Chapter 3 – Sunday’s Conclusion

1 – July 13th (Thursday) – Two days ago (again)

“July 13th, 12:59:15.”

Just as always, Haruki was reading out the time as she saved. Kei used his ability to remember the last five minutes. Immediately, he covered his right hand. There was no blood, no scar. But his body would never forget the pain that rocked him to his core.

“Are you all right?” Haruki asked.

Kei immediately let go of his hand, and smiled. “It’s nothing to worry about. It would appear we’ve reset.” They understood the rough outline of Murase’s powers. That alone gave them a great advantage this time around.

Haruki tilted her head. “Was this before we attended the festival, or after?”

“We reset on Saturday afternoon, so we hadn’t gone to the festival yet.”

“I am glad to hear that.”

“Really?”

“Yes.”

“Well, then I’m glad, too.”

Kei ran through the details of what had transpired before their reset. How they found the cat, the investigation of the holes in walls, Minami Mirai becoming a ghost due to The Operator, and their sudden encounter with Murase Youka.

At the end, all Haruki asked was, “How is your right hand?”

“Well, it got a bit banged up, but it’s fine since we reset.” Technically, that wasn’t a lie, right? Not even Kei knew the extent of his injury, since he hadn’t taken a good look. His upper palm had probably looked shaved away, and although the entire hand hadn’t disappeared, bone was likely showing. Kei didn’t really want to dwell on it. His right hand was back, so the pain was only a memory. “We need to find Tsushima-sensei so we can tell him about The Operator.”

As it turned out, the e-mail sent to Kei just prior to resetting was not from Tsushima. The image in his head was just an e-mail from Tomoki asking if he could come over for dinner. Not everything could go their way all the time. Besides, even if they had The Operator’s address, it would’ve been more efficient to go through Tsushima anyway.

Kei sent him a quick e-mail. Minami became a ghost, and The Operator was the one who did it. Meet me in the club room for the details.

“Alrighty, I better head off to the club room.”

Haruki nodded. “Very well. We shall eat lunch in the club room today.”

“You liar.”

Tsushima looked up. “Y’know, that line’s just such a bummer coming from a guy.”

Kei sighed. “Haruki.”

“Um, you liar?”

Tsushima nodded. “Not bad, not bad. If you really wanna sell it, though, try glaring at me like I’m an inferior being.”

“Kei?”

“Don’t humor him,” Kei said, shaking his head and glaring at Tsushima as though he were an inferior being. “You said this was a job well done, so why are there suddenly so many complications?”

“I said nothing of the sort.”

“Yes, you did. Tomorrow.”

“Then I just won’t say it this time. I can hardly be held accountable for something I haven’t said yet.” Tsushima took a sip of his coffee, and frowned. Man, this guy really doesn’t like coffee, Kei thought.

Kei sighed again. He wasn’t trying to be obnoxious in front of Tsushima, but he didn’t try to hide it, either. “What’s going on here, Sensei? Why have things turned out this way, and what are we supposed to do?”

“That’s for us to know. We’ll take care of Yoshii Ryouji and Minami. There’s no problem here.”

“There definitely are problems. Minami died.”

“She’s alive right now, so it’s fine. There won’t be any incidents this time around.”

Did a reset really make it okay that someone had died? Kei wasn’t so sure, and he didn’t think that was for anyone to decide. “Please let me in on this. I’m not just some unrelated party anymore.” He couldn’t stop himself from stepping in. Resets should never result in death.

“Oh, yeah? So what do you know?”

“Not much, right now. But if you gave me everything you had on Murase-san, I’m sure I could connect all the dots for this case.”

“It’s a little early to be spilling all our info.”

“Why? The sooner that everything comes together, the better.”

“Y’know, I haven’t seen that look on your face in a while.” Tsushima smiled.

Kei almost took the bait, before he realized that was exactly what Tsushima wanted. But he wasn’t in the mood for these games. Kei took a quick breath, and changed the subject. “You know the rumor about the MacGuffin, right?”

Tsushima nodded. “Whoever holds it can control all the abilities in Sakurada, or so they say.”

“Could an object like that logically exist?”

“No, not when you think about it realistically.”

“But Murase-san is set on getting the MacGuffin.”

“Oh, we already know that.”

“She said she wanted the MacGuffin so she could control Sakurada.”

“So?”

“So, I think you’re right, Tsushima-sensei. When you think about it realistically, the MacGuffin is an impossibility. But Murase-san is convinced that it’s real.” People didn’t believe in the impossible for no reason. Did she have proof to believe in it, or did she just want it to be true?

