Chapter 3 – Illusion

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When betrayed by those they believe in, people are prone to despair.

But trust isn’t as absolute as we’d like to believe.

It is transient, much like a dream or an illusion.

When people know this, they prone to give up.

But that’s not right.

That’s not right at all.

By no means can trust be betrayed.

Because to trust is to believe in and rely on another.

It only goes one way, with you pushing your thoughts, your trust, and your reliance onto someone else.

That is why trust cannot be betrayed.

And if you ever feel that your trust has been betrayed…

All it means is that the impression you had all along was simply wrong .

From the other person’s perspective, it’s as if there was nothing there in the first place.

That’s why…

What I experienced wasn’t a betrayal.

Because she had been following her own plans from the very beginning.

◆

How long ago was it, I wonder, that I believed Relics could bring people happiness?

Unyielded beliefs.

Ungranted wishes.

Unrelinquished dreams.

Relics made possible even things that could not be accomplished by ordinary means.

I truly believed that they were a special gift from the gods to mankind.

What I wanted to see was peoples’ happiness.

I didn’t need any gratitude.

I didn’t need anything as long as people were happy 

However…

What people obtained through Relics wasn’t happiness.

No doubt being chosen by Relics and obtaining their special powers was fortunate. 

But people aren’t capable of having their fortune stay as fortune.

They become consumed by their Relics and cling to them, unable to let them go until they fall into misfortune. 

And so I realized…

I realized that the fortune from Relics inevitably led to misfortune, and that before long, those who used Relics would face the retaliation of fate and meet their own destruction. 

And so I came to know…

That Relics would not bring people happiness.

Fortune that is too much for people to handle will not make anyone fortunate.

However…

There was nothing I could do.

People keep chasing after dreams beyond their measure and eventually arrive at Relics. And once someone gets their hands on a Relic, they become unable to let them go.

No one can stop this flow of events.

Or at the very least, I wasn’t able to.

That’s why the only thing I could do is take Relics away before they fell into people’s hands and hide them.

And also to collect Relics from those who had fallen into misfortune and hide them.

That’s all I could do.

However, I made a mistake.

I should have known better, but I began to dream. I was made to dream.

There was a boy.

Who wished to save a girl.

It was a pure and honest dream.

But at the same time, it was a dream that could not be granted by ordinary means.

That’s what caused me to act.

To dream once again.

I fought against fate together with them.

I did as much as I could.

But it was no use.

Humans like us are all but powerless before the power of fate.

So I chose to give up.

I told him to give up.

However, it was already too late by then.

The life that he had experienced again and again had made boy’s heart immovable

All because of the dream that I had.

I made the boy chase after an unattainable wish.

And I burdened the girl with a heavy sin.

I had to atone for this sin.

Even if they ended up resenting me.

Even if they ended up hating me.

Even if I had to dirty my hands—

◆

“My name is Setsu Towako. I am the owner of Tsukumodo Antique Shop.”

That was how she introduced herself.

I had lost consciousness in the fight with the killer earlier and hadn’t been taken to the hospital due to the special circumstances. Instead, I was taken to Tsukumodo Antique Shop.

Losing my eye made come down with a high fever and it wasn’t until after a week had passed that I opened my eyes again.

I knew Saki had tirelessly watched over me the whole time, but it still wasn’t immediately clear why I could still see with my right eye when I woke up.

“That’s an artificial eye, but it’s not just any ordinary one. It’s something called a Relic.”

“Huh?”

“I suppose I should explain what Relics are first.”

For some reason I was  easily able to accept Towako-san’s haphazard explanation of Relics even though it would have confused just about anyone else.

Of course, there was the fact that I was able to see normally with the artificial eye, and also that mysterious power that the killer used before—thinking back, I used to think those were the things that convinced me.

But maybe the real reason I accepted it so easily was because of the trace memories that Phantom left behind.

“This Relic’s name is Vision. It can see just as well as an ordinary eye, but it will also show you things that are perhaps best left unseen.”

“Things best left unseen?”

“I mean futures of death.”

Thinking back to it now, that was Towako-san’s lie.

According to what Sekka-san told me, my right eye was a Relic called Fatima Eye.

Its power was to absorb the poisonous bloodlust of the Evil Eye and nullify its curse.

In addition, it had the power to purify any poison that entered its line of sight.

I now understood why the killer’s abilities didn’t affect me.

It was all because of this Fatima eye.

I wondered if Towako-san had given it to me knowing that I was going to meet the killer again.

Aside from being able to purify the Evil Eye’s curse, the Fatima Eye also had something of a side ability.

After it absorbed the Evil Eye’s curse, it could turn it turn the curse on anyone that I wanted dead.

That was the reason Sekka-san told me that my eye was polluted.

Had I looked at Sekka-san with killing intent, I could have possibly killed her with Fatima Eye.

In other words the killer’s sudden death was proof of my killing intent towards him.

But I didn’t have any particular hangups about having killed the man.

It wasn’t because I thought he deserved to die, nor was it because the circumstances left me with little other choice.

That wasn’t the reason.

It was simply because so many things had happened so quickly that I was having a hard time processing it all.

I simply had no energy to spare thinking about him.

“I’ll just go ahead and say that I don’t think anyone should use Relics.” Towako-san said, even as she handed me a Relic.

When I asked her why, she replied, “Relics bring people misfortune and lead them to destroy themselves. That’s just the kind of things they are”

Back then I couldn’t imagine Relics being anything more than convenient tools.

But Towako-san just grinned, the same mischievous grin that I had gotten so used to.

“Well, I suppose it really hasn’t settled in yet. Until it does, I’m going to have you two work hard at this shop.”

She didn’t even try to get my opinion, so obviously I complained.

“Then pay me back right now.”

What she was asking for was exorbitant—not that I knew if there were any Relics that came at a reasonable cost—but for someone like me who made his living expenses from part time jobs, there was no way I could just pay it.

“What’s the problem? You’ll still have more than enough to live on even after I deduct the cost from your pay.”

And so Saki and I began working part time at Tsukumodo Antique Shop

Even after we started working at the shop. Towako-san never wavered in her conviction that no one should use Relics.

She even forbade us from entering the storehouse where the real Relics were stored.

But at the same time, she also showed us the dubious Relics that she went out to buy, unsure if they were real or fake.

And sometimes she carelessly left real Relics just lying out there in the open.

She did let us use Relics on occasion though, even as she complained.

But never did she asked me to return Vision, I mean, the Fatima Eye

Even after I learned that Relics weren’t just simply convenient tools, and that they were double edged swords that could bring people to their own destruction, she didn’t ask me to quit working at Tsukumodo Antique Shop.

She encouraged Shun and others like him who had become involved with Relics to let them go.

And occasionally she lead them to do so of their own volition.

But she never asked me to let go of my Relic.

I was never able to ask her why that was.

But somewhere in my heart, I believed it was because she trusted me.

Because I of all people wasn’t going to succumb to the power of Relics

That’s truly what I believed.

But that wasn’t it.

The real reason wasn’t so nice.

Not at all.

The real reason was that I had already succumbed completely to my Relic’s power.

That’s all there was to it.

◆

I was at the hospital.

It being the middle of the night, the entire place was enveloped in complete silence. It was almost like there was no one even here.   

Only the sound of my footsteps betrayed the fact that this was not a perfect silence created by the Mirror of Serenity.

I suddenly stopped walking in front of a certain room.

On the nameplate next to the door was a name: Maino Saki.

Quietly, I opened the door.

So that she wouldn’t wake up.

So that she wouldn’t notice.

Yes, I couldn’t afford to wake her up here.

I couldn’t afford for her to notice.

I stood at the corner of her bed and pulled apart the curtain. 

She was sleeping quietly with an expressionless face, looking as though she were already dead.

But I knew that she was not dead.

Because if she had died, then the world would have turned back long ago.

She survived the battle this afternoon, but I had no idea what was going to happen to her next.

Fate was not going to forgive her.

I reached my hand out to her and touched her cheek.

I felt the warmth on my finger.

I had risked my life to protect this warmth just a few hours ago,.

But now,  I…

“………”

I slipped my finger from her cheek down to her jaw.

I dug my finger into her chin and dug it into her skin.

Suddenly…

Her expressionless face detached and peeled off like a mask.

This was Masquerade.

Masquerade was a Relic that could create a perfect copy of its user—including their personality and abilities—by putting the mask on a doll or mannequin.

All that was left on the bed now was Masquerade and an anatomy model that he had somehow pulled up from God knows where.

“Tokiya…”

◆

The first thing I did after leaving Tsukumodo Antique Shop was get Saki out of the hospital. After that I went to the construction site where we had fought against Shun earlier that afternoon.

I felt bad for Towako-san, but I also took as many Relics as I could get my hands on.

After Camera’s photograph of the future showed me what she intended to do, I started to make plans of my own. I had already taken out everything I could by the time Towako-san appeared in the underground storeroom.

I used Masquerade to create a body double for Saki at the hospital and slipped out with her.

The fact that I was able to take Saki with me at all was also thanks to the silence provided by the Mirror of Serenity.

Were it not for the Relics I used, the hospital staff would have noticed she was missing by now.

I had been a little hesitant to take Saki with me since she still hadn’t regained consciousness, but this wasn’t the time to be thinking about that.

I needed to take action before Towako-san made a move.

It went without saying that I had no idea what she was planning to do to Saki.

But there was one thing that came to mind.

Something I sincerely hoped would never happen.

But I couldn’t dismiss it as impossible. I just couldn’t.

The building that we had fought in earlier today was quiet, almost as if there had not been a fierce battle just earlier.

Shun and Asuka were no longer there.

Meaning they were able to let go of their Relics.

…Unlike me.

I still had the keys from earlier today so I was able to enter the building with ease.

We were on the fifth floor right now.

The floor was made of exposed concrete since the building was still under construction, and the moonlight was the only light that filtered into the building. It was a good enough to place to hide.

I took Saki off my back, careful not wake her, and placed her on top of some cardboard that I found nearby to spare her lying on the hard ground.

I had made her wear a simple dress on top of her hospital gown since I had realized that she would stick out too much if I took her out the hospital while she still looked like a patient.

But the building at night was cold, so I made her wear my jacket too.

Saki still had not woken up.

Even after I placed her eyes—her Relics—back, she still hadn’t woken up.

But perhaps it was happier for her if she didn’t wake up for a while. 

I took the wrinkled photograph back out of my pocket.

The pictured words pained me mercilessly.

Phantom will not turn back the world when Maino Saki dies.

If things kept up this way, then by the time we got to the time I set on Camera’s dial—a few days from now—Towako-san would have had written already the magic words in Grimoire.

In fact, it was possible that she had already written them down.

I needed to change that future, or at least do something about Grimoire manipulating the effects of Phantom.

If I didn’t, then Saki…

But what was I supposed to do?

Maybe we could work something out if we talked…

But what if Towako-san refused?

What on earth was I supposed to do?

Fight?

