Shichen quickly finished healing Yamada Sawa, and a bit of color returned to her face.
"Sawa, I'm so glad you're okay!" Tokisaki Kurumi grabbed her hand, crying with relief.
"Kurumi, why are you crying?" Sawa smiled softly and reached up to wipe her tears.
"Because it was all my fault… I almost… almost…"
"So you really do care about me~ You didn't do anything, did you? And I wasn't turned into that thing because of you. You didn't know what was going on," Sawa gently comforted her.
"But…"
"No buts. Everything's fine now—and that's thanks to Shichen-san." Sawa turned, grateful, to Shichen.
"This is just what I should do," Shichen said, waving his right hand dismissively.
In his left hand he was holding a prismatic crystal, faint flames flickering inside.
He didn't keep it. With a casual flick, he tossed it aside and stopped paying attention to it.
Someone else would come pick it up.
"Shichen-san, what did you just throw away?" Kurumi had noticed the motion.
"Nothing you need to worry about. Just the real culprit."
"Then why… not destroy it?" Kurumi pressed.
"I can't do that. It'll be useful later."
"Useful…" Kurumi frowned slightly, staring at him.
Her curiosity about him had reached its peak now. He'd shown up at the crucial moment to help her; he'd warned her before to call for his help.
It was as if he already knew everything.
Just who was he?
And what exactly was his relationship with her?
"Don't worry. It's not going to be used for anything bad. And I already threw it away, didn't I?" Shichen said, reassuring her.
"Sorry… I shouldn't be doubting you. You saved my life and Sawa's… it's just…"
Kurumi lowered her head, staring at the two antique pistols in her hands—her weapons, the guns that had almost killed her best friend.
And that had probably—no, definitely—killed others.
The more she thought about it, the more panic rose in her chest. She had been so sure she was saving the world, yet all she'd done was kill people. In that case, how was she any different from the "evil" she thought she was fighting?
The realization hit and she suddenly raised both guns, pointing them at her own head—but a strong hand grabbed her wrist.
"What do you think you're doing?" Shichen asked, exasperated.
"Kurumi, what are you doing? You're not trying to kill yourself, are you? No way!" Sawa stood up and threw her arms around her.
"Sawa… Shichen-san, I… I've killed so many people. The only way I can atone is with my life…" Kurumi bit her lip, her expression twisted with grief and guilt.
"Atoning with your life… San-san, your sense of justice is a bit too intense," Shichen said, shaking his head.
"Justice?" Kurumi lifted her eyes to him.
"Look, you don't have to feel so guilty. Yes, you killed them—but they really couldn't be saved."
"…What do you mean?" Kurumi asked blankly.
"They weren't like you. They weren't compatible with their spirit crystals. They turned into that, and all they had waiting for them was death… What you did wasn't wrong. You kept them from harming others, and you gave them release," Shichen said, letting go of her wrist and placing a hand gently on her head.
"That can't be…" Kurumi shook her head, refusing to believe it. She felt like he was just comforting her, trying to excuse what she'd done. After all…
"Sawa turned back to normal, didn't she?"
"Sawa could turn back because of my power. Without me, it would've been impossible. If you put it that way, then it becomes my fault—for not showing up early enough to save the others."
"No! It has nothing to do with you, it's my fault! If I hadn't killed them, then when you appeared, you could have saved them…"
"I wouldn't have saved them," Shichen cut in, his tone flat.
"…Eh?" Kurumi froze, staring at him in confusion.
"I'm not like you. I'm not some shining beacon of justice. If I happen to run into something, sure, I'll help—but if I don't, I'm not going to go out of my way to save people," Shichen said calmly.
And worst of all, those "people" had been test subjects for the First Spirit.
Without those failed experiments, Kotori and the others would never have become spirits so safely.
"If I don't know them, if they've got nothing to do with me, why would I intervene?"
"How could you say that… Why?" Kurumi asked, shaking her head.
"Simple. They had nothing to do with me."
"Nothing… to do with you?"
"I only help people who do have something to do with me. Strangers… that depends on fate," Shichen replied, unconcerned.
"Strangers… Then what are we to you?" Kurumi asked quietly.
"You two are definitely not strangers."
"Just because we've met twice?"
"Of course not."
