Part 16

Tama: You're here too, Ibuki-san.

Tama: Once we found the corpse in the water, Yano-san changed into her swimsuit and went down to get her out.

Tama: Initially there was some kind of white foam on Makoto's face, I'm not sure why. Yano-san helped wipe it off for her.

Ran: Tama, you don't need to tell me about all that yet, I'm asking you, are you okay?

Tama: Me? I'm fine.

Ran: I'd expected you to have started bawling or something, honestly.

Tama smiled in embarrassment, and nodded.

Tama: That's probably what would have happened before, but something like that won't happen now. After talking it out with Asakura-san, the changes which have occurred within each of us is greater than even I could have predicted.

Tama: And, the most important thing is, that after I saw Asakura-san's corpse, I felt that I'd been enlightened.

Tama: I wanted to write a letter that conveys my thoughts and feelings to Asakura-san, but I couldn't come up with a conclusion that would satisfy myself.

Tama: Now, I've found it.

Ran: What??

Tama: The conclusion I needed to find was one about the concept of reliance, the source of meaning in life, as well as the reason why the young mistress taught me my letters in the first place.

Tama stared directly in front of her as she spoke, as though she was reading what she'd written down in the draft of her letter, word for word.

After Tama finished speaking, Ran suddenly lost her balance, falling to her left side. She instinctively reached for and grabbed Tama's shoulder, as the massive headache brought her to a one-legged kneel.

Ran: (I remember now... Yanagiwara Shirohana and Indou Tama...)

Ann: Ran?

A new Recall Point has been recorded.

About Indou Tama's Memories

My head hurts and I need to rest

In 1923, at the end of August, the great Yanagiwara family suffered a massive earthquake, on the way to Gunma prefecture.

The solid railroad was flung up like a pliant rope by the bulging ground, and the train that the Yanagiwara clan was riding in was flung down the cliffs, and crushed by the other train cars into scrap metal.

Tama Indou, who'd accompanied them on this trip, had wanted to simply wait then and there for death to descend.

But, she discovered that the eldest daughter of the Yanagiwara family, Shirohana Yanagiwara, was trapped in the deepest recesses of the twisted railcar.

Tama, who'd served the Yanagiwara clan with her parents since she was young, had never spoken with this young mistress, before. But when she saw Shirohana's slack-jawed tearful visage, it enkindled in her the determination to survive.

She struggled to her feet, pushed a corpse off of her legs, ripped apart the remains that obstructed her path, and, using some other deceased victim's arm, protected herself from- and crowbared open- the razor-sharp shrapnel that the steel doors had been twisted into.

Tama Indou saved Yanagiwara Shirohana from the wreckage of the train, and supported her all the way until they reached an inhabited settlement.

After that, Tama pawned the jewelry that her mother had given to her, and rented a house in the village with the money she'd saved up from working for many years.

After that, to maintain their lifestyle, she worked odd jobs wherever there was a need for an extra pair of hands in the village. With her first paycheck, she bought pen and paper, to let Shirohana write a letter to her family's main residence in Yokohama.

But, whether it was because the main residence had been turned to ruins by the earthquake as well, or because, after a disaster such as this, there was just no way the couriers could have helped them deliver such a missive, the letter disappeared tracelessly.

Shirohana Yanagiwara spent her days in sorrow after that, but, in stark contrast, Tama Indou, who only knew how to live as a servant, found herself full of energy and vitality.

Unable to find a connection to the world due to the massive transformation to her living situation, Shirohana resorted to reckless acts of self-endangerment as a way to try to find stimulation for herself. She even attempted to kill herself, multiple times- though all of those attempts were caught and stopped by Tama.

After many years, Shirohana had finally come to terms with the truth of her situation, and abandoned her hopes of returning to her previous life. She began considering how she could repay Tama's generosity.

Shirohana knew that, if she were to vanish, Tama would very likely find herself directionless and adrift, so she decided she would try to expand Tama's world.

