The next evening, Shizuku in her undergarments was tuning her violin in her dormitory room.
On the bed where she sat, luggage was packed and ready for departure.
As originally planned, now that the [Weeping Woman] incident was resolved, she would leave the school.
While fiddling with the pegs, Shizuku…
“……Ouch.”
She grimaced at the pain throughout her body. After last night’s battle, Norman had treated her injuries, and though she had gotten plenty of sleep, her entire body was covered in bandages and gauze.
Unlike in her [Deviant state], it would take some time for Shizuku in her [Latent state] to fully heal.
She sighed and set her violin aside, and at that moment—
“Hey, Shizuku-chan. How are you feeling?”
Cklares entered the room.
She too had bandages wrapped around her cheeks and neck, but her smile was the same as always.
She was carrying a basket filled with sweets and a water bottle.
“What’s all that?”
“Everyone gave them to me. Would you like some? There’s chocolate too.”
After thinking for a moment, Shizuku nodded.
They moved a table and chairs to the center of the room and sat facing each other, enjoying the tea from the water bottle and the sweets.
Then—
“Cklares-san.”
“Say, Shizuku-chan.”
They both spoke at the same time.
“Hmm? How unusual, coming from you. Please, go ahead.”
“Thank you.”
Shizuku took a bite of the chocolate muffin, keeping her gaze lowered to the table as she spoke.
“Yesterday, with all that happened regarding Sisel and Natalia-sensei, there’s something that’s been bothering me.”
“Oh? Let me hear it.”
“Cklares-san.”
Shizuku called the fairy’s name again.
Looking straight into her two-colored eyes,
“Why did you change this academy into what it is now?”
she asked
“Natalia-sensei said that while she was on leave, the academy had completely transformed. It really is too different from before. Why did you do that?”
“Is that important?”
“Well, if you don’t want to talk about it, that’s fine.”
Shizuku shrugged, and Cklares brought the tea to her lips.
“……”
For a moment, she stared silently at the surface. Then—
“Well, I suppose…”
She smiled faintly.
“If I had to sum it up in one word……I guess it was because I was angry.”
●
Cklares reminisced.
“Let me be clear—I wasn’t close friends with Sisel or anything. If you asked me whether I liked or disliked her, I’d say I leaned toward disliking her since she clung to me quite a bit, just like you saw in that [Vision]. When I heard she had died, I thought it was pitiful, but I wasn’t sad enough to cry. That was the extent of our relationship.”
However—
“The day after Sisel died, I went to school and was shocked. A girl from the year below had died in an accident, yet no one cared. ——Some were even mocking her.”
“……That’s—”
Shizuku frowned in displeasure. Cklares felt the same way.
“To those girls at the time, the death of a bullied kid was just a minor event. Even then, rumors of suicide were spreading throughout the school, and some kids were investigating the incident for fun. Seeing that, I just thought—”
Watching the girls consume the dead girl’s tragedy as entertainment.
She didn’t like Sisel, but—
“There’s no way her death should be treated like this——”
That’s why Cklares—Felicity McPherson—changed everything.
To respect others, love one’s neighbors, and cherish friends.
She spread these simple, lukewarm lessons—the kind you’d teach children—throughout the entire academy.
And so, the fairy’s flower garden was born from her efforts.
A fairy realm created from the catalyst of one girl’s death.
“Well, in the end, forcibly making the academy peaceful wasn’t interesting at all—it was just boring. Around that time, I became an 《Unlaw》 and met Norman-sensei.”
It felt like a nostalgic story. In a way, Sisel’s death was what led to her meeting Norman.
“So, that’s why I changed the academy. Are you satisfied?”
“Well…”
Shizuku tilted her head and looked up slightly.
“I mean, it’s completely a case of mass brainwashing, and honestly, I’m pretty disgusted that you did something like that without using 《Unlaw》 abilities…”
But, Shizuku smiled faintly.
“You know, Cklares-san. You’re surprisingly normal.”
“——Huh?”
“I mean, look, you mourned Sisel’s death in your own way, right? And when she was mocked, you got angry and complained to those around you. That kind of thing is pretty normal, don’t you think?”
“Huh.”
●
Shizuku hadn’t thought deeply before saying it.
She simply thought it was kind of sweet.
Looking back, yesterday Cklares had been considerate of her the entire time.
She hadn’t brought up the [Vision] until things became urgent, and during fencing class, she had tried to give the antisocial Shizuku opportunities to interact with her classmates.
Like a senior looking after a junior.
That’s why Shizuku thought maybe Cklares had genuinely mourned Sisel’s death and said what she did, but—
“Ha, hahahaha! Ahahahahaha! Me, me normal? Ahaha, ahahaha! No way, that’s the first time anyone’s ever said that! Ahahaha! cough cough Hiii……hiii, oh no, I’m, I’m dying, I’m gonna die, ahahahahahaha!”
“……………………………………………………….Eh?”
Shizuku was completely taken aback.
That Cklares Airystep was holding her stomach and laughing with tears in her eyes.
Not her usual artificial expression, but the genuine laughter of a girl her age.
Shizuku felt goosebumps rise on her skin.
“Creepy. What’s this? Are we suddenly going into horror territory? I’m not interested in that kind of thing.”
“Haah……haah……! Phew, phew……N-no, that might have been the hardest I’ve ever laughed in my life.”
Cklares wiped her tears and smiled bashfully.
“I’m starting to like you, Shizuku-chan.”
“Gross.”
Shizuku experienced the greatest fear of her life. She seriously considered fleeing the room immediately, but—
“Phew……Well then, may I ask something too?”
“I really don’t want to hear it after that sequence……what is it?”
“First, this.”
