Episode Harumi: Thoughts on the Length of a Muffler
The girl Koutarou had taken from the ruins in Kisshouharukaze City would turn from an almighty goddess to a mere human at the stroke of midnight on April 6th. On top of that, Koutarou and company would have any memory of said event wiped. The girl would also seal away her own memories until they were needed again. So without her powers or any idea she’d ever been a divine being to begin with, she would hypothetically be a perfectly normal girl—which was precisely what Koutarou and company wanted for her. But on April 5th, the evening before as they were all eating dinner together, she still had full knowledge of herself and all the powers that went along with it.
“Which way tastes better, Rainbow?” Sanae eagerly asked her.
“This is my first time tasting any of these dishes, but I feel a certain happiness clinging to Koutarou. So I have to say clinging to him makes the food better.”
“Right?! But make sure you run when he eats something you don’t like! He always tries to do that when I’m clinging to him!”
“Food you don’t like...? Like what?”
“Like green peppers or the green onions today.”
“So I run away from Koutarou when he eats green peppers or green onions... I see, I see.”
“Sanae, don’t go teaching a girl who doesn’t know anything how to be picky!” fussed Koutarou.
“But if Rainbow starts to hate green peppers, she might erase them from the world.”
“You idiot! Why would she remake the world over something like that?”
Whack!
“Eeheehee... See that, Rainbow? If you make silly jokes in front of Koutarou, you might get a little special attention.”
“You mean you don’t really want green peppers gone?”
“Nah, it’s fine. Without them, Koutarou wouldn’t come chasing after me during dinner. I guess you could call them a... Yeah, a necessary evil!”
“I see, I see... So green peppers are a necessary evil...”
“Sanae, teaching her that is even worse! If you want to pump her head full of stupid stuff, start with that tomorrow!”
“But...”
“No buts!”
Having taken a liking to the girlish goddess, Sanae was teaching her everything she could about being human. The only problem was that Sanae had a rather biased outlook on things, and Koutarou was worried that might end up having rippling consequences on the world at large.
“You don’t have to worry, Satomi-kun,” Harumi reassured the worked-up Koutarou. Unlike him, she was smiling as usual. “If changing the world were that easy, she wouldn’t have waited 5,670,000,000 lifetimes for you.”
“This might be her first time living as a human, but she’s exceptionally prudent. You don’t have to worry,” Kiriha agreed with a smile to match Harumi’s.
And if both Harumi and Kiriha were in agreement, Koutarou did genuinely feel better. He sighed a little and nodded to himself.
Thinking about it, she’s an amalgamation of these nine girls. She wouldn’t do something so serious over something so trivial... Probably the opposite, really. She’s missed out on a lot because she’s been so reserved, after all.
If she’d only been a composite of Sanae and Yurika, Koutarou might really have a problem on his hands. But with the serious Harumi, Kiriha, and Maki mixed in, nothing too ridiculous was going to happen. And once Koutarou came to that realization, he let Sanae do as she pleased. Perhaps that would be for the better for the girl who’d waited so, so very long... But it still wouldn’t be enough. And as the person he’d come to be, Koutarou understood that.
“Now try these!”
“Kyah!”
Koutarou grabbed the girl’s hand and began putting food in his mouth. He went straight for the green onions, of course. By sharing his senses with her, he was teaching her that green onions weren’t bad.
“Oh? The green onion... isn’t gross?”
The girl’s eyes opened wide and she blinked repeatedly in surprise. She couldn’t forcibly read Koutarou’s heart, but she could sense what he was trying to convey. Since he didn’t hate green onions, the sensation she was experiencing from Koutarou was different from how Sanae perceived it.
“Ack! Koutarou made a move before I could make her hate them!”
“Bwahaha! How foolish, Sanae! All I had to do was teach her that they were good before you could get to her!”
Much, munch, much...
The girl then tried eating a green onion for herself.
“These are good...”
Although the taste was somewhat different than what she’d experienced via Koutarou’s senses, it certainly wasn’t bad.
“Try eating the other vegetables and tofu too. People have to eat a lot of things.”
“Very well.”
Urged by Koutarou, the girl sampled the other dishes on the table as well. Since it was her first time trying them all, it was a rather slow and involved process because she stopped to take a close look at each and every one. But she seemed to be enjoying herself. And Koutarou, who was watching over, was enjoying himself every bit as much as she was.
“Satomi-kun seems to be in a good mood. Is it because of what’s happened over the past few days?” Maki asked Harumi after observing him for a while. She was whispering so as not to bother Koutarou and the others.
“That’s true, I think that’s a big part of it,” Harumi said with a nod back at Maki.
Over the past week, the girls of room 106 had slowly disappeared one after another, putting Koutarou in an alarmingly stressful situation. But now that it had been resolved, Koutarou was carefreely eating dinner again just like normal. Maki and Harumi both agreed that it was only natural that he’d be in a good mood after what he’d been through.
“I thought so,” said Maki.
“On top of that, I also think that... that knowing his mom is living happily somewhere is a big weight off his shoulders,” replied Harumi.
She believed that knowing his mother was safe and sound somewhere in another life had a profound effect on Koutarou’s mood. He’d learned from the girl in the ruins that there were infinite worlds and that his mother was alive and well in many of them. Harumi knew that information must be a comfort to him.
“Please spare me from that, Sakuraba-senpai. Having someone your own age bringing up your mom is embarrassing,” Koutarou said with a wry smile when he overheard Maki and Harumi.
Harumi, however, was absolutely right. Koutarou had learned firsthand just the other day when he encountered Kashiwagi Shiori after all the other girls disappeared that there were other worlds. And to learn after that that his mother was still alive in at least one of them, Koutarou felt somewhat redeemed. Yet even though Koutarou had started to mature into a man, he was still in his teenage years. Having to talk about his mom in front of all his friends was just too embarrassing. But he also wanted to be considerate of Maki. Her parents had sold her off as a child and she had no fond memories of them, so Koutarou tried to tactfully avoid conversations like this in front of her.
“But doesn’t it bother you? Don’t you want to know how she’s doing? Don’t you want to see her?” Maki pried.
She had a very gentle look in her eyes. She was a mind-manipulating indigo magician, but she didn’t need magic to tell that Koutarou was worried for her. It made her realize that she now had people who were far more precious to her than her family, which was why she had no problem talking about such matters now. So when Maki asked him about his mother so directly, he had no choice but to raise the white flag.
“I can’t say it doesn’t bother me...” he said, scratching his head and reluctantly baring his heart. “But even so... when she said she would grant any wish, it wasn’t my mother I wished for. It was something else. Asking for my mom on top of that would just be too greedy.”
Standing before the Goddess of Dawn herself, Koutarou had wished for the lost nine girls. They were the most important thing to Koutarou right now. Asking for anything more felt like too much. It would also break the rule he and Clan had once set for themselves to only use their powers to solve the problems in front of them.
“Master, even if you don’t directly meet her or change history... can you not just take a peek?”
Ruth was more or less agreed with Koutarou, but she didn’t see the harm in him just looking to see how his mother was doing.
“Would you like to see?”
There, the girl from the ruins stopped eating and looked up at Koutarou. With her powers, taking a peek into a different world was easy.
“No, that’s...”
Saying that he didn’t want to see her would be a lie, but his reserve pumped the breaks on his desires. His heart was telling him it wasn’t fair.
“I think taking a peek is fine. You’re way too serious, Satomi-kun,” Shizuka said with a bittersweet smile.
Shizuka was of a similar disposition and had lost her parents at an early age. She understood better than anyone the desire to reconnect with lost loved ones and the guilt Koutarou must feel at being the only one who could. But even then, she believed it would be okay. She wasn’t as thick-headed as Koutarou.
“Incidentally, I’ve met you 5,670,000,000 times in those ruins. You taking just a little peak into any of those lifetimes is well within the margin of error.”
“See? Even Rainbow says it’s okay, so just go ahead and give it a looksee.”
“But...”
“If taking a peek will help you face your lot in this life, Satomi-kun, then I’m sure we would all be happier for it.”
“Sakuraba-senpai...”
Harumi was suggesting that instead of living the rest of his life under such weight, he could shed the burden and use his newfound strength to change his life for the better... That made him feel differently about it. It wasn’t like he didn’t want to see his mom, after all.
“But even still...”
“Let me remind you of something, Satomi Koutarou,” interjected Kiriha. “Even if you take a peek at a parallel world right now, you won’t remember it.”
“What?”
“Did you forget? She’ll turn into a normal human at midnight, and when she does, all our memories of her and her powers will disappear. So even if you look tonight, you won’t remember in the morning. It will be like you had a dream.”
“...”
Harumi had reduced Koutarou’s resistance, and Kiriha dealt the finishing blow. Even if they broke their own rule, they’d go back to normal in a few hours. And in that case, why hold back? It was just like Kiriha to offer such sweet temptation.
So I take a peek at a parallel world where my mom is alive, then we all play around for a couple of hours before everything returns to normal tomorrow... Is that really okay?
“All right... Can I count on you?”
Between Harumi’s persuasiveness and Kiriha’s temptation, Koutarou eventually folded after some deliberation. The girls all giggled a little to themselves about it, thinking he was being overly serious. But that was part of his charm. It was that side of Koutarou that convinced them all that he’d never betray their trust.
“Yes. Anytime after dinner,” the girl from the ruins said with a nod and a satisfied smile on her face.
Things were turning out just as she’d hoped. Her way of thinking when it came to matters like this, after all, was the same as the other nine girls.
Koutarou would experience his vision of another world in the form of a dream. If the girl from the ruins shared her senses and memories with him directly, it would only invite confusion and complication. So instead the package would be nicely wrapped up into an easily digestible dream.
“So I should go to sleep?”
“Yes.”
Koutarou pushed the tea table aside and laid down in the inner room. The girl from the ruins sat next to him, and the remaining nine curiously looked on.
“It’s hard to fall asleep with all of you staring at me.”
“I can help with that.”
The girl put her hand on the troubled Koutarou’s forehead. It should have been one of the first times they’d ever touched, but her warmth felt strangely familiar to him. Perhaps it was because he knew the other girls so well... Or so he thought as he began to drift to sleep.
“Did you fall asleep already, Koutarou?” Theia teased.
“I think he did,” replied Clan. “Actually, if you’re that loud, Veltlion might... Well, not wake up. He doesn’t wake up for anything. But it might disturb his dream.”
“That’s true. Sorry.”
“Maki-chan, why is Satomi-san grimacing?” asked Yurika.
“It’s a very similar world, so maybe he’s a little perplexed. I’m sure he’ll gradually get used to it,” Maki replied.
“Looks like it. Koutarou’s aura is becoming more stable,” observed Sanae.
Led by the girl from the ruins, Koutarou had a dream of a parallel world. He was confused at first, which could plainly be seen on his face. But after a few minutes, he was dead asleep and snoring like usual.
“Kiriha-sama, is becoming accustomed to a different world so fast common?”
“You can experience hours of dream time when only a few minutes passes in reality. From Koutarou’s point of view, an hour or more might have already elapsed.”
“Well, Satomi-kun seems to be enjoying himself now,” noted Harumi.
There, everyone turned to look at Koutarou. And just as Harumi has suggested, the corners of his lips were turned up into a wide grin. He must be having a good dream.
“Oh god, wait... What’s with that face, Kiriha?”
Realizing that Koutarou was having a nice dream, all the girls smiled sweetly... All except Kiriha, who appeared troubled.
“I was just thinking about parallel worlds.”
“Are they dangerous?” Sanae asked.
“It’s nothing like that. I was just thinking that there’s a parallel world I’d like to see too.”
It turned out rather than troubled, Kiriha was simply thinking about something important. Something very precious to her. That was the cause of her pensive pause.
“What kind of world is that?” Sanae inquired.
“One where Koutarou and I are united.”
The moment those words left Kiriha’s mouth, the room froze over and fell silent. Her words weighed heavily on all the girls. It was something they’d each imagined at least once, after all. Something they were all still hoping might happen at some point. And now they wanted to see it too. Wondering what she’d say next, the remaining eight girls wordlessly started at Kiriha.
“I can’t say that this world isn’t similar now that Koutarou has finally accepted us, but things will take time. Koutarou might even take a step backward after our memories are erased. That’s why I was thinking I wanted to get a glimpse of a world where my wish came true. Besides, our memories will disappear after tonight too, so it’s not like it would affect us moving forward.”
The moment Kiriha revealed her true motives, the frozen, silent apartment erupted. The other eight girls of room 106 swarmed Kiriha, all talking over one another.
“That’s it! I want to take a look at the future as well!” declared Theia.
“Kiriha, you really are a genius!” praised Sanae.
“Agreed! I want hope that it will happen someday!” pleaded Yurika.
“I supposed I have to agree. But only because everyone else is, you hear me?” hedged Clan.
“My lovey-dovey life with Satomi-kun, huh? I wonder if I’ll move down here from room 206... Heehee, I wonder if I can balance being a landlord and a girlfriend...” giggled Shizuka.
“Does an agent of evil like me get to know normal happiness? I would love to know...” wondered Maki.
