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- I've heard a story in the past.
- A pair of snow-white birds was kept in a house.
- The two birds were very close, and did everything together.
- Whether they ate, drank, slept or rested on a branch.
- The two small lives huddling together in their cage spent their time in a world just for the two of them.
- But one day, one of the birds fell sick and passed away.
- The other was left alone.
- From then on, it lived the rest of its life alone in its cage.
- After I heard that story, I shed tears.
- I felt bad for the bird that died.
- I felt miserable for the bird that remained.
- I still wonder:
- Which of the two birds was more pitiful?
- Rain again, huh.
- The rain's been going non-stop since June started.
- I'm not the outdoors type, but spending my time in four walls was beginning to get me down.
- Worse yet, there was something bothering me.
- It was the message I received yesterday.
- The sender was Ninomiya-san, whom I met for the first time in a while when looking for Suzu.
- She was asking about high school exams.
- She'd heard from graduates of the basketball club that a girls' basketball league would be established in Shikoku.
- So she asked me if I had any intention of entering a basketball-heavy school and making an official comeback.
- She was also planning to take entrance exams for that school.
- What should I do...?
- The reason I quit basketball was because I thought it wouldn't lead me to power - power needed to survive.
- But if there's a basketball league...
- If I would be able to make a living playing basketball...
- Then it would be a useful power.
- Hm? Someone's calling.
- I don't know this number.
- Hello?
- Oh, Lily's father?
- What!?
- Will this rain EVER let up? How am I supposed to go outside?
- I can't do anything other than make doujinshi of Takashima-sama, draw fanart and press "like" under every post talking about her!
- I've already made two new books this month!
- Actually... I should think about that thing.
- At the recent doujinshi fair I met with Takashima-sama's Miko, Karasuma Kumiko-sama.
- And she suggested an unthinkable idea to me.
- To join the Taisha after I graduate middle school.
- Obviously, I wouldn't start working right away.
- I would study there and aim to become a priestess in the future, that was the plan.
- If I joined the Taisha, I would be able to learn so much more about Takashima-sama.
- But why did Karasuma-sama suggest something like that to me?
- I don't really know what Taisha priests are like, but aren't they, like,
- super-smart elites, people related to shrines and other... special people?
- Oh, it's Yuzuki-chan.
- Hello?
- What!? Lily-chan got hospitalised? I'll be there right away!
- Back then, we did not realise
- just how precious those times when we three could laugh carelessly were, and how short they would be.
- Hero History Apocrypha,\NFuyou Yuuna Becomes a Storyteller
- Stage play,\NCarpe Diem.
- Lily, are you alright!?
- Lily-chan, hang in there! Think of Takashima-sama and you'll be right as rain in no time!
- I see, so the Nogi Wakaba body double theory really did have solid reasoning behind it.
- The articles in this magazines are always so completely convincing!
- Huh?
- Lily-chan?
- In other words, it's a Schroedinger's Nogi Wakaba...
- Lily!
- Yuzuki-kun? Suzu-kun?
- What brings you here?
- What the hell do you mean, "what"!?
- We rushed here because you'd collapsed, apparently!
- Huh? Oh.
- Wait, did you hear that from my dad?
- Yes we did!
- I bet he exaggerated! He's such a worrywart.
- It's just a little seasonal sickness.
- Sickness...? Well, that's good to hear.
- Anyway, you two came at a perfect time!
- I've discovered something new about Nogi Wakaba-sama! Let's verify the info!
- You know that you're hospitalised, right?
- The search for truth is far more important!
- Huh, someone came. Another visitor?
- Ah. Dad...
- Lily's father said he wanted to talk and took Suzu and me outside the room.
- He explained Lily's condition to us with an uneasy look on his face.
- I had no idea about Lily's condition...
- Lily told me before, but it's so easy to forget when you look at how she usually acts...
- Lily was a frail girl since birth. \NIt was hereditary, apparently.
- Her mother passed away from a sickness, too.
- Her cardiovascular system, her heart and blood vessels, was fragile
- and there was no knowing when something would happen.
- Since it was a predisposition, surgery couldn't fix it,
- and fully curing it was likely impossible.
- Heavy prolonged physical activity is supposed to be forbidden for her...
- But that's exactly what she does with us!
- Right? Have we been harming Lily-chan all this time...?
- Lily's father didn't say anything about the Hero Club activities because
- she seemed to be having so much fun even despite the risks to her health.
- But after today he couldn't stay silent anymore and had to tell us about Lily.
- He looked almost guilty while talking to us.
- Anyway, no Hero Club stuff for the time being! Until Lily gets better...
- And? And what about after she does...?
- You're right...
- I'd be lying if I said the Hero Club activities weren't fun.
- But if we consider Lily's health...
- It might be time to call it quits.
