My heart stopped and I instinctively shut my eyes. The last thing I saw was the ceiling collapsing, and I didn’t quite fancy seeing myself getting crushed to death.

However, I remained conscious and felt no pain.

Did I die and go to Heaven?

I hesitated on whether or not I should open my eyes. I had no idea what waited for me beyond the darkness, and I wasn’t certain I wanted to find out.

Not even a second later, I gathered all the courage I could muster and took a peek at the world beyond. Although I wasn’t in Heaven, the sight in front of me was even more unbelievable.

I was still in the same spot as before, my lower limbs half stuck into the ground. However, our fate of being buried underneath the debris had been miraculously averted. I glanced around the ground level. Everyone seemed physically fine, though quite a few people had fainted from the shock. Their bodies were bent at the knees and collapsed in uncomfortable positions.

No one else was looking at the others though; everyone had their attention high above.

When I looked up, I, too, was mesmerized.

Above us, steel beams and pieces of concrete were suspended mid-air. In the middle of it all was a single girl, floating amongst the chaos, just like magic.

From this distance, I couldn’t discern what her expression was. But right away, I knew who she was.

Kotori Futaba.

My plain, run-of-the-mill classmate who blended in almost too perfectly, who was neither too boring nor too interesting.

There was no doubt that she was the one who had saved us. Nor was there any doubt as to what kind of being could produce such a miracle.

An angel.

I could feel the corner of my lips forming a grin at this realization.

Don’t tell me she was an angel all this time? Talk about a twist.

My thoughts jumped back to Ayumi. After all, this was the moment she had been waiting for her entire life. She wouldn’t miss this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

Only then did I remember I was still holding that very same girl in my arms.

“Oi, Ayumi…” I called out.

However, her limp body didn’t respond to my shaking, no matter how hard I did it. I peered at her face, but her eyes were closed as if she was sleeping.

Did she faint from the shock too?

I began thinking about other ways to wake her up when loud noise pierced the deafening silence of the gym. They came from one of the back walls where all the debris had been piled up while I wasn’t looking.

Then, a soft, almost inaudible voice echoed in the hall. “Now then. About time I take care of the children.”

image [https://i.imgur.com/F9v8Ods.png]

It was clear we weren’t supposed to be the receivers of that murmur, but in that silence, Futaba’s voice propagated to every corner of the gym.

Without warning, I felt my body being gently pulled up from the liquified floor. I grabbed onto Ayumi so she wouldn’t stay behind, but it appeared she was also affected by the same phenomenon. Eventually, both of our feet left the molasses-like floor. We were, without a shadow of a doubt, floating alongside everyone else.

I didn’t have much time to process the sensation. Our bodies were being moved through the air towards one of the gym walls. Everyone else, awake or fainted, congregated there. Without any input on our part, we were aligned against one of the walls. Ayumi was right next to me and Daichi wasn’t far off.

When I looked back at Futaba, she was swooping through the air, going to the mountain of debris in the corner. She stopped right in front of it. Without any effort or any movement of her body, the pieces began floating again. They moved up and arranged themselves back to their original locations, like pieces of a puzzle.

“Amazing,” Daichi exclaimed, cutting through the silence.

It was indeed nothing short of amazing; a true reversion of entropy.

Everyone was awestruck, and no one else dared to open their mouths. Although I also felt entranced by the supernatural show, another emotion had crept into me.

The one person who wanted to watch this more than anyone else is missing it. But her panicked face…

I looked back at Ayumi.

She wasn’t acting like herself.

A certain thought popped into my mind in a flash.

Maybe Futaba…

Only then did I truly become anxious.

After all, I had no idea when Futaba was going to activate her angelic “fainting powers.” When she did, it would be all over.

I have to talk to her before she does it. That’s the only hope.

After all the pieces had made their way to their original places, Futaba walked towards us.

Just from her gait, I was struck with the impression this was a different person from the plain girl I thought I knew.

A strong, yet gentle smile. A posture that exuded pride and elegance.

She was no longer Kotori Futaba. One could even say she was no longer human.

“Everyone, my apologies for the disturbance.”

Those were the first words the angel said to us.

“I had anticipated someone else would attend to this incident so I would not need to intervene. Alas, that was not the case.” She paused for a moment as if stopping herself from saying anything more. “Rest assured, everything should go back to normal soon enough. Once more, I extend my sincere apologies.”

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She bowed deeply. There was no doubt in my mind she was truly sorry for her initial lack of reaction.

Her voice was slow, polite, and warm. If any doubts remained that this wasn’t the Futaba we knew, they were dashed the moment she uttered a single word.

As if going off my thoughts, a girl from my class—one of the closest friends of Futaba—gathered enough courage to speak.

“W-Who are you?”

I couldn’t have asked a better question myself.

The angel seemed to have some trouble answering and took on a thinking pose.

Before she could respond, a clamorous fella answered for her.

“What? Isn’t that obvious? She’s an a-angel!”

Seeing Daichi’s nervous reaction, the angel produced an enigmatic smile worthy of being compared to the Mona Lisa’s.

“Yes, that is correct. Although you were never meant to discover that fact, naturally.” She paused and looked straight at Daichi. Being the center of attention made him shudder for once. “I must confess, though, you did startle me the other day with your jest about knowing an angel,” she said, maintaining that mysterious smile.

Daichi, not expecting this direct mention, could do nothing but look awkwardly at the ground.

Then another friend of Futaba’s gained enough courage to ask a question.

“Kotori… what just happened?”

“In simple terms, you could label it a supernatural incident,” Futaba replied, her expression turning more serious. “The ground began liquifying, causing the foundations of the building to weaken. This in turn led to the tremors and the subsequent collapse of the ceiling.”

“I don’t really get it… but thanks for saving us anyway!” the girl replied with a frightful smile.

