A/N: Okay, so...I lied just a little. This was supposed to be the last chapter, but as I finished writing the closing scenes, I realized that it was way too long (like almost 20k words too long, oops), so I decided to split it into two. On the bright side, I've basically finished writing the entire thing already, so the last chapter should be out in a couple of days after I finish editing it. Thank you for your patience!

Kasumi Yoshizawa was a steadfast and strong person who would relentlessly push forward on the path that she chose for herself.

Kasumi Yoshizawa was a person who looked towards the future, and was not one to doubt herself or the actions she took.

Yes - that was who Kasumi Yoshizawa was.

That was who Kasumi Yoshizawa was, is, and will be, no matter what may come.

And as Kasumi Yoshizawa looked back at her companions, tears in her eyes, that was what she thought about herself, as if trying to reaffirm that that truly was what type of person she was.

Did Ren and Morgana, who were looking at her with worried expressions, think the same about her, she wondered?

Did they think that she was that steadfast of a person, who they might be able to depend upon?

Did they think...that the one known as Kasumi Yoshizawa held regrets?

"..."

Kasumi knew that she was merely 15 years old, but she wanted to believe that she was slightly more mature than her peers around her. It was a small moment of pride for her. And with her independent nature, she liked to think that she was in control of her emotions, her temperament, and in tune with herself.

That was what she liked to think.

But...this must've been what it felt like.

This must be what it feels like in one's moment of weakness.

"Sumire's treasure - I've obtained her power to change fate," she repeated herself to the other two.

She tried her best to wear a smile on her face, hiding the swirl of emotions that she was desperately trying to keep under her exterior. They were locked away, only for her heart to witness, and hers alone.

But with the tears that were rolling down her cheeks, how fake must that smile have looked to them?

With this sudden development, she just didn't know how to react.

Somehow though...Kasumi should have known that it would've come down to this.

It should've been obvious from the moment that she figured out the truth of the world; Sumire sacrificed herself so that she could reverse her death. Of course Kasumi couldn't accept that. No way Kasumi could live happily in a world under these circumstances, and move on with her life as if nothing ever happened.

But the implications of that - the conclusions of what that meant, and the actions needed to get there - that, she didn't think about, because she never could've changed fate in the first place.

Dr. Maruki had presented her with a path forward, but she knew in her heart that she would never accept such a method.

And now, another path had emerged in front of her.

But unlike everything that had came before her...she hesitated. When the time came to take the most important step of all - she faltered.

Did she have the courage to take that step?

The road that she had taken since the very beginning - all of the choices that she had made up until now, had led her here. She had trekked Sumire's Palace, rejected Dr. Maruki's offer, and did everything else in her power, until she finally reached the top. But she had been so focused on reaching the top of that mountain, that she failed to consider what lay beyond it on the other side.

She now stood at that point, looking at the path back down, towards the inevitable conclusion.

...This was the ending that lay at the end of the treacherous path that she herself took.

"...Hold on, I don't understand," Ren said desperately, his voice clearly anxious. "You've obtained the power to 'change fate'? Kasumi, do you mean…?"

Kasumi simply nodded solemnly in response, trying her best to blink back any more tears that were forming. It kind of worked, but only for a second before new ones started to form.

"Sumire's desire was to turn back time, right? That was how she 'changed fate'. I don't really get the details, but I can feel it in my body...if we steal the treasure - steal her desires...we can reverse it. We can change fate by undoing what she did."

"Wait, no way, you can do that?!" Morgana yelped in surprise.

Morgana's reaction was one of surprise and awe at this new found power more than anything else.

"!"

Ren however, realized the implications of what that meant. His expression instantly turned from shock to one of wariness.

"Kasumi…" he said, picking his words very cautiously, "...Don't tell me that you're thinking of…"

"I...I don't know," she admitted dejectedly, hanging her head.

