4 – September 24th (Sunday) – Second time

Katagiri Honoka ended up creating two coffee cups. One for herself, and one for Tyltyl.

“Huh, this isn’t so bad,“ Ukawa Sasane had commented. “I got some pretty bad vibes yesterday, but today it’s rather nice.”

That seemed to tie the bow nicely on the dream world.

Asai Kei, Haruki Misora, Nonō Seika, Tyltyl, and Mytyl– now Katagiri Honoka– all had coffee together at the Cat House Gramps’ mansion.

After that, Kei took a walk down the river with Tyltyl.

It was Sunday, September 24th. Light reflected on the shimmering and swaying river water.

“Thank you,” Tyltyl started.

Smiling, Asai Kei answered, “Well, I did it all for me, to be honest.”

“For yourself?”

“Yeah. We made a deal before the reset, Tyltyl. I do everything I can to make Mytyl happy, and you help me in return.”

Tyltyl nodded. “Sure. If it’s in my power, I’ll do anything.”

Kei looked up at the sky, gazing into the deep blue. It hurt to look at. “I want to see Souma Sumire.”

“Is that really all?”

“I might need a little bit more, but that’s it for now.”

With a nod, Tyltyl stopped walking. “Keep walking straight ahead. You’ll find Sumire-chan before long.”

“Thank you very much.”

Kei’s footsteps sounded in a steady rhythm as he walked down the riverside path.

A bird flew in the sky above him. It wasn’t blue, though. It was just a regular, white bird, though it stood out from the blue sky. Eventually, it disappeared from his sight, and Kei looked back down.

There was Souma Sumire. She sat on a bench by the river, sipping on a soda.

“Heya, Souma,” Kei greeted, putting up a hand.

She looked his way with a smile.

They sat down on the bench together. A warm light shone on them with the gentle heat of a palm caressing his cheek.

“So, which Souma are you?” Kei asked.

Souma tilted her head slightly. “Which one?”

“Well, are you the Souma of the dream world, or did you come here from reality?”

“Does it really matter?”

“Good point. I’d really like to know, though.”

She smiled. “I’m from reality. I’m currently asleep on the hospital rooftop.”

“The rooftop?”

“Yup. You should keep that in mind. Katagiri-san’s ability has a spherical range of effect, so you can enter her dream by sleeping above her.”

“I see.” Evidently the hospital rooftop was the place to go if he wanted a chat with a god. “Thanks for getting in touch with Tyltyl for me.”

“Oh, that part was no big deal. I like coming here, anyway. I can eat all my favorite foods without having to count the calories.”

“Well, that’s nice. On the flipside, I ran my heart out, and it didn’t do a thing for my stamina. That was a bummer to find out.”

He had so many questions for her. He chose to begin with something less important. “So, going back to July… I presume my meeting with Nonō-san was all according to your plan?”

Meeting Nonō Seika had been a result of Souma’s MacGuffin setup.

Souma nodded, acting strangely compliant. “Yup. The start of a long connection of dots to get you in touch with the Script.”

Kei couldn’t help but smile. Souma Sumire was almost too talented. “How much of my thoughts about that are according to what you planned?” It was possible that every single one of his actions had been according to Souma’s plans. He had assumed he was thinking for himself, but perhaps Souma was the one doing all the thinking for him.

Souma simply smiled, foregoing an answer. But Kei hadn’t been looking for an answer to that question. It didn’t matter either way.

“So, Souma. I was thinking about taking you outside of Sakurada. Or at least, I’d like to know what would happen if I did.”

“You asked me about that the last time we saw each other. I believe I told you that was a secret.”

“Mhm. But I’ve given some thought as to why you might keep that a secret.”

“How interesting. Do tell.”

“Of course.” A slight breeze blew, tickling his skin with a pleasant sensation. “You wanted to lead me towards the dream world. Maybe you wanted me to save Mytyl, or maybe you just wanted me to get my hands on the Script. The priority wasn’t important. What mattered was that I had to get into the dream world, and you knew that if you told me the answer was a secret, I would pursue it here.”

Kei’s original intention with coming to the dream world had only been to test his experiment of taking Souma outside of Sakurada.

She smiled amusedly. “Well, this is unusual. You were completely wrong.”

What a bummer. “Wow, I was really confident with that one, too.”

“You’re reading into it too much. The reality is much simpler.” She took a sip of her soda before looking directly at him. “I do not want to be taken outside of Sakurada. I want to stay here, forever. That is all.”

“I see.”

We’re getting closer to the heart of it, Kei thought.

They were finally approaching what he really wanted to talk about.

“You were particularly ruthless this time around, Kei.”

“You think so? I figured it was just business as usual.”

Souma Sumire shook her head. “It was already strange enough that you tried your plan to save Mytyl yesterday. If things were business as usual, you would have waited until this afternoon, since you could save again today at noon.”

“Well, leaving it until today would have introduced too many variables. For one, there would have been all those Bureau agents here.”

It was actually quite likely those representatives were at the Cat House at that very moment. Kei wanted to do his best to stay out of their sight.

“That may be so,” Souma admitted, smiling amusedly. “But the replica city complete with white walls was already prepared for the Bureau, so you could have conducted everything outside of it. That should have kept them out of your hair.”

