2 – The same day, 1:30 PM

Nakano Tomoki made his way out of the Ashiharabashi High School gates at around 1:30 PM, having just finished up the post-school festival cleaning. His arms were stiff from carrying so many heavy things, and he shook his hands around to try relieving some of the tension.

“If the day was gonna end so early, we should have just had another school festival today,” came a voice from behind him. “Like an afterparty or something.” It was the voice of Minami Mirai.

“And what exactly would that entail?”

“I dunno… folk dancing around a campfire?”

“We’re not camping, it’s a school festival.”

“Oh, right. Well, what’s that big bonfire supposed to be called, anyway?”

“I dunno.”

Minami shook her head with an exaggerated sigh. “Asai-kun would’ve had an immediate answer.”

“Well, I would too, if I had also memorized the entire dictionary.”

“Oh. That’s a nifty application of his ability.”

“Honestly, I’m not too sure he hadn’t already done that by the time he got to Sakurada.”

“Wow. If that’s true, then he’s really wasting his potential.” When Minami laughed, Tomoki noticed she had ended up right next to him. “So Asai-kun really wasn’t born here.”

“You didn’t know?” Tomoki wished he had kept his mouth shut. He didn’t know the details, as Kei had always avoided the topic of what led him to Sakurada and his life beforehand.

“Well, I always figured it was something like that. There had to be some kind of reason for him living alone.”

“That only started once he got into high school.”

“Oh, really? I guess being separated from your parents in middle school would be really strange. But I dunno, that also seems like it would fit Asai-kun.”

“So what, you came up to me just to talk about that?” Tomoki hadn’t left the classroom with Minami. She was just behind him at some point, and managed to naturally slip into conversation.

Minami shook her head. “Nah. I actually wanted to ask you something, Tomoki-kun.”

“Oh? Like you wanna know my type?”

“I could not care less about that.”

“I like the cool, intellectual, busty senpai kinda deal.”

“And there it is, even though nobody asked. You’ve got guts, Tomoki-kun.”

Satisfied with what seemed to be a compliment, Tomoki asked, “So what’d you wanna know?”

“Who’s the third person?”

“Third person?”

“Asai-kun, Misora, and the other one. The girl he was close to.”

Tomoki stopped in place, as he had reached his bus stop. Tomoki preferred to commute by bus. Nobody else was around, which Tomoki assumed was because they had gotten out so early after festival cleanup, so some establishments were still open for business.

He turned to Minami, who had also stopped beside him, asking, “What do you plan to do with that information?”

“Nothing really. I’m just concerned.”

“Stop being concerned.”

“No way. I’m worried about Misora.”

Tomoki felt like a fool for trying to be serious with her. He sat down on the bus stop bench. Minami remained standing. “Since when have you been that close with Haruki?”

“Hmm… Well, it’s not just about being her friend, if I’m entirely honest.”

“Then what is it about?”

“Just natural inquisitiveness. Like UFO hunting.”

Tomoki sighed internally. He had never found it in himself to like Minami Mirai, ever since they first met.

She was a good classmate, and they could while away the time with simple conversation. But there was always this part of her that he could never fully accept. He hadn’t yet found a reason to doubt that intuition. After all, every innocent smile and every carefree attitude she adopted were all totally and entirely fake.

“Don’t put your friends in the same category as UFOs,” he reprimanded.

Minami smiled a crooked, mocking smile. “Man, you’re so cool, Tomoki-kun.”

“I’m not kidding around.”

“I know you’re not. That’s what makes you so cool. It’s incredible how normal you can be around Asai-kun.”

“That doesn’t make any sense.”

“You think so? Seems pretty obvious to me how special Asai-kun is. Haruki, too. They’re just so special in this deep, innate way.”

Tomoki understood that much. The pair certainly was special.

Looking back, he figured that Souma Sumire was probably right there with them in that regard.

