After realizing that, Sakayanagi Arisu felt much more confident. Her fingers holding the key steadied again. Instead of answering Horikita Suzune's question immediately, she turned around and asked:
"Then why did you come looking for Ryo so early, Horikita-san?"
"I saw some decent summer clothes at Keyaki Mall the other day. Since it's starting to get hot, I thought I'd have Ryo try some on."
Horikita didn't mind Arisu's slightly interrogative tone. In another life she remembered, Sakayanagi Arisu was her sister-in-law, so she was already used to such prickly words—it felt more like childish sulking.
"Are you coming too, Arisu?" she asked.
"Ryo's the type who won't move unless someone drags him. If you leave him alone, he'll spend the whole summer alternating between two uniforms. He was like that back in middle school."
To Arisu, Horikita's tone naturally carried the air of someone who claimed ownership. Talking about Ryo's middle school days like she was flaunting her history with him.
With that thought, Arisu didn't say another word and walked straight into Kitagawa Ryo's room.
Horikita, not quite sure what was up with Arisu today, assumed she was just in a bad mood from being unable to participate in the special summer exam due to health reasons. Shaking her head, she followed her in.
Though her relationship with her brother, Horikita Manabu, had normalized and she had learned a lot from her time in the student council, no one had ever taught her about this kind of situation—especially since even Manabu was clueless about romance.
"Arisu's here? Hm? Suzune too."
Kitagawa Ryo, who looked like he had just gotten out of bed, rubbed his eyes and gestured for them to sit. He wasn't at all surprised to have visitors so early—almost as if it was routine. He grabbed his toothbrush and started brushing his teeth.
Suzune sat on the sofa, waiting for him to finish washing up before speaking her mind.
But something about him seemed off. His complexion looked worse than before, yet paradoxically, his spirit seemed oddly high.
Early morning, just woke up, pale face, but oddly energetic.
As Horikita was caught in a strange train of thought, Arisu was the first to speak, watching Ryo's reflection in the mirror closely:
"Ryo... did you dream too?"
"Maybe it was a dream for you, Arisu, but not for me."
Ryo set down his toothbrush, rinsed his mouth, and answered seriously:
"That was all me—real experiences of mine. If anything, I'd say they were parallel worlds."
"Just as I suspected. Of course it would be Ryo."
Arisu replied while casually glancing at Horikita's expression, expecting confusion or surprise.
Their cryptic conversation, perfectly in sync between the two of them, was like a subtle declaration: 'We've shared something you know nothing about. A secret only the two of us have.'
But Horikita wasn't playing along. Instead, she nodded in realization, as if discovering a fellow dreamer:
"So you also had a dream about Ryo? The kind that feels so vivid it's like it actually happened?"
"..."
Also.
Arisu's smile froze. She stretched out a finger, trying to salvage the moment:
"It was two dreams."
"So, you dreamed about being with Ryo twice?"
Thinking back to confessing to Ryo at the end of her own dream, Horikita asked without much thought.
"...Probably?"
In the first dream, she had bid farewell to Ryo who died from ALS, surviving alone with a healthy heart. In the second, Ryo never truly gave up on another girl.
But considering their engagement, one could argue they were technically together… maybe.
Horikita didn't catch the oddity in Arisu's tone. She looked between Ryo and Arisu and finally asked:
"So, Arisu's heart condition—did Ryo cure that too?"
That subtle difference she sensed earlier finally clicked. Arisu no longer carried her cane, and her complexion was healthy. Gone was the fragile aura she once had.
If what Ryo said was true, then he must've been researching heart disease since that dream memory began.
Now it made sense to Horikita why Ryo studied abroad and stayed at Harvard's medical center after graduation. It explained why she had flown across the ocean to confess at the hospital door on Christmas.
She wasn't even bothered by how Arisu's heart was cured in this reality. Instead, she began to dwell on this issue, pursing her lips and saying nothing, staring at Kitagawa Ryo with a stern look.
"Yeah, I cured it."
Ryo admitted it plainly. Hidden sacrifices made for drama were useless in real life. He wasn't planning on waiting for someone to sob and regret everything at some 'tragic reveal'.
He had spent years and effort curing Arisu's condition—he even lived a life with ALS himself.
Effort and results shouldn't be hidden—they were something to be proud of.
As expected, Arisu's eyes sparkled again:
"Ryo really is the one I lo—"
Her mind replayed Ryo's words:
"That version of me gave up an entire life, maybe even more time, all to find a way to cure Arisu."
"I don't host tea parties or pose riddles like 'Why is a raven like a writing desk?'. I just kept thinking and thinking."
"Thinking about how to make Alice (Arisu) healthy."
