2 – Late June

Asai Kei was on the southern school building’s rooftop after yet another summoning from Souma Sumire. As usual, Haruki Misora was the only one there when he arrived. Much like their first meeting back in April, Haruki was staring intently at the rooftop door as he entered.

It was only June 23rd, but the heat on the top of the roof may as well have been from midsummer, and the humidity was high to boot. It was likely that all the moisture was being stored for the soon-to-come rainy season. Summer was well and truly underway.

Kei’s footsteps clacked as he got closer to Haruki. She may have appeared entirely inhuman, but sweat was still dripping down her forehead. “Aren’t you hot?”

“I am quite hot.”

“Then let’s get in the shade. You’re gonna get heatstroke if you keep this up.”

Haruki nodded quietly in response, then made her way to a corner of the roof that housed a small shady spot closer to the entrance. She walked in a completely straight line, with all the automation of a robot going from a designated point A to a designated point B.

Who’s the android?

Kei couldn’t help but wonder how Haruki might answer Souma’s question. As he was considering that thought, she spoke up.

“And what of you?”

“Huh?”

“Will you not also come into the shade?”

“Oh, yeah.” With a smile, Kei nodded. He stood beside her, leaning back into the fencing. “So where’s Souma?”

“She had previous engagements that set back her schedule.”

“Sure.” The rooftop gave an excellent view of the few tall buildings nearby, as well as giving way to the ocean in the distance. The wind blew, ruffling Haruki’s long hair. Kei smiled at the sight. “Your hair is incredibly beautiful.” Her long, fine hair was naturally wavy, and even appeared to sparkle when viewed from the right angles.

Haruki didn’t respond, so Kei continued, “Since it’s so beautiful, I really think you ought to cut it.”

“I do not understand what you mean.”

“It makes you look too ethereal. It’s so beautiful that you seem less human as a result. It almost looks fake, to be honest.” Her fine hair and beautifully clear eyes set her apart from others. Although Kei could hardly expect her to gouge her eyes out, the hair problem was simple enough to fix.

“Is that a problem?”

“Could be. People generally like it when humans appear human.”

“My mother prefers my hair this way.”

“That’s why you don’t want to cut it?”

“I personally do not mind either way, but without good reason, I would rather keep things the way they are.”

“Well, can’t argue with that.”

Silence quickly enveloped them. Suddenly, it felt like they were entirely alone on the world of the rooftop.

Souma Sumire sure likes to keep some strange company, Kei thought to himself. Souma herself always made him feel a bit nervous. She always seemed to be in control, spinning webs of words to trap him, leaving Kei one slip up away from being bound to her will.

Haruki Misora held a stark contrast, always carrying with her the environment of a sepia-toned photograph. She brought along gentle breezes and peaceful clouds, noticeably slowing down the world around her. He always felt his stream of consciousness fall away and disperse around her.

Somehow, the two girls managed to hold completely opposite forms of power over Kei, like Aesop’s fable of the North Wind and the Sun.

Kei spent some time enjoying the silence brought on by Haruki Misora. The world seemed to be at a standstill. He just might have been able to look up at a bird that was previously flying and find it stuck in place in the air.

“I have a question for you, Asai Kei.”

Despite Haruki’s inserted voice, the silence still felt unbroken. Kei turned towards her. “What is it?”

“Would it be considered very sad to be unloved by your mother?”

That was quite possibly the last question he could have ever expected to hear from Haruki. But the more he thought about it, it was a question that only she could have asked. Perhaps anybody else could say the words, but nobody could ask it with the complete lack of emotion and utter detachment that she had.

“Generally, most people would find that quite sad.” After searching for the proper answer, that was the best Kei could manage.

“Are you loved by your mother?”

She’s completely forgotten about me. Kei wanted to share his answer, but couldn’t. Something about it felt cowardly. “I think so,” was what eventually came out of his mouth.