Minami continued, “I think you’re pretty amazing too, objectively speaking. You’re good at sports, music, even drawing. You even have shockingly good grades. You’re quite amazing, when it comes down to it.”

“That stuff doesn’t matter.”

“Yeah,” Minami agreed calmly, nodding. “You’re right. You’re amazing, but you’re still just like a normal high schooler. You don’t feel special in the way that Asai-kun does. If you’re amazing, then Asai-kun is a genius.”

“You think I don’t know that?”

“Do you really? Then how can you possibly not be jealous?”

Tomoki couldn’t help but smile when she said that.

There was always this part of her that he could never fully accept. Behind her bright, cheerful persona lay her true heart, shrouded in mystery. He had never found a reason to change his mind about her before.

I didn’t think reality would be that simple. He had finally found something he could understand and accept within her. “I stopped worrying about that a long time ago.”

“You stopped? Stopped what?”

“Being jealous. You know, the first time I ever met Kei, four years ago, I really hated the guy.”

There was a time when all of Nakano Tomoki’s hatred was aimed at Asai Kei. The boy was heartless, revolting, like a monster adopting the skin of a human. That was all he could think.

“Then how did you… stop hating him?”

“We got in a fight and cleared things up.”

“That’s it?”

Tomoki nodded. “You don’t know real amazement until you’ve had a fight with Asai Kei.”

“Yeah, he seems like the type who’d really snap when he’s mad.”

“That’s the thing. He doesn’t get mad. Well, he does now, if something happens to Haruki. But four years ago, he just never got angry.”

“But you made him get mad?”

“Oh, I did more than that,” Tomoki responded, putting on the best smile he could manage. “I was the one who made up with him.” It would probably be impossible to explain to anyone just how amazing of a feat that was.

Minami simply stared at him for a while, then nodded with satisfaction. “Gotcha. Well, then, Tomoki-kun, guess that makes you my senpai.”

Senpai? “What’s that supposed to mean? You wanna fight with Kei?”

“Well, that wasn’t what I was thinking, but that could work, too.”

The bus was approaching from the far end of the street. The distance made it look like it was traveling slowly. Minami stared at the bus as she said, “I wanna be involved with someone special, no matter what that means. I wanna be bitten by a vampire.”

She wasn’t making any sense. “Yeah, you’re definitely a weirdo.”

“You think? Doesn’t seem any different from wanting to be a sports club manager to me.”

By the time her sentence finished, the bus was upon them. Tomoki stood up from the bench as the bus slowed to a halt. The doors slid open with a hiss of air and a thud.

“Well, seeya the day after tomorrow,” Tomoki said, waving. The following day was being provided as a mock holiday to make up for the school festival being held on a Sunday.

He got on the bus, sitting in an empty seat, only for Minami to plop down right next to him.

“I’m not used to riding the bus home, so this is exciting,” she shared.

“What the heck did you get on for?”

“Isn’t it obvious?” When Tomoki shook his head in exasperation, Minami smiled. “You haven’t told me about the third person.”

“Yeah, and I’m not gonna.” Tomoki looked out the window to avoid her.

The bus drove off. It was moving slowly, having yet to pick up speed. A small car passed them in the next lane over.

Tomoki’s eyes locked on the passenger seat of that car.

Seated there was the “third person” Minami had been asking about.

✽

As soon as they had sat down on the bus, Nakano Tomoki had started acting strange. HIs expression hardened, becoming strangely serious, and he only answered with monosyllabic “yeah”s or “hm”s. It was clear that he wasn’t paying any attention to her at all.

Minami Mirai wanted to frown, but kept it to herself. I thought Tomoki-kun was like me.

She had thought that special people would only be surrounded by other special people, or at least others who admired their specialness. She had gotten her expectations up, but it seemed she was wrong.

“Say, what’d you and Asai-kun fight over, anyway?”

She didn’t receive anything approaching an answer.

Oh, well.

Whenever she wanted to know something, she knew just the person to ask. He always answered her questions.