Thus, she decided she would teach Tama Indou to read. She believed that literacy would cause Tama to gain the faculties of independent critical thought. Only by learning to think could someone begin to possess self-actualization, and begin to live for their own sake.

After the frail Shirohana perished of illness, Tama was left all by herself. She strongly felt that the meaning to her existence had been to take care of Shirohana, that in doing so she could experience and revel in the pleasure of existence.

And because of this, she understood the meaning behind the young mistress's choice to teach her to read and write. Tama Indou began to write a manuscript that detailed her philosophy, and the difficult life she'd led for the past few decades.

In her late years, Tama Indou passed her last moments of life in Yokohama. Her manuscript was ultimately collated by others into a novel, which was formally published under the name of Shirohana Yanagiwara.

Ran Ibuki closed the book, whose name was Memories of the Kanto Earthquake. She found herself quite attracted to the thoughts within the book.

So treasuring another person was something that could eventually become serious and heavy philosophy. That granted more meaning, then, to her own obsession with Ann Sakura.

I updated the character -Tama Indou-

Ran Ibuki updated the character -Tama Indou-

-Tama Indou-

Taisho Era

Inv 4, Dex 5, Cha 7

Once experienced the Great Kanto Earthquake.

Her excessive concern for Makoto Asakura stems from her projecting her concern for her young mistress onto her.

Responsible for teaching math classes at the school.

After the Great Kanto Earthquake, Tama Indou experienced much adversity in her days with Shirohana Yanagiwara afterwards. This gave her the foundation to write the Memories of the Kanto Earthquake. The book's thoughts on the meaning of life and self-sacrifice caused many people to self-reflect, and recorded peoples' struggles to survive after the earthquake with convincing and memorable detail.

Dresses wounds at the same rate that Sai chops vegetables

Always reading all those difficult books, really worried Tama's going to wind up writing something someday

If I could be said to once have been trapped in a world of impenetrable and untraverseable darkness, then where miss Sakura would be the pathway that appeared beneath my feet, Tama's book would be the bright lantern that dispelled the darkness, and allowed me to see the road under my feet that miss Sakura had laid out for me, to allow my life to proceed onwards.

But, I really want to know, just what kind of emotions Tama held for that young mistress of hers, even if I'm worried that I'll find an answer that terrifies me...

Ran: Tama, your letter...

Tama: Yes, Ibuki-san?

Ran: (So the reason why Tama's so clingy with Asakura is because she's projecting her young mistress onto Asakura.)

Ran: (But that doesn't address the fact that Makoto is fundamentally different from Shirohana Yanagiwara at the core.)

Ran: (And why does my head still hurt, much more than it did any of the previous times...)

Ran: (Even though the memories have already been regained, it still hurts so much... something's wrong.)

Ran: (Are Tama's memories somehow different in nature from that of Koizumi-sensei and Makoto Asakura's?)

Ran: But, the corpse...

Ann: Let Miho and the rest handle it. You look terrible right now.

Ann: Does it still hurt? I can wait with you until you fall asleep, if you want.

Ran: Miss Sakura, even if your personality's so different from how it used to be, you're still so good to me.

Ann: Oh? Then between the current me and the past me, which one do you like more?

Ran: I like them both.

Ann had clearly predicted that Ran would say that, and continued.

Ann: My personality has changed, and my memories are completely different. Other than looking the same as the Ann you liked, she and I share no similarities.

Ann: Or are you saying that you only loved Ann for her appearance?

Ran: Of course I loved your appearance, miss Sakura, but not just that...

Ran's voice tapered down into a tiny whisper.

Ran: I liked being together with you and doing all kinds of things together with you, and I liked the feeling of being taken care of by you, miss Sakura...

Ann's strokes of Ran's hair slowed down a bit, and she took a long time to respond.

Ran: ...Miss Sakura?

Ann: It's nothing. Sleep tight.

Ann swept her hand down Ran's face, closing Ran's eyes.

Ann: Good night.