Ren's face gave a very visible frown at her response. The fact that it was anything other than a hard 'no' didn't sit well with him, it seemed.

"Eh? What's the matter?" Morgana asked innocently, still not quite understanding, yet picking up on the tense atmosphere.

"..."

But Kasumi couldn't find it in her to respond.

"...If we steal the treasure and undo Sumire's desire, we'll go back to the original timeline," Ren dreadfully explained in Kasumi's stead. "And in that original timeline...Kasumi dies on April 4th."

"...!"

And only now did everyone truly understand what following through and stealing the treasure of Sumire's Palace really meant.

The answer that presented itself in front of them was a conclusion to the entire chain of events that had occurred before them. But the conclusion for that was…

"Kasumi, don't even think about it," Ren warned, shaking his head. "If you do that, then you'll be exactly like Sumire, sacrificing yourself!"

"..."

"Kasumi!"

He raised his voice and called her name again, after she didn't give a response.

"I know what you're trying to say Ren, but-"

"No buts!" Ren objected again, cutting her off. "This is...this is wrong. I can't accept this as being the end after all that you've gone through."

"Ren's right," Morgana agreed, desperately jumping up and down and trying to get her to reconsider. "There has to be another way...we just need to find it."

"..."

Again, Kasumi was at a loss for words.

To be perfectly honest...she didn't know what to do.

...No, maybe even that was a lie.

"I…" Kasumi started. "I don't…"

She bit her lip, unable to finish her sentence.

It seemed like in the end, she couldn't even convince herself.

And then, out of nowhere, her knees buckled under the weight that had been put upon her. They gave way, and she collapsed onto the ground, unable to stand strong for any longer.

"Kasumi!"

Ren quickly ran over to her side worriedly, and knelt down to check her condition. Morgana quickly scurried over as well.

"Are you okay?" Ren quickly asked.

"Ah...yeah," Kasumi reassured on the ground, a little apologetic. "Sorry; I just got a little faint all of a sudden. Everything's kinda happening so fast..."

"Hey, it's okay…" he soothed. "It's a lot to take in at once."

"Yeah - sorry for troubling you guys so much," she apologized again, her head definitely starting to get a little woozy at this point.

"No need to apologize. Just…"

"Just…?"

Ren wrapped Kasumi's right arm around his shoulder, and slowly stood up, trying to support her and get her on her feet.

"Well...you know you can depend on us, right?" he replied when she got up. "I'm sure we can find another way, like Morgana said. We'll all look for it, together. So let's not get too hasty...okay? For Morgana and my sake…"

Despite being dizzy, Kasumi turned her head slightly to look at Ren's concerned eyes, who was supporting her during her time of weakness.

…That's right.

As Ren had told her a while back...a part of her lives inside Ren and Morgana now.

This decision wasn't one that could be made so easily. Perhaps, back when she was struggling on her own, but now…

Things were different now. She had friends by her side who laughed when she laughed, anguished when she was in pain, and got mad on her behalf.

...And so, she could only give one answer to those two.

"...Okay," she nodded softly.

Even though it was just a small affirmation, she could see how much her answer brightened up their faces.

"For now...let's go home," Ren simply said.

Kasumi, for her part, just gave a small nod in response.

With nothing else to say between themselves, Ren started to help Kasumi back to the staircase which would lead them back out of the Palace.

As she started walking, an arm around Ren for support, Kasumi felt the exhaustion that she had been holding back so far hit her all at once. For now...it was too much to make a decision. She would have to get some rest and think about it with a clear mind another day.

...But even with Morgana gingerly leading the way back down the stairs, and Ren considerately by her side helping her walk, Kasumi couldn't help but look back at the treasure right before they descended from the floor.

Somehow, she just knew - this wouldn't be the last time she would see that golden medal in the middle of the room, a floating reminder of the desires that shaped the world that Kasumi lived in.

