2 – The same day, 6:50 PM

As Souma Sumire was currently unconscious, there was only one way to go see her. That one way was why Kei had asked Urachi Masamune to arrange Souma Sumire’s transfer to a specific hospital: the hospital that housed Katagiri Honoka.

Katagiri Honoka’s ability created an entire world within her dreams. On top of that, she could invite anyone sleeping nearby her into that world. Kei hoped that her world was the place where he could meet with Souma Sumire.

It was almost 7 PM. Kei and Haruki walked down a hallway, guided by a tall doctor. They went up to the hospital’s very top floor, a place that was normally off-limits.

“You’re the first visitors aside from Administration Bureau staff to be admitted twice,” the doctor admitted with evident surprise.

“There are some circumstances.” There were in fact so many circumstances that Kei found it hard to sum everything up in a straightforward way. He did his best to cover everything up with a hurried smile.

“Right this way,” the doctor stated, stopping before a hospital room that was directly next to Katagiri Honoka’s.

“Thank you very much,” Kei said, sliding the door open. The doctor excused himself.

The hospital room was a standard, four-bed space. Three of the beds were empty, but the one below the window on the right had its curtains closed. Kei walked towards it. He noticed that Haruki Misora had stopped at the room’s door, but he kept going.

He opened the curtain.

Below the window and washed in the moonlight was Souma Sumire, sleeping. Her eyes were closed, and she was somehow smaller than Kei had ever seen her. She almost looked like a creation, like Kei could pick her up and she would hardly weigh more than a two-by-four. She slept without any expression on her face. Her face was paler than Kei remembered. Something about her lips was different, too.

Asai Kei stared intently at Souma Sumire.

Looking at her worn-out appearance pricked at his heart. It created a fresh cut that he could feel bleeding and festering.

A voice called from behind him. “Kei.” It was Haruki Misora. She had come beside him at some point, and was now staring up at him.

Kei was going to call the girl’s name, but he stopped.

His instincts cried that he should reach out and hug her, but he stopped.

Perhaps by touching her, the wound would begin to heal. He could stop the bleeding, it would eventually stop hurting, and over time would become a simple scar. But that wasn’t good enough. He needed that pain. He needed to stand before Souma Sumire with that pain pricking at his chest.

“I have discovered another problem that you have,” Haruki interjected.

He knew his problems would never be limited to just one.

Kei tilted his head. “What’s that?”

“You are far too willing to allow yourself to get hurt.”

“You think so?”

“Yes. Souma Sumire has a similar flaw.”

That made Kei reflect for a moment. It was true that Souma Sumire never hesitated to act in ways that hurt herself, and it was a great flaw.

But he still wanted to argue. “I’m a coward, so I only hurt myself to the point that I can still be healed.” He wasn’t like Souma Sumire, who would damage herself far beyond repair.

“But I do not want you to get hurt, even in the slightest.”

Yeah… That’s a better way to think of it. “I’ll try to be careful.”

He meant it. He would truly do his best to be careful.

A knock sounded at the door. Kei went and answered the door, finding a nurse on the other side. She seemed to be in her late twenties, and she carried a silver tray with a pitcher of water, two glasses, and four white pills. The pills were just sleep aids, but they looked like something much more.

Kei smiled at Haruki Misora. “Alright, let’s go.”

All he needed to do to meet Souma Sumire was take a pill.

✽

She looked up at the southern sky.

She waited in cold isolation. The sun had already set, and no matter how long she looked at the southern sky, it would offer her no warmth. There was only the moon, shining like cold, icy water.

But she still looked up at the southern sky, desperately grasping onto that moonlight.

Light. Warmth.

Maybe it would be a warmth like the feel of his body near hers.

She hoped to see him soon.

But I know that he’ll hurt me.

She didn’t want to hurt any more. She was scared of the sadness and the pain.

A voice called down from on high. “Sumire-chan.” A blue bird flew through the night sky, illuminated by the moonlight.

Souma Sumire stretched out her hand towards the blue bird. It was too high for her to reach, but it flew down, landing on the back of her hand.

“What’s wrong, Sumire-chan? Why are you so sad?”

As Souma Sumire watched the blue bird, a question came to mind. If the bird was only lit up by the moonlight, could she be sure that it was really blue? Was she perhaps mistaking a completely different color for blue, only seeing she wanted to see?

“Hey, Tyltyl… could you listen to my request?”

The blue bird nodded in a very human way. “Of course. Anything for you.”

“Really? You’ll give me anything I ask for?”

“Yeah. I always wanted to try granting a wish for once.”

Souma Sumire smiled. “In that case, Tyltyl… I want to be just like you.”

Tyltyl was essentially the world’s god. He wasn’t exactly a god in the greatest sense, but he could do just about anything he wanted.

“Make me like you, able to do anything I want. Able to go wherever I please. I want the freedom to fly through the sky and more.”

She could do anything.

She could go anywhere.

But there was only one thing she wanted, and one place she wanted to be.

✽

He opened his eyes to a white ceiling.

Asai Kei sat up, looking around. He found Haruki Misora sitting on the bed beside him. The bed where Souma Sumire had been lying was empty, making it certain that he was in the dream world.

“Good morning to you, Kei,” Haruki greeted.

“Morning. Kinda weird to say that in a dream.” Kei got out of bed and put on his shoes, taking a few quick stretches.

