"Can I help you guys end it?"
The question had left my mouth before I could properly think it through.
My fist remained clenched beneath the table.
Aki stared at me. Koharu looked between us, seemingly unsure whether I was serious.
For a few seconds, neither of them answered.
Then Aki leaned back in his chair.
"Why?"
"Why what?"
"Why do you want to help us?"
I looked at him.
"Because what they're doing is wrong?"
"That isn't a very detailed answer."
"Sorry. I didn't prepare a presentation."
Koharu sighed.
"Please don't encourage him, Aki."
"I'm not encouraging him! I'm trying to figure out whether he's serious!"
"I am serious," I said.
And I meant it.
I didn't know these two very well. I'd met them in a forest, saved them from a group of armed strangers, and somehow ended up discussing supernatural abilities in a library.
Under normal circumstances, I'd probably have tried to stay out of their problems.
But harvesting people's organs because they possessed supernatural abilities?
Yeah. No.
I wasn't going to pretend that was acceptable.
Aki studied my face for a while before speaking again.
"You don't even know how dangerous Accord is."
"Then tell me."
"It's not that simple."
"Nothing ever is."
He looked away.
For a moment, I wondered if I'd pushed too hard. He'd already told me more than enough to understand why he'd been running from them. Asking him to explain everything immediately would be unreasonable.
Still, I wanted to help.
For once, I wanted to do something in a world I hadn't chosen to enter.
And that was when Aki suddenly frowned.
"Wait. There's another problem."
"Only one? I'm improving."
"How are you supposed to stay here if you disappear every time you sleep?"
I stared at him.
Then I reached into my shadow and pulled out an alarm clock.
I placed it on the table.
Tick. Tick. Tick.
Aki stared at the clock.
Koharu stared at the clock.
I stared at both of them.
"...What?" I asked.
Aki slowly pointed at it.
"What's that?"
"An alarm clock."
"I KNOW WHAT AN ALARM CLOCK IS!"
"Then why did you ask?"
"THAT'S NOT THE POINT!"
Koharu covered her mouth, but her shoulders were already shaking.
Aki pointed at me again.
"You have an alarm clock in your inventory?!"
"Yep."
"And you can use it to wake yourself up before you get transported?"
"That's the general idea."
"AND YOU DIDN'T THINK TO MENTION THIS EARLIER?!"
"You didn't ask about my inventory."
Aki leaned back in his chair and stared at the ceiling.
Koharu finally broke into laughter.
"I'm sorry," she said, wiping at her eyes. "I just realized something."
"What?" Aki asked.
"We've been running for our lives, hiding from an organization that harvests people's organs, and somehow you're the one having the worst day."
"I'm surrounded by idiots."
"Two idiots, actually," I corrected. "Don't leave me out of this."
"THAT DOESN'T HELP!"
I returned the alarm clock to my shadow.
"Anyway, I figured out that I can stay in a world for around forty minutes after falling asleep, so I set an alarm. As long as I wake up in time, I can avoid being transported."
Aki rubbed his temples.
"Fine. I'll accept that for now."
"Glad we could resolve this critical issue."
"I'm still not done talking."
"Tragic."
He ignored me.
"But what if your alarm fails?"
"Then I wake up somewhere else."
"And you're okay with that?"
"It's happened six times already. You get used to it."
Aki opened his mouth, paused, then closed it again.
Koharu patted his shoulder.
"Don't worry, Aki. At least your ability isn't the only weird thing here anymore."
"That's supposed to make me feel better?"
"Nope."
"...I hate both of you."
I grinned.
"That's the spirit."
"I'm going to regret meeting you, aren't I?"
"Probably."
For the first time since we'd started talking about Accord, the tension between us eased a little.
Aki was still in danger. Koharu was still in danger. And I was still a stranger who had stumbled into their lives with a sword and a questionable sense of humor.
But at least we could laugh.
That counted for something.
"So," I said, leaning forward, "what do we know about Accord?"
Aki's expression changed.
"They have people all over the city. I don't know where their main facility is, or how many people they're holding, but I've seen their members coming and going from a building on the outskirts."
"When?"
"Three days ago."
"Have you investigated it?"
"No."
"Why not?"
"Because I'm not stupid enough to walk into a building full of armed people who want to cut me open!"
"Fair point."
Koharu gave me a disapproving look.
"Don't tell him to investigate it, either."
"I didn't say we should storm the place."
"You were thinking about it."
"...Maybe a little."
"Shin'ya."
"Fine, fine."
I raised both hands in surrender.
Attacking an unknown facility with no information would be a terrible idea. Even with Ketsugai and my abilities, I didn't know how many enemies we'd be dealing with, what weapons they had, or whether they possessed abilities of their own.
Teleportation wasn't going to make me invincible.
And I wasn't interested in getting myself killed five minutes after deciding to help someone.
"We need information first," I said. "If we can find out what the building is, who's inside, and what Accord is doing there, we can decide what to do next."
Aki nodded slowly.
"That's more reasonable than what I expected you to say."
"I'm capable of being reasonable."
Koharu looked at him.
Aki looked at her.
They both looked back at me.
"...Sometimes," I added.
"That's more like it," Koharu said.
I leaned back in my chair and glanced at the window.
The sunlight had begun to fade. The library's interior lights were gradually becoming more noticeable as evening approached.
I didn't know how long I'd remain in this world.
I had an alarm clock, sure, but that only helped me avoid sleeping too long. It didn't give me control over when I'd eventually leave. I couldn't guarantee that I'd still be here tomorrow, or that I'd return to this particular world if I ever got transported away.
That was the problem.
For weeks, I'd been moving from one world to another without any say in the matter.
I'd met people. I'd seen things. I'd left places behind without knowing whether I'd ever see them again.
And now, for the first time, I wanted to stay.
Not because this world was particularly welcoming.
I'd already been shot at here.
But because there were two people sitting across from me who needed help, and I actually had a chance to do something about it.
Maybe I wouldn't succeed.
Maybe Accord would turn out to be far more dangerous than I could handle.
Maybe I'd wake up tomorrow in an entirely different world, with nothing but another unfamiliar sky above me.
Still...
I looked at Aki and Koharu.
"Then it's settled. We'll gather information first."
Aki nodded.
Koharu agreed, though she still looked concerned.
I had no grand plan. No guarantee of success. Not even a clear idea of what we'd be facing.
But I had a direction.
For now, that was enough.
And perhaps, just perhaps, this time I could choose what to do before the world chose for me.
For once, I wanted to stay.
And I was willing to find out what that choice would cost.