4 – October 23rd (Sunday) – Three days ago

Asai Kei pulled Haruki Misora into a hug. Before him was the Haruki Misora with short hair.

They stood in front of her house, having just returned from the school festival. Three days’ worth of time had crumbled away, returning him to that moment. He finally had her back.

Kei closed his eyes. “It would appear we’ve reset.”

He could feel Haruki’s head tilt from within his arms. “Did something happen?”

It felt like he hadn’t heard her voice in ages. There was an obviously different quality in the voice of the short-haired Haruki compared to the long-haired Haruki. The voice he had just heard carried new intonations, and even a kind of vibrance. It was a voice colored with emotion.

He kept his arms tight around Haruki for some time before finally letting her go. Then he opened his eyes, looking straight at her. “A lot of stuff happened. There was… so much that happened.”

Asai Kei could remember. He knew everything that had been lost from the last three days.

And he remembered Souma Sumire.

“My heart hurts.”

He had never fully understood before why sadness, suffering, and heartache were described as painful. But now it was clear. Nothing about that expression was metaphorical. He could feel a very real and literal pain, like a stab wound. A place deep inside his chest stung and ached, drenched with invisible blood. He felt that if it was left alone, it would continue to fester and the wound would grow worse.

“Are you… okay?” Haruki’s hand moved slowly, as if she were scared. She placed it upon Kei’s chest, right at the center of his pain. Her palm was so warm.

Somehow, that warmth seemed to melt away his pain, at least a bit. Enough that Kei could manage to force a nod. He was eventually able to turn his ragged breaths into words. “The way things are going, Sakurada will lose all its abilities the day after tomorrow.” Of course, the accurate expression was to say Sakurada would only lose information and memories about abilities. Everyone but Kei would forget that abilities could exist. “Sakurada will become a place that mirrors the rest of the world. A town without abilities.”

“Is such a feat even possible?”

“It is. I didn’t like it, so I reset.”

Haruki gazed intently at him, her gaze as pure as ever. “Are abilities necessary for Sakurada?”

Kei shook his head. “Strictly speaking, no. We don’t have to have them.”

Kei’s first impression of abilities those four years ago was to think of them as some kind of omnipotent power. They were miraculous feats that could solve any problem and provide a pathway to the best possible futures.

But he had come to know better. He knew that to only be an illusion.

Abilities were more than capable of bringing suffering and pain, even to those that used them. For some people, an ability could become the very source of all their problems. There was no getting around that fact. But on the other hand, abilities had their merits. They could be used to save and protect others.

As far as Urachi Masamune was concerned, the cost of abilities was greater than their benefit. But Kei was of the opposite opinion. That was what everything came down to.

At the end of the day, it was just a tale of two sentiments.

Kei gazed directly into Haruki’s eyes. “I like Sakurada’s abilities. I like all the people that have wished for power, and come to attain it.”

“You… like them?”

“I do.” That was all there was to it. “Nearly every culture has stories about people being granted wishes by demons or other evil spirits. In every single one of those stories, the people who make a wish to a demon meet an unfortunate end.”

The message was clear. Don’t get comfortable. Don’t reveal your desires. If something sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Just accept reality and keep moving forward.

Nothing was really wrong with that message. But…

“Imagine if someone very important to you died. Suddenly, a demon appears, promising to grant any wish. I don’t see what’s wrong with wishing to see the person that you care about again.”

Sure, there were reasons to doubt a demon. Sure, it was true that things never came that easily in life. But a person who could cling to their last sliver of hope, only wishing to see the one they cared about once more, was beautiful.

“I think that’s such a natural and beautiful emotion. At least, it’s a better response than trying to say something cool like, ‘I’ll just accept my sadness,’ and turning the demon away. I think that it’s beautiful to have a selfish wish for the impossible to happen.”

He could never deny a person’s desire for happiness. He could never be convinced that giving up and just accepting a situation was the right thing to do. No matter what kind of miracle or underhanded tactic it took, he wanted everyone to live happily ever after.

Those had been Kei’s first thoughts when he came to Sakurada and learned about Haruki’s Reset.

No, wait, that’s wrong. It hadn’t been a thought. It had been a memory. A memory of being younger, refusing to give up and clinging to simple wishes of happiness.

