No one had ever wished more than Taki for time to freeze at this very moment.
Let it be like this. The story could just end here, couldn't it? If all things came to an end at this moment, that would be just fine.
Shiina Taki had to believe that her present self was happy.
"I fell in love with you at first sight, you know."
That was what the white-haired girl had said when they first met in the dream.
And then—then, pressing against her cheek, she declared in a tone of utter conviction:
"And you! Shiina Taki! Before you'd even realized it, you had already caught yourself! You seized your own soul and, using it as ink, wrote it into this black notebook."
"And me—hmph hmph—I'm even greater than you, because I caught you!"
Yes, Little Chiose. You're greater than me.
You stole away my heartbeat, and from then on my fate was no longer entirely in my own hands.
From then on... our heartbeats resonated completely.
Before our first performance, you said:
"I've always been your devoted fan, you know."
Just like a little liar.
Before our second performance, you said again:
"Have a little more confidence! For our upcoming show, hurry up and keep practicing, then give it everything you've got!"
"Our music—we've got to make everyone weep their hearts out!"
Weep their hearts out? Yes, we succeeded.
At least I... cried more bitterly than anyone.
Taki tilted her head up, not wanting to let herself cry again.
"Little Taki? What's the matter with you? Do you need a hug from me?"
"I..."
Would I hesitate and say no?
No!
Not anymore!
"I do!"
Quick, hug me... quick, let me hold you more.
I've gone a whole lifetime without ever holding you.
Chiose's dying words echoed in her ears.
Well... to be precise, the dying words she had heard with her own ears—after all, Little Chiose must have said something more on the operating table after she'd fled.
"Love and tears—which is more precious?"
"Taki, why are you crying? Are you proving to me that your tears hold an emotion even deeper than love?"
Ah, yes, that's exactly what I was proving to you...
"Chiose."
The soft, tender figure in her arms filled Taki with boundless happiness.
This was exactly the life she had wanted.
Proving herself? Ridding herself of that sense of inferiority? Little Chiose had already done all of that for her.
The Taki of now didn't care in the least how others praised her sister.
She acknowledged her sister's talents, and at the same time she believed her own abilities were strong.
She would never feel inferior again; all she wanted now was happiness and peace.
How she wished that when she woke from the dream, she'd still be in that room full of memories—where she and Chiose had stayed up late finishing a movie before falling asleep, and she'd wake to find Chiose still slumbering while the TV drama had been left on, forgotten.
Outside, a comfortable drizzle had begun to fall; from the TV came a pleasant, melodious ending theme—the curtain call of a good show.
Ah...
Feeling, experiencing, savoring the tender gaze of the girl before her, Shiina Taki finally came back to her senses.
The things she had hoped to gain, it seemed, weren't so unrealistic after all.
Shiina Taki realized that she really might be able to find, in reality, the kind of love she had never experienced before.
Life was as beautiful as a dream.
...
"Idiot, what are you staring at? Such a loser."
Now warm all over from being hugged, Chiose released Taki—who wanted to keep snuggling—and rolled her eyes at the girl.
"Just as I thought—no matter which world she's from, dummy Taki always loves suuuuper-duper long hugs. A little too much of a dumb, cute little loser!"
"I..."
Taki felt embarrassed by her own boldness, but if she were given the choice again, she would still crave the embrace and the chance to pour out her heart.
She didn't want to be the head-in-her-shell coward Shiina Taki ever again; this time, Shiina Taki wanted to win it all.
"Ah~ waah~"
A crow flew past in the twilight, its strange cry making the girls turn their heads.
"Wow, it's a crow, Little Taki! This is the first time I've ever heard a crow's cry."
"A crow? I've heard that a crow's feathers are colored beyond the range of human vision—actually, the wavelengths of its feathers look brilliantly multicolored to other birds."
The setting sun, the crow, their joined hands—Taki swore she would forever remember the warmth of this moment.
It was just that her own explanation didn't seem very romantic.
"How romantic, the crow. You think so too, don't you, Little Taki?"
Chiose narrowed her eyes and smiled. She absolutely loved holding hands—after all, holding hands was gentle and never too much, yet it was enough to make them both feel comfortable and content.
Just holding hands was enough to convey one's feelings—a tiny romance that belonged to girls alone.
"No wonder legend says the crow was once called the rainbow bird," said Chiose, walking a few more steps, her pinky finger endlessly tickling Taki's palm.
"Mm, very romantic," said the victim, Taki, shivering a few times.
Noshiro Chiose seemed to have hit upon some ideas for the next Simulation. By now she was thoroughly familiar with the settings of each Simulation's script, and at the same time she was chasing after gaining as much lifespan as possible within a single Simulation.
Her highest single-run record still hadn't broken past a dozen-odd years; hopefully she'd keep breaking the record from here on.
Chiose spoke thoughtfully:
"The crow wanted to dye the world in color, so it spat out all of its own color. Ah, it feels like such a great bird. Little Taki, if you met a bird as great as that, would you shed tears for it?"
"I wouldn't, would I? Crying over a bird—that'd be weird."
Puzzled, Taki shrugged her shoulders; she didn't take Chiose's question to heart.
After all, Taki was wholly absorbed in gazing at the drifting clouds and at Chiose; as for crows or twilight? Those were just unimportant things.
"Pfft—come on, come on. I remember there seems to be a shop selling taiyaki up ahead! My treat."
She just didn't know whether it was a shop that wouldn't exist until a dozen years later or one that had only existed ten years ago. Spending so long drifting among different points in time was bound to leave some aftereffects.
Today was the first time Chiose had ever paid attention to a crow, and the crow gave her boundless inspiration.
Though she didn't know who the next victim would be, she already had plenty of ideas for the Simulation in mind.
Some praise the crow as sacred, some condemn the crow as an ill omen, but the crow doesn't care—a crow is simply a crow.
In the same way, sometimes Chiose thought of herself as a gentle, playful girl, and sometimes her conscience denounced her as a wicked woman with a sinister heart.
But Chiose no longer cared about any of that; she cared only for everyone she treasured in reality.
Chiose is simply Chiose; Chiose can only ever be Chiose.
"Taki-chan is so cute, so why does she have so few friends? How strange—I mean, I absolutely adore Taki-chan."
"What!? You like me?! Cough cough cough cough... I'm not really that cute, cough cough... heh heh."
See? A little loser like Taki is just like this.
In the orange-red twilight hour, the two girls, arms linked together, vanished up the tranquil sloping path.
It seemed they could keep walking on forever. And that's just how it was.
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