3 – The same day, 5:30 PM

The sun was setting.

Haruki Misora sat in a chair placed in front of a desk, immersing herself in thought.

This is… my room. The statement had to be correct, and yet the room was unrecognizable compared to what Haruki knew.

For starters, there were cats as far as the eye could see. Stationery with cat illustrations lay on the desk, three stuffed cats lined the bookshelf, and the pillowcase was cat-themed. It only seemed to make sense that they were all items purchased within the two year and seven month period that Haruki could not remember.

She tapped at a cell phone placed on the desk. She didn’t remember having something like that, either. The phone itself was in beautiful condition, looking practically new. In contrast, the cat strap attached to it had accumulated some grime.

She picked up the phone, discovering that the power was on. She didn’t really know how to operate it, but after tapping around long enough, she located the contacts list. The list was completely empty, looking almost factory in how clean it was.

She began to place the phone in the desk, then stopped, instead placing it in her pocket. It was hers, after all, so there had to be some functional use for it. She decided that she would ask her mother how to use it later.

She then moved to open the desk drawer. She recognized her Japanese-English textbook placed directly inside, but it looked more worn than she remembered. Underneath it was a CD she didn’t recognize which seemed to hold some sort of Western music. Haruki couldn’t imagine purchasing a music disc for herself, so it was likely a gift from someone else.

Deeper in the drawer was a square tin that seemed at first glance to be made for cookies. She pulled it out and opened the lid. Inside was a paperback book and a blue handkerchief. The handkerchief was bulky and clearly wrapped around something. When she picked it up and unfolded it, a red barrette fell on the desk with a solid thump.

Nothing she saw sparked any kind of recognition. In fact, it didn’t feel like any of it even belonged to her.

Haruki picked up the red barrette. Was this… important, somehow? She didn’t know. She couldn’t even picture herself carefully storing away a hair clip in the first place.

She rewrapped the barrette, placing it and the handkerchief back into the cookie tin. She then picked up the paperback, but before she could turn the cover, three slow knocks came from her door.

Haruki suddenly recalled her mother telling her that someone was going to visit. It was supposed to be about a junior high school reunion or something.

Placing the paperback on the desk, Haruki turned around. The light of the setting sun was beginning to stream through her window. She faced the door, responding, “Come in.”

The door opened to a singular boy that she couldn’t recognize. He was wearing a uniform. Likely it belonged to some high school or another.

With what was probably a smile, the boy said, “Heya. It’s been a minute.”

“I must apologize. I do not recognize you.”

“Yeah, I know.” The boy entered the room and closed the door. “I’m Asai Kei. We met in April two years ago. Maybe you remember Souma Sumire? She introduced us.”

Souma Sumire. Finally, a name Haruki could recognize. Souma was a classmate of hers… or actually, she had been her classmate two years and seven months ago, when they were still in their first year of junior high.

“We talked a lot together. So much that it would take me a full season just to describe everything we discussed. We talked so, so much.” The boy began slowly approaching her. The light of the setting sun almost made it look like a shadow was approaching her. “I want you to remember everything.”

“I do not feel a need to do so.”

“I want you to… for me.”

“There is no method to make that happen.”

“There is, actually.” The boy, now standing directly next to Haruki, picked up the paperback from her desk. He flipped through the pages, stopping about halfway through to pluck something thin and rectangular out. “A girl I know gave up absolutely everything… just to gift me a present.”

In his hand was a photograph of a sakura tree in full bloom.

✽

Souma Sumire’s present was the situation that Asai Kei now found himself in, all culminating in that single photograph. He very gently traced the photo with his finger.

Haruki Misora stared at the photo beside him. She had long hair. No doubt she had been rewound by Urachi Masamune’s power, now being the girl from some two and a half years prior.

Kei smiled at the Haruki Misora who had never met him. “This photo can bring your memories back.” It could return everything to what it had been three days before.

“I do not think that is possible.”

“Oh, but it is.”

It wouldn’t be right to say that abilities had truly disappeared from Sakurada. They still existed, it was just that nobody could remember them. But not knowing how to use an ability was the same as not having one.

Despite that, there were exceptions. Photographs taken with Sasano Hiroyuki’s ability would take anybody who tore one into the world of the photograph for ten minutes under any conditions. The photograph would still activate whether Sasano was aware of his own ability or not.

On top of that, it would recreate the old Sakurada. The Sakurada that existed before the removal of all information regarding abilities.

