4

Suddenly, Kei’s cell phone rang, breaking through the languid atmosphere. The display read, “Minami-san.” Kei answered the call, still lying down.

“Hey there, Asai-kun,” came Minami’s voice.

“What’s up?”

“By the time I get to you, I’ll probably feel like lying. I figured it’d be best to have our conversation now.” Her voice was quiet and still, devoid of all color or personality.

“You mean, about the MacGuffin?”

“Yeah. About how I stole it.”

Kei smiled unconsciously. “You only happened to come across it. You’d be in trouble if you actually stole it.”

Certainly, a student wouldn’t get away with rifling through a teacher’s desk, especially for the teacher representing the Bureau. Of course, that aside, Murase Youka was going after her, whether she knew it or not.

“Don’t say that. Just keep this a secret, please.” Minami said quietly. She had no reason to believe anyone would be listening in to their phone call.

Kei met eyes with The Operator. His companion gave a thin, despondent smile. Kei thought he may have actually spoken, but his voice was so low that Kei couldn’t make anything out.

“As you know, Asai-kun, I really wanted to meet a vampire,” Minami began. “But there’s a lot you didn’t know, Asai-kun. I wanted to be bitten by a vampire. What I wanted more than anything was to turn into a vampire. I fantasized about it constantly.”

“Things never turn out very well for vampires, you know. Villagers throw rocks at them, and they can’t even step out into the sunlight.”

“That would be okay. I wouldn’t mind if people hated me. I never wanted to be particularly strong, so burning in the sunlight would be an acceptable tradeoff. All I wanted was to be something special. But you couldn’t understand that, Asai-kun,” she muttered.

In his mind, Kei agreed, but he opted to silently continue listening.

“I thought about dying all the time, you know. I don’t know how many times it crossed my mind. It’s not like I was depressed or anything, but maybe, somewhere within me, I knew about my ability all along. I wanted to die as naturally as I wanted to breathe. I didn’t even care how it happened. You didn’t know that, did you?”

He didn’t know. Kei had always hated phone calls. No matter what, they were always one-sided. Whether the phone rang at all, and the entirety of the conversation within, was always at the whim of another.

“I got a call from Yoshii-san two days ago. He said he would listen to me, no matter what I told him. So I told him to kill me. But he refused. He’s so mean.”

Kei stared out the window. The skies were bright and clear outside. Minami’s voice shared that piercing glare, so unlike the comforting sound of falling rain that could be so easily tuned out.

“That’s why I really wanted the MacGuffin. Surely, if I controlled every ability within Sakurada, I could be special, right? …Guess I have an apology to make. I already knew about it. I’d read the club’s info on it forever ago, but I didn’t really believe it. Then, when Misora brought it up, I couldn’t help but think about if the rumors were actually true.”

Kei thought back. She was talking about Thursday, and the conversation they had between classes, when Tomoki was sharing rumors about holes being found in walls. In his memory, when Haruki brought up the MacGuffin, Minami made a particular face. It was noticeable, but he hadn’t called it out. “You looked a little bit sad, back then.” It was a striking memory, one that concerned him.

On the other end of the phone, Minami answered in a small, confused whisper. “Why?”

Of course, Kei didn’t know, and couldn’t answer her.

Minami quickly picked up the pace again. “I doubt that. After all, that was the one thing I wanted more than anything.”

“Then I must be mistaken.” Kei’s memory of her face at that time was unmistakably accurate. There was a gap between what she was telling him and the reality of the ability she possessed. No doubt she was using her imagination to try and fill in the parts that didn’t quite fit. But nobody liked to be told how they felt by someone else. What she seemed to want right now was to tuck the uncomfortable baggage away into a deep, dark hiding place. In that case, I’ll have to become a hiding place for her, Kei thought.

“I have the MacGuffin right now.”

“That’s good to hear.”

“Well, um… Is this actually the MacGuffin, though?”

“Can’t say. I’ve never seen it myself.”

“Really?”

“What makes you think I would know?”

“But, you… I dunno, it’s just… But Asai-kun, you always know the things that nobody else does.”

