Someone was messing with his head. Again.
With both of theirs, actually.
Konrad watched the band and the pink-haired idol leave as his girlfriend waved them off.
Girlfriend, huh?
Well, his memories pointed that way, and they were always there, even if incomplete. He had, in fact, dated someone for three months, and they did all the same things together.
Like, watching those specific anime, being on the phone until dawn, flirting, and so on.
Yuki-san remembered it all, too.
But there was one slight issue.
None of it was possible.
This happened in his previous life. Konrad knew well, but he couldn't think straight when she was close. At those moments, his only goal was to relive a shared past that didn't exist.
So now that there was a little distance between them, the image finally cleared up.
They hadn't met long enough for those memories to make sense.
And when Sidekick-san mentioned the hospital and the personality change—
Every unexplainable thing came together.
"Whew, that was a good sale," Yuki-san sighed, strolling around the counter. "A Fender Jazzmaster, huh? Had no idea these guys were this loaded."
And they were her bandmates for years.
Her hips bumped into Konrad, giving him a look before breaking into a wide grin.
"Konrad-chan, you're too quiet. Are you jealous by any chance?!"
"Chan?"
Yesterday, she was still calling him Halstadt-san.
When did they reach the mutual first-name basis? It was no big deal for him, but in Japan?
"I'm the older one, so it's only appropriate," she said, puffing her chest to appear larger. It didn't work. "Short or not, I'm still your senior, Jealousy-chan."
"Yeah, I'm not so sure about that," Konrad noted, shaking his head. "And I'm not jealous at all."
Thanks to Kaede's cover story, he didn't only have to play a German but also a sixteen-year-old.
His vessel was already past eighteen, and while Yuki-san claimed to be one year older, he had another life to add. Well, sure, in that sense, the greater demon's age might have been tens of—
Wait, whose?
He glanced down at the tiny emo girl, hugging his arm already, and—
He saw an orange tangle of hair, freckles for days, and bright, hazel eyes.
Blink, and it was all gone. But his heart rate remained high in the sky.
"Hey, you okay, Konny boy?" Yuki asked, her voice not what he expected. But that name—
"Lily, we need to talk," he said, her eyes going wide at the name.
He meant Yuki, of course, but after seeing that phantom image, this other one slipped out instead. Still, while he expected a storm for saying the wrong name, the girl only blinked.
"About what?" she asked, shrinking back.
Another proof he was right.
Konrad sighed, wanting this out of his system while he could.
"The hospital," he started. "Your bandmate mentioned you were in a short coma about a year ago. And that you have changed after waking up. Could you tell me what you remember?"
The girl blinked.
She glanced at her long sleeves, covering all those tiny cuts.
But she didn't reply.
Her expression told him she wasn't trying to keep secrets. She had no idea.
"L-let's play something instead," she muttered, pulling away before Konrad could stop her.
"It's okay, you don't have to force it."
He still remembered the dull headaches from trying to uncover his lost memories, too.
But the girl skipped to the rack of expensive guitars, grabbing his choice, the ES-335 first. Konrad took it without arguing, trying to give her some space—but she was already in tears.
"I—I don't know, okay?" she said, her face distorted in pain. "I don't remember anything."
As much as he wanted to comfort her, she kept backing away.
"I know it doesn't make sense. I can count, too," she bawled. "We met like two weeks ago. How could we have dated for months then, right? I'm not stupid. But, but—those memories."
The change in the mood was jarring.
The worst part? There was nothing he could do about it.
With only a theory of what happened, he didn't want to rush her. And sure enough, a few moments and many tears later, Yuki seemed to have calmed down a bit.
"I, like, always had these memories of you," she whispered, sniffing.
She slumped into a chair at the practice area, fingers tracing a pattern on a nearby amp.
"Of us. Which is weird, 'cuz I woke up without knowing my name. But—I knew you," she said, looking up. "And when I asked about my boyfriend, everyone looked at me like I was weird."
She let out a shaky breath.
"They said I never had one. That I cut my wrist and lost too much blood, and—"
Yeah, Konrad pieced that much together, too.
What he couldn't tell was whether to put that guitar down and hug her, or keep his distance?
"I had to, like, visit a psychologist every other week," she continued, looking away again. "That's where I was two days ago, too. Well, and the whole stupid checkup. But yeah, I'm a wreck."
"You're not," Konrad yelled as he stepped closer, but she held up a hand.
"I know I am," she whispered, wiping her tears away. "I tried to forget everything. But that stupid Tenshi-sensei told me I must hold onto those memories no matter what."
He froze at the name. Not that he ever heard it before, but he knew the meaning.
Angel.
"What kind of psychologist would say something stupid like that?" he asked, gritting his teeth. Konrad was by no means an expert, but to hold onto something unexplainable after a coma?!
It would only make sense if he planted those thoughts in her head in the first place.
And here he thought they were lovers reunited in another life. That would have been nice.
Now, he suspected some heavenly trickery.
If there was one thing angels did well, it was messing with people.
"I don't know," Yuki replied with a short delay, shrugging, getting herself together again. "He was kinda weird, like his looks, too. Like a statue, white skin, black hair, everyone singing his praise."
She was finally calming down, so giving her space seemed like the right choice.
But now he didn't have the heart to tell her that this description matched the worst angel he had ever had to deal with. The guitar felt awkward in his grip. He still wanted to hug her, but—
The store's entrance chime interrupted them for the second time today.
"Irassai," the girl yelled without even looking up, wiping her eyes one last time.
Konrad turned to face the door, too—but he found nothing that looked like a customer.
Whatever that thing was, it didn't even seem human at first glance.
He might have been one. A long time ago.
But now, his skin was almost translucent and cracked, his hair a wild, dark mess—
And his eyes were the most disturbing part.
They glowed red, locked on the girl behind him.
He gripped a steel ball the size of a fist, gathering momentum for a devastating throw.
"Lucifer-sama sends his regards," he rasped. "He'll no longer need your services, human girl."
And before Konrad could blink, the projectile was already in the air.