Chapter 5 – Laplace’s Mini-Demon
1
His body was shaking. Being shaken.
“Wake up! It’s morning!”
Sakuta answered his sister’s call by sitting up.
“Morning.”
“Good morning!”
He rubbed his eyes.
“Uh, Kaede…”
“Yes?”
“There’s this thing called summer vacation…”
He was allowed to sleep in today. The only people who woke up bright and early on the first day of vacation were small children headed out to do radio calisthenics.
“But that’s tomorrow!” Kaede said, looking baffled.
“……”
What did she just say?
“No, it’s today.”
“No…definitely tomorrow.”
He grabbed his clock. The digital screen said July 18. Friday. If Sakuta’s memories were correct, that should have been yesterday…
July 18 was, like Kaede said, not yet summer vacation.
It was the last day of the term.
“……”
Just when he’d thought he was safe, the day was looping again. The first time since June 27.
But somehow, he wasn’t surprised.
Somewhere deep down, he may have had a hunch.
Something had felt slightly off during his time with Tomoe.
She’d seemed to be having a great time at the beach yesterday. They’d parted with a smile, like she had not a care in the world.
But that was exactly what was wrong.
It was too easy.
“……”
Sakuta got out of bed and went to the living room. He flipped on the TV, and they were reporting the results of last night’s pro baseball Fresh All-Star game.
The same thing he’d seen yesterday, on the first July 18.
It was weirdly comforting.
“Something wrong?”
“How would you like some watermelon, Kaede?”
“Huh? I’d love some.”
“I’ll make sure to bring a round one home.”
They ate breakfast, and he got ready for school.
“Have fun!”
Kaede waved him out the door, and Sakuta began his second July 18.
He ran into Yuuma on the Enoden.
Yuuma came over and grabbed a strap next to him.
“You got summer plans, Sakuta?”
“Work.”
“Koga’s there, too!”
Exactly as he’d remembered it. Even Yuuma’s grin was the same.
“You, Kunimi?”
“Work, practice, dates.”
“The essence of youth.”
“You’re one to talk!” Yuuma laughed and bumped his shoulder exactly as he had before.
Everything was just like the first July 18.
Sakuta and Yuuma split up at the shoe cubbies, but instead of heading upstairs to class, he headed right to Class 1-4. Tomoe’s class.
He looked around the room and found her right away. She was at a table with Rena, Hinako, and Aya, chatting away happily.
Hinako spotted him and nudged Tomoe.
She looked surprised. But then she joined him in the hall, looking slightly self-conscious.
“You can’t just drop by my class!” she said, checking to see if anyone was watching.
“I know, but I don’t have much choice.”
The situation was what it was. Best to touch base right away.
“Did something go wrong?” he asked.
As far as he knew, everything had gone great. Exactly as planned, everything working out. They’d made it all the way to summer vacation without anyone the wiser. All Tomoe had to do was tell her friends she’d dumped him. That information would spread through the school without any further help from them. It should all have been over.
“Why?” Tomoe asked, confused.
“Um.” Sakuta paused. Her reaction wasn’t adding up. She didn’t seem the least bit worried.
“We’re looping again.”
“Huh?” Tomoe gaped at him.
That clinched it. She definitely didn’t know.
A shudder ran up his spine.
“This is the second today, right?”
“…No,” Tomoe said gravely.
“So wait. This is your first time?”
“Yes,” she answered, looking him right in the eye.
The bell rang, signaling the start of homeroom.
“Right. Well, forget I said anything.”
“After school?”
“As planned.”
“R-right.”
“Later.”
Sakuta turned to go. Tomoe waved after him, looking a little worried.
After the end-of-term ceremony, they had the final homeroom, and the teacher handed him the report card. He already knew what it said. His grades hadn’t changed. The vague comment addressing his fight with Maesawa was there, too.
“I know it’s summer, but don’t get carried away and hurt yourselves.”
With these thoughtful words behind him, Sakuta left Class 2-1. Class 2-2 had wrapped up already, so there were only a few people still in the room.
No sign of Rio Futaba. She was probably where she always was.
Sakuta headed for the science lab and found her. She was writing a formula on the blackboard.
He launched immediately into an explanation of the time loop.
“What do you think?” he asked at last.
“Azusagawa, are you insane?” inquired Rio, turning around.
“Why, exactly?”
“The fact that you even have to ask…”
“Please elaborate.”
“A child could get this one.”
“……”
Children these days were very perceptive. The country’s future was secure.
