“Huh…?”
“Who are you exactly?”

The atmosphere changed. The air was so tense that we hesitated to even breathe, and our heartbeats accelerated.

It was just the two of us on the bed, it didn’t feel romantic in the slightest even though he was holding my arm to keep me from escaping and missing his charms. Still, I mustn’t let my guard down.

If he asked me whether I knew that Asami is a girl all along, then the answer is yes. But the question is, why did Amamiya think that I knew?

As if to hide my anxiety, I put my free hand to my chest and touched the rose brooch. Then I took a long breath and let it out slowly.

Calm down. It’s okay. I should have expected this much. It’s just that the other person was Amamiya. Well, it’s because this guy is particularly difficult to deal with.

“I’ve been thinking. You’re different from yourself.”

Amamiya looked at me with a probing look, and although I wanted to turn my face away and walk away, it was not a situation where I could do so.

“…What do you mean by different?”
“The you that I knew and the you I know now are completely different.”

The palms of my hands were slowly sweating unpleasantly, and my heart was beating loudly as if to admit to it.

It seemed to me that he was talking in a meaningful way, but without involving his belief. I’m sure he’s speaking with caution. I have a pretty good idea of what he’s trying to say.

“I want to know your secret.”

I cannot show my anxiety. At that moment, he would have the upper hand. I’ve been preparing myself for this. Even though my opponent is a man, I’ve gained a certain amount of strength, and when the time comes, I should be able to catch him off guard, shake off his grip, and escape. The training I’ve done so far has not been in vain.

And if it’s as I expected, this could be my chance.

“You’re different too.”
“Perhaps.”
“Can I ask you a question?”
“Go ahead.”

Maybe it’s because of the nervousness, my mouth was dry. The voice that came out of my mouth was stiff as if it belonged to someone else, and my lips did not open as I wished.

Even so, I still had to confirm it. Whether I was in luck or a crisis depended on his response to my question.

“Did you know that Asami Kanade was a girl the whole time?”

When I asked him the same question he had asked me earlier, Amamiya just smiled. In short, this seemed to be an affirmation.

“It sounds as if you have known me for a long time.”
“Yes. I knew of you all along.”

He had known me for a long time. I wondered how long? The first time we had a direct conversation was at the graduation ceremony of the middle school. It was the summer of my third year of middle school when I climbed a tree and my underwear was seen. If what he’s saying about “all along” is earlier than that, then is it…

“I known about you too. Maybe we are the same after all.”
“…Well…”
“Amamiya, please tell me clearly, not in a roundabout way.”

Amamiya, who speaks in a probing way, seemed to be trying not to miss my every reaction. I’m sure he is the same as me.

“What do you think about this world?”

Perhaps, I was not the only one who noticed that the actors were real. They were noticed by another person arbitrarily. I thought it was up to me, knowing that there was a script, to decide whether the ending was a comedy or a tragedy. But I wasn’t the only one who knew there was a script.

“It’s like a world in a book.”
“Just as I thought.”

As if the tension’s string had been cut, Amamiya let out a small breath and released my hand from his arm.
While holding my liberated hand, I thought of the Amamiya situation. If he was the same as me, it made sense that Amamiya was wary of me. Because the “Maria” that Amamiya would have known and the person I am now must seem quite different.

“You see, I…”

I waited for his next words patiently. I am now at the moment when the predetermined scenario changes once again. This scene absolutely never existed in the original story.

Amamiya looks at me with an expression as though he was deciding something. Those few seconds felt very long to me.

“I have memories of my previous life.”

Amamiya, who seemed to be convinced that I was the same as him, told me what I expected to hear. I was surprised to find that someone else had the same previous life memories as I did, but this was a good thing for me. I smiled and touched the brooch again.
Now, it is my turn.

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