At lunchtime the next day,

everybody in class was talking about Rena's disappearance.

We were all worried about her safety... but I kept a safe distance from everybody else.

"...I do wonder where she went.

Someone said that she was demoned away.

How can they say such things? I can't believe their nerve!"

"Keiichi-san, you look down today..."

"...Meep."

Satoko and Rika-chan noticed something odd about my attitude.

".........I... ummm..."

"...??"

I couldn't sleep at all last night because of what Rena told me.

Friends don't keep secrets from one another.

That sentence bit into my heart... and I couldn't sleep because of the pain.

"Mion.

...Satoko, and Rika-chan too.

...I have something I need to talk to you about."

"...Is it about Rena?"

"No... it's not.

It's about me..."

I decided to tell them about it, because they were my friends.

...But I didn't know what I was expecting to change by doing so.

They might despise me... Was there any benefit in telling them?

...No, there wasn't. I knew that for sure.

But I still wanted to tell them about it, just because I thought it'd help heal the pain I was feeling.

"What is this about, Keiichi-san...?"

"...Well... It's the truth about myself.

I'd appreciate it if you listened to me."

"............"

"It's about what happened to me before I moved here.

I was a kind of guy who wasn't good at anything but studying."

I learned the tricks of the game called studying at my cram school.

I enjoyed the sense of superiority I felt by getting good grades. I kept studying just because I wanted to look down on the other students.

When my grades got better, my parents got happier, and my teachers praised me.

I felt good.

It was fun to look down on the students who were good at running, dodgeball, or swimming. That was the only reason I kept studying.

Before I knew it, not only was I the top of my class, I was the top of my school.

So, I started to think I was the most important student there.

I looked down on the kids who were playing in the schoolyard during lunch break. I enjoyed feeling a sense of superiority to them in my insignificance.

...The more I studied, the better everybody expected me to do.

They started to place high hopes on me. They expected me to go to the best school in Japan.

I flattered myself in thinking I deserved to go to that school as well.

But... The fun went out of looking down on people, while the burden of studying didn't change a bit.

My classmates stopped admiring my cleverness after a while, and my teachers started to push me to study more.

All of a sudden, the fun had gone out of it.

To begin with, I didn't even like to study.

I had average reflexes. I was average in a fight. I was an average boy with nothing that really drew attention. So when I found something that I could use to get that attention, I jumped on it.

It happened to be studying for me, but if it was riding a unicycle or juggling, I would've done that, too.

When I realized I didn't enjoy studying anymore, it got very boring.

I was just a little boy who wanted to be praised when I did something better than anybody else.

...I finished all of my summer homework because my parents praised me for it, and I took charge of cleaning duties at school because my teachers praised me for it.

So when they stopped praising me for what I did, I began to feel as though my life had no meaning.

My parents used to give me an allowance that was proportional to how good my grades were, so I used to get a substantial amount of money for my age.

...I don't know if I had a natural interest in violence, or if I was looking for it because of my frustration at the time.

I took an interest in BB guns.

At first, I shot at cardboard boxes. It was fun.

Being violent at pieces of cardboard relieved a lot of stress.

Nobody blamed me for doing that.

But soon, I started wanting to do something I should never have done.

On the box that my BB gun came in was a warning label that read "do not shoot at people".

That was when I thought about doing just that.

Why did I do something I shouldn't have?

I guess I was just immature.

I wasn't interested in studying anymore, but I forced myself to do so anyway. My parents forced me to go to several cram schools. I was mad at them for that.

I should've told them I didn't want to study anymore.

...But I didn't have the courage to do that.

...So, I used my frustration as an excuse to do something cowardly: I shot at kids who were younger than I was with my BB gun.

It gave me such a thrill.

It felt so good to do something bad when I was so overcome with studying.

Needless to say, I had no personal grudge against the kids I shot.

As long as the kids passed through a deserted street, they met the requirements to become my target.

