[On a cold winter night.]
[You warm each other, greedily drawing in one another's heat.]
[Toru never notices your real thoughts. He thinks you have finally changed your mind.]
Hmm?
Real thoughts?
Seika frowns.
What does that mean?
Never having dated before, she is not very sensitive to certain things.
[You cross that final line. Toru's beautiful body leaves you intoxicated. You ask for him again and again without tiring.]
[Toru responds to you with equal passion, letting you taste a bliss you had never known. Your bodies fit perfectly, and years of familiarity make your first time together almost flawless.]
[You spend a wonderful night.]
[The next day, at your birthday party, Toru gives you a special gift. He binds together the thousands of photos he has taken of the two of you over the years into a single album.]
[Receiving it, you smile at him.]
[You are happy.]
[You believe deeply that you will always love him.]
[Just like he once promised, he will always love you, forever.]
[But sadly, you cannot accompany him to the end.]
[There are many wonderful girls around your younger boyfriend. He has never lacked affection from the opposite sex. Not in the past, not now, and definitely not in the future.]
[You are only his temporary girlfriend, someone to help him train experience.]
[Yesterday, you trained with him one last time, the most important time.]
[You feel this relationship has reached its end, and it is time to let it go.]
Did I choose wrong?
Seika realizes far too late.
The simulated version of herself, pushed into insecurity by the band's breakup and the loss of her dream.
Plus the age gap between the two.
In a situation like this, giving her body to him becomes a final goodbye.
"What have I done."
It's over.
One mistake leads to another.
It's fine, it's fine, there must be a way back.
Seika believes there must be a way to fix things later.
And besides, Toru loves her so much, there is no way he would agree to break up so easily.
[On Christmas Day.]
[You tell him you want to break up.]
[Toru refuses.]
See?
I told you, he loves me too much to agree.
[The next day.]
[You bring up breaking up again, more firmly than before.]
[Toru does not refuse immediately. He wants to hear your thoughts.]
["Nee-san, be honest, don't lie to me. Do you really not like me anymore?… If I did something wrong, I can change. Please, don't leave me, okay?"]
[His voice is confused and timid, like a lost little creature, painful to hear.]
["I'm tired of it. Let's break up."]
[You lie to him.]
[You still like him, you cannot reject him, but liking someone means knowing when to let go, to give him a better life.]
[After a long silence.]
["Alright, I'll respect your decision." Toru gives a self-mocking smile. After being together for more than ten years, he still failed to make you ignore society's opinions and stay with him.]
[He does not blame you. Toru believes the fault lies in himself, that he is still not good enough to make you abandon everything for him.]
[You break up.]
[It feels like something has changed, yet nothing has.]
[Toru still calls you nee-san.]
[There is no awkwardness when you interact.]
[But you know that without the temporary lovers' bond, there is no longer any future between you.]
[Toru will eventually marry another woman and have children. In his future, you may exist, but not as a wife, not as a lover, only as family, as his sister.]
[That winter is especially cold.]
[During the New Year season, Toru's head aches. It seems to be a side effect from the car accident he had as a child, leaving him dazed and unfocused.]
[The brain is the most delicate organ of the human body. Even a small injury can cause severe harm.]
[His mother worries and sends him to the hospital.]
[After some tests, Toru seems fine at first, but the next night he falls into a coma.]
[He does not wake until the next morning.]
[You have triggered a special event. Would you like to receive partial memories?]
After choosing yes.
A memory slowly rises in Seika's mind.
◇
The hospital room is spotless and white.
In the early morning, sunlight seeps through the window and wakes the boy on the bed.
His long lashes tremble slightly before he opens his eyes.
Did I lose my memory?
Holding his forehead, Toru tries to recall what happened, but notices nothing amiss.
This simulation…
He remembers using the perfect ending card and entering Ijichi Seika's route.
After that, he became childhood friends with Seika.
Other than that, something else…
As if…
There was an important person.
Someone he must not forget.
Someone he does not want to forget.
A few minutes pass.
Unable to recall anything, Toru gives up.
If he truly loved someone, no temporary memory loss could erase that.
Even if he can't remember today, in a few years or ten years, he will recall eventually.
At that moment.
Footsteps sound at the door.
Following the noise, Toru sees a long-haired blonde woman pushing the door open.
She looks anxious, her expression filled with motherly concern.
"Toru, does anything still hurt? Did you forget anything? The doctor said your collapse might be from the aftereffects of your old accident."
"Mom, don't worry. I woke up, didn't I?"
Toru smiles lightly.
After Ijichi Mama enters,
Ijichi Seika walks in right behind her.
The next second, Toru's gaze meets hers.
And immediately,
Seika senses something wrong.
In the past, Toru always looked at her with overflowing affection, like a mountain spring endlessly rising.
But today, that affection is gone.
The spring runs dry, no longer what it used to be.
After the breakup, he finally stopped liking me.
Realizing this,
A dull pain spreads in her stomach.
Memories of all their sweet moments flash across her mind.
She feels a little sick.
"Nee-san Seika, are you alright?"
Toru doesn't know how to address her and chooses a simple form.
Hearing this, Ijichi Mama jokes, "Toru, what's with you today? Why aren't you calling her Nee-chan like always?"
He and her eldest daughter had always been closest. Changing how he addressed her felt like petty stubbornness.
"Nee-chan?"
Toru thinks for several seconds, then looks confused, "Was I close with Nee-san Seika?"
Then he turns to her with a slightly unfamiliar gaze.
…
In that cold and distant look,
Seika remembers the winter more than ten years ago.
That freezing street corner.
The boy curled beside a trash bin, pitiful and helpless.
And the first timid word he ever said to her, Nee-san.
He said he would repay her for a lifetime.
Countless thoughts crash through her chest.
Her vision blurs. She stumbles and presses her palm to the wall to keep from falling.
"Seika, are you alright?"
Ijichi Mama quickly supports her.
Seika forces a strained expression, filled with countless layers of bitterness.
"I'm fine, just a little low on sugar."
From now on,
Their relationship can never return to what it once was.
Cutting ties to give him a better life...
Clearly, this is the ending she thought she wanted so badly.
So why…
Why does her heart hurt so much?
————