What she pulled from her pocket was—
“………………Sisel’s sheet music.”
Shizuku grimaced. The sheet music that had triggered the [Vision] last night was not something she wanted to see. It had made her realize that she had once hurt her best friend.
“Don’t make such a sour face. Try looking at it as ordinary sheet music, without using [Vision].”
“……Fine.”
Unable to read her intentions, Shizuku took the sheet music.
She read the notes drawn on the staff, imagining the sounds in her head, and—
“——Wait?”
She noticed something. It might have been her imagination. Since Shizuku’s musical knowledge was self-taught, she couldn’t be certain. Still, no matter how many times she looked, she thought—
“This——isn’t this complete?”
She almost cried out that it couldn’t be possible.
The [Vision] was from the day before Sisel died, and at that time the song was still incomplete.
Yet if it was now complete, that meant—
“Even after being rejected by me, rejected by you, and told by Natalia-sensei not to push herself, Sisel still didn’t give up on the song she promised to make with you.”
Cklares’ words were gentle.
“……Why do you……have this?”
“Chronologically, it was the morning of the day Sisel died. Though we didn’t really talk properly. She just came to my room suddenly and left only the sheet music. I wasn’t in a good mood about it……Well, after hearing about her death, I was troubled about what to do with it and sealed it away. I thought that someday I’d be able to give it to the best friend she mentioned……Well, as it turned out, that person was you.”
She smiled wryly.
“If this incident hadn’t happened and I hadn’t thought back on you and Sisel, it probably would have stayed that way forever.”
“……What is this, really?”
Shizuku’s voice was trembling.
She gripped the sheet music tightly, crumpling it slightly.
“——Ah.”
READ THE ORIGINAL TRANSLATION AT LOCALIZERMEERKAT.GITHUB.IO
A droplet fell.
By the time she realized it was her own tear, tears were overflowing.
“Ah……ah……uu……h……”
The tears multiplied, blurring the handwritten sheet music.
“Ahh……I see……Sisel was……always……”
Her throat constricted and she couldn’t form words properly.
“Sisel, you know—”
Cklares completed those words for her.
“She didn’t resent you. Her death was just a sad accident. Because she was trying to keep her promise to perform with you.”
“U, uuuuuh……!”
Her sobbing wouldn’t stop.
She had always thought it was her fault. She thought Sisel resented her. She thought Natalia’s condemnation was deserved. She thought she shouldn’t be forgiven.
But she was wrong.
Her one and only best friend had been trying to keep their promise.
Even though she was no longer human. Even though Tiana Clam no longer existed.
Even though Sisel Barker had died. Even though she had misunderstood her.
Still, their promise had been kept.
●
“……………………Um, Cklares-san.”
“What is it?”
“Why didn’t you tell me this yesterday?”
Shizuku, whose tears had finally stopped, asked Cklares. Cklares smiled brightly.
“There wasn’t a good timing.”
“Huh?”
“Originally, I was going to mention it when we talked about how Sisel was pushing herself in front of you, but then Natalia-sensei immediately started condemning me, and then things got out of hand……I thought that once she couldn’t fight anymore, I’d clear up the misunderstanding between you and Natalia-sensei, but……”
“But?”
“Someone knocked out Natalia-sensei before I had a chance to speak.”
“……………………Situationally, that wasn’t wrong.”
“I won’t deny that. I was also unsure about the optimal timing to bring it up. It could have been provocative toward Natalia-sensei.”
“That’s……well, true.”
Shizuku nodded, and the conversation paused there.
But that silence wasn’t awkward or unpleasant for Shizuku, and suddenly, she thought of something.
“…………Cklares-san.”
“What is it?”
“This.”
She placed the sheet music on the table.
Then—
“Would you like to perform this together?”
“…………Hmm. Surprising. I didn’t expect such a proposal from you.”
“Yes. I still dislike you, but when I think about it, I don’t like hurting people because of my ability, but——I honestly don’t care what happens to you.”
“How cruel of you.”
“Yes. I’m a cruel woman. You’re not much better, are you?”
But, Shizuku smiled too. Cklares was also smiling softly.
Like flowers blooming toward the light.
“I’m sure this music will move even hearts like ours.”
Interval 2
In a dark room, Iris collapsed onto the bed wearing only a shirt.
This was her personal room.
A sterile room with only the bare minimum of daily necessities and furniture.
After reporting the academy incident to Sphere as agreed with Norman, and finishing everything—
“…………Tch.”
Her body felt heavy, and the unpleasant sensation deep in her chest wouldn’t stop.
The resonance between the Tear Flower and the fairy continued to torment her even after a night had passed.
[Echo Howling] hadn’t been ineffective.
Iris was just used to it.
“————”
She rolled over and brought something from the small table beside the bed into view.
It was the only thing in this room that suggested her humanity.
A photograph.
The one in the frame had been torn to pieces once, then repaired.
A gray-haired boy in a fresh military uniform was nervously saluting toward the camera.
Beside him, a girl with long black hair in a dress was leaning against the boy, smiling softly.
“…………Ahh.”
Every morning when she woke up, every night when she tried to sleep, Iris saw it.
“Trauma, huh. I taste that every day.”
That’s why [Echo Howling] was less effective on Iris. If trauma’s refrain was something she experienced every morning and night for the past year and a half.
“How ridiculous.”
The words dissolved into the darkness.
The two people in the photograph were nowhere to be found anymore.
The past from just a few years ago could never be recovered.
“Norman.”
She spoke the name of her former fiancé.
“It’s already over. You’ve completely changed.”
The boy she had loved so much in childhood had become a monster.
“————I hate you.”
The words she spoke reached no one.
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