Minami pressed the stop button so she could get off at the next stop. It would put her near the shopping mall.

“Seeya, Tomoki-kun,” she said, departing the bus.

She had to find a public phone.

✽

A cell phone rang at 2:15 PM.

Asai Kei was currently biting into his tuna salad crepe that he had just ordered for lunch. He was in a small crepe corner shop that was laid out like an open café. He picked up his phone, answering the call.

Nakano Tomoki’s voice greeted him from the phone. “Yo.” His voice was quieter than usual, and he sounded hesitant about something.

Kei spoke up in his stead. “Heya. Sorry for dumping all the cleaning off on you. It go okay?”

“It wasn’t any big deal. My arms are just tired.”

“Sorry I couldn’t be there.”

“That’s fine. What’re you doing right now?”

“Eating a crepe with Haruki.”

“Bet you’re over the moon. You run into any trouble?”

“I told you yesterday that it’s basically just a date. So, what’s up?” Kei asked.

Tomoki made a groaning noise. “It’s not really something I needed to go out of my way to tell you, I guess.”

“Well, if it’s not something you have to go out of your way to hide, then go ahead and tell me.”

“Mm. Minami was asking me about Souma on the way home.”

“Oh.” That somewhat exceeded Kei’s expectations. “Does Minami know about Souma?”

“She just knows that there was another girl you were close to in middle school other than Haruki. She wanted me to tell her who it was.”

“What’d you tell her?”

“I didn’t tell her anything.”

“That sounds like you. Thanks.”

Even without talking to Tomoki, finding out about Souma wouldn’t have been that hard. Asking any of his classmates from Nanasaka Junior High would’ve immediately informed her about the girl who died two years ago.

Of course, Tomoki knew that much. But he still didn’t say anything, perhaps as consideration towards Kei, or sincerity. He didn’t want someone prying into it purely out of curiosity.

“Anything else?” Kei asked.

“Y’know what you said yesterday? About you hearing my ability?”

“Mhm.”

“Was it… Souma’s voice?”

It most certainly was. But Kei denied it. “No way. Your ability can’t send the voices of the dead.”

“Oh, I know. But I saw.”

He… saw?

Kei didn’t have to ask, but he still did. “Saw what?”

“Souma.”

“That’s impossible.”

“I know. Maybe I was mistaken. But I just can’t get it out of my head.”

Kei didn’t want to tell Tomoki about Souma’s rebirth. He still didn’t know the full scope of Souma’s plan, and didn’t want Tomoki to get caught in the middle.

He kept his tone nonchalant, as if going along with Tomoki while sounding somewhat amazed. “Where and when did you see her?”

“It was on the way home today, just as Minami was asking me about her. I was on the bus, and a car with her in it passed us.”

Kei had been prepared to whip up some kind of explanation, but… she was in a car. He couldn’t leave that detail hanging. “Who else was in the car?”

“Huh?”

“It’s not like Souma could have been driving. Even if you were mistaken, that would’ve been a step too far.”

The Souma he pulled from a photo was still a second-year middle schooler. She couldn’t have been the only person in a car. At minimum, someone else would have to be driving.

“Oh, yeah, gimme a minute to remember… Souma was in the passenger seat. I’m pretty sure there were two other people, one in the driver’s seat and one in the back.”

Guests were not placed in the passenger seat. If the two other people consisted of a driver and someone wanting to chat with Souma, she would have been in the backseat with them. If they were purely going for a drive, then it would have made sense to leave Souma alone in the backseat.

Kei tried figuring out the relational hierarchy with the seating order, but eventually gave up. He just didn’t have enough to go on.

Tomoki continued slowly. “I don’t think I saw any faces, but the driver was probably a woman, and the backseat had a guy.”

“Why are you so sure?”

“Just a guess from their physiques.”

“What were they wearing?”

“I think it was plain suit attire. I wasn’t really paying attention, so I’m not too sure.”

“What kinda car was it?”

