The Price of Sweet Rebellion
Our first outing, eating ice cream behind Amy's back. The bedroom door that could swing open at any second. Lips chilled numb by the frozen treats. I thought this thrilling moment would last forever, but as the mountain of wrappers discarded by the three of us began to pile up, the freezer was left completely empty.
"Oh no..." I dropped the wooden stick I was holding.
"I'm so full." It was the first time in my life I'd ever felt bloated from nothing but ice cream.
I sprawled out spread-eagle on the floor, rubbing my back against the cozy, heated floorboards. My chilled body began to thaw. Feeling as if I were melting into a puddle of ice cream myself, a goofy, relaxed smile spread across my face.
"Mmh..." Shine grunted, cradling the very last tub of ice cream in her arms. Every time her silver spoon moved, she scooped up massive chunks of ice cream from the giant tub.
Sprawled on the floor, a sudden wave of anxiety washed over me, and I looked up at Rain. "Rain, won't we get in huge trouble with Amy if we leave things like this?"
"Don't worry about it. Whenever she goes out like that, she always comes back super late."
"Really?" Rain waved her hand as if this were a regular occurrence, telling me not to sweat it. But that didn't make my anxiety go away. Dragging my warm, heavy body up, I began stuffing the pile of ice cream wrappers into the trash can.
"There are way too many..." The sheer volume was the problem. No matter how hard I packed them down, the tiny trash can simply couldn't hold all the wrappers.
"Move aside!" Seeing my struggle, Rain hopped up and stood right on top of the trash can. As her tiny feet stomped down on the pile of wrappers, new space began to open up. I watched in awe and kept feeding more wrappers under her feet.
Stomp, stomp. Rain kept stamping. The wrappers, unable to withstand her weight, were crushed and compressed over and over, but eventually, they reached a point where they couldn't be compressed any further.
"Hiyah! Hiyah! Is it full already?" Rain muttered, stomping on the solidly packed trash. Flapping her arms for balance, she looked just like a little chick trying to fly. And then, it happened. The trash can she was hopping on wobbled, tilting along with her body.
With a sudden gasp, Rain fell with a loud crash. The trash can went down with her, clattering loudly against the floor. The fallen can practically exploded, vomiting its entire contents back out.
A shower of trash burst forth. Most of it was empty ice cream wrappers, but a few chip bags were mixed in, scattering in every direction. Looking at the room, which was now messier than before, my face turned pale. If we made a mess like this, it definitely wouldn't end with a simple flick to the forehead.
"Wh... What do we do?" Rain, face-down on the floor, lifted her head to look around, then immediately buried her face back into the floorboards. She clearly had no intention of getting up. The room was a disaster. And Shine was still busy eating ice cream.
"Ah!" Just then, Shine let out a short gasp. Having misjudged her strength while scooping, her spoon flew high into the air. Spinning rapidly, the spoon slapped right against the wall and stuck there.
Coated in sticky ice cream, the spoon clung to the wall, showing no signs of falling. The slightly melted ice cream slowly slid down, leaving a white streak on the wall. Shine stared blankly at it, then stood up and walked over to the wall. I watched her, thinking, No way... and my suspicion was correct. She grabbed the spoon and went right back to her spot to keep eating. And so, the ice cream feast continued.
After finishing every last drop of ice cream, Shine rubbed her stomach with a satisfied expression and lay down on the floor. The room had become an absolute wreck in an instant. Staring blankly at the disaster, I crawled into bed and hid beneath the blankets.
It was a long time later when Amy finally returned. Coming back around dinner time, she let out a short shriek at the sight of the ruined room and promptly handed out forehead flicks. Shine and I got two. Rain got five.
"Why did I get five?!" Rain protested, wiping away a tear as if she had been deeply wronged. But when Amy's expression turned terrifying, she quickly pulled her chick hood low over her face and shut her mouth.
The messy room was cleaned up in an instant. The trash can was set upright, and the trash scattered all over the room was gathered into a large bag and tied up. Shine and I watched the whole process while hiding under our blankets.
"Jeff. Shine."
"Yes!"
After finishing the cleanup, Amy sat in a chair and glared at us. Flinching under her piercing gaze, which felt like it was practically shooting lasers, I tightly squeezed Shine's hand under the blanket.
"No ice cream for a week."
"No!"
Amy's next words were a massive shock. No ice cream for a whole week? I pouted under the blanket but hung my head under Amy's stern gaze. I couldn't help it. I was the one who gave in to Rain's temptation. After wriggling around under the covers, I crawled out once I saw Amy's expression soften.
"Amy, what did Gene ask you to do?"
"Oh... he just dumped some of his work on me."