Against Towako-san?

I couldn’t even imagine it.

“So what am I supposed to do?”

“What’s wrong?”

“Ah!”

The sudden voice brought me back to my senses.

And when I finally noticed Saki, she was sitting up with the moon shining behind her.

Saki looked around at her surroundings and then at herself, looking puzzled.

“I thought I was in the hospital. Was that a dream?”

“Y-yeah…”

“Tokiya What happened to your right eye?”

“Oh…this. I got something in the socket, so I took it out. That’s all.”

I had taken my Fatima Eye since it was still polluted with the death curse, and had been keeping it in my pocket.

“I see.”

“Come to think of it, where are they?”

“They? Oh, you mean Shun and Asuka”

Saki had lost consciousness back then and didn’t know what had happened after.

“Well, that all got sorted out. You can be sure that they’ll never come after you again.”

“I see.”

“Yeah.”

“Then why are we still here?”

“………”

I was lost for an answer.

I hadn’t been ready for this question.

How was I even supposed to answer her?

“Where is Towako-san?”

“Ah, uhh, she went ahead of us to Tsukumodo”

“I see. Then let’s also go back to the shop.”

“Ah, no. Well…we can’t do that either.”

There was no way we could return back to Tsukumodo.

But what was I supposed to tell her?

There was no way I could just tell her what was really happening.

About what Towako-san was trying to do.

“What’s wrong?”

“Oh, it’s nothing…just… Oh yeah, some other guys who were after your Relic showed up. That’s why we playing it safe for now and staying put.

“………”

Saki fixed her expressionless gaze right at me.

“Ah…”

And I realized what I had done.

I said that Saki had a Relic, something that I should not have known.

“I see.”

But Saki didn’t seem surprised and just nodded as if she now understood what was happening.

“You learned about everything, didn’t you?”

◆

“What did you tell him?”

Sekka shook her head when I questioned her.

“I didn’t tell him anything. All I did was give him the Relic.”

“Like that’s any different!”

“I give Relics to people who are chosen. That’s all. I’m not the one who wished to show him the truth. I shouldn’t have to explain that to you of all people.”

Sekka gestured towards the Calamity Jar.

Suddenly, a painful noise rushed through the back of my head.

When phantom pains that Tokiya thought were from Vision began increasing in frequency, I started to become uneasy. In addition to Grimoire, I also search for the Oblivion Jar, which until recently was known as the Calamity Jar. 

My plan was to seal Tokiya’s memories back into the jar if he ever regained them. 

It was while researching that mystery that I discovered the truth and was swallowed up by the darkness in the jar.

Wait. Why was I able to remember that truth? That memory should have been swallowed up. Hold up, why am I even able to remember that I was supposed to forget?

“It’s because the purification has finished.”

“What awful timing..”

“Yes, almost as if it were caused by fate, don’t you think?”

“…It’s really starting to look like fate’s not going to forgive me.”

Things would have gone so much easier if he didn’t know anything.

But no use worrying about that now. What’s done was done.

The purified Oblivion Jar had chosen Tokiya.

It wanted to him to know the truth.

So Sekka gave it to him.

That’s all it was.

But even if that was true, nothing was going to change.

There was no point in trying to change it.

He wasn’t going to change his mind even if he knew the truth.

And my duty wasn’t going to change either.

“There’s a limit to how far they could have gone. His house, or his school, or maybe…”

“Are you going after him?”

“Of course I will. I finally found what I was looking for.”

“Don’t you think it would be better to wait?”

“Wait for what?”

“For fate to kill her.”

“………”

“You’ve already written in Grimoire that the world isn’t going to turn back, right?”

“There is no point unless I go in person and chant the magic words where they are. That’s just how Grimoire works. All the effort I put in to finding Grimoire would go to waste if the world turned back before I even did anything.”

“Don’t you think it’s better for you to tell him everything and be there when he makes his choice?”

“I don’t think he’s going to accept anything I have to say, Scratch that, he definitely won’t. I’ve tried so many times before. ”

“Is that really all it is?”

“Is there anything else?”

“Isn’t it because if you don’t hurry that your resolve will weaken?”.

“You know that’s not true.”

“Isn’t it because you think you can atone for your sin by dirtying your own hands?”

“That’s not true!”

I forced Sekka to be quiet.

“Stop saying stupid things to confuse me.”

“So you recognize that you’re confused.”

“It’s just a phrase, so stop jumping at everything I say. Just shut up.

I tried to get away from Sekka.

“Towako.”

“Didn’t I tell you to shut up!?”

“Are you fine with this?”

“Of course I am!”

Yes, this was fine. I was absolutely fine with this.

This was the entire reason I had been searching for Relics.

And now I finally had the Relic that was going to grant my wish.

“Relics cause people to fall into misfortune. Those were your own words.”

“That’s right. That’s why the only one who can stop them is…”

“Doesn’t that mean that you too will fall into misfortune by using a Relic?”

“There are exceptions.”

How could anyone call this misfortune?

I was making this choice to end the misfortune.

“Why did you keep those children with you all this time?”

“It was all for my dream. Nothing else.”

It wasn’t like I was talking so much…to convince myself.

“An also to give me time to prepare my heart. I’m more than ready now.”

As I left the store, Sekka said one last thing to me.

“No one’s heart can be prepared enough for the death of their loved ones”

I pretended not to hear her.

◆

“Vision was always my Relic”, Saki said, setting her hand over her right eye.

“What!?”

Did she just say that her Relic was Vision?

I was so shocked that I couldn’t even speak.

But in all honesty, I shouldn’t have been so surprised. 

Shun and Asuka had wanted a Relic that could see the future and that’s why they kidnapped Saki.

Their plan made so much more sense now that I knew that Vision didn’t belong to me.

“Then when Towako-san told me that my Relic was Vision…”

“Yes, I knew it wasn’t true. But I knew that she must have had some reason for telling you that that, so I didn’t say anything.

Had Saki said something, maybe things would have turned out differently…

But it was hard to imagine that things going in a better direction as a result.

“I’ve seen the future many times with Vision, including the future of the stage light falling at that concert hall.”

Now that I thought about it, Saki pulled the fire alarm with no hesitation back then. 

It wasn’t because she believed in my premonition, but because she had seen the future with her own eyes.

“There was also that time with the composer, and the fortune teller too.”

So that’s what it was. That’s why Saki asked if I wanted to go back while we were on the train. That was the real reason.

The fortune teller had also wanted to see the images of death in Saki’s eyes.

If Saki’s eyes were truly Vision, then of course she would have seen countless scenes of death. The visions she saw weren’t from a third person perspective either, but from the eyes of the dying person themselves.

That lined up with what that woman wanted. The reason she kidnapped Saki wasn’t to use her as a hostage against me, but because she wanted Saki herself.

“And also the fact that the girl name Asuka was going to kill you with sound.”

So that was the actual reason Saki showed up back then with such good timing.

There really was so much I didn’t know, and so much that I didn’t notice.

“Can you tell me about yourself? I want to know everything.”

“Yes.”

We leaned on the pillar and sat side by side.

Saki began to about herself, her tone as unemotional as always.

She told me about her younger days

About how she lost her eyes.

About how her father obtained a Relic.

How she became able to see again

And at the same time, how she became able to see the future.

How she ended up seeing the death of her friend with this future vision.

How her friend’s mother resented her.

How people began to avoid her.

How her parents began to neglect her

What she told me wasn’t all that different from what that killer had told me.

However, it seemed that Saki herself didn’t know that her friend’s father was that killer.

There nothing to gain from mentioning it, so I decided to ask a different question instead.

“Do you regret not being able to save your friend?”

“I suppose I do. If only I had been able to save her back then, maybe things would be different now.”

“It wasn’t your fault though”, I tried to assure her.

I wanted to ease her sense of guilt in any way I could.

“…I suppose so, although I could have done better too.” 

She didn’t sound particularly emotional but I could see through the fact that she suppressing her own feelings.

“After that”, Saki continued.

She told me about how she was locked inside of her own home and spent a long time alone.

And about how Vision showed her a future of her own death.

And also…

How she met me in order to die, and how the killer took her life.

That’s right, she said she was killed.

Even though she was still alive right now.

In other words, that meant…

“So you know about Phantom turning back the world.”

“Yes. Because when the world turns back, it goes back to the day that I met you. I don’t keep my memories when the world turns back, but Vision always shows me how I die.

“I saw what was going to happen when I died the first time—from when I meet you until that man killed me.

“I saw what happened after I died, with you using Phantom to turn back the world.

“Also…I saw how I died in the future after the world was been turned back.”

Vision was a Relic that showed futures of death.

I suppose that meant even if the entire world was turned back, the death was still technically going to happen in the future.

Seeing how she died in the future…

It was a strange turn of phrase.

“How do you learn about it, Tokiya?”

I told her about what happened with Sekka at Tsukumodo Antique Shop, choosing not to mention the killer or Towako-san’s goal.

“The Oblivion Jar… I see, so that’s the reason why I can remember it now.”

What we were remembering were the events that happened inside of the Calamity Jar.

Saki said that she wanted to remain inside the jar, and I in my ignorance, forced her to come back with me.

It was possible that if she had stayed in that world then things wouldn’t have turned out this way.

But it was too late for that now.

There was no point in continuing down that path, so I changed the topic.

“I saw my first meeting with you inside the Oblivion Jar, but it was like watching a recording. It didn’t feel quite real. Do you actually remember when we first met?”

“I do. Of course I remember it. Though I’m only talking about what I saw in Vision.”

Talking about our memories was a strange feeling, and we found our words coming easily.

Maybe it was because we wanted to know for sure that the experiences in our memories had actually happened.

“At first I thought you were some kind of eccentric because the first thing you asked me was if I happened to know any killers. Let me tell you, that was pretty weird.”

“I didn’t have much choice. I really didn’t expect to meet you like that.”

I had been working at my part time job, handing out pocket tissues to people walking by and ended up touching her chest on accident.

I hadn’t been used to Saki’s expressionless yet and  really thought she was furious at me, so I treated her to a meal as an apology.

“Why are you looking at your hand?”

“Ah, uhh…no reason.”

Saki’s cold words brought me back to reality.

“What I meant was that I didn’t expect to meet you, the person I saw with Vision, so suddenly and in a place like that.”

“I know, I know.”

“To think that I would be subjected to such treatment. I was careless.”

“Well, it’s because you were walking straight towards me.”

“I just wasn’t looking at anyone else.”

“No kidding…”

“…But if it hadn’t been for that, I would have just kept walking by without noticing you.”

We probably wouldn’t have met if that had happened,

In which case I wanted to give my hand a big round of applause.

“Could you please stop looking at your hand?”

 Saki pinched the back of my hand as hard as she could.

“Ow! Come on! I wasn’t thinking anything weird!”

When I reflexively pulled the hand Saki was pinching back, she suddenly lost her balance and collapsed onto my chest. It definitely wasn’t because I had pulled her towards me. It was just an accident. It was inevitable.

