Chapter 353.6: End of the Time-Travel Journey
Under the moonlight.
Sakurai Saki bent down, he stroked Yotsuba's head.
"Don't cry anymore."
If he hadn't comforted her it would have been better, but the moment he opened his mouth to soothe her, Yotsuba cried even louder.
Just thinking about her mother leaving made the girl's tears impossible to stop!
Sakurai Saki sighed and hugged the girl to his chest.
"Alright, alright, just cry."
He also understood that suppressing emotions is worse than releasing them — sometimes when you're sad, having a good cry lightens the heart, while keeping it all inside only makes you feel worse.
Like encountering a troll online: if you don't respond, it feels unbearably itchy.
Even knowing you can't convince the other person, wherever it's worth responding, you absolutely mustn't skip a reply.
"Uwaa——" Yotsuba buried her face in his shoulder, her tears constantly soaking Sakurai Saki's shirt.
"It's okay, everything will be fine."
Sakurai Saki more or less guessed what had happened.
Probably her mother had gotten worse.
Yotsuba clung tightly to him, her sobbing ringing in his ears.
After more than ten minutes, when she had cried until her voice was hoarse, her tears nearly dried up, her body trembled slightly a few times, and the crying gradually stopped.
"Mom... is, huhu~ is going to die."
Yotsuba managed half a sentence, then choked.
She didn't know who the boy holding her was, but she needed someone to pour out her heart to.
"It's okay, speak slowly..." Sakurai Saki gently patted her back.
"Umu." Yotsuba's eyes were red, she replied softly.
And so it went.
Yotsuba said a line.
Sakurai Saki replied a line.
Half an hour later, Yotsuba slowly calmed down.
"Who are you?"
The unexpected question stunned Sakurai Saki.
Wait, aren't you Rena?
Or rather, aren't you the daytime Rena?
"...God descends to earth." Sakurai Saki suddenly came up with a guess — could it be that all five sisters can see him?
Originally if only one person saw him the impact on the future might be small, but if it's two... or even all five, then that would be hard to predict.
"Then can you save my mom?" Yotsuba blurted out in panic without thinking.
She knew the boy was lying to her, but she also understood that at this moment, besides believing in a miracle, she had nothing else to rely on.
"I..."
Sakurai Saki's expression grew hesitant.
Can he save her? Of course he could, and it wouldn't even take much effort. But if he saved her, then what?
When returning to the original timeline, perhaps this entire world would be turned upside down.
"Aren't you god?" Yotsuba gave a smile even uglier than when she cried, her face full of bitterness: "I want my mother to live... I don't want to become a child without a mother..."
Sakurai Saki sighed softly: "If I save your mother, the future will change."
"Liar!" Yotsuba burst into tears again.
That helpless look made Sakurai Saki unable to meet her eyes.
Not save her?
Sakurai Saki, you have superpowers.
You can make the people who like you happy — just take one more step, and Nino, Miku, even Ichika, Yotsuba, Itsuki, all of them will be happy.
"Fraud!"
"I'm not a liar!" Sakurai Saki bent down, grabbed the girl's cheeks: "Let me show you the power of god!"
He had made up his mind.
If he kept hesitating he couldn't call himself a man.
He just needed to make sure the future didn't change.
How hard could that be?
...
If you want the future not to change, you must preserve everyone's perception of an event.
The Nakano sisters' mother must die — at least, everyone who believes she has died must be certain that that belief is true.
The person he met tonight, Sakurai Saki had confirmed, was Yotsuba.
Tonight's memories of Yotsuba must also be erased. Shinobu has abilities in this area — she can seal part of a memory, making Yotsuba believe she only dreamed it, a very real dream.
Once decided, it must be done perfectly.
There was one more person who absolutely had to be met.
That was Nakano Maruo.
As long as that person could see him.
...
A few days later.
In the director's office of the hospital, Nakano Maruo looked at the boy before him who claimed to be "god," saying nothing for a while.
"You really can save my wife?"
Although the two had not yet officially married, to outsiders, Maruo always introduced her as his wife.
"I already showed you just now, didn't I?"
Sakurai Saki had come here today precisely because his ability was perfectly suited for healing.
Possessing the diary of the future, he could to some extent control his power.
"What's your purpose?" Nakano Maruo didn't believe that there was such a thing as a pie falling from the sky.
Even if one did, it would never fall on his head.
The other side definitely had their own agenda — but no matter what the demand was, Nakano Maruo would agree!
"You wouldn't understand even if I told you. Just think of it as me doing a good deed." Sakurai Saki had actually planned to make up an excuse, but after a moment's thought, decided to leave it at that.
Let Nakano Maruo imagine it however he wanted.
The more you say, the more likely you are to slip up.
"Next, my conditions."
"Your wife, I can save her. But to the outside world, you must declare that she has passed away. Her death anniversary will be on August 14th. The fact that she is still alive must be known only to you. Even your daughters must never know the truth."
"In addition, after recovering, your wife will fall into a deep sleep for seven years. During that time, her body will be like that of a vegetative person, but when the time comes, she will awaken on her own — you can rest assured."
"That's all… just those two conditions."
The first condition was to ensure that the future would not be too greatly disturbed.
The second was so that after seven years, when his power was fully under control, if something truly happened, he could still fix it.
"..." Nakano Maruo fell silent.
This person… was he conducting an experiment?
Such thoughts of strange, powerful people — he truly couldn't understand them.
But either way, this was good news. Even if Rena would sleep for seven years, compared to death, that period of waiting was something he could endure.
————
The plan went exceedingly smoothly after that.
Sakurai Saki stayed and played with the little girl who called herself Rena for an entire month.
Until her mother "died" successfully.
Sakurai Saki didn't know whether what he had done was right or wrong. But when he saw Yotsuba crying, even knowing full well that he shouldn't — he still couldn't stop himself from doing it.
Perhaps this was also a sign that he had taken yet another step away from being an ordinary person.
On the street.
"Time to go home."
Sakurai Saki looked at the heart-shaped pendant in his hand and murmured softly.
The pedestrians bustling along the sidewalk didn't notice him at all — no one even realized when he had disappeared.
Thus, the time-travel journey came to an end.
...
At that very moment.
Morning, inside the luxurious apartment of the five Nakano sisters.
Sakurai Saki was lying in Miku's arms, enduring Itsuki's glaring, disapproving eyes.
"Hikaru-kun!! Why are you in Miku's bed!?"
"..."
Come on, I went through all that trouble to save your mother, and this is your reaction?
"I went to the bathroom last night, and accidentally entered the wrong room." Sakurai Saki pretended to look innocent as he replied.
Itsuki looked at him suspiciously, but after a while couldn't find anything strange.
Could it really have been a mistake?
She immediately turned to scold: "Miku, why are you still holding him like that? Hikaru-kun's already grown up, you know!"
"Itsuki, you were the one hugging him last night too… yawn~"
Still half-asleep, Miku released Sakurai Saki and lay back down to continue sleeping.
Sakurai Saki, however, looked at the familiar key lying next to the photo album on the table, and tightened his grip on the heart-shaped pendant in his hand.
So it was Miku, huh?
He recalled the promise between them, and the words, "If you lie, you have to swallow a thousand needles."
A chill ran down Sakurai Saki's back.
No wonder back in their first year, Miku had treated him so kindly, even taking the initiative to talk to him...
If you think about it, she was actually the one who came first, wasn't she?
"..."
It's decided!
This secret will be buried deep within his heart forever!
...