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“?!”
I saw future Rekka’s expression change in shock, but my mind was elsewhere.
So you understood L’s secret message too, huh?
Who was I kidding? She’d probably realized it before I did. After all...
You really are sisters, huh, R?
The other person L meant when she’d said “we” was none other than R—my sharp-tongued partner who’d become invisible to everyone except me in order to enter Sith’s world. And I knew future Rekka couldn’t see her because of what he’d said after knocking Yuuhi out the first time.
“Now... All that’s left is you.”
If he could see R, he would’ve known it was more than just me he had to deal with. So, in the end, R was the real linchpin in our surprise. After stripping her down of all her Kiklim functions, all she could really do now was interact with me... But that was enough. That gave her the power to give me a big pat on the back right when I needed it.
Of course, fighting against someone as laughably scrawny as I was, future Rekka probably had his guard down. He was overwhelmingly strong and believed he could see everything that might pose a threat to him. He probably had the range of my arms pegged down to the millimeter. He was probably sure that his counterattack would be the end of things. Too bad he didn’t know about R.
“Hyah!”
My full-bodied, spirited punch sank into future Rekka’s nose, sending him flying. No matter how tough he was... With his guard down like that, not even he could stand up to a full-power punch.
“Oww... You shoulda been ready for that. I told you I was going to deck you.”
I rubbed my sore fist as I addressed future Rekka, who was lying prone on the floor.
“...”
He then looked at me and stood up, seemingly unfazed. He wasn’t even bleeding... Good grief, did he have a cyborg nose too?
“Is that all you’ve got?”
“Yeah, I think I’m done here. And this is your loss.”
“How so?”
“Take a look around you.”
Future Rekka cocked his head to the side with an expression that made it clear he didn’t understand what I meant. I’d only landed a single punch, and it hadn’t even put a scratch on him. Moreover, he’d probably caught on to the trick already. I wouldn’t get to punch him a second time.
“...?”
My bold declaration of victory despite all that made future Rekka cock his head even more. I, however, paid him no mind and looked around the arena. They were all either knocked out or asleep, but my prided heroines were all around us.
“Well? Aren’t they amazing? With their help, even a normal human like me can punch the strongest guy in the universe at least once.”
“But what does that have to do with—”
“I know what you’re really afraid of.”
Hearing those words, future Rekka froze on the spot. The thing future Rekka feared the most... He was afraid of losing his excess Namidare power and losing the heroines he’d already saved. But in addition to that...
“Once the past changes and the number heroines you’ve saves decreases, so too will the number of powers you have. And you’re worried that once you get weaker, you won’t be able to save anyone else. Right?”
“...”
“You don’t have to admit it. I know the answer already. We’re the same, after all.”
I knew his weaknesses better than anyone. All I had to do was think forward a little and put myself in my future self’s shoes... It wasn’t that hard. And I totally got it—I’d be afraid of the same thing too.
“It’s not being weak that scares you. It’s the thought of not being able to save anyone that terrifies you.”
“...I just couldn’t say it out loud because of how lame it sounds,” future Rekka finally said in a purposefully self-deprecating tone. Then he raised his head and asked me with a serious expression, “Well? Did you think that knowing that would make me hesitate to defeat you?”
Once more, I nodded without hesitation.
“That’s why I showed you everyone’s power.”
“...!”
Future Rekka had grown too strong. He used his power to do everything on his own. He was always alone, which was how he’d forgotten what made him strong in the first place.
“Even if you might not be the strongest anymore, with their help... you’ll be invincible! Remember that. And think about it. Back in the beginning, you couldn’t save a single story on your own, could you?”
“Yeah... Yeah, you’re right about that.” Future Rekka gave a reluctant nod, seemingly still unconvinced. “But what will happen to the heroines I lose when I lose my power?”
“I explained my new power, didn’t I?” I said, answering his question with one of my own. “It’s the ability to drag heroines into Rekka Namidare’s story. And if I have it, naturally, you will too. With this, we can pull in any of the heroines we need to help save a story.”
“?!”
Future Rekka finally realized what was going on and gasped. Until now, Namidare power had been a purely passive thing. Only by meeting a heroine and getting involved with her could I become the de facto main character of her story. But I was done with that. All of it. Instead of just waiting for things to happen, I wanted the power to do something... And now I had it. I could call my friends to my side anytime I needed their help. And together, we could save anyone. That was my real power.
“Besides, in the future, you’ll have access to the doctor’s time translocator. With that, you can save any heroine you want to, regardless of time or place.”
Once Sith’s Namidare power was returned to her world, the past of Maine’s world would be altered accordingly. Future Rekka would essentially lose all the heroines he’d saved with Namidare power that wasn’t his to begin with. But if he used the time translocator, he could seek them out and save them all over again with his—our—new power to drag heroines into our story.
“With this, both worlds, all the heroines, and even you, me, and Yuuhi can all be saved. So, what do you say? Do you accept defeat yet?”
The moment I asked him that, future Rekka fell backwards with a flop.
“U-Uh, hello?”
“You win... I admit complete defeat,” future Rekka whispered, looking up at the sky from where he lay on the ground like a deflated balloon. “But I wonder... Why are you and I so different?”
“I don’t think we’re really all that different at heart, you know? You just forgot a few things here and there.”
“Forgot a few things, huh...?” Future Rekka sighed a deep, heavy sigh before giving me a bitter smile. “But you’re leaving all the heavy lifting to me, aren’t you? Asking someone to save several hundred heroines all over again is a lot to drop in their lap, you know.”
At his expense, we both had a good laugh.
“Then shall I give you a hand? Or, wait... Don’t tell me you can’t remember each and every one of your hundreds of heroines?”
“As if that could ever forget them,” future Rekka answered immediately. “Besides, who needs your help? They’re my heroines.”
“That so?”
I nodded and said nothing more. And thus concluded our battle.