- Thanks for the food!
- Udon after getting discharged hits the spot like nothing else!
- Well then, back to our Hero Club activities!
- And we're starting off with a trip to Kochi to verify the Nogi Wakaba clone theory!
- Are you seriously trying to start things!?
- Huh? What do you mean?
- Now, excuse me, Lily-chan, but just yesterday you were still on the hospital bed.
- Should you really be planning a trip already?
- And you've been slurping down your udon without chewing it even once! "Goes down smooth" my foot!
- I-I'll be fine!
- What we're saying is that you should take a break from the club stuff for the time being.
- I'm good as gold!
- If I'm out of the hospital, it means the doctors said I'm fine!
- I guess...?
- Do you trust me that little!?
- We can't drag someone who just recovered around like that!
- Stop worrying so much, Yuzuki-kun! I said I'm fine!
- Now, now, now. Lily-chan, let's calm down.
- Better safe than sorry, am I right?
- But life is fast and fleeting! There's no time to be sitting around!
- Whatever you say, we can't indulge you right now.
- Eeeh? What about you, Suzu-kun?
- I think I'll refrain, too.
- No way...
- Lily won't do anything by her lonesome, I know that much.
- If Suzu and I say no, Lily's bound to pause the club activities...
- Or so I thought.
- The next day I went to the municipal gymnasium to practice with my friend from the basketball club.
- Shuttle running, shot practice, dribbling practice...
- It's been a while since I've done practice this authentic.
- Yu-zu-ki-kun.
- Agh, Lily!? What are you doing here?
- I see, I see, so that's how it is.
- You wanted to put the Hero Club on hold to spend time with the basketball club...
- I guess the basketball club means more to you than the Hero Club and I do...
- No, Lily, that's not it!
- I'm just thinking about your health and-
- I'll appear again and again, no matter when or what you might be doing, Yuzuki-kun.
- Until you say you'll go back to the Hero Club with me.
- What are you supposed to be, a vengeful spirit?
- That day I was taking part in a doujinshi fair.
- Woo, I finished all five of the books I started during the rainy season!
- Now, how many people can I show the light of Takashima-sama today?
- I'll buy all of the books you've printed, restock copies included.
- L-L-Lily-chan!? How long have you been there!?
- So you wanted to put the club activities on hold to focus on your doujinshi, so that's how it is.
- N-No, that's not really...
- You won't be able to spread the word of Takashima if I buy out your stock, right?
- I will appear in every event you go to and buy out everything you have.
- Until you finally give in.
- She's a devil! A devil, I say!
- Lily, would you cut it out!?
- I get weird looks from others every time you come to practice!
- Lily's always there! At events, at art supplies stores, at printing shops! I'm done with this!
- I will patiently persist until you finally come back to the club.
- Okay, fine! I give up! I'll join whatever you're doing!
- But not right away. No club stuff until I know you're healthy enough and I can stop worrying!
- That's right! Think of Yuzuki-chan's feelings for once, Lily-chan! She's worried sick!
- ...Fine. Let's look for a compromise.
- We won't start immediately. But we will decide when we'll gather next.
- I happen to have a plan, actually!
- Hm?
- We have a study excursion at the end of the first term.
- Our school will be going to Ibukijima... and so will yours, Suzu-kun.
- Huh? How do you know that?
- I checked! On the same dates, even!
- Whoa.
- A study excursion is when everyone in a school year stops at a hotel
- and lives together for a few days to socialise.
- It's an extracurricular activity.
- They used to be called "field trips" in the past, apparently.
- Oh, then we could meet Suzu there.
- I'll say hi if I see you two.
- We won't need to do that.
- What, you mean I should pretend we don't know each other? That's a little mean.
- That's one evil grin.
- You're scaring me, Lily-chan.
- Listen up. We won't be merely exchanging greetings. We're going to gather as the Hero Club!
- Huh?
- It's a gift from the gods! Our next Hero Club activities will be held on Ibukijima!
- Eeh?
- I've looked into it: one theory behind the name "Ibukijima" says that
- it comes from "iboku", meaning a tree of much mystery.
- And what comes to mind when you think of a tree, my dear Shikoku residents?
- Shinju-sama?
- Exactly! There might be something linked to the mystery of the Shinju-sama!
- And we're going to look into that!
- The study excursion will be... in a month, right?
- How about it? The study excursion is a school event, so we'll obviously be taking part.
- A bit of investigating between the studies won't hurt anyone, right?
- I guess not?
- Alright. But if you start feeling even the tiniest bit worse, we're not letting you do it.
- The rainy June finally ended, making way for July.
- Lily's health showed no signs of getting worse.
- Maybe it really was just bad luck that she got hospitalised that time.
- At least, so I thought.
- At least, so I wanted to think.
