3 – The same day, 1 PM

Haruki Misora left home immediately after lunch. She walked past the shrine, heading up the mountain path. Raindrops steadily tapped on her umbrella, and the ground shifted and slipped beneath her. She walked carefully, keeping her center of gravity coordinated until she saw a small shrine on the other end of the mountain path.

She had assumed she wouldn’t find Nonō Seika there. School was only off that day because the school festival had been held two days prior on a Sunday. Nonō didn’t attend Ashiharabashi High, so she should have had classes like normal.

But nonetheless, Haruki could see a girl in uniform sitting ahead at the shrine. She had black hair and white skin, and her eyes were closed. Cats were curled up in little balls all around her, trying to avoid the drops of falling rain.

Haruki walked over to her. “Nonō-san,” she called. The other girl opened her eyes. Haruki wasn’t sure if she had been sleeping or just keeping them closed until then. “Good morning to you,” she greeted.

“Mm. Morning.”

“Why are you here?”

“You came here when you thought I wouldn’t be here?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“Just a momentary whim.” She didn’t have anything else to do, so she had figured she could pass the time watching all the cats. She was sure that the cats had grown at least somewhat fond of her across her many visits to see Nonō.

“Well, whaddaya know. I figured you came here ‘cause Asai told you to see me.”

“That is incorrect. I simply have an abundance of free time.”

“Hm.” Nonō nodded. “I’m actually here because Asai asked me to be.” She pulled out a cell phone, and after a few moments of tapping at it with her slender, white fingers, turned the display towards Haruki.

It seemed to be some kind of e-mail. The sender field showed it to have come from “Asai”.

Please tell me if you can find Ukawa-san. She may be in the form of a child right now, so even if it’s just a small girl that looks similar, I want to know. Please and thank you.

Haruki tilted her head as she read it. “What does he mean by, ‘she may be in the form of a child?’”

“Got me. Maybe it’s a riddle?”

“A riddle, indeed.” Sakurada was filled to the brim with such mysteries. Haruki wasn’t really concerned with figuring out everything she didn’t know.

“Anyway, Kei sent this about two hours ago. Classes were getting boring right around then, so I figured I’d sneak out and look around for that Ukawa girl.”

Nonō Seika had the ability to share consciousnesses with any of the cats within Sakurada. It gave her eyes all over the city, but Haruki had to wonder if it really made her good for manhunts.

“Are you at all familiar with Ukawa Sasane, Nonō-san?”

“I met her in the dream last month. Only got a glance at her, but I remember. She was the rucksack woman.”

Haruki had no particular expectations when she asked, “Were you able to find her?”

Nonō quickly nodded. “Sure did. Saw her in front of a coffee shop a little ways into the shopping district. Far as I could tell, she wasn’t younger or anything. She looked just like I remembered, sitting in the passenger seat of a car. That’s why I woke up.”

“You need to contact Kei quickly, then,” Haruki pressed. There certainly wasn’t time for idle chatter.

“You’re not gonna tell him?”

After a short moment of hesitation, Haruki shook her head. “No. You do it, please.”

Nonō tilted her head slightly, but still called Kei. In the meantime, one of the cats sitting beside Nonō had moved into the girl’s lap, so Haruki took its spot. She closed her umbrella, leaning it beside her.

Nonō’s phone call didn’t last very long. After hanging up, she spent a moment looking at Haruki before speaking. “Your shoulder’s wet.”

Haruki glanced at her shoulders. Sure enough, her right shoulder was wet, the blouse sticking to her skin. How had that happened when she was using an umbrella? She evidently hadn’t been paying much attention to the rain. “It is wet.” She couldn’t think of anything else to say.

Nonō picked up her school bag, pulling out a towel. “I brought this for the cats, but haven’t used it yet. Wipe yourself down. You don’t want to catch a cold.”

“Thank you very much.” Haruki accepted the towel, pressing it against her shoulders and patting it down.