But even still, I didn’t try to push her away from me.

“But besides that, the way we met the first time, and the way we met this time were pretty different.”

“You’re right.”

“In our meeting this time, the first thing you said was that I was going to get attacked by a killer, right?”

“Indeed, it feels like I did.”

“You don’t remember it?”

“I was lying. I do remember it. Clearly.”

My true first meeting with Saki and our “first” meeting this time after the world started turning back had become very different.

The question that she had first asked me when we first met—if I was acquainted with any killers—had changed into a pronouncement that a killer was going to attack me.

“Don’t you think that’s kind of a weird thing to say to a total stranger?

“Well, I didn’t have anything else I could say, you know. You didn’t know anything about Phantom, after all.”

“Yeah, you’re right..”

“But since I was going to learn about Relics soon anyway, if you had just explained what was happening…I guess I wouldn’t have believed you, huh?”

“Definitely not”

“And also, if I said something strange and you ended up running away from me…”

“If I ended up running away from you?”

“…Never mind.”

Saki looked like she was pouting. She lowered her face into my chest and hid her face.

But what if Saki really did tell me about Relics when we met? How would that have changed things?

Would I have thought that she really was strange and run away from her?

Since she no longer wanted to die after the first time, I probably wouldn’t have had any reason to get involved with her.

And like that we would have gone our separate ways after a short while.

“The other thing that changed is that you said you came to protect me, right?”

The first time she said that she wanted to meet the killer and die by his hands. Her wish for death had changed to one where she wanted to protect me from the killer.

“Was that because you didn’t want to die anymore?”

“Yes.”

The Saki who said that she had nothing and wanted to die no longer existed.

“You love for tea stayed the same though.”

“Thanks to a certain someone.”

“Huh?”

Wasn’t she the one that said she liked tea in our first meeting?

“We also went to the Arcade this time too. You weren’t that good though.”

“Oh, leave me alone. And actually, how come you didn’t get even a little better even though you went back so many times? Weren’t you the one that bragging that you could win if you got one more chance?”

“People have things that they’re good at things that they’re not good at.”

What the heck, so it was all for show.

“Also, the fact that you went after the killer didn’t change either.”

“…That’s right.”

But the meaning her action had changed.

The first time it was because she wanted to get killed.

The second time it was to protect me.

Saki tried to face down the killer by herself.

She repeated the same meeting.

So that things could stay even a little bit the same.

And also so that things could be even a little bit different.

For us to meet me in the same way, but so that I wouldn’t get hurt.

What she wished for was a happy encounter—one that anyone could have wanted.

“But nothing changed.” Saki said that during this iteration when I lost my right eye.

“I’m sorry.”

Saki gently placed her hand on my now empty right eye socket.

“Even though you protected me. I couldn’t protect you at all.”

“There was nothing you could have done.”

“I didn’t want you to get hurt.”

I took Saki’s hand and moved it away from my eye.

“It’s because of this injury that we were able to work at Tsukumodo Antique Shop. That’s not such a bad deal.”

“Do you really believe that?”

“Huh?”

“Tokiya, if we had never met, then you would have never known about Relics and would have never gotten involved with Tsukumodo Antique Shop. You could have been just an ordinary high school student.”

“……”

“Do you have regrets now that you know the truth?”

“What would I have to regret?”

“Do you regret saving…”

I didn’t let her say anymore.

I pulled Saki close to me in a hug pushed her against my chest to keep her quiet.

“Even you can make me mad, you know.”

“……”

“How could I ever regret having saving you. I’d save you as many times as I had to.  I’d never want to stop saving you no matter how many times the world turns back.”

“………”

“Even if you said you didn’t want me to.”

Tokiya, you’re kind—but you’re really full of yourself.

The words she told me in the jar came back to mind.

I was just now remembering them for some reason.

Saki had said it when I forced her to come back with me after she said she wanted to remain in the jar.

What did she mean when she said that anyway?

“What’s wrong?”

Saki looked confused when I suddenly stood up.

“Tokiya?”

“I’m going to use the restroom. Try not to listen.”

“I wasn’t planning to…”

“With how quiet it is, I’m sure you’re going to hear it regardless. I’m going to set up the Mirror of Serenity, so don’t move it.”

“…I’ll stay here.”

I set up the Mirror of Serenity next to the window and went down the emergency stairs down from the fifth floor.

Then I realized.

Ah, crap.

I should have asked if Saki saw a future of death.

I’d feel a lot more reassured if she didn’t see anything with Vision.

No, I know that’s not true.

Because it was better not to see the future.

If I did, I’d probably also end up seeing things that I never wanted to see.

I kept going down the emergency stairs until I got to the first floor—

“I’m not going to let you go to her”

I faced Towako-san and announced my declaration of war.

◆

I called Tokiya and let the phone ring once to let him know I was here.

He noticed the call and came down the stairs alone.

Then he announced his intention to fight; it seemed he knew what I had come for.

“I’m surprised you found me here.”

“So am I.”

Not even I knew why I thought he’d be here.

I didn’t believe in precognition, but my feet had led me in this direction.

Maybe this is what they called being guided by fate?

No one could stop me now. I was following the path fate laid down for me.

That’s why, Tokiya, you have no chance of winning against me.

“Do you mind if I ask you something?”

“You sure you want to ask here?” I pointed out that Saki might be listening.

“I left the Mirror of Serenity with her. She can’t hear anything we’re saying right now.”

“…I see. So, what is it?”

“Towako-san, are you planning to stop me?”

“You took a picture of Grimoire with Camera, didn’t you?”

“Yes.”

“What did you see written there?”

“Phantom will not turn back the world when Maino Saki dies.”

He must have looked at the it over and over again. Not one word was out of place.

“Then you should know there’s no point in asking.”

“But I haven’t actually seen it written in Grimoire.”

“You’re pretty bad at giving up, don’t you think?”

“Maybe I am, but I still haven’t seen it.”

It sounded to me like he was grasping at straws. This was Tokiya’s final defense.

“I can show you now if you want to see it.”

I easily broke through his final defense and held up Grimoire so he could see it.

I could see him biting his lip. He looked utterly distraught. He looked hurt.

Did he believe in me that much? …Had he wanted to believe in me?

But—

“Give up already.”

“…Why did you tear the page out Grimoire the first time.”

“Because I didn’t like how I had written it.”

“…Then why did you wait before rewriting it?”

“Because I ran out of ink.”

“Then why…”

“You can’t hope to change my mind at this point.”

“Of course I’m hoping you change your mind!”

Tokiya looked and sounded like he was about to cry.

“Why!? Why do I have to give up!? Is it really that wrong to use a Relic!?”

He really had no idea.

Tokiya didn’t know a thing.

This wasn’t even a conversation about right or wrong.

I suppose this meant that he hadn’t seen his entire past inside the Oblivion Jar. That made sense since it would have been way too much for him to remember everything all at once.

“Let me ask you this. How many times do you think we’ve repeated this so far?”

“I don’t know the exact number, but I’m sure it’s been at least a few times.”

“Yeah. It’s been so many times that I’ve long since lost count. Don’t you think that’s strange?”

“Huh?”

“Saki’s death is the trigger that causes Phantom to turn back the world, and she has died so many time that I’ve lost count. Don’t you think that’s abnormal? People don’t just die that easily. Someone living an ordinary life wouldn’t run into mortal danger nearly that often.”

“But that’s just because we’re involved with Relics.?”

“Even if you account for Relics, this many times is still absolutely abnormal.”

“What are you trying to say?”

“It’s retaliation.”

“Huh?”

“Fate is retaliating because you have been using Phantom to distort it.”

“Sekka-san said something similar too. When I got Phantom for the first time, she said that fate wasn’t going to forgive me.”

“And the fact that you’re still doing this is proof that you still haven’t understood what that means.”

I told Shun this too, but fate is predetermined. Of course, it’s not like everything is predetermined. People can always change their fate through hard work. But there is also a kind of fate that cannot be changed.”

“Well yeah, and Relics can change that fate, right?”

“That’s right. Relics can distort fate, but fate has the power to return back to how it out to be. If it is distorted by a power beyond human measure, then it will use an even stronger power to go back to how it was. To use a power beyond human control is to invite retaliation beyond what any person can bear. This is very reason those who use Relics fall into misfortune.”

That’s why—

“Even if you use a Relic to distort it, fate will always demand Saki’s death no matter how many times you try to stop it.

“—Fate will never, ever let her go.”

◆

“That can’t be true…”

Fate wasn’t going to forgive Saki no matter how many times I went back and saved her.

It would always be after her life no matter how far she went.

Nothing was going to change no matter how many times I tried; is that what she was saying?

“You can’t expect me to believe that’s true.”

“It is true. An it’s still happening, right here and right now.”

That couldn’t be right. There had to be some kind of mistake.

If we were talking about people who used Relics to distort fate, then Shun and others who used Relics like him had done the same thing.

So why was it that only Saki had to suffer?”

“It isn’t hard to understand. Using Relics to distort fate and prevent a death is a power that is well beyond anything a human should control.”

“Yeah, but Saki is a victim too! Didn’t that killer also use a Relic to—“

“That was only after the second time.”

“Huh?”

“It was only after the second time that Saki-chan was killed with a Relic. You should be able to remember it on your own even without the Oblivion Jar. Think carefully. What weapon was he using the first time Saki died?”

Suddenly, a painful noise rushed through the back of my head.

I am standing between Saki and the killer. My right eye is already gone.

I have no idea what had happened, nor do I know what will happen.

However…

I do know that Saki is trying to protect me.

I do know that the killer is getting closer.

In his hand is…

Yes, in his hand…is a bloodstained knife.

I came back to my senses.

This wasn’t a vision.

It was a scene from the very depths of my mind—a memory from before the world started turning back, recalled from the Sea of Memories

It was my first meeting with Saki and my first encounter with the killer.

And it was the beginning of everything.

It was true.

That man didn’t have a Relic in his hand back when I met Saki for the first time. He had a knife. Just an ordinary knife.

“The first time was different. He was nothing more than an ordinary killer then. He was there to exact his revenge for his lost daughter and his wife who had gotten sick with grief and run away. The second time was the same, until I put a stop to him, that is.

“Because the next time he showed up, he had a Relic with him. That trend continued from the third time onward. And not just that; if I countered on of his Relics, he just came back with another one the next time. Even if I destroyed his Relics, he always returned with yet another.

“Don’t you get it? Fate was leading the man to new Relics all to kill Saki-chan.”

“That’s just…”

“I even tried to trick the man into thinking that he had killed us and put an end to things that way. But then Saki ended up dying anyway, either because of a Relic that had nothing to do with the killer, or because of an accident that had nothing to do with Relics at all.

“Everything was done by the will of fate.”

“You don’t know any of that for sure!”

“Then you tell me why. Why was it that she died so many times even though we tried so hard to protect her? Explain that to me, Tokiya.”

She tried to protect Saki.

