Kays Translations

Chapter 20: Resonance

The next morning.

I spent a restless night, unsure if I was able to sleep or not, and the next morning came.

After seeing my father off as he left for outside at 6 in the morning, I went back to sleep. When I woke up, it was already 8 o'clock.

I went to the dining hall with the intention of having breakfast, and there I saw Aya-chan and Shirayuki-sensei already sitting together and eating.

"Ah, good morning, Itsuki-kun."

"Good morning, Itsuki-kun!"

They noticed me and greeted me, so I returned the greeting with a "Good morning."

I picked up a tray and was about to put rice on it using my "Thread Silvate," when Shirayuki-sensei stood up and came over to me.

"I-Itsuki-kun, today we will have a lesson on 'Resonance.'"

"...Huh? Do we not need to make 'memories' anymore?"

"After hearing your story yesterday, I thought about it. If you keep getting expelled by the 'demons,' then there is a need to prevent you from being expelled from within the body."

I nodded in agreement with what Shirayuki-sensei said.

I have entered Aya-chan's body twice.

And both times, I was expelled by the "Ice Snow Princess" within Aya-chan.

The second time, I managed to endure by anchoring my "Thread Silvate" into the ground... but even then, it was a precarious balancing act.

In the end, it was meaningless because I still got expelled.

"But, Sensei, how can we remain inside Aya-chan?"

"W-Well, I thought about that all night and summarized the method in my notes. I'll tell you later."

"Please!"

Notes from an all-nighter...

It makes me think that she's really serious about this.

I picked up my tray and sat next to Aya-chan, who was eating yogurt with bananas.

Shirayuki-sensei, who sat directly in front of Aya-chan, took out her notebook from her bag.

Huh? Is the advice starting here?

"Itsuki-kun, Aya-san, please listen. I will now explain the 'Resonance' that we will perform today at noon."

"...Y-Yes."

I was a little surprised that I would receive an explanation while having breakfast, but I decided to listen to what Sensei had to say.

"First, I think it's necessary to understand how you were expelled from Ayas-san. But, the principle behind it is simple. Something within Aya-san forcefully shifts the wavelength."

"...Is that even possible?"

"Yes, it is."

Sensei began explaining to Aya-chan and me without using the term "Ice Snow Princess."

I think she's being considerate of Aya-chan, but that's not the point. The point is that the "Ice Snow Princess" is shifting the wavelength.

"But this is like a broken TV changing channels on its own. There's nothing we can do to deal with it."

"So, what should we do then?"

"It's simple. Before the channel completely changes, we just need to change it back on our side."

"Huh?"

I sort of understand, but at the same time, I don't.

"It's a race against time. First, we need to find the Aya-san within Aya-chan before she is discovered by the 'something' inside her."

"O-Okay."

That's not a problem.

We can see the thread connecting to the one we're resonating with.

So there's no issue with finding her.

"If we can rescue Aya-san before her wavelength is shifted, then there's no problem. We just need to rescue her as she is. But if her wavelength is about to be shifted... we need to resonate with the Aya-san inside Aya-chan."

"I see..."

It's an unexpected power-based approach that came out when I thought there might be a smarter way.

For example, if it's the first time, does that mean we should have resonated with Aya-chan who was confined in a cell-like place?

...Huh?

Then what should we do if Aya-chan isn't there, like the second time?

Should we resonate with the girl who looks just like Aya-chan?

"If we resonate before the wavelength is shifted, we can change the channel back before it's completely switched. This way, we can rescue Aya-san without being expelled."

"What if the wavelength is shifted after that?"

"Please think that you won't be expelled even if you are directly resonating. It's like fixing the channel. So, it's important to find Aya-san before being discovered by the 'something' and being expelled."

I understood most of what Sensei was saying.

The problem is whether the "Ice Snow Princess" will allow us to resonate as we have before.

It seemed like she was aware that we were inside Aya-chan, and she might have come up with some countermeasures.

No, maybe her countermeasure is "rejection."

...Hmm? Then why did I resonate with Aya-chan back then?

I'm referring to the orienteering incident yesterday.

I was definitely being rejected by the "Ice Snow Princess" at that time.

But I still resonated.

Why?

"So, Itsuki-kun, let's do our best!"

Despite my thoughts being contradictory to what I'm saying, I nodded in response to Sensei's encouraging words.

On the other hand, Aya-chan, worried that there were no fruits on my tray, brought me a pineapple.

We continued practicing "Resonance" in the morning, just like yesterday.

The location was the same audiovisual room as yesterday. We repeated the practice of quickly resonating.

But we were essentially doing the same thing as yesterday's practice.

It was like solving familiar math problems.

Rather, it feels like we don't have enough practice time.

However, the difference from yesterday is that Aya-chan was sitting next to me, cheering me on.

Even though she's an elementary school student, being cheered on by a girl makes me feel a bit embarrassed.

But it also helps me concentrate on the practice... and before I knew it, it was already past 1 o'clock.

As I looked at the clock, an alarm from Shirayuki-sensei's smartphone rang loudly.

In sync with the alarm, I stopped my practice.

Then I turned to Aya-chan.

And Aya-chan was also looking at me, and our eyes met unintentionally.

It felt a bit embarrassing.

"Let's do it, Itsuki-kun."

"Y-Yes."

I nodded at Sensei's words and approached Aya-chan.

"We will begin the 'Resonance.' Excuse me, Ayas-san."

While listening to Shirayuki-sensei's words, I held hands with Aya-chan and Sensei, forming a triangle, and wrapped our arms with the "Thread Silhouette."

"We will deepen the 'Resonance.' But the process is simple. Just remember the things we did in order."

"...In order?"

"Starting with the orienteering."

As I listened to Shirayuki-sensei's words, Aya-chan and I made eye contact.

When it comes to memories from the orienteering, it would be the mysterious "Resonance" and Aya-chan's break.

"After that, we did our homework together."

"Yeah, we did."

"Itsuki-kun taught me math."

"That's right."

As I remembered what happened yesterday, Aya-chan continued.

"And we also had a class with Renji-san."

"The 'demon' class, right?"

Aya-chan's words caused the memories from yesterday to flash through my mind as if I were looking at a photo. My field of vision wavered. The "Thread Silhouette" wrapped around our arms glowed.

"And we played board games together."

As soon as Aya-chan said that, memories of yesterday flooded my mind, as if a switch had been flipped.

We are now standing in a residential area at night.

Moreover, unlike the peaceful scenery so far, in the depths of the residential area, I can see the high-rise buildings of Tokyo.

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