"Why?"
Amano Hina couldn't help asking out loud.
Rei Ao turned to look at her, one eyebrow lifting.
"Why what?"
"Why do all this…" Hina tightened her grip on the bedsheet. "Unifying our timelines—what's the point? This sounds… like a huge hassle."
Rei Ao laughed, something unreadable flickering in his smile.
"It is a hassle," he admitted.
"But compared to the hassle—"
He paused, his gaze sweeping over the three of them.
From Mitsuha's stubborn face, to Miki's gentle eyes…
And finally, to Hina's burning-red cheeks.
"I just want it to be more convenient the next time I come looking for you. All three of you."
Mitsuha was the first to break the silence.
"I'm in."
Her voice was steady, her eyes shining.
Miki lifted her head as well and nodded—soft, but firm.
"I'm willing too."
After they spoke, both of them looked to Hina.
Hina flinched under their attention.
But somewhere inside her, something slowly settled.
She remembered the despair of standing alone on the rooftop. The suffocation of endless rain. The warmth of that embrace just now—so warm it had made her want to cry.
Then she drew a deep breath.
She raised her head and met Rei Ao's eyes.
"I… I'm willing too."
Her voice still trembled a little.
But her gaze no longer dodged away.
"To be with you—officially—and to live together with them… I want to try."
Rei Ao looked at her, and a real smile rose in his eyes.
"Good."
He nodded, then turned toward the window.
"Then we start now. Timeline adjustment."
The instant the words fell—
The air in the room changed.
Not wind. Not temperature.
Something deeper—something more fundamental—began to flow, to turn.
Rei Ao lifted both hands.
His fingers traced invisible lines through the air, as if plucking unseen strings—elegant, precise.
Hina's eyes widened.
Where his fingertips passed, space rippled.
Not like water.
Like light—like time itself—layer after layer spreading outward.
Then she saw the colors begin to separate, like sunlight through a prism.
The room's colors peeled apart into countless fine threads.
Gold. Blue. Transparent. Ash-white.
Each thread glowed faintly, trembling as if alive.
"So this is… a timeline?" Mitsuha whispered, reaching out instinctively—
But Miki gently caught her wrist.
"Don't," Miki murmured, eyes focused. "Let Rei Ao handle it."
And he truly was handling it.
His fingers moved faster and faster.
Guided by his hands, those colored threads began to interweave—
Like an enormous, impossibly intricate net being woven in midair.
Gold twined with blue.
Clear threads crossed through gray-white ones.
With every weave, the light and shadow in the room shifted.
Hina saw the wall flash with ancient wood grain—
Then transform into sleek, futuristic metal sheen.
Even the view outside the window began to race.
Day and night swapped in an instant.
Seasons spun past in rapid succession.
Cherry blossoms burst into bloom and fell.
Snow drifted down and melted away.
All of it happened within a handful of breaths—so fast it made her dizzy.
"Hold steady," Rei Ao said, his voice turning more serious.
"The timelines are resisting the merge."
He snapped both hands inward.
The colored threads drew taut at once, humming like strings pulled to their limit.
The next second—
The hum became a roar.
The entire room began to tremble.
Not like an earthquake—
Like space itself was shivering, warping, twisting.
Hina watched her own hands flicker—transparent, then solid.
Mitsuha's hair switched between short and long.
Miki's clothes flashed between a school uniform and a kimono.
"This is interesting," Rei Ao said, smiling—eyes lit with excitement.
"Not bad. Different worlds' time laws—and they even know how to fight back."
Then he slammed both hands downward.
"But here—I decide!"
Boom—
An invisible pressure exploded outward.
The trembling timelines were seized as if by a giant hand.
They struggled, writhed—
And couldn't break free.
Rei Ao's gaze sharpened like a blade.
He bit into his fingertip.
A bead of blood welled up and floated into the air.
Dark red—yet faintly luminous.
"With my blood, I fix your time."
He spoke softly, like chanting an ancient incantation.
The bead split into three drops, each one darting toward Hina, Mitsuha, and Miki's foreheads.
Hina didn't even have time to dodge.
The moment the blood touched her skin—
Cold, and then heat.
Like fire burning from her brow into her mind, into her soul.
She cried out.
Her vision exploded into countless images.
Mitsuha too. Miki too.
All three were dragged into a torrent of time.
Hina saw—
She saw the lake of Itomori, rippling under starlight.
She saw a meteor ripping through the night, blazing with destruction.
She saw Mitsuha running through a shrine, tears streaming down her face.
Then the scene snapped—
Endless rain. A rooftop. A hand shaking beneath an umbrella.
And the moment Rei Ao appeared—those deep, unreadable eyes.
Everything layered and overlapped, like a shattered kaleidoscope snapping back into shape.
Pain.
Violent pain, rising from the deepest part of her soul.
Hina clenched her teeth, nails digging into her palm.
She heard Mitsuha's sharp inhale, Miki's stifled sound—
But Rei Ao's voice came through steady and calm, like an anchor holding the world in place.
"Hang on. I'm rewriting your temporal imprint."
"Pain is unavoidable—but it won't last long."
He was right.
The pain came hard—and left just as quickly.
A few seconds later, the burning began to fade.
The images grew clearer, steadier.
Hina opened her eyes and found herself still lying on the bed.
But something had changed.
She could feel it—
She could feel Mitsuha's presence, like another heartbeat somewhere close.
She could feel Miki's breathing, like a tide moving in sync with her own.
Between them, a connection had formed.
Invisible—yet undeniably real.
"Did it work?" Mitsuha asked weakly, face pale but eyes shining.
"Phase one," Rei Ao said, lowering his hands.
"The timelines are woven together. You're now on the same layer of space-time—able to interact normally, live normally."
As he spoke, he walked to the window and pushed it open.
Fresh air poured in, carrying the scent of early summer.
"Next comes the fine-tuning."