A young girl sat in a metal folding chair in the corner of the room. Mytyl. The form that Katagiri Honoka took within her dream world. “It’s been a while,” she said sulkily, standing from her chair.

“You’re right, it has been a while.”

“I had expected visitors more often.”

“Well, it’s not that easy to get in here, but I’ll try to pay more attention to that from now on.”

She smiled. “Just kidding. But please come if you can. I’ll give you some really yummy cake.”

“I’ll look forward to it,” Kei said with a nod. “Have you seen Souma Sumire?”

“Nope. Tyltyl has, though.” Mytyl’s smile vanished, and her eyes lowered. “What on Earth happened to her?”

What happened to her was the same thing that had happened before.

“Souma wore herself out, and kept allowing herself to get hurt. Eventually, she crossed a line, and it was only then that everyone else could finally see it.”

If only he had been more sensitive. Maybe if he had paid more attention to her two years ago, the cycle would have been more obvious.

He couldn’t stop her from dying the first time. But maybe he could see to her wounds this time before she did irreparable damage to what little self she had left.

“So what now? Are you here to save her?” Mytyl asked.

“I am. Or at least, I’m planning to.”

“So what’s that make you? Some kinda hero?”

“No. Just Souma’s friend.”

Mytyl sighed. “Guess you can’t do anything about that.”

Nope. Some things couldn’t be changed. “I’m gonna go see her for a bit.”

“Do you know where she is?”

“Probably.” Kei could only imagine one place where Souma Sumire would go.

Mytyl furrowed her brow. “There’s… something I should tell you first.”

Kei tilted his head. “What would that be?”

“Tyltyl… made Sumire just like himself.”

In the dream world, Mytyl and Tyltyl were like gods. They could do almost anything their hearts desired.

With a serious, yet childish, expression, Mytyl asked, “Should I turn her back?”

Kei smiled, shaking his head. “No. It’s actually better that way. I prefer that Souma be all-powerful.”

“Why?”

“Because I want to talk to her in her most selfish state.” It would be better for Souma Sumire to be a god.

“I see.” Mytyl’s face held a complicated expression. She was smiling, yet she also seemed angry. “Tell me something, wouldja?”

“What’s that?”

“Last month… why did you save me? Was it… for the same reason you’re trying to save Sumire now?”

That was a difficult question to answer.

He almost told her it was the same, but as he thought about it, he stopped himself. They were actually entirely different scenarios.

“I want to make as many people as happy as possible,” he finally answered. “To that end, I don’t mind putting a bit of work in.”

It was okay to get a little worn out, or to get a little hurt. In fact, becoming disliked or getting betrayed were practically guaranteed outcomes.

“But, at the same time… I have my own priorities. I’ll put more focus on the happiness of someone I know over someone I’ve never met. I want my friends’ happiness more than my acquaintances’.”

Asai Kei wasn’t a god, so he couldn’t treat everyone equally. Some things needed a sequence. “Souma Sumire is the second most important person in the world to me, and I want her to be happy.”

Mytyl watched Kei closely, gazing into his eyes. “That kind of ranking only really benefits the person in first place. Sumire is curled up all alone right now because being in second place is worthless.”

She was probably right.

“Are you going so that you can put Sumire in first place?”

Kei shook his head. “I’m going so she can be content with second.”

Mytyl chuckled softly. “You’re a really horrible person.”

Kei nodded. “Yup. Selfish, too.”

But he had a future to pursue. If it took being horrible and selfish to get there, then that was what it took.

“Then get outta here,” Mytyl said.

“Right. I’ll be back.”

Asai Kei began walking away, followed closely by Haruki Misora.

To go and find Souma Sumire, the high-minded, stray cat of a girl who never let people into her heart.

✽

Souma Sumire curled up all alone in a dark place.

There was no light. She couldn’t see anything. And yet she knew that Asai Kei was in the world. Souma Sumire had become like a god within the dream world, and could learn anything she wanted to know.

She knew that Asai Kei was getting closer.

She had expected him to start with the tetrapods. If not there, then he would look on the rooftop of the southern middle school building.

But he hadn’t.

He had unhesitatingly headed straight for the place she was.

He really never was wrong.

He’s the only one… who actually understands me.

He came closer with quiet footsteps. Like the approach of the night or the day. Great changes in the world always came quietly.

I’m so scared of him.

He was undoubtedly going to approach her with a gentle, outstretched hand. He was definitely going to try and save her.

And that was scary.

I don’t understand. I just don’t.

Why am I this scared of being saved?

✽

“…Here?” Haruki Misora asked, her voice barely a whisper.

Asai Kei nodded. “I can’t imagine her being anywhere else.”

The apartment building they approached wasn’t particularly large. It was an ordinary, familiar place. The place where Asai Kei lived.

Kei stepped onto the stairs almost unconsciously. They were the stairs he climbed every single day. He explained as he began walking up.

“Souma doesn’t think of herself as Souma Sumire right now.”

The southern rooftop of Nanasaka Junior High. The tetrapods piled up on the river bank. They were memorable places, alright. Memorable for the Souma Sumire that died two years ago. But not for the girl they were going to meet.

“This is the only place where we have a memory in common.”

Making curry together.

A girl crying in the bathroom, then eating curry with her afterwards.

