After all, Ash was a child from another family whom they had found after he had been separated from his own. No matter how close they became, they would eventually have to send him home, and that also meant parting with him.
She had only spent such a short time with him, yet merely thinking about it already filled her with reluctance. What about Aida Mana, who had taken him in and spent every day with him for so long? Rikka, especially, knew very well that beneath her friend's optimistic, cheerful, sociable exterior lay a heart that feared loneliness deeply.
Even Rikka could not bear to imagine just how reluctant Mana must have felt inside as she spoke those words.
"So..."
What had begun as a joking tone gradually became tinged with an indescribable heaviness as Mana lowered her head and continued in a muffled voice.
"When that time comes, I really won't know what expression I should make to say goodbye to you..."
"It'll be okay, Mana!"
Just as Mana was becoming so overwhelmed that she did not know what to do, she felt a pair of little hands gently rest on her shoulders and help her stand back up, her eyes still red.
Just like when they had first met and their roles had been reversed, the boy, whose tone now brimmed with optimism and whose face wore a smile, began comforting the dejected Aida Mana instead.
"No matter when it is, no matter how many times we part, it's always so that we can meet again someday, embracing an even brighter future!"
Mana did not know why a child like him could remain so optimistic when talking about farewells, as if he had already experienced them countless times. But when she saw the smile he offered her,