“I-It’s still not real... but... Master and I being in l-love... Kyaaah! I don’t know if I can!” squealed Ruth.
“I-I wonder if I could be a proper girlfriend to Satomi-kun... hahh...” sighed Harumi.
All the girls, their eyes sparkling, were in whole-hearted agreement. While Koutarou was having a dream of his own, they would each take a peek into a world where they were together with Koutarou.
Harumi was a very serious girl and worried that using an almighty power just to see into another world where she and Koutarou were a couple would be an abuse of power. It was completely different than Koutarou asking to see his lost mother again. She was still willing to look anyway, however, because she was concerned about whether or not she would make a good girlfriend for Koutarou. She believed and hoped they might one day end up a couple in this world too, but she had reservations about whether or not she was fit for the job. Could she be his girlfriend, and more importantly, could she help heal his heart?
Most of the girls shared her worries to some degree. The only ones who didn’t were the optimistic Sanae, and Yurika who had forgotten the problem even existed in the first place. But everyone else was quite serious about this, and they ran into trouble deciding who would get to go first.
“Rock, paper, scissors! Rock, paper, scissors!”
But things being what they were, the girls talked it out and ultimately decided that they would determine the order based on a simple game.
“Rock, paper, scissors! Rock, paper, scissors!”
After twenty-two rounds of rock, paper, scissors, they finally ended up with one of them throwing paper when the other eight threw rock.
“Harumi did it! She is victorious!” declared Theia.
“I-I won?!” Harumi stammered.
“Yes. Congratulations, Sakuraba-san,” cheered Maki.
“I...”
She had prayed for her victory, but hadn’t expected to actually win. Born with a weak constitution, Harumi had spent most of her life passively taking a backseat in things. She’d just naturally assumed she’d have to wait. So when Theia and Maki congratulated her on her victory, she looked around at everyone’s hands in disbelief. She was indeed the only one holding paper.
“Congratulations, Harumi. I have no complaints if you’re first,” said Clan.
“This works out,” added Sanae. “The only person nobody would complain about winning actually won.”
“I certainly have no complaints with Sakuraba-senpai going first either,” said Yurika.
The three of them were smiling at Harumi. All the girls. While they were disappointed that they hadn’t won, this outcome pleased them. The reason for that was Harumi herself. She was the oldest, after all. Not to mention kind and thoughtful. No one was sorry to see her go first.
“Now, Harumi, please lie down over here,” called the girl from the ruins.
She’d been watching over the whole affair and now calmly guided Harumi over to lie down next to Koutarou.
“O-Okay.”
It was only now that it started to sink in for Harumi that she’d really won. She couldn’t take her eyes off of the sleeping Koutarou.
I’ll be going... to a world where we’re lovers...
Harumi herself wouldn’t be going so as not to affect anything in that particular parallel world. She’d only be seeing it in the form of a dream. But she couldn’t help imagining that it would really be her as Koutarou’s girlfriend, and as such, her emotions were running amok inside her. She was part uneasy, part hopeful. And as she wished to be able to be together with Koutarou in her own way, she laid down next to him.
“Let’s begin.”
Like she’d done with Koutarou, the girl from the ruins put her hand over Harumi’s forehead and smiled. She was the hidden side of all nine girls, so she of course had no objection to them sneaking a peek into other worlds when they didn’t.
Even if she takes a look now, in the end...
But she also had her own thoughts on the matter, which was why she was speaking in a casual tone with a casual smile. In contrast, Harumi looked to her and answered seriously.
“Yes! Please!”
This was, after all, a direly serious affair to her. She was determined to absorb everything she could about being worthy girlfriend.
“Sweet dreams, Harumi-sama.”
“Thank you, Ruth-san.”
“Give us all the deets later, okay, Sakuraba-senpai?”
“I just hope it’s anything worth telling, Kasagi-san...”
All the other girls watched Harumi, their eyes full of anticipation. They were all waiting to see how things would go, and their actions would depend on that. The expectation weighed heavily on Harumi, but only for a few fleeting moments. The hand on her forehead was guiding her into the land of dreams.
While Harumi was witnessing a glimpse of a parallel world, the experience wasn’t much different from having a lucid dream. She fell asleep and the dream began from nothingness. But rather than a bunch of disconnected scenes, it was like she was watching a thoughtful movie of her life—or something close to it.
This is our school... but it’s different.
Harumi quickly realized what she was looking at was Kisshouharukaze High School. The school was currently undergoing an expansion, so there was scaffolding here and there all about campus. She could see no sign of it in her dream, however, indicating this was a vision of something that had happened in the relative past.
I wonder where I am here? And... I wonder where Satomi-kun is...
And just as Harumi began to focus on her objective, she heard someone cry out...
“P-Please stop! Let go!”
It was a troubled girl looking for help. That alone was enough to set off all kinds of alarms, but what truly got Harumi’s attention was the familiarity of the voice.
“It’s fine, right? You want members, and I want to go out with you. It’s win-win, don’t you think?”
“That’s not what this society is for!”
Harumi hurriedly turned to look in the direction it was coming from to see a male student grabbing a female student by the arm.
Th-That’s me from two years ago!
Indeed, not only the voice was familiar to her. This was the same scene that had played out the day exam results for prospective students were announced. She was on campus that day trying to recruit new members for the knitting society, but things weren’t going well. Since she was mostly standing quietly by herself, a sleazy male student had taken the opportunity to approach her unwelcomed.
When Harumi saw the situation and recognized it—remembered it—her point of view and feelings began overlapping with the Harumi of this world.
That’s right... I was desperate and didn’t know what to do...
The Harumi of two years ago was overwhelmed with surprise and fear. She was scared and desperate for a way out of the terrible situation.
“But you don’t have enough members, right? Time to face facts.”
“No! Let go of me!”
As Harumi’s perspective continued to merge with herself in this world, she began sharing in her senses as well. She took a step back and tried to escape from the male student’s grip. It was just as she remembered; she knew exactly how this Harumi felt. But of course she did—it was her, after all. And that was exactly why the present Harumi remained calm. She knew her knight would come save her.
“Ouch!”
Ouch!
A sharp pain suddenly shot through Harumi’s right wrist. It was because she was struggling to wrest free of the male student’s grip—something she hadn’t expected. And accordingly, both Harumi’s let out a yelp in surprise.
H-Huh? Did I hurt my wrist back then?
Harumi was perplexed. She couldn’t remember ever hurting her wrist. She’d been so startled and scared in the heat of the moment that she didn’t remember exactly everything with clarity, but she was quite certain that she hadn’t hurt her wrist that day.
“Welcome! Oh my, aren’t you a cutie?”
Fortunately, however, the pain seemed to be the only thing that deviated from her memories.
Satomi-kun! I knew you’d come!
Everything after that moment played out exactly as she remembered it with Koutarou, who just happened to be walking by, scared off the student who was harassing her with a little flamboyance. At the time, however, Harumi was a little too shaken to appreciate that. She barely knew what was happening. It was only after the sleazy male student disappeared that Harumi finally realized that Koutarou had come to her rescue.
“Phew. There are so many idiots this time of year... I sure hope he’s not in my class.”
Koutarou was angry. He hated selfish and unreasonable people.
That’s so like Satomi-kun, heehee...
And Harumi understood that now. Rather than saving Harumi, he wanted the male student to check himself. He’d just had a very interesting way of going about achieving that.
“Um... Thank you very much.”
“Wha?!”
Koutarou was genuinely surprised when Harumi thanked him. He’d forgotten she even existed.
Satomi-kun truly didn’t expect anything from anyone back then...
He made sure he walked the right path and kept his promises. That was all. He never expected anything from anyone else and, because of that, instinctively kept them at a distance. He’d never even considered the possibility of Harumi thanking him.
“Ah, I’m sorry for startling you!”
“Oh, no, I’m sorry. I forgot you were here too.”
When Koutarou finally came to his senses and realized Harumi was standing right there in front of him, he scratched his head bashfully and apologized. Seeing that, Harumi smiled.
Ah, I remember this... If Satomi-kun hadn’t said that, I might have been scared of him too. It’s almost like our flaws meshed together well...
Reliving her first encounter with Koutarou made Harumi realize how precarious of a tightrope walk it had been. One misstep and they never would’ve ended up the way they had.
A fateful encounter... There’s no doubt we would’ve come together somehow, someday thanks to Alaia-sama, but to think this was all balancing on a razor’s edge...
Harumi was more than happy with the way her relationship with Koutarou had taken form, but she had no confidence it would ever play out the same way again. The smallest altered detail, the slightest change... She was sure it might have led to something different.
“?!”
And just as Harumi was contemplating that, it happened. After Koutarou agreed to join the knitting society, Harumi pointed to the desk she’d been using to take applications and began to explain the process. When she did, however, there was another pang in her wrist.
“Is something the matter?”
“I seem to have twisted my wrist...”
And there, Harumi of two years ago said something the current Harumi never had. The reason for it was a trivial—she’d put a little too much force into trying to escape the male student, or perhaps he’d put a little too much force into trying to hold on to her. But that was the beginning of a story the current Harumi didn’t know.
As it turned out, she was right. The way things had played out between her and Koutarou two years ago was unique. The smallest detail, the slightest difference... It would lead to something different.
Club recruitment began the day exam results were announced for prospective students. In other words, it was still in the middle of the spring break. So when Koutarou and Harumi arrived at the school clinic, there was no nurse waiting for them.
“Just wait right here, Senpai.”
“What are you going to do?”
“I used to get all banged up playing baseball in middle school. You could say I was a regular in the nurse’s office, so I learned a thing or two about first aid. Leave this to me.”
“I see. Then I’m in your care.”
Koutarou sat Harumi down in a chair and began scouring the clinic’s cabinets. Of course, all the medicines and specialty tools were behind locked doors. But Koutarou wasn’t after any of that. He just needed basic first aid supplies like bandages and salves.
I don’t remember any of this... And I don’t remember Satomi-kun telling me he played baseball, either. I only knew he was athletic.
The current Harumi was looking at Koutarou through the eyes of herself in this world. Their relationship was already off to a different start. The differences were minor—what Kiriha or Clan likely would have described as a result of quantum fluctuations. Just Harumi hurting her wrist wasn’t enough to generate a divergence in the river of time. But Harumi knew this wasn’t her past. She was witnessing something that took place in a different world, a different timeline. She was overwhelmed by what she was watching, but unable to take her eyes off of it... this somewhat different life of hers.
“All right, here we go.”
“Sorry for all the trouble.”
Once he had the tools he needed, Koutarou walked back over to Harumi and sat down in a chair facing her.
“Ah, don’t mention it. You’re the one who’s going to be looking after me from today on, you know?”
“Then I’ll be sure to take good care of you as thanks.”
“Haha, please do.”
After they exchanged smiles, Koutarou took Harumi’s hand.
Maybe this is just what you call a lucky break... They’re talking a lot and they seem a little closer than we were...
Watching the two of them, Harumi thought back on how she and Koutarou had never talked like this two years ago. It seemed injuring her wrist had given them this opportunity. Koutarou’s serious side, the one that couldn’t stand not to help those in need, overrode his desire to push people away. And, naturally, the longer he and Harumi talked, the closer they got. One small difference had paved the way for a totally different world.
But how am I going to handle this development? It’s so unexpected...
Harumi was pleased with this development, but it also made her nervous. Knowing how timid and shy she was back then, she was worried that she wouldn’t be able to keep up with how quickly things were progressing between her and Koutarou. While current Harumi anxiously watched on, Koutarou began examining her injury.
“I’m going to touch you a little, okay?”
“O-Okay.”
At first his hand hovered just above hers, but then, with the utmost care, Koutarou gently took Harumi’s wrist. When he did, she could feel his warmth... and it shook her world. Current Harumi, meanwhile, continued to watch over the two of them with a smile.
Of course you’d be shaken after a boy you don’t know touches you. And so suddenly... I know how you feel. Good luck, me...
It was some time yet from this point before the current Harumi had gotten to experience such a thing. She knew how intense it must be for her shy, younger self to go through it so soon. It was only a brief touch, but to an introverted girl like her, just getting first aid like this was a rather rattling experience. It was heartwarming to watch, really, and she prayed for the best of luck for her other self... despite being a little jealous. This Harumi was getting along better with Koutarou, and faster too. She couldn’t help but wish the same had been true for her.
“Does it hurt?”
“Just being touched isn’t enough for it to hurt.”
“What if you move it?”
“That does hurt, yes.”
“Then let’s fix it in place.”
Koutarou applied a poultice to Harumi’s wrist and then wrapped it tightly with a bandage to discourage her from moving it, similar to a cast or splint.
So she gets to see him make that face from day one... I really am a little envious...
Koutarou’s expression as he was taking care of Harumi was a lot like the expression he wore while knitting in earnest—something that had charmed Harumi. She hadn’t gotten to see it until they started club activities at the beginning of the semester, but this version of herself got to see it the day she met Koutarou thanks to her injury. She really was a little jealous.
“Okay, that should do it.”
“U-Um... thank you very much,” Harumi said, blushing.