I didn't mean to hurt them.

I shot at them once or twice from a distance. That was all I wanted to do.

But sometimes, they didn't react at all because the BBs hit a thicker part of their clothes or something.

...I didn't like that, so I started to shoot until they noticed they were being hit.

It inevitably escalated into a barrage of gunfire.

I study a lot. I'm doing something good.

So, I deserve to do something bad to balance out the good thing I'm doing.

That was the unbelievably selfish excuse I made.

I thought I had a right to do things like that, because I was suffering myself.

I thought people who weren't suffering like I was deserved to be shot at and to get hurt a little bit.

...I was so selfish, so arrogant, and so immature!

I was disgusted with myself.

If I could have met myself at that time, I would've given myself a punch in the face so hard that I'd knock out all of my teeth.

They started to call it "a series of attacks on school children".

The principal of my school held a morning assembly to inform everyone about the case and to warn them to be careful when playing outside. I was laughing sneakily.

The PTA issued a letter of warning and advice to take the safest way to and from school. Parents took turns watching kids when they walked between home and school in groups.

The more serious it got, the more it reminded me of the excitement I first felt when my grades started going up.

I was absorbed in that game I was playing.

I didn't think that I'd get caught someday. I didn't even think to stop doing it, either.

One day.

...I found a little girl who was walking down a narrow dark street, all alone.

She was a very small girl.

I don't know if she was on her way to her friend's house, or if she was running an errand.

I didn't care which.

It was careless of her to go out alone. The school had warned her not to.

So, it was her fault.

Just like always, I made a selfish excuse...

and attacked her.

Some of the shots hit her in the back. She noticed she was attacked by somebody.

She turned around. It was a natural reaction.

At that time, I didn't hesitate to rain hell upon her.

So when she turned around, I was still shooting at her.

Usually when I shot at a kid, she cried in pain and ran away.

...But this girl was different.

She thrashed around in excruciating pain, holding one of her eyes.

When I saw her doing that, I realized what had happened right away.

The BB had hit her in the eye.

Until that moment, I didn't think about what would happen when a pellet that could easily go through a cardboard box hit an eyeball.

Anyway,

the girl howled in pain,

and for the first time

I realized I had done something horrible.

She saw me.

So I couldn't take her to a hospital.

I couldn't do anything about it... so I left her there while she was still screaming in pain.

I wondered if she was okay, and I worried that she had lost her eye.

I kept thinking about her, and I didn't even feel like eating that day.

I went to the bookshelf in our living room, snuck a medical book to my room, and studied the structure of the human eye.

It was too late to make a difference, but I studied what kind of injuries would make a person lose their vision.

I knew it wouldn't make the sin I committed weigh any less even if I found out that she wouldn't lose her sight.

...I couldn't sleep that night, and I suffered from a high fever.

It wasn't my parents, my teachers, or the police who first punished me for what I did... It was my own body.

Before dawn.

...I woke my parents up and confessed to my sin.

They were shocked at first, but it seemed like they understood the situation quickly due to my recent disobedient behavior and my interest in BB guns.

My mom cried hysterically. My dad slapped me in the face 'til it swelled up.

Before the sun came up, I turned myself in to the police, accompanied by my parents.

Satoko stared at me with a stunned expression.

I deserved to receive that kind of look.

What I did was very wrong, and I needed to accept that...

"......Is that all... true...?"

"Yes...

It's all true.

...I'm sorry I didn't tell you until now..."

".........What made you want to tell us?"

Mion asked me. Rika-chan nodded in agreement.

"To tell you the truth...

I don't understand why."

"...Well... I know, but..."

"No.

I'm just saying that I don't see any reason why you had to tell us about it."

"Well......

I didn't want to keep secrets from my friends.

...You're my friends,

so... I couldn't hide it from you anymore."

"...What are you expecting us to do?"

"I'm not... expecting anything.

...I just..."

"......If you're asking for forgiveness, I can't give it to you.

