We Escape to Survive - 7: To Survive

Mafuyu's Room

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1

Mafuyu

(This isn't good...)

2

Mafuyu

(Lately, my head...
Has been feeling so heavy. I'm struggling to fall asleep...)

3

Mafuyu

(It's 25:00...)

4

Mafuyu

(The others are probably working right now...)

5

Mafuyu

(Since I can't sleep, I can work on my lyrics on my phone...)

6

Mafuyu

(Oh, I left it on my desk...
I need to go get it...)

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7

Mafuyu

(It's too dark. I can't see...
Where's my phone...?)

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8

Mafuyu

(Oh, my phone...)

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9

Mafuyu

...!

10

Mafuyu

(That sound... Mom...?)

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11

Mafuyu's Mother

Mafuyu...?

12

Mafuyu's Mother

...

13

Mafuyu's Mother

Was that my imagination...?

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14

Mafuyu

...

15

Mafuyu

(She worried about me, right...?)

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16

Mafuyu

(Mom's just looking out for...)

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17

Ena

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

18

Ena

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

19

Ena

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

20

Mafuyu

(No...)

21

Mafuyu

(Mom... She just...!)

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22

Mafuyu

(Huh? A message...?)

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23

Mafuyu

Mizuki...?

24

Mizuki's Message

<Sorry, I know it's late.
But I wanna talk to you about something.>

25

Mizuki's Message

<Can you meet with me sometime soon?
I'm hoping that we can talk in person.>

26

Mafuyu

(In person...?)

27

Mafuyu

(But I have club activities when I don't have cram school. And on the days when I do have to go to cram school...)

28

Mizuki's Message

<We can meet whenever you're free by the way! Still, I do sorta want to see you sooner rather than later...>

29

Mizuki's Message

<There's something I need to tell you.>

30

Mafuyu

...

31

Mizuki

She still hasn't replied...

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32

Mizuki

Uh oh... What if her phone got taken away...?

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33

Mizuki

Oh, she responded!

34

Mafuyu's Message

<I can meet tomorrow after school.>

35

Mizuki

...!
Awesome!

36

Mizuki

<Thanks, Yuki!
Then, I'll meet you out in front of the station!>

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37

Mizuki

All set...!

The next day

After school

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38

Mizuki

(It's almost time...)

39

Mizuki

Oh!

40

Mizuki

Mafuyu! Over here!

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41

Mafuyu

Mizuki...

42

Mizuki

Thanks for agreeing to meet with me today! So, how much time do you have to spare...?

43

Mafuyu

Until cram school ends, so I'd say until nine...

44

Mizuki

Wait, until cram school ends...?
Does that mean you're skipping?

45

Mizuki

Are you sure about that?
What if your mom finds out...?

46

Mafuyu

It's okay. They don't call home or anything whenever I'm not there...

47

Mafuyu

But...

48

Mizuki

But?

49

Mafuyu

I randomly ran into my dad the other day...

50

Mafuyu

So, I'm a little worried that he might find out...

51

Mizuki

Okay...

52

Mizuki

Then, let's move somewhere else before we talk.

53

Mafuyu

Thank you...

54

Mizuki

No problem!
There's actually somewhere I've been planning to check out!

55

Mafuyu

Huh...?

SpoJoy Park

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56

Mizuki

Alright, here we are!

57

Mafuyu

Wait, this is...

58

Mizuki

SpoJoy Park!
Remember? It's where Kanade and Ena went that other time! I've been wanting to go ever since!

59

Mizuki

So, Mafuyu, what do you wanna do first?!

60

Mafuyu

What do I want to do...?
I thought we were going to talk today...

61

Mizuki

Yeah, but you've been studying nonstop lately. It's important to take breaks from time to time, right?

62

Mizuki

Plus, Kanade and the others said they had a lot of fun! I'm sure we'll feel refreshed after we move our bodies around a little!

63

Mizuki

Oh, Mafuyu, do you know how to rollerblade?

64

Mafuyu

I roller skated some when I was little...

65

Mizuki

Great!
Then, we can try it together!

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66

Mizuki

Whoa, Mafuyu!
You're really good!

67

Mafuyu

I am...?
Rolling forward doesn't seem all that difficult...

