Bye bye, Mafuyu!

Bye. See you tomorrow.

(I'm finally alone...)

(Another exhausting day... But...)

...

...

Mom, I'm back.

Welcome home, Mafuyu.
How was school today?

What happened today...?
Oh, we played softball during P.E.

Oh, I see.
That must've been a nice stress reducer.

It was. Getting my body loose really helped me focus during my afternoon classes...

Yes, that's wonderful.

I'm sure you're very hungry.
We'll be having dinner earlier than usual, so why don't you get changed?

Okay, then I'll go upstairs and...

Oh, speaking of which...

...?
Yes, Mom?

About your instrument...

I put it out with the garbage today.

What...?

I fully understand that you don't wish to give up music...

However, won't your mind wander if it stayed in the house? Especially now since you really need to be focusing on your studies.

Also, you said that you'd stop.
Which is why I thought now was a good time.

R-Right...

T-That's fine...
I... I don't need it right now anyway...

See?
I'm glad you understand, Mafuyu.

*Nod*

Oh, there's also something I need to apologize to you about...

What...?

Remember how I've been borrowing your computer to look up some things?

I took the liberty of using it again today but accidentally spilled my drink on it...

...!

It lost power after that, so I decided to send it out for repairs.

Again, I'm very sorry. I hope you didn't have any of your homework saved to it.

If you did, I can always ask your teachers to...

R-Really...?

Huh?

Did you really...?

Really what...?

Oh...

Um, it's nothing...
My homework shouldn't be an issue...

I'm going to get changed...

...

What do I do...?

Fight back...?

But... How...?

How am I supposed to...?

*Sigh*
Classes were such a pain...

They keep saying that I'm gonna have to repeat a year, but I honestly couldn't care less about that right now.

Oh, it's almost noon.
I should log onto Nightcord and...

<Heya!
We're live today from the rooftop of Kamiyama High!>

<Oh, Amia, you're at school today...?>

<Yup. They keep bugging me about my attendance. Because of that, I can't really work today, but I do wanna chat and stuff♪>

<So, where's Yuki at?>

<Still hasn't logged on.
But I'm guessing she will soon if we give her a minute.>

<Also, if we keep meeting like this, we're gonna have to change our name from “Nightcord at 25:00” to “Nightcord at 12:30”...>

<Sorry about the delay...>

<Hey, Yuki!
Wait, you're on voice chat today...?>

<Yes...
I found a place where not many other people are around...>

<Cool!
Wait, actually...Yuki...>

<You don't sound very happy...>

<...>

<Don't tell me something happened again...>

<Mafuyu...?>

<...>

<She threw away my synthesizer...>

<What...?!>

<My computer's also gone...>

<Oh...>

(So, she's making her move...)

<At the moment, I only have my phone... But I can still work.>

<At the same time, I can't tell what's going to happen moving forward...>

<So...
If you lose contact with me suddenly... I'm sorry in advance.>

<...!
You shouldn't be the one who's apologizing...!>

<...
I'm sorry.>

<...>

<But if something like that does happen...
Let's meet up at our usual diner!>

<We should pick a date now so that we'll still be able to see each other just in case.>

<Okay...>

<Thank you...>

<Mafuyu...>

<...>

<You're really just gonna let her have her way...?>

<Ena...>

<She threw away something that meant a lot to you, right?>

<That's like her saying your real thoughts and feelings belong in the trash! Am I wrong...?!>

<But...>

<Mom...
She cares about...>

<...!>

<Okay, fine... Let's say you're right...
Even so, now's not the time for any of that...!>

<You need to show her that you're mad...
Because if you don't, she's gonna smash you to pieces!>

<...>

<B-But...>

<But I... I can't...>

<...!
Even if it means—>

<I said I can't!!!>

<I...! I just can't...!>

<...!>

<I'm scared...>

<I don't know why, but I've always been afraid...>

<I'm so scared...!>

(Mafuyu...)

<Sorry...>

<I need to head back. I have class soon...>

<Wait, Mafuyu!>

<We'll be waiting for you right here tomorrow!>

<...>