This is the epilogue of my alternate ending. It mainly just wraps things up and talks about Satoru's new life. Also, thank you so much for reading up to here, and please enjoy.

Epilogue: Homecoming Heroes

Today, on the 22nd of March, Gaku Yashiro was arrested for attempted murder. That night, we went to eat out to celebrate our victory. I almost couldn't remember the last time I felt as relaxed as I did then.

All my worries fizzled away that night, I was able to finally get some real sleep. Even with such a good rest, I was still tired the next morning. "Satoru, Arusu, our flight is at 2 p.m, make sure you two are ready.", my mom told me when we woke up. As we had nothing to do, we went around town and enjoyed ourselves. All we could do was wait for our flight back to Chiba.

At around 5 p.m, we got back to Chiba and were driving back home. When we arrived home, the door was unlocked. "That's strange, I swear I locked it when we left.", my mom told herself. We walked inside, everything seemed normal as we turned on the lights.

"Welcome home!". My friends sprung out and yelled. All my best friends were here. Kenya, Hiromi, Kazu, Osamu, Kayo, and even Aya. They even hung up a banner on the wall saying "Welcome back!". "You guys…", my voice started to break. Kenya came up to me and put his hand on my shoulder, "You did it Satoru, you really are the hero.", Kenya assured. I felt like I was gonna cry, it was so special.

Kayo ran over to me and Kenya moved back. "Satoru, you're...ok.", she remarked with her eyes starting to water. Kayo was worried sick about me, I could see it in her face. "Yeah I a…", Kayo hugged me and cut me off. "You came back!", Kayo cried. I hugged her back, "Kayo, I'm not leaving, never again.", I assured her. After a few seconds, she also went to hug my mother. She was still crying, "There there Kayo, it's ok.", my mom assured.

"Satoru, Arusu, Mrs. Fujinuma, we got you all a surprise.", Kenya said. Kayo then went with everyone else by the table, and everyone moved out of the way to reveal a tray of about thirty cupcakes. "We tried our best, we hope you'll like it.", Kayo insisted. "You kids did this all by yourselves?", my mom asked. Everyone nodded their heads. My mom chuckled and smiled.

"Well, I guess we should celebrate!", Kazu suggested. And so we did. It was quite crowded considering that there were nine people in our house. I don't remember ever having that many people in here at the same time. Everyone left at around 7:00 that night, except for Kayo, who wanted one last thing when everyone left. "Satoru, why don't we go for a walk?". "Of course.", I happily responded. "Have fun you two!", my mom exclaimed before we left.

And so Kayo and I took a brief walk together. I told her the stories of Sapporo and how we caught Yashiro, but obviously, I excluded the jumping off a thirty-foot bridge part.

On our walk, we also passed the same park where Kayo was killed in the original timeline. Upon looking at it, I shed a tear. It brought back memories, but I never had to worry about it again. "Satoru, why are you crying?", Kayo asked. "Sorry Kayo, it reminded me of something.". "I know.", Kayo chuckled. We had a great time, I couldn't remember the last time Kayo and I were able to hang out like this.

Arusu stayed with us for one more night, he was going to leave for Sapporo tomorrow morning. At around 6:30, my mom and I found Arusu, ready to leave. "Leaving so early Arusu?", my mom asked. "Yeah, I'm eager to get back and actually do something with my life, now that my sister's killer has been found.". He paused for a brief moment. "Satoru, Mrs. Fujinuma, thank you so much. Without you, I would've never been able to find Yashiro. Especially you Satoru, your bravery has inspired me.". "Arusu…", I had no words. "Don't worry Satoru, I'll be back soon.". After that, he got into his van. He waved to us one more time and drove away. We wouldn't see him for many more months.

My eyes began to water, and my mom comforted me with a saddened look. "There there Satoru, it's ok. He said he'll visit again right? Why don't you eat some breakfast? You'll feel better after.".

From there, my life was mostly normal. I continued to go to school and hang out with my friends, just like I always do; however, the memories of Yashiro will haunt me forever. It will be my job to use them to carry on and better myself. This entire experience taught me many things. Sacrifice, friendship, teamwork, courage, these are among many things I learned. Usually, revivals end up much worse for me, but this time it didn't. This is truly the correct timeline. Everything went perfectly. This was a true victory.

And that's everything. Thank you so much for reading, I really enjoyed writing it. I might write some stories about Satoru's life afterward, but there's no guarantee. Thank you again, and have a great day.