Chapter 10

“Huh…?”

Yet another unexpected response, one that Masato had lost count of. Each time, he was caught off guard.

(The world…?)

It was like something a final boss in some game would say, hell-bent on destroying the old world to create a new one.

Seeing Masato’s puzzled expression, Suiha elaborated carefully.

“Um, well… you and I, Masato-kun, we’ll make lots of babies… and then, we’ll start this world over from the beginning. We’ll build a world just for the two of us. That’s… my ‘wish.’”

“For the two of us…?”

It sounded like some creation myth.

“Yeah… Right now, this world is just you and me, Masato-kun. I used my ‘power’ to make sure you were the only one left.”

A piece of the puzzle clicked into place.

When she first found him here, she said she’d been “searching” for him. In other words, she knew from the start that in a world where all of humanity should’ve vanished, Masato alone would still exist.

The “existence control bug” could choose who to erase, but maybe it could also choose who to keep.

Masato was immune to the bug’s effects, but Suiha shouldn’t know that. Just like Minamoto didn’t know there were other “bug holders” besides herself.

It’s one thing for Masato to remain because of his “modification immunity bug,” but it’s entirely different if he was deliberately chosen to stay. The outcome might be the same, but the latter carries a clear intent.

In short, Suiha created a world where only she and Masato existed—on purpose.

“Masato-kun, you can only choose me as your partner. After all, there’s no one else.”

Her words sent a chill down Masato’s spine.

“You…”

Did she even understand what she was saying?

“It’s okay, I’ll do my best. We’ll love each other every day, and I’ll give you lots and lots of children. I don’t have a model’s body or anything… but you can do whatever you want with me, whatever feels good to you.”

“…Are you serious?”

To Masato’s question, perhaps because her intent wasn’t fully conveyed, she blushed shyly.

“Yeah… it’s my first time, but if it’s with you, Masato-kun…”

“That’s not what I mean. Are you seriously planning to live in this world with just the two of us?”

At that, her shy expression vanished.

“…I’m serious. This world is fine with just you and me, Masato-kun. As long as I have you, I don’t need anything else. I don’t care about anything else. In fact… everything besides us is just in the way.”

It was as good as declaring she had no intention of bringing humanity back.

And those were, without a doubt, her true feelings, straight from her heart.

“Suiha…”

Finally, Masato felt like he was starting to understand her.

Suiha saw no value in this world. She held no hope for it.

Not its people, its scenery, its culture, its way of life—nothing.

She was the polar opposite of Sensei Kaminari, who looked at everything in this world with eyes full of admiration.

How people see the world in front of them differs from person to person.

For Suiha, the only thing in her vision was Masato.

Yes, from the very beginning, her actions revolved around him.

Nothing else mattered. Nothing else was needed. Everything else could disappear.

Her entire world was built around Masato alone, and she had no interest in whether the rest flourished or fell. It could thrive if it served their future together, or, like now, she could wipe out all of humanity in an instant. To her, the world beyond Masato was just noise—or an irritating bug.

“Hey, Masato-kun. Let’s build a new world together—just you, me, and our children.”

With that, she extended her hand like a goddess.

“…Do you love me?”

After being wanted this much, it was obvious without asking. But he wanted to hear it in words.

“…Yeah, I love you. I’ve always loved you. To me, you’ve always been my childhood friend, my older brother by a year, and… a boy.”

“I see…”

Mutual love. Normally, that would be something to rejoice over, but Masato couldn’t feel happy about it. Not in this situation. He didn’t want to know her feelings like this.

“…”

Masato stood still, not approaching her, not taking her hand. Sensing his reluctance, Suiha, perhaps thinking it was a mistake, stepped toward him, keeping her hand outstretched, ready for him to take.

But still, Masato didn’t take it. He didn’t move.

Even when Suiha stopped right in front of him, close enough for him to reach out and grab her hand.

“…Why?”

Her goddess-like expression twisted with anxiety as her beloved refused to take her hand.

“I can’t accept your feelings right now. I… I prefer the world we had before, with other people.”

“N-No way…”

A clear rejection.

It wasn’t because he disliked Suiha. It was precisely because he loved her—and because he knew she loved him, even if her love was distorted—that he couldn’t accept her now.