You have to ask the kids you attacked if you want that.

It won't help any to tell us about it."

"I agree with Rika.

...I think you're really brave to tell us, but... I don't understand what you want to do from here on out."

"...I don't want to do anything...

...I just thought... it's not right to keep secrets from my friends..."

My friends looked annoyed by the sudden confession of my past.

I took it as bitter medicine. I got what I deserved.

"Kei-chan,

I have a question.

...Why can't friends keep secrets from each other?"

"What?"

"I mean, that's what you're saying, but...

I really don't agree."

"......I don't agree, either."

Mion and Rika-chan obviously disagreed with my statement.

Satoko nodded, following suit.

"I don't think it's wrong to refuse to tell people things you'd rather not.

We all have lots of things we don't want to tell anyone else about, like tragedies, mistakes, and other things you don't want to remember.

If I'd have to tell someone everything to be true friends with them, I wouldn't want to have them as my friends at all."

"...B-But..."

"...Keiichi,

there's a difference between things you don't need to confess and things you have to confess.

You have to confess what you did to receive forgiveness.

But once you're forgiven, you don't need to keep confessing."

"Quite.

...You turned yourself in to the police, and they scolded you good, did they not?

You atoned for your sin, and you were forgiven. What more do you have to do?"

"You turned yourself in, and you accepted the result. You did what you had to do.

It's very important that you keep reminding yourself of your sin

so that you won't make the same mistake again.

...But you only have to take care of that on your own. It's not something you have to confess to everybody."

"That's very true.

I have many embarrassing stories that I'd rather not tell anyone."

"......Meep.

Satoko does have quite a lot of them."

"I-It's not only me!!

Rika has a heap of them too!!"

"Meep☆ meep☆ meep☆!"

Satoko and Rika-chan fooled around with each other like they always did.

Mion looked at them and then looked back at me.

"Satoko just said something very important.

...Did you get it?"

"...You mean the part where she said she has a dark past that nobody needs to know about?"

"No, no!

The bit after that.

She's saying that everybody has something they'd rather hide.

Considering that nobody grows up in a sterilized room, we all learn by trial and error. That's called life, you know?

You do both good things and bad things in order to grow up. Your goal is to become a wonderful person by the end.

Everything that happens is a very important experience, including both the good and the bad.

The same goes with everybody, with Satoko, Rika-chan, and me, too.

The same applies to everybody in this class."

"...For example, Mii used to be a very bad girl.

Meow. Meow."

"Heh heh heh!

...Well, I'm not proud of it or anything,

but shooting at people with a BB gun is like nothing compared to what I did!

I used to throw bricks at people.

I can't even count how many times I ended up in a cell at the police station.

During the dam conflict, I was a regular there.

I'm not kidding. It's all true."

"...But it happened in the past.

And she doesn't have to tell you about it

even though she's your friend."

"Even though she's my friend..."

"...I made... a lot of embarrassing mistakes and committed some crimes, too.

But I don't tell you about them, because telling you wouldn't help in any way."

"If you feel better by telling us about your past, we'll listen.

But there's no rule that says you have to tell us about your past just because we're friends!

I don't want to dig up a past that you don't want to talk about. That's what true friends are all about, I think."

"...I... I agree with you, but..."

"We're happy if you feel better now by telling us about your past.

We can forget about it if you want us to.

We'll never change the way we see you because of this."

"......What you did in the city has nothing to do with who you are right now.

You're a precious friend to us. I actually don't want to know about your past, to be honest with you."

"I agree with Rika.

The same thing goes the other way around. Even if you did something great in the city, but if you were a nasty person here, I wouldn't care what great things you did back then."

"In other words, Kei-chan,

the sin you committed in the city is something that you should keep secret in your heart. You don't need to dig it back up just to tell us.

I mean, you can if you want.

And if anybody changed the way they saw you because of that, I'd look down on them!"