Koutarou assumed that her red cheeks meant she was nervous after what had just happened, but that wasn’t all. The truth was that she’d gotten flustered to see him put his heart into treating her.
Who wouldn’t be interested in him after seeing that face?
She could read this Harumi’s flustered feelings like a book—they were her own, after all.
And she knew that she would unconsciously start to look for Koutarou around school after this. In short, she was standing at the doorstep of love.
“Now make sure you get to the hospital right away, okay?”
“But I’m still in the middle of recruitment...”
“Right away, got it?”
“B-But... um...”
“I’m serious. My first aid’s just a stopgap. You really need to have a professional look at it.”
“Y-Yes, you’re right...”
Harumi had intended to go back to recruiting new members, but Koutarou’s strong insistence made her back down. When he looked at her with those serious eyes, she just couldn’t say now. Considering her personality and the budding love taking hold of her heart, it was only inevitable.
“Then at least let me write your name down in the— Ah, names! I never introduced myself, did I?!”
“Now that you mention it...”
Now that Koutarou had treated Harumi’s wrist, the interaction between the two of them returned to something familiar. Facing each other, they introduced themselves.
“I’m Satomi Koutarou. It’s nice to meet you.”
“I’m Harumi. Sakuraba Harumi. I’m the president of the knitting society.”
But it was only the introduction that was the same. Behind it were already very different feelings than what the current Harumi had experienced—feelings that would cause the paths these two Harumis had walked to diverge greatly.
After that day, Harumi and Koutarou didn’t see again until Sunday, April 5th—the day before the start of the new school year. Harumi remembered it well. With the new term looming, she’d gone to the hospital for a checkup. She wanted to make sure she was in good health, both for the sake of her academics and her extracurricular activities.
With a new member joining the knitting society, she was hardly even sure what to do. Her surprise encounter with Koutarou the day before school started, however, went a long way to shaking things up. It caught the timid and introverted Harumi completely off guard, and even now she could remember how desperate she’d been not to let her emotions show.
So events are following the same pattern here... but I sure am shaken up. Satomi-kun probably didn’t know since we’d only just met, but I’m sure he’d be able to tell right away now, heehee...
Harumi watched as the Koutarou of this world turned to show the bandage on the back of his head to the shaken Harumi.
“I’m not sick, just a little banged up. Here, look.”
“Are you okay?”
She instantly looked worried, but the bandage was only covering a bump Koutarou had gotten in a little accident at his part-time job on the local dig site. Realizing that it wasn’t anything serious, Harumi let out a sigh.
Ah, I see! This is the day Satomi-kun met that girl at the ruins!
Upon hearing Koutarou’s explanation of what happened and realizing the date, the current Harumi was astonished. Today was the day everything began, and the Harumi and Koutarou of this world had no idea. Of course, the current Harumi hadn’t realized it back then either. This day was a major crossroads for Koutarou and the girls.
“Doesn’t it hurt?”
“It’s still a little painful, but it doesn’t hurt anymore when you touch it, Sakuraba-senpai.”
“Oh, thank god...”
The Harumi of this world had reached out and gently stroked Koutarou’s bandage. She was hoping to comfort Koutarou, hoping she could help heal him.
What?! Was I always this bold?!
Her actions took the current Harumi completely by surprise. She didn’t remember patting Koutarou’s head like that. And even though she was watching herself do it, she had no idea why. It startled her enough that it put any and all thoughts of the girl from the ruins out of her mind.
“What about you, Sakuraba-senpai?”
“Yes, I’m all better.”
But the reason soon became apparent. Harumi had reached out for Koutarou with her right hand... and when she did, Koutarou gently stroked the bandage on her wrist in return.
“Do you still feel any pain?”
“It doesn’t hurt even if I move it now.”
“I’m glad there were no lasting effects.”
“I owe it all to your first aid, Satomi-kun.”
Harumi was smiling and didn’t seem to be hurting in the slightest. In fact, she seemed quite happy... if not a little bashful.
Oh, it’s my wrist! Thanks to that, I can be a little bolder around injuries!
Putting the pieces together, the current Harumi began to see what was happening. Because Koutarou had treated her injury, she felt more comfortable trying to help him with his. It was only natural that she’d sympathize and want to return the favor after he’d helped her like he did. That much made sense.
“Hey! Her boyfriend’s back!”
“Wah! And they’re all lovey-dovey!”
That was when the children who’d spotted Koutarou came running over to him and Harumi. They knew her quite well because she’d often read them storybooks while she was at the hospital herself. They spent a lot of time together, and Harumi considered the children at the hospital very dear friends.
Huh? Did she say again?
And interestingly enough, they revealed a tidbit of information about what was going on here. In this world, Koutarou had met Harumi here before.
“He’s not my boyfriend! He only came with me to the hospital because he was worried about my wrist!”
“You see, Sakuraba-senpai was secretly trying to continue recruiting... I mean, trying to keep doing her job, so I brought her here myself.”
Apparently after Koutarou had left Harumi in the nurse’s office that day, Harumi decided to put off her promise to him and go back to recruiting new members. Koutarou had spotted her on his way back from checking out the baseball team and dragged her to the hospital right then and there.
“That’s exactly what a boyfriend does!”
“Yeah! Are you sure you’re not her boyfriend?”
“I told you he’s not my boyfriend yet!”
“Not yet?”
“That’s right!”
“You mean he will be in the future?”
“E-Eeek! N-No, that’s not... That’s not what I meant, Satomi-kun!”
“...I wouldn’t mind.”
“Attaboy!”
“Not you too, Satomi-kun! Goodness!”
Harumi’s injured wrist was a small pebble tossed into the pool of her fate. The ripples that flowed outward from it crossed over each other as they bounced back from the shore, creating a completely different pattern on the water. The current Harumi, looking at those ripples now, couldn’t even imagine how things would be when it all finally settled. All she knew for certain was that, somehow out of all of this, she and Koutarou would be united. She patiently waited to see how as she felt her fate in this world change direction. Her heart was racing all the while, just like the Harumi of this world right now.
Harumi’s back-and-forth with Koutarou and the children wasn’t the only thing different about their encounter today. The way the current Harumi remembered it, she’d parted ways with Koutarou when Kenji showed up and called him over. But that didn’t happen here. Instead, Koutarou called Kenji over and introduced him to Harumi. It seemed Harumi’s feelings weren’t the only ones that were slightly different in this world.
“Sakuraba-senpai, this is Mackenzie. Matsudaira Kenji, or Mackenzie for short.”
“Yeah, I’m Matsudaira. Nice to meet you. And thanks for taking care of Kou.”
“Oh, no. He’s the one who’s been taking care of me.”
There, Harumi shook her head and glanced down at her right wrist.
Kenji wasn’t sure what that meant, but he could imagine it was something special. The look in Harumi’s eyes was wistful and she was blushing ever so slightly.
“Mackenzie, this is Sakuraba Harumi-senpai. She’s the president of the knitting society that I’ll be joining starting tomorrow.”
“Knitting society...?” Kenji muttered as he looked at Harumi’s face.
He knew why Koutarou might want to join a club like that. He knew about the half-knit sweater his mother had left behind.
Is Kou going to learn knitting from her so he can finish it? If she was able to convince him to do that, she must be something else...
Kenji quietly changed his evaluation of Harumi. His first impression had simply been that she was a frail, quiet girl. But with how well he knew Koutarou, he knew there had to be more to her than that. Just considering getting Harumi to teach him how to knit so that he could finish his late mother’s keepsake must have been a weighty decision for Koutarou.
“Yes. I’ll be serving as its president starting this year.”
“I see. Then please do take good care of Kou,” Kenji said with a bow of his head.
There was a great deal of meaning and feeling behind those words and that gesture, but the Harumi of this world didn’t realize the half of it. The current Harumi, however, did.
I’m already talking to Matsudaira-san here... In my case, that didn’t happen until after summer vacation. And it’s rare to see Matsudaira-san so serious... To think so much could change from just an injury...
The current Harumi was well aware of the circumstances with Koutarou’s mother and his relationship with Kenji. That’s why she could more or less guess what Kenji was thinking. It was a rather big deal, and she found it somewhat vexing that the Harumi of this world didn’t get it. The source of all this change was a mere injury. It had already healed, but the ripples were still shaking things up in her relationship with Koutarou... and this was just the start.
“Let’s do our best knitting together, Satomi-kun.”
“Yeah. I’m pretty clumsy, so I’m sure I’m not going to make things easy for you, but I’ll do my best.”
While the current Harumi watched on in wonder, this world’s Harumi continued peacefully chatting with Koutarou. Things between them were clearly progressing much faster than they had with the current Harumi and her Koutarou. Their upperclassman/underclassmen relationship was well established even before the entrance ceremony. Moreover, another more intimate bond was in the process of forming...
“Wow, even a good looking guy came to see you!”
“Are you going to change over to him?”
“There won’t be any changing!”
“So that big guy really is your first choice, huh?”
“So you don’t choose based on looks! What a model woman!”
“Don’t listen to them, Satomi-kun! I really don’t have any ulterior motives!”
“That’s too bad.”
“Hey, you’ve got a chance!”
“Isn’t that great?!”
“Satomi-kun, please stop making jokes like that with a straight face!”
More importantly, all the various bonds that were building between them would come together to strengthen each other into something altogether new: romantic interest. Their relationship was at the very least several weeks ahead of what the current Harumi had experienced. And at this rate, she felt it wouldn’t be long at all until they became a couple.
The knitting society’s club activities began the day after the entrance ceremony: Tuesday, April 7. Koutarou stopped by after school and Harumi showed him the very basics of knitting. That much was the same as what the current Harumi remembered, but the situation played out a little differently.
“I’m sorry about what happened at the hospital, Satomi-kun. I’ll be sure to scold those children.”
“You mean I don’t really have a chance after all?”
“Jeez, Satomi-kun! If you’re going to be like that, I won’t teach you how to knit!”
“Hahaha, I’m sorry.”
With the events of the hospital behind them, the two of them continued to chat about this and that. The current Harumi could only remember them talking about knitting. Things like how to hold the needles and yarn, proper form and techniques, and various and sundry other knitting-related topics. She couldn’t recall them just casually chatting like friends. The current Harumi had been too timid and shy back then; she hadn’t had the courage to bring up anything else.
“Sakuraba-senpai, what do I do when I get to the end?”
“I won’t be fooled by you trying to change the subject.”
“Come on, don’t say that. Please teach me.”
“Only after you’ve reflected on your actions.”
“I have and I’m very sorry, so please teach me what to do.”
“Heehee. Very good.”
But the Harumi of this world even had enough composure to make jokes. It wouldn’t be until much later that the current Harumi managed that. It seemed her injury had helped her get feeling vulnerable and exposed in front of Koutarou out of the way, which helped her put her best foot forward otherwise.
I guess if I get that out of the way and be like this around boys too...
The current Harumi thought back to her own past and felt like she’d tried a little too hard to be Koutarou’s senpai. As a result, their relationship hit something of a wall, leaving her to anguish over her one-sided feelings. It was the school play that finally helped her break through that wall. Koutarou helped her when she was struggling with acting, which deepened their bond and moved their relationship to the next level. In the end what Harumi really needed wasn’t to prove herself as his senpai, but to show him who she really was as Harumi. And she saw that more than ever right now.
“Do you mind if I ask you something?”
As if waiting for her to reach that conclusion, the Harumi of this world asked Koutarou a question. They’d been enjoying themselves so far, but she had a serious look on her face now.
“Of course not. Ask me anything.”
“I-In that case...” Harumi gulped and then said, “Satomi-kun, why did you decide to pick up knitting?”
It was something current Harumi had also asked Koutarou, and she remembered his answer quite well. She recited it in her head as he said it aloud.
“Why? It doesn’t suit me at all, right? Hahaha...”
“Why? It doesn’t suit me at all, right? Hahaha...”
It was the same, word for word. It warmed her heart with a nostalgia so intense that Harumi was sure her sleeping body might even be crying right now.
“Th-That’s not true! I was just wondering if this was boring for a boy...”
“I’ll tell you because you don’t look like the gossiping type.”
“Satomi-kun...?”
“The truth is that I have a half-knit sweater at home.”
“A sweater? I see...”
The conversation continued to play out as Harumi remembered it. Trusting in Harumi, Koutarou told her about the unfinished sweater. It was clear he hadn’t knit it himself, so Harumi knew someone else—someone important to Koutarou—must have left it behind. She could tell it was something special, and she resolved to help him even more because of it.
“It’s a keepsake from my mom. She passed away ten years ago, and my old man... He’s still not over it, so I...”
“Oh my...”
Koutarou’s sudden confession floored both Harumis. The Harumi of this world was simply shocked to hear about the tragedy, but the current Harumi was shocked that Koutarou would even bring it up.
He only told me that there was a half-knit sweater... but now he’s telling me about his mother!
Koutarou had originally revealed the story of the sweater to Harumi in three steps. First was merely telling her that it existed, second was telling her that it was a keepsake from his mother, and third was telling her that he wanted to be able to finish in so that he could find closure. And at this juncture, Koutarou had already revealed the first two to the Harumi of this world. Even taking into account that he was only telling her the story to give her context for teaching him how to knit, it was still surprising.