That just flat-out wasn’t true. She had a picture of Kei and Haruki in her head that was far too unrealistic. She was so convinced of how special they were that when she died and became a ghost, her first thought was to tell them.

She probably figured that since they were in the Service Club, the Bureau had their eyes on them, and that made them special. It was an outlook that most easily aligned with her interests. But in reality, the Service Club was a collection of people that happened to have somewhat useful abilities. Otherwise, they were just high school students, far and away from this standard measurement of specialness that Minami had crafted for herself.

Kei tried to reign the conversation back in with his answer. “Just about everything I know comes from published textbooks. You guys in U-Lab would be a lot more knowledgeable about the more mysterious subjects.”

“That can’t be,” Minami whispered. There was a brief pause. “Ah, whatever. Now I‘m just getting confused,” she said, laughing with a tinge of embarrassment.

It was the first time that Kei heard Minami Mirai’s usual voice that day. It was very clear that her moment of transparency was over.

“I’ll be at Yoshii-san’s place before long.”

“You’re fine giving up the MacGuffin?”

“Yeah. I can’t use it anyway.”

Kei was unsure of just one thing, so he decided to ask. “Minami-san, do you still want to become a ghost?”

She was silent for some time.

“That’s a secret.”

With that, the phone call ended.

✽

Haruki Misora stared up into the sky. She stood in the apartment hallway on the fourth floor, not too far away from The Operator’s room. Her hands were on the railway, and her chin was upraised.

Haruki didn’t have any particular fondness for the sky, and the clouds didn’t look particularly interesting either. In fact, it was a nearly cloudless day. But she generally found that nobody tried to make any problems for her while she was staring in the sky, and that was worth every effort to maintain.

Meanwhile, standing beside her, Murase was mumbling “They’re so slow,” nearly every ten seconds. If she really had nothing better to do, Haruki thought she’d be better off in the room with Kei. But she seemed to hold a strong conviction to stay out of The Operator’s room.

“Hey, you,” Murase said, clearly venting. “Did you know Asai-kun before?”

“What are you referring to when you say, ‘before’?”

“I mean two years ago.” Murase spoke, her tone implying that the question was obvious. Haruki hadn’t been confused about it, but was trying to avoid answering by any means necessary. If Kei didn’t want to talk about it, then it certainly wasn’t her place to.

“My initial meeting with Kei was around that time. There are things I know about him from that time, but there are also many things I do not know about him.”

“Well, you know why he tried to overthrow the Bureau, don’t you?”

In that regard, Haruki’s knowledge was superior to Murase’s. With that in mind, she changed tact for her answer. “I am privy to a few details surrounding that case.”

“Then tell me, what was he doing, and why?”

Haruki exhaled softly. She was trying to find a quick way out of the conversation, but nothing cropped up.

“What’re you clamming up for?”

Now Haruki was getting pressured. It was quite annoying. “For what reason are you trying to oppose the Administration Bureau, Murase-san?” Not that she actually cared, but it was a way of working around the conversation for now.

“The particulars don’t matter. They’re unjust, so I’m gonna do away with them.”

“What part of them is unjust?”

“Weren’t you listening to anything I said earlier?”

Haruki had been listening, more or less, but she certainly couldn’t remember any of it. Murase Youka and the Administration Bureau were on two separate ideological planes, and you couldn’t get a full scope of the picture just by listening to one side. Therefore, since she didn’t care to listen to the Bureau’s ideals, she also quickly forgot Murase’s. At the end of the day, it was just less annoying to have to think about all that.

It’s always so difficult to understand other people, Haruki thought. Evidently, Sakurada gives out abilities in line with each individual’s wish. In that case, my reset ability probably means that I’m familiar with giving up on things. But, despite that flaw, I’m still trying to understand Kei. It’s only natural that everything else should come second.

Haruki thought all of this as she closed her eyes just slightly longer than a blink. Surely I’m not all that unusual, Haruki wondered. After all, the vast majority of people are only truly interested in a small number of individuals.

