Horizon:Volume 8C Chapter 69

Chapter 69: Perceiver in a Bright Place

You can hear how to make it

You can see what the finished product looks like

But you need to eat it to know how it tastes

Point Allocation (Conversation)

Asama opened a sign frame while everyone watched her.

Let’s see, she thought while displaying the calendar for this and next month.

“I will start by explaining what I do know.”

“Does that mean you haven’t reached an answer yet?” asked Gin.

She had no choice but to nod. A few of the others asked if that was true, but her upcoming explanation would answer that for them.

She tapped the sign frame and Hanami popped out to support her. To start with…

“The Honnouji Incident should involve largescale ley line interference or movement of ether fuel. That will likely occur on a lucky day that works well with the ley lines, so my idea was to discover their rehearsal day and use that to calculate out the date of the real event.”

“But you didn’t find anything?” asked Mitotsudaira.

“I did. I found a day I think probably was their rehearsal.”

She displayed something on top of August’s calendar.

“These are the ley lines movements around P.A. Oda which I had IZUMO monitoring for me.”

The blue line on the graph gradually moved above the dates. At the start, it wiggled up and down a little, but…

“Oh.”

Right when it got to August, the blue line rapidly rose.

She knew why they all gasped in surprise. The line suddenly turned red and rose even further. Then it turned horizontal near the top of the screen and intermittently fluctuated over a wide area.

But the line soon began to drop, much like when it had started to rise.

It dropped rapidly to its original height again.

After that, it occasionally rose again, but the blue line was moving through more and more of the calendar. Gin, Narumi, and Kimi would occasionally utter exclamations of surprise, but Asama agreed with that reaction.

…I need to explain this afterwards.

Meanwhile, the line arrived at August 25.

That was the extent of the extraction data she currently had. This was the end. And based on what they had…

“Umm, can you see this large peak on August 3? But there are very few notable reactions afterwards. That is a bit of a problem.”

“How so, Asama? Is that peak on a lucky day?”

“August 3 is Tomobiki.”

Hanami opened a sign frame and Asama read off the explanation there.

“Tomobiki is a neutral day where you will not find any conclusive results. It is a bit unstable as far as lucky days go, so the daytime is considered unlucky and the nighttime to be lucky.”

“Does that mean Tomobiki is the day they’re using for the Honnouji Incident?” asked Masazumi.

Asama had to think about that one for a bit.

…Umm.

She could explain this, but she had no way of knowing if it fit with the political and wartime issues at play. But…

“Asama, how about you tell us what you’re thinking?” he said. “If any of it’s not quite right, the others can fix it up until it is.”

“O-okay…”

Wow, he just chided me! She felt an oddly fresh sort of surprise and opened her mouth to speak.

“While it didn’t used to be, Tomobiki is now written with the character for ‘friend’, so it is considered to be a day that brings friends to you. That makes it a good day for celebrations like weddings, but a bad day for less auspicious occasions like funerals.”

“And the Honnouji Incident isn’t actually a celebration.”

Neshinbara was right. But Urquiaga had a different opinion:

“What if they chose that day on purpose because it is such an inauspicious occasion?”

“The problem is,” said Asama, “there are better days for both options: Taian and Butsumetsu. …Admittedly, the Honnouji Incident can be seen as both a good and a bad day for P.A. Oda.”

Still, Tomobiki was such a middle-of-the-road day and it bothered her.

“On Tomobiki, the bad luck wouldn’t just go to Nobunaga – it would affect all of Nobunaga’s friends participating. Not to mention…”

Just as Asama looked back at her sign frame, Kimi opened her mouth.

“Heh heh. There was no reaction on the following Tomobiki.”

“Exactly.” Asama tapped at a date on the sign frame. “Lucky days tend to go through a 6-day or 5-day cycle, so when the 3rd is Tomobiki, August’s Tomobikis would be on the 9th, 15th, 20th, and 26th, with the next one on September 1.”

But…

“There wasn’t any clear reaction on any of those days – or any day at all since the 3rd.”

“What do you make of that, Asama-sama?” asked Futayo.

It was rare for her to ask questions. But she was probably curious about the date since she would be in charge of the attack on that day. So Asama knew what she had to do.

…Yes, Toori-kun was right.

She would share all of her thoughts without hiding anything.

“I have three thoughts.”

First…

“One possibility is that the date is unrelated to the lucky days or there is some other deciding factor.”

