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Takumi wasn't much of a reader. It wasn't that he disliked it, per se, it just wasn't a hobby he would willingly engage in. The only way to make it less enjoyable was to make it a necessity. Right now, he and Hiruko were scouring through seemingly infinite shelves of books in the school library, trying to find any possible hint on how to break the Cursed Cycle.
Hiruko was really determined, seldom breaking focus. She could analyze the contents of a book far faster than Takumi could. He expected that of her, given both her intellect and desperation to free herself. Unlike Takumi, she had spent her time in the cycle conscious of the other timelines. For Takumi, he was almost oblivious of it, only recently regaining his memories of other versions of himself.
It was hard to get any information out of it. He wasn't quite sure how Hiruko parsed through the information, or what would even be helpful to focus on.
Takumi lazily flipped through a picture book on the fauna of the area, growing increasingly confused at why the book was so focused on frogs, and why it was so mean to them. When he flipped the cover back around, the title of "Amphibians to Watch Out For" suddenly made sense, as it was not a guide excited to talk about all the different kinds of frogs, but rather one focused on warning about their dangers.
If Hiruko knew he was wasting time with frogs, she'd probably hit him over the head with the book. He quickly slipped it back on the shelf.
He looked over at Hiruko. Perhaps it was the boredom finally getting to him, but he spoke, breaking the silence.
"I'm not trying to pry, but I am curious. How exactly does your memory work?" asked Takumi.
Hiruko held onto the book she had taken off the shelf, frozen as if Takumi has caught her red handed. She crossed her arms.
"Why?" she probed. Takumi shrugged his shoulders.
"Just trying to make some small talk… I'm still processing that we've done this so many times before," he said. "There are so many jumbled memories in my head, I have a hard time discerning what's linear and what's not. Especially with the battles."
Hiruko sighed.
"That's because everything came back to you all at once, instead of methodically. It probably has to do with the difference between our minds and how we process information," said Hiruko. Takumi rubbed the side of his head.
"So… you're saying I'm disorganized?" he deduced.
"It's a comparison between the two of us, not an immutable fact," she said coldly. "There isn't any other data to compare to, it's not like anyone else has experienced this."
Takumi nodded his head. That did make a bit of sense. Though part of the confusion could be attributed to this being the first time all the memories came to him, from what Hiruko had explained earlier, it appeared she routinely acquired her memories every single loop. It was a difference in experience, or so he'd chalk it up as one.
He went back to looking at the bookshelves. It seemed like there was endless work to do. Some of the books were easy to scan, the titles on the spines indicating they were completely unrelated, such as cook books or or other sorts of manuals for particular tasks. Others he needed to flip through the pages for, particularly in regards to history or mythology. Though the stories may have been exaggerated, knowing what he did of the g'ie, the mythos was always based in something.
It was horrific. From his friends' dead bodies being reanimated, to himself and Nozomi being possessed and forced to kill the others one by one, it made sense that the g'ie were feared and locked away. It seemed things could end up so wrong from such inconsequential choices.
But that meant things could end up right too, if Takumi's logic was solid enough. It was hard to discern which memories were from which timeline, and thinking about them too hard gave him a headache. They weren't all bad; some of them were pleasant. From sharing a hot springs with his friends, to throwing fun parties, it seemed some of the timelines were more fortunate than others. But one moment in particular stood out to him, as fleeting as it was. His own lips brushed against that of another.
Hiruko.
Though he couldn't be a hundred percent sure, the moment he tried to discern the face of whoever had kissed him, his mind had raced to other instances of kissing and caused him to brace himself against the bookshelf to keep himself from falling over.
But that lavender scent… He'd never forget it, even if the rest of his memories were fragmented.
He looked over at Hiruko, who was deep in thought as she thumbed through a book. The two of them had been spending long time together, hopping timelines and looking through books. But if the kiss really was with Hiruko, that meant they had to be at least this close, of even closer.
… Were they close enough to be able to kiss? The thought made Takumi feel a bit dizzy. He wasn't great at judging that kind of thing, though from all the other vague memories of kissing perhaps he was, and hadn't unlocked that skill yet.
He just had to know, but he didn't want to come out and say it, lest he be completely wrong.