I really might actually become Satomi-kun’s girlfriend in this world!
Harumi hadn’t doubted what the girl from the ruins had said. She was sure that there were worlds where it happened, but she still had to wonder if she and Koutarou had really become one in the truest sense. If they didn’t face each other and support one another, then in Harumi’s eyes, they couldn’t really be called partners. She was worried that they’d only connected in a superficial sense—that they were only saying they were dating. In short, she hadn’t trusted herself.
But this means I can do this one day too!
Seeing this play out right in front of her, however, was a ray of hope. The Harumi of this world was taking all the right steps—and rather quickly, at that—to build a relationship with Koutarou. At this rate, they might become the kind of couple that Harumi desired them to be. And if it worked out, Harumi could then use this as reference to help build her own relationship with Koutarou.
“I want to finish it with my own hands one day. Hahaha, but who knows how long it’ll take before someone as clumsy as I am can do it?”
“I understand, Satomi-kun. I’ll make sure... I’ll definitely make sure you’re able to finish that sweater!”
Hearing Koutarou’s story made the Harumi of this world cry. She didn’t break down sobbing, but looked up at Koutarou with tears glistening in her eyes. There was an unusual power behind her words. She was surprised to learn that Koutarou’s motivation was to complete his mother’s keepsake, but it was more than enough to convince her. And she knew she’d regret it terribly if she didn’t give her all to helping him out.
That’s right! You have to see this through! For Satomi-kun’s sake and your own!
The current Harumi agreed with the Harumi of this world. Going into this half-heartedly wouldn’t bring them happiness even if they did end up becoming a couple. Both Harumi’s saw it as a necessity to go all-in. That would be how they moved forward.
“R-Really?!”
“Yes, absolutely!”
But that didn’t mean there wasn’t trepidation. Koutarou looked at Harumi with eyes full of trust, yet he was looking at her as a teacher and not a woman. The tearful Harumi of this world hadn’t realized that, but the current Harumi certainly did.
“Let’s do our best t-together, Satomi-kun...”
“I’ll be counting on you, Sakuraba-senpai.”
Those words summed it up well. Koutarou felt nothing but gratitude and respect for Harumi and her assistance.
Satomi-kun, those aren’t the feelings we’re looking for...
Looking at it in isolation, there was nothing wrong with that. But in the bigger picture, it was problematic for Harumi. Until Koutarou could move past his reverence for Harumi, his gratitude and respect for her, he would never make a move. For the current Harumi, Koutarou’s feelings for her and his reverence for her had come to terms with each other while their relationship was still in the process of forming. But in this world, Koutarou and Harumi’s relationship was building so fast that Koutarou’s reverence for her posed a very tall wall that he’d need to scale before things could progress any further. Realizing that, the current Harumi couldn’t help worrying for them as she watched over the blossoming couple.
The obstacle marathon went more or less the way Harumi recalled it. Just like she had, the Harumi of this world began to see Koutarou more and more as a man. She also became friends with Yurika.
I see... I remember hearing about it, but to think all this happened behind the scenes...
Harumi had later learned about the secret battle taking place between the four invaders and Koutarou. She’d been oblivious to it while the marathon was taking place, so this was her first time seeing it in a different light. The fearsome encounter between Theia and Kiriha was especially stunning, but it was all endearing to see. It had long bothered Harumi that she hadn’t been involved in things with the others for the first year or so of their friendship, and this gave her an insider’s look into what had happened.
“Still, to think you and Yurika would win, Sakuraba-senpai...”
“I can’t say I ever dreamed it would happen myself.”
While the race went how Harumi remembered it, what happened afterward played out differently. In this world, Koutarou and Harumi were headed to the knitting society’s club room together.
“I’d say it’s a case of reaping your just rewards.”
“Oh, it’s nothing that special... I just got lucky...”
“The important thing is how much effort you put into it once you decided to participate. Without that, I don’t think you could’ve won even if the opportunity presented itself. But you did it and seized victory with your own hands, Sakuraba-senpai.”
The Harumi of this world was currently walking down the hall holding the marathon trophy in both hands. It was big and heavy, so Koutarou had offered to carry it for her, but she’d insisted. She was proud of it and wanted to carry it herself as they walked back to the club room together.
“Here, let me get the door for you.”
“Satomi-kun, they key’s in my breast pocket. Can you get it?”
“Er, Sakuraba-senpai, that’s a little...”
“What are you— Oh! Oh my!”
Once they reached the club room, Harumi handed the trophy to Koutarou so she could get the key and open the door. She then took the trophy back and they entered the club room together.
“...”
“...”
Harumi’s face was beet red, which she tried to hide behind the giant trophy She was kicking herself mentally for asking Koutarou to go into her breast pocket.
Clack!
Because of the awkward silence looming between the two of them, the sound of Harumi setting the heavy trophy on the shelf sounded especially loud. But neither one of them said a word after that. There was only more silence. All Harumi could hear was the pounding of her racing heart.
“A-Anyways, Sakuraba-senpai!” Koutarou was the one to finally break the silence. He couldn’t stand it anymore. “Congratulations on winning.”
“Thank you very much. It was all thanks to your help, Satomi-kun,” Harumi replied in an equally eager tone.
She too was more than ready to escape the silence and happily followed Koutarou’s lead. And with that, things were quickly back to normal between them.
“I only taught you what I knew. You’re the one who did all the hard work, Sakuraba-senpai...”
“Satomi-kun...”
“That’s Sakuraba-senpai for you. I see now I wasn’t wrong to think you were so amazing.”
Looking at the trophy, Koutarou glanced over at Harumi. He was no longer awkwardly shaken. No, now there was respect and confidence glinting in his eyes. Seeing that, both Harumis thought and said simultaneously...
I don’t want you to think I’m amazing...
“I don’t want you to think I’m amazing...”
Neither Harumi wanted Koutarou to see her as something untouchable. In fact, the Harumi of this world had only just become cognizant of it, but she only wanted Koutarou to see her as a girl. The current Harumi felt the same way, and she was unsatisfied with how Koutarou was looking at her. Their feelings overlapped perfectly.
“What?”
“N-Nothing!”
Harumi panicked and tried to hide those feelings, but they had at last taken a clear shape inside her heart. She didn’t want Koutarou to behold her with reverence. She wanted him to behold her with affection.
That’s right! We can’t go on like this! We need to break through that wall we just felt!
Watching over the Harumi of this world, the current Harumi cheered her on. She’d been puzzled by the differences between them at first, but she’d adjusted and now sympathized endlessly with her other self. It was still her, after all. Everything she said and did felt right in its own way, which led the current Harumi to believe more and more that this life really could have taken place. Moreover, that something like it still one day could... But for now, she’d pray for things to go well between her and Koutarou in this world.
Just as Harumi had feared, her relationship with Koutarou in this world had reached something of a standstill. Because they’d gotten so close so quickly, they’d hit a wall: becoming more than just schoolmates. Koutarou’s strong respect for Harumi got in the way of his other feelings, holding him back when it came to getting over that wall. Moreover, the events happening around the two of them were conspiring to complicate things... like when they met at the beach during summer vacation.
“We’re club mates, right?”
“Yes, you’re always helping me out a lot.”
Koutarou had gotten into a fight with a friend and was looking for her along the beach. He wasn’t exactly sure what he’d done to hurt her feelings, and he wasn’t sure he’d be able to make up with her even if he found her. In the middle of his search, however, he stumbled across Harumi.
“But I could also say it like this... We’re complete strangers that just happen to be in the same club.”
“That’s...”
“The truth, in a way.”
After hearing what had happened between Koutarou and his friend, the sensitive Harumi knew exactly what was going on. She explained it to Koutarou as best she could—she had to. She wanted to guide him in the right direction, both as his senpai and as a girl who had feelings for him.
“If you had said that when we first met, I wouldn’t have thought much of it. But right now, it would make me sad, even though it might be the truth.”
“...”
“What about you, Satomi-kun?”
“...Yeah. I was a little shocked when you said it just now.”
“Then I think it’s the same for your friend too. ‘I know it’s the truth. At first I really felt that way, but as time passed, those feelings changed. I just hate thinking about it that way. There must be another way. I want there to be.’ Don’t you think that’s what she might be feeling?”
“She’s...”
“But if you were brutally honest, Satomi-kun, that’s like calling us complete strangers.”
“Ah...”
“I’m sure it was hard to hear. I also want Satomi-kun to think of me as a friend. I don’t want to hear you say we’re just complete strangers...”
“So that’s why...!”
Harumi loved smiling at Koutarou, but she could also admonish him when necessary. She gave him the best advice she could. And Koutarou was grateful for it. He looked at her with earnest, admiring eyes, completely oblivious of how Harumi truly felt.
“Satomi-kun...”
She watched him go with longing in her heart. Once he was out of view, she cast her eyes down and let out a sigh.
“Why did I say I wanted you to think of me as a friend too...?”
That was what she’d wanted when they first met. Really and truly. But right now, that wasn’t all. There was something more... At least, she wanted there to be. Before she knew it, her feelings had changed.
“I’m... a coward... and a liar...”
She was unable to be honest like she had told Koutarou to be. She couldn’t even follow her own advice, which was painfully disheartening.
That’s right. This is on me... I’m the one who has to climb that wall. I’m the one who needs to tell Satomi-kun how I feel.
The current Harumi knew what the Harumi of this world was going through. She’d been through it herself, after all. But the Harumi of this world was even closer with Koutarou than she’d been when it happened... That made it all the more painful, though the current Harumi knew that pain would become motivation to move forward. Forward, up and over that wall.
After her encounter with Koutarou at the beach, the Harumi of this world underwent a small transformation. She began wearing a white ribbon around her right wrist, which Koutarou noticed when the knitting society resumed club activities after summer break.
“What’s this? Did you hurt your wrist again, Sakuraba-senpai?”
“Oh, no. This is a ribbon, not a bandage.”
“Oh, my bad. It just happened to be in the same place...”
“Heehee. I forgive you, Satomi-kun.”
Harumi laughed it off with a giggle, but Koutarou wasn’t really all that far off. She wasn’t wearing the ribbon as a fashion statement, but as a reminder of a promise she made to herself—a promise to be more active in building the relationship she’d started with Koutarou the day she hurt her wrist.
“Maybe I should wrap a piece of cloth around my head like a headband or something too.”
“You shouldn’t. It really would look like a bandage.”
“Then I’ll make it a ribbon like yours.”
“I bet that would be very cute on you.”
“Hrm, I’m not sure I want that.”
“I don’t think I do either...”
“Why is that?”
“W-Well... I’d feel responsible for making a tough guy like you look so silly and girly. I’m the one who dragged you into knitting and all...”
“I consider myself the athletic type, yeah. But maybe it’s time for a new Koutarou.”
“Please no.”
Harumi had carefully selected the ribbon she was wearing, welcoming the idea that Koutarou might come to see a more feminine side of her. And since it had already struck up a conversation between them, it seemed to be doing the trick.
I was never this assertive... I could learn a thing or two from her.
The current Harumi gave the ribbon idea high marks. She could change up the color or the style for special occasions and the like, so it would turn into a frequent point of conversation. Moreover, Koutarou might start to look for it... Meaning he’d be looking her way more often. The ribbon in and of itself was a very minor thing, but it might yet bring big changes—just like hurting her wrist had. Harumi decided she’d give it a try herself once she woke up from her dream.
After that, the Harumi of this world began switching up the color and style of her ribbon just as the current Harumi had suspected she would. Great minds think alike, after all. And on this particular day, Harumi was wearing a blue ribbon around her wrist. The horoscopes had said that would be the day’s lucky color, but Harumi hadn’t liked the look of the blue on its own, so she’d chosen a blue ribbon lined with white lace. It was a lovely, feminine choice for the lovely and feminine Harumi.
“You there! Would you like to become a princess?!”
“Huh?”
Harumi could only answer the drama club president with a dumb look, squandering the increased cuteness her ribbon afforded her. But her reaction was only natural. Anyone would respond the same way after being asked to become a princess out of the blue like that.
“Sakuraba-senpai can do it, President-san! She’s perfect!”
“I know! She just looks like she was made for the job!”
Koutarou and the drama club president were going on about something so excitedly that they forgot to stop and explain anything to Harumi. Troubled, she decided to ask them about it.
“Um, I’m sorry, but I don’t have any idea what you two are talking about...”
There, the drama club president turned to Harumi and began gesticulating wildly.
“You know that we’re doing a play with Theia-san’s manuscript, right?”
“I do. I came here today wondering if I might be able to help out...”
“That makes things easy, because we definitely need your help.”
“All right, then what should I do?”
“Play the heroine, the Silver Princess.”
“Pardon?”
Harumi went wide-eyed with surprise. She had no idea why she was being offered a major role in the play. She couldn’t figure out how asking to help out had led to this.
I know how you feel. I was just as startled... But don’t be scared. This is your chance. Don’t let it slip past you... You can do it.