The sound of rumbling stars approached the room once more, so I immediately took control of Ran's body and sat her upright.

Ran?: I warned you several times not to disturb Ran Ibuki again.

Ran?: The fact that I don't know how exactly you and this school are connected is the only reason that I haven't-

[my life is like unto a candle's last vestiges flickering in the wind
Ran Ibuki can find a path to survival for me]

Hearing this, I tilted my head, and peered at the countless stellar bodies behind it. Their revolutions accelerated and decelerated at uneven intervals. It seemed to imply some kind of disorder.

Ran?: You're about to die?

It didn't answer me. From what I could tell, its external appearance and the sounds of its stellar revolutions hadn't changed at all. Perhaps it had long ago entered a state where it was merely waiting to die.

Was that why the school seemed so dilapidated? Was that related to its impending demise?

[if Ran Ibuki remains in this place
my existence will be prolonged]

Ran?: I don't care if you live or die, and Ran Ibuki would surely say the exact same. Don't try to use a reason like that to make Ran stay here.

But, Ann Sakura was here. If Ran Ibuki was unable to depart with her, how would she choose?

[and if Ran Ibuki chooses to reside here in perpetuity
how would you respond]

It was as though it had guessed what I was thinking, and presented me with a question I was already contemplating.

I placed her hand on her chest, and felt her steady heartbeat.

Ran?: I belong to her.

It began shifting its massive body, as though it were preparing to depart. This was its shortest visit to Ran's room yet.

Had it already achieved its goals?

Ran?: I cannot detect any signs that your life is endangered from you. Why do you say that you are nearing your demise?

[If Ran Ibuki departs this place
The answer to the query will be self-evident]
If Ran Ibuki remains in this place]
The query itself will lose all meaning]

Ran?: If you don't want to give me a straight answer, then just say that. What's the point of standing here just to say all this mysterious nonsense to me.

Ran Ibuki... just what choice will you make?

No matter what, I'll always protect you.

Ran?: Good night, Ran Ibuki.

Ran: (How come my head hurts so much...)

Miho: Good morning, Ibuki-san!

Miss Sakura's changing bit by bit as well. But is it in a direction that I'm hoping for?

Even if Aya chooses to compromise, I still think that, compared to the future, it's more important to focus on the present

Two deaths have already appeared. Just what is the culprit trying to do this time 🚷 🚷

Ran: How was Asakura's body?

Miho: We didn't find anything special. No additional injuries externally visible. The cause of death was most likely drowning.

Ran: You didn't cut the corpse open to check?

Miho: No. Even if we did, we wouldn't know what to check in the first place. Do you have any ideas?

Ran: (Probably a better idea to put the focus on the first case, with Asakura there's really not much-)

Miho Takei suddenly pressed her face in closely to Ran's, and closed her eyes. Ran quickly retreated and shrank her neck in response.

Ran: The hell!

Miho: You're sweating this much on a day as cold as this?

Hearing that, Ran immediately lifted her arms and gave her whole body a thorough sniffing. The last thing she wanted to do was drive Ann away.

Ran: ...Clearly I don't actually smell at all. Don't scare me like that, Miho.

Ran didn't make a habit of showering in the morning, but she had plenty of intimate memories of having done so before.

Because, if she showered in the morning, it was definitely because she'd done something very exhausting that night with Ann Sakura, leaving the two of them so expended they didn't even have the energy to go shower, forcing them to wait until the next day to wash away the tiredness from their bodies.

Ran: (Feels like, now that I've started to integrate into this school life, that it's been a long time since I've wondered just what the fundamental nature of this school is.)

Ran: (This is probably also related to how I've been regaining my memories. Interacting with Koizumi-sensei, and with Makoto and Tama, is completely different from how it used to be.)

Ran: (There's still a few people that I haven't reclaimed the memories for. I wonder what their relationships with me might have been...)

Ran coiled her fingers under the water, opened her mouth, and let out a long shout.