…

One Kasumi Yoshizawa took a small bite out of her bento, her usual vigor for food not immediately present. Normally, come noon time, she would be enthusiastically digging into her lunch, her insatiable hunger only bested by the deliciousness that were her home cooked meals prepared by her parents.

This was something else different entirely, however.

The hunger was still there; she felt her stomach rumbling not just 20 minutes earlier in the morning math class. And the lunch tasted just as great as ever, too; they weren't as good as Sumire's cooking, but Kasumi still wouldn't have traded it for anything else in the world.

No, it wasn't anything like that; she simply...just didn't have an appetite today.

Was it due to the weather? From her vantage point on the Shujin rooftop, she looked up at the sky - it was slightly gray and cloudy. Almost like it was posturing that it was going to rain, but not quite following through.

Realistically speaking though, Kasumi knew that it couldn't have been for such a trivial reason. If she had to hazard a guess, it was probably the same reason why she barely got any sleep last night.

The treasure in Sumire's Palace - she couldn't get it out of her head. That, and the heavy decision that it inevitably foisted onto Kasumi's own shoulders.

Should she reverse the timeline back to the original, where she dies, and Sumire lives? Or should she leave the Palace be, and live out the life that was given to her?

'Such an easy question to think about,' she resentfully thought.

A full restless night later, she still couldn't make heads or tails of what she wanted to do. And apparently, that came with the undesirable consequence of lacking an appetite.

So, instead of digging into her third bento box as usual, she wistfully poked and prodded at her food in the first one with her chopsticks, not feeling the motivation to eat any further.

"Not hungry?"

...It was also easily observable by others, it seemed.

Peeling her eyes away from her bento box, she looked up at the person sitting across the makeshift table on the abandoned school rooftop, who was currently sharing his own homemade curry with a certain black feline.

"You'll be hungry in the afternoon if you don't eat more, you know," Ren pointed out gently, with a soft spoken smile.

"Aha...you could tell?" Kasumi asked sheepishly.

"Kasumi, if there's one thing I know about you, it's that you eat like six meals a day."

"That's not true...I eat like four. Maybe five."

"Well hey, you should at least eat enough to get you through the afternoon - you don't want to get chalk chucked at you again, right?" Ren added playfully, the faintest of smirks present on his lips.

Kasumi, for her part, didn't miss that playful tone that invited her to a teasing battle of wits, like they usually have. Under normal circumstances, she would've taken that bait any day.

But...she just couldn't force herself into that mood right now - not when there were so many heavy things weighing down on her mind.

"Ah, yeah, you're right…" she said meekly, trying her best to muster up a smile. "I'll try to eat a little bit more before lunch ends."

So instead, she settled for a response that would simply attempt to assuage her lunch companions' concerns and end the conversation.

Ren's slightly disappointed look upon hearing her reply, however, indicated that it did anything but, but he didn't say anything more.

A brief moment passed where nobody said anything - even Morgana, who had been happily lapping up curry this entire time, stopped and looked at the other two, concern clearly written on his face, but unsure on what to do or say in the current situation.

...Kasumi kind of had a feeling this would happen. When she rolled out of bed this morning, sleep deprived and feeling a bit lost, she knew that Ren and Morgana would inevitably be worried about her. To that end, she thought it might've been best to disappear during lunch - so that they wouldn't ask her to hang out on the roof like usual. Maybe she would've eaten her food in the bathroom or something; she didn't really know, but she figured anything would've been better than interacting with them.

But as soon as the lunch bell rang and she ran out of her classroom...there he was waiting outside of her classroom door, a lunchbox in hand and a gentle smile on his face, as if he had been there waiting there the entire day.

And all of that led them to where they were now. ...To Kasumi, the silence between them was absolutely deafening. The last thing she wanted was for them to worry - to put them in this situation, precisely because she knew that they were the type to care so much. But what could she say?

"Ah...I, uhm…" she stumbled, unsure of what she wanted to convey, but simply wanting to fill in the awkward silence.

