Epilogue | Rebirth

♢♢♢

The first day of the culture festival was over.

From outside, the voices of students cleaning up the festival could be heard.

In the sales venue, bathed in the red glow of the setting sun—we popped the crackers we’d prepared.

“Congrats on turning a profit~~~~!!”

On the first day alone, eighty percent of our inventory sold out!

As a result, we barely hit the profit line!

Our you team’s monumental first sales event ended in a huge success!

Huh? It was a huge success, right?

I mean, it felt like we might sell out over two days, didn’t it?

Man, that last-minute rush was insane.

Even I, running around outside, was in total chaos.

Yuu and the others managed to handle it well too, so that’s a relief.

(Well, this is all thanks to my producing skills, right!)

My achievements are mine.

My Onii-chan’s achievements are mine too.

You could say it’s the fruit of my signature begging move.

Sure, there were some hiccups with the sales venue’s design, but we made up for it elsewhere.

If this isn’t producing talent, then what is?

I had my doubts along the way, but results are everything.

As expected, I’m the perfect partner for Yuu’s dreams!

Oh, I’m so loved by the gods it’s almost scary.

Yuu!

Let’s stay together forever until the day of our downfall comes♡

…Just kidding.

That day’s never coming, though. Pfft, haha!

“Himari, good work.”

“Yeah! Good work, Yuu♪”

Yuu and I exchanged a cheerful high-five.

A cheerful high-five…

…A cheerful, high-five?

“Those last customers were intense. If you and Enomoto-san hadn’t handled them outside, this venue would’ve seriously collapsed.”

“Y-Yeah, totally. I was shocked too.”

I laughed it off with an “ahaha” and turned my face away from Yuu.

…Huh?

I shook my head vigorously to brush off that weird feeling.

It’s just my imagination, right?

Uh, umm… Oh!

“Enocchi, good work too♪”

“Yeah. Good work, Hii-chan.”

Gotta celebrate our achievements with Enocchi too!

Man, Enocchi’s seriously amazing, though.

Even with that crazy rush of customers, her costume didn’t get dirty at all.

Since it’s a rental, I was worried about what we’d do if it got torn.

“Oh, Mei-chan, good work too♪”

“Yes, sir…”

Mei-chan seems a little down…

She must be pretty exhausted, huh.

Gotta give her some proper support. After all, she’s the first apprentice of our you team!

I held out a Yoghurppe.

“Here. Like sweet stuff?”

“Th-Thank you…”

Mei-chan sipped the lactic acid drink.

While basking in the afterglow of victory, we started cleaning up.

Yuu was packing the leftover accessories into a cardboard box, muttering something under his breath.

Oh, he’s talking to the flowers.

As expected of Yuu, the beautiful alchemist who always pours love into his flowers (lol)!

I really love that about Yuu—

Yuu’s eyes looked dead.

…

…Huh?

We turned a profit, right?

We achieved our goal, didn’t we?

I thought he’d be happier… Where’d those usual sparkly eyes go?

I figured Yuu, being Yuu, would already be fired up about the next goal with a big “Woah!”

What’s this?

This chilling sense of unease…

“Hey, Yuu? Did something happen…?”

“Huh?”

Yuu shook his head, his eyes still lifeless.

“No, not really…”

“H-Hmm. Okay…”

…No, no, no, no.

Something obviously happened!

I’ve never seen Yuu push himself like this before!

I whispered to Mei-chan.

“Mei-chan, did something happen to Yuu?”

“Yuu-senpai, you mean?”

“Like, did someone say something at the sales event, or maybe break an accessory…”

“…He helped me out with a little trouble, but he’s been like that the whole time?”

Yeah, she wouldn’t know, huh.

Anyway, it’s clear Yuu’s mentally shot.

As his partner in fate, I’ve gotta do something about this!

“Yuu, listen…”

“Oh, right. Himari.”

“Huh!? W-What’s up?”

Caught off guard by him suddenly bringing it up, I flinched.

That was a mistake.

Yuu gave me a calm smile and said,

“The sales event turned a profit, so how about we make tomorrow your day?”

“Huh…”

I thought about what that meant.

The sales event turned a profit.

Goal achieved.

With so little inventory left, there’s no point in continuing?

So that means?