Next…

“Another possibility is that P.A. Oda completed everything and discovered all of the problems with their rehearsal on August 3, so they decide they don’t need any further rehearsals.”

And last…

“Based on those two ideas, it is possible P.A. Oda used Tomobiki to decide which other day to schedule the actual event.”

“What do you mean?”

“Tomobiki is a lucky during the morning and evening and unlucky during the day. If they spent all day on their rehearsal, they should know whether their ceremony would be more effective on a lucky day or an unlucky day.”

What if that were the case?

“That would mean either Butsumetsu or Taian.”

She tapped the sign frame.

“The next Tomobiki is tomorrow: the 26th. The next Butsumetsu is the 28th and the next Taian is a day later on the 29th. They might not make any power adjustments on any of those days, but with summer break ending so soon, it would be best to keep an eye out for it.”

“And our meeting with Akechi Mitsuhide is on September 2,” pointed out Masazumi.

In that case…

“If I had to guess, I would say it’s September 3 or 4. The former is Butsumetsu and the latter is Taian.”

“What about the 2nd?”

“It is Senbu. That is a day of rest when you should avoid work, war, and public duties. The AM is unlucky and the PM is lucky, so it honestly isn’t a great day for doing anything major.”

“I see.” Masazumi nodded. “In that case, Asama, you continue monitoring the readings. And…”

“Yes, there will be a major ley line fluctuation directly beforehand if P.A. Oda does make their move with no relation to the lucky days.”

The same had happened at Mikawa.

She had received Mikawa’s data from IZUMO, so she would be able to raise the alarm if the same thing happened here.

…Of course, we wouldn’t have much time to respond at that point.

The others had been present for the Battle of Mikawa, so they would be well aware of that. There were exceptions like Mary and Narumi, but Mary would instinctually figure it out from the ley line activity and Narumi was used to being ready for battle at any moment as Vice Chancellor. In that case…

“I will contact everyone immediately if I sense anything dangerous, so be ready to respond if that happens.”

“Judge!” Futayo bowed and took a breath before straightening up again. “Whatever the case, I hope we can all prepare for our respective roles before our time in hiding here is complete. I would personally like to train up some of my own weaker areas. But for now…”

“Sure,” he replied, slightly rearranging the campfire’s wood to get the fire roaring again. “I’m gonna reheat the food and get the next course out. No one’s getting any training done if we don’t eat right on our first day here, so let’s make it a party tonight!”

Horizon grabbed some drinks and meats before turning toward Asama and Mito. Was she inviting them over?

“So you’re saying Lake Biwa Azuchi is training for the Honnouji Incident too?”

The meal with the guests was held outside. That wasn’t a rule at Sanada or anything, but Unno enjoyed the casualness of it. So when they had dinner after the sun had set, they either did it in the village near the academy or in front of the academy building.

The mechanical dragon training had ended early today and they had set up a parking apron for the dragon in the forest behind the academy, so dinner today was at the village. Since Unno was a shrine maiden, the casual meal space was set up in front of the small temple at the north of the village.

The northern edge reached the forest and slope that formed a border with the academy. The forest continued on to the east and west to surround the village. The lights of the houses and streets to the south were small and they had a big fire burning here at the temple to the north.

…It really feels like the end of summer now.

When she viewed the fire, she now sensed a warmth other than the heat. It helped that this was an elevated area. Per the calendar, it was past the peak of summer, so it started getting chilly once night fell.

Unno asked a question while setting down a container of chicken miso soup on the table.

“Your schedule is coming into focus and I can’t say I envy you Hashiba people.”

“Oh, we won’t be involved in the Honnouji Incident,” replied Kiyomasa, reaching for one of the rice balls lined up on the table. And, “Um, what do I do with this?”

“Put some miso on it and place it on the grill.”

Unno demonstrated by grabbing the miso spatula and rubbing the miso onto both sides. The rice balls were made solid, so she didn’t need to hold both sides. And from there…

“The grill is kind of dirty, but that just adds flavor. Once you notice a nice smell, flip it over. Notice that smell again and it’s done. It’ll be hot, so pick it up with a bamboo leaf to eat it.”

“You have so many options tonight.”

“We can finally tell what kind of crop we’re getting this year, so we’re using up all of last year’s rice. The best time of year is the end of next month. That’s when we get a full course meal of this year’s rice and the matsutake mushrooms.”

A nice smell was rising from the grill, so Unno flipped over her rice ball. Kiyomasa then placed hers on the grill too.