"Hm?" Ren tilted his head slightly.

"Well, I…"

She paused and took a breath, attempting to calm her nerves.

"...I just wanted to say sorry, I guess," she finally managed to get out. "I know you're just trying to cheer me up and all, but I'm kind of bringing down the mood…"

"Well, I wouldn't go that far, but…I'm assuming you're still thinking about Sumire's Palace?" he asked a little tentatively.

"Mhm...I've been thinking about it for a while, but I've just been going around in circles," she put her head down on the table dejectedly, devoid of any energy. "...Hey, Ren-senpai, what do you think I should do?"

"You're asking me?" Ren asked, a little surprised. "...Well…"

He exchanged glances with Morgana, shifting a little in his seat uncharacteristically before turning back to face Kasumi a few moments later.

"Kasumi, is it okay if I openly speak my mind?" he cryptically said.

"Eh? Yeah, that's fine."

"Right - to be honest, I'm entirely against it," he declared firmly. "I don't think you should revert the timeline, and that the best option would be to let Sumire's Palace be. I just...can't accept that after all that you suffered in these past couple of weeks, that this is the end result. ...That's too cruel. If I could have it my way, I would absolutely lock Sumire's Palace away, so you didn't have to be faced with this cruel choice. But…"

"But?" Kasumi asked, raising her head curiously.

"But, well...I know that's just my wishful thinking," he said with a bittersweet smile. "It would be selfish of me to do so, even if I could, because I don't want to force you into a decision that you'll regret. Morgana feels the same way."

"After we sent you home yesterday, Ren and I decided it would be for the best if we didn't influence your opinion too much," Morgana explained. "...Frankly speaking, the idea of you accepting that choice doesn't sit well with us at all - but we also recognize that it's not really our place to say. After all, this is a choice regarding your sister, who you've been chasing after for so long. So, as much as it sucks...the most that we can really offer you at the moment is just lunch with you on the roof."

Kasumi quickly shook her head, as if to dispel the notion that that wasn't sufficient.

"And that's enough," she said reassuringly. "...Really. I think I'll just need some time to myself to think and reflect. About what I really want to do - and where to go from here."

Ren still looked a little unsure, but after a moment, he gingerly nodded and accepted her words.

"...Okay," he finally relented. "Just promise us that you won't disappear on us before telling us first."

"...Yeah. ...I promise."

...

The afternoon classes after lunch were just as much of a slog as the ones in the morning. And, in what was seemingly becoming increasingly normal these days, Kasumi didn't bother paying them too much attention.

It was an all too familiar scene. Here she was, sitting in math class, her mind already too preoccupied with other thoughts to spare any brain power and pay attention to the lesson. Kasumi couldn't help but get hit by a vague sense of dejavu as the trigonometry lesson being so meticulously explained whizzed by her head. The more things changed, the more they stayed the same, she supposed.

Well, except, it wasn't quite...the same.

She thought yesterday's questions and considerations were hard. As it turned out...there was always a harder question to answer.

On the bright side though, it couldn't quite possibly get any harder than this.

After all, there probably weren't many tougher questions than, "would you sacrifice your life now that you're starting to find happiness again?"

In a way, she kind of resented the world for forcing this question onto her, as if she had an answer readily available. Of course, Kasumi very well understood that she didn't have to be forced to choose one way or another - but the simple option of being allowed to choose - that was precisely what made it hard in the first place.

And to top it off, it just had to be when she was starting to become good friends with Ren and Morgana...

That's right - speaking of those two…

It was unintentional of course, but the conversation that she just had with them only served to add more to her plate in terms of things to consider. They hadn't known each other for very long, but Kasumi considered them her close friends at this point. ...She had to keep them and their feelings in mind as well.

It also highlighted a question that she didn't even really know herself.

"We don't want to influence your opinion too much," they had said. So that she wouldn't be pressured into a "decision that she would regret".

