration. Berry puffed out her cheeks in dissatisfaction and tapped her foot against the grid-patterned floor. Even like this, she was still just a kid. How long had it been since I'd seen her express her emotions so openly?
"...I'm being serious, so just hear me out—"
"...Ah."
The warm sunlight filtering through the window. The moment I opened my eyes within it—
Even my final assumption that all of this might be a dream completely vanished.
I was still in the first-year high school dormitory of the Academy. Opening my eyes to that familiar sight confirmed it.
It was real. Time had truly gone backward.
I'd felt it enough yesterday, but today it became certain.
"...."
Today was still the weekend, so I didn't have to attend classes yet. But starting tomorrow, I'd have to go while carrying all these chaotic thoughts.
I'd tried contacting my adoptive parents to test the waters, but it seemed I was the only one who'd returned to the past. ...Why? Why had I come back here the instant my sister died before my eyes?
No. The question of why wasn't important.
What mattered was that I'd come back.
Today's date was two months after my sister had gone missing in the past. By this point, I had probably given up on finding her. Truthfully, I'd already been halfway resigned after a week passed and the police told me her last known destination was Z-District.
...But she had been alive. She was definitely still alive. After all, I'd watched with my own eyes as she lived on as a villain before dying.
If that was the case, then this time...
I would definitely find her.
I'd find her and make sure she could never become a villain.
I had no idea why she'd become one, but...
...If I could meet her, talk to her, and stay by her side, I was sure I could change things.
So I will go find her, no matter what.
Lucia, my sister.