•__________________________________________________________•

??? POV

'Hey, hey, do you like the rain?'

'Yes, I love the rain.'

'Why?'

'Because. . .it's relaxing, and it's pleasant to hear.'

'That's all? Not because of something else?'

'??'

'Hahaha. . .I love the rain too. The sound it makes when it's hitting the roof, even the sound of rumbling thunder gives me the chills, and I like it.'

'I see.'

•__________________________________________________________•

"Man, there is a lot of books here. What is this? Philosophy books? Astronomy? Ethology? Psychology? Human Behavior? Ontology?"

'She has been reading these?'

I closed the books and arranged them all in proper order. I glanced over at her to see if she woke up. Luckily, she's not.

I sat down at the table and started to look at her laptop. She has been playing a game for quite a long time.

"What is this? Visual novel games? Heroine? Female protagonist? Woah! What is with these unbelievably handsome 2D men? Is it that genre? The one you call 'otome games'?"

'She is surprisingly a romanticist.'

As I browsed through her files, I found one thing that could help me. A file that consists of all her past experiences. Guess what it is.

'A DIARY!! She kept a diary in here! But it has a password.'

"Well, that's to be expected, it is important after all."

sigh*

I sighed deeply. There is no way I would know the password so I gave up. Plus, it would be rude to look into her diary without her permission.

'As if I wasn't rude enough to do all this. What should I do now?'

sigh*

I sighed once more, trying to think of another way to know something about her. Then I thought of something.

'Wait, is there? Ah! There is! I can't believe it! There is internet here?!'

"No way. If that's the case, I started to type in 'that thing' she said to see what it meant."

type* type* type* type* type*

And after a while,

'Hmm. . .not this one. This can't be the one either. That doesn't make any sense.'

I continued to search for more, but none of it made any sense, except for one,━

"This is━!!"

'Her behavior, her actions, her words, her personality, the things in this place, her likes, and dislikes. I see it now. But then,━'

As I solved one puzzle, another 2 puzzles were put on the board.

•__________________________________________________________•

clink* clank*

"Mmm. . ."

The girl was driven awake by the sound of metal and the scent of a delicious meal.

'Mmm. . .what a nightmare.'

"Ah! You're awake? Would you like to eat breakfast? Although I don't know if it's day or night."

I greeted her with a bright smile and invited her for a meal. She looked pale and tired, even though she just woke up.

"What's wrong? Do you feel alright?"

". . .Yeah. I'm. . .fine."

She looked around the room, seemingly surprised.

"Ah! I arranged all of the mess in the room. It was hard to walk around so,━"

". . .I see."

She stood up and drank some water, then proceeded to sit down to eat the breakfast I prepared.

"There's an unlimited amount of food in this little fridge, desserts, fruits & vegetables, and meat! It's like an all-you-can-eat buffet here!"

I was shocked to see an unlimited supply of ingredients in that little fridge, and there are things in the upper cabinet too. While I expressed my amazement, she just looked at the food.

'I wonder what's wrong, she seems to be in a bad mood.'

". . .Thank you for the food."

She clasped her hands together and showed her respects before she began to eat.

"Ah! How do you like it? I prepared some bacon and omelet eggs along with some butter toasted bread. There's also coffee, I tried making it as delicious as yours."

". . ."

She took a while to answer, but it was probably because she was eating. After her first sip of coffee━

". . .It's delicious. Thank you."

"Really? Yes!!"

I was happy at the thought that she liked what I prepared. She trusts me enough for her to eat what I made.

"By the way,━"

I froze in place with my hands in a banzai pose due to her sudden words and stare.

"Hm? What is it?

". . .Aren't you going to eat?"

"Ah! Right, right! I'll eat. Thanks for the food."

I sat down and ate.

". . . . ."

She kept staring at me. But when she noticed that I felt uncomfortable, she looked away.

After we finished eating, I psyched myself to ask her about something that I found out after a while. So I stood up and grabbed her hand, I was so excited to tell her what I found out that I didn't notice the strange feeling I got.

"!! What is it so suddenly?"

She felt tense and grimaced at the fact that I grabbed her hand.

"I━I want to say something! Will you mind listening to this theory of mine?"

". . .Alright. But, can you let go first? It hurts."

"Ah! Sorry, sorry!"

I hurriedly let go of her hand, she patted her clothes and stared at her hands for a while, then she sat down.

"Let us hear it then, your theory."

"I'll be direct then. You are━"

". . . . ."

"INTROVERT!!"

". . ."

She looked as calm as always, not even a sign of surprise.

". . .And?"

"I'm not saying you are an introvert as a person, I'm just saying you are the introvert in itself. The base of a personality. The things you like, the things you do, your behavior, it all points to you being the introvert."

". . .Why do you think so?"

"Naiko was the name you gave me back then. I searched through the internet about what it meant━"

•__________________________________________________________•

type* type* type* type* type*

'Let's see Naiko meaning.'

'Fruit trees? Clothing? No child? What are these? Is there something I'm supposed to recall about these?'

After clicking each one of the websites, I came across a website that said Naiko also means 'introvert'.

'Introvert? No, that can't be right. I mean, she does act like━'

'She IS an introvert. But what does that have to do with anything?'

•__________________________________________________________•

"That's right! There were so many things that didn't make any sense. I even think the No child thing was more likely the right answer, but, somehow, you being the introvert made more sense."

I said my piece. Thinking that every single one of my assumption is wrong,

". . ."

"Was I wrong, after all?"

". . . .No, you are right."

It took a long time for her to answer. But without a doubt, she said I was right.

"Seriously? I thought my 'No Child' theory was more probable."

". . .And? That's all you found out?"

"Eh? Well, there were didn't make any sense, like these:

I showed her a list of notes that lined everything up together, full of erasures and scribbles.

> She said I killed her. Did she exist in real life? Yes or No?

> If yes, then how come we didn't have any contact?

> If no, then how did I kill her? Figuratively?

> Who was she?

> She was born here? Does that mean she's a ghost? X

> If she's a ghost, there's no way I could kill her.

> She knows who I am. She's not a stalker, not a friend.

Maybe? Same height. Same weight: unsure. Both women.

TRUE IDENTITY = She's . . .ME?!

". . . . ."

She looked invested in the notes. She didn't even say anything.

"Hahaha. . .there's no way, right? I mean, you are me, and I am you. It doesn't make any sense, right. Haha. . ."

I made fun of my conclusion, hoping that it was wrong because that would mean that:

I KILLED MYSELF

The thought made my whole body grow cold. It wasn't something to laugh at but━

". . . . ."

"Hey, why aren't you saying anything? I'm wrong, right? There's no way. . ."

My voice shook.

'Please tell me it's not like that.'

"No."

"!!"

"You're right. It's as it's written."

She stood up and met with my eyes, and gave me the list and━

"I am━you."

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