...But what even was her opinion at this point? All this time, she had been pondering the difficulty and circumstances of the question, but she never stopped to think about what exactly her stance was on the entire thing.

If it was a question of what she wanted, well of course she would want to live in a world where both she and Sumire could live happily. But short of taking Dr. Maruki's offer, that didn't seem to be too feasible.

Speaking of which...

Dr. Maruki had stated that 'time is not something that can be overturned so easily'. In the original timeline, her own death was already set in stone, so that couldn't be overturned. And in this timeline, since Sumire had already passed, her death in this timeline must be preordained as well, following that logic. Ren and Morgana said that there must've been another way...but if that logic held up, then Kasumi found it dubious that there could be a third option that wasn't Dr. Maruki's and shifting the timeline entirely.

So in the end, it came down to either her or Sumire...huh?

Propping her head lazily on her hand, Kasumi stared aimlessly at the area surrounding Shujin from her vantage point next to the window.

...It was too difficult and cruel of a question. Kasumi didn't want to think about it. With her mind simply going in circles, she could do nothing but go through the motions of the day.

So there she was, sitting in class halfheartedly as the time passed on by, indifferent to her troubles and unrelenting in its passage.

As the words 'square root' and 'fractions' vaguely registered in her head despite her not comprehending the actual meaning behind the words, Kasumi vaguely wondered if this was what it was like to be a delinquent.

...Actually wait, did delinquents even go to class? Kasumi wouldn't know - after all, there was no way she would let herself skip class unless she was literally in a coma. And even then, the paranoia of missing out on something important that might show up on an exam might just be enough to shake her awake. Hell, she bet…

"..."

"Hah…"

Upon catching herself going down this unfocused train of thought that got more peculiar by the minute, she paused and let out a quiet sigh.

...What was she doing?

She took a moment to rub her eyes a little, attempting to rub out the weariness that was beginning to weigh down on her and her thoughts.

The fatigue was starting to catch up to her, it seemed. It must've already started to show physically; Kasumi didn't have a mirror, but she would not have been one bit surprised if there were circles around her eyes.

She tried to get some sleep last night, but to no avail; the questions and thoughts regarding Sumire kept her mind running well past her bedtime. It was only through sheer exhaustion due to the events of that day, and not drowsiness, that she was able to finally pass out and get perhaps, at best, 4 good hours of sleep, a momentary reprieve from the endless loop of considerations that occupied her mind.

Maybe if she closed her eyes...she could forget about it and push off on coming to a decision.

As soon as she did so though, she could feel the fatigue and sleepiness crawling up on her, as if they were waiting to pounce on her as soon as she showed any sign of giving in.

"!"

Instantly, she forced herself to open her eyes and shook her head rapidly to try to stay awake.

Not good, not good. She would end up falling asleep in class at this rate.

It had only been around an hour and a half since lunch ended - which meant that there was still an hour left of class.

She had to steel herself and find the energy to keep herself awake at least until then. ...But her eyelids felt so heavy…

And just as she was starting to nod off again…

"Yoshizawa?"

"Hweh?!"

...her name was called by the math teacher, Ms. Usami, and she jolted awake. Instantly, she felt all eyes in the classroom turn onto her.

"Are you alright, Yoshizawa? You don't look so good," the teacher observed.

"U-uhm, I'm okay, thank you!" Yoshizawa quickly yelped back in response.

But Ms. Usami was having none of it apparently, waving a hand in front of her.

"Nonsense; I can see the dark circles under your eyes. How about you go to the nurse's office and get some rest?" she offered,

"Eh? But…"

"C'mon, hurry up now," she ushered hurriedly. "In your condition, you won't be able to pay attention to the rest of class anyway."

...

...The next thing she knew, Kasumi was kicked out of her own classroom.

So she really did have circles under her eyes, huh?