“There is a particular girl that I know.” Haruki’s eyes were facing Kei, but he didn’t know if she was actually looking at him. It rarely felt as though she was. Her gaze always seemed to fall flatly and neutrally upon whatever she looked towards. “She wants to be loved by her mother very much. Do you know how to make that happen?”

Kei shook his head. If he had known that to begin with, he likely wouldn’t have stayed in Sakurada. “I sure don’t. Everyone’s reasons for giving love are different. I don’t even know the girl or her mom.”

“So if you met them, you could figure out a way?”

“I don’t know. Maybe I could, maybe I couldn’t.”

“Would you try it if you knew it were possible?”

“What does that even mean?”

“Please meet with the girl.”

Kei had hardly ever heard Haruki speak so much. But even more shocking was that she had clearly stated a desire. He had never caught so much as a glimmer of that before. “Well, I don’t mind meeting her, but you’re gonna have to fill me in on the situation first.”

“I myself am unaware of the full circumstances. She wants to be loved by her mother. What more would you need to know?”

Her age, personality, and family environment all came to mind as factors, but if he was going to meet the girl anyway, it would be faster to wait and ask her. He started with something more approachable. “What’s her name?”

“Kurakawa Mari.”

“And do you also want this Kurakawa-san to be loved by her mother?”

She took some time to respond. When she finally did, it was preceded by an anxious nod. “Yes. I believe so.”

“You believe so?”

“I am not entirely certain. However, I have chosen to assist her in whatever way I can.”

Haruki seemed confused, somehow. Going just from her expression, she looked entirely undisturbed, but there was something about her that felt different.

“Are you doing this to follow your rules?”

“I do not think so.”

“Really? Then why?”

Haruki’s gaze flitted down ever so slightly. “Not very long ago, Souma Sumire told me that there were two white boxes in front of me.” She slowly began explaining a previous conversation.

You’re in an entirely white room, and there are two white boxes in front of you. They’re the same size, same shape, and same color. You have to choose between the two, but you can’t tell the difference.

If the two boxes before you were different colors, you could choose your favorite. You could even use the shape of one as an excuse, but for you, they’re both exactly the same, and there are no features that make one worth choosing over the other.

“Souma Sumire said that my world was simplistic.”

Kei nodded. The two boxes represented options, and for Haruki Misora, options were pointless. “So what, you just decided to arbitrarily open one of the white boxes? It doesn’t really make a difference to you either way if we help her or not, does it?”

“I do not understand what you mean.”

Kei sighed inwardly. “If you don’t care either way, then neither do I. Forget it. I’m not gonna bother with this girl.”

Haruki Misora raised her eyes. Her face was ever expressionless, and yet somehow, she seemed sad. It was always possible he was misreading, though.

He looked her straight in the eyes and said, “If what you really want is to help her, then I’ll go meet her with you. I’m only helping you if this was your personal decision, not something you chose at random.”

Haruki met his gaze straight on. “But I have no right to force you to do anything.”

Another miss. Kei wasn’t talking about coercion, forcing, or anything of that nature. All he wanted was for her to decide something for herself. He wanted her to place even the slightest of color onto the boxes before her, so they could be told apart. Perhaps within that metaphor, it was emotions that would color and shape the decisions before her. In that case, if she could just tell him that she made a personal gut decision, casting aside her rules, that would have been enough.

But for now, all he could answer was, “Well, then that’s that.”

Although Kei was slightly concerned for this Kurakawa Mari girl, he was more concerned for the girl before him than the child he had never met. From that concern came a desire from deep inside him.

I want to actually understand Haruki Misora, for real this time.

A problem had arisen that had caught Haruki’s interest for one reason or another. Taking the problem away and solving it for her would be an incredible waste.

If that comes at the cost of some girl I don’t know, then so be it.

He was used to those kinds of sacrifices. He had been ever since the summer he came to Sakurada as a sixth-year elementary schooler.

If Haruki were only willing to be a bit more selfish, he would have been more than happy to accommodate her.

