Arou walked home with Akari beneath the fading afternoon sky. A gentle breeze blew through the streets, making the walk feel surprisingly relaxing after such an exhausting school day.
Akari glanced at him.
"Arou."
Arou looked over.
"Hmm?"
"Aren't you working today?" she asked casually, as if the thought had only just occurred to her.
Arou went silent.
His steps slowed.
"…Wait."
His expression changed.
"Oh, crap."
Akari stopped.
"What?"
Arou slapped a hand against his forehead.
"I forgot to go to work."
Akari covered her mouth, then let out a small laugh.
"Hahaha… seriously?"
"Yeah…" Arou sighed. "You go home first, okay?"
Akari smiled and nodded.
"Alright. Just don't run too fast. You might fall."
"I'll be fine."
Akari turned around and headed home by herself, still wearing a small smile.
The moment she was out of sight, Arou took off running.
---
Arou sprinted toward the bookstore where he worked.
By the time he reached the entrance, he was already breathing heavily. He pushed the door open and rushed inside.
"Quite late today."
His boss's voice came from behind the counter.
Arou bowed slightly.
"Sorry, sir… I completely forgot. Hehe."
His boss chuckled.
"Looks like even young people can forget things, huh?"
Arou scratched his head.
"Well, everyone's forgetful by nature."
Then Arou remembered something.
"Wait… how late am I?"
His boss glanced at the clock before giving him a mischievous smile.
"An hour and a half."
Arou stopped breathing for a second.
"…Oh."
A few seconds later—
"WHAT?!"
His boss burst out laughing.
"Hahaha! Just kidding. You're only four minutes late."
Arou let out a huge sigh of relief.
"Thank goodness…"
His boss waved him off.
"Alright, get to work."
"Yes, sir."
Arou got back to work as usual—organizing books, helping customers, and occasionally checking the clock.
Not long after that, the bookstore door opened.
Someone walked in.
A young woman with light blue hair stepped inside, looking slightly nervous. Several customers immediately turned to look at her.
His boss stared for a moment before his eyes widened.
"Hey," he said excitedly. "You're the hero from the other day, aren't you?"
"Huh?"
The woman looked around, then pointed at herself.
"Me?"
"Yeah!" his boss continued. "You're the one who took down those robbers here, right? That was amazing!"
"Oh… I see," she replied awkwardly.
Arou, who had overheard the conversation, immediately walked over.
"Lin," he said quietly. "What are you doing here?"
Lin turned toward him.
"Me? Uh… I just came in. I didn't really have anywhere to go."
"Oh," Arou replied.
But before things could settle down—
Someone else appeared behind them.
And their appearance was exactly the same as Lin's.
His boss froze.
"…There are two of her?"
The second person gave them a small smile.
"Hi…"
Lin's eyes widened.
"W-wait… why do you look like me?"
"Oh," the second one said casually. "So the original's here. Sorry, I'll head out for a bit."
And just like that, she walked out of the bookstore.
Arou could only sigh.
A few moments later, the door opened again.
The same person walked back in—
but this time, she looked completely different.
Her hair was dark, her expression was cheerful, and her whole presence felt… strange, yet oddly lighthearted.
"Hi, hi!"
She waved cheerfully.
"To all you kind and humble humans."
Arou stared at her flatly.
"You changed forms again?"
Lin turned toward him.
"Changed forms?"
His boss frowned.
"What do you mean, Arou?"
Arou immediately cut in.
"She's my friend. She just likes wearing mascot costumes."
"Costumes?" Lin repeated, confused.
His boss looked the girl up and down.
"That doesn't look like a mascot costume."
Arou shrugged.
"She's really good at making them. That's why they look so realistic."
His boss was silent for a moment before slowly nodding.
"…I see."
---
After work that night, Arou went straight home and fell asleep without thinking much about anything.
He was exhausted, and his head was already packed with enough strange things—Lin, the robbers, and all the other incidents that were making his life feel less and less normal.
The next morning—
Arou woke up with the same reflex he had on every school day.
He got out of bed, took a quick shower, put on his uniform, slipped on his shoes, and stuffed his books into his bag.
He did everything automatically.
When he left his room, he saw Akari just waking up.
Her hair was messy, and her eyes were barely open.
Arou stopped.
"You just woke up?!"
Akari yawned.
"Ugh… where are you going?"
"To school, obviously!" Arou replied. "Where else would I be going?"
"Oh…"
Akari nodded sleepily.
