A Completely Different Anastasia
"Strange, why did Wilhelm want to step up and interrupt Lady Crusch's outpouring of emotion?" At the Shirogane household, Shirogane Kei was somewhat stunned; she couldn't understand it.
"From the perspective of Wilhelm and Ferris, it's only natural for them to misunderstand and feel conflicted." Glancing at his sister, and to prevent her from thinking of Wilhelm as some villain with ulterior motives, Shirogane Miyuki quickly analyzed the situation: "To outsiders, Hachiman and Crusch still hold the positions of competitors. But for Hachiman himself, who has experienced so many IF lines, every single candidate is actually a close friend or family member."
"He has had a period of sincere emotion and interaction with each of them—especially Anastasia and Crusch. So, when he treats these two, he does so with an intimacy that places himself and them on the same side."
"In other words," Shirogane Miyuki continued, "Hachiman's awareness of them as competitors has faded significantly, but Wilhelm and Ferris still remember that point vividly. Although they also know that the Crusch who has been amnesiac for a year has fallen far behind, the winner hasn't been decided yet."
"Therefore, from a competitor's standpoint, even though Hachiman acts out of kindness, his intervention was excessive."
Shirogane Kei suddenly understood. "Oh, right!" She carefully recalled that during the White Whale subjugation arc, Hikigaya-senpai was still scheming and mutually harming Lady Crusch and Lady Anna. Back then, in order to seize the proactive advantage, the Senpai used all sorts of designs and traps, and even harshly humiliated Lady Anna.
"Grandpa Wilhelm's feelings must still be stuck in that era, in that kind of atmosphere!" Shirogane Miyuki nodded. However, for those like him and Kei who stood in a god-like perspective and had personally witnessed Crusch and the other candidates going through thick and thin alongside Hikigaya Hachiman, their standpoint had long since become identical to Hachiman's.
Actually, none of the people watching this future felt that Crusch and the others were Hachiman's competitors anymore, so they could easily understand this slight oversight on his part.
In the Musashino company, a group of people felt a surge of respect. "And until the very end, Wilhelm chose not to interrupt, allowing Crusch to properly vent her emotions... It's not just the candidates; Wilhelm and Julius are also incredibly impressive 'genuine' people."
Thinking this made the rift between the grandfather and grandson of the Sword Saint family seem even more tragic.
At the Karsten estate, Crusch cast a respectful gaze toward Wilhelm for his loyalty and decisiveness, then turned back to watch the future, unable to suppress a bitter smile filled with hardship.
What she was troubled by was plain as day to Wilhelm and Ferris... The main story, her timeline, and the Sanctuary Total Annihilation timeline—across three timelines, the two amnesiac versions of her were both more successful than her pre-amnesia self in drawing closer to her Sir Hachiman.
Although in her timeline, Sir Hachiman did say he acknowledged her, at that time, he hadn't yet had a deep acquaintance with her amnesiac self. Now, a year later, it was hard to say which Crusch he acknowledged more.
"Lady Crusch." Racking his brain, Ferris's eyes suddenly lit up. "Your amnesiac self also addresses Hachiman-kyun as 'Sir Hachiman', right?"
"Originally, the amnesiac Lady Crusch called him 'Lord Hachiman' (Hachiman-sama). In the letters from the year of correspondence, he corrected that several times. Doesn't that prove that to this day, the pre-amnesia you still holds a weight in his heart that is not a bit less than the amnesiac you?"
Crusch froze for a moment. She mulled it over and found that this was indeed substantial evidence. The encouraged Crusch grew excited.
"Well said, Ferris!"
"Ehehe~" Seeing Lady Crusch's smile return, Ferris happily acted cute.
"...Should Rem be laughing?" On the road to the Royal Capital, seeing Hachiman mention her, and seeing Hachiman hold Crusch to let her lean on him because of her influence, Rem didn't know whether she should cry or laugh for a moment. Beside her, Ram silently added Crusch to her priority "must-kill" list.
In the convenience store, Hikigaya Hachiman's gaze drifted, avoiding Yukinoshita's expression... Looking at that sobbing, fragile Crusch, a string in his heart was plucked. He pursed his lips, shook his head slightly, and lowered his eyelids, not daring to continue looking at the moving Crusch.
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「No fifth person knew about Crusch weeping in Hikigaya Hachiman's arms. That night, she slept very peacefully, a look of security on her face even in her dreams.」
「Early the next morning when she woke up, she was informed by Ferris that Anastasia had sent over a yukata. it was a perfect fit and very beautiful—clearly one of Anastasia's excellent hospitality services.」
「Although she was more used to wearing her usual clothes, she thought of Ferris saying, "Lady Crusch will definitely be beautiful in it! No one will be able to look away!" Usually, she didn't care much for beauty, but after hesitating, she decided to change into the yukata.」
"See, see! This old soul knew that even if the Prime Minister doesn't have those intentions, he just naturally attracts butterflies and bees!"
In the Hoshin Company, Anastasia complained gloomily, "That Crusch, she's too much!"
Although the light curtain had switched to the courtyard of the inn, showing Garfiel and Ricardo sparring in the early morning, Anastasia—knowing Crusch was changing her clothes right now—pointed at the screen with a look of grievance. She truly wished she could swap herself into her future self right now, or at the very least, into the version of herself from the Sanctuary trials!
"To think she'd even send a yukata to Crusch...!"
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「In the early morning, the girls in the inn didn't wake up any later than the men, but they all finished changing into their yukatas in their rooms before coming out. At this time, Hikigaya Hachiman had already replaced Garfiel and was sparring with Julius.」
「"The progress in your technique is truly startling. If your body wasn't still relatively frail, your strength would be quite impressive, Hachiman-kun."」
「Julius was not stingy with his praise. He believed that as long as Hikigaya Hachiman continued to train his body, in another three or four years, he might perhaps be able to rival the current himself.」
「Hikigaya Hachiman received the compliment, but his entire being suddenly froze. He stared wide-eyed behind Julius, as if he had seen a scenery of ultimate beauty, so captivated he almost forgot to breathe.」
「Feeling deeply confused, Julius turned around and followed his gaze.」
「A light blue kimono, bright and beautiful, with elegant patterns of flying petals scattered upon it. The fitting kimono was incomparably pure.」
「Wearing this kimono, and draped with Dona-Fox.」
「A magnificent Anastasia.」
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