“C’mon, spill about Asai already.” Murase was surprisingly insistent. Haruki couldn’t be asked to deal with her nonsensical questions, and remained silent. Murase continued, “Realistically, someone like him shouldn’t even be able to put a dent in the Bureau. If that’s all they can manage, then my job should be pretty simple.” Suddenly, Murase’s voice got lower, though Haruki couldn’t understand why. “But hey, are you interested in joining me?”

“That decision is for Kei to make. I cannot claim to know how he feels about it.”

“Isn’t this something you should decide for yourself?”

Haruki didn’t know how many people had said that to her. It never made any kind of sense. It was her own personal decision to follow whatever Kei did, so what difference did it make in the end?

Since Haruki refused to speak any further, Murase gave a disinterested shrug. “Well then, do you think Asai is interested in joining me?”

Haruki didn’t think that was very likely. At the end of the day, Kei’s principles just didn’t align with Murase Youka’s. Even two years ago, they wouldn’t have agreed. Sure, Kei had nodded along with her, but Haruki didn’t think that meant anything special. If anything, they probably weren’t even on the same page for what it meant to join forces.

After that, Murase started complaining about something or other, but Haruki fully absorbed herself in watching the sky. Every now and then, she’d steal a glance at the door on the corner, and think of Kei. After a short while, Minami Mirai’s voice floated towards her.

“Oh, it’s you, Misora. Hey-o!”

Haruki looked down from the railing to find Minami waving at her from the street. Haruki wasn’t too sure what “hey-o” meant, but repeated it back anyway, assuming it was some kind of greeting. Eventually, Minami walked into the complex, out of Haruki’s sight.

“Who was that?” Murase asked, and with no foreseeable alternatives, Haruki answered.

“She is a classmate of mine.”

“And why is your classmate coming here?”

“I do not know.” It was possible that Minami lived here, or perhaps had friends that lived here. But most likely, Kei had called her here, which also meant that she probably had the MacGuffin.

Soon after, the elevator dinged. Minami approached them, her footsteps echoing as she walked down the hallway. “Figures you’d be here, Misora.” She then gave Murase a fairly awkward nod. “Is she a, uh, friend of yours, Misora?”

As Haruki considered the best way to answer, Murase flatly replied, “Wrong.” Minami turned to Haruki, over-the-top confusion plastered on her face. Haruki was left with no other choice than to make an introduction.

“This girl is Murase-san, the revolutionary.”

“Uh, revolutionary?”

“Wrong.” Murase coldly refuted. Haruki didn’t think she was too far off the mark, though.

“Well, um, that’s fine too, then,” Minami nodded, abandoning her question. “Is Asai-kun inside?”

“Yes. He is currently speaking with The Operator.”

“The Operator?”

“That would be Yoshii-san.” As Haruki spoke, Murase glared daggers at Minami. Murase truly was hostile to anyone and everyone.

“And why exactly are you here?” Every word Murase spoke prickled with invisible thorns. Must be tiring to keep that up, Haruki thought. Minami, on the other hand, gave her reply with a constantly shining smile. Must be stressful to keep that up.

“Just gotta drop something off real quick.”

“Ah, so you’re the one with the MacGuffin.”

“That seems to be the case.”

Murase scrunched her eyebrows in suspicion. “Whatever. Let me see it.”

Things were looking more annoying than ever, but just as Haruki was thinking that Minami wouldn’t just take it out when she was asked, Minami just took out the MacGuffin when she was asked. From Haruki’s perspective, it was simply a small, black stone.

“Alright. I’ll take it off your hands.”

“Well, I promised Asai-kun I’d get it to him, so I’d rather give it directly to him.”

“I need that stone, no matter what.”

“Why’s that?”

“So that I can defeat the Administration Bureau,” Murase declared, sounding very much like a revolutionary.

Minami kept up her trademark smile. “That’s great and all, but you definitely can’t pull that off.”

“Yes, I can. I have power. Enough that I don’t need to ask for your opinion.”

Suddenly, Minami’s smile changed slightly. It became colder, and somehow exuded negativity. “That’s so stupid. If you were truly all that powerful, then you certainly wouldn’t need something like this.”

“You shut your mouth. I cannot and will not fail. If I want something, then I will obtain it.”