“How would the story with the demon end happily ever after?” Haruki Misora asked.

“The wish is granted, everyone is happy, and the demon celebrates alongside them. That’s the future that I want,” Asai Kei answered.

If he wanted to reach that future, he couldn’t let go of Sakurada’s abilities. He couldn’t let his past failures force him into submission. He had the chance, and he wanted to do it over. To take away someone’s tears, building a happier future.

That was his true and pure wish. It was like his own holy prayer. He wouldn’t let anybody call it a mistake or misstep.

“I like Sakurada’s abilities. I really do. I don’t want them to be taken away.”

Haruki Misora smiled. “It is a much happier outcome for a wish to be granted.”

It was a simple observation, but the world was never that simple. There was always another problem, always suffering and sadness around the corner, always another reason to give up.

Kei thrust out his chest. “Yeah.” It was always happier for a wish to be granted. I don’t ever want to forget that. If nothing else, he wanted to remember that single fact for the rest of time. “Alright, Haruki. I’ve made my decision. I’m going to control Sakurada’s abilities.”

“Control them, you say?”

“Yep.” Every single one of them. To get where he wanted to go, he needed to be able to make that powerful, even violent, claim. “I’ll control all abilities, find every single problem, and create a place where only happiness can come about. That’s my goal.”

The problem he was presented with was the suffering that abilities could cause others. The obvious solution was to help them. He could manage every ability under his control, careful that nobody had to turn into a sacrificial lamb for the best outcome.

“How will that be accomplished?”

“Well, the Administration Bureau already so conveniently exists, so I may as well use it. If I can get my hands on everything they have, that’ll already give me nearly half of all abilities.”

“Understood.” Haruki nodded, not missing a beat.

…Does she really understand? She knows I just said something absolutely ridiculous, right?

But perhaps she really did understand. She had seen and understood everything, and was able to nod without hesitation. She knew that no matter how distant a goal one had, everything began with that first step.

“To get there, we have to deal with our immediate problem.” It was time to take their first step. “There’s a particular member of the Administration Bureau named Urachi Masasmune. He’s The Index’s boss. He’s working on a plan that will remove all of Sakurada’s abilities.”

“Understood. Our first action must be to circumvent his plan.”

“That’s the bare minimum. But I want to take it a step further.” Just forcing Urachi Masamune to give up wasn’t enough.

Kei smiled. The corners of his mouth bent upwards, lending him a ferocious and fearless look. It was a smile that made anything look possible.

“I want to make Urachi-san into my ally. He’d be useful in several ways.” The Index’s boss was bound to have quite a bit of pull within the Administration Bureau, and with him on board, Kei would have significantly more room to maneuver in the future. “And I’ve got one other person in mind.” Kei pointed one finger upwards. “Another person who’d be indispensable.”

“Who would that be?”

“Souma.”

The rogue pawn. The person with the singularly powerful ability of future sight. Having her on the team would make a significant difference, to say the least.

Haruki Misora tilted her head. “I should think that Souma Sumire would accept any request of yours, regardless of the circumstances.”

“I sure hope that’s true.” He was worried. Souma Sumire always had him worried. “She told me goodbye.”

Right after crying in the bathroom, and right before all of Sakurada’s abilities vanished. As she left Kei’s apartment, she had very definitively said goodbye.

That one word had nagged at him to no end.

“That’s the second time that she’s ever said goodbye to me.” Asai Kei’s eyes lowered ever so slightly. “The first time was… two years ago. Just before she died.”

Maybe she’s never going to see me again. He couldn’t prove it. It was just an unfounded hunch.

But still… Kei found it hard to imagine that Souma had been putting much stock into the future. What kind of life could there possibly be for a girl that had already died? How could she even define happiness, let alone find it, if she couldn’t so much as believe herself to be Souma Sumire? He couldn’t shake the feeling that she had already given up.

Asai Kei could do nothing but confide in Haruki Misora. “If she thinks this is where she can exit the stage, then she’s got another think coming.”

It was possible Souma Sumire’s narrative had never been written to save herself.

But if that was the case, then he’d just have to author a completely different ending.

End of Chapter 1