Soyo left, ending her two days of therapy.
Chiose knew she'd come back again. She was glad to become Soyo's emotional anchor in reality.
The Soyo of reality was pitiful. She'd never had a complete, happy childhood, and her future was full of uncertainty and confusion.
But Noshiro Chiose swore that even in reality, Soyo was the happiest of all.
She'd met Noshiro Chiose, someone who would accept her and give her a sense of safety.
Noshiro Chiose was happy that Nagasaki Soyo liked her.
Glad that, once again... they'd found each other.
Late night belonged to the night owls. In these hours the world no longer glared, stripped of its maddening noise and clamor.
She'd coaxed her little sister to sleep. Her sleeping face was impossibly cute, and Chiose kissed her cheek again and again.
Just as she'd once kissed the cheeks of Tomori, Taki, and Soyo.
Yesterday had been all noise and bustle; today it settled back into peace. Chiose stood on the corridor outside her room, leaning over the wooden railing to gaze at the shopping street not far off.
"I remember, in about ten years the cherry trees on that street will be cut down. And the cafe behind them too. Mm... old things like these fade away, little by little."
Cafes, barbecue joints, convenience stores, all sorts of shops crowded together, a community bound by a shared fate.
"So quiet. I'll feel the breeze a little longer, then head back to sleep."
A rare weekend, no need to wake early. Noshiro Chiose could enjoy sleeping straight through to noon.
Eyes closed, she let the night wind wash over her. But, real or imagined, Chiose kept sensing a rustling sound around her.
"Hm?"
Chiose whipped around, just in time to catch Togawa Sakiko trying to slip past her and sneak home.
Togawa Sakiko seemed utterly unwilling to be seen. She offered no greeting, and the moment she realized she'd been spotted, Sakiko put on a burst of speed, desperate to get away, but sadly...
"Sakiko! Are you off work? Why run the second you see me?"
Her wrist was seized. Sakiko shuddered all over, straining to resist Noshiro Chiose.
But she found her struggling pointless. Chiose was far stronger than her.
"Let go!"
"Sakiko? What's the matter with you?"
"Don't touch me... let me go."
"Eh?"
Chiose let go without thinking, and Sakiko seized the gap to bolt. Unsteady on her feet, she nearly toppled and cracked her head against the wall several times.
In the blink of an eye, Sakiko had fled in a panic back into her home.
On the lonely corridor, only Noshiro Chiose remained.
"Eh? What was that?"
Sakiko was amazing. She'd managed to open and close that door in under three seconds. Had she been secretly practicing?
Chiose walked to the door next door, and after much deliberation, chose not to knock.
Her hazy golden eyes betrayed no emotion. The fragile look Togawa Sakiko had just shown gave Chiose a novel thrill.
"So you have this cute side too, Togawa Sakiko."
Seems you're not just a tsundere, you're also a dumb little loser who bristles up all the time.
"Will you be easier to soothe than Taki, or are you both just as fun to tease?"
Well, Togawa Sakiko was an important part of her everyday life too.
If she could, Noshiro Chiose hoped that one day she might get to Simulate Togawa Sakiko. After all, she was terribly curious about the story this down-on-her-luck, blue-haired, golden-eyed young lady kept hidden away.
"Eh? Wait, I've got an idea."
[I'll probably never learn how to express my needs and feelings out in the open.]
That afternoon, Togawa Sakiko had chosen to run.
She didn't know where she should go, but she knew she couldn't face Tomori like this.
Why was Tomori so cold to her... ah, maybe that was for the best. After all, she'd hurt Tomori. Still, it made her uneasy; it made her reluctant, made her ache.
But more than anything, it was probably disgust with herself.
Togawa Sakiko, you're so disgusting.
She'd chosen to run herself, and still she thought like this? She really was beyond saving.
No lights were on inside. Compared to the warmth and comfort of the Noshiro residence next door, her own home now felt all the colder and crueler.
The floor was blanketed with beer cans and bento boxes still holding scraps of food; her feet, wrapped in white socks, could hardly find a place to step.
And her father? Togawa Kiyotsugu had already sunk into sleep, his thunderous snores echoing through the shabby little apartment.
Even asleep, her father gave Sakiko no peace.
"Ah..."
Her life, how had it turned out like this? Which step had she taken wrong?
"I just snapped at Little Chiose... I..."
For some reason, Sakiko now couldn't bring herself to face Chiose.
She was so afraid the other girl already knew what she'd done, knew her past.
Yet Sakiko knew, really, that she could explain it all clearly.
But...
[I'll probably never learn how to express my needs and feelings out in the open.]
It was like reaching out to touch a rose. The rose was so beautiful, and she'd think...
[Does the rose really belong to me?]
She always pretended she didn't need it, yet longed for someone who could truly see through her, someone to place that rose gently into her hands.
Togawa Sakiko kept reminding herself: don't say the opposite of what you mean, express your thoughts and opinions properly, get everything out in the open as clearly as you can.
But I...
[Didn't manage it.]
[I failed again.]
The day Crychic broke up, she hadn't managed it either.
And now, facing Chiose, all she could do was run and feign indifference.
"Did I ruin it again... how did it come to this."
"Am I going to lose the only friend I really know, too?"
Covering her face, she slumped to the floor. At the thought of the fate awaiting her, cleaning the room until deep into the night, Togawa Sakiko started to crack.
Someone, please help her. Anyone.
Someone, please give her a chance to start over...
Please...
Knock —
Knock —
After two rhythmic knocks came three more taps with a steady beat.
Sakiko remembered hearing this playful sound somewhere. Where was it, again?
[Ah, it was last week, when Little Chiose brought me red date and snow pear soup.]
But after I treated her like that, why would she come looking for me?
Sakiko, who moments ago had resolved to stop saying and doing the opposite of what she meant, felt her face fall again. Instinctively she wanted to wear this expression to mask the fragility inside.
"So, do you need something?"
In the end Sakiko chose to open the door, but the instant she spoke, a pair of hands holding a thermal container reached inside.
"Sakiko, this is chicken soup I made. Drink it while it's hot. You've worked hard. Things have been really stressful lately, haven't they?"
"I..."
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