“If you’re right and that first-year…”
“Tomoe Koga.”
“If she’s Laplace’s demon, then the answer is obvious.”
“It is?”
“What’s the key difference between July 18 and July 19? Any changes to, say, her relationship with you?”
“……”
Her observational skills were something else. Sakuta hadn’t explained a thing about his fake relationship contract with Tomoe, but Rio seemed to have it all worked out.
“I knew you wouldn’t keep something like that going indefinitely.”
She knew him well.
“Azusagawa, are you sure you haven’t noticed?”
“Noticed what?”
“The reason she rolled the dice again.”
Sakuta looked up at the ceiling, avoiding Rio’s gaze.
“……”
He wasn’t completely clueless. Given the choice between having clues and having no clues, he would have to say the former. But that was a far cry from actually knowing.
“But this time around, Koga doesn’t know it’s the second time.”
That was what confused him.
She’d looked genuinely surprised, and that was terrifying. A chill in the pit of his stomach.
“Hmm… Then maybe it’s what I originally said, and you’re the demon.”
Rio didn’t seem interested either way. But as ready as she was to call him a demon, she didn’t seem to believe what she was saying. It was more like she put it out there for the sake of argument.
“I’m not.”
“Then there’s only one other possibility.”
“Only one?”
“Yes. She’s lying.”
Sakuta did not disagree.
Sakuta left the science lab, met Tomoe at the station, and headed for the beach. Just like last time, they ate corn on the cob and yakisoba, made castles on the beach, bought shaved ice, and had fun swimming.
Tomoe seemed to enjoy it all.
On the way home, she thanked him for everything. Their handshake at the end was the same as the first July 18.
Nothing changed.
If tomorrow came, he’d have nothing to complain about.
But when Sakuta work up the next morning, it was Friday, July 18, again.
His third last day of the term.
Sakuta’s summer vacation just would not arrive.
On June 27, he’d escaped without a fourth round.
Based on that experience, Sakuta started out the day the same way. Wondering if maybe there was a three-day limit.
Unaware of the loop, Tomoe had a great time at the beach again.
2
But Sakuta’s faint hopes were dashed when the fourth July 18 arrived.
Clearly, the only way out of this was to banish Laplace’s demon.
He got on the train like always and ran into Yuuma yet again.
“Yo.”
“Mm.” Sakuta answered Yuuma’s pleasant smile with a scowl.
Yuuma grabbed a strap next to him, unperturbed.
They watched the town go by for a while.
“Kunimi,” Sakuta said, at last.
“Mm?”
“You’ve got a girlfriend.”
“And I’m grateful for it.”
“What would you do if another girl had feelings for you?”
“……”
A look of caution appeared in Yuuma’s eyes.
“What would you do if you realized how she felt?” Sakuta asked.
“Who are we talking about?” Yuuma gave him a sidelong stare, probing.
“Purely hypothetical.”
“Sure it is.”
Sakuta had included no specifics, but Yuuma was taking this awfully seriously. That suggested only one thing.
Yuuma knew exactly how Rio felt.
That was why he was giving Sakuta’s question the gravity it deserved.
“Does she…know I know?”
“Not at the moment.”
Neither checked to see who they were talking about.
“At the moment,” Yuuma proceeded, wincing. “I don’t want to dig up feelings when she’s hiding them.” He kept his gaze on the sea in front of them.
Squinting into the light.
“I feel like it would just be conceited, you know? Like, who do I think I am?”
Yuuma was choosing his words carefully.
“But I don’t think letting things stand as they are is healthy in the long run. What should I do?”
“I’m the one asking.”
They reached Shichirigahama Station without either of them finding an answer.
All students gathered in the gym for the end-of-term ceremony. Sakuta’s fourth time sitting through it. His fourth time hearing the principal’s speech, so he tuned it out, thinking about something else.
About Tomoe.
He could see her sitting with the other first-years.
She must have sensed him watching, because she glanced back.
When their eyes met, she looked surprised. But then she smiled.
When he saw that, it felt like everything was falling into place.
Yes. She’s lying.
Tomoe was lying.
After school, Sakuta and Tomoe met up at Shichirigahama Station and rode three stops to Enoshima Station, talking about their grades.
They walked down the bricks of Subana Street to the sea. They used the tunnel to cross under Route 134.
And Sakuta went straight on to Enoshima.
“Senpai? The beach is this way?”
Tomoe pointed left. The Eastside beach, with all its stalls and lockers. To the right was the Westside beach.
“This is my fourth today.”
“So you’re sick of the beach?”
