The familiar ceiling.
He stared at the white ceiling before his eyes for three seconds, confirming it was indeed the one in his own room—the one with a small smudge he'd never bothered to wipe off.
The two sets of mories brought back by the activation of the "Return by Death" magic were still fighting for dominance in his mind.
One was his own; the sensation of Sakuraba Ema's bone wings piercing his body still lingered.
The other was Nikaido's; the feeling of suffocation as a fountain pen stabbed into his neck was still flaring up.
Two ways to die, across two loops. This was a plotline even light novel protagonists would have a hard ti experiencing.
Hikigaya sat up and prepared to change into his school uniform.
According to the mories of the previous loop, Nikaido planned to call Miura for a talk today, which led to Sakuraba being forced onto the stage by Miura's friends.
He listed the key information from both sets of mories in his mind and began to calmly analyze every detail.
First, he absolutely could not ntion dropping out of school in front of Sakuraba Ema. In either loop, her loss of emotional control was tied to his withdrawal; he had to avoid that topic.
Second, the rumors weren't the main point, and directly exposing the truth behind them wouldn't work either. Nikaido had exposed them twice—whether publicly or not—and the results were less than ideal. Sakuraba wasn't the type who could calmly face the truth, at least not yet.
Third, the rooftop was a forbidden zone. In Sakuraba's current state, being on the rooftop would easily trigger mories of Yuki. He couldn't let her co into contact with the rooftop again.
Fourth...
Hikigaya's train of thought stalled for a mont.
In Nikaido's mory, Sakuraba had said sothing on the roof.
"I didn't post those rumors."
Nikaido hadn't thought much of it at the ti, but the more Hikigaya thought about it now, the more it felt wrong.
At that ti, Nikaido had checked the post history and tistamps of that forum account, and everything pointed to Sakuraba.
The evidence was ironclad.
But what if Sakuraba was telling the truth?
What if those posts really weren't from her...
Given the situation back then, there was no reason for Sakuraba to lie anymore. While he couldn't rule out the possibility, he felt in his heart that her words carried weight.
Hikigaya frowned as he recalled the content of those posts. The first one was a recomndation for Cafe Leblanc posted Saturday night, followed by hype regarding the relationship between him and Sakuraba.
There were indeed others in school who knew about these things besides Sakuraba.
Saeki knew, and Miura and her friends found out later.
However, the only one who perfectly fit the tiline of the "cri" was currently Sakuraba.
Hikigaya rubbed his temples; he had a headache.
He shifted his perspective. Assuming it really wasn't Sakuraba, what was the poster's goal?
What effect were they trying to achieve?
To make Sakuraba the center of gossip. To let everyone know she was "following him every day." To make everyone believe she wanted to "break up Saeki and him."
'Break up Saeki and him.'
What was the relationship between Saeki and him?
To outsiders, Saeki had transferred schools for him, called him "Hachiman-kun," and they worked together at the cafe on weekends—the standard "couple-in-waiting."
Sakuraba followed him every day, ate lunch with him, and even chased him to the cafe on the weekend.
The standard "howrecker."
So, the poster wanted to turn Sakuraba into a "third party."
Why?
Because that way, everyone would sympathize with Saeki and hate Sakuraba.
If everyone hated Sakuraba, what would happen?
Cold treatnt, ostracization, being ignored, and the occasional sarcastic remark.
If it got worse: nobody helping during classroom chores, being left out during group assignnts, and being intentionally bumped into in the hallways.
The collective "ignoring of the martyr," social bullying.
Just like what Yuki had experienced.
The poster didn't just want Sakuraba to be talked about for a few days; they wanted her isolated, excluded, and driven into a social corner.
He rembered what Yuki had said.
"The condition for a Witch's awakening is touching a taboo. Every Witch has a line they cannot cross, which is tied to their deepest psychological trauma."
"Emma's taboo is rembering the fact that she was a bystander to bullying."
What if Sakuraba was bullied? What if she was forced to face what happened on the rooftop that day all over again?
She would rember Yuki. She would rember that she actually did nothing. She would rember her cowardly, silent self. She would rember that she was just a bystander to bullying.
And then...
An image flashed through Hikigaya's mind.
Sakuraba floating in mid-air, bone wings unfurled behind her.
Witchification.
The poster wanted her to turn into a Witch.
The mont this thought surfaced, a chill ran down Hikigaya's spine.
This wasn't just ordinary school bullying. Soone knew about the existence of Witches, knew how to make them awaken, and was intentionally forcing Sakuraba to touch her taboo.
He rembered the last thing Yuki said.
"Soday, you have to co and save , Hachiman-kun."
'Save.'
Hikigaya took a deep breath.
Now he knew what he had to do.
It wasn't about finding the truth, dragging out the culprit, or taking the fall for soone.
It was about preventing Sakuraba from being driven to Witchification.
To let her know soone was standing by her side. To let her know she wasn't alone. To ensure she didn't have to face the deepest scar in her mory.
He pushed open the door and went downstairs.
Komachi was in the kitchen; she didn't turn around when she heard his footsteps.
"Up early today, huh? Is the sun rising in the west?"
"Yeah."
"What's 'yeah' supposed to an?" Komachi ca out carrying miso soup, placed it in front of him, and stared at him. "Onii-chan, your expression is off."
"How is it off?"
"I can't put my finger on it." Komachi tilted her head. "What did you dream about last night?"
"What, are you an Oniromancer now?"
"It's nothing." Komachi rested her chin on her hand. "It's just that you look completely exhausted, like you've just been fished out of water."
Hikigaya took a bite of his fried egg.
"It's not that dramatic."
"So there is sothing."
She paused.
"Spill it. What life crisis have you run into now? Free consultation from Komachi, three-minute ti limit."
Hikigaya chewed his egg and thought for a mont.
"If there's a person, and everyone thinks she did sothing, but she says she didn't—how do you judge that?"
Komachi blinked.
"Look at the evidence."
"The evidence all points to her."
"Then didn't she do it?"
"But she says it wasn't her."
Komachi tilted her head and looked at him for a while.
"Onii-chan, this person you're talking about... do you want to help her, or do you not want to help her?"
Hikigaya was stunned for a mont.
"What do you an?"
"I an..." Komachi drew out her words, "when you asked that question, your eyebrows drooped."
She reached out and pointed at his face.
"That exact expression. You make it every ti you want to help soone but don't know how."
Hikigaya remained silent for two seconds.
"That's not it."
Komachi didn't bother to argue with her brother's stubbornness. She stood up and started clearing the dishes.
"Alright, hurry up and get to school, or you really will be late."
Hikigaya stood up and went to the entryway to change his shoes.
"I'm heading out."
"Be careful on the way. Just do whatever you think is right, Onii-chan. Komachi will always support you!"
Hikigaya gave a brief acknowledgnt and pushed open the door. The sunlight was a bit dazzling.
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