She did a brief scan of her surroundings, trying to ascertain how it is she got to this point. With her classroom door closed behind her, and the silence in the empty hallway deafening her ears, she could do nothing but blink at this unexpected turn of events.

'I mean, I guess it beats getting chalk tossed at you, but still…'

She would have to add 'looked so terrible that even the teacher took pity on her and excused her from class' to a list of things she never thought would ever happen to her.

Other things on that list, by the way, included things like "traveling back a week in time after dying", and "killing a monster that transformed into the appearance of her dead sister".

...Yep. She was living life to the fullest, it seemed.

Perhaps it was for the best that she got kicked out though, she tried to spin optimistically. She did feel the need to catch up on some sleep. The issue, however, was that between how quickly everyone's attention turned to her, and her embarrassment at being thrust into this situation in the first place, she wasn't even that tired anymore...

But at this point, there wasn't really a point in going back inside, Kasumi realized, as she let out a light sigh of resignation. In the end, after standing still and debating for a few moments, she decided to just go down to the nurse's office and get some rest.

...

...However, when she got there and opened the door, her eyes landed on someone who she didn't expect to see.

"Yoshizawa-san? What brings you here?"

"...Eh?"

Dr. Maruki, the very man who had brought her to his own Palace just the day before, sat in the nurse's chair, greeting her with his usual, aloof smile.

"Dr. Maruki?" she asked confusedly. "What're you doing here?"

"Oh - the nurse had to run an errand in the afternoon, so I'm here temporarily as his replacement," Maruki explained lightheartedly. "I'm not thoroughly trained, but I should be able to handle most minor matters. But never mind that - was there something you needed?"

"Ah, right…" It took her a moment to overcome her initial shock and remember her purpose for coming here. "My teacher sent me here. She thought I could use some rest."

Dr. Maruki observed her for a moment, and then nodded his head.

"I see, no problem. We have a couple of beds here, so feel free to use one if you want."

He gave a gentle smile that held no deeper meaning before continuing.

"Couldn't sleep last night?" he asked, making conversation.

"Yeah, you could say that…" Kasumi said, stifling a yawn as she closed the door behind her. "There's a lot on my mind, I guess…"

"Right...I can imagine," he replied empathetically. "Would you like to talk about it? I can be your sounding board, if you would like."

"Wha?! Uhm…"

Kasumi shifted in place slightly, her unease with that situation showing in her body language. Under normal circumstances, she most likely would've been able to hide it, but she was too fatigued at the moment to conceal it properly.

Dr. Maruki though, perhaps sensing the hesitation in her voice or the nervousness of her body language, rapidly held up a hand in front of him to reassure her of her intentions.

"O-oh, I have no ill intentions, I swear!" he quickly added, before donning his usual smile again. "...I know you rejected my offer last night, but trust me when I say that I want nothing more than for you to be happy and comfortable no matter what you choose to do. I would be more than willing to just listen and offer you my thoughts - just as your counselor, if you would like."

"...Just as a counselor, huh?"

Kasumi stopped to consider his suggestion for just the briefest of moments. He may have held ideals that conflicted with her own, but Kasumi could tell that at heart, Dr. Maruki genuinely wanted to help. Perhaps there was some merit to it all - at the very least, it wouldn't hurt to hear his thoughts.

"...Alright," Kasumi finally relented. "Then, if you would please."

Upon hearing her response, Dr. Maruki beamed a smile that showed his elation.

"Of course! It would be my pleasure," he gently said as he pulled up another seat in front of him.

Kasumi graciously took him up on his offer and sat down, taking a brief pause to ponder just what exactly it was that she wanted to ask him.

"...Dr. Maruki, how would you define 'happiness'?" Kasumi eventually settled on as a starting point. "I understand that your methods promise an ideal world where everyone can be happy, but what exactly does that mean, to you?"

"Hmm...what does happiness mean to me, you say? That's quite the philosophical question..."

He rubbed the bottom of his chin in apparent thought, his face slightly more strained than usual.