Minami turned towards Haruki, maintaining her gentle smile. “Don’t you agree with me, Misora?”

Haruki found herself in an unfortunate position. No matter how she answered, she’d get roped into the argument. She would have preferred to remain a spectator and not get caught in all the annoying details.

Murase shook her head in exasperation. “Look, just hand it over, or I’ll take it from you.”

“Oh, just like that?”

“I’m giving you a warning for your own good. You should take it unless you wanna get hurt.”

“Ugh, you’re such a nag. It’s not like I could stop you anyway. I’m not special like you are.” Minami was acting more obstinate than usual. She wasn’t at all like the girl Haruki knew from class. She looked almost irritated, but Haruki didn’t know why. “Look, if you’re gonna take it, just take it already.”

Murase narrowed her eyes at Minami’s challenge. “Index fingernails, human body,” she whispered. She swung her hand forward, as if attempting to steal the MacGuffin from Minami’s grasp. With a small clatter, the MacGuffin fell to the floor. It was shortly followed by Minami’s scream of pain.

“Was that sufficient?” Murase taunted, picking up the fallen MacGuffin. Blood spilled from Minami’s hand. “If Asai wants to join forces with me, then you know how to reach me.”

With those as her final words, Murase turned and began walking away. Haruki considered her options, and giving chase won out as the best choice. But just before she began running after Murase, The Operator’s apartment door opened.

“Leave her be,” Kei said, and Haruki froze where she stood. He checked Minami’s wound, then called Tsushima and reported the current state of events. Minami seemed to be appalled just by the fact she was hurt, standing and staring at her hand wrapped in a torn white sheet. She was shocked into silence, not even asking any questions about how it happened. The Operator seemed to be the most unsettled of them all, pacing around hurriedly and muttering, “Why? Why? Why?” over and over. Haruki didn’t have the slightest clue what all the fuss was about.

“It’s going to be alright. Since Murase used her powers to hurt her, it’ll close up in about five minutes.”

Oh, he’s right, Haruki thought. After all, Minami wasn’t bleeding much, so the only concern would be the wound getting infected. As long as they handled it safely, there was no need for concern.

Haruki asked the question on her mind. “Why did you stop me from pursuing Murase-san?”

Kei gave a wry smile. “We really shouldn’t rush into things right now. I don’t know Murase’s circumstances, so I don’t know the best response.”

“Her circumstances?”

“It depends on how quickly she’s being cornered right now. I’d like to end this as peacefully as possible.”

Haruki didn’t understand much of what Kei was saying. But she knew there was no need for concern. Asai Kei was never wrong, and all she had to do was follow behind him. Although it was unfortunate that she couldn’t understand his thought processes, it would be best to give him time and let him take things one step at a time.

Kei continued, his smile growing slightly bigger. “But besides that, there’s another reason we can’t go after Murase.”

“What would that be?”

“If we got too involved with her, we’d miss out on the summer festival tonight.”

Ah, of course. He was absolutely right. That was much more important than Murase Youka or any MacGuffins.

Haruki nodded her head.

A hint of sadness flashed in Kei’s smile, but she couldn’t quite figure out why.

✽

Kei visited the coffee shop again, this time going alone. Tsushima had agreed to meet him there. Haruki left to go change into her yukata, but only after he promised to meet up with her again that evening.

It was already two in the afternoon. If not for Murase’s request, a certain cat would have been dead long ago. That request had originally been at 10 AM today. For most people, it had only been four hours, but for Kei, it had been five days. However, despite that, he knew nothing of what would lie ahead. He didn’t even know so much as the weather for the upcoming day. He hoped the good weather would continue through tomorrow.

Kei entered the coffee shop to find Tsushima sitting in the exact same chair as that morning. He even drank the same hot coffee, but with a slightly different expression.

Kei sat next to him, and ordered an iced coffee. Skipping any form of greeting, Tsushima spoke first. “I’ve got a request for you.”

“For the Service Club?”

“Not exactly. This one is personal.”

“What do you need?”

Kei repeated the same old lines, going through the usual request routine. He had more or less expected this to happen.