“Understood.”

But instead, she nodded, and the conversation was over.

Some 10 minutes later, Souma Sumire finally made it to the rooftop.

As soon as the door was open, she shouted out, “Hey, Kei, Haruki. C’mon, we’ve got somewhere to be.”

“Where are we going?”

“The student council room. There’s someone I want you to meet.”

Haruki readily nodded, but Kei tilted his head. “Why’d you call us up to the rooftop, then?” If she wanted them to go to the student council room, waiting in their classrooms would have been a much more efficient option.

Souma Sumire pasted on her usual smile. “Well, I can’t think of a better place for you and Haruki to have a one-on-one. Can you?”

Although she wasn’t wrong, something about the way she said it made Kei feel as though she already knew about their entire previous conversation. He didn’t like that idea one bit.

Souma immediately whirled around and began walking away, and Haruki followed suit without missing a beat. Sighing, Kei took up the rear. He asked some questions while they were descending the stairs together.

“So, who’s this person we’re meeting?”

“The student council president.”

“And why should we meet the student council president?”

“Because I know about a really interesting ability. Don’t you remember talking about searching Haruki’s memories in detail?”

Kei didn’t even need to use his ability to recall what she was referencing.

If we could search through her memories in more detail, though, I’m sure we could pinpoint something.

With a slight nod, Kei ventured, “How do you even know about the student council president’s ability?”

“I helped out in the student council as a first-year. I never forget a face.”

“That’s not what I asked. You learned about me and Haruki’s abilities, too.” She even managed to orchestrate a meeting between them.

“I already told you, if you know what you’re doing and manage to get in the right place at the right time, you can learn anything you want to know.”

“Yeah, and I didn’t say it at the time, but that answer isn’t gonna cut it.”

They went down two flights of stairs before continuing down the hall. Souma looked over her shoulder towards Kei. “Fine, I can tell you, but you can’t tell anyone else. Promise?”

“I’ve never told anyone else something that I’ve promised to not share.”

Souma giggled. “Then just nod like a good boy.”

Out of options, Kei nodded. “I won’t tell anyone. I promise.”

“Thanks. Truth is, I got ahold of some top-secret files. When I was working on the student council last year, I found them in the staff room and made a copy.”

Kei’s immediate reaction was suspicion. How could such materials be handled so poorly that a random middle schooler could get a hold of them? But the more he thought about it, the less strongly he objected to the idea. In general, schools tended to have their value systems out of whack when it came to handling information. It almost made sense that the general information regarding student abilities could be considered less important than, say, the results of ability aptitude tests.

Souma continued, entirely at ease. “Everyone underestimates the student council as just a bunch of work, but it’s the perfect position for gathering information. They get to go to the staff room, have good relationships with the teachers, and everyone thinks they’re inherently trustworthy for some reason.”

“And that’s why you’re now the class representative.”

“Exactly.”

“Well, I just have one other question, then.”

“What’s that?”

Evidently, gathering information was about the right place and the right time, as well as having the proper intent by “knowing what you were doing”.

“So the student council was how you could be in the right place at the right time. But if you knew what you were doing, what exactly was that?”

There had to be strong reasoning if it was enough to convince her to collect illicit information about student abilities. She had an ulterior motive.

Souma stopped in place. In front of her was the door to the student council office. “That’s a secret. You’ll find out eventually.”

With that bold final line, she knocked on the door, clearly ending the conversation.

The Nanasaka Junior High student council president was a boy called Sakagami Yousuke. He was a scrawny boy, thin as a rail, and hardly took up much space. Granted, him being older and taller than Kei made it feel wrong to think of him as just a boy.

Every memory Kei could conjure up of Sakagami had him smiling. It was a weak, timid smile, the kind that made it hard to take him seriously. He almost always had it on during school assemblies.