"No matter what happened in the past, as long as you're a great person at present, you shouldn't be embarrassed of yourself. Am I wrong?

What's the purpose of living if we can never earn redemption?"

"......Satoko used to be a big baby who couldn't do anything by herself.

She regretted it deeply, and now she's a strong independent girl.

That's why I admire Satoko today.

I don't care how weak she used to be."

"...Rika..."

"What about you, Kei-chan?

Are you going to change the way you see me because you now know I used to be a very bad girl who was a regular at the police station?

You won't, will you?

I am who I am.

Our friendship won't change, and we'll keep playing and laughing like we always do, right?

That's what being friends is all about."

What...?

What...? What's going on............?

...Mion is trying to cheer me up with an encouraging smile on her face, but her expression became distorted all of a sudden...

Big teardrops... fell

from my eyes...

...What?

............Why

am I crying...?

"Let me just say this.

I didn't know anything about Satoshi.

...Because you all hid it from me."

"...W-We didn't mean to hide it..."

"You didn't tell me about the incidents that happen every year, right?"

"Ah, that's because... we didn't want to...

ummm..."

"You didn't want to scare me?!

Just because of that, you left me out?!"

"No, we didn't mean to..."

Mion didn't know what to say. She had tears in her eyes.

...She thought she did me a favor. She didn't know why it turned out like this.

She didn't want to make me scared of the village, since I'd just moved here.

...What more reason did she need?!

"I asked you before, Mion, if there was a crime at the dam construction site.

...You told me there was none!!!

But there was a dismemberment lynch murder!!!

You lied!!!"

"I-I'm sorry...!!!

I didn't mean to lie to you..."

"I thought friends didn't hide things from each other.

Right?!

So, that makes us not friends!!"

Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!!!

What are friends?

What are friends?

What were friends to me?!!

They were my true friends.

They really cared about me.

They were so nice to me, and helped me feel at home in this village!!

I couldn't have been happier!

Everything was great, wasn't it?

"K-Kei-chan...... Please don't......"

Mion seemed like she didn't know what to say.

Her eyes looked moist.

...It was hard to believe she was really acting like this. It wasn't like Mion at all.

I could feel her pain. She was in pain because she didn't know what I was blaming her for...

She looked so sad... but I didn't notice her pain!

I thought I was her friend!!

I didn't understand her feelings. I didn't trust her!

I just used the word "friends," but I didn't do anything like what friends were supposed to do!!!

"...That's right... I was such a fool...!!

Mion was Mion... She was my best friend!!

Why did I doubt her?!

Why?!"

"Kei-chan looks down these days."

"He just moved here from the city.

I guess the fatigue must be setting in.

He probably caught a cold as a result."

"I see.

Then, he needs to eat something nutritious!

My grandma is making ohagi today.

I'm going to ask her to give me some so we can bring them to Kei-chan!"

"Oi, Mion! Wash your hands first!!!

Hello, Rena-chan, would you like to try making one, too?"

"Wow... that looks like fun!

Yes, I'd love to try.

Here we go!"

"Heh heh heh!

I have a great idea."

"What is it, Mii-chan?

...What's that little bottle? ...What is it?!"

"It's not fun to only have sweet ohagi, you know?

Heh heh heh, let's put hot sauce in one of them. It'll wake him up for sure!"

That's right. ...That's what happened!!!

They brought ohagi for me to help me get better... They only tried to cheer me up!!

Why did I get so scared of them?!

Just because Mion knew I had lunch at Angel Mort, I grew terrified of her!

"Hey, you don't look good.

Maybe you should go lie down."

"That's right,

maybe we should leave."

They just wanted to cheer me up with a joke.

But... because I looked so serious...

"See you."

Please get better soon.

I hope we can hang out in the club together tomorrow!

That was a normal way of saying goodbye...!!

"I don't want you to be absent from school tomorrow, okay?"

...First of all, have I ever visited any of my classmates who were absent with a cold?