“Do you not need to grill the sides?”

“What are you, a perfectionist?”

“I suppose I am,” Kiyomasa replied, smiling bitterly.

Then Kiyomasa looked around.

It was the usual gang here: the training camp group, the instructors, and the various assistants and helpers. The villagers would occasionally pass by and greet them, but the usual group remained intact.

That may have been why Kiyomasa felt comfortable speaking in the flickering firelight.

“We will not play a part in the Honnouji Incident. In fact, most everyone in P.A. Oda and M.H.R.R. cannot participate in that history recreation.”

“But I thought Shibata’s forces were heading south to prepare.”

“Shibata-sama does whatever he wants.”

Unno had greeted him once in her P.A. Oda days and he had indeed seemed that way. And…

…Shibata opposes Hashiba, doesn’t he?

So while Hashiba’s strict adherence to the history recreation would have them stay put, Shibata would show off what he could do. But then Unno noticed a misunderstanding on her part.

“Ohh.”

She decided to apologize.

“Sorry. You have to face off against Akechi and then Shibata, don’t you?”

Kiyomasa raised her eyebrows. And…

“Unno-sama, there is smoke.”

“Oh, whoops.”

I burned it a little. She removed it from the grill, but it was too hot to touch even on the sides. The top surface was grilled nicely, though. The moisture remained as a slick sheen, but it had grill marks. It smelled great too.

“This is the life.”

Unno wasn’t sure if she should start grilling the next one or eat this one, but then she heard Mochizuki speaking to Asano on the other side of the grill.

“Since miso is the basic topping, you are free to add whatever else you like. For example, it is excellent if you add a liberal helping of this chicken tuna mayo with extra mayo before grilling and then add some green onions and such afterwards.”

“Whaaat is chicken tuuuna? Is fiiiish actually really rarrre here?”

They have been cooking up a lot of the river fish, thought Unno, noting how kind the village had been.

But the smell of the mayo one cooking was basically cheating.

“We can fight back with some Worcestershire sauce and katsuobushi.”

“This is getting less and less mountainy and more and more Kansai.”

Unno smiled bitterly at that. This was her home now and she had no doubt about it, but her taste buds still remembered the old times. So…

“Sorry.”

“No, I don’t mind. Our battles against Akechi-sama and Shibata-sama are a major trial for us.”

“A trial?”

“Testament,” replied Kiyomasa, reaching for her own rice ball.

Unno thought it had to be hot, but Kiyomasa calmly picked it up and placed it on the bamboo leaf she held in her other hand. And only then…

“Hot…”

“You’re supposed to stand it up and pick it up with the leaf, okay?”

“Testament,” nodded Kiyomasa, setting down the one to let it cool and reaching for the next rice ball.

“You’re surprisingly adventurous.”

“I want to try as many things as I can,” said Kiyomasa, grabbing the mountain vegetables miso. And, “Akechi-sama and Shibata-sama are from the generation that really started the Warring States period. Whereas for us, it’s more like…well, calling it a sport sounds irreverent, but all the rules are already in place by the time we come into the picture.”

“Are you saying you have to defeat Akechi and then overcome Shibata?”

“I would say Testament…but it isn’t that simple.”

“I get the feeling your training here isn’t going to be all that useful.”

“No, the two underclassmen are getting a lot out of this. And I have found value in it to, so I appreciate it.”

“When you arrived, you had a tendency to cry at the drop of a hat. Have you gotten over that?”

“I’m not sure.” Kiyomasa placed her next rice ball on the grill. “Part of me thinks I don’t have to.”

“Nothing good ever comes from preserving the status quo when you aren’t certain it’s a good thing.”

“Maybe I’m just afraid of giving up.”

Unno thought about that one. Their participation in the Siege of Kanie Castle may have been something like that.

Their small nation had an uncertain future that could take a turn for the worse. But instead of turning away from its current state, they had chosen to actively engage with it.

As a result, Sanada’s future was assured, but they were on the path to retirement.

They hadn’t given up, but perhaps they were afraid of what that meant.

…Hard to say.

Still, she would define what she was doing now as “preserving the status quo”. Instead of choosing to continue on or retire now, she was leaving it all up in the air and spending her time helping out with this training camp.

“Y’know.” She tried asking a question. “You might think you’re avoiding the thing you should be focusing on, but what if you think of it as spending time focusing on something else?”

Unno realized something after asking that question.