“Pretty lightweight, almost like a toy. It was deep blue.”

“Did you see the license plate number?”

“How d’ya figure I could’ve seen that?”

“Where did you pass it?”

“The bus stop right by school. It passed by just as the bus started moving.”

“And you were going the same direction? As in, the car wasn’t in the oncoming lane?”

“Yeah, same direction.”

“Notice anything else?”

“Not really.”

“I see. Thanks.” At that point, he ran out of questions.

“Get any ideas?” Tomoki asked.

“Not really. Honestly, I think you were just mistaken.”

“Yeah, me too. But…” Tomoki’s voice became more subdued. “You know something, don’t you?”

“What am I supposed to know?”

“I don’t know. But you sent a message to Souma yesterday. You know that she’s alive.”

Evidently, Kei had made a mistake. He figured that if Souma was trying her best to stay under the radar, she’d keep Tomoki from noticing her. “All I wanted to do was send a message to her up in Heaven,” he insisted.

It was more than likely that Tomoki saw through the lie. But his reply came in a lighter tone. “Yeah, gotcha. That’s it. Bye,” he said, hanging up.

Haruki, who had been eating a crepe while sitting across from Kei, spoke up. “What were you talking about?”

“The kinda stuff you shouldn’t discuss with a crepe in one hand,” Kei responded, taking another bite of his tuna salad crepe.

Once Kei and Haruki had killed enough time at the crepe shop, they traveled to the supermarket. Their objective, of course, being to buy curry ingredients as per the demand of Souma.

3 PM struck as Kei carried a green shopping basket in his right hand. Haruki put a carrot wrapped in plastic into the basket, then tilted her head. “Are we supposed to get May Queen potatoes, or Danshaku?”

“If it’s really for curry, May Queen would probably be more common, but Souma didn’t say we needed to get potatoes.” Kei himself wasn’t used to putting potatoes in curry. He figured that was just one of those things that every house did differently.

They visited the vegetable section for onions and the meat section for chicken before going along to look for curry roux and canned tomatoes. He also placed the smallest bag of rice that was on the shelf into his basket as they passed by. He was only following Haruki, but they were seamlessly getting everywhere they needed to go.

“You’re sure familiar with this place,” Kei remarked.

“Products are arranged by a similar ruleset in every supermarket.”

“No matter which one we went to?”

“They are all nearly the same. Canned tomatoes are always near the pasta section, for example.”

That made enough sense to Kei. He put a can of tomatoes into his basket. All he had left to complete Souma’s orders was yogurt.

I have a hard time believing this trip will be otherwise uneventful, though.

Just as the thought passed through his mind, he passed by the sweets section on the way to the yogurt. He saw a woman with her hair tied back behind her neck crouching down, almost glaring at the shelves with a harsh expression.

It was a woman he instantly recognized.

Kei sighed internally. Wasn’t expecting that one. There before him was Ukawa Sasane.

Kei stopped immediately, and Haruki stopped beside him. “Was our purpose in coming here to meet her?” she asked.

“I don’t know yet, but that sure would be convenient.”

“Convenient?”

“I’ve been wanting to ask Ukawa-san something. I’m gonna go chat with her real quick.”

He headed towards her, but she didn’t notice him even when he was right upon her. “Hi there, Ukawa-san.”

Even after his greeting, her eyes refused to leave the rows of chocolate. “Asai’s voice, right?”

“That’s right. Didn’t know you were in Sakurada.”

“I went back to college for about two weeks, then got called back here for more Bureau work.”

“I see. What are you looking so worried about?”

“Well, they’ve got the bite-sized Snickers here.”

“They sure do.” Rows of Snickers packages were lined up before them, each containing four bite-sized squares.

“I get the same thought every time I see these. If they’re only bite-sized, can they really call them Snickers?”

“I’m quite sure they can.” Indeed, the packaging was all branded with the familiar blue logo, “Snickers” plastered across them in large letters.