"Come to think of it, Shichen-san, you were calling Kurumi 'San-san' just now. You sounded very familiar with her. What's that about?" Sawa cut in, suddenly remembering.
Kurumi also looked over, her eyes full of questions.
"All right, you got me. I'm actually your husband—from the future."
"Eeeeh?!"
"…"
Sawa yelped in shock; Kurumi just stared.
"Is… is that for real?" Sawa asked anxiously.
"I've got no reason to lie to you. I really did come from the future," Shichen replied with a grin.
"The future…" Sawa's eyes shone.
"You said you're our future husband? Ours?" Kurumi's expression turned complicated as she put emphasis on the word.
"Ah! Don't tell me we're…?" Sawa also reacted, realizing what that implied.
"Mm… I'll leave the details for your future selves to figure out." Shichen wasn't planning on elaborating.
"Eh? Shichen-san, tell us~ I really want to know," Sawa said, suddenly sounding very familiar and clingy as she wrapped herself around his arm and shook it coyly.
If what Shichen said was false, she could still pretend it was true. It wouldn't be unreasonable to repay someone who saved her life with her whole self.
And if it was true, then so much the better.
"Nope. Can't say. Absolutely classified," Shichen said, shaking his head firmly.
"Eeeeh~"
"You're not just tricking us, are you?" Kurumi still wasn't convinced.
"Do you understand your own power?" Shichen asked her in return.
"I… understand it," Kurumi hesitated, then nodded.
"In that case, you should know time really does exist as a 'thing,' right? Then take a good look at me. Do I look like someone who belongs in this time?"
"You…"
Kurumi could clearly see the temporal distortion around Shichen. It felt out of place—wrong for this point in time.
Her power let her understand the reason very easily.
Which only made her more confused.
"Do I really deserve this power?" she murmured.
"It's already yours," Shichen said, smiling as he rubbed her head.
"Huh?"
"Just think of it as her paying you back. You were planning to use that power to do something anyway, weren't you? You wanted to punish evil and protect the weak. For that, you need this kind of power."
"But I…"
"No more buts. This power was always going to be yours. What you do with it is up to you. You can use it for bad things, good things… or just to protect your friends."
"Protect…" Kurumi turned to look at Sawa.
"Kurumi, stop overthinking it. Isn't this kind of great? You're basically like a magical girl now," Sawa laughed, teasing her.
"Magical… girl… You're calling me that too?" Kurumi's face flushed with embarrassment.
"I think it suits you perfectly."
"Um… you're really not mad at me?" Kurumi asked carefully.
"Mad? At you? For what?"
"For… for almost…"
"But you didn't, right? And you didn't even know it was me," Sawa said lightly. "You didn't hurt me at all."
"That's only because Shichen-san showed up…"
"Either way, this is how it turned out. Isn't Shichen-san our future husband? Saving us is only natural, isn't it?" Sawa said, grinning.
"'Shi'… You got used to that really fast. What if he's lying?" Kurumi asked.
"He's got no reason to lie. He's that strong—if he was interested in us, he wouldn't need to say any of that to get close, right?"
"Well… true… But he said he's the husband of both of us…"
"I think that's great. It means I'll be together with you forever," Sawa said happily.
"You… what are you even thinking?" Kurumi said, exasperated.
"Hehe~ There, that's more like it. You're finally back to normal," Sawa said with relief.
"Sawa, you…"
"Anyway, don't stress over it. Just focus on making things better from here," she said with that same gentle smile.
"You… Ugh, fine, I give up!"
"That's the spirit~"
"Feeling better now?" Shichen asked with a smile.
"How am I supposed not to, with Sawa being this thick-headed…" Kurumi sighed.
"As long as you've made peace with it, that's what matters. From now on, just do whatever you feel is right—with that power," Shichen said.
"Is that really okay?"
"Of course. I approve."
"Shi… what exactly is your relationship with her?" Kurumi finally asked.
By "her," she obviously meant the First Spirit. Right now, she hated that woman more than anyone—tricking her, using her, nearly making her kill her best friend.
Even if that woman had saved her once, it didn't erase what she'd done.
"Me and her, huh… You could say we're deeply entangled," Shichen replied after thinking for a moment.
"Entangled…?"