Ran: (Hope they're not like Koizumi-sensei, where I've done something that I can't make amends for, with them. I really couldn't take it if that were the case.)

Ran: (On the note of integrating into them- another part of it is that, consciously or not, I've started to get invested into this deduction game that they play, haven't I?)

Ran: (Even though miss Sakura influenced me to enjoy logic games like these, at the start I was still trying to figure out how to make them stop killing each other.)

Ran: (But then once Tama's corpse appeared, all thought of trying to stop them seems to have evaporated. Whole brain was completely occupied with just figuring out how Tama was killed.)

Ran plunged her face into the bathwater and spoke in burbles.

Ran: But it's really quite interesting...

Ran: (The Recalls are behaving more flexibly than usual. After all, it's usually not such an effective tool, most of the time.)

Ran: (No matter what the case is, memories have to be an important part of this- whether it's miss Sakura's memories, or the others' memories. Let's solve the case first, and then try to get all of the remaining memories back.)

Tama: Ibuki-san?

Ran: Tama? What is it?

Tama: Ah, sorry for interrupting, could we shower together?

Ran: (Why's Tama coming in to shower now?)

Ran: Sure, no problem.

Ran had originally thought that Tama would need some time to change out of her clothes before entering, and that she could use this time to prepare herself mentally, but she hadn't expected that Tama would just immediately pull the door open and barge right in, already fully undressed.

Ran: (Now why does that remind me of Asakura. Asking if she can come in while already having fully prepared on the assumption that I'd say yes.)

Ran: So, Tama, do you come in for morning showers often?

Tama: It's convenient, since Asakura-san isn't present for the moment, so me pulling an all-nighter wouldn't impact anone else.

Tama: How about you, Ibuki-san?

Ran: Ah? Oh, uh... pretty much the same for me. I had a headache so I turned in early.

Ran: (Indou's novel had a huge impact on me, the way she saw Shirohana Yanagiwara as the meaning to her life, and was able to use that to provide deep philosophical insights.)

Ran: (Miss Sakura's equally important to me, but if I lost miss Sakura, I doubt I'd be able to leverage that into enlightenment and insight, the way that Tama was apparently able to, to speak nothing of pouring the rest of my life into writing a work that expressed it.)

Ran: (I'd... probably take more drastic measures.)

Ran: (But miss Sakura is still here, so what Indou wrote down, about how a truly worthwhile life could be anchored in another person that you treasured, was a strong source of support for me.)

Ran: (Like if I were walking, alone, on a remote trail whose destination I didn't know, and then someone appeared and took my hand, and led me forwards, and told me that it was correct for me to head in this direction.)

Ran: (It is surely correct to anchor the meaning of one's life onto someone else.)

Tama: Would you like me to scrub your back for you? Ibuki-san?

This was a clearly unrejectable suggestion. But Ran Ibuki still waved it off.

Ran: Forget it. I've already finished washing up.

Ran: So, your letter's done?

Tama: Mm-hm. Once Asakura-san returns, I'll show it to her.

Tama: Let's work hard together after this, Ibuki-san, so that we can bring Asakura-san back sooner!

Ran Ibuki nodded, rose, and stepped out of the bathtub. Tama's eyes bulged as she stared. Ran was pretty sure she knew where she was looking.

Ran: Leave it to me.

Quietly, Ran said, under her breath,

Ran: Consider it repayment for everything you've done for me.

Ann: Good morning, Ran. How is your head feeling?

Ran: It's all better, thanks to you, miss Sakura!

Ann: ...But I didn't do anything.

Ran: It was miss Sakura who brought me back to the dorms, after all.

Sai: Yeah, about that- how come you took a fall again? It was downright weird that you weren't around to do your overly-serious pseudo-intellectual corpse-analysis thing after we trawled the corpse out of the pool.

While Sai was making fun of Ran, she set down a bowl of dumpling soup in front of Ran.

Ran: Ooh, the school even has something like this? I used to love this when I was a kid.