Nonō smiled beside her. “Seems like you don’t mind the rain very much.”

“I usually take more care not to get wet.” Under normal circumstances, it would take quite strong crosswinds to get her shoulders wet while holding an umbrella.

“So what’s bothering you more than the rain?”

Haruki didn’t know what to say. She pressed the towel down, staring into the sky.

The sound of the pouring rain enveloped them. It made Haruki think of a radio with poor reception. The static of an unstable connection to someone far away. Kei was probably hearing that same sound.

“It’s okay if you don’t want to say. I was just curious, so you don’t need to tell me.”

Haruki shook her head. “I was trying to put it into words.” It was so hard to find the right words to say.

The corners of Nonō’s mouth lifted into a smile. “Then just say what’s on your mind, as long as it’s not a lie. If you get something wrong, then you can always correct it later. I want to hear your mistakes, too.”

“Do mistaken words have their own value?”

“Probably at least as much as the right ones. Somebody told me once that it’s important to know what you got wrong, and why.”

“Is that what conversation is supposed to consist of?”

“Well, he was talking about math. But really, conversations are basically the same thing.”

Was that really true? Perhaps it was.

Haruki Misora spoke quietly, as if she were treading on thin ice. “Something really important happened two days ago.”

“Ah. What’s that?”

“It was like every kind of happiness, all put together into one grand event.”

“Oh. So this wasn’t a bad thing.”

“Not in the slightest.”

The day before yesterday, on the southern school building’s rooftop, she and Kei had a conversation. He told her the very thing she had wanted to hear the most. Because of that, she had been able to give him a natural smile.

“I am… happy.”

“That’s great.”

“I am so happy, and yet, I still feel unfulfilled.” It was like she got every question on a test right, but still didn’t receive a perfect score. It should have been everything she wanted, but it wasn’t enough. She felt so very greedy. “I got to see Kei this morning, for just a short while.”

“Mhm?”

“When he left, I asked him to return safely.”

“And then?”

“That was all.”

Nonō stroked the cat atop her lap. “I… don’t really see the problem.”

Kei would have understood.

“I did not say goodbye. I did not say that I wished to see him again. I asked him to return safely.” She chose the singular phrase that asserted some kind of possession, as if to tell him that he had to come back to her. “I have been acting incredibly selfish as of late.” It was not only selfish, but disgraceful.

A small giggle leaked out of Nonō. The cat on her lap raised its head in surprise. “I still… really don’t get what the problem is.”

“Is that so?”

“No. Do you want to stop being selfish?”

As soon as she was asked, she understood.

I don’t. Not at all.

She didn’t want to abandon those selfish desires. They felt important. Much too important to lose.

“I… want to be selfish.”

“Then there isn’t a problem.”

“But I do not want my selfishness to become a problem for Kei.”

“I getcha. That’s a bit complicated.” Nonō stroked the cat’s neck as its head remained raised. “But I really don’t think he’ll see your selfishness as a problem.”

“That would be… quite nice.” Incredibly nice.

It would be wonderful if my selfishness was the same as his happiness.

But it wasn’t.

“To be honest… what I said to him was not the real source of selfishness.”

When she saw Kei that morning, he looked tired. So incredibly exhausted. What she wanted the most was to go with him. To stand there beside him in his tiredness and, to put it dramatically, protect him. That was all that she had really wanted to do.

But he didn’t ring my doorbell.

He hadn’t tried to call her out, so she couldn’t bring herself to go with him. He didn’t want her there, so she was afraid that she would cause problems, and could do nothing but watch him go. Telling him to return safely was just a meager resistance.

“I want my being by Kei’s side to become a given.” She wanted to be with Kei to the closest degree she could manage. When he was tired, she wanted to be able to hold out her hand.

If I want that, then I can’t stay the way I am. She was lacking in too many ways. Even if she was with him, there would be nothing she could do in her present state.

“I want to have what it takes to be useful to Kei in every situation.”