No, I haven't!

I've never done such a nice thing to anybody, because it's too much of a bother!

But they did that for me!!

I understand visiting a friend in a hospital, but I just caught a cold...!

But they came to visit me with ohagi so that I could get better soon...!!

I should've been thankful to them and said, "I'll get better soon, and I'm sure I can come to school tomorrow!!

So, I'll see you then!!" ...That was what I was supposed to say!!

But what did I do instead?!

I locked the door!!

I closed the door and locked it as if rejecting them!!

What was I so scared of? What was I so afraid of?!!

Why didn't I say any words of appreciation to my friends who cared about me?!!

I was just so scared of the ohagi they brought for me!!!

What was I thinking?!!

It was impossible that there was a needle in one of them!!!

There wasn't actually a needle at all!!

It was all in my head, because I had read some manga about someone putting needles or razor blades in people's food.

...It scared me so much that......

I believed

it could also happen to me

for some reason...... and I thought there was a needle in the ohagi...!!!

You were so stupid, Keiichi!!!

Why would your friends put a needle in food they only brought to make you get better?!?!

It was crazy to think like that!!

Even if

there was a needle in one of them, I should've thought that it was some kind of mistake, and I should've believed in my friends' innocence!!!

That's what a true friend would do!! But what did I do?!

Pound!

Splatter!

Smash!

I threw the ohagi that they spent so much effort making on the floor!!

Why?!

Why did I do that?!

I got along so well with them.

I moved to Hinamizawa, and I made friends for the first time in my life.

They were my best friends.

Meeting them was the most wonderful experience of my life. I'd probably never have another one like that for the rest of my days.

I knew that, but...... I got scared, and I doubted them!

They noticed that I was acting odd.

...That's why they called the manager, Irie.

They thought a sedative might help me relax, so I could rest and get better... That's why they carried me up to my room.

Mion just wanted to make it fun.

She's the kind of person who expresses her goodwill by making a joke out of it.

I knew that better than anybody...!!

She knew Irie would roll up my shirt to check my heartbeat with a stethoscope.

...So she was just trying to draw graffiti on my shirt just like she did to Tomitake-san as punishment for the game he lost!

Yes...

That's why Mion

took a felt marker out of her pocket.

A felt marker.

...She brought a marker from home because she just wanted to do something funny.

She tried to cheer me up by making me take a punishment for fun rather than nursing me, because that's just what Mion is like... She went to the trouble of bringing a felt marker to my house...

Just because she wanted to cheer me up...

Rena held me down tightly... and Mion came closer to me... to write something on my shirt...

Mion

whispered...

the words she was going to write...

on my shirt!!

I heard them.

...I heard them clearly.

I heard what she was going to write on my shirt...!!!

I hope

you get well soon!

Mion

I heard them... Then why?!!

I should've known she wasn't going to do anything to hurt me!!!

Then why? Why?!!

Why did the marker look like a syringe to me?!

Why did I think that Mion was going to kill me?!?!

It was impossible! It was impossible!!!

Why? Why? Why?!!

Why did I misunderstand that Mion was going to kill me?!!! Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!!

The numbness in my head receded... and slowly... I felt blood start to run through my entire body again.

How long... was I squatting down there...?

For a few minutes?

Or a lot longer than that...?

...As I looked up at the clock, the hands weren't moving at all, as if they had stopped while I had my eyes closed.

...Really?

The atmosphere in the room wasn't filled with insanity like it was earlier... but it was quiet and gray.

Rena wasn't holding me down, Mion wasn't about to give me an injection.

...Was all of that... just some kind of illusion?!

There was no sense of presence other than myself in that room...

It was an extraordinary experience, the kind I'd never had before.

...I was there... with Rena and Mion...

I doubted my sanity for a moment, but at the same time, I felt some kind of relief too.

Ha ha ha... The scary incident was just an... illusion after all.

Neither Rena nor Mion would've done such a terrible thing to me...