She was right. I tried to protect Saki.

But it wasn’t just me. Towako-san tried to protect her too.

We tried to protect her.

Again and again and again.

And we failed just as many times.

Every time the world turned back meant another time that we had failed to protect Saki.

I thought back to my memories from the Oblivion Jar.

Towako-san appeared starting from the second time. She saved us just as that man was going to kill me and Saki.

She explained everything to me, who had lost my memories, and lent us a hand.

But none of it mattered. Saki died again when the man showed up with brand new Relics.

Towako-san showed up again the third time and forced the killer to leave.

She told us to stay at Tsukumodo Antique Shop, just in case.

But then Saki died again anyway, in a different way, and in a completely different place.

The fourth and fifth time were the same. The sixth time too. Over and over again, Towako-san tried to save us.

But she couldn’t

“At the beginning, I wanted to lend you two my strength and fight against fate with you. But then I realized that it was a futile effort.”

“It isn’t futile.”

“It is. There is nothing we can do with our power.”

 At some point, Towako-san must have decided to stop explaining everything to me. She found herself lying instead, telling me that the Fatima Eye that she had given me as a counter to the killer was actually Vision.

As if she was telling me that it was far more comforting to know nothing.

And like that, I repeated my days without knowing anything at all.

Today was the same as yesterday

Tomorrow would be the same as today. 

In fact, that probably was real comfort. A real happiness, if only it had continued.

But that happiness was cut short.

It ended the moment Towako-san got her hands on Grimoire.

Because she found a way to put an end to the repeating world.

“I really do feel like I did you wrong. I really thought that there was something that I could do, not even noticing that Saki’s presence in your heart was always getting bigger.” 

“……”

“At first I was moved by a sense of justice, or sympathy, or something, you know? If there was a way to save her life, then I thought we ought to use it. I could have ever imagined that things were going to end up like this. It’s not your fault.”

“But I should have noticed and I should have convinced you that there was nothing we could do—that there was nothing anyone could do.

“Even if you did, I would have chosen the same path, nothing would have changed.”

“No, that’s not true. Things would be different. It wouldn’t have ended up like this, I’m sure. If you understood from the beginning that there was absolutely nothing that could be done, you would have been able to give up.”

Towako-san rejected my opinion.

“You only met Saki-chan about a year ago. You would have only met that one time on that one day had you not used Phantom. So why do you think you always go so far for her? Think about it. You wouldn’t normally sacrifice so much for a total stranger, right?”

“That’s absolutely not…”

…Could I really say that it wasn’t true?

I had given up on others who had destroyed themselves with Relics before, hadn’t I?

“What I’m saying is that turning back the world again and again magnified Saki’s presence inside of you. Even if you don’t remember all of it, there’s no question that Saki’s taken root inside your heart. That’s why you can’t give up on her anymore.”

“…I can’t deny that. You might be right about that. In fact, that’s definitely what it is.”

I had met Saki one year ago.

But the time we spent together amounted to even more than that. Even if I didn’t have any memories, I still felt that time in my heart. Saki had become someone I couldn’t live without anymore.

In which case…

That’s true for you too, isn’t it, Towako-san? Saki’s taken root in your heart too, right? Does she mean so little to you that you can just give up on her?”

“……” 

“Was all the time we spent together at Tsukumodo a lie?”

The time we spent at Tsukumodo…those were carefree days.

With Relics being the sole special exception, we had a wonderfully ordinary life there.

I couldn’t say that it was all happiness, but those days really were happy ones.

Because we had Tsukumodo Antique Shop.

Because Saki was there.

And because Towako-san was there.

If even one person, even one thing hadn’t been there, then it would have never come together.

“I enjoyed every day because you and Saki were with me. That life was important to me, and I can’t imagine ever thinking that I’d be fine without it. Is it not the same for you, Towako-san? What did it all mean for you? Was it really so meaningless that you wouldn’t mind losing it all?”

“That’s right.” Towako-san nodded all too easily.

“It was fun. It really was, and that’s the truth. But that’s all it was.”

“What do you mean that’s all it was? What the hell is that!?”

“What I mean is that I’d give that life up if I had to.”

“…Then why didn’t you just leave us alone?”

If we meant so little to her, then she should have kicked us out right away.

She should have abandoned us instead of letting us stay with her.

She shouldn’t have been so kind to us.

“I didn’t have much choice, did I? I’d be affected too if I let you guys go off and die on your own and the world kept turning back all the time. That’s also why I gave you the Fatima Eye, so you wouldn’t die so easily the next time the killer attacked you. It’s also why I told you that the Fatima Eye was actually Vision, so that you wouldn’t realize that what you were seeing were actually memories of the future from before the world turned back.”

Towako-san matter-of-factly explained her reasons for everything she did.

I didn’t find in her words even a hint that she wanted to protect us, or that she had any feelings towards us. Not one word.

“So the reason you kept us with you was…”

“To keep an eye on you two until I could find a way to neutralize Phantom’s power.”

I felt something break inside of me.

Were it visible, it might have looked like brilliant shards of light.

Anything material will eventually break.

Who was the one that said that, anyway?

If I ever got the chance to meet them, I’d like to ask.

Then what about immaterial things?

Would they say that things with no form couldn’t break?

I knew that wasn’t true.

There were  things without physical substance that could be broken.

Because even something didn’t have a physical form, it still existed and could also shatter without warning.

And once it broke, it would damage other formless things, much like glass shards.

But no blood would run from that wound.

That’s why nobody saw it, to say nothing of  the one who caused the wound in the first place.

“…Tokiya, I don’t want to be rough with you if I can avoid it. I want you to choose to abandon Phantom.”

That’s why she didn’t notice when she said those words.

That’s why I pretended not to notice when I responded.

Thinking about now, It wasn’t fair to say that something had been broken.

Because nothing had ever been there to begin with.

“Towako-san, you’re pretty bad at giving up yourself. You should have known from all the times in the past that I wasn’t going to take you up on that.

“I suppose…you’re right.” Towako-san let out a small sigh. “I had already given up on persuading you too. I guess that makes me just as stubborn as you.”

Which was why Towako-san looked me in the eye when she spoke next.

“So I’m going to force you to give up.”

Which was why I looked Towako-san in the eye when I responded.

“I’m going to destroy Grimoire and force you to give up.”

◆

How many times had I gone through this already?

I tried to get him to give up on Saki-chan so many times.

But Tokiya never gave up.

By the time I stopped trying to save her, Tokiya lost the ability to let go.

Things wouldn’t have turned out like this if only I had given up sooner.

This was the first time I had tried to convince him while I had Grimoire.

But as expected, not even this was enough to convince Tokiya to quit.

He was no longer capable of ending it himself.

That’s what I was going to end it with my own two hands.

I was going to break this cursed chain myself.

And by doing so, if I could at the very least…

◆

As Towako-san said, Grimoire was the only way to neutralize Phantom’s power.

If I could steal it from her and destroy it, there would no longer be any way to stop Phantom from turning back the world.

Now that it had come to this, Towako-san’s goal was no longer up for discussion.

Her goal wasn’t just to use Grimoire and stop Phantom from resetting the world. If that was all, then there wouldn’t have been any point in her going out of her way to come here.

Grimoire’s weak point was that its user had to chant the words written in the book. The words on its pages had no power otherwise.

In other words, she had to be at the place where Phantom began to turn the world back.

And what was the condition for Phantom’s power to activate?

It was for Saki to die.

That’s why Towako-san had to be present for both Saki’s death and for Phantom to trigger a reset of the world.

—I’d be affected too if I let you guys go off and die on your own and the world kept turning back all the time.

Towako-san’s own words were all the proof I needed.

She intended to kill Saki. Then, when the world was about to turn back, she would use Grimoire to stop it.

I wish I could turn back time a few hours and back to Tsukumodo Antique Shop. I should have taken and destroyed Grimoire when I had the chance.  

But I had wanted to believe in Towako-san—my naivety was what led me into this situation.

I knew what Towako-san was saying.

She was telling me to give up.

But it was actually the opposite.

Because I was going to make her give up.

I was going to destroy Grimoire and make her give up on stopping the world from turning back.

Once I did that, everything would settle back to how it used to be.

I took out the Relic that I had taken from the Tsukumodo Antique Shop storeroom.

“By coincidence, Towako-san drops Grimoire.”

The sound of a bell went off, and the coincidence that Pendolo triggered hit Towako—or at least it should have.

“The coincidences from Pendolo will not affect Settsu Towako.” She chanted the magic words in Grimoire

Just like that, Towako-san blocked me from attacking.

To be honest, I already knew this was going to happen.

Towako-san must have seen which Relics I had taken out of the storehouse and come up with a counter plan.

But not only had I predicted this, I had also come with a counter plan of my own.

If she couldn’t say the magic words written in Grimoire, then she couldn’t use its power.

To put it another way, the best way to neutralize Grimoire was to stop her from chanting any magic words.

And there was only one way to make that happen—using the silence created by the Mirror of Serenity.

But that option wasn’t open to me

Because I had left the Mirror of Serenity on the fifth floor.

I’ll say it again; I knew this was going to happen. But even still, I had chosen to leave the Mirror of Serenity on the fifth floor.

So that Saki wouldn’t hear this conversation.

I chose that over my one and only option for victory.

Because of course there was no way I could let Saki hear. Not a conversation like this.

But also, I really wanted to believe that I wouldn’t need to use it…

◆

I didn’t even need to make a strategy.

I saw through exactly what Tokiya was going to do with the Relics he obtained and blocked them. That’s all there was to it.

I already knew what Relics he had.

The only one that I had to be worried about was the Mirror of Serenity.

But the moment he said that he left the mirror behind, the match was already decided.

You were naive, Tokiya.

It’s not like you.

…No, now that I thought about it, maybe that  was the reason for his behavior.

There was no questioning the fact that Tokiya had experience countless dangerous experiences with Relics. That experience was huge.

I knew that what he had believed to be future sights from Vision were memories burned into the depths of his mind before Phantom turned back the world. That’s why even if he didn’t properly remember them, he was able to say and do the right things to avoid repeating his previous mistakes.

But this time was different.

This was an entirely new experience for him.

That’s why it wasn’t strange for him to commit the blunder of leaving behind his one and only trump card.

Without his experience repeated over time, Tokiya was just another ordinary high school boy, that’s why—

—Even if I tried to convince myself with a logical explanation, I still couldn’t turn my eyes away from the thought welling up inside me..

Even if Tokiya made a blunder just now, there was just no way he didn’t realize how powerful the Mirror of Serenity was against Grimoire.

He must have known and still chosen to leave it behind anyway.

So that Saki wouldn’t hear this conversation.

And also because he—

Tokiya…  

…Is that how much you wanted to trust me?

◆

Towako-san neutralized my Pendolo, but she didn’t follow up with an attack of her own.

If the only Relic she had was Grimoire, then that effectively meant that she had no other attacks. The only thing Grimoire could do was distort the powers of other Relics.