Ukawa finally looked up at Kei, though remained crouching. Utter anguish was written on her face, as though a dear friend had betrayed her. “But the entire point of Snickers is that sticky feeling of biting into a full bar.”

“Oh, c’mon, Ukawa-san. Are you saying there’s nothing but the texture going into a Snickers bar?”

Her head whipped back and forth. “Of course not. The rich caramel, the sticky-sweet nougat, the faint addition of peanut, and of course the slightly bitter chocolate are all crucially appealing aspects.”

“Then what’s wrong with a bite-sized version?”

“I can’t just give up the distinct pleasure of biting into a bar.”

“So you’re going to buy the standard size, then?”

“But you have to think about it. The bite size ones have more surface area, which means you get more chocolate coating in proportion.”

“I see. That is quite the difficult proposition.” Kei was far from caring, but he went along with her regardless.

Ukawa stared for a while longer before throwing both sizes of Snickers into her cart. A bold strategy.

Kei couldn’t help but notice how many other chocolate snacks filled her shopping cart. Pocky, Kit Kats, Koala’s March. Those seemed to be her favorites. “It’s incredible that you eat all that, but don’t gain any weight,” he commented.

She was still crouched down, picking out her next sweet. “I do a lot of walking.”

“But I know that you take a car sometimes, too. I saw you in a deep blue passenger car just the other day.”

He hadn’t actually seen such a thing, but the last time he had seen Ukawa, she was with The Index in the dream world. If Souma had taken a ride in the car that The Index and her co-workers used, then it followed that Ukawa would have been in the same car.

“Well, I can’t walk everywhere,” Ukawa responded.

“Were you being shuttled for your Bureau work?”

“Not sure exactly when you’re talking about, but a little blue car sounds about right.”

How enlightening. Of course, there could have been any number of deep blue passenger cars on the road at any given time, but in the present situation, Kei could only assume that Souma was traveling with The Index and her crew.

“Was The Index driving?” Kei asked.

“Probably, if it wasn’t Kagaya-san.”

“Who’s Kagaya-san?”

“Bureau employee. Don’t know much about him myself. And y’know, I’m really not supposed to talk about this.”

“Oh, of course. I apologize.” That was that. Kei changed the subject, wanting to confirm one further detail. “Say, Ukawa-san, what are you doing here?”

“Buying chocolate, of course.”

“Just that?”

“Yeah. What else would I do at a supermarket?”

“I don’t know, maybe follow a set of instructions from the Administration Bureau?”

“Yeah, no. And hey–” Ukawa-san suddenly locked eyes with Kei. “What’s up with all these questions? You tryin’ to figure me out or something?”

Kei kept her gaze as he answered, “Just curious. I get the feeling you’re involved with something.”

Kei didn’t really have any such feelings. He still wasn’t sure if meeting Ukawa was a coincidence, or part of Souma Sumire’s grand design. Or perhaps Ukawa was also supposed to witness whatever was going to happen.

He just wanted to know.

Her eyes as unwavering as ever, Ukawa asked, “And what exactly is this ‘something’?”

“A secret.” Since Kei had no idea himself, he couldn’t give her anything.

“Then I couldn’t tell you.”

“You don’t have any idea at all?”

“No, I don’t. I don’t even get what you’re asking.”

“Really?”

“Really.”

Of course, Kei’s entire side of the conversation was for show. He studied Ukawa’s eyes, trying to see if she was hiding anything.

Eh, fat chance of that.

Kei was quite talented at reading the expressions of his friends, mainly due to the fact that he could remember all expressions they had ever made before perfectly. But Ukawa Sasane had never required such rigorous examination.

I’ve never seen her lie before. He didn’t have any kind of basis to recall from. Even after such blatant accusations, her face was staying completely neutral. She wasn’t irritated, she wasn’t suspicious, she was just carrying on conversation as usual.

With a smile, Kei apologized. “Sorry. Guess I was just misreading things.”

