NOVEL NEXT Chapter 88
“Won’t the others come looking for us?”
“Well, I told them not to come too deep.”
Emily and I leaned against each other in the dark forest, gazing up at the sky. The canopy of trees blocked the moonlight, but down here at the cliff base, the stars and moonlight managed to cast some soft light around.
‘…Enzo.’
As I looked up at the night sky, I thought about the dead guy. We weren’t friends, and in fact, he disliked me, so I didn’t feel much about his death.
‘But still, I suppose I should bury him.’
Essentially, all he ever did to me was drag me into that deserted island event. He hadn’t committed any direct evil acts, so I just felt bad that he died.
“Ken, are you okay?”
Suddenly, Emily, who had been looking at the night sky next to me, asked. She looked at me with worried eyes as if she had just remembered something.
“I’m fine, it’s just my ankle.”
“Not that.”
“Huh? What else is there?”
“Your cold! Just hours ago, you had a fever! And now we’re in this situation, are you really okay?”
Thinking about it, I realized I was just lying sick with a cold until a moment ago. It was definitely worrying to be stuck in a chilly forest without a campfire.
“Still, thanks to the deep sleep, I’m fine now.”
“Really?”
Despite my confident words, Emily looked at me suspiciously.
Then she naturally placed her hand on my forehead to check my temperature.
‘…Ugh.’
With her proximity, I could feel her warm body heat and sweet scent.
‘It’s dark, so my other senses become more sensitive…’
I couldn’t help but become more aware of her presence.
“Hmm, I’m not sure if my hand is cold or Ken’s forehead is warm.”
Emily pulled her hand away, looking slightly dissatisfied.
“Is it cold?”
I was a bit concerned about her comment. After all, there was no campfire, and her clothing didn’t exactly scream warmth.
At her worried question, Emily gave a shy smile.
“Hehe, it is definitely a bit chilly at night. But I can manage.”
She smiled brightly, trying not to worry me, but even under the moonlight, I could see her shoulders tremble slightly.
‘…She’s pushing herself too.’
Worrying about me while insisting she was fine despite being cold.
‘Something needs to be done…’
We still had a few days to drift around this deserted island. Getting a serious cold in an environment where I couldn’t use magic would make things worse.
So…
‘So this is… unavoidable.’
I convinced myself and shut my eyes tight, reaching out my hand.
“…Huh?”
I placed my hand on Emily’s cold shoulder and pulled her into my embrace.
“……”
In the blue moonlight, I saw Emily’s face turn red.
Her wide, surprised eyes stared at me, but she didn’t try to pull away. Instead, she wrapped her trembling arms around my waist and pressed her face against my chest.
‘My face must be the same way.’
My once-cool face now felt like it was on fire.
And my heart started pounding hard.
“It’s cold, so… there’s no choice but to endure this.”
“…Yeah. That’s right. We can’t catch a cold again.”
Understanding that this was the best option in the current situation, Emily nodded.
It was definitely an embarrassing situation.
But it seemed to be working. Sharing our body heat started to warm us up.
And then, thump, thump,
I couldn’t tell if it was my heartbeat or Emily’s, but the sound started echoing.
For a while, we melted into each other’s warmth in silence.
Emily’s trembling hands touched my skin, and her soft body pressed against me.
Then, Emily gently raised her head to look at me.
Her face, already pretty, looked exceptionally beautiful under the moonlight in this situation.
I couldn’t help but let my gaze wander toward her lips.
‘No, what am I thinking?’
I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to shake off the thoughts.
“Hey, um… Ken.”
“What, what?”
Did she sense my lewd thoughts? I replied while flinching at Emily’s call.
But unlike me, Emily had a serious expression.
Her eyes were glistening, as if she was suppressing emotions.
Emily was struggling to steady her racing heart which had started pounding since getting into Ken’s embrace.
‘Ken is… hugging me…!’
While she had clearly expressed coldness earlier, she hadn’t anticipated this outcome.
She had thought holding his shoulder close was the best option.
Ken pulled her into his embrace.
‘…Warm.’
At the same time, her face started burning with heat.
Suddenly, it was two people stranded.
Exchanging warmth under the moonlight, Emily thought it felt romantic.
‘No, Ken just did it because I was cold…!’
Ken was a kind person.
Surely, he must have acted out of pure kindness without any ulterior motives.
But, thump, thump.
The sound of someone’s accelerating heartbeat was becoming clear in Emily’s ears.
‘This is…’
For a moment she thought it was her own heartbeat, but she realized it was definitely Ken’s thumping heart.
‘Ken is… nervous too.’
It was undeniable proof.
Of course, he may have held her purely out of kindness, but in that embrace, he was equally nervous about her, feeling his heightened heart.
Emily nestled into Ken’s embrace, her face flushed and lost in thought.
The situation felt similar.
Last night, their chance had been ruined due to the sudden attack of insect-like monsters.
She felt an opportunity to finally say what she wanted to say to him.
Emily clenched her fists.
‘If not now…’
Ken was very popular at school.
He was originally attractive, but ever since he changed, other girls started flocking to him.
Remembering Mary, she felt now was not the time to hesitate.
Taking a deep breath, she lifted her gaze.
Their eyes met.
And just like that, Ken’s face flushed as he tightly closed his eyes.
‘……’
In that moment, a scene flashed through Emily’s mind.
His face, tightly shut when she used to tease him.
‘…It’s not right.’
She realized her thoughts were going astray.
Emotions welled up.
Before she could express her feelings that were overflowing, she recognized there was something she absolutely had to say.
“Hey, um… Ken.”
“W, why?”
