It's in the usual spot. The alleys again. I found out some punk from my school tipped me off to these losers. There was an ambush.

[He pauses for a minute. God does he have to recall EVERYTHING and tell her? This is the worst. Someone save him, wtf. ]

Five men were after me because I'm the son of an illegal weapon dealer. There's people who don't like me too, you know? That kind of shit sticks.

So I knocked out two men and I couldn't take down three. It got really hairy. I called for help and managed to get home after that. The cops took my side, but I still had to explain.

[That's asking for too much!!! You can count on him to get into the worst situations. It's his specialty. ]

Now I'm stuck at home because no one trusts me to go outside.

[Y e p.]

No shit they don't.

[BUDDY. He's not gonna get much sympathy from her on that department...]

What were you even doing hanging out there again? You already knew you get into shit there, so what gives?

I didn't go there by choice. I said it was an ambush.

[RIPS HAIR OUT.]

These guys found a way to back me into a trap and I fell for it. Whatever, I'm not going outside soon. I won't get in trouble anymore.

[His nose grows longer everytime he lies. ]

I don't believe you on that.

[HONESTLY. This kid is hopeless, she's starting to understand that now. Why did she let herself get involved in this in the first place..........

And yet here she is, going out of her way to check up on him.]

But fine, I get it. You got suckered into a fight you couldn't win, and you had to make do with what you had. [By stabbing them... Well, it's not the worst it could've been. At least he didn't kill anyone. There's a long sigh on her end, but when she speaks again, she doesn't sound as angry anymore.] I'm glad nothing worse happened.

You won't take my word for it and I only have myself to blame. [Rose just can't leave this kid alone...]

It turned out that way because I called my senpai for help. Do you know Minato? He took a punch to the gut and it looked like it hurt.

[RIP Minato. ]

I healed him with magic so he's fine.

No shit.

[SMH why did she let herself care about this dummy of a kid again......]

Wait, you have magic now? So you can just, what, heal up bruises and cuts like it's not big deal?

Yeah. I can heal up cuts, bruises, poison and sickness. My other self tried to save people with this power.

[He remembers how he ended up helping injured civilians in another life. This power isn't too surprising. ]

I've got it now too.

[It's not that weird. Everyone else gets weirdo powers from their past lives. He's no exception. ]

Wow, that's actually pretty useful. The next time I get into a fight, I'm calling you up.

[Hospital bills are expensive, she probably doesn't even have health insurance, let her just piggy back off of Nanashi...]

Just so you know I can't fix broken bones or restore damaged organs. Don't even come to me if that's serious.

I'll be able to fix everything else, though. [Yeah...it's no big deal. ]

Pretty sure I'd be dead before I got hurt that bad, so it's fine.

[SHE IS EXTREMELY OVERCONFIDENT, although more seriously she would actually get herself to a hospital in that case.]

You would be. Healing can't fix everything.

I never thought that I'd be using magic.

Did you gain any abilities from your past life, Rose?

Not that I've noticed.

[She has mixed feelings on the idea of sharing anything with "Zero," even if some of her abilities would undoubtedly be useful.]

That's good. You might wake up someday and find out that you're a vampire...or even werewolf.


Isn't that why you've got a flower in your eye? Retrospec?

[You know it actually sounds painful.]

I sure as hell didn't stab myself in the eye with a flower just for kicks, so yeah, Retrospec.

[It was extremely painful and probably one of the most horrifying days of her life, but who needs the details!]

Whatever my "past" self is, she sure as fuck isn't human, and I want nothing to do with that bullshit.

If she isn't human then what is she ?

A demon?

[U M ]

Honestly? I have no fucking idea.

["Intoner." She's heard it over and over at this point, but she still has no context for what it actually means. Her sisters are treated like goddesses while she's the monster out trying to kill them. Even after trying to look up the word, all she can guess is that it has something to do with singing.

Probably because of her magic singing or whatever. Still, while she has a pretty clear picture of what an "intoner" can do, that doesn't tell her at all what it is.]

Hope you never have to find out, Rose. I don't know what my other self is either.

[he's part of the club too. Nanashi shrugs off screen.]

Is there something wrong with wanting to remain ignorant?

I don't think so. [She pauses, and then:] But there's something scary about not knowing either.

[Whenever she thinks back on how she acted before she got the app, well... She hates it. Even if she was blissfully ignorant, maybe even happier, there's something creepy about it.]

I suppose. It's a pain to think about either way, right?

I'm alright as long as I get through the day. The app doesn't really leave us with a choice.

I hate that the most. [They're just being subjected to its whims instead of getting to choose if they want it or not...]

Tell me about it. If we got to choose for ourselves on what to do with this, that'd be one thing. Instead, we get dumped with the worst kind of bullshit and get told that we still have to live our "normal" lives except hey, head's up, the world might be ending or some dumb shit like that.

[SHE'S THOUGHT LONG AND HARD ABOUT HOW AWFUL THIS IS.]

It is the worst kind of bullshit. Who the hell cares? I just wanted to graduate from highschool and escape my garbage family situation. [AHHHH]

Now I've gotta deal with that and retrospec. No fucking thanks.

[THIS IS WHY NANASHI LIKES ROSE SHE'S SO HONEST. ]

Had enough trouble before all this happened. You remember those assholes from before in the alley, right? They seem harmless in comparison to what Retrospec's capable of .... Shit.

I bet. Life was hard enough before Retrospec, but now everything I had issues with seems like child's play compared to the shit we get now. Christ, I miss when making rent for the month was my biggest concern.

[Back in the day......... Now every month is "what possible world-ending shit is going on this time," or "what am I gonna remember that makes me hate myself even more."]

Do you still find it hard to make end's meet, Rose?

[He figures that she's just managing it somehow. Nanashi doesn't want to hassle Rose with too many questions since she's the type to get angry easily.]

I don't know about your work...or income. It must be hard juggling jobs with this.

I get around alright now, yeah. You really don't need to be worrying about that kinda stuff though.

[Leave the adult problems to adults, not to mention that he doesn't have any reason to worry about her problems like that. What's accepting concern from other people?? Unsure.]

I only have one job now though. It definitely beats having a dozen part-time gigs.

Ugh, juggling a bunch of part time jobs would kill a man.

[He doesn't want to end up like that in the summer. Okay Rose! Fine, he won't worry. ]

It's cool as long as you get around somehow.