Tears started forming in my eyes.

My emotions were running high...

Why...?

It wasn't a question of why tears were forming in my eyes.

Why...?

...It was a question... of my sadness.

...Why did I feel so sad...?

I don't know.

...I don't know...

You don't know?

What do you mean, you don't know?!!

You do know!!

I was so stupid. What the hell was I doing?!!

I was so pathetic and helpless!!!

Mion just tried to cheer me up. That was all.

I liked her so much. She was my best friend!

She was older than me, but she hung out with me like we were the same age.

...She was the first one who came to talk to me in class.

She was so nice to me... but I... I...!!!

...Mion was lying down in an unnatural position near the window.

She was covered in dusky-red blood from her head to her chest.

The red fluid splattered on the wall... was Mion's.

What had I done...? What had I done...?!

I would never forgive myself...!!

"I...... truly did ...think of you all as my friends..."

Why... Why did all this happen...?

There was nothing fun in my life at my old school.

...When I talked to anyone, it was only ever about my chances of passing the entrance exam of the schools we wanted to go to.

...My life was shaded in gray.

Friends to me were rivals and enemies to vie with for a school recommendation and test scores.

My friends here taught me just how unnatural that was.

This whole month was a blast...

We raised the roof over lunch, our club activities, and the festival...

A warm liquid flowed out from my eyes.

...To my surprise, it was... my tears.

I didn't have any obligation to cry for them.

...But I couldn't stop it...!!

Even though they attempted to kill me.

Even though they almost killed me.

...I couldn't forget the memories we made during the past month...

Or... were those fun days... fake...?

Was it an act... that they kept playing perfectly to set me up until today?

Was it only me who believed that they were my friends...?

It couldn't be...!!!!

Rena and Mion... they were my friends for real!

Those happy days... couldn't have been just a performance...!!!

Rena and Mion must have been forced by somebody to kill me.

Or... that an extraordinary existence called Oyashiro-sama possessed them and took over their consciousnesses!

No matter what it was... both Rena and Mion... were my best friends!!

I was stupid!!!

I was such a fool.

Such a fool.

Such a fool.

Such a fool.

I wasn't making any sense at all!!

I killed my best friends!!!

They were my best friends!!

Then, why didn't I trust them?!!

Why didn't I listen to them?!!

I beat them to death. Who did I think I was?!!

I made it sound like I didn't do anything wrong!

I felt like everybody went crazy except me.

I was such a fool! It was the other way around!

Of course it was!!

I was the only one who went crazy!!!

"...K-Kei-chan...?"

"I...

I...

did something terrible...

I'll never forgive myself... Ahhhhhhh..."

Mion was still alive.

...I have a memory of beating her to death because I couldn't trust her. But that's a memory from a nonexistent, different world.

But... even though it happened in a different world... I... killed Mion...

And I didn't realize how deep that sin was.

I even thought until now... that Mion was at fault for being killed!!

"Wh-What is wrong with Keiichi-san...?"

"I don't know...

Kei-chan, please calm down...

I'm not dead.

You didn't beat me to death. I mean, I'd never let that happen.

Okay?"

"Quite.

There's no one in our club whom you could beat to death, Keiichi-san!"

"No... No..."

Mion and Satoko looked confused, having no idea why I was crying.

But I couldn't help myself.

I learned just now that I could earn redemption by confessing my sin.

...But I could never earn redemption for this... not from Mion...

No matter how much I cried in this world, nobody could give me forgiveness.

And so, I could never earn redemption for this sin...

Right then, Chie-sensei came in and noticed me crying.

...You wouldn't see a teenage boy crying like that very often.

Chie-sensei asked me what was going on, but at that moment I couldn't hear anything.

Mion and Satoko looked confused. They didn't know how to explain the situation.

Rika-chan approached me in the midst of my sobs.

"......You remember... don't you, Keiichi...?