The current Harumi anxiously watched over her other self. She’d been through the same thing, so she knew just how shaken she must be right now. But she also knew the school plays were a major influence on her fate. So, eager and hopeful, she mentally cheered on her other self.
“I said I want you to play the Silver Princess!”
“Shouldn’t a member of the drama club be playing such an important role? Or, at the very least, Theiamillis-san herself?”
“I am convinced that you would make the best Silver Princess! Please, Sakuraba-san!”
“I... I can’t imagine I’d be any good.”
Harumi finally understood. The drama club president had read the manuscript and gotten an image in her head of what the Silver Princess should be like. Harumi just happened to be a close fit. That wasn’t enough, however, to convince the shy and timid Harumi to accept the part.
“I want to see you be the princess too, Sakuraba-senpai. I feel like you’re perfect for the role.”
“Satomi-kun...”
So far, things were unfolding how the current Harumi remembered, so she could guess what happened next: the drama club president would wear her down, and she would eventually relent and accept the role. Of course, Koutarou encouraging her would also play a huge part in her decision. In the end, she just couldn’t say no to him.
It’s only a matter of time before... Oh?
But her other self surprised her. The Harumi of this world silently stared at her wrist before looking up at Koutarou and the drama club president with resolve.
“I-If Satomi-kun helps me practice... I’ll do it!”
“Yeah, you bet. It’s the least I can do after recommending you for the part.”
“Well said, Satomi-kun! And thank you, Sakuraba-san!”
It was a difficult call for the bashful Harumi to make, but after what had happened at the beach, a newfound understanding of her own desires urged her forward. Moreover, she knew that being passive here would mean being left out. And so, with the extra courage her ribbon gave her, she made her choice.
Th-This version of me is offering to do it on her own?!
It was a most surprising development indeed. The current Harumi couldn’t even imagine making such a bold decision. She was sure that the drama club president would have to push her to do it, and even then, Koutarou would have to hold her hand the entire way. Yet the Harumi of this world was willing to jump right into it herself. The spark that had started it all was the ribbon, which was ultimately a result of her wrist injury. Just that small difference had a lasting impact on her life. It was impossible to tell what could change fate. That’s what the current Harumi thought to herself as she watched this unfamiliar situation unfold before her.
Harumi accepting the role of the Silver Princess of her own volition was a huge step for her, but she was still completely new to the stage. Acting was something both Harumis would struggle with.
“It’s not like you’re bad with Mackenzie, right, Sakuraba-senpai?”
“That’s... Yes, he’s much easier to talk to than most.”
“See? You two have talked plenty of times before.”
Script in hand, Koutarou racked his brain trying to find a solution to this unexpected problem. He and Harumi were currently in the middle of practicing for the play in the knitting society club room. When Harumi practiced alone with Koutarou like this, her acting was wonderful. But things went sour as soon as she got up on stage. It was hard to imagine the reason for it was Kenji. As Koutarou’s friend, he and Harumi were well acquainted.
Looking at it like this, it’s pretty clear... I really only could do it with Satomi-kun...
The current Harumi hadn’t really gotten the chance to know Kenji until they started working on the play together. The Harumi of this world, however, was already fairly close with him and felt comfortable around him. Yet even so, she still couldn’t act with him.
I never really did appreciate the emotional aspect...
Skill was one thing, but when it came to emotion, Harumi had to be honest with her feelings. When she tried expressing herself while acting with Kenji, however, those feelings became twisted and jumbled. It didn’t go well for her or her acting. But in that sense, despite what people thought, her earnest and honest nature was more inhibiting than her shy and introverted personality when it came to her performance on stage.
“If only the Blue Knight... were Satomi-kun.”
It seemed the Harumi of this world had realized that, however. It wasn’t Kenji’s fault; she simply needed Koutarou. He was her one and only. She’d suspected as much before, but now she was sure.
“I guess we’ll just have to keep practicing...”
Unaware of Harumi’s feelings, however, Koutarou continued to rack his brain. It was his good-natured seriousness that had attracted Harumi to him in the first place, but right now, she rather resented it.
“Stupid Satomi-kun...”
“Hmm, you seem to be struggling, Sakuraba-san.”
As if in answer to Harumi’s muttering, a third person arrived in the knitting society club room. It was the drama club president.
“P-President-san?! What are you doing here?!” Harumi stammered.
“Well, I came to see how you were doing, Sakuraba-san,” the president replied with a grin.
Seeing her smile, Harumi figured that she must have overheard her muttering.
“And it seems things are complicated.”
There, the president glanced over at Koutarou before flashing a knowing grin. Realizing what she was getting at, Harumi blushed.
“I-It’s nothing serious! I was just... I was just thinking that my acting is bad!”
“Hmm, I see...”
The drama club president’s sly grin remained unchanged despite Harumi’s desperate protest. She seemed to be enjoying herself.
“What’s the matter, Sakuraba-senpai? President-san?”
Koutarou had picked up on the strange atmosphere between the girls, but otherwise had no idea what was going on. He looked to both of them with a puzzled expression.
“It’s nothing! Nothing at all!”
“Yeah, it’s nothing big. We were just talking about making you the Blue Knight in Ken-chan’s place.”
“P-President-san, what are you―?!”
“M-Me?! The Blue Knight?!”
Harumi and Koutarou shouted out in surprised unison. The drama club president had just dropped a huge bomb, and rather casually at that. They were both still reeling in its wake.
“President-san, let’s not get ahead of ourselves!” declared Koutarou. “I have my hands full just playing Soldier A! Besides, I don’t even come close to having Mackenzie’s looks!”
“You’d still make a good Blue Knight. You’re far more serious and faithful than Ken-chan is. Besides, Sakuraba-san can only act when she’s with you,” argued the president.
“Even so, President-san! You can’t just change the casting for my sake!” rebutted Harumi.
“But after seeing your acting, I can’t bring myself to change you out. I’m sure the rest of the club feels the same way, so just consider this the utilitarian solution.”
“I promise I’ll practice even more and―”
“Hold your horses and come over here for a sec, Sakuraba-san.”
The drama club president put an abrupt stop to Harumi’s protests and invited her over to the corner of the room so they could talk privately.
“What is it?”
Harumi followed, unsure of what was going on. The drama club president then turned and leaned in to whisper in Harumi’s ear...
“What do you think is more likely: Satomi-kun learning how to act, or you falling in love with Ken-chan?”
Harumi could act so wonderfully with Koutarou because she could be honest with her feelings around him. The drama club president had realized that after dropping in on them today, which was a few days sooner than what had happened with the current Harumi.
“That...”
But the Harumi of this world was at a loss for words upon hearing the president’s question. She blushed, her face turning so red that even Koutarou could see it from the other side of the room.
“Well, which do you think?”
That was all Koutarou could hear the president ask. Her voice was friendly and kind, but there was clear determination behind it.
“Satomi-kun learning how to act... would definitely be faster...”
“Then don’t you think there’s something you need to do?”
There, the drama club president put her hand on Harumi’s shoulder and spun her around.
“Good luck, Sakuraba-san!” she whispered in Harumi’s ear as she gave her a little push.
Stumbling a few steps forward, Harumi stopped just in front of Koutarou. Her face was as red as it had ever been.
“Sakuraba-senpai...?”
At this point, even Koutarou could tell something was up. And for some reason, seeing Harumi like this, his heart began to race. Something was definitely going on. He didn’t know what, but he found himself unable to look away.
“S-Satomi-kun, th-there’s something I’d like to ask you...” Harumi said, eyes downcast and cheeks flushed.
She was still hesitating about whether or not to say it... but something burning inside of her was pushing her toward courage. No longer seeing any other option, she finally looked up and stared right at Koutarou.
“Wh-What is it, Sakuraba-senpai...?”
He was entranced by her eyes. Right now, Harumi had an air of strength about her... and a warmth that seemed to embrace Koutarou.
“I mean to ask... Would you stand on stage with me?”
Harumi’s voice was demure but willful, just like a princess’s. Seeing and hearing her now, the drama club president gave a satisfied nod, certain she’d made the right call.
“If you’re the Blue Knight... I’m sure that I’ll be able to play my part!”
That’s it! Good job, me!
The current Harumi felt the same way her other self did. She couldn’t just keep waiting forever; sometimes she’d have to be bold and take the first step herself. It seemed the Harumi of this world had reached that conclusion first. Despite the differences in their fates, it seemed they were both Harumis after all.
“If you’re with me, th-then sure...”
Koutarou had his own thoughts on the matter, however. Not only did he think he wasn’t cut out for acting, he didn’t like the idea of stealing Kenji’s role as the Blue Knight. Yet when he saw Harumi look at him like that and heard her ask so earnestly, all his resistance vanished. There was no way he could turn her down. He felt a powerful, yet gentle pull to her... almost like she really was the Silver Princess.
Once Koutarou agreed to play the Blue Knight, Harumi blossomed into her role as the Silver Princess. But just about the time that problem cleared up, another reared its head.
“Goodness, what am I doing...?”
Harumi peeked out at Koutarou on stage from the shadows. It was the day before the cultural festival, and Koutarou was doing some final performance checks in the armor Theia had procured for him. Right now, he was in the middle of going through the fight choreography. Since it was based on traditional swordsmanship from Theia’s homeland, Koutarou was unfamiliar with it. But thanks to all the effort he’d put into training, he made it work.
“I’m just like a child... I’m so stupid...”
Harumi knew she should be watching him from the front row rather than behind the curtain, but she just couldn’t bring herself to do it. Now that she was well aware of her feelings for him, it was all she could do just to keep calm when she was with him. Acting was easier. She could get into her part and see Koutarou as the Blue Knight rather than himself. But otherwise, Harumi’s feelings were running amok with her. She was now behaving like an ordinary teenage girl, and certainly not like a legendary princess.
It didn’t stop with stealing furtive glances at Koutarou, either. Whenever he spoke to her, her mind would go completely blank like she was spacing out. Whenever he was near, she would get nervous. Whenever she thought about him, her heart would start racing. Lately, it was even interfering with her studies.
So this is what things would have been like if I hadn’t realized my feelings in the middle of battle...
This was something the current Harumi hadn’t experienced. In her case, she’d come to terms with her emotions in a heated moment, essentially fast-forwarding past everything the Harumi of this world was now experiencing. This was her first time seeing it. But while the Harumi of this world was sure of how she felt about Koutarou, she wasn’t at all sure of how Koutarou felt about her. Just thinking about it made her lose her cool around him.
“What are you doing over here, Harumi?”
“Eeek!”
Startled to hear someone suddenly talking to her, Harumi let out a wild yelp. Theia had stepped back to observe Koutarou’s performance from a distance, and had inadvertently bumped into Harumi in the process.
“U-Um, it’s almost time for the evening party to begin, so I came looking for Satomi-kun! B-But since he’s still in the middle of practicing, I didn’t want to interrupt!”
Harumi was actually there to invite Koutarou to the party. She was hoping he would agree to be her date. But when she reached the gymnasium and actually saw him, she lost her nerve. That’s when she’d taken to hiding behind the curtain.
“Well, his performance concerns you too, so come watch with me. What are you being so reserved for?”
“I-It’s fine! I-I’m okay right where I am!”
Harumi resisted like a criminal being dragged before a judge, but she was no match for Theia, who dragged her right over to Koutarou.
“Oh, Sakuraba-senpai. You’re here too?”
“It seems she came to invite you to the evening party, Koutarou.”
“D-Don’t worry about it! I can see you’re still practicing! In fact, I was just thinking of going home!”
Harumi desperately wanted to go to the party with Koutarou, but she just couldn’t bring herself to ask him. She was simply overwhelmed. Her head was a mess and she could hardly think straight. Her emotions were pulling her this way and that, and being dragged in front of Koutarou only increased the chaos. She reached her limit, and right now the only thing on her mind was how to get out of this situation.
“So there you have it. That’s enough practice for tonight. Go ahead and go to the party with Harumi.”
“Are you sure, Theia?”
“In exchange, I expect to see you bright and early for some morning training.”
“Jeez, you’re tough...”
“Of course I am! This play is my baby! Now then... I guess I’ll make my way to the party as well.”
“Th-Theiamillis-san!”
“Tomorrow’s the big day, Harumi. See you then.”
“P-Please wait! Don’t leave me here!”
Theia brushed off Harumi’s plea with a light wave of her hand as she left the gym. There was music and the clamor of excited voices coming from outside, and Theia was going to join the fun... leaving Harumi all alone with Koutarou.
“Oh, I could just die... I think my heart’s going to leap right out of my chest...”
Harumi reached a hand out as if to call Theia back, but it was no use. She wanted nothing more than to escape with her, yet she was somehow rooted to the spot. She had no idea what to do, but she knew that running away from Koutarou was the one thing she couldn’t do.
I know how you feel. I really do... You’re in love with him now. You can’t help it...
This development had even the current Harumi’s heart racing, but she was removed enough from the situation to see it with calmer eyes and a level head. She was sure she’d be behaving the same way if this happened to her, however, and it was fun to experience vicariously. Right now, she was very glad she’d come to this dreamlike world.
But...
