"Is everyone ready?"
This was her back when she was still in the White Sakiko era, a gentle voice tinged with a bit of lightness.
"Mutsumi, if you stand there it won't get caught on camera~"
That was Soyo's voice—more sincere than she is now, with less affectation.
"You need to move a little closer."
White Sakiko pulled Mutsumi's head from the edge into the frame.
"It looks best if you stand right in the center."
Soyo: o_0
Watching this animated scene that belonged to the past, the expressions on the girls' faces all looked a little wistful. Only Sakiko bit down on her lip.
Damn it—so even the past is still chasing me!
The happier her former life had been, the more wretched she seemed now.
And the deeper the wounds she had inflicted on them.
But Sakiko didn't think there was anything wrong with what she had done.
She and them were no longer people of the same world. Cutting things off as early as possible had been the best choice.
The sadness that resulted was nothing more than a necessary growing pain.
She could endure the bitterness of life—could this little bit really hurt her?
Just a touch of wind and frost, that's all!
Sakiko-sensei hadn't realized yet that this was only just the beginning.
The anime didn't play the video all the way through. Instead, right after Tomori said the song title "Haruhikage," it cut directly to a scene of her in the planetarium.
The star-filled sky and the ethereal music calmed the girls' moods—including Sakiko-sensei's. Perhaps this was one of the reasons Tomori loved the starry sky?
Then came Anon, using Soyo as an intermediary to invite Tomori over. Episode two also came to an end here.
The girls all felt a bit empty afterward. After all, the content of the second episode really wasn't that much, and after watching it, there were only more questions than answers.
But they didn't need to be disappointed—because after the ED, there wasn't even a commercial break. Episode three was served up directly for them to savor.
"If, before feeling sadness, you could gather your tears together…"
"How wonderful would that be?"
What surprised the girls, however, was that episode three didn't continue directly from episode two's plot. Instead, it was Tomori's memories.
"I've always felt that I don't fit into this world."
As the screen faded from black, Tomori's appearance as a child emerged.
Tomori was already very cute to begin with; young Tomori doubled that cuteness.
At the very least, Taki was struck down on the spot, an unnatural blush appearing on her face.
Isn't this just way too cute?
Only, young Tomori's experiences could hardly be called "cute."
Displaying her different traits from a very young age, Tomori didn't fit in with her peers.
While others were playing outside, she stayed inside fiddling with stones.
After much difficulty, a red-haired little girl named Mio finally talked to her—and Tomori responded by producing a pill bug.
In the end, even gentle Mama Tomori could only offer helpless words of persuasion.
From the moment she could remember things, Tomori felt that she was different from others—different from…
"Humans."
"Even when I'm with everyone, I'm still alone."
"I want to become human."
Words she couldn't bring herself to say out loud—Tomori could only turn them into text, imprinting them onto paper.
Perhaps she would spend her entire life in this unchanging routine, carrying this confusion and longing with her?
However, fate changed course in that season when the shadow of Haruhikage covered the heart.
"No!"
Tomori looked at the cherry blossoms scattering by the bridge, instinctively reaching out her hand to touch them.
But her action seemed to trigger a misunderstanding from a certain girl, who immediately tackled her to the ground.
"Are you okay?"
When Tomori came back to her senses, what she saw was a blue-haired girl wearing the Tsukinomori Girls' Academy uniform, her face full of concern.
"Sorry, I knocked you over."
"But you can't do that!"
"Trying to die isn't allowed!"
"You were trying to commit suicide just now, right?"
"..."
Tomori, who had been accused of self-harm, looked utterly innocent.
Seen this way, maybe Sakiko-sensei really did have talent for becoming an FBI agent?
"No, the flowers…"
Tomori spoke up, saying that she hadn't been trying to kill herself.
"Which is more important, flowers or life?"
At this point, White Sakiko had already realized her mistake, yet she still said this.
"That's not right. Flowers are alive too."
It had to be said—White Sakiko seriously arguing with herself over such a small issue was incredibly cute, the complete opposite of how she was now.
On this set where Holy Anon had already gone full shark mode, only the former White Sakiko could compare to her.
"If they've already fallen, then they should be dead."
"Dead?"
"Uh—"
"I misunderstood."
Realizing her mistake, White Sakiko stood up and was about to leave, but Tomori noticed the injury on her knee, called out to her, and brought her home.
This was the first meeting between Takamatsu Tomori and Togawa Sakiko—a manga-like encounter.
At the very least, a certain Ms. Nagasaki Soyo, who wished to remain unnamed, was jealous to the extreme.
She stared at White Sakiko in the animation, her gaze unfocused.
Gentle, beautiful, and graceful.
This was the Sakiko she had always chased after—not like the current Sakiko…
Soyo suddenly snapped back to reality, feeling ashamed of that fleeting thought.
How could she think something like that?
No matter what Sakiko became, she was still Sakiko.
Still… her white moonlight!
Ms. Soyo hadn't realized that the moonlight from the past was no longer white.
"What a charming girl."
Even Holy Anon herself was captivated by White Sakiko.
"She's gentle and mature—she looks even more like a proper young lady than Soyo-chan!"
Oh no—Soyo just became the comparison cushion!
But Soyo didn't mind.
As long as you praise Sakiko-sensei, you're her good sister from another mother and another father!
"So she…"
However, after marveling at White Sakiko's charm, the expression on Anon's face became a little subtle.
"Is she really… Sakiko-chan?"
Although her first impression hadn't been bad, in their later interactions—even when it wasn't directed at her—Sakiko had still left her with a somewhat cold and unapproachable image.
Was she really the same person as the moonlight-like girl in the animation?
Anon: Is that really you?
Sakiko: It's me! Back then, I was still very rich.
Anon: Then that's definitely not you!
Sakiko-sensei: Oh no, I've become a stand-in!
"…She is the naïve and weak me who has already died!"
Anon's hesitant gaze pierced straight into Sakiko-sensei's heart.
Perhaps others would marvel at White Sakiko's charm, but she only found it an eyesore.
This was why she hated Soyo—because she saw her former self in her.
All so naïve, weak, and laughable.
How could someone so weak possibly have any charm?
Sakiko didn't want to acknowledge White Sakiko.
Because the more dazzling she once was, the more miserable she was now.
The more she tried to affirm the present, the more she had to deny the past.
Sakiko was lost too.
She just didn't know—if that naïve White Sakiko were to appear before her now, would she…
Have the courage to face her?
PS: The author suddenly thought of an idea—pull past White Sakiko into the present and have her ask current Black Sakiko: How is CRYCHIC now? Did you achieve your dream? Did you help Tomori become human? Did you make the doll smile? Did you make everyone in the band feel happy and fulfilled? Just imagining Black Sakiko's reaction gets the author ridiculously hyped.
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