Kiyomasa had stopped moving. Her eyes were on the hand she had yet to remove from the rice ball she had just set down.

“Hey.”

“Eh? Oh, yes, testament. Sorry, I was thinking. But,” she added. “Sorry.”

She apologized a second time, but her tone was different this time.

And she continued with her eyebrows drooping in a smile.

“I was thinking the same thing just now.”

“You were?”

No, thought Unno. That wasn’t what she had to say. If she was being honest…

“That explains it.”

That was it.

…That’s right.

She couldn’t know for sure if they had been thinking the same thing. Everyone had their own worries, both personal and public. But if their problems had the same solution…

…That explains why it’s so easy for us to talk to each other.

They were both giving each other an excuse to “run away”. And if that was why they were here…

“Am I stuck in the past?” asked Kiyomasa.

“I’m saying this more to defend myself than you, but if you’re avoiding thinking about old things and focusing on what you need to do for the future, then it sounds like the opposite to me.”

After all…

“I bet it’s our focus on the future that makes this camp so useful for the underclassmen.”

“How strange.”

“What is?”

“We were trying to make an internal judgment on whether or not we’re doing the right thing here, but the external factors are already telling us we are.”

Which means…

“What really matters to us? Should we look to the problem we’re avoiding, or should we focus on what’s right in front of us?” She hung her head a bit. “But the more time passes, the more I feel like the problem I’m avoiding is going away forever. And if that happens, I’ll lose everything other than these external factors.”

“Hmm.”

How should I put this? Well, they do say honesty is a virtue. So…

“Sorry. You said a lot just now and I can’t keep up.”

“O-oh. Sorry.”

“Don’t worry about it.” Unno waved a hand dismissively.

…Based on the time we’ve spent together, she seems to make these wild leaps of logic sometimes.

Is she just that smart, or am I just too dumb to follow along? It’s like she suddenly finds the right answer inside her. But in that case…

…This probably gives her a lot of trouble.

Come to think of it, Kakei was like that. He was an idiot, but he was great at figuring out what was about to happen. So while I was only thinking of causing some trouble and earning us some points, he was carrying the weight of Sanada’s future on his shoulders. And…

“Oh.”

Now she saw the connection.

“You see…”

She began speaking to draw in that “connection” that had suddenly occurred to her.

“Until we lost to you, I always felt like the things right in front of me and the things inside me were the same.”

“But…”

“Let me speak.”

“Testament,” replied Kiyomasa, which was a relief. Kiyomasa understood this. Maybe she didn’t understand the exact issue, but she understood how to deal with that sort of issue.

I appreciate that. It’s weird finding so much similarity with a former enemy. I guess my god was looking out for me after all. Yomi wasn’t any use at all, but I still need to offer my thanks. I should bring some sake as an offering on my next visit. But for now…

“After losing to you, we didn’t know what we should focus on, so we came here and tried to fulfill our roles as best we could, but then Musashi started discussing Sanada’s future. Now, traveling all the way to Izumo was fun, but as much as we wanted to support Sanada’s future, this is still a small nation without much influence.”

They hadn’t known who was their enemy and ally.

“In the end, I never did make the decision I wanted to. I always started off looking so cool and managing everything so well, but everything changes when you have an opponent. That opponent can do everything you can. And then you have to deal with nations and societies and all that annoying stuff.”

But…

“Nothing ever went well for me in the end, but Sanada managed to pull it together and now your underclassmen and our people are doing well. What am I supposed to make of this?” she added, half as a complaint and half in relief. “I’m sure we have the people who passed away to thank for all of this, but it really is strange. Even when things aren’t going well for me, everything else is going well. The things in front of me can work out even when those aren’t the same as the what’s inside me. So…”

“Yes?”

“Maybe if I change what I’m focusing on, I could have been happier.”

That was a weird phrasing that mixed the present and past tense.

But Kiyomasa had a response.

“There’s the happiness you sought after and the happiness you got and you aren’t sure which one you want?”

“Exactly.” Unno smiled bitterly. “Maybe I’m just selfish.”

“What do you think you should do about it?”

Good question, thought Unno. Kakei, Miyoshi, Isa, the previous Sasuke and Saizou, and Old Man Danzou had all gone on ahead of her, but…

“They must have already done everything they could do.”

“––––”

When she got no response from Kiyomasa, she turned to look at her.

She found Kiyomasa gasp in realization and flip her rice ball on the grill.

“I…” said Kiyomasa.

