The world was… normal.
Or at least, it wore a good mask.
Kaito sat in classroom 3B of Sakuragawa High School, third seat from the back near the window—the cliché anime protagonist seat. The teacher spoke about quantum recursion, and the students jotted notes obediently.
Except Kaito wasn't writing.
He was staring at the chalkboard.
Because every few seconds, the writing rearranged itself.
It didn't blink or glitch in a digital way. It flowed—like the chalk marks remembered something different. One moment it said "Temporal Compression." The next, it said "Echo Retention Protocols."
And then it went back.
No one else reacted.
Except him.
During lunch, he wandered the courtyard, poking at the vending machines with absent curiosity. Most dispensed drinks or snacks.
But one—
One had a single item:
"Insert Memory to Begin."
He blinked, stepped back, and looked again.
It now displayed cans of peach soda.
Kaito rubbed his eyes.
Something was wrong.
In the hallway, he bumped into someone—literally.
A girl with dark hair, tied in a side ponytail, dropped her notebook. She looked up at him with wide brown eyes.
"Sorry—" he began.
But the moment their eyes met, something inside him twisted.
Her name came to him before she said it:
"Misaki."
She blinked. "How did you—"
"I… I don't know."
They stared at each other in stunned silence for a moment too long.
Then she smiled. "Do we… know each other?"
He opened his mouth.
Paused.
"I don't think so," he lied.
Because deep inside, he knew: this version of her didn't remember.
Not yet.
That night, he dreamt of the subway station again.
The vending machine.
"Insert Memory to Begin."
This time, he inserted something.
A sliver of light.
A name.
Misaki.
The machine swallowed it.
And then said:
"Welcome back, User: Kaito-0."
"System³ status: RECOVERY MODE."
"Warning: Observer anomalies detected."
He turned.
A figure stood just beyond the platform.
A girl in a hoodie.
One green eye.
One glowing blue.
Echo.
She raised her hand and whispered:
"You're starting to see it, aren't you?"
Kaito woke in a cold sweat.
His phone was buzzing.
A message.
No sender.
Just two words:
"Not real."
He dropped the phone.
The screen flickered.
For a brief second, it showed:
[SYSTEM³ – LOOP 2/5]
Then returned to normal.