Those were the only memories he shared with the current Souma Sumire who he had pulled from a photograph that summer. Granted, he had reset those events, so technically, she didn’t even have those memories.

But she knows about them.

Souma Sumire had spent countless hours gazing into the future. Her ability allowed her to know about time lost to resets. She had even abused her future sight to recreate curry recipes over and over in her mind, and she remembered each attempt. Of course, she would also remember the setting of that memory: a normal, one-room apartment.

Kei didn’t dislike stairs. Each and every one got you up to a higher point. Each offered the same rise in elevation. Even just a single step gave Kei a newer, higher vantage point over the town of Sakurada as he climbed up and up the stairs.

“How will we go about saving Souma Sumire?” Haruki asked.

That was something he genuinely didn’t know. “I can’t think of anything.”

“Really?”

“To be more accurate, I’m giving it thought, but I haven’t come across a solution yet.” He just didn’t know what would be best. “But I can’t afford to not see her. As far as I can tell, the best choice for now is to keep pushing forward, and see her face-to-face while sharing my genuine feelings with her.”

“Do you…” Haruki’s voice was quiet and modest, almost blending into the surrounding shadows. “Do you think that the Souma Sumire we are headed for is the same person as the girl we knew two years ago?”

Asai Kei shook his head. “I don’t think I could ever know that for certain.” Maybe nobody could. “Is the me that I feel after a reset the same me as before it? Is the me I wake up as the same me that went to sleep? I don’t really know.” Ultimately, nobody could really be certain. They could only believe. There wasn’t anything else to do. “But the thing is, Haruki… either way, the end result is the same.”

“The same, you say?”

“The Souma we’re going to see could be the one I’ve known since two years ago, or it could be a completely different Souma, born from an ability. Either way, my job is the same.”

He would face her the same way, and tell her the same feelings.

Two sets of footsteps echoed out into the night sky. Their rhythm was very similar, yet there were slight, marked differences.

Haruki Misora’s voice was delivered with the slightest of sighs. “If there were two of you, then we would have a simple solution.”

Asai Kei once again shook his head. “No point thinking about that.” It just wouldn’t work.

Even if there were two of me, both of them would only want to be with you. He thought that, but didn’t put it into words.

They reached the top of the stairs. Before long, they would find Souma Sumire.

Kei walked down the landing, looking out at Sakurada. I just want to act normal, he thought. He didn’t think he could pull it off, but he wanted to try. I’m just a high schooler going out to see a friend. That kind of mood would be nice. And look, the moon is still so beautiful to look up at, just like every other night.

Asai Kei stopped in front of the door that he returned to every day. He turned to the side, facing Haruki Misora. “Once this is all over, let’s have a Kit-Kat together.” He still had the red package in his pocket that Ukawa Sasane had left him.

“Did you say… a Kit-Kat?”

Kei smiled. “While we’re having a chocolate break, we can plan out making curry together.”

Haruki Misora nodded, her expression turning very serious. “We shall make the most delicious curry in the entire world.”

“Mhm.” As long as they were in the kitchen together, that would be easy.

Kei looked at his watch. 7:15 PM. Perfect timing.

“Haruki…” he began, loosening the strap of his watch. “Save.”

24 hours had passed since the time Kei returned from the Sakurada with no abilities through a reset. It had been an exhausting 24 hours. Just like the last four months since July, and the last two years since that summer.

But all that time has value, and I wouldn’t replace it with anything else. That time had gotten Asai Kei to where he was.

“7:15:20 PM,” Haruki announced, her cell phone in one hand.

Kei slipped off his watch, shoving it in his pocket. Time was no longer important. “Alright, here we go.”

Asai Kei unlocked his door and turned the knob with familiar, practiced motions.

By the time the door was opened, Haruki Misora had vanished from beside him. Not that it came as any surprise. No doubt it was what Souma Suimire wanted, and now, she was like Tyltyl.

I don’t mind if it’s just the two of us.

Kei took off his shoes, walking into his room. It was dark inside, but the stunning moon shone outside his window. Only a sliver of its light was allowed through the closed curtains.

The light showed him someone crouched next to his bed, almost looking like a rolled-up blanket.

“You should’ve at least turned on the lights,” Kei started, flicking the switch as he entered.

When the lights turned on, he felt as if he were in a new and unrecognizable space. Souma Sumire was curled on the floor, hugging her knees in a small ball, like a stray cat left alone on a rainy day.

“Why… why did you come here?” Her gaze was fixed on her knees.

“This is my room. Where else would I go?”

“There’s nothing for you all the way off in the dream world.”

Kei shrugged. “Well, according to Tomoki, my job is to wipe away a girl’s tears.”

“I’m not even crying.”

“Oh, really?”

“Nope.”

“Well then, I’ll stop your inner tears.” It was embarrassing to say, but it was genuine nonetheless.

Actual flowing tears could be wiped away, but there was no magic that could stop the tears of someone’s heart.

Kei headed to the kitchen. “I’ll make some coffee. Don’t have much else here, unfortunately.” 

But as he grabbed the kettle, Souma whispered, “Don’t want any,” in a tiny voice.

Just like that, the kettle he was holding disappeared without a trace. For the slightest moment, he could still feel its weight, but then that was gone, too.

He definitely couldn’t do anything she didn’t want.

Kei walked over to Sumire, sitting down next to her. She didn’t even look up, only continuing to stare down at her knees.

