A small black sphere, about one centimeter in diameter, rose up into the air; although it seemed tiny and unobtrusive, the world distorted and twisted around it. Naomi tried to reduce its power with the glove, but it was too powerful to completely contain.
This wasn’t something a human being was meant to control—the all-consuming remnant of a star, a black hole.
The sky flashed with blinding light and an ear-splitting roar shook the air. A great electric current hurtled down from the heavens at near-light speed, heading straight for Ichigyou Ruri, exactly as it was meant to.
But that bolt of lightning never hit her.
The black hole distorted its path. A torrent of energy coursed violently through the atmosphere; oxygen and water spun around the bridge with the force of a tornado.
Naomi pushed his imagination just a little further. He forced the world to change. And through his glasses, he saw the last remnants of the thunderbolt disappear into the abyss.
A thick fog had settled all around the bridge, probably from the river evaporating around it. As he stared blearily out at it, an idle thought slipped through Naomi’s mind: It kinda reminds me of a rock concert.
It was oddly quiet. At first he thought he might have blown out his ears, but then he heard the faint sound of the river and realized his hearing was just fine.
Bit by bit, the fog began to clear, revealing his surroundings. He could make out the bridge railings, and the stone pavement, and…
And her. Sitting on the bridge with her mouth hanging open and her eyes wide.
She was alive. Ichigyou Ruri had survived.
“Katagaki-san?” she murmured in a small, stunned voice. Naomi stumbled forward, overwhelmed, and dropped to his knees in front of her. He needed to make sure it was real, that she was real, so he wrapped his arms around her.
She’s really here. She’s breathing, and I can feel her pulse.
She’s alive.
“Ichigyou-san…” His voice cracked, something caught in his throat that mangled his voice, but he couldn’t stop the words flowing out of him, either.
“You’re…all right. I d-did it! I actually did it…”
He clung to her, sobbing, with tears rolling down his face. Yet again, he’d found a way to make himself an embarrassment. But then Ruri hugged him back, and he felt a little less ashamed.
Just then, he finally remembered about Sensei. He needed to share the good news right away—this was why Sensei had come from the future, after all.
With that thought, he finally regained his composure, and realized he’d been hugging Ruri for an awkwardly long time. Suddenly embarrassed, he pulled back and reached up to touch the side of his glasses, hoping they weren’t broken.
“Sensei!”
The moment he called out to his mentor, Naomi realized he was already here, standing on one of the posts of the guardrail. When had he arrived?
“Sensei,” he called out again, rising to his feet.
Ruri would probably find this a little odd, since the man was invisible to her. But he could explain everything to her later. Right now, he wanted nothing more than to celebrate this victory with his future self. He wanted to see Sensei’s face glowing with joy.
For some reason, though, the man had his hood on again. Most of his face was hidden in shadow. After a moment, he began to speak.
“The contents need to fit their vessel perfectly.”
Naomi blinked in confusion.
“I had to eliminate the discrepancies between her digitized consciousness and the physical structure of her brain. I needed to get her mind as close as possible to the way it was at the very moment of the accident.”
What is he talking about? I don’t get it.
“The compatibility ratio finally broke the necessary threshold. As of this moment—”
“Um, Sensei—”
“I can synchronize her.”
“What are you talking about?”
Sensei snapped his fingers.
Instantly, black wings sprouted from the glove on Naomi’s right hand. They beat fiercely in the air, pulling it free; a moment later, it transformed back into the three-legged crow and flew off into the night sky.
Just as quickly, eight enormous claws rained down from the sky. Each the size of a pillar, they slammed into the stone surface of the bridge, forming a perfect octagon.
Ichigyou Ruri was in its center.
“The girl’s in love,” Sensei murmured. The space between the pillars solidified into glass-like walls. Ruri was trapped inside, like a fish in an aquarium. Naomi could see her shouting, but he couldn’t hear anything.
“She fell head over heels for you, and that’s what pushed her over the line. Her mental state is virtually identical to the way it was at the moment of that accident. Everything’s finally ready.”
I don’t get it. What is he talking about? Isn’t he supposed to be me? Why can’t I understand him?!
Suddenly, the claw-like pillars grew taller. The octagonal aquarium stretched up into the starry sky and pierced it like a knife, opening a yawning hole.
“When that bolt of lightning hit her, she didn’t actually die,” Sensei said. “But she was left brain dead.”
The inside of the tank filled up with light. The walls grew white. And Ruri, still shouting silently inside it, faded away into the brilliance.
Before she disappeared completely, Naomi thought he saw her call his name.
The claws jerked up out of the bridge. As if gravity had been reversed, the great cage fell up into the sky. And just like that, they disappeared, taking her with them.
Naomi and Sensei were left behind.
Naomi stared at his future self, disbelieving, his mind a blank. Then, and only then, did Sensei pull back his hood.
He was smiling. He looked genuinely happy.
“Thanks for everything, Naomi,” he said. “And goodbye.” With those words, he dissolved into tiny sparkles, almost like a little firework. Just like a firework, the sparkles quickly faded away into the night. Where he’d stood, there was only the darkness of the sky.
Naomi’s fingers twitched involuntarily as he stared at the space where the light had been.
The night was hot and sticky. He could feel the humid, sauna-like air pressing directly against his bare, gloveless hands.
The fireworks were over for this year, another festival come to an end. But instead of trudging home, Naomi looked up at the silent sky and spoke in a soft, trembling voice.
“Sensei?”