Alice opened her eyes and found herself sleeping on the couch with a blanket over her. Looking over to her left, Alice smiled when she saw that Kazuma was sleeping peacefully against the couch.

(I shouldn’t wake him…) She thought to herself.

Kazuma had then woken up moments later, and Alice panicked the second she saw his eyes open.

“Hm…? Alice? Sorry did I wake you?”

Alice shook her head.

“It’s fine… I just woke up myself.”

“Oh… is that so.”

Kazuma stretched as he yawned and rubbed his eyes.

“How are you feeling?” Kazuma asked. “Do you remember anything after what Edrian did?”

“Edrian!” Alice quickly turned to Kazuma for answers. “What happened to him?”

“Oh, right. You were unconscious during that time after all.”

“Eh? Unconscious?”

“Yeah. So what happened was…”

Kazuma explained everything to Alice about what Edrian had told him. How he was in relation to the Organization, and how Alice was tied into all of this.

“I still find it hard to believe though…” Kazuma sighed as he scratched his head.

“So to sum it up, Edrian was the one watching me this entire time, but coincidentally Galus had showed up instead. Not only that, Edrian knew the truth about my memory loss even though he is a part of the Organization, the same one that is after me…”

“I sure he wanted to make sure nothing happens to you. But he said there shouldn’t be anything to worry about. But about your memory, how do you feel? Do you remember anything?”

Alice closed her eyes and attempted to recall any of her missing memories. She then shook her head.

“Not much…”

“I see… well, I guess it might take a while before you can recollect then.” Kazuma replied as he walked to the stairs.

“I’m gonna go to bed since I’ve got school tomorrow—”

Before Kazuma could go up the stairs, he suddenly froze in place.

“Is something wrong, Kazuma?” Alice asked.

He slowly turned his head to Alice.

“Somehow, I feel like I’m forgetting something…”

Kazuma paused to think for a moment, and then it came to him.

“I didn’t do it… I didn’t do it!” He screamed.

Kazuma looked up at the time that read 12:00 am, and then rushed over to the dining table where his messenger bag was left as it is. He quickly pulled out notebooks from his messenger bag that had his homework assignments written in them. Alice, confused as to what was going on, shrugged and went back to sleep.

(Damn it, damn it all!) He thought to himself as he was furiously writing in his notebook.

The next day, Kazuma was in class with his face flat on his desk.

“Yo!” Makoto greeted.

His two friends, Makoto and Shinji, both saw Kazuma in the state that he was in.

“Whoa. Dude, are you like… okay?” Makoto asked him.

Kazuma slowly lifted his head and turned around. The first thing they noticed was how sleep deprived he was when he looked at them.

“…Guess not. Did you finish it all at least?”

“Well… I did finish the current assignments, but Tomika-sensei gave me half credit for the assignments that I didn’t turn in the last week, so I guess it’s not all bad.”

Kazuma pinched the gap between his eyes as he sighed.

“I stayed up until five in the morning to do the weekend homework she gave though…”

Shinji elbowed Makoto to grab his attention.

“See? Even I told Kazuma did the homework.”

“Yeah, yeah. We all did the homework. Not only that, I had to refill on my pocket change since that new Aoi-tan movie is coming out soon.”

Kazuma and Shinji stared at him for a while.

“Uh… something wrong?”

“I’m surprised that you actually got one.” Kazuma praised.

“…You don’t usually get that from Makoto, so I’d say it’s pretty rare.” Shinji explained.

“Thank you, thank you.” Makoto chuckled.

“So then, where’d you get the job?” Kauzma asked.

“I went and got one in Akihabara, a video game store to be precise.”

“Why am I not surprised. You’d probably thought to get one after coming to my house didn’t you.”

Makoto winked as he pointed finger guns at Kazuma.

“Figured. Also make sure you call next time… and don’t show up so early in the morning. School already wakes me up early as it is.” Kazuma complained as his head flopped back on top of his desk.

“Well it was all in good fun, wasn’t it? But I have to say though… you sure do have a lot of games.” Makoto said.

“Well… I had to sell my old stuff for new ones after all.”

“All of it?”

“Well… yeah. I did sell all of them. There isn’t any reason to keep the old ones if I don’t even have the system for it anymore.”

“True… but they’re pretty cool have still. I’d probably like to keep it for nostalgia. Even if I don’t have the system to play it, I’d probably want to play it on an emulator.”