“Glad you read the air so well,” he said.
He stepped onto Benten Bridge.
“We’re going to Enoshima?” Tomoe asked. She caught up, light on her feet, and leaned in to look at his face.
“We never made it there on our first date, did we?”
“Oh, right.”
They’d stopped halfway across the bridge, and Tomoe had spotted a classmate in trouble. That girl…Nana Yoneyama had lost a phone strap. She and her friends had all bought matching ones, so she’d been desperate to find it.
“The island. The sky. The ocean.”
Ahead of them, the sky and sea framed Enoshima. Those three things were all the eye could see.
Tomoe reached out her hands as if trying to reach the sky.
There was a kite wheeling through the air above. This bird was often responsible for beachgoers losing their meals.
The bridge was over four hundred yards across, and when they finally reached the other end, they were met with the usual tourist-trap array of souvenir shops, as well as stalls run by local fishermen. This place was bustling this time of year.
Once through the torii gate, the path went uphill—and wasn’t exactly a gentle slope. The road narrowed, the look evoking days of yore. On either side were shops selling all kinds of things, from whitebait (a local specialty) to colorful wallets with metal clasps.
They passed a college couple sharing a giant rice cracker with an octopus baked into it.
Sakuta felt eyes on him.
“All this stall food is bad for you,” he said, but he handed the stall owner some money.
“I’m starting a diet tomorrow.”
“Oh?”
They talked as they waited for the octopus cracker to fry.
“This is huge!” Tomoe marveled. It was bigger than their heads.
They continued up the path, taking turns breaking pieces off the cracker.
Ahead of them was a towering staircase with a red torii gate in the middle. Above that were the three shrines of Enoshima Shrine.
Sakuta and Tomoe stuffed the rest of the cracker into their mouths while outside the gate, then made their way up the stairs.
This was hard enough work that they both fell silent, focusing on keeping their feet moving. By the time they reached the first shrine, Hetsumiya, they were both out of breath.
“My legs are quivering.”
“But you’re a first-year!”
“What’s that got to do with it?”
“You have youth!”
Once they caught their breath, they both paid their respects.
“Koga, they got wish plaques for matchmaking.”
There were a ton of wooden plaques dangling from the stands around the matchmaking tree.
“Let’s write one.”
“Huh? Isn’t that lying to the goddess?”
Sakuta ignored Tomoe and bought an ema plaque from the shrine maiden.
“S-Senpai!”
The maiden must have thought Tomoe was just embarrassed. She gave her a big smile.
Sakuta borrowed a pen and wrote his full name inside the heart. Sakuta Azusagawa.
“See?”
“It’s bad luck!”
“We were ready to go to hell the moment we decided to fool everyone.”
“I was, sure. But I don’t want to drag you down with me!”
Tomoe hesitated, then flipped the plaque over. The backside of it was a list of types of relationships the prayer would affect. And the first one was “unrequited love.”
He heard her gasp.
Tomoe hesitated for a moment, then took the pen. She wrote Tomoe Koga in round letters next to his name. Sakuta snatched it out of her hands and started tying it to the racks at the matchmaking tree.
“Senpai! We can’t put a lie in with all these real prayers. I’m taking this home with me.”
She tugged his arm, desperate to stop him. He was worried the shrine maiden might overhear.
“I’m the only one lying here, so we’re good.”
“Huh?”
Her arms went limp. Sakuta seized his chance and finished tying the plaque. It would be pretty hard to get it off.
They climbed more stairs in silence, like this was a religious exercise. They paid their respects at Nakatsumiya, with its distinctive red pillars. A little farther on, they found themselves at the base of the landmark observation tower.
Sakuta and Tomoe passed right by it, heading for Okutsumiya at the back of the island.
An old-fashioned stone-paved path, quite narrow. It definitely set the mood. Stairs frequently took them up and down, and there were several souvenir stands, Japanese sweet shops, and restaurants.
It was like something out of an old movie. It had that pleasant, comfy vibe you get when everyone knows their neighbors. The occasional cat scurried past, and Tomoe tried to pet them all, but to no avail.
“Senpai, earlier…”
“Mm?”
“The matchmaking tree.”
“……”
“Oh, never mind.”
“……”
He knew what she wanted.
She wanted to ask about what he’d said earlier.
“I’m the only one lying here, so we’re good.”
He could tell this was eating at her, but Tomoe kept her mouth tightly shut. They reached Okutsumiya without her saying another word.
They paid their respects in silence. He glanced at her profile as she clasped her hands together, and she looked very serious. What was she praying for?