If she could have that, then her selfishness could align with Kei’s happiness. She could cast aside all her doubts and just be with him.

“I see.” Nonō smiled cheerfully. “I don’t think you’re supposed to measure human relationships in usefulness. But if that’s what drives you, then go for it.”

The very moment after she said that sentence, the sound of the rain disappeared. It was only once it was gone that Haruki remembered it had been raining. It was such an easy sound to tune out.

Light began shining. Incredibly strong light. The world immediately became much brighter.

If it was just a single stream through a gap in the clouds, one might have taken it as a symbol of prevailing hope. But it wasn’t. It was something far more excessive than a gap.

Haruki looked up, finding that every single rain cloud was gone from the sky. She was faced with a blue, cloudless horizon. But what should have been a refreshing sight instead filled her with a great and difficult to place dread.

What… happened?

Looking beside her, Haruki saw that Nonō’s smile had vanished. The other girl stood up, walking down the mountain path. The treeline ended not very far away, offering a better look into the distance. Haruki followed behind her.

“What’s… that?” Nonō mumbled.

It didn’t take long to find what she was asking about.

The view of Sakurada under the endless blue sky was dwarfed by its presence. Roots spread throughout the town, piercing through buildings and poking from under the road, as it loomed over every other structure.

A great tree towered in the corner of the town.

✽

Ten minutes before the rain clouds disappeared from the sky, Asai Kei received a phone call from Nonō Seika.

Nonō kept things short and to the point. There was a small coffee shop in the shopping district, not far from where Kei currently was. A black sedan was parked in front, with Ukawa sitting in the passenger seat.

Kei thanked her and hung up. He turned his attention beside him to Murase. “I found Ukawa-san. Sorry, but I have to hustle.” He sped up before even finishing the sentence.

Murase matched his pace. “Where is she?”

“Close by. Ten minutes away, if I hurry.”

“So what, my ability was useless?”

“Not at all. Thanks to you, we’re a lot closer to her than we would have been. Plus, if she moves at all, you’ll be able to find her.”

“Hm.” Murase glanced over at Kei, a sullen look on her face. “Look, if you wanna run ahead, then just do it.”

Kei hesitated for just a moment. “…Sorry. I’m gonna go ahead.” Kei lowered his eyes slightly and took off. He heard footsteps from behind him and knew Murase was following, but he just picked up his speed without worrying about her.

The faster, the better.

Ukawa Sasane’s involvement in Urachi Masamune’s plan was still only a guess on his part. On top of that, he didn’t know how far along Urachi’s plan was. He basically didn’t know anything. But that was only another reason to hurry as fast as he could.

The very fact that Ukawa Sasane was in a car concerned him. She usually preferred walking, and she didn’t use vehicles often.

A black sedan, too.

It being a small blue car would have really sold it, but Kagaya had driven Kei to the Witch’s domain in a black sedan. He didn’t have the information to be completely certain, but it was very possible that someone connected to Urachi Masaume was already in contact with Ukawa Sasane, be it Kagaya, The Index, or anyone else.

And it just had to be the perfect role for her to play, too. She always was the champion of justice.

The way Kei saw it, though, if he were to use tarot cards as an example, she would be more like “Judgement” than “Justice”. She championed her justice rather than just representing it. She was always the one to decide what was justice, paradoxical as that could be.

And this time, she was put in the position to make the decisions before Kei had ever noticed. Her actions could very well determine the future of Sakurada’s abilities.

Kei got tired of dealing with the umbrella and shut it. He threw it into an umbrella stand just outside of a convenience store he happened to pass by. It was really bad manners, but he resolved to buy something from there later to make up for it.

The wind was blowing directly at him. Strong rains pelted his face, and several droplets made their way into his eyes, blurring his vision. He roughly brushed his face with his palms to wipe them away.

Finally, he passed into the shopping district, coming up on a neatly paved road. He could see the coffee shop Nonō mentioned up ahead, past two traffic lights. Parked right beside it was a small black sedan.