But if she did have other Relics, then that was a different story.

But she showed no signs of using any other Relics. Was that because she didn’t have any? Was it because she thought there was no need? …It was time to find out.

“Is neutralizing my attack like that all you can do?”

“………”

“Towako-san, are you just going to stand there and not do anything?”

“Is that what you want?”

Towako-san replied an pulled out a small flute from her pocket.

It was the Otodama, the Relic Asuka had used.

It seemed my taunting had provoked her into an attack.

She put Otodama to her lips and easily played it to produce the sound of an explosion.

Towako-san was able to play Otodama like it was just a regular flute. The same Otodama that I hadn’t been able to play at all.

The actual explosion hit me a second later.

As I rolled from the impact, I quickly thought of my next action.

“By coincidence—”

“The coincidences from Pendolo will not affect Settsu Towako.”

“—Towako-san will drop Grimoire”

The coincidence that I triggered was erased by Towako-san’s Grimoire before Pendolo’s power could even take effect.

I had whispered so that she wouldn’t overhear me chanting, but no way was that kind of cheap trick going to work on her.

I got up and quickly jumped back to get away from Towako-san.

It wasn’t to take distance and avoid getting it with Otodama’s explosions.

My plan was the exact opposite.

—To move away from her force her to use Otodama.

Towako-san raised Otodama to her lips one more time.

That was my chance, the gap that I was going to take advantage of.

Because in the end, Otodama was flute that produced an effect that corresponded to the sound it played. But because it was a flute, it had to be blown into.

In other words, Towako-san couldn’t chant the magic words in Grimoire while she was playing Otodama!

“By coincidence…”

Suddenly—

Ding, I heard the sound of a ringing bell.

“Huh?”

That was the sound Pendolo let off when it activated.

But why? I hadn’t even said anything yet…

That brief moment of confusion cause me to delay.

That was Otodama!

Towako-san saw through what I was planning and used Otodama to play the sound that rang when Pendolo activated.

By the time I realized, she had already opened up her next move.

A second explosion from Otodama sent me flying.

“Shit!”

I swore and picked myself back up after I landed on the ground.

Straight in front of me Towako-san was standing quietly looking like she didn’t even see the need to make a follow up attack.

“Otodama would have stopped me from speaking, you know. I wasn’t about to give you a chance like that.”

She saw through my plan completely.

…Wait, she knew what I was going to do? Did she have Mind’s Eye with her or something? I did remember not seeing it in the Relic storeroom.

I fixed my eyes on Towako-san cautiously.

“I don’t have Mind’s Eye. I’m not into eavesdropping into people’s thoughts.”

She didn’t have Mind’s Eye but still knew what I was thinking. Did that mean she knew what I was planning even without using a Relic?”

“You don’t have anything else to try?” Towako-san casually asked.

“I’m far from done. You should stop checking every time and just attack. Or is it that you’re the one without any other options?”

I was talking tough, but my choices were already limited. There wasn’t much I could do. As long as Towako-san was using Grimoire to neutralize my Relics, everything I tried was going to fail. There was only one option open to me.

Specifically—

I charged towards Towako-san.

Grimoire could only affect Relic powers.

In other words, when faced with a direct non-Relic attack, there was nothing it could do.

“This is exactly what it means to have nothing else to try.”

Towako-san put Otodama to her lips.

A powerful explosion sound blasted out into the quiet night.

I curled inward and braced myself for the coming explosion.

But it was well beyond anything I could withstand. I was lifted up and sent flying along with some of the construction material in the area and then crashed into the ground.

“Ugh.”

Towako-san grabbed my head.

“You asked if I didn’t have other options, didn’t you? That wasn’t it. I just had so many options that I didn’t know what to go with.”

I had been naïve. This was never a question of tactics. I never had what it took to win against Towako-san in a Relic fight to begin with.

“Just stay there and behave, alright?”

“Wha-?”

I tried to stand up, but found that my legs wouldn’t move.

Panicking, I looked down and saw that the construction material had neatly fallen over my legs to trap me in place.

It was hard to believe this was just a coincidence.

But since I was the one with Pendolo, how could it be anything else?

…What rotten luck. 

Suddenly my eyes were drawn to Towako-san’s arm.

Now that I looked at it, I saw she was wearing Fortune, the bangle that brought forth good luck.

“You just had bad luck.” Towako-san commented shamelessly as if she wasn’t the one who touched my head to steal my luck.

She turned around and walked away.

I tried to untangle myself, but the construction material was locked together so tightly that I couldn’t move my leg an inch.

“Wait!”

I shouted, but Towako-san didn’t stop.

I thrust my hand into my pocket.

In it, I had been keeping a small black box, Labyrinth, which had belong to Shun. I had found it here earlier and picked it up.

Since Towako-san still had Grimoire, Labyrinth’s power was probably going to be dispelled the moment she chanted the magic words. But it didn’t matter. All I need was to buy a little time. I rubbed the surface and activated Labyrinth, temporarily stopping Towako-san in her tracks.

“………”

As I had hoped, Towako-san stopped.

“By coincidence I become able to free my legs from the rubble.”

The ring of a bell sounded, and a section of the rubble sank low from its weight, opening up a perfect gap for me to slip through.

I pulled my legs out with all my strength.

“The path that Labyrinth was blocking for Towako-san will instead block Kurusu Tokiya.”

“Wha-!?”

Towako-san had even foreseen that I’d have Labyrinth.

And not only that. She didn’t just neutralize its power; she turned against me.

What I had blocked was Towako-san’s path to Saki.

But once it was turned against me, my path to Saki became blocked.

Now I wasn’t going to be able to reach her at all.

I quickly decided to dispel Labyrinth’s power.

But—

“Try not to die.” Towako-san said shortly.

She played Otodama again, and this time produced was a sound like a blunt weapon hitting something. The impact went right through my head.

For a moment my consciousness dimmed.

From far away I heard Labyrinth fall out of my hand and roll away.

“Sleep like that for a little while. Everything will be over by the time you wake up.”

The sound of Towako-san’s footsteps further and further away.

She was going to get to Saki if this kept up.

And I couldn’t even lift a finger to stop her.

I had lost in every sense of the word, if this could even have been called a fight.

From the beginning I knew that I had no chance, that there was no way I was going to beat Towako-san.

…To say nothing of making her give up.

I was angry at how my powerlessness was going to end up hurting Saki.

But if the alternative was losing everything, I was going to have to make a choice.

“I’m sorry.” I whispered an apology that would never reach, and grit my teeth in frustration, biting into my lips so that the pain and the test of blood just barely pulled me back to consciousness.

“Cover your ears if you can.”

I looked up.

Having been blown out of the building by Otodama, I could see the night sky above me.

I whispered to the stars, almost in a prayer, and bet on my one and only chance for victory.

“By coincidence, the Mirror of Serenity falls out of the window and into my hand.”

There was the clear sound of a ringing bell, bringing about the coincidence that would lead to my victory.

I saw something glitter like a star in the night sky as it fell.

It was the Relic that I had left near the window.

The Mirror of Serenity that I had placed so that Saki wouldn’t hear the sound of this battle.

It rotated in the air, reflecting the moonlight as if fell, and finally the orchestrated coincidence ended with the Mirror of Serenity securely in my hand.

“Wha-!?”

Towako-san suddenly turned around

But it was too late.

I turned the Mirror of Serenity towards Towako-san—

◆

Tokiya—

My groan didn’t make any sound thanks to the Mirror of Serenity.

I saw Tokiya’s mouth moving to say something.

That didn’t reach me either.

But I knew what he had done because a moment later Grimoire tumbled from my hand and slid across the ground.

His plan was probably to steal Grimoire from me and crush my ability to seal Phantom’s power.

The moment Tokiya got his hands on the Mirror of Serenity, the match was decided.

The winner of this fight was—

◆

“By coincidence, Towako-san drops Grimoire and it lands near me.”

The sound of a bell rang out and the coincidence I caused played out before my eyes.

Towako-san who hadn’t been doing anything suddenly dropped Grimoire on accident. It then slid across the floor as if it had been planned and stopped in front of me.

All that was left was to destroy Grimoire. Once that was done, there would no longer be any way to stop Phantom.

There would no longer be any way to stop me from saving Saki.

The winner of this fight was m—

The moment that thought when through my head, someone suddenly reached out from behind me and snatched the Mirror of Serenity from my hands.

“Wha-!?”

At this entirely unexpected development, I turned around in shock.

“———”

And the moment I turned around, my thoughts froze.

The person who took the mirror from me then preceded to take Pendolo from me, as well as Grimoire, which had just fallen at my feet. They picked it up and brought it over to Towako-san.

The person who stole my Relics.

That was—

“…Towako-san?”

There was another Towako-san.

◆

“Nice work.”

I took the Relics that the other me had stolen from Tokiya.

Tokiya was looking at me—us—like he couldn’t believe his eyes.

From his expression it was clear that he had no idea what just happened.

It looked like he hadn’t anticipated this even a little bit.

What are you so surprised about, Tokiya?

After all, this is the same Relic you left behind for me.

To give him the answer, I dug my finger into the other me’s face.

A moment later, the other me, a woman who had the exact same face, changed to a blank mask-like expression.

Then the other me turned back into an anatomical model and crumpled to the floor.

All that was left in my hand was a mask—Masquerade.

“Do you understand now?”

I couldn’t allow for even the one in a million chance for my plan to use Grimoire against Phantom to fail.

The only possible way that could happen would be if the Mirror of Serenity stopped me from chanting the magic words in Grimoire.

That’s why until I took the mirror from him, this fight would remain undecided.

I originally wanted to send the other me upstairs, but there was only one entrance. With Tokiya right in front of me, there was no way I could expose my secret weapon like that.

But then Tokiya used Pendolo to drop the Mirror of Serenity into his hands.

That was the moment I was waiting for.

A chance for me to steal the Mirror of Serenity from Tokiya.

The other me, who looked and thought the same as me, naturally did exactly what I would have done and chose that moment to take action.

This fight ended the second Tokiya got his hands on the Mirror of Serenity.

—It was my win.

◆

She got me. How could I have known that she’d use a strategy like that?

Not only did Towako-san have Grimoire, she now also controlled the only countermeasure against it, the Mirror of Serenity. 

She turned around and walked towards the fire escape.

I tried to run after her, but found my path blocked by an invisible wall.

“Labyrinth…?”

Towako-san was going to where Saki was, and I was blocked from following her.

I thought about dispelling its power, but then remembered that she had stolen Labyrinth from me too. 

There was absolutely nothing I could do about the invisible wall in front of me right now.

Towako-san continued towards the fire escape with nothing to stop her.

Down the path that led to Saki.

“Stop!” I shouted, but Towako-san did not stop.

“Wait, I said!” I screamed, begging with all my soul for her to stop.

“At least tell me why! Why is it so wrong!? Why do I have to give up!? It’s not like I was hurting anyone!”

