The next day arrived, and Memories was ready to be used once again. It seemed the ability had a twenty-four-hour cooldown after each activation. I decided to summon Arisa once more, partly to improve my mastery over the Heart Tool.
Alice also made an appearance, clearly curious, and studied Arisa intently the moment she materialized.
"Hmm. She looks exactly like me, but she’s not me, nor is she a split body. It’s a very strange sensation," Alice remarked.
"My original is a Transcendent Beautiful Girl, of course... but our character overlap is a bit much at the moment. Maybe I should change my hair?" Arisa suggested.
The two of them really did look identical. Then again, since Arisa had been modeled after Alice in the first place, their resemblance was inevitable. The only real differences were whether they were wearing a mask or sunglasses.
Perhaps sharing that concern, Arisa murmured a few words. Her body was instantly shrouded in light, and her hair shortened into a semi-short cut.
"Oh, this feels quite fresh!"
"Let’s stick with this for now. If we have Eri-chan-sensei and the others change their styles too, it’ll be easier to tell them apart from their originals. Our originals are fairly well-known in this world, so we need to make the distinction clear."
"...How nostalgic," Alice muttered with a distant look.
"Nostalgic?" I asked.
As I had been nodding along to Arisa—thinking that since they looked just like Erina, Kuro, and Iris-san, I might indeed need the others to change their hair too—Alice had spoken in a deeply sentimental tone.
"Actually, my hair used to be right around that length. I wore it like that back when I was traveling with Iris, and for a while after. I’m used to it being long now, but this really takes me back."
Now that she mentioned it, I remembered hearing something about that. She had kept her hair semi-short for a long time, but after letting it grow out for a change of pace, the long hair must have suited her, because she’d kept it that way ever since.
"That aside, Arisa, what’s the situation with your memories?"
"Hmm, basically, they're exactly as they were in that world. I have memories of being your high school classmate, Kaito-san. Everyone else has memories based on their settings from that world, too. I remember all your high school blunders perfectly!"
"...That’s strange. For some reason, my mind is full of 'Black History' I'm certain I never actually lived through."
In truth, I also possessed the memories I had gained in the world Shiro-san created. Specifically, the memory of being friends with Arisa since high school.
I didn't know the logic behind it, but I could clearly distinguish them from my real memories, so they didn't get mixed up. However, since those fabrications contained some rather embarrassing failures, I felt like I was being framed for things I hadn't even done.
"Ahaha! Well, that's pretty much how it is. The downside is that the time I can manifest is short right now, but once I can stay out longer, I want to start a newspaper!"
"You were aspiring to be a journalist, after all."
"Yes! My journalistic spirit is about to explode!"
"Was journalism something that exploded...?"
I gave a wry smile at Arisa, who was as energetic as ever. While her face was identical to Alice's, looking at the two of them together revealed several differences.
It was only natural, but Arisa gave off a slightly more youthful impression compared to Alice. A difference was inevitable between Arisa, who was in her twenties, and Alice, who had lived for an unfathomable number of years.
"I don't know," Alice said, looking a bit awkward. "Seeing a version of myself from before I got all twisted up feels kind of ticklish."
"Since our faces look this much alike, how about making me your younger sister? What do you think?"
"Regrettably, I already have a sister who holds the top spot in my heart, so..."
"What kind of phrasing is that?"
Come to think of it, Alice did have a younger sister who she claimed was the cutest in the world. Or rather, would it be more accurate to say she 'had' one? From what I'd heard, she seemed like a rather... intense individual.
"Oh right, you mentioned a younger sister."
"Yeah, I’ll introduce you to her eventually, Kaito-san."
"Oh?"
"Yeah. I can call her with Memories, after all."
"Ah, I see."
Presumably, she had held back until now so as not to spoil the nature of my Heart Tool for me. Even when I asked about it, she had always said, "Look forward to it after it awakens."
But now that I could use Memories myself, there was no longer any need for Alice to hide it.
"Oops, looks like I’ve reached my limit. Well then, Kaito-san, my original self—let's meet again!"
The usage limit for Memories arrived right at that moment. Arisa gave a cheerful wave and dissolved into particles of light.
She really was a bright, energetic person, just as I remembered. With a faint smile, I realized I was already looking forward to our next conversation.
Serious-senpai: "Ah, that severe siscon younger sister... Seriously, is there no one among your associates who isn't some kind of extreme outlier?"
???: "It’s hard to deny that."