"Do thou... want to destroy humanity?"
.
.
.
Hikigaya didn't know where he was. It might be the world after death, or sowhere else entirely.
It was very dark all around; there was nothing.
Then, sunlight pierced through.
He squinted his eyes and found himself standing in a certain place.
A rooftop. Vast concrete ground. An evening breeze blew past, and the sinking sun dyed the sky an orange-red.
"Hikigaya Hachiman."
A voice ca from behind him.
He turned around.
A silver-haired girl stood there. Her waist-length hair fluttered gently in the evening wind. Her pale gray eyes looked at him with a faint smile.
Tsukishiro Yuki.
"You..." He opened his mouth. "Aren't you..."
"Dead?" She finished for him with a smile. "Yeah, I'm dead."
"Then this place... is it Heaven or Hell?"
Yuki froze for a mont, then burst out laughing.
"You really are..." Her shoulders shook from laughing.
"You're already dead, and you still care about that?"
"Of course I care. If it's Hell, I need to prepare myself ntally in advance."
"Prepare for what?"
"For instance, I might encounter Ox-Head and Horse-Face, or be thrown into a vat of boiling oil. Oh, and the Hell of Tongue-Ripping—I'm super sensitive to pain."
He surveyed the surroundings.
"But looking at it now, the environnt isn't bad. I must be in Heaven. It seems God actually knows quality when He sees it."
Yuki tilted her head and looked at him.
"You aren't scared at all?"
"Scared of what?"
"Death."
Hikigaya thought for a mont.
"It seems... I don't feel much of anything.
Everything just went black for a second, and then I was here. Except for the fact that I'll never see Komachi again..."
Yuki looked at him. Sothing flashed within those pale gray eyes.
She walked forward until she was right in front of Hikigaya.
"The day we t here, I asked you if you wanted to destroy humanity.
You didn't answer. You said a bunch of random things, but refused to give a straight answer.
But I knew the answer long ago."
She paused.
"That's why I deleted your mories."
"What?"
The jump in the conversation was a bit too fast; Hikigaya was left feeling confused.
"The mories of . You still can't rember, right? We spent so, so much ti together, and I deleted it all. Heh-heh, pretty impressive, right?"
She gave a timid smile, as if seeking praise.
"...Do I need to present you with a certificate or sothing?"
Hikigaya spoke speechlessly, but suddenly a strange feeling arose in his heart.
This kind of boring, nutritionless dialogue consisting of mutual barbs... it felt like it had happened many tis before.
His heart gave a slight tug.
"Ah, there it goes again. How do you rember so deeply?"
She seed to have noticed his abnormality and let out a sigh.
"It can't be helped. Who told , this beautiful girl, to be so cute?"
Hikigaya looked at her. There was an indescribable sense of familiarity.
"So, where am I now? What about Nikaido Hiro and Sakuraba Ema? Why did you delete my mories? And how did you even do it?"
Yuki tilted her head, wearing a troubled expression.
"Hmm, so many questions. Which one should I answer first...
Forget it, let's start with the important one. All in all, you aren't dead yet."
"?"
"It's complicated to explain. Strictly speaking, you're about to die, but you aren't dead yet. What was that word... Oh, right, I rember. Near-death."
Hikigaya remained silent for a few seconds. He didn't really want to criticize her; after all, Tsukishiro Yuki was only in her second year of middle school when she died—it wasn't her fault.
"Then what about them? What happened to Ema and Nikaido?"
Yuki didn't answer imdiately. She walked past Hikigaya to the railing and rested her hands on it.
"Them... you don't need to worry."
Just as Hikigaya was about to press for more details, Yuki interrupted him.
"Hikigaya, do you still rember the supernatural events that happened to them?"
"...Are you referring to those bone wings Ema grew?"
"Not just those. There was also the body swap between Saeki Miria and you, and the 'Return by Death' that Hiro carried out."
Hikigaya's brow furrowed.
"How do you know about Saeki's situation? And what is Nikaido's 'Return by Death'..."
Suddenly, Hikigaya felt a splitting headache. He discovered that a new set of mories had suddenly appeared in his brain.
Is this... Nikaido Hiro's mory?
The Class F classroom, the presentation of evidence, his withdrawal, the rooftop, Sakuraba Ema's fall, the fountain pen...
"Ha..."
Hikigaya felt like he was waking from a dream. He knelt halfway on the ground. It felt as though he had just experienced Hiro's mories all over again; the oppressive emotions within those mories made him gasp for air.
"As expected, your magic has successfully awakened."
"My magic?"
Hikigaya looked up at her.
"Hikigaya, did you know? In this world, there were once many witches.
Not the kind from fairy tales that fly on broomsticks and brew potions. They were witches with true magic. They lived among humans, using magic to help others, cure diseases, predict the weather—doing things ordinary people couldn't do.
And then…..
humans killed them all."
Yuki spoke very calmly.
"For hundreds of years—hunted, tried, burned. One after another, until the race was almost extinct."
"Then Nikaido and the others... they are witches?"
"They all have 'Witch Factors' in them. When they fully awaken, they turn into witches—a process called 'Witchification.' In their human state, they can only use a tiny bit of magical authority. This manifests as Saeki's body swap, Hiro's 'Return by Death,' and Ema's... I won't tell you."
She pointed at Hikigaya.
"Now, you have it too."
Hikigaya stood up and looked down at his hands.
"...So, am I a witch now?"
"A 'Witch-man,' I guess," Yuki said seriously.
Hikigaya looked at her.
"Did you just make a pun?"
"Was it not funny?"
"It wasn't funny."
"Oh," Yuki nodded. "I'll improve next ti."
Hikigaya sighed.
"Then what is my magic?"
"It's super powerful! It's the ultimate 'Sin of Pride' magic called [Plunder]! It can directly plunder the magic of other witches. This ti, you plundered Hiro's 'Return by Death.' How about it? Isn't it an incredibly amazing magic?"
He was silent for two seconds.
"All that stuff you just said—Witch Factors, awakening, magic..." He paused. "How do you know so much?"
Yuki blinked.
"Because I'm a genius beautiful girl."
"Speak like a human."
"Ugh." Yuki tilted her head. "I just... know."
Hikigaya looked at her.
Those pale gray eyes were facing him, carrying a hint of a mischievous smile.
But he always felt there was sothing hidden beneath that smile.
"Who exactly are you?"
"I'm Tsukishiro Yuki."
"I know that," Hikigaya said. "But you aren't just Tsukishiro Yuki, are you?"
Yuki didn't answer.
She turned around and looked at the sunset beyond the railing. The orange-red light fell on her face, dyeing her long silver hair orange as well.
"Hikigaya-kun, you're always so sharp," she spoke.
"Thanks for the complint."
"Sheesh, I wasn't complinting you, you arrogant guy. So things are easier if you don't know them."
"Komachi said that too. Did you two conspire together?"
Yuki gave a small laugh.
"That's not it."
Hikigaya walked to her side and watched the sunset with her.
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