04 The Power to Change the Universe 2
"Why are you here...?"
"I just said. I came to play."
"That's not it...!"
Mio's slightly frustrated expression makes Shu smile in return.
Her lack of perception, the slight misstep in her posture—exactly as remembered.
"This place is dangerous."
"I know."
"Then why did you come here?!"
He breathes a silent sigh of relief.
It's been many days since they last met—yet she remains Higashi Mio.
He brings the cockpit close to her core, opens the hatch.
"Hey. Come out."
Behind him, May is buying time with her life on the line.
He wants to hurry.
But May said it clearly.
Do not rush Mio.
He is not here out of duty.
"There are things to deliver, messages to pass on. If you stay cooped up like this, it's going to be a problem."
"I'm not cooped up!"
"No, but... you said you'd change the past, and yet all you're doing right now is nothing but staying cooped up."
He said it half on instinct, but apparently it hit the mark.
He fell silent with a strange groan.
Oh well, thought Shu, adopting a resigned attitude, and sat on the edge of the open hatch.
Somewhere in the distance, faint sounds of combat reached his ears.
"...It didn't go well."
"Is that so."
Shu didn’t know what Mio had been trying to do in the first place.
He knew, from her own words, that she believed herself to be a reincarnation of Rei—the woman who was Jin’s fiancée.
He knew she thought the situation unnatural and was attempting to revive Rei.
But he didn’t know what specific steps she had planned.
So his response remained neutral, cautious.
"I thought I could handle it. But at the last moment, she outmaneuvered me..."
There was a resentment in the way he spoke of her—something not present in the usual Mio—slightly unsettling.
A slight surprise—this one has someone they dislike too.
That aside.
No— isn’t that overestimating oneself...?
There was simply no way he could stay silent on that matter.
"What is this about?"
—If you're that kind of person, you’d manage fine… You’re actually pretty clumsy in the important parts.
…………huh?
As if hearing words that were utterly unexpected.
Mio stared, uncomprehending.
He’s always been the type to charge headfirst into a tree just to win a fight—ever since the first time we met.
That’s a strategy to secure victory—
Even when playing dodgeball, she takes hits to the face.
It's not the rules that are the problem!
At middle school, they tried to eat stew together, that sort of thing.
It wasn't prohibited by the school rules!
“You didn’t notice, but you should’ve paid more attention when climbing the stairs—your skirt’s a hazard, you know…”
The words slipped out before he could stop himself.
“Tōyaku’s perverted!”
Too loud to ignore.
Mio shot out from her core, eyes wide with tears.
“I didn’t see anything—I didn’t see anything. Carmine’s guy blocked it completely.”
A lie.
He’d caught a glimpse once—then gotten beaten into unconsciousness by Emissa, her memory erased afterward.
The view wasn’t captured either.
He grabbed Mio’s hand as she lunged forward.
She realized her mistake.
She tried to pull away—but too late.
The days when Mio could outmuscle him in a simple strength contest were long gone—five years at least.
She wasn’t strong enough now to break free from the grip of the body trained as a cadet.
"Besides, you always jump out the moment someone teases you."
"Mmm…"
Unable to deny it after being so clearly caught off guard, Mio grunted.
"Here, this is lunch from Jake."
Jake produced a freeze-dried meal container and handed it to her.
"I'm not hungry."
"Liar. Your hair droops when you're hungry."
Mio reflexively touched her hair at the words.
"It's not drooping! You're the liar!"
"Ah, kidding. And now I've found another liar."
"Aaah…"
Having been cornered twice in such a short time, Mio groaned.
An odd picnic.
On the summit where the Literator was groaning.
Mio and May spread their meal atop the assault frame’s cockpit hatch.
The tremors from combat still resonated. May seemed to be holding on.
"Still can't get over how good that guy's food is. Heard he was at the training school just before I enrolled—really pissed me off."
"Yeah, Jake's food is delicious... he's my mentor."
The bento, carefully preserved, tasted as fresh as if made moments ago.
Jake said it was for Mio, yet the quantity clearly amounted to two servings.
Shu accepted the thoughtfulness with quiet gratitude.
