So Many Geniuses in Omni-Anime! What's One More?

At noon, when he returned to the gates of Minehara High School, Sakurajima Mai was already waiting there with a lunch box in hand. Beneath her icy expression lay a trace of vulnerability.

Thump!

She settled into the passenger seat she hadn't been able to sit in before.

"How did it go?"

"As badly as it could."

That brief exchange told him everything.

He started the car and said calmly, "I have an idea. Want to hear it?"

Sakurajima Mai let out a long sigh, sounding utterly helpless. "Of course. I'm nearly out of options anyway—but why can't even Futaba see me today?"

"Probably because she slept?"

"Hm?" Sakurajima Mai folded her arms and turned to him. "What do you mean?"

"I think the teachers and students at Minehara could all see you yesterday. It was only today that they suddenly couldn't."

"Because they slept?"

"Right. Remember how Futaba explained it last time? If observation is the only thing that establishes your existence in reality, then unconscious sleep could be what causes people to forget you."

A chill ran down her spine. "...What about you, Chihaya?"

"I didn't sleep last night. I spent the whole night working."

She swayed, then slumped helplessly against the seat.

"Then you..." Despair was already creeping into her heart.

He could go without sleep for a day, but not forever. Sooner or later, he would forget her too... wouldn't he?

"I won't." He shook his head with confidence. "I think I'd still remember you even if I had slept last night, Mai."

"...Why do you say that?"

"Remember what I told you at the beach? About my body?"

"Ah... I do." Sakurajima Mai searched her memory and recalled the details. "So the reason you can see me isn't the one you gave Futaba yesterday?"

What