“I’ve got a truant student in my class. I need you to convince her to come back to school.”

Certainly, since this request needed no abilities up front, it wouldn’t fly with the Bureau.

Tsushima continued, “The student’s name is Murase Youka. She’s a year older than you, but since she stopped attending school last year, that puts her in your grade. She is, however, your senpai in the Service Club, her truancy aside.”

Murase being in the Service Club was news to Kei, but it made sense the more he thought about it. With an ability as powerful as hers, of course the Bureau would try to keep it under strict surveillance.

“Tell me as much as you can about this student.”

Tsushima took a sip of his coffee, and for the first time, began directly talking about Murase Youka. “She’s not all that different from her peers. She’s got excellent grades, and is very athletic, but is generally unskilled at sports. She tends to go against the flow, is a sore loser, and takes things very seriously. She’s the kind of person to complain the most about having to do something while working the hardest at it.”

All of those descriptors lined up well with the image of Murase in Kei’s head. You could find someone like that in every grade at any school. By all means, she should have led a happy and fulfilled life, with revolutionary thoughts being the last thing on her mind. Such a burden shouldn’t have been hers to bear.

But then, one year ago, holes began appearing in walls. The Reaper’s Passage led straight to the scene of a car wreck. Kei was reminded of Tsushima’s worst case scenario: that his friend would be sad.

Tsushima continued, “Murase had an older brother. He was pretty close to me in age, and he joined the Administration Bureau two years ago. We even worked in the same department. He was convinced that the Bureau could use abilities to greatly advance Sakurada’s public services, like emergency first responders. His entire reason for joining the Bureau was to put those ideals into practice. Murase absolutely adored him.”

Nonō had described a picture of a lone young man being in the room where the cat was kept. Kei had wondered at the time why the perp would keep a picture of a young man in their room.

“Her brother died last year. One year and two weeks ago, to be exact.”

“Did he pass away from a car accident?”

“Yeah. It really was just an accident. The person who caused it called the police himself, and an ambulance was immediately sent out. But it was too late. There weren’t any abilities involved, so the Bureau stayed out of it. I went to the funeral with our department manager, but that was it as far as department contact. It really defined the word tragedy for me.”

Even in a town like Sakurada, that word still retained its sting.

If Murase didn’t have abilities, or if they remained unawakened, the event would have been just that: a terrible tragedy. She would have cried for days on end, and again every time she remembered what happened. Only time could have helped the deeply settled sorrow fade away, ever so slowly. But her abilities became an imperfect hope, an unhealthy motivator, shoving her ever forward through a story that should have been long over.

Tsushima continued his now unnecessary explanation. “Murase became fixated on one singular idea. If the Bureau had wanted to help, it could have prevented her brother’s death. If only her brother’s policies had been implemented, he wouldn’t have died. In a way, she wasn’t wrong. If the Bureau felt like it, preventing an accident with the abilities at their disposal would be beyond simple.”

Kei knew his question was inappropriate, yet he couldn’t help but ask. “Could things have turned out differently if her brother had been working at the Bureau for a few more years?” It was pure speculation, but Kei genuinely wanted to know.

“I doubt it. He could have had a few more years, or even a few more decades, and I doubt that would have changed anything. The Bureau is decidedly rational when it comes to such things. It allows for no irregularities. Anybody else who got in the same accident would have been given the same treatment. There is no special consideration for upper management, persons of interest, or even an employee’s child. Can you understand why that is?”

“It keeps problems down to a minimum.”

“Exactly. That accident and its statistical data can be viewed by the entire world. The Bureau may be able to avoid them all, but it can’t afford to stick out to the degree that it would if Sakurada suddenly became the town where no incidents ever occurred. When you save one, you gotta save them all. And when you start saving them all, people start redefining what it means to be happy. Where are you supposed to draw the line then? You gotta understand, holding back on the usage of abilities is a matter of professionalism. There are countless precedents to support it, and the Bureau’s run the numbers and all the simulations. The current ruleset is normal when you’re doing the kind of work they do.”

“But isn’t it also normal to make emotional decisions, even for you?”