“Though, I’d prefer the newer generation of games that we have now.” Shinji chimed in. “The ones that are coming out this year look very promising.”

“The newer games do have a interesting take on protagonists. I always like a good female protagonist in my game. They’re the best…” Makoto fawned with a weird smile on his face.

“I hope they make a sequel.”

“Hmm… yeah, but about that…” Makoto crossed his arms as he contemplated out loud. “How would you know if the sequel is any good? There have been complaints from people that say that sequels are a let-down compared to its predecessor.”

“Seeing is believing. You’d have to play it first to see if the sequel would be worth playing.”

“But then if it’s bad, you’d be playing into your own hell, wouldn’t you?”

“Ugh… so… god damn… tired…” Kazuma moaned.

He got up from his chair and walked towards the classroom door.

“I’m going to wash my face, hoping that it might help me stay awake for another half hour.”

“You better hurry, since class is going to start soon.” Shinji warned.

“Yeah, yeah I got it.”

Kazuma left the room, leaving Makoto and Shinji to talk amongst themselves.

“…Hey, what ever happened to Alice?” Shinji asked.

Reaching to the boy’s bathroom, Kazuma washed his face with cold water. But just when he was wiping his face he was startled at the sight of Edrian in the mirror. He quickly turned around and saw Edrian waving at him.

“Hey.” He greeted.

“Gah! E-Edrian?!”

Kazuma looked around to see if anyone was nearby.

“What are you doing here? And how did get here?”

Kazuma pinched the gap between his eyes.

“Wait. Never mind. Don’t answer that second question. Forget I even asked that.”

“Uh… are you ok? You look kind of tired.”

“Yeah, sleep deprivation. Not really taking it as well as other days, but I guess I can manage. Because you know… stuff happened.”

“Right…” Edrian cleared his throat. “Anyways I’m here to give you some news so is this a good time?”

“Not really, no. Not exactly the best time right now. I have to get to class soon anyways, so there isn’t much time for small talk.”

“Ah. Your own daily life, I see. Has Alice remembered anything yet?

“That, I’m not sure yet. So far, she said there hasn’t been any changes.”

“I see. Well, give it some time. Anyways, I’ll stop by at your place later?”

Kazuma shrugged.

“Sure.”

“I’ll see you then.”

Edrian walked through the magic circle and vanished. Kazuma sighed as he heard the school bell ring.

(Ugh. Guess it’s time for me to head back then.)

Through the countless lectures, Kazuma was able to stay awake through most of it, but when after school had come around, he was more than exhausted.

“F-Finally… it’s over…” Kazuma gasped.

He stretched his arms trying to muster up some energy left as he stood in front of the school gates with both Shinji and Makoto. Then the three of them began walking home together.

“Well at least you look a lot better than you were this morning.” Shinji commented.

“Man… only a few more months until summer. I wish it’d just come already.” Makoto whined as he waved his test around.

“If that were to happen we wouldn’t be standing here, now would we?” Kazuma replied.

“…We’d be frying ducks.” Shinji added.

The minute Shinji said that sentence, Kazuma’s stomach growled immediately.

“Please don’t say anything food-related…”

“No lunch again?” Makoto asked.

“Yeah… and I forgot my wallet at home. So convenience store is out of the question.”

Kazuma sighed as he looked up at the blue sky that had a couple of clouds that were floating around.

“Just my luck.”

“Oh yeah. By the way…” Makoto said as he turned to Kazuma.

“Hm?”

“What ever happened to Alice?”

“Huh? Oh. Uh well… about that…”

Kazuma’s eye twitched.

“E-Excuse me? Do you think you could you run that by me one more time?”

“I’m not going.” Alice stated as she laid her stomach on the couch.

“And why…?”

“Well that’s because, with me there, you’ll more likely encounter more magicians probably be in more danger. So I think it’s best for me to stay here.” Besides, that place is a hassle.”

“How can you be so sure? I thought Edrian already has that taken care of.”

“Well, you’ll never know when another Organization member will show up, right? It’s better to come prepared than never.”

“I-I guess you’re not wrong about that…”

“Not only that, but you’ve already shown that you are able to use magic like a normal magician. With that power, you’ll be able to protect yourself with any upcoming threats.”

“Y-You can’t be serious… I don’t even know how to use magic!”

“But you did that ‘Change!’ thing when we fought Galus didn’t you?”