Sakagami was alone in the student council office, sitting in a metal folding chair, and quickly stood to his feet when the door was opened. He was almost like a hamster frightened by the noise. “Nice to meet you, I’m Sakagami, the student council president.”

His words slowly petered out as his sentence went on. Just the noise of the three of them approaching almost managed to drown him out.

Kei stood directly in front of him, smiling. “I’m Asai Kei, a second-year. Nice to meet you.”

Sakagami tripped over his words for a few seconds before directing them towards the other folding chairs. “Please, have a seat.”

Evidently, being high-strung was just in his nature. Kei had always thought it was nerves during the public assemblies, but he appeared no different in a room of so few people.

Souma sat beside Sakagami, while Kei and Haruki sat opposite of them, since that was how the chair layouts worked best.

Sakagami kept his eyes on Souma. “So, um, what am I supposed to do now?”

“I want you to use your ability. Go from Asai-kun to Haruki-san.”

“Oh, uh, okay.”

Kei sighed internally. “Now hold on just a moment, Sakagami-san. What exactly is your ability going to do to us?”

Sakagami’s answer was directed only at Souma. “You didn’t tell them?”

“Oh, now that I think of it, no. Go ahead.”

Looking fairly embarrassed, Sakagami moved his eyes to stare at Kei’s chest. “Basically, I can copy abilities. My right hand copies a person’s ability upon touch, and transfers it to the person on my left hand.”

“Wow. I didn’t know that there were abilities based upon abilities.”

“It’s not particularly useful. It’s mid-tier at best.”

Souma’s plans had become very clear. She looked directly into Haruki’s eyes. “I want you to use Kei’s ability. That way, you can remember everything from long ago.”

If Haruki were to gain Kei’s ability, then she truly would remember everything. Maybe it would even be possible to find a version of Haruki with emotions that had been long forgotten.

“Why would you want to do this?” Haruki asked.

“Because I’m curious. I want to know the you that you’ve forgotten.”

“Understood.” Haruki answered immediately, like she always did. As long as it wouldn’t cause trouble, she never refused a request.

Before he could even finish his thought, Kei’s mouth was moving. “Hold on. Haruki, are you sure you want to go through with this?”

Memory was an incredibly strong power. It would force her will and actions upon her without relent. It could warp her into an entirely different person.

Haruki remained unmoved. “Is there a problem?”

Kei couldn’t answer her. Maybe it isn’t my place to deny her the opportunity, he thought.

Sakagami was still smiling timidly. “Okay then, here we go.”

He stood up and unsteadily walked to the other side of the desks, stopping behind Kei and Haruki. He put his right hand on Kei’s left shoulder and his left hand on Haruki’s right shoulder with a short, “Excuse me”.

“Now, if Asai-kun uses his ability, Haruki-san will receive the same effect,” Sakagami squeaked out, his voice practically a whisper.

“You mean if I remember something from a year ago, Haruki will remember something from that same time one year ago?”

“Right. Haruki-san can’t use it freely, she can only get the same effect from what you do.”

Kei looked over at Haruki’s profile. “What do you want to remember, Haruki?”

“Anything would be fine.”

“You have to choose something.”

After a slight hesitation, she said, “I want a memory from when I was seven years old.”

“Why seven?”

“No particular reason. Perhaps because that is how old Kurakawa Mari is right now.”

Kei nodded. “Gotcha. You should probably close your eyes. It makes me nauseous when old scenery floats over what I’m currently seeing.” Once he made sure she followed his instructions, he also closed his eyes.

Just before he did, he managed to catch a glimpse of Souma. She was staring intently at him for some reason.

✽

Haruki Misora closed her eyes and thought back to being seven years old. Seven. She had hardly any recollection upon her initial search.

When she put together that it was her second year in elementary school, vague memories began to form together. Her classroom, a few classmates, and a few school activities came to mind, but they were all hazy and uncertain.

Then, she heard Asai Kei’s voice.

“Okay, here we go.”