"Alright. Go ahead. I'm not going."
Arou stared at her.
"What the heck?"
"I don't feel like going."
Arou clicked his tongue and glanced at the clock in the living room.
It was almost eight.
"Whatever. I'm leaving."
From different parts of the house, several voices answered almost at the same time.
"Yeah."
"Be careful."
"Good luck."
"Don't be late."
Priscilla, Hikari, Airi, Nora, Lumina, Shi—even Akari.
Everyone responded casually, as if this were just another normal morning.
Without thinking twice, Arou ran out of the house toward school.
---
When he arrived—
Arou suddenly stopped.
The school gate was open.
The courtyard was empty.
There wasn't a single student around.
"..."
He looked left.
Then right.
Then toward the classroom building.
Silence.
Arou slowly walked inside.
He made his way through the school hallway, but there were no footsteps, no teachers, no students.
Even the classrooms were dark.
He kept walking, hoping he would at least run into someone.
Nothing.
"What happened…?" he muttered.
Just as his confusion reached its peak—
"Arou?"
Arou turned around.
Lin was standing a short distance away, wearing casual clothes.
She looked puzzled when she saw Arou in a full school uniform.
"What are you doing here on a holiday?"
"A holiday?" Arou frowned. "Isn't it Thursday?"
"It is," Lin replied. "But today's a public holiday."
"..."
Arou froze.
"…What?"
"It's a public holiday," Lin repeated casually.
"WHAT?!"
Lin blinked.
"You didn't know?"
"I literally just found out!" Arou grabbed his head.
"No wonder Akari was still asleep and didn't want to go to school…"
He let out a long sigh.
"Ah… thanks for telling me. I'm going home."
"Arou, wait."
Arou stopped.
"Huh? Why?"
Lin hesitated for a moment.
"Are you busy?"
"Not really. Why?"
Lin smiled faintly.
"Will you show me around?"
Arou paused.
"Show you around?"
"I just arrived in this city," Lin explained. "So I want to see the interesting places around here. You could show me around."
"Oh…"
Arou nodded.
"Sure."
"Really?" Lin's expression brightened slightly.
"Yeah. But…"
"But what?"
"I need to go home and change first."
"Oh… can I come with you?" Lin asked. "I'd like to see your house too."
Arou thought about it for a moment.
"…Sure."
And so, the two of them headed toward Arou's house.
---
The moment they arrived, Arou opened the front door and shouted at the top of his lungs.
"HEY! EVERYONE! GET OUT HERE!"
Lin flinched.
"Why are you yelling?"
"Because they're all annoying," Arou replied bluntly.
One by one, the people in the house came out.
Akari rubbed her eyes.
"Ah… you're back."
Airi gave him a small smile.
"Arou is so diligent."
Hikari peeked out from behind her.
"Dad's always like that."
Lin immediately turned toward Arou.
"…She called you Dad?"
Arou panicked.
"N-no! That's not what you think!"
"Don't listen to him," Nora cut in casually.
"Liar," Shi added.
"What am I lying about?!" Arou snapped.
Lin looked even more confused.
"What exactly is going on here?"
Priscilla stepped forward slightly.
"As you can see… we're Arou's family."
"Since when?!" Arou protested.
"You're siblings?" Lin asked.
"No," Nora answered. "We—"
Arou immediately covered Nora's mouth with his hand.
Nora bit him.
"AAAGH!"
Arou quickly pulled his hand away.
"I wasn't finished," Nora said coldly.
"I already know what you were going to say, so you don't need to finish!" Arou snapped.
Akari pointed at Lin.
"Arou… so why is Lin here?"
Before Arou could answer—
"Maybe she wants to date Arou," Nora casually said.
"HEY! WATCH YOUR MOUTH!"
"Am I wrong?"
"No!"
"Then why did you bring her here?"
"She asked me to show her around!"
"Definitely dating," Shi said casually, glancing at Airi.
"Don't be jealous."
"Huh? I'm not jealous," Airi replied flatly. "Besides, I don't have feelings."
Akari sighed.
"Hey, Arou. If you're going out, hurry up. Don't make her wait through all this drama."
Arou let out a long sigh.
"Ah… sorry."
He turned toward Lin.
"I'm gonna change. Wait here, okay?"
Then Arou ran toward his room.
Meanwhile, Lin remained standing in the living room—
surrounded by a family that was anything but normal.
And for some reason…
she smiled faintly.