If Haruki Misora was taken to the old Sakurada, she would remember that she possessed the Reset ability. Once remembered, that nigh miraculous ability could be used again.

“There’s a place I want to go that will help you remember everything.”

Sasano Hiroyuki’s photographs would only function properly if torn while being physically present in the place where the photo was originally taken. The picture Kei had in his hands depicted a sakura tree in the garden of Sasano’s house. Getting there would take about a 20-minute bus ride.

Haruki tilted her head. “Will we be leaving presently?”

“Mhm. As soon as humanly possible.”

“I doubt that my mother would allow it.”

“I’ll work it out. It’ll be fine.” He was gonna get her out there, even if it meant personally dragging her out of the house. He only had an hour and some change. If it passed 7 PM, then it would be 72 hours after their save.

Kei tucked the picture back into the paperback book and slipped the book into his pocket. “C’mon, let’s get moving. Don’t want it to get dark on us. Just put on your shoes and wait in front of the house. I’ll talk with your mom.”

“Where will we be going?”

“The place that will help you remember everything. Don’t worry, it’s not too far away.”

The Haruki Misora he knew from two years ago functioned on three basic rules.

The first stated that she refused to cause any kind of trouble for others.

The second required that she follow anyone else’s commands. Which was to say, if there were no clear red flags, she would do as anyone asked.

“Please, Haruki, I want you to come with me.”

Haruki Misora looked at him with emotionless eyes.

Then, in a mechanical motion, she nodded once.

As Haruki put on her shoes and stepped outside the house, Kei spoke with her mother. Kei made sure to catch Haruki’s mom in the kitchen, where there was no sight of the front entrance.

He had never planned on asking permission to take Haruki out in the first place. Any opposition from Haruki’s mother would bring nothing but trouble and snag his plan. It was best to operate in secret.

After buying enough time with casual conversation, Kei left Haruki’s house. Haruki was waiting for him as he stepped out the door.

“Did mother give you permission?”

“Mhm. We’re good to go.” Would Haruki catch him out in his lie? Kei was quite sure she wouldn’t. The Haruki from two years ago couldn’t have cared less about the emotions of other people. “C’mon, this way.” Kei took Haruki’s hand, quickly walking away. Haruki offered no complaint, following behind him, her hand in his all the while.

They made it to the bus stop, and didn’t have to wait long for the bus. Kei only let go of Haruki’s hand once they were safely in the bus and seated. He was feeling uneasy. He felt that Haruki might disappear if he didn’t keep a close hold on her. After all, the Haruki before him was not the one who had always been by his side.

The bus door closed, and they began moving. Kei turned towards the window, watching Haruki’s reflection in the glass. “Two months ago, we had a conversation at the bus stop we just left. It started when you sent me an e-mail.”

“An e-mail?”

Kei took out his phone, scrolling through received e-mails. “This one.”

The sender was labeled as Haruki Misora. The screen simply read, Could you take a moment to meet with me?

After pausing to read, Haruki turned towards Kei. “Did I send that to you?”

“Mhm. It might not be on your phone any more, but you did.”

Haruki took a phone out of her pocket. It was her phone, easily identifiable by the cat strap, but it clearly looked far too new. Kei remembered her phone looking much more used.

Looks like Urachi Masamune used his ability on her phone, too.

It was a smart move. There would be too much information on that phone to risk anything without rewinding its time.

“I do not know how to operate this phone,” Haruki stated.

Kei decided on a different approach. “How about this? I’ll reply to this e-mail, and we’ll see if it shows up on your phone.” Even if the phone’s time had been rewound, it should still have had the same contact information.

Kei hit the reply button on his phone, and sent a new e-mail with nothing in the body.

Haruki gazed intently at her phone’s screen. “It is not arriving.”

“Just a bit of time lag. E-mails aren’t particularly efficient as far as sending time.” Just as Kei finished his sentence, Haruki’s phone jingled.

“It has arrived.”

“So that proves you sent me that first e-mail.”

“That is not quite accurate.”

Well, she had him there. “Okay, more precisely, it proves that the first e-mail was sent from your phone’s address,” he admitted.

“I agree.” Haruki Misora nodded. “For the time being, I am willing to accept that we were once acquainted.”

“I like to think that we were rather close friends.”

“There is not enough evidence to prove such a claim.”

“Bummer.” It wasn’t worth expecting much more than that.

