Hikaru on page 4, Shiori on 7, Sakurai twins on 8, Raku on 9, Miyu on 10, Satoru on 11, Shu on 12, Rena and Nazuna on 13, Hiroyuki on 14, Reika on 16, Miharu on 17, Toru on 18, Usagi on 19

Soon after we step out the hallway, we find flashy stairs of a polka-dot pattern. It seems to enable us to descend the basement floor. This school...the Ultimate Academy is definitely too much for sixteen students.

Yui: Are we gonna go down?

Hikaru: Of course!

Basement Floor

There is an empty concrete-made hallway with several doors. It looks stern, but it doesn’t seem like a dangerous place.

Hikaru: Yui, why don’t we look around this place? Here can be an exit...or a new friend!

Yui: Yes...!

I don’t think we can find an exit so easily, but I want to nourish the hope.

We open a pair of brown double door to find a library.
There is a monitor-like device here as well, but what stand out even more are the books piled so high on the moss-covered floor that they cannot all fit in the shelves.

Yui: Wow...How many books are here?

This is overwhelming me, surrounded by books and the smell of old papers on all sides.

???: Impossible to count, huh? But I wanna try to put all the contents of these books in my head, just to know my limitation.

Suddenly, a voice replies. Turning around with surprise, I see a girl appears from a shadow of a book shelf. She looks a little...shocking, clad in full purple clothes with gaudy badges like armor. Also, it is painful to see uncountable piercings on her ears.

Raku: Sup? Name’s Raku Kugiyama, I do something like the Ultimate Memory Athlete. Nice to meet ya.

The girl shows a smile, which looks a bit impure due to her dark rings under her eyes. Purple pigtails with twinkle gems softly rolls. She seems...friendly more than I have imagined.

Yui: Well, what is a memory athlete?

Raku: Okay, so do you know memory sports? Simply put, it’s a competition of ability to remember things! People memorize lots of numbers or names, and compete in terms of quantity, accuracy, and then speed. Raku was kinda certified as an Ultimate after makin’ a somewhat good record in the world competition.

*The boy* who I still cannot remember drifts into my thoughts. Maybe Hikaru beside me also thinks about his own circumstances.

Yui: You must have a great memory. That’s cool.

Raku tilts her head, letting out a thoughtful hum.

Raku: Not really. Or should I say, it’s pretty bad?

Hikaru: Huh? What do you mean?

She gives me a lopsided grin.

Raku: I’m forgetful, actually. Every memory in me is kinda extreme with me. Like, the important stuff, I can never erase it. But the trivial stuff? All of it just slips away.

As I realize I might have said something insensitive, I worry about her feelings.

Yui: I see...I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said it without knowing.

Raku: No, no, no, don’t sweat it! There’s nothing to apologize for.

“Okay?” Raku’s voice is warm and reassuring. Then she adds.

Raku: Well, Raku honestly thinks it’s pointless to dwell on the things forgotten. What’s gone is gone. If anything, remembering things can be a burden. You know, throwing yourself into the present is way more fun than clinging to the past, isn’t it?

The words come out flippantly, yet carries peculiar sharpness which only truth possesses.

Raku: It’s uncertain what’s gonna happen, but this place sure looks like fun, doesn’t it?

Though I can’t quite nod along to that...she is turning out to be far more easygoing than my first impression.