"I was wondering… With all the timelines, some pretty crazy stuff happens, right?" asked Takumi.
"Mhm, yes, like the killing game." Hiruko didn't bother to look up at him.
"There was a killing game?! Please tell me it wasn't Darumi's doing," Takumi sighed. That girl was always going on and on about how she wanted everyone to partake in one of those games where they'd be forced to kill each other.
Hiruko snapped her head around.
"You have such a low view of her… But no, it wasn't her fault in the slightest. It was that of a truly sadistic being," said Hiruko. Takumi nodded his head. Did that mean none of them had started the killing game? He supposed that was plausible. None of the other students wanted everyone dead, except maybe Eito.
"I was only asking because…" Takumi paused. He didn't know how to phrase his question without offending Hiruko. She had a cold exterior, but deep down he knew she could be a bit soft. She just needed to protect herself. "Since some of the timelines have completely different outcomes, I was just wondering if maybe there was a timeline where we ended up together?"
There was a brief pause. Hiruko hid her face from Takumi. His chest tightened up,
"You love to waste my time with pointless questions, don't you," muttered Hiruko.
"It's not like we're doing anything else right now. I can multitask." Takumi dropped the book as he yanked it from the wall, using a bit too much force to free it. He quickly bent over and picked it up, the spine no longer connected to the binding. He winced at the unfortunate damage to the book.
Hiruko rolled her eyes at him.
"It was stuck! That would have happened either way," Takumi whined.
The two of them were silent for a moment.
"Why do you ask?" Hiruko finally probed, scanning a new section of books. She sat with her legs off to the side to look at the titles on the bottom shelf, paying Takumi little visual attention. "Last I heard, you had feelings for someone else."
Takumi felt his cheeks flush red.
"H-how did… Who told you that?!" Takumi exclaimed.
"You did," said Hiruko, nonchalantly. She flipped her hair over her shoulder, and looked at Takumi. She stood up from her almost seated position, and rose to full height. "Though your question amuses me. You tend to fall for whoever bats their eyelashes at you in just the right ways."
Where he had been flustered before, Takumi was now thoroughly embarrassed. He didn't have every memory yet, but as he thought about it, his discomfort grew immeasurably as images of him with some of the girls, and a few of the boys, flashed to his mind. It seemed just about anything and everything was happening in these parallel timelines, and he'd have to do some soul searching later. He'd gone back in time to save Karua— Nozomi, his childhood friend, how had he ended up so disillusioned? This time was different, though, he was trying to save everyone else. And by everyone else… He was really saving Hiruko, and breaking her from the endless loop trapping her here. The irony of the situation became all too apparent to him.
"And have you done any of this eyelash batting?" asked Takumi.
"Wouldn't you like to know," Hiruko teased.
"Yeah, I would!"
Hiruko smiled at him in a way that felt more sinister than sweet. All Takumi cared about was that the sweetness was there.
She grabbed one of the paper back books, a thin one, and playfully tapped him on the head with it. Takumi frowned, and brought his hands up to put pressure on the part she hit.
"Hey!"
"Those books aren't going to read themselves. We've wasted enough time as is, I was hoping we'd finish this section by the end of the week."
Everything was purely business with her, wasn't it? Takumi sucked on his cheeks, trying to hide his disappointment. Maybe he was wrong, and he just wanted the person to be Hiruko. That would have been awfully embarrassing, especially if Hiruko knew the answer. It had to be in his mind somewhere. The more he tried to recall the memory, the more it seemed to disappear into little fragments, until the only part he could remember… was the lavender.
Oh…
Takumi smiled to himself, and looked over at Hiruko. She had buried her face in a book, a slight blush escaping the shield at the top of her cheeks. She could be so cute, especially when she wasn't trying to be. Though now that he had more or less of a confirmation, the ball was in his court to make any sort of move. He'd just won more work for himself…
For Hiruko's sake, he wouldn't make a big deal about it. If he was too annoying, she'd use it as an excuse to berate him and close herself off more. Though teasing her just one more time couldn't hurt…
"If we finish these shelves, maybe we can take a day off and go on a walk together?" proposed Takumi. He gave her a stupid grin, sounding just a bit too excited about his idea.
Hiruko buried her face deeper into the book.
"If."
It wasn't a no!