There was one thing bugging her in the back of her mind. Now that her relationship with Koutarou had progressed this far, she couldn’t help wondering...
“Huh? Where did Theia go?”
“Sh-She said she was going on to the party now that it’s started.”
“Oh, yeah, I can hear the music now.”
“It’s... dance music...”
“Then why don’t we dance, Sakuraba-senpai?”
“What?!”
“I know... I am but a mere local knight. I am hardly worthy of the honor.”
“S-Satomi-kun... um... Even though I may look like this, I grew up roaming the fields and mountains of northern Mastir. I am quite qualified to be called a peasant girl.”
Originally, Koutarou had shared a dance with Theia here. And their relationship had grown stronger for it. But now Harumi had stolen the night, and the current Harumi felt a little guilty about that.
The play the next day at the cultural festival turned out to be a huge hit. Harumi’s performance as the Silver Princess received exceptionally high praise, and the emotional scene between her and the Blue Knight on the night of the harvest festival captured the hearts of all the girls in the audience. Meanwhile, the boys were all smitten with Princess Alaia herself. They couldn’t help dreaming about what it would be like to have a girlfriend like her.
Between the two, rave reviews poured in for Harumi and her performance. But she alone knew that she hadn’t really been acting. She’d recited her lines according to the script, of course, but the feeling she put behind them was her own. The love she was acting out for the Blue Knight—for Koutarou—was very real. In a sense, playing her part as Princess Alaia was just an excuse to practice confessing to him.
Harumi had gone into the play, however, knowing that. She knew that she could only act with Koutarou because her feelings for him were genuine. But now that others had seen it, now that others had acknowledged the warmth and love in her affection for Koutarou... That recognition only fanned the flames of Harumi’s heart.
“This is terrible. At this rate...” she muttered in a low, agonized voice as she threw herself on her bed.
When she was around Koutarou, her feelings spun her in circles. It was bad enough before, but it had gotten even worse since the play. Perhaps that was because she could now see the effect it was having. When she couldn’t think straight, she behaved oddly. And it was happening frequently enough now that she was seriously worried Koutarou was going to start thinking she was strange. If she didn’t do something to get herself in order soon, she might accidentally kill their relationship before it ever really had a chance to start.
You’re right. If you let things go on like this, nothing good will come of it. So though it might be difficult, you have to do it the right way...
The current Harumi watching over her agreed with her. The Harumi of this world might be leaps and bounds ahead of the current Harumi in terms of her relationship with Koutarou, but the current Harumi had fully realized her feelings for Koutarou under great duress in a time of crisis. That gave her love a sense of purpose and direction, which was something the Harumi of this world lacked. Without a way to channel her feelings, they simply continued to run amok with her as they grew stronger. The current Harumi knew she’d have to get over that hurdle before it tripped her up completely. She was nervous for her other self.
“I have to tell Satomi-kun how I feel... If I don’t, I’m going to go crazy.”
Flopped on top of her bed, Harumi let out a heavy sigh. Whenever she was alone at school, she found herself always keeping an eye out for him. When she was alone in the club room, she always found herself staring at his empty seat. And when she was alone in her room, she even imagined Koutarou coming over to her house. So far, even though her head was in the clouds, she was only doing, thinking, and behaving like any normal girl with a crush. But if things continued this way, it could reach a head. That was why both Harumis wanted to confess to Koutarou before things got out of hand. It would be too late if she let it go on long enough that Koutarou’s opinion of her changed.
“I have to call him... But what about the time? It’s late, so Satomi-kun might get the wrong idea... W-Well, I guess it would be the right idea in this case.”
Harumi sat up on her bed, picked up her phone, put it back down, paced around her room, sat back down on her bed, hugged her pillow, rolled around... Rinse, repeat. She knew what she had to do, but her bashful nature was holding her back, keeping her from taking the necessary steps.
“When Satomi-kun picks up, I have to be subtle. How do I be subtle again...? Moreover, isn’t asking to meet him on Christmas Eve too blatant...? Auuugh!”
Pomf!
Harumi threw herself on her bed once more and buried her face in her pillow. She hadn’t even made the call yet, but she was already bright red from her neck to the top of her head. She’d brought Koutarou’s contact info up on her phone repeatedly now, but she just didn’t have the courage to press the call button. Her struggle continued as time ticked on. Before she knew it, it was closing on midnight. Calling at such an hour was even more likely to be misconstrued, which only stressed Harumi out further.
Ring-a-linga-ling!
“Eeek!”
Having spent so much time agonizing over what to do, Harumi dropped the phone in her hands out of surprise when it began playing a tune. It was one of her favorite songs. One she’d set as the ringtone for when a certain someone called.
“S-S-Sa— Sato-to-to—!”
Harumi frantically scooped up the phone lying on her bed. And sure enough, the screen read “Satomi-kun” while displaying a picture of Koutarou decorated with a snowflake and a blue star. Once she confirmed who it was, Harumi quickly accepted the call in hurry like she had no time to spare. It seemed her earlier hesitation was gone.
“Hello, this is Ko―”
“H-Harumi speaking!”
In her frazzled state, however, Harumi answered the call in a cracking voice, interrupting Koutarou. Surprised by her unusual reaction, Koutarou began to worry.
“Senpai, is this a bad time? Sorry it’s so late...”
Completely oblivious to what Harumi was really going through, he figured that he must have called her while she was in the middle of something, causing her to panic. It was also rather late at night to be calling a girl, even if she were a club mate and a good friend. He had apprehensions about that as well.
“No, not at all! I was only surprised because you called when I was about to make the call myself!”
Harumi’s frantic surprise was of her own design. She didn’t want Koutarou to feel apologetic for that.
“I see. Then I’ll call back tomorrow so you can call whoever you needed to. Good n―”
Koutarou didn’t realize that Harumi meant she was about to call him. He simply assumed she had other business to tend to, so he volunteered to hang up and let her do so. That, of course, wasn’t what Harumi wanted.
“Wait, Satomi-kun, please don’t hang up!”
If Koutarou ended the call now, Harumi knew she’d just get stuck spinning her wheels all over again. Calling out to him, she tried her best to stop him.
“Sakuraba-senpai?”
“You’re the one I was trying to call!”
“I see.”
“Phew...”
Fortunately, Koutarou didn’t hang up. Harumi let out a sigh of relief, and so did the Harumi watching over her. She was sure even her sleeping body must have done the same.
“What a coincidence, huh? Both of us thinking of calling each other and all.”
Harumi had been fretting over calling Koutarou for hours, so it didn’t seem like much of a coincidence to her. But Koutarou had no way of knowing that. To him, it was just serendipity.
“Funny, isn’t it...?”
But it was serendipity Harumi was grateful for. She didn’t know if she ever would have made the call otherwise.
“So what did you need from me, Sakuraba-senpai?”
“That’s...”
Harumi’s heart began pounding at that question. She’d forgotten all of her unrest from before, but now it suddenly came flooding back. Restraining her emotions on the verge of exploding, Harumi stared at herself in the mirror on her dresser. There was no real reason for her to check her appearance since she was on the phone, but she thought she’d be able to muster some courage by fixing herself up.
“Well... you see...”
But when the moment came to say it, she still hesitated. It was perfectly understandable, really, considering she was about to take the next step in their relationship.
But you’re not confessing yet. This isn’t the big moment...
Both Harumis were thinking the same thing. The Harumi of this world was encouraging herself, and the current Harumi was cheering her on. Right now, their hearts were perfectly aligned.
“What’s the matter, Sakuraba-senpai?”
“U-Um, Satomi-kun... I was wondering if we could meet up on the 24th? There’s something I want to tell you...” Harumi finally said, summoning all of her courage.
Her heart was racing as love and anxiety intermixed in a whirlpool of emotions. It only took Koutarou a few seconds to answer, but it felt ten times longer than that to the anxious Harumi. That was just how serious a situation this was to her.
Satomi-kun, please!
The Harumi watching over her felt the same way. They were now in completely unexplored territory for her, so she had no idea what would happen next. She too prayed Koutarou would agree to meet her.
“I don’t mind. I have something I want to tell you in person too.”
“Ah...”
The moment Koutarou said yes, all the tension left Harumi’s body and a sense of relief took its place. With all of the tension holding her up suddenly gone, however, she looked like she was going to fall right over onto her bed. But she had to hold on—their call wasn’t over yet.
“Thank you, Satomi-kun! Then I’ll see you on the 24th!”
“Sure. Should we meet in the club room after school?”
“That’d be lovely!”
And so Harumi and Koutarou promised to meet on December 24th. It would be the last day of school before winter break, and to Harumi, it would without a doubt the biggest battle she’d ever faced.
Preparations for the occasion began several days in advance for Harumi. She not only took care of her hair and skin, she had her uniform cleaned, picked out her underwear—which she of course had no plans of showing—and much, much more. Each and every detail was carefully planned. She was like a thorough pilot going through her preflight checklist. And the results showed. On the day of, all the girls at school could tell Harumi was glowing. Something was definitely up. The real question, however, was if Koutarou would be able to tell. Harumi didn’t particularly mind either way. In her mind, her preparations had primarily been to give herself confidence. If Koutarou noticed, that would just be a bonus.
You’ve done what you can. Now all that’s left is to wait for Satomi-kun...
While things had already taken a very different turn from the life she’d lived, the current Harumi perfectly understood how her other self felt. It was her first time revealing her feelings to a boy she cared for. If it were her, she would’ve been just as thorough with her preparations. Yet despite feeling completely prepared, Harumi was still anxious as she waited for Koutarou to arrive at the club room after school. The current Harumi felt the same way.
Knock, knock.
“...Come in!”
Thanks to her anxiety, Harumi was a bit delayed in responding to the knock at the door. She stood up from her chair and looked herself over one last time. Nothing was amiss. She had her feminine charm turned up to full blast like never before.
“It’s me, Satomi.”
“...Hello, Satomi-kun.”
After taking a quick breath, Harumi smiled at Koutarou as he entered. She worried that her expression might be too stiff or that her voice might be trembling, but there were no do-overs. The show must go on.
“I’m glad it’s warm today. The club room’s been like a fridge the past few days.”
“I’m not too good with the cold, so I cranked up the heater to the max.”
Harumi strayed away from her chance to get on topic. Koutarou had brought up the past few days, giving Harumi the perfect segue into talking about today. But in her nervousness, she’d started talking about the heater instead. Realizing what she’d done, she only grew more nervous and impatient.
Don’t give up! You’ll get another chance!
Whether it was what the current Harumi was thinking or what the Harumi of this world was muttering to herself, it made no difference. Right now, their minds were one and the same.
“I prefer it warm myself, but the cold is nice when it comes to winter sports.”
“Winter sports? Like skiing, skating, and bobsleighing?”
“Yeah. Well, I’m not too into bobsleighing,” Koutarou laughed.
Harumi thinking of bobsleighing over snowboarding was just too funny.
“Pshhh...”
Harumi blushed as Koutarou laughed. She then exhaled a sigh, causing a strange sound to escape her lips. It wasn’t her intention to lighten the mood. Quite the opposite, which only made her grow even more impatient still.
“But then again, it’s great to have it warm indoors for things like knitting.”
“That’s quite true. You don’t really move around much when knitting.”
Suppressing her impatience, Harumi tried her best to get the conversation back on track in a natural fashion. Considering her goal, she wanted to avoid forcing the issue. Things weren’t going well so far, however, causing complex, vexed feelings to swirl behind the smile she gave Koutarou.
“Actually, I wanted to talk to you about knitting today, Sakuraba-senpai...”
When Harumi fell quiet, Koutarou took the opportunity to bring up his business. It wasn’t until he did so that Harumi remembered he’d said he had something he wanted to talk about too.
“O-Oh?”
Harumi cast her eyes downward and blushed. She was embarrassed that she’d only been thinking of herself.
“I mentioned this once way back when... but I have a half-knit sweater that’s a keepsake from my mom.”
In contrast, Koutarou was more serious than usual. He started straight at her with those earnest eyes she so loved, which help calm her down a little.
“I believe you said you wanted to complete it yourself one day. Isn’t that right, Satomi-kun?”
“Yeah, but I only told you half the story back then. I figured it’s about time I tell you the rest.”
Unlike Harumi who was letting her emotions drag her around by the nose, Koutarou was cutting his own path. When she realized how pathetic she was being, she slowly collected herself. She sat up straight, ready to listen. If she was too frantic to really hear what he had to say, she was sure she’d regret it.
“The truth is... I’m the reason my mom died. I carelessly walked into the street as a kid... I nearly got hit by a car, but before I even knew what was happening, my mom had jumped in the way to save me.”
“Satomi-kun...”
Tears welled in Harumi’s eyes. Hearing Koutarou’s story, she grieved for his loss like it was her own. Seeing that, Koutarou realized that he hadn’t been wrong to tell her.
“After that, things got pretty ugly between me and my old man. Neither of us were really able to get over it.”
“...”
Harumi was silent, but she recalled that something like this had come up before when Koutarou mentioned the sweater. Completing it wasn’t for his father’s sake, but his own.
If Satomi-kun is bringing this up now, is he...?