- Then, at the beginning of July, our study excursion began.
- Hey, Lily-chan! Yuzuki-chan!
- There you are, Suzu-kun!
- And perfectly in time too. How'd you slip away?
- I told you, haven't I? I'm a woman of my word!
- I told my classmates that my long-lost sister lives at Ibukijima and I simply MUST meet her!
- What an excuse...
- Now, now. We have no time to waste on idle chatter.
- During this excursion, our time time...
- Our FREE time!
- Yes, free.
- ...Our free time is limited to this afternoon.
- Let's get to it!
- Do you have any leads?
- I told you about how the name Ibukijima comes from "iboku", yes?
- Yeah.
- I read up on that matter.
- According to the documents, over 1200 years ago they found a piece of driftwood
- floating near the island. It measured over a metre in diameter and over thirty in length.
- Thirty!? That's bigger than Yuzuki-chan!
- I'm not a unit of measurement!
- From that driftwood radiated a strange light that scared away the fish.
- The disturbed fishermen would push it away from the island over and over.
- Yet no matter how many times they did it, the driftwood would float back.
- That's one persistent tree.
- A stalker?
- I'm telling you a legend, you know.
- A-Anyway!
- The fishermen told about it to Kukai, a famous priest.
- Kuukai said to pull the driftwood out and carved many statues of Buddha out of it.
- Then he named the island Ibokujima,
- meaning "the island that pulled out an iboku"
- And over the years "iboku" turned into "ibuki"?
- Exactly! Well, it's just one theory out of several.
- A giant glowing tree, huh.
- Let's make rounds around the coast!
- If we see the iboku or at least something similar, it would be a gloriously groundbreaking discovery!
- Hero Club, move out! Let's go!
- Let's start our search near the sea.
- We should see if there's a piece of that iboku on the coast!
- Waah! What is that weird insect crawling over there!? A cockroach!? Is that a cockroach!?
- It's called a sea roach. They're harmless, don't worry.
- They run away when people come close, pay it no heed.
- Now fixate your mind and focus your eyes on the search!
- Why are you fine with it? Are your nerves made of steel?
- What is this gigantic chair!? This can't be for human use!
- This must've been carved from the iboku!
- The pamphlet for the island says it's an art object from the old era.
- This place is called the Rock of Goudo.
- There are several theories regarding the name, and one says a god was worshipped here.
- What if it's related to our iboku? Can we get in somehow?
- Lily-chan, that's dangerous!
- The way in is blocked with water! You can't swim!
- Then save me if I start drowning!
- Cut it out!
- What jubilant joy!
- I didn't think they'd sell hamburgers here!
- They've been a seasonal specialty since the old era, apparently.
- They sell it around the year now that more people are visiting, apparently.
- Ibukijima's famous dried sardine buns...
- They go well with meat, too.
- But the best spice in this dish is the beautiful island scenery here...
- Aww, kitties! There are so many cats on this island!
- Here, kitty, kitty, come over here.
- They're only coming to Yuzuki-chan.
- How come!?
- There's a shrine to Namikiri Fudoson around here, and right beneath it - the sea!
- If we look down from the shrine, we might see something!
- This road isn't paved. Lily, Suzu, walk carefully.
- Waagh! The ground... It's swarming with the sea... things! I can't look down!
- We continued to explore the coast of Ibukijima as much as time would let us.
- Nothing. Nowhere. Not even a shred of evidence.
- The only things we found were cats and sea roaches.
- And the sun is already setting.
- Severely shortsighted...
- If you actually think about it, if such a tree existed, it would've been immediately turned into a tourist attraction...
- Yeah, I guess.
- Waaah! This was! Our first time doing Hero Club stuff in forever!
- Nice! That's a nice crying face right there!
- Why are you taking photos!?
- Lily-chan's face looks a little bit similar to Takashima-sama's, this would be a great source of inspiration for my next work!
- You'll never see Takashima-sama crying in any history book or TV show! This is priceless!
- You're pretty twisted...
- I'm not one to let opportunity escape!
- Stop it! Don't use these photos as your material!
- Phew, the water stings!
- Must be sunburn. That's what we get for walking around under the summer sun for so long.
- It hurts!
- So, Yuzuki-kun, about today.
- I spent half the day on my feet in\Nthis heat and I'm just fine, aren't I?
- You're right.
- Your unease was unfounded! There's no need to be concerned with my health!
- You know, I've always thought: isn't it a real pain to wash your back in the bath?
- Huh? Is it?
- I think so! Come on, I'll wash your back, so you wash mine!
- Alright, alright, sure.
- Lily was right, there wasn't any need to worry about her health.
- Everyone gets sick every now and then.
- Lily collapsing in June was just bad luck.
- Or at least so I began to convince myself.
