I began to consider what I should do next.
The end-of-term assembly was over, and I obtained the term's report card from Okabe-sensei. Thus, my high school life for this year came to an end.
Today was December 24th.
The vanished Class 1-9 and its students had all been resurrected, including Itsuko, who didn't appear much in this story. Asakura had disappeared from Class 1-5 over half a year ago, Taniguchi continued playing the role of the lovestruck maiden, the seat behind me had once again been filled by Haruki, and there was no longer any flu epidemic in class. When I saw Nagato in the assembly hall, he wasn't wearing glasses. After the assembly, I bumped into the brotherly duo of Asahina-senpai and Tsuruya-senpai, who waved and greeted me in unison. Oh yeah, I confirmed this while on my way to school this morning: Kouyouen Academy was once again a private boys' school for the rich and famous.
The world had been restored to its original state.
Yet, the choice to keep it this way all came down to me. I still had to go back with Nagato and Asahina-senpai - back to the morning of December 18th. Only by doing this could the restoration of the world be made possible The thing is... I still hadn't decided when I should go back. I had yet to explain all this to Asahina-senpai... maybe he'd end up hearing it from his future self? I've seen him a few times over the past few days, but I didn't bring it up once.
“Damn it!” After groaning in such a meaningless way, I started up the corridor leading to the club complex.
Just like a racecar, I'm going to have to return to the starting point. It doesn't matter whether I'm lagging behind two or three laps; the road and the scenery of the first and final lap were the same, yet they were completely different. All I need to do is to be careful not to get myself eliminated, and safely reach the finish line with the waving of the checkered flag.
...You know what? Forget it.
It's no use trying to justify my actions. It was me who made the decision to return to this side in the first place. Different from Haruki's thoughtless rampages, this decision was made of my own free will. I have chosen to be spun around endlessly.
In that case, someone needed to take the responsibility to see things through to the end. Not Nagato, not Haruki, but myself.
“Serves me right...” I began to lapse into self-pity, and made a pose I thought was cool. It didn't matter if anyone saw me do it, as I doubt anyone would look anyway... and just as I was thinking that, I exchanged glances with an anonymous male student who was walking by. He quickly averted his eyes and walked off in the other direction. I softly called after him a greeting that he probably didn't even hear: “Merry Christmas.”
If this were the last episode of a soap opera, shiny white snow crystals would begin falling, and the protagonist would catch one in her palm and exclaim, “ah”, or something like that. Looks like there's no hope of a White Christmas this year. Today's weather sure is surprising, as it's actually a beautiful day.
As a result of my actions, I became one of the main characters. I think that a bystander would have already disappeared into the far corners of the galaxy by now, and become a relic of the past.
“So, now what?” It was only now that I realized that I really didn't know what to do. There's no doubt about it, I belong here. I realized that since the day Haruki dragged me into the Literature Clubroom and declared his indefinite occupation of the place, I had become one of the group after all.
Like the other members of the SOS Brigade, I would stand on the side of actively protecting this world. No one made me do this. I raised my hand of my own free will, and in that case, there's only one thing I need to do.
It's easier to get up after falling on something than it is when falling on the ground, though both involve falling. Er, let me rephrase that. I'll have to go back and pick up my other self who had fallen down. It's for my own good.
I walked up the stairs while thinking about today's activities. Haruki dragged Asahina-senpai off to buy ingredients. I knew he'd have made me carry everything, like the jerk he is, so I'm glad I was hospitalized. That said, I don't think it had anything to do with him being merciful. On the contrary, he's probably trying to keep the menu secret until the last minute, when he's surprise everyone. Well, that's what I thought anyway. Oh no, maybe he'll try and use his experience from the remote island incident to host a “Hotpot in the Dark Christmas Party”.
I wondered what the ingredients were going to end up being. Haruki being the chef, he'll probably prefer something 'stimulating'... who knows, he may have come up with an experimental hotpot, never before seen in the history of human cuisine. Still, no matter what's being boiled in that pot, it should end up edible. Even Haruki wouldn't be dumb enough to cook something he couldn't digest, although it'd be another matter if he had the stomach of a monster... Haruki's stomach is made of the same stuff as a normal human's right? The only thing not human about him is his brain.
However, before we start our hotpot party, I apparently have to dress up in some kind of skimpy Santa outfit and provide everyone with some kind of entertaining performance... why do I get the feeling he's going to have me sing?
“Good grief,” the expression of intense depression that I had sworn off just last month had once again come out of my mouth. Hey now, don't complain. It might sound just the same, but the meaning is different depending on how you interpret it.
I gave myself such an excuse for reusing the phrase, while jotting down a must-do predetermined even in the diary of my head.
A predetermined event I had to perform if I wanted to continue living in this world.

I have to find a time in the near future to go back and restore the world.

As I approached the clubroom, the smell of cooking food entered my nose. That's enough to make me full already! Wait, where is this sense of satisfaction come from? I'm supposed to go back to pick up the pieces sometime later, yet I'm already feeling so satisfied before I even make my move. Aren't I bit too easy to satisfy!?

Ah well, it's not too bad. Before then...

There's still time. The one in charge of the operation would be the me in the future, though it was neither the me from the distant future, nor the me a minute from now.
I grabbed the doorknob of the Literature Clubroom and asked the world a question:
'Hey, mind if you wait for a while? Before I go back to have you restored, can you just wait a little longer?
At least...
At least until after I've tried out Haruki's hotpot. It shouldn't be too late to go after that, right?