Yoshiiro Chiose had spent a long time turning the question over in her mind: what is it that makes a person feel the deepest regret?
It was probably something like this — some emotion temporarily smothering love, causing a person to act in a way that ends up destroying that love. Yes. That would be something to regret.
Jealousy, or hatred, covering over love like a shroud. That seemed about right.
Soyo had fallen asleep in her arms — the poor thing hadn't even managed to eat dinner.
Chiose eased her down with careful, gentle hands, then threw on a layer of clothing and slipped out the door.
The apartment was tiny. If she wanted to have a certain kind of conversation, this wasn't the place for it. Especially not with someone impatient, terrible at naming things, impeccably tasteful, and thoroughly rotten as a person.
"Miss System. I'm here."
"Present."
The System — two figures holding hands, uncanny as the twins from The Shining — stood stock-still in the doorway without so much as a twitch.
[These little gremlins.]
Chiose raised a hand in a sharp silence gesture. The white-haired twins nodded, and followed her out into the corridor.
"Why go to the trouble of appearing in the physical world when you could just speak to me inside my head?"
"Because... I can't get back. Too many split forms, not enough energy."
"And you call yourself a System? Aren't you a little too useless for that."
The System blinked, started to protest — then remembered it was, after all, merely a hedgehog-cat's System, and thought better of making a sound.
"The plan came together better than expected. But your methods were absolutely feral. I only asked you to stir up a little trouble and make an introduction. How did you end up going that far..."
"This System determined that approach would yield optimal results. Host, please do not overthink it. A simulation is only a simulation."
Tch.
Yoshiiro Chiose rolled her eyes.
"Soyo turned out to be sharper and more clear-headed than I imagined. Is that because of all my guidance over time?"
"Hmm? Are you referring to what you shared with the simulation subject [Nagasaki Soyo] — all those 'wicked woman' life lessons of yours?"
"Who are you calling a wicked woman."
"Heh heh... We succeeded brilliantly. What's the next step?"
"That child has made contact with Sakiko, hasn't she?"
Chiose glanced back toward her front door, not far off. Everything was still and quiet. That was a relief.
"Yes."
"Perfect."
"And what exactly is Host planning to —?"
The System — going by its aliases [Niiharu] and [Haizuka] — blinked in genuine puzzlement.
"Ah, how to put it... Have you ever watched two crickets fight?"
"Just say it plainly, Chiose."
"To raise the finest cricket, you need to find another cricket just like it — and make them fight."
Yoshiiro Chiose cradled her chin in her palm, expression thoughtful, as though she were chatting with a close girlfriend about yesterday's disappointing facial.
"Let her develop a competitive instinct. Get her fixated on comparison, on the rat race, on fighting over love."
"That way, when the poor little victim finally pulls herself together and comes back to her senses — she'll realize she missed so much."
"Such as... failing to cherish the people she should have cherished. Eyes blinded by jealousy?"
"Exactly, exactly, that's precisely it!" Chiose clapped her hands, pleased that her System had at least a passable amount of brains.
"So the reason you engineered this particular incident was...?"
"To make Soyo more acutely aware of how cold the world can be — so she leans on me all the more. And also to give her and Sakiko a first introduction, of course."
As a piece on the board, Sakiko wasn't quite as convenient a cricket as Chiose might have liked.
Someone like Taki or Tomori — whose personalities she had mapped completely — would actually be far easier to use.
Chiose had originally intended to use Taki as the opposing cricket to pit against Soyo. But when she thought it through, manufacturing an incident across schools was far more efficient than making trouble within the same one. That made Sakiko the better bet.
"Do you need anything else? If not, I'll be on my way."
"Off you go, off you go. I'll call when I need you again."
Chiose watched the System descend the stairs before returning to her little apartment.
As expected of her own simulation assistant — thoroughly trained, wholly obedient. Given enough time, maybe she'd have the System itself entirely under her thumb.
Yoshiiro Chiose said nothing more. She simply schemed, quietly and without pause.
From Soyo to Sakiko. From simulation to reality. Round after round of simulated experience had made Yoshiiro Chiose sharper, more seasoned, more complete.
That was how things stood.
Not long after Chiose stepped out, Soyo drifted awake.
Away from that warm embrace, Soyo felt like a fish pulled from the water — uncomfortable in every limb and sinew.
"Mama? Did you go out to buy groceries?"
She knew Mama wouldn't leave her, so she didn't let herself worry too much.
Lying alone and staring up at the ceiling, Soyo found herself thinking about the incident again, unbidden.
That phrase came back to her once more:
[You did nothing wrong. And yet it happened anyway.]
Only this time, threading through those words like a ribbon, came the quiet voice of Yoshiiro Chiose:
Anyone who makes a point of emphasizing your situation to you — telling you your relationships are a mess, that sort of thing — their purpose is perfectly obvious. They want to control you.
Your life is yours to decide. Everything else? Let it go.
They all just want to drain you from the inside out.
"That's right. They only want to drain me. I won't let them. I'm going to keep moving forward — just like Mama does!"
In the moment of Soyo's fierce resolve, her phone went off again.
She knit her brows slightly, still unable to work out who had been sending her messages nonstop since earlier.
She picked up her phone:
[Sakiko Togawa: Soyo, are you there? What happened is absolutely horrible. I want to help you look into it — do you need my help? Don't worry! I would never do something like that to you!]
This girl... she was still trying to help?
And getting more people involved in something this complicated would only make it messier, surely.
Soyo couldn't figure out why Sakiko Togawa was being so kind, but replied out of politeness all the same:
[Nagasaki Soyo: Thank you, Sakiko. I'm feeling much better. I've also more or less figured out how I want to handle things. Do you have any suggestions?]
Sakiko Togawa replied instantly.
[Sakiko Togawa: I'd like to have a proper talk with Niiharu. Don't worry, Soyo — I'll come sort this out. There might be some kind of misunderstanding between everyone. I'll handle the communication.]
"Is this... the kind of friend Mama was talking about? Someone worth spending time with?"
Togawa Sakiko.
They had only met once, and yet she was willing to put in this much effort? She really was a good person.
But becoming friends with her...
Soyo pressed her face into the spot where Chiose had been sitting, and quietly, without making a show of it, breathed it in.
"I'll leave the whole 'making friends' business to next-Monday-Soyo."
The Soyo of the weekend only wanted to stick close to her mother's side, small and contented as a child.
The lock turned. Someone was coming home. It was Chiose.
"Mama?"
Soyo called out to her, summoning her courage — the full weight of the word.
She was afraid of being too clingy. Afraid Chiose would find her tiresome.
"I'm back. I noticed we were running low on seasonings. Shouldn't little Soyo be resting a while longer?"
That captivating silhouette filled the doorway, and the corners of Soyo's mouth began to lift.
She loved this feeling.
Loved it very much.
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