Arisu never believed in fairy tales. But even she couldn't resist a story that felt like one.
Especially when the protagonist was Kitagawa Ryo.
But Ryo's next words pulled her back to reality:
"Actually, not really."
He remembered a line from a wuxia novel:
[Zhiruo, I've always respected you. I'm grateful to Yin, and I feel pity for Xiao Zhao.]
Like how 'liking' and 'loving' are different, 'fondness' and 'liking' are too.
Respect, gratitude, pity—they're all forms of affection, but not necessarily love.
Ryo had discussed this with Karuizawa Kei even before Horikita's simulation, and asked Amasawa Ichika the same thing during the simulation:
[Is it better to love, or be loved?]
He once told Kei he wanted to respond to everyone's feelings, because from the start, whether in the simulation or real life, everyone's hearts were directed solely at him.
Those who are favored are fearless. Those who can't have it are always restless.
But the truth was—he had always been the one most favored.
So, Kitagawa Ryo wanted to respond. Or rather, he had to respond.
Even if it meant more and more people expected that response from him.
In a way, Amasawa Ichika's criticism wasn't wrong. To them, Ryo probably looked like a man growing extra limbs just to comfort and love everyone.
Thinking of that, Ryo reached over and grabbed the innocent-looking Hotaru, petting her little head as if venting.
But at this point, Ryo could only face those piercing gazes and finally speak his true thoughts, even if he found them embarrassing:
"I just want everyone to be happy."
Neither Arisu nor Horikita expected that.
As they stood stunned, Ryo continued, looking at Horikita:
"Suzune, do you like your current self better, or your past self?"
"Of course, my current self."
Horikita rolled her eyes. She already knew what Ryo was going to say, but couldn't lie.
She often wondered what she'd be like without that memory—without Ryo's guidance.
Probably still isolated, worshipping her brother Manabu like a god, unable to connect with anyone and resenting her own weakness.
"Good. That's what I wanted too. Isn't it what you wanted, Suzune?"
She had no rebuttal—because Ryo was right.
He never hurt her. Quite the opposite—he helped her become a better version of herself.
All her earlier thoughts now felt like self-directed theater.
"As for Arisu… I know you just got those memories and you're a bit overwhelmed. But you've already seen it all, so let's cool off for two days, alright?"
After calming Suzune, Ryo turned to Arisu.
Unlike Ichinose Honami and Karuizawa Kei, who had lived with those simulation memories since childhood, or Horikita who had over two years to process them—Ryo had already built memories with them outside the simulation.
With Kei, he'd performed plays together for several years. With Honami, he'd met over a hot cocoa. With Suzune, they'd performed in the musical Cats at the culture festival.
But Arisu was different.
Standing before Ryo now was neither the Arisu from the first simulation who clung to him in the hospital, nor the second who knew him for over a decade.
She inherited their memories and feelings—but she also retained her own values from the past decade.
They were the same person, yet not.
That's why Arisu had seemed unlike herself today.
Ryo saw that—and so he said what he said.
"..."
Taking a deep breath, Arisu seemed to understand. She closed her eyes, opened them again, and finally nodded:
"I understand."
"Well then, I'm going back to sleep."
Seeing Arisu calm again, Ryo didn't hold back and flopped back onto the bed, waving them off.
Horikita left quickly, only reminding him to rest well.
Arisu hesitated. She glanced at his left arm before whispering:
"...Sorry. Please get some rest."
Click.
The door shut.
Silence returned.
Lying on the bed, Ryo sank his consciousness into the simulator.
[Congratulations, player. Ending achieved: Indecisive.]
[Indecisive: He who chases two rabbits ends up with none.]
From the name and description, it was clearly a failed simulation—barely clearing with a score of 61.
But Ryo didn't mind. After clearing all four chapters, no hidden fifth chapter appeared, but he did finally receive the long-awaited [Mysterious Prize].
It was a power to rewrite reality—only within the simulator and only for key story characters. The more it strayed from real-world logic, the harder it was to apply.
Initially, Ryo tried to erase Arisu's heart condition directly. But such supernatural changes were impossible.
So instead, he rewrote his research as something developed by the Kitagawa family over a decade ago. That butterfly effect eventually cured Arisu's condition.
Since he didn't need to fix anyone else's life, he used the remaining power for Yuki and Amasawa Ichika.
Once that was done, the simulator lost all functionality—only usable now for viewing talents and items.
But Ryo was satisfied.
He hugged Hotaru tight. Unlike before, he had now formed bonds with more people.
He wanted everyone to be happy.
Because he had seen their pain.
He wanted everyone to be happy.
And that, of course, included himself.
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