That’s it. But the traffic light was red on his side, and the street was busy. He had no choice but to stand and wait.

As his legs finally slowed, he became more aware of the sound of the rain pounding down on the asphalt. He put his hands on his knees, trying to steady his breathing. He glared harshly, keeping his eyes on the black sedan as other cars moved around it. It seemed to be parked on the side of the road, and none of its lights were on. But he wanted to pay attention in case it sped off at a moment’s notice.

Trees were lined on each side of the road. Kei noticed one of them placed exactly halfway between him and the black sedan. All of its branches had been pruned, leaving its trunk by itself, looking like some kind of misshapen utility pole. Something must have happened to require leaving it in that state, but without any context, it just looked unfortunate.

A young man stood next to the tree, someone who must have felt the same way as Kei. He held a plastic umbrella in one hand, touching the tree gently with his other hand, as if laying it on the shoulder of a downhearted friend.

And then…

The tree expanded.

It was so sudden that Kei didn’t have time to think or react. All he could do was stare.

The tree grew impossibly fast, becoming suddenly taller, thicker, more pronounced. Innumerable branches thrust out from its trunk, each splitting into more, smaller branches. Lush leaves sprouted from the smaller extrusions. The heavy gray sky began to be pushed back by the freshly budding green mass.

The young man stepped away from the tree, but that did nothing to stop its growth. Heavy sounds began reverberating, like the Earth itself was vibrating. The tree’s roots broke and separated asphalt, puncturing through sidewalks and roads, and its branches sank into the dry-cleaning shop right next to it.

Everyone could only stare in shock.

A car drove into a high root and flipped over, the windshield shattering. A man riding a bicycle while holding an umbrella got distracted by the sight, losing his balance and falling. His bag flew out of the bicycle basket, slamming into the tree. Just a moment later, a root split through the asphalt, snagged the man’s bag, and pulled back under the ground. The man skittered away from the tree as fast as he could.

Everyone and everything was at the tree’s mercy. That corner of the city continued to be invaded by the tree, as if skipping through eons of time in moments. It towered above every structure, and by the time it finally stopped, it was the size of a lighthouse.

Cracked asphalt. An overturned car. People frozen in place. The enormous tree stood above it all, as if it ruled them. As if it had always been there.

…So that’s it.

Kei finally understood. He knew why Ukawa Sasane was there.

A traffic light flicked to green. A tune began playing to signal pedestrians to walk, continuing on listlessly. But nobody moved. None of the cars, and none of the pedestrians. They all just stared at the tree. A woman in an apron came out of the half-destroyed dry-cleaning shop, looking up at the sky in horror at the thing now lodged in the building.

Asai Kei was the first person to move, sprinting straight for the black sedan.

✽

Ukawa Sasane witnessed the tree’s growth from the black sedan.

She had figured something was going to happen, but didn’t know what. Tsushima sat in the driver’s seat beside her, so she asked, “Did you know about this?”

“I knew enough.”

“How?”

“I don’t know. The Bureau got ahold of the information somehow.” Tsushima assumed they had sourced it from the Nameless System. They knew a future event, so it only followed they had gotten it from a future seer.

“Why did you just leave it alone?” she demanded.

Tsushima let out a tired sigh, responding, “It was to show you, of course.” He leaned back in his seat, put his hands behind his head, and said, “So go ahead. Make your judgment.” Like I don’t already know.

A young man took pity on a roadside tree. That was it. That was all that had caused it.

“Was his ability used intentionally?”

Tsushima shook his head to her question. “Can’t say without an investigation. I’d place my bet that it wasn’t, though. In both of yesterday’s cases, the ability users didn’t even know they had used them. Even if this was an exception, it wouldn’t really change the foundational issue.”

Continual ability outbursts.

That’s what you get with Sakurada’s abilities. They gave meaning to meaningless prayers. They let a wish get real results. But a righteous wish didn’t guarantee a righteous outcome.