Haruki moved her intense gaze in the direction the bus was moving. “How do you plan on recovering my memories?”

Kei watched her profile, bathed in the setting sun, as he answered. “A wizard cast a spell on you to make you forget everything, but I know how to reverse his magic.”

“I do not believe that wizards exist.”

“It was just a metaphor. Still, it’s closer to the truth than you might think.”

Haruki’s head tilted ever so slightly to the side. “You claim to know both the cause behind and the cure for my lost memories?”

“That’s about right. You catch on quick.”

“If that is the case, then…” Her gaze was suddenly fixed upon Kei, her jewel-like eyes looking straight at him. They were incredibly lovely. Enough that it was hard to believe they could be part of a real human body. “Why are you so concerned with trying to recover my memories?”

Kei looked straight back. “We made a promise. We were supposed to have dinner together. I want you to remember that, if at all possible.”

His response was metaphorical, but it was closer to the truth than she could have known.

Before long, the bus arrived at their destination. The sun had completely set on the way there, shrouding the area in darkness. Sakurada quickly became rural after leaving the populated city sectors. The location they were in had fields on all sides, with little in the way of artificial light sources. The stop only sported a vending machine, a few street lamps and traffic lights, and light leaking from a small number of nearby houses. Fortunately, there was enough moonlight to illuminate the road, allowing for easy passage.

Haruki Misora’s words mixed in with the calls of the autumn insects. “Where are we?”

“Not far from the sakura tree in the photo. C’mon, let’s go.” Kei took Haruki’s hand again, walking forwards. A strange exhilaration was washing over him, similar to the anxiety he would feel as a child when he got lost.

They walked down the nighttime road, eventually finding a house with a large, decorative garden.

“This is it.”

“Is this your house?”

“Nope, not quite. Look.” Kei pointed to the nameplate next to the entryway that read Sasano. “A certain man used to live here, but he moved away from Sakurada in the summer. Now it’s just an empty house.”

Kei walked into the garden, still holding Haruki’s hand.

An old sakura tree stood front and center in the garden, washed in the white moonlight. The tree itself was almost barren, holding nearly no leaves. Its dry bark was reminiscent of an old man’s hands.

“That hurts,” Haruki said.

Kei realized he had been gripping her hand far too tightly. “Sorry,” He apologized, finally letting go. The warmth of her hand remained on his right hand as he stood under the old, withered sakura tree. With that very hand, he reached into his pocket, pulling out the paperback book from earlier. He took out the photo from its pages, holding one side of it towards Haruki. 

“Hold one end.” Haruki glanced quizzically at him, but still grabbed a side of the photo. “Hold it tight, no matter what happens.”

“Understood.”

“Things are going to get very confusing very quickly, and I need you to stay as calm as possible.”

“I will do what I can.”

“You’ll be fine. I know you can accept reality for what it is.” Kei looked directly into Haruki’s eyes. She looked right back. The photograph was all that separated them, each side held by one of their hands. “Okay, here we go.”

Kei gripped his fingertips tightly, and the photograph tore down the middle.

Strong white light immediately filled his vision. Their surroundings changed entirely.

A blindingly blue sky. A warm breeze. White petals dancing in the wind. Sakura petals blossoming above them on a strong, healthy tree.

They were now in the world of the past, in a Sakurada that had not forgotten about abilities. The two of them stood there alone.

Haruki Misora stumbled, clutching her head with her hands.

Kei held her shoulders to support her. “Remember, Haruki.”

The Reset. Her ability that was like a pure prayer.

“What is… happening?” Haruki Misora shook her head. “My memories are… mixing together.”

“Don’t overthink it. Just accept it for what it is. This town has abilities. You have an ability called the Reset.”

“I understand that. But how could I have forgotten?”

“The wizard’s spell erased Sakurada’s abilities. But here, you can still remember them.”

Haruki Misora shook her head. “Who are you… Asai Kei? What is this knowledge that you possess?”

At the moment, she could only remember that abilities existed, and that she had one. That still did nothing for the two and a half years of memories that Urachi Masaume had taken away.

“I’ve been with you for a long time. I know the memories that you’ve lost.” Kei took Haruki by the shoulders, holding her tightly, but careful not to hurt her. “I am Asai Kei. I know everything about you.”

That was a lie.

But he desperately wished for it to be true. He wanted to know her.

Her hair brushed the back of his hands. She was the Haruki Misora of two years prior. The simple girl who was driven by just three rules.