“Talking about that won’t change anything,” Tsushima rolled his eyes, sipping his coffee. This time, he didn’t make his usual grimace.

You’re wrong, Kei thought. If not for Tsushima’s emotional decisions, their current situation wouldn’t be half as complicated as they was. Murase Youka had already rid herself of all her doubts, and Tsushima Shintarou was left trying to rationalize everything away.

“What exactly was your plan for all this?” Kei asked. For this whole affair, Tsushima had been working behind the scenes. He definitely set up the request to save the cat, and of course he was well aware of Murase the whole time, but he still chose to hide all of that from Kei. If Kei had known all of this earlier, it would’ve been worth restructuring his entire approach.

“Aw, I’m not some kind of big planner. I live life on the free and easy.”

“Don’t even try that. Murase-san’s been on your mind this whole time.”

“Oh, just on my mind, huh?” Tsushima put his elbow on the table, pressing his hand into his forehead. “It’s been an entire year. Every day, the only thing that comes out of her mouth is how she won’t forgive the Bureau. Over. And over. And over. Just the same thing, on loop, every single time. It’s like time doesn’t even pass for her.”

A full year. Tsushima had been dealing with this for that long, and yet Kei had never noticed a difference in his behavior. He really was a sincere man, when it got down to it.

Tsushima flashed a tired smile from behind his arm. “Suddenly, earlier this month, I got that message from you. It was kinda funny, really.”

He must have been talking about the message from two weeks prior. The MacGuffin is going to be stolen. Even then, Tsushima would have known that Murase was the culprit.

“I was genuinely happy. Finally, she was doing something. Regardless of the path she chose, she was finally taking that first step forward.”

Kei understood the sentiment. But at the same time, he couldn’t quite share in it. To put it bluntly, he had an immediate emotional reaction. That’s not good enough. “But she’s chosen the wrong path.”

“Maybe she has, and that’s okay. She’s just a high schooler.”

“Sure, that’s fine and dandy, but that’s not what I’m talking about. You knew she was on that path, so why didn’t you bother to actually do something?”

Then, as he spat out that line, Kei realized the truth. He was wrong. Tsushima had been taking action, right from the start. After all, what was the MacGuffin if not a roadblock for Murase? It was just a big red target for Murase to focus on before setting her sights on the Bureau itself. After all, she was convinced that before her ambitious and dangerous goal of overthrowing the Bureau could be achieved, she needed to obtain the MacGuffin, which was a starkly more peaceful venture.

And the ruse went one layer deeper. Kei and Haruki were unwittingly in on his plan. Or at least, their resets were. Of course Murase would be interested in resets as an asset. After all, if it could save a cat from a traffic accident, it could have saved her brother.

Tsushima had been building a fence between Murase and the Bureau, made up of the MacGuffin and resets. The freedom he granted her was entirely crafted by his own two hands. Damn, he really played us. Kei couldn’t help but laugh. He was annoyed, but he was even more overjoyed. Tsushima was a trustworthy guy, after all.

“So did you make up the rumor about the MacGuffin, too?” Kei was willing to believe almost anything at this point.

But Tsushima shook his head. “Nope. I just heard the rumors, and decided to get a hold of it. Once I had it, it was worth its weight in gold as leverage. It’s been thoroughly tested, and it’s really just a rock.” It made sense that Tsushima’s ploy didn’t go that far back. After all, Minami said that the rumors around the MacGuffin had started as far as two or three years ago.

Tsushima’s plan was coming together in Kei’s mind, but there was one piece that didn’t quite fit. “Why did you just let Murase have the MacGuffin?” With that done, the only people who could possibly get it back would be Kei and Haruki. In fact, at this point, it would have made more sense for Tsushima to step in and play the adult card. With the MacGuffin gone, he was tearing down his fence between Murase and the Bureau.

Tsushima frowned ever so slightly. “Because I received your report that Minami died.”

“What does that change?”

“Well, for one, it was completely unforeseen. For two, I figured if I phrased it just right, it’d work great as a backup plan.”

Backup plan? “As in, a backup plan against Murase-san?”

