"Go and try, you'll never
break me,"
(Go on and try — you can't destroy me,)
"We'll carry on.…"
(We'll keep on going.)
Wearing a pair of Bluetooth earbuds from a Coca-Cola collab, Yoshiiro Chiose was softly humming along to the song.
MCR's "Welcome to the Black Parade" — she absolutely loved it to death!
Today was the fourth day of not Simulating. She was happy.
By her estimate, the next Simulation was due to start today, or tomorrow at the latest.
Happy times really were so brief… mm, starting the day after tomorrow wouldn't be out of the question either.
"Little Chiose, what are you listening to?"
On the train, Sakiko Togawa — a handbag tucked in her arms — glanced sidelong at Chiose.
"Eh? Sakiko, were you saying something?"
Pressing pause and slipping the earbuds off, Chiose turned to Sakiko with a slightly dazed look.
As is universally acknowledged, when you've got earbuds on, there's a ninety-nine percent chance that whatever the other person is saying to you, you can't hear a word of it.
"Ah, I was just curious what you were listening to."
"It's MCR — really good. Want to listen together?"
"Is that okay? Won't it…"
"Don't get hung up on those little details — here! Sakiko, hurry up and plunge into the abyss of music together with me!"
So chuunibyou! That kind of line really got to her!
Sakiko's eyes just about went unfocused; she was realizing she and Yoshiiro Chiose were getting more and more in sync.
MCR, huh? That really cool band.
Sakiko took the earbuds and put them on without the slightest hesitation.
The familiar melody set Sakiko Togawa's eardrums tingling — how long had it been, since life got so busy, since she'd last listened to this kind of music?
A final fantasy out of punk woven into romantic Gothic — like fleeing bats, they made Sakiko Togawa's somewhat dead-still, drab life lively again.
"It really is good."
"Right? Sakiko, let's go, we've reached our stop."
"Eh? Time really does fly…"
With a faint reluctance, Sakiko made to take off the earbuds — but Chiose stopped her.
"What's the rush? We've still got a bit of a walk, don't we? Let's keep on listening."
Chiose unconsciously took Sakiko's hand.
Ah, she really was just used to holding girls' hands, that was all.
Sakiko froze for a moment, but didn't pull away; in the end she nodded firmly.
"Okay!"
…..
Through the school gate, into the classroom, exchanging the everyday greetings with her fellow girl students — and just like that, it was a new day. Lovely.
Today was the eighth of April, 2020 — a Wednesday.
Just before the final period of the morning, the phone Takamatsu Tomori — who had been sitting turned backward in her chair chatting with Yoshiiro Chiose — had set down beside her hand suddenly started ringing.
"It's Taki?"
"Then hurry up and pick it up, you Little Silly Tomori."
"Oh, okay."
She tapped accept and switched it to speakerphone; Taki's voice, tinged with weariness, drifted slowly out.
"Hello? Tomori? Is Little Chiose next to you? I can't get through on her phone."
"Eh?" Tomori blinked at Chiose.
"Ahem, Taki, my phone's playing music — what's up?"
"Oh, oh… so long as Little Chiose's there…"
On the other end of the call, Shiina Taki let out a sigh of relief once she'd gotten the explanation — she'd been worried for quite a while just now.
"After school, let's go get coffee? Let's hit Ring — my treat."
Taki was clever enough to choose not to spell out directly what she actually wanted to do — that way, if the other party turned her down, the atmosphere wouldn't end up awkward.
"Sure thing — so then, see you after school?"
Chiose blinked, and realized her high-school self really was a busy girl.
Busy, busy, all busy — being a little busy was a good thing.
The next Simulation was about to kick off any moment now; truth be told, if it weren't for her lifespan being insufficient, Yoshiiro Chiose really had no wish to keep on Simulating.
A pity that once the bow is drawn, there's no calling the arrow back; having already grown so attached to that inexhaustible, never-emptying boundless lifespan, how could Yoshiiro Chiose possibly bring herself to stop?
As the bell for the start of class rang out, Chiose called for the System inside her head.
[System? Little Sys? Sys-baby? Are you in?]
[What is it?]
The System's voice was every bit as exhausted as Taki's.
Don't tell me the System keeps the same late-night-staying-up habits as Taki?
[Pull up the lifespan exchange list.]
[Got it.]
Chiose leafed through the dazzlingly stocked inventory, and in a corner she found the amount of lifespan needed to cure her little sister's eye affliction.
[Thirty years? Not bad — with a bit of effort it's not impossible.]
Once she had saved up about thirty-five years, she'd be able to redeem it… by then she could even take Kyoumoto to see the real, real sea, once.
Going to the seaside… she absolutely had to go once more.
Next time… it had to be together with a Little Kyoumoto whose eyes had been restored to normal.
As Yoshiiro Chiose ruminated, the hours slipped quietly by.
And that was that.
"Is the fall from last time feeling any better?"
"Eh? That was ages ago by now… it's much better! Thanks for asking, Little Chiose."
"And the one before that? Taki, you big dummy, falling and banging into things every single day — it really doesn't put a girl at ease!"
"It's all much better now, sorry — I'll be more careful going forward."
Shiina Taki abruptly switched topics:
"Little Chiose! This is a present for you!"
Ring, three-thirty in the afternoon.
Yoshiiro Chiose poked at the gift box Taki had set in front of her, looking up at Taki with probing eyes.
"This is… ahem, just hurry up and open it, would you?"
"Okay."
Beside her, Takamatsu Tomori was also fixated on the gift box.
This was a box Shiina Taki had deliberately swapped in to put the gift into; for the sake of picking out the box, she had even gotten up at the crack of dawn to browse the gift shop.
Chiose nodded with solemn formality and gingerly opened the box, and what did she see! She saw —
"It's an upside-down cup, isn't it."
"Nope."
Taki's pretty face flushed; she began imitating her older sister's tone:
"This cup has no mouth — the mouth's been sealed shut. And it has no bottom either — because the bottom has been chiseled out."
"Whoaaa!"
Yoshiiro Chiose instantly caught Taki's drift, and she began doing her utmost to play along:
"So amazing! Is this the legendary super-rare defective cup with no mouth and no bottom?! I love it so much! You're really giving it to me?! I'm so moved! Thank you, Little Taki!"
Cradling the cup in her arms, Chiose walked over to stand in front of Taki, who was sitting across from her.
Taking hold of Shiina Taki's hands, Yoshiiro Chiose — under the other girl's astonished gaze — pressed those two delicately jade-carved little hands against her own chest.
Whether intentionally or not, Taki's hands accidentally brushed against that pair of softnesses——
"Eh-eh-eh!"
"Thank you, Little Taki — I love it super much; from now on I'll drink water out of it every single day!"
Chiose pointedly licked her lips a little, making them look all the more enticing.
""
The good ship Shiina Taki sank in an instant, without raising so much as a single splash.
"Taki, are you all right?! Why's your face all red?"
"I… I don't know! Ahem — it's because I had too much coffee… too much coffee…"
"But haven't we not ordered any coffee yet?"
Tomori tilted her head, looking baffled.
"I… ack — Tomori! Stop probing already!"
The three of them carried on in noisy, lively fashion; Chiose really did love this warm sort of feeling.
They ordered three matcha parfaits, and as they savored them they traded the kind of whispered secrets that belonged to just them.
Their bonds warmed up alongside the quickening of their heartbeats — and Yoshiiro Chiose knew that this was one of the greatest leisures she had in the gaps between Simulations.
____
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