- I was getting desperate about showing Yuzuki-kun and Suzu-kun that there was nothing wrong with me.
- Why? Why the desperation?
- "Fuyou Lilienthal Yuuna is frail and fragile."
- Did I hate the idea of them thinking of me that way?
- Huh?
- Where am I?
- The coast? Completely confusing! What am I doing here?
- I was sleeping in the same room as my classmates!
- I found myself standing on the coast at night.
- Not a soul in sight. The only sound came from the waves.
- The nocturnal sea looked eerie, like an abyss ready to consume any and all.
- And then I saw something far in the abyss:
- A brilliant, beautiful and somewhat sinister light.
- What is that light?
- Sea sparkle? I've heard it occurs in the sea here...
- No, that's... glowing driftwood!?
- Huh? Wait, it's morning?
- I'm... at the hotel room. Was that a dream?
- What was that? It seemed too realistic. Like the Butterfly Dream...
- Hey, Lily.
- W-W-What's going on? I can hear Yuzuki-kun from below!
- Because you're on top of me!
- Huh?
- Waaah! I'm sorry, Yuzuki-kun, I'll get off right now!
- Just how hard do you toss and turn? This isn't even your room!
- I don't understand. Not why I'm in this room.
- Not why I was sleeping on top of your futon.
- Are you okay?
- Hahahaha! Lily-chan, there's got to be a limit to tossing and turning!
- This is no laughing matter! I'm seething with shame!
- Yuzuki-kun's classmates laughed at me, it was so embarrassing!
- They weren't laughing, they were smiling.
- I bet they thought you have bad sleep habits because you're a kid.
- I'm not a kid!
- Anyway, I'm glad our study excursion ended safely without Lily-chan's condition ever worsening.
- Right? Right!? As you can see, I'm the image of health itself!
- Now that that's settled, let's resume our club activities, and with haste!
- The summer break is this close!
- Let's make use of all this free time and gather more of Shikoku's history!
- Sorry! I don't actually have much time during summer break...
- Eeeh!? Yuzuki-kun, what about you?
- I'm also a bit busy.
- No way!
- We have our entrance exams to think about. No time to waste fooling around, even in summer.
- You don't have to study that much to land a semi-decent high school!
- Tch, she really just flexed her smarts at us like that.
- Oh, right. You actually have great grades, I forgot.
- Anyway, I can do it once per week, but there's no way I can tag along for the entire summer break.
- I agree with Yuzuki-chan.
- This calls for a compromise... Very well, then.
- Then let's decide what day we'll have our first club meeting on!
- I'll think of what we'll be doing until then!
- Okay!
- Alright, sure.
- Okay, that's it for today!
- I need to drop by the library, so see you!
- Don't make your father worry by staying out too late.
- Heh, "icchi hankai". Later!
- What does that mean?
- I just looked it up, it means "I know, but don't understand".
- That girl...
- So, Yuzuki-chan, you said you were busy with studies, what school are you applying to?
- Oh, I was thinking of applying to a school in a different prefecture, it has a strong basketbal club.
- Oh? Making a return to the world of basketball in high school?
- That's the plan.
- I see...
- I guess it makes sense you'd have plans already, we're in our third year...
- What, you mean you don't have plans yet?
- I...
- I've been invited to join the Taisha.
- The TAISHA!?
- Ssh! Volume!
- Oh, sorry!
- I'm not sure it's okay for random people to hear that.
- You're right.
- What do you mean "invited', though?
- Do you join the Taisha on invites? Well, not like I'd know.
- I met Karasuma Kumiko-sama a while ago, and she asked me if I wanted to join.
- Karasuma? You mean that scary-looking hag?
- Watch your mouth! Karasuma-sama was the Miko of Takashima-sama herself!
- She's a wonderful, noble and intellectual lady!
- Right, if you say so.
- Suzu really changes when things involve Takashima Yuuna.
- I won't start working at the Taisha right away, of course.
- I'll be taking high school classes and work courses at their affiliated school,
- and eventually become a priestess.
- Is there something else? Normally, you'd be all like
- "I can get closer to Takashima-sama!"
- and jumping with joy.
- I thought so, too! That I'd be able to finally identify myself with her!
- To take a step closer to my dream!
- Dream of what, exactly...?
- But... I'm wondering, why me?
- I have no special gift like the great Heroes and Mikos.
- I'm not particularly smart, either.
- The Taisha are the backbone of this country! I don't have a place among those elites...
- The Taisha do feel kind of beyond our reach.
- I was planning to learn about the Taisha and employment from Karasuma-sama over this summer,
- and then decide what to do.
- See? You're thinking about your future, too.
- You think?
- I wonder how Lily-chan is faring.
- She's... probably not thinking about anything.
- She has her eyes fixed on the here and now, not on the future.