Sai: Yeah? There's still a bunch. If you ever want more let me know, I'll get you another bowl.

Ran: It's alright, one bowl's plenty.

Ran picked up the vinegar bottle on the table and added some to the soup, but her hand suddenly spasmed, causing her to dump way too much vinegar into her bowl. The sour smell of acidic vinegar spread.

Wrinkling her brow, she shook her hand, trying to dispel the smell, but the smell suddenly gave her a flash of inspiration.

Ran: (Wwwwwait. Asakura's corpse was...)

Ran: Miho, let's go to the morgue in a moment. I want to check Asakura's corpse again.

Miho: No problem, I can go anytime.

Ran: Miss Sakura, would you like to come as well?

Ann: Sure. Say, are you sure you're still going to finish that soup?

Ran lowered her head, seeing the spreading vinegar slowly tinge her bowl of dumpling soup a dark shade.

Ran: It's fine. I love eating vinegar.

The kitchen, which had descended into total silence, had just by consensus given Ran's spontaneous joke a score of zero points.

Miho: So, cut here, right?

Ran: Right. Both the trachea and the esophagus.

Miho: Can't quite get a good view at this angle, give me a sec.

Miho used the back of her hand to push against the muscles around the trachea. She held the trachea with her fingers, while she used her other hand to slowly cut the tube open with a scalpel.

Next to her, Ran poked her head out this way and that. She didn't want to miss a single detail of Miho's autopsy.

Ann: Ran, do you enjoy watching people cut up corpses?

Ran: Ah? Of course not, miss Sakura.

Ran: I just think it's a good idea to observe in depth when an opportunity presents itself. I've encountered corpses before this, but the more knowledge one has on this topic, the better, right?

Ann nodded, seemingly accepting Ran's statement.

Miho, weirdly ecstatic like girl that is not a face you should be making but whatever: Ibuki-san, look, the incision is complete!

Miho let out a breath, and almost let herself wipe off the sweat on her brow with her hand.

Ran: Thanks for the hard work.

Ran took a pipette and sucked up some of the lingering fluid in the windpipe, and transferred it to a pH test paper.

Ann: Ran, why are you testing the pH value?

Ran: Because yesterday, when I went to disinfect the pool with Sai, we adjusted the pH of the pool. By testing the pH of the water that flowed into Asakura's windpipe as she drowned, we can figure out just when exactly she drowned.

Ann: I see. But there must be plenty of blood mixed up in it as well by now. Is testing still possible?

Ran: I think so. The pH value of blood is pretty close to the pool's value, post-adjustment. Whereas before adjustment, the pool's pH was 9. The difference is pretty big.

Ann: Wow, it really did change color. And here I was wondering if the redness of the blood might interfere with the color-changing properties of the test paper.

Ran: Well, we mostly pipetted up some water just now. And if you really have to test the pH of blood, you can, it's just that in that case you'd want to use a glass rod to pick up a very small amount of it.

Miho: Alright, the esophagus incision's done too, Ibuki-san.

Ran repeated the same procedure. The pH of the fluid from the esophagus was the same as the sample she'd taken from the trachea.

Ran: There's still a lot of questions with Makoto's case, though.

Ran: Firstly, why kill her? Did Makoto discover a key clue? Or was Koizumi's death the distraction, and Makoto was the actual goal all along? What do you think, miss Sakura?

Ann looked at the two pH test papers before opening her mouth.

Ann: Did the culprit know that disinfecting the pool would change its pH value? And it's not obvious why they bothered moving the corpse out of the water, and then toss the corpse right back into the water afterwards.

Ran: Hm... Yeah.

Ran: (Are we overthinking this?)

Ran: Miho, any thoughts?

Miho was standing blankly next to the sink washing her hands. The sound of flowing water had been going on for quite some time.

Ran: MIHO!

Miho: Ibuki-san?

Miho gave a small start as she came back to her senses, and shut the water faucet.

Miho: Anything the matter? Do I need to make another incision?