“Save it. Hearing you out would probably only wear me out.”

“S-sorry…”

You don’t need to apologize. I made you sit through mine. But because of that…

“I have to wonder.”

Unno felt like there was another answer here. Maybe this was just another way of “running away”, though.

“But I am glad I got to discuss this with you.”

She had not done everything she could do. It had all ended before she could. But…

…Despite our differences, we’re all human.

They might have different worries, but they all worried in the same way. So…

“You probably would have worried about the same things if you had been in our situation.”

So, thought Unno.

…I can get past my resentment.

There was a time when she had wanted to defeat them and make them feel the same way. In fact, she had lived for that goal until quite recently.

But she saw things differently now.

She knew they could have ended up the same.

Knowing that feels like enough. There’s no need to prove it myself. Or is it arrogant to think it was ever up to me? Or maybe this is all just an excuse because I’m tired. Well, I do know one thing for sure. I can’t see you as enemies anymore.”

She was through. Something made her feel that way and she had decided it was true. Or she thought she had.

The other Ten Braves might see things differently, but she was through. So…

“I think I’m going to ‘retire’. There was a happiness I had hoped to find, but I think I’m going to leave that with my past self and find my next happiness somewhere else.”

“Is that not what you have here?”

Unno smiled with the corners of her mouth.

“Hah. I’m not ready to compromise that much. Right?”

She looked back toward the forest where the trees began to shake as some Terrestrial Dragons got up.

There were three of them and they saluted the night sky.

“We pay our respects to Unno-san’s convoluted life and personality and to the roundabout conclusion she has settled on!”

“I mean, what was that? Unno-san kept blathering on like she’s writing in a middle school dream journal.”

“Right? She should have figured this out ages ago! My! My, my!”

She threw her fan sword and the three of them ran away.

But without warning…

“Hey.”

A giant form arrived from beyond the village.

“Torahide? Were you eavesdropping?”

“Terrestrial Dragons have excellent hearing, you stupid girl. Here.”

He reached out his hand and lowered three sake barrels wrapped in straw.

“You haven’t done the bon festival yet, have you?”

“No, but we had that local festival recently, so do we need to?”

“Just do it after the break is over. Make sure you dance too. This is for the festival.”

The dragon made his demands, turned around, and left. The villagers watched him go and the children ran after him as he vanished into the forest below.

“No one here says anything directly, do they?” asked Kiyomasa.

“Yeah, I’ve noticed.”

It’s true, thought Unno. This was a small nation. It didn’t offer people the option of fulfilling their dreams for the future.

But even if you didn’t get quite what you wanted, if you held onto your dreams, someone would find a different form of happiness and it would live on in some way. That was how things worked here.

“That’s why.”

That was why she had decided to stay here. Or it was the reason she had settled on. She had only come up with it after the fact, but that seemed good enough for her. She might be in a different mood tomorrow, but as long as things settled down here…

“We’re all the same.”

Everyone – both enemy and ally – would eventually reach the same place with their after-the-fact happiness. So…

“How about you? Do your friends say things directly?”

Unno’s question made Kiyomasa think about herself.

The word friend made her think of one person first and foremost. She didn’t think that had changed, but…

…Fukushima-sama.

She honestly wondered what Fukushima was doing right now.

The fact that she was already feeling worried probably meant she had been terribly selfish and was now overwriting that with a different selfishness.

A selfishness that was extremely convenient for her. But…

“Not so much directly as ‘back and forth’ I suppose.”

Both she and Fukushima had an odd lack of self-confidence. Maybe it was due to sometimes winning and sometimes losing, but it was true they had a lofty goal.

“Just when I feel like we’ve finally made it to the peak, we slide back down.”

“But you don’t slide all the way down to the bottom, do you?”

“I’m too afraid to look down and see how solid my footing is, so when I slide down, I can’t tell if I’ve fallen more or less than last time.”

“Sounds like you have more serious issues than not saying things directly.”

Unno sounded genuine and it reminded Kiyomasa of just how many issues they did have. But she also felt like she tended to let others do the hard work for her.

She had often let someone climb on ahead of her and then watched them fall back down. And…

“I do support them and lift them so they won’t fall further than me.”

“That can’t be easy with history where it is.”

Kiyomasa knew Unno was referring to the Battle of Shizugatake fought against the Shibata forces, but that made her want to bow down and apologize.

…I’m so sorry. I’m only talking about a romantic problem.