“Then tell me what’s up. I’ll give you a hand if I’m up for it.”

“I appreciate that, but I think I’ll take it on myself for a little longer.”

“Really? Now you’re just leaving me hanging.”

Making his excuses and saying he couldn’t leave Haruki waiting, Kei turned away from Ukawa. He had kept his eyes on hers up to the very last moment, but couldn’t read anything from them.

He saw Haruki on the other end of the aisle. She stood there with a smile, yogurt held in front of her chest. Evidently, she had gone off to collect some while he chatted with Ukawa. Kei returned her smile, walking towards her.

On the way over, he passed a mother and son who sounded like they were having an argument. Even if he hadn’t wanted to hear it, it was loud and clear. The boy was claiming that his mother had promised to buy him candy, and the mother was scolding him that she had promised no such thing, and he shouldn’t tell lies. He wondered who was the mistaken party.

“You said you’d get me some if I got good grades on my test!”

“Aren’t you talking about last month’s test?”

Kinda weird they’d get their wires crossed over something like that, Kei thought. But the closer he got to Haruki, the fainter their voices became. It was just another case that would have to go unsolved.

Haruki placed the yogurt in her hands into Kei’s shopping basket. “What did you discuss with Ukawa-san?”

“Well, we were mostly debating the identity of a Snickers bar.”

“What an odd topic.”

“Then we talked about cars.”

“As in the car Souma Sumire was riding in?”

“Yup. It seems The Index drives the same type of car for work.”

All that was left was payment, and their shopping would be complete. As Kei walked to the register, he wondered if the whole point of going to the store was to see Ukawa. At least, it was the only notable event that his trip had incurred. But in that case, what was with the chicken curry ingredients? Just a whim of hers?

Then, as Kei was lost in thought, he heard laughter around him.

It started with just one person. But then, like ripples in a pond, it spread, leading to countless voices overlapping like a great tide of laughter. Before long, Kei found himself laughing. And then even Haruki was laughing with great, big heaves. It was unthinkable.

As he laughed, Kei thought, An ability. When the impossible happened, it could almost always be attributed to an ability.

The laughter of countless individuals spread throughout the store, customers and clerks alike.

✽

“The second event should be occurring soon,” The Index noted from her place in the driver’s seat. She had checked the clock while stopped at a red light.

Souma Sumire checked her watch. 3:12 PM. Asai Kei should have been at the supermarket. He would take note of several things.

A voice drifted over from the backseat. “I’ll contact Kagaya. Can I borrow your cell?” Urachi asked, extending his hand. The Index took the cell phone on the dashboard and handed it back to him.

Kagaya. The ever-silent Bureau employee was likely working alongside Oka Eri at the moment. Urachi would present a problem, and Kagaya would optimize a solution alongside Oka Eri. So the cycle would continue.

Souma’s role was to check for any possible flaws in the plan using her ability to see into the future. But even that ability hardly made much of a difference. The outcome of the plan was already determined.

I’ve already served my purpose.

Souma Sumire looked out the window at the clear sky. She knew that the next day would be rainy and dreary. It would stop once in the afternoon, then kick off again in the evening.

By the time of the second rainfall, Urachi Masamune’s plan would come to fruition.

Then, after just a while longer, it would all be over.

I’ll even begin to forget how much I hate that girl.

That one girl she hated more than anything else in the world.

She was stupid, selfish, pathetically weak. She was the mastermind. The one who planned everything out, the one who kept manipulating Kei.

But soon, it would finally be over.

I’ll finally be able to rest.

Just like the girl she hated, she would be able to forget everything, and finally be free.

All I have to do is wait for the narrative to conclude.

The fact that that time would indeed come was the only hope she could cling to.

✽

I suppose that working all those muscles I never use is what’s making my chest hurt so much. Laughing out loud can be surprisingly tiring, Haruki Misora thought.