Even if those who were erased felt no pain or awareness, she had taken away the lives and feelings of everyone else in humanity. Even if he was the only human who knew, he didn’t want her to live on carrying such a burden. Above all, it was something she didn’t even need to bear in the first place.

(Well, it’s my fault, isn’t it…)

But to Suiha, nothing registered beyond the fact of his rejection. Rejection from the man she loved, the man who was her entire world. That shock was all she could feel.

“No, that’s not right, Masato-kun… I’m the only one in this world. You have to choose me!”

She forced a smile, as if trying to laugh off his rejection as a joke, desperate to believe it was one. But her eyes were filled with fear and anxiety.

“I’ll say it again. I can’t accept you as you are now. What you’ve done, even if it didn’t hurt anyone and could be undone with a single thought, is incredibly selfish and wrong. So… I don’t want to choose the you that you are right now.”

Her forced smile crumbled into a distortion of fear at his second rejection.

“W-What are you saying…? Even if you say that… I-I have the power.”

“You…”

“I have the power to erase everyone in the world. Even you, Masato-kun… I could…”

Her words carried an unspoken threat: if he didn’t comply with her wishes, she’d erase him like the others.

(Even if it comes to that, you still want me…)

To make him hers alone?

“Would you erase even me if I don’t do what you want?”

“…!”

Even though she’d implied it herself, when he threw it back at her so directly, she flinched, her face twisting in fear.

That confirmed it for Masato.

(She’s not serious…)

Realizing that brought him a bit of relief. Her trembling eyes held not even a speck of resolve to erase him. In fact, that was the last thing she wanted.

“Please! Live with me… in this world!”

She pleaded, clinging to her need for Masato.

(Suiha…)

“Otherwise, I… I might really erase you, Masato-kun—”

Slap!

A single sound echoed through the silent town.

“…I’m sorry, Suiha.”

It was the sound of Masato’s hand striking Suiha’s cheek.

“Masato… kun?”

Her eyes widened, as if she couldn’t comprehend what had just happened, staring at him. Masato quietly met her gaze.

“…”

Tears welled up in Suiha’s eyes. Not from the pain of the slap.

It was because her heart finally understood that no matter how much she struggled, she couldn’t make the man she loved nod in agreement.

“Why…? Then… what should I have done…?”

Her tears overflowed, streaming down her cheeks, falling endlessly.

“How could I have kept you looking at me… even if I’m not ‘normal’…?”

“Suiha…”

“I wanted to be ‘normal’ like everyone else!! To go to school ‘normally,’ talk with friends ‘normally,’ study, join clubs… and be seen by you, Masato-kun, as a ‘normal’ girl!”

The feelings she’d kept buried deep inside burst out like a dam breaking.

“But talking, studying, sports… nothing ever went right! No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t do anything! In all my life, I’ve never once been able to be ‘normal’!!”

She’d been expected by so many, cheered on, helped. She’d done her absolute best, never slacking, trying to live up to those expectations.

But she’d never once met the world’s—the human society’s—definition of “normal.”

“Every day felt like hitting a dead end… full of anxiety, fear, and pain… and I had no idea what to do. The only reason I had to keep living was doing my homework and waiting for you in that room…”

Living in this world, yet cast out from the circle of human society, facing an endless, uncertain future. She’d been fighting that anxiety all along.

Masato might not have ever considered her feelings to that extent. To him, she was always a delicate girl he wanted to protect, who reacted to his every word with joy or sorrow. Nothing more.

But in truth, she thought, she felt, she struggled.

“But days like that couldn’t last forever… Someday, you’d find someone you love, and I’d just be in the way.”

“In the way…? I’ve always told you I’d never abandon you.”

“That’s just because it’s now. If you really fell in love with someone, you’d choose them. Because compared to a ‘normal’ girl, someone like me, less than human, who can’t do ‘normal’ things, could never compare…”

“Less than human…”

Is that how she saw herself?

“I didn’t want that. Even if my friends, teachers, mom, or dad abandoned me, I couldn’t bear it if you did, Masato-kun. So… I made everyone else disappear from your world…”

“So you erased them all.”