“I didn’t even know how I even did it last time!”

Alice stood proudly on top of the couch with her hands on her hips.

“Don’t worry! Don’t worry! I remembered how you did it last time!”

“…Really?”

Alice nodded.

“Yep! So first you…”

Kazuma followed the same movements that Alice was reenacting when she saw him transform during the battle against Galus.

“…Then you yell out the word.”

“Huh… I see.”

“Try it out.”

Kazuma straightened out his upper and forearm while his hand faced outwards. At the same time, his left hand was holding onto the upper part of his right arm.

“Change!”

Alice waited as Kazuma kept his position. The two of them were hoping for something to happen, but after a while, nothing had changed.

“Hey, Alice…”

“…Y-Yeah?”

“Are you sure that this was the way that I transformed?”

“I’m sure it was…”

They waited for a while again, and still nothing had changed.

“…Nothing’s happening.” Kazuma said.

“That’s strange… it should have worked.”

Kazuma released his stance, and sighed deeply.

“Well, I guess there isn’t any we can do about it then.”

“Yeah… “

Kazuma took out his phone to look at the time.

“It’s this late?! I have to go.”

But just before he was about to run out the door…

“Ah. One more thing Kazuma…” Alice called out.

“Agh! What now?!”

“Make sure you don’t reveal your identity!”

“Yeah, yeah I got it. Ok, I’m off!”

Kazuma stared at his right hand while walking at the same time.

(I wonder why it worked before…)

“So does that mean she’s at your house then?” Makoto asked.

“Huh? Oh, yeah.”

“And you didn’t hand her over to the police yet?”

“Nope. I’m thinking of letting her stay at my place.”

“For free?!”

“Well, I guess since she doesn’t have anywhere to go. And might as well let her stay as long as she wants, I can’t really leave her out there homeless. She still has her youth and whole life ahead of her.”

“Well, look at you, Mr. Go-getter.” Shinji said as he elbowed Kazuma with a stoic expression on his face.

“It’s not like that. I just don’t know what the police would even do about it if I handed her to them.” Kazuma replied.

Makoto put his arm around Kazuma’s shoulder.

“Lucky, I wish I had a cute girl living in my house too.” Makoto said enviously.

“Come back asking that later in ten years. If you still have that same attitude from now, then we can talk.” Kazuma responded sarcastically as he moved Makoto’s arm off his shoulder.

After that sentence, Makoto had abruptly stopped walking. Then both Kazuma and Shinji had stopped walking along with him.

“Wait a minute… is today Monday?” Makoto asked randomly.

“Uh…yeah? Wait why…?”

Suddenly, Shinji had also remembered something the moment Makoto mentioned ‘Monday’. He turned to Makoto pointing his finger at him.

“…That’s right. It’s that day isn’t it?”

Makoto turned to Shinji pointing at him back.

“Right?!”

“Seriously, what is today again?” Kazuma asked.

“Miyakawa Mondays kitaaaa!” Makoto exclaimed as he raised his fist in the air.

“Ah.” Kazuma remembered. “That’s today?”

“Of course! Two sisters living in harsh poverty, barely earning enough for food, yet yearning for the promised food that is beef! And at the same time dealing with the harsh insults about how you aren’t able to save up enough money to afford luxurious things!”

“Poor Hikage…” Shinji sympathized.

“Especially since her sister is the only family she probably has left…” Makoto added.

“Yeah. No one should ever have to face the burden of poverty alone…” Kazuma said.

“And cute girl in that matter… I would marry her.”

Kazuma and Shinji had suddenly gone quiet right after Makoto had said that sentence. The three of them shot looks at each other and for a moment none of them had said a word.

“…Please don’t tell me that I just heard what I think I just heard. Did I hear that correctly?” Kazuma asked as he raised an eyebrow.

“Hm? Hear what?” Makoto ignored.

“Don’t kid with me. You said something.”

“Did I?”

“You said you wanted to marry her.” Shinji added.

“Ok, fine. But come on, don’t tell me you wouldn’t want to support her. She’s really cute, you know?”

“Well, you’re not wrong about that… but why marry her? Can’t you just like adopt her or something?”

“But doesn’t she have an older sister who is past the minority age?” Shinji asked.

“…I honestly don’t know how we can casually keep up with these conversations.” Kazuma commented as he sighed.

“Hey Kazuma, isn’t that your stop?” Makoto asked as he pointed at the bus stop sign.