“No need to thank me. I was only fulfilling my duty. I could not let humans die from such an occurrence unfolding in front of my eyes.”

The subtext of that last sentence… She meant what I think she did, right?

Thankfully, Daichi asked the question I didn’t dare pose. “Does that mean that you wouldn’t have saved us if this had been caused by an actual earthquake?”

“Of course,” she replied, her expression unchanging. “'Kotori Futaba would have met the same fate as you. Do not be mistaken. We are neither protectors of mankind nor agents of justice. We are bound solely by our duty. If that was the path decided for the world, it would have been my duty to abide by it.”

The angel’s words, despite sounding warm, were like sharp knives piercing our psyche. The cold realization that angels could be a force for both good and evil, following whims that no human could understand, hit us all hard.

But right now, I need that power to save Ayumi.

Oblivious to the mood shift—or maybe not caring—the angel spoke again.

“If everyone is content, it is time we return to the ordinary world. You shall forget all that transpired here, including my true identity. Nonetheless, I am sure we will all get along as well as before,” she declared as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

I can’t let this chance slip away!

“Please wait, Kotori,” I said as I stood up.

I was unsure what name to use, but before I knew it, my classmate’s first name came out. A bit ironic considering I never once called her that while she was her original self.

She turned her attention to me, her expression still soft, tinged not with anger, but curiosity. “Is something wrong, Takeya?”

Instead of answering her question, I stared straight into her sky-blue eyes. At that moment, they were a portal to the angel behind the mask of my classmate.

Somehow, I had to reach out to her.

“I need your help.”

The angel’s pupils dilated, just a bit.

Feeling ashamed, I dropped my head and stared at the ground. “Ayumi… lately, she’s not acting like herself. I know this sounds crazy, absolutely crazy. But I’m sure of it! It’s like she’s a totally different person. Everyone is saying I’m imagining it. I’ve tried to think of any possibility for her to change, but I can’t figure it out no matter what I do. I-I think this might be something otherworldly. I’ve already reached my limit. I can’t… continue facing her like this.”

I raised my head, and again, my gaze met hers.

“Please help me save her.”

If anyone can save her, it’s you.

But that last thought never came out.

I kept my gaze fixed on the angel, with my fists closed and trembling. Seconds that seemed like an eternity passed. She kept her ambiguous expression the entire time as if she was testing me.

Finally, her face broke into a more relaxed expression, and she spoke. “Very well, Takeya. I can tell your concern comes from the heart. However, if her changes were caused by an angel’s intervention or occurred naturally, there is nothing I can do to reverse them. At the very least, I can offer you closure. Please keep that in mind.”

I nodded weakly.

“I promise I will investigate as soon as I can. However, right now, I am pressed for time to return things to normal. I must attend to everyone’s memories, you see.”

“T-Thank you very much,” I said as I bowed.

“No need for that yet. Save it for when I can give you an answer.”

I straightened my back to find the angel had closed the gap between us. In fact, she was so close I began to feel fear that such a powerful being was right in front of me.

“As a token of our acquaintanceship, I will allow you to retain your memories until we meet again. I do hold you in high esteem, so I trust that you will keep what just occured to yourself.” She brought her index fingers to her lips. “I will know if you ever speak of today’s incident, so let us keep it between us, shall we?”

“A-Alright. Thank you.”

Ignoring her veiled threat, I bowed to her once again and returned to my place next to the wall. My classmates were staring at me, but no one dared saying anything.

“Everyone, I will now make you faint, then I shall eliminate your memories of this incident. Do not worry, I am a professional of many moons. See you on the other side.”

Not even a second passed before I blacked out.

My last memory was of my classmate’s gentle, yet enigmatic smile adorning her plain features.

After that, something that couldn’t be called a memory printed itself onto my mind. A bright, diffuse, and vaguely humanoid figure. Something like the rumors Ayumi had been spouting for ages.

A figure that, had I not known anything, could find myself calling an angel.

* * *

When my consciousness came back, I became painfully aware that the real world had also returned with it.

Literally.

A volleyball was hurling straight towards me, promptly hitting me square in the face. My glasses pressed against my face, then flew off somewhere. I lost my balance and fell butt-first onto the floor.

“Takkun?!” I heard Ayumi’s voice call out from the other court as I rolled around in agony.

It doesn’t feel like my nose is broken or anything… but it hurts like hell!

The teacher came to check on me while a small commotion ensued as I tried to get my bearings. The teacher bumbled a bit, but eventually ordered Daichi to take me to the nurse’s office.

After tending to me, the nurse said there wasn’t anything to worry about. He simply gave me an ice pack and sent me back to class.

When I returned to the gym, the teacher and a few of my classmates came to see me right away. Among them was Ayumi and a certain girl with dutch braids.

“No way you can keep playing like this, Hidaka. Just sit out the rest of the class. Next time, try to not zone out during a match.”

I thanked the teacher, and after reassuring everyone that I was fine, they returned to their respective games reluctantly.

I sat on the bleachers looking over the gym, but despite my privileged location I didn’t pay any attention to the games themselves. Instead, my focus was solely on our savior. However, her demeanor hadn’t changed in the slightest.

It was almost as if nothing unimaginable had happened today. Technically, it didn’t happen now that everyone was forced to forget about it.

When I got bored of watching the games, I went to the locker room to take a shower and returned home. I thought the surprises for the day would stop there, but they didn’t.

When I opened my gym bag to get dressed, I found a small handwritten note on top of my clothes.

Here’s my number so we can keep in contact.

Kotori ♥

How the heck did she open my locker?... Hold on. When did she even have time to pull off this stunt?

Feeling a bit embarrassed, I promptly stuffed the note in my pocket and made my way home.

Kotori Futaba… just who are you?