“Well, nobody can really say whether it’s as effective as the rumor would suggest, but the MacGuffin is a real object.”

Kei could tell that Tsushima was beating around the bush to try and get away from talking about Murase Youka. Although it was annoying, Kei went along with it, since he was too curious to leave it alone. “And where is it?”

“In my desk drawer in the staff room.”

That deflated the tension a bit.

Tsushima smiled. “I’ve taken to carrying it with me as of late, however. Never know when Murase will try to come take it.”

“If it’s a dud, why not just give it to Murase-san?”

“Well, we teachers can’t just give everything away because we’re asked to.” Having finished his cup of coffee, Tsushima stood up. “Isn’t it lunch period right now? Better eat up, or you’ll run out of time.”

Kei got Tsushima’s attention one last time before he got out the door. “So how long do I have to wait?”

“Huh?”

“You said it was too early to tell me everything. So, how long until I can know?”

Tsushima paused, looked at his watch, then answered. “Probably two or three days, then you can ask away. I’ve got contingency plans, but in the worst-case scenario, I’ll call you.”

“What’s the worst-case scenario?”

Tsushima shrugged. “That my friend would be sad.” With what were probably his most guarded words yet, Tsushima left the clubroom.

✽

From what Haruki Misora could tell, nothing particularly important happened over the next two days.

The first thing Kei did was contact Nonō and tell her not to worry about the cat, since it would be home before long. Just as he predicted, the cat appeared before Nonō on Thursday afternoon, evidently dropped off in Tsushima’s car. They now had no reason to wait in front of the bakery on Friday morning. Kei had said that he suspected Tsushima pulled that off so they wouldn’t meet with Murase Youka.

After school on Thursday, Kei tried calling The Operator from the public phone in the shopping district, but the call didn’t go through. However, from the way Kei talked, it seemed he expected that outcome. He told Haruki that The Operator had run into some trouble on the 12th before the reset. He didn’t explain what kind of trouble, and Haruki didn’t ask.

24 hours following their reset, they saved during lunch period on Friday.

Just after they saved, Kei asked Minami Mirai to accompany him to the stairs where they normally ate lunch together. Since he didn’t seem to mind Haruki joining, she sat next to him and listened to their conversation.

Kei explained all the events that happened prior to the reset to Minami. On the last Friday evening, Minami Mirai went mountain climbing to find a ghost, and was killed by Yoshii Ryouji on her travels. This activated her innate ability, and she turned into a ghost. Early Saturday morning, Yoshii Ryouji turned himself in to the police.

In just two or three minutes, Kei summarized the entirety of Minami’s death. He had spent more time explaining the function of resets and how Kei worked around them than he had the topic at hand. Haruki was not bothered by this, however. She was caught up in considering their surroundings.

The staircase they sat on was no longer serving its intended purpose, and had turned into a storeroom. The door leading to the rooftop stood above them, but remained firmly locked. Haruki thought that this staircase was something like their home away from home, and she could easily imagine that Kei thought so, too. After all, the rooftop was where they would always find the girl that died two years ago. It was where that girl and Kei would hug each other.

Even Haruki had things that she could never forget.

The rain drizzled down outside the window. Kei’s voice quieted down as he finished his story. Minami took a short pause, breathed in and out, and nodded. Then, she spoke.

“You know how hard it is to believe that I’m gonna die, right?”

“Well, you won’t die now. Tsushima-sensei will work it all out.”

“What did you think when you found out that I had died, Asai-kun?”

Kei’s voice stayed neutral, and he spoke quietly, like the sound of the falling rain.

“There was another girl that died, once.”

His answer was far beyond Haruki’s expectations. It was obvious that he had been thinking of her this whole time, but he never had told anyone about it before. He rarely even brought it up with Haruki.

But they were talking about resets, and at the top of the stairs, no less. This was no slip of the tongue. Kei was almost using the place as a confessional booth.

He continued. “Two years ago, I told Haruki to reset, and the consequence was that a girl who should have lived, died. She’s been on my mind the entire time since I learned about your situation. ”

“What happened to the girl?”

“Nothing happened.” Kei’s voice was passive and impersonal. “I combed the entire city to find a way to revive her. I did everything I could to undo my complete screwup. But nothing worked. I never found an ability that could bring her back.”

In a way, it was quite strange. Sakurada was supposed to be the place where one’s desires were granted as an ability. Surely at least one person had wished for the ability to bring back someone from the dead. And yet, somehow, no such ability existed.

