I really don't want to have a girlfriend.

The words fell softly.

Suddenly, the weight on her chest felt empty. Yuu instinctively reached out to hug it, but all she caught was a golden light and a faint, lingering fragrance.

The sound of my own heartbeat vanished abruptly.

He stared blankly at his empty chest, even though he had been prepared and knew that what was leaving was just a ghost existing in a past timeline.

Yet a sense of loss welled up in my lungs, making it difficult to breathe.

The farewell was unexpectedly suffocating.

"Xiao Zou..."

With a sigh, her name slipped out unintentionally from between his lips.

Tenkuji Yu slowly clenched her fist, pursed her lips, and her fragile expression was quickly replaced by calm.

He didn't dwell on his sadness for long; he quickly rubbed his cheeks vigorously to cheer himself up.

"Ugh, how lame... I didn't even say goodbye to her properly."

Muttering to herself with a self-deprecating smile, Tenkuji Yu raised the corners of her mouth and raised her gaze with feigned ease: "She has simply returned to where she belongs. I also need to continue striving towards the future!"

The past will always remain in the past.

That will become a memory, a source of courage to encourage oneself, but it will not slow one down.

Because a future happier than anyone else's is waiting for me to create in the present.

Even if she can't see, as long as it's a promise made in person, Yuu Tenkuji will fulfill it for her.

Therefore, there is no need to be sad about parting.

Countless opportunities to meet her await me in the future.

Just then, out of the corner of my eye, I caught sight of tiny, fluttering wings.

The butterfly finally flew from the window to in front of him. Tenkuji smiled and reached out his hand, letting it land on his fingertip.

"Is it that you're not afraid of people, or is it that my charm is so irresistible that even butterflies can't resist me?"

He indulged in a moment of self-admiration, as was his custom, before he could even examine the butterfly closely or guess its species.

My phone suddenly rang.

Even so, the butterfly remained on my fingertip, undisturbed by the ringing bell.

The doubt flashed by, and Tenkuji Yu didn't pay much attention to such a trivial matter. He glanced at the caller's name, and couldn't help but widen his eyes slightly, letting out a surprised "Huh?"

"Qiong? Why would she call at this time..."

He thought it was Aya, who had been waiting at home for too long, calling to check on things, but it turned out to be his sister who was dealing with some nasty cow monster and couldn't get away for the time being...

Is there some urgent matter that you haven't been notified of?

With this uneasy speculation, her expression turned slightly serious, and Tenkuji Yu quickly pressed the answer button.

"Qiong? What—"

Before he could finish speaking, his words were drowned out by the girl's angry, high-pitched voice.

"Yu! No matter where you are right now, watch out for a paper butterfly, don't go near it!"

"Huh? Hah?"

Sky Temple Yuu's mouth dropped open. Before he could react, his gaze instinctively drifted toward the butterfly on his fingertip.

Whether it was the fading of color or the gradual disappearance of the illusionary magic, the seemingly normal butterfly, as the morning light was obscured by the clouds, revealed its true form in the slightly darkening air.

It's like tearing a piece of paper from a notebook and folding it into the shape of a butterfly with skillful hands, with petal-like shapes, slightly angular wings, and antennae and legs that can only be drawn on it because they can't be folded.

Amidst her sister's gritting voice, Tenkuji Yu blinked incredulously, watching the paper butterfly flap its wings at her again, as if greeting her.

"That damned Kasumigaoka Utaha, how on earth did she manage to contact those guys outside...?"

“Kasumigaoka Utaha?” Upon hearing a familiar name, Tenkuji Yu’s attention shifted from the butterfly. “You mean the one who’s appeared in your videos so many times…”

"That's right, it's that guy who fell in love with you in many different timelines, but never succeeded, and was even killed by his rival once!"

As she introduced herself with a resentful tone, Kasugano Sora suddenly paused, then raised her voice as if in a daze, almost bursting into a tirade.

"Damn it! I was wondering how this girl managed to get into the trial world. Turns out she's the loser who got pitied by Kanade and given the power of the Light Orb as a consolation prize?!"

"I never expected to be betrayed by my own teammate... Damn it, is Xiao Zui with you? Let her answer the phone!"

Yuu Tenkuji: "..."

Upon hearing this, he, who was about to complain, simply sighed softly: "She's gone, back to the past, to her own world."

"..."

Kasugano Sora, who was initially furious, also quieted down.

"Really? That guy..." she muttered after a long pause, "Finally willing to rest properly? But he left without even saying goodbye. I'll settle this score sooner or later..."

