Getting too close to anyone is a disaster; just as love reaches its peak and every next step slides downhill, the most beautiful relationships between people are the ones that pass like drifting water.
Becoming mutually dependent inevitably grinds people down. Forming intimate ties is a painful act in itself. There's no solution to that problem—the only way is to skip that possibility entirely.
After thinking about this while in the simulation, Narumi Tōru made a choice.
Now, speed up the story.
[One night passed. The comet that should have flown by did not visit Miyazaki's sky. Even though you waited until dawn, you missed the miracle — an omen, perhaps, of an unfulfilled wish.]
[Yukinoshita Yukino woke with a start in the back seat of your car, only to find the vehicle empty except for herself. She opened the door and searched for you for nearly half an hour with no sign of you, until the Yukinoshita family's car came along the coastal road and intercepted her.]
[She was scooped into her parents' hurried embrace; her sister's face relaxed as she patted Yukino's head. Yukino seemed to understand something, and she stopped speaking — she only bowed her head and put the whistle in her mouth.]
[No matter how loud the whistle, it did nothing. All the wishes failed to come true, and she had lost the most precious presence.]
That's what she thought, at least — until some time later, when good news arrived from the hospital.
[Yukino's condition could now be treated with a pancreas transplant. The Yukinoshita family, who had never secured a compatible organ, recently received a voluntary donor notice. Under hospital and institutional arrangements, Yukino underwent a pancreatic transplant; she no longer needed to gamble everything on an overseas, long, painful treatment.]
[As her body recovered, Yukino's relationship with her family slowly returned to a healthy track. During that period she never stopped looking for news of a man named Narumi Tōru, but Yōno never mentioned your whereabouts.]
Well — saying it aloud would have been a cliché and an outdated plot beat anyway.
[Your reckless, over-energetic behavior always tired her out, but when you suddenly disappeared without a trace she asked everyone who'd been involved with you about your whereabouts, making everyone around her unconsciously think of you.]
[For days, months, years she kept at it. Time flew by; when she finally found an answer, she stopped pressing about where you were and understood why her family had stayed silent all along.]
[Yukinoshita Yukino graduated from Sōbu High with top grades. With Yōno's support she turned down the college path her parents had planned and, thanks to excellent exam results, entered one of Tokyo's most prestigious universities — a bright future lay ahead.]
[Although many suitors surrounded her, she formed no attachments: neither with childhood friend Hayama Hayato nor with clubmate Hikigaya Hachiman did she move beyond a polite, not-too-close relationship. Even when her parents tried to arrange socially suitable matches, Yōno always blocked them.]
[Years passed like that, and those days you spent together became a fleeting dream. Sometimes, though, people need memory to keep living — at least that was true for her.]
[Yukino ended up living the life she wanted: no one could control her fate, and her frail body grew healthy again. Your objective was met, Tōru. Congratulations.]
Everything blurred; of Narumi's five senses only hearing still worked.
Yes. It was over. It was time for the simulation's final accounting.
[Ending achieved: A Mistake in the Stars. Sacrificing yourself so that someone else can have a full life is a noble act and the kind that lives on in memory. For Yukinoshita Yukino, the memory and feelings tied to you are like a comet that never came — forever frozen on that one night. Your story will have no sequel, and yet it will never truly end.]
[Self-sync: SS. Story completion: A+. Influence: SS. Ending rating: S. Overall evaluation: S+. Given that this is your first run, scoring standards have been relaxed. Still, for a first simulation, your performance was striking.]
That high a score was probably part of a newbie bonus — systems like to keep players hungry.
[Unlocked entries: "Blue Love of Life and Death," "I Want to Eat Your Pancreas," "The Night the Comet Came," "The Day the Stars and You Vanished," "Springheart Stirrer of Boys and Girls," … a total of 14 entries.]
Wait — "stirrer of boys' spring hearts"? Which boy was stirred? Hikigaya, are you actually…?
[Positive traits you inherit from this simulation: "hardcore cinephile," "motor-vehicle driving skill unlocked," "silver-tongued rhetoric comparable to a presidential hopeful."]
All of those sound kind of useless… and that last one doesn't seem like a compliment.
[Because your first simulation receives generous scoring as part of newbie protection, corresponding rewards are diluted for balance. Please understand.]
[Because your overall rating reached S and above, you unlocked the rare entry: "Whimsical Novelist at Will." You've perfectly inherited your creative talent from this simulation; with the ending bonus your writing may exceed your past self. After exiting the simulation, trying your hand at writing in the real world may bring unexpected gains.]
[This concludes your first simulation experience. The trip was neither long nor short. Thank you for your patience — I sincerely look forward to our next meeting.]
Like a TV loop shutting off inside his skull, the blockade that had muted his senses vanished. Narumi's awareness drifted back to reality.
He looked down. The floor of the school corridor was directly beneath his gaze.
Right — he'd been walking with Ms. Hiratsuka when he suddenly slipped into the simulation.
"Narumi — what are you spaced out for?"
He looked up. Ms. Hiratsuka Shizuka stood there, a little worried.
"Did you skip breakfast today? You look out of it. Don't stand like that if you want your club leader to notice you — pull yourself together."
"Club leader…?"
"Yes. I brought you here to join this club. For a stubborn kid like you, it's easier if your peers give you some discipline."
Hiratsuka laughed and put an arm around the still-dazed Narumi's shoulders, steering him toward the activity room at the end of the hall—
A place Narumi knew all too well.
The sign on the door read "Servicing Club". He knew that sign intimately.
"…?"
It felt like fate's roulette wheel had finally pointed where it should.
Narumi froze for a few seconds, having guessed what was about to happen, then pushed open the half-closed door —
[At this moment, your story with her will either draw to a close or remain unwritten — the choice now awaits you.]
The system's mischievous voice rang in his head as the familiar figure of a girl stepped into his sight.