It was so quiet. The only sounds were the hum of the fluorescent lights and her shallow breathing.

Silence was comfortable. Kei rather liked silence. But he knew he had to break it.

If logic would be enough to get through to her, then words might have been an option. He could just write down the main points on a notepad and call it a day. But things didn’t work that way because, in the end, emotions made almost every decision. Not even a million words could break through that. He couldn’t even trust the dictionary. He just had to hope that his emotions could be effectively conveyed through sound.

To have a conversation, and to allow them to reach each other, Kei began speaking.

“There’s been a lot on my mind lately. It’s like when you can’t sleep, and just stay up later and later. I have all these questions I can’t answer, and my mind just goes through them over and over and over again.”

He always ended up that way when he thought about abilities and Souma Sumire.

“Can you believe it? Just one girl makes it impossible for me to see the bigger picture. Instead, I end up feeling like I’m staring at these impossibly large, unmovable structures.”

Perhaps there wasn’t much of a difference between thinking about one girl and thinking of the whole world.

“I know.” Souma answered, her head still bowed down. “Thinking of you makes me feel like I’m tackling the entire world at once. Maybe using ‘the world’ sounds exaggerated, or like something you’d hear in a fictional story, but… that’s how it really is.”

Any intelligent adult would know the difference between an individual and the world. The difference could be easily represented by a few formulas. That had to be the right way to approach those two topics.

Meaning that I am entirely in the wrong here.

Sometimes, or if he was being honest, most of the time, it was hard to appreciate the difference between hurting one person and hurting a larger group of people. Emotions always destroyed his perception. Eventually, even those distortions would become a natural part of his perceived reality.

“I want to grow into an adult,” Kei admitted. “One who can understand the differences between those two concepts, and who doesn’t always have to question them.”

That much would be necessary to become capable of managing Sakurada’s abilities. The capability to choose one option, discard the other, and keep moving forward.

“But that’s not where I am right now. And I think it’s okay for me to imagine you to be as big as the world right now.”

Even naiveté had its place where it could be acceptable. Kei believed that even that could be used to save someone.

Souma neither confirmed nor denied his statement, so Kei continued. “I’ve been thinking a lot about rights recently. My rights to a single girl. My rights to the world. Really, they end up in the same place. What rights do I have to decide someone else’s happiness for them? How far do I get to go? What happens when I make a mistake I can’t take back and can’t possibly take responsibility for? Makes me wonder if it’s better to hold back out of fear of failure.”

It always came back to him. Even when he thought he had an answer pinned down, given enough time the question would come to haunt him again.

Souma Sumire remained unmoving.

Kei could never handle girls who were staring down. They always looked ready to cry, and it made his heart hurt.

“Did you find an answer?”

Her voice was delivered like a judge bringing the gavel down. Kei was supposed to answer, but it was as though her question had already reached the final verdict. Of course, the question couldn’t be answered, but someone had to answer. It was why Kei had come.

“I don’t have rights over anyone. There’s really nothing I can do about mistakes I can’t take responsibility for. But even so, I have to keep moving forward.”

Kei searched for the words that could reach the girl, words that would separate her from the world and define her relationship to it. He spoke slowly, thinking hard.

“Even if you’re doubting, you still have to believe. Even when you have to give up on something, don’t give up on everything. And then, you go. You walk ahead even if your steps are unsteady, and maybe you have to stop for a while, but you keep going.”

There was no other way forward.

“Sometimes there’s not an answer, but we still have to keep looking for it and refuse to give up.”

Souma Sumire made her first movement. She shook her head, ever so slightly. “That’s not an answer, Kei.”

And she was right.

Kei took a deep breath. He thought about how he answered the unanswerable question of whether or not abilities ought to remain in Sakurada. It wasn’t a logical answer. But he was once again facing an irrefutable fact.

He couldn’t just leave a girl in that state. It went without saying.

Kei checked in on the pain in his chest. It was still bleeding, still throbbing. Paying close attention to it, he said, “I don’t… think I can save you.”

Asai Kei had been the primary reason for all of Souma Sumire’s hurt. In fact, there was a way of looking at her tragedy such that it was entirely Asai Kei’s fault.

I’m the only person in the world who shouldn’t be saving her.

He could never save her. And yet.

“At the same time… I can still help define your happiness.”

Even if he didn’t have the right, he would keep on. Even if he couldn’t take responsibility, he would push forward. He couldn’t stop moving.

“I will find your happiness.”

The girl shook her head again. “I don’t have… anything like that.”

Her voice was hoarse. He remembered that voice. It was the same one she spoke with at the bus stop, in the rain, two years before.

“Because… I made a mistake that I can’t take back.”

She spoke in sobs, without a single tear in her eye.

“I’m sorry. I… wanted to save you. I wished for your happiness. But… I’m so sorry. All I did was hurt you.”

Oh… that kind of mistake.

We’re worrying about the exact same thing.

Shouldering the burdens of problems with no solution. Trying to force an answer, doubting, giving up, making sacrifices, and yet still believing. They were scared of the exact same thing.

That realization finally gave him the words he wanted to say to her. He closely watched the girl as she sat there curled in a ball. “There’s only one thing that I can truly claim as my right. One thing that I can freely decide.”

It was his own since birth, and he could hold onto it until the day he died.

