“You’re gonna save the world?” Yuuhi asked, narrowing her eyes. “Which one do you mean?”
“Both,” I answered.
We were still locked in a standoff as I stared her straight in the eye. She stared right back at me, and rather sharply, I might add.
“That’s...”
“Impossible? Maybe for you, Yuuhi.” When I said that in a strong tone, Yuuhi fell speechlessly silent. “If you can’t think of anything other than the War of All to help Sith, I’ll come up with something in your place. So lend me your strength, Yuuhi Namidare.”
“What can you do?” Yuuhi questioned me harshly. “In this future timeline, you indeed possess some tremendous supernatural abilities. But as you are from the past, you’ve gone through story after story and have nothing to show for it. You’re powerless.”
“So, what? You think power will solve all of your problems?”
“...”
“I may not have any special powers myself, but I know the way to overcome any difficulty—by putting everyone’s powers together.”
Plenty of the heroines I’d encountered had special abilities themselves, but that hadn’t been enough to save their stories on their own.
“You say you’re me from another world, but to me, you’re no different than any other heroine. Unable to solve your story with your own power, you’re on the verge of tragedy. So I’m going to save you.”
“I’m... not...” Yuuhi mumbled, biting her lip and looking down, finally putting an end to our staredown. “I’m a Namidare. I’ve done my fair share of saving the day. So I can’t relent here. If I give up now, the story of my world is over.”
“I know. I know that pressure, that responsibility... But it’s not a burden you have to face alone!” I yelled. “Is asking for help really the same as giving up?! It’s not, is it?! You may have saved plenty of people before now, but so what?!”
“Wha—Rekka, wait!”
Satsuki jumped in and tried to stop me, but I ignored her better judgment and marched right up to Yuuhi.
“!”
Yuuhi herself seemed quite surprised at my outburst. If she were an enemy, a reckless approach was a dangerous move on my part. But there was only one thought in my head right now: I had to save her no matter what. The final boss before me was stronger than I was, stupider than I was, and far, far more stubborn than I had ever been.
“Just because you’re normally the hero doesn’t mean that you don’t need to be saved sometimes too!”
I took two steps closer so that Yuuhi’s face was right in front of mine.
“...”
This girl who’d come to our world through the mirror... I admit that looking at her was almost like looking into a mirror. The same eyes stared back at me.
“Just say you need help, Yuuhi.”
Perhaps to Yuuhi, this world was enemy territory and I was just another enemy. Perhaps she was wary of trusting me because she feared for the fate of the world she was carrying on her shoulders.
“You and I are both Namidares. If we both have the power to change fate, if we both help each other out... We should be able to save everyone, right?”
But this was all I could do. Like Yuuhi said, I was weak. Utterly powerless. I couldn’t do anything without the strength my friends and allies lent me. And the first step to that was getting them to trust me. I knew it was highly unlikely that I’d be able to sway Yuuhi with words at this point, so I had to be perfectly clear. I declared that there was a way to be saved. That she didn’t have to struggle alone anymore. That I would do something about it.
“...”
Yuuhi pressed her lips together firmly. Her hands slowly clenched into fists. If she wanted to punch me, she could probably take me out in a single hit. But what happened after that? What would she do next? She’d be up against every heroine present, so she’d either have to flee the scene or defeat them all. And what after that? Even if she got away, the extremists would lose without her. Would she just hide somewhere else and once again try to control the War of All from the shadows, continuing to sow the seeds of unhappiness in this world and plunging us further into misery? All to lead her own world to victory in the goddesses’ game? Was that really a happy ending? It wasn’t for us, and I didn’t think it would be for Yuuhi either.
Is that really what you want, Yuuhi Namidare?
If she was me from another world, then she was probably asking herself the same thing right about now. Over and over. Just wondering if this was right. And the answer to that was obvious.
“Even you know this is wrong, don’t you?!” I shouted, grabbing Yuuhi by the collar. “If you have any shred of pride left as a Namidare, then let’s aim for the happiest ending possible together! And I mean a real happy ending, not some bittersweet one where one of us still has to lose! Let’s author an ending where everyone can be happy! If you don’t have the resolve to do that, then...”
“Then what?”
“Let me spell it out for you!” I declared. “You’d leave me no choice. I’d have to tie you up and go save everyone myself. And I wouldn’t let you take any of the credit.”
“...”
Hearing my answer, Yuuhi looked dazed for a moment.
“Was that supposed to be a threat or something?”
“Oh, it’s a threat, all right.”
“?”
“If I save the day while you’re just sitting here, would you ever be able to forgive yourself?”
“...!”
There, Yuuhi’s expression changed.
✦ ✦ ✦
✦ ✦ ✦
The hurt Yuuhi had inflicted on this world ran deep. She’d pushed her breaking heart past its limits to do great evil in the name of saving her own world. But what if that had all been for nothing? If there had been another solution all along? If Yuuhi sat back and let someone else clean up her mess? The only thing she’d have left would be the weight of her crimes.
“Ridiculous. Ever since I resolved myself to do this, I—”
“You were planning on dying either way, right? You really are a fool.”
Yuuhi really was just a normal girl at heart. She was no final boss after all. At this rate, even if she managed to save her world, the guilt of destroying ours would probably destroy her too.
“If you’ve got the guts to put your life on the line, then put those guts to good use, Yuuhi.”
“Rekka, aren’t you being harsher with her than you usually are with the ladies?” R interjected.
“I said it earlier, R. While I can sympathize with her, I’m also pretty pissed at her.”
I believed that Yuuhi hadn’t had any other choice. That much was certain... But had it always been? Or had Yuuhi decided on her own that this was impossible just because she couldn’t do it by herself? If she’d sought someone else’s help from the start... If she’d overcome her fears and reached out her hand... Maybe all of this could have been avoided.
“After sending L after me, and after everything else you’ve done as the mastermind of the extremists, you should have a pretty good idea of what I’m capable of, right?”
“Yeah...”
“Then you have enough information to make a decision. Now hurry up and decide whether I’m leaving you here or not.”
I’d already said everything I could with words. If it just wasn’t enough to convince Yuuhi, it was my loss. Of course, even without Yuuhi’s cooperation, I still had no intention of giving up. I would still save both her world and mine. I just... probably wouldn’t be able to save Yuuhi too. I knew she’d never be able to forgive herself and there’d be nothing I could do about it. It would mean I’d failed to uphold my promise to the girls that I would save everyone... And I would carry that with me the rest of my life. But so be it. There really was nothing left to say to Yuuhi. All that remained was for her to make up her mind.
I let go of her collar, though her fists remained tightly balled. We were about to shape the future with our own hands—our own strength—the first and last weapons we possessed. It was simply a matter of whether or not Yuuhi was going to use her strength to fight or to run. If she ran, I’d give chase. If she fought, I’d fight with her. But the call was Yuuhi’s to make. Only she could choose. Would she pick her world over the happiness of everyone? Right now, the end to this story was in her firmly clenched fists.
“I...”
Her fists trembled, then shook. She squeezed them tighter and tighter as though she was trying to hold back her emotions. She squeezed, and squeezed, and squeezed with every last drop of her strength. Her strained fists raised a complaint at the pain... then finally uncurled.
“Can you really... save everyone?” Yuuhi asked in a small voice.
It was R that replied...
“Don’t worry. Despite how he looks, this Rekka here is an amazing hero with a 100-percent success rate. He’s saved every story he’s ever been involved in, and that’ll include yours.”
...with an announcement that Yuuhi had become my newest heroine.