Her consciousness immediately shifted. It was like a light burst into a dark room, and her second year of elementary school became clear and distinct.

Asai Kei’s voice rang out. “Right now, we’re in the student council room of Nanasaka Junior High, as second-year middle schoolers.”

Before he said that, she would have fully believed she was only an elementary schooler. Asai Kei’s ability was profound. She truly remembered everything. She had never experienced the past with such clarity and depth.

In her memory, Haruki Misora was sitting in an elementary school classroom. It was the middle of a break period, as they had just finished Japanese and would soon move on to math. The good second-year elementary schooler Haruki Misora had her math textbook, notebook, and pencil case neatly lined up on her desk, waiting for the next class to start. She could remember everything, from the pencil she was using to the Japanese she had just learned, from the way her chair felt to the rhythm of the white curtains swaying in the breeze.

The conversations of her fellow classmates echoed all around her, creating a noisy and boisterous atmosphere. She wasn’t even paying attention, but could still make out the voices of the boys sitting beside her. Whose house are we going to today?

A real voice overlapped with her memory. Souma Sumire asked, “What were you thinking as a second-year elementary schooler?”

With a slight shake of her head, Haruki answered, “Nothing.”

She was just sitting there, waiting for the time to pass. During breaks, she would wait for class to start, and when class started, she would wait for it to end. She would wait for what came next, on and on, forever in repeat.

“You were already following your rules that early in life?”

This time, she nodded. “Yes. Just the same as I am now.”

Perhaps the phrasing would have been simpler and more childish, but Haruki was in fact following her exact ruleset even as a second-year in elementary school.

“When did you create your rules?”

“I do not remember.” Even at that moment, Haruki couldn’t recall when it had all begun. Suddenly, Asai Kei’s voice echoed in her mind.

“Did you wish to be loved by your mother at that time?”

Haruki readily shook her head. “No.”

The seven-year-old Haruki Misora was functionally the same as the Haruki Misora of the present day. It was the only way she knew how to live. Two white boxes would be placed before her. She would choose one at random, seeing no difference between the two. And so it went on.

Feeling a sudden headache, Haruki pressed her hand into her head. The slight discomfort quickly swelled into an unbearable pain. Fatigue overtook her body, and the irritation of pain turned into a cage of discomfort.

She felt Sakagami’s hand lift from her right shoulder. Immediately, the vivid memories of her life fogged over, turning back into a blank haze.

She opened her eyes to see Souma Sumire gazing at her. A desk. Folding chairs. A whiteboard. Haruki had to remind herself once more that she was a second-year middle schooler in the Nanasaka Junior High student council office.

“Are you okay?” Souma asked.

“I am not sure. A great pain suddenly came over me.”

It was a headache. Or at least, it was like one, but it also wasn’t. It was an inexplicable pain. But even that was already beginning to fade from her memory.

As she took gasps of breath, she noticed Sakagami Yousuke and Asai Kei having a conversation. Sakagami was flustered, spitting out words in a panic, some so fast she could barely make them out.

“Does your ability have some sort of side effect?”

Asai Kei’s typically calm voice resounded in stark contrast. “Remembering too much at once takes its toll. Your body isn’t supposed to process that much information at once, and it feels painful.”

“Oh, I see. Is there anything else important?”

“It depends on what you’re recalling. Remembering something painful will naturally hurt, but recalling a bad memory can make you irritated, and sad memories can still make you sad.”

Shaking her head, Haruki spoke up. “I am fine now. May we continue?”

Souma Sumire was the one to answer. “No. We’re done for today. There’s no point in pushing you so hard.”

“Is it a problem that I should feel pain?”

“Of course it’s a problem. For starters, it’s hurting Kei.”

Haruki looked over at Kei, who was still sitting beside her. His countenance appeared no different than usual, although Haruki would be the first to admit that she was very bad at reading facial expressions.

“Well, of course it does. It hurts to watch another person suffer,” he said.