"Also, this—one from Carmine and from Nagahara, a birthday gift."
"From both of them...?"
A hairpin, a bookmark, and a set of books.
Seeing them, Mio again let tears spill over.
Shu didn’t remember—yet the hairpin and bookmark were identical to the first birthday gift Mio had received from Emissa and Masaru.
"Both of them were furious."
Saying this, Mio flinched, shrinking back.
A reaction, in a way, as expected. Shu allowed a faint smile to form.
"Did you think I’d be afraid, huh? That’s what Hasegawa said—Carmine’s always too quick to assume things."
"……huh?"
"Then they said, 'You're stuck because you can't decide on a graduation trip destination, so figure it out for yourself.'"
Sending the advertisement displayed on the virtual display to Mio as he spoke.
"Incidentally, I’ve been assigned to carry the supplies too, so let’s find a place with good food."
"...just that?"
Ah, and there's something I don't quite get—Carmine showing me that photo, or whatever.
You said you'd erased Emisa!
Mio screams, her face crimson.
...Come back. Everyone's waiting.
...I can't. I have something I must do.
After a long silence, Mio managed to force out the words.
Not what I want to do—what I have to do.
But I took away—Father... Jin's happiness.
A profound sense of self-blame floats across their expression.
Mio has continued blaming herself without pause.
Even though there was no room for her will to intervene.
Stuart’s death was Stalt’s fault.
Mio’s birth was Seven’s doing.
And yet Mio tries to bear responsibility for both—responsibility that never existed.
“About the fiancé of the Tohgo family’s father, right?”
“You knew.”
“Well, roughly.”
Knowing that’s precisely why she can say it. Because she’s unrelated.
“Then you should understand… I took from Jin the life he was meant to have.”
“Meaning of ‘meant to have’ is still unclear.”
That’s just like Mio, as Haruo thinks.
Too sharp-minded to avoid drawing her own conclusions.
And this time, the existence that reinforced her conclusion was the misfortune of the entire incident.
She’s never met the man. But Haruo still dislikes Harold Byron.
Are you really in the life you're supposed to be in?
...I'm not. There are two children, genuine and not impostors, at Jin's and Reina's side.
That's what I thought.
Mio isn't there.
That alone made Mio's idea of a rightful existence seem meaningless to Shu.
That's why Shu is here now.
Only he didn't lose consciousness—meaning he wasn't captivated by the overlapping possibility-worlds—because there was no one there, no one he wished for, no matter how he looked.
"Hey, Higashi. Do you really want that world? A world where you don't exist?"
"Yes. I should do it."
...You're bad at modern Japanese exams, aren't you?
She doesn't answer with whether she wants to—only that she should.
No, that's likely her true self.
Whether conscious or not—this isn't Mio's wish. Only obligation.
I’m asking what you want—not what you should.
Zukazuka, Shu steps uninvited into Mio’s innermost thoughts.
Such lack of restraint would have been impossible for Jin.
No matter what, Jin always treated Mio with care.
To Shu, watching Mio misunderstand things so completely was frustrating beyond words.
He couldn’t imagine Jin prioritizing someone Mio didn’t even know—her fiancé—over her.
He takes a deep breath, steadies himself.
The sound of that breath is loud—battle sounds have faded.
“My desire is clear.”
Shu states firmly.
“Become stronger than Tōgō’s father. Grow strong. Win. That’s what I want most.”
“………………?”
Mio looks confused. Shu feels a flicker of tension.
She meant to say, she just wanted to be understood by that one statement.
She was on the verge of breaking, and the situation felt absurd—like a comedian explaining a joke with no punchline. But if she wasn’t understood, what else could be done?
“You don’t remember, but your father used to say it, didn’t he? That only someone stronger than your father could be entrusted with you.”
“Yeah, I remember.”
Why can’t he understand when I remember it so clearly…!
At that thought, Shu reconsidered—yes, that was exactly the kind of person he’d been.
“That’s why! I want to be entrusted with you—just like your father! Plainly put, I want to be with you. I like you. Do you get it!?”
For a moment, Mio seemed not to understand what was being said.
She stared blankly for a few seconds. Her face turned red, then pale.