"Adolescence Syndrome? Is that a new nickname for ADHD or something?"

I asked, unable to recall ever hearing about it.

She gave a small laugh and shook her head.

"Not quite. To make it simple, think about a bottle of soda. You can shake it around, but it won't burst open if you just set it down right?"

"Well if you take the cap off it would definitely make a mess. But otherwise I suppose not."

She nodded

"But very rarely, it could happen. Those times when the bottle explodes, that's what adolescence syndrome is. Because your body is changing is why it's even possible to experience the syndrome.”

“Moments or emotions that overwhelm you are usually the trigger for it. Did something like that happen recently?"

I looked down, unable to meet her eyes in that moment. Even now it was still raw and painful to think about it, especially after seeing it with my own eyes.

I fought back the urge to completely break down, I was thankful that she didn't say anything and waited.

"I..."

I paused, realizing this was the first time I'd ever actually said it aloud.

"I lost someone very close to me, the first person I could ever call a friend. She was..."

I broke off as I saw the look in her eyes.

"I understand. So because of that, you felt overwhelmed and that led to you experiencing adolescence syndrome."

She looked away for a moment, lost in thought. I continued snacking while she did, offering her some but she declined.

"So what has your adolescence syndrome manifested into?"

I thought over the events of the past day.

"I've woken up three times in a row today and could see my other past self doing things that I was supposed to do.”

She perked up for a moment before coming back down.

"Hmm, this is a bit different than last time. Guess there's no easy route."

I looked at her puzzled.

"So you've had this happen before too?"

She shook her head again.

"I've dealt with the syndrome before, but my case was different from yours. A friend of mine repeated the same day like you, but his situation was different than yours so I don't think the same solution will work."

She lightly rolled her eyes as she said friend, clearly there was some history there.

"That reminds me, where are you staying?"

I looked down again, remembering the fiasco I had this morning.

"Well, I live in Toyama Perfecture, and stayed here last night for shelter but when I woke up, there was a slight issue since I hadn't paid yet due to the syndrome."

She then pulled out her phone, and after scrolling through her contacts held it up to her ear.

"Hi Kaede-chan, it's Rio. Is Sakuta there?

"..."

Can you put him on?"

She smiled menacingly as she waited for Sakuta to come to the phone.

"Hey Azusagawa, I'm going to need a favor from you.

"..."

Oh come on! Do I need to tell Mai-san that you don't want to help one of your friends?

"..."

“Great, I'll be over in a little while. Do you need anything from the store? I'll be heading by there first."

I waited as she wrote down whatever Sakuta was saying, and then she ended the call.

"So since you don't have anywhere you can stay and probably not enough money to keep paying twice per night, you'll be staying with my friend Sakuta. He's the one whom I mentioned went through similar cases like this."

 She smiled

"Oh! I should probably introduce myself, I'm Rio Futaba. Nice to meet you."

She held out her hand.

Before Sakura, I would never have considered shaking someone's hand so soon. Then again, I'd never even be in a position like this, having a conversation with some stranger for so long.

I reached out and shook her hand, telling her my name in return.

“I’m Haruki… Haruki Shiga. Nice to meet you too.”

She gathered up her things, and stood up.

"Well, we better get moving then. Do you need anything in particular, otherwise I have a store in mind that we can go to."

I checked my bag, noticing a few things were low in my toiletries.

"No, we can go to wherever you have in mind."

I followed her out of the cafe onto the busy street. Most people seemed to be headed to lunch, and as we got further from the cafe and surrounding restaurants, the people around us thinned out.

"Thank you for helping me, but I think there's a flaw in your plan."

She looked over to me, and raised her eyebrow.

"Oh? And what would that be?"

She stopped and waited for me.

"Well what happens when I wake up and your friend doesn't know who I am? Isn't he going to freak out that some stranger broke in and slept in his place?"

 She continued to walk.

"I've been wondering about that myself. Sakuta may seem rough when you meet him at first but he's a good guy deep down. So if you're worried he'd start attacking you in the morning, then you're safe."

She looked back, smiling again to reassure me I would be safe.

"As for how to deal with explaining things, I've had a few ideas. He and I can write notes and you can give them to us. We know our own handwriting well enough."

I began to agree, but then something bugged me.

"Last night I received a receipt for my spot but when I woke up I couldn't find it anywhere. What if the same happens with the letters?"

She sighed, and muttered.

"Yeah no easy route, I get it."

"I'm sorry, I don't want to be a bother to you and your friend. I can just do things myself."

She stopped again, this time looking sad.

"Us helping you isn't a bother, though I know he might complain at the beginning. We both know what it's like to go through this, and we were only able to get through it because we helped each other. I remember how it felt at first dealing with it alone, and I don't want to know that I left someone alone when I could have helped them. So please don't feel bad about our help."

I saw her smile at the end, and realized that she meant what she had said.

"I'm sorry, I believe you. Shall we continue? I'd hate to keep your friend waiting for us."

She looked over and noticed the worried look on my face as we left the store after buying some food and groceries.

"His place is not too far from here, in case you're worried I was going make you walk across the city."

I shook my head.

"No, I was just thinking about how to make this syndrome stop."

Scenarios of what I could do had been running through my head, intermingled with the failure I had experienced yesterday.

"In order to find a solution, I'd need to know more. What you've done, things that have happened because of the syndrome, anything that you can think of that would help. Have you ever dreamt of today’s incidents and if you posted about that in social media or SNS before?"

I thought through the events that had transpired since that night, and told her what felt relevant.

"You haven't gone up to the other you in person, right?"

She immediately stopped once I told her about what happened when I woke up a second time.

"No, the closest I got was from down the street but that old me never saw this me. I tried to call and text but that didn't work either."

She looked relieved.

"Be thankful that you didn't get any further than that, you would have been in serious trouble. A paradox is the last thing you ever want to have happen. The reason why the call and text didn't work is most likely to prevent a paradox from happening."

"But I got a call and text before the syndrome even occurred. So how did I contact myself before I started this loop?"

At this point we were in front of the apartment building where her friend lived.

"Your syndrome is dealing with time, and like I said it's different from the last time I saw something like this. Perhaps because you tried to interact with yourself, you pushed against the flow of time and caused an abnormality. That's why I'm glad to help you, you could cause some serious damage if you make any further mistakes."

I shuddered at the threat of the consequences. Pulling out the phone I had bought, I saw that I was still out of minutes.

"But today is a different day and I can't make a call on this phone.

So wouldn't that mean that today I don't get the call?"

She reached out and pressed the elevator call button.

"Do you still remember getting the call and text?"

She looked over as she asked.

"Well yes. I haven't forgotten anything about that day."

She nodded.

"Think of the other you as a time trial ghost in a racing game. The car will make the same moves that you did, so anything you did and anything that happened to you will still happen. Even if you don't make the call today, it will still happen because you made that abnormality. That's why you need to be more careful."

The elevator arrived, and we stepped inside. Pressing the button for the fourth floor, the doors closed and we headed up. I continued to tell her the events that had transpired, and I could see her making mental notes at certain parts.

"So the things you grabbed from your room are still here, as well as the phone you bought but it is out of minutes. Did you notice that it had minutes this morning?"

I tried to recall my sudden awakening by the cafe employee.

"I think it might have been out, I only glanced at it once but I'm pretty sure I saw the message on screen."

"We'll have to test that tomorrow just to be sure. It's a small detail but it helps."

The elevator chimed and came to a stop as she finished, and we headed out. The number outside the apartment was 402, with a nameplate underneath that simply said "Azusagawa Residence"