...You remember how you...

killed Rena and Mii..."

"Yes!!

I... killed them!!

I killed them!!

But I didn't accept my sin. I pretended I was the victim!!

I cursed and blamed my friends until the moment I died!!

There was blood everywhere... and... and...

In the end, I just died alone... without any regrets..."

I clawed at my itchy throat in a phone booth.

...I didn't notice my sin,

and I died alone...

"...Keiichi.

...Did you notice...

your sin just now?"

"Yes, I did.

It took me so long, but I just noticed it!!

I remember what I did, not here, but in a different world that looks just like this one!

I... killed my friends because I couldn't trust them!!

They were just trying to help me!

But I didn't listen to them.

I don't know why I didn't.

Ahhhhhhhhh!!"

I didn't care if people were staring.

...I just kept crying.

I wanted to transmute my sin to tears in order to squeeze it out of me.

But the tears that were coming out from my eyes weren't my sin.

...They were just tears of regret for doing something irreversible.

At that time

...I felt something touching my head.

...I opened my eyes, and saw Rika-chan patting my head gently.

...I didn't need any comfort.

I didn't deserve any comfort from Rika-chan.

But the words she spoke to me...

weren't ones of comfort.

"......I

forgive you, Keiichi."

".........What......?"

"......Keiichi, you noticed your sin.

It's a very difficult thing to do, and not something everybody can.

Not everyone can understand how great you are, and hence, they can't forgive you.

...But I can,

because I know how great you are."

".........Rika-chan..."

"...This is a miracle.

You noticed the sin you committed in another world.

That's impossible to do.

But you did it.

That is the most unbelievable and precious of miracles that could exist in this world..."

I didn't understand anything Rika-chan was saying.

...But... I felt like she's the only one who understood that impossible memory I had.

"...So,

you should be able to understand...

what Rena Ryuugu is going through right now."

"Yes... I understand.

She's going through exactly the same thing I went through...!!

She wants to trust her friends more than anything!!

But she can't!!

She's the one who's losing her mind, but she doesn't understand that, and she thinks that the world is going crazy instead!!

I don't know how to save her!!

I have no idea!!

Because... I... failed!!

I didn't understand until I died...

No, I didn't understand even after I died!!

So how can I make Rena realize what I didn't, even after that?!!

I can't save her... I can't save her...!!

I know, because I was just like her...

There's nothing I can do."

...Calm down, Keiichi...

I did fail.

...But that didn't mean Rena would, too...

There was no excuse not to save her because I thought she'd fail.

...After all, what did Rena do back then?

I was totally going mad but... she risked her life to save me!!!

In my room, in that world... I had beaten her many times with a metal bat...!

But she was smiling.

She knew I was scared... and that's why she smiled for me.

I beat her so many times. Her arms were broken, and her forehead was cut open...

I remembered...

Rena didn't block her head...

even at the very last moment.

She...

opened her arms

towards me

like she was looking for a hug...

But I still doubted her...

and raised the metal bat up high.

Rena told me then.

That it was okay.

"...Please

trust me."

Ahhhhhhhhhh!!

My friend still told me to believe in her!!

She told me to trust her!

But I still didn't. I lost it and attacked her!!

She was in danger. She was actually killed!!

But she didn't even block her head. Instead, she used her arms to reach out for me...!

Rena continued to say those words until the moment she died.

Trust me.

Please

trust

me.

She risked her life to save me!!

Until her very last moments... she kept telling me to believe in her...

But I didn't listen. For so long, I truly believed that I didn't do anything wrong!!!

"...I feel a little bit better now that you've forgiven me, Rika-chan.

...But I still have to atone for my sin.

...I'm going to do that in the same way Rena did for me. I'm going to save her...!"

Rena risked her life to save me!!

She cared about me until her very last moments!

She trusted me!!

She believed that her words would reach my heart, so she kept saying them

until I cracked her skull!!

I don't care if I die...

Rena died for me!!