“Well, once I found out that you were in on this, I figured I could afford to be a little forceful. You would’ve let me know if I was pushing things too far anyway, right?”

“Maybe, maybe not. But at the end of the day, you wanted to finish all of your business yesterday, even at the risk of failure. That way, you could spend today entirely on me. That is to say, what would happen if you were to take me out of this city.”

Reluctantly, Kei nodded. “You’re right.” He had no choice but to settle things with Mytyl the day before, given that he only had two days in the dream world. “But I guess it never really mattered.”

If Souma wanted to stay in Sakurada, then there was nothing he could do. He had never intended to do anything behind her back. Not to mention he couldn’t imagine a way to deceive someone with future sight.

She nodded. “Things were pretty strange right from the get-go, too. Experimenting on a dream world version of me doesn’t really sound like something you would think up.”

Kei frowned. “I’d rather not talk about that if we don’t have to.”

Despite his transparency, Souma continued, “Using a replica of someone as a sacrificial lamb doesn’t really sound like your MO. Especially not for me. After all, I’m just a replica born from a photograph, too.”

He hadn’t expected her to start speaking so bluntly. “I figured that the chances were high you’d be okay if I took you out of Sakurada.”

“Don’t give me your excuses. If you thought it was so safe, then you would’ve just done it in reality to begin with.”

Souma’s really being thorough today, he thought. He was starting to get backed into a corner.

With no other options, Kei nodded. “Yeah. You’re right. But even if it meant taking a risk, or possibly hurting you, I had to know. Can I or can I not take you out of Sakurada?”

“You just want to know for Haruki Misora’s sake.”

“Yup. It was all for Haruki.”

Souma Sumire’s rebirth was painful for Haruki Misora to deal with, so it was best to take care of the issue as swiftly as possible.

She even got me to say stuff I didn’t want to say, he realized.

Souma Sumire truly was special. She was like a great fictional detective. Ability or not, it was like she was capable of peering directly into his mind, knowing his every thought.

“Would you mind if I asked another question?” Kei posed.

“Of course. Let’s get to the real reason you came here to meet me today.”

Taking a deep breath, Kei asked, “Why… do you want to stay in this town so badly?”

Souma’s response was clear and definitive. “Come on, Kei. It’s because you’re here. And I really, really like you.”

Honestly, it would be easier to hear her say that I’m just a useful tool.

Of course, it was always possible that a confession of romantic desire was just part of the best path towards her goal. As soon as he had that thought, he clicked his tongue internally. It was terrible to make that kind of assumption.

He tried to smile, but it wasn’t working out. So he simply answered. “Thank you. That makes me very happy. But I like Haruki more than you.”

“Oh, I know that. Of course you do.” She tilted her head. “But are those feelings real? What if it was all just a big misunderstanding? What if all the empathy, familiarity, curiosity, pity, respect, and jealousy were just blending together to create one big illusion?”

“Oh, I’ve considered that. But c’mon, Souma–” Kei smiled naturally. The situation was just so embarrassing. “Being able to feel all those emotions towards one girl is what’s known as liking her.”

Souma Sumire stared at his face for a while. Even at such a time, she was smiling away in amusement.

I really don’t understand her. But that lack of understanding had always drawn his interest. Second to Haruki Misora.

Continuing to smile, she said, “Now, I’m the type of girl who bullies her crushes, so I’ve got one more thing to tell you.”

“Well, I’m not a fan of bullying, but I’ll listen. What is it?”

“It’s about what you erased with this last reset.”

Oh. I’m a little scared to hear that one. But he had to ask. “What exactly… did I erase?”

What was I facing when I gave the word?

Souma Sumire’s response carried along like the gentle breeze. “Put simply, Haruki Misora had finally decided to leave her fake paradise. She wanted a connection with you that was more than just abilities. She rejected the easy, simple, and distorted paradise she could hold in one hand. She wished for a connection with you of the kind that you had been hoping for two years ago, one closer to a girl’s typical romantic affections.”

Souma stared into him. Her gaze wasn’t carried by the kind of lustrous and jewel-like eyes that Haruki had. Hers were complex and deep, blending together all kinds of colors and other factors. “That was what your reset took away.”

I see. “That’s terrible.”

The situation was worse than he could have ever imagined. He never expected things to get that bad.

“Surely you had to be prepared for this outcome. You know that the one most affected by resets is Haruki herself.”

She was right.

People who knew nothing of a reset would simply act the same way they did previously. In most cases, the only people who would change from a new future being forged were Kei and those around him.

Which left Haruki Misora as the one most affected from reset to reset. It was only natural that the girl closest to him stood to lose the most.

He was aware that time and time again, he was forcing her to lose many varied, new emotions. With full knowledge, he continued to instruct her to reset.

Souma Sumire smiled. “Even so, you won’t stop using the reset.”

Kei nodded. “I decided that was the right thing to do.”

He had concluded that the best way forward was to make the most happiness he could for the greatest number of people possible, no matter how many times he had to start over.

I still believe that’s the right thing to do.

So of course, he would continue to reset.

He was always fearful of consequences, and careful not to make any mistakes. But of course, even so, the mistakes continued to pile up.

It seems I’ll have to keep relying on Haruki Misora’s ability.

End of Chapter 3