The following day was the one Chiose had publicly announced as her hospital check-up.
In order to make the most of life's pleasures — specifically the business of dying — Chiose had negotiated with the System, and their agreed-upon method of death remained the same as before:
.Death by illness.
Yoshiiro Chiose had a particular fondness for dying of illness. The main reason was simple: it offered so many variables to work with.
A single critical-condition notice was all it took — any normal person would feel sorry for you on the spot. That was the power of disease.
"Goodbye, Ms. Yoshiiro."
"Goodbye to you too, my dear… Dr. Haizuka."
Chiose winked at the System standing before her — white-haired, golden-eyed — with an expression that practically radiated the frustrated urge to punch him in the face.
This creature was genuinely deranged. So he'd decided to latch onto the Haizuka surname, had he?
As she walked down the hospital corridor, the braided pigtails swaying in front of her bobbed back and forth, like a portent of something teetering on the edge of collapse.
"Chiose-nee-san?"
"Hmm?"
A young, gentle girl's voice drifted up from behind. Chiose turned — and sure enough, there was that blue-haired little girl.
"Oh, Little Sakiko? What are you doing here?"
Out of habit, Yoshiiro Chiose opened her arms — then, realising it was Sakiko and not Soyo, quietly pulled them back in.
Sakiko, however, was thoughtful enough to step forward and hug her anyway.
"I came to visit Mama. She's ill and been admitted."
"Oh?"
"And why would Chiose-nee-san be at the hospital?"
To wait for my death certificate, you sweet child.
Chiose pinched her chin thoughtfully. She'd realised the poison she'd planted in Soyo wasn't quite potent enough yet.
But how fortunate — Sakiko Togawa had come walking right to her doorstep. She might as well put her to use.
"I'm sick too, you know, Sakiko."
Chiose's voice shifted suddenly into something grave and serious — then gradually softened back into a warm, gentle smile.
"Do you have anything on today, Little Sakiko? If not… there are a few things I'd like to talk to you about."
"Hmm? There's rehearsal in a few hours — I suppose that counts as having time?" Faced with Chiose's sudden request, Sakiko offered her answer.
"That's perfect then, thank you, Little Sakiko."
I hope you turn out to be more useful than I imagined.
"What? Chiose-nee-san, you…"
"Shh, keep your voice down, sweetheart."
A finger pressed lightly against Sakiko's lips. Her lips were soft and supple — just like Tomori's, Taki's, and Soyo's.
In a café, the two of them sat face to face.
"But — but — I…"
Sakiko Togawa stared at the somewhat frail-looking Chiose before her, unable to believe what she was seeing.
She looked like a candle guttering in the wind — as though the faintest warm spring breeze might be enough to knock her flat.
Like a ghost in summer, fated to dissolve.
Though, of course… that air of Fragility was entirely an act on Chiose's part.
"That's right. Once I'm gone, it'll be up to friends like you to help hold Soyo together and keep her moving forward."
Chiose's gaze drifted downward, coming to rest on the critical-condition notice lying on the table.
That notice wasn't facing Chiose — it was angled directly toward Sakiko Togawa.
It pierced straight into Sakiko Togawa's heart like a blade wielded by heaven itself.
"This…"
Was this… a deathbed entrusting? And from her good friend's own mother?
Sakiko Togawa suddenly found herself at a loss for words. This was the first time she had ever come face to face with something called death.
"I don't have much time left, I'm afraid. It's cancer."
Chiose waved it off without a care, as though the person with cancer she was speaking of was someone entirely other than herself.
Still, she suppressed the urge to laugh and willed her hand to tremble.
She remembered how her hands had shaken in real life when she first learned she was dying — and now, in her performance, she could not afford to omit that detail.
"If something happens to me… I'll probably need to ask you all to look after Soyo. After all… you're bandmates. The kind of people who can become lifelong best friends."
That's what it means to be bandmates — the moment you've formed a band, even if only for a single second, those people will be tangled up with each other until the day they die.
It's the curse that comes with being in a band.
"Ah — Chiose-nee-san will definitely be fine! Don't say such scary things — it won't come to that, right…"
Sakiko was trying to ease the oppressive atmosphere, but her efforts were entirely futile.
Yoshiiro Chiose simply sat in silence, saying nothing, watching Sakiko with those crimson eyes — a faint, flickering gold light burning somewhere deep within them.
"Maybe… but then, no one can predict life and death."
"Let me tell you — Soyo's favourite foods are minestrone and samgyetang, and she drinks red tea quite often. She hates offal and things like that — she can't stand the texture."
Chiose talked for a long time — so much so that Sakiko found herself marvelling at just how attentive Chiose was.
At the same time, the hollow ache in Sakiko's chest was growing heavier by the moment.
She counted Soyo among her dearest friends — and she also held Chiose in the highest respect as an elder.
And now that deeply respected elder was settling her affairs with her. It was too much to take in.
"Well, that's about all I have to say — though I've said it many times before, I still want to say it once more. Take good care of little Soyo for me. That child craves company terribly, and sometimes she's quite fragile… I'm leaving her in your hands."
I'm leaving her in your hands, Sakiko Togawa — her life, and her future.
Though I'd bet anything that the two of you will evolve into the type who can't even look at each other without glaring — and a child with a Lifelong Regret Simulator isn't going to have much of a future to speak of.
Yoshiiro Chiose checked the time. It was now only a few minutes before Soyo might pass by.
She had timed it carefully. After all, the window when Soyo went to GARUPA was always roughly the same.
To guard against any accidents, Chiose led Sakiko outside at the last moment.
"Little Sakiko… can I have a hug? I've always wanted a child just like you."
"Hm? Ah… of course, Chiose-nee-san."
Chiose sensed a familiar presence drawing near. She tossed her ponytail back over her shoulder and wrapped her arms gently around Sakiko.
"Would you call me Mama? Just once, Little Sakiko… it's my last wish."
Chiose closed her eyes. She could almost already smell, beneath Sakiko Togawa's own scent, the faintest trace of something that belonged to Nagasaki Soyo.
"This… alright. Chiose-mama?"
"Yes, my dear. I'm right here, my sweet girl."
She heard footsteps — hurried ones, not belonging to any passerby on the street.
When Yoshiiro Chiose opened her eyes again, she caught the faintest glimpse of a strand of brown hair disappearing around the corner.
Without betraying a single flicker of emotion, she released Sakiko. Now that the girl had served her purpose, Chiose had no further interest in her.
[What comes next is a conflict that belongs entirely to the two of them. It would be best if little Soyo carries a little resentment toward me going forward — otherwise the regret points are going to come up short.]
"Goodbye, Sakiko."
Chiose departed with remarkable swiftness.
[What is the most telling trait of a child starved of love?]
It's this: the possessiveness that blooms the moment love is received — and the terror of ever losing it.
"Cough, cough, cough."
A cough she couldn't suppress. Catching her reflection in the glass of a shop window along the street, Yoshiiro Chiose noticed she was looking more and more haggard with each passing day.
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