- I'm jealous she can live like that, instead of worrying about things to come.
- But she's...
- No, you're probably right.
- I think it's less that Lily is giving the present her all, it's more that she's... in a rush.
- It worries me.
- And it's done!
- It was worth hanging in there until the library closed!
- The Hero Club's summer plans are thus finalised!
- I'll send these to Yuzuki-kun and Suzu-kun once I'm home and ask their opinions!
- I'm exhausted.
- I took a breather and looked across the river.
- There's a river near my house called Saitagawa.
- It flows into the Seto Inland Sea.
- The flow of this river and its waters must not have changed since the time there was no wall around Shikoku.
- There's a difference in values between Yuzuki-kun, Suzu-kun and me.
- I'm not stupid.
- I can tell that something's different. But...
- Oh come on! Why does it have to be like this!? Why!?
- Just half a year ago the three of us walked side by side!
- Walked with our pace in unison!
- But not anymore.
- It happens. I know I can't do anything about it. But still!
- Persist and persevere!
- Reflect and restart!
- As long as I don't give up, surely...
- Huh?
- Can't... breathe...
- Everything's... going... dark...
- Where am I?
- Lily, you're awake!
- Lily-chan, how many fingers am I holding up?
- Those... aren't fingers, they're Takashima Yuuna finger puppets.
- Thank goodness, she's mentally fine.
- Where are we?
- At a hospital! You collapsed outside!
- Huh?
- I knew it... It's all the running around during the excursion...
- N-No it's not! The Hero Club has nothing to do with this!
- This is just a coincidence!
- Who doesn't go dizzy from summer heat?
- But!
- First things first. Lily-chan, stay put for a while.
- We'll think about the Hero Club stuff once you're feeling better, alright?
- I got a message from Lily that night.
- "Hero Club's summer plans"?
- She's not even back on her feet and she's sending this...
- Guess I'll respond: "I'll tag along if you're feeling fine".
- However...
- The summer vacation began, July ended, August got to its middle point...
- Yet the Hero Club hadn't gathered even once.
- Lily-chan's condition didn't get any better following her collapse after the excursion.
- Whenever she began to feel fine, another relapse followed.
- Over and over.
- Lily-chan's father was incredibly worried.
- The hospital checkup determined that it was unrelated to her chronic condition.
- They couldn't determine the cause.
- Exhaustion? Summer heat? Stress?
- With no clear answer in sight, all they could do was simply watch over her.
- Next week! I swear I'll get better by next week and then we'll do club activities!
- Stop it! Just stay put until the summer break ends!
- Lily-chan, you shouldn't strain yourself.
- But!
- Your own body comes first!
- Shikoku surveys and all that can wait!
- Being here reminds me of my mother.
- Your mom, huh...
- Mhm.
- Before she passed away, she kept getting hospitalised.
- I would come every day to visit her and stay by her side.
- Kept telling her that Father, Mother and I would go somewhere together once she's out.
- But in the end...
- Lily-chan...
- She was always looking outside through the tiny hospital window.
- Just like I am these days.
- That's not the same thing, idiot!
- I-Idiot?
- Dumbass!
- It's not your condition, right!?
- It's not the same thing your mother had!
- You're just not feeling well and that's it! It's not some incurable disease!
- So quit your whining and get it together, dumbass!
- Yuzuki-kun, that was a bit much!
- Yuzuki-chan, how could you say that to a child!?
- I am not a child!
- What I'm saying is that it's no big deal!
- You're not handling the heat well, so what? It'll get better soon, so calm down!
- Yuzuki-kun...
- I've gotta go. I have homework and basketball practice.
- Yuzuki-chan, wait!
- Yuzuki-chan stopped visiting Lily-chan after that.
- 'sup! Suzu-chan's here to see you!
- Suzu-kun!
- Sorry! I really wish I could visit every day.
- You live far from here, so don't force yourself.
- What about Yuzuki-chan? Didn't come today either?
- Yeah...
- Well, she has her own things to take care of.
- Right, I see.
- Oh yeah, how are you feeling? Any better?
- Yeah. I even got discharged yesterday.
- But then I collapsed at home...
- I see...
- I'm far from a full recovery...
- Don't worry so much, it'll be fine!
- The sun's been blazing lately so you probably just had heatstroke, I'm sure of it!
- But I was inside...
- Don't take heat stroke lightly! It can happen indoors, too!
- Brr! I nearly died when I was drawing my doujinshi!
- R-Right!
- So stop worrying so much, okay?
- August is too hot of a month to be outside that much, anyway.
- We can do our club activities when it's cooler!
- Uh, alright?
- There, good girl.
- I'm feeling a bit tired.
- Oh, don't push yourself. Lie down and rest.
- Okay. Thanks.