A tree grew so forcefully as to destroy roads and buildings, not to mention bottlenecking traffic flow. A car was overturned by the roots, and the person inside was unlikely to walk away unscathed. And now somebody would have to be tasked with the tree’s removal.

Was it the fault of the worker who pruned the tree? Was it the tree’s fault for growing too large? Should the young man be held responsible for praying for the recovery of a dead tree?

If the fault didn’t lie with them, then perhaps it lay with Sakurada’s abilities. Perhaps the problem was that wishes couldn’t just remain wishes.

If a really dangerous ability experienced an outburst, this would be nothing.

Ukawa was forced to admit the truth.

If my ability had an outburst…

Perhaps even the very world would crumble to nothing.

“I understand. This truly is dangerous.”

Ukawa Sasane made her decision. She followed her gut to do what was right.

What’s going on right now is a problem. It needed to be stopped, even if that took force.

Ukawa took out a crude lump of metal that barely formed the shape of a ring, shoving it on the ring finger of her left hand.

“Abilities need to be eliminated from Sakurada.”

She closed her eyes, imagining a corrected world.

If Ukawa Sasane used her ability, then testified that it was an outburst…

Then the Bureau would make the final call.

✽

Asai Kei ran towards the black sedan.

He had just witnessed the third ability outburst incident. He could only imagine one reason why Ukawa Sasane would be there to see it, too.

That’s how they’re gonna convince her. They would make Ukawa choose the fate of Sakurada’s abilities. And whenever she was faced with a choice, she would read her gut to find out what the right thing to do was.

Has she already made her choice? Were abilities right, or were they wrong?

What would she choose?

He was getting closer to the sedan. He could finally make out Ukawa in the passenger seat. Her eyes were closed.

She chose the latter. She was already using her ability. But when did she choose?

It took roughly a minute for her ability to fully activate. That one minute would be the deciding factor.

How much time did he have? 10 seconds? 50?

The only way to stop her ability was by breaking her concentration.

But could I make it in time?

As his thoughts raced, he met eyes with the man in the driver’s seat. He saw someone completely unexpected. He had assumed Ukawa Sasane would be seated next to Urachi Masamune, The Index, or even the quiet suit Kagaya.

But it was none of them.

Seated there was a man Kei knew very well.

Tsushima… sensei?

He almost asked why, but it made sense. It was understandable that Tsushima would be against abilities. He believed that everything surrounding the July incident with Murase was due to her ability. Then there were his innumerable pleas for Kei to stop involving himself with abilities.

Tsushima Shintarou had probably been against abilities from the very start.

Alright, then. Kei gritted his teeth. The sedan was only another 50 feet away.

Where do I stand?

Abilities had no shortage of victims. Like the Witch. Like the two ability users making up the Boundary Line. And most of all, like Souma Sumire. Without abilities, those people wouldn’t have had to suffer. They could have lived normal lives.

But, of course, there were examples of abilities being used for the right causes. Many people had been saved by abilities.

If abilities remained, some people would be sacrificed, and others saved.

If abilities were removed, some people would be sacrificed, and others saved.

Trying to make a decision with reason just wasn’t working. He couldn’t know which choice was right. It felt like either one would be a mistake.

No, wait.

The sedan was 30 feet away. Right then, he finally understood.

I made my choice a long time ago. Two years ago, to be precise.

He had used a reset, and Souma Sumire died. She was alive before the reset, and dead after it.

But despite that, Kei had decided to continue using resets. He decided that continuing to make use of abilities was the right way to live.

I’m sure that was the decision my emotions made.

Refusing special powers. Allowing sadness. Enduring through pain. Accepting that there are things that can’t be done. All could be argued to be the traits of a rational, excellent individual.

But in the depths of true sadness, was bland acceptance the best way forward? Would real justice give up on all other options?

Was it right to take someone who was saved by an ability, tell them that was an unfortunate mistake, and cast them back into their suffering?

