Meeting with the arcade.

—Hello, hello, darling?

Waking me up at such an early hour, she wants to live?

Don't shout psycho, I'm beat…

—Yes?

—Where do you want to meet today, darling?

Why did I suggest it? What the hell…

—Park?

—Couldn't you do sentences, darling?

Me sleep.

—Don't fall asleep, darling!

You look too much like Haruka Kotoura, there…

—I'll be waiting for you at the park in two hours, you'd better be there, darling!

—Yeah, yeah, yeah.

What an ordeal.

These last days, I made a lot of efforts regarding my style of dress, or even my haircut.

It's Chizu who forces you, idiot, don't call it efforts…

For this outing, I prefer to stay on something more casual.

Because your sister is still sleeping.

I look in the mirror before I leave.

—Don't I look like an otaku?

You wear shorts in winter…

I put on a pair of jeans, a coat, run my hand through my hair and head to the park. I arrive at my appointment with about fifteen minutes of advance.

Is she already there? How long has she been waiting for me?

I admire our president sitting on a bench, dressed in a plaid skirt, a thin jacket, a book in her hand.

Don't 3D girls feel the cold?

I walk over and pat her shoulder.

—Hi, president.

—Hi, darling!

She stands up and turns around.

—How do I look, darling?

A skirt in winter, silly.

—It looks good on you.

She smiles, blushes, then asks me.

—Do you have any idea what we can do today, darling?

—I haven't thought about it.

She puts her book away, comes gently to me and puts her head against my shoulder.

—So let's keep it that way. This is a really good date.

Damn, I should have thought about it… I have to find something, and fast.

I scan the horizon and notice a sign.

—Look, President! Can we go to that new arcade that just opened?

—Can I still use you as a pillow, darling?

Of course not, silly.

—I'm kidding, don't make that face, darling! I'm in!

On the way, Masuko and I tease each other, push each other gently and bicker. I can laugh, with the same fluidity and ease as with her.

If we leave out Aneko and Anzu, he is not wrong.

We arrive, and observe this gigantic building.

—Look at the plan, darling!

Four game rooms, a bookstore, a cinema and a music room a real otaku temple…

—Where are we going, president?

—To the library, darling!

We cross this heap of people to settle down in a free place. Masuko, with a sweaty forehead, grabs my sleeve and whispers.

—You are going too fast, darling, wait for me!

She catches her breath, doesn't let go of her hold, and adds.

—I don't want to get lost, darling.

What's your problem with that? Do you all need a GPS?

—Hold on tight Masuko,' I say, trying to smile.

—Stop making that face, you're scary, darling.

She's not wrong, you're as scary as Goto in volume 7.

I love that book too…

We sneak through the crowd to get to the bookshop.

—Phew! Here we are at last darling.

—Yes, we are.

What an ordeal… I've been stepped on at least three times… I'll curse you all as much as Yuji Itadori!

We sit down, facing each other, and blow.

—Can you grab me a book, please, darling?

—Which one?

—Randomly,' she replies, shrugging her shoulders.

I get up, take what she asked me without really choosing. She stretches out her arms, picks up the novel and, with a playful smile, offers me.

—Do you want to spice up this date, darling?

She freaks me out.

—I'm all ears.

—We open the book together and look at a sentence. Once we spot one, we whisper it in each other's ears! Is that okay, darling?

Are we that bored?

—Yeah, yeah.

I sit next to her.

—Come closer if you want to see something, darling.

Come closer?

She grabs my neck and drags me against her.

My heart is beating fast.

—Are you ready, darling?

Her smell is amazing… I really don't understand why she denigrates herself so much when she has everything going for her, intelligence, charm, humour, everything is incredible about her, so damn it, stop having so little confidence in yourself!

— Darling?

—Yeah, I'm ready.

She opens the book, my eyes fall on a sentence, which I read.

Fate is horrible.

I turn to my classmate and whisper.

—Fate is horrible.

She glances in my direction, then whispers to me.

—But fate is also adorned with the unexpected.

Do you think so?

—Don't make that face, darling! I just read a sentence! Look, it's this one.

She puts her finger on the sentence that followed mine.

—I… I see.

—I think about it, what did you read in the literature club?

—I had read the sentence, the memories, the treasure of a lifetime. What did you read?

—Me, I'd come across a blank page.

What is a blank page supposed to mean?

—What?

—I think it symbolises the fact that I am the master of my own destiny, of my own history, of my desires, and of my stupidities.

To be in control of your own destiny… What do you think, Chizu?

We come out of the arcade when she confides me with gaiety.

—We really form the duo I dreamed of, Kinari.

She is not wrong in a way.

Suddenly, she grabs my hand.

Damn, is her skin soft at any time of the day? That's impossible…

—What do we do now darling?

—What is the policy initiated by Tokugawa Leyasu?

—An ultra-isolationist policy, Christian missionaries are chased away, ships are destroyed and no one is allowed to enter or leave the territory.

—During the Meiji era, what were the main religious reforms?

—Buddhism and Shintoism were dissociated. Shintoism became the state religion.

—What is the name of the emperor who surrendered after the disasters of the atomic bombs dropped on Nagasaki and Hiroshima?

—Hirohito.

That was an easy one…

—One more?

—I'm ready, darling!

—Why do you denigrate yourself so much?

She bows her head, blushes, and says.

—Because I feel like I suck…

—But you're not! If I think so, it's because everyone thinks so, you're first in your class, you're charming, you're pretty, I really don't see the problem!

She caresses her neck, dodges my glance and confesses to me.

—But I don't have you.

Ouch…

—I… I see…

The rain starts to fall. I then grab her wrist, and bring her under a shelter a few metres away.

—I don't have my umbrella, I left it at home, darling!

Clumsy girl.

Instead of laughing, take her home, you idiot.

Shut up, nerds.

I hold out my umbrella to her and offer.

—You want me to…

—Yes!

I didn't even have time to finish…

In the pouring rain, her shoulder caresses mine.

She looks so fragile and soft…

— Darling?

—Yes?

—I am afraid.

—Scared?

—I'm scared to death, really… If I join Yôdai, I'll be happy because I'll have my dream, I'll have my future all set. But Yôdai is far from Yokohama, and we will hardly see each other anymore, and it scares me to know it. In the evening, I spend less and less time studying because I tell myself that in the worst case, if I fail in my entrance exam, I could stay by your side, and I dream of that too.

She lowers her head, caresses the back of her neck, letting her cheeks get flushed, then continues.

—It's like ever since I was a little girl, I've had only one dream, to get into this school. But now that you are in my life, this dream is persecuted by another one of my dreams. The one of being by your side forever…

Tears flow down her cheeks, she dries them with the palm of her hand and adds.

—Seriously, how am I going to do it. I could come to see you during the vacations, but I know very well that it is not enough, I am not as strong as Anzu, I would never last ten years without seeing you, it is impossible, my heart would tear up for sure. So what I was supposed to do! What am I supposed to do, darling…

She puts her head against my shoulder, and spill tears as transparent as my current emotions and asks me.

—Stay with me forever darling!

Fate is full of unexpected things…

Haruka Kotoura: Character who can read thoughts. (Koutoura-san)

Gotô: Scary character. (Parasyte : The maxim)

Yuji Itadori : Character becoming cursed. (Jujutsu Kaisen)