I am free to decide my own feelings. That decision was the one thing he could hold with pride.

“I think that you, more than anyone else… have saved me.”

Hey, Souma. My chest still hurts. With every second that passed, it only hurt more.

“Don’t you doubt it for a minute. The happiness that you created for me is my true and real happiness.”

That’s the only thing I have to believe.

Asai Kei shut his eyes tightly. He wasn’t crying, but he felt like he was beginning to fight back tears. “I promise… It’s my true, real happiness.”

Asai Kei was the one person in the world least qualified to save Souma Sumire.

But he was also the only person in the world who could affirm her to the level she deserved.

What a selfish thing to think.

The words that Souma Sumire needed to be told were somewhere deep in Asai Kei’s heart. He had been looking for those words for a long time. Since before he ever met Souma Sumire. Since before ever coming to Sakurada, even.

And it was thanks to Souma that he could finally put to words the one thing he had always wanted.

In a way, they were words purely meant for Asai Kei. They were so personal that nobody else could really value them.

But he believed.

Souma Sumire is someone who has truly accepted all of who I am. She could empathize with him, all the way down to his heart of hearts. She had been through pain, suffering, and turmoil for all the same reasons he had.

So even the words that I needed could resonate with her.

They were words that had always been within him, and he had always believed them, but he was only recently starting to appreciate that even the smallest of sentiments had value.

“Everything that you’ve done has played a part in saving me. I’m grateful for every single thing you did. Don’t you ever think otherwise. Everything you said and every effort you made protected me, just as you wanted it to.”

Asai Kei continued to talk about his own egotistical version of the future, underhanded though it may have been. “You make me happy. I can face the future with a smile because of you. So please… keep helping me from here on out.”

The world had every kind of sadness, but it wasn’t without solace. It could offer a paradise that was too good to be true, warm places with happy rules that were secretly prepared for you.

That’s what I’d always been looking for. And now he finally understood. That paradise really did exist.

There was a place that could grant happiness with no downside, and it was right where he stood.

Because when it came down to it, to help someone was also to help yourself. Making someone happy and becoming happy were mutual events. When a hero saved someone, he was also saving himself. But it didn’t have to be that overstated. It could be a birthday present, a morning greeting, or even a handshake. As long as the other person smiled, it was enough.

If I can use her power to smile, then maybe it can become her reason to smile, too.

The world tended to be a place where too much happiness began to feel like a lie, or an issue waiting to be resolved. So Kei looked back at all his memories, every single one, and offered a smile from the bottom of his heart.

“Thank you. Because of you… I can be happy.”

He could tell her that undeniable truth with sincerity.

Souma Sumire’s shoulders started to shake. He wanted to wrap them up in a hug, but he couldn’t.

“It’s too bright,” she mumbled, her voice hoarse. In an instant, the room’s lights went out. She only looked up once all the lights were off.

Souma Sumire stared at Kei from the other end of the dark room. “Kei… no matter what happens, you’re always you.” Her quiet voice trembled. “And that… hurts for me to watch.”

Asai Kei stood up, walking over to the window and throwing open the curtains.

The beautiful moon’s light made Souma Sumire’s eyes sparkle.

Forcing on another smile, just like he always did, Kei said, “I knew it. You are crying.”

There was no magic that could stop the tears of someone’s heart.

But actual flowing tears could be wiped away.

He may not have had any rights to her, and he certainly couldn’t hug her, but he firmly believed that she deserved to have her tears wiped away, too.

Asai Kei walked up directly next to the girl. He bent down, holding her cheek in his right hand as he stroked under her eyes with his thumb. Her cheeks were still warm from those tears.

“Look into my future.” He was scared, but he kept speaking. “Don’t worry about the ending that you defined for yourself. Look into the real future. One month from now, six months, a year. I know that somewhere in that future, you’ll find a place where I can stand and see you smiling. Look for it.”

Souma Sumire was still crying, held in his hand, her mouth screwing up into strange shapes. “Look, Kei. If you want that, then I’m sure that would happen. But I’m… scared of that future. A future where I can’t have you, but I still can smile. You know?”

He didn’t know. But he couldn’t just shut her down, either.

Then, her expression changed. She became more like the Witch. Like someone forcing themselves to show a fake emotion.

Souma Sumire showed a smile that was nothing like a smile. “But that’s okay.” Her expression would have been eerie under most circumstances, but she had chosen her words carefully. Instead, her smile was contradictory, yet innocent. “I’ll do as you say, as long as you follow one condition.”

A condition.

“Really? Well, if I’m capable, then I’ll do it.”

Souma Sumire’s oddly beautiful smile never dimmed. Tears glistened on her cheeks. “It’s simple. You’ll play a game with me.”

She leaned forward. Kei’s hand was still on her cheek. Their intensely close eyes met. They were close enough for Kei to feel her breath as she spoke.

“If you win, then I’ll follow you. Even into a future where I’m sure I’ll become capable of smiling naturally before long.”

That wasn’t the kind of outcome that should be left up to a game. But Kei stopped himself from objecting.

I trust Souma Suimre. He didn’t even know what it would mean to doubt her.

Kei dropped his hand from her cheek. “Okay. What if you win?”

“Then you’ll do as I say. I’ll be the one deciding our futures.”