Although she asked the question with a complaining tone, one could hear a sense of relief in her voice, along with a hint of loneliness that was hard to hide.

She seemed unwilling to appear too downcast in front of him, so she deliberately said in a lighthearted tone, "Needless to say, that guy left with a smile, right?"

"Perhaps." Even though he didn't see Tachibana Kanade's expression before she left, Yuu Tenkuji couldn't help but smile as he recalled her last words.

"She said she wanted to eat the Mapo Tofu I made for her... She mentioned her favorite food at the end, so how could she still have a sad expression?"

"That's good." Unable to be openly happy, Kasugano Sora simply hummed softly, then suddenly fell silent for a long while.

When Tenkuji Yu couldn't get her to speak, he asked worriedly, "What's wrong?"

“I said, Yu…” Kasugano Sora asked in a heavy tone, “We were just talking about something very urgent, right? Why did we suddenly switch to talking about Kanade…”

“This?” Yuu Tenkuji flicked his fingers, only to find that he couldn’t shake off the magical paper creature. “Because it was too late. It had already stopped on my fingertip when you called, and now it’s sticking to me.”

But strangely enough, Kasugano Sora was so anxious that it seemed like a ninja who could use paper magic was about to blow him up with a butterfly made of an explosive tag.

He didn't sense any danger from the butterfly; instead, he found it strangely pleasing to the eye, and an inexplicable sense of familiarity welled up inside him.

Otherwise, Yuu Tenkuji would have crushed the butterfly and thrown it out the window long ago to ensure her safety as quickly as possible.

"..."

There was a deathly silence on the other end of the phone.

Seeing that she couldn't shake off the butterfly, Yuu Tenkuji simply turned on her phone on speakerphone and put it aside. She picked up the paper wings with her fingers and frowned as she examined the creases on them.

"Can you tell me what happened? What kind of dangerous thing is this butterfly? And what is its connection to Kasumigaoka Utaha?"

Instead of explaining, she let out a hoarse sigh as if she had a headache.

"Just like you said, it's too late..."

"what happened?"

Yuu Tenkuji stood there, stunned. Just as she was about to turn her head to look at her phone, she noticed that the butterfly in her hand had started to move.

But it wasn't a movement trying to break free from its fingertips; rather, it was a transformation—it slowly spread its wings and body, changing from a paper butterfly back into a blank A4 sheet of paper.

On the white paper, a row of names, resembling a menu, was written in neat but messy handwriting.

【Yunoshita Haruno】

【Yuki Asuna】

【Natsukawa Masaki】

【Yukikinoshita Yukino】

【Kasumigaoka Utaha】

"what is this?"

Suddenly, Yuu Tenkuji thought of Father Pucci. Could this be the secret to ascending to heaven?

There was another line of text below, but he wasn't foolish enough to mutter it aloud; he just glanced at it with some confusion.

The keys have been collected; let them serve as the door, and together we will create a miracle that changes our destiny!

The doubt had just surfaced in my mind.

A blinding light emanated from above, completely dazzling the unsuspecting Tenkuji Yu, causing him to instinctively take two steps back and shout out in a panic:

"Wait, what's this... Sora, help me explain this to Iroha—"

The sound didn't last long.

The music classroom gradually returned to silence. The piano was empty, with only the still-warm piano bench and the cell phone still on it, which proved that someone had once been there.

After a long while, a helpless sigh finally came from the phone.

"Fine, do whatever you want... If you mess it up, it's your own problem."

"At worst, we can just start rewinding time again."

The call was disconnected.

The morning light shimmered in the room, and the phone screen went dark. Even when the "Isshiki Hachiman" message lit up again, from that moment on, no one could answer it.

……

Not long ago, reality...

Five girls huddled around the notebook on the table, each with their own subtle gazes as they looked at the scribbled handwriting that kept appearing on it.

Do you know what kind of life I'm living here?

"I'm deprived of sunlight and internet access. Besides writing and playing games, I can't do anything else... Most importantly, I don't need to eat, I don't need to use the toilet, and I don't even get my period!"

"Sounds great, right? But once you experience it for yourself, you'll know that feeling of no longer being human is really awful... I would have broken down long ago if I didn't have a strong mentality."

"That guy wouldn't let me see the date, so I used the number of times I slept to calculate the time. I've slept thirty times since I came in, and I finally saw the message you sent me."

"Seriously, I still get so angry thinking about it now. If I could beat her, I would have definitely given her a piece of my mind..."

"Phew, complaining to someone really makes me feel better."

"Alright, let's get down to business."

"...Are they still there? Did they all disappear?"