Before leaving the house, Emi Eura said two last things to her mother in the corner:
"This should do."
"I really don't know anything, so everything I just said was only a hypothesis, a series of what-ifs."
The conversation between Karuizawa Kei and Horikita Suzune continued. Horikita nodded earnestly.
"One of humanity's most admirable abilities is the ability to change."
"If we can manage it, we can be better every day than we were the day before. Given enough time..."
Horikita had a clear goal and a plan. Though Kitagawa Ryo considered it a hopelessly crooked path, she was indeed making plans for her goal and working tirelessly toward it. She spoke those words based on her own growth.
But Karuizawa Kei cut her off decisively.
"What if you die?"
Karuizawa Kei reached up and swept the hair on the right side of her forehead aside. There was a scar there, six or seven centimeters long, winding over her scalp like a centipede. She showed Horikita Suzune the scar and gave a self-mocking sneer.
If Horikita Suzune liked exposing other people's lies so much, then she might as well lay her past bare. She would tell her plainly: yes, everything about her was fake, an act. At her core, she was a weak and useless girl, fragile enough to have nearly died.
"Do you know why I didn't want Ryo and Emi Eura to meet alone?"
At last, Karuizawa Kei had taken control of the conversation. She began speaking with reckless abandon.
Emi Eura and Karuizawa Kei weren't strangers to each other. The scar on Karuizawa Kei's head was Emi Eura's handiwork.
Kitagawa Ryo wasn't surprised that Emi Eura had shown up on time. Perhaps both of them knew exactly what the other intended. They each wanted to