Mirai Tokito

Shoko carried us as we traveled across the night sky, with Itsuko’s robotic firefly leading the way.

Up here, there were no monstrous creatures, only stars.

I sighed contentedly at the dreamy scene before us.

“Another five minutes or so ‘til I run out.”

“Already? Can’t ya try a bit harder? I won’t have any peace until we catch up to them.”

In order to fly, Shoko’s skill required her to convert her bodyweight into fuel.

Since long-distance travel used up her body fat, it was crucial that she ate and replenished her energy stores often.

“Aw c’mon, think of it as a diet. Shizuka may not make any moves, but we gotta watch out for Chika. She might take Ryo’s virginity.”

“Sh-shut up! I’ll drop you if you’re not careful, Itsuko.”

Shoko snapped, not being a fan of dirty jokes.

“Booo. We wanna get there as soon as possible, don’t we, Mirai?”

“Not really.”

To tell the truth, I couldn’t wait to catch up with Section Eight, but I could never say what was actually on my mind.

At first, I had zero interest when Itsuko and Shoko were chatting excitedly about their crush on Ryo.

I nodded and made polite interjections here and there, which somehow led to the conclusion that I also liked Ryo.

Since I couldn’t be bothered to correct them, that meant that I had to listen to them tell me about Ryo every single day.

The more I heard about him, the more I wanted to get to know him myself.

Perhaps that was why, after I became clairvoyant, my first prophecy revealed Ryo’s future.

However, what I predicted was devastating beyond words. I found it unbearable to watch. 

Ryo was swinging a giant sword about as he fought in the middle of the desert.

He was alone, and none of his classmates were with him.

His face had lost most of its baby fat and looked a lot more mature than he did now.

But the way he smiled as he killed his enemies reminded me of a crying child.

His expression said it all: there was no one else besides him.

Ryo was the only survivor, and he was fighting all by himself.

I couldn’t activate my skill at will; images flashed into my mind at random.

What I did know was that my predictions fell into one of two categories.

Either the future could be changed, or the future was set in stone.

I couldn’t really explain the latter in detail. It was more like a feeling that the outcome had already been decided.

We were most likely heading towards a future that was already set in stone.

Could we rewrite some of the events that would occur between now and then, though?

When the dragon invaded the church, Itsuko was supposed to die.

That was when I had my second prophecy. In it, Itsuko had been stomped to death by the dragon when she tried to take a photo of it with her phone.

It was easy enough to prevent that from happening by taking Itsuko’s phone away from her.

However, Ryo’s fate wasn’t something I could change.

He was doomed to carry on fighting in a world where everyone else had died.

I felt as though all things were summed up in that single, absolute prophecy.

After the goblin massacre, I ended up telling Shoko and Itsuko about my prophecies.

It was simply too much for me to bear on my own.

Shoko listened quietly with a pained expression, refusing to let herself cry.

However, Itsuko remained calm and cheerful as usual.

“In that case, let’s do our best to make Ryo extra-happy until then! First up, we should fulfill every guy’s fantasy by surrounding him with gorgeous girls.”

“Y-you idiot!”

Shoko ran after Itsuko, her face flushed red with anger and embarrassment.

“The stupidest stupid if ever there was one!”

As usual, I was unable to say what I was feeling out loud, but I wholeheartedly agreed with Itsuko’s suggestion.