Conclusion:
About Endings
THE WHOLE NEIGHBORHOOD got a look at my girly pajamas, and I still managed to go to school the next day.
Actually, it’s nice they took me to the hospital in an ambulance, but the wound was as shallow as the blood was crazy. Maybe it was because it was my left hand, but they wrapped it up with a ridiculous amount of bandages—honestly, more for the sake of form than anything else—but to a casual observer it probably looked like I got hurt pretty badly.
Yukari was standing in front of the school gate. As soon as she saw me, she ran over, worried. Looking carefully, I noticed Nanami’s head in the shadow of the gate. She must have been worrying about me and waiting for me too. I felt bad; it really wasn’t a serious injury. I had to be grateful I had these friends, though.
Before I could call out to Yukari as she ran to me, someone spoke to me from behind.
“You look well, nobody. Perhaps it was not bad for a hot-blooded person such as yourself to let out some of your blood.”
I sighed and looked behind me. “Morning, Alice. Thanks for the kind words first thing in the morning.”
“Oh! Oh! Good morning, Gaku-chan and Alice-chan. Um, Gaku-chan, your hand—”
“Do you not understand irony, nobody? To strike your hand against the glass of your window—I knew you were stupid, but I did not know you had poor eyesight,” Alice spat.
“You woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning, didn’t you, Alice? Did I make you worry? Or if you’re just trying to pick a fight, I’ll take you on. It’s your fault that I couldn’t sleep and ended up like this.”
“What are you referring to?”
“I’ve been thinking long and hard about what you said to me—about Yukari.”
Yukari came to a stop. Alice’s expression didn’t change, but she was clearly interested in me now.
“So, have you gathered your thoughts? Do you see what you should do for Yukari as a true friend?”
I nodded, “Yes.” I turned to face Yukari. “Yukari, I don’t want you to go.”
“What?” they both asked in stupefaction.
Looking at them, I thought to myself: It may be true that I don’t have the power to protect Yukari, who has a special talent. Not from some organization nor from the world itself. But even so—
“Of course, I’ll respect what you want, Yukari. And so you know, no matter what you choose, I’m your friend. I always will be,” I said. “But I don’t want you to go. I’m a kid, and no matter what, at some point the adults are going to want to split us apart for some reason. That’s why, right now, when we still have a choice, I don’t want you to go. I would do anything to keep you from leaving. I’ll do my best for you. Those are my true feelings.”
Alice questioned me cuttingly, “And? What will you do if that causes Yukari unhappiness?”
I looked at Alice without shame. “I know my desires might hurt her. That’s why I won’t force this decision on Yukari. Still, I’d like her to give me a chance if she can. This is just what I want, so then, if I get hurt because of Yukari or get exposed to danger, I’ll accept that. I’m ready for it. And likewise, maybe Yukari will be exposed to danger because of me. So! I hope Yukari can be ready for that. It might happen. We both might get hurt because of each other. I want her to be with me knowing that. To be with us. I want to stand up to things together. That’s what I want Yukari to make up her mind about. Of course, if Yukari says she can’t handle that responsibility, there’s no way I can force it on her…”
“Gaku-chan…”
Alice held back Yukari from saying more and sighed in annoyance. “Hatou, that is a cowardly way of speaking. You are testing Yukari’s friendship with your words. Would a true friend test another’s friendship? Can you then call yourself Yukari’s true friend?”
“Yes, I think so.”
“You nobodies! I cannot believe you. Yukari, I want you to consider this objectively. Friend is a word that refers to a person who cares for you sincerely. A true friend would celebrate and bless your journey. A person such as this who puts her own desires ahead of that is not a true friend in the least! She surely intends to exploit you and then betray and deny you in time! Inescapably there is a deep, wide rift between geniuses such as us and nobodies such as these, and at some point, inevitably, these—”
I sneered at Alice as she wound up for her diatribe. “You wanna try it, then?”
Alice froze on the spot, and then turned her head like a slow, squeaking machine. “What? Try it? Try…what?”
“I’m saying, why don’t you try thinking of me as your friend, Alice?”
“What…?”
“Like I said. Let’s become friends. Then you’ll see whether I’m lying. You’ll know whether we can’t be friends. Am I wrong?”
Alice was stiff as a board.
I egged her on. “What, are you scared? I’m not.”
“Wh-wh-wh-wh-what are you saying? Do not be impudent, nobody! I am by no means afraid of the likes of you!”
“Really? So you’ll be friends with me? Awesome!”
“No…um…well…it is true that you are a quasi-nobody…but no! I do not trust nobodies! There is no reason I should—”
“Listen, okay, I’m just saying give it a try. Science is all about trial and error. Am I wrong? And anyway, would it matter to you if I betrayed you? I guess you must be scared of me.”
“I am not afraid, and nothing you could do would make me flinch!”
“Okay, then.” I held out my hand.
“I agree!” Yukari interjected. “Alice-chan! I want to ask you the same thing! If you’re going to be my friend, please be friends with Gaku-chan too! Don’t assume it’s impossible! Please! If you think of me as your friend, then please accept my cherished friend…”
For a good while, Alice squinted, groaned, and glared at my extended hand. Finally, she took a deep, deep breath and said, “Given that Yukari insists so strongly…if this truly must be…then all right. I shall try it. Purely in deference to Yukari, you understand.” She grabbed my fingertip.
Not missing my cue, I grasped her small hand and gave it a hearty shake. “Great. From today, we’re friends! This is great.”
“D-d-d-do not misunderstand! I have no choice but to expose you for the sham you are and awaken Yukari to the true nature—”
Looking around, I noticed that Nanami was gone. I sighed and called back, “It’s time we got to class. Alice, Yukari.”
“We are not yet on enough familiar terms for you to drop the -san, nobody!”
“When has that ever been a thing here, foreigner?”
Oh, it was this easy all along.
With my opposite hand I held Yukari’s, while Alice blushed yet didn’t shake off my hand. That made me grin as I thought, That’s right. If you have no power, you can just ask for help. If someone else needs help, you can extend your hand to them. You can meet and start anew.
I’d really taken the long way here, yet looking back at it, it seemed like it had gone by in a flash.
“By the way, guys, do you know Fermat’s principle? Tenjou told me about it.”
“Oh! Oh! Fermat?”
“Of course I do. I am a genius. Fermat’s principle in essence is—”
The path shown by the light.