How foolish! She had bullied him just because she liked him and was about to confess without an apology.
Suddenly, she felt pathetic about herself.
She shouldn’t have the right to confess without apologizing.
“…I’m sorry.”
Thanks to that, however.
She could pull out a difficult confession more easily.
“Um, w-what? Why so suddenly?”
Ken stammered, startled by Emily’s unexpected apology.
Given their prior history, he should have remembered the bullying, but he seemed to not think much of it.
‘Did I hug him out of nowhere…? No, but then why does my apology seem strange?’
Ken was confused.
He had no reason to receive an apology.
“I’m really sorry for bullying you until now… I shouldn’t have done that.”
But as tears began streaming down her face, Emily struggled to express herself.
Ken understood.
‘Now that I think about it, since the past has changed, I never apologized.’
He finally grasped why Emily was apologizing to him.
Though it had already ended for him, it remained a burden for her at this moment.
Thus, Ken gently smiled and wiped her tears.
“It’s okay. Just saying sorry is enough. I’m fine.”
“B-but… we can’t just let it go that easy.”
“You’re not bullying me anymore, right? So it’s fine.”
Emily’s reaction echoed their past when she struggled to accept Ken’s words.
Ken recalled his response from that fateful day.
“Well, how about this?”
He playfully laughed just like back then and said to her.
“Next time, just treat me to something delicious. I really love to eat.”
They had surely passed moments like this in the past.
And at Ken’s last words, both of them felt a dizzying sensation in their heads.
‘…Huh?’
‘…Didn’t this happen before?’
Tears still streaming down her face, Emily stared blankly at Ken, and Ken did the same with her.
‘What is this…feeling? …Déjà vu?’
A sudden influx of memories that hadn’t existed washed over their thoughts.
And with that emerging sense of familiarity came a slight gap in their memories, allowing many lost memories from the past to flood back in.
Ken realized this was the sensation of returning lost memories, just like Raphne experienced.
‘But I have no lost memories…?’
Ken found himself overwhelmed.
He hadn’t lost any memories since he was untouched by the alterations of the past.
And this confusion found its answer in the torrents of resurrected memories.
“I’m sorry, Ken. I didn’t mean to put you in a tough spot. …But it’s fine! It’s not gonna matter anyway!”
“So please, just let this slide just this one time. After today, when tomorrow comes, I won’t…”
Familiar faces from memories he’d never experienced began to rise up.
‘…I… am scared of dying.’
‘…I’m scared of suffering.’
The despairing image of Emily, trembling in fear and clinging to him.
And it was coupled with the memory of Ken’s voice responding with firm resolution.
‘…It’s okay. Emily.’
‘I’ll die with you.’
It was a story from a world that no longer existed.
‘…Right, I definitely existed in that time loop too.’
A surge of memories spilled forth from Emily’s apology, revitalizing long-forgotten moments.
The memories were from the moment Emily revealed the truth of the time loop during her sixth repetition.
Then came the voice of Emily from the past.
“Ken, I have a favor to ask.”
Forcing the long-buried memory, she had said,
“If I die this time, Ken will forget everything anyway, right?”
As those memories flooded back, Ken clenched his mouth shut, his face turning crimson.
‘Me… with Emily.’
The recollection of their lips meeting as tears slipped from Emily’s eyes resurfaced.
And he understood how the conversation had drifted to that point.
Emily trembling in fear of dying.
It all began with that sudden confession.
“Ken, I…!”
“I like you!”
“I actually like you as a man. I’ve liked you all along, and that’s why I bullied you.”
This had all unfolded after Ken discovered the despairing Emily.
As all the recollections came rushing back, Ken gazed into Emily’s startled face, now streaming with tears.
“Ken…”
At that moment, he understood instantly.
‘…Emily’s memory has returned.’
Her eyes were filled with warmth, exactly like before.
Just moments ago, Emily had cast him kind glances, but that look was inherently different now.
He felt the longing she held for him.
And seeing that expression on Emily awakened the truths about Ken’s own feelings.
‘It wasn’t because of that monkey stone or anything.’
Even if the past fades and memories dwindle, the feelings from that time remain.
Raphne, Mary, and Emily knew this to be true.
Ken had held questions as he pondered,
“Why does my heart race so much when I’m with Emily?”
He dismissed it as mere happenstance tied to the monkey stone’s influence.
“Fool, this is just a kiss.”
‘…C-can I ask for one more thing?’
“Please… say you like me.”
With those memories of the time loop revived, Ken realized.
Even back then, he held romantic feelings for Emily.
And that emotion had built steadily through all their past events.
Ken gazed at Emily, who seemed flustered and confused from the newfound memories.
Yet, despite her current turmoil, Ken couldn’t afford to mind her confusion as his heart raced feverishly.
“I like you.”
Emily’s eyes widened in shock.
“…You like me and bullied me?”
His face flushed as those words slipped out, making it undeniably about a story that had vanished with the previous loops.
“…K-Ken.”
Even with her head swirling with chaos from the reclaimed past, she realized.
Like herself, Ken had awakened forgotten memories from the loops.
And Ken didn’t miss the look of shock that marred Emily’s expression.
“I like you too.”
“…Huh?”
Ken recalled her final plea just before her death.
“Please whisper to me that you love me.”
In that moment of desperation, he wasn’t merely echoing her past request.
He earnestly conveyed his true feelings layered with all he’d felt until now.
Receiving Ken’s heartfelt declaration, Emily’s face suddenly turned beet red, and she muttered,
“…Huh! Huhu.”
Her mind overloaded as she fainted from the intensity.
“Oh no.”
Ken quickly recognized he’d just made the same mistake he had with Raphne.