"Gene is a bad person."
"He is."
Knowing from experience how terrible it was for a boss to dump work on an employee who was on vacation, I could understand Amy's feelings to some extent. She began sorting through the documents with a tired expression.
"Where did Gene go?"
"I don't know."
"Pardon?"
"If he decides to hide, no one can find him."
"Why?"
"Well... because he's a mental ability user."
A mental ability user. At Amy's words, I glanced at Shine lying next to me. She seemed to have fallen asleep under the warm blanket, her eyes closed as she breathed evenly. Only then did I understand why Amy had told me not to get close to Gene. Mental ability users—according to the rumors, they possessed terrifying powers.
"He must be someone really amazing."
"You know about mental ability users, Jeff?"
"I heard about them a few times at the lab. How amazing they are, and how much research value they have." I muttered, searching my memories. Hearing my words, Amy's expression darkened, and she walked over to sit on the edge of the bed.
"Amy?"
"I'm sorry. I made you bring up bad memories." Amy placed her hand on my head and began to gently stroke my hair. I closed my eyes and relaxed under the pleasant touch.
"Mental ability users can do anything, right?"
"Most of them probably can."
As the warm, gentle stroking continued, drowsiness began to wash over me. My mind drifted into a haze. Memories of the lab floated through the fog. Mental ability user... lab... Shine... me. The words chained together in my mind.
"Then... can mental ability users manipulate memories?" I yawned deeply, burrowing further under the blanket.
"If it's something simple."
"Like what...?"
"Like walking out of a convenience store without paying?"
"That sounds really convenient."
"But it's not all-powerful."
"Why...?"
"I heard they can't interfere too deeply."
"Deeply?"
"I don't know the details either. But even with the same ability, it varies depending on the user's skill, right?"
I nodded, thinking of Victor. He was an ability user of the same type as me, but he could use his powers far better than I could. The same went for the other ability user I had felt at the New Year's event. They clearly used the same ability as me, but I couldn't spread an electric field across such a wide area to scan an entire building like they did.
"Is Gene a powerful ability user?"
"I hear he's quite strong, even among mental ability users."
"I see..." I couldn't fight off the sleep any longer. Amy's gentle touch made my entire body melt with exhaustion. Seeing Amy's smile through my blurry vision, I smiled back.
"Are you sleepy?"
"Yes..."
"It's almost dinner time, though."
"Wake me up then, please..."
"Alright."
"Jeff~"
My body was gently shaken. My senses slowly sharpened. A soft voice reached my ears. I slowly opened my eyes and looked around.
"Shine?"
"Yeah. Amy says it's time to eat."
On the soft bed, Shine, who was sitting next to me, gave me a light smile. Her messy hair, showing she had just woken up herself, caught my eye.
"Mmh." Reaching out to gently stroke Shine's hair, I stretched my body and sat up. Though it was a short nap, I had slept deeply enough that I no longer felt tired.
"Are you both awake?"
"Yeah, Jeff's awake too."
Shine gently stroked my cheek, then hopped off the bed and ran to Amy. Watching Shine's retreating back, I thought to myself. Just as Amy said, mental ability users wield terrifying power. Since they could even manipulate memories, I had to be much more careful in the future.
As I was about to get off the bed, I suddenly thought of Gene. What if—just what if—Shine and I had already fallen victim to Gene's ability? Since Amy said they couldn't interfere too deeply, maybe he had manipulated some tiny memory that we couldn't even notice? Something so small that neither Shine nor I could perceive it. My hands began to tremble at the terrifying thought.
"Jeff?"
Just then, Shine, who had run ahead, turned around and called my name. It must have seemed strange to her that I was just sitting there instead of following right behind her like usual. Letting go of Amy's hand, Shine ran back to me.
"Shine...! Gene is a really scary person...!" I grabbed Shine's arm as she approached and began explaining the danger Gene posed. Why Amy had warned us to stay away from him, and just how dangerous mental ability users truly were. After listening to my explanation for a while, Shine grinned and spoke.
"It's okay!"
"It's okay...?"
"Yeah."
Shine turned around and pulled my arm. Dragged along in an awkward posture, I managed to open my mouth and ask her.
"Aren't you scared of Gene, Shine...?"
"Nope."
"But..."
"Jeff, you don't need to be scared because you have me."
"Ah... okay."
Shine's words were so full of confidence. Her reassurance calmed my anxious heart. I shook my head, scattering my worries. Right now, it was time to eat. Once dinner was over, I had to rush back to the room to watch The Adventures of the Little Witch.
"Let's go!" I ran forward energetically, grabbing Shine's and Amy's hands.