- Do you think...
- Yuzuki-kun is fed up with me?
- Huh?
- I mean, she doesn't come to visit.
- Missed again.
- Boy, that was a close one. Almost scored there!
- Suzu? How long have you been here?
- Since just now.
- Came right before you made that shot.
- Right. At least you missed how lame I've been.
- What do you mean?
- I've been practicing my shots all day,\Nand not a single one made it in.
- You know, Yuzuki-chan, I heard you haven't been visiting Lily-chan lately.
- Yeah. I've been busy with studies and basketball.
- It's not like Lily will get better just because I visit her.
- Really? Because it doesn't look like you're concentrating on basketball, either.
- I...
- can't do anything.
- Huh?
- One time, I got taught a painful lesson - that I wasn't special.
- It hit me nauseatingly hard,
- but right now I'm feeling even worse than back then.
- Back then, the pain was mine alone.
- I was depressed about myself.
- But look at me now! I can't do anything to help my friend!
- And it's so much more painful and frustrating...
- I know just how much she wants the club to do stuff together.
- But I can't help her...
- And that's your excuse for not visiting her?
- What's the point of coming if I'll only get reminded of how powerless I am?
- It hurts...
- Are you STUPID!?
- What?
- Lily-chan might be a dumbass, but you are genuinely stupid!
- You look cool and talk smooth, but I swear, you must have muscles instead of a brain!
- Watch it!
- OF COURSE you can't do anything!
- We're not doctors or gods! We are children!
- It would be freakier if we could do something weird like that!
- Being powerless is normal for children!
- But...
- I said it's fine not to do anything!
- Just stay with her!
- You're her best friend, Yuzuki-chan!
- The fact you're not there is what hurts her the most!
- I can't take it anymore!
- Can't stand the two of you tiptoeing around each other!
- Aren't the three of us supposed to be the Hero Club?
- Suzu...
- You're right.
- Lily's the one suffering the most.
- The only thing I can do for her as a friend is be with her.
- I'll go to the hospital right now.
- Mhm. Thanks, Yuzuki-chan.
- Hey, Lily! Where are you? We're here to visit!
- Lily-chan!
- Huh?
- Where is she?
- Lily disappeared from her hospital room.
- The hospital staff did their best, but couldn't find her anywhere.
- Leveraging all my connections, I sent a word to everyone at our school,
- but to no avail.
- A request for a search was filed with the police that same day.
- It's been a full day since Lily disappeared.
- What if she got kidnapped?
- Or had an accident?
- Call me an optimist, but I don't think she's in any danger.
- How do you know?
- Oh right, we haven't told you.
- Lily's been under Taisha surveillance since birth.
- Huh? W-Why? Because she's a Yuuna?
- I don't know.
- I'm named Yuuna too, but I wasn't under surveillance.
- Uesato-sama told me as much.
- THE Uesato-sama?
- I think Lily is special to the Taisha in some kind of way.
- So I think the Taisha should know where she is right now.
- And if she was in any mortal danger, they'd act.
- I see...
- But why would they let her go missing at all?
- I have no idea.
- Back when Lily was a child,
- the Taisha did nothing to help her family circumstances, either.
- The Taisha isn't really protecting her.
- The Taisha knows where Lily-chan is, huh.
- Wait, that's it! You're in contact with them, aren't you?
- Could you get them to find her?
- I've considered it...
- And?
- But Karasuma Kumiko-sama is my only contact.
- And I haven't been able to message her for a while.
- Why?
- I haven't been rude to her or anything, just so you know!
- Okay, maybe I DID talk a bit too much about Takashima-sama!
- But then all of a sudden she stopped responding to my messages.
- Calls don't go through, either.
- So the point is, we can't rely on the Taisha.
- Yeah.
- But Karasuma-sama said one very interesting thing.
- That as Yokote Matsuri's daughter, I should...
- Wow, that thunder was pretty close.
- Huh...?
- What's wrong?
- What is this?
- What is what?
- Hey, Suzu!
- I, uh...
- What's gotten into you? Are you okay?
- Yeah, I'm good. It's all fine. You know, I need to go.
- Uh, sure. It's a downpour outside, so be careful.
- Alright!
- Did something happen to her?
- I need to get home, right now!
- Karasuma-sama said to me before:
- "Since you're Yokote Matsuri's daughter, you should have the power to save people.
- If something strange happens, rely on your mother."
- The next day came. We still knew nothing about Lily's whereabouts.
- Hm? Someone's calling. Suzu?
- Hello?
- Yuzuki-chan, come to the Kanonji port in an hour! I'll be waiting there!
- The port?
- Yes! I'll tell you more there!
- What was that all about...?
- I came to the port, just as Suzu asked me to.
- It was already past 18.
- I looked around, but Suzu was nowhere to be found.
