I didn't want to get involved. That changed the moment Riku showed me his phone. As if our platter wasn’t already full, we were introduced with another horrifying implication of the rule. Humanity, though honestly the meaning of it is fading, found a new way to harm others.

  “Haruki Haruki Haruki, you wouldn’t believe what I found!”

  “Riku Riku Riku, what?”

  “See for yourselves” Riku said as he flipped his phone to a comment describing the tragic incident.

  Someone had handed a person a cup filled to the brim. Then shot near them repeatedly. Each flinch, each spill, another year gone. I could imagine the pain each rewrite must’ve caused thanks but no thanks to Casanova. But the comment described it better by saying it looked like a scar made from a knife.

  It was the first time in a long while that I felt anger, frustration, and the urge to make things right. And I wasn’t very comfortable sitting with these feelings any longer.

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  “Let’s do something” I said to Riku who was laughing at a voiceover of cats, weirdo.

  “Oo you wanna become a hero eh?”

  “Zip it, I can’t just sit with what I know when people are losing years because of this stupid rule”

  “Fine, what are we doing?”

  “We’re just gonna give your followers whatever I observed and confirmed, essentially my notes about the rule” I said, already scrolling through my notes.

  “I get it, but you gotta understand this is the internet, some will deny it, joke about it, or start testing each of your points, you okay with that?” Riku asked with a tone he uses when he’s failing his exams.

  “Yeah. Post it.” I said handing him my phone.

  I watched as he made a funny mess of my serious observations. Adding unnecessary emojis everywhere. “Wait” I said as he was finishing the post.

  “What is it?”

  “I noticed something else in the cafe as well, it seems that for the rule to trigger, the liquid must fall downward to a tangible surface” I explained calmly. He nodded and typed some more. “Done”, he said a minute or two after my explanation. Handing me his phone he said “Have a look”.

  I looked at it to see if we’d missed anything and then “Yea that’s it.”

  “Brace yourselves” he said as if a plane was taking off and pressed the post button slowly, squinting his eyes simultaneously.

  “I do this every time, hypes the moment.”

  “Ofcourse you do”

  As I stood up to get some fresh air, a sound came.