The current Harumi had a little more perspective on the situation. She knew what the sweater meant to Koutarou, and she knew it wasn’t easy for him to bring up. It was deeply personal, and just about the last thing he wanted to share with anyone else.
“That’s why I want to complete the sweater. I want to get my feelings in order, and the same goes for my old man. He seems to have found a nice partner, but he’s still hesitant to remarry.”
“He still loves your mother.”
“Yeah. But I don’t think things are going to work out for anyone at this rate. Even me... I seem to have a side of me that keeps trying to push other people away too.”
“Satomi-kun...”
Koutarou bared his heart to Harumi. Everything he said came as a big surprise, but she was happy he was sharing it all with her. It made her feel needed. That’s why she nodded with tears in her eyes.
“I understand. Please, I’d be honored to help you complete that sweater...”
Koutarou was revealing his tragic past to Harumi and asking for help. She had no reason to say no. She would give her all to help him... She loved him, after all.
“Thank you, Sakuraba-senpai. Really. And th-this isn’t exactly because of that... but...”
There, Koutarou suddenly started stumbling over his words. With a troubled expression on his face, he looked somewhat embarrassed. He repeatedly glanced at Harumi’s face before finally continuing...
“Sakuraba-senpai, you’re going to be a third-year and graduate next year... But I’d feel better knowing I could always come see you.”
Koutarou now looked almost as shaken as Harumi had earlier.
Satomi-kun, are you...
But only the Harumi watching over them noticed. With an inkling of what was happening, her heart began to beat faster.
“Always, as in how long?”
“Always, as in... always.”
“Until the sweater is complete?”
Harumi knew that if they didn’t finish the sweater in the following school year, it would be hard for Koutarou to finish it on his own. That’s why she was assuming he was asking to stay in touch after she graduated. However, he shook his head.
“I think that’ll be pretty soon.”
“Then how long?”
“Until you get sick of me... maybe?”
Koutarou looked away from Harumi and eked out those words.
Satomi-kun’s hands are shaking... He’s desperate...
At last, both Harumis caught on. It seemed today was a decisive battle for Koutarou as well.
“That’ll be... a pretty long time...”
Harumi couldn’t even imagine getting sick of Koutarou. It would be decades, maybe even centuries before that happened. She was sure she’d die of old age first. In other words, Koutarou’s “always” really meant “forever.” He was asking to stay with her, and after thinking about it, Harumi realized the feelings behind his roundabout words.
“But... why?”
Yet even so, she wanted to confirm things. For herself, for her desperate heart, she wanted Koutarou to be direct. She wanted reason to believe in his forever.
“D-Do I have to say it?”
But Koutarou’s desperate heart wanted to skip that part. He wanted Harumi to understand without him saying it directly. They’d have forever to get there, after all.
“If you do, I will too... so...”
Hands clasped in front of her chest, Harumi looked eagerly up at Koutarou. Sincere emotion bubbled up within her, so much so that even the thickheaded Koutarou could see it.
“I think we both know how the other feels!”
“I still want you to say it! Please, Satomi-kun!”
Koutarou hesitated. He was still conflicted, but he understood what Harumi meant. It was something she needed to hear—and also the essence of the problem he needed to face.
“Ugh...”
“You can do it, Satomi-kun.”
Agonizing over his dilemma, Koutarou stood up and paced around the room until finally making up his mind. He couldn’t really do this to her. If he took advantage of her kindness and weaseled his way out of saying it... That wasn’t what he wanted.
“I love you, Sakuraba-senpai!”
Those three words were something Koutarou hadn’t said once in the last ten years. But finally, at last, something had changed. It was idiosyncratic to this world and the way his relationship with Harumi had played out. In the end, Harumi’s wrist injury had brought the two of them together and accelerated their feelings for one another. It had made all this possible.
The current Harumi hadn’t been able to develop her relationship with Koutarou at the same rate... And before she knew it, he’d ended up in a timeslip that would change their fates in a much bigger way. It would take something much more simple and common—like an injured wrist—to get Koutarou to face her like a normal boy.
“I love you too, Satomi-kun!”
The Harumi and Koutarou of this world, however, had no way of knowing all that. But that was fine. All they needed right now was to look each other in the eye and feel the love building between them.
“Listen, Sakuraba-senpai... I have a bad habit of trying to push people away before things get too serious, so I might end up saying something that hurts you. I want you to know now that I don’t mean it. I know it’s not fair, but know that what I said just now is how I really feel...”
Koutarou and Harumi would have to acknowledge their own flaws and accept them. They would have to share them with each other, and then support each other.
“I know. I’ll become a woman that can forgive that.”
“I’m sorry for being difficult.”
“I could say the same. My body is weak, so there are times I won’t be able to do things you might want me to... but even so, I want to do everything together with you.”
“You’re not gonna catch me complaining about that... So, uh, what do you say? Should we call it even?”
“I think so.”
Fortunately, both Koutarou and Harumi were already ready to accept each other. Surely things would be smooth sailing from here. That didn’t mean they wouldn’t hit rough patches from time to time, but there would always be happiness on the horizon.
“Phew, I’m glad that all worked out...”
“Thank god...”
With the hard part out of the way, both Koutarou and Harumi felt a weight lifted off of their shoulders. After carrying it around for so long, they were exhausted. They both took the opportunity to sit down and rest a bit, but they kept their eyes locked on each other.
“Man, now that it’s all said and done, talk about stupid...”
“We were both so needlessly nervous even though we felt the same way...”
“It’s so much easier to talk now.”
“Aren’t you glad you came out and said it? Teehee...”
“Ha, you can say that again.”
There the two of them shared a good laugh. Now that they’d done everything they felt like they needed to, all that was left was to relax and enjoy the moment together.
Good for you... I’m really happy for you two...
Only one person in the room was crying, and it was the current Harumi watching over the young couple. Her tears were happy ones, however.
“By the way, Sakuraba-senpai, what did you want to talk about?”
“Heehee, can’t you tell?”
“Is it about next year’s play or something about the knitting society?”
“See, this is why I made you say it clearly. It just leads to misunderstandings otherwise.”
“Then please be clear with me too.”
“I was going to confess to you, Satomi-kun. But before I could summon the courage to do it, you confessed first.”
“So when it comes to courage, I win, huh?”
“I won’t argue there. But I’m sure I’m winning when it comes to love.”
“I’m sure. That’s why I was thinking of making up the difference.”
“What do you mean?”
“With this.”
“A muffler?”
“I tried making my practice piece into a muffler, but it’s a little long.”
There, Koutarou leaned over and wrapped the muffler around Harumi’s neck.
“Heh, it is pretty long... Heehee...”
“Wow, look at how much is left over. Ahahaha!”
Even after wrapping the muffler around Harumi’s neck two, three times... there was still almost a meter of it dangling over her shoulder. Nevertheless, she looked happy. Holding the end of the muffler in her hand, she smiled at Koutarou.
“It’s okay. I’ll just wrap the rest around you.”
Harumi carefully wrapped the excess around Koutarou’s neck, connecting the two of them with a single muffler. It was more than long enough, even though they were seated a little bit apart.
“That should do it.”
“Senpai, this is really embarrassing...”
“This is only the beginning.”
“Really?”
“Of course. So please get used to it, Sir Knight.”
“That’s embarrassing too.”
“I did it on purpose.”
Koutarou and Harumi both looked over the moon. It was enough that even the current Harumi watching over them was able to share in their joy. But after it all sunk in, something dawned on her.
My Satomi-kun gave that muffler to Theiamillis-san and the others too... But in this world, I got all of it...
Koutarou had given her a properly sized muffler because he’d divided up the longer one to share with Theia, Yurika, and the others. Now this Harumi had gotten it all, leaving her to wonder why.
Harumi wanted to make the first shrine visit of the new year with Koutarou. While they were only a new couple, she wanted to start things off right. Koutarou agreed to go with her, but not first thing in the morning like she suggested. His argument was that it would be warmer if they went closer to noon, making the trip easier for the frail Harumi.
“You’re being too mindful, Satomi-kun. You’re treating me like something precious. A little cold isn’t going to hurt me.”
It was currently 11 AM and the sky was crystal clear. According to the forecast, it would hit over 10 degrees Celsius. That was enough to satisfy Koutarou, so he agreed to make the trek to the shrine with Harumi. She wasn’t entirely pleased with this, however, and couldn’t help pouting.
“That’s because you are precious to me. And I take good care of things that are precious to me, like my bat and glove. And you’re a very special case at that, Sakuraba-senpai.”
“You mean I’m more precious than your bat and glove?”
There, the air slowly leaked out of Harumi’s puffed-up cheeks. She knew that baseball held a special place in Koutarou’s heart, so she wasn’t displeased with this development.
“Of course you are.”
“Then I forgi― No, I still don’t forgive you!”
Harumi purposefully started pouting again. She’d already forgiven Koutarou, but her girlish side was telling her not to let him off the hook just yet. She wanted him to dote on her more.
“But I came all the way to your place to pick you up this morning.”
In return for shooting down the shrine visit at dawn, Koutarou showed up at Harumi’s house a little after nine o’clock. He greeted her parents and introduced himself. They welcomed him, their daughter’s first boyfriend, warmly and with open arms. They’d always worried that Harumi was missing out on things in life because of her compromised health, and they told Koutarou as much when Harumi went up to her room to get ready to go.
“It was really hard to keep my mom and dad from trying to give you sake...”
“Well, that aside, I’m glad they were so welcoming.”
“Really, I have to wonder why they were so elated. I’ve had friends over a couple of times before...”
“Maybe they knew I wasn’t just a friend? It’s the first day of the new year, after all.”
“You think so? This... This is the first time I’ve gone out with a boy on New Year’s Day...”
Harumi looked down and put her hands over her cheeks to keep Koutarou from seeing how embarrassed she was. Thinking about it in hindsight, she’d formally introduced her boyfriend to her parents. She was happy her parents had accepted him as such, but putting that together now made her blush furiously.
“So if I don’t take this seriously, your parents might kill me.”
“Maybe waiting to come to the shrine was the right choice after all...”
“So you finally forgive me?”
“I already had. I just wanted to be a little selfish...”
“I know, haha. It was kinda funny.”
“Teehee.”
Harumi looked back up and smiled at Koutarou, who smiled right back at her. Just then, a cold breeze blew between the two of them.
“The forecast said it would get warmer, but the wind’s still pretty chilly. You’re not freezing, are you, Sakuraba-senpai?”
“I am.”
Harumi answered without hesitation. Yet though she claimed to be freezing, she was still looking up at Koutarou with a bright smile.
“Then take my muffler and―”
Koutarou naturally offered her his muffler before catching notice of the glint in Harumi’s eye. It was warm, but unusually impish—the kind of look she’d only started giving him a week ago.
“Er, um...”
While looking into her eyes, Koutarou began thinking of how to respond. As he pondered his options, something dark crossed his mind.
No, I’ve gotta learn to stop doing that...
Koutarou knocked on his head as if to purge the idea. Instead, he’d do the complete opposite. It was something that he never would have even considered a week ago.
“...”
Bashfully scratching his cheek with one hand, he extended his other to Harumi. She took it without missing a beat, smiling even brighter than before.
“Teehee, now it’s not so cold.”
“Funny... I feel like its getting pretty hot.”
Harumi happily leaned on Koutarou, her fingers entwined with his. Koutarou had to use his free hand to cover his face. He wasn’t ashamed, just embarrassed over something he wasn’t used to.
Good... I’m really happy to see this...
Tears once more welled in the eyes of the Harumi watching over them. They’d formed a special bond over Christmas, and now they were closer than ever before. Not just emotionally, but physically as well. The current Harumi was happy to see it. It gave her hope that she and her own Koutarou could end up the same way.
After wrapping up their shrine visit, the young couple headed downtown to get lunch. After that, Koutarou was planning on walking Harumi home. She figured her parents would probably abduct him when he did, but she wasn’t exactly planning on sharing that information. He might escape if she did.
“What’s so funny?” Koutarou asked with a quizzical look when he caught her giggling to herself.
“Oh, it’s nothing. I was just thinking it was funny that I’d pray for something like that.”
Since she wasn’t going to bring up her parents, she brought up their shrine visit instead. It was mostly to skirt the issue at hand, but it was true she was amused with herself.
“Like what? What did you pray for?”
“That our relationship will continue to develop in a favorable direction and reach new heights.”
“That’s a pretty complicated thing to pray for.”
“Right? I couldn’t help but find it funny... I knew that, but I couldn’t stop myself from wishing for it.”
Harumi wanted her relationship with Koutarou to last forever, but she wanted an even stronger, deeper bond with him. Just a matter of weeks ago, she would have been praying for him to realize her feelings or something equally passive. She really couldn’t help smiling to herself, all while thinking how self-interested she was becoming.
“Do we really need to reach new heights?”
“Of course we do. I won’t stand to let things stagnate here.”
“I’ll... optimistically consider it.”
“Very good. But I won’t let you think on it forever.”
“No?”
“Not going to happen. I have needs too, you know.”
“Rats... Guess I’m in trouble.”