Kei watched the girl, bathed in the moonlight. Her beauty was so striking as to almost make her look inhuman. “And what kind of future would you have for me?”

Her head tilted ever so slightly. “You will give up everything that you’ve been so attached to for so long, Kei. You will become mine. We’ll live here, in the dream world. We’ll live our own quiet lives together, like two little stones.”

It went without saying that those were unacceptable conditions.

She did nothing but stare into his eyes for a long, long time. The silence became deafening. His ears began to hurt. For just a moment, Asai Kei held his breath.

He thought about her intentions. He couldn’t be certain, but he thought he was close to the truth.

He exhaled, nodding. “Okay. So, what kind of game are we playing?”

She didn’t break eye contact, but while her eyes remained unchanged, her smile vanished. It was like all the color had drained away from the world, taking her expressions along with it.

“You haven’t said my name once since coming into this room, you know. You’re probably trying to be considerate. I get that. But…” Her voice alone retained color. It was a cool color, like the sound of quiet sobbing. “Please, Kei… say my name.”

Souma Sumire. A duplicate girl that was pulled from a photograph. A girl made to be a Swampman. A girl constructed by someone else. The second Witch. The second Nameless System.

A girl with tears running down her cheeks who didn’t even know her own name.

“If you can say my name right… then you win.”

Yeah. I should’ve known.

This time around, he could understand her.

This is just how sad she is. So beautiful, yet so sad.

Asai Kei drew in a breath, preparing to say the girl’s name.

✽

Asai Kei touched the doorknob. Instantly, his body vanished.

Souma Sumire has separated Kei and I.

A part of Haruki Misora felt regretful. She wondered if she should have suggested that they hold hands.

With no other options, she touched the cold doorknob herself. The door was already unlocked, and somehow, that told her all she needed to know about why she was there.

She pulled the door open.

The room lights weren’t on, but a faint glow spread throughout the room regardless. Haruki removed her shoes, pressing forward.

Moonlight shone through the window. Illuminated in that light was Souma Sumire, sitting atop the bed. She had her hands clasped in front of her chest, as if she was making a prayer to God. She turned her gaze towards Haruki, offering a smile that was just as strange as it was beautiful. “Good evening, Haruki. You’re late.”

Haruki stopped at the room’s entrance. “Good afternoon, Souma Sumire. What do you mean to imply by saying that I am late?”

“What do you think I mean?”

An idea struck Haruki, and she pulled her cell phone out of her pocket.

She had saved at 7:15 PM as per Kei’s orders. From her perspective, it had only been a minute or so since then. But according to the time on her phone’s monitor, it had been nearly 45 minutes.

I must have lost consciousness for 30 minutes or so. Whether it was closer to sleep, or even disappearing from the world entirely, Haruki couldn’t know. Perhaps she had just lost all memory of the past 30 minutes.

Either way, it didn’t matter.

“Have you met with Kei?” Haruki asked.

“Mhm. We had a nice talk.”

“And where is he now?”

“Here in my hands.”

Haruki’s natural assumption was that she was making some kind of metaphorical statement. But she couldn’t stop the curiosity needling in her chest from watching Souma Sumire’s hands, which had remained clasped in front of her chest.

“Please open your hands.”

Still smiling, the other girl tilted her head. “Are you serious?”

“Do it.”

Souma Sumire opened her hands. She kept them together with her palms up, as if trying to scoop water.

In her hands was a black pebble. It was quite similar to the pebble known as the MacGuffin.

“What is that?” Haruki demanded.

Souma Sumire raised the corners of her mouth. “Kei and I made a promise. We played a game, and if he lost, he would become mine.” She looked down at the pebble in her hands with clear amusement. “And he lost the game. So now he’s here, with me.”

She was lying. She had to be. “That is impossible,” Haruki denied with all her strength.

Souma Sumire tilted her head. “Why? I have the same powers as Tyltyl right now. I could turn him into a little stone if I wanted.”

“I am aware of that.”

“Then what, you think Kei could never lose?”

That wasn’t the issue. “You would never wish to do something like that, Souma Sumire.”

Souma loved Asai Kei, perhaps even more than herself. Asai Kei was number one in her world.

But the girl’s smile never dimmed. “That’s quite the assumption, claiming that I’m really Souma Sumire.”

She suddenly shifted the pebble to one hand and, with a wave of her arm, tossed the pebble towards Haruki.

Haruki’s breath caught in her throat. Her entire line of sight was diminished to a tiny parabola in the air. She reached out with her whole body towards the pebble, losing her footing and tumbling down in the process, but still managing to catch it.

Laughter floated through the room. “Well, isn’t that something? If that pebble isn’t actually Asai Kei, then what’s with all the panic?” Her laughter sounded genuine, as if she truly found the situation amusing. “Listen here, Haruki Misora. That stone is Asai Kei. He can’t see anything, and he can’t hear. He can’t talk or reach out his hands. But he can think. That stone holds Asai Kei’s consciousness.”

Why?

“Ah, you want to know why I did this? Then fine, I’ll tell you.” Souma crossed her legs, putting her chin in her hands. “A stone can’t sleep. That means it can’t leave the dream world. He will remain trapped here, forever. But not you. You will wake up, and have a very difficult time trying to get back. And while I’m here, I have all the power of a god.”

Haruki Misora looked up at Souma Sumire.

Souma Sumire looked down upon Haruki Misora.

