outside time

“Where are we?”

“At a point at the End of Time. Where there is nothing left.”

“I have no idea what that could mean,” Mr. Harada admitted, a man usually not inclined to voice his doubts out loud.

“Wait, I think I recognize that…” Robert spoke up. “It was in some popular video game. I can’t remember the title right now—too much has happened—but it was a really famous one…”

“Robert, please. This is not the time for that,” Kaguya said with clear disapproval.

“As much as I like you, young man—and it would be hard not to like you,” said a familiar voice from the taxi, “your friend Kaguya is right. This is not the time for such thoughts. Although time—since you’ve probably heard this saying many times already—is something we have in abundance…”

“Could you please explain exactly where we are?” Mr. Harada asked. He was clearly not coping well with the situation, which far exceeded the limits of his imagination.

“And who exactly are you?” Kaguya asked sharply. “Did we even introduce ourselves to you? How do you know our names?”

“What happened to Aya?” Asagi looked as if she were only now beginning to emerge from a deep shock.

“Will I get my taxi back?” Suzuki wanted to know.

“Easy, my friends—everything in its own time. Time again… but let’s proceed in order. In the place you came from directly, they knew me as the Traveler, and they probably said a great many unpleasant things about me.”

“Not that many, really… Just that you had a falling-out over something.”

“Well, that’s very kind of them. But I’ve never liked banditry, and I opposed their methods—what else could I do? And this isn’t our first meeting either, as you’ve probably noticed. I tried to warn you earlier, back in Edo… but it didn’t quite work out. That happens.”

The Traveler stepped out of the taxi. He was a tall man, only slightly shorter than Robert—perhaps because he was a bit hunched. He wore a brown coat reaching down to his knees, and the vest visible beneath it was covered in countless pockets. He had on high leather boots and a wide-brimmed hat. His face was hidden behind a dark red scarf, and his eyes were concealed by round glasses with black lenses. He gave the impression of a very experienced traveler through time and space—someone who had lived through much and seen a lot. Yet there was still energy in his movements and warmth and cheer in his voice. He was not a rude loner, as his appearance might have suggested.

“Mr. Suzuki, I return your taxi to your care. I looked after it as if it were my own!”

“Hooray! Thank you very much!” The taxi driver ran to the vehicle and sat behind the wheel, checking to see if everything was in its place. It was.

They stood there in silence, slightly comforted by the fact that at least one person was happy with the current state of affairs.

“So… you had many questions. How do I know your names? It’s hard not to know the names of people so well known among time travelers!”

“We’re… famous?” Robert asked in surprise.

“Very much so—almost excessively, I’d say. In any case, Kaguya, my dear, don’t worry. Your decision not to hand the power of the kami over to Murata, even in such a dramatic moment, was the right one.”

“Thank you… But how could you possibly know that?”

The Traveler laughed heartily.

“And that brings us to the next question. As I’ve already told you, time can be compared to fabric. It isn’t a line, and it isn’t a circle, as some believe—it is simply… an irregular weave, made up of countless threads. And because it is folded and wrinkled, sometimes you can glimpse what other threads look like, and sometimes even your own. But that doesn’t matter. What matters is that, like real fabric, time also ends somewhere—and this is where we are.”

“Does that mean,” Mr. Harada said, thinking intensely as he tried to understand it all, “that since we are outside the fabric, we can see the entire weave from here?”

“Bravo, sir! Unfortunately, as humans we are incapable of grasping the whole, so we can only comprehend a small fragment. Time travel has always worked well for me, so I regularly visit places where those lost in time most often end up, and I try to help them. No one has ever refused!” The Traveler laughed again.

“All right, but poor Aya…” Asagi reminded them softly.

“That’s a slightly more complicated matter, and explaining it may be rather difficult,” the Traveler said thoughtfully.

“Let’s try anyway…!”

A long silence followed, during which the Traveler pondered deeply.

“I think it would be best to start at the beginning,” he said, turning his gaze to Kaguya. “Which means with you, my young friend. Or perhaps not so young after all!” He tilted his head and laughed again.

“Oh, very funny,” Kaguya huffed.

“What is this all about?” Robert voiced the doubts of everyone present.

“She hasn’t told you about herself yet, has she?”

“My young lady, I recall that when we were telling our stories at the harbor, we were denied the honor of hearing yours.” Commented Mr. Harada.

“To be honest, it seems to me you were deliberately avoiding the answer…” Robert said thoughtfully.

“You don’t trust me now? After everything we’ve been through together?” Kaguya was visibly tense.

“It’s not that we don’t trust you,” Mr. Harada said calmly, “but there are still certain facts we don’t know, and they now appear to be very important for understanding the whole picture. At least that’s what the Traveler believes…”

“So you trust him, but not me?”

“Listen…” Robert rubbed his forehead wearily, losing the cheerful, naïve energy he usually radiated. “I realize this might be unpleasant and uncomfortable for you. But I’m afraid we don’t have another option… unless I try using the power of the kami again, and we both understand that the results would be unpredictable.”

Kaguya lowered her gaze and remained silent for a long while.

“All right… But remember, this is not a story that’s easy to understand.”

“Is it harder than that insane rollercoaster we’ve been on so far?”

“No. Definitely not.” Kaguya smiled crookedly, and the rest of the group nodded in agreement.

“I think I can help you,” the Traveler interjected.

“What do you mean?”

“Instead of telling it, I can simply show you the beginning. We’ll go back into the past and observe from hiding, so as not to cause unnecessary trouble.”

“You can do that?” Kaguya asked, startled. “And can we… change something?”

“I wouldn’t recommend it,” the Traveler replied. “The fabric of time corrects paradoxes on its own, so don’t worry about that. But changing the beginning of a thread usually leads to… regret and sorrow. You’ll feel your entire life that something is missing, without knowing exactly what. Do you want that?”

“No. Absolutely not. I want no regrets,” Kaguya answered firmly.

“Then let’s go!” the Traveler called out enthusiastically to the group. “It will be best if we get into this beautiful vehicle of Mr. Suzuki’s, which will temporarily serve us as a time machine…”

“Just no dents or modifications, please!”

“No problem at all… Let’s get in and see the beginning of this story!”

“And… where exactly are we going?” Robert asked the question hanging in the air.

The Traveler pulled a small box from his pocket, turned a dial, and the entire taxi was enveloped in a yellow glow. They were ready for another journey through time.

- To the distant, distant past. To the Jōmon period.

A moment later, the point at the End of Time was empty once more.