“She messed around and got someone killed. If anything could shake up a bull-headed high schooler, it’d be that. I hesitated on using it against her, but gave it a shot. If everything went well enough, I had hoped we wouldn’t even need to have this conversation.”

Evidently, that didn’t pan out. No, wait, it’s not that his plan didn’t work, Murase just changed hers. Murase had claimed to want the power of resets for, “If I were to somehow fail.” Kei didn’t understand her motivation to want to team up previously, but it was starting to make more sense.

Tsushima continued, “Since that ultimately failed, I don’t think I have any leverage for persuasion to work anymore. So, all I’ve got left is the backup plan for my backup plan.”

“So that’s why you handed over the MacGuffin?”

“The MacGuffin never really mattered. My ultimate backup plan was having you two work together.”

“Us two?”

“My number one priority was keeping you and her as far from each other as possible. You’ve been my ace in the hole for the entire operation. If all else failed, then I could throw you in the ring. Given her temper, I needed an option that could swiftly and cleanly strike her down.”

“So you want us to persuade Murase-san?”

“Yup. That’s what this is all about. I’ll buy you ice cream if you want.”

Where’s that coming from? “And what happens if we lose?”

“Then the Bureau steps in. They handle her case rationally and efficiently, all the problems get cleaned up, and nobody gets the chance to find their own happiness,” Tsushima droned, his voice dry and pallid. Suddenly, he tacked on, “It’s not like you can lose anyway. It’s not some kind of contest.”

Kei wasn’t looking for a contest, but decided not to refute him. “How much does the Bureau know?”

“I’m not sure how much intel they have. They of course know who Murase Youka is. They also know everything surrounding Yoshii-san’s incident, as per my report. Even if we reset, somebody still died, and trying to hide that would be foolish.”

“Are they currently mobilizing?”

“Not yet. But they will when they get my report on what happened today, since she injured Minami.”

“It was only a tiny scratch.”

“Doesn’t matter. She purposely used her ability to hurt somebody else, and that’s crossing the line. She’s already struck out on their ledger.”

“When will your report go in?”

“The Bureau will receive my report on Monday. I will not lie to them.”

Kei knew that much. With the talent the Bureau had at its disposal, it wasn’t a matter of emotions or mental discipline. It was simply impossible to lie to them without them knowing.

“Undoubtedly, the Bureau will establish contact with Murase soon. If she’s still hostile when that happens, she’s done for. The Bureau will likely be willing to mobilize all the abilities at their disposal.”

Kei took a breath when Tsushima finished. Finally, for once, he had a full grasp on the situation. He even had a good idea of how he could get to her.

But there was so little time. He wanted to think of a more respectable method, but couldn’t. In actuality, the problem wasn’t even time-related. Tsushima had been looking for an honest and acceptably normal method to help her for a full year. If a year wasn’t long enough, then it was probably time for a change in tact.

But that didn’t make Kei feel any better about it.

“I can think of one way to change her mind.” It was truly despicable. It was a method worth avoiding at all costs. Tsushima’s friend was guaranteed to be sad if he used that method. “I don’t really want to use it.”

Tsushima stared at Kei. He gave a timid smile that Kei didn’t think fit him very well. “But we’re out of options. I’m still getting over the fact that I have to rely on a student for something like this.”

He was definitely telling the truth. There would be no reason for him to keep this information from Kei for so long otherwise. He definitely had wanted to finish this job by himself. But here they were. It was unfair of Tsushima to make that face, and he knew it, too.

Kei closed his eyes. He was trying to order his thoughts, but they kept scattering farther and farther away. If he went through with this, there would be consequences. But choosing not to do it would lead to its own set of consequences. He compared the two, and heaved a great sigh.

He opened his eyes, and picked up the nearby menu. “Can I get the cake set?” He wasn’t feeling like ice cream at the moment.

Tsushima smiled. “Get anything you want. I’ll do whatever’s in my power to help”

“In that case, could you send a message to Murase-san for me?”

“What do you wanna say?”

“Tell her I’ll join her, and we can take on the Bureau together. Have her meet me at the Kawarazaka river bed at exactly 11:45 AM.”

Tomorrow, everything would finally come to an end.