It was very quiet on the rooftop.
They stood side-by-side by the railing, watching the distant sunset; it felt as if they were the only two people left in the world.
"Hikigaya-kun," Yuki spoke.
"Yeah?"
"Tell , if I had never appeared, what would have happened to you?"
Hikigaya froze for a mont.
"What do you an, 'appeared'?"
"I an... if you hadn't received that letter that day, or if you had gone to the rooftop only to find no one there, what would you have done?"
Hikigaya thought about it.
"I'd probably grumble about whose prank it was, then go ho. I'd go to school the next day and continue living my ordinary, solitary campus life."
Yuki nodded.
"That sounds nice. Do you know why I deleted your mories?"
"Afraid I'd be miserable?"
"That's one reason," Yuki paused. "But there's an even more important one."
She turned around to face him.
The sunset shone from behind her side, casting half of her body into shadow.
"I wanted you to live well."
"What does that an?"
"Exactly what it sounds like. Living an ordinary life. Going to school, graduating, working, getting married, having kids, and then turning into a grumpy old man. I wanted you to have absolutely nothing to do with those troubleso affairs."
Hikigaya looked at her.
"The 'troubleso affairs' you're talking about..."
"Witches, magic, awakenings... once you're touched by those things, you can't shake them off. All those weird and bizarre magics—how troubleso."
She looked up at him.
"I didn't want you to be tainted by any of it."
Hikigaya remained silent for a few seconds.
"Why would deleting my mories of you allow to be an ordinary person?"
Yuki didn't answer imdiately.
She turned back and continued watching the sunset.
"Hikigaya-kun, do you know the conditions for a witch's awakening?"
"...What do you think?"
"The condition for awakening is touching a 'taboo.' Every witch has a baseline they cannot cross, and it's always related to their deepest psychological trauma. Saeki's was her psychological state of escaping her true self due to the cyberbullying she experienced; Emma's was rembering the fact that she was once a bystander to bullying; and Hiro's was the self-reproach over her friend's suicide."
She turned her head to look at him.
"Do you know what your taboo is?"
Hikigaya fell into a mory. What had he done at that mont?
He saw those needles flying in; Hiro stood there motionless. He didn't think at all; his body just surged forward first.
At that mont, he had rembered sothing else.
On a rooftop, with blinding sunlight, a group of people surrounding a silver-haired girl. He rushed up, blocking the path in front of her. Fists fell, blood flowed from the corner of his brow. He was pinned to the ground, watching her crouch down.
"Thank you. Forget about ."
Then she stepped over the railing.
And fell.
"Failing to save soone seeking death.
You failed to save the '' on the rooftop that day.
That is your taboo. You cannot watch soone die in front of you while doing nothing."
She smiled.
"So you awakened. Because you encountered the sa situation again, and because you still made the sa choice."
"...Just because of that?"
"Just because of that." Yuki nodded. "Is it pretty stupid?"
"...It is pretty stupid."
"Right?" Yuki laughed. "You could have dodged, yet you insisted on rushing forward. You could have pretended not to see, yet you insisted on ddling. You could have lived your own life, yet you insisted on dying for soone else."
She paused.
"Stupid to the core."
Hikigaya looked at her.
"Are you insulting ?"
"I'm complinting you."
"...I can't tell at all."
Yuki laughed even more happily.
"So that's why you deleted my mories of you..." He spoke once her laughter had subsided.
"Yes," Yuki nodded.
"By deleting everything about , you wouldn't rember what happened that day.
You wouldn't rember a girl jumping in front of you.
You wouldn't rember that you failed to save her.
You wouldn't feel like you owed anything, and you wouldn't think about making ands.
In that case, you could live an ordinary life.
When you saw soone in danger, you'd hesitate like a normal person, then decide not to ddle, or simply dodge and tell yourself it wasn't within your capability.
Because you wouldn't rember anything. You wouldn't have that knot in your heart."
Hikigaya looked at her.
"Then what now? I haven't forgotten; those mories are back. Your plans have all gone down the drain."
"Yeah, they've gone down the drain."
She let out a sigh.
"I clearly deleted them so cleanly; you weren't supposed to rember anything. Yet you still rushed forward to take a blade for soone else.
I deleted your mories because I didn't want you to walk this path," she said. "If you hadn't awakened, that would have been best—living ordinarily, having nothing to do with witches or magic.
But you awakened in order to save them.
So, this path is the one you chose yourself."
Hikigaya didn't say anything.
Yuki looked at him.
"Do you regret it?"
Hikigaya thought about it.
"I don't know. But if I hadn't stepped in, I probably would have regretted it instead."
Yuki nodded.
"I knew it."
"What?"
"I knew you'd say that." She tilted her head. "Even with your mories deleted, even rembering nothing, you still made the sa choice."
She sighed.
"I really can't do anything with you."
Hikigaya looked at her.
In those pale gray eyes, a glint of tears flashed for an instant.
"However..." she paused. "It's not bad."
"What's not bad?"
"You... although your tongue is sharp, your words are unpleasant, and you're always criticizing ..."
"Get to the point."
"The point is, a person like that is who you are."
Hikigaya didn't speak.
Yuki turned around and walked toward the rooftop door.
"Alright, that's enough intel. The rest depends on your performance. It's ti for to go."
"So what should I do? And what exactly is your situation right now?"
"Just wait for 'Return by Death' to activate. Ah, rember to remind Hiro that she can no longer use 'Return by Death.' As for my situation... it's a secret.
That magic—you have to use it well. It's truly powerful."
"...I know."
"Also, Ema and Hiro—those two little ones are both good kids, they just tend to get stuck in ruts. Help take care of them."
"Take care of them yourself."
"I'm dead, silly."
"...Then don't die."
Yuki burst out laughing. She raised her hand and waved.
"Goodbye, Hikigaya-kun."
Her body began to fade.
Hikigaya watched her back.
She reached the door, turned around to look at him, and a smile appeared on the corners of her mouth.
"One day, you have to co and save , Hachiman-kun."
Imdiately following that, a flash of white light occurred, and Hikigaya lost consciousness.
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