The sedan was 15 feet away.

That couldn’t possibly be true, right?

Tears were beautiful because sadness was beautiful. Sadness was beautiful because a heart that could not accept misfortune was beautiful.

The human heart’s denial of sadness was beautiful. That selfish emotion could reflect true beauty.

So Kei would continue to selfishly wish that he could remove all sadness.

No matter what it took. No matter what abilities he had. His only wish would be to remove all sadness from the world, never to be seen again.

Just another 12 feet.

That’s how I really feel. There wasn’t anything logical about it.

9 more feet.

Kei decided to leave everything up to his emotions. He thrust off the asphalt.

6 feet.

He used all his momentum to jump at the car.

3 feet.

He shoved out his right foot, pushing the sole forward.

0 feet.

He kicked the passenger door with everything he had.

A loud sound echoed. The car shook, and Ukawa’s eyes snapped open in surprise.

Did I… make it?

Tsushima turned to face Kei from the driver’s seat, a wry smile on his face. The index finger on his right hand shot up, pointing. Kei turned towards the sky.

Dazzling light assaulted him.

All the heavy rain clouds had vanished at some imperceptible moment. His eyes were met with a pure, blindingly blue sky. It hurt to look at.

The car’s window rolled down, allowing Tsushima Shintarou’s voice through. “Looks like you didn’t quite make it in time.”

As if he didn’t know.

Ukawa Sasane’s ability could reshape all inorganic matter to her liking. She could even vaporize every rain cloud within sight, if she wanted.

Where did I go wrong? Was it when he spent all night worrying? Was it prioritizing the dream world for information over Ukawa? Was it his hesitation once the tree started growing? Or was it something else… something more intrinsic?

All the strength fled from his body.

“Sensei.” Looking up at the empty sky, Kei asked, “If you need to go somewhere far away, is it wrong to use a car?”

“No. Drive it wherever you like.”

“Is it breaking some kind of rule to use a cell phone to call your favorite person?”

“Use it to your heart’s content.”

“Is it wrong to be successful due to your innate talent, be well-liked due to your good looks, or to live in luxury from being born wealthy?”

“Those are all just fine. Nothing wrong at all.”

Then why… “Why do only Sakurada’s abilities have to be a problem?”

He thought he was ready for any argument. He had examples. Things that were just as useful as any ability, just as unequal as any ability, just as dangerous as any ability, just as incomprehensible as any ability.

The world had always had such things. People accepted those things, utilized them, and society moved forward.

There is nothing wrong with abilities. If they had to be a problem, then the whole world became a problem.

But then Tsushima answered.

“It just kinda feels unfair somehow.” It came out with all the usual exhaustion, carrying his ever-present soft and gentle tone. “We’re all just out here living our lives. If I can’t understand something, but it feels unfair, then that’s a problem as far as I’m concerned. I don’t need any other reason to deny whatever I please.”

He spoke without logic, on a plane far removed from labeling something right or wrong.

Kei hadn’t prepared an argument for something like that.

“Look, Kei. You need to just go be a high schooler. Let love, and dreams, and future plans drive you to desperation. Don’t worry about all that other stuff. Then, someday, you learn what you gotta give up, and become a normal, happy adult.”

Kei was so tired. He didn’t even have the strength to change his facial expression. So he just smiled. “I couldn’t want anything less.” There wasn’t a single thing he was willing to give up.

Tsushima Shintarou smiled back. “Children are selfish like that.”

“And adults always assume that their way of thinking is just common sense.”

“‘Course we do.” Tsushima straightened up in the driver’s seat, buckling his seat belt. “Assumptions make the world go ‘round.”

The car window rolled back up, and the black sedan drove away.

✽

A small blue car putted down the road under a suddenly clear sky.

Urachi Masamune looked up at the sky from the backseat, smiling. “What wonderful weather. Look, the sky’s so clear that even the puddles are shining beautifully.”