Haruki was walking home from the supermarket with Kei beside her. His right hand carried a plastic bag containing all the ingredients they had purchased for chicken curry. She had offered to carry it for him, but he never did hand it over.

“Was that an accident?” Haruki asked. “That”, of course, being in reference to the entire store breaking out in laughter.

Kei’s answer was delivered in a tone that sounded no different from usual. “I don’t know if it was an accident, or more of an incident. But that’s a question for the Bureau to answer.”

“Because it had to do with an ability?”

“Mhm. Particularly because a large group of people fell victim to an unknown ability. It may have just been laughter, but it could still have caused a deeper problem.” Kei paused, narrowing his eyes before continuing, “It looks like the Bureau isn’t doing a good job at controlling abilities. That’s how it looks from the outside, anyway.”

The same could be said about the traffic accident from that morning. If it was in fact caused by an ability, it became the Bureau’s problem.

“What are we going to do now?” The question implicitly asked if they were going to investigate, how they would do so, and what they would do afterwards. She knew Kei would understand that.

But his only response was, “For now, I’ll be taking you home.”

Haruki tilted her head. “But it is not four o’ clock yet.”

“I have to do some thinking.”

Ah, so he found something to think about.

The day’s events had come to a head. Something was going to happen in Sakurada, and Haruki sure didn’t have a clue about what that could be, but Kei had already nailed it down.

So Asai Kei has discovered what Souma Sumire was trying to show him. “Did you figure it out?”

“I haven’t figured anything out yet. I only have a few predictions.”

“Please tell me what you are predicting.”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“I won’t tell you that, either.”

Haruki pulled her chin up a little to look into Kei’s eyes.

His eyes were lovely. Kei had referred to her own eyes as jewels before, but his were more complex than that. They were a deep black that all other colors mixed together to become. They were like looking into the horizon beyond the sea. So many elements combined to make them, but to any other outsider, they would appear to be a pure, singular color.

Kei,” Haruki said. “Our abilities have little worth by themselves.”

“Mhm.”

“We have reset countless times before.”

“We have.”

“So why are you withholding this from me?” She wanted to know all that she could.

He stared back at her for a while, took a breath, and exhaled. “Souma told me that there would be four total instructions, which makes for two left. I don’t know how dangerous they might get.”

“We were both already aware of that this morning.”

“Yeah, but that was naive of me. I thought our involvement in any happenings would be only as bystanders. But you were part of the incident at the store, too.”

“I would hardly refer to that event as an incident.” It was just laughing out loud. The only danger was a sore chest.

Kei turned his gaze back forward. “Even so, I think it’s time we start actually respecting the danger in all this. If I don’t start to worry about you getting hurt, I’ll just keep barrelling into these until you get hurt for real.”

They passed three elementary schoolers moving along at a jogging pace. Their backpacks swung around as they all laughed.

Haruki’s gaze dropped to her shoes. “You reset back with the Witch, even though it was dangerous.”

“That was contextual. I couldn’t find any other way.”

“You may need to reset to take away the traffic accident from this morning.”

“But what if that isn’t the only problem we have to deal with?”

True enough, if preventing a single accident was the beginning and end of it, then there was no need to look into anything further.

That accident was only one part of a bigger whole. Haruki didn’t know what the bigger whole was, but there was something looming over the entire day’s events.

“Even if I did know exactly what was going on, that doesn’t mean I know exactly what to do next,” Kei continued. “And if I don’t know what to do, then I can’t prepare for you to be involved.”

“Is the problem complicated?”

“No, actually. It’s really simple. But I don’t know what to do about it.”

“Am I to assume that the problem is also a secret?”

“I just need a little time to gather my thoughts.”

Maybe he really did just want to keep her from danger.

But I want to keep you from danger, too. That should have been obvious.

“It’s okay,” he suddenly interjected with a smile. “If things actually get bad, then I’ll ask for your help.”

There was nothing she could really do but nod.

All I can do is just trust him, in the end.

The same way that she had for the last two years.