The path grew even narrower. They went down a long, narrow staircase and reached the Western edge of Enoshima—Chigogafuchi.
A rocky marine plateau a little over fifty yards wide, where the waves mingled with the rocks, smoothing the surfaces. Supposedly, this place rose out of the water during the Great Kanto earthquake.
It was a clear day, and they had a great view of Mount Fuji. It was a sight to behold.
The sea breeze eased their exhaustion. Lots of other couples had stopped to gaze at the strange formations nature had created.
“Hinako said this place is lovely at sunset,” Tomoe said, with both hands on the rail.
She’d probably figured it out.
Why he’d invited her to Enoshima.
And why he’d said what he said.
And she was pretending she hadn’t noticed.
“Let’s go.”
“Mm.”
Her answers were getting shorter and shorter.
They headed back the way they’d come in silence.
Neither of them said much.
The path up had been a real workout, but it was much easier going down. They passed through that first torii gate again, into the bustling shopping area. Stall keepers called out to them, but they kept moving, leaving Enoshima behind.
On the way back across Benten Bridge, they had a clear view of the beaches in either direction. The orientation was reversed, and the Westside beach was on their left, with the Eastside beach on their right. The sun was high in the sky to the south, and the beaches were packed. A decent number of Minegahara students must have come straight here after the end-of-term ceremony. Like Sakuta and Tomoe had planned to do.
“Senpai, you still wanna hit the beach?” Tomoe asked, looking along it. “I am wearing a swimsuit under this.”
There was an excited bounce to her voice. She sounded just like her usual self.
That made up his mind. Sakuta stopped in his tracks.
Tomoe noticed a moment later and turned around three yards away, shooting him a puzzled look. They were right in the center of Benten Bridge, surrounded by ocean.
“Senpai?”
“Koga, the lie has to end.”
“Huh? Oh yeah. Today’s the last day.”
“Not that one.”
“…Senpai? You’re scaring me.”
She gave him a baffled look.
“……”
But Sakuta didn’t relent.
“Uh…what’s going on?”
“You think I didn’t notice?”
“What are we talking about?”
“It might have been fake, but we’ve been going out for three weeks.”
“……”
“You once said I can read the air but don’t.”
“You’re being really weird, senpai,” she protested, at a loss.
“You don’t have to say it for me to know.”
“……”
“You know it’s true,” he said.
She’d met his gaze this whole time, but now she hung her head.
“No matter how many times your roll the dice, people’s feelings don’t change.”
“……”
“A lie won’t become the truth, and the truth won’t become a lie.”
In response, Tomoe tightly gripped the sleeves of her uniform. Like she was barely holding on.
“…Even after a hundred times?” she croaked, staring at her feet. The sea breeze snatched her words away.
“No.”
“……Even a thousand?”
Her voice shook.
“Nope.”
“Ten thousand?”
“You could go a million times. I’d still be in love with Mai.”
“……”
“And no matter how many times we repeat, your feelings won’t change, either.”
“……”
“……”
A weighty silence settled over them.
Large drops of rain began falling, and the dry ground turned dark.
He looked up, and the sky was still blue. It was a sun-shower.
“You’re a liar, senpai,” Tomoe said, her voice almost lost in the patter of the rain. “…Feelings do change.”
The drops were so big they hurt, and the volume of them was only getting worse.
“Each time we repeat, they get stronger. Grew stronger.”
Her voice hoarse, Tomoe admitted the lie she’d told herself. Tomoe knew they were repeating the day. She knew it but had acted just like she had the first time. The second and third passes through July 18, she’d had a great time at the beach as if she had no idea. But it was all an act.
All to hide these feelings.
“I knew I had to forget, but I couldn’t. Each time I thought, ‘This time I’ll do it.’ But it didn’t work. No matter how much I wanted not to feel this way!”
The quaver in her voice hit Sakuta like a knife to the chest.
All the emotions she’d had bottled up inside her were starting to come out. These feelings were so very human. No demon could have anything like them.
“We were supposed to have a great time on our last date and end the fake relationship with a smile. And after we broke up, you and Sakurajima were going to get together, and when second term started, I was going to tease you mercilessly about it.”
“Koga…”
“And we’d be friends. The kind of friends who can talk about anything. You’d be an older friend I could rely on. And I knew you’d like that, too. We’d talk about everything that happened, even this fake relationship, like it was all a lot of fun. And we’d stay friends forever!”
Tomoe looked up, tried to smile, and failed.