- A boat for Ibukujima was moored at the wharf.
- Likely, the last one for today.
- Yuzuki-chan!
- Suzu!
- Thanks for comi-
- What's wrong?
- We're going to Ibukijima! Right now!
- Huh?
- I had a revelation yesterday!
- You've finally gone insane.
- No, I'm being serious right now!
- I explained to Yuzuki-chan what happened to me the previous day.
- How some sort of image appeared in my mind when I was at her house.
- How I asked my mother about it.
- My mother, with a strangely grim expression,
- drew a picture based on what I described to her.
- Take a look at this landscape. Doesn't it look like the coast at Ibukijima?
- The floating pier for sardine fishing boats...
- I remember it.
- Mom said that we should go there!
- That we'd understand something if we did !
- Who exactly is your mother?
- Just a regular picture book author?
- A normal woman who grumbles every day about how veggies got more expensive, her shoulders hurt and the electricity rates went up.
- Then why the psychic-style prediction?
- We're nearly at the island!
- Let's go to the place on this picture!
- It's like I'm in a daze.
- I can't tell if what I'm looking at is dream or reality.
- I'm walking together with Yuzuki-kun and Suzu-kun.
- I'm laughing without a worry in the world.
- But I feel like I've forgotten everything.
- Unable to remember what I've forgotten, I continue walking.
- Then, suddenly, I remember what it was.
- I remember, and my feet stop.
- I try to move forward, yet my body won't listen.
- Yuzuki-kun and Suzu-kun don't notice that I've stopped, and keep walking forward.
- Why did this happen? Why am I like this?
- Yuzuki-kun and Suzu-kun are leaving me behind.
- It's maddening. Heartbreaking. Torturous. Why?
- It's completely dark now. Look where you're walking and don't get hurt.
- I know.
- Let's see...
- I think it's this coast.
- It looks different at night, but I can see the floating pier,
- and the rocks near the coast look identical.
- Do you really think we'll find something here?
- I don't know. I don't really understand the image that appeared in my mind,
- or the image Mom drew based on it.
- Huh?
- What?
- Is that... Lily?
- Huh? Oh wow, you're right, it is her! Let's go!
- Lily! What the hell are you doing here?
- Where have you been? Do you know how worried we were?
- Hey, Lily-chan, are you listening?
- She seems kind of weird.
- Lily-chan, snap out of it! We're going home!
- I won't.
- What?
- I will remain here.
- I'm not going anywhere.
- Would you cut it out already!?
- I can't go anywhere.
- What?
- Our surroundings suddenly went dark. Everything disappeared:
- the city lights on the horizon, the sound of the waves and the smell of the sea.
- What's going on?
- Everything around us disappered. I couldn't even tell where I was standing.
- Lily-chan was gone, too.
- I always hated Yuzuki-kun and Suzu-kun.
- The two of them had something I could never obtain,
- and I loathed them for it.
- Enveloped in darkness, the only thing I could hear was Lily's voice.
- I could never make friends.
- When I was little, I was too frail to play with others.
- And after I entered show business, I no longer had the time for it.
- Yuzuki-kun and Suzu-kun were my only friends.
- But it wasn't the same for them.
- They always had others around them.
- They had the power to attract people.
- For the two of them, I was nothing more than one out of many.
- Her voice was laden with sadness and misery.
- I've been frail since birth.
- I don't know if I can live as long as them.
- But even if I do, I know that one day my health will
- no longer let me hang out with Yuzuki-kun and Suzu-kun.
- I'm sure they won't wait for me and simply go on with their lives.
- And I'll watch my friends leave me behind, again...
- Did I have any idea what Lily was going through?
- Lily was always good at gathering attention.
- She's good-looking, loud and eccentric. It's natural she would stand out.
- So it was hard to even imagine "Lily" and "loneliness" in the same sentence.
- But now that I think about it, I've never seen her to talk to anyone in our grade but Suzu and me.
- Lily was always front and center in everything the Hero Club did.
- So I've never even thought about her being left behind.
- But if she really was worried about that...
- I failed to notice it at all.
- When I met Lily, I thought that she was someone special. Someone with power.
- Someone who could do anything.
- I envied her.
- But in truth...
- Lily wasn't someone special.
- She felt lonely and anxious.
- She envied me and my friends in return.
- In truth, Lily-chan was the one who feared solitude the most.
- We've been misunderstanding her all this time.
- And now, we finally understood.
- But Lily doesn't know us, either.
- Cut the crap!
- Of course we wouldn't leave you behind! How could you even think that?
- If you stopped, if you couldn't go on anymore, we'd wait for you!
- We'd wait as long as you needed!
- That wouldn't work!
- I'd eventually become a burden to you and your normal lives!
- Shackles to drag you down!
