“Yeah. Sorry things turned out like this, but your existence is upsetting the balance of this world. Almost all of its routes to the future are fixed in stone, so even a small disturbance can trigger total collapse. That’s why I want to send you to another world where there’re hardly any set paths of fate at all. Fate there is malleable. It doesn’t matter at all if you add a foreign object to it.”
Oh, the Laws of Fate! Not ‘Lawsoff Feit’.
“This is a necessary triage,” the bear continues. “I don’t usually do things like this, but my gosh, you two are pretty abnormal. Who’d’ve thunk?”
“No!” I cry. “What about my dojo?”
But the teddy bear brushes off my question. “I know you’ll be giving certain things up, but your new world won’t be bad. I think you’ll fit in there.”
“You can’t just decide that for us…!” Are you kidding me?! My dojo was left to me by my mom and dad!
Then it hits me. If the world is ruled by fate, and everything’s predetermined, that means…
“I know I’m putting you guys through the wringer. Especially you, Kazuya. You weren’t even supposed to die in the first place. So as an apology, I’ll give you a gift when I send you to your new world,” the teddy bear prattles on happily while I glare at it. “On that world, people have ‘skills’. You can do various things if you’re at a high level in a particular skill. Normally, it takes a lot of training and experience to become high level in one. But just this once, I’ll give you experience based on your time in your original world and give you lots of skills. Such as being able to speak the language. You’ve already mastered a language on your world, right? Japanese? So when you arrive in your new world, you’ll already know their language. You won’t have any issues talking to others when you get there.”
“Hey. If the paths of fate were fixed, is that why our parents died? You chose for that to happen?” My voice trembles.
The teddy bear tilts its head with a blank expression. “Well, no, I’m not the one who decides people’s destinies. They’re already set. We just tweak things to ensure everything goes according to the plan that was set in the beginning.”
What’s that supposed to mean? Okay, so the teddy bear doesn’t choose people’s fates. But it’s the one who carries them out, which means it’s the one who…
My suppressed emotions begin boiling over. How could it speak as if it were no big deal? A year ago I cursed the world, begging to know the reason I had to lose my beloved family.
Kazuya lets out a small sigh next to me. “I need to check one thing. If we go to this other world, will we face the same destiny? Will the Laws of Fate still try to kill Sakurako?”
“No. Like I said earlier, it’s a world without ripples. There’s some degree of predetermination in terms of what your roles will be there, but your deaths haven’t been decided. So the Laws of Fate won’t have to relentlessly target Sakurako.”
With that confirmed, Kazuya looks at me, his mind made up. He’s on board with going to another world. From the way the teddy bear’s been talking, it doesn’t seem like there was any other option to begin with. Nevertheless, I’m uneasy.
“I’m sorry, Kazuya. It’s my fault you’ve been dragged into this,” I say.
“It’s okay. If you had died back then, too… I don’t even want to think about it. As long as I have you, I’m fine.”
“Kazuya… You really care about me, don’t you? Thank you. Then, I’m all right with us going, too. …But before we go, there’s something I want to do.” I look down at the teddy bear. “Hey, God. Let me hit you once.”
“What? Hit me? Me?” it asks in a high-pitched squeak. “Why?”
“I know you didn’t choose what happened. I get it. Your job is to make sure things go according to plan. But still, it doesn’t sit right with me. No matter how I think about it, you stole my parents from me. That’s what it feels like,” I speak slowly and try to stay calm, but my fists tremble regardless.
Seeing me like this, the teddy bear gives a curt nod. “Okay. If that’ll make you feel better, you can hit me as many times as you want. I haven’t talked to intelligent lifeforms with emotions for a very long time, so I might’ve said something rude. All right. When you’re ready!”
The teddy bear closes its eyes and puffs out its chest.
“Sorry, teddy bear… Sorry, God.”
I clench my fist even harder.
“S-Sakurako, wait a second!” Kazuya stops me. “Before you do, I need to ask the teddy bear something!” He turns to God. “You’re God, right? Hypothetically, if your body is blasted to smithereens, everything will be okay? Um, the world will be, I mean?”
“To smithereens…? Yeah, it’ll be fine. I know how this body looks, but I’ll be okay. This form won’t take much damage from a girl hitting it. And even if it did, it’ll regenerate. The Laws of Fate would take care of things until I regenerated, so yeah, no biggie.”
“Gotcha. That’s a relief. All right, Sakurako, go for it.”
“Okay! Kazuya, I’ll hit it for you, too! Oh, wait a second… There’s one last thing I need to ask you. Um, what’s our new world like? Will there be strong, masc guys there?”
“‘Masc’? Not really sure what you mean by that, but there are monsters above humans in the food chain. However, some people have magic and skills, and because monsters drop valuable items, strong humans actually hunt them. So they’re not completely superior, but I think there are a lot of people who will be stronger than the people on your original world.”
“Right, got it. I understand now. Thanks. All right then, here goes.” I draw my fist back and hold it low.
I’ll put all my hatred, all of my anger, into this one shot. Then I can be happy like normal again!
Breathe…
Hold…
And—
BAM!
My fist explodes through the teddy bear’s stomach and the boom of a shockwave echoes through the air.
Maybe it’s because I was filled with more resentment than ever before, but I’m positive that was the strongest punch I’ve ever thrown. The teddy bear doubles over then bursts like a balloon. White cotton stuffing flutters around us like snow.
The room distorts around us. The last thing I hear is the disembodied voice of the teddy bear.
“Gosh, it really was to smithereens… Who’d’ve thunk…?”