August 12th, Saturday. It had been three days since the Witch reunited with Sasano Hiroyuki, before vanishing from Sakurada. That morning, Kei was sitting up in his bed. His curtains were still drawn, so the room was dark.

He recalled the words that he heard from the Witch those three days ago.

The Witch had only spent a few minutes speaking to Asai Kei about his future.

✽

“The Bureau will not directly pursue you. The easiest method to deal with them is to frame this as a problem purely between me and Sasano Hiroyuki. Although you will lose favor with the Bureau, you can rest assured they will not press charges.”

Suddenly, her voice dropped low. “I wish I could tell you more, but… I’m sorry, that would be pointless.”

Kei could hardly believe what he had just heard. “What does that mean?” How could future sight possibly be pointless?

The woman’s right hand reached out and touched Kei’s cheek. Her palms were dry. She closed her eyes, speaking slowly. “You will become involved in a great conflict.”

“Over what?”

“My successor.”

The Witch’s successor. In other words, someone with an ability that could ingratiate into and uphold the Bureau’s system. “You really have a successor?”

The Witch nodded. “The Bureau has looked tirelessly for someone that can replace me. No matter how hard I searched, I could never find someone with an ability like mine. I was the only one. Or so I had become convinced. But as it turned out…” She opened her eyes, looking directly into Kei’s face. “You already knew them.”

Her expression unmoving, she continued, “You already met someone with the ability to know the future two years ago.”

That’s impossible, he thought. But immediately, it was clear. It couldn’t have been more obvious. “Is your successor… this person who can know the future… a girl?”

“Yes.”

“Is she about middle school age, with a short haircut, and thin, with big eyes?”

“Yes.”

“Did this girl… did she die two years ago?”

“She did.”

Everything lined up. It felt like everything Kei had known up to that point began to fall neatly and beautifully into place, one by one.

“You will meet that girl once more,” the Witch said. “She has the ability to see the future, which is the ability to change the future. No matter what I may see in your future, it is volatile. To tell you anything more would be pointless.”

✽

That was all the woman had to say about Asai Kei’s future.

He recalled the chuckle that escaped from him on the way home, after he had parted ways with the Witch. Once he was finally alone, he couldn’t hold it in. He started laughing loudly, to the point that tears welled up in his eyes. Even recalling the moment three days later, he could hardly keep himself from bursting out again. He wanted to laugh, to wail, to make some sort of noise.

He remembered everything. From two years ago, from last month, and from the last few days. He thought about all the people he met, and all the things he did.

His mouth bent.

I knew something was off.

It had all felt too good to be true. It was too perfect, too crafted. He shouldn’t have been able to get that photo of the tetrapods at sunset without even trying. It couldn’t have been pure convenience that dealt him the perfect hand at just the right time.

If that girl could see two years into the future, then everything made sense. Even something like the MacGuffin finally started to fit if she entered the equation. Was it something to be happy about? To be sad about? He didn’t know, but at least it finally made some semblance of sense.

Kei cleared his head with a light shake. For the time being, it was best to take everything positively. After all, the Witch had told him that he was bound to meet her again in the future. That was all he could have asked for.

He stood from his bed, opening the curtains. Bright sunlight poured in, filling the room.

The girl who died two years ago. That stray cat of a girl…

Souma Sumire.

Evidently, everything had gone perfectly according to her plan.

✽

At around 12:30 PM, Kei was standing in the garden of Sasano Hiroyuki’s house with Haruki Misora and Murase Youka at his side. He had them come along to perform a simple experiment.

He looked up at the old sakura tree before them. It was under a bright blue sky and surrounded by lush greenery, yet the tree itself bore only a few withered leaves. Old trees always reminded Kei of death.

He lowered his eyes, looking towards Haruki. She had her cell phone up to her ear. He glanced down to her elbow. The bandage was gone, but a small scar remained.

“Save,” he instructed.

She answered in the same way she always did. “August 12th, 12:29:02.”

With a nod, Kei pulled out a picture. It was of a sakura tree in full bloom, one that he received in his gift album. Kei held onto one of the corners, Haruki grabbed a second, and Murase a third.

With a slight sound, the photo ripped.

The world was blanketed in white.

The cicada cries faded away as the harsh summer light gentled. The sky and surrounding trees paled. Before them now stood a magnificent sakura tree, its wide branches in full bloom. White petals fluttered down and around in the wind.