And a very one-sided one at that. But…

“I wonder what she’s doing.”

Fukushima had met up with Shibata’s team. That team would be their opponent in the upcoming battle.

…I’m sorry.

For some reason, Kiyomasa felt the need to apologize.

I’m being selfish, she thought. Why am I trying to apologize after saying those things to you and forcing that whole mess on you?

Part of her felt it was too late to be thinking about all this, but none of it would reach Fukushima anyway. However…

“I have changed a lot too, haven’t I?”

Before, she had wanted Fukushima to know the pain she had felt, but now she wanted to take that back.

…Sigh.

Then I shouldn’t have said what I did.

And now I want her forgiveness.

“Oh.”

Kiyomasa realized why Fukushima had lied back then.

…She was being selfish.

Kiyomasa thought about Fukushima’s lie back then.

…What was that about?

Fukushima had deceived Kiyomasa, but she had thought she could preserve the status quo if it was overlooked.

What did that mean?

It was true Fukushima had lied. But if she hadn’t cared about Kiyomasa at all, she would have simply told the truth.

That meant she had lied in an attempt to preserve her relationship with Kiyomasa.

Kiyomasa knew she was being overly generous in her interpretation. She was letting herself be deceived. She told herself this would only lead to further lies and pain.

But she understood Fukushima’s selfishness.

Fukushima had been willing to lie to preserve their relationship.

“Honestly.”

And she had screwed it up so badly because honest people made for bad liars.

What should Kiyomasa have done then? She had known that was a lie, so…

…Fukushima-sama.

I should have done what I always do.

I should have simply asked her about it. I should have asked her why she lied. Then she could have told me she cared for me too.

Perhaps Fukushima had trusted that Kiyomasa would be willing to forgive a small lie like that. In fact, they couldn’t get along so well on the battlefield without the ability to forgive each other and shrug off small misunderstandings.

Kiyomasa had also acted out of character.

She usually accepted every last part of Fukushima, but this time she had given up on her and tried to push her away.

“I’m sorry.”

Once the words left her, she couldn’t stop it. Her vision blurred and she held a hand to her face.

“You made her cry!!” someone shouted from the forest and Unno ran after whoever it was.

That commotion made Kiyomasa smile even as she cried. And she felt certain that Fukushima was crying now too.

How could she dry those tears?

Training so much without stopping to eat was a mistake, thought Fukushima while collapsed on the rocks.

She was next to the waterfall basin at night.

She had just finished training in the water.

She had trained hard. Given it her all. She couldn’t have trained harder if she tried.

“Ha.”

She had wrung herself dry, until crawling back out of the water was the most she could manage.

She was soaked with water and all the water between her inner suit and skin was leaking back out.

She felt like she had wrung every last drop of sweat from her body because she had been training in the water for around 8 hours.

She would have been dehydrated if not for her reckless idea that she could simply drink the water around her when she was thirsty. Thanks to that, she was out of breath, but not thirsty. However…

…Water on an empty stomach isn’t the best.

It reminded her of training as a small child. She had been allowed to drink water during training, but she had felt her strength gradually fading the more she trained.

“They laughed at me for that.”

It made sense since water had no nutrients in it, but her young mind had assumed flavorless water would purify the body and keep her moving better than a sweet drink.

Now she knew better. But…

“Ha ha.”

Realizing she had made the same mistake again, she laughed out loud. That led to a further realization.

I haven’t laughed in a while. And…

“I am fine.”

Her body had moved how she wanted it.

She was breathing heavily, her pulse was racing, and she was so exhausted she could barely think.

Surely she would be able to sleep well tonight.

“I am fine.”

Yes, I am perfectly fine.

She repeated the words in her mind to drive them home to herself.

With everything else driven from her mind by exhaustion, she could tell herself she was fine and it would be true. Because if she didn’t-

“Oh.”

Fukushima had a sudden realization.

There was no one here to listen to or learn about her various thoughts.

She was all alone.

…What is this?

She had known she was alone. That was the entire point of going up in the mountains.

But this wasn’t about being physically alone.

This loneliness was something else.

“I…”

There was no one to listen to or hear her voice.

Here, below the night sky, she was the only person she could speak to.

She had no companions and she had so many questions.

…There is no one else here.

Which means, she thought.

“Ah.”

A tremor filled her breath.

“–––––”

Her view of the night sky suddenly blurred.

The blurring coincided with something much warmer than her face and cheeks dripping from the corners of her eyes.

They were tears.

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