Suiha nodded slightly, her head bowed.

“For someone like me, who can’t be ‘normal,’ it was the only way to keep you looking at me…”

That was why she erased everyone from the world. Why she used the bug.

“Suiha…”

What an idiot this girl was.

“Goddamn…”

Masato lightly tapped her head with a gentle chop.

“Ow!”

It was less a hit and more like he’d just placed his hand there, barely using any force. The slap earlier was enough.

“Idiot.”

“…?”

Suiha looked puzzled at the sudden childish insult.

“You’re really an idiot, Suiha.”

“…I-I know that. I’m terrible at studying…”

“That’s not what I mean. Thinking about ‘normal’ or ‘not normal,’ being abandoned or not—it’s that whole way of thinking that’s wrong.”

“Wrong…?”

She looked confused. Of course she would. If she thought like that, she wouldn’t have noticed.

Noticed how Masato felt about her.

“Well, I guess I’m an idiot too… I was oblivious for so long, and even after I realized, I was too much of a coward to say it, which is why things got so messed up.”

“Masato-kun…?”

“Hey, Suiha.”

Masato looked into her eyes.

“W-What…?”

“I love you.”

“…Huh?”

She looked like she couldn’t believe what she’d just heard. So Masato repeated himself for emphasis.

“Suiha, I love you. As a man, I love you as a girl.”

Instantly, her cheeks flushed a vibrant red, more beautiful than he’d ever seen.

“N-No way, you’re lying…”

“It’s not a lie. It’s how I really feel. More than just a childhood friend, I want you to be my lover.”

With that, he didn’t give her time to be shocked or flustered, pressing his lips softly against hers.

“…!”

Her eyes widened in surprise at the kiss, but she soon calmed, closing her eyes and surrendering to it.

After a moment that felt like time had stopped, Masato gently pulled away.

“You love me… really? Not just as a childhood friend…?”

“I said I want you as my lover, didn’t I? I wouldn’t kiss a mere childhood friend like that. You don’t need to worry about not being ‘normal’ or being abandoned. There was never any need for that anxiety. Because I’m already in love with you.”

And he continued, with care and affection.

“Because I’ve already chosen you.”

“…!”

Tears welled up in Suiha’s eyes again.

“Somewhere along the way, or maybe without even realizing it, my feelings for you turned into love. There’s no real reason for it. It’s just… being with you makes me want to stay with you forever.”

Masato had once heard those words from Kurusu. Now, he understood their meaning clearly.

It seemed Suiha felt the same.

“Yeah, somehow… I get it. Before I knew it, I was always thinking about you, Masato-kun. I realized it wasn’t just a childhood friend kind of ‘like,’ but something else.”

There’s a moment when you realize the feelings you have for someone are love. Like when Minamoto teased him into realizing it. But when those feelings started is often vague. Love just sprouts on its own, without any dramatic fanfare.

“Suiha, is there still any reason you want to keep everyone erased from this world?”

Masato asked.

“Well…”

She thought for a moment, then shook her head.

“…No. Not anymore.”

But she added, “But…”

“But what?”

“I want more of you, Masato-kun. Not just kisses…”

“Suiha…”

Her words likely meant—

“I’m sorry. I’m being selfish…”

“It’s fine, selfish or greedy, whatever. If it makes you feel secure, I’ll accept it.”

“Yeah…”

They kissed again, this time with Suiha standing on her toes to reach Masato’s height, and he welcomed it.

And so, right after, the humanity that had vanished from the world returned. People resumed their everyday lives as if nothing had happened, and the ordinary world flowed on unchanged.

◇◇◇◇

By the time they noticed, it was already seven in the evening. It might’ve been the first time in Masato’s life he’d spent so long completely bare.

Masato lay on his back in Suiha’s bed, not a stitch of clothing on. Beside him, equally bare, Suiha slept softly, clinging to him.

(Man… I skipped school for the first time.)

He’d intended to go to school after noon, but Suiha wouldn’t let him go, and it ended up being this late.

(Can’t use Suiha as an excuse, though.)

The school had probably contacted his home by now. To avoid worrying his mom, Masato had sent a quick message via a chat app saying he was “with Suiha.” She’d replied, “Be kind to her,” and nothing more. No scolding about going to school, no visits to check on him—though she knew where Suiha lived.