“But I do not remember. I still… do not remember you.”

“Yeah. I know.”

Abilities were absolute. They couldn’t be overcome by emotions like love or friendship. After all, it was emotions just like love and friendship that often brought them into being. It wouldn’t make sense for those same feelings to override them.

But Kei had long since accepted that.

Even if she’s forgotten me, I can still make her reset.

That was the motivation behind all of his actions that day.

He took Souma Sumire to the place where he and Haruki had always been. He talked with her, facing the reality of everything that he would be erasing.

He went back to the town of his birth, a place he hadn’t been in four years. He looked up at the apartment room that he would never be able to enter again.

Then, by some miraculous coincidence, he even got to see his mother again. He learned that he had a little sister, and finally understood the meaning behind his own name.

I’ve never been good at crying. He hadn’t cried since the day he decided to stay in Sakurada four years ago.

He didn’t even cry two years ago, after learning about Souma Sumire’s death.

I’ve been such a coward.

He had become incapable of showing his emotions to other people.

He had become scared of showing his weakness.

So he spent an entire day giving himself reasons to cry. He hadn’t done it in front of Souma Sumire, he hadn’t done it when he visited the town where he was born and raised, and he hadn’t done it while meeting his mother for the first time in four years. But he had been preparing for it inside himself the entire time.

Now’s… probably fine.

Now, Haruki Misora was right before him. Her pure eyes were fixed directly on him. The eyes that he had so adored two years ago. The eyes that held a pure goodness, like an unanswered prayer.

As long as she was in front of him, then…

I’m sure that even I could cry.

Staring into those lovely eyes, Kei remembered everything. Everything about Souma Sumire, everything about his parents, and everything in between. All his failures and regrets washed over his mind.

Finally, he brought to mind the short-haired Haruki Misora.

Her smile. The times where she looked the happiest.

He felt himself reaching the peak.

“There are… so many things that I want to do over.”

There was sadness that needed to be erased.

There was a better future that needed to be found.

There was happiness to be sought.

He wanted to push forward with all his being, even if it meant doing something unfair. He wanted it with all he had.

His vision blurred. Something warm began streaking down his cheek.

“Haruki… let’s reset.”

The long-haired Haruki Misora watched him with an unwavering gaze.

Her pure kindness was unmatched, and whenever she saw someone crying, she would always use her ability.

✽

As the pair disappeared into the world of a photograph, Souma Sumire stood alone on the riverside. The river’s mouth was a fairly wide section, but she could still identify the tetrapods stacked up on the opposite bank by their blocky shadows jutting out.

The tetrapods had caught her eye as she walked home from school.

That’s where Kei and I met.

She found herself unable to take another step once that thought crossed her mind. She had already been standing there for about an hour, waiting absentmindedly.

Darkness had begun to swallow the world around her, giving visibility to stars striped across the sky like a series of scars. The moon hung high up in the sky like a great, gaping hole.

The same thought revolved through her mind over and over.

She was a girl who had forgotten everything, but just the same as when she had known everything, he was all she ever thought about.

What could I have possibly done wrong? What exactly was my mistake?

She had tried so hard to avoid mistakes. She had done everything she could to make all the right choices. She knew that was an impossible goal, but she tried anyway. Because… it was for Asai Kei. She had been so careful, doing so much to make sure that she only ever made the right choices around him.

All I want is… just to be with him. Why can’t I have just that one wish?

“I can’t be with you here forever,” he had said. So where the heck was he even going? Where was this other place that he wanted to be so badly?

The moon clouded over, deepening the darkness. Night continued to fall.

What exactly was my mistake? Souma Sumire thought once more.

Tears slid down her cheeks. But they didn’t sparkle. No one would see them in the darkness.

The tears fell from her chin towards the ground. They would inevitably make a sound when they hit the ground. But just as inevitably, no one would hear it. Like a small extension of her very self.

As it happened, though, her tears never did hit the ground.

Because of the Reset. The ability that would sacrifice three entire days. Any and all happiness, sadness, smiling, and crying would vanish entirely. The days would be rearranged and begun anew. The world would start those three days over.

Souma Sumire would remember everything in that very next moment. Her ability, her worries, her suffering, and her death would all return to her mind.

All except for one thing.

The tears Souma Sumire had just cried would be forgotten. She would forget the tears that only she had ever known existed.

The drops soundlessly disappeared barely an inch from the ground.