Towako-san suddenly stopped and turned around, clearly unwilling to let what I said pass without comment.

“…Are you serious right now?”

“No one else even notices when the world turns back, right? What does it matter if it repeats, anyway!?”

My arguments were becoming more and more like childish tantrums.

“The world is changing. Don’t tell me you haven’t noticed.”

“………”

“And it’s all because of you two.”

I couldn’t bring myself to argue with her again, knowing full well that she was right.

The truth that I saw in the Oblivion Jar was still fresh in my mind.

The world that repeated two, three—countless times.

There was something I was forced to notice as I watched all the different iterations of the world.

—That the future didn’t always turn out the same way.

There was Etsuko, whose life had been upended by Notebook, and her fiancé, Hideki. The future that I thought had come from Vision showed Hideki pushing Etsuko off the rooftop to her death, but the Oblivion Jar also showed me a future of them living happily together.

There was the composer, Kadokura, whose life had been upended by the Mirror of Serenity, and his maid, Mei. The future that I thought had come from Vision showed Mei dying alone and unnoticed when her illness took a sudden turn for the worse, but the Oblivion Jar also showed me a future where she died a peaceful death with Kadokura taking care of her.

There was Nanase, whose life had been upended by Censer, and her boyfriend Shiga. Nanase was unable to leave the dream world behind, but I had also seen a future in which she was able to overcome Shiga’s death and came back to us.

I saw many other kinds of futures, too.

Some that ended in misfortune…

And others that were not so…

Life didn’t turn out the same way every time.

And we were the ones who held the keys.

The future changed because we got involved…

So what if…

What if we had never gotten involved? What kind of future would have existed for the people we met?

Would they still have met with misfortune despite everything?

Or would they have found themselves facing a different future?

If it weren’t for Phantom, I would have never met Towako-san.

If it weren’t for Phantom,  I would have never begun working at Tsukumodo Antique Shop.

If it weren’t for Phantom,  I would have never gotten involved with Relics.

If it weren’t for Phantom,  I would have never met all the people that I did.

If it weren’t for Phantom, maybe they could have experienced a different a future.

Maybe that would have been for the best.

It wasn’t just Saki’s death that I distorted with Phantom.

So many other things had also been altered.

“Despite everything, can you truly say that you never caused anyone problems?”

“………”

“I’m not saying that everything was your fault. I’m sure some of those people were going to meet an unfortunate end whether or not you got involved. They might have even made the same choices even if you hadn’t used Phantom. There’s no way to know how things could haveturned out, but there is no question that your actions had an impact.”

“………”

“There are countless people who lost their lives like Saki did, and countless people like you who watched it happen before their eyes. But in some way or another, people find a way to move on from death, or at the very least they come to accept that it happened. The one thing no one can do though, is erase the death itself. So tell me, do you alone have the right to undo death using a Relic? Do you think that’s fair to all the others in the world who have died? If you and Saki-chan were the only ones affected, then maybe it wouldn’t be so bad. That would be your own personal choice, after all. But can you really say the same thing when your choice means making sacrifices of others?”

Towako-san was forcing me to face the truth that I had been trying to run from all this time. 

There was not a single thing I could say to refute her.

But she didn’t wait for an answer, probably because she had given up on me, and instead turned back towards the fire escape—to where Saki was.

“Towako-san. Please don’t move.”

I chose not to answer and took out my final Relic.

The one Relic I never thought I’d use against her.

Its awful power had taken Saki’s life once before.

But I was permitting myself its use.

This Relic had absorbed the killer’s cursed bloodlust, and I was going to use it. 

“My Fatima Eye absorbed the death curse from the Evil Eye.”

“I see…so that’s why you didn’t have it on. I thought you threw it away or gave it back to Sekka after you learned the truth. I gave you that eye so you wouldn’t die instantly when you met that man , you know. But it looks like that plan backfired on me. Definitely didn’t see this one coming.”

Towako-san didn’t seem to know that I had met the killer, and assuming she didn’t have any measures against the Fatima Eye in Grimoire, she didn’t have any way to stop me either.

“Turn towards me slowly please, so that I can see Grimoire.”

“………”

“I’m begging you. Turn Grimoire towards me please.”

“………”

“Let me see it!”

“Kill me.”

“Wha-!?”

“Kill me with your Fatima Eye. If you really want to stop me, that is.”

“………”

“The Evil Eye can only kill living things. It doesn’t have to power to destroy Grimoire. Even if it could, that still wouldn’t be enough; you’d only gain a little more time at best. If that’s enough to satisfy you, then all I’d have to do is find another method. Nothing would change.”

“………”

“Go on. This is how your wish will come true.”

“………”

“This is how you’ll get your happy ending”

“Like hell it is!”

What part of this was going to lead to a happy ending?

“…It’s so unfair. Towako-san, you know I can’t kill you! I can’t just cut people off like you can!”

I needed to have a good amount of bloodlust to use the curse that the Fatima Eye absorbed. That killing intent was the trigger to activate the death curse.

But how could I ever bring myself to kill Towako-san?

“You won’t be able to save Saki without killing me.”

“You said it yourself, didn’t you? You’ve taken root in my heart.”

Saki wasn’t the only one who stuck with me every time the world turned back.

Towako-san was also always there for us. If Saki had taken root in my heart, then Towako-san no different.

If that was what she was aiming for, then her plan was a total success.

“The only happy end for me is for all of us to go back to our normal lives.”

“That’s a pretty tall order.”

“But it’s the only one I have.”

“…My God, you really are soft.”

“I’m done for if you’re the one telling me that.”

“We really are done here.” Towako-san replied, and a moment later—

“By coincidence, Tokiya drops the Fatima Eye.”

—She used Pendolo to create a coincidence.

The sound of a bell rang out, the Fatima Eye coincidentally slipped out of my hand and onto the floor.

Towako-san stepped forward to pick it up.

Reflexively I went after it too at almost the same time.

And the one who touched the Fatima Eye first…

…Was me.

It was almost as if it was meant to be. I was holding the Fatima Eye up high, and Towako-san was standing right in front of me.

It was as if fate was telling me something.

As if it was making a demand.

That if I wasn’t going to give it Saki, to offer up Towako-san instead.

To choose one or the other.

Was that it? Was that the only choice?

…If I was going to have to choose just one…

I…I—

“Stop it”

Then someone’s voice brought me back to my senses.

Saki had finally arrived.

◆

“Saki-chan.”

Tokiya had left the Mirror of Serenity with her so that she wouldn’t hear us fighting, but she must have heard everything we said and did after he took it back.

This must have taken more time than I thought.

But it was very convenient for me that Saki-chan was here now since she was my target. If anything, I should be happy that she went out her way to come down here.

…Was I wishing that she had never come?

“Stop it already. I don’t want to see you two fight.”

“Then you should wait upstairs.” Tokiya butted in and put himself between me and Saki.

“Stop it. You’re only hurting yourself.” Saki-chan stepped forward next to him.

She shook her head and touched Tokiya’s raised hand.

Tokiya’s arm slackened like a doll with its strings cut, and he let the Fatima eye fall to the ground. It bounced on the ground and then rolled off somewhere.

“You too, Towako-san. Please stop it already.” She spoke to me with her usual expressionless face.

“Saki-chan, do you know what this is about?”

“Yes. Vision shows me everything that happens every time the world turns back. I know that Tokiya used Phantom so I wouldn’t die, and that my life is the trigger to turn back the world.”

“I…see.”

I believed that Sekka and I were the only ones who knew of the secret and had noticed what was happening.

But Saki had also been one of the few who knew the secret…   

Our seemingly ordinary life was a façade, where everyone was either silent or ignorant about the truth.

…What was I doing getting all disappointed? I was the one trying to destroy that ordinary life…

“That’s right. I suppose I never did ask you, Saki-chan.”

There had been times where I told Tokiya everything and tried to persuade him.

But I had never told Saki-chan anything myself.

There was no way I could tell her that she had died once, and that a Relic’s power was the only reason she was still alive.

“Can I ask you something?”

“Sure.”

“Saki-chan, what kind of future did you see?”

Did you not see a future where I kill you?

She seemed to understood the meaning of my question.

“I didn’t see a future like that.”

“…I see. What a shame. If you did see that kind of future, maybe you would have chosen a different path and stayed away from Tsukumodo.”

Things wouldn’t have ended up like this if she stayed away from me.

“No. Even if I did see that kind of future, I think I still would have wanted to be with you.”

That kind of future…where I killed Saki-chan.

And she was saying she’d still come to Tsukumodo.

“After all”, she continued, “I love Tsukumodo Antique Shop.”

“…Haha”

What part of that old shop was there to love?

It was a tiny, desolate, hopeless place that barely ever got any customers.

In an atmosphere coated with lies and deceit.

Surrounded by fakes every day.

Really, what did she like about it so much?

…I was making excuses for myself.

Because I already knew.

Just how important that shop was for her.

“Tsukumodo was where I got to practice the customer service I love so much…”

Just looking at her I could tell how much she treasured it.

“Tokiya was there…”

Tokiya’s presence alone made it such a precious place for her.

“Towako-san too.”

…I was included in that list.

I was part of what she liked.

Me, the one trying to take everything away from her.

“Even if it wasn’t for long, I’d still want to be at Tsukumodo.”

…So that’s how it was.

She was saying that was the future she saw for herself even without Vision.

“That’s why I have no regrets.”

And so, Saki offered her life to fate.

“Even if this is where it all ends.”

◆

“Even if this is where it all ends.”

Saki left me with those words and walked towards Towako-san.

I stretched out my left arm in a panic to stop her.

“Tokiya…”

I kept looking straight ahead kept my eyes on Towako-san, without turning around, and without meeting Saki’s gaze.

“It’s alright.”

…What part of this was alright?

“You can’t give up.”

…I knew Saki hadn’t given up.

“There are other ways.”

…I knew Saki wasn’t looking for alternatives

“There has to be another…”

I felt a soft warmth against my back.

“You’ve done enough.”

“No, I haven’t.”

“Let’s put an end to this.”

“I won’t let it end.”

“…Tokiya, please.”

“—!”

Why did Saki have to beg?

Why did she have to beg when I was doing all of this for her?

When I was doing this so she wouldn’t die?

Why…did she have to beg?

Was I just was pushing my own selfish goals on her this whole time…?

—You’re kind...but you’re really full of yourself.

Did this mean I was ignoring Saki’s wishes?

“Do you still want to die?”

I asked her the same question as the day we first met.

Her answer had changed since that day.

I was sure of it.

“…What a cruel way to ask.”

Saki criticized me.

But I knew… 

That from the second time onward, Saki never again said that she wanted to die.

Even though she knew those words were guaranteed to keep me with her.

She still stubbornly insisted on never saying them again.

Her resolve was strengthened by the regret she felt for her actions and harsh lesson she had learned, along with her promise to me.

That she would never again say that she wanted to die, or even think it.

But as awful and cruel as it was, I wanted to hear her to say it.

—That she didn’t want to die.