“Give up. Asai Kei is mine.”

Oh, I see. In that kind of situation, Kei would have smiled. At that thought, Haruki did. She bent up the corners of her mouth, smiling so much like he did.

Haruki Misora stood up. Now Haruki was looking down. “You will have to forgive me for not choosing my words carefully from here on out.”

Souma frowned ever so slightly, her face shifting to a somewhat lonely expression. “Well, looks like our Haruki Misora has almost become human.”

“Two years can do that to a person.”

Souma Sumire nodded. “Very well. Not like you have to be picky and choosy around me, anyway.”

“In that case…” Haruki Misora glared at Souma Sumire. “This is completely ridiculous. You cannot possibly own Asai Kei like this. And you know that, which is why you let me into this room.”

There wasn’t any point in unlocking the front door. If she wanted to play god and flaunt her magic powers, then she would have just kicked anybody who got in the way out of the dream world.

If Souma Sumire truly owned Asai Kei…

Then she would never have wanted to see me. It was pointless.

“You are doing no more than throwing a tantrum. You think that sitting around and sulking will get you what you want.”

Souma Sumire shook her head. “I don’t understand what you mean.”

As if she didn’t understand. You’re smarter than me, and I get it.

If she really couldn’t understand, it was only because she didn’t want to understand. She was running away from reality.

Haruki Misora held the stone up to her face. “Something like this would never satisfy you. You just want Kei, right? So you were hoping that I would simply hand him over.”

Souma Sumire was quiet for a while. Then, she started chuckling softly. In between her laughs, she said, “I see. That’s a pretty effective strategy.”

Her laughs began to sound like choked sobs. Her shoulders were shaking as if with silent tears. “I mean, that just makes sense, right? After everything I’ve done. I devoted my life and even my death to him, and if I started sulking, he wouldn’t just leave me alone, right? It’s obvious that he would follow me all the way into the dream world and reach out his hand to me, isn’t it?”

The girl illuminated in the moonlight looked so beautiful, and yet so inhuman. She looked more like a creation designed to appear human.

“Maybe all of this boils down to being a ploy where I tried to take him from you. I mean, if I really turned him into a stone, you wouldn’t just let him stay like that. He’s the only person special to you, more important than yourself, and if it was for him, you could convince yourself to leave.”

Her shoulders stopped trembling, but the smile had never left her face. It remained splotched along her features, like the grin of an evil witch. “All that said, give me Kei.” She slowly extended out her right hand. “I’ll lift his curse.”

Haruki Misora tightly gripped her right hand, wrapping her left around it protectively. I don’t want to. She never wanted to give it up.

“Did you know?” She closed her eyes, holding the stone before her chest in both hands. “In the past, I was capable of using my ability all by myself.” That had been true before the summer two years ago.

I thought my ability had no value back then. She could use it, but nothing would ever change. She could never truly take away anyone’s tears, so her ability was reduced to being useless in her mind.

But I still used my ability to follow my rules. She could use her ability without having to follow his instruction.

Then everything changed when Souma Sumire died. She used a reset, and Souma Sumire died in a world where she had previously lived. And Asai Kei was hurt.

I couldn’t use my ability of my own volition after that.

She hated the thought of the same thing happening again. She didn’t want the only boy who would remember both before and after a reset to get hurt again.

…No, wait. That was inaccurate.

If she was really concerned about him being hurt from using resets, following his commands to use them made absolutely no sense. After all, if more problems were to occur, then he would only be hurt more.

Put simply, she was just a coward.

I was scared that he wouldn’t like me. Scared that she would do something herself, screw up, and make him hate her. The thought of the singular, most important person in her world hating her was unbearable.

She lacked the courage to even try, being reduced to nothing more than a cowardly child.

“And what, now you can reset by yourself?” Souma Sumire’s voice echoed. Her tone was sharp, provoking.

“I can.” She could use her ability, and bear the responsibility of it.

Haruki Misora knew it was time to accept the burden that she had been shoving onto the boy all this time. She made up her mind.

I can use my ability.

An ability was like breathing. It wasn’t learned from someone else, it was done by starting with the belief that it could be accomplished. If she had confidence in her capability, then she could use her ability.

She imagined Kei’s voice coming from behind, telling her, “Reset.”

Haruki Misora opened her eyes.

But then, the very moment before she was going to use her ability…

Her eyes landed on Souma Sumire’s face. She took in the other girl’s screwed-up mouth and the facial features making up her expression.

“What’s wrong now?” the girl asked.

A quiet voice rose from inside Haruki’s chest.

This is weird. Something didn’t fit.

Then she finally realized what was happening.

“Souma Sumire…” Haruki Misora began to understand her. It should have been obvious, but it had taken her so long to realize.

She lost all her strength. “I am sorry,” she mumbled impulsively.

All her practice was paying off. She could see the difference.

“This whole time… you really have only ever thought about Kei.”

Souma Sumire’s facial expression and screwed-up mouth were a crying face.

Her cheeks may have been dry, but that expression was meant for shedding tears.

✽

Souma Sumire knew.

The girl wouldn’t be able to use her own Resets. Not that she couldn’t, she just wouldn’t.

She heard Haruki Misora’s voice.

“I am sorry.”

You really shouldn’t apologize. This is all because of my plan anyway.

“This whole time… you really have only ever thought about Kei.”