“Teeheehee.”
The winter wind was still chilly, but with their hands and hearts connected, the atmosphere between Harumi and Koutarou was warmer than ever. It was just warm enough, in fact, that it might eventually start to melt away the ice still holding back Koutarou inside. That’s what he and Harumi both hoped for.
“By the way, what did you pray for, Satomi-kun?”
“Good health, for both you and me.”
Hearing Koutarou’s answer, Harumi’s expression clouded over and she puffed out her cheeks again.
“Couldn’t you have prayed for our relationship too?”
She was honest-to-goodness pouting now. She and Koutarou finally had a special relationship, and she wanted him to be as mindful and protective of it as she was.
“I figured there was someone else I should pray to for that.”
“Like who?”
“You, Sakuraba-senpai.”
“Th... That’s...”
Harumi’s cheeks suddenly deflated. Koutarou had a point. If they really wanted their relationship to develop, that would start between the two of them.
“Yes, you’re right... I’m sorry for acting like a child, Satomi-kun.”
“Don’t sweat it. You’ve always held back in that regard, so I really don’t mind seeing this side of you when you feel like cutting loose once in a while.”
“Thank you, Satomi-kun.”
Harumi’s face turned red. She’d been embarrassed over her childish outburst, but Koutarou accepted her as she was. That made her happy, but even more embarrassed. It was a complex push and pull, which was essentially how things had been going for the past week.
“So I hope you’ll take care of me too, Sakuraba-senpai.”
Koutarou prayed to Harumi and made a promise to himself. He was aware of his own flaws, which made him all the more aware of how momentous this step forward was.
“And how should I do that, hmm?”
Koutarou had no idea if Harumi understood his intentions or not. A woman’s heart was still an utter mystery to him. But when he looked up at Harumi, she was giving him that elfin grin again.
“Something not too rough, please.”
“Let me see... Then how about this?”
Harumi took half a step forward and got up on her tiptoes, bringing her face closer to Koutarou’s. It took him by surprise, but she simply smiled and closed her eyes.
Th-This is...
Seeing that, Koutarou was at a loss. It was all too clear what she wanted—a signet of their relationship, something that would take it to the next level. He knew it must have taken considerable courage for her to ask for it, so after thinking on it, he decided to give in and answer her.
“Heh...”
“?”
Hearing him giggle, Harumi opened her eyes. But only for a moment. When she felt his hand on her chin and his warmth approaching, she knew what was coming. He was granting her heartfelt wish.
It was at that very moment that Harumi woke up. Still stuck in a dreamlike moment, however, she was drowsy and disoriented. Her heart was still in perfect unison with her other self.
“Mm, Satomi-kun...”
Fortunately, she soon found exactly what she was looking for. Koutarou was sleeping right next to her, and she slowly crawled over to him.
“Look, everyone! Harumi woke up!”
“How was it, Sakuraba-senpai?!”
In her current state, Harumi paid no mind to the noise around her. She was focused on one thing and one thing alone—making her wish and Koutarou’s come true. And she could do that all with one little...
I finally caught you... We’re finally side by side...
Once she was at Koutarou’s side, she paused for a moment to look down at his sleeping face.
“Hmm? Is Harumi still half-asleep?”
“I believe so. It doesn’t seem like she can hear us.”
“Harumi-sama! Goodness... You’re right. She’s not reacting at all.”
“Aika-san, what do you think Sakuraba-senpai is trying to do?”
“To give Satomi-kun, um, you know...”
“Shouldn’t we be stopping her? Harumi! Hey, Haru― Wait, what are you all doing?! Kyah! Mmh mmph!”
Oblivious to the scene unfolding around her, Harumi reached out and ever so gently stroked Koutarou’s cheek.
It’s okay. I’ll take care of you from here on out...
She then slowly leaned in closer and closer, to the point they could feel each other’s breath. Harumi’s bangs even fluttered when Koutarou exhaled. She then turned her head a little to the side so the angle was perfect. Now, just a few millimeters closer and...
Harumi was in utter bliss. This moment had played through her mind countless times, and now it was really here.
Even in my dreams, I... My dreams... Wait, my dreams?
Harumi’s mind latched on to that particular word, rapidly waking her up from her daze. Her five senses fully operational again, she quickly looked around and took in the situation.
“H-Huh? What was I... was I... Eeeeek!”
That was when she realized what she was just about to do.
“I-I-I was about to k-k-kiss Satomi-kun?! Nooooo! Kyaaaaah!”
That’s right. In this world, Harumi and Koutarou weren’t a couple yet. If she tried to kiss him now, she’d be off to a false start. One-sidedly pushing her feelings on him wasn’t what she wanted. She would never be able to forgive herself for that.
“Aww, you were so close! Why did you have to wake up there, Harumi?!”
“The setup and the mood were perfect. Sakuraba-senpai is just so serious.”
“If it were me, I’d keep going and just pretend I was half-asleep.”
“That’s pretty gutsy, Kasagi-san. I could never do that. I would want him to be awake...”
Harumi’s biggest problem now was that the other nine girls were in the room, and they’d seen everything.
“N-N-No, it’s not like that! I had no ill intentions! Kyaaah! Please tell me it was all a dream!”
Harumi hurriedly crawled away from Koutarou and into the corner where she curled up into a ball and buried her face in her knees. All the other girls had seen her heart’s deepest desires... What a huge blunder. She just wanted to crawl into a hole and die, but alas, there wasn’t one available. She’d have to settle for the corner.
“Say, Kiriha, what do you think of this result?” Theia asked.
“If I had to say... while she may have been half-asleep, for the introverted Harumi to go so far, she must have had a wonderful dream.”
“Excellent news!”
“Your Highness, please don’t be so rough while restraining Clan-sama. She might die.”
“Mm! Mrrrrrmf! Mmph!”
“Oh, sorry. I forgot.”
“Blech... Ack, hack! H-How dare you forget about me?!”
“Whatever! It’s my turn next!”
“That’s unfair, Theia-chan! Let’s play rock, paper, scissors again!”
“Being Satomi-kun’s girlfriend in a wonderful dream... Heehee...”
“Oh? I see you’re getting pretty interested, Aika-san.”
“Ack, ack... Personally, I don’t...”
“What’s that? Are you going to sit this out, Clan-dono?”
“That’s not what I’m saying! It’s research! For science!”
“If there’s a world where Master drags me away from my engagement, I would love to see it...”
Fortunately for Harumi, the girls’ interests quickly shifted away from her. Seeing how she’d enjoyed her dream, they were all anxious to experience their own. Thanks to that, Harumi was successfully able to hide in the corner for a little while.
At first Harumi was ready to die from embarrassment, but after cooling her head a little, she was able to compose herself. With a little more clarity of mind, she began thinking over what she’d experienced in the other world.
Satomi-kun and I did end up united... but I feel like a lot of things were sacrificed because of it...
She was thinking about everything that they and the others had missed out on because of it, which was a thought that helped sober her up immensely.
In that world, both my and Satomi-kun’s friendships with the other girls were weaker... I guess that’s only inevitable.
When he invested more time and energy into Harumi, she noticed that the time and energy he invested in his other relationships decreased. So while her wrist injury had led to a deeper bond with Koutarou, she felt like it had stolen away opportunities with the other girls.
Like the dance with Theiamillis-san... Satomi-kun also gave the entire muffler to me rather than sharing it with everyone...
Koutarou was only one man, and if he invested himself in Harumi, of course their relationship would grow. But that came at a cost. The muffler he gave Harumi for Christmas was a good example. In this world, he’d divided it into seven parts because Maki and Clan weren’t part of their circle yet. But in the parallel world she’d seen, Harumi got almost all of it. He’d taken smaller pieces to give to his landlord, Shizuka, and a couple of other friends, but that was it. It was a symbol of the way he was dividing himself, focusing almost entirely on Harumi to the exclusion of all others.
I didn’t become good friends with the other girls either... That’s why I only had eyes for Satomi-kun.
Something similar had happened with Harumi. By spending the majority of her time with Koutarou, she didn’t put as much of herself into developing friendships with the other girls. That in turn made her focus on Koutarou more, and the cycle continued. In another year’s time, she most certainly would’ve had a deep, stable, and strong relationship with Koutarou. But at that point, she would’ve sacrificed her other friendships for it.
If that world continued on to today... I wonder what would have happened.
Harumi wondered if it was possible for things to go the same way they had in this world, but with those kinds of lopsided relationships, it was likely impossible. She and the other girls never would’ve shared the same close bond they did now.
And then there’s Alaia-sama... If my relationship with Satomi-kun changes, it affects her too...
Would the Koutarou in the parallel world she saw ever become the Blue Knight? And if he did, would he still turn Alaia’s offer down and return to the present day? She knew Koutarou only had in this world because of the promise he’d made to all the girls... It left her wondering if the same thing would have been possible if she were his one and only connection. Really, there was no end to the list of questions she had. And the more she thought about it, the more she realized there was no way that world could have ended up like the current one.
So... is that really happiness? Do I think it is?
When Harumi asked herself that, she glanced behind her.
“The results of rock, paper, scissors are too random!”
“Then what should we do, Glasses?”
“We should play other games. You’re all okay with that, right?”
“If I’m going to lose anyways, I’d just as soon play rock, paper, scissors...”
“Ha! Bold of you to challenge me at another game, Clan!”
“I... I have no intentions of standing down this time either.”
“I’m surprised, Ruth... Or that’s what I’d like to say, but I know how you feel. In my case, however, I still haven’t decided what kind of parallel world I’d like to see.”
“Ah, going out to eat something delicious with Satomi-kun might be pretty good!”
“I’d just like to go somewhere quiet... with just the two of us...”
The other eight girls were discussing who would go next. Nobody had any intention of passing on the opportunity, so it was something of a heated discussion. They were only able to be so open and honest with each other, however, because of the strong bonds of friendship that had been forged between them.
Maybe waking up before kissing Satomi-kun was for the best... I never want to give up on this friendship.
That was Harumi’s conclusion. In the end, the happiness she’d attained in the parallel world wasn’t complete. Just being with Koutarou wasn’t enough. She knew, in the end, that she needed the other girls just as much. That was what it would take to make her truly happy.
The other Harumi was happy in her world, and this Harumi was happy in hers. Things were fine this way. All was as it should be. That was what Harumi ultimately felt after her dream.
“Heehee.”
But when Harumi finally came to that conclusion, she heard a small giggle from next to her. Turning to look, she saw the girl from the ruins smiling.
“I thought that’s what you’d decide, Harumi.”
“You thought...? You mean you knew?”
“Yes. That’s what allows me to be here, after all.”
“That’s true. It’s what we all wished for, so there’s no way we could find this happiness anywhere else.”
“Heehee... But it was still fun to see, right?” she asked with a smile.
“I-Indeed, it was a good reference...”
Meanwhile, Harumi blushed. Blazing ahead in her relationship with Koutarou was out of the question, but there was one thing she wanted to give a try: the ribbon around her wrist. It likely wouldn’t change how Koutarou felt about her in this world, but it might give Harumi some of the courage she needed.
“So I’d be happy if you’d let me remember just that part.”
“Of course. I’ll make sure of it.”
“Oh, and I have a question...”
There was one more thing on Harumi’s mind, and she wanted to use this opportunity to ask about it. But the girl in ruins gently smiled and nodded before she could even get a word in.
“There are.”
“Pardon?”
Harumi was confused by the girl’s answer. She didn’t understand what it meant, but the girl cheerfully continued.
“There are worlds where Princess Alaia and Koutarou are together.”
There wasn’t even a need for her to read Harumi’s mind. In the end, they were one and the same. To the girl from the ruins, it was only natural that Harumi would wonder about such a thing.
“So there are? Thank god... Someday I would love to hear about them.”
“Certainly. But right now...”
The girl pointed over Harumi’s shoulder. When Harumi turned to look, she saw the other girls looking at her.
“Harumi, you pick the game!”
“Game? What do you mean?”
“We decided that everyone would accept the game you picked, so please bring a civil end to this, Harumi.”
“I see.”
She finally understood. Harumi, having already seen her dream and therefore being a neutral party in the fight for who would go next, was the most diplomatic and unbiased choice when it came to choosing a game. That was the conclusion of the girls’ heated discussion.
“Now go, Harumi. Your precious friends are waiting for you.”
The girl from the ruins put her hands on Harumi’s shoulders and gave her a gentle push forward. She looked like she was enjoying herself, but that was only natural. The girls getting along was directly connected to her own happiness.
“I know, but...”
However, Harumi didn’t immediately run off. Instead, she turned around and took the girl’s hand.
“Harumi...?”
“You’re coming too.”
“But...”
“That’s would Satomi-kun would want. He’d say something silly like, ‘Your circumstances don’t matter.’”
“Yes... You’re right.”
With the girl from the ruins in tow, Harumi rejoined her circle of friends. The ruckus in room 106 only grew louder after that. You’d think no one would be able to sleep with all the noise and excitement, but Koutarou continued to dream soundly. Because that, in and of itself, was the essence of his wish. And so night fell on the warm, happy, peaceful, and loud room 106.
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