The Empty Box and Zeroth Maria
Book 1: Chapter 25

I’m at our school entrance ceremony.

As I glance over at Haruaki where he sits yawning next to me in the gym, no longer able to feign interest in the principal’s speech, something occurs to me.

“Now that I think about it, Haruaki, weren’t you about to say something when I ran into you this morning?”

“Huh? …Oh yeah, oh yeah! I heard a rumor that one of the new students this year is really hot!” Haruaki slaps me on the shoulder and winks.

“Oh, I don’t really care about that. She’ll just be an underclassman anyway, so it’s not like I’ll have much chance to see her.”

“Are you an idiot?! Just looking at pretty girls is enough to make a man happy!”

I don’t want to believe this is how everyone sees things.

“So when did you hear that rumor, anyway? I mean, I haven’t seen any of the new first-years before this ceremony today.”

“That’s the thing. I got the info straight from Daiyan.”

Now, that I just can’t believe. I’ve never known Daiya to be one to talk about girls.

“You don’t believe me, do you? Well, there’s a good reason why only he would know. You’ve heard how Daiyan got only two questions wrong total for all subjects during his entrance exam, right?”

“Of course. He never lets anyone forget it, either. He says it was a new school record.”

“Welp, I’m afraid to say that record didn’t make it more than a year! Too bad, so sad, Daiyan!”

Haruaki could not look any more pleased as he delivers this revelation. There’s really nothing anyone can do for this guy…though I have to admit I understand why he’s so happy with Daiya’s misfortune.

“Okay, so what does that have to do with why Daiya knows about this cute girl?”

“You aren’t the sharpest, are you, Hosshi? This lovely lady got a perfect score in every subject and blew his record out of the water. One of the teachers apparently decided to tell Daiyan as the previous record holder. He even said the girl was so beautiful, she made a grown-up like him bashful.”

That has to be an exaggeration. Why would the teacher be nervous? This girl wouldn’t have even half his life experience.

The principal’s speech ends while we’re talking.

The teacher in charge of the ceremony takes the microphone.

“Thank you. And now we have an introduction from the representative of our new students this year…”

“Oh man, here she comes! The beauty everyone’s talking about!”

Huh, she must be representative because she’s top of the class.

Even I’m getting curious by now, so I scan the stage to see if I can spot her.

“Here is the representative for the new students, Maria Otonashi.”

…Maria Otonashi?

I swear I’ve heard that name before. No way—that isn’t possible. Besides, “Maria” was Aya Otonashi’s nickname.

“Yes.”

That voice sure does sound like Maria’s, though.

Oh yeah, now it all makes sense.

“Even if you forget everything, at least remember this: My name is Maria.”

Wow, I guess she was actually telling the truth.

…Wait. That means I was calling Maria by her first name the entire time…? Argh! Aaaaaahhh!

“…What’re you turning red for, Hosshi?”

Maria takes the stage with more grace than anyone in the room. Having lived for longer than everyone here, her dignity is already palpable.

Just her turning to face the front is enough to set the students abuzz.

I know that face well.

It’s the face of the girl who was beside me for so long.

Her uniform is brand-new.

Yeah, this is definitely out of the ordinary. I’ve never once thought of Maria as being younger than I am.

Maria casts her gaze over the crowd once she reaches the podium.

It stops on me for some reason, never wandering from there.

Then she smiles.

Simply put, my entire body goes numb.

Maria begins her speech, keeping her eyes on me the whole time.

The commanding tone of her voice brings the excited students to a hush.

“Hey, why does she keep looking this way? Oh, damn, what if she’s fallen for me?!”

I hear Haruaki’s joke, but I can’t take my eyes off Maria, much less voice a response.

I watch her the whole time.

Maria does the same.

“This concludes the greeting from Maria Otonashi, the representative of the new students.”

She steps down from the stage.

The moment she does, all the students go back to their previous level of commotion. Except, this time it isn’t just the students—the teachers are getting in on it, too.

No one is more rattled than I am, though. I’m sure of that.

Maria is coming this way instead of returning to where she was standing previously.

Her force of presence is so strong that the students before her automatically clear a path without a single complaint. And she’s following that path straight this way.

It’s leading to me.

Why am I not surprised? It seems Maria still hasn’t kicked all the habits she picked up in that other world. She never needed to think twice about her actions there, but things don’t work that way here.

I can practically see my precious normal life falling apart around me.

All I can do is laugh.

“Ha-ha…”

What a pain.

Yeah, it’ll be a huge pain, but…I won’t think of it that way at all.

The last students standing between us move aside. Haruaki, too.

The entire area around me has emptied as if I’m in the eye of a storm. Maria stands directly before me in this little bubble of space.

I never thought I would see her again, but when I think about it, there’s no reason to expect she wouldn’t seek me out. She’s on a mission to obtain a Box, after all, and with O targeting me, sticking close by is her best option.

Maria smiles.

She slowly parts her lips to speak.

“I think I made some declaration once saying I would always be beside you, no matter how much time passed, and it looks like that oath is still in effect.”

With that said, she stands straight and introduces herself properly.

“I am Maria Otonashi. Pleased to meet you.”

The new student bowed deeply, just as she once had so long ago.

And just as I had once done so long ago, I clapped my hands.

The sound of my hands coming together resounded through the gymnasium for a moment.

Then Haruaki, even though he didn’t really get what was going on, began clapping where he stood next to me. Someone else joined in. The sound of the clapping grew louder, though no one really knew why. In the midst of this sea of applause, Maria raised her face to look at us all.

She was no longer smiling.

She stood bravely, facing straight ahead with her fists clenched tight.

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