I wanted to take away her other options, to insist that what we had been doing wasn’t wrong.

“Tokiya, I truly did want to die when we first met. But after you entered my life, I stopped thinking that way. I came to regret my wish to die. And even now…yes, it’s still true. I don’t want to die now either. Death isn’t something I look forward to.”

“In which case…”

But Saki cut off my line of thought.

“But it’s fine like this. This is the right thing to do. We’ve done enough. I’ve enjoyed a lifetime’s worth of happiness already and I have no regrets.”

Saki neither blamed nor criticized me. She only spoke of what was truly in her heart.

“That’s why it’s time to put an end to this.”

Towako-san meant to put an end to the madness even if it meant dirtying her own hands.

Saki understood everything and made the same choice.

I was the only one.

I was perhaps the only one in the world who couldn’t accept this.

“I’m sorry for keeping you stuck in my world for so long. You can be free now.”

Saki gently placed her hand on my outstretched arm.

And like magic, the arm that I swore I’d never put down, quietly fell at her touch.

“Goodbye.”

Those were her final words to me as she walked past me.

Getting farther away with every step.

As she walked to Towako-san

Understanding more than anyone what her actions met.

I could see Towako-san’s face beyond Saki’s back.

“——!”

Don’t make that face please.

Towako-san’s face, Saki’s back, and what I knew was about to happen…it was all too much. I couldn’t bear to watch and turned my eyes away.

Suddenly, I noticed a silhouette in the corner of my eye—

It was a young woman.

One that I had never seen before, not even once in all the repeated worlds.

She tottered towards us with uncertain steps, almost like she was drunk.

Her cloudy, unfocused eyes stared straight at Saki.

Neither Saki nor Towako-san noticed.

I was the only one who did.

A horrible feeling ran through me.

There was no static noise that ran through my head.

It was just a premonition.

But I knew somehow that something that had never happened in all of the previous worlds was about to occur.

And as for what it was, I was certain it could be nothing good.

Because in that woman’s hand, was the Fatima Eye that I had dropped earlier.

She spoke in a barely audible whisper.

“She…killed…my…girl.”

I started into a run,

The woman raised the Fatima Eye.

I shouted Saki’s name.

She turned around.

“Run!”, I screamed.

Saki looked at me, not understanding what was happening.

I tried to cover her.

To protect Saki with my own body.

But my path was blocked by an invisible wall.

I couldn’t make it to where Saki was.

“…Labyrinth.”

I looked at Towako-san.

Towako-san, who had grasped the situation, traced her finger on Labyrinth.

But at the same time as the wall between Saki and I went down

—Saki lurched backwards.

She took a step, two steps forward.

The distance between us shrunk.

She was just about to collapse into my arms.

I reached out and embraced her.

With Labyrinth’s wall now down, I was able to reach her.

Even though it was too late.

“………Hehehehe.”

I heard a voice.

The woman who appeared out of nowhere was laughing.

An empty laugh.

As if she wasn’t entirely there.

“…I killed her for you. Did you hear that, Ami-chan? I killed the girl that cursed you…”

The woman left as suddenly as she had appeared, laughing all the while.

A picture fluttered from the her hand to the ground,

It was a picture of an elementary school girl.

An old and tattered picture that looked at least a decade old.

It must have been taken at some kind of excursion. There were mountains visible in the background.

Saki had told me.

And that killer had told me.

That when Saki was in elementary school, she predicted that he classmate was going to die.

That her classmate slipped on the mountain during the school excursion and fell to her death.

That her mother blamed the girl’s death on Saki.

That her mother had suffered a great mental shock.

If the girl’s father hated Saki so much that he wanted to kill her, then it was no surprise that her mother harbored those same feelings.

And more than anything, if only I had noticed earlier…

But there was no point in dwelling on that now.

Saki was in my arms, but she looked so far away.

Was I even reflected in her eyes?

“Saki!”

Her eyes turned towards me when I called her name.

“Saki!”

She opened her mouth and tried to say something.

I fell silent, and listened carefully.

But she closed her mouth, holding back what she wanted to say.

“It’s…alright”, was all she muttered.

How was this alright?

What part of this was fine?

I didn’t understand.

“Saki!”

Talk to me.

“Saki!”

For as long as it takes to convince me.

“Saki!”

Because there’s no way I’ll ever accept this.

“……Saki!”

So please, open your eyes.

“This is…”

Saki quietly closed her eyes.

Her words stopped.

Her body…lost its strength.

“……Saki!”

I shook her body that was leaning limply against me.

“…Saki.”

I called her name as she shook powerlessly.

But it was no use—

She didn’t respond.

She didn’t reply.

The beat of her life was silent.

In its place, I heard a voice ask me from somewhere.

—Do you want to turn back the world?

That was Phantom’s voice presenting me with the choice to turn back the world.

Which could only mean one thing—

—That Saki was dead.

◆

“So it really did end up like this. Is fate never going to forgive Saki!?”

Her depth was abrupt.

It had come so suddenly.

Unreasonable in every sense of the word.

There was nothing I could have done by covering or trying to protect her.

Who could have possibly predicted that this woman would kill Saki?

…No, I knew exactly why this had happened. It was the same as all the times before.

Fate was never going to forgive her. It was going to take her life no matter how abrupt, sudden, or unreasonable it was.

And with this, it really was the end.

I noticed Tokiya stand up and separate from Saki-chan.

“Tokiya.”

“…What?”

“What are you going to do?”

“Can’t you tell? I’m going to turn the world back. Same as always.”

“Cut the crap! How many times are you going to repeat this!?”

“As many times as I have to! I’ll keep turning the world back for as long as it takes!”

The acceptance and resignation that had sprouted inside Tokiya had already disappeared into the wind.

If only that woman had waited just a little longer…everything would have gone so well.

No one’s heart can be prepared enough for the death of their loved ones.

I remembered what Sekka told me.

All one could do is accept reality and find some way to move one.

As long as Tokiya lacked the will to give up, there was no hope of him changing his actions.

…As long as he had Phantom.

“Fine, then. Use it. Let me see you use Phantom. Because the moment you do, I’m going to stop it with Grimoire.”

“!”

Tokiya glared at me.

“Don’t get in my way.”

“………”

“Don’t get between Saki and me.”

“Are you kidding me!?”

His words were what finally made me lose my cool.

I grabbed him by the lapel and threw him to the floor.

“Ugh…”

“Let’s see you say another word.”

“I said don’t get in my way…Don’t get between Saki and me!”

“You’re the one who needs to stop interfering with Saki-chan’s wishes! Were you even listening? Saki-chan herself said that this has to end. She made that choice!”

“That’s because you forced her to! You made her feel that using Phantom was a sin. That using Relics was a sin! She said herself that she didn’t want to die! She wanted to live!”

“Of course she did! You think I don’t know that? Maybe things were different before, but it’s not the same anymore. Saki-chan changed after she met you. She found happiness. Of course she’d want to live!”

But—

“…It’s just not possible. There’s no way to save her.”

“There’s Phantom.”

“Do you really think Phantom can save her?”

“With Phantom, I can try as many times as it takes.”

“How many times are you going to kill Saki-chan before you’re satisfied!”

I pushed Tokiya onto the floor.

“The trigger to turn back the world is Saki’s death. Maybe you didn’t care because you didn’t remember, but Saki did. She knew how she was going to die and why she was even alive. She lived carrying that guilt in her heart, constantly made to feel the terror of death every time the world turned back. Do you have any idea how hard that is!?”

“……”

“The problem wasn’t just that she kept getting killed either. There were times that you died as well. Can you even begin to imagine how guilty she felt when you died because of her?”

The world didn’t turn back when Tokiya died.

Saki’s life was the only trigger that turned back the world.

In which case, how did the world turn back when Tokiya died?

The answer was obvious. 

“…Can you even begin to understand how she felt having to kill herself to undo your death?”

She broke her most important promise and ended her own life.

All to undo Tokiya’s death.

A mad, infinite loop in which they sacrificed everything to prevent each other’s deaths.

“There’s no way she would have wished for this madness.”

“Don’t you talk to me about her feeling! You gave up on her first! What do you know about how she felt!?”

“So you understand her better!?”

There was no way to understand what other people truly felt.

To speak nothing of the feelings of the dead. No one could ever know now.

No matter how strong your bond with them was.

In which cause, in what way could the thoughts of the dead be conveyed?

What could possibly be done to get Tokiya to understand Saki-chan’s feelings?

Such a method no longer exis—

Suddenly a light fluttered down.

A light in the seven colors of the rainbow.

In the form of a single leaf.

With the power to convey the thoughts of feelings of others.

—It was a Relic by the name of Kotonoha.

◆

—I’m sorry.

Kotonoha landed in my hand,

A moment later, a light enveloped me.

From inside the light, I heard a voice.

Saki.

“I’m sorry.”

These were her thoughts.

“I’m sorry for staying alive.”

Words of atonement to the world.

“I’m sorry for undoing my own death.”

An apology to the people of the world.

“I’m sorry to all the people who wanted to live, but couldn’t.”

How much had it pained Saki when she faced them?

“I’m sorry to all the people who lost their loved ones.”

How much had Saki suffered when she faced them?

“Even though I knew it was hopeless, I’m sorry for clinging to hope.”

Knowing that she had been blessed with a special life had weighed on Saki more than anyone else.

“I’m sorry for distorting everyone’s lives.”

That’s why all she could do was apologize.

“I’m sorry.”

That’s all she said.

Her final words were all apologies.

As if she couldn’t think of anything else to say.

As if she could think of anything except apologize for her sin.

Her final words were all spent in apology, and nothing else.

“……Was this…my fault?”

Was it me?

Was I the one that made her think living was wrong?

Was I the one who cornered her to the point that she had to apologize for being alive?

Was I the one that made her suffer so much?

Saki told me she had no regrets.

But she did.

I was witnessing it now.

She regretted that she lived, and continued to stay alive.

That was her one and only regret.

Saki, do you resent me?

Do you resent me for forcing you to live?

I curled up and held my head in my hands at this unbearable thought.

“Was I wrong this whole time?”

◆

That was Saki’s heart transmitted through Kotonoha.

Her true, unblemished feelings.

Nothing but words of apology.

Saki-chan didn’t use Kotonoha for her final goodbyes; she used it to apologize.

But it was none other than I who gave her Kotonoha.

I gave it to her thinking she’d need to use it one day.

But still…

I never wanted her to use it like this.

Though did consider that possibility that she would. That she, who had been granted a special life, would throw away the chance for a final goodbye.

But you know, Saki-chan.

No one would have blamed you that little bit of selfishness.

The world would have permitted at least that much.

No one’s heart can be prepared enough for the death of their loved ones.

I knew even without Sekka’s warning.

But at the very least there was something I could do to ease the pain.

So that if nothing else, those left behind could feel less lonely.

That’s why my plan was to leave behind at least a few memories for Tokiya. 

But that plan ended up being a total waste.