"I would say contentment," he finalized on, gesturing a little. "Being satisfied with your current life choices and circumstances, if you will. Of course, there will always be something more that you may find desirable in your life, but you don't necessarily need those extra things to already be happy. All that is required is for you to be at ease and content with your current situation. Being able to confidently assert that in your life - that's when someone can call themselves happy, in my opinion."

"So in other words, to you, it's a matter of perspective, and not a state?"

"Exactly," Maruki confirmed. "Everyone has a different idea and definition of what makes them happy, but those definitions are malleable; they can change over time, as quickly or as slowly as you want them to. But as long as you are satisfied and enjoying where you currently are in life, then that should be all that matters. That's why, as long as you are open to redrawing those lines and redefining your standards - in my opinion, you can always have the potential to find happiness no matter where you are in your life."

"But what if you can't?" Kasumi pressed. "What if, for example, a close family member passes away...how're you supposed to be 'content'? How could you possibly be satisfied with their passing, and the hole it leaves in your heart?"

"Ah...well…"

Dr. Maruki looked away and took a small breath.

"It's...hard," he said simply, with a slightly dejected expression, as if he had asked himself the same question a million times. "At least, at first. ...In the beginning, it'll be the only thing on your mind. You'll constantly see things that remind you of them. A place you guys often went to, perhaps. Or an old picture on your phone that you stumble upon by chance. And every time you get these reminders, the 'hole in your heart', as you say, will ache. It'll emphasize the emptiness that is where your loved one used to be; in that sense, of course you could never be content when there's a space that can't be filled any longer."

Kasumi nodded in agreement, but didn't say anything, prompting Dr. Maruki to continue.

"But as you carry on with your life, you'll find new things to do - new things to consider, and new people to bring positivity. And as that new world expands, that hole becomes slightly smaller, relatively, each time. Of course, it's still there - you'll still get those reminders, but it'll become less frequent. You'll start to think about it less. Slowly, there will be periods of time where your mind is not thinking about that emptiness at all. And eventually, you'll reach a point where the painful memories are not at the forefront of your thoughts - it'll be in the back of your mind, as you experience other things that will make you happy. Before you know it, those painful memories will start to be bearable as your life shifts. Do you see? Slowly, you move on and become content with your new life, as the boundaries and priorities shift. The hole may never get smaller; but in comparison to the new, positive things that'll eventually and inevitably come, it becomes a smaller percentage of your life, until they simply transform into things to remember them by."

"I...see…" Kasumi said slowly. "I kind of get what you're saying, but also don't at the same time…"

"Aha, well," Maruki laughed a little nervously. "I shouldn't be lecturing you about this too hard either. In theory, I may know this in my head, but the truth is, I'm having trouble following my own advice."

"Hmm…Dr. Maruki, you held multiple counseling sessions with Sumire in the original timeline, right?" Kasumi followed up.

"That's right."

"Given what you just said, do you think, given enough time, Sumire would've been able to move on and find happiness again as well? Was this world really the only 'out' for her?"

Dr. Maruki, following her line of logic, frowned a little in response. However, Kasumi got the feeling it was less so at the potential perceived attack on his methods, but more...pointed at himself.

"Sumire-san's case...was a little different," he said a little dejectedly. "Perhaps, given enough time and support, it could've been possible. However, it was clear that she still would've needed intense therapy. There were multiple layers to her trauma from that incident - apart from the obvious survivor's guilt, there was also a form of her inferiority complex, as I'm sure you know?"

"Unfortunately," Kasumi hung her head.

"There was also a little more, which I learned from my counseling sessions. ...Err, actually…"

He cut himself off after a short pause, however, before he could finish.

"? What is it?" Kasumi inquired.

"Uhm...well, don't take this the wrong way, okay? It's definitely not your fault or anything," he said after a moment's hesitation. "But - there were a couple of moments from that accident that scarred her deeply. In particular, your horrified expression as you got hit by the truck. She stated that that image of you was haunting her."