The pure blue sky reflected on a puddle up ahead in the road. It kicked up a sparkling spray as the small car drove over it.

The Index spoke up from her position in the driver’s seat. “Ukawa Sasane used her ability, I presume?”

“She did indeed. And so spectacularly. What a lovely, fortunate, massive problem for the Administration Bureau.”

Rain clouds were conspicuous, on many levels. They could even be seen from space, being observed by countries all over the world. Such a massive clearing couldn’t possibly be ignored.

Urachi Masamune wrote “complete” on the last line of his notebook. “And so the curtain falls.”

A particularly dangerous ability user used her ability. Framing it as an accident would put an end to everything. The final line drawn by the countermeasures plan that morning had been crossed. The Bureau had no choice but to follow the rules and make their decision.

Abilities will soon be forgotten. Their very existence would be completely wiped from everyone’s minds.

“Are we… doing the right thing?” The Index asked, her voice stiff.

“When did we do anything wrong?”

“Was it really right to force those three people into ability outbursts?”

The intersection’s traffic accident, the laughter at the supermarket, and the tree’s rapid growth. They were all intentional incidents, easily set up by the second Witch’s future sight combined with Urachi Masamune’s ability.

“For all we know, the same things would’ve happened without my intervention.”

“The Nameless System never predicted them.”

“She didn’t predict this, either. She didn’t know anything about my plan.”

Even if the Bureau had somehow known of Urachi’s plans, the outcome was all the same. They could’ve been accidents, or they could’ve been premeditated. Either way, the incidents proved how weak the foundation of the Bureau was. Not even the Nameless System was absolute, and abilities could never truly be controlled.

“All I did was clarify the problem that this town has always had. And tomorrow, the Administration Bureau will have to face that problem, and make the correct decision.” Sakurada would finally return to normal. “Are you going to say we’re wrong this late into the game?”

The Index was silent for a long time.

The small blue car slowed down to take a turn. Two small birds flew across the clear sky.

Eventually, her answer came. “No. My apologies. I’m just feeling a tad nervous.”

“Nervous?”

“Yes. No matter the reason, erasing 40 years of history is a scary concept.”

Erasing all memories of abilities meant rewriting everyone’s memories and perceptions of reality. Every member of Sakurada would live with natural, but fake memories of a town where abilities did not exist.

A full 40 years of history would be contorted. A large-scale renovation of the past, entirely within everyone’s minds.

But…

“Don’t think about it too hard.”

Wrongdoings had to be corrected.

“Change is always scary. Even when you know it’s a good change, it’s natural to fear it. This just happens to be a 40-year-long problem. It takes courage to keep moving forward into what’s right without fear.”

“I understand,” The Index responded, her voice low.

She clearly wasn’t entirely convinced. Perhaps it was an issue that she could never fully reconcile with.

Well, not like that matters. Everything was finally in place. It would all be over that afternoon. The Index only had to be on his side for a few more hours. Just a few more hours of use would be more than enough of her.

So, he threw out something that was more or less meaningless to try and smooth the conversation over. “I never liked this town, but I have always liked its name.”

“Its… name?”

“Sakurada. The kanji are written out as ‘a field of pleasing blossoms’, but the pronunciation is remarkably similar to the Spanish word for ‘holy’.”

“Are you referring to sagrada familia?”

“Indeed. It means ‘holy family’. I believe it’s Catalan.”

Urachi looked back out the window towards the sky. It looked practically divine, without a single cloud in sight.

The second Witch had said something interesting during her first phone call.

You want to give Sakurada a reset.

A reset. A rearrangement. Fitting phrases.

“We get to revive this holy town, this time following the right way. We’ll rearrange it and get rid of all the parts that are wrong. Could you imagine anything more wonderful?” A holy revival of the town. “That’s all I want. I just want to like this city.”

Even from the backseat, he could make out The Index’s confused nod.

Then, the small blue car arrived at its location.

They parked in front of a modest, one-room apartment.