(This isn't good...)

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

(It's 25:00...)

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

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

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

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

(Oh, my phone...)

...!

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

Mafuyu...?

...

Was that my imagination...?

...

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

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

(No...)

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

(Huh? A message...?)

Mizuki...?

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

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

(In person...?)

(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...)

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

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

...

She still hasn't replied...

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

Oh, she responded!

<I can meet tomorrow after school.>

...!
Awesome!

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

All set...!

(It's almost time...)

Oh!

Mafuyu! Over here!

Mizuki...

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

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

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

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

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

But...

But?

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

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

Okay...

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

Thank you...

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

Huh...?

Alright, here we are!

Wait, this is...

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

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

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

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

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!

Oh, Mafuyu, do you know how to rollerblade?

I roller skated some when I was little...

Great!
Then, we can try it together!

Whoa, Mafuyu!
You're really good!

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

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

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

But I'm not thirsty.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Yeah...

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

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

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

So, let's head to the mall!!

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

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

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

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!

Really?

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

What...?

I ask because you seem more relaxed now.

I do...?

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

Haha! That's good to hear!

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

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

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

Oh...

Is this what you wanted to...?

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

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...

...

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...

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

But that probably didn't...

I know. It didn't actually solve anything.

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...

That made things unbearable.

...

So, I ran from school.
I stopped going.

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

However...

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

Because you gave yourself that time...?

The thing is, Mafuyu...

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

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.

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

...

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

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

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...

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.

So...

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

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

...