- Lily-chan, it's for us to decide if you'll be a burden to us or not.
- We swear we'll be with you!
- If you stopped, we'd lend you a shoulder to lean on! Aren't we friends!?
- Last year, after I left basketball, I was lost with no idea what to do with myself.
- You got me moving again, even if your methods were weird. You're my best friend!
- I can't even count how many times you've given me encouragement.
- Had I not met you, Lily-chan, Mom and I might've never talked heart to heart.
- Had I not met the two of you, I wouldn't be enjoying life this much!
- You're my dear friends, forever!
- So now it's our turn to support you!
- If you can't walk on your own, we'll be there with you!
- Forever, you hear us?
- So...
- Let's go home.
- Yuzuki-kun... Suzu-kun...
- Huh? We're back at the coast.
- Where's Lily-chan?
- Where are we? This isn't the hospital!
- What am I doing here?
- Lily-chan!
- Hey, Lily! Where are you?
- Wait, those voices! Yuzuki-kun, Suzu-kun, is that you?
- Where are we? What am I doing here? Did I get kidnapped?
- No, no, of course you weren-
- Huh? She's back to normal!
- Hey, Lily, do you remember anything that happened?
- No, not a single thing...
- I'm so glad you're back...
- We need you. We're besties forever, the three of us!
- Why are you two crying?
- Since you're crying, I feel like crying too...
- The three of us huddled together and cried.
- I didn't even understand why I was crying.
- But the tears wouldn't stop.
- Lily-chan was the same way.
- Lily didn't remember anything following her disappearance from the hospital.
- We never managed to find out what happened.
- But after that event Lily quickly got back on her feet, as if poison was drained from her body.
- From wither to wellness!
- From stillness to storm!
- From ashes, ablaze!
- Fuyou Lilienthal Yuuna is back!
- Even your favourite alliteration is back, that's a good sign!
- Try not to overexert yourself into another hospital visit.
- Oh yeah, Karasuma-sama sent me a message yesterday!
- "The problem was solved. Thank you."
- ...What did she mean by this?
- "Thank you"?
- Oh well, what does it matter? More importantly, it's time for club activities!
- Good grief, are you sure you're fresh off the hospital bed?
- Wouldn't have Lily-chan any other way!
- Around 30 years had passed since Shikoku was surrounded by a wall.
- 30 years since we lost the vast world we used to have.
- Everyone living in this world has more or less lost their future.
- I'm more frail than normal people.
- My life will likely be shorter than normal, too.
- My future is more limited than that of others', regardless of the wall.
- And? So what!?
- As long as I have my dear friends with me,
- as long as I can live the time I do have to the fullest,
- then even if my world is small and my time is short,
- my life has purpose. Plenty of it!
- The last summer of our middle school years ended. Autumn came, then winter.
- And then, the middle school chapter of our lives came to a close.
- Even in high school we remained friends.
- Naturally, all sorts of things happened.
- The days I spent with Lily-chan and Yuzuki-chan were so fun,
- that there was no time to ever get bored.
- Our days continued through countless springs, summers, autumns and winters.
- And then...
- Hey, Lily! Suzu!
- Yuzuki-kun!
- Took you long enough.
- You're late, Yuzuki-kun.
- By fifteen minutes.
- Sorry, the meeting about my next match dragged on.
- I made sure to free my schedule for the next two days, so cut me some slack.
- Yuzuki-chan is a busy woman these days.
- I saw your last match, by the way.\NGreat performance, team's ace!
- I just have a strong team. They're always saving me.
- How'd you get two days off from the Taisha anyway, Suzu?
- Well, normally that wouldn't fly, but I'm not your run-of-the-mill priestess, you know!
- Favoured by Uesato-sama herself!
- I'm not lazing around, either!
- I'm losing sleep and sustenance trying to create a literary database at the national library!
- I know. You gave a TV interview recently, right?
- You sure you shouldn't be more careful with your health?
- Most of my work is indoors.
- It's a lot easier than outdoors jobs.
- Plus, I have staff to help if anything happens.
- Well, we've wasted enough time. Let's get to business.
- We're researching an island off the Pacific coast today!
- A lot of time passed, and we're all adults now.
- Right now, Lily is a freelance historian with quite a bit of fame around Shikoku.
- I am a player in the female basketball league.
- And Lily is a Taisha priestess.
- The three of us are busy with our own lives.
- In my mid-twenties I became unable to spend much time outdoors.
- And lately I've been feeling markedly weaker.
- But we still make sure to meet at least once a year and work together as the Hero Club.
- We meet on the 30th of July. The day this confined world came into being.
- We don't know how long our world and time will continue.
- Even so, we will continue living in it.
- Well then, it's time for Hero Club activities!
- There are still plenty of places we haven't researched!
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