“That’s what I want.”
The pain on her face squeezed at his heart.
“That’s all I want. I didn’t want anything special. I didn’t want to be selfish. I didn’t want to make trouble for anyone. So… So why won’t tomorrow come?!”
“……”
“I made up my mind to put an end to these feelings, so why do I wake up in the morning to find them even stronger than the day before?!”
Because that’s how it works. Hiding them deep within you doesn’t make them go away. They aren’t going to just fade out. Those feelings live on in the depths of your heart.
The more you try to deny them, the harder it is to get them out of your mind.
“This is just awful…”
Human memories and feelings aren’t digital. You can’t erase them with the flip of a switch. They aren’t like phone numbers, e-mail addresses, or app IDs. You can’t just hit delete and be done. Humans are bound together in other ways. The three weeks Sakuta and Tomoe had spent together had connected them.
“I made up my mind to get rid of these feelings. I made that choice!”
“You don’t have to do that.”
“I do!”
Tomoe lived the way she did. No matter how much doing so made her suffer.
“I mean, you’re in love with Sakurajima! I’m just in the way. These aren’t feelings friends have! A friend has no business feeling like this!”
That was what Sakuta had asked of her.
“When the lie ends, we stay friends.”
Tomoe had made up her mind to hide her feelings so she could live up to that request. She had no other choice. She didn’t want to be a burden to him.
That’s why she’d said nothing and tried to handle it on her own. Tried to stifle her feelings. Make it like they were never there. That was what she had to do to be his friend.
To be by his side, as a slightly younger friend, a cheeky little kohai.
But her feelings wouldn’t cooperate, and trying to make it all work the way she wanted proved impossible.
Some emotions are too strong to control. And we don’t always fully understand our own feelings.
This might be the first time Tomoe ever had to face emotions like these.
Their relationship had begun as a lie.
But before she knew it, her feelings were true. They’d become real.
Even so, it was a lie, so she’d taken the day of the breakup in stride…but those true feelings stayed with her. Powerful emotions locked inside, unresolved. Unable to air them out, trapped in the darkness inside her, those feelings pleaded with her.
But Tomoe wouldn’t let herself listen. If she let her emotions out, it would make trouble. Trouble for Sakuta. To be the Tomoe Koga he wanted her to be, her only option was to kill these feelings. To trample them down, to bury them inside.
This was painful, devastating, and inescapable. It awakened the sleeping demon within.
This was the demon’s true form. It was the Tomoe she’d trapped inside herself. The part of her that didn’t want summer vacation to come. That wanted to keep dating Sakuta, even if it was a lie. That hoped tomorrow would never arrive.
But even then, Tomoe stayed silent, trying to forget him. Tried to make it so this never happened. That’s why she’d lied.
“Koga.”
When he spoke, she flinched.
But even if this hurt her, he had to say it.
“You’ve been making trouble for me the whole time.”
“You’re so mean…”
“You just noticed?”
“I don’t like you. I hate you! This is all your fault! If you hadn’t been so damn nice to me…”
“Yeah. So you don’t need to worry about being a burden.”
“I hate myself, too. This isn’t who I am!”
“It is, though. This is part of you, Koga.”
“No! It’s not me! I want summer to come! I want to be friends with you, have fun, laugh together! That’s all I want!”
Tomoe still hadn’t shed a single tear. Her eyes glistened as she looked back at him. Like if she let the tears flow, it would all be over.
“Don’t lie to yourself anymore.”
“……”
“You’re the schoolgirl of justice, remember?”
“That’s not fair. If you put it that way…”
“There’s nothing you can’t do, Koga.”
“That’s not fair. You’re not fair.”
“You don’t need to bottle it up anymore.”
“You’re so dumb! You’re an idiot! I hate you! I can’t stand you! But…”
The pain in her voice was clear.
“But…I also love you.”
The tears welled up.
“I love you, senpai.”
She sniffed, then took a deep breath.
“I love you!” she shouted. Letting all the emotions she’d trapped within free. Unleashing all of them, right in his face.
A torrent of pure emotion echoed across the sky.
“Koga,” he said softly. As gently as he knew how.
For a moment, Tomoe tried to hold back the tears. But Sakuta’s words wouldn’t let her.
“Well done,” he said.
Her face crumpled. The tears flowed, glittering on her cheeks.
“Good job.”
She sobbed wordlessly. The ground at her feet turned wet from her tears.
The blue sky watched them without a word, clear as far as the eye could see.
The sun-shower had long since stopped.
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