How silly could that girl get.

Saki-chan really was awkward to the end.

“Tokiya.”

There was no answer.

But even if it wasn’t directed to him, Saki-chan’s words should have reached him.

Her anguished voice.

Her cries of grief.

Her awareness of her sin.

“I’ll give you one day to make a choice. Come to Tsukumodo once you’ve made your decision.”

Because I was certain that Tokiya would not use Phantom.

Tokiya. You wanted to believe in me, right? But you know, you’re not the only one who wanted to believe.

That’s why I’m going to bet on you one last time.

But if he didn’t make the right choice this time…

“If this wasn’t enough to change you, then you’re never going to change again.”

◆

“I’ll give you one day to make a choice. Come to Tsukumodo once you’ve made your decision.”

Towako-san left me with those words.

The delay was a sign of her trust in me.

Logically, I understood just how stupid what I was doing was.

I really should have used Phantom to turn back the world while I still worked up and not thinking straight.

But Towako-san asked me to make a choice.

That forced my sense of reason to begin working.

I had to gather all my thoughts and come to a decision.

Towako-san really was rotten to the core. She set me up knowing I wouldn’t betray her.

I had to come up with an answer.

I looked at Saki’s sleeping face in my arms again.

She was expressionless as always, not too different from her usual look.

I touched her cheek.

It was still warm.

Almost as if she were still alive.

Was I going to end up running from reality again?

Was I going to keep making Saki suffer?

“………”

A rainbow colored powder glittered on her cheek.

I must have crushed Kotonoha—Saki’s words—in my fist at some point. Its fragments ended up sticking to her cheek.

Come to think of it, her clothes and even her hair was now covered with the rainbow powder.

I’m sorry.

I brushed the powder off her cheek.

But no matter how much I brushed it away, the powder didn’t come off.

I guess that was only natural because it was sticking to my hands too.

Then, almost as if had been waiting for its chance, the wind picked up and lifted the Kotonoha fragments into the air.

“It’s become so pretty.”

But it was also pretty when it was stuck on Saki’s face like makeup.

…Makeup, huh.

Come to think of it, there was that one time Saki struggled with makeup.

That memory suddenly popped into my head like an image.

It was of Saki, her face caked in makeup like a stage actor.

She’d probably be angry knowing that I was remembering that of all things.

Speaking of her being angry, she did get pretty mad that time I messed up the time setting on Camera.

Once again, that memory showed up in my head as an image.

That image of Saki whose overflowing aura of rage was almost visible, even if it didn’t show on her face.

Why I was remembering this side of Saki now?

I wanted to remember her other expressions, her smile, maybe. But that was impossible. I never got to see her smile in the end.

I was the one who burdened her with a sin so heavy that she couldn’t smile even when she wanted to.

But even still, there was one brief moment, and I might be wrong, that I thought I saw Saki smile.

It was when I used Mind’s Voice to eavesdrop on Saki’s feelings.

Suddenly the memories formed an image in my mind for the third time.

It was of Saki treating my injured ear as I lay on her lap.

“……….?”

Why was I remembering Saki like this?

It was less like I was recalling memories and more like those scenes were playing out right before my eyes…

“Snow…?”

I was hallucinating something dancing in the air.

What on earth…snow…inside of a building?

I looked up and found that there were so many particles of light in the air that I couldn’t even see the concrete ceiling anymore.

The Kotonoha fragments that I had crushed earlier were dancing in the air, and had somehow miraculously turned back into rainbow colored leaves.

It was like I was beneath a great tree, with leaves fluttering down everywhere.

Almost like angel feathers.

One of falling leaves fell into my hand.

Suddenly—

The memory contained in Kotonoha reached me.

It was from the day we first met.

Her heart, which had wished to die.

Saki’s true, pure wish for death.

Her cold, and unfeeling heart.

Another leaf fluttered into my hand.

It was of when the killer attacked us.

Her heart had changed.

She wanted to live.

Another leaf fluttered into my hand.

There was her guilt facing the girl who lost her fiancé, whose life had been upended by Notebook.

Repeating “I’m sorry” over and over again.

Another leaf fluttered into my hand.

There was composer who lost his maid because his attachment to the perfect silence of the Mirror of Serenity.

And Saki’s wish to change the misfortune that befell those who succumbed to Relics.

A wish that went unfulfilled.

Another leaf fluttered into my hand.

Saki’s fury at the fortune teller who toyed with the death, driven mad by Spectacle’s power to see what others had seen.

And the painful knowledge that Saki, whose own death was manipulated, wasn’t so different.

Her thoughts of dying with the fortune teller, and her relief at being rescued.

Along with intense self-loathing.

Another leaf fluttered into my hand.

There was String and Windup-Key which caused dolls to move.

Swallowtail and Spider overlapped with herself and me, and she tried to understand the feelings of someone left behind.

Her worry for me knowing that we’d be separated one day.

Another leaf fluttered into my hand.

The match against the gambler who used Mind’s Voice to read minds.

Saki was put up as a wager, but she didn’t doubt for a second that I’d save her.

Another leaf fluttered into my hand.

Her feelings towards her young friend that she bonded with over a cat. 

She had already sworn to never make another friend.

And regretted her weakness for not resisting the warmth of friendship.

Another leaf fluttered into my hand.

There was the present I gave Saki.

Her bewilderment when she got it.

Her embarrassment at having me see her like that.

Her despondence when she learned it was part of my strategy to recover my losses from Wallet.

Her joy at getting a real present from me.

As she wondered why her heart was speeding up.

Another leaf fluttered into my hand.

We were searching for my classmate who succumbed to the power of Masquerade and ended up going to my school.

Saki fantasized about enjoying school life with me.

Another leaf fluttered into my hand.

There was the girl who confessed her love for me.

And Saki’s slight anger and childish envy at my indecisive behavior.

Another leaf fluttered into my hand.

There was the sleep caused by Censer’s ash.

And the ridiculous condition required to wake her.

Now that I thought about it, that had to have been part of Towako-san’s scheme. The effect probably would have lifted on its own in time.

But Saki and I alternated between hope and despair and passed each other by.

She seemed to be half in doubt about who it was that really woke her up.

I was the one who did that, you know.

Although I never got the chance to tell her.

Another leaf fluttered into my hand.

There was the date that Towako-san had Saki and I go on after she gave us each Kotonoha leaves.

Her vague sense of loneliness when she saw me with my friends, but also a certain sense of relief in her heart.

Knowing that I would be alright even if she was gone.

It was the ember of her resolve to one day leave me behind.

My eyes went blurry and I couldn’t hold back my tears.

Saki’s memories, her thoughts flooded my heart and poured from my eyes.

The never ending thoughts that never showed on her face.

Her joy at the ordinary life at Tsukumodo, her worries about the sin she carried, the happiness she pursued all the same, and her sadness knowing that we’d be separated one day.

She wished for these happy days to continue forever, and at the same time felt tormented knowing that those thoughts were responsible for the world going mad.

Her honest desire to live.

Her pure wish for happiness.

She couldn’t bear to feel the emotion that should have been normal for anyone.

She suffered knowing that her sin would always follow her.

—Saki, do you resent me?

Suddenly, the final leaf fluttered into my hand.

This was the unshakable thought that Saki had held until the final, bitter end.

Through Kotonoha, Saki expressed the feelings she had been unable to show no matter how much she wanted to. 

It was incredibly clumsy, though I was probably the only one who could tell.

But still, in her final thought, she tried her very best to smile.

To say thanks.

—To convey her gratitude to me.

I wanted to see your smile in person.

…Saki, you idiot.

◆

And so the day went by.

It was the promised time.

I returned to Tsukumodo.

The Tsukumodo that where Tokiya and Saki-chan used to be, that no longer existed.

I couldn’t bring myself to stay overnight and wait for Tokiya; this place was too full of memories.

I couldn’t bear facing the truth of all that was lost.

After opening the door to enter the shop, I saw that Tokiya was already here.

I could see the certain resolve in his real left eye.

“Do you have an answer for me?”

What kind of decision he’d made here in this place that held so many memories of Saki?

“Hey, Towako-san.”

“What is it?”

“You’re sure there isn’t a Relic that can alter fate, right?”

“…Yeah.”

“…I thought so. Guess it was too much to expect that kind of convenient twist.”

Tokiya let out a resigned sigh.

“Can you tell me what you decided?”

“Yeah.”

Tokiya looked straight at me, his eyes full of resolve.

“I’m going to turn the world back with Phantom.”

◆

I’m going to turn the world back with Phantom one more time—

That was the answer I came to.

“The first time Saki and I met, she said that she wanted to die. She said that no one would be sad if she died. She said that there was nothing at all that she liked.

“…But now she said that she didn’t want to die. She found people that would be sad for her. She said she loved Tsukumodo, and she said she loved us.”

So could anyone really say it was a sin for her to live, now that she longed for life?

“Accepting that would be to acknowledge that her wish to live was a sin.”

That I couldn’t accept.

I couldn’t accept that at all.

Not one bit.

Even if I used Phantom.

Even if I repeated the same life over and over again.

“There is no sin in Saki staying alive.”

“…That’s the answer you’ve come to?”

“Yes.”

“…I see.”

Towako-san let out a small sigh and took out Grimoire.

“In that case, I’ll have to stop you with Grimoire.”

I shook my head to reject her.

“What?”

“Grimoire cannot stop Phantom from turning back the world.”

I said the magic words to block Towako-san’s Grimoire.

“What was that just now?”

“Magic words.”

“Well yeah, but even if you say them…”

I took out a piece of paper from my pocket.

It was the proof of Towako-san’s hesitation.

The page from Grimoire that Towako-san had torn out and thrown away.

But even if it was just a page, Grimoire was still Grimoire.

The power of Towako-san’s Grimoire had been distorted by the magic words I said just now.

With this, Grimoire no longer had any power to stop the world from turning back.

“Towako-san, thank you for your hesitation.”

“Tokiya…” She grit her teeth.

“…I know you’re right.”

Towako-san’s decision was undeniably correct.

It was an answer that forced her to throw away her own wishes and abandon her loved ones so that everyone could become equal.

But that wasn’t what I wanted.

Why was it that making the right choice didn’t lead to happiness?

Why was it that following the path “fate” laid down for us didn’t lead to happiness?

Because if it did, then nobody would have to be wrong.

Because if it did, then nobody would have to oppose it.

But even if fate presented me with the right choice, I still wasn’t going to follow it. Happiness didn’t lie that way.

What I had to do wasn’t to accept her death.

It was to pardon her for wishing for death.

To teach her that her wish to stay alive was not a sin.

If that was wrong, then I’d be wrong as many times as it took.

If that was a sin, then I would sin as many times as I had to.

Same as the time I first obtained Phantom.

Same as the time I lost Saki and chose Censer.

Same as the choice I was making right now.

The path I chose was never going to change.

I was going make this decision now and forever—

—To always choose Saki.

Because Relics had already driven me to ruin—

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