"Oh…"

'Just like in the memory I saw in the Palace…' Kasumi recalled.

"So, in conclusion, her case went way beyond normal circumstances, that it would've been hard to say. ...I wish that I could've done more," Maruki said, anguish present in his words. "But in the end, I felt like granting her desires was the best way to alleviate her pain."

"Well, you say that, but is this really the world that Sumire wanted to create…?" Kasumi asked rhetorically.

"Why would it not be?" Maruki questioned. "After all, this world was built off of her own desires."

"But these desires that she had - did fulfilling those make her happy? Content? I can't help but wonder a little...after all, she has a Palace, right?"

At the mention of the word 'Palace', Dr. Maruki's face perked up a little.

"Hmm...true, you have a point," Maruki conceded, his voice a little uncertain. "The fact that she has a Palace perhaps indicates that she still has lingering desires, or at the very least, that they've leaked in from the old timeline where she was still alive. ...Have you experienced anything else that has been out of the ordinary?"

"Out of the ordinary?" Kasumi blinked. "Uhm…"

'Oh...there is that one…'

"Well, I went back a week in time after I died a second time after the accident," she pointed out. "But, that was just you resetting the clock to let me live, right?"

"Eh?" Maruki let out, looking rather confused. "...You traveled back in time a second time after the original time shift? That wasn't me."

"...Huh?"

Now it was Kasumi's turn to look confused.

"Wait, wait - you didn't turn back time around a week after the initial accident? After your explanation yesterday, I was sure that you gave me a second chance, or something like that."

"No, it definitely wasn't me," Maruki reaffirmed. "Like I said before, I don't even have the power to manipulate time freely. And neither do I have the recollection that the world had traveled back a week in the first place."

"...Then, are you saying it was Sumire's power?" Kasumi asked, her eyebrows crumpling a little. "But that isn't possible either...her only desire, and the desire you granted, was to go back to April 4th to change things, right?"

"..."

Dr. Maruki, from his apparent silence, didn't have an answer to that question.

"...There is one possibility."

That is, until he eventually spoke up again after a long pause.

"Sumire-san created this timeline from her desires, right?" he started to explain his theory. "But in effect, by creating a new timeline, it was almost like she created a new world. Thus, her mental state might have affected the creation of it; it manifested itself in ways that reflected the emotions that she felt. ...For example, her Palace was created as a result of her regrets for how the accident unfolded, right? And as for you going back a week, perhaps the desperation that Sumire felt at wanting to make sure that you lived, in the original timeline, ended up causing this world to reverse time.

"So Sumire's mentality is...influencing this world?" Kasumi repeated, slightly in disbelief.

'But that's…'

"Ah, well like I said, it's just a theory!" Maruki quickly added. "I'm not sure how valid it is."

...A theory, he claimed. It may have been just that, but if Kasumi thought about it that way...then things started to make sense. It explained the few doubts in Kasumi's mind that she couldn't answer before.

Kasumi…the cognitive world...and 'Violet'.

"!"

And slowly, the realization of those implications replaced her confusion with a familiar feeling of apprehension and anxiety.

'So that's how it is...Sumire.'

"Anyway, thinking about it too hard won't really get us anywhere," he said calmly, looking up at Kasumi. "Let's...Yoshizawa-san? Hey, Yoshizawa-san?"

But as Kasumi's head sank lower and lower, her eyes glued to the ground, it became clear that she could no longer hear his words, her mind drowned by the dread that was filling her heart.

A/N: Since I originally planned for this to be one chapter, the flow of the story was designed around that; unfortunately, this has the unintended consequence of not really having a good place to split it because a lot of this chapter is a slow buildup and an exploration of Kasumi's mentality. So, apologies for the short-ish chapter and somewhat awkward cut - but please stay tuned for the finale! See you soon.