His claim was made with absolute calm, as though he didn’t feel even the slightest discomfort.

✽

“You’re pretty grumpy today, Kei,” Souma Sumire exclaimed.

Asai Kei was walking home with her from the school, his hands shoved into his pockets. He shook his head, answering, “I wouldn’t go that far. I don’t feel that much different from usual.”

“You didn’t like searching Haruki’s memories, did you? Of course, that’s not even all of it. I knew something was off the moment I stepped onto the roof.”

Kei sighed. “It’d be nice if you actually listened to what people said.”

“Not if they’re just gonna blatantly lie to me.”

“And what makes you think I’m lying?”

“If nothing else, I’m really good at reading the mood of the people beside me.”

That was believable enough. Souma Sumire tended to read people like an open book, and Asai Kei was most certainly in a bad mood.

He opted to change the subject. “Sakagami-san is really weird.”

“He’s a good guy, though.”

“I’m sure he’s a good enough guy, but he’s just so scared all of the time.” Kei could hardly imagine how someone like him made it to being the student council president.

“It’s okay to have a weakness, isn’t it?”

“Well, I guess it’s not like he’s hurting anyone.”

“But there’s something about him you don’t like, huh?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“C’mon, something about him got under your skin.”

He couldn’t fool Souma for even a second. Feeling defeated, Kei gave her what she wanted. “Not one single time did he try talking to Haruki.” In fact, he hadn’t even spared a glance at her when she was in pain.

“Why don’t you think he would talk to her?”

“I dunno. Probably scared or something.”

“Like anyone would have reason to be scared of Haruki.”

“Exactly. She doesn’t have a scary bone in her body. She doesn’t try to stand out, and she’s completely harmless. Just because she’s different, other people want to get all creeped out.”

To the average observer, Haruki Misora seemed like a fake human, as if inorganic by nature. No doubt that was the cause of Sakagami Yousuke’s aversion. You could practically see his distaste roll off of him from the way he treated her.

“So do you hate him for that?”

“I don’t hate him or anything. But I sure don’t like him.”

Souma smiled. “You’ve really taken to Haruki.”

“It has nothing to do with Haruki. It’s about the person with the power to reset.”

“Yeah, right, of course it is. That’s why every time that Haruki comes up in conversation, you talk about her personality. It’s never about resets with you, it’s always about Haruki Misora, the person.”

“A person and their ability are one and the same.” Even Kei couldn’t deny that his response sounded like an excuse, but it was still true.

It was said that a person’s ability in Sakurada was determined by their character. Typically, their greatest desire was funneled into the ability that they gained.

Haruki Misora wanted the reset ability for a reason.

The quiet girl with no apparent desires, controlled by rules like some kind of android, had wished for and gained the power to reset.

“So you see her reset power as more defining than her lack of emotion,” Souma whispered in that slightly husky voice of hers.

“She resets whenever she sees someone crying, you know,” Kei said to nobody in particular.

The very moment Haruki Misora saw someone’s tears, she would reset. She knew how pointless it was. She knew it would solve nothing. But she still did it.

Kei could never bring himself to deny emotions to someone with such ridiculously beautiful and pure motives.

Souma giggled quietly. “You believe that Haruki is a truly, purely good person.”

“It shouldn’t be possible, but I can’t deny it any longer.”

She was like the pure essence of goodness. She was more like a concept, a formless and pure sense of real goodness, capturing its true nature.

Souma brought her mouth up to Kei’s ear, whispering like she was sharing a secret. “What did you and Haruki talk about on the roof today before I got there?” Her breath was warm and faintly sweet.

“About a girl by the name of Kurakawa Mari.” The girl who wished to be loved by her mother. “Haruki wants to take away her tears.” The desire to help was almost overpowering her.

“So why are you in such a bad mood?”

A sigh rolled out before he could stop it. “Because she can’t even recognize the strength of her own desires, and I hate it.”

He had given up on trying to fool Souma for any longer.