(Gotta thank my understanding parents…)

Maybe because they felt sympathy for Suiha, they seemed to sense something was up.

Masato looked at his sleeping lover’s face. She looked so peaceful, completely at ease. Unable to resist her adorableness, he gently stroked her cheek.

“Mm… Masato-kun…?”

“Oh, did I wake you? Sorry.”

Her sleep must’ve been light, as she stirred awake.

“No, it’s fine. I get to talk to you again.”

She rubbed her sleepy eyes and smiled softly.

“Heh, yeah? You… uh, your body okay?”

“My body?”

“Well, uh… there was blood…”

“Yeah, I’m okay. I can still feel you ‘inside,’ but…”

Her cheeks flushed as she recalled their earlier intimacy.

“Might’ve been a bit rough. It was my first time too…”

Though that “roughness” was, in part, what she’d asked for.

“No, it’s fine. It was a happy kind of pain. Feeling you made me so happy.”

“…Satisfied?”

“Yeah… But, now that I think about it, are you sure about me?”

It was her reconfirming that he’d chosen her as his lover. She still couldn’t quite believe it. Probably because of her lack of confidence and her inferiority complex toward the world. Those feelings don’t vanish easily.

“No friends, terrible at studying and sports, a shut-in who can’t do the things everyone else takes for granted… Are you really okay with someone as ‘not normal’ as me?”

“You don’t need friends or to be good at studying or sports. Being a shut-in is no problem, and it’s fine if you can’t do what everyone else does.”

Masato stroked her head.

“If you tried and tried but still couldn’t do it, that’s okay.”

“It’s… okay?”

“Yeah. Just let it go. I think there are plenty of people in this world who, no matter how hard they try, can’t reach that ‘normal’ standard.”

“Like me?”

“…Yeah. Sure, it’d be amazing to keep pushing, get back up no matter how many times you fall, always stay positive, and overcome adversity like some story’s hero or heroine.”

But that’s the logic of those who can do it, who can keep pushing. It’s something only those who already “have it” can pull off.

“But not everyone can be that strong, or even want to be that strong.”

Those who “have it”—the world—can’t understand those who don’t. They don’t even notice their existence at heart.

The strong can’t see the weak.

They dismiss the reasons someone can’t do something as a lack of effort, preaching that giving up is wrong. They demand reflection, force improvement down their throats.

Did you try? Did you reflect? Still can’t do it?

Well, that just means you haven’t tried hard enough!

Keep trying, keep reflecting, keep going!

They’ll probably chant that mantra forever.

That’s the “justice” of today’s world.

The world doesn’t notice it’s asking the “have-nots” to drive a car without tires. And the “have-nots” must keep aiming to drive, even knowing they’re a tireless car, to avoid being branded as society’s evil.

But while the world irresponsibly demands effort, it takes no responsibility for those who burn out. They don’t even register in its sight. It threatens that giving up is wrong, forces an impossible game, and when you lose, it’s your fault.

Masato thinks the world could stand to notice the “have-nots” more. To acknowledge what they can’t do.

“There’s a path in escaping too. You don’t need to feel guilty, and I don’t see any of this as a barrier to being with you.”

What’s the value of this so-called “normal” anyway? Maybe no one actually sees value in it. Maybe they’re just drunk on the ridiculous idea that struggling, enduring, and exhausting yourself is beautiful, using “normal” as an excuse to enforce it.

“You’re fine as you are, Suiha. You don’t have to force yourself, and it’s okay to escape. Praise yourself for all the effort you’ve put in, and forgive yourself for not being able to do more.”

Who the hell wanted a world this brutally difficult? The “developers”?

No, that’s wrong.

The ones who created this hell are undoubtedly humans—humanity itself.

“If you can’t do it, that’s fine. Find what you can do and do it. If it doesn’t work, quit. If you want to escape, escape. If you feel like trying something again later, go for it.”

And—

“No matter what you do, I’ll be by your side.”

“Masato-kun…”

They kissed again. They’d lost count of how many times. But no matter how many, the warmth of their connection never faded.