“It’s beautiful,” Murase mumbled.

They had made their way into the world of a photograph once again through Sasano Hiroyuki’s ability. Bound by his limitations, they would only have 10 minutes inside. Until then, they could stay in this beautifully recreated world, put together like a movie set.

The petals continued their tranquil dance. They almost appeared to be floating, though that was entirely impossible. Kei watched their irregular and inefficient fluttering for some time before picking a single petal off the ground, handing it to Murase.

“If you would,” he said.

Murase accepted the petal. “Whole body, resets.” With that callout, resets would no longer affect her.

Kei looked up at the pale blue sky intersecting with pure white. “Reset.”

The world fell apart and rebuilt.

They left behind the minute that they had traveled through, and all it entailed. They erased Sasano Hiroyuki’s ability and the world that was created from it.

The world had fully reverted to the past, if only for a moment.

Cicada cries echoed through the air.

Haruki spoke. “August 12th, 12:29:02.”

Kei and his friends were back in the world as it was one minute ago.

Looking up at the ancient sakura tree bathed in summer light, Kei recalled it in full bloom. It felt like a dream.

“We reset. Murase, your hand, please.”

Murase held out her hand, opening it up.

Murase was the only person truly unaffected by the reset. Her hands were capable of carrying fragments from the past, even through a reset.

In that hand was a single cherry blossom petal.

“Thank you very much,” Kei said, taking the petal. He lightly felt along the petal. It certainly looked and felt real. It was most definitely a petal from the fully bloomed tree that Sasano captured. Unless it was only a replica.

“So, what was this all about, anyway?” Murase asked.

“I just really wanted one of these petals, is all.”

“But it’s just gonna disappear soon anyway, won’t it?”

Sasano’s ability only functioned for ten minutes. After that time, anything from his created worlds would disappear entirely.

But Kei shook his head. “I don’t think this one will.”

“Why not?”

“Because we haven’t activated Sasano’s ability yet. Since we reset, his ability technically didn’t take effect.”

The petals would disappear on a ten minute timer once they were created by Sasano’s ability. They had, however, erased the middle man. If they technically didn’t start the timer, then there was theoretically no risk.

“There’s no need for this petal to vanish from the world any more.”

“How do you know that?”

“I don’t. It’s just a hunch I had.”

Besides, Kei didn’t have to know, as long as that girl did. If she was willing to die two years ago, it could only have been because she knew about the methodology of misusing Sasano’s ability.

Kei held the petal up to the sky. Would the sakura tree consider the petal to be its own flower? If that old tree knew everything that had just happened, would it consider that petal to be part of itself?

Kei didn’t know the answer. He couldn’t tell if the petal was real or a fake.

Murase touched the old sakura tree, looking somewhat lonesome. Haruki kept her eyes intently on Kei’s face. Kei whispered quietly to her.

“I’m going to bring Souma Sumire back to life.”

“Is that truly possible?”

“I don’t know, but if this petal sticks around, then the same should be true for her.”

Haruki’s eyes closed for slightly longer than a blink before she reopened them. Kei saw his face reflected in her pupils.

“Do you have a photograph of her?”

“Yes.”

“Is this the reason why you discussed the Swampman with me?”

“It is.”

Haruki clearly hesitated, but spoke nonetheless. “Will the girl in the photo be the real her?”

Kei softly shook his head. “I don’t know.”

Such was the nature of a Swampman. Someone who looked just like her, who lived in the same world.

But Kei could only head towards one conclusion. Surely that girl wanted to leave her photo.

Kei stared down at his hand. Ten minutes, even twenty minutes later, the petal still hadn’t disappeared.

“C’mon, we should get going,” Murase said.

Kei smiled. “Right. Thanks a lot for all your help today.”

Murase turned around, walking away.

Haruki stood next to Kei, still staring at him. He slowly slacked his grip, letting the petal fall. Haruki’s gaze followed it down.

A single petal danced in the wind, bathed in summer light and surrounded by green trees. Perhaps it was only fiction. Perhaps it was just a fabrication of the past. Or perhaps it was just reality, plain and simple.

It didn’t really matter in the end. No matter what it was, a white petal always looked beautiful under a blue sky.

Before the petal could reach the base of the old tree, Asai Kei turned his back to it and walked away.

A Witch, a Photo, and a Girl With Red Eyes – END