“Oh, right. Well, see you.”

Kazuma waved at Makoto and Shinji as they walk off into the distance.

“I’m home.” Kazuma sighed.

“Ah! Kazuma! Welcome back!” Alice greeted.

“Yeah, welcome back.” Akira also greeted.

Kazuma looked over and see both Akira in her bus driver uniform and Alice who were sitting on the couch watching television while eating a bowl of popcorn that was on the coffee table.

“Huh? Akira-san? What are you doing here?”

“Well, first of all I’m your guardian, so I have to at least be here sometimes. And second, you didn’t forget about the check did you?”

“Uh…”

Akira eyes squinted intensively at Kazuma who was laughing awkwardly while trying to recollect any memory of anything related about the check that he had forgotten.

“…You forgot didn’t you.”

“O-Of course not! The check was this week w-wasn’t it?”

“Ho?” Akira smiled. “I’m surprised you actually remembered. Well, if you remembered then I guess that’s fine.”

Akira went over to the dining room and grabbed her jacket.

“Well, I’ll be leaving then.”

“Eh? You’re leaving?”

“Yep. Is there a problem?

Kazuma scratched his head.

“Ah, well… that was a bit short for a check, wasn’t it?”

Akira chuckled as she patted Kazuma on the shoulder.

“What are you talking about? That was the check.”

“…You’re kidding.”

“I just wanted to stop by and see how you were doing.”

“I-I see…”

Akira looked down at her wrist watch.

“Whoa, it’s this late? Boss will have my head if I don’t get back to my shift.”

“You’re still working? I thought you were done.”

“Oh yeah, I just recently got a bartending job.”

“Don’t stress yourself out.”

“Yes, yes. Thank you, thank you. Well, I’m off. See you Alice.” Akira said waving.

“See you again.” Alice waved back.

Akira quickly rushed outside as the door closed behind her. Kazuma turned to Alice who was still watching television.

“Akira-san is nice.” Alice said as she popped a piece of popcorn into her mouth.

“Since when were you able to talk to her?”

“Since today.”

“How long was she here for?”

Alice unwrapped a candy bar and took a bite out of it.

“A couple of hours before you came.” She said with her mouth full.

“That long?”

Alice nodded as her eyes were still fixed on the TV screen.

“And you were watching TV with her? I thought you didn’t know how to work a remote.”

“Akira-san taught me. It’s amazing what the technology in this world can do. I’m pretty sure we don’t have things like this in the Organization.”

“Anyways, have you remembered anything regarding your past yet?”

Alice turned to Kazuma as she munched on the candy bar.

“I have.”

“Eh? For real?!”

Alice nodded.

“I might need another day or so, but so far I all I can say is that some of my lost memory has come back. Enough to piece where I come from, at least.”

“So it seems.” Edrian said as he leaned against the wall.

In response, Kazuma was startled the moment Edrian had suddenly popped out of nowhere.

“Sorry about that.” Edrian chuckled.

(First in the bathroom, now here…) Kazuma thought as he panted.

“I almost forgot that you were even coming…”

Edrian patted Kazuma’s shoulder.

“Well, now you do. Anyways…”

Edrian cleared his throat.

“First things first. The news that I was about to tell you this morning: Galus has successfully been handled and was sent back to the Organization.”

“What do you mean?” Alice asked.

“It is as I said. Galus was taken back to the Organization.”

“Y-You just let him go?!” Kazuma yelled.

“Well, he won’t be causing anymore trouble. That’s for sure.”

“But he was after Alice! What if he comes back?”

“I assure you that he won’t. And even he did, he wouldn’t have any memory of it.”

“Huh? No memory of it?”

“Galus was supposed to be here to retake Alice back to the Organization, correct? After we had beaten him, I edited his memory so that he would report back with no findings.”

Kazuma sighed with relief.

“You could have just said that from the beginning. Well that’s a relief—”

“Is that all though?” Alice asked.

She turned to Edrian with glaring eyes.

“There’s one thing that’s bothering me though.” Alice said. “I haven’t thought about it, but back when we fought Galus I felt like something was off. It just all seemed too convenient. So mind if I ask you a question?”

(“Hey Alice… are you sure about this?”) Kazuma whispered to her.

“Sure thing.” Edrian smirked.

“We both are magicians that come from the same roots, don’t we? I don’t have anything to hide in particular. So why not? Ask away.”