A Glitch in Reality

C13 A Glitch in Reality?

Everything else, save for Shigure standing before her, seemed to momentarily drain of color, turning stark black and white.

Shigure remained motionless, her gaze fixed on Shion with a puzzled expression.

Her hand, having just lifted the lid of her bento box, hung suspended in mid-air.

In that moment, Shion could even hear the frantic thrumming of her own heart.

It felt as though she had plummeted into an endless, inky abyss—silent, monochrome, utterly devoid of hue.

‘Do I… have another sister?’ Shion murmured to herself.

‘No, no, I definitely have a sister.

Her name is…’

Like a circuit shorting out, unable to reconnect to its proper place, the lights flickered erratically.

Shion racked her brain, yet the name eluded her.

‘What’s her name?…’

Black and white slowly intertwined, gradually encroaching upon the world before Shion’s eyes.

The surrounding classroom, the desks, the chairs—all were steadily consumed by shades of black and white, losing their inherent vibrancy.

‘Why can’t I… remember?’

“Big sister, where’s my lunch?” A familiar voice chimed beside her ear.

Shion rubbed her eyes, and when she opened them again, Shigure had just opened her bento.

The sky was a beautiful clear blue, and Shion found herself seated in the classroom, watching the golden sunlight spill onto her desk, a little dazzling even.

Ayane stood beside her, expertly rummaging through Shion’s bag before retrieving her own bento.

On the rice ball container, the name ‘Ayane’ was written in charming kanji characters.

Everything that had just transpired felt like a mere illusion.

That inky memory quickly dissolved from her mind, vanishing without a trace.

Only a fleeting sense of disorientation lingered.

“Ayane, why are you in my classroom again?” Shion asked, a hint of helplessness in her voice.

Ayane bit her spoon. “What does it matter? The school rules don’t forbid visiting your big sister’s classroom.

Besides, we look exactly alike, so it wouldn’t even matter if we switched classes.”

“Actually…” Shigure timidly interjected from the side, “I can tell you two apart…”

Shion clapped a hand over Shigure’s mouth. “No, Iori-san, don’t say it.”

Her eyes, brimming with tears, fixed on Shigure, a stubborn expression on her face.

“There’s really no need to specifically point that out.

And please don’t tell me how you distinguish between us, okay?”

Shigure nodded, and only then did Shion release her hand from Shigure’s mouth.

“Hoshimori-san is quite sensitive about it,” Shigure murmured softly.

“It’s fine, Big Sister.

Humans are creatures that live in reality.

No matter how much we wish to avoid the truth, we must ultimately confront it.

I once heard a famous philosopher say…”

“Stop, stop, stop!” Shion quickly interrupted Ayane’s dramatic pronouncement.

“You idiot! When did you start pretending to be a philosopher?

And what’s with this ‘hateful reality’ nonsense!”

Ayane flashed a triumphant grin. “Big Sister, reality is reality, you know~ We can’t escape it~” With that, she defiantly puffed out her ample chest, as if showing off.

Seeing the impulse to slam her fist on the desk already rising in Shion, even the usually oblivious Shigure must have realized the situation.

“Um, well… Shion-san’s hair is a little messier, while Ayane-san’s hair is always exceptionally neat and beautiful.”

After much deliberation, Shigure finally arrived at this conclusion.

Shion replied, feeling utterly exasperated, “I only didn’t have time to comb my hair today because I had to cook breakfast and offer prayers to the deities this morning.

Normally, my hair is absolutely neater than Ayane’s!”

“Oh? Is that so…?” Shigure was momentarily at a loss for words.

“Well, Shion-san is very pretty too, so you really don’t need to worry about such trivial details…”

Shion sensed that Shigure was only digging herself deeper, so she quickly changed the subject.

“Why don’t we just eat lunch first? I’m hungry.”

Shigure nodded eagerly, while Ayane, beside her, watched Shion with a smug smile.

Shion pulled out her rice ball, likely still flustered from hastily changing the subject, and took a massive bite, devouring half of it in one go.

Inevitably, she choked.

Ayane quickly stood up and patted Shion’s back. “Big Sister, why are you eating so fast!”

Shigure, flustered, also handed Shion a cup of water.

Shion snatched the cup and gulped it down.

“Ah! That’s better.” Shion swallowed the water, along with the rice ball, and finally let out a long sigh of relief.

She then took a few more sips from the cup, managing to quell the lingering discomfort.

“This water tastes a little sweet, doesn’t it?…” Shion smacked her lips.

“I-I like sweet water, so I add a little honey to it,” Shigure explained softly, her face flushing.

It was only then that Shion realized the cup in her hand wasn’t hers; it must have been Shigure’s!

“Um, thank you, Iori-san.” Shion quickly returned the cup to Shigure.

Shigure took her cup back and, in front of both Shion and Ayane, took another sip.

Shion felt a blush creep up her neck and hastily pulled out her own water bottle to ease the awkwardness.

“So… shall we continue eating?” Shion proposed.

Ayane took a fierce bite of her rice ball. “I’ve been eating all along, and how could anyone choke when eating a rice ball properly?”

Shigure, munching on her bento, whispered, “Does this count as… an indirect kiss?” Though her voice was soft, both Ayane and Shion heard it perfectly clearly.

Shion, who had been drinking water, nearly spat it out. “N-no… Iori-san, if you insist on thinking that, it’s a little bit…”

Beside them, Ayane continued to bite into her rice ball, mouthful after mouthful, like a tiger tearing at its prey.

A silence of approximately ten seconds followed.

The three of them ate their respective bentos, enveloped in an inexplicable, chilling quiet.

Though it was summer and the weather was hot, for some reason, it felt… cold.

“Shion-san, have some shrimp tempura,” Shigure offered, picking up a piece with her chopsticks and holding it to Shion’s mouth.

Just as Shion was about to take a bite, an inexplicable chill ran down her spine.

She quickly used the rice ball in her hand to intercept the tempura. “Thank you, Iori-san~”

“Then, Ayane-san, you too…” Shigure started to offer another piece of shrimp tempura to Ayane, but she seemed to sense Ayane’s incredibly potent aura at that moment, an energy that made her difficult to approach… so she temporarily abandoned the idea.

Shion had no choice but to try and smooth things over for Ayane. “Ayane isn’t particularly fond of shrimp tempura, it seems! Shigure-san, please go ahead and eat it yourself!”

For some inexplicable reason, Shion felt utterly restless throughout the entire meal, as if sitting on pins and needles.

It was the first time she had ever so eagerly anticipated finishing her food and hearing the bell for class…