No. It was all about me. This is what I wanted most.

Souma Sumire fell down backwards, lying down upon the bed.

She was so tired. She covered her eyes with her right hand, as even the moonlight had become unbearably bright.

She struggled to push her voice out. “Well… it’s not like I could avoid seeing this future.”

Was it all about trying to get Asai Kei for herself? Did she turn him into a stone to try and negotiate with Haruki Misora?

Of course not.

“You’ve gotten two whole years with him. Not even you would be inhuman enough to just give him up, obviously. Even if I did have some kind of master plan to that end, Kei would have just seen through it, obviously.”

And he would always prioritize you over me… obviously.

Oh, now I want to cry again. But she also didn’t want Haruki Misora to see her in tears.

“It’s not like I’m incredibly good at planning all of this out, or anything. I can’t stop myself from having feelings.”

She was just there, being knocked around by her own feelings. She was always getting swept away by so many things out of her control.

“I am sorry,” Haruki Misora apologized, again. “I have acted horrendously. I should not have doubted you in that way.”

Haruki’s voice made it obvious that she was crying. Souma couldn’t help but envy her ability to cry openly.

“Oh, whatever. If you’re not fooled, then it doesn’t matter anyway.”

Souma had genuinely wanted to fool Haruki all the way through to the end, resulting in a reset. But it didn’t work. She had looked through numerous futures during conversations with Kei, and there just wasn’t a way to make it happen.

No matter what I did, right before the very end, I was always found out. She always got busted as just a subpar actor.

“I should have known that you would never do something like turn Kei into a stone.”

Of course not. That wouldn’t mean anything. In every case, Souma Sumire only wanted to protect Asai Kei. Taking something away from him just wasn’t a choice she ever considered.

The stone was just a stone. The little pebble known as the MacGuffin that she nabbed from his desk drawer.

“You did this for me. You lied so that I could become capable of using my power of my own accord again, right?”

Souma Sumire shook her head. “It wasn’t for you.”

Kei would be taking on the responsibility of every ability within Sakurada. If Haruki Musora really wanted to be by his side, then she at least needed to be able to handle her own responsibilities.

“You can’t just let him protect you forever. He’s trying to save the entire world, and you’re the only one that can save him.”

Souma tried to think of it as a rite of passage. Not for Kei, but for herself. Unless she made space for Haruki Misora, then she wouldn’t be able to move forward.

“I don’t want to be by his side unless I can be held responsible for my own ability,” Souma concluded.

She heard footsteps. They were very close by, and she realized that Haruki Misora was approaching her.

“I must apologize. I…” Haruki sat down on the bed, right beside her. “I have always envied you.”

Souma Sumire jolted her right hand, which had been covering her eyes, and looked up. Who envied who now? “I think I should be the one saying that.”

Haruki Misora shook her head. Her face was still streaked with tears. “Do you know what my ideal is?”

Souma didn’t want to answer, but she did anyway. “To be close to Kei.” She couldn’t really think of anything else.

But the other girl shook her head. “Not quite. To be smart, have an excellent ability, and for him to always rely on me. That is what my ideal would be.” She looked over at Souma. “Souma Sumire… I always wanted to be like you.”

Souma couldn’t stop herself from smiling. It was so ridiculous. “Well, Haruki Misora, I always wanted to be like you.”

To be Asai Kei’s ideal girl two years ago, without having to put up an act. To be the one he was always watching, even if she had no ability.

And over the course of two years, he had gently guided her into becoming a more normal girl. Because for some reason, the less that she resembled the ideal Haruki Misora of two years prior, the more Asai Kei loved her.

I wanted to be like you. A normal girl that he could fall in love with.

It had been her forever ungranted dream.

“Think it would have been better if our positions were reversed?” she asked on a whim.

What if Souma Sumire was Haruki Misora, and Haruki Misora was Souma Sumire? Would that have been preferable?

Haruki’s face turned serious as she shook her head. “I think if the situation were reversed, then everyone would only end up with one-sided longing for the other.”

She was right. It probably would go that way.

We’re all really selfish when it comes down to it. But to think that there were such kind places in the world where it was okay to be selfish.

Haruki Misora was no longer crying. She rubbed her eyes to get rid of her tear stains, then smiled. She bent up the corners of her mouth, so much like Asai Kei would. “I have decided.”

“On what?”

“Someday, I will be worthy of being by Kei’s side in the same way you are. If both of us are competing for the same spot, then my selfishness can be satisfied.”

Souma Sumire made a face. “Well, that’s a cheap shot.”

“Indeed it is.”

Lying down, Souma Sumire couldn’t help but smile. It was a forced smile, yet it was still half genuine. “He just asked me to keep on helping him in the future.”

Even small things like that could genuinely save someone from the kind and cruel places of the world.

“I’m still the better partner for his business acumen, so I’m not just gonna give that position away.”

Souma Sumire closed her eyes.

“Where is Kei right now?” Haruki asked.

“He already woke up.” More accurately, she kicked him out so he wouldn’t interfere in her talk with Haruki.

Souma felt the other girl lay down beside her on the bed.

“In that case, it is time for us to go as well.”

Instead of a nod, Souma took a deep breath in. His scent coming from the pillow faintly tickled her nose.

Souma Sumire relaxed.

It was time to sleep, so that she could wake up.

End of chapter 3