68

Mizuki

Hahaha!
Kanade would probably feel awful if you told her that!

69

Mizuki

Anyway, since you seem fine, let's have a race! The last one to that side has to buy the winner a drink!

70

Mafuyu

But I'm not thirsty.

71

Mizuki

What?! No, wait!
That means you think you're gonna win, right?!

72

Mizuki

But I'm no slouch!
So, ready... Go!

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73

Mizuki

Whoa, nice! That's three panels back to back! Why are you so good at this...?!

74

Mafuyu

It may be because we played softball during P.E. the other day...

75

Mafuyu

You can have the drink I won since you won during our race...

76

Mizuki

Wait, are you sure?
I mean, I feel pretty bad about jumping the gun back there...

77

Mafuyu

I'd rather you have it since it'll actually taste good to you.

78

Mafuyu

Anyway, about what you wanted to talk to me...

79

Mizuki

Yeah...

80

Mizuki

But are you sure you don't wanna keep doing more stuff?

81

Mafuyu

...?
I thought you asked to meet with me because...

82

Mizuki

That can wait!
Just bear with me for a bit longer!

83

Mizuki

So, let's head to the mall!!

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84

Mizuki

Whew! That was so much fun!
And I got in some good shopping♪

85

Mafuyu

Did you really need to take that long to pick out a single outfit...?

86

Mizuki

Absolutely!
I worked hard for this money, so what I buy's gotta be the cutest thing in the world!

87

Mizuki

Because I've regretted not getting certain clothes and stuff in another color before, you know...?! So much so that I wanna go back in time and stop myself from buying those things!

88

Mafuyu

Really?

89

Mizuki

Anyway, do you feel a little better...?

90

Mafuyu

What...?

91

Mizuki

I ask because you seem more relaxed now.

92

Mafuyu

I do...?

93

Mafuyu

Actually, I might be feeling a little better...

94

Mizuki

Haha! That's good to hear!

95

Mizuki

Whenever it feels like the walls are closing in on you, taking your mind off things by doing something else can help, right?

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96

Mizuki

In those situations, I always ran towards the things that felt safe and allowed me to relax.

97

Mizuki

It's why I felt that you also needed something or somewhere you could run to, Mafuyu.

98

Mafuyu

Oh...

99

Mafuyu

Is this what you wanted to...?

Mizuki

Hehe. Sorry...
I thought it'd be best to just do it.

Mizuki

It's a little different from what you're going through, but the truth is, I also went through a period where I wasn't really allowed to be myself...

Mafuyu

...

Mizuki

A lot of things happened while I was in junior high that led to me becoming the subject of everyone's ridicule. I constantly got all these weird looks...

Mizuki

As rough as that was, watching anime and making videos helped me get through it...

Mafuyu

But that probably didn't...

Mizuki

I know. It didn't actually solve anything.

Mizuki

I went about it pretty aimlessly, and going to school eventually became too much for me. Even the one person I could talk to ended up graduating...

Mizuki

That made things unbearable.

Mafuyu

...

Mizuki

So, I ran from school.
I stopped going.

Mizuki

At home, I felt safe...
But I still knew deep down that I was running from my problems, which weighed on me a lot...

Mizuki

However...

Mizuki

I'm standing here today because I gave myself that time...

Mafuyu

Because you gave yourself that time...?

Mizuki

The thing is, Mafuyu...

Mizuki

I believe that taking on whatever life throws at you takes a lot of energy.

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Mizuki

At the same time, if you can't get away from your problems, they'll just sap away all of your energy until there's nothing left.

Mizuki

You know what I mean, right?
After suffering through so much pain for so long, you just sorta lose the will to go on...

Mafuyu

...

Mizuki

Which is why I believe in order for that not to happen... And to survive...

Mizuki

It's necessary to have a place where you can run to whenever you need it.

Mizuki

Obviously, I'm not saying running is the best option since it doesn't actually help solve anything. And it only provides short-term relief...

Mizuki

But I believe that it's okay to run when you're faced with an unbearable amount of pain and suffering that's going to take your life force away.

Mizuki

So...

Mizuki

When you think you've reached your limit, I say run. Get out while you can.

Mizuki

For your own sake, Mafuyu. You. No one else.

Mafuyu

...

Next Chapter: In Spite Of Fear