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[It's late in the evening and the feed is giving a low level view across the lake. For a moment or two, it's totally still. Nothing is happening, as though the device were switched on by mistake.

Then, Satoru breaks the surface of the water, thrashing like he's drowning. It's a moment before he gets himself under control enough to drag himself out of the water, and even then, his movements are uncoordinated. He's visibly shaking with cold, as though it weren't a perfectly fine spring evening.]

Th-this is...

[He doesn't finish his statement, in part because his teeth are chattering too hard, and partly because it's obvious that he's back in Wonderland. He stares around himself for a moment before spotting the device, and when he grabs it, it shakes in his hands.]

Is K-k-kayo still h-here? She...she is, right?

[At least he's got it together enough to remember that, if he remembers this place, he probably wasn't gone for long.

He tries several times to get to his feet before he manages it. Then he starts to stumble toward the Mansion. He's probably suffering from hypothermia, he thinks, so getting inside and getting warmed up again is vital.]

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I was in a...a river.

How'd you end up there?

[Satoru was quiet for a moment, as though by not saying anything, it won't be true.]

Someone was trying to drown me.

[Minato blinked at that, but quickly recovered, serving some tea to Satoru.]

They found out about you?

[Satoru held onto the cup, grateful that he wasn't shaking so badly now and wouldn't end up spilling it.]

No, I found out about him.

[He frowned. It was...still pretty disturbing. And hard to wrap his head around.]

It's the man who was trying to kill Kayo.

Who is it?

[Minato didn't think Kayo knew... Did she?]

What will happen when you go back?

[He was quiet again, filling the silence by taking a drink of tea. He felt like if he didn't say it out loud, it wouldn't be reality.]

Yashiro-sensei. Our teacher.

[Another silence, and then he continued, sounding a little stunned as he thought about it.]

I think I'm going to die.

[Adults, why was it always adults that were supposedly authority figures they were supposed to trust?]

I'm sorry. I hope there's some way to turn back the clock and you can fix it.

[Satoru busied himself with his tea, not voicing his own concerns on that front. A revival hadn't happened--he thought it would have by the point where he was, if it was going to happen at all. If it hadn't happened...

Then that just meant that that was how things were supposed to be.

That was a chilling thought.

He finished his tea before speaking again.]

Thank you for your help.

[Minato nodded and looked over at Satoru again.]

For what it's worth, I don't think you will. You know who did it and you have to live to make sure everyone else does too.

[Satoru looked up and smiled a little at that.]

You're right.

[Satoru's story had to have a happy ending for all that he had gone through and everyone else around him.]

Maybe we can find a way to help make it easier for you once you get back home.

[Just something, anything, with the hope that Satoru would remember.]

[Satoru wasn't sure if that would work, even if he could remember. He was literally underwater just before he arrived. But he nodded.]

I think I'd be grateful for any help at this point.

I wonder if you could go back a few minutes before you were being drowned.

[Since Satoru did have that power. No one ever questioned before about returning to the exact moment they all left, but Satoru could be the first exception.]

If a revival never happened...it's how it was meant to be.

You don't know that it won't.

That's true...

[He finishes his tea and then smiles a little. It's a bit forced, but he's trying.]

I can hope for something like that, at least.

You have time to build up the hope for it here.

[In the hope, of course, that it could somehow carry over.]

You know I'll be here to help.

[Satoru nods at him.]

I should go see Kayo for now.

Okay. You take care.

[Minato could clean up here and Satoru didn't have to worry about it.]

Then...I'll see you soon.

[He lets himself out of the room, then runs upstairs to find Kayo.]

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