I can die for her, too!!

I was such a fool for failing to understand my friends' feelings. That's why I didn't understand what she was saying.

...But... Rena might be different...!!

"...This world is messed up.

But it doesn't mean that I can just quit.

...Quitting is the same thing as not believing.

I believe in Rena, and in our friendship.

...That's why I can still make it.

I can still prevent a tragedy from happening.

I can change fate.

We will struggle together

to seize our future!!"

"....................."

Rika-chan nodded with a serious look on her face, and she put her hand in the pocket of her skirt.

"......Keiichi.

...I won't give up, either.

...I'm not going to lose hope in this world.

...I was tired from meeting with countless failures.

I gave up on this world as it started to go wrong.

That's why...... I kind of gave up on Rena last night.

But... I was wrong.

...I realized that the will to fight is such a beautiful and divine thing... and it can work miracles that can even alter the path of fate.

So, I'll fight with you.

I'll fight again.

I'll keep fighting...

until I reach the future."

"...I have no idea what you two are talking about."

"Hee hee...

It's normal that you don't remember.

...Keiichi is a special exception."

"Huh???

I suppose I'm too brilliant to understand what's going on."

Rika-chan touched Satoko's forehead to hers.

"...But please remember one day.

When you're desperately driven into a corner of misfortune, please remember that he risked his life to save you."

"Keiichi-san fought for me...?

It's hard to believe..."

"Hee hee.

...Isn't that right, Keiichi?"

Rika-chan looked at me, smiling as if waiting for my agreement.

...I wasn't sure if I could risk my life for Satoko...

...No, I was sure. I'd risk my life for her.

Satoko is my friend.

If anybody tried to make her unhappy, I'd beat them up without hesitation.

I'd risk my life to save her!

...There might even have been a world like that...

I nodded to Rika-chan.

Rika-chan nodded back to me, looking happy.

"...Maebara-kun...... Is everything okay...?"

Chie-sensei realized that I'd finally calmed down, and she asked me that.

"Yes... everything is fine now.

I'm sorry I worried you.

......Anyway... Mion."

"...What?

What... is it?"

I walked towards her.

Mion stepped back, not knowing what was going on. She bumped into the blackboard.

"What... What is it, Kei-chan...?

You look so serious...

......Ah..."

I held Mion tightly.

She still didn't know what was going on, and her face turned red.

Crying on her shoulder, I told her the following.

"...I'm sorry... I'm so sorry..."

"What? What?

...What are you sorry for, Kei-chan...?

Th-This ol' man doesn't really get what's going on..."

"...It's okay. You don't need to get anything...

So just listen to me.

...I'm very sorry... And the ohagi you made...

They were really good... They were delicious...

They cheered me up.

...Well... I wanted to tell you that... I would go to school the next day... and the day after that, too. I wanted to tell you that I would see you tomorrow at school... But I couldn't...

I'm very sorry that I didn't give you any words of appreciation until today...!!

I'll never doubt you, Mion.

I'll never doubt any of my friends!!

Never, ever again!!

So Mion... please forgive me for what I did that day..."

Mion must have had no idea what I was talking about.

Of course... I didn't, either.

...I didn't understand what I was talking about.

But my sin wasn't forgiven yet.

I needed to confess my sin in order to receive her forgiveness.

"I know you risked your life to save me, Mion...

So... I'll risk my life to save you too, when you're in some kind of trouble.

I promise I will...!!"

"...K-Kei-chan............?

Aha, haha, you're making me blush......"

Mion's face was bright red. She didn't know what was going on.

Satoko was blushing too, with a confused look on her face.

But Rika-chan and I understood everything.

We weren't going to accept a tragedy...!!

We couldn't give up just because the world was going out of order!

We were going to fight against fate to the very last moment!

Mion fought for me.

Rena fought for me.

That's why... I was going to fight for Rena.

Just like she did for me... I was going to risk my life to save her.