Tomorrow—

“Is that okay!?”

“Yeah. You held back for me, and we hit the profit mark.”

Tomorrow’s a day to enjoy the culture festival!

The dream part’s done, so tomorrow’s for love!

In other words, a reward day!

I jumped up with a “Yahoo!”

I grabbed Mei-chan’s hands and danced a happy jig with her.

“Mei-chan, you’ll hang out with us too, right?”

“Is that okay!?”

“Of course♪ Let’s get even closer, okay?”

Mei-chan squinted happily.

What an honest, adorable underclassman.

This culture festival’s been so much fun.

I proved I’m worthy of being his dream partner, and we even got a cute junior like her.

If this is a dream, I hope I never wake up♪

Yeah…

—The situation was so perfect that I let my guard down.

I was so happy Yuu suggested enjoying the festival together that I didn’t notice.

The moment I got excited—Yuu looked down with a hint of sadness.

“Alright! Then let’s finish cleaning up today—”

Just as we were getting pumped up—

“That’s no good.”

The one who stopped us… was Enocchi, who’d been silent until now.

Enocchi stared at us with a serious gaze.

“E-Enocchi? Why…”

“You have to keep the sales event going. That’s just you wanting to goof off, Hii-chan.”

“That’s not true. Yuu said it himself…”

Huh?

Yuu’s just staying quiet.

What’s this?

Why does it feel like I’m the weird one here?

“Oh, maybe Enocchi’s jealous ’cause she thought she wouldn’t get invited? Of course, you’re coming too, Enocchi♪”

—Smack. Enocchi slapped my hand away.

The room froze.

Enocchi spoke quietly… but her voice rang clear.

“Shii-kun’s three conditions, remember? If opinions split, my say comes first.”

“…!?”

Before the culture festival.

The three conditions Makishima-kun proposed and Yuu accepted.

One: Until the culture festival ends, the three of us always act together when making accessories.

Two: The accessory motif has to be Enocchi.

Three: If the members disagree, Enocchi’s opinion takes priority.

Enocchi turned to Yuu.

“Yuu-kun, did you want to make memories at the festival?”

“N-No, that’s not what I…”

“Then why are you acting like it’s already over?”

“Because we turned a profit. The goal’s met, so the rest of the time can go to hanging out with Himari…”

“That’s—”

Enocchi cut him off with an especially loud voice.

“That’s thanks to Hibari-san and the others, right?”

“…!?”

Enocchi pressed on ruthlessly.

“What did you do, Yuu-kun?”

“W-Well, I…”

I listened in a daze.

Yuu made the accessories.

That was supposed to be his role.

Spreading it to the outside world was my role.

So I produced it and led us to profit.

That’s always been the promise between us.

We were supposed to have achieved our goal like this.

So why does Yuu look like he’s about to cry?

“…I don’t want to do it anymore.”

The words slipped out like a quiet scream.

I got a bad feeling.

I instinctively tried to cover my ears—but I couldn’t.

“We aimed for profit at the sales event. I learned something about the relationship between low-price items and venue setup. We even hit profit on the first day. It couldn’t have been a bigger success…”

Then he shouted in anguish.

“But my flowers didn’t want this sales event…!”

Something inside Yuu had broken.

It was probably his dream, I think.

The dream flowers he’d chased so hard felt like they’d snapped at the roots.

He didn’t want to admit it, still wanted to grab onto something… his heart seemed to be screaming.

“At the Tokyo solo exhibition, I saw it. When the petunia accessory sold, something sparkly pointed me toward the future. Ahead of me were Tenma-kun and Sanae-san, everyone running toward something beyond, desperate to reach it…”

I couldn’t understand those words.

Because I didn’t go to Tokyo with him.

Yuu saying something I couldn’t grasp—it felt awful.

“That’s where I wanted to go. But that place…”

Yuu clenched his teeth hard.

I could see his eyes clouding over with murkiness.

“That place wasn’t somewhere my flowers would be happy. I can’t become a strong creator like Tenma-kun by killing myself. If that’s the case, it’s better to do things at our own pace like Himari wants, right? So…”

‘I don’t need dreams anymore.’

The moment he was about to say those decisive words—

Enocchi slapped both of Yuu’s cheeks with her hands.