Ran: No. What's up with you, spacing out like that?

Miho wiped her hands dry and took her place besides the two again.

Ran: Oh, I know. Thinking about the situation with Aya?

Miho: N-

Miho's retort had yet to leave her lips before she closed her mouth and nodded.

Miho: But there's no point to thinking about it. This problem can't be solved.

Ran: (Looooks like I'm going to have to delay the case. Again.)

Ran: That's because neither of you two have actually tried to solve the problem, have you. While miss Sakura and I are both here, you ought to take the opportunity to have a proper chat with us about it.

Miho nodded, and covered up Makoto's exposed chest cavity with a cloth, before continuing.

Miho: Telling you two about it is probably the most effective thing I can do, since the problem that Aya and I are having probably exists between you two as well.

Ran: Bullshit. I would never get in a fight with miss Sakura.

Miho, irritated: Wow, you sure are special, huh.

Ann: Even if I don't have my memories of previous interactions with Ran, I'll still try my best to help.

Miho: Ibuki-san, in your relationship with Ann before, were you the one who confessed to her?

Ran: Ah? Wait, hold on a second. The reason you were arguing with Aya was something to do with romance?

Miho: Well, yeah, that's why I said it was the kind of issue that outsiders would consider negligible. That's how most relationship issues are.

Miho: The people involved think it's the biggest issue ever, while observers think that the whole thing is ridiculous and pointless.

Ran: (Would other people think that my feelings for miss Sakura were strange?)

Ran: (Well, if I weren't so fervent, I couldn't possibly have expressed the love I held for miss Sakura.)

Ran: Sure, then. I was the one who confessed, at the time.

Miho: And you decided the opportunity to confess had arrived, because you felt like the relationship between you two had developed to an acceptable point, right?

Ran: I wouldn't really call it an 'opportunity'. A confession is a way of making a promise to both sides of a relationship, once both sides' emotions have accumulated to an appropriate level.

Ran: Directly confessing to someone that you think you like is nothing more than just gambling on your luck, right?

Ran: At the time, someone had said something to me that inspired the courage in me I needed to confess to miss Sakura.

Ran: (Just who said that thing to me, and what did they say? I've forgotten even something that significant to me?)

Miho: So, someone else encouraged you to confess to Ann?

Ran: Sure, I guess. But at the time I already deeply loved miss Sakura. It was just that I was too afraid to imagine what it'd be like to be in a relationship with miss Sakura, so I kept delaying it.

Ann: Uh, was I really scary, before?

Ran: Of course not. It was just that I felt like I couldn't live up to you, miss Sakura.

Ann Sakura looked like she was trying to imagine what kind of herself she must have been, before. She shook her head, and turned to Miho.

Ann: And then? What was the cause of your argument with Aya, Miho?

Miho: When we graduated from middle school, Aya confessed to me, saying she wanted to be in a relationship with me. And I turned her down.

Ran, right then, felt like the only way her shock could be adequately expressed, was if her eyes popped right out of their sockets.

Ran: THE FUCK?! YOU'RE NOT ACTUALLY DATING RIGHT NOW?!

Miho: Of course not.

Ran: I- wh- y- I literally saw you two making out that time in the kitchen! Tama was there too! We both saw it!

Miho's face went pale white.

Miho: Y-you and Tama both saw it?

Ran: Well, we didn't actually see it, but it was not hard to guess from your reactions.

Miho: ...Aaaand I get mad everytime this topic gets brought up. The more Aya acts like this, the worse we fight.

Miho said, bitingly, as she clenched her hands into fists.

Ran: Well, even without me saying why, you should probably understand just why I'm so surprised. So why are you refusing her?

Miho: I do have a good relationship with her. I've known her since elementary, and our relationship is very close. We've held hands, and even kissed.

Miho: Aya seems to think that being like this is basically already the same thing as dating, but I don't agree.

Ran: Okay, the more you talk, the more you're losing me. If this doesn't count as dating what does. What, is it normal to you to make out with any random person off the street?