“And that’s that. Nothing could be done. She’s dead. The thing is, if the timing was just a tad different, it could have been the same for you this time around. Honestly, it terrified me to even think about it.”

Just listening to Kei talk about it made Haruki feel like crying. She could never remember the feeling of wanting to cry very well. In all likelihood, when this moment was over, she would forget it yet again. But in this moment, she remembered it well.

“I see,” Minami responded. “So, if I were to die, I’d become a ghost again?”

“Most likely. I’m not sure if there’s another activation condition.”

“But, if this Yoshii person were to kill me tonight, I’d become a ghost?” Her voice carried no particular happiness or sadness, at least as far as Haruki could understand. It sounded for all the world like a simple fact-check.

“Do you want to become a ghost?” Kei asked.

“I dunno. It sure sounds fun, though.”

“I’m sure that Yoshii-san doesn’t want you dead, though. If you have something you want to tell him, I can let him know. It’s alright if you’re mad, or have a grudge.”

Kei seemed to have a hard time calling the man, “Yoshii-san”. Evidently he still categorized him as “The Operator”.

Minami shook her head. “I don’t really have anything to say to him. I’m alive, so no hard feelings. It seems kinda silly to be upset over something that I can’t even remember, don’t you think?”

“Well, you’re probably right.” Kei smiled happily. That looks like a real smile, Haruki thought. Evidently he enjoyed her calling it “silly” to get upset.

“There is something I’d like to ask him, though. Do you know how I can get a hold of him?”

“Tsushima-sensei would know that. I’m sure he’d tell you if you asked. Yoshii-san is actually quite well-informed, so you’d do well to make his acquaintance.”

“Sure, sounds good.” Minami nodded, then looked back at Kei. “Also, should Misora’s ability be kept a secret?”

“Yes. Please do everything you can to keep it to yourself.”

“Okay. I love keeping secrets. It makes me feel really special,” Minami smiled. It was the type of large, exaggerated smile that you would always see on her face during class.

Suddenly, on Friday evening, the worst-case scenario happened. Kei received an e-mail, and immediately showed it to Haruki. It was from Tsushima Shintarou.

Tomorrow – July 15th, Saturday. Evidently, Tsushima wanted to meet with Haruki and Kei at 10 AM. He told them to go to the coffee shop where they first met Murase. The time, date, and location were exactly the same as the initial request meeting.

Haruki posed a question. “What do you think this is about?”

“Can’t say I know. But I’ve got a bad feeling,” Kei answered with a frown.

You’ve got that right, Haruki thought. Although, perhaps her reasoning was slightly different to Kei’s.

Tomorrow night, she and Kei were scheduled to go to the summer festival. Being asked to fulfill troublesome requests would only serve to muck that up.

✽

Much later that night, Kei hopped into bed.

He took the events of the day, lined them all up, and imagined running a thread through them, before falling into a short dream. Perhaps it was a dream, or just a memory that floated through his consciousness before falling asleep. Either way, it was certainly a real event, one that happened two years ago.

It wasn’t a story that could be told with a smile. Just being aware of its existence made him want to cry out in fear, and if possible, he would want it wiped from all memory, never to be known by anyone. He would take the memory of his physical pain any day over this one.

It was the memory of the very first time that Kei used a reset for his own selfish goals. He wanted to erase everything and everyone, and make it like the event had never happened. But Kei was the one person who would never be capable of forgetting it. His thoughts, feelings, senses, emotions… he experienced them all in sharp detail, every single time.

He was on the rooftop of the southern junior high building. There was a girl in front of him.

There were beautiful clear skies above, with one lone cloud floating far away.

Kei slowly held out his hand. The girl didn’t move. As he put his hand on her shoulder, he vividly recalled his hesitation, both so insignificant yet so overwhelming.

Her summer uniform was thin and sleek, and the skin underneath was soft. The warmth of her skin and the shape of her bones was etched into his mind. The girl’s hair brushed against the back of his hand, and it tickled ever so slightly.

The girl looked at him. Her eyes were so close to his. He thought about asking if she wanted to close her eyes, but never got the words out.

Kei kept his own eyes open, perhaps out of an unfounded stubbornness. Her lips were warm, and left no special sensation of taste.

He took a breath, and as the glow faded away, the girl spoke in a low voice.

“I don’t know.”

Perhaps she was just talking to herself.

But Kei still heard it loud and clear.

That past was gone, never to be recovered.

Only Kei would ever know of it.