Yuu’s squished mouth looked like a duck’s.

“…E-Enomoho-san?”

Staring straight into his face, Enocchi said,

“Did that empty your head?”

Kneading Yuu’s cheeks, Enocchi declared with a dignified air,

“You just took the wrong path, that’s all. You haven’t reached anywhere yet, Yuu-kun. Stop acting like you know it all.”

Yuu trembled as if waking up at Enocchi’s words.

“If it’s a dead end, just walk again. Turn back, find another path, and keep going. There are still accessories left, right? The sales event’s got one more day.”

Then she grinned.

It was a challenging smile. A beautiful smile, like a femme fatale seducing a man. Yet somehow, it was so gentle and full of compassion.

I couldn’t take my eyes off her expression.

Because Enocchi looked so beautiful.

“A mistake doesn’t mean it’s over. How long are you planning to stay in your little box? Didn’t you decide to live out in the world?”

And finally, she whispered in his ear as if pushing him away,

“You think experience points go to someone who doesn’t fight to the end, you idiot?”

“…”

Yuu’s clouded eyes wavered just a little.

Just for a moment.

Slowly, a flicker of light began to grow in those eyes.

His dream was breathing again.

Like a forcibly suppressed emotion, asleep all this time, had finally woken up.

There was an emotion that, no matter how many times he forgot it, would always rise again.

Even if it broke once, it’d stand back up.

Even if he looked away once, he’d chase it again.

Even if he gave up once, he’d find a new path and challenge it.

I thought, people who make their dreams come true must be like this.

Even if they throw it away, they pick it up again and again.

Worn out, frayed, its original shape long gone.

The ones who keep moving forward with pure emotion are the ones who seize their dreams.

They don’t spare a glance for anything else.

There’s probably a place in this world only those who need nothing else can reach.

Enocchi answered him now.

Even though that was supposed to be my job.

—So, does that mean the current me isn’t good enough?

♢♢♢

After finishing the sales event cleanup, homeroom ended.

Yuu went with Mei-chan to redesign the sales venue for tomorrow.

I—was with Enocchi, just the two of us, in front of the gardening club’s flowerbed.

In the unplanted flowerbed, tiny weed sprouts were popping up here and there. Staring at them, Enocchi said,

“Hii-chan.”

“W-What…?”

My heart skipped a beat as I replied.

Feeling super awkward, I fidgeted with my bangs, tugging at them.

“Do you remember when Yuu-kun had his accessory broken before?”

“Y-Yeah…”

That was back in June.

When Yuu made a custom accessory for a schoolmate, and one of them broke it. Because of that, a big penalty was slapped on Yuu’s sales event for this culture festival.

Back then, Yuu even said he’d “quit making accessories and take a break.”

“When Yuu-kun said he wanted to stop making accessories, you stopped him, right, Hii-chan? We decided to keep aiming high together, didn’t we? So why are you coddling him now? Why’d you make me say something like that earlier?”

“Th-That’s… because…”

Because.

What?

Because what?

What—do I even want?

“Did you think, ‘I’m his lover now, so that’s enough’?”

Enocchi’s words stabbed sharply into my chest.

It was suffocating, like I was drowning.

I tried to say something, but no words came out.

Because I didn’t have anything to say that could convince Enocchi.

I let my guard down.

I worked so hard to prove I could keep being his dream partner, but at the very end, I slipped. A chance to enjoy the festival with Yuu. I jumped at the carrot dangled in front of me.

“Is the dream you’re chasing with Yuu-kun just that small to you, Hii-chan?”

“…”

A single tear rolled down my cheek.

It’s not that Enocchi’s words were wrong.

They were all right.

Because they’re right, it hurts this much.

At some point, I’d taken the wrong path.

When did it happen?

Since when did I assume the path I was on was still the right one, unchanged?

Before I knew it, I couldn’t see anything anymore.

I was standing still in thick fog.

What I thought was my dream.

What I thought was the path to happiness, walking with Yuu.

It was all an illusion.

The sweet vagueness felt good, and I forgot to make the harsh decisions.

Even though I knew that was the worst thing for a partner in fate.

As I struggled to respond, Enocchi let out a sigh.

“Then I’ll take the partner-in-fate role, okay?”

Enocchi’s eyes—were serious.