Miho: Of course not. I do those things with Aya because I like her. But just like you said, before both sides confess to each other and make promises to each other, it doesn't count as proper dating.

Miho: And I don't think the time is right, so we can't be together.

Ran was getting real tired of this question-answer format. She hung onto Ann's arm, and played idly with one of Ann's fingers as though she were trying to while away some time.

Ran: So what does 'don't think the time is right' mean, Miho.

Miho: Aya, she's joined a rock and roll band- I think it's rock and roll, I'm not sure. I don't know a lot about the other members, but she looks like she's serious about it, and that she really wants to continue on down this path.

Miho showed a rare, vulnerable smile. It reminded Ran of herself. She had a special set of expressions like that too, reserved exclusively for discussing Ann, which would never appear in any other circumstance.

Miho: I want to support her dream, and give everything I can to help her, because the road Aya wants to take is a very hard one, and so I have to be behind her, pushing her on, all the way.

Miho: I know for a fact that the remainder of the journey of my life, I will surely take alongside her. And we're both women, and I have to support her musical journey, which means that I have to become capable of supporting a happy lifestyle for both of us.

Ann nodded silently. It seemed she agreed with Miho's thoughts.

Miho: Oh, but, it's not a burden to me. Or, rather, should I say, that I can be with the person I love, in exchange for merely shouldering such a tiny burden as this, is enough to make me quite happy already.

Ran: (Miho's definitely going to grow up to become someone incredible. With her competence, surely she and Aya will be able to live a wonderful life together.)

Ran: But, uh, I still don't get why you have to reject her right now??

Ann: I kind of understand, Ran. If I were in the same situation as Miho, I'd probably choose rejection as well.

Ran: What? Impossible. Miss Sakura couldn't possibly reject me.

Ran: Miho, tell me why you're rejecting Aya, immediately.

Miho: I just knew that Ann would share my opinion, while you would agree with Aya.

Miho: If I accepted her confession, then we'd already be a couple, even without me needing to do anything, without even having started to work hard to make our shared future or her dreams come true.

Miho: I'm afraid that this would weaken me, and make me incapable of sustaining our lifestyle.

Ran: It's just a high-school romance, isn't it? It's not so bad as all that, right. What, are you worried it'll impact your grades?

Ran thought she was being fairly ridiculous, but Miho's expression was serious.

Miho: I do in fact think it's very important. I have to focus all of my efforts in order to be able to achieve a position in society that's sufficient to achieve my goals of allowing me and Aya to live the lifestyle we want to live, despite being in a homosexual relationship.

Miho: For this, I'm even willing to temporarily sever our relationship, up until I have the power to back the promises I want to make to her, and be together with her again.

Ran: Then what the fuck is your relationship now? You're getting on pretty well, aren't you? So you can't date but you can be best friends with each other? What kind of bullshit logic is that?

Ran squeezed Ann's hand, hoping to win support from her lover.

Ann: I can understand Miho. The relationship between two people is a long journey, and sometimes, sacrificing time spent together in the present to win a longer future together is the right thing to do.

Ran: Okay, no, I'm definitely going to speak in Aya's place. I'm going back and telling her your thoughts.

Miho: It's no good. Aya'll never accept it.

Ran: That's exactly what I want, for her to not accept it, and then for you to apologize to her and then make up with her!

Ran: Miss Sakura, please take Miho back to the dormitory. Once I'm done chatting with Aya I'll bring her right back.

Miho: But what if you bring her to me and we start fighting again-

Ran: It's fine! Both me and miss Sakura will be there.

Ran: Also, don't worry, miss Sakura! When I confessed to you, before, you accepted instantly. So there's absolutely nothing wrong between us!

Ann Sakura nodded her head witlessly. It looked she wanted to say, once again, that she and the person that Ran remembered weren't the same